Online Saturday - Star Wars: Hunters - The First Hour

For this weekend's Online Saturday video i wanted to try out the recently released Star Wars: Hunters on #Switch from developers NaturalMotion Games and Zynga.

It's a game i've been interested in since it was announced. But i was always a bit unsure about it. with it having a foot in mobile games, there's a concern that it's just been ported over from mobile, or that it's going to push the shop at us, or that it'll be very grindy. i don't have answers to all these after my first hour with the Nintendo Switch version, but i can say it was a very good first hour and i'm much less concerned.

As we've seen with Pokémon Unite, there's always a concern that the tutorial won't cover enough, with the game especially needing one for the home screen. But with Star Wars: Hunters, i feel like they did a great job. not the best, but good enough that i felt comfortable with the game. it took about an hour before i knew i was playing against other people, but when i did i didn't feel overwhelmed. the tutorial does a good job in going over the controls and basic ideas of combat. But the game also doesn't put you up against other people right away. each game you play seems to get a little more difficult and then when you play against people it jumps up again but not in a huge or scary way. i felt well prepared.

But the home screen wasn't fully explained and there were icons we weren't taught about. The game could've also done a better job at pointing us to go to the shop and get the free stuff, or showing us how to customise our avatar, or even just saying which is the options. so yes, the gameplay is well taught but outside of gameplay is a little patchy in places. Whilst i appreciate that i was ready for proper online gaming, the game could've told me what was happening as i was always second guessing if my opponents were real or not.

The in-game combat is where Star Wars: Hunters shines. the controls are simple and effective. i immediately found the controls to be as responsive as expected. I didn't use all the characters available to me as i was having a good time with Imara Vex. i really enjoyed her rocket attack and blaster ultimate moves. her grapple ability not only gave me traversal options but also added a way for her to escape when up against multiple enemies. it's easy to see why she's the first character we use and train with.

We have to unlock game modes types by playing, hence why there's a point in the video where it switches to the Capture game mode as i had to unlock it first. this also applies to the Ranked mode. personally, i don't mind this approach. when i first realized what was happening, there's the worry that it'll be a grind. but thankfully that wasn't the case. it felt like a natural progression towards each game mode.

It'll take a few more games to get a greater sense of Star Wars: Hunters, but after my first hour with it i'm comfortable recommending it not only to Star Wars fans but to many others. there's depth and strategy to it's gameplay, but it's also accessible. when Ranked mode gets unlocked, i feel that's were more "hardcore" players may play leaving the other modes more accessible to more "casual" players. it's not clear if there's crossplay, unlock Trackmania which has an icon showing where each player is playing from, but the waits today were very short. I hope it can come to more platforms as i think Zynga may have a hit with Star Wars: Hunters.

Mobile Friday - EigenGauge - A Recommended Arcade Racer With Good Graphics And Music

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out EigenGauge, from developers BLASTODISK LABS. i played this on my iPhone 14 pro.

I haven't done many racing games as part of this playlist as quite frankly i haven't come across many new ones. there are several popular games in this genre, but most are many years old. so it was refreshing when the app store recommended this game to me. when you start EigenGauge, there are no extra downloads or things you need to sign up to. it takes you straight to the game.

I do appreciate that it get straight to the game, what was a little surprising, especially in comparison to many games we play in this playlist, is there is no tutorial outside of telling you to touch the screen to steer. i would've liked a little bit of information about the two buttons on the right. the orange button, when pressed, is clearly a short turbo. but i thought the blue button was going to be some sort of energy projectile attack as the logo is similar to such an attack in Wipeout games.

There's a lack of information throughout this game. one that i couldn't work out was how the levels are scored. another is that none of the abilities have a description to say what they do. But i will argue that in a game designed like EigenGauge is, it's not a big issue. it's an arcade style racer with some aspects feeling play a PlayStation or N64 game. there are unlockables and you need crystals to unlock them. so playing the game, trying out the weapons, learning what it all means doesn't stop you progressing as you'll be picking up the crystals from the racers.

Graphically i really enjoyed it. at first look, F-Zero is the logical comparison. but there's more going on. the crystals, for example, seem to be 2D but then they rotate and have a 3D look to them. the vehicles in the game look simple and yet they also look unique and impressive from each other. it's what f-zero on GameCube could've looked like if the SNES style graphics were kept but adapted to 3D.

I really liked the music  they've paired with it. there weren't many tracks in this video, but i enjoyed what i heard. each planet has a soundtrack, as do the menu options. it felt cohesive and i hope they'll make it purchasable somehow maybe on Bandcamp. it's a soundtrack where i want to know how the other planets sound and adds to the drive to progress through the game.

Overall, EigenGauge maybe a basic arcade racer but it's done well. i feel the controls may need a little work as i think i noticed moments when they weren't responding as i'd like, but the game wasn't going so fast that this became a problem. it's not a checkpoint racer. there is time to worry about but it's generous. it's the same with health. there's just enough challenge so it's satisfying when you finish. i easily recommend EigenGauge to anyone looking for a arcade racer on their phone.

Version 1.0.1 Played.

Demo Play Thursday - The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak, from developers Nihon Falcom. This is the most recent update of the DEMO. i don't know when it was updated, but it did update before i played it.

I have a couple of "The Legends Of..." games in my backlog that i haven't played and i know that the series has been going for a long time. So when a new game comes out, there's always the question if the new game can stand alone like a Final Fantasy game or if some knowledge is needed of previous entries.

I came away from this demo for The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak not any clearer. the is nothing saying it's a demo, nothing saying how long it is or if any changes were made, nor does it say at any point in this video if our save data will carry over. on the #PlayStation Store page it does say that save data will carry over to the final game, but i couldn't find a pre-order page for it or any release date for it on the page. There is a possibility that at the end of the demo we'll get this information, but i don't understand why it's not available from the start of the demo.

It felt like this really was the start of The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak. it's an interesting start that's full of story. it's about 18 minutes before we take control of a character. But after the hour i had with the demo, i don't feel like the story has done enough to get it's hooks in me. so far, most of the focus has been on a stolen item.

What i did find interesting about The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak was it's combat mechanics. tho it was poorly introduced to us via a dense sheet on the screen, at a basic level it's manageable. The tutorials in the game are lazy and suck. there characters have phones and one of them has a school background. there were much better ways to teach the combat, but instead we get a memo on screen and that's it. there are a few things about this demo that feel cheap or that it's not a big budget title, the most glaring was that the voices don't match the lip movements or that it's not fully voiced.

It's possible the combat is something the series has done and not new. but for me i found it interesting. we're introduced to two different styles. the first style is the most complicated but also the most familiar to RPG players. there's a time line and actions we can do to attack enemies. some of them can be hit physically, whilst others need "magic" esque attacks. The second style is more akin to Devil May Cry or God of War in that you can just attack enemies on the map. this attack style is best suited for weaker enemies as whilst it's faster, it deals less damage. but what was truly interesting was how you can combine them both. a simple example i did was taking out the weaker enemies with the second style and then going into the first style to defeat the more dangerous ones. but there's another the game introduces us to where you can stun enemies in the second style, activate the first style and that'll do damage to them but as they're stunned you also get first attack.

so the demo for The Legend of Heroes: Trails Through Daybreak is good and bad. i would still recommend checking it out, but with it's slow pace i'd suggest playing longer than an hour and maybe up to the end of the demo before deciding if it's something you want to continue when the game comes out.

Backlog Conquering - Tearaway: Unfolded On PS4 - Part 5 – Getting A Companion

We continue Part 5 in a whole new area. it's bleaker than anywhere we've been to so far but that's fine as it feels distinct and it's own place. as we progress things brighten up a little and we even gain a companion. but the enemy seem keen on taking it from us and we spent a lot of time trying to keep it safe. But we do fail.

One cool addition is that we learn to fly in this video, or rather we learn how to make a paper airplane and ride it. the video ends in a harbour town stricken by random shaking of the ground and dangerous storms and rough seas.

Stories on Tuesday - When the Past Was Around - Part 2

Hello and welcome to Stories on Tuesday. It's part 2 of playing When the Past Was Around from developers Mojiken Studio.

Unfortunately, not much progress is made in this video. in Part 1, https://youtu.be/BAntYXUdGY0, we had a couple of instances where i was stuck for a little while, but here in Part 2 i got stuck for maybe 20-30 minutes! I got stuck on the Pinwheel puzzle so this video is mostly me trying to work it out and failing.

Cloud Monday - G-Police - Part 1 - Hard To Recommend With Controls This Bad

This week's Cloud Monday video is part 1 of playing the PS1 version of G-Police on PS4 via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.

I have played and own G-Police on PlayStation 1 but i never completed it. back then, i found it quite tough. not just what i was being asked to do, but also controlling the game. But i didn't hate the game. i actually quite liked it. so seeing this on PS Plus was exciting and i was keen to play the game again after such a long time, i haven't played any PS1 DISC game since the early years of the PS3.

A huge advantage of playing PS1 games on PS4 and #PS5 is the emulation software. you're able to rewind, great if you've made a mistake, but more importantly you're able to manually save anywhere by pressing the "Option" button on the controller. if there's a connection issue, PlayStation Plus Premium Cloud Streaming Service will only give a 20 second warning before disconnecting you, so being able to save so easily and so quickly is a huge advantage and a great reason to play any of the PS1 games on PS4 and PS5 via the cloud.

There are aspects of G-Police that are dated. the control scheme is a little strange and i kept making mistakes. the story introduction feels more at home on PC than a console game, and there's no tutorial incorporated into the story and it's separate instead. in fairness, it could be argued that the story does provide enough of a reason for this, that we're an experienced soldier so we already know everything. I don't think that any of this is an issue as it's an older game.

The biggest issue by far is the controls. it is an analogue control game, but for some reason in this version of the game the controls are far too sensitive. i say in the video that it felt like i would make a movement and then have to instantly adjust to counter that movement. it's so bad i have to recommend that everyone start with training before diving into gameplay. it was so difficult to move the analogue stick so slight whilst also trying to play the game.

It's hard to recommend the game as it is. i'll come back for part 2, but either the game needs a patch for the controls or the emulation software being used needs a way to adjust stick sensitivity.

Switch Funday - Splatoon 3 - Getting June's Salmon Run Item

This month's Splatoon 3 Salmon Run item is the Cooler Jacket. The goal for this video was to get 1,00 points. that way i get the item twice and have a go at defeating a King Salmonoid. 

This #Salmonrun wasn't much better than last month's, https://youtu.be/d9T2BU-ru-A, as that took 11 games to get to the 1,000 points and here i did it in 9. i can admit that in one or two of the games i made a mistake that either lead to us loosing or that we lost because of me. but on the whole, there weren't many games were i felt that there was a lot of team work. simple things like passing the eggs up or communicating just weren't happening. What helped make this Salmon Run OK was the weapon choice. the weapons were Splattershot, Splattershot JR, Rapid Blaster, and one random weapon.