Demo Play Thursday - Train Sim World 5: Free Starter Pack On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation4 version of Train Sim World 5: Free Starter Pack from Dovetail Games. 

This is the free to play Starter Pack for Train Sim World 5 that focuses on the Training Center with 3 trains. for this video, i did the first hour and only used the British Class 323 Electric Multiple Unit. i don't know how far away i was from trying out a different train as the Train Sim World 5 does a poor job showing what you've already done, as can be seen at the end of this video.

I don't have many complaints about this Train Sim World 5 free to play game, Dovetail Games have done a great job at creating a decent tutorial for someone like me, someone who has little to no previous experience playing train games or someone who has little interest in trains themselves. i wanted to try Train Sim World 5 as it would be a new interesting experience and i wasn't disappointed. i would recommend this Free Starter Pack for anyone just wanting to give it a go. 

I did find that the writing and the voice over didn't quite match. at times, it felt like there was more emotion in the writing than there was in the voice over. but the voice was clear and went at a useful pace. also, it did feel like the loading on PS4 was a little longer than i wanted. but they didn't get in the way of the experience. 

My main issues with Train Sim World 5 are what it doesn't teach. i used My First Gran Turismo as an example of a serious game that really tries hard to teach using visual guides. the biggest issue i had when playing Train Sim World 5 was how little i understood braking and how poorly the game does in trying to teach me. i would have greatly appreciated a system like Gran Turismo where they visually show on the track when to brake. Gran Turismo also uses videos to demo what it wants to do, something that could be useful here as for people like myself who aren't familiar with this. touches like this could've really elevated this good tutorial to a great tutorial.

this video ends with a frustrating section. i ended up exploring a new section of the menu and kept coming up against issues. there were sections of the menu that i couldn't access, and when i wanted to check out a custom designed train it seemingly sent me elsewhere. i think this menu system needs to be adaptable for which version of the game you have and maybe even have it's own tutorial.

But i do think that this Free Starter Pack is well worth trying. the tutorial is good, but the game around it isn't as good.

Backlog Conquering - Poison Control On PS4 - Part 12 – Belle's Hell 22

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.

With Part 12 is a little different as it's the first video where i only managed to complete 1 Bell's Hell. the hell in this video was much much longer than i expected but it did play into the story of the hell so it was still interesting in that respect. There was a nice surprise for finishing this hell but there also seemed more tension between us and the White duo so i wonder if that'll come to something soon.

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/zYr-gRR3IOc

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/DNYEIWBChQA

Part 3 - https://youtu.be/zT1rBNYyQjk

Part 4 - https://youtu.be/XMMKLAVubzg

Part 5 - https://youtu.be/esbFvPyDyy0

Part 6 - https://youtu.be/eO_uzz3XnD0

Part 7 - https://youtu.be/1sfrvextYrc

Part 8 - https://youtu.be/qGCgasaYvpM

Part 9 - https://youtu.be/vaKxj_dOyG0

Part 10 - https://youtu.be/f7Th7Wa1OKM

Part 11 - https://youtu.be/WG_t2X4Dc18

Demo Play Thursday - My First Gran Turismo On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of My First Gran Turismo from Polyphony Digital.

This is a free to play download from the PSN so it's not quite a DEMO, but i thought it was applicable as it's a way in for new players to the series. with this in mind, one thing i was looking for with My First Gran Turismo was whether it was accessible or not to new players. after this first hour with it, i can say that My First Gran Turismo was very approachable and i would recommend it to anyone who's Gran Turismo curious.

The game has a very relaxed approach. it repeatedly makes it clear to the player that they should progress when they want. the game has some great tutorials, too. as well as text on screen and pictures showing specific points, My First Gran Turismo has a demo that uses gameplay to show how it should be done. this can be watched repeatedly so players can pay attention to many different details.

You'll see in this video that retries are very quick in this game as i use it quite a few times. the initial load isn't an issue but i imagine that it's quite a bit longer than the PS5 version. My First Gran Turismo looks great and mostly runs smooth. i did notice a few times some slow down. this was mostly happening in replays. i also noticed some pop-in during replays, too. but when i was actually racing i think i only noticed one drop.

My First Gran Turismo isn't a huge game. by completing a license, you unlock a gameplay mode. there are 4 modes to unlock and in each mode are maybe 3 races. there's also an achievement section that'll show the cars unlocked. i got 10 of the 18 in this video. there weren't any trophies for My First Gran Turismo, but there are leaderboards for many modes so chasing the times of your friends could be fun.

i would recommend My First Gran Turismo for anyone curious about the game. i think it's good for players who like racers in general. i do think the tutorial is good enough for those who aren't experienced with racing games. the relaxed approach is also very welcoming. it's unknown if there'll be updates in the future, but at 11GB it's just small enough for me to keep it on my PS4 to see if there are updates to it, and additions, in the future.

Backlog Conquering - Poison Control On PS4 - Part 11 – Belle's Hells 20 And 21

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.

With Part 10 being as shocking as it was facing off against the Black Poisonette, i wasn't surprised that Part 11 was a little more back to normal. there wasn't any story stuff for our characters, but there were some interesting stories in the Hells we visited. 

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/zYr-gRR3IOc

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/DNYEIWBChQA

Part 3 - https://youtu.be/zT1rBNYyQjk

Part 4 - https://youtu.be/XMMKLAVubzg

Part 5 - https://youtu.be/esbFvPyDyy0

Part 6 - https://youtu.be/eO_uzz3XnD0

Part 7 - https://youtu.be/1sfrvextYrc

Part 8 - https://youtu.be/qGCgasaYvpM

Part 9 - https://youtu.be/vaKxj_dOyG0

Part 10 - https://youtu.be/f7Th7Wa1OKM

Backlog Conquering - Poison Control On PS4 - Part 10 – Black Poisonette And The 4th Circle Of Hell

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.

In Part 9 we learned more about the Black Poisonette and it was very weird. it looked like we would have to defend ourselves but thankfully the White Poisonette team arrived and we were fine. But the situation wasn't over and in this part it took a turn for the worse and things got even weirder. we did get some new story about the Black Poisonette and about ourselves, but it didn't make things clearer.

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/zYr-gRR3IOc

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/DNYEIWBChQA

Part 3 - https://youtu.be/zT1rBNYyQjk

Part 4 - https://youtu.be/XMMKLAVubzg

Part 5 - https://youtu.be/esbFvPyDyy0

Part 6 - https://youtu.be/eO_uzz3XnD0

Part 7 - https://youtu.be/1sfrvextYrc

Part 8 - https://youtu.be/qGCgasaYvpM

Part 9 - https://youtu.be/vaKxj_dOyG0

Backlog Conquering - Poison Control On PS4 - Part 9 – Finishing The Third Circle Of Hell

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.

Part 8 was unique in that it was the first part that didn't add to the story, we only did a couple of Belle's Hells. Going into this Part, i expected there to be story but i was surprised that we got some back story for the Black Poisonette. It makes me wonder if it'll become an enemy we have to deal with, but i also wonder if it's partner got to heaven or had a far worse fate.

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/zYr-gRR3IOc

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/DNYEIWBChQA

Part 3 - https://youtu.be/zT1rBNYyQjk

Part 4 - https://youtu.be/XMMKLAVubzg

Part 5 - https://youtu.be/esbFvPyDyy0

Part 6 - https://youtu.be/eO_uzz3XnD0

Part 7 - https://youtu.be/1sfrvextYrc

Part 8 - https://youtu.be/qGCgasaYvpM

Backlog Conquering - Poison Control On PS4 - Part 8 – Thirteenth and Fourteenth "Belles' Hells"

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.

We didn't get much story in this week's video, but the hells we visited were somewhat interesting. the first one had the saddest, and most confusing, story so far whilst the second saw us facing off against enemies wearing dessert themed hats or back packs, similar to how the flower themed enemies were dressed during the hay fever hell.

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/zYr-gRR3IOc

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/DNYEIWBChQA

Part 3 - https://youtu.be/zT1rBNYyQjk

Part 4 - https://youtu.be/XMMKLAVubzg

Part 5 - https://youtu.be/esbFvPyDyy0

Part 6 - https://youtu.be/eO_uzz3XnD0

Part 7 - https://youtu.be/1sfrvextYrc

Backlog Conquering - Poison Control On PS4 - Part 7 – Eleventh and Twelfth "Belles' Hells"

*There's no commentary from me, my audio software crashed 3 times and i couldn't save it.

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.

The two Belle's Hells i did in this video went fairly quickly and felt mostly fine difficulty wise. what was interesting were the little bits of story that helped flesh out how hell works but also that we didn't deal with the "big bad" when going to the second circle of hell.

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/zYr-gRR3IOc

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/DNYEIWBChQA

Part 3 - https://youtu.be/zT1rBNYyQjk

Part 4 - https://youtu.be/XMMKLAVubzg

Part 5 - https://youtu.be/esbFvPyDyy0

Part 6 - https://youtu.be/eO_uzz3XnD0

Backlog Conquering - Poison Control On PS4 - Part 6 – Ninth and Tenth "Belles' Hells"

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.

we're six videos in and i'm starting to predict when things are going to happen, like i knew there would be a story update in this video and it was a very interesting update. But it's not been an issue as Poison Control has, so far, been able to break the monotony by changing things slightly or by revealing more of the story. one gameplay change came in the 10th Belle's Hell where not only did we have the regular enemies wearing a costume, there were other cardboard cut out enemies to deal with. in the previous video there was another change where money was the goal. Poison Control has done great in changing things up slightly to feel fresh and exciting whilst also dishing out at the right times updates to it's story.

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/zYr-gRR3IOc

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/DNYEIWBChQA

Part 3 - https://youtu.be/zT1rBNYyQjk

Part 4 - https://youtu.be/XMMKLAVubzg

Part 5 - https://youtu.be/esbFvPyDyy0

Backlog Conquering - Poison Control On PS4 - Part 5 – Seventh and Eighth "Belles' Hells"

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.

Now the story is continuing, after being stuck in Part 3 and getting unstuck in Part 4, i managed to do 2  Belle's Hells. the first one was simple and similar to other one's i've done. but the second one had a bit more of an interesting design and requirement to finish so it was a pleasant surprise. 

Today's video ends at the shop and a discussion had there gave my character some answers but left more for my companion. the way the story is being teased out at a decent pace is really keeping me engaged with it so i look forward to the next video.

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/zYr-gRR3IOc

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/DNYEIWBChQA

Part 3 - https://youtu.be/zT1rBNYyQjk

Part 4 - https://youtu.be/XMMKLAVubzg

Demo Play Thursday - Ys X: Nordics Demo On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Ys X: Nordics Demo from Nihon Falcom.

Ys is a series that i've heard about but not one i've ever played before. so trying out this demo wasn't just for the site, it was for me too. i was curious about soo many aspects and hoped that the demo would let me know if i want to get the game or not.

Unfortunately, my time with the demo got every increasingly frustrating and i didn't enjoy my time with it. nearly every aspect of the game felt outdated or that it was built for a different console, whether that's the #Switch or maybe if the initially started planning this on Vita. graphically, the PS4 version feels like a downgrade. the lack of shadows make certain items in the game look like stickers, but there's the opposite problem where there are shadows that make characters look like they have scars.

The artwork for buildings looks so bland, and the draw distance is so close to the camera that later on islands in the background started to blend in with the sea so it looked like a wall of a single color. the characters were the best looking thing in the game, but don't look to closely as their mouths don't sync up with their speeches. 

I also found the game's story wasn't syncing up with what i was doing and that was probably the most frustrating thing as it meant i was having to pick what to say from a choice of something that makes no sense or something that makes only a little sense. very rarely did the game offer me something to say that i, the player, wanted to say.

The demo also hit a technical issue where i had single digits of frames. this started with the dual battle with the "Princess" and maybe a combination of luck and low difficulty setting meant we could defeat the wolves even if nothing was moving on screen.

Unfortunately, i can't recommend the PS4 version of the Ys X: Nordics Demo, and as my experience with the game was so negative i can't really recommend people getting the game. it felt like it's only for the hardcore fans who are maybe used to the outdated designs and complaints i had through most of this video.

Backlog Conquering - Poison Control On PS4 - Part 4 – Once More Into The Second Circle of Hell

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.

In Part 3, i got stuck in the first major "Dungeon" of the Second Circle of Hell. i tried twice and was defeated twice, right at the end of the Dungeon. so going into this part i thought that would be my first goal. Unfortunately, i seemed to have forgotten to manually save after recording Part 3 so when i started the game for this recording, i realized that i had to basically re-do Part 3 all over again. 

Thankfully i was able to defeat the dungeon, which had previously bested me, on my first attempt. This lead the the story twist that i didn't see coming. previously, our goal had been to collect stickers. we get stickers by solving personal hells. with 5 of them, we're able to get to heaven. well, by finishing the dungeon today i got all 5 and headed off to the shop to redeem them. that's when it's revealed that 5 stickers are needed to get 1 Gold Sticker, and it's 5 Gold Stickers that are needed to get to heaven. so our goal, and the amount of videos in this series for this game, as now grown. 

I am still enjoying the story and the gameplay is mostly fine. the camera tends to fight me now and then and sometimes the lock-on seems to be aiming at ghosts or just off the enemy. thankfully the story is keeping me going so i am looking forward to the next couple of videos at least to see where things are headed.

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/zYr-gRR3IOc

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/DNYEIWBChQA

Part 3 - https://youtu.be/zT1rBNYyQjk

Backlog Conquering - Poison Control On PS4 - Part 3 – Entering The Second Circle Of Hell

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.

Things got more difficult in Part 3. i was able to get into the second circle of hell, but i failed to beat the first dungeon there twice. you can see that in each attempt i get to what seems to be the final fight, but i was unable to successfully clear away the poison whilst defending myself from the never ending swarm of enemies. 

It's a shame as this video starts with a new character, some new questions being asked, and there was a nice boss fight. i  wanted to beat this dungeon to see what would happen, would this have been enough to get us to heaven.

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/zYr-gRR3IOc

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/DNYEIWBChQA

Backlog Conquering - Poison Control On PS4 - Part 2 – The Third and Fourth "Belles' Hells"

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.

Part 2 continues on with the story. we previously did the first two Belles' Hells and they weren't too difficult, nor were the stories behind them that bad. the two I did today, they were much harder. not just in difficulty of playing them but also the stories behind them. There will be a Part 3 as i expect there to be more twists and turns in the story as we progress further deeper into hell.

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/zYr-gRR3IOc

Online Saturday - Foamstars - Now Free To Play, No PlayStation Plus Needed!

For Online Saturday i'm back with Foamstars, from SquareEnix and Toylogic. Foamstars is out across PS5 and PS4. I'll be playing the PlayStation 4 version of it. 

The game is now Free to Play. not only is the game free to download, it doesn't require PlayStation Plus to play it. the game has been updated a few times since i last played it back in May, https://youtu.be/SCjUS_FTOKk, so i also found the recent changes beneficial. the biggest change i appreciated were the regular game modes being grouped together so when you're looking for a game it can be any of those modes.

Demo Play Thursday - Metaphor: ReFantazio - Prologue Demo On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Metaphor: ReFantazio - Prologue Demo from Atlus.

Going into this demo, i didn't know anything about the game. i had somehow missed previous trailers and news about it. so other than it being an RPG, i didn't know what to expect. So i went in with no real expectations, it was all up to the demo to showcase itself.

And it did a fantastic job at that. the demo appears to be the first few hours of the game, tho it admits there are some changes from the retail game. The demo is quite open about it being a demo and that the aim is to showcase many aspects of the game. it's also clear that our save from this demo can be carried over into the final retail version.

one of the cooler features of this demo is the difficulty choice. if your focus is story, then choose that mode. the demo makes it clear that you won't die from battles. the other difficulty levels revolve around how difficult the battle aspect of the game becomes. i did this demo on normal and after this hour and a half i'd say it's probably fine to keep it at Easy and focus more on the story. the fights are fine, but they don't add much to the game beyond the style the game already oozes. 

This game has soo much style and design i would argue that perhaps it has too much. there were a few moments where there was a load for some flashy stylish thing that only lasted a few seconds before there was another load back into the gameplay. On a PS5 where load times may not even exist this may work better, but on PS4 it felt more like a waste of time. 

For me,  the biggest shock was how poor i thought the story telling was for most of this video. but this could be explained due to Atlus cutting some story elements from the demo. But the story bounces from the present to the past, from one group to another, and often there was very little linking anything that was happening together. it took about an hour for all groups to be tied into the story together and for things to start feeling more harmonious. But once it got going i really got into it and enjoyed it

I would recommend the Prologue demo for Metaphor: ReFantazio. beyond the main story that's told, we get glimpses of something entirely different teased as the game asks for our name like we were another part of it's story, rather than us controlling characters. Having many difficulties makes it approachable to a wide audience, and there seems to be a lot here to play.

On PS4 i'd say that it plays great. there are some cutbacks that are noticeable but they don't really affect gameplay. for example, the main city we're in at the start looks big and interesting, but there aren't as many people around as you'd expect. the loading was better than i expected and the game uses a very short walking anime to help cover the loading of a new area of the city, so it feels like this PS4 version itself got attention rather than it being a straight port from PS5.

Backlog Conquering - Poison Control On PS4 - Part 1 - The First Two "Belles' Hells"

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.

Poison Control is a surprise pick for a series that focuses on Backlogs. it came out in 2021 so it's one of the more recent games i've bought. But the thing is i don't remember buying it, so i don't know why i have it. it's not a PlayStation Plus game so my Backlog Conquering series is the perfect place to try it as whilst it's not an old game, it's still in the backlog.

Demo Play Thursday - Epic Mickey: Rebrushed On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Epic Mickey: Rebrushed from Purple Lamp.

Even tho i had a Wii, i never actually played it before. back then, whilst the idea was very popular there were many complaints about the execution and i wasn't into Disney enough to give it a go. But with this "Rebrushed" version, i was curious if they could not only make it look modern but also feel modern.

One thing i bring up a few times throughout this video is how slow it feels whilst Mickey looks to be going so fast. it must be that the levels are big and Mickey is small, but even when running there's no great sense of speed. i would go so far as to say that the running speed is closer to what i expected the walking speed to be. The only other minor complain i have about how it feels to play it is that sometimes it was difficult to judge jumps. once or twice it was because the camera got in the way, but other times it was a mix of the lack of speed and difficult to spot shadows making it hard to judge 3D space.

there is a lot of other things that this did well. graphically, i was impressed. it doesn't feel like the Wii version but HD, it looks like they went through the game and re-did a lot, if not all, of the assets. the controls are good, the music is good, and everything is nice and clear. If this was the version that came out originally, i probably would've tried it.

But i still came away with many questions about this game. i feel like the game doesn't talk about the consequences of our actions. as i say in the video, there's a disconnect with it being a Disney game and us having the ability to destroy the world. it feels wrong, it feels like there's a morality system at work that the game doesn't reveal. i felt like i was second guessing myself, wondering if i should be creating, that in doing so i would get a better ending. the same applies to the enemies. we can destroy them or make them our friends. then the demo introduced a guardian system that gives us one use guardians, but we need to create or destroy to get a guardian of that type. It honestly felt like the game was adding too many mechanics to the game when all i was interested in was the story.

So whilst it is an effective demo, after playing it i'm not interested in getting Epic Mickey: Rebrushed. i do recommend people try it. but for me, it just didn't do enough to answer all the questions i had about the game.

Demo Play Thursday - Eden Genesis On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the #PlayStation4 version of Eden Genesis from Aeternum Game Studios, @AeternaNoctis. 

Backlog Conquering - Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut - Part 6 - The Final Mission

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.

Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut is a game from Born Ready Games that i've had on PS4 since it game out on the PSN. 

In Part 5, https://youtu.be/Y9rd6TzgSv8, i attempted the final mission. we ran out of time and failed it. i thought i got close to beating it then, but after trying it again in Part 6, i was a second or two from beating it in Part 5. I did complete Mission 13 and beat the game, but it looks like i got a "bad" ending. i haven't looked up what i needed for the better ending, but the trophy hints that the outcome of Earth is important. 

This Director's Cut version of Strike Suit Zero comes with some extra missions that aim to tell stories from the war. i tried the first two. the first one was simple and over in 13 minutes. it was a scenario and whilst it told the story of an individual, it didn't really tie-in with the story i had just finished well enough. this section felt tacked on and not really fleshed out. the second mission gave us the opportunity to do better than what actually happened in the war and that felt a little weird when compared to Part 1. it almost felt like Mission 2 was from a "What If" game mode. i didn't beat it and it didn't make me want to try again so this is probably the end of the Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut.

With that in-mind, i played the credits and was shocked that it was a Kickstarter game and how long that section of the credits ran for. poor use of screen space aside, i could believe that the credits took nearly an hour and there was no reward, like an upgrade or weapon, for watching it from start to finish. I will take all 6 parts and make a Start to Finish video for next week's upload, then i'll move onto a new game for this series.