Cloud Monday - Brave: The Video Game - A Solid Game with a Solid Streaming Experience

In today's Cloud Monday, I'm playing Brave: The Videogame. It might be the first Disney movie tie-in videogame i've played since The Lion King and Aladdin on the Mega Drive. I have seen the movie and i do enjoy it, more so than Cars and Toy Story. But i knew nothing of the game before starting it.

I played through the tutorial and first "Level" of the game which was a little under an hour. I must admit i was surprised. it looks very much like a PS3 game when you start, and i admit it was what i expected from a game tie-in. But by the end, i was really enjoying myself and got far more immersed into the game than i expected. It's not the best game ever, but a solid 7 or 8 for sure and well worth trying out on via PlayStation Plus. Don't let the tie-in fool you either, it does well to tell it's story without needing the player to have seen/know the story of the movie.

But that's just from the first hour, or so, of the game so i really can't say if it holds true throughout. As for streaming, i found no issues playing this game via the PlayStation Plus Premium service. i found the controls responsive and the video quality stable and good. the only thing worth mentioning is that during the story cutscenes, which are uniquely made for this game and not pieces from the movie, there were many moments where macro blocking was evident. The problem is, without a disc copy of the game to compare with, i can't say for sure if it's due to streaming the game or rather due to video compression used for the game itself. If i were to guess, i'd say that it was already a part of the game, more so when there was no evidence of it happening during game play. One fine thing, the game does autosave which means we are somewhat at the mercy of it if we get the dreaded countdown to the stream being cut.

Online Saturday - Splatoon 3 - November's Salmon Run Gear

Welcome to Online Saturday

This Saturday I'm back playing Splatoon 3. The focus of this video is to firstly, get November's exclusive item, and to vote for the upcoming Splatfest.

As normal, my aim is to get two copies of this month's exclusive item and then keep the better of the two. I got really lucky today as the first item i got actually had 3 bonus pins rather than the usual one or, like last month, the rare two pins.

In the begining i got a few convincing wins in, but by the end it was loss after loss as each team i was in would get wiped out in the final wave. it was certainly one of the more difficult Salmon Runs i've tried. I felt that the weapon rotation and stage really didn't work together at times. 

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.

Backlog Conquering - The Legend of Kay: Anniversary - The Second Hour

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 2 of playing The Legend of Kay: Anniversary on PS3.

In yesterday's video, we played through the first hour which was mostly just the game introducing the backstory and tutorial area. In today's video we continue on from where we left off yesterday. Not too much extra story stuff is revealed in this time, but we do get more action scenes and a little more tutorial.

It was a bit rough in places. a combination of my old PS3 controller suffering from stick drift and the fact that this was a PS2 game made a few moments more stressful than i'd like. there were also some unclear moments in the gameplay. But i'm still interested so there will be a part 3 next week.

Backlog Conquering - The Legend of Kay: Anniversary - The First Hour

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

We have a new game in the Backlog Conquering Series. I have started The Legend of Kay: Anniversary on PS3. this is the first video, and it shows the first hour of the game.

Going in, i knew little to noting about the game. i'm sure i only have it via a PlayStation Plus get many years ago. but it's always been a game i was curious about and this series is the perfect chance for me to give it a go. 

My thoughts of it being a PS2 game were right, and some gameplay mechanics feel a little dated by modern standards. but for the most part, the first hour was good and i'm looking forward to at least another part. It's too early to say whether i'll play it through to it's end, but i don't regret giving it a go.

Puzzle and Dragons Tuesday - Puzzle and Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition - Halloween Cup 2 - Achievement Run

Welcome to Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday! Sit back and either watch me play through, with no commentary, the cup or leave it running in the background as BGM!

I play and earn all the achievements from the Halloween Cup 2! (10/30 5PM - 11/6 4:59PM (PDT)) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and my Nintendo Switch is Docked.

I got no wins in this video. Unlike previous weeks, i just wasn't feeling this one. The gimmick didn't seem fun either. But it wasn't difficult, and you can see that it took around 40 minutes to complete it. One of the more difficult aspects were my opponents. There were many good human players and even the Ai did well. i got a few second places, but never really got too close to winning unfortunately. 

Cloud Monday - Lost Planet - Part 2 - An Improved Streaming Experience

In today's Cloud Monday, I'm back playing the PS3 version of Lost Planet. In last week's video, we saw how the gaming experience was affected by poor internet. So the reason for giving the game a part 2 was to see if it really was poor internet or was it just how the game streamed.

As for the streaming experience, well the title says it all. it was a night and day difference between part 1 and part 2. i recommend you watch part 1 to see how rough it got in places. But for today, it was very playable. the only issues were with the game itself, rather than anything caused by streaming it. 

So, after trying it, i'd recommend this game for people with good solid internet. if your internet is a little rough, then the low definition of the game and long periods of white and particle effects can make it a bit of a mess. if your fine, it's a fun game. i've played 2 hours of it and it felt nostalgic to go back after all these years. I'd really like Capcom to go back and remaster it, bringing in more modern ideas from Titanfall, Monster Hunter, and Killzone.