Backlog Conquering - Papo & Yo - Part 1 - The First 45 Minutes

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 1 of playing Papo & Yo on PlayStation 3.

It's time to start a new game and this time i've chosen a game i knew a little about. when QTE Gamers focused solely on news, i had reported on this game. i knew going in that it was from a small team and that it told a personal story, a story of how the monster was their father.

But i didn't know how they would go about telling this story. so far, it's been interesting how similar it feels to Rain, a game i played earlier in this series at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyEBkNKW1vypLU9YXtiL19MfwB3TR-Or-, but because of the setting and music and characters it's also quite different.

It's a little rough in places but i wouldn't say it was ever too distracting. the game uses the environment to help guide you. it's clear that the goal from this game wasn't to let you work it out for yourself, it's designed to gently guide you through the story being told. the puzzles are mostly obvious and even when i got stuck common sense sorted it out. the game isn't designed to let you explore a wide area, the playing spaces are fairly small with some element of hight and platforming about them. there are some nooks and crannies you can explore, but there doesn't seem to be anything to find. again, the goal is to guide you rather than you making your own way. 

i wouldn't say this means the game holds your hand all the way, but it does signpost things very well as many of the "puzzle" elements are highlighted. if you do get stuck, the game has a cool box mechanic. sprinkled around each area are boxes that you can put over your head. they offer hints, tips, and guides. so if you do want some more handholding, it's your choice. i've mostly been checking them out because i find it cool how you can look in and see drawings and then put it over your head and see it clearer. the pictures are fun, too.

I'm enjoying myself so far, it's been a pleasant experience and i'm still interested in seeing where it goes. so there will be a part 2.

Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday - Nintendo Switch Edition - Keiji Maeda Cup - 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 Keiji Maeda Cup! (2023/3/13 9:00～2023/20 8:59 JST) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and a docked Nintendo Switch.

First, YES this is the first one of these videos where i've edited it. i hadn't planned on it but there were soo many disconnection issues this week, the original file is much longer due to all the waiting. At one point i had to close the program as the game got stuck looking for matches. If there are no complaints, i'll keep on editing the video in the future. it was nice to find a way to trim out some of the fluff, waiting, and errors.

This week's cup went really well. i got a couple of wins but more importantly it was fun. the gimmicks were easy to achieve and it wasn't too hard to get to the boss. the other players also seemed to do well so it felt competitive and exciting.

Cloud Monday - Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 - A Rougher Second 50 Minutes

Today's Cloud Monday is part 2 of playing Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 on the PlayStation Plus Streaming Service.

In the first video last week, https://youtu.be/Sjp-f2uR8r8, there were no issues with streaming the game. any graphical issues i saw were from the game itself. but in this series we now play each game twice to get a better idea of what streaming it is like and today's experience was different. 

For the first 30 minutes or so it actually goes really well. once again the issues i have with playing the game are issues with the game itself. But near the end as i explore around the hub world we come across issues. they appear mostly as stream tearing, where a frame fails to fill the screen but as it's being streamed instead of a small line appearing we get bigger squares. at one point the stream resolution dropped and the possible disconnection warning appeared.

These are big and very noticeable events that detract from the game. if this had happened in a fight, i wonder if it would've had a big impact because i'm new at the game. if i was experienced then maybe it wouldn't be that much of an issue. once again, controlling the game felt great and i didn't notice any lag between pressing a button and an action taking place on the screen.

So overall, it's a great streaming experience. i'd say one of if not the best experience with PlayStation Plus Premium i've had so far. But it's not perfect. One extra thing worth mentioning is that this was the first time since the service switched from PlayStation Now to PlayStation Plus Premium that i didn't have to go into the account settings on PS4 and restore licences! 

Switch Funday - Sin and Punishment - My First Time

Welcome to Switch Funday!

I'm back trying out a N64 game on the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack service. Today, it's Sin and Punishment. It's a game i have heard off but never played.

i went in only knowing that it would be on rails. i didn't even know the state of the translation. only that it didn't get a western release on N64. so i was surprised that the in-game text was all in Japanese but the voice acting and menus were in English. 

I had a good time. this video is longer than i expected and ultimately i had to stop playing as i kept wanting to play a little more. it controls better than GoldenEye 007 did with the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller, but it still wasn't perfect. there were many moments where i would go for the wrong button and in a game this fast it did cost me a few times. thankfully there was a training mode and i did that first. i didn't expect the training mode to have a boss tho!

it felt a little rough in places, like it being unclear how to avoid certain attacks almost as if we were expected not to. but it also felt like one of the biggest battlefields i had ever fought in on the N64. the epic battle against the battleships was a pleasant surprise. i had no idea the N64 could be capable of such a spectacle. But of course this is the Switch, there's every chance that on the N64 the performance wasn't quite there. but what would be the same is the looks. soo many things look different from each other. it was clear who was who and what enemy was what, whilst also looking very impressive.

It's a hard game that does feel it's age in places. but it really is worth trying. it won't be for everyone, but it's something worth experiencing.

Online Saturday - Splatoon 3 - March's Salmon Run

Welcome to Online Saturday

This Saturday i'm back with Splatoon 3. The goal for this video is simple, get this month's Salmon Run Gear. 

Last week was a Big Run event, you can watch it at https://youtu.be/ZnWSin5k7N8, and it included this month's Salmon Run gear as well as it's own item. so in a way i have already got the Astro Wear. but i did it whilst playing on a different level, rather than a Salmon Run level. i also found the Big Run event to be really difficult and not as fun as Salmon Run, so i decided to get the Astro Wear again. and like all my Salmon Run videos, get it twice and keep the best one.

You can see from the length of this video, it didn't go as well as i'd hope. there were many wins, but the losses were just as big too!

Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade - Cooking Mama: Cuisine! - The First 45 Minutes

This fourteenth video in the new Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series is on Cooking Mama: Cuisine! I Played this as part of my Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series, i think this game is exclusive to the service.

I have never played a game from the Cooking Mama series before so i thought this would be the best opportunity to do so. i kinda knew what to expect going in as i've reported on games in this series before, like Cooking Mama 3. but Cooking Mama: Cuisine! still managed to surprise me.

Unlike the recent Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade games Simon's Cat: Story Time, https://youtu.be/SJtlwaqB-KI, and SpongeBob: Patty Pursuit, https://youtu.be/WXm7dhyASyg, where it's the player who determines how long they play the game for as both are full of content, Cooking Mama: Cuisine! has a daily limit. it's an interesting way to get players coming back for more, as each day has a different number of food items you can cook with. There is also an event happening right now, too.

this video is around 45 minutes but that wasn't because of the daily limit. i think i only did around a third of the daily content available. I don't know how that'll change when you start to repeat recipes. as it's my first time playing the game, everything was new and undiscovered. the only reason to redo recipes you had already done seems to be to get a "perfect" 3 star score. there are some cosmetic things you can buy so that's also another reason to do recipes again.

The artwork for the game is familiar. i recognise the main character, and her in-game model looks really good. but other than that, grapically this game looks inconsistent. there are times when flowers look really good, but they're just decorations and the food you've cooked looks ... well ... not like the description, putting it kindly. there are one or two food items that look good, i think the cucumber was an unlikely highlight.

Another inconsistent thing about the game was the controller support. i would suggest it's better to play the game using touch controls than a controller. there are some weird button choices, for example you press "B" to go to the back button but have to then press "A" to go back. a bigger problem i had was the analogue stick sensitivity. it felt like it went from 0 to 100 too fast. i could move the stick and nothing would happen, then i'd try to move it a little more and it had gone all the way. this meant that there were a couple of cooking mini games that were difficult, and one i nearly failed at.

For fans of the series, it's a good way to play the game a little each day and have it be a little different. but it's not a game that shows off the power of Apple Arcade or things like multiplayer. it is being supported and there seem to be themed events so it could be a good game to keep on a  phone and play now and then. but i think it'd be a bit of a  rough time to play the game on anything else, especially if there's no touch screen.

Backlog Conquering - Pyre - Part 15 - The Final Part

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 15, of playing Pyre on PlayStation 4.

With all the games i play in Backlog Conquering, i don't set out to finish them. the goal is simply to play them. there were moments whilst playing through this game where i thought about putting it down and moving on. but ultimately, there was a certain something that kept me going. 

For this video, we continue on from Part 14, https://youtu.be/kWi1d_O_Ruk, about to start our sixth Liberation Rites. It went really well, it was maybe my best win since the first time we did it. through that i was able to send Tae back to the Commonwealth. But it was clear that there would only be one more Liberation Rite left.

I liked how the game, through the characters, tried to reduce the pressure on me. But the twist as to who we'd be up against was a little obvious. that final rite was perhaps the best i performed. i tried as hard as i could with who was left in my team. But the twists weren't over! when the rite was finished, the game changed the Liberation Rite rules and did it in a believable way that felt natural to the game we played. this meant, tho, that i wasn't able to send back to the Commonwealth who i had originally selected.

And the story tells the end. throughout the game there's some amazing art and beautiful visuals, and yet it told the end via text. the story of the end that i got was good, but it lacked the fanfare that some cool art would bring to it. we do get to read what happened with every character in the game. but again, the game kinda fumbles as the most disappointing story we're told is that of our character.  the credit sequence is cool and has a nice song.

In the end, it's strange that whilst the game is able to tell such an interesting story with such unique characters, that it should continuously stumble when it came to the story of the main character does hurt it. the main character, the character you control, becomes the weakest part of the game and as the rest of the story is so strong, it really does stick out. that's kinda the review of the game. it's a game with some high points, but it's low points stick out so much in contrast. But i am glad i played it.