Digimon Up - Mostly For Digimon Fans, But Doesn't Give Fans What They Really Want - iPhone Friday

For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Digimon Up, from Bandai Namco, on my iPhone 14 Pro. 

I'm a fan of Digimon so i was interested in giving this new game a go. the App store page for Digimon Up wasn't too clear as to what this game would actually be. In the end, it turns out this is a very similar game to FAIRY TAIL Wizard Chronicle, https://youtu.be/vp2RVOPPaMU, which i checked out last year.

This Digimon game lets you choose your partner Digimon, you can train them, watch them level up, and when the time is right you can Digivolve them. there are cards, there are other Digimon who can support you, and crests too. But most of that is hands off for us as this is more of an idle game where we do more behind the scenes management work than anything really hands on. the #App Store calls this an #RPG but it feels more like a management sim than that.

The game that it is, is well made. there was a point earlier in the video where i was beginning to feel the grind and perhaps the need to put it down so it can play idly in the background. But because it's a new game, there are a lot of bonuses being given out to players and this meant i was able to continue playing and trying out new things as they unlocked. It's hard to know how long these gifts will last for so players starting the game in 6 months might have a very different experience with the start of Digimon Up.

Before i got those gifts, the game was progressing nicely. i felt that at the start the Tutorial was doing a good job of not only explaining how things worked but also saying we should return to things to get more and level up. i really appreciated the game offering tips on how to make progress when we first stopped beating the boss. But with a tutorial as good as this, it's always noticeable when it fails. in Digimon Up the tutorial does a poor job of dealing the home screen U.I. It's also tied into the game's quest system and uses that to measure progress. so when i was making more progress than the quest system, i was unlocking features like Dungeons and there was no tutorial.

As an RPG, Digimon Up doesn't offer us much control. as a Digimon game, it has the music and the looks, there are familiar Digimon and an encyclopedia explaining them. but the interactions with them are basic and few and far between. as one of these Idle RPG's, it's fine. i don't think, at least at this point in to the game, that the Digimon factor adds much to the experience. it's possible that we'll be able digivolve and undigivolve, but i don't think the game's hinted at that. So it's entirely possible that Bandai Namco take this engine and style of game and just reskin it and release a new game, much like how East Side Games released Star Trek: Lower Decks, POWER RANGERS: MIGHTY FORCE, and Doctor Who: Lost In Time which were all reskined variations of each other.

Version 1.0.3 Played

70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X On PS4 - Demo Play Thursday

This week's DEMO is the PlayStation 4 version of 70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X, from developers Bliss Brain.

Although i wasn't sure at the start of playing this demo, 70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X is a #PS1 game that was only released in Japan that aimed to play like a 70's robot anime. there are opening credits, advert breaks, end credits, music, as well as a side scrolling shooter where we control a robot that's formed by combining 3 piloted machines together. 

This new release of the game seems to be a lite remaster of the original that seems to upscale the original videos to HD, add some new content, and the ability to rewind gameplay. it seems like a decent package. But as this game never came out in the west, a demo like this is a great way to see if this style of sidescrolling shooter is for you.

Unfortunately, i don't think this is for me. one of my issues are the controls. they don't feel responsive enough. you'll hear me complain throughout this video that my robot doesn't turn fast enough. it seems possible that the gameplay hasn't been changed from the original release. There was an odd audio glitch where it seemed to peak and cut out for barely a second before returning.

One of my bigger issues with side scrolling shooters is how the game can feel unfair, like we're meant to take damage. i played this demo on normal and felt like it was on hard. some of the basic enemies came across as bullet sponges and the main boss enemies weren't much better. these bosses are much bigger and fill the screen more, but when they jump around and move i wasn't really able to avoid them as there was no where to go. 

Outside of gameplay, i also found the music and sound effects to be grating after a while. initially it was all rather cute and charming. the original #PlayStation1 team did a great job with what they set out to do. but that charm faded fairly fast and i found myself skipping the stuff that was repeating.

70s-style Robot Anime Geppy-X isn't for me. i do like what it did and can say they did a great job. but it feels like the gameplay took a hit and didn't get the same amount of love. This remaster doesn't seem to address those gameplay issues and focuses more on adding English and upscaling the gameplay and videos.

Tavern Tale - Nice Story And Tutorial, Looks Great, Easy Roguelike RPG - iPhone Friday

For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Tavern Tale, from chillyroom, on my iPhone 14 Pro. 

I was curious about Tavern Tale because even though the art style looked "cute" the app's description made the game sound more darker. i was curious how they would achieve this balance between the art style and game world. after an hour with it, i can say that the developers have done a great job.

There's nothing, so far at least, about Tavern Tale that's complicated. the way the developers made the game world and art style feel cohesive was via the game's story. there's an opening story segment that makes it all work together. but what's even better is that during gameplay there are reminders that we're playing a game when the evil queen's hand appears to move her game pieces.

The tutorial is thorough and i felt ready for the battles when it came. it explained not just what buttons do what, but also most of the game mechanics and more importantly some of the UI too. 

After an hour of playing Tavern Tale i hadn't finished the second tutorial segment. i was going the introduction quests. i think it could take maybe another hour to reach the end of it. but it never felt slow, the game's pace feels right. when that's finished, there are many characters we would then be able to interact with.

The roguelike element to the game is simple but it does have it's own risk reward. you're able to deposit money and that money will come with you after a run. but, you also need money during a run to upgrade weapons, get potions, and what not. so there's a balance between saving for the world and saving for the run.

I think Tavern Tale would work well as an introduction to roguelikes for players less familiar with the concept but also it'd be nice for gamers who know about the genre because of it's art style and story. i'd recommend checking out Tavern Tale.

Version 1.1.2 Played

HYPERWIRED On PS4 - Demo Play Thursday

This week's DEMO is the PlayStation 4 version of HYPERWIRED, from developers SIDRALGAMES and publishers Selecta Play and Entalto Publishing.

The main gameplay element to HYPERWIRED is it's plug mechanic. your ship does not have infinite resources, so it has to plug into satellites to refill. once each satellite has been visited, you're then able to move onto the next stage. it feels like each stage is procedurally generated.

On the start screen there is an option to do the tutorial so i start this video doing that. but i wouldn't say it's that great of a tutorial. it goes over some basic controls but i feel like it fails to explain how the game works. more could be done to highlight aspects of the UI, too. HYPERWIRED is another example of a game that shows an aspect of the game's mechanics that wasn't covered in the tutorial quite soon after said tutorial is completed.

This demo doesn't have a link to the PSN store, nor does it have any trailers or screenshots showcasing other aspects of the game. from this demo, HYPERWIRED comes across as a run based game where we go as far as we can until we're stopped. what's not clear from this demo is what happens next. there were no upgrades for me to buy and nothing i collected seem to carry over. so, from the demo, i'm left with wondering if we're waiting for good luck to find a run that'll take us further than before or if there's other aspects to the gameplay that the demo didn't highlight.

I did enjoy the music and overall aesthetic of the game, but i came away from this demo having not really enjoy it. i had questions it wouldn't answer, and as it never really explained what we're doing in game it quite quickly got boring doing the same thing over and over.

Coin Summoner: Coin Pusher RPG - Simple But Works Well With A Decent Tutorial - iPhone Friday

For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Coin Summoner: Coin Pusher RPG, from Pomenest Studio, on my iPhone 14 Pro. 

It starts with a great tutorial. it may feel a little hand holdy but it's great for more casual players or people new to the genre. the problem is that when the tutorial is over, we're very quickly greeted with a choice that wasn't covered in the tutorial. it's a mistake i see happen quite frequently, but it stands out here because of how well the tutorial was doing up to this point. there are moments later where we unlock new things and the expected tutorial doesn't arrive to show it to us, but when we access them ourselves the game does then provide information.

For as much as Coin Summoner: Coin Pusher RPG gets right, there are quite a few things missing from the experience. the game is basic in many ways and for the most part it works out well. but here's a frustrating example when it comes to combat. you don't know what your enemy is going to use, there are no hints until the fight starts. But even when we do know, at the match screen there's no way to change your team. you have to back out back to the home screen, go into a different menu to change your team, to then go all the way back and start the fight. we also don't know how strong the enemy is nor what moves they are going to use. instead of strategy, it felt like we were winning the fights by luck or brute force.

Some of the art looks low resolution, some of it looks nice. some of it fills the screen whilst others leave the top and bottom empty. the home screen is sparsely filled with art that's completely different from the game's style, and there was a moment when one of the characters we've been introduced to, and have seen with wings, appears with no wings. it does feel like this game used AI, which might account for some of the strangeness.

Coin Summoner: Coin Pusher RPG does have adverts. i didn't know that until it started happening. unfortunately, it's not handled well with the adverts just randomly appearing during loading after battles. the adverts themselves are also frustrating, and i know that's not in the hands of the developer, but when the advert just randomly appears and then is annoying, it's not a great experience.

Coin Summoner: Coin Pusher RPG is a fine game. the basic mechanics are done right. but there's not much else to it. this means it's deficiencies stand out more. it's the same problem the tutorial has. it's great until it's not. it's fine to play, but it needs more work, more content, and more cohesiveness. 

Version 1.0.3 Played

Rhythm Heaven Groove DEMO On Switch - Demo Play Thursday

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Rhythm Heaven Groove.

I came away from this demo disappointed. the music and art style are still great, but this felt like a game designed for fans rather than something for newer or more casual players. Basic things like auto playing the computer talking wasn't here and i felt that the game did very little to help the player get good or just even better. 

this demo only has 4 unique stages and a 5th which is a remix of all 4 together. But before all that, there's a calibration with the game and the TV it's being played on. but even here i wasn't completely sure i was doing it right, clicking the button on the sound rather than the video, and no feedback was provided.

There's a lack of feedback in Rhythm Heaven Groove. there were stages i could see i wasn't performing well on, but the game offers no solutions on how to improve or even goes into much detail just how bad i was. i don't know if i was pressing buttons early or late. the game just offers a simple word appraisal at the end.

So with poor onboarding for new players and a lack of feedback overall, i came away from this demo not wanting to get the game nor even Wishlist it. but as a demo i do think it works well as it seems to give a fair impression of the game, and it's one i don't want to play.

Puppeteer On PS3 - Part 5 - Backlog Conquering

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 game Puppeteer. this game came out in 2013 and was developed internally by Studio Japan. this game can be played in 3D and with PlayStation Move controllers, but for this series i'm playing with the DualShock 3.

Another new Act and another new location, this time a Wild West kinda place. In previous parts i was getting a little frustrated with the platforming in the game as it's not quite great. there was less of that here as we were introduced to some new powers, some new mechanics with those powers, and a particularly fun top down racing sequence that took me longer than i'm proud of to fully grasp how to play. the style of boss fight in this part was similar to that in Part 4, but the final boss fight and QTE finish was interesting.

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

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/Ti2e3_u6Hxc

Part 3 - Act 2 - https://youtu.be/AyXafK0G4KQ

Part 4 - Act 3 - https://youtu.be/HFUUYC04mV0