Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday - Nintendo Switch Edition - Mille Cup! - Achievement Run

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 Mille Cup! (11/27 4PM - 12/4 3:59PM (PST)) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and my Nintendo Switch is Docked.

This was a much better Cup for me than the last one. The previous Cup, https://youtu.be/TGWaHPERguM, took over an hour and a half to complete and i got only one 2nd place finish, you can see that as a short here https://youtube.com/shorts/4Prtorvj8l4. This Cup took more than an hour less to complete! That's mostly down to the score gimmicks being easier.

There were some high-level competition, i did win a couple of times! i had one dud game, all the rest were fairly high scoring, and it was genuinely tense at the final score screen to see where we came and who got a bonus. throughout nearly all the games, the bonuses were switching from player to player and when one of them is down to chance, that being the combo bonus, who knows who'll get it. i did get to the boss a couple of times, but i never beat them.

Cloud Monday - Assassin’s Creed: Origins - Part 1 - An Hour with Numerous Streaming Issues

Cloud Monday is back and this week i'm trying out a somewhat bigger release than anything i've played so far. I really enjoy history, so this was more of a personal choice than playing it for any specific reason.

But the video title says "Part 1" for a reason and that is because the hour i played was full of streaming issues. more than once the connection warning appeared in the top right. So, like the Lost Planet video, i'll do a second video on a different day and time to see if the problems persist. for Lost Planet, the second video was much better than the first.

And it wasn't just the connection warning. there were instances of grey screen, faded low resolution colours, and some big quality drops. in other games in this series, when the quality has dropped it's often felt like 1080p drops down to 720p and whilst noticeable it was rarely a big deal. in this game, there were many instances where the drop was big, harsh, and ultimately, they broke the immersion of the game and world.

Pokémon Violet - The Ninth Part - My First Victory Against Team Star and Exploring Cascarrafa City

This ninth part is a more focused and shorter video than some recent ones. My main goal was to defeat my first Team Star Base. Everything else would be a bonus.

I had tried to do Team Star before in my sixth video, https://youtu.be/BeMvjwAMzjg, but found i was under levelled for the grunt outside it so i didn't try doing it. So, going into this one i wasn't exactly sure how it would work. It didn't go too smoothly, i felt like the "lock on" aspect of telling your Pokemon to attack didn't work that well. but i was impressed by the huge space inside. it's just, it seemed like a waste. when it was over and i could explore, it was mostly empty inside with little to find and nothing to catch. i won't pass judgement on it yet until i've done another one or two, but whilst it's a nice part of the story in terms of gameplay it kinda felt somewhat hollow.

The next city up the road is Cascarrafa City and no one made any mention to the Team Star shenanigans that were happening or that they were even defeated. i did get to see some new Pokémon and when i made a quick dash into the desert i was surprised to see a Larvesta and quickly caught it. As for the city, it's certainly big and looks great but like the others there's little to do inside. At least the gym leader running away as i approached was a fun little twist to the story. at least i know what i'll be doing in Part 10!

Pokémon Violet - The Eighth Part - Getting to and Defeating the Wind Titan Bombirdier

In today's Pokémon Violet video, the task was simple. Get to the Titan. But because of how i play the game, it took a lot longer than i expected. 

Some of the extra time was because i thought i was being clever by trying to avoid the falling boulders, i thought that by going round the back it would be a shortcut to the top. Nope.

But fighting the Titan wasn't an issue. Even tho it was a Pokémon i hadn't seen before and knew nothing about, my leading Pokémon Wattrel was more than enough to deal with it.

There weren't too many other surprises along the way. I'd say the level 50 Jolteon was maybe the biggest. Thankfully i was able to run away from that battle. The other big surprise was finding a Tera Lokix. it was a Pokémon that i hadn't seen yet, tho i do have a Nymble and have been levelling it up, so to see it shining gold was a surprise.

Online Saturday: Pokémon Violet - 20 Online Tera Raid Battles!

Online Saturday is back!

it took around an hour and 10 minutes, but i went and did 20 online Tera Raid Battles. the online connection was mostly fine, but i did cut out 1 disconnect and 4 instances where a random online Tera Raid Battle couldn't be found.

It was a fun thing to do. i saw many Pokémon i hadn't seen as yet in the game and caught several i'm eager to try out.

*LOST VIDEO* Pokémon Violet - The Seventh Part - Exploring South Province Area 2 and Bug Badge

Yes, the title is true. The gameplay video for this part never saved and i lost it. So this video has my audio, but the video will be the start screen.

After discovering that i was under levelled in the previous video, https://youtu.be/BeMvjwAMzjg, i changed my plans and headed to the west side of the map. This didn't go as planned. the pokemon here were lower levelled than i expected. it feels like this is the area you should do first, rather than heading east towards the grass gym.

i caught several Pokémon, including a female Combee as Vespiquen is one of my favourite Pokémon, and did a few raids. i encountered my first in game trade, a Flabebe for a Snom. but mostly this video was mostly me exploring this whole new area. as it was lower levelled, i moved around my squad and sent out many other pokemon to battle and level up.

Pokémon Violet - The Sixth Part - Where I Discover I'm Under Levelled

This is the part where my progress in the game came to a halt. I didn't see it coming, but in reality, i should've noticed it was happening. I was under levelled and had to change my plans.

The video starts with a Black Tauros sweeping my team! My luck doesn't get much better. i head to the Team Star Base nearby and barely beat the grunt outside! I try to level up around that area, but everything is just a bit too high ... so i end the video by changing my plans.

I'm not frustrated by this. i think Sword and Shield were easy Pokémon games and i've been treating this game the same way. So it having a somewhat higher than expected difficulty level is a nice surprise. it's also good that the game world and story are big enough so i can change my plans, so i can go and do something else. This set's up Part 7 as possibly something really quite interesting.

I do get a couple of Pokémon Evolutions, the most surprising being Clodsire. i suspect i got it because it levelled up in rain, but i haven't checked it out to see if i'm right. i also gave some raids a go and surprise trade.

Pokémon Violet - The Fifth Part - Defeating the Titan Klawf and Beating The Grass Gym

No Backlog Conquering this week, but check out it's playlist at https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyEBkNKW1vyoTrDgaJFdhyVqABtfrXasU, maybe there’s a video you’ve not seen. 

At the end of the previous video, https://youtu.be/SIGX32Pq2u8, we were ready to face the Titan Klawf. So, at the start of this video, we face off against it and start Arven's story arc.

At the end of the video, we get our first gym badge. but it wasn't as easy as defeating the Titan Klawf. i got lucky when my final Pokémon saved me!

In-between is full of me exploring the world, getting lost, "cheating" and not getting away with it, and of course catching new Pokémon. It's not the smoothest ride and there is a point where i get frustrated with the world design and mechanics, but overall I'm still enjoying myself and the story.

Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday - Nintendo Switch Edition - Valeria Cup! - Achievement Run

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 Valeria Cup! (11/20 4PM - 11/27 3:59PM (PST)) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and my Nintendo Switch is Docked.

This was one of my worst weeks ever! The gimmick seemed simply enough but turned out to be difficult and a little luck based. All you had to do was make combos 5 or greater. but the competition i faced was fierce and there were some amazing high scores from them. i didn't win, i didn't even see the boss. i only got 1 second place, a couple of thirds, and many lower places.

Pokémon Violet - The Fourth Hour - The Road to Titan Klawf

Today, we set off into the East Province to find the Titan Klawf, it's part of Arven's story. The area is huge and there was soo much to see so this video became the longest yet. and by the end, we only found it, we didn't even interact with it!

I was surprised that Miradon couldn't climb or do any other type of riding other than just a bike. i guess that's something that'll unlock later. so there were some things i saw but couldn't get to. including a red glowing sword object thing in a rock?!

The area was much, much bigger than i expected. lot's of ups and downs and tunnels, too. i haven't full explored it either! it's size posed an interesting issue in that i needed to use health items and rotate my Pokémon squad. it's been a long time since i've had to be so careful. it's a nice change. Thankfully, catching a Paldean Wooper as early as i did has really paid off as it's been super useful. i highly recommend getting one as soon as you can for the early part of the game.

In this video we also had our first Tera Raid Battle, many trainer battles, we found lots of items and some TM's, and we caught a handful of new and interesting Pokémon...including the Fairy Tera Type Skiddo.

Pokémon Violet - The Third Hour - Going to School and Exploring Mesagoza City

I was curious how the school system would work. is it a hub that we return to after we do something? is it somewhere we visit once? and after this video i'm still not sure. What i didn't expect was the time skip. our room got more decorations, but our Pokémon didn't level up

Something i didn't expect to annoy me, but did, was the lack of interactions. in past Pokémon games you could click on many things and get a little speech bubble with some text on it. often that text had nothing to do with the story and more to do with the world or place in general. something like "there are many books" "the trash can is empty" or even "you found TM..." because in previous games looking around could sometimes be good as you could find things. as you'll hear in this video, i look around a lot and find nothing.

That kinda continued into the town as you'll see in the video that restaurants are often repeated and take up many shop spaces. whereas there are other shops that look like we could go in, but we can't. But the town is very big and very impressive. i wonder if it'll be a place they fill in more with updates and DLC or if it'll stay as is.

In this video we also had our first encounter with Team Star and we Terrastalized our first Pokémon!

Pokémon Violet - The Second Hour - An Hours Walk To Mesagoza, Exploring Along The Way

Continuing my laid-back approach to this game, it would take about an hour to get from the lighthouse at the end of the first video, https://youtu.be/o2qMxElMJMk, to the city where our school is located in at Mesagoza.

I was surprised at how open this game is. sure, you can't jump or climb but there are still plenty of paths to find and go down. I caught my Wiglett because i found a path that led down to the ocean. other paths have lead down to the river, whilst others have rewarded us with TM's and other items. 

Like the first video, there were some technical issues. this time it felt like they were mostly related to shadows and geometry. from the beginning of the video there's an issue where the lighthouse shadow disappears and reappears. later, as we get into a hilly area, the camera breaks out of the world and when we start Pokémon battles there are points where half the screen is "normal" and half is looking through the world.

But overall, i feel just as energized and curious as i did when i started the game so i will keep on playing.

Pokémon Violet - The First Hour - Getting My Starter, Catching Pokémon, And Meeting Miraidon

I enjoy playing Pokémon games so I was looking forward to playing this game. I chose Violet because I liked the box legendary. Other than that, I’ve tried hard not to read leaks. 

In the Splatoon 3 Pokémon Splatfest, https://youtu.be/DkZlwadS50Y, I talked about how I like Grass types. But I actually went with the Fire type Fuecoco! You see my favorite Pokémon, Jumpluff, is in the game and I wanted to get it. And I did! It’s one of the first Pokémon you find.

There are some technical issues throughout the video. They’re not game breaking, but they can be immersion breaking. The game feels a little rough in places. 

But overall, the first hour was fun. I enjoyed the new setting and seeing the Pokémon. The story wasn’t bad either. I’m looking forward to playing more of the game. I had thought that I would be calm and relaxed playing Pokémon Violet, but by the end of the video I felt energized!

Backlog Conquering - Not A Hero - The Second Part

(Sorry for the late post. This went up on YouTube, maybe you could subscribe there and be kept up to date https://www.youtube.com/user/QTEGamersVideos)

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 2 of playing Not A Hero on PS4.

I don't make as much progress in this video as i did with part 1. For me, the difficulty ramped up a fair bit as there were many more enemies to deal with, and they had stronger weapons. i'm not sure as yet if there'll be a part 3 as i was getting frustrated and not really having much fun.

Backlog Conquering - Not A Hero - The First Part

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 1 of playing Not A Hero on PS4. I decided to move on from Legend of Kay as i wasn't really enjoying it. The point of this series isn't to finish games, it's to actually play them. Once i've played them, i'm able to judge whether or not i want to finish them.

In this first part, i play through the short tutorial and play through the first section (boss) of the game. it's certainly different and i don't think i've quite got the controls down. the writing is fun and whilst the story hasn't grabbed me, it's still been fun to read. my concern is the difficulty level. i have found some sections difficult already, so we'll see if it's just spikes in difficulty or a sign of things to come.

Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday - Nintendo Switch Edition - Pixel Zuoh Cup! - Achievement Run

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 Pixel Zuoh Cup! (11/13 4PM - 11/20 3:59PM (PST)) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and my Nintendo Switch is Docked.

This was a good week for me. i got a win in one match. in another i beat the boss, and i mostly in the top 3 throughout. the gimmick was to make a row of 6 using green, blue, and red. i don't think Purple or Yellow worked. in the grid was a space that would change the color of a sphere on it. i got lucky and for the most part these weren't too in the way. i did have a few mistakes with my controller. it maybe time to think about a better pro controller for the switch.

Let me know how you did this week and if you have controller recommendations, also let me know what they are.

Cloud Monday - Skydrift Infinity - A Fun Arcade Racing Game BUT Avoid The Online

In today's Cloud Monday, I'm playing Skydrift Infinity. I didn't know anything about this game other than the screenshots and video that were on the game's page.

So i was pleasantly surprised to find a fun arcade flying racing game. this was the first racing game i've played for Cloud Monday and i was interested to see how the cloud streaming would hold up to such a fast paced game. it wasn't perfect. there were several instances of the video quality dipping or becoming blocky. there were other instances of the grey tears here and there across the screen. thankfully controlling the game felt fine. it was different from other racing games i've played but it felt like it was because of what i was controlling rather than any lag introduced to the game via cloud streaming.

But, and a big one as you can see in the title. i had to quit the game because i got stuck in online. i have a Japanese PlayStation 4 and so the O and X buttons are often swapped. some games will automatically swap these back to a European standard. some won't. this game did and didn't do it! so more than once i would find that the buttons did the opposite. in the online section, that you can see near the end of the video, none of the buttons would allow me to exit. it left me with no choice but to close the game and try again. But then the PSN failed to restart the game and gave me an error screen. i had waited for several minutes and decided to end the game there. i say avoid the online because i can't say for sure if it is operational, if there's a bug which is stopping it working, or whether i had a unique issue.

Switch Funday - Splatoon 3 - November's Splatoon x Pokémon! Splatfest! - An Hour of Tricolor

Today is the second part of this weekend's Splatoon x Pokémon! Splatfest! The focus today is to try and play a Tricolor match. In the last Splatfest, September's, i tried for an hour and didn't get into a single Tricolor game.

So i went into today's Splatfest not knowing what was going to happen. Ultimately, in the hour i played, i got into two Tricolor matches. But, only one of them was completed. a strange issue today was disconnections. i had six in the hour i played! But i did win the single Tricolor game i played.

Online Saturday - Splatoon 3 - November's Splatoon x Pokémon! Splatfest - 20 Match Special!

Welcome to Online Saturday. This Saturday I'm back playing Splatoon 3. This weekend is the November’s Splatoon x Pokémon! Splatfest.

I was enjoying myself so much, i played for around 2 hours for 20 matches! This is my longest gameplay video yet!

I chose team green and throughout these 20 matches you see there are very few big wins. each game was a challenge, and every win was satisfying. From playing all 20 games, it's hard to say which of the three teams was coming out top. Other than Green, i'd suggest that maybe Blue were a top team.

It may take some time for YouTube to ready the HD version of this video, so feel free to pop back here later or you can subscribe to the QTE Gamers YouTube channel.

Mobile Friday - EDENS ZERO: Pocket Galaxy - The First Hour

I wanted to try this game because i liked the character art. i enjoyed reading and watching Fairy Tale so i was excited to find a game Hiro Mashima had done wrt for. When i recorded this, i didn't know that there was an actual Edens Zero Manga or Anime! 

Whilst this hour does give us a good solid back story and teases some things we've yet to discover, is terms of playing it i did very little. Downloading and installing extra took a while and then it's all tutorial. i'm not sure if it's actually finished. but what we did do controlled well and it does look good. there's some pop-in tho throughout the game.

Backlog Conquering - The Legend of Kay: Anniversary - Part 4 - The Part That Broke Me

This is the fourth and quite possibly the final part of me playing The Legend of Kay: Anniversary. Yesterday's part 3 was difficult and frustrating and whilst there were some better moments today, the video ends with me having to battle with the camera in a platforming section that seems to have no save point anywhere. 

The game does have some good points, but not nearly enough of them for me to continue to struggle with poor camera controls, poor fighting mechanics, and a story that really isn't doing it for me. If i had this on PC, it's possible some of these issues might've been cleared up. the same with playing it on newer consoles. but as it is, i think i'm done with it. This makes it the first game in the series which i don't finish. But, i have started it and that in itself is a positive step to making progress through my backlog.

Backlog Conquering - The Legend of Kay: Anniversary - Part 3 - A Frustrating Hour!

This third hour of gameplay turned out to be the most frustrating so far. More than once i got stuck in a situation where the game's controls or mechanics were not working as i had been taught. This really hampered progress which meant in this video I only found the other two dragon statues and rebuilt the bridge.

If this continues, this maybe the first game in this series that i don't finish. I'm fine with some jank, i know it's an older game with older mechanics. But if it's just going to be "unfair", i'll find a game that doesn't waste my time. There will be a part 4 tomorrow, but we'll see how it goes.

Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday - Nintendo Switch Edition - Sanada Yukimura Cup! - Achievement Run

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 Halloween Cup 2! (11/6 4PM - 11/13 3:59PM (PST)) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and my Nintendo Switch is Docked. 

For the second week running i got no wins. i was up against many human players this week and some of them had some real high scores. i'm not really sure i got the gimmick this week either so it never really felt like i was succeeding. it felt more like i was just playing. still, i did get close to winning, only to lose out with bonus points.

Cloud Monday - Brave: The Video Game - A Solid Game with a Solid Streaming Experience

In today's Cloud Monday, I'm playing Brave: The Videogame. It might be the first Disney movie tie-in videogame i've played since The Lion King and Aladdin on the Mega Drive. I have seen the movie and i do enjoy it, more so than Cars and Toy Story. But i knew nothing of the game before starting it.

I played through the tutorial and first "Level" of the game which was a little under an hour. I must admit i was surprised. it looks very much like a PS3 game when you start, and i admit it was what i expected from a game tie-in. But by the end, i was really enjoying myself and got far more immersed into the game than i expected. It's not the best game ever, but a solid 7 or 8 for sure and well worth trying out on via PlayStation Plus. Don't let the tie-in fool you either, it does well to tell it's story without needing the player to have seen/know the story of the movie.

But that's just from the first hour, or so, of the game so i really can't say if it holds true throughout. As for streaming, i found no issues playing this game via the PlayStation Plus Premium service. i found the controls responsive and the video quality stable and good. the only thing worth mentioning is that during the story cutscenes, which are uniquely made for this game and not pieces from the movie, there were many moments where macro blocking was evident. The problem is, without a disc copy of the game to compare with, i can't say for sure if it's due to streaming the game or rather due to video compression used for the game itself. If i were to guess, i'd say that it was already a part of the game, more so when there was no evidence of it happening during game play. One fine thing, the game does autosave which means we are somewhat at the mercy of it if we get the dreaded countdown to the stream being cut.

Online Saturday - Splatoon 3 - November's Salmon Run Gear

Welcome to Online Saturday

This Saturday I'm back playing Splatoon 3. The focus of this video is to firstly, get November's exclusive item, and to vote for the upcoming Splatfest.

As normal, my aim is to get two copies of this month's exclusive item and then keep the better of the two. I got really lucky today as the first item i got actually had 3 bonus pins rather than the usual one or, like last month, the rare two pins.

In the begining i got a few convincing wins in, but by the end it was loss after loss as each team i was in would get wiped out in the final wave. it was certainly one of the more difficult Salmon Runs i've tried. I felt that the weapon rotation and stage really didn't work together at times. 

Mobile Friday - Star Trek: Lower Decks: The Badgey Directive - The First Hour

Today is Mobile Friday and i'm playing Star Trek: Lower Decks - The Badgey Directive.

The game is out on iOS and Android

But i'll be playing the iOS version.

I am playing on an iPhone 14 Pro that has iOS 16.1 installed.

I'm a big fan of Star Trek so i was surprised to find this game on the app store. i never knew it was out. i was excited to try it out and i admit i maybe a little biased. so, i do try to keep to the facts about how it plays. but as far as a Star Trek experience, i felt that it stuck close to the show. i would've liked the game to have voice work tho.

Backlog Conquering - The Legend of Kay: Anniversary - The Second Hour

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 2 of playing The Legend of Kay: Anniversary on PS3.

In yesterday's video, we played through the first hour which was mostly just the game introducing the backstory and tutorial area. In today's video we continue on from where we left off yesterday. Not too much extra story stuff is revealed in this time, but we do get more action scenes and a little more tutorial.

It was a bit rough in places. a combination of my old PS3 controller suffering from stick drift and the fact that this was a PS2 game made a few moments more stressful than i'd like. there were also some unclear moments in the gameplay. But i'm still interested so there will be a part 3 next week.

Backlog Conquering - The Legend of Kay: Anniversary - The First Hour

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

We have a new game in the Backlog Conquering Series. I have started The Legend of Kay: Anniversary on PS3. this is the first video, and it shows the first hour of the game.

Going in, i knew little to noting about the game. i'm sure i only have it via a PlayStation Plus get many years ago. but it's always been a game i was curious about and this series is the perfect chance for me to give it a go. 

My thoughts of it being a PS2 game were right, and some gameplay mechanics feel a little dated by modern standards. but for the most part, the first hour was good and i'm looking forward to at least another part. It's too early to say whether i'll play it through to it's end, but i don't regret giving it a go.

Puzzle and Dragons Tuesday - Puzzle and Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition - Halloween Cup 2 - Achievement Run

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 Halloween Cup 2! (10/30 5PM - 11/6 4:59PM (PDT)) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and my Nintendo Switch is Docked.

I got no wins in this video. Unlike previous weeks, i just wasn't feeling this one. The gimmick didn't seem fun either. But it wasn't difficult, and you can see that it took around 40 minutes to complete it. One of the more difficult aspects were my opponents. There were many good human players and even the Ai did well. i got a few second places, but never really got too close to winning unfortunately.