Mobile Friday - Age of Empires Mobile - It Tells You, Lets You Do Soo Little It's Like Playing A QTE

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried Age of Empires Mobile from TiMi Studio Group on my #iPhone 14 Pro.

I’ve known of the Age of Empires series for a long time, it’s always been a game I’ve been curious about but I’ve never really had a PC/Laptop that could tackle it. When I saw there was a mobile version, I was really curious as to what they were going to do. Would it be a straight up PC port, would be a bespoke version of the game. Well, after trying out this mobile version, what ever it is I’m no longer interested in trying out other games in the series. 

I say it in the video, but this must be one of the best looking bad games I’ve played all year. Bugs aside, the game has issues throughout. However, it starts really strong setting up what I expected to be an interesting story and that’s essentially the last time I saw the story in this one hour video.

Age of Empires Mobile has this issue where it introduces something and then never brings it up again or never explains it. I’ve mentioned the story, but there are gameplay elements. There was a need for a scout, and it never happened again. There are bodies strewn about that we talk about but never acknowledge. We start in someone’s abandoned house but only spend a few minutes there as suddenly a whole town, with castle has been built, but not by us. Tho later we are able to put down things to be built, but it’s once everything has been built. 

Another issue is the game failing to answer the question “why”. This happens throughout this video so I’ll keep it to two. The first gameplay mechanic is our boat. I never built it. It was never introduced. It was just there and were tasked to go to an island and beat the bad guys there. Once done, we start earning a coin. Again, it’s never introduced what that coin is used for or that we earn it per hour.

We start the game with a French hero. We have play as that character in a very medieval European world. The game has built a medieval European town for us. And then the game stops and we can change civilization. WHAT? I don’t know why, it’s never told. I have no idea why and it was extremely frustrating at the time. I picked England, as I’m from England, and the game continues as if nothing has happened and it’s not discussed. 

Age of Empires Mobile feels like a game with many parts that are not connected. It doesn’t feel like an accessible game for new players, either. I don’t know how fans of the series would react to this game, it doesn’t feel like it was designed for them either. So I don’t know who this is built for, and as it is it’s not worth playing as in a way, do we even play it beyond pressing a button to complete a mission. 

Version 1.3.101 Played.

Switch Funday - Pokémon Unite - Battling Cynthia's Team In Solo Mode

For this Pokémon Unite video i wanted to try out the Solo Mode. at present, it's against Cynthia, from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. there are a set of challenges you're tasked with completing and in doing so you earn points. these points earn you in-game items. i show off these challenges after the first match and then again after the fifth match.  

Switch Funday - Pokémon Unite - Using All 6 Dragons In The Dragon Carnival

In Pokemon Unite there is a dragon Carnival taking place. this brings items to buy, challenges to complete, and new game mode. In this video i use all 6 available dragon type Pokemon in the new "Full-Burst Battle! Dragon Dustup" quick battle mode.

In this mode, it's only dragon types. i already have Duraludon so i started with it, but thankfully all the other dragon types are free to use in this mode. Out of the 7 matches i took part in, my teammates and I won 5 out of the 7!

Switch Funday - Pokémon Unite - 6 Matches From March's Panic Parade

Panic Parade is back so for Switch Funday i had to play it and start levelling up my stats. As everything has been reset from the previous Panic Parade, these 6 matches are a little slow and show me progressing up the difficulty rankings as i reach certain Wave targets. 

Online Saturday - Pokémon Unite - March’s Unite Weekend

Today's Online Saturday video is on Pokémon Unite. This is the first full weekend of March so it's a Unite Weekend. this means i'm able to use any Pokémon i want in the unranked online modes. my goal with these weekends is to try out several new Pokémon i don't have and hopefully find some new favorites. 

This might be the last of these videos for a while as i only have 2 Pokémon who i haven't played as. For today, the real surprise was Gyarados. i had a lot of fun using it. as Magikarp, it's not very powerful but once it evolved it dominated. it honestly feels a little broken and will probably be rebalanced, either as Gyarados or perhaps making you use Magikarp for a couple more levels. I didn't enjoy playing as Mew or Gengar, they were a bit too frail for how i like to play and Gengar in particular didn't seem to hit as hard as i expected it would. Zacian and Urshifu were strong as you'd expect for legendries and i had some fun with them. It was kinda more fun to play as Metagross's previous evolutions as they moved much quicker than it did. but overall it was fine to use. Out of all of these, there wasn't a Pokémon that stood out as a must buy. 

Switch Funday - Pokémon Unite - February’s Unite Weekend

Today's Switch Funday video is on Pokémon Unite. as this is the first full weekend of February, it's a Unite Weekend. this means i'm able to use any Pokemon i want in the unranked online modes. my goal with these weekends is to try out several new Pokémon i don't have and hopefully find some new favorites.

Today, i played at the Shivre City map, it's a 4 vs 4 map so it's a little different from the other Unite Weekend videos i've done. So i came away from this weekend not really feeling great about any of the Pokémon i used. Crustle was a surprise and i scored a lot with it. I don't think i understood Hoopa, and Garchomp didn't seem to have a great selection of moves. Mewtwo was fine, Blissey wasn't, and ending with Lucario was alright but it never felt as strong as i thought it should be.

Online Saturday - Pokémon Unite - 7 More Failed Attempts To Win Panic Parade

Today's Online Saturday video is on #PokémonUnite. My goal in Panic Parade is to beat consistently. So far, my team mates and I have only managed to beat it once. All my stats for my Pokémon are level 4 at the start of today's video.

Today, things felt more consistent. my team mates and I were able to get to Wave 13 more often than not. But match 6 was the worst as my team mates seemed incapable of reading map and were more interested in chasing the enemy rather than being ready for them. Tyranitar is a Pokémon i have recently bought and i thought was doing great, but we didn't get to see all it can do. so i will use it again next time. 

I will own up that it was my mistake which meant that the chance we had in Match 7 to win was lost.  But other than that, i felt like i had a great day of play. I had, at times, some great team mates as well. it's just a little weird that after 6 videos, 7 matches each, my team mates and I have only managed to beat Panic Parade once. I got 3 stats up to max level 5 so maybe next time we'll have more luck.

Online Saturday - Pokémon Unite - 7 More Panic Parade Matches With No Win

Today's Online Saturday video is on Pokémon Unite. My goal in Panic Parade is to beat consistently. So far, my team mates and I have only managed to beat it once and unfortunately that continues today. This means that out of the 35 matches i've done, my team mates and I have only managed to beat it once. By the final match with Pikachu, all my stats are level 4, so not quite max level. I feel like i played good today, but some of my team mates play like they've never seen an in-game map before. Match 5 was especially annoying!

Switch Funday - Pokémon Unite - January’s Unite Weekend

Today's Switch Funday video is on Pokémon Unite. as this is the first full weekend of January, it's a Unite Weekend. this means i'm able to use any Pokémon i want in the unranked online modes. my goal with these weekends is to try out several new Pokémon i don't have and hopefully find some new favorites. 

I think i have influenza so i chose not to commentate after the intro. it also meant i wasn't playing my best and with some Pokémon i wasn't have a great time. The Pokémon i enjoyed the most using was Tyranitar. it's not a Pokémon i see often being used and i don't know why as it is strong and i thought it delt a lot of damage. I didn't find the new Meowscarada fun to use, i felt the same with the recently released Mimikyu. Lapras was far to slow and didn't seem to have enough bulk or deal enough damage. Espeon and Dragapult were fine. i did enjoy Dragapult's Unite Move, but i don't think i enjoyed either enough to buy them.

Online Saturday - Pokémon Unite - Another 7 Panic Parade Matches, But No Win

Today's Online Saturday video is on Pokémon Unite. My goal in Panic Parade is to beat consistently. So far, my team mates and I have only managed to beat it once and unfortunately that continues today. even with the better stats my Pokémon had, in these 7 matches we didn't really come close to beating Panic Parade.

I discover a great set for Venusaur that worked well and that i enjoyed using. so try out Sludge Bomb and Petal Dance!

Online Saturday - Pokémon Unite - 7 Panic Parade Matches, Beating It In My 5th Match

Today's Online Saturday video is on Pokémon Unite. My goal in Panic Parade is to beat it. I have done 14 matches so far and not come close. But in today's 7 matches my team mates and I did it. in the 5th match, with Alolan Ninetails, we beat all 15 waves of Pokémon!

I did record a commentary track but it got corrupted. So enjoy 7 matches without commentary.

Online Saturday - Pokémon Unite - 7 More Panic Parade Matches

Today's Online Saturday video is on Pokémon Unite. My goal in Panic Parade is to beat it. last video, https://youtu.be/DAtMquAG-vA, i got to the final difficulty level and in this video my aim was for my teams and I to beat it. unfortunately, neither of us were able to get to wave 15 nor finish it. it seemed like wave 13 was the best we could get to. nevertheless, it was a fun time. there's commentary during this videos because i wanted to relax today, so sit back and enjoy the matches.

Online Saturday - Pokémon Unite - 7 Panic Parade Matches

Today's Online Saturday video is on Pokémon Unite. Panic Parade is back for this year's winter season and i was keen to play it. the last time Panic Parade was available as a game mode was back in August. in this mode, instead of it being Player vs Player (PvP) it's Players vs Enemies (PvE). So it's 5 of us up against the computer. The enemies come at us in waves. in these 7 videos, we work our way up the difficulty levels. the higher the difficulty level, the more waves we face.

The goal is to play, get as far as you can, and earn event points. when you have enough points, you can spend them on levelling up your stats and these will be applied to any Pokémon you use. With better stats, you can go further and earn more coins, which can be spent on leveling up your stats. there are also other things to buy in the store if you complete Panic Parade.

Switch Funday - Pokémon Unite - December's Unite Weekend

Today's Switch Funday video is on Pokémon Unite. as this is the first full weekend of December, it's a Unite Weekend. this means i'm able to use any #Pokemon i want in the unranked online modes. my goal with these weekends is to try out several new #pokémon i don't have and hopefully find some new favorites. 

I got a bit confused at first and did a quick match before realizing that i wanted to do standard match. so the first part of the video is different from the next 5.

As for this Pokemon Unite weekend, i went in wanting to give a few Pokémon a go. one of them was Clefable. it's a Pokémon i used to use a lot in Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow, so it was a nostalgia pick. Scizor was a Pokémon i was curious about. i wondered if it would be a strong physical attacker and it was. i enjoyed my time with it and may get it in the future. up next was, what i thought, a sillier choice but also one that uses ranged attacks. Cramorant is a Pokémon i've never used before in any game and i didn't expect much from it here. but i was pleasantly surprised how useful it became. It's #Unite move is a little risky as we essentially become a turret stuck in place, but i had a much better time with it than expected. it's another Pokémon i wouldn't mind having. Delphox was a Pokémon i was curious about as to whether the game would lean into the physic or fire moves. ultimately, i didn't have a great time using it. But whilst using it i was reminded about Mr. Mime and that's what i used in the 5th video. i have played against many Mr. Mimes and they all seem to use barriers. i wanted to see what other moves it got and i had fun using Physic and Power Zap, it was great being able to attack and move a lot. i didn't take full advantage of it's Unite move, but it's now a Pokémon i wouldn't mind having. I finished with Sylveon as i'm making my way through the Eeveelutions. I didn't have as much fun with it as i have had with Leafeon and Glaceon so i probably won't be getting it any time soon.

Online Saturday - Pokémon Unite - November's Unite Weekend

Today's Online Saturday video is on Pokémon Unite. as this is the first full weekend of November, it's a Unite Weekend. this means i'm able to use any Pokémon i want in the unranked online modes. my goal with these weekends is to try out several new Pokémon i don't have and hopefully find some new favorites. 

As well as the Unite Weekend, there is a Halloween event in Pokémon Unite in the Quick Matches. I tried a quick match but didn't think much of it so i won't do a video on the Halloween Event. it's simply adding Pokémon themed pumpkins around the map and turning your Pokémon into a giant round pumpkin.

As for this Pokémon Unite Weekend, i went in wanting to give Charizard a go, but other than that i didn't have a plan. i wanted to try Charizard for it's long range attacking and i felt it went really well, i had fun. After that, i tried Machamp as i enjoyed being more attacking. i'm not typically a big fan of close range melee, but i actually enjoyed using Machamp. both Charizard and Machamp were so much fun that they could be the next Pokémon i get a license for. As for the other Pokemon, i didn't have much fun with Wigglytuff, Goodra was OK but perhaps i should've tried different moves. Glaceon was fun, but like Goodra i think i didn't pick the best moves for how i play. And i don't think i quite grasped how to use Aegislash. 

Online Saturday - Pokémon Unite - August's Unite Weekend

Today's Online Saturday video is on Pokémon Unite. i've recently learned that the first weekend of the month is a Unite weekend in Pokémon Unite. This means i can use any Pokémon i want BUT only in the standard Unite game mode. i had to discover this for myself as it's not mentioned.

So the first video is a ranked match, which my team wins, and then i head to the shop as i wondered if i had to "buy" the free license. i checked the schedule and it took me straight to Unite mode so i guessed i had to change the game mode from Ranked Unite to Standard Unite and this worked.

So in this video, each game i play my team wins and in each match i use a different Pokémon. There's an extra Ranked match at the end as technically it was the first match i did but my recording crashed during it, so i put it at the end at there's no commentary.

Switch Funday - Pokémon Unite - Trying The 2nd Anniversary Stuff

For Switch Funday, i played Pokémon Unite. i've played a little bit over the last couple of years. often logging in to get some item or to check out an event. so whilst i do some complaining in this video, these aren't surprises to me as i've been complaining about them, not on video for this site but personally, since the game came out.

The second anniversary began on the 21st July and the main thing i wanted to check out was the new game mode. in this new Panic Parade! mode, your team of 5 Pokemon have to face wave after wave of "enemy" Pokémon whilst also protecting a Tinkaton. i wasn't able to beat this mode, getting stuck at Wave 10 a couple of times, as it's genuinely quite difficult. But it's also refreshing different from the game's main 5-on-5 Unite Battle Mode whilst also sticking to familiar rules.

As for my complaints with the game, i'll say that Unite and Panic Parade are fun and i don't have issues with them. i would like me favourite Pokémon, Jumpluff, in the game but i imagine many others would also like theirs. Even after 2 years, it's a little surprising and annoying that the game's main home screen is awash of buttons and icons and in my case lot's of little red dots. and these menus are often just a little slow to load to be annoying, too. i would like to load into the game and be given the choice to deal with all the red dots or just play. i wonder if i can link my Switch account with the game version on phones just so that it maybe easier to deal with all that stuff on phones.

But it was nice coming back. i didn't realise that Panic Parade is a limited time thing that ends in, at the time or writing, a day or so. but i may continue to play Pokémon Unite more than before as i had fun. and who knows, maybe i'll eventually begin to understand the whole Energy Rewards thing!