Mobile Friday - Tsukuyomi: The Divine Hunter - A Cool Turn Based Card Battler Roguelike That Uses Ai

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Tsukuyomi: The Divine Hunter, from developers COLOPL, on my #iPhone 14 Pro. I switch between two microphones, the backup recording starts and my normal recording set up finishes, so it may sound a little strange.

The press releases for this game have focused on two things, Kazuma Kaneko has joined from #Atlus and worked extensively on the game and that together they developed “AI Kaneko” to generate cards in this game. But what was strange was that when i checked the store page for this game, the focus had moved away from the game's use of Ai, so i included a copy of one of the press releases just to highlight such promotion of Ai.

The game came across as highly polished which made rough areas really stick out. for example, they did a great job avoiding the Dynamic Island that when it did get it the way it was noticeable. another was a translation error in that English was missing. but other than that, it felt great to play. the music was also fantastic. it hadn't been highlighted in the press releases or on the store page but i think it really adds to the experience. 

there is an additional data download at the start. in comparison to other games i've played with such a download, it's relatively small. but it's still big enough that i wouldn't recommend starting this game on a mobile network. starting it at home isn't an issue as Tsukuyomi: The Divine Hunter has a cool console feature, the ability to manually save and come back to the game later. the auto save was also noticeable.

The Roguelike element to Tsukuyomi: The Divine Hunter is fairly simple but i do think the game could've done a little more to make it clearer to the player. when your run ends, you do not carry over any of the cards, items, or currency into the next run. However, the Ai generated cards are logged and you seemingly can pick one to take into the next run. your experience points are also kept. as you level up, you unlock items that can be discovered in the runs. these are one time use items, but you can find many of them. in this video, even tho it's long, i was only able to start a second run so there are plenty of gameplay elements yet to uncover.

I only got to experience 2 Ai cards being generated in this video. the first one was satisfying. it looked good and what it did was useful. the second card that was generated was trickier to use in a run and i wasn't too satisfied with the artwork that had been created. The artwork was fine, it just didn't really match what the card did. for example, the first card was equally defensive and attacking. the picture was a knight in armor. this felt appropriate. but the second card was a guy in a suit, something that didn't match that this was an attacking card. maybe i was lucky, maybe i was unlucky, i can't say. perhaps in the comment section you can talk about your experience. but the game's news section was asking players to report inappropriate Ai generated cards so it's clear the system isn't perfected quite yet.

I think Tsukuyomi: The Divine Hunter is worth trying. the card combat was good, the graphics and art were great, as was the music, and it worked well together. there are a couple of rough spots and i didn't progress far enough to comment on the story or other gameplay elements. but what i did play was solid and the manual save feature is great for those playing at home or out and about on a commute.

Version 1.0.1 Played.

Demo Play Thursday - Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo from developers Pocket Trap.

I had heard some talk about this game on podcasts i listen to, but after the Pepper Grinder experience i must admit i had some trepidation going in. Thankfully, after playing this demo for a little over an hour i came away feeling positive about the demo itself and the game.

Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo has a look the reminds me of the Game Boy Advance era of games and as someone who grew up during this era i feel like they did well in matching the controls to that look. What helps is that Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo feels far more cohesive of an experience than Pepper Grinder ever did is that the controls, the art style, the character design, the music, and more importantly the story and gameplay are all woven together successfully. The demo is also bespoke and shows off the initial introductions, tutorial, and plot of the game. the second demo shows off a different area and the new puzzles and ways of using your Yoyo. the final section to play is, what i assume to be, the first boss battle in the game. 

Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo isn't an easy game and whilst loading back to the screen you were on is quick and easy, i'm not sure i agree with the punishment being financial. the demo gives some examples on how money is used in the game and i'm a little concerned that it needlessly punishes the player. But, at the start of the i checked out the game's options and in the difficulty settings you can decrease the financial penalty for trying again. there are a whole host of ways you can customise the game to your difficulty level and this really does make the game very accessible. it's a shame that the game doesn't make it clear if changing the difficulty will affect earning trophies or not.

i would recommend people check out the demo for Pipistrello and the Cursed Yoyo. the game has links to the PlayStation Store if you want to pre-order the game, as it comes out at the end of the month. 

Backlog Conquering - Final Fantasy On PSP - Part 16 - First Two Bosses In The Chaos Shrine

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. The newest game in the Backlog Conquering series is the PlayStation Portable version of Final Fantasy. this is the downloaded version of the game, but it is also available on UMD. To help with this playthrough i'm proudly using a guide from GameFAQS. here's the link, https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/psp/937909-final-fantasy/faqs/55625. i'm not following it exactly, but it's useful to have. 

With Part 15 not really offering much to the overall story, in Part 16 i decided to go and do the end game. It starts rough with the magic using White Dragon and like in Part 8, i think, they do a lot of damage even knocking out a couple of my team. getting off the first floor was a relief as the other monsters haven't come close to wiping my team. But we did end up back on the first floor and even end up going deeper. the levels are large and it's easy to get a little lost. thankfully this means we're levelling up nice so when we come to the first boss, we managed to defeat it whilst i was still buffing my team. i ended the video after the second boss which probably means Part 17 has at least 3 more to go!

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/QWXAyHh-R0s

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/95BsHWcN6K0

Part 3 - https://youtu.be/eMh6cvudEOA

Part 4 - https://youtu.be/LCrkwFxlEJs

Part 5 - https://youtu.be/6SKK1o1QGV0

Part 6 - https://youtu.be/lrgjxlOgUiI

Part 7 - https://youtu.be/0zQLSh9TjaQ

Part 8 - https://youtu.be/yehXjEWljbM

Part 9 - https://youtu.be/DVdc0-6uLXM

Part 10 - https://youtu.be/jb86mpdg_nA

Part 11 - https://youtu.be/h5u0JNtLCmg

Part 12 - https://youtu.be/RbIXaYmSKhI

Part 13 - https://youtu.be/Ps7KNTkX5pE

Part 14 - https://youtu.be/9-eLWGpCIyo

Part 15 - https://youtu.be/olPRCSUgqXU

Stories on Tuesday - Arcade Spirits - Part 3 - Mega Arcade Expo

The new game in the Stories on Tuesday series is the PS4 version of Arcade Spirits from Fiction Factory Games. this is the disc version of the game, published by PQube.

This is Part 3 of my Arcade Spirits story and it takes place during our visit to MAX, the Mega Arcade Expo. most of our interactions revolve around Ashley and Teo and the hijinks the happen with one and a cool opportunity that happens because of the other.

You can check out the previous parts of this playthrough:

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/iPaMcNIB-pI

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/BBr3lviaf2s

Cloud Monday - Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures - Part 2 - It's Own Issues Make It Not Fun

This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 2 of playing Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures on #PS4 via the #PlayStationPlus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model #PlayStation4.

In Part 1 we discovered that there was no way to do manual saves in the game. As i said back then, this is bad because with PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service you only get a 20 second warning before being disconnected and without manual saves you are relying on the game's auto save. we have seen that the game will save when you buy collectable cards, but other than that it's been somewhat mixed. With this in mind, this Part 2 look at the game let me focus more on the game itself.

Thankfully, the streaming experience this time was much better than in Part 1. this means that the lag in the controls i noticed are likely game based and not a result of the game being streamed to me via the cloud, but i should also admit that being streamed isn't helping. when this is combined with the obvious poor draw distance, on a technical level it really does feel like i'm playing a worse version of the game, tho i don't have a PS5 to compare it to so it could be equally as bad on there as it is on the PS4.

But it's not just the technical issues that make playing Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures a bit of a chore. i learnt between parts 1 and 2 that the movie voice cast didn't return for this game so my thought that the voices were a little off was correct. there are gameplay elements that make the game frustrating, too. combat shouldn't be a grind like it is. i have a powerful move that seemingly does little to the enemies, all whom can attack me quicker than i can use that move. the character also gets stuck in animations as they seem to have priority or take a fraction to long. i unlocked the high jump move and when i initialise it i jump up straight vertical, but in order to actually move forward to the ledge i have to wait for the jump animation to finish and then transform into a bat to get some forward momentum. the timing for such a move is tighter than it needs to be.

The premise of the game is good but the execution falls far to short to make it a fun experience. it's also not designed for being streamed from the cloud. not only do i not recommend streaming this from the cloud, i don't really recommend playing this version, at least, of the game. maybe you can try downloading the PS5 version of the game. but as it stands, on PS4 i can't recommend Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures.

Mobile Friday - LEMON HOUSE: ROOM ESCAPE - The Latest In The Escape Room Series Was Tough

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried LEMON HOUSE: ROOM ESCAPE, from developers APARTMENT BACON, on my iPhone 14 Pro.

I've never been good at point and click games, nor have i ever done an escape room. i've seen many of the games from APARTMENT BACON in the charts over the years but not tried one so with LEMON HOUSE: ROOM ESCAPE being the latest release in the series i wanted to finally give it a go.

As this video will show, i'm just not good at LEMON HOUSE: ROOM ESCAPE. there was nothing i found easy. I'm not saying it's a bad game, unfortunately i'm not the right person to judge that. all i can say is that i personally found it tough.

The simple graphics weren't an issue for me, but the music and sound effects didn't add anything to the experience and were a little distracting. for the most part, i thought the game handled the screen space well. there were no additional downloads, making this a decent choice for playing on the go. But there was a banner at the bottom for most of my time playing the game. it mostly only showed a picture for advertising but every now and then it was a moving picture. with this banner being at the bottom of the screen, it was out of the way but it was still distracting.

A smart use of advertising came when i finally wanted to get a hint about the puzzles, as i was stuck. we're given the option to get a hint in return for watching a video. the advert was a minute long, but then it turned out it wasn't just one hint but hints for all puzzles! Honestly, i think this was a bit too generous. i would've liked 1 hint for the first puzzle for free, and then the game could've offered hints for the next 3 puzzles for an advert watch.

Version 1.1 Played.

Demo Play Thursday - The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy.

This video is longer than many of the other Demo Play Thursday videos as this demo, and most likely the game too, had a weird mechanic in that it's almost impossible to pause the game during the story telling. I say almost as the player can turn off the auto play of the story but this doesn't give the player access to any of the menus. as you'll see in this video, i was only able to access the menus at very specific points. the start of The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy is a very long story sequence with only a couple of moments where the player has control. i don't know if this will be the case going forward in the game, but as someone who's not played many visual novel style games this was the first time i've encountered such game design.

Now with that out of the way, i really enjoyed my time with the demo for The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy. i liked the music, i liked the art style, and i especially enjoyed how the game didn't bog it self down with backstory and world building. the demo starts with an apocalyptical event taking place, goes back in time to shortly before it, and then carries on from the event. i wasn't expecting some of the scenes we got or how gruesome some of them were. but it didn't take me out of the story telling either.

graphically, other than some banding i think it holds up well on Switch. but with how long some of the story sequences are, it was disappointing that the game was unable to turn off the Switch's Screen Dimming feature which other games like Loopers has done. You'll see it in this video where it catches me out a couple of times and you may also hear the analogue sticks being pressed but nothing happening on screen as this was my attempt to prevent the dimming.

As a demo, the game doesn't have a link to the eShop page on it's home screen. As a story focused game, the demo has a bigger role to play as it has to try and sell the game's story and hook into the player so that they would want to get the game to carry it on. For me, i was interested in the story enough to want to know more.  as i didn't finish the demo, i don't know if it ends on a cliffhanger. but i feel like i've seen a lot of what the game has to offer, initially at least, to want to keep playing it. i'm not just curious as to where the story will go, i'm also interested in the character interactions and the world in general.

The demo for The Hundred Line: Last Defense Academy isn't the best demo i've played, but i'm glad i've played it. i was curious about the game before i played it but it didn't really grab me. i would probably have done nothing more than Wishlist it. but now i've played the demo, i'm much more interested in it, even if it does have some quirks that could get annoying down the line. i'd recommend people giving it a go, just beware it's age rating does seem well earned.