Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday - Nintendo Switch Edition - Ishida Mitsunari 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 Ishida Mitsunari Cup! (2023/2/27 9:00～2023/3/6 8:59 JST) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and a docked Nintendo Switch.

This week was much easier and you can see from the time it was quicker, too. But that doesn't tell the whole story as a big aspect of this, much like the other recent cups, is that there were few players online. I don't play the game at the same time on the same day, so there is an element of randomness. But i also play in Japan, a country where Puzzle & Dragon's is really big. so it is surprising that once again i had very few matches with anyone else.

As i was mostly up against the computer, i won most of the time. the gimmick this week was to get a full row of one color, and that was fairly easy to do. what i did find difficult was defeating the boss. i got there many times, but i couldn't seem to do enough damage. in a way, the boss felt unbalanced compared to the run to the boss. it also felt that my luck in getting combo's was poor, too. a few times i was able to nearly clear the screen only to get no further combos. i think i was only able to get a combo of 10 or higher once through the whole video.

Cloud Monday - Marvel Puzzle Quest - Using My Old PS4 Save Data

Today's Cloud Monday continues from last weeks video on Split/Second, https://youtu.be/eNBKyboS-3k. In that video the goal was to try and use my old PS3 save data that was saved in the cloud with that game. i showed how to do it and that it worked. at the end of that video i said i would try it on PS4 and show how it works.

It was difficult trying to find a game suitable for this as i still have most games and saves still installed. Marvel Puzzle Quest is a game that i finished on PS3, got all the trophies too, and tried on PS4 to see if there were any differences. as there weren't any i stopped playing it and didn't have it installed any more.

Before i could do that i had to deal with my PS4 and PlayStation Plus Premium having issues. you get to see some of them in this video, but to save time i skipped ahead to when things started working again. it would be great to know if the service works better on PS5 than on PS4.

When it came to importing the save file on PS3, it was not automatic. i had to go to the XMB, by pressing the PS button on the PS4 controller and scrolling down to the XMB option, then go to the save file, then exit the game, then go into my Cloud Saves, find the save, copy it over, exit the save menu, which restarted the game and then the game loaded that save file. With the PS4 it was so much simpler. it prompted me asking if i wanted to use my save file in the cloud. i said yes, and it went ahead, grabbed it, and started the game for me. this was a much more user friendly experience and one that would be useful on PS5 where storage is a bit of an issue as it could be quicker and easier to simply stream the game instead of downloading it.

Online Saturday - Gundam Evolution - Changing "Matchmaking Area" Fixed My Issues With Matchmaking

Previous to today's video, in my first video with Gundam Evolution, https://youtu.be/mslLmo9mTTs, in the hour i spent with it i got into one game and had one game fail. In the second more infamous, video https://youtu.be/2UyzdhVjI4Q, i spent an hour trying to matchmake and failing. so in around 2 hours of game time, i had played 1 game and had 1 game fail very near the beginning.

But in the training and that one game, i did enjoy it. it's a different experience from Splatoon 3, or any other online shooter i've tried. so i've wanted it to work and be good because i think there's something to it. so i went back for a third time and that's when i noticed it, in the top right corner, "Matchmaking Area". I hadn't noticed that before but when i was getting set up and watching the Earth in the background, i had a look at it and saw that it defaults to North America and Europe. If you're unfamiliar with my videos, i live in Japan and the time difference between this region and those can be big. so i decided that the goal of this video was to see what happens when i switch that to Asia, does it result in more games.

AND IT DOES! In this video i get matched to 4 games. one of them fails right at the beginning, but i do get to play 3 full games! in this one video i get to play more games that my previous  two videos combined. i had a good time with this game. it's not up there with Splatoon 3, but then again i don't think anything is, i feel it's the best online shooter out there. but i did enjoy it more than nearly any other shooter i've played in this series. i won't be deleting the game now.

Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade - Simon's Cat: Story Time - The First 50 Minutes

This twelfth video in the new Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series is on Simon's Cat: Story Time. I Played this as part of my Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series, i think this game is exclusive to the service.

i was curious how a "match 3" game would work in Apple Arcade as games on this service don't seem to have mechanics that you would associate with a match 3 game. these typically include a limit to how many games you can play at once, for example a life system. 

This game does not have a life system. it seems like the limit is purely down to the time the player has. there is a mechanic that uses the coins you earn in the game. when you run out of moves, you can spend some coins and gain some moves. but you're also given a choice to retry the level at no cost.

This meant i was able to sit and play for 50 minutes, except for when it crashed. the app crashed to my phone's "desktop". this was the first Apple Arcade game to do so, but it's difficult to put the blame on the game itself as i had used my phone to play other games and use other apps. Simon's Cat: Story Time was also updated the day i recorded this video so if there is an issue there's a chance it'll be fixed in a day or two. so whilst it crashed, i'm not worried about it as it could be due to any number of reasons.

the game looks amazing, the world is so much bigger than i anticipated, and it's fully of animation. the game makes good use of the phones vibration motors, too. it was easy to control with my finger or with a controller, but when i switched to the controller there were no on screen prompts as to what the buttons did. this would've been useful as it wasn't as obvious how to move the screen.

There is soo much more to this game. when we unlocked the trophy room, each one was for some part of the game i had yet to unlock. i have no idea how many hours it will take to play it all, but in the first 50 minutes i played i only managed to finish the first chapter! so let me know in the comments how big this game actually is.

Backlog Conquering - Pyre - Part 12 - Getting to the Fourth Liberation Rites

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 12, of playing Pyre on PlayStation 4.

Even tho this video ended up over an hour long, not too much actually happened. one reason why this was longer than expected was because of technical trouble i was having with my PS4 where the game would freeze for long periods of time. this video is actually the second time i tried to record this as the first time crashed my PS4 due to an issue like this.

As for the game itself, perhaps the most surprising thing was how quickly the fourth Liberation Rites started. i think i completed two rites before it was in the stars. I'm not fully sure who i want to try and send back, but i think it'll be Ti'Zo. the game is doing well at establishing relationships between characters to such a degree that it's possible to come up with reasons to not send many of them back to the commonwealth.

It's the story that's kept me playing the game. the rite aspect has been a little tedious at time and in this video i say that i would've liked easier rites so that i could've got to the story easier. but thinking back, i would've missed out on the story due to the result of the rites. it's quite possible that i was never meant to win all the rites. whilst probably possible, the game has never seemed to have punished me for losing. the one aspect i still don't understand is the reason for crashing into other team's wagons. other than annoying them, it doesn't seem to serve a purpose.

Backlog Conquering - Pyre - Part 11 - Breaking a Losing Streak

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 11, of playing Pyre on PlayStation 4.

Today's video has two big highlights. firstly, i finally won a game again. in part 10, https://youtu.be/a1AfjDxkSyQ, i chose to lose a ritual but didn't win afterwards. Today's video started the same with 2 more losses before i finally managed to win in the Liberation Ritual. it was such a relief to finally win again. i can't say for sure either way if it's down to the game lowering the difficulty or my own skills improving, i'm just glad i've stopped losing.

The other big highlight is perhaps the revelation that the rituals are coming to an end. one of my concerns was that we would have to do the whole thing over and over again until we were down to a final 3. but it's been revealed that there aren't many Liberation Rituals left. tho we don't know for sure, my guess would be 2 or 3. The thing to think about is, not only are we not able to save all our team members, there maybe enemy team members we have to consider.

it could be argued the surprise return of a familiar face could also be a big surprise, but that's yet to fully play out.

Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday - Nintendo Switch Edition - Pixel Takamimusubi 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 Takamimusubi Cup! (2023/2/20 9:00～2023/2/27 8:59 JST) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and a docked Nintendo Switch.

Even tho this video isn't too long, it doesn't tell the whole story. by looking at it you may assume that it was a decent week for me. But in reality that's not the case. the big problem this week was that i didn't grasp the gimmick this week. this meant i didn't beat or even get to the boss this week. when i was up against other players, i didn't win either. but the reason why it's a shorter video this week is because i didn't play against other people that often. i had several games against the computer AI. but even then i couldn't win each time.

I should mention that after the latest Switch firmware update, my game was not playable. i had issues with the SD Card and Switch. this meant that i had to redownload the game before i could play it. let me know in the comments if anyone else had this issue after the firmware update.

Cloud Monday - Split/Second - Using My Old Save And Playing For The First Time In Over A Decade!

Today's Cloud Monday is a little different. for today's video i wanted to try something i hadn't yet done. I've used the service to play games i hadn't played before, so i've never tried to use an old game save file. I saw Split/Second on the store and really wanted to play it again. i also knew i had a save file in the cloud. So today's video starts with me showing how to take a cloud save file and use it with the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service.

Once i got the save file copied over to the cloud and the game restarted, i was genuinely surprised that i had completed all the races. i hadn't won them all, but they were all finished. as i had shown it was working, i decided to have some fun and play it.

I never expected to win or to better any result i already had. it had been over a decade since i last played this game, but i instinctively knew how most the of the controls work and even the game mechanics.  a couple of the levels felt familiar. i tried out each of the game modes and near the end decided to try some levels that i hadn't got the win.

In one of those levels, i actually got the win! i hadn't practiced before today, it really had been over a decade since i last played. and yet, i got a win. i was so happy with myself. the final thing i tried out was the online multiplayer. there wasn't anyone online, but it looked like online races could possibly happen, it's possible that instead of the game connecting to a server my console becomes the thing that other players would connect to. But i don't know for sure, but if you do see or know of online games let us know in the comments.

Switch Funday - Gargoyle's Quest - My First Time

Welcome to Switch Funday!

I wouldn't say i was excited about Game Boy games coming to the Nintendo Switch as it's a system that i didn't have much exposure to. i did have a Game Boy Color and i have tried some of the older Game Boy games. But most of my Game Boy Color playing time was spent on the Pokémon Games, V-Rally, Bust A Move, Legend of Zelda DX, and Tetris. With the initial launch selection being small, the only game that caught my attention was Gargoyle's Quest.

It's a game i've not heard of before and i was a little surprised to see that it was from Capcom. going in, i had no idea what i was in for. i think you can tell from my commentary that i was surprised how robust it is. but it's also from 1990 so there's some frustrating elements to it, things that were fairly common at the time like the lack of lives and poor checkpointing, but also other things that were as a result of the hardware, namely the lack of a save system.

The Switch adds a rewind feature that makes things more tolerable, but as you'll see i often forgot about it until the latter third of the video. there are other settings but i chose to play the game in it's default settings. it's unclear if i would have to close the game if i wanted to change any of the settings, but i feel that's the case and it's a bit of a shame. i can imagine someone will close the game, change a setting, go back in and realise that nothing has been saved. i did save it using the Switch's Suspend Point before i closed the game.

I don't know if i'll go back to the game. the music is good, the story is interesting as your playing from the Gargoyle's perspective, which is fairly unique, and the levels are varied. But it wasn't gelling with me. i didn't have the patience to deal with some of it's poorer qualities as a kid and i certainly don't now.

Online Saturday - Star Wars Battlefront 2 - Returning After Two Years

Welcome to Online Saturday.

I was a big fan of Star Wars Battlefront 1 when it first came to PS4. it looked great, played well, and even the front page felt big and fresh. Battlefront 2 felt like it was released too soon after Battlefront 1 and at the time it was perceived that this was done as so they could have a game out with microtransactions and make more money from. So i didn't get it then. changes were made and it eventually came to PlayStation Plus and that's when i decided to give it a try. but i bounced hard off it. i don't know why but my guess would be the layout and interface is one reason. another could be that the cards and progression system was still there. the microtransactions had been, mostly, removed, but making progress wasn't as fun. playing against other players was also not great as for a new player it felt unbalanced.

the last time i played the game was early 2021 and i have no memory of it.  nor do i have much memory of playing it at all. So coming back to it today it did feel like playing it for the first time. which also meant i didn't understand a lot of the menus, couldn't find stuff, and even at one point thought i was stuck in matchmaking as there was no prompt on screen as how to back out of it. 

Playing it tho was kinda fun. at times there were moments when it felt unbalanced. in the first game i mention how it felt bad that were were camped outside the enemy spawn area and that it seemed like there was nothing they could do to win. it reminded me of the bad playing experiences i had with Overwatch 2 on PS4, https://youtu.be/-SnE9VBwpBU, and Switch, https://youtu.be/WBPiTq5yFHE. In the second game i had that experience where i was defending and it felt like i had no choice but to lose. 

I remarked at the end that i doubt there are huge numbers of people still playing it. the first game i was in didn't continue into the next round as it couldn't find enough players. but starting a second game was fine. my guess is that if you just join a quick match you're probably fine. but doing anything more specific might be more difficult due to the lack of players.

Ultimately, i don't think i'll delete the game just yet. i may play it a couple more times. but, everything but playing the game isn't a great experience and it certainly isn't toppling Splatoon 3 as my multiplayer game of choice or recommendation. If i find another game more enjoyable, that might be it for Star Wars Battlefront 2. it's a bit of a shame there aren't plans for a third one, i feel that the lessons learned from 1 and 2 could've made for a good game. but a part of me wonders if it would've been great or remained dated looking with some other gimmick getting in the way.

Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade - Fallen Knight - The First 50 Minutes

This eleventh video in the new Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series is on Fallen Knight. I Played this as part of my Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series, but it's out on other platforms such as the Nintendo Switch. 

This is a game i downloaded near the beginning of the Apple Arcade series, but only recently had i noticed that it was being updated. this brought it to my attention and it's the main reason why i chose to play it this week.

Like many games in this series, i went in knowing little to nothing about it other than the pics on the app store. i hadn't even watch the trailer for it. and for the first time i think that had a negative impact on my playing experience. i had no idea how difficult/unfair the game would be and you can hear in my commentary my enthusiasm for it get less and less. it's made clear in many places that the game is not easy and in hindsight i should've gone with casual mode instead of normal. 

I say unfair because i'm not entirely sure the game is simply difficult. there was a move in the tutorial i couldn't pull off as it wasn't clear what exactly i had to do or what i was doing wrong. in that tutorial i was shown how to parry, but in actual game play i was unable to regularly do it as the key red flash the tutorial had shown us seemed to be used all over the place. In that tutorial we only fight against one enemy and yet in the first stage there are a whole host of enemy characters. there was even an instance where i was hit whilst respawning.

It's not all negatives with this game, the music is great  though it did feel strangely loud. it also looks good with minimum impact from the dynamic Island. but the frustrations are more numerous. even the main home screen was confusing as there was nothing pointing the way. i assumed we could pick anywhere to go as it was never explicitly stated, not even with a simple pop up prompt.

This lack of information runs throughout. i have little to no idea what's happening with the story other than the knights seemed to have splintered into two groups, each saying they are correct. i have no idea if i'm playing the good guys or bad guys here. sometimes there was information but it was on screen soo briefly i had no idea what it said. but the time i spotted that it was on screen and started to read it, it was gone.

This isn't a new game and it had been patched many times and received a few content updates. but it didn't feel like it, it felt like i was playing a beta, something that wasn't quite all there like it needed more polish. it would be interesting to hear in the comments from players more used to difficult games what you thought about it. it would certainly give everyone here more information before they tried it.

Backlog Conquering - Pyre - Part 10 - Choosing to Lose And Losing

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 10, of playing Pyre on PlayStation 4.

This is a bit of a strange video. The title kinda gives it away. it finally happened, a story plot point i've been expecting to happen finally did and it was handled well.

I've been expecting the game to give us the twist that maybe, sometimes, it's best to not win and let the other team win. in this case it was the Liberation Rite and the opposing team was the only team where i was unsure about their "leader". You see, their leader seemed the most unhinged and most set on revenge. i was concerned as to what she would do, so when the game suggested on letting her win i thought about it for a second or two and kinda agreed. i felt that things would be less dangerous if she was gone than if she stayed.

However, the second Rite i did i lost all on my own. the Rites had been getting more difficult and the Liberation Rite was difficult, too. But i performed poorly and probably put out the wrong team. i couldn't keep up with them, nor could i control my own team good enough. choosing a titan was probably the wrong move, too. 

There will be a part 11, i'm interested in using a new character we got on our team. but my enthusiasm is starting to wean. 

Backlog Conquering - Pyre - Part 9 - Getting to the Second Liberation Rites

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 9, of playing Pyre on PlayStation 4.

it's been a while since part 8, https://youtu.be/sKA3UN479eU, and in that episode the world opened up and we got a lot of lore. in this video, there continued to be more lore of the world being revealed, but importantly we got some nice little story extra's which helped focus the experience back to the rites.

The rite games were still fun and definitely more difficult than the first time through to the Liberation Rites. i did win all the games i played, but they weren't exactly convincing wins. this meant that by the end of this video we are once again ready to take on the Liberation Rites. i have decided that i want Ti'zo to be the next one to leave. i feel like he's spent the longest, and maybe roughest, time in the Downside and he seemed interested in the Commonwealth. in the next video, part 10, we'll see if i can win it. 

Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday - Nintendo Switch Edition - Valentine 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 Valentine Cup 2! (2023/2/13 9:00～2023/2/20 8:59 JST) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and a docked Nintendo Switch.

Last week's Valentine Cup 1 video, https://youtu.be/8XiX8VErAN4, was tough because i was playing against many skilled opponents. But this week's video starts with me fighting against the computer as for the first couple of games there was no one else. things improved and got more competitive later one. the gimmick this week wasn't as clear and i thought i knew what it was but ultimately i was guessing. that would help to explain why i found it so hard against the final boss, and even tho i did beat it once it was during a game where i felt i played fairly poorly. i think i always came in the top 3 this week, which is great and the main reason why this week's video is shorter than most recent ones.

Switch Funday - Splatoon 3 - February's Chocolate Splatfest - An Hour Of Tricolor!

Welcome to Switch Funday.

As it's a Splatfest weekend, today i wanted to focus on the Sunday exclusive game mode called Tricolor. In previous Splatfests, this game mode hasn't worked as well as i would like. at most i'd get into 2 or 3 games and often there would be a disconnection causing the games to end. The game had been updated so i went in hoping for better, but i was expecting things to stay the same.

But this whole video is an hour of just Tricolor games! there were no disconnections either, unlike yesterday where we had 3 i think. this video is a first for myself, i've never experienced a Tricolor mode like it. i'm very happy that Nintendo finally fixed it, but also disappointed that it took them soo long to fix the Tricolor mode.

As for the hour, i think my team managed to win a couple of times. but for the most part it's an hour of White and Dark Chocolate teams kicking my team's butt.

It'd be great to hear if the mode was fixed for other players in other countries so let me know in the comments.

Online Saturday - Splatoon 3 - February's Chocolate Splatfest - A Poor Hour For Milk Chocolate

Welcome to Online Saturday.

The Splatfest for February is a three way fight between Dark Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, and White Chocolate. At the start of the video you see that White Chocolate has the early lead from the sneak peak, and throughout you'll see that some of the strongest teams i come up agianst are fighting for White Chocolate.

Throughout the hour, the level of competition is very high. i have a couple of huge losses, but also get a big win. What was a little strange, as you'll see, were the few disonnection issues. for a while know, whilst playing the normal online modes, i haven't had an issue with online play. but today there were some disonnections and a game ended early, too. it was easy to notice that the wait for a game was longer than normal, going from 10-30 seconds to sometimes over a couple of minutes.

But i had fun. even tho it was harder and i had fewer wins, Splatoon 3's online multiplayer continues to be enjoyable and my go to online shooter. you can watch the videos for other games and just hear in my voice that my excitment doesn't waver.

Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade - Shovel Knight Dig - The First 40 Minutes

This tenth, video in the new Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series is on Shovel Knight Dig. I Played this as part of my Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series, but it's out on other platforms such as the Nintendo Switch. 

We're coming to the end of the Apple Arcade series and i'm glad i got to try out this game before it ended. i had played Shovel Knight on the 3DS, i even backed it on Kickstarter back in the day. but i hadn't played any of the other games released around Shovel Knight so i was very curious as to how this game would play and what it's about.

I'll be honest that ultimatly, i didn't enjoy playing it that much. i found the on screen controls to not be well placed. this meant that the first part of the video was difficult to control. coupled with the game's difficulty being somewhat high meant i found it hard to get into it. i enjoyed my time outside of the hole, talking to the random characters that appeared and even stumbling upon a grave.

When i switched to the controller, it was easier to control the character but it didn't make the game any easier. each time i went down the hole, the level would change and sometimes it felt much harder than other times. If i thought that from the begining it was difficult, i wonder how i would've managed with the later parts of the game.

It does look good and the music is great, too. it's well worth trying. but i don't think it's the best one of these games, nor do i think it works well as an introduction to them. Games such as Steamworld Dig and Super Motherload have a better difficulty curve and some tutorial moments. 

Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday - Nintendo Switch Edition - Valentine Cup 1 - 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 TheValentine Cup 1! (   ) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and a docked Nintendo Switch.

This was fun because i was up against soo many players throughout this video. And it wasn't just one person dominating either. there was a vareity of winners and players in the top 3. so whilst this is one of my longer videos, it was maybe one of the most fun i've had. I did get a couple of wins near the end as i was up against fewer players but for the most part i was in the top 3.

let me know in the comments how this week's Cup was for you.

Cloud Monday - Grip - Part 2 - A Better Cloud Gaming Experience

Today's Cloud Monday is part 2 with Grip. For all Cloud Monday games, they get played twice to get a better idea about the streaming experience. 

In last weeks part 1, https://youtu.be/PdKk6qEhDrI, it was a mostly fine gaming experience. the main issue i saw whilst playing the game was the amount of macroblocking. for the most part it was in the background and not in my immediate view. so noticeable but not too distracting. however there was a moment where it did get in the way of my gaming experience leading to an issue where it was difficult to make out the course.

In today's part 2, i didn't have that issue. as per normal, part 2 is recorded at a different time and i found today's experience be better. there were instances of macroblocking and a couple of screen tears, but this was far less than last week. i'd argue that the game's own limitations were getting in the way more than playing it via PlayStation Plus Premium.

Racing was still fun, if not somewhat weird and unique. but i found the battle mode to be somewhat lacking and across both the racing and battle modes, the games pop in was far more distracting than the macroblocking. I only have a PlayStation 4 so i can't answer whether things improve with a PlayStation 4 Pro or a PlayStation 5. maybe you can let me know in the comments.

Switch Funday - Pokémon Puzzle League - Becoming The Champion

Welcome to Switch Funday!

Last week i played GoldenEye 007, https://youtu.be/tHaZuV7rAJo, for the first time. I hadn't really used the N64 app from Nintendo Switch Online and there were numerous games i had heard of but never played before. So starting this week, i'm going to try out some games in the App. the first of which is going to be Pokémon Puzzle League.

I had heard of this game, but i knew nothing more than that. i don't recall hearing YouTubers talking about it or seeing it in Pokémon game tier lists. Other than the Pokémon Pinball games, i haven't really played much of the side games. it was obvious that this was going to be a puzzle game, but i didn't know what style of game it would be.

Looking at the box and title, i thought it could be a Columns style game but i was wrong. it was a style of puzzle game that was familiar and yet new. i found it hard to describe throughout the video, i'd often bring up Meteos but in hindsight that's not the game i was thinking of. a quick look at the Giant Bomb website, https://www.giantbomb.com/tetris-attack/3030-13130/similar-games/, lists a few games i've played like Arkedo Series - 02 SWAP!, https://youtube.com/shorts/UnWo0yeSEcA, Poker Smash, and Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, so it could be any one of those ... if not something else!

As for Pokémon Puzzle League, it's a fine game. but i got bored fairly early on. the nostalgia was a big drive to keep on playing and trying out the other modes. A highlight was the 3D mode. i felt that this offered an interesting challenge and twist on the somewhat boring gameplay the 2D board offered. i don't think it'll be a game i'll go back to. i'm glad i gave it a go and tried something new. but it was just lacking something. i feel like the hour i played was more than enough. back when this game out, this would've been a great rental game for a weekend or maybe a game to try and get your parents to play with. 

Online Saturday - Splatoon 3 - February'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 February'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. the second one i earned was better than the first, but it only had two unknown pins rather than three. So there's a chance i'll play it again to try and get a better one. 

The other goal was to vote for the upcoming Splatfest. this month's Splatfest is what is the best type of chocolate, Dark, Milk, or White. I voted for Milk, coming from England as i do, it's what i grew up with and like the most. White would be second. i'd rather have pink as third as i really don't like dark.

There's a fun bit in the video where my controller dies. i'm unable to find a suitable USB cable quick enough and due to inactivity i'm disconnected from the game. Other than that, it's a fairly typical Salmon Run session for me. once again i'm unable to defeat the giant Salmon, but it was nice to face it as it had been a while. Salmon run is tough! 

Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade - What The Golf - The First 45 Minutes

This ninth, video in the new Mobile Friday: Apple Arcade series is on What The Golf. This is an exclusive game on Apple Arcade from Triband.

I decided to continue the Apple Arcade series for another couple of weeks. this was one game i was still interested in trying. i had heard some things about it, mostly that it was more than a golf game, so when things started happening i was excited.

Controlling it using my fingers was fine, but when i switched to a bluetooth controller i first tried using the triggers. when i saw they controlled the power i didn't try the other buttons until later. This means that for a little while, i complain about the triggers being too sensitive. it's not that much of a problem, but when i try out other buttons and find the A button controls the power level slower, the game once again becomes easy to play.

There's not too much to say about the music in the game other than it doesn't get in the way. Loading is also quick and unobtrusive. the only thing i found confusing about the game was how the menu system worked. when you click it, the first thing that pops up is a shortcut system and then it's the game menu. i can't help but think it doesn't work well and strangely becomes the most difficult and unintuitive part of the whole gaming experience with What The Golf.

This isn't a graphical show piece compared to some other games we've played in this series, but it could be the most pick up and play game. So it's more like Jetpack Joyride 2, https://youtu.be/zDsT94VQs-0, in that respect rather than a game that's closer to a console experience like Fantasian, https://youtu.be/RV_P04gnnKI.

Backlog Conquering - Pyre - Part 8 - The Rites Restart

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 8, of playing Pyre on PlayStation 4.

In part 7, https://youtu.be/eskzF0QYvGE, we said goodbye to Hedwyn as he was liberated back to the Commonwealth. This video shows the aftermath, and is maybe one of the slower videos in this series.

There is more lore revealed in this video than maybe in the previous 7 combined! we get soo many pages for the Book of Rites, too. some of the game's mechanics also change, like being given a choice of which Rite to take on. There's also a fun upgrade for our Wagon.

But, story wise, whilst it's interesting learning more about the world, it isn't fun knowing that we have to do the same thing over and over again. There will be a part 9, but i am a little concerned as to how the story will progress from now on.

Backlog Conquering - Pyre - Part 7 - A Win and a Goodbye

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 7, of playing Pyre on PlayStation 4.

You can watch Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, and Part 6 by clicking on the links. they'll take you to the YouTube Videos.

In part 6, https://youtu.be/06I8FfLbh1Q, we had the plot twist that all of us weren't getting out together. So this video shows the ramifications of such news. This is a more story driven part so i do recommend that you watch the last couple of videos so you're familiar with it.

As this part deals mostly with the story, not too much happens. We do the final Rite and it's one of the best matches i've played so far. the AI team feels well balanced and even tho i win, it feels like a well deserved win. And with that win, we do say goodbye to a character.

But this does leave me with many questions throughout this part and i do have a few guesses as to what could happen next.