Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade - Rayman Mini - The First Hour

This fourth video in the new Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series is on Rayman Mini. This is an exclusive game on Apple Arcade from Ubisoft and Pastagames.

When searching for games to play on Apple Arcade, Rayman Mini wasn't one that had turned up when looking through the charts nor had it been recommended to me before. So when i found it i was genuinely surprised as i hadn't heard about this game before.

this meant i came into this video a little excited and definitely intrigued. thankfully, this game doesn't get bogged down with a tutorial as it incorporates it into the adventure mode. it is a little light, it just says where to touch and what it does. there's no letting the player try it out before the level starts. i wouldn't say the levels are easy, but the first couple have no hazards that can kill Rayman. Plus, restarting a level is really quick so it's a useful way to acclimatise to the controls.

But it's not an easy game. you're tasked with collecting all the Lums in a level as doing so unlocks a new version of the main characters. but i only managed to do this in a couple of levels. Rayman Mini is a runner, so it's very difficult to go back if you miss something and some levels simply block off the past areas of a level. Which means, Rayman Mini is a puzzle runner. 

Because of this, i came away from this game thinking that it was more difficult that i expected it to be. getting into the game and replaying levels is really quick, so replaying isn't an issue. but there is an element of frustration in being unable to solve the puzzle that is the level. there are no check points, at least so far, and they can go by too fast to see it all. there were more than a couple of levels where i couldn't work out how to get all the Lums.

Another issue i had with the game was the controller lag, or what felt like to me a lag between what i wanted Rayman to do and Rayman actually doing it on the screen. i tried both handheld and bluetooth controller and the lag felt like the same using both controller methods. the speed of the game, especially the music level, made timing actions really hard. To the point where it felt like i had to learn the level rather than react to the level.

Rayman Mini is a beautiful game and is one that can show off the power of the platform. it continues the art style that Rayman Origins and Rayman Legends popularized, and arguably revitalised the series, as well as the music stages and challenges. it's worth downloading and trying. but it's not an easy game and one which could be more frustrating than fun. for me, i ultimately found it frustrating and i probably won't be heading back to it.

Backlog Conquering - Eat Them! - Part 2 - A More Difficult 45 Minutes

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 2, the second 45 minutes, of playing Eat Them! on PS3.

Yesterday's video, https://youtu.be/yFzk0i8jj1Y, was a fairly simple one where the game was only difficult when i made mistakes. Today's video starts off with me failing to complete a level.

As mentioned yesterday, the game is split into comic books and today's video saw me trying to complete the 3rd comic book. but it's first level was more difficult than i expected. and it wasn't a major problem, i'd just keep missing a policeman and it would stop the convicts from escaping. after a few attempts i learned i had to be more attentive. i couldn't just go and clear a path, i had to manage said path whilst also trying not to be killed.

But that wouldn't be the only stage where i failed. the other failures were much tighter so whilst it was a little annoying to fail, it wasn't a huge issue. but i'm a little concerned going forward by the apparent jump up in difficulty. Let me know in the comments how much harder it's going to get.

Pokémon Violet - The Twenty-First Part – Defeating Tulip, The Psychic Gym Leader

*This video was recorded before Christmas, so the start of this and the next video had me talking like the videos were coming out before Christmas.

In Part 20, https://youtu.be/_ygjAKAVATc, i got to Alfornada City and began to level up, ready for the gym battle. In this video, i take on the Psychic Gym and eventually get the gym battle.

I say eventually because i failed to beat Tulip during my first attempt. But i only needed to make a couple of changes to my team before i quickly tried again and defeated her.

This video is long because i first spend some time levelling up my first squad, as well as some exploring, before ending the video by moving to outside the Poison Type Team Star Base.

Pokémon Violet - The Twentieth Part – The Journey to And Exploring Alfornada City

*This video was recorded before Christmas, so the start of this and the next video had me talking like the videos were coming out before Christmas.

This video takes place after my third 20 Online Tera Raid Battles video, https://youtu.be/7pPtfUcsJgE,  and starts with me showing off some of the new pokemon and squad changes i've made since Part 19 of my Pokémon Violet Game Play, https://youtu.be/ujeNBlHDWmU. Once that's all finished, the goal is simple ... head to Alfornada City and get ready for it's gym leader.

The journey there was an unexpected as i expected. I've gone into the game knowing as little as possible and that includes how to get from city to city. so heading into a giant cave was kinda expected as i've been in several already. but the size and scale of it was totally unexpected. especially the verticality of it.

Once out, i changed my team up a bit to make it more suitable for the gym leader and did some levelling up at the outskirts of Alfornada City. to end the video i head into the city and explore it before going to the gym and seeing what the gym challenge will be. in the next video, you'll see my attempt at the challenge and the gym leader.

Backlog Conquering - Eat Them! - The First Part

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 1, the first 45 minutes, of playing Eat Them! on PS3.

This is one of those games that i've seen on my XMB for many years, i even remember watching the little video that plays when it's highlighted. But i've never played it as there's always been something else i've wanted to play more. Well not today. 

It makes a good first impression. it's quick to load and has a whole lot of style. back when this game came out in 2010, it was a somewhat more familiar style of cell shading. but it's not as common today. the lines are thick and black and really work with the art style. it's surprisingly clear what everything is, from the big buildings right down to the characters running away or attacking you.

The tutorial is a bit too brisk. there's a lot happening on screen during it. i would've liked a bit more of a step by step approach, as seen in the game's monster creating area. but the game is mostly simple enough that you can work it out as you play through the opening areas.

You do need to pay attention as to what you're being tasked to do. a couple of times i wasn't paying attention. in this video i play through the tutorial and first "comic." Each map is split into comics, and each comic is broken up into different stages. for the first comic/area, there were 7 stages and i play through each. i also try out the monster creator, too.

Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday - Nintendo Switch Edition - New Year's 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 New Year's Cup! (12/25 4PM - 1/1 4PM (PST)) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and my Nintendo Switch is Docked.

This was one of the most difficult weeks in a long time. it took over an hour to get all the achievements! i didn't get a win, but i did get a couple of second places. it's a little difficult to understand why i didn't do well this week as i thought i understood what the gimmicks where. Sure, some of my opponents were really tough but i never came close to beating the boss too.

Online Saturday - Pac-Man 99 - 45 Minutes of Gameplay

For this weeks Online Saturday, i wanted to give Pac-Man 99 another try. I saw i had it on my switch, when i was getting Tetris 99 ready https://youtu.be/Fy7VXszf8TY, and i had genuinely forgotten i had it. i hadn't played it since it came out.

So for this video, i just wanted to try it out. i had some vague memories about it, memories like it being complicated or confusing. But they were vague so i mostly went in not knowing what to expect.

after 45 minutes i decided to call it a day and i had a good time with the game. i'd go so far as to say that the worst experience i had with it was actually the controller! the game uses the D-pad for directions and in each battle i did, i had an issue with it. the game does have 8 different options to choose from, 4 on each the left analogue stick and right buttons, and i did find them confusing and just stuck with a combination that seem to work well with my play style. it's possible that there were better combinations out there for me, but seeing as none of them were explained in game i didn't experiment too much.