iPhone Friday - Dicero! - Good Art, Easy To Pick Up And Play, But Poor Tutorial And Maybe Too Simple

For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Dicero! from HABBY on my iPhone14Pro. 

Dicero! is a recent release on the Japanese App Store, but since it came out i've seen many adverts for the game, especially when it comes to adverts in other free to play mobile games. A lot of shovelware games have had similar advertising pushes so i came into this not really sure what to expect. the App store page has screenshots, but they're less useful than the adverts i had previously seen.

Unfortunately, Dicero! starts off with a bad first impression as it downloads data without warning, without permission, and it never says what it downloaded. it's not a big download, but it is there. 

The game starts right away. there's no opening cinematic, there's no story, it's straight to gameplay. there is a tutorial that tells us what to do, but it doesn't really explain the why. before you know it, the tutorial is over and i found there to be many things left unexplained. the gameplay from this first hour is simple enough and with some reading and experimenting it's not too difficult to work things out. but again, it's the first impression that the game's stumbling with in a market where the really good games focus on the tutorial and explaining things. for example, there was a powerup using a term i hadn't read before. it would've been great to have a gif showing what it actually does so i could make a better informed decision about using it.

What i really liked about Dicero! was the artstyle. the characters and enemies looked fantastic and there were small animations everywhere. the boss monsters really stood out. graphically it maybe somewhat simple but it is really nice to look at. the general background music is also nice. the track that plays during most of the gameplay effortlessly loops without me noticing. but when it came to the boss music, it was very energetic and appropriate but it was also really noticeable when it looped.

Throughout the video, i kept on coming up with ways to enhance the gameplay. what i played was easy to understand, but there didn't seem to be much depth or strategy to it. Dicero! is very much a pick up and play game but it also came across as one where you don't really need to think much about what's happening.

On the whole, i did enjoy playing Dicero! there are good aspects of the game but there are maybe more average aspects of it. it may not make the best first impression, but if you play a couple of levels you'll get the hang of it and it seems fine for most people. being able to play the game with one hand makes it a fine choice for commuters and with things being as simple as they are it would help pass the time quickly.

Version 1.0.1 Played

Demo Play Thursday - Etrange Overlord DEMO On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation4  version of Etrange Overlord, from developers Gemdrops.

The PSN Store page for this demo doesn't have a lot of information and it has no screenshots. all i knew going in to this was that the save file would carry over to the retail version of the game, which the demo itself never said, and that there was some sort of musical aspect to this game.

Etrange Overlord starts with our death and with all things considered we seem to handle it well. we awaken in hell and it becomes clear quickly that the residents of hell should be the ones scared of me, not the other way round. this opening sequence acts as the game's battle tutorial and whilst it's light on information, it's not the only time we see this tutorial as more aspects of the game's battle systems open up as we play.

What struck me early on is how good the game looks. you may hear in the video that this demo was pushing my PS4 quite hard. all the enemies and characters we come across are vibrantly colored and whilst they may not have fine detail, they do look great. the art style used in this game throughout is nice. a good compromise was reached letting this game look as well as it does whilst also performing as well.

The biggest issue i had was that it was never clear when the game was saving. i admit i got the manual save wrong at the end of the demo, but up to then the only time i could say for sure i knew that game had saved was when i changed some options at the start of the demo.

the biggest, and pleasant, surprise goes to the game's musical aspect. at no point was i expecting the characters to burst out into song. what's impressive is that it fits well in to the game itself. it was surprising, but once i got over that, by the end of the demo i was looking forward to these little bursts of song. another aspect of the game's story telling that i enjoyed was the banter between our main character and some of the demons. they're not afraid to talk behind our main character's back, and she's not afraid to remind them who's the boss and that she can hear them. that sort of comedy wasn't over played and i feel like it worked well.

From the start of the demo, it suggests playing it on Sweets Mode, which makes the combat easier so the focus moves to the story telling. i'd suggest leaving this on as the combat, but the end of the demo, was starting to get a little difficult. the combat systems are good. i enjoyed how combat bonuses appeared and how they can help us. But what i wasn't expecting was when the game had a Capture An Area battle situation. our team had to battle to gain and hold parts of the battle world to win the fight. it was refreshing and i do wonder what other twists are instore later in the game.

I really enjoyed trying out this demo for Etrange Overlord. i never finished it so if you enjoyed what you see, i'd recommend trying the demo for yourself or just get the game. there's nothing here, in the demo at least, that comes across as hardcore. i think it's a decent introduction into RPG's for those who are a little older. i think some of the game's humour might be wasted on kids. 

Backlog Conquering - ToeJam & Earl On PS3 - Part 5

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 PS3 version of ToeJam & Earl. this version came out in 2012 as part of the Sega Vintage Collection and was developed by M2. Prior to this playthrough, i hadn't played ToeJam & Earl before but on Mega Drive i had played ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron. 

Part 4 ended with me dying and realising that i hadn't saved since i reached the previous level. that meant the first thing i had to do in this video was to, once again, complete the stage and take the elevator up. thankfully, this didn't take too long. i got the ship part and found the elevator up in just a few minutes. Stage 16 went even easier, especially considering it killed me in the last part, with the elevator going up being found quickly. But 17 took around 20 minutes to finish. i had some of the worst luck with enemy placement and random exits. i made an attempt at 18 in this part but once again i didn't have any luck so called it a day.

Check out the previous parts:

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/AA7N46YYLbQ

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/CdzaIAn3lfs

Part 3 - https://youtu.be/ew7qQ5r4Yjc

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

Cloud Monday - Wall-E - Pt2 - It's Fine And Not Too Difficult With Local Multiplayer Mini Games

This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 2 of playing the PS4 version of Wall-E via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.

In Part 1, it was clear to see that these PS2 emulated games on PS4 and PS5 are a great fit for cloud streaming because you can press the Options button at any point and save. this is true for the PS1 and PSP emulated games, too. so with Wall-E is becomes more of a question if the game is worth playing or not.

For me, someone who is a fan of the movie, i'm going to say yes. the interactions Wall-E has with things it finds are just as endearing as they were back when i saw the movie in the cinema. when we met Eve for the first time it was a nice feeling. the game doesn't follow the movie's plot strictly, the start of the game works great as a tutorial for not only controlling Wall-E but also in how the game is built. but as soon as that lazer light appeared i was excited for the stories to converge somewhat.

The HD upscale helps with the graphics. they're not fantastic, but the upscale helps make them look clear and vibrant. the controls are perhaps the weakest aspect of the game. there are moments where they feel too sensitive and moments when they don't. i wonder if this is a result of the emulation, like the game used to run at 30fps on PS2 but now it runs at 60fps and the controls are also doubly sped up. that's just a guess but if you know please put it in the comments.

For me, Wall-E is a fine game to stream from the cloud. but for others, i think that it might be closer to a "Maybe". But these are my thoughts and that tips it into the "Yes" category.

iPhone Friday - Astro Defenders : Capt.Couch - A Simple Yet Fun Wave Based Tower Defense Style Game

For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Astro Defenders : Capt.Couch from PLAYHARD STUDIO on my iPhone 14 Pro. 

I downloaded this game a while ago and it's been constantly updated ever since, so it does seem like the developers are supporting the game. the screenshots on the app store page seemed very accurate as to what the game is.

Astro Defenders : Capt.Couch is mix of tower defense, wave based shooting, merging, and idle. the game starts with a tutorial that takes things nice and slow. by the end of it i felt i had grasped how to play it. the tutorial is also extends to the game's home screen. but it's here that it falters. the game play mechanics are covered when they're unlocked, but the rest of the icons on the home screen seem to be ignored.

The game is free to play and there don't seem to be adverts inbetween stages. but it does have an energy mechanic. it costs 10 per stage you play. but what i really liked was how clear the game makes the recharge time. it says when the next charge is ready and when it's fully charged, each with their own countdown.

If i had to point to an issue it's the placement of your troops on the stage. before a wave starts, you're able to freely move your units, call new ones, and change your team. but moving them was tricky. when i record these videos i have the game playing on TV, via the HDMI out i record from, as well as my phone's screen and it was from this i realized i was having trouble moving characters. because of how zoomed out the camera is when moving them, i couldn't see the shadow under the characters so for a while i wasn't able to place them exactly where i wanted. in the end, i switched to watching the game play on tv so i could place the characters more accurately. i wonder if it's possible for the developers to zoom in the camera whilst you're moving characters around so it's easier place them exactly where you want.

From the time i played Astro Defenders : Capt.Couch, i think it's a great introduction to this style of game. i think the tutorial makes it easy for newcomers whilst the merge mechanics offer something new for more experienced players. i hadn't unlocked everything by the time i was finished so there's a good few hours of content at the very least. i'd recommend giving it a go.

Version 1.1.13 Played

Backlog Conquering - ToeJam & Earl On PS3 - Part 4

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 PS3 version of ToeJam & Earl. this version came out in 2012 as part of the Sega Vintage Collection and was developed by M2. Prior to this playthrough, i hadn't played ToeJam & Earl before but on Mega Drive i had played ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron. 

i lasted around 4 minutes into playing Part 4 before i had to reload the save. i'm grateful that this feature is here as ToeJam & Earl continues to be a tough game. i don't know if there's an element of randomness about the game or if everything was specifically placed there by the developers. for example, i would get stuck dancing, hit by a cherub arrow, all the while trying to doge the mole. another example would be the tomato firing ducks being placed in areas where there isn't much space to avoid them. By saving and reloading i am making progress and getting ship pieces, but there are times when it feels like i have little or no luck.

Check out the previous parts:

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/AA7N46YYLbQ

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/CdzaIAn3lfs

Part 3 - https://youtu.be/ew7qQ5r4Yjc

Cloud Monday - Wall-E - Fairly Average Gameplay But You Can Save Any Time With PS2 On PS4

This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 1 of playing the PS4 version of Wall-E via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.

Wall-E is one of my favorite Pixar movies. i knew that there were video games, but i never looked to see what they were about. all these years later, Wall-E is now on the PSN store as a PS2 game emulated on #PS4. i was curious as to what kinda game this actually was and so far i enjoyed it much more than i did when i checked out Ratatouille.

With it being soo many years since i last watched Wall-E, things like the music seemed unfamiliar. there's a chance it's the same music in the movie but i don't remember it. The music didn't seem to match what was happening on screen, like they focused on the music being from a supermarket to fit the theme of the game/movie but not what was actually happening in the game. Though i did like that there was a button devoted to playing your own music. i accidently triggered it a few times and it was always nice to hear.

As a PS2 game, it was always going to look a little rough. the cutscenes, for example, don't appear to be full screen nor a particularly high resolution. the game itself is upscaled but not to 1080p on PS4. playing the game is a much more enjoyable experience than watching a cutscene as i think the graphics and art style hold up fairly well. the game, so far at least, is somewhat zoomed in to Wall-E so he's big and easy to see and so are the areas we've played in.

Controlling Wall-E isn't too difficult. there's a fantastic section at the start that uses a maintenance check to go through the game's tutorial. i really appreciate it when games are able to incorporate the tutorial into their story. going from tutorial to the games first level was a surprise as we're having to run away. the tutorial is nice and slow but suddenly the action ramps up and before we know it it's over and things have calmed down. it took me by surprise but it was fun.

I look forward to Part 2 where, hopefully, Wall-E will get to do more different things and perhaps we'll get to see EVE or even get to space. but so far, streaming Wall-E seems like a good way to play it.