Mobile Friday - Oops Dragon - An Idle RPG That Gets The Basics Right

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out Oops Dragon. I Played this on my iPhone 14 Pro.

There are two reasons why i decided to try this game. the first is the name. it's fun and ridiculous. I was very curious how they were going to refer back to the name in the game. Honestly, in this video i don't think i get an answer about where the name comes into it other than there are dragons to fight. The second reason why i wanted to play this was to see if this really is a game or if it's one of those "scam" games that are mostly adverts with some gaming inbetween. Oops Dragon's iOS page doesn't have any in-game screenshots, it's just artwork, so i didn't even know how it'd look. at least with this, i can say that yes it's a game.

It's not the most complicated game, but what's important is that they got the basics right and have a great platform to build from. there's a decent, if a little slow, tutorial that showed everything we needed to do. The game's idle mechanic didn't get in the way of gameplay and whilst i quickly understood the loop of the game, it took around 40 minutes before the grind, and the need to turn it off and wait, emerged. Another great feature about this game is that there are no intrusive ads. the game has some self promotion, which i wasn't too concerned with, but other than that there were no ads in this video. the game gave us the choice to watch them, and would've rewarded us with in-game benefits if we did.

Oops Dragon is a game that can be played on handed. coupled with no ads and no additional downloads, Oops Dragon comes across as a great choice for commuters or casual players. there are some "auto" features, too. the main aim of the game is to collect vases, break the vases, and equip better equipment. in doing so, we're able to progress further into the game, level up, and get better vases. We're able to automate most of this. the game plays itself in the background, we can automate vases being destroyed, attacks are automated to. what's left for us is choosing whether to equip the better equipment and to level up stuff. 

Oops Dragon does have a couple of minor issues that don't really get in the way, but stick out mostly because of how solid the rest of it is. The one that annoyed me the most was the lack of a countdown timer for when things recharge, or an in-game tutorial explaining how to recharge them if it's not a countdown timer. The other is the music and sound effects. each area as a different song, but it's fairly obvious when it loops. and the sound effect of breaking a vase was grating so when i found out how to turn it off, i did. the tutorial could've pointed us towards the settings as it's not in the most obvious place.

Oops Dragon is certainly one of the better idle games i've played this year and a solid choice for younger gamers, casual gamers, but i would say it's got enough depth for more "seasoned" gamers too. I do recommend downloading it and trying it out.

Version 1.0.5 Played.

Mobile Friday - Block Cat Jam - A Simple Puzzle Game With Repetitive Audio And Many Intrusive Ads

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out Block Cat Jam, also known as Box Cat Jam : Block Match, from developers Actionfit. I Played this on my iPhone 14 Pro, but it's also out on Android.

I had been wanting to play a puzzle game for a little while now and i was curious about this one. it was being regularly updated and the screenshots in the app store showed some interesting ideas. But it turned out to be a bit more basic than i anticipated.

One of the first things i noticed was how the Dynamic Island got in the way of the icons at the top of the game screen. it was clear that this game had been designed on another platform and then brought across to the iPhone, or an older model of iPhone at the very least. For some reason, the music was turned off by default and what i assumed to be the vibration never seemed to work, tho it's possible it was soo weak that i just didn't notice it.

What tutorial there is is fine. it's just text across the screen. it could've been more in-depth with videos or even a gif, but at first this is fine. where this hands off approach goes wrong is when power-ups are introduced. it wasn't clear until the level they're introduced was over that you have to pay for them. often, games will have special built levels and force you to use one as an example, saying that this first time is free to practice and then you'll have to pay for them. this is a simple thing this game misses out on as each level has 3 stages, so they could've introduced the power-up on the first stage and got us to use it as practice on the first and second stages, leaving the third stage to see if we could work it out for ourselves. 

This type of missing out is noticeable throughout this demo. there are soo many areas where things could've been improved or added to. for example, the cats on the home screen can't be interacted with, nor can you interact with the cat tree. one easy change would be to interact with them, but there's more you could do like having collectables in levels that can be used to customise the home screen. The music and sound effects are far too repetitive, and the cats are mostly the same base design with different colors.

But the thing that frustrated me the most are the adverts. if this game had kept the bottom adverts, i would've probably been fine. i would've liked the bottom buttons brought up a little higher away from the adverts to avoid mis-clicks, but for the most part those adverts were simple pictures or gifs. things that typically won't eat much into mobile data plans. but then the game introduced full screen video ads or ads you can play. these came with no warning whatsoever so already it came across as rude. but the frequency of these adverts was also frustrating. everytime you went from the home screen to a level, there's an advert. every time you finished the 3 stages in a level and moved to the next level, there's an advert. There are so many that i'm concerned that they'll eat into mobile data plans.

Having two sets of frequent adverts, especially the full screen ones rudely interrupting my gaming experience, coupled with the basic nature of the game and repetitiveness of many of the assets, made me come away from Block Cat Jam feeling disappointed and frustrated. i can't recommend this game, the gaming experience is just too negative and there maybe other games doing this style of puzzle better. best to avoid it.

Version 9.0 Played.

Mobile Friday - Slime Hunter: Monster Rapmage - An Approachable Roguelike That Needs More Tutorials

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out Slime Hunter: Monster Rapmage from Rainbow Rabbit Games.  I Played this on my iPhone 14 Pro, but it's also out on Android.

Typically, i'm not a fan of roguelike games. often, they can be quite difficult and not very accessible. But on the Appstore, Slime Hunter: Monster Rapmage lists itself as a "Hyper Casual Shooting Roguelike" and i was very curious about this claim so that's why i wanted to try it.

For the most part, i think that it does succeed. it starts with a "cute" video and carries that into the tutorial with a Slime acting as your teacher. graphically, it's not highly detailed but it all works together. Even the music comes across as casual. So in playing it, i didn't feel the pressure and frustration that often comes with roguelikes.

But where this game stumbles is another important aspect of roguelikes, it fails to explain the loop. In roguelikes, there's often a reason why your character fails. sometimes it's how you learn what comes next, whether that's in a level or what a boss does next. in other games, you use the time between loops to level up and improve your stats by spending a gathered material. In Slime Hunter: Monster Rapmage, you're collecting money, equipable items, and materials for those items. But the game never tells you to go and equip, it never tells you to level up items, and it never shows you how to do either. 

The tutorial had been so good so the fact it stops at such a critical point in the game is a big mistake. Slime Hunter: Monster Rapmage's loop is simple, you do a level and get as far as you can. If your character levels up, you can improve your stats. if you have collected an item, you can equip it, and if you have collected materials you can use them to improve those items you've equipped. Once that's done, you go back in with the aim of going further.

During these journeys in the dungeons, the controls are nice and simple. your character will shoot it's weapon when it's not moving and you move your character with a single finger touching the screen. by double tapping, tho sometimes i felt like this didn't work that well, it activates a super attack. This one handed gameplay is great for those commuting but also means it's very accessible for a larger audience. Helping you are relics. at certain points in these dungeons, you will unlock 3 relics and get to choose 1 to equip. there's a large variety of them and they affect gameplay in different ways, but typically either attacking the enemy or boosting your stats. These are random so each run in a dungeon is going to feel different and helps mitigate the repetitive nature of roguelikes.

I do recommend Slime Hunter: Monster Rapmage. it is disappointing the tutorial stops at the critical point of explaining the loop of the game. this will put some people off. but with a little exploration of the menus, many will work out what to do. It's a recent release so there's a good chance things will get even better. So i would recommend it to play now but also to keep on your phone and check out it's updates to see if they do improve the tutorials and make things easier enough for you.

Mobile Friday - Honkai: Star Rail - A Good Console Game On Mobile, But Not A Good Mobile Game

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out Honkai: Star Rail on my iPhone 14 Pro. This game from miHoYo and Cognosphere  is also out on Android, PS5, and  PC.

Honkai: Star Rail is Apple 's iPhone game of the year for 2023 so as i'm thinking about my own top 5 games of the year, i was keen to play this game that i somehow missed when it first came out.

But, you must play the first hour of this game on Wifi as there are TWO content downloads you must do to play the game. there's a small, in comparison to the second one, download before the game starts and there's a second that's 12GB in size before we've even finished the first tutorial part of the game! I'll be clear, this means the game won't be my Number 1 game of 2023 as these additional downloads mean the game isn't designed for mobile players. Such things are from MMO's on PC and Consoles and are tolerated there because they have an online connection. but on Mobile where people have data caps, it's not acceptable. 

Something else about how the game plays makes me think that the game was developed first on consoles and/or PC first is how the camera works, especially in comparison to how the character moves. the camera is much slower to move, often requiring greater thumb movement, whilst the player character moves much faster. In this video you'll see and sometimes here how i have to move my thumb on and off the my phone to try and keep up. This makes playing the game handheld a little less stable. there's no Bluetooth controller support either.

Something we see more and more on current gen consoles and that has existed on PC for a long time are graphical options. they're here, too. But implemented in a much poorer way. there's no information provided as to what changes each option does to the game, how much performance is lost or gained, or even what's recommended for the phone you're playing it on. So far, all these things make the game feel like a so-so port of Honkai: Star Rail from console and PC to iPhone.

I'll be the first to admit than an hours look at this game isn't enough. i don't know if there are other additional downloads, for example, nor do i know if the game's story improves over the issues i had with it in the beginning. One of the things that stood out the most was how the games describes what's happening to the station we're on whilst what i saw didn't match that. the station is under attack, there are enemies and fights, and i just saw a couple of enemies hanging out. there seemed to be no damage to the station, no alerts or alarms, and no real haste from the characters. This issue came up near the end when one character says they're going to check up on another. we later meet up and they tell us the situation with that character. then we meet that character and how it looks in-game doesn't match the description and then it goes on to act like this is it's first time meeting any of us. It's like the story telling and the designers aren't talking to each other, or it could be a translation issue. what ever it is, it took me out of the game.

The game does look amazing. the heat on my phone gives the impression that it is being pushed somewhat hard by this game. the music is good, too. the design is bright and clear, and the UI is generally smart if a little small at times. the game does make great use of the screen and the dynamic island never got in the way of things. So there are many positives about this game, but if i was given the choice of playing this on phone or console, i'd go with console. 

(Version 1.5.0 Played)

Mobile Friday - Geo Gods - Minor Issues Don’t Distract From Solid Card Gameplay

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out Geo Gods, another game developed by Arnold Rauers as i had previously checked out Miracle Merchant https://youtu.be/kpCxEvBWk4w, with art by Alba Ballesta González and sound and music by Marie Havemann. I played this on iOS but it's out on Android, too.

Geo Gods is an interesting card game in that it doesn't matter if you win as your score is an average taken from 6 games. each card is a god and the gods are placed onto a garden. each god has an ability that affects the field or the gods in your deck and each god has an elemental type. by the side of the field are 6 elemental power crystals, each with a power target. the goal is to get enough of each type of god on the field to activate a power crystal with bonus points awarded for getting all 6 in a round.

That was the first hint that it may be difficult to get all 6, and in the 6 games i played in this video i never got all 6 crystals. It's an interesting challenge as each god card has an ability that can have a positive or negative effect on either the garden field, your deck, or mana that's needed to put down the god cards. each spot in the garden also has a cost needed to put a card on it, but also a reward that it earns for activating a power crystal. 

This sounds difficult, and in-game the lengthy wordy tutorial does make it seem that way. but the game is still very playable. i may not have got all 6 crystals when i played and i may not have fully understood it, but as i played and tried again i did feel like i was learning and getting better. so it's very playable.

For me tho, some of the wording made things unclear. like after a game it says quit or restart. i feel that both words are wrong as quit sounds like the 6 games are ended and restart sounds like you start the 6 again from the beginning. i also felt that some of the card abilities didn't work as i expected them to from their description. maybe in trying to get the description to fit on the card, their choice of English was perhaps not clear enough.

But those are fairly minor and don't get in the way of some good card playing. what did frustrate me was learning on the home screen that i don't have all the cards because i haven't bought the game. this also meant that  mode, clearly labeled on the home screen, was also unplayable. it left me wondering if i actually can't finish the game because i don't have all the cards, whether those locked cards are more powerful. essentially, it was a bad user experience. 

But as the game has no intrusive adverts, or any adverts, nor does it have an additional download once started, i would say it's a great game to pick up and play. it's a little rough around the edges and that can be patched later. thankfully the core card game experience makes it a game that you can play one match of quickly or sit down and play 6 like i did in this video.

Mobile Friday - Tower of God: NEW WORLD - A Fantastic First Hour

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out Tower of God: NEW WORLD by netmarble on my iPhone Pro 14.

This game came out this week and it's not often i play a brand new game. especially one that's highly anticipated as this game is based on the Webtoon Tower of God, and it's subsequent anime. I've not seen either, tho i think i've seen a trailer or two for the anime.

on the iOS App Store, there are a couple of images, but they don't really get across what this game is, and honestly i didn't read the description. so starting the game, i didn't quite know what to expect. i liked that the game asks if i wanted to download all the voice data. so this means that the game is playable but it either downloads the voices as and when it needs them or is silent. i chose to download them all and it's a download, 2.62GB! But after playing the game, it's something i would recommend doing. i'm on Wifi so i wasn't worried about data caps, and if you're on Wifi i think you should go ahead and download it as i found the voices to be well done and in such a story heavy game i do think it adds to the experience. Plus, there's a cool video that plays whilst it downloads the data and when the video finishes there's information on a bunch of the games characters with cool art.

There is a lot of story in this game and for some, that's not what they want in a mobile game. the game is designed as a mobile game first. a great example is how battles work as i didn't control them. i have an option to use special moves or i can let the game use them automatically. meaning, as a mobile gamer we have the option to watch the action which can be useful when commuting. Another impressive way the game is designed with mobile in mind are the graphic options. i accidently started the video with low settings and around half way changed them to highest. but low the low settings actually looked quite good, plus my phone didn't heat up and it would help with battery life. once i changed to the highest settings i quickly felt my phone getting hotter and by the end of the video my battery was lower than expected, too. so if you're far from a battery pack or charger, you can set the graphics to low and still enjoy it. but if you're at home or plugged in, you can set it to the max your phone can do and enjoy the graphics.

The game has a unique graphically presentation because it isn't limited to the phones screen. the characters are big, everything is big and fills the screen. but there are often times they go beyond the screen, almost as if the game was designed for bigger screens like iPads. with everything being so big and the graphics and artstyles working so well, it's easy to get lost and be absorbed into the world. i wasn't distracted by anything, it was incredibly effective in grabbing my focus. it's kinda cinematic in that respect.

Something else that's unique about the game is what kind of game it is. it would be difficult to say it's simply an RPG. what we play as "ourself" is more RPG than what we play when we're Ban. His side of the game is more like a story based game. it's interesting that these two stories are split. "Our" story is the Adventure Mode and Ban's story is the Story Mode. it looks like both need to be played to get the full story. as i've not watched the Webtoon or Anime, i don't know how accurate either is, but if i was to guess Ban's story would be closer to the Webtoon/Anime and "Our" story is probably new. I put "our" in quotes because i don't know who i am in the game. we have a name that we create, but other than that there's not been any physical representation of us in the game. so i'm playing it, but i don't know who "i" am.

The game isn't perfect. i feel like the tutorial could be better incorporated into the story and spaced out a bit more. i feel like the shop is available too early and not explained as we have no sense of worth/value in this game and yet the game expects us to be able to make a purchase decision. And by the time the video ends, i felt like the game could've chimed in with a reminder to level up as the battles were beginning to take longer. but in the grand scheme of the game as a whole, this are minor quibbles.  

Tower of God: NEW WORLD is a game that i recommend. it's one you could play straight from download, but i would download the voice pack first and then go out and play the game. i played for an hour and barely scratched the surface of this game. there were many other modes and menus locked. so for a free to play game, it offers a lot and doesn't throw endless adverts at you either. 

Mobile Friday - Liquid Cat Puzzle - A Cute Smart Puzzle Game That Handles Adverts Smartly

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out Liquid Cat Puzzle by Hoshiyadori.

I chose this game mostly because i liked the art style and thought the cats looked cute. i was curious as to how Liquid Cats would be used in a game and how the puzzle sections would work.

First off, in this video i don't really find out an answer about the Liquid Cats. but this game does have a little story so we do know that something happened to the seas changing them from blue to rainbow and since that happened the Liquid Cats had started appearing. we also know that they drink much more water than normal cats. in what i played, Liquid Cats are more like a collectable that gives the player certain power ups and abilities. so one goal of the game is to collect them all, to level them up, and to find the best team for each scenario.

The two main modes are Puzzle Mode and Battle Mode. Puzzle Mode acts like the game's story mode. by completing all the levels in a stage, you unlock more of the story. Battle Mode is, i assume, an online mode where you face off against 3 other players to see who can get the highest score in 1 minute. i was surprised by this mode as it seemed to work really well. tho i'm not too sure how the ranking system works or how it matches players together.

As i played i unlocked two other modes, VIP Stage and Event Mode. VIP works with tickets you earn in-game and its a place where you have to beat increasingly difficult stages. but in doing so you unlock rarer Liquid Cats that are stronger than the normal ones. The Event Mode seems to be something that'll change meaning the available Liquid Cats will also change with each new Event.

One of the biggest praises i can give the game is how it manages adverts. this is a free to play game and in recent weeks i've played many which have been lazy in dealing with adverts. those games have taken up the whole screen, disrupted game play, and generally been rude with them. this game does have adverts but they only take up the middle of the screen. they're not long and this screen also comes with a useful tip. by the time you've read it and understood it you're often free to continue as the advert has finished. the game also gives warnings about them. on the home screen, a balloon flies across the screen. i went to pop it and the game warned me that it'll play an advert and i'll get a reward. this is how games should use adverts.

because of this, i can actually recommend this game for those playing outside of wi-fi. there's no additional download either. there's a lot to do in the game, so much so i won't actually be deleting it and i'll play it in my own time. if i have to pick a negative it's the soundtrack. it doesn't quite match what's happening on screen. it's a bit too chiptune whilst the graphics and clear, bold, and cute. the chiptune music felt a little bit rough and harsh. but on phones it's easy enough to play games in silence so i don't consider it an issue. so please, try Liquid Cat Puzzle!

Mobile Friday - Super Cat Tales: PAWS - Finishing The First World

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out Super Cat Tales: PAWS from NEUTRONIZED. I played this game on an iPhone 14 Pro so i also had a look at whether or not the Dynamic Island was an issue.

This is the third game in the series and i hadn't played any of them before today. i don't think it's important to have played any of the other games. its possible that those games may have added some back story for the characters and the world, but for the first world that i played through it didn't seem to be an issue.

the game doesn't feel like the first in the series. it's very polished and refined, and when you combine it with the graphic style and the bright bold colors, it makes an impressive first impression. So much so, that through the hour of playing i could only come up with some small critiques where and there. that was until i came across a bug. for some reason an advert played after a level had started and once i was able to close it and get back to the game, it was clear that the game had taken my last command of pressing right and was stuck on it. i could press left and the character would briefly go left but as soon as i let go the character went back to going right even though i wasn't touching the screen. what was more unfortunate was that this part of the level required me to run on a treadmill like device and it just wouldn't activate. i had to kill the character and restart that level.

The adverts were really the only issue i had with the game. they're soo bad it almost felt rude and even though the game is as great as it is, the adverts can't be ignored as they are part of the experience. Super Cat Tales: PAWS is a free to play game and i have no issue with there being adverts. but the way they're handled feels so rough and sloppy compared to the refined game. the first advert came out of nowhere and didn't ask for permission to play or at least give me a heads up. the game is played horizontally and yet most adverts were vertical, so they were tiny on the screen. and even the horizontal adverts didn't fill the screen so there were big black bars either side. it's a shame they couldn't so something like play an advert in-game, like in the sign they use to advertise paying for the game to remove ads.

The controls are simple, there are two buttons; left and right. each time they add a technique to what those two buttons can do, they do it brilliantly with a simple graphic showing how it's done. that's something i can really appreciate and it really makes the game accessible. something else that makes the game accessible is that your character can, mostly, take a hit. the cats run into enemies to defeat them, unless they have a pointy end, but if you make a mistake and walk into them it's OK as the enemy will have taken a hit and you won't have died.

Even tho i only played through the first world, the variety of levels was quite impressive. it didn't feel samey nor did they feel too difficult. with a control scheme as simple as this game has, the levels feel like they take full advantage of it with their layout but with the art direction and colors, the levels also were clear to navigate and i always knew where to go. there is one exception and that's the home base. i feel that maybe a little tutorial is needed to act as an introduction to show what's where. it felt more luck than design that i managed to complete that section.

Super Cat Tales: PAWS is a game i do recommend people play. it's great there's no additional download when you start the game, but people need to be aware that the game will throw video ads at you. there weren't as many as last weeks Neodori Forever, https://youtu.be/peXQekqMcTM, but there was one that did kinda break the game. it only happened once so for now i'll assume it's a bug. Super Cat Tales: PAWS gameplay and design and art and music and characters, i feel, are well worth it. But that does mean this maybe a wifi only game for some people.

Mobile Friday - Neodori Forever - When Style Comes Before The Player Experience

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out Neodori Forever from Strobetano. when i recorded the video i didn't know that the game was also out on Switch and PlayStation 4.

It's hard not to go into this game thinking you'd be getting an experience similar to Ridge Racer or Out Run, basically one of those arcade style racers from the late Mega Drive early PlayStation era, and i admit i thought that was what i was going to get. it feels like that, to a certain extent, was the goal of the developers. the graphic style, the art style, the play style, and the music all work together to create a game which pulls on nostalgia but in a modern way.

You can hear it in my voice as i play the game how my excitement and enthusiasm dwindles and becomes more frustration with it. it has all the things i mentioned above but it seemingly completely drops the ball when it comes to the players experience playing the game. right from the off it drops you into a race with no tutorial or no option to practice in a time attack mode. there are other instances of it not providing information. for example, i still have no idea why i was collecting coins. i have no idea what the police did. and it took too long for me to work out that the fuel canisters were actually replenishing my health.

It's hard to think of what else the game did right. the only other highlight i can think off is how, in the settings, there was an option to resize the UI. i tried it out and found what i thought worked. but then throughout the rest of the game the Dynamic Island and the curved corners of my phone's screen got in the way. thankfully it rarely was anything critical or important, but it just highlights how the developers had a goal and implemented it but in such a way that it didn't fully take into account the player experience.

It's worth mentioning that there were no extra downloads starting the game for the first time. but i can't recommend this game for those on data plans due to the excessive amounts of adverts.  i recorded around 50 minutes of gameplay, but ended up having to cut nearly 7 minutes of it due to the adverts in the game. i think in all there were 18 adverts. each time, the game never asked my permission to play them. there was no warning either. there's no health system, there's no energy system, there's no countdown. the adverts just ended up playing after every race attempt, win or lose. imagine playing the game for 45 minutes 5 days a week. lets say that's 15 unskippable adverts. i dare to think how much data 75 video adverts would use up.

So, for the second week running, i can't recommend getting this game on iPhone. it's just a bad experience for the player. However, getting this on console could be much better as there wouldn't be soo many intrusive adverts, each with a different quality, length, and even aspect ratio. plus, console versions would be better adapted for controllers and offer rumble. as for me, i have deleted the game.

Mobile Friday - Cat Snack Bar - A Grinding 35 Minutes

Mobile Friday this week is Cat Snack Bar, a game that's out across iOS and Android app stores by treeplla.

This is a game that had been advertised to me in a few games and i was curious if it was actually as cute and fun looking as those videos showed. i had an idea that it might be an idle game, but no idea how it would go about doing that.

Starting it for the first time, it became quite clear how it was going to work. there is an option to buy red crystal/ruby gem things, but the game's main push is for you to watch adverts. whilst it's nice that it's not recommending/pushing purchases, what's not great is how little reward there seems to be to watch an advert. for example, when you watch an advert you get 5 minutes of double earnings. in other games i play that is 4 hours of double earnings. 

another thing that becomes clear quickly is that the game gets grindy quicker than other idle games i've played. a while ago i checked out Star Trek: Lower Decks: The Badgey Directive, https://youtu.be/5rA9Fb4SVhI, and that video is much longer than this one. that game didn't start to feel grindy until near the end of the hour. Plus, that game is also telling a story so it was nice to stop and read the story. in Cat Snack Bar, i started feeling the grind by the third stage of the first area. the first two were done in around 10 minutes, but after 20 the third stage was maybe half way there. the first area had a further 4 stages.

It does look good and cute, the colors are bold and the designs work. for picking up and playing for a few minutes it's fine. but the game's poor music, loud sound effects, and immediate grind do work against it. i feel like the first area needs rebalancing to get players to the main goal, to the thing that was highlighted in adverts and in treeplla's own videos, they need to get players to the first big shop where we, the player, can see and watch the cats in action all at once. but until then, the grind is the main thing holding back the game for now.

Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade - Redout: Space Assault - The First 40 Minutes

This sixteenth video in the new Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series is on Redout: Space Assault. I Played this as part of my Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series, but the game has been out for a few years on Apple Arcade and is now out across other platforms.

When i chose to play this game, it didn't cross my mind that this game would be from the team who made the Redout racing games. I only found that out later. i also didn't go in knowing that the game was going to be as on rails as it was.

But that didn't detract from the game. in a way, it being on rails let me focus on the enemies and story. the same applies to the game taking over shooting controls. when my ship had a target locked, it would shoot. when there wasn't a ship there it wouldn't. this meant i had to control my ships movement along the path and the missile power-up. later, when i had switched to a controller, i would gain the ability to barrel roll dodge manually.

controlling the game with my fingers wasn't that bad. it was pretty responsive and accurate. the controls were also located to the side of where the main action took place so it didn't get in the way. when i switched to the bluetooth controller, initially there wasn't any change to the screen. but not long after i started trying out the buttons, on screen prompts appeared saying what some buttons did. this continued into the game and with new tutorials, too. i felt that the game did control better with a controller, i think you'll notice that i died less with a controller in comparison to not using one.

The game did have some issues. the biggest one is that the game crashed to my phone's home screen after completing the first mission. thankfully, the game had saved so when i restarted the game it was ready for me to start the second stage. i also noticed some slow down and minor stutters. they didn't get in the way of what was happening but they were noticeable. The Dynamic Island also got in the way now and then. the biggest issue was that on the right side there were often labelled character portraits. the Dynamic Island got in the way of most of the picture and the character names. 

Redout: Space Assault is a good game to show off Apple Arcade. Even tho it's an older title, it still looks great. the music is good, too. what's cool about this game is that whilst on a TV, iPad, or older iPhone it'll look better than on a newer iPhone 14 Pro due to the Dynamic Island getting in the way, it's still a great match for the phone because of how short the levels are. most i did were under 5 minutes long. Also, because the game helps with the controls, holding the phone is also easy and stable. The only downside to playing on the phone, and something i forgot to mention at the end of the review, is that my phone got hot. most games in this series get my phone to varying levels of warm. but for this game i would say my phone got hot to touch. not too hot, but still hot.

Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade - Fantasian - The First Hour

This fifth video in the new Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series is on Fantasian. This is an exclusive game on Apple Arcade from Mistwalker and Arzest.

This game is perhaps one of the most famous games on Apple Arcade. it's an exclusive game from Mistwalker, a Japanese studio, and features staff who have worked on Final Fantasy games. It's also the game i've seen the most about so going in, i knew roughly what to expect.

It does make a great first impression, it looks impressive on my phone's screen and right from the start the game's user interface keeps the main character in clear sight and doesn't feel cluttered, even in the menus. there's a good use of art through to help make menus clear.

Controlling it though, it really is a tale of two halves. as usual, i started the game using touch screen controls. there is no onscreen analogue, you have to leave pins for the character to follow. there are on screen prompts and to the top and bottom are pictures showing who's in your party and the attacking order. at best, i'd say this works fine with touch controls. But, the biggest issue was with the Dynamic Island as it covers, probably, 95% of an arrow that's needed to open the menu. you can open the menu, but the Dynamic Island will react. thankfully, it just vibrates. 

Switching to a controller was where this game came into it's own. controlling the character via the left analogue stick felt natural and at the bottom of the screen it said what other buttons do. i didn't feel any lag using the bluetooth Xbox One X Controller, if anything things felt faster as i was no longer having to drop a pin for the character to follow.

There was one major sticking point for me that bugged me throughout the game and that was the speech bubbles. they looked out of place. they didn't feel like they were from the same world. they often covered up parts of characters, too. This game uses the camera and UI to highlight the characters and make the world feel big an open. but when the speech bubbles appear that's largely ruined. thankfully it has a great story with multiple threads already mentioned. it is a little stereotypical in places, but this game does ride the line of being a stereotype of a PS1 era JRPG.

The most frustrating place this happens is the game's save system. you can only save the game at specific large crystals in the game. there does seem to be a auto save system but i've not tried that out. the save system as it is seems like an unnecessary relic of the past that doesn't help the game be a mobile game that's easy to pick up and play. Also at these crystals you can use a specific item to heal your whole party in one go, health and MP. you can use potions to heal during the game, but this feels a little dated.

I did have fun, but i'm also a little familiar with the JRPGs of it's heritage. i do wonder if these nods, or embraces, to the past do more harm than good. for now, for the first hour, it's an awkward first impression but good enough to keep going for a little longer. But it maybe one i only play on TV.

Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade - Zookeeper World - The First 45 Minutes

This second video in the new Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series is on Zookeeper World. This is an exclusive game on Apple Arcade from Kiteretsu.

I haven't played any other games in the series, nor did i know what it was about. and after 45 minutes, i had a great time. This video is also interesting because for the first 20 minutes or so i played using my phone's screen. then for the next 20 or so, i switched to an Xbox Controller.

I found using the touch screen controls was OK, but the camera was a pain to use. When playing the match sections, it was also easy to catch the top and bottom of the screen. so in the video you'll see me drag the notification screen down once or twice.

Using a controller was an interesting experience as i hadn't used one before with my phone. When i record these Mobile Friday videos, and i mention this in the video once or twice, i use Apple's HDMI out cable and have it going to my TV. so when i switched, i put the phone down and focused solely on the TV. I felt that the camera became easier to manage, but i think that's more because it moves slower with a controller compared to what it did with my thumb. moving tiles was also slower, but for most of the video it wouldn't be an issue as there wasn't a time limit … until there was a time limit at the end of the video.

Ultimately, i had a nice time. the graphics aren't mind blowing but they are great to look at and certainly give the game a unique look and character. the game combines a match game with a zoo management sim and pulled it off very well in the 45 minutes i played. the music is subtle but fun and the sound effects aren't obnoxious nor saccharine sweet. i had a good time and it is a game i would recommend. after 45 minutes, you might have played all you need to, but they're a good 45 minutes.

Mobile Friday - Star Trek: Lower Decks: The Badgey Directive - The First Hour

Today is Mobile Friday and i'm playing Star Trek: Lower Decks - The Badgey Directive.

The game is out on iOS and Android

But i'll be playing the iOS version.

I am playing on an iPhone 14 Pro that has iOS 16.1 installed.

I'm a big fan of Star Trek so i was surprised to find this game on the app store. i never knew it was out. i was excited to try it out and i admit i maybe a little biased. so, i do try to keep to the facts about how it plays. but as far as a Star Trek experience, i felt that it stuck close to the show. i would've liked the game to have voice work tho.

Mobile Friday - Marvel Snap - The First Hour

Today is Mobile Friday and i'm playing Marvel Snap.

The game is out on iOS, Android, and Steam. 

But i'll be playing the iOS version.

I am playing on an iPhone 14 Pro that has iOS 16.1 installed.

This is a new game that has gained instant popularity. I've even seen ads for it here in Japan. This is the first Mobile Friday with my new iPhone 14 Pro, so as well as talking about how hot the phone gets i also talk about how the Island gets in the way of things...how the game hasn't been designed around the Island.

Mobile Friday - Alchemists’ Garden - The First Hour

Today is Mobile Friday and i'm playing Alchemists’ Garden. This is a game that i had been seeing ads for and they got me curious. it showed the game has a battle mechanic similar to Puzzle Quest. Other than that, i didn't know what to expect as each ad seemed to show different aspects of the game. So it was unknown what i would see and when.

This video shows the first hour of the game. it shows there is a small additional data download, a small un-skippable tutorial, and how the game opens up and encourages the player to explore it.

Mobile Friday - Candies 'N Curses - The First 50 Minutes

For today's Mobile Friday i'm playing an older iOS game called Candies 'N Curses. This video shows the first 50 minutes, but if you're interested in the game, you can play it in short bursts rather than in one long session like i did.

It's a game that hasn't been updated for a bit and it works mostly fine. i had a couple of issues where swiping down sometimes brought the whole screen down. it would obscure the bottom part of the game which does affect gameplay. there was also a slight issue where a notification seemed to be cut off a bit by the FaceID notch.

Mobile Friday - Cats & Soup Part 2 - After a Week of Playing

For today's Mobile Friday i'm back with part 2 of Cats & Soup on iPhone. In last week's video, we learned that the game was an idle game. So, we weren't able to properly judge what the game was. In the video i talked about making a part 2 showing what happened during the week. And that's what i did.

I used my phone's screen recording feature to take videos of significant events that happened during the week following the first video. for the first two, i forgot to turn the sound on but for the rest of the video there is sound.

Mobile Friday - Cats & Soup - The First Thirty Minutes

Today's Mobile Friday is a look at Cats & Soup on iPhone. I've had this game installed on my phone for a while but hadn't tried it. Unlike previous videos in this series where i looked for games on the game charts in the iOS store, this one was picked more out of curiosity. This video is shorter than others in this series but that's down to the style of game it is rather than any issue with it. Oh, and this video is the first to feature my new audio recording microphone!

Mobile Friday - Alchemy Stars - The First Hour

On this Mobile Friday, I'll be playing Alchemy Stars on iPhone 11 Pro. I'll be playing from the first start of the app and for about an hour. This is another game where i didn't really know anything about it going in. Since playing it, I've learned that the game is rather big and has a big following on social media. So if you're interested in it after watching me play, i'd recommend having a look at the community surrounding the game.