Online Saturday - Tower of Fantasy - A Few Too Many Issues On PS4

Today's Online Saturday game is Tower of Fantasy from Hotta Studio. This game is out on other platforms and has been for a little while now. The game is now out on PS4 and PS5. Today, i played this free to play game on PS4 and unfortunately, there were issues throughout the video.

After playing this game for an hour i feel like it's done very little to introduce me to the world or the characters. it's fine that i have amnesia, but the introduction before that was a lot of nothing. and when we meet other characters, the game tries to introduce them to us but everything feels soo shallow. almost as if i should already know a lot of the things they are saying even tho they already know i have amnesia. This means that there are also several conversations where the other characters say things that go against what's happened in the story so far. it leaves me wondering if i'm not the only one with amnesia or if it's just poor world building.

Then there are issues with the game itself. i was expecting my PS4 to be loud, and it is. i was expecting there to be loading times, and there are. but i wasn't prepared for the stuttering that happens a lot in this video. i can't say for sure whether it's the game itself or the connection to the server as in this video that connection is lost twice in an hour. It was easy for me to tell because my PS4 would go quiet before the game realizes what happened and ask to reconnect. what has to be the game is the pop-in. it's everywhere and i'm sure there are even textures just not loading at all. there was an instance early on where there were candles. some lit up as i got closer. some waited until i was on top of them, but some stayed strangely unlit.

The pop-in is frustrating and does take me out of the world, which is a shame because the world is bright, vibrant, and impressive. and yet, it also feels small. we were able to traverse the map much quicker than i thought and the biggest tower felt kinda small and not quite matching the description of what should be on top. Something else that became distracting was animations not finishing. i set the game to playout the conversations at it's own pace. i wasn't going to interfere with them. and yet, characters seemed to be missing animation frames, seemingly going from having an animated conversation to finished in an instant. That's not the only issue with the conversation system, as sometimes it forgets it's set to auto and just stops, waiting for me to press X to continue it on the controller.

There are a few other things you may see, and hear me complain about in this video, but it all boils down to a game that fails to tutorialise, fails to build a world, and fails to be stable. it's possible over the next few hours the story and world building will continue to improve. but it's hard to ignore the tech issues and poor tutorial to get there. so for now i won't be playing Tower of Fantasy and i don't recommend it on PS4. Yes, it's free, but there becomes a point when it's still a waste of your time.

(Version 1.10 Played)

Cloud Monday - Ghostbusters: The Video Game - Remastered - Part 2 - A Better Streaming Experience

Today's Cloud Monday is part 2 of playing Ghostbusters: The Video Game - Remastered on PS4 via the PlayStation Plus Premium Cloud Streaming Service.

In part 1, https://youtu.be/-nblypjQEv8, there were many instances of streaming issues. most were small and didn't affect gameplay, but they were distracting and detracted from the overall presentation of the game. But, in this series i play the games twice to check what an average playing experience is like. and for Ghostbusters: The Videogame Remastered this was a good thing as i felt that it was better, more consistent, this time round than part 1.

I didn't make much progress into the story, i think when i played this when it first came out i played it on an easier difficult level to focus more on the story being told rather than the gameplay. i don't remember it being this difficult. the game has thrown a lot of enemies at us so far. as there wasn't a let up in the action, i paused the game to do some upgrades which genuinely felt like they mattered. i feel like i was close to the next big bit of story, rather than the action to action that had been happening recently, but it was feeling a little clunky by today's standards. it felt like there was more fights than needed and sometimes more talking than what's needed. i wonder if it was padded out a little to make it a longer game.

Streaming from PlayStation Plus Premium wasn't faultless, but it was noticeably better than in part 1. the biggest difference between the two videos is the frequency of the issues. both had them, but they were far more frequent in part 1. We did get a warning in part 2 about the connection, but even then i didn't notice a big drop in resolution or issues like Macroblocking. the issues today was far less of an issue and not that distracting.

I feel that Ghostbusters: The Video Game - Remastered is a fine game to stream. when there are issues they don't seem to get in the way of gameplay. but due to the game's graphical style, it is often noticeable when they occur. 

Backlog Conquering - Deliver us the Moon - The Seventh and Final Hour

This is the seventh and final video in the Backlog Conquering series featuring the game Deliver us the Moon being played on PS4. After getting stuck in yesterday's video, i looked up what i was doing wrong and was shocked that i had missed that one of the fuel cells was empty! Once i knew what to look for getting to the end of the game was fairly straightforward. There was a welcomed plot twist right near the end as well as another surprise after the initial credit sequence.

Backlog Conquering - Deliver us the Moon - The Sixth Hour, or so

This is the sixth video in the Backlog Conquering series featuring the game Deliver us the Moon being played on PS4. I think we are near the end as in this video we got a lot of story. many questions were answered, and we explored a lot of the station. The video ends with me being somewhat stuck with a puzzle. i know what the pieces are, i know how it should work, but by the end i hadn't worked out one part.

Backlog Conquering - Deliver us the Moon - The Fifth Hour, or so

This is the fifth video in the Backlog Conquering series featuring the game Deliver us the Moon being played on PS4. this video may seem a little slower than some of the more recent videos, but that's because there was a lot of story, puzzles, and action all centred in on place. So please sit back, relax, and watch how the story continues to unfold.

Backlog Conquering - Deliver us the Moon - The Fourth Hour, or so

This is the fourth video in the Backlog Conquering series featuring the game Deliver us the Moon being played on PS4. We spent some more time on the moon and in this video, there were a few tense moments. Watch as this amazing story continues to unfolds!

Backlog Conquering - Deliver us the Moon - The Third Hour

This is the third video in the Backlog Conquering series featuring the game Deliver us the Moon being played on PS4. Today's video has less death than yesterday's video! Plus we get to drive on the moon, too. so, sit back and enjoy the evolving story!

 

Backlog Conquering - Deliver us the Moon - The Second Hour

This is the second video in the Backlog Conquering series featuring the game Deliver us the Moon being played on PS4.In this video, things get a little tougher and there are a few deaths. But we do get to the moon in this video!

Backlog Conquering - Deliver us the Moon - The First Hour

In yesterday's video, i finished Gley Lancer and teased that the next video would also have a space theme. Well the next game in the Backlog Conquering series is Deliver us the Moon on PS4 by Wired Productions.

In this video, i play through the first hour and have a great time. i'm excited to play again for next week's videos as the story is very interesting. watch the video and let me know what you think, too!

Backlog Conquering - Gley Lancer - The Final Video!

This is the final video in the Gley Lancer series. watch as i finish the game and then go after it's platinum trophy!

Backlog Conquering - Gley Lancer - A Sixth 30 Minutes or so

This is the sixth video in the Gley Lancer Backlog Conquering series. In the last video you saw that i got stuck on what i thought might've been the boss character. Well in this video i made big progress! Tho, it required the use of the game's rewind feature. Watch and find out how far i got after that stumbling block!

Backlog Conquering - Gley Lancer - A Fifth 30 Minutes or so

This is the fifth video in the Gley Lancer Backlog Conquering series. I managed to get to level 5 in the last video but got stuck at one specific point in the level. Watch this video and find out if i made any progress.

Backlog Conquering - Gley Lancer - A Fourth 30 Minutes or so

This is the fourth video in the Gley Lancer Backlog Conquering series. After being stuck on level 4 through the previous video, watch and see if a couple of days break helped me beat the stage.

Backlog Conquering - Gley Lancer - A Third 30 Minutes or so

Today is Wednesday and that means a return to the Backlog Conquering series. Last Wednesday and Thursday saw me playing through Gley Lancer. feel free to watch those videos and see me get to level 4. in today's video, i spend another 30 minutes playing the game trying to finish it. watch and find out how far i get.

Backlog Conquering - Gley Lancer - The Second 30 Minutes or so

Today is Thursday and that means it's the second Backlog Conquering day of the week.
Today i continue to play Gley Lancer on the PS4.

Part 1 came out yesterday, and can be found here. Part 3 will come out next Wednesday when Backlog Conquering returns.

Watch and see if i'm able to get past the third stage in Gley Lancer!

Backlog Conquering - Gley Lancer - The First 30 Minutes or so

Today is Wednesday and that means it's a Backlog Conquering day!
Today i start playing Gley Lancer on the PS4.

Part 1 is today and part 2 will come out tomorrow. 

Watch and see how far i get in my first ever go at playing Gley Lancer!