Demo Play Thursday - Unicorn Overlord On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Unicorn Overlord, developed by Vanillaware, published by SEGA, and also released on PS5, Switch, and Xbox Series.

This seems to be one of the biggest releases of the year with the amount of buzz it's been getting. This is a genre that i've played a couple of games in, but i wouldn't say i'm great at it. So trying out the demo for Unicorn Overlord

was actually quite appealing so when it came out i quickly downloaded it and gave it a go.

The demo, and i assume the game, starts of strong with a colorful video showing locations and characters in the game and it looked like a cross between Vanillaware's Dragon Crown design and the design from Final Fantasy Tactics. so, somewhat familiar but also someone different. There's a title page and a decent options menu that details what each option does at the bottom. i only changed sound effect volume before starting the demo and watching the opening story play out.

After about 3 minutes of in-game cinematics it's our turn to take control and unfortunately the game uses on screen prompts for a tutorial but at least the music during this sequence is very epic and great to listen to. what's a little strange is how during this tutorial section it's telling us what to do but then fails to tell us to attack of how it works before our first fight. So there were a lot of unknowns going into the first and then second fight, the main being were the characters attacking automatically because it's a tutorial, because it's the demo, or because that's how it normally is.

We wouldn't find out for a while to come. so the tutorial we got wasn't really a tutorial but rather it was a set of instructions to make the story proceed. once it's over, we get more story, and then comes a time skip to the "present". We get another intro sequence before the story picks back up and we're fighting once again. This tutorial also uses information on screen and i'll be honest, i don't think i fully understood it all. it felt like there was a lot to take in and it was clear by the end of this video that there was a lot left to teach. After playing this demo i'm a little concerned with the tutorial and that this game might not be the most accessible.

But once this section is finished and we set off away from the island with a new old friend the game does give us the option how we want to play the game. do we want to play for the story, do we want to use more tactics, or do we want expert difficulty. So whilst the tutorials might be average at best, by choosing story i know that they're now not as difficult to manage so i feel more confident that i have the time and space to learn without the punishment.

I only played a little bit of this next section but it did reveal even more elements of gameplay like castle management. this demo didn't feel close to finishing, but it also never said how long it is. It was saving along the way but again, it never said if the save is carried over to the retail game. I hadn't read the PSN Store page, i saw it was out and downloaded it so i can play it. it's a shame that a game with this much attention got such an average demo.

So whilst as a demo it's fine, the experience playing the game was great. even on my base PS4 it looked stunning. there's soo much attention to detail, so much movement, and things like the backgrounds and lighting made it all look cohesive rather than great looking characters on top of a background. And the music is fantastic, just from this demo alone i know i want to get the soundtrack. the soundtrack outshone the gameplay more than once in this demo.

So whilst it's not the best demo, the game itself does enough to still shine and i would still recommend people try it out but i would also recommend people just get the game as this is something special.

Why not buy me a Vending Machine Bottle of Coffee over on https://ko-fi.com/qtegamers

Backlog Conquering - Teslagrad On PS4 - Part 4 - Continued Platforming Frustrations

This is part 4 of playing the #PlayStation4 version of Teslagrad, from developers Rain AS, as part of Backlog Conquering. 

In the 3 parts i've recorded so far, what i've enjoyed the most was learning about the world and trying to understand the story. sometimes the game told it's story via theatre productions, other times it was like looking at cave paintings. Unfortunately, this doesn't appear to be the main focus of the game. in Teslagrad, the puzzle platforming seems to be the focus and it's this that i've enjoyed the least. 

Across the previous 3 parts and this video, i've often felt that the puzzles are doable but the platforming itself isn't good enough for what the game is often requiring you to do. It feels like a control issue as it's hard to replicate things when they happen as planned but also difficult to replicate things when they don't work as expected. this makes learning the puzzles really difficult as it's hard to know what works, what doesn't work, and why. so in all 4 videos there are moments when i'm stuck trying to do something basic because i can't work out what's going wrong or what's going right.

It's a shame that this game is let down by it's controls. some of the level design has come across as filler whilst other aspects are poorly telegraphed, if they are at all. These are minor in comparison to the control issues, but all together they've sapped away my enjoyment from playing the game to the point where it feels like i'm playing more out of stubbornness than actual enjoyment of Teslagrad.

At the moment, i'm undecided about continuing. i may check to see how far i am, and if i'm close to the end i may give it a go. but if the end isn't near, it's possible this part, Part 4, will be my final video playing Teslagrad.

Stories on Tuesday - Alternate Jake Hunter: Daedalus - The Awakening of Golden Jazz - Part 3

Hello and welcome to Part 3 of the new series here on QTE Gamers!

The goal with Stories on Tuesday is to play games with a heavy focus on their story. this can be Visual Novel games, like today's game, or it can be something more episodic. For me, it's a style of game i've not really explored. i have several games across a few platforms that i haven't played but i bought them because i wanted to. So now the time has come for me to experience these sorts of games.

Our debut game is Alternate Jake Hunter: Daedalus - The Awakening of Golden Jazz. I have the game on PS4 via DISC but i'll be playing the PlayStation Plus version of the game that's been downloaded to my PlayStation 4.

In Part 2, https://youtu.be/MO_1BiBcDq8, our characters reminisced about the past and we began to play as them when they first met. This is actually the story from an earlier game in the franchise. This continues in this Part 3. But it's starting to get a bit tedious with a couple of characters coming across as annoying and pathetic. i do complain a little how the game seems to be sending us around in circles whilst adding nothing to the mystery or story. it all felt like padding and this whole sequence could've been "edited" better with the adult versions talking in the restaurant and skipping the unnecessary sequences.

If you're interested in watching the stories unfold without my commentary, head over to Ko-Fi. there, you can subscribe to the "Stories on Ko-Fi" which will let you watch all the stories. This tier will always be one week ahead of the free video on QTE Gamer's YouTube Channel. Or, of course, you can head to https://ko-fi.com/qtegamers and donate via PayPal.

Cloud Monday - Resistance: Retribution - Part 1 - Adjust Controller Speeds To Make It More Playable

This week's Cloud Monday video is part1 of playing the PS4 version of the PSP game Resistance: Retribution  via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.

I have this game on PlayStation Portable but it's been a very long time since i last played it. I don't remember much of it on PSP so i was eager to play it again. But i was also curious if this game, being designed around the portable nature and limited battery life of a handheld, would also share game design qualities that would make it a good game to stream from the cloud. 

It does and it doesn't is the simple answer. As a PSP game, it doesn't work well being streamed from the cloud for many reasons. the cutscenes are very long and numerous, the auto save is very infrequent, and there appear to be no manual saves. these don't work well on a service that can kick you off with just a 20 second warning.

But it does work because it's a PS4 and PS5 game. the upgrades the game has received isn't just to the graphics, but Resistance: Retribution now gets access to a rewind feature and manual saves. I showed numerous times that there was no issue using the rewind feature, and when the connection got rough and the warning appeared i was able to very quickly do a manual save from the PS4 game rather than from in side the PSP game.

So, if it's a game that's a great choice to play in the cloud the question then becomes is it a game worth playing. That's tough because Resistance: Retribution has a few issues. this PS4 and PS5 version has already received a patch and needs a few more as it's rough in places. what stood out the most was how out of sync the audio seemed. whether it was the voices, sound effects, or even the cutscenes, at times it didn't match what was happening on screen. then there are other technical issues like screen tearing. As a PSP game, it has another issue regarding the controls. it was a game that could be controlled via a Dual Shock 3 (PS3 controller) and that's how it's played on PS4 and PS5. but the controls are very slow and heavy and really need to be adjusted much faster. The in-game tutorials haven't been adjusted for this either so there was some real trial and error learning how to control it.

With all this learnt in Part 1, part 2 will be interesting as i can focus more on the streaming experience and hopefully play around some of the quirks of the game and this port. 

Switch Funday - Splatoon 3 - March's Big Run Event

Welcome to Switch Funday

This weekend is March's Big Run Event in Splatoon 3. The event takes place on the Eeltail Alley map. 

My goals during a Big Run event are to get this month's Salmon Run item twice, get 1,000 points, and try to get the bronze award. so far, getting the item twice and 1,000 points hasn't been an issue. It's getting the bronze award for eggs collected that's been a big challenge. This month's item is the SplatJack 5000 and i got that in my first Big Run match as my time and I got a good 70 eggs collected. 1,000 Points was also easy to reach as we only lost 2 of the 7 games we played today. And i can say that for the first time, i got a Bonze Award!

Online Saturday - Foamstars - Ranked Party TribeVibe Mode

THIS IS FROM VERSION 1.6 OF FOAMSTARS

(I recorded this before the 2.01 update came out but decided to share it nonetheless as i enjoyed trying out a Ranked mode, something i very rarely do)

For Online Saturday i'm back with Foamstars, from Square Enix and Toylogic. Foamstars is out across PS5 and PS4. I'll be playing the #PlayStation4 version of it. 

I rarely play ranked modes in multiplayer games but with #Foamstars i was curious how it would work. Overall, i found the whole experience not as clear as i wanted it to be. for example, i was surprised that there were two modes being used, Smash The Star and Happy Bath Survival. i don't remember it ever being clear that this was the case. I thought progression was interesting in that you play 3 games, earn a score from them. If you have enough, you can take that score and use it to play 2 games that you have to win to rank up.

Mobile Friday - Eternal Crypt – Wizardry BC - A Blockchain Clicker With Cool Style And Poor Tutorial

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out Eternal Crypt – Wizardry BC from Drecom. I Played this on my iPhone14Pro, but it's also out on Android and PC via Chrome.

This is much more complicated than i expected. i didn't fully read the App store page for Eternal Crypt – Wizardry BC, so i went in just expecting a dungeon crawling clicker game. But after recording the video and looking more into it, there's much more about this game than i thought. But, in a way, this confusion is also a criticism of the game that in the near hour i played in this video it failed to convey what it actually is, but it's also praiseworthy because what Eternal Crypt – Wizardry BC also is didn't get in the way of gameplay.

The gameplay is what i came to the game for. in the App store what caught my attention and why i wanted to play it was the claim that "...you can play endlessly with strategy and taps." i wanted to see how that would work. The game starts like many clickers i've played, with one character on screen doing damage and my clicks doing damage. what's striking is the character art and the style of the game. the backgrounds work well with the theme of the game, the monsters all look interesting, but our character design did remind me of My Sims Heroes with how square the heads are.

But it works and it does look great. the U.I is a little busy and cramped. One reason is that this game doesn't make full use of the iPhone screen. It's a little surprising how little it uses. On one hand it might be to make it easier to click on the screen where the action is taking place, but i would also say that it kinda works with the top of the screen and sets the mood for a dungeon game. But i feel the bottom of the screen could be used better.

Another issue the U.I has is that it isn't fully explained. The game does have a tutorial that, for the most part, offers help through to the end of the first play through. But then it stops just as more icons appear. I also started to unlock new things and there wasn't even a simple finger pointing, like it had been doing. I'd argue that the tutorial needs to continue for the second play through to explain not just all the new things but also to help offer some reminders on how the gameplay loop works.

The loop is typical of a clicker game. in Eternal Crypt – Wizardry BC you go into a dungeon and defeat monsters. you earn money from it which can be spent making your clicks more powerful or you can make your heroes stronger. Like typical clickers, there becomes a point where you're unable to make any further progress. In Eternal Crypt – Wizardry BC, you're meant to leave the dungeon and go back to town. this will earn you rewards which can help improve your team for the next dive into the dungeon.

What i noticed about how Eternal Crypt – Wizardry BC differed from other clickers i've played is that in this whole video i never found anything that would click for me. Nor did the game indicate that there would be anything that would be click for me. there was only the damage my team mates were doing.

But there's a whole another aspect of the game that it only teased when i played it. i wondered why it wanted me to make a wallet, but i thought it was perhaps something to do with an in-game bank mechanic that it failed to tell me about, like how in some roguelikes you're able to bank money. But actually it has something to do with the Blockchain! 

It's surprising how this unique feature of the game was never explicitly mentioned in my video. It's possible that i just didn't reach where the blockchain stuff becomes a part of gameplay. But i would argue that after an hour and a couple of returns to the town, it should've been part of my game already. it feels like a pacing issue or possible a balancing issue. It could also be a tutorial issue, or a lack of a tutorial issue.

As i didn't come across the blockchain in the game, i don't fully understand it. You'd have to go to Eternal Crypt – Wizardry BC's website, like i did, to discover what it's all about. Or try to. the website tells but rarely explains the how, why, or how it's incorporated into gameplay. It could be a translation issue, but it's frustrating as a casual player how it's not incorporated into gameplay, not explained or detailed in a "casual" way.

So, as a clicker Eternal Crypt – Wizardry BC is fine. it has some nice graphics, but there are many aspects of it that haven't been detailed so it feels like i'm not getting the full experience of the game. this is doubly true when it comes to the blockchain also not being detailed or part of gameplay. It is a new release, but even the roadmap on their website doesn't make it clear if improvements to the basic elements of gameplay are coming.