Demo Play Thursday - Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit from Retroware, Mega Cat Studios, and Programancer. 

Whilst i have been watching their video content probably from near the beginning, i have never played any of the videogames. when i recorded this video i thought that this was just a port of a previous Angry Video Game Nerd game but i have since learned that this is a brand new game. so apologies if things get a little confusing in the video.

My history with videogames starts more from the 16bit era with the Mega Drive, but i did play a few 8bit games on the Master System and i've played pixel looking sidescrollers before so for me it wasn't too unexpected when the game started with no tutorial. But as this is a demo there's a chance that the final game has a tutorial of sorts. you'll have to let me know in the comments if this game does have one or not.

Graphically, it sure is an 8bit looking game and it comes with some of the gameplay limitations i expected from such a game. an easy example is how you can only shoot horizontally. there's no up or down shooting. But what was unexpected and very welcomed was how the game isn't sticking to the rules i was used to back then. it was common in games to have jumps into the unknown but here the stages have been built in such a way that you can always see at least 1 platform to aim for when jumping down.

Personally, i found the normal difficulty to be hard and changed it to easy to beat the demo. difficulty in game's like this are rather subjective so whilst i'd recommend starting on easy then going up to normal, for those who like a challenge and like learning pattens the normal difficulty could be a good start.

There was a bug at the start of the game. the FMV sequence featuring the Nerd himself was out of sync. when i changed difficulty and started again, the same sequence played but it worked fine. i don't know if this is unique to the demo or a bug in the PS4 version. you'll have to let me know in the comments. but i will send an email out to the developers to let them know what happened.

Demo Play Thursday - Majogami On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Majogami from Inti Creates.

The demo for Majogami is short, but because of the game's style and art direction it does leave an impression. the demo starts quite quickly and immediately begins with some story. once it's finished, the tutorial begins and it's quite simple at first. you're introduced to something then get to do it in-game. what's great is that for more complicated things, the game will show videos on what to do. even tho we end up at the tutorial quite abruptly, it's pretty decent.

The Demo seems to be from the start of the game and is essentially the game's opening prologue. we get more story, more tutorials, and then we reach a boss fight. as it's the start of the game, i never felt like i was in danger even tho i was being hit often, but it did take some time to wear down the boss. i do worry that this could get longer as you progress through the game.

I have to imagine that on the OLED Switch, Majogami looks fantastic. i have a launch model Switch and i felt that it ran fine and looked great. the music isn't bad either. with good controls, a fantastic tutorial, a story that leaves you wanting to know more, and of course great style, i'd say that this demo for Majogami is a good one and well worth checking out.

Demo Play Thursday - Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds from SEGA and Sonic Team.

I really enjoyed playing this DEMO. the game itself is already out now, i'm a bit behind with the demos after catching Covid, and it's been getting a lot of positive comments and praise so i was quite keen to try the demo and see what the fuss was about. 

On Switch, this demo looks great. loading wasn't too bad and the transition from world to world during the race was fine. there is a sense of speed as you race. i initially liked how the tutorial explained how the game is played but soon realized in the race that the tutorial failed to go over the buttons in the game. thankfully it doesn't take long to try them out, but in a race you're up against some strong competition.

In kart racing games, it's tough to make the opposition feel strong and fair. in the past, a criticism of Mario Kart games has been the "Rubber Banding" effect that would bring the other racers back closer to you. here in Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds i didn't feel like the other racers were cheating. i could see them doing the tricks, aiming for speed boosts, and attacking other players. it felt like i was racing against some decent opposition. 

This meant that i failed to win all of the races i took part in. i typically won around 2 of the 4 races in the cup available in the demo. But as it is competitive and as the other racers are trying hard, the top positions would change race to race. i was racing against a rival and even tho i didn't win all of them, neither did they so i was always able to beat the rival.

The DEMO had some of the racers, some of the cars, and some of the customisation options. it was enough to mix and match and get a feel for how that works, it might be familiar to those who have played the older Sonic Racing games. there was also a Time Trial option which was also useful for practicing the tracks. it felt like there was about an hours worth of content and some replay-ability. i think this is a good demo for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds and after playing it i do get a sense of why the game is getting more popular and i do want to play the game now.

Demo Play Thursday - Trails in the Sky: 1st Chapter On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Trails in the Sky: 1st Chapter from Nihon Falcom and GungHo Online Entertainment.

This is one of the longest videos in the Demo Play Thursday series, if not the longest, and i'm not surprised because all of the "The Legend of Heroes" game demos have been long, but unlike them this time i kept playing because i knew from experience that i should. this video only covers the opening story, a time skip, and the first quest of the game.

The demo starts with a screen that lets you buy the game, something that not all demos do. the option menu is quite extensive and has some nice customisations that typically come to early 2000 games remade in the modern day like speed up settings. the next 9 minutes is an opening set in the game's past before having an intro to the modern day setting of the game.

the story we start with is both main characters needing to head into town as today is their final test. their goal, to become a junior bracer. our characters and the world look great on the original Switch, and a launch model too. there was some pop in where shadows appeared before the grass that sat on top, but other than that everything looked and controlled great and it didn't feel like i was playing a lesser version of the game.

by about 40 minutes into the demo, it really started to feel slow. i had turned on auto messages, but they were slow. there was nothing in the options to increase the speed of the text bubbles. the default in this demo just happens to be really slow. i had set the difficult to easy as i wanted to sit back and enjoy the story, but i was starting to get frustrated by how slow things were starting to feel and the auto messages was a key part of this.

it would take about 40 minutes to start our final training quest and get all the back story of the world. having so much information available is useful as i've never played the original on PSP. but it was a lot to take in in such a short period of time. when it came to combat, the game had some nice pictures showing how to do it. as i've played previous The Legend of Heroes games i was also able to bring some of that past experience. what's nice about the combat is that if you're facing a low level enemy you can quicky dispatch them. but if there are many of them or something stronger, you can do a quick hit and then engage them in turn based combat.

it took a little under 20 minutes to complete this final training quest and i ended this video once we became junior bracers. unfortunately, i don't know how much longer this demo was. there was no information on the game's eShop page and the game itself gave no information as to how long and what was in this demo. another issue with this demo is how out of date it is to the game. the developers have done a final job continuously updating the game since it came out, but this demo hasn't been updated. i don't know how different this demo is, or how improved the game is, from what i played in this video.

Demo Play Thursday - Shinobi: Art of Vengeance On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Shinobi: Art of Vengeance from Lizardcube.

This is a fantastic DEMO for those curious about the game. it shows off the initial level  in the game and so appropriately it shows off a lot of basic things we can do in Shinobi. The tutorial is deep and accessible, showing a video how it's meant to look whilst giving clear instructions. One of my biggest concerns about Shinobi: Art of Vengeance was the difficulty level, but this demo has eased my concerns. i played at the standard difficulty level and felt that it was appropriate. it never felt too hard nor too easy. but there are many options we can tweak to customise the experience. for example, if you like the challenge posed by the enemy Ai but feel like their health is too high, you're able to reduce their health.

Demo Play Thursday - Nikoderiko: The Magical World - Director's Cut On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlaySation4 version of Nikoderiko: The Magical World - Director's Cut from VEA Games.

Nikoderiko: The Magical World wasn't a game i was aware off but when i saw they released a DEMO for the Directors Cut update to the game i was curious and wanted to give it ago. So if you have Nikoderiko: The Magical World, check to see if you have got the Director's Cut update.

The game is very colorful but not in a childish way. for me, someone who's played games for a long time, this visual style felt like the PS1 Era of colorful games with fun mascots. this PS4 version of the game didn't feel like a downgrade either.

In this demo we get to explore 3 areas, the Sacred Forest, the Tricky Caves, and the Snowland. the first area is more of a traditional platformer,  whilst the second area had us moving sidescrolling and vertical scrolling (like Crash Bandicoot), and the third area had some swimming and hiding sections. as we make our way, the game teaches us in a decent way how to play it. however, there were moments with the enemies where i didn't know how to attack them or in one instance whether or not the animal was an enemy or not.

there were moments where i found some tricky platforming, so again this isn't a game designed at a younger audience. but even when things were a little tough, it always felt achievable. there were also quite a few collectables to get, so once you've mastered the level there's yet more to do to 100% it.

The only thing this demo was lacking was whether or not if there was a save file if it carried over into the main game. there was an option to get the demo from the PSN, which games don't always do, and having a message from the developers at the end made it feel bespoke. I do feel like this is a good demo and after playing it, i am interested in Nikoderiko: The Magical World - Director's Cut and would look to get the Deluxe physical edition as it comes with an OST CD, which is always a great deal but more so here as i genuinely enjoyed the soundtrack.

Demo Play Thursday - ISLANDERS: New Shores On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the #NintendoSwitch version of ISLANDERS: New Shores from Coatsink.

I'n my personal time, i have tried the original ISLANDERS game on PS4. whilst i appreciated the art and music, i kept butting up against it's rules and logic. With this sequel, i had hoped that the puzzle aspect would've been tweaked a little and focus would've been put on to the user experience with the game. unfortunately, playing this demo was perhaps more confusing that when i played it on PlayStation 4.

Simply put, ISLANDERS: New Shores came across as a Soulslike. the rudimentary tutorial failed to teach the buttons, with iconography that would be confusing to Switch players, rules that can only be learned through experience, and bonuses that are only spotted when they're briefly mentioned on screen at the result screen though how to get the bonus is never taught to the player.

The game is too quick with the information and this was evident from the start when loading the demo when the message about high scores and auto saves was on screen for 3 seconds or less. it took completing the first two island, if not all three, before i saw all the bonuses that were applied for the score. with such a chill atmosphere, it's weird to see information appear and disappear so quickly.

With randomly generated islands, it's unclear if the islands i played in this demo would be the same as what other players had. if they are, please let me know. this island generator makes it difficult to know how the high score system works. it's unclear in the messaging if the game itself generates the islands so everyone is playing different levels or if the developers used Ai to generate the levels in this game and everyone is playing the same. 

After playing the demo, i know ISLANDERS: New Shores isn't for me. i bounced off the first and you can hear my enthusiasm diminish whilst playing this demo. i'm not saying it's vibe is bad, i enjoyed the art and especially liked the music. i just don't find it approachable and to me it feels more like an expansion of what worked from the first with none of the changes i felt it needed to be even better. So as a demo, it worked for me as i know that it's not for me.

Demo Play Thursday - Through the Nightmares On #PS4

For this week's #Demo Play Thursday i played the #PlayStation4 version of Through the Nightmares.

I'm not good at challenging platforming games but i do like to try them. l'm always hoping to find one that'll be difficult, but not necessarily punish me for finding it difficult. As the player, i'd like to feel that there's a chance i can improve. i think Through the Nightmares get's pretty close to this so even tho the demo got tough, i did actually finish it.

Through the Nightmares starts with a nice small level that serves as it's tutorial and i think it works great. not only did i learn what most of the buttons do, but i got a little taste of how the platforming sections may work. there was a decent sense of satisfaction from this little introduction stage. the second stage introduces an item. it's presented as some sort of checkpoint. but when you complete the level you realise there's a bonus for completing the level and not using it, so of course i tried the level again this time without dying. playing Through the Nightmares in this demo was a pleasant experience, but that's not to say it was an easy one.

The game says on it's PSN page that it's not an easy game, that there will be a challenge, and i certainly restarted plenty of times during this demo. what helped was the choice of using the checkpoint item and/or that restarting when you did die was very fast. using the checkpoint doesn't mean you haven't completed the level. thankfully, Through the Nightmares will let you continue if you haven't collected everything. all you need to do is complete the level to unlock the next.

Most of the challenging platforming felt fair. the game is smart to introduce a mechanic, let us try it out in the level, then let us try it out on something more challenging. the demo ends with us facing off against a boss and throughout the encounter we have to use all the skills we've learned so far. this felt like a fair encounter until the encounter changed it's gameplay style. then it felt a little cheap, like the margins for error were even tighter than before. but, again, with quick restarting and thankfully a little checkpointing from the game itself, rather than the item, it didn't take long to conquer the boss and finish the level.

I enjoyed my time with the Through the Nightmares DEMO and came away with it knowing that it's a tough game but also feeling that i could perhaps do it. so as a demo, i think this worked great. it'd be great to hear from you if you played the retail game and how difficult the later levels are. it also wasn't clear if our save carries over from demo to retail game. but i think the demo for Through the Nightmares is well worth checking out.

Demo Play Thursday - Rally Arcade Classics On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Rally Arcade Classics.

In the PS1 and Game Boy Color era, when it came to rally games i was far more interested in the arcade style games. i remember playing V-Rally, tho i don't remember which ones, and enjoying the rally style but arcade feel. for me, i was really interested in Rally Arcade Classics as it wasn't clear from the eShop how arcadey or how realistic it would be.

When you start this demo you're greeted by a screen that details what's included in the demo. this is fantastic and something that is rarely seen. what they fail to mention is that online leaderboards for every race in this demo are also available! the only downside to the start of this demo is that it assumes you'll go to the options and check the control section. at no point does the game tutorialize the controls. this isn't a big issue in this game because of how short the races are and how quick the game is able to restart, but it feels like a bit of an oversight when so much else about this demo comes across as bespoke and having had time put into it.

There was one more thing that i thought the game was lacking whilst i was playing it and that was the ability to play against the ghosts of other players. as this was a demo, it could be that it's not in the demo. But this was a fully featured demo so i suspect this is the case in the full game. it's a shame as we can clearly see where we stand against other racers in the standings. but at least we have that and we're able to race against our own ghost in the attempt to better our times.

after playing this demo for Rally Arcade Classics i can say that this is the arcade rally game i've been looking out for. it has time limits that some more arcade style games have but the cars have a feel more akin to more serious rally games. you can't just "cheese it" and win, there has to be some element of skill. but because it's arcade style, there's some forgiveness about it and it's less serious. each of the 4 cars i raced in felt different, looked distinct, sounded different, and for me i enjoyed racing the Alpine more than the others.

If you're looking for an arcade style rally game similar to those released on the PS1 and PS2, but not so much those released in arcades, then Rally Arcade Classics from Net2K Games is well worth checking out. the graphics were fine with this Switch version but i wouldn't say great. however the nigh racing worked very well and for the most part the graphics around the car were good enough. the short tracks mean draw distance isn't important, but when it was when i was racing down Monaco hills i could see the other cars ahead on track further down. the only complaint i have with this part of the game is the main music. it repeated far too much. but, the music isn't a critical aspect of the game so turning it down to focus on our co-pilots advice would make sense anyway.

Demo Play Thursday - Labyrinth of the Demon King On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Labyrinth of the Demon King from developer Jacob R. Hudepohl and publisher Top Hat Studios.

Scary games, horror games, psychological games, they're all genres that i don't play because i don't like them. but i was intrigued by the icon and thought i'd give Labyrinth of the Demon King a go. the fact that i couldn't finish the demo doesn't meant that it's a bad game so if what you saw looked interesting i would recommend that you check it out for yourselves.

It's aiming for a PlayStation 1 era look and it gets there but it feels less "janky" than similar PS1 games do so during the video i remarked that it's probably more accurate to call it a "PS1 Pro" style game. at times it felt like this look and the type of game Labyrinth of the Demon King is combined into something that felt old, whilst other times it really worked. from a demo perspective, it's a shame that it's never made clear if save files carry over, and a little disappointing that there was no link to buy/preorder the game from the PSN store.

Demo Play Thursday - Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo from developers Pocket Trap.

I had heard some talk about this game on podcasts i listen to, but after the Pepper Grinder experience i must admit i had some trepidation going in. Thankfully, after playing this demo for a little over an hour i came away feeling positive about the demo itself and the game.

Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo has a look the reminds me of the Game Boy Advance era of games and as someone who grew up during this era i feel like they did well in matching the controls to that look. What helps is that Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo feels far more cohesive of an experience than Pepper Grinder ever did is that the controls, the art style, the character design, the music, and more importantly the story and gameplay are all woven together successfully. The demo is also bespoke and shows off the initial introductions, tutorial, and plot of the game. the second demo shows off a different area and the new puzzles and ways of using your Yoyo. the final section to play is, what i assume to be, the first boss battle in the game. 

Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo isn't an easy game and whilst loading back to the screen you were on is quick and easy, i'm not sure i agree with the punishment being financial. the demo gives some examples on how money is used in the game and i'm a little concerned that it needlessly punishes the player. But, at the start of the i checked out the game's options and in the difficulty settings you can decrease the financial penalty for trying again. there are a whole host of ways you can customise the game to your difficulty level and this really does make the game very accessible. it's a shame that the game doesn't make it clear if changing the difficulty will affect earning trophies or not.

i would recommend people check out the demo for Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo. the game has links to the PlayStation Store if you want to pre-order the game, as it comes out at the end of the month. 

Demo Play Thursday - Rusty Rabbit On Switch

For this week's #Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Rusty Rabbit.

At first glance, i assumed Rusty Rabbit was another in a long line of shovelware on Switch but after checking out the eShop page and reading that somewhat famous companies Nitroplus and NetEase were behind the game i was really curious to see what they had come up with.

I did go into this demo expecting it to look worse than it actually did. there was something about the screenshots and video on the eShop page that made it look like a lower resolution game and got me thinking that this would be a lesser experience in comparison to the PS5 version of the game. thankfully this is a great demo and that wasn't the case.

this demo makes it clear that it is a demo but more importantly it says that the save file from this demo will work in the retail version of the game, it's something that a lot of demos don't mention. there are also links at the start of the demo to get the game from the eShop and at the end of the demo. as an experience, it's certainly one of the better demos i've played as part of this playlist.

Right from the start, this demo for Rusty Rabbit impresses. the music on the home screen was great and it's great throughout. the main character Rusty is well written and performed. he was surprisingly likeable, more so when the other characters were introduced. the tutorial is good and smartly incorporates mechanics into actual gameplay, dishing them out a little at a time so it's never overwhelming. that approach also works well with the #Metroidvania style of gameplay in Rusty Rabbit. we have more abilities at the start than when the demo ends but it's well written into the story as to why.

The story is teased a little bit more on the eShop page than it was in this demo but the world building and some of the back story revealed do help make it less obvious how little story we're going with at present. i am curious as to where it's going to go and what other characters will be introduced.

If i had to pick a shortcoming after playing this demo it's that i don't know who we, the player, are. at times it feels like Rusty is talking directly to us but because the world is presented so cohesively, it does make me wonder if Rusty is breaking the 4th wall or if there's more to it.

I highly recommend the demo for Rusty Rabbit. it presents a great first hour of the game. if you're interested in a character driven metroidvania with rpg elements, then this is well worth checking out. 

Demo Play Thursday - Pilo and the Holobook On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Pilo and the Holobook.

i didn't know anything about this game before i started playing the demo, but on the eShop, i did like the look of the game and that you'd be scanning. i was hoping that this demo would help show off more about the game and what you're doing. I think it did a great job at that.

The demo seems to be taken from the first hour, or so, of Pilo and the Holobook, from the start until our encounter with hints of the big bad of the game. nearly all the game mechanics have a tutorial and we seem able to play the game at our own pace. the biggest frustration was the one time the game required us to do something that wasn't tutorised. in the dessert, there's a moment where we need to corral some electric sheep and i missed it the first time and accidently stumbled upon the solution my second time there. a mechanic the developers don't make use of is our own character quipping or talking to themselves possible solutions to an issue. i can see this being a possible stumbling block to progress.

But on the whole, Pilo and the Holobook looked great, played great, and was really chill. i could've finished it sooner but i genuinely enjoyed walking around and scanning.  the music was fine but, as i said in the video, i feel like this would be a good game to play whilst listening to a podcast.

I didn't get the impression that Pilo and the Holobook was purely aimed towards kids, but it did feel like it would be suitable. as an adult, i did enjoy my time with the demo and wouldn't say no to getting it when it comes out. if you're curious about a game where scanning is the main mechanic, then this is a great demo for you to try. but after playing it i'd almost say the game itself is worth getting without playing the demo.

Demo Play Thursday - Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land On #PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land.

Atelier from Gust is a series i've been aware of for a long time and i even have the PS3 version of Atelier Rorona Plus: The Alchemist of Arland, tho i've not really played much if any of it. i've always been curious but never given the series the time it deserves, so when the DEMO for Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land came out i was keen to give it a go and i'm glad i did.

This PS4 version of the game didn't feel like a downgraded version of the game. it looked fantastic, sounded great, and the controls felt responsive. the loading times were perhaps the only thing that felt a tad long but they weren't too frequent. going in and out of battles was seamless and when i got to the second part of the demo, the open world had no loading as i moved from place to place.

As a demo itself, and as the opening to Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land, it's very welcoming to new players. the demo, and probably the start of the game, goes step by step introducing how the game is played by modern feeling tutorials. more and more, games are moving away from just text on a screen on how to do something and this game is a great example as it shows videos of what should happen. the level design is also smart enough so that you're able to try out each new thing one after another instead of having to do it all at once. the first part of the demo is also always pushing you forward, with stuff happening to the level meaning you're not able to back track and that you're unlikely to damage yourself going forward.

It wouldn't be until the second half of the demo when it tries to explain the Atelier powers aspect of the game that i feel like the tutorial kept things simple but tried to explain too much in one go. story wise, it made sense, but for us unfamiliar with this aspect of the series it was a lot to take in all at once. i feel like they could've made it simpler or broken it up into more steps over a longer time instead of the lore dump it felt like at the time.

But i said this did fit into the story as our character does come across, more so in the second half of the demo, as someone what excitable and keen to share Atelier Alchemy. as we find out, there are a lot of others less keen on it and her so when two people come along to assist our character it makes sense why we get a lot of it all at once. 

I didn't finish the demo in this video, but i did end it just after a story tease by the game. the title of the game, Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land, has been shown to tie into the game so when the possible tease of more story happened, it wasn't shocking but it did feel appropriate.

There are a few things about this demo for Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land that feel a little stereotypical or tropey, but from what i played it's not in a negative way. i enjoyed the gameplay, the story, and the world this demo introduced. the only thing slightly disappointing about this demo was how it failed to detail what each of the difficulty settings do. even tho it's tutorial was modern, this did feel like an oversight. personally, i like playing for the story so i would keep the difficulty at easy. but after playing this demo and seeing how fun the combat is, if i were to get the game i'd actually play it on normal.

I think this demo for, and most likely the start of, Atelier Yumia: The Alchemist of Memories & the Envisioned Land is great and well worth trying for those who are curious. i tried the PS4 version and it played great, i didn't feel like i was getting a lesser version of the game.

Demo Play Thursday - Battleminer Giants on PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Battleminer Giants from  Wobbly Tooth Games. 

I wanted to try this demo as i really liked the artwork of the solo giant enemy and the solo adventurer. a part of me hoped that this was going to be some sort of Shadow of Colossus kind of game, but the brief description on the PSN Store made it clear that it wasn't that. But i was still interested in trying it.

This is a short video because it is a short demo. there's only one thing to do, defeat the giant enemy. i failed in my first attempt, the enemy defeated me. but this broke the demo as i couldn't workout what to do when i respawned in town. i can't craft and there were no stores to purchase items at as my bow had broke. it was this point where we learned that the demo has skipped the earlier tutorials in the game and has put us at the first major activity. as i couldn't do anything, i had to quit and try again.

the second time i was much more successful, but in beating the giant enemy i triggered the demo to end. there appeared to be a save system but at no point did the demo say if saves would carry over to the final game. there were no trailers, screenshots, or artwork when we beat the demo either. i was surprised that there were no links to getting the game from the PSN either.

Even tho i like the "boxart" for this game, now i've played the demo for it i'm not interested in getting it. the defeating giant enemies part of it was nice and then taking parts from the bodies of said enemies was a fun challenge, too. I'm not big into crafting games and as this demo didn't showcase that aspect of it's gameplay i don't know how it'd work in the final game.

Demo Play Thursday - Boxville 2 on PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Boxville 2. 

Back in September 2023, i checked out the demo for Boxville, https://youtu.be/cCxmbi3-Kio, and really enjoyed the art style. in that demo it was clear that the story was skipped so not to spoil it but we were playing from the start of the game. with this demo for Boxville 2, it just throws us into gameplay after the starting animation.

Point and click games aren't a genre i do well at, so in this demo i tried to explain my thought processes as i played so you could understand what i was doing. but by the end of this video, i don't think i had finished the section in the demo. but the game doesn't give us any information so i don't know for sure if i was finished, if i wasn't finished, or if this is how it should be played. but what was really frustrating with the demo was how it ended. most games take us back to a home screen, some games will have a trailer and/or screenshots at the end. this game was stuck with either the screen saying it's a demo or the pause menu.

This lack of information from the game wasn't good. it felt like it was designed for those who have played Boxville before and knew what type of game this was and how it plays. there's no tutorial, no introduction, no progress meter, and no hint system. for me, someone who's not familiar with the genre, it feels like a hardcore point and click game and not one that's approachable for new players.

It does look great, i really enjoy the art style and humour. and whilst it's not a great demo, i would actually recommend it. Boxville 2's hands off approach could be interesting for "souls like" fans and this a great way to try out a point and click adventure game that's just as hands off.

Demo Play Thursday - Turbo Overkill On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played Turbo Overkill on PlayStation 4, from developers Trigger Happy Interactive and publishers Apogee Entertainment.

I grew up with late 90's early 2000's shooters so playing Turbo Overkill was fun and nostalgic. but i was also impressed that the developers tried to modernise this style of shooter from just being another Doom/Quake/Unreal clone into something unique. 

We're immediately greeted by two big themes of the game when we start the demo Cyberpunk and blood. Turbo Overkill's interpretation of Cyberpunk wasn't just the music, i felt that the world and plot of the game fitted well with what i imagine a cyberpunk style "world" to be. this helped make what story i found not only interesting but also a story i wanted to see where it went and what would happen next. the visuals and music were good on PS4, but i did think the music looped a little too soon.

For me, the Turbo Overkill demo was long because i kept making platforming mistakes. it's something that can happen with first person games. i felt that up to the point i got stuck, the landing platforms i've had to get too were big/wide enough so landing was easy. but there was this one platform that was tiny in comparison that took a few times to get. thankfully, falling to the bottom didn't kill me as the game's level design is smart and built vertically so we can get right back there fairly easily. i am just a bit concerned that these sort of platforming sections might become a little too frequent.

As a demo, i think it works all right. it doesn't say demo on the home screen nor is there a way to get to the PSN Store from there, something that many demos do nowadays. i think this is the start of the game and i think they've made it long enough to so we get enough story to be hooked, enough of the shooting and platforming mechanics so we know if we like how it feels and plays, and we've had a couple of goes with the upgrades to our body. but i do think it could've pointed us to the options or done a tutorial to help with how fast the camera controls are. i knew from the start that the camera was moving too fast and i had to go into the options and sort it out.

Demo Play Thursday - The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II Battle DEMO On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II Battle DEMO.

There are 2 demoes for The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II. last week i tried out the Story DEMO, https://youtu.be/Z8q4UuYjIw4, and today i tried out the Battle DEMO. Playing them was a different experience, not just in terms of the demo content but also in how broth approach the customer. as the story demo was from the start of the game, it includes a tutorial and is a much slower pace. this battle demo has no tutorial and puts us into one of two dungeons with basic missions to complete.

Thankfully, have played the demo for The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak and knew about it's battle system. but using this many characters was new to me and things were happening i wasn't too sure about. it's frustrating in that both the dungeons in this demo were specially made for the demo and that this demo feels "hand made" whereas the story demo is just a cut and paste from the start of the game. if the effort was put in to make such a special demo, then why was no effort put in to providing a tutorial. they might as well have just lifted the tutorial from the start of the game as a video and played that, at least it would've been something.

Oh, i would highly recommend setting this demo to easy. i did the first dungeon at easy difficulty level and found it to be a good challenge for my knowledge of how it all worked. for the second dungeon, i tried out the normal difficulty level and ended up getting my first team wiped out. thankfully, in The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II there's a backup team so if the first team get knocked out, the second team take their place and continue the battle.

Demo Play Thursday - The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II Story DEMO On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II Story DEMO.

Unlike The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak which only got one demo before it's release, The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II has two and today i'll be trying out the Story DEMO and next week i'll try the Battle DEMO. I had forgotten that i tried out the The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak DEMO last year https://youtu.be/8Ow0x0EV_XQ. When i started this DEMO there was an option to watch a re-cap for the first game, The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak, and i decided to watch it. as i didn't play it, i was fascinated where the story ended up going and wouldn't mind playing it as it looks like it was a good story.

Once that video is finished, this DEMO starts by setting up the mystery, or one of the mysteries, that The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak II will be dealing with. Then the story starts and as this is a Story DEMO, it's unsurprising that this is story heavy.

what i played took place mostly in the same area as the DEMO for The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak, so it was nice and familiar. but we did get to visit a couple of different areas. most of the people were also familiar, and again this isn't a negative. the speed of this DEMO felt slow, but because the location and people were the same, the speed of the story telling actually felt appropriate. the conversations were casual, people were familiar with each other, and ultimately i didn't really notice how long this video was until near the end, which is why this ended up being more than an hour. i was enjoying the story being told.

I would recommend checking out this DEMO. the save carries over to the main game if you choose to buy it. The DEMO also has it's own checklist of things to do. i didn't reach the end of it, nor did i finish the checklist. it wouldn't surprise me if there's another hour or so of DEMO left to play!

Demo Play Thursday - Paw Paw Destiny On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Paw Paw Destiny, from Daiyu.studio.

The eShop page for this game has some real bonkers looking screenshots that grabbed my attention. but reading about the game from it's page didn't help as it was hard to imagine how the screenshots and the game it says it is match up. so i was really interested in trying out the demo and seeing how it all works.

after trying the demo, i'm none the wiser. it's actually shopping how short the demo is, it seems like we only get to play what i'd call "Chapter 0". we did get a nice character creator where we could make a cat or a dog, but after that it's a bizarre experience. 

It's not a bad experience, weird yes but not necessarily bad. the game puts all the controls on the screen and it's mostly clear what everything does apart from the "-" button which is labelled as "?", when you press it it removes all the controls from the screen. the area we start in also has on screen prompts  to help navigate the area. but on the weird scale, there are ghosts and they chase after us when we're not looking at them.

the final task of the demo, after getting a little bit of story, is to find some people among a crowd. the problem i had with this section was the English used. it mostly made sense, but it had an "uncanny valley" issue. it looked mostly ok, but when i stopped to read it the words that were used didn't feel quite right. with the demo being as short as it is, it's hard to know if this is an issue with the game as a whole or simply how the cat characters talked.

So it boils down to the fact that the demo for Paw Paw Destiny is far to short and it doesn't really show us anything that answers the questions i had about the game. it's a story based game, but we never got to experience much of it. there are horror elements, but all we saw were ghosts. there's a comedy aspect to it, but i never saw it. there are so many elements to the game that i didn't get to see.

I don't think people need to play the demo for Paw Paw Destiny. we're shown too little that it might as well be a waste of our time. especially when we're not told if our save carries over to the main game. the cat/dog editor maybe fun, but it's possible we'll never be able to play as them again. if you're interested in this game, i'd recommend checking out live streams or longer gameplay videos for it.