Switch Funday - Palia - The First Hour

For Switch Funday i'm trying out the free to play Switch, and PC, game Palia , from developers Singularity 6, for the first time. Going into this game i didn't really know much more about it other than there would be some gathering mechanics and farming as i had seen them on the eShop.

I appreciated that it was quick to get from the start screen into gameplay. the game gives us a choice if we want to create a Singularity 6 account so we can link Palia on Nintendo Switch with the PC version. i chose not to and it was straight to a character create screen. I thought the amount of customisation here was the right amount. i felt like i could create something visually nice, possibly distinct, whilst also not feeling overwhelmed by too much choice. i also appreciated how quick the different looks and styles loaded in. it helped make the whole thing feel quick. some of the buttons are small and it may not be immediately obvious how to change some colors.

There was little fanfare when we join the game world. we slightly startled a character, but she was quick to mention we weren't the first human to arrive and essentially told us to go elsewhere. this was not what i expected. I, the player, had soo many questions whereas both my ingame character and the other character seemed not to care. this bugged me throughout the hour as i was continuously looking for story, for the why, for the how, and the game just never gave it to me. 

I found this attitude really puzzling. if there are many humans just appearing, why wasn't there one to welcome me. it would've made the journey from the cave to the town more meaningful and maybe even offer some basic answers, or at the very least set up the next phase of the game. the town's people seem pleased a new human has appeared but not exactly enthusiastic about it. they're more than happy to set me busy work whilst also offering no story and no reason to drive forward.

The first hour ends with the next day arriving and more things to keep us busy. But there's no hint as to what the story is. it feels like we have to do what the town's people quest us to do "because". that's where i feel having a human, or someone sympathetic, meet with us in the beginning would help. they could explain things, encourage us to get settled, say there'll be time to uncover everything. But as it is. this first hour felt like we were just doing quests to get things done, for busy work. it almost feels like the developers had a core gameplay loop, had an idea for the start, but no link between the two.

What's noticeable about playing Palia on Switch is how much the game is pushing up against the limits of the console. at times, the pop-in was very close to my character. and this isn't just stuff in the background but it's also textures. The water especially looks weird, almost like it's thick. But that could be a stylistic choice. In general, the game looks decent on Switch. the pop-in is noticeable but it doesn't affect gameplay. But the stuttering framerate/frame pacing was noticeable and got in the way of my enjoyment of playing the game. it didn't always happen, but it felt like it did.

There are small complaints throughout playing this video but nothing that sticks out as a game breaker. with this being a free to play game that gets updates, there's hope that things could improve. but as they are now, Palia isn't a game i'd recommend to everyone. But if you're looking for a slower pace of game, a world where you can fish, farm, gather, and build, then Palia is worth checking out. it may not be for me, but i can think of a few people i know who would enjoy playing it.

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.

Mobile Friday - Space Intern - The Graphics And Gameplay Are Good, But Wait For iOS Bugs To Be Fixed

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out Space Intern, from Oaky Games on my iPhone 14 Pro. This game is also out on Android. 

There's a lot i liked about this game, but lets start with the bugs. i've never seen a game with the flickering bug that this has. around the edges of the screen whilst in a level, it continuously flickers. it's hard to describe how annoying it was. as i've never seen this bug before in any other game on my phone, it is possible this is a bug specific to the iPhone 14 Pro and the HDMI Adapter. In my conclusion at the end of the video, being aware that this big bug maybe really specific to my situation, i compromised by saying that it's worth downloading and trying. if the bug persists, i would still keep the game and await and update.

I did have fun with the game. the levels are a good length for a mobile game whilst also providing a good puzzle platforming challenge. there are things i would change to make the game more approachable as it's currently a game where you will die, learn, and make progress. i'm an experienced gamer so i was able to work things out, but having a little more tutorial in the early part of the game would be nice. the characters do talk so they could offer some hints early on as to what's ahead. But in these types of games, they're not typically designed to be accessible. the point is to die and learn and make progress.

Space Intern does have adverts. i'm not impressed how they're seemingly randomly inserted between levels without warning. I'm not saying it's wrong to have adverts, i just feel it could've been handled much better. if the adverts aren't random, then all it needs is for the character you meet at the end of the stage to say "...and now a word from our sponsor" and in the way this game is written it wouldn't be too out of place and easy to explain. thankfully, all the adverts i came across were short so those with data plans may not have to worry immediately.

Something i'm not sure if it's a bug or a design choice is the jump. in the video i show how it has a weird lag between when i press it and it happens. so i would touch the screen, the jump button on screen would then animate, and then my character would jump. whilst i was able to mostly adjust to it, it's not expected in a puzzle platformer like this so it sticks out. But when i played with a bluetooth controller, the timing of the jump felt much better and when i pressed the jump button.

There's a lot of this game left to unlock. but for me, personally, i'm not going to go back and play it until it's patched. what Oaky Games have here is something with a lot of promise. but you shouldn't get something because of the promise, you should get it because of what it has. But i would recommend you download the game and check it out as the bugs might be specific to my phone or my recording situation. the graphics are great, the music is limited but each track is good and appropriate. the levels are mostly smartly done and there's reason to go back and try them again. But if it doesn't work, don't force yourself to play through.

(Version 1.7 Played)

Demo Play Thursday - Fate/Samurai Remnant On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Fate/Samurai Remnant, tho the game itself did think it was the PS5 version at the end. This game, from Koei Tecmo, Omega Force, Kou Shibusawa, Aniplex, and Type-Moon came out last year but the demo only came out this week.

I didn't know about this game and the PlayStation Store webpage for it didn't give much information. there are no screenshots, no videos, and you have to scroll down to the bottom to find out that it's an action RPG. In the demo the action aspect of the game is very clear and mostly explained. The game uses blocks of text and a screenshot for the tutorial so it's not great, but most is done in easy fights where you can see it in action so i mostly understood what it wanted me to do.

What isn't explained at all in this demo is the RPG aspect. my character did gain levels, but it was never explained. It's most likely because this demo is less than an hour long and focuses on the beginning of the game. i would imagine that the RPG aspect is explored in the next section, that's not included in the demo.

What we do get in this demo are several videos, animated and in-game, exploring history, backstory, and what's happening. after the demo is finished there's a cool trailer for the game that makes a lot of sense as we know the rough outline of the game by this point. 

This isn't a perfect demo. as well as the game not knowing what version it was, at the beginning the game got stuck for a couple of minutes in the settings menu. i cut out of this video when nothing was happening and skipped to when it had fixed itself. there were a couple of instances where the game had framerate issues or stuttering. thankfully whilst those were noticeable, they never got in the way of gameplay. One aspect of the gameplay i wasn't keen on was how the story jumped from the present to the past and back to the present and it just felt unnecessary and that it didn't add anything to the story compared to if the story had been told linearly. 

I did come away from this demo enjoying my time with the game, so ultimately the demo did work as i know enough of the story to be interested, i understand the basic gameplay and know it's something i can do and enjoy, and that this PS4 version of the game looks great and it doesn't feel like a downgrade from what would be a better PS5 version. so i do recommend you try out the demo if you're interested.

Backlog Conquering - Aaru's Awakening On PS3 - Part 2 – Learning by Dying

I'm currently playing the PlayStation 3 version of Aaru's Awakening, from developers Lumenox, as part of Backlog Conquering. the first part, https://youtu.be/MbJ6A1BeL7U, revealed the game as being a platformer that has puzzle elements and enemies to deal with. But we didn't get much of a story and i felt a disconnect from the beautiful world we're playing in and the creature we're playing as. I hoped that in Part 2 something would be introduced that helped deal with that disconnect.

The story is mostly introduced at the end of each section. so for most of this video i'm trying to solve the platforming puzzles or working out how to deal with enemies. At times it does become a little frustrating as i feel like i'm doing the same thing but i'm not getting the same response in game. it could have something to do with the stick drift i'm having with my DualSense 3 controller or it could be that the game lacks a little bit of polish.

But what truly became clear as i tried to make my way through this section is that there are times when you have to die in order to learn how to progress. I say in the video that i'm not a big fan of this method of story telling and by the end of this video i've certainly become resigned to such gameplay mechanics. Like in part 1, this is also true with the final boss fight at the end of the section. at every phase of the fight, you die when something new happens or the action takes place in a different location. thankfully, the game does seem to be designed around such a mechanic as it very quickly takes you back to the last check point. even more gratefully, each phase of the boss fight is a checkpoint, so even tho i died a lot it did feel like i was chipping away at it.

What made this part feel good was the story. it doesn't fully address the issues i have, but it did make me realise that having those feelings was the point as it's revealed my character is starting to have them. it reveals that it's a not so subtle way of saying you shouldn't blindly follow orders. This was enough to feel satisfied at the end of this part and for me to want to play more so there will be a part 3.

Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday - Nintendo Switch Edition - Quest Mode - Dungeon 12 - Clayus Prison

Welcome to one of the final Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday videos! 

With the series being retired on YouTube and finishing over on Ko-Fi, https://ko-fi.com/qtegamers, i'm celebrating by showing off the Quest Mode.

This video is part 4 and it shows the 12th Dungeon, the Clayus Prison. the closer i get to the final dungeon, the harder these are becoming and the more time they're taking. So, unless i'm able to defeat a dungeon quickly, the remaining few dungeons will come one at a time.

Come back next week for what will be the 13th Dungeon.

Cloud Monday - The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion - Part 2 - Maybe Not The Best Version Of The Game

This week's Cloud Monday video is part 1 of playing the PS3 version of Bethesda's The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.

In part 1, https://youtu.be/ckR9cha291o, it was clear that playing Oblivion via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service is a good way to play the PlayStation 3 version of the game. the ability to manually save quickly and that the game clearly shows when it does auto saves are big positives as the service only gives you a 20 second warning when it's going to disconnect you.

For today, whilst i was playing the question that was one my mind moved from whether this is a good game to play in the cloud to is this a good version of Oblivion to play.  Something i repeat throughout this video is how there's a disconnection between what i feel as the player and what happens in the game due to the game not supporting rumble (DualShock3). Oblivion came out when Sony was focusing on Sixaxis, that and they didn't want to pay for DualShock tech licensing, and unfortunately the game, or this version of the game that's available in the cloud, was never patched by Bethesda to support it, or trophies.

By the end of the video i was getting the feeling that if this was the only version of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion you had access to, then you'll have a good time. But if you can get it, or have it, on another platform like Xbox then it's highly likely that'll be the better version of this game to play.