This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 2 of playing Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization on PS4 via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.
In Part 1 I was surprised that there didn’t seem to be any way to manually save in this game. There are Auto Saves, but they don’t seem to be as smart as I would like for a game being streamed from the cloud. We’d get an auto save when moving from area to area in a town but out in the wild they were less frequent and rarely after a lengthy conversation.
So to me, it wasn’t surprising that when I was given the 20 second countdown, before being disconnected from the service, I was unable to leave a conversation and therefore unable to trigger an auto save.
So whilst I’m not going to recommend people stream this from the cloud, I am also not saying Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization is a bad game. It has a few quirks and I’m certain the sound issues weren’t from streaming it. The combat is solid and I do like how the story lets us learn more about the past, which is useful for those like me who hasn’t played any of these games before, or carry on like we know everything already.
This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 1 of playing Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization on PS4 via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.
I know of but have never played nor watched anything Sword Art Online. But i do know that the main concept is that it's meant to fake an MMO. so i was curious if that would extend to how it saves. MMO's will keep track of your character, what they're doing, where they are, and their stats their end but would this fake one? If it did, it would mean i would never have to worry about the 20 second warning before being disconnected.
But after this first hour it seems clear that there are only auto saves in Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization and, unless it was somewhere i couldn't find or i haven't unlocked it yet, no manual saves. for some parts of this game, like moving around the main town Aincrad, you trigger the auto save when you exit one area and enter another. this might be doable when a 20 second warning appears. but other than that, it wasn't too clear how and when it auto saves nor what would trigger it.
As is somewhat expected for a game of this type, this first part is full of cutscenes, character introductions, and expositions. this means there are minutes where we aren't able to do anything other than continue the conversation or, by using the L1 and R1 buttons, try and skip through it. skipping isn't ideal as for me, someone not familiar with this series, i'd want to watch them and learn about the past and the present. The auto saves are clear in the top right, but if you're going to get a 20 second warning during one of these cutscenes you're going to either miss out on story tell, assuming it'll autosave when it's done, or have to go back and sit through the same story piece again.
From this first hour, the save system and lengthy cutscenes do make Sword Art Online: Hollow Realization somewhat unsuitable for being streamed from the cloud. We'll see in Part 2 if things improve in regard to this. other than that, and the games odd camera delay, there are positives in regards to it's design and it's suitability. the graphics are simple, big, and colorful, which meant when we had some hiccups with the stream it never got in the way of gameplay. the controls feel responsive and i felt no lag there with the stream either.
For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Vagrus - The Riven Realms: Prologue from developers Lost Pilgrims Studio.
I'll admit that going in i didn't know what type of RPG it was and it ended up being a type of RPG that i don't enjoy playing and haven't played much before. i tried to not let that get in the way of my playthrough of this demo. i didn't get to the end of this demo in this video as by the end i really wasn't enjoying myself.
right from the start, even before i started recording, i was waiting for the game to load. that first load took well over 3 minutes, very often showing very unhelpful tips. Vagrus - The Riven Realms: Prologue is built on Unity, an engine that's notorious for how bad it runs on base model PS4s. This demo had already been patched twice to 1.02 so i went in expecting things to go better than they did because after the load was an introduction video to the story that stuttered both visually and audibly.
So, Vagrus - The Riven Realms: Prologue makes a poor first impression. next was the home screen and i didn't mind the notices on screen but they were tiny in comparison to how much free space there was. i saw the bug reporting and as i had encountered a couple already i was going to submit but then it turned out the report form hadn't been formatted for consoles and i certainly didn't want to type out a report using just a controller. there are more issues going into the options as only the font size option showed what it actually did. i haven't played the game and yet it expects me to know what game specific changes can be made without any examples. And even tho i made the font change, it rarely actually appeared as big as i wanted. as far as i'm concerned that option either doesn't work is mislabeled. Another option that didn't seem to work great was the full screen UI Zoom as it looked slightly blurry and weird.
after about 14 minutes i finally get to the gameplay, and here i'm greeted by a great choice. Vagrus - The Riven Realms: Prologue lets the player choose if they want to play it as envisioned by the developers or if they want an easier more story focused approach. i like that they clearly define what the difficulty levels are. But, it talks about achievements which Vagrus - The Riven Realms: Prologue doesn't have.
We finally get to the story and are greeted by small text, not what we set in the options, but thankfully it's voiced. however, at the time, i wasn't really sure who was talking. the art is static, something i'm not used to in the story telling games i play. i imagined that we would be introduced to our character first, not some random person. But as that person talked, i fully expected the rest of the game to feature voice acting and i was wrong. again, in story games i'm used to playing i'm used to not only seeing who's talking but them either speaking the text on screen of adding sound effects. this style of story telling was something i didn't quite get used to by the end of the video. an issue i had with this style were the options of where the conversation should go. i think i disagreed with nearly all the conversation options throughout Vagrus - The Riven Realms: Prologue.
the tutorials were often useful but quite overwhelming and screen filling. but there were times when the tutorials would use words that aren't used in-game as often symbols are used instead. if they use a symbol, the tutorial should use it too. this meant that when it came to money, i was wrong. i thought the round symbol was money but instead it was the colored balls. i needed the tutorial to point this out and it didn't.
I could go on, but i think i've got the point across that there was a lot about Vagrus - The Riven Realms: Prologue i didn't enjoy. there's more in the video, too. some of it will be due to the style of RPG it is, but poor performance and poor tutorials is down to the developers. i can agree that my issues with the story are probably just down to me.
Does Vagrus - The Riven Realms: Prologue succeed as a Prologue, no. calling it a "Prologue" puts pressure on this to deliver a story that makes us want to continue. i don't think it does this. if it was just called a demo, i think it would've been fine and be in-line with other games i've played recently. but i do think "BETA" would've been more appropriate for the state it's in. with the game launching soon, after playing this i wouldn't recommend getting it not only for my issues with the start of the game but also the state of it, too.
War Robots: Frontiers is a free to play game that recently came out on the PSN. i downloaded it to my PS4 when it came out and since then the game has been regularly updated, tho my PS4's update section for the game says it's 1.01 even tho the game is now 1.10. So coming into the game i was confident that i would get a decent gameplay experience. for me, what i was really interested in seeing was how the game would tackle the tutorial as this has been a huge let down across nearly all of the free to play games i've tried out.
Unfortunately, even tho War Robots: Frontiers does have a tutorial it's quite bad. one of the first examples is when you start the first tutorial. it'll explain the game mode you're playing and the requirements to win it, then it'll let you play without explaining the loadout of your mech and what each of the buttons do. the tutorial is against bots and already pauses the action so i really don't understand why it can't do it again to explain my mech's loadout and how to use it. even after the live stream, there's at least one attack on each mech i don't fully understand.
It doesn't get any better on the home screen. this is often the biggest challenge for free to play games as they often fill it with icons and adverts and such, but then don't explain most of it or any of it. Mobile games have the best approach to home screens, usually greying out modes and options we don't need right now, haven't unlocked as yet, or it hasn't explained. War Robots: Frontiers has a busy home screen and there are times it tries to explain stuff but the first couple of times i missed it because it highlights a section ever so slightly and it times out really quick. War Robots: Frontiers really needs to ask the player if they want a tutorial. if they don't, fine let us play. but it we do it needs to take things one step at a time, slowly, and with examples.
And just as importantly, the tutorial needs to be smart and restrictive enough that we can't fail it. i found out near the end of the live stream that i made a mistake in a much earlier tutorial to the point where it had a negative impact on my gameplay as i should've had 4 mechs and not the 3 i used. a smart tutorial would've also been helpful cause the game would've noticed i've not used L2 since it started and it could've told me that i should use it as i felt really stupid when i accidently pressed the button and saw that it zoomed in and was really useful.
War Robots: Frontiers is lucky that the basic gameplay is solid. even tho here in Yokohama Japan i was mostly playing against bots, their ai was sufficient for me to have some really fun games. it's entirely possible that there are more players on other servers, but i don't know because the game never shows that information. it was very frustrating that i wasn't able to pick what game mode i wanted to play or, like Foam Stars, tell the game which modes that it offers i wanted to play. there's only a Play button and we get what we're given.
So with War Robots: Frontiers' poor and frustrating tutorial, so-so UI and home screen experience, and lack of match information and choice, i agree with my chat that War Robots: Frontiers is fine at best but not really something i want to keep playing regularly. if they overhaul what surrounds the good gameplay and improve the user experience and make it accessible to new players then i'd be happy to stream it again. but as it is, War Robots: Frontiers is more frustrating than it should be and more than what it's gameplay can overcome.
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.
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.
The new game in the Stories on Tuesday series is the PS4 version of Coffee Talk from Toge Productions. I've downloaded it as part of PlayStation Plus.
Coffee Talk is one of those games i've heard people talk about, i've seen it online and in shops, but i know next to nothing about it other than there are stories being told. when i heard it on podcasts, people talked about it without getting specifics. so there are moments in this video where i'm by surprised by things. the biggest being that this isn't a game with just humans.
I have downloaded this game from the PSN as it's part of PlayStation Plus, but i'm having some tech issues with it. it'd be interesting to know if anyone is having similar issues with the PS4 version of this game. i know it's built on Unity and there's another PS4 game i'm playing that's crashing to XMB that's also built on Unity so maybe it's a Unity issue. i haven't edited it out because the music in the game continues whilst the gameplay seems to have paused. in future parts, i'll just keep quiet so we can all enjoy the music.
An unwelcomed surprise was when i had to make Latte Art. i have no idea what i had to do, there was no tutorial or practice before the day started. so the panic is genuine and i wasn't happy with what i made. it's worse than when i played Tearaway as in that game i'm able to try and reset and try again. in Coffee Talk i don't think there's a way for me to do that, i think i can only choose to trash the drink and start again. trying to make a drink is also a little difficult. i don't know a lot of coffee drinks so most of what i'm making is just me guessing. this has resulted in my first bad drink already.
But the point of the series is to play the story that we get. so it's possible my drinks and mistakes will lead to a slightly different story. if it does, let me know in the comments how my couple of days differed to yours.
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.
The Finals is a game i've heard people talk about, but as i don't have a PC good enough to play it (not just in terms of specs, but also the fact that my Laptop likes to restart/crash) and i currently don't have a PS5 it's not a game that was on my radar. i was surprised to see that it got a PS4 release a year after it came out and i was keen to give it a go, but also keen to see if the PS4 version felt noticeably lesser.
I decided to Live Stream my first playing of the game, but i did start it before to do any sign ups and log ins that might be necessary. So this Live Stream is my thoughts of the game as it happens. it starts off well with a decent tutorial on the main game mode. it ran well, looked great, and the loading times weren't bad. so it makes a great first impression. But it's second impression is rough.
We went from a simple, tiny tutorial map that showed how the game mode worked, to an actual game on a, in comparison, ginormous map with other teams and players. the tutorial hadn't told me what all my buttons do and it wasn't with team mates. the enemies in the tutorial were also extremely easy. This was too much and safe to say not only did my team lose, i personally felt terrible because of my own performance. Playing that game did unlock a character type, but again there was no tutorial. the third match was just as intimidating as the second. it was on a different map, too. and once again we lost and i was having a bad time with The Finals.
The fourth game was on another map but this time it felt like i had been matched with players closer to my level/skill level or that having someone higher levelled on our team really did make a difference. i hadn't worked out tactics, something again the game hadn't talk about during the tutorials, so all i knew was i had to get a vault to a cash out point. that was my main focus and it started well. this was the first game i had played where i felt like had contributed something.
But after this i was finally able to try something else, i wasn't being forced/coerced into doing what the game wanted. whilst this was great as i had the chance to play Snowball Blitz, it again also felt like i was being dumped into the "deep end," so to speak. thankfully Snowball Blitz was fun and a very welcomed break from banging my head against the game's main mode.
I did play more Cash Grab modes and more Snowball Blitz games, but it felt like i was getting better in spite of the game rather than because of the game's tutorial and helpfulness. but it shouldn't take an hour or more to get the basics of a game and start to feel useful. especially when The Final's came out in 2023. there was more than enough time to create a tutorial that builds up the game, one that introduces the game mode, the character types, and the home screen. i did not appreciate going from tutorial to game. i was not ready and i only kept on playing because i was live streaming it and making a video. if this was my own free time, i would've bounced. i wonder how many people had that same experience as me and just said no and stopped playing.
The thing is, The Finals isn't bad. there is something to it's gameplay look. there's just enough destruction to the environment to make things a little unpredictable and useful. one i enjoyed was using a rocket launcher to break a roof so the player from the opposing team running on it fell to the the floor and had to take a different route to an objective. momentum isn't quite as good as Titanfall or Mirror's Edge, but it's ok. i would've liked a little more aim assist/lock on with the guns but it often looked like i wasn't the only one having trouble. i also liked how, at the end of a game, i was able to see the game stats of my team mates and it was easy to not only compare my stats but also get a look at their customisations.
The PS4 version of The Finals is a great version of the game. in 2 hours of playing, the only issues i noticed were stuttering/buffering videos and one noticeable freeze. other than that, it worked great. But is The Finals a great game, that i don't think so. i would go so far as to say it's good, but that tutorial start to it is soo very rough it leaves a lasting negative impression that'll take time to get over.
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.
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.
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.
This is all 13 parts of my playthrough of Alternate Jake Hunter: Daedalus - The Awakening of Golden Jazz on PS4. i have cut out the deaths i had and at least one technical issue.
For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Crypt Custodian from Kyle Thompson and publisher Top Hat Studios.
I was interested in this because i really liked the art style, but i didn't know what it was before i started playing. Starting the game is pleasant as the initial load starts with a black cat that then turns ghostly white. i didn't understand the significance until the game starts with the revelation that we have died.
It's a good first impression, the art used for the icon is the same as the art in the game. the game uses the game world to do the tutorial, not worrying about linking it to the narrative. And then we get a broom and i can't believe that i called it, that i guessed correctly how this game would get us to being the custodian as we're only using the broom to clear the way.
I won't spoil the story, but once we get going the game kinda forgets to give us a purpose. up to this point, the game had been clear about what we're doing, where we're going, and then we're dropped into a new location. we know why we're there, we know that we're a custodian, but the game doesn't give us a reason to actually be one. regardless, i set off to explore this new area and it showcases some smart design decisions that aide accessibility.
The one i spotted quickly was that there's always a marker under our character, so when we're jumping gaps it's very clear our position in the world and it was never difficult. Another great thing is that every enemy we encountered has a "tell" as to when they're going to attack. sometimes it's the game showing us with an arrow where an archer is aiming, or a red marker showing an enemy is jumping to attack. for other enemies you can watch their movements and know that when they move their head up they're about to attack.
Couple those examples with nice environmental puzzles, and Crypt Custodian was a joy to play. But, it wasn't long before i realized that there's seemingly no way to heal outside of specific points on the map. after a couple of deaths i wasn't keen working my way to where i died to continue exploring. With no way to heal, it meant some of the trickier enemies started to become a chore and i became less keen on exploring. One thing i bought was an Objective Marker for my Map. at least i knew where i was meant to be going now.
Whilst travelling to our destination, the music was the perfect balance of BGM whilst also being interesting. the environments looked great on PS4, too. and when we got to an underground temple, the new story we learned was told very well.
But the lack of healing became frustrating again as there were only a couple of heal spots throughout the big dungeon. Thankfully there was one before the boss 'cause i died a few times and if i had to travel a long distance back to it i wouldn't have tried so many times and this would've been a shorter video. But i did try and i did succeed and then the demo does something great. it gives us the choice to end the demo OR we can take a newly learned and improved move and continue exploring the world. I chose to stop, but i appreciated being given the choice.
For me, Crypt Custodian felt like Cat Quest in many ways, but the lack of healing and some high level enemies also made it feel like it's more difficult than those 3 games in that series. But, if like me, you're a fan of the Cat Quest games and are wanting something a little more difficult, or maybe a more relatable serious story, than i do recommend Crypt Custodian. On PS4 it played great, it never felt like i was playing a worse version of the game. If you're unsure, i also highly recommend trying out the demo.
