iPhone Friday - Card Crawl 2 - A Welcoming Easy To Play Hard To Master Card Game With Great Art

For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Card Crawl 2 from Tinytouchtales on my iPhone 14 Pro. 

I've played a couple of games from Tinytouchtales, like Miracle Mart https://youtu.be/kpCxEvBWk4w and Geo Gods https://youtu.be/SeqUTw1sL_o, and i've always enjoyed the art style and characters in the games. with those two, the gameplay has always been solid but perhaps felt like it maybe lacked a little depth. But with Card Crawl 2 i feel like this has it all, it has the art, the music, the gameplay, the tutorials, and the depth that makes it a card game that's easy to play but hard to master.

Firstly whilst i did just praise the tutorial, it does fall just a bit short. it explains how to play the game and it's mechanics very simply. we're told what to do and it makes us do it. we're then tasked with beating a character using what we know before moving onto learning something else. that's done great. the tutorial also introduces some of the home screen, as by completing different parts of the tutorial more of the game opens up and more icons appear on the home screen. But it doesn't explain all the buttons. the Challenge Mode needs a tutorial as, from what i played, it seems like that if you don't play on Monday, it's pointless to play the other days of the week because there's a weekly bonus. also, the eye symbol was very unclear and i wasn't impressed that it launched into an advert with no warning.

Other than that shortfall, it's hard to find much else wrong with Card Crawl 2. maybe those who are great at the game may feel like they're being held back by having to complete tasks before things are unlocked, but personally i appreciate this approach. i agree that it may feel like it artificially lengthens the game, but it opens up the game in such a way as to not overwhelm the player. the better a player gets, the more they can unlock. if things are tough, it'll take longer but the player is also able to replay the easier stuff whilst retrying the harder stuff.

the gameplay is a little different to other card games i've tried out. in Card Crawl 2, you have a hero card. the goal is to defeat all the tavern's cards whilst making sure your hero card has health. the Tavern's Cards consists of monsters you have to beat, shields and swords you're able to equip onto each of your two hands or put into your one backpack slot, health potions, coins, and there are spell cards. so simply, use the swords to attack enemies, shields to defend from them, and spell cards to do both. just remember to heal when you need to, there are times when your hero must attack the enemy themselves. The coins act like a high score, so the more you're able to collect the higher the score. But what's really interesting with Card Crawl 2 and that adds a lot of depth to the gameplay is that you're able to remove any of the non monster cards and get money from them. this means you can get a higher score, but it also means you have less cards to deal with the enemy so the risk reward is real for those chasing a high score.

Overall, i highly recommend this game for those looking for a card based game. i'd also recommend this for those looking for some strategy. the art is great and will appeal to gamers, too. some may not get much more out of the game than the easy levels, but there's a lot here to unlock and master for those who enjoy it.

Version 1.0.12 Played

Demo Play Thursday - Bubsy 4D DEMO On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Bubsy 4D from developers Fabraz.

I didn't enjoy my time with this DEMO. you'll hear me get ever more frustrated to the point where i can't recommend people get the game, let alone try the demo. 

The Bubsy series of games isn't known for their amazing quality over the years, but i didn't go into this thinking that. i went in with hopes of having a good time. i've never played a Bubsy game before and i don't think this is the best one to start with.

It doesn't do a great job welcoming new players. there are mentions and call backs to previous games that i don't get and we start with a bunch of toxic individuals talking down to us in such a way it comes across like they're bullying us. The science guy is perhaps the worse but Bubsy himself doesn't come across as much of a likeable character either.

Nothing about the story is explained in much detail, we seem to accept it as it is. thankfully, the game does have a tutorial and it was here that i started having trouble with the feel of the game's platforming. unfortunately, the tutorial comes across as incomplete as in the first level we're faced with platforming that wasn't covered in the tutorial.

The platforming gets worse from here. at no point in this demo did i ever feel like i was in complete control. the feel of the platforming felt straight out of the PS1/PS2 era to the point where i actually wondered if it's a Call Back to the PS1 Bubsy game as modern platformers don't have platforming this bad. if it's all fixed in the retail version, then this demo does a disservice and should be removed entirely. 

It's not just the platforming that's an issue as i was also fighting the camera at times. more than once i tried to move the camera to get a look as to where to go next and it failed to provide that information. with the camera and platforming in the state it's in, there are times when the controls don't feel great. there's a sense of inconsistency with the controls and it's impossible to know if there are bugs with them or if the platforming is the main culprit. 

If i had to pick some good points from the demo, i may go with the music. but that's not enough to justify people try this demo, unless they're seeking out an unfun time. i found the upgrade system to be pointless. the game shows a video/gif of what the move will do, but for one of the videos it seemed to show Bubsy failing to make a jump. personally, i couldn't think of a time when the unlockable move was better than the better moves i already had. there are unlockable customs, too, but these seem to be purely cosmetic.

So the characters come across as bullys, the platforming is bad and feels outdated at best, the upgrade and unlock systems seem pointless, and the story is shallow at best. there are many more issues i have with the demo, so you'll have to watch the action unfold, but ultimately i wouldn't recommend this.

Cloud Monday - Monster Hunter: Stories - Not Clear When It Auto Saves, Long Wait For Manual Saves

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

Monster Hunter: Stories originally came out on the 3DS, which i got wrong in this video as i kept saying it originally came out on #Switch as the Nintendo Switch version was released alongside the the PS4 version. But my hope that a game built around a portable system might have design decisions that make it just a suitable for being stream from the cloud were still valid.

This coming out on 3DS does make my comments about the sparseness of the game more believable than if it came out on Switch first. it may help explain why some of the art design seems a little inconsistent with the monsters and cats looking great and the people characters looking weird and unpleasant. 

Not too much happened in this part, the focus was the introduction of the characters. but the jumping around in time from the future to the past to a year ahead was a little rough. i'm not sure i fully understand the game's battle mechanics either. you'll see that after a couple of fights i try something different to what's been described in the tutorial and then i don't understand why it worked the same as the other battles. i'll need to check the video again to see where the misunderstanding came from. but as an introduction, i didn't have too much fun with this part.

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.