Switch Funday - Cassette Beasts - My First Hour

Welcome to Switch Funday!

This week, 4 full games were free to play for Switch Online Members; Tetris Effect: Connected, PowerWash Simulator, Enter the Gungeon and Cassette Beasts. of those, the only one i hadn't played before was Cassette Beasts and i remembered that it got a lot of attention when it came out. In the video, i mistakenly say that the game came out this year when in fact it came out last year, 2023, across many platforms.

I didn't know much going in and i tried to not have many assumptions about the Cassette aspect of the game. i was curious if the developers would lean into the "retro" aspect, maybe give the game an 80's influence, or more into the modern revival of cassettes. after the first hour, it's much more a modern interpretation of cassettes. there was no mention of different materials, there was no 80's aesthetics. 

It's always interesting playing a "monster collecting" type game when Pokémon is such an established type, and one i have a lot of experience playing. i need the game to tell me what it is, to describe it's systems, to show me how it differs from such a known playstyle. i feel that Cassette Beasts didn't quite nail it. they went hard with the story, but left too much unknown and talking to other people didn't provide the extra information i was looking for. There were plenty of battles and i feel that their tutorials were fine, but then they mention types and failed to actually explain it in any detail. i did like that when it came to the "why" of cassettes, the answer was we don't know but it works.

This Switch port also had some issues. the obvious one was the pop-in of in-game elements. with a world as sparse as this, it was very obvious when something, like a tree, would pop-in. unfortunately, it happens quite often throughout this video. another issue i noticed at the beginning was that the background didn't seem to scroll smoothly, there was a stutter. Loading was frequent but thankfully not too long, and then near the end there was an instance where the game seemed to freeze for 2-3 seconds. this is a case where i feel like i'm playing an inferior version of a game. i wouldn't say it's very inferior, this Switch port of Cassette Beasts is playable. but it's noticeable enough where i feel that a Xbox Series version would be a smoother experience.

Cassette Beasts does have some interesting ideas. i liked the idea of Fusion but it felt like it took a long time for that to power up and i only got to use it once. having a shared pool of monsters was also an interesting decision, but without knowing types and what's effective against what it wasn't too useful. there's also a feature where you can "Rewind" a cassette to bring a monster back to full health, but there's no way to know what the health is of any of the monsters from that screen. The whole Monster Catching mechanic was interesting, too. but i don't think it was explained as well as i could've been. unlike Pokémon, when you go to catch a monster it can take several turns and when you do it's more like you saved a copy of the monster to tape and the original monster is still there on screen for you to defeat.

After my first hour with Cassette Beasts on Switch, i'm not too sure i want to buy the game and continue. i don't think that it's a great hour. the game does tease at the game's story and other activities like trying to become a Ranger, but the technical issues and little things like the writing don't give me enthusiasm to continue.

Online Saturday - DRAGON BALL PROJECT:Multi - BETA - 6 Matches, 5 Wins

For Online Saturday i went back to DRAGON BALL PROJECT:Multi on my iPhone and played 6 more games. the first 4 matches were with Android 18, the 5th match was with Krillin, and the final match was with Vegeta.

When i played it for Mobile Friday, https://youtu.be/TbtJ0tSpA_M, i only used Goku and Android 18 so it was nice to try a couple of other characters. they each do play differently and i enjoyed using Krillin more than i thought i would. There's a little talk about framerate in this video, but other than that it's focus is on beating the opposing team. 

Version 0.8.0 Played.

Mobile Friday - DRAGON BALL PROJECT:Multi - BETA - Good Gameplay But Hard To Follow The Action

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out DRAGON BALL PROJECT:Multi, from Bandai Namco, on my iPhone 14 Pro.

I didn't know about this BETA until i saw DRAGON BALL PROJECT:Multi high up in the game charts on the App Store. so going in, i really didn't know what to expect. the screenshots they used didn't really give many clues either. all i knew was that it was an online multiplayer game that's 4 vs. 4.

Unfortunately, it starts with an extra 1 GB download so it's best to do this on Wi-fi. about halfway through the download there is the option to start the tutorial, but for this video i decided to download everything first. there is no trailer, no art, no screenshots, and no music during this process.

the tutorial for DRAGON BALL PROJECT:Multi is too basic. i'm not familiar with #MOBA type games, with Pokémon Unite being my main experience, so i wanted and needed more information that it gave. i found it difficult to read the map in the top left and difficult to follow the tutorial instructions on the middle left as the action takes place on the right side. there was not enough verbal instructions from Whis and Beerus, and the map is far too small to be glanceable. 

A lot of things were far too small in this BETA. i do HDMI out to a TV so i can check what the Dynamic Island is covering but i ended up having to look at the TV as a lot of text was tiny, especially Japanese Katakana names, and character thumbnails were useless at times.

The action on screen is also often too small. because we get to see a lot of the map, many of the characters are small. the enemies have labels, but they're even smaller than the characters. with things like grass blocking views, at times it was hard to work out who was friend and who was foe. the Z Fighters are a little easy to spot because of the Red "uniforms" but then again Android 18 doesn't wear a uniform and is harder to spot. when there's Gods of Destruction, Enemies, Team Mates, Opposition Players, and a Zeno all on screen at the same time, it's essentially luck and chaotic.

But i'm not saying that the gameplay is bad. a lot of it makes sense and how things progress make sense in how they describe it. there is some good solid action. the next layer of flashiness also works. there's flair when going Super Saiyan and the camera zooms in close. the same happens when doing a solo finishing move or with a team mate. it adds a satisfying sense of epicenes and power to the action. 

I recommend people try this beta. for Dragon Ball Z and Super fans, it'll be fun. for MOBA fans i think it'll be something simple and easy to play. but i hope that there's enough time for the developers to overhaul the tutorial, to add a main menu tutorial, and to add the option for players to zoom into the action a little more. The developers also need to work on iPhone specific aspects. the Dynamic Island got in the way a little here and there. the PC style graphic options make little sense on iPhone, more so when there's no visual example of what any of them do, and very few games get my iPhone that hot and keep it so hot that the screen remains permanently dimmed throughout the video.

Version 0.8.0 Played.

Demo Play Thursday - Visions of Mana On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Visions of Mana from Ouka Studios and Square Enix.

The series is famous so i have heard of it but it's not a series i've played much. i think i bought a recent remake, or played it a little via PlayStation Plus, but i don't know the overarching story of it all. so essentially, i'm going into this "fresh".

The game's PSN Store Page does a good job detailing what this demo is and what it's designed to do. it's a shame the game itself couldn't get that across whilst we played it. but it does try so if you don't check out the store page, you'll get some basic idea that this isn't exactly the retail version of the game and that it contains select moments from the start. i've included at the start of this video the store page so you can check out the extra information.

Starting the demo, it's clear that this is a good looking game. the demo tries to info dump too much information before letting us continue and then more info gets dumped. It's a demo that's designed to show off fighting, traversing, the graphics, the characters, but not in a cohesive way that we would naturally get from the retail version. essentially, it's a bit of a mess and i had to just try, explore, and use some common sense to navigate the whole thing.

Visions of Mana is clearly a good looking game. everything is bright and colorful but not really in a distasteful way. the world, the people, and the animals all seem to work. the music is a little subdued and could be a little louder, and i think i did right by lowering the sfx sounds. it does feel like it came from a near final version of the retail game, there are very few technical issues with it.

I would go so far as to say that after playing this demo i think it would be fine to get the PS4 version. it doesn't feel like a lesser version. loading doesn't feel long, the controls feel solid, and even the draw distance is respectable. the only issue that i had with the demo were some bad shadows on character faces and one or two things not finished loading in even tho the loading screen had gone and gameplay had started.

it's difficult to comment on the fighting. the demo ends with a tough boss battle, but because it's a demo designed to showcase the game, i can't say whether i didn't die because i was good enough or because i just couldn't. it seemed chaotic and difficult at times to pay attention to health and mana. but thankfully my team mate A.I seemed good enough to help me, help each other, and do meaningful attacks.

I would recommend people try out the demo for Visions of Mana. not only because you get some items in-game a little early, but because there's still more to do in it. i didn't do any sidequests, and yet by the time i got to the boat i had maybe 3 i could've done. the open world area is massive and well worth exploring. It's also a good demo and i do think it does a good job showcasing Visions of Mana. i think having a trailer or artwork at the end for those who finished it would've been a smart move, but as it is it's a good showcase for the game. after playing the demo, i would think about getting the retail version of Visions of Mana. i'm intrigued by some of the story elements brought up, but overall i had a good time playing it.

Backlog Conquering - Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut - Part 3 - Missions 6, 7, and 8

Welcome to Backlog Conquering. This is a series were i play a game from my backlog that i may or may not have played before. the goal isn't necessarily to finish the game, the goal is to play it. that way, i can have an opinion about it.

Strike Suit Zero: Director's Cut is a game from Born Ready that i've had on PS4 since it game out on the PSN. 

This part was easier than Part 2, https://youtu.be/FApVNW8XBXo. i didn't even die once! tho i came close. i did forget what some of the button's did, but overall it was nice coming back to the game. the story is getting a little difficult to follow, but it has always been a little difficult as it's spread out across the menus between missions and during missions.

Stories on Tuesday - Star Trek: Resurgence - Part 8 - Act 3 Part 19 to Part 23

The new game in the Stories on Tuesday series is the PS4 version of Star Trek: Resurgence, from  Dramatic Labs.

The repercussions from Part 7, https://youtu.be/w-SnRuAjouY, were still being dealt with through most of this video and we quickly got some new issues to deal with. The Scions of the Flame got their big ship and it has an interesting ability that didn't damage the USS Resolute, but internally it's messing things up. And that's not all, there were also staff changes related to actions i took in this part. A lot happens in an hour!

Switch Funday - Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team - My First Time

Welcome to Switch Funday!

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team has just been added to the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership. On GBA i played the "mainline" Pokémon games on Game Boy Advance but i never tried the Mystery Dungeon games. they were something my cousins had so i thought of them as games for younger children and never tried them.

Going into it, i new that there would be a personality test that would determine the Pokémon you'd start as, tho i didn't know what possible Pokémon i could be, but other than that this was all new to me. even the style of game, a descending dungeon explore, is fairly new and something i haven't got much experience with.

If i'm honest, i was expecting more from Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team than what i got. the Pokémon look good, the graphics are good, and the music is somewhat good. but i found the gameplay to be slow, repetitive, and confusing. i was expecting a tutorial that just never came, tho there's a chance this was in the game manual, and there were terms and ideas i just never understood. Like the whole hunger thing, why did it only apply to me?

I also think i had controller issues as i was pressing buttons only for nothing to happen on screen. i can't believe that this was the actual game's fault and think it's the emulator being used to play it. But the game did have it's own issues, like the missing newspaper in the mailbox, poor UI, and too many menus. 

I strongly recommend using the services suspend point option and save frequently. the difficulty spiked so fast i was completely unprepared for it. i feel like the game does a poor job at explaining how to prepare for missions as by the #Diglett mission i was ill-prepared and saving every floor. the difficulty is also hard to manage as Pokémon just keep respawning. it's easy to get into a poor matchup, and with the controls as slow as they were i was often missing or miss clicking.

As a part of Pokémon history, it's worth trying. but don't force yourself. it's a poor example of a Pokémon game and a poor example of a dungeon explorer. By the time i finished the Diglett mission, i wasn't having fun and i won't be coming back to it. i would be interested in trying out the remake, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rescue Team DX, or a later title, like Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon, as i'd hope they would be better in every respect than Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team.