Cloud Monday - Bit.Trip Presents... Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien - Part 1 - Disconnected!

This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 1 of playing the PS3 version of Bit.Trip Presents... Runner 2: Future Legend of Rhythm Alien via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation4.

This was recorded whilst i didn't have a computer. This was made on my iPhone 14 Pro using it’s microphone, iMovie, and the video I recorded on to SD Card.

This is a game i have previously played before when the service was PlayStation Now. personally, i really enjoyed playing this before so i was happy to show it off in this, and part 2. this rhythm game doesn't have you repeat a beat or press on a beat, instead the music is created by how well you're doing in the game. the levels are not long and typically can be completed in a couple of minutes. there is a checkpoint around half way which you'll restart to once you cross it, you'll restart at the beginning until you do. all this happens without any loading.

But there's no manual saving whilst playing these levels. the game auto saves when you leave a level, so in the best case scenario that's every few minutes. As the video quality degraded, it did get more difficult to play. whilst our character is big, and so are the enemies, as this is a platformer of sorts it's judging our jumps or blocks or attacks that becomes the biggest issues. But even tho this wasn't the best showcase of the game, i would still recommend checking it out.

iPhone Friday - MONGIL: STAR DIVE - Nice Fluid Combat, Fun Characters, And Not Overwhelming

For this week's iPhone Friday i tried MONGIL: STAR DIVE from NetEase on my iPhone 14 Pro. 

I would've played this game sooner if it wasn't for my previous laptop breaking. i had always been curious about how the game would combine character summons with monster collecting and using. Whilst there is an additional data download at the start, there's little to complain about with the opening to MONGIL: STAR DIVE.

The tutorial is perhaps where things could be improved, but even here i thought that it went at a good pace and the initial tutorial about moving characters was tied very well into the story and world. as things unlocked through this playthrough, there were additional tutorials for each new thing including showing us an on screen button that previously had a red dot on it but i hadn't checked out as yet. combined with the relaxing, but not slow, pace of the game i would say the opening to MONGIL: STAR DIVE is very approachable as even though it's a big game it never felt overwhelming. as i played, it was easy to keep going.

I was genuinely surprised by how funny i found this game. i'm not say it's like watching a comedian, but the way the characters interacted with each other when the spoke was funny, some of their facial expressions matched perfectly the tone of the voice acting, and for the two main characters i started with it really came across that these are people who have been working together for a while.

In some respects, i feel that the game's combat has been undersold on the app store page and even with the in-game tutorial. the combat is fluid without feeling too fast, there's spectacle and restraint in some of the larger attacks, but what i really enjoyed was the teamwork on display. switching character to character didn't mean only 1 character on screen at a time, it meant that initial character i picked could continue for a little bit whilst this new one jumped in and attacked or i could bring in the healer to heal the first character i was before that character jumped away. i never noticed the combat stuttering because it was too much for my phone.

The overall performance of MONGIL: STAR DIVE was great. i was surprised by how fast the loading was at times. it really made it pleasant to play and keep on playing. the game has struck a good balance between visuals and performance. i've played some games that focused on great looking characters or great look world with a compromise on either the other or performance. with MONGIL: STAR DIVE, i never felt wowed by anything looking stunning, but everything looked like it had the same level of detail and the world felt cohesive.

I had a great time with MONGIL: STAR DIVE and i would highly recommend it.  

Version 1.01.10 Played

Demo Play Thursday - Night Swarm DEMO On #Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Night Swarm, from developer Fubu Games.

When you start the demo, it doesn't actually say you're playing the demo! when we get access to the Map, we get the first mention of this being a demo and we can make a guess as to what we can do in it. but as this doesn't say that it's a demo, nor give us any indication if this is from the final build of the game or something earlier, it's difficult to come away from this demo satisfied. i have other questions like does our save carry over to the retail release, if it saves at all.

In this video i experienced the start of the game and it sets up the story well enough but it doesn't really tie in some of the mechanics to it, for example when our run ends we re-spawn back at home and no reason is given for this. There is a tutorial at the start but it mostly focuses on what some of the controls do rather than also explaining how to play the game. it's frustrating, but i am able to make some educated guesses when it comes to the roguelike mechanics.

In Night Swarm, a surprising amount of stuff is carried over from run to run. in this demo, the only thing that wasn't carried over, of note, was the money earned in each run. the loop of the game seems to be that we head out into the world, we progress, we  do tasks, maybe we stumble across someone we know, and we earn stuff along the way. when we inevitably fail, we re-spawn back at base and can then take the stuff we earned and improve our stats, abilities, and equipment so we can go further next and earn more.

I quite liked the game's art style and the music worked well with it. but it did lack feedback to the player when it came to the enemies. i didn't find it too satisfying taking out enemies. there was no rumble in the controller and not much sound to indicate when an enemy has been defeated. there wasn't much feedback when we were attacked either. so i could see the action taking place but i wasn't get much back from the controls or audio. so whilst the combat and action was fine, it was noticeably lacking.

Whilst, as a demo, it's not great the game itself does come across as a solid one of these games, a Hades-Survivor-like style game. the story seemed interesting but whilst there's not too much shown in the demo there was enough for it to get it's hook into me. i'd recommend giving the demo a try or wishlisting it if you're a fan of this type of game.

Backlog Conquering - Puppeteer On PS3 - Part 1

Welcome to Backlog Conquering. This is a series were i play a game from my backlog that i may or may not have played before. the goal isn't necessarily to finish the game, the goal is to play it. that way, i can have an opinion about it.

Our new game is the PlayStation 3 game Puppeteer. this game came out in 2013 and was developed internally by Studio Japan. this game can be played in 3D and with PlayStation Move controllers, but for this series i'm playing with the DualShock 3.

This Part is perhaps a little shorter than what the other parts will be. this video focuses on the first part of the first act of the game, basically it reveals the story and gives us a tutorial. it makes a fantastic first impression. it may not be 1080p, but the art style and the presentation with the stage are fantastic. it's all go at the start of the game so for quite a lot i'm quiet as i'm also trying to take it all in. i've never played this game before and after this fun first part, i'm interested to see where it goes next.

Cloud Monday - Space Ace - Part 2 - Getting A Finish, Exploring Options, And Finding Manual Saves

This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 2 of playing the PS3 version of Space Ace via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.

This was recorded whilst i didn't have a computer. This was made on my iPhone 14 Pro using it’s microphone, iMovie, and the video I recorded on to SD Card.

In Part 1, https://youtu.be/_16gd4HBGaw, i questioned if there was a manual save. at the time i couldn't find one, but in fairness Space Ace is quite intense when you first start it and it's possible i missed it then 'cause in this part i did find that there is a manual save option. this will be great if there is a disconnection warning but also if you're trying to get all the achievements. 

I turned on infinity lives and completed the game's story, or so i thought. after i recorded this video i went back and and watched the whole movie and it turns out the story i got was maybe as little as 3/4 of the whole story. i imagine playing the game at the hardest difficulty unlocks all of the story, and that's how such high scores were recorded for this game.