Today's Cloud Monday is part 2 of playing the PS4 game Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom on the PlayStation Plus Streaming Service.
Part 1, https://youtu.be/DJsShUH4x3A, wasn't too bad. there were some minor issues but nothing that affected gameplay. mostly, because of the graphical style and fidelity of the game, it was just distracting.
In this video, what issues there were were few and far between. there were a couple of times where i could see some macroblocking. another time i saw some stream tearing. and whilst these were distracting, as they happened far less than in part 1 part 2 felt like a better overall gaming experience.
But, there was something about the controls that just felt off. it could be that due to age, wear and tear, and use my controller is developing an issue. or it could be due to streaming the game from PlayStation Plus Premium there's some lag between what i press on the controller to what happens in the game. or it's just the game. i speculated a couple of times in the video, but one of better ideas was that in this game the ledges are slippery. so the closer you are to the edge, the more likely you are to slide off or have added momentum. coupled with potential lag, it could help explain why i found it more difficult doing the platforming in this part than part 1.
In yesterday's first look at Omega Strikers on Nintendo Switch, https://youtu.be/6HeCdaJLbMo, the focus was more on checking it out and seeing what was on offer. For Switch Funday the goal was to play it. In less than an hour i managed to get 7 games in, and it could've been as much as 8 or 9 if i had tried. it's a great example of how quick the games are but also how quick it is to find a match.
many of the small complaints from yesterday carry over into today, things like a lack of a sense of speed, a lack of player character clarity, and a general feeling that the gear and awakenings add nothing to the experience. But i don't think they impact the game enough where it becomes not a fun experience. I've certainly had a worse time with bigger games, namely when i played Overwatch 2 on PS4 and Switch.
But a problem the game has it that it's on the Switch, a console that has perhaps the most popular online games of recent years. Omega Strikers is fun, but i can't honestly say it's more fun than Splatoon 3. i haven't tried out Fortnite on switch but i do know more people who play it there than on PlayStation. It will be interesting to see what the support is like for the game post launch and what it can do to grab attention. for example, i won't play it for this upcoming weekend's videos because of the Splatoon 3 Zelda Splatfest.
Today i'm playing Omega Strikers on Nintendo Switch. the game came out a day or two ago so this is my first hour with the game during it's debut weekend.
Going in, i didn't know too much about it other than what the Nintendo e-shop store page said about it. but one of the most surprising things about it was how slow it felt. one of the first comments i make about the game during the training is just how slow it is. It's something i'll say about the game a few times whilst playing and thinking back it's probably the biggest negative i have with it.
There are a few other minor negative feelings i have about the game, but it's mostly UI stuff. but in terms of core gameplay it's mostly fine. but the the game never felt fast enough, in nearly every game i was left wanting more speed or a sprint button at the very least. the only other thing about playing it that i feel is worth mentioning is that quite a few times i lost track of my own character on the pitch. the game is designed so that the whole pitch is on screen. this means, even on tv, the camera is somewhat zoomed out. there's something about this camera and the character design that makes it really hard to keep track of what's happening at times. it's also somewhat hard to work out what the other players are doing as the animations, whilst happening, are also small. at the very least i'd like an option for a zoom camera, kinda like something you'd have in a Pinball game, or a lock on that keeps your character in the center.
For it being it's debut weekend, i found the game to have solid online. not once did a game drop and the waiting times were as low as Splatoon 3! it's free to play and i had fun in the first hour i played with it. Omega Strikers manages that first hour very well. the tutorial is a little heavy but goes over the basic gameplay loop using in-game examples, which is greatly appreciated. the Missions are also designed in such a way that it encourages you to explore the menus and customisation options. as you progress through the missions, you unlock other features such as the shop. that's something i'm a fan of, and one of the bigger complaints i have with mobile games is how quick they are to open the shop whilst explaining nothing about it.
Omega Strikers is a free to play game and one that i recommend trying out. it's one i will be keeping on my Switch, but won't replace Splatoon 3 as my go to online multiplayer game. but it's one i will keep coming back to. if there are online events, i may pop in every month to take part. for example, this month is a Creators Vs. event. you can select to represent a Creator and as you win you earn points for them. in this video, i chose to fight for @RubberRoss . whilst i was only able to get a single win for his team. it was fun. (also, check out his YouTube Channel. i do enjoy not only the art but how much fun he has with his friends)
Today's video is part 5 of playing Malicious on PS3.
I finally did it, i beat the boss. well, i defeated my final boss. this game uses a Mega Man style where you can fight any of the boss characters in any order you want. the main difference is that in Malicious, not only do you get a new ability but your opponents also get tougher. this can be seen in this video, and the last one, where there were enemies everywhere!
But i didn't manage to beat the game. the goal of the first part of the game is to defeat the bosses who have kept some of the power for themselves. our character was created/summoned for the sole purpose of beating Malice, but before that we have to defeat 5 bosses. now i have defeated all five, i'm powered up and ready to fight Malice.
The fight against Malice is NUTS! and i couldn't beat it.
Today's video is part 4 of playing Malicious on PS3.
The title gives it away, this video is me failing over and over again trying to beat the final boss of the game. it's the same boss i failed to beat in the first and second videos, too. what's heartening is that i am making progress. i got closer than ever to beating the boss and i feel like i'm learning more and more. But, as you can imagine, at the time it's incredibly frustrating.
I will do a part 5, i really want to defeat the boss and see the ending, unless there's more of course. i just hope it comes easier and quicker than this video. this is probably the closest i've come to getting proper angry whilst playing a game for QTE Gamers since i restarted things.
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 Michael Cup! (2023/4/24 9:00～2023/5/1 8:59 JST) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and a docked Nintendo Switch.
This wasn't a great cup for me. the actual recording took over an hour! i didn't win nor did i get to the final boss character. i was often stymied by the second round of enemies! if i could beat them i would get stuck against another monster. it was strange how that seemed to happen to me more than other players, tho some did get some low scores like myself.
Today's Cloud Monday is part 1 of playing the PS4 game Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom on the PlayStation Plus Streaming Service.
This is a game that i've been interested in for a long time. it's art style has always interested me and now it's on the PlayStation Plus Premium service i took this opportunity to play it. i also thought that it's bright bold clear art style would highlight the highs and lows of streaming the game. and it did.
First things first, i'm fairly sure we saw a new issue in this video, Zebra Striping! i don't know the technical name for it, but this seems the most apt. there were a few occasions where instead of the bright colorful art, it was replaced with stripes of black and white (or maybe a greyish color). it kinda felt a bit like stream tearing so maybe the information was just missing. it didn't happen often, but as the title hints at, but that was the case with many other things in this video.
There wasn't just one issue in this video. each of the usual suspects, macroblocking, stream tearing, resolution dips, etc, cropped up at some point. it was often just one thing at a time and not for very long. it's like the video is peppered with occasional blips of issues but no one big thing. the issue is, even tho it didn't get in the way of gameplay it was very noticeable because of the games bright clear art style. each time it happened, even if it was brief, it stuck out like a sore thumb.
So on one hand it was fine to play, on the other it was distracting and took me out of the experience of playing the game. i'll do part 2 next week at a different time and day so we can see if it's something that persists.
