The new story is Underworld Office: Ghost Story. i'm playing this on iPhone 14 pro.
At the moment, i'm unsure if this will be a chapter each video or not. there is some sort of credit system that's not explained. so in this video, i played through until i ran out of credits, which was the start of Chapter 2.
This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 2 of playing the PS4 version of Patapon 2 Remastered via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.
In Part 2 we came across a hint screen, when the game is loading, that revealed that there's no punishment for failing. i actually experienced this first hand when i lost all my Patapon in a mission only for all of them to be unharmed when i did something next. this is an example of how casual the game is. the combination of casual and portable mechanics work well together to produce a game that's good to stream from the cloud.
In Part 1, i highlighted how i was using the pulsing of the screen to help get the rhythm and how pressing options brought up the command list. across both parts doing this might've meant that i missed a turn or two attacking the enemy but i never felt like it was a huge cost to pay. the levels we've previously played change so that when we return to grind items, it's different from the first time we were there.
But i do feel that grinding is an aspect of this game that's unavoidable. i showed in this part how i needed just 1 item to make new Patapon but always didn't have enough of it even after all the levels i've done. to make new Patapon i'll need to grind out the first hunting level and then to upgrade it i'd need to re-do many other levels. as these levels are short, they can be quickly dealt with, but the whole grinding aspect of the gameplay might be a bit repetitive and a deal breaker for some.
Across two parts i have had fun playing #Patapon2 from the cloud. it's not a perfect experience, but it's good enough where i would probably play this game via the cloud in the future rather than download it. the game wants us to play and win, so when we make a mistake the consequences aren't too harsh. as long as we remember to save before doing a run, there aren't many consequences if we're disconnected.
In Tetris 99 it's the 50th Maximus Cup this weekend. the theme to unlock is Kirby Air Riders. i played the Switch version and managed to finish in the top 50 in all the games i played.
For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Hungry Hearts Ramen from developers GAGEX on my iPhone 14 Pro.
I have seen these restaurant games from GAGEX in the App Store for a while and have nearly reviewed a few of them, but Hungry Hearts Ramen is the first one i have and i'm glad i did as it was a fantastic time. i didn't set out to record a video this long, i was just having such a nice time with the game that i lost track of time as i played.
Time is perhaps the only issue i have with Hungry Hearts Ramen. throughout the video you'll hear me say how i would like a pause button or want the game to pause during the story segments. there is a day mechanic here because customers come to the restaurant on different days but this isn't explicitly said by the game, rather i inferred it from the customer menu section.
For the most part, Hungry Hearts Ramen does a great job at getting across how to play the game and what does what. the tutorial is simple, telling us what to do via text and pictures rather then showing via a gif. but what was nice and surprising is how they use the customers, the Shrine Maiden in particular, to help remind us what to do.
I've highlighted the community aspect of this game in the title because i feel like each of the characters we've met so far in the game are very well written. they come across as genuine and interesting. mistakes and assumptions are made by our main characters but no one seems to get angry. as we played, we got to know a few of them better than others and in doing so this unlocks more food and drink options in the game. there are also customers who make delivery requests. the game makes it clear there's no pressure to fulfil them if you can't and these customers will call back in the future. but if you're able to their requests, we get even more story.
As well as the community aspect, there is another story that we've barely touched upon in this video. i won't go into spoilers, but this seems to be the second time we've opened a restaurant in this town and there seems to have been more of us the first time we did this. i speculate in the video what might have happened but there's no reason why it can't be sad or happy as the stories we've encountered so far have been both.
Graphically, i enjoyed the art in Hungry Hearts Ramen. it's a simple design that seems to look right for the era. the music is nice, too. but after the hour and a half i played the music was starting to get a little repetitive.
Hungry Hearts Ramen does have adverts. i don't mind mobile games, especially the free to play ones, having them. but what really impressed me was how well Hungry Hearts Ramen deals with it. there's a TV in the restaurant that will play an add if you want and that'll restore your characters energy. As our characters are old, and they themselves mention about getting tired, the energy mechanic is well tied into the game universe. There is a banner advert at the bottom of the screen throughout this video. but it doesn't get in the way, it's not distracting, and my focus throughout was in the middle of the screen. And then there are the full screen adverts. thankfully the game put's up a little message that we're going to an ad break, plays the ad, puts the break screen up, and then get's us back into action. it's that attention to detail that makes this simple restaurant game feel really polished and something great.
After playing Hungry Hearts Ramen, i can say that it does make it into my top free to play games of the year list. i won't say where, but it's that good and well worth checking out. there's something for a lot of players here and it's all good.
For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of GIGASWORD from Akupara Games and Studio Hybrid.
I saw the pixel art on the PSN and thought it looked great, but i hadn't watched a video for GIGASWORD so i was surprised when it started playing how good it was. But what's odd is how there are times when there's no music, not even some ambiance. going from some really great music to nothing at all to then more music was quite odd. You'll have to let me know in the comments if this is the case with the retail release of the game or not.
I quite enjoyed the start to GIGASWORD, i thought the opening segment worked great as a tutorial. the level design and puzzles worked great. nothing felt challenging and progress was nice and smooth. But one problem with this demo is how little it communicates to the player that this is a demo. when you start, there's nothing on the home screen that says "demo", nor is there any links to pre-order/buy the game from the PSN. the demo doesn't say what the limits to the demo are either. so i got to a point in the demo where i couldn't make progress and i have no idea if that's because i missed something or if that's the demo ending.
Or it could be a result of the demo crashing. it's not often that a demo fully crashes in this series, but it happened here with GIGASWORD. i got to the PS4 home screen, submitted the PS4 error report, and loaded up the game again. But once i was back in the game, i never made any progress. You'll have to let me know in the comments if i missed something in the demo or how this differs from the released game.
Even tho it crashed and i'm not thrilled with how little it communicated to me how it's a demo, i did enjoy my time with GIGASWORD. i thought the balance between platforming, puzzles, and fighting was spot on for just starting the game, i really liked the pixel art, and the music was fantastic and cleverly hid the loop. so if you're curious about GIGASWORD, i'd recommend checking it out.
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.
Our new game is the PlayStation 3 version of Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy from the 2012 The Jak and Daxter Trilogy that remastered the games and brought them into HD. This series is my first time playing any of the games from the initial trilogy, tho i have played the PSP game Daxter.
