Cloud Monday - Split/Second - Using My Old Save And Playing For The First Time In Over A Decade!

Today's Cloud Monday is a little different. for today's video i wanted to try something i hadn't yet done. I've used the service to play games i hadn't played before, so i've never tried to use an old game save file. I saw Split/Second on the store and really wanted to play it again. i also knew i had a save file in the cloud. So today's video starts with me showing how to take a cloud save file and use it with the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service.

Once i got the save file copied over to the cloud and the game restarted, i was genuinely surprised that i had completed all the races. i hadn't won them all, but they were all finished. as i had shown it was working, i decided to have some fun and play it.

I never expected to win or to better any result i already had. it had been over a decade since i last played this game, but i instinctively knew how most the of the controls work and even the game mechanics.  a couple of the levels felt familiar. i tried out each of the game modes and near the end decided to try some levels that i hadn't got the win.

In one of those levels, i actually got the win! i hadn't practiced before today, it really had been over a decade since i last played. and yet, i got a win. i was so happy with myself. the final thing i tried out was the online multiplayer. there wasn't anyone online, but it looked like online races could possibly happen, it's possible that instead of the game connecting to a server my console becomes the thing that other players would connect to. But i don't know for sure, but if you do see or know of online games let us know in the comments.

Switch Funday - Gargoyle's Quest - My First Time

Welcome to Switch Funday!

I wouldn't say i was excited about Game Boy games coming to the Nintendo Switch as it's a system that i didn't have much exposure to. i did have a Game Boy Color and i have tried some of the older Game Boy games. But most of my Game Boy Color playing time was spent on the Pokémon Games, V-Rally, Bust A Move, Legend of Zelda DX, and Tetris. With the initial launch selection being small, the only game that caught my attention was Gargoyle's Quest.

It's a game i've not heard of before and i was a little surprised to see that it was from Capcom. going in, i had no idea what i was in for. i think you can tell from my commentary that i was surprised how robust it is. but it's also from 1990 so there's some frustrating elements to it, things that were fairly common at the time like the lack of lives and poor checkpointing, but also other things that were as a result of the hardware, namely the lack of a save system.

The Switch adds a rewind feature that makes things more tolerable, but as you'll see i often forgot about it until the latter third of the video. there are other settings but i chose to play the game in it's default settings. it's unclear if i would have to close the game if i wanted to change any of the settings, but i feel that's the case and it's a bit of a shame. i can imagine someone will close the game, change a setting, go back in and realise that nothing has been saved. i did save it using the Switch's Suspend Point before i closed the game.

I don't know if i'll go back to the game. the music is good, the story is interesting as your playing from the Gargoyle's perspective, which is fairly unique, and the levels are varied. But it wasn't gelling with me. i didn't have the patience to deal with some of it's poorer qualities as a kid and i certainly don't now.

Online Saturday - Star Wars Battlefront 2 - Returning After Two Years

Welcome to Online Saturday.

I was a big fan of Star Wars Battlefront 1 when it first came to PS4. it looked great, played well, and even the front page felt big and fresh. Battlefront 2 felt like it was released too soon after Battlefront 1 and at the time it was perceived that this was done as so they could have a game out with microtransactions and make more money from. So i didn't get it then. changes were made and it eventually came to PlayStation Plus and that's when i decided to give it a try. but i bounced hard off it. i don't know why but my guess would be the layout and interface is one reason. another could be that the cards and progression system was still there. the microtransactions had been, mostly, removed, but making progress wasn't as fun. playing against other players was also not great as for a new player it felt unbalanced.

the last time i played the game was early 2021 and i have no memory of it.  nor do i have much memory of playing it at all. So coming back to it today it did feel like playing it for the first time. which also meant i didn't understand a lot of the menus, couldn't find stuff, and even at one point thought i was stuck in matchmaking as there was no prompt on screen as how to back out of it. 

Playing it tho was kinda fun. at times there were moments when it felt unbalanced. in the first game i mention how it felt bad that were were camped outside the enemy spawn area and that it seemed like there was nothing they could do to win. it reminded me of the bad playing experiences i had with Overwatch 2 on PS4, https://youtu.be/-SnE9VBwpBU, and Switch, https://youtu.be/WBPiTq5yFHE. In the second game i had that experience where i was defending and it felt like i had no choice but to lose. 

I remarked at the end that i doubt there are huge numbers of people still playing it. the first game i was in didn't continue into the next round as it couldn't find enough players. but starting a second game was fine. my guess is that if you just join a quick match you're probably fine. but doing anything more specific might be more difficult due to the lack of players.

Ultimately, i don't think i'll delete the game just yet. i may play it a couple more times. but, everything but playing the game isn't a great experience and it certainly isn't toppling Splatoon 3 as my multiplayer game of choice or recommendation. If i find another game more enjoyable, that might be it for Star Wars Battlefront 2. it's a bit of a shame there aren't plans for a third one, i feel that the lessons learned from 1 and 2 could've made for a good game. but a part of me wonders if it would've been great or remained dated looking with some other gimmick getting in the way.

Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade - Fallen Knight - The First 50 Minutes

This eleventh video in the new Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series is on Fallen Knight. I Played this as part of my Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series, but it's out on other platforms such as the Nintendo Switch. 

This is a game i downloaded near the beginning of the Apple Arcade series, but only recently had i noticed that it was being updated. this brought it to my attention and it's the main reason why i chose to play it this week.

Like many games in this series, i went in knowing little to nothing about it other than the pics on the app store. i hadn't even watch the trailer for it. and for the first time i think that had a negative impact on my playing experience. i had no idea how difficult/unfair the game would be and you can hear in my commentary my enthusiasm for it get less and less. it's made clear in many places that the game is not easy and in hindsight i should've gone with casual mode instead of normal. 

I say unfair because i'm not entirely sure the game is simply difficult. there was a move in the tutorial i couldn't pull off as it wasn't clear what exactly i had to do or what i was doing wrong. in that tutorial i was shown how to parry, but in actual game play i was unable to regularly do it as the key red flash the tutorial had shown us seemed to be used all over the place. In that tutorial we only fight against one enemy and yet in the first stage there are a whole host of enemy characters. there was even an instance where i was hit whilst respawning.

It's not all negatives with this game, the music is great  though it did feel strangely loud. it also looks good with minimum impact from the dynamic Island. but the frustrations are more numerous. even the main home screen was confusing as there was nothing pointing the way. i assumed we could pick anywhere to go as it was never explicitly stated, not even with a simple pop up prompt.

This lack of information runs throughout. i have little to no idea what's happening with the story other than the knights seemed to have splintered into two groups, each saying they are correct. i have no idea if i'm playing the good guys or bad guys here. sometimes there was information but it was on screen soo briefly i had no idea what it said. but the time i spotted that it was on screen and started to read it, it was gone.

This isn't a new game and it had been patched many times and received a few content updates. but it didn't feel like it, it felt like i was playing a beta, something that wasn't quite all there like it needed more polish. it would be interesting to hear in the comments from players more used to difficult games what you thought about it. it would certainly give everyone here more information before they tried it.

Backlog Conquering - Pyre - Part 10 - Choosing to Lose And Losing

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 10, of playing Pyre on PlayStation 4.

This is a bit of a strange video. The title kinda gives it away. it finally happened, a story plot point i've been expecting to happen finally did and it was handled well.

I've been expecting the game to give us the twist that maybe, sometimes, it's best to not win and let the other team win. in this case it was the Liberation Rite and the opposing team was the only team where i was unsure about their "leader". You see, their leader seemed the most unhinged and most set on revenge. i was concerned as to what she would do, so when the game suggested on letting her win i thought about it for a second or two and kinda agreed. i felt that things would be less dangerous if she was gone than if she stayed.

However, the second Rite i did i lost all on my own. the Rites had been getting more difficult and the Liberation Rite was difficult, too. But i performed poorly and probably put out the wrong team. i couldn't keep up with them, nor could i control my own team good enough. choosing a titan was probably the wrong move, too. 

There will be a part 11, i'm interested in using a new character we got on our team. but my enthusiasm is starting to wean. 

Backlog Conquering - Pyre - Part 9 - Getting to the Second Liberation Rites

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 9, of playing Pyre on PlayStation 4.

it's been a while since part 8, https://youtu.be/sKA3UN479eU, and in that episode the world opened up and we got a lot of lore. in this video, there continued to be more lore of the world being revealed, but importantly we got some nice little story extra's which helped focus the experience back to the rites.

The rite games were still fun and definitely more difficult than the first time through to the Liberation Rites. i did win all the games i played, but they weren't exactly convincing wins. this meant that by the end of this video we are once again ready to take on the Liberation Rites. i have decided that i want Ti'zo to be the next one to leave. i feel like he's spent the longest, and maybe roughest, time in the Downside and he seemed interested in the Commonwealth. in the next video, part 10, we'll see if i can win it. 

Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday - Nintendo Switch Edition - Valentine 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 Valentine Cup 2! (2023/2/13 9:00～2023/2/20 8:59 JST) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and a docked Nintendo Switch.

Last week's Valentine Cup 1 video, https://youtu.be/8XiX8VErAN4, was tough because i was playing against many skilled opponents. But this week's video starts with me fighting against the computer as for the first couple of games there was no one else. things improved and got more competitive later one. the gimmick this week wasn't as clear and i thought i knew what it was but ultimately i was guessing. that would help to explain why i found it so hard against the final boss, and even tho i did beat it once it was during a game where i felt i played fairly poorly. i think i always came in the top 3 this week, which is great and the main reason why this week's video is shorter than most recent ones.