Demo Play Thursday - Europa On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Europa, from developers Novadust Entertainment and Helder Pinto. This is the most recent update of the DEMO. i don't know when it was updated, but it did update before i played it.

I had seen a little of this game before i downloaded the demo, but i hadn't worked out if this was just a generic title or if it related the the moon of Jupiter. So part of me wanted to try out this demo because it looks good, but i also wanted to see if i would be able to answer if it is related to Jupiter.

Going in, i didn't know what the story is or what the point was. the demo does give us a little bit of story via collectable pages to a diary. i think i found them all, they're yellow beacons you can see as you explore the world, but they never told me what my point was. Nor did playing the demo itself. i came away intrigued by the story and wanting to know more, but i also had no idea what the point of any of it was.

This is a little surprising not only because of the length of the demo, and i imagine the it's direct from the start of the game, but also because such focus is put on us from the story we've collected. It's clear we're important to someone and there was a plan. But i don't know if that plan has failed or worked, or as i assumed that we're actually further into the future than expected. the story starts with us at a grave but with no real sense as to who this grave belongs to. either i missed it or it's not explicit enough.

There's much to like about the game. graphically it's impressive and whilst it doesn't look the sharpest, i actually liked the smooth look to it as the art design looks like it was chosen with this, probably due to the limits of the Switch in mind. i enjoyed the music, too. Our character looks a little like an animated hobbit but that's fine. the animals and robots look great and distinct. i did feel that some of the buildings tho looked a little Star Wars.

Except for one place, the game does a great job of leading you from place to place, from beacon to beacon, and even helps show there are other collectables to find. But it did faulter when it came to finding the third energy ball thing. 

another little missed opportunity is that there is no link to get the game from the eShop. this is more surprising when the demo ends with a trailer for the game and takes us back to the home menu. we've played it and watched a trailer for it, so why no have a link to the eShop to Wishlist it or buy it.

My concern is that there are these little things throughout this demo. i can't say one way or another now if the game itself will have many other little things that would take away from the overall experience with the game. It is a good demo and one i'd happily recommend to new and experienced players. but i think i would also recommend Wish-listing first and waiting to see how polished the game ends up being.

Backlog Conquering - Tearaway: Unfolded On PS4 - Part 4 - A Surprising Twist

Near the end, i genuinely thought that Part 4 of playing Tearaway Unfolded on PlayStation 4 was going to be the final part. there had been hints of trees in the clouds and i thought that might be cool to see and be the final step. but when we were catapulted towards the entrance/exit i thought this was it. and then it wasn't and then i ended the video.

I honestly wouldn't have minded if the game ended there. i didn't feel that the story of our character was complete, but i would've accepted that the game had shown everything it was going to. Now it's not finished and who knows how much more there'll be, i'm a little concerned. i'm wondering how the game will be able to keep things fresh or if it'll just repeat everything we've learned so far.

Tearaway Unfolded continues to be a fun game. i really enjoyed swinging my controller to sound the bells and discovering the hidden area with the Elk was nice. But the camera is starting to annoy me. the game should've either taken full control like the early God of War games or let me take control. right now we're both in control and we seem to have a differing opinion of where it should be. Ai should be used for things like that, it should learn how i play and where i want the camera. Also, how would have you made a snowflake?! 

Stories on Tuesday - When the Past Was Around - Part 1

*Apologies for all the noise in the background. it's been a very windy and rainy day here in Japan. i did try waiting a few hours before recording, but the weather never improved so i had to start. Even now, around 4 hours later, it's still rough outside. The noise is from my audio, so over on Ko-Fi from tomorrow there'll be a version that's just game audio.

Hello and welcome to Stories on Tuesday. we have a new game and it's When the Past Was Around. I'm playing this on PS4.

I'm not a big fan of point and click adventure games so once i saw the pointer appear on the screen i was a little concerned. i often find the game logic is different to my own logic and it can be frustrating trying to work out what the game wants me to do, when all i want is story.

Thankfully in this part, there was only once where i was truly stuck but there were a couple of times i needed to think about things. I think we're about half way through the story so maybe next week's part 2 is all i need to finish the game.

So far, the story telling has been done with no audio commentary from anyone in the game. it's been told via pictures, sometimes moving, on the screen. i don't mind this approach too much, but it does mean how i interpret the story and what the game's story actually is could be different. I'm hoping that by the end of the game i'll get a complete picture. but at the moment, i don't think i'm quite grasping the story they're trying to tell.

Cloud Monday - Far: Changing Tides - Part 2 - It Needs Manual Saves As A Cloud Based Game

This week's Cloud Monday video is part 2 of playing the PS4 version of Far: Changing Tides via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.

In Part 1, https://youtu.be/fELEYPvIhEc, i talked about how some aspects of the game's design work well as a game being streamed from the cloud and other aspects didn't work well. that holds true after Part 2, but what has solidified for me is that the lack of a Manual Save feature in Far: Changing Tides is too much of a hinderance to the point where i wouldn't recommend streaming this from the cloud.

I do think that Far: Changing Tides has some other gameplay issues, namely the platforming, but it's the save system that holds it back. it does have an auto save feature and we saw in this video that it puts you right back where it saved. The only issue is, i didn't fully know what was about to happen. so when it started and we're heading straight for a wall and i was carrying something, i kinda had to just let it happen. i don't know why there couldn't have been an auto save as the boat game to a standstill or not something in the boat itself that could do a manual save, like a hammock. 

It's hard to trust the auto save when i see it saving in the middle of the ocean for no apparent reason and then not saving when we reach once populated areas.  we're only given a 20 second count down before we're kicked off the service if there's an issue. and in a game where not much happens for long stretches of time, or there are periods of non story related busy work, i feel that we're going to end up having to do a lot of it again because of the auto save.

I'm not saying that Far: Changing Tides is a bad game. the music is good and atmospheric. i'm enjoying the art design and watching the world pass by. but actually playing it can feel a bit of a chore sometimes when all i want is the story, and it's not been great at telling it either. it's left it up to interpretation via environmental story telling and i'm not sure i've understood it fully. 

if you want to play Far: Changing Tides, i'd recommend downloading it as it's only 2.12GB. i feel that loss of HDD space is better than the possible loss of progress due to the auto save.

Switch Funday - Pokémon Unite - Using All 6 Dragons In The Dragon Carnival

In Pokemon Unite there is a dragon Carnival taking place. this brings items to buy, challenges to complete, and new game mode. In this video i use all 6 available dragon type Pokemon in the new "Full-Burst Battle! Dragon Dustup" quick battle mode.

In this mode, it's only dragon types. i already have Duraludon so i started with it, but thankfully all the other dragon types are free to use in this mode. Out of the 7 matches i took part in, my teammates and I won 5 out of the 7!

Online Saturday - Foamstars - Rubber Duck Party Win And “One Man’s Dream” Story Video

For Online Saturday i'm back with Foamstars, from Square Enix and Toylogic. Foamstars is out across PS5 and PS4. I'll be playing the PlayStation 4 version of it. 

My goal was simple, win a Rubber Duck Party match. it's the last game mode i've yet to win, but it's difficult to get a match. the two games in this video took a long time. here in Japan, it doesn't seem to be a popular mode. it took two rotations of this mode to get these two videos, and i tried a further two that day and a couple of other rotations trying to get more games for a longer video. Even with the new 4.1 update, i've been unable to get another Rubber Duck Party Game.

I chose to remove nearly all the commentary as it was mostly me complaining about not getting games and complaining about my team mates. in the end, i felt like just listening to the games cool soundtrack was best.

A positive is i somehow unlocked the One Man’s Dream story video. it looks like you need to sit down on a couch for 5 minutes before the game begins the story. i've included that so you can see what i did to trigger the video.

Mobile Friday - Wuthering Waves - Too Broken On iPhone To Recommend

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out Wuthering Waves, from developers Kuro Games.

This game only came out this week, but after playing it maybe it came out a bit too soon. i played it on my #iPhone 14 Pro and i had rough time. the most frustrating part for me was the framerate. when it worked, the combat was fast and flowed well. it was great working with my partner and doing combo attacks. but there were far fewer of those fights. often the combat, and most other aspects of the game, were plagued by slowdown and stuttering.

Other annoying issues included the sound. at times, the sound would get ahead of the video. so the sound would then stop, the video would play until it caught up with the sound, and then they'd continue. i also found the controls to be weird in that when i put my finger back on the screen there was a second or two where the character wouldn't move in the direction i wanted before then stopping and going where i wanted them to. it also got in the way of the soundtrack. it's hard to relax and enjoy the soundtrack when it pauses so frequently or, once or twice, seemingly doesn't play at all.

There were minor issues with pop-in with textures and when we got to an area with grass it was noticeable where the boundary was between the grass being drawn and not. those kinda issues i don't mind and understand. what i couldn't understand were some of the game design choices. Wuthering Waves says a lot in this first hour. there's near constant talking. most of it is well timed and well controlled so we get to hear all of it. and then there are sections where the talking is tied to places on the map. so i found myself starting one conversation and then abruptly ending it with another conversation as i moved across the map. 

The subtitles couldn't help as they too had issues. in the beginning there's small section where the subtitles get in the way of the Home Bar. those subtitles are also much bigger than the typical ones, but there were also some smaller than that. some subtitles scroll, whilst others need you to manually scroll them. and once or twice some of the subtitles looked incomplete.

Between looking at the beautiful world Kuro Games have made and the fun to play combat, it often felt like there was too much being said too quickly. i couldn't take it all in, i was being overloaded with information. it felt like this came at the cost of a tutorial as what the game had seemed basic and barebones. for example, i picked up a sword and yet the game never showed me how to equip it. the weapon screen mentioned upgrades, but again there was no tutorial telling me what to do. i can understand if these are done later, but if you're going to have gameplay mechanics that use them from the start then they need to be tutorialized from the start. i also feel that combat needs to be paused when new items are introduced. when a new button appeared in the middle of combat, with so much happening at once, it was difficult to hear what they wanted me to do and too easy to hit the new button before it was explained. if there was a pause when the button was introduced, they could tell me what it does and then un pause and let me do it.

with the game in such a state on iPhone 14 pro, i can't recommend it for anyone with the same phone or later. the iPhone 15 pro might have enough power to force a stable framerate and fix other issues. the new #ipadpro might be able to do the same. but for now, for everyone else, i don't recommend starting the game. Oh, and if you do start the game do it on wifi as the game will not warn you that it'll download over 6GB of data. in this video you'll see that it forced me to restart the game. and when i did it didn't work correctly. i HDMI out the video so i can capture it, and you'll see black from the capture as what i saw on my screen wasn't being outputted. and then i got stuck as the sign up appeared on TV and not my screen. so i had to restart it a second time for everything to work.

Version 1.0.0 Played.

Demo Play Thursday - ANTONBLAST On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of ANTONBLAST, developed by Summitsphere.

When i saw the trailer for this game, my first thought was that speed was going to be what made this difficult. i've played too many games over the years that have used speed as a difficulty, where levels aren't designed for flow from start to finish but rather they're obstacles you have to dodge whilst going fast. I was glad that ANTONBLAST had a demo as i would be able to try it and see just how tough of a game it might be.

I'm happy to say that ANTONBLAST isn't that kind of game. as i say in the video, the nostalgia is strong with this one but in a good way. it reminded me of the Sega Mega Drive era. But for me, more importantly, the two levels i played taught me to trust the game. it has speed, it has platforming, but neither of those two levels felt designed in such a way that there were things deliberately put in our way.

What was also good were the controls. when our character was moving quick, i felt in control and the character was immediately responsive. again, this took a little time to adjust to as there were moments where i was ready to readjust the controls as i'm not used to games like this feeling this good.

I liked how the demo, and i assume the game, wasn't afraid to lean into silliness. there were signs clearly saying what to do or showing where to go. narratively these don't make sense, but visually they worked as the game doesn't take itself too serious. What i was missing, and perhaps this is explained in the final game, was context for part 2 of playing through a level. in part 1, you're making your way from left to right. but in part 2, there's a countdown and a sense of urgency as you have to make your way back to the start as fast as you can. i enjoyed playing this mode, but i have no context what it's all about. 

This time trialling a level reminded me of when i played Rayman Legends on Wii U, i really enjoyed the two online modes that game had. in one your goal is to beat a set level as fast as you can. in the other, your goal is to get as far as you can. i hope that the team behind ANTONBLAST is able to put in leaderboards for this second part of a level as it would be fun to race against friends. Kind of what happened with Astro's Playroom on PS5.

this demo for ANTONBLAST is good so i would recommend it to anyone looking for some nostalgia or platforming or both. but i had such a great time with the game i would say it's well worth buying. i even enjoyed the music. from what i played it felt like a complete package, it has taken great inspirations from the past but created it's own game. so it feels familiar but also fresh and maybe, like me, you have to learn to trust the game and it's design as it's not out to get you.

Backlog Conquering - Tearaway: Unfolded On #PS4 - Part 3 - Learning To Roll

Tearaway: Unfolded put me back a little further away than i expected after part 2, https://youtu.be/SHFIJexGFVA, and i'm not sure if that's because i misjudged where the auto save was or what. it didn't take long to get back and ahead of the last video, but it was weird. 

The video is titled Learning To Roll because, like last video, it changes the gameplay in fun ways. not only is it a way to get from A to B, the game also uses it to introduce small holes we can enter, either as secrets or as ways to continue making progress. but where it seemed to work best was with the enemies. there's a new one that has legs that can kick you away like a football but all we need to do is roll to it's back and then attack. the other enemies are also more easily dealt with as they are now easily stunned when hit so we can pick them up and throw them to defeat them. 

Stories on Tuesday - Alternate Jake Hunter: Daedalus - The Awakening of Golden Jazz - Part 13

Hello and welcome to Part 13, the final part, of the new series here on QTE Gamers!

The goal with Stories on Tuesday is to play games with a heavy focus on their story. this can be Visual Novel games, like today's game, or it can be something more episodic. For me, it's a style of game i've not really explored. i have several games across a few platforms that i haven't played but i bought them because i wanted to. So now the time has come for me to experience these sorts of games.

Our debut game is Alternate Jake Hunter: Daedalus - The Awakening of Golden Jazz. I have the game on PS4 via DISC but i'll be playing the PlayStation Plus version of the game that's been downloaded to my PlayStation 4.

This is the final part, the conclusion to the story we've told whilst we play this game. We managed to complete this part with only one more death. but it was the "True Evil" ending which means we never found out who killed our Grandfather, the reason why we came all the way from Japan to New York. The point of this series isn't to get the perfect ending, it's to tell the story we get from the game. so whilst i'm a little sad that we didn't solve this final mystery, i'm happy to have got a story.

If you're interested in watching the stories unfold without my commentary, head over to Ko-Fi. there, you can subscribe to the "Stories on Ko-Fi" which will let you watch all the stories. This tier will always be one week ahead of the free video on QTE Gamer's YouTube Channel. Or, of course, you can head to https://ko-fi.com/qtegamers and donate via PayPal.

Cloud Monday - Far: Changing Tides - Part 1 - Interesting Positives And Negatives Streaming It

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

One of the reasons i wanted to play Far: Changing Tides was because of the art in the icon. i really like it. i also have a memory of people talking about this game when it came out positively. as a game being streamed from the cloud, one aspect i wanted to look at was if the water, and possible water spray and particles, would degrade the video much like how confetti can hammer the bitrate of a YouTube Video.

This part didn't go as expected. right from the beginning i had some issues with the game being streamed to me. Part 2 will be interesting to see if this is a common issue with this game or just a one off due to my internet itself. we had all the issues; Stream Tearing, when there's grey on screen as the video frame lacks information, Macro Blocking, where instead of fine detail we get larger squares of color, Zebra Striping, where there's black and white lines appearing, Color Banding, where there are noticeable bands of color as it changes shade, and the stability warning on the right side of the screen.

But because of the game's design, many of these weren't anything more than noticeable and didn't get in the way of gameplay. for example, when there was macro blocking or zebra striping i was able to adjust the camera down in the water or zoom it in and out. this changed the background and the issues went away. There's no text so macro blocking didn't get in the way. the backgrounds are large and distinct so they were always clear. so whilst these were distracting, they didn't stop progression in the game.

I was nervous tho as we quickly learned that this game doesn't have a manual save. there didn't seem to be anything in-game i could do to trigger a manual save. we were relying on the auto save. it does tell us when the last auto save was, but it seemed that the auto save only triggers when reaching set pieces and kinda like at checkpoints whilst solving the set piece puzzles. The problem is, there's travelling to these set pieces. so when the 20 second countdown starts to when we're kicked off the service, you're most likely stuck with  what ever the last auto save was.

Or, like me, you're stuck waiting for an autosave so you can quit the game. that's one reason why this video is a long as it is. i was waiting for an autosave but at the end of the video i was seemingly travelling to a set piece. there's also no quit game/exit option.

So that's why the title of this video is that there are positive and negatives. on one hand, the game's design meant that whilst there were streaming issues, they never got in the way of progression. the music sounded great, the controls were fine tho platforming could've been better but i think that's more down to the game rather than streaming issues, and i could use things like the zoom and camera to remove some of the visual issues. and yet on the other hand how this game saves just isn't suitable when there's only a 20 second warning before being disconnected. if there was a quick save option, this would be easy to recommend. but as it is, it's starting to look like Far: Changing Tides would be better downloaded than played from the cloud.

Switch Funday - Splatoon 3 - May's Weekend Splatfest Tricolor - 15 Battles 7 Wins!

Welcome to Switch Funday.

It's day two of May's Splatfest weekend so today's video focuses on the Tricolor game mode in Splatoon 3. 

The goal of Tricolor is for all three teams to play in the same match. Often this isn't that successful. when Splatoon 3 is unable to make such a match, it'll default to 3 teams of the same team. So in this Splatfest, that's Same Ol' and Same Ol' Vs. Same Ol'. What i'm shocked to say is that this only happened once! i can't think of another Splatfest where we played soo many matches with all three teams.

As ever i played 5 games each with 3 different weapons. i bought some new ones after yesterday's video so this Splatfest was the first time using them. First up was the Forge Splattershot Pro. i enjoyed the extra power and inking potential, but it didn't seem to damage the enemy as much as i'd hope and used a lot of ink. and for some reason my aim with it was terrible. Next was the Nautilus 79. I had a great time with this weapon. it inked, it hit, and it didn't use a lot of ink. i had a 5 game winning streak with this weapon! Finally was the Ballpoint Splatling. This was much more difficult as it switched from close up to long range. it was fine, but the results weren't great and i'll need more practice with it in the future.

Online Saturday - Splatoon 3 - May’s Weekend #Splatfest – 15 Battles 7 Wins!

Welcome to Online Saturday.

It's a Splatfest weekend so today's video is on the "What would you do at the world's end?" Splatfest in Splatoon 3. I chose to join Same Ol'.

This weekend's Splatfest started poorly as i tried to use the Luna Blaster for the first 5 games, but it just wasn't working out that great for me. it might've been my first time really using it and it just didn't have the range or inking ability that i needed. i tried to be more attacking, but the opposition were often able to deal with me as their weapons often fired quicker. so the first 5 games weren't great for me, but they were bad for my teammates too as we lost the first 5 games.

i switched to an old favourite of mine for the next 5, the N-Zap '89. this time we got more wins, but the 4th game, 9th overall, saw my teammates and I win by 0.1%! i can't remember the last time i've had a game that close before. it was nice using a weapon i enjoy and we got 3 wins out of the 5.

The final weapon i used was the Foil Flingza Roller. i had noticed that many of my teams weren't doing a great job at inking our areas and after being attacking for 10 games, i decided to be more of an inker for the final 5. These games ended up being the most successful as we got 4 wins out of 5. this means i got 7 wins out of 15 today.

Mobile Friday - Solo Leveling:Arise - One Of The Best Action RPG's Of 2024

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out Solo Leveling:Arise, from developer Netmarble. I Played this on my iPhone 14 Pro.

This game is based on the South Korean Web novel 나 혼자만 레벨업, Solo Leveling in English. unfortunately, i've not read this web novel nor have i seen any of the anime episodes. so i can't say how closely this sticks to the story or how much of the story is being told. But this does mean i'm relying on the game to tell it's story and it does a fantastic job of introducing us to the world.

the first 50 or so minutes of this game is the tutorial. it may sound like a long time but i was grateful for it. i felt well prepared for the different gameplay styles. it's not just us playing as the main character of the game. there's a gameplay mode where we play as the support characters. this plays differently as we can switch between them and combo attacks together during the switch. there's a gate mode that's separate from the story where we're clearing out specific areas of monsters. then we can send people to farm those cleared out areas for resources. and that's just what i got to experience as there are more things to unlock as we level up.

The story is told in a couple of different ways. there's animation, that i don't think is from the anime, but it suffers from compression and whilst it's effective it's not that impressive. there's a comic book panel style and there's also a version of that that has moving pictures. and then there's the traditional character models talking on screen. 

But for me one of the highlights has to be the soundtrack to the game. i thoroughly enjoyed it and felt that it's more rock style worked well with the story and gameplay.

The biggest downside to Solo Leveling:Arise is that it's another mobile game that requires an additional download before you can play. this time it's 1.6GB, so it's not the biggest. but it's still too large to download via a mobile network so you must start the game on wifi. It's possible it could stop Solo Leveling:Arise reaching the number 1 game of 2024, but it doesn't stop me recommending the game. i had a lot of fun playing it and it's well worth checking out.

Version 1.1.1 Played.

Backlog Conquering - Tearaway: Unfolded On PS4 - Part 2 - Learning To Jump

Right from clicking the game icon on my PlayStation4, Tearaway continued to impress me by putting me at the last checkpoint from Part 1, https://youtu.be/E3WqJ6MF2Rg. This was impressive because the game didn't ask to continue, there was no menu, all there was after clicking the game's icon was a loading screen and there i was in game. i included the end of that load,  as this is a PS4 so the loading took around 45 seconds.

In part 1, we never used jump because it didn't exist. the X button did nothing but raise a question mark above our heads. instead, the game was mostly designed around us not having it. tho there did seem to be a couple of places where it looked like we'd need it if we were out exploring. Thankfully we got it back and the game feels much better and less limited now. 

Jumping wasn't the only new thing we got access to. after creating clouds, we now are able to generate a gust of wind in any direction we want. we use this in a couple of interesting ways like blowing enemies when they jump or using it to generate or manipulate platforming. near the end of this part, we got access to throwing. our character #iota was able to throw, but now they can pass an object to us and with the motion controls and touch panel we're able to throw things much stronger and much farther.

Tearaway: Unfolded continues to be a fun game to play. the story isn't anything outstanding at the moment, but it's enough to get us to places. but the platforming, light puzzling areas, and even hidden collectables make it one of the most accessible platformers i've ever played. i'm looking forward to what comes next in part 3.

Demo Play Thursday - Blade Jumper On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Blade Jumper, developed by bit paradigm and published by CFK.

The #eShop mentions that this game has one button that does the jumping and the attacking. i was very curious as to how this would work and whether or not it would make the game difficult or not. the eShop page also talks about the game's story and i wondered if it is a difficult game would they be able to tell that story. So having a demo is great for this kind of game as it could answer many questions.

It starts with a cool song that really sets the mood, we find out at the end of the video that this song doesn't loop so don't be surprised when it stops. it also mentions that this is a demo and has a link to the eShop page, something that few games actually do so it was welcome to see.

Once you start, you're immediately introduced to the story, your main character, and what you're task is. there is a tutorial and it's mostly blended into the game's introduction. but with everything using just one button it does take a bit of time to get used to. thankfully, there is graffiti across this first stage that'll help with how to line things up and what force to use.

So far so good, but it's not long after this that i personally started to have issues with the game. i don't enjoy the core gameplay mechanic, i found the jump system to be a chore and when it's coupled with respawning monsters it was frustrating. the whole experience took nearly 50 minutes to complete what turned out to be a short demo. i imagine this could easily be done in less than 30, maybe less than 20 minutes. but i found the learning curve so high and the level design unforgiving so it simply took a long frustrating time.

But i wouldn't say the whole game is frustrating. i actually found myself really interested in the story and the music. i talk about how i would like this game to have a story focused mode, instead of the game focusing on it's jumping mechanics. so the demo did it's job. i got to try out the core mechanics and i learned that it's not for me. it's not a style of game i would enjoy, and whilst i did like the story and would like to see what happens i've also learned that i don't want to experience the story how it's currently being told. i recommend people check out the demo before buying the game as it's more hardcore than it lets on to be.

Stories on Tuesday - Alternate Jake Hunter: Daedalus - The Awakening of Golden Jazz - Part 12

Hello and welcome to Part 12 of the new series here on QTE Gamers!

The goal with Stories on Tuesday is to play games with a heavy focus on their story. this can be Visual Novel games, like today's game, or it can be something more episodic. For me, it's a style of game i've not really explored. i have several games across a few platforms that i haven't played but i bought them because i wanted to. So now the time has come for me to experience these sorts of games.

Our debut game is Alternate Jake Hunter: Daedalus - The Awakening of Golden Jazz. I have the game on PS4 via DISC but i'll be playing the PlayStation Plus version of the game that's been downloaded to my PlayStation4.

In comparison to Part 11, https://youtu.be/653QoTugqm0, Part 12 felt a little less frantic but with an even higher body count! I was wondering if Part 12 might be the final part but it turned out not to be. things slowed down a little and a few days pass across this part. But the threat never goes away and now one of our closest friends is involved the stakes just keep getting higher.

If you're interested in watching the stories unfold without my commentary, head over to Ko-Fi. there, you can subscribe to the "Stories on Ko-Fi" which will let you watch all the stories. This tier will always be one week ahead of the free video on QTE Gamer's YouTube Channel. Or, of course, you can head to https://ko-fi.com/qtegamers and donate via PayPal.

Cloud Monday - Marvel's Midnight Suns - Part 2 - Well Designed To Be Streamed From The Cloud

This week's Cloud Monday video is part 2 of playing the PS4 version of Marvel's Midnight Suns via the PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.

Right from Part 1, https://youtu.be/IZ948UHlLsM, the slower turn based pace of the combat and frequent auto saves and very accessible manual saves gave me a positive first impression of Marvel's Midnight Suns. In this part that didn't change. i felt at ease playing the game as i was secure knowing that if there were issues, saving wouldn't be an issue. i was able to focus more on the game itself and the story it was trying to tell.

And that brings up a different issue. Marvel's Midnight Suns may work great as a game in the cloud, but does it work great as a game. i chose to play the game with the focus on story so that's what i was expecting. but more and more fluff was being added into the game with little to no explanation how it relates to the game. the thing that triggered me the most was i gifted access to a social network with seemingly no explanation as to how that would benefit me or the story. it was yet another system being added. 

Again, with my focus being on the story and how grim things were turning. i expected the game to have a quicker pace, to want to deal with things. and yet i didn't get that sense of urgency from any of the other characters or in the pace of the game. i don't mind that combat takes time, i feel that the game's combat and mechanics are it's strongest part and i enjoyed the strategy challenge. It's just that in a story with the fate of the world at stake, it didn't feel like the fate of the world was at stake. Like, why do i have options to customise my room, surely this will all be over in a day or two?

The graphics are kinda an example of this ambivalence. Most of the big stuff and the backgrounds look great. even up close some of the stone work looks highly textured and great. and then you get the characters. at times i wonder if they look any better than some characters on #PS3. especially the faces, it's one thing to look emotionless but it's another to also look plastic.

Personally, i feel like Marvel's Midnight Suns needs a remaster or directors cut. something that'll focus it on it's two core things, it's story and it's combat. in a way, Marvel's Midnight Suns would've been perfect on a Pocketable Portable as it's likely a lot of the fluff would've been cut. plus the auto save would've worked great on such a system. the Marvel's Midnight Suns we got is bloated and that bloat feels disconnected from what makes it good. It's possible that it isn't fluff and that it all ties together. but they failed in these 2 hours to tell me that, which in itself could be telling of other issues.

as a game played in the cloud, Marvel's Midnight Suns is a great choice. but is it a game worth playing, that's up to you. i'm not too sure, but the fact it's part of PlayStation Plus and i can stream it and not buy it does help make it more worth playing.

Switch Funday - Tetris 99 - 40th Maximus Cup - Endless Ocean Luminous

There is a Maximus Cup this weekend in Tetris 99 on Nintendo Switch. The 40th Maximus Cup is for the Switch game Endless Ocean Luminous. By getting 100 points, you can unlock a Endless Ocean Luminous theme which includes sounds, a background, and unique looking Tetromino.

The side quest, as ever, is to try and win. unfortunately, i didn't manage to make it to the top 10 at all during this cup. I thought that it was very tough just to get into the top 50. often, it felt like i was defending more than actually trying to attack. It did feel satisfying tho so i'm not too dissatisfied with the result.

Online Saturday - Splatoon 3 - May's Eggstra Work Event

For this week's Online Saturday video i'm back on the Switch with Splatoon 3 as it's an Eggstra Work Event on the Jammin' Salmon Junction Map.

Like my #SalmonRun videos, the goal is to get 1,000 points. but because it's an Eggstra Work Event, the main goal is to get the highest score possible within that time. So far, i don't have a great record getting a prize winning score in these events and i don't think i'll get one today. Out of the 8 matches i played, my none of the teams i worked with could beat all 5 waves. we only managed to get to the 4th wave twice. the 3rd wave was surprisingly difficult. one issue was the first couple of waves were so easy that we were doing too good. this meant the game would raise the difficulty of the next stage. so by the time we got to the third stage, the difficulty had often risen twice to more than double what it started at. 

Even tho we didn't finish, i did have a good time. this was the right balance of difficulty because we put ourselves into this position whereas it often feels tough because it's designed that way. the weapon selection was ok, but i had the same weapon for 7 of the 8 games.

Mobile Friday - The WereCleaner - I Recommend This Clean 'em up, Tho A Bit Rough It's Fun To Play

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out The WereCleaner from developer Charlie Heatherly. I Played this on my iPhone 14 Pro.

The premise of this game, a cleaner who's a werewolf doing the night shift, was all i needed to give this a try. It's very new, this might be the launch week, and it's not a game i had heard about, but the screenshots on it's app store page combined with the little bits of information about the game were enough. i was very curious and just had to play it.

You start The WereCleaner during your day shift so you're human. this acts as the games story introduction but i feel it could've or should've given us the option for a tutorial. it might've been difficult, but i feel it's possible the developer could've used our interactions with Daryl as a way for our character to talk about their job, thus being the tutorial, and Daryl replying with something about keeping his current one. The game does provide text on screen between stages but i worry that this might be easily missed as this isn't something i've seen much in other games. Those text boxes are done up very nice and do provide most of the information needed, with our imagination on how we can use it filling the gaps.

As a Clean 'em up, your goal in The WereCleaner is simple, clean up all messes within the 5 minute window. the problem is that as we're a werewolf, we will kill anyone who spots us in the same location as us. killing them, and then eating them, and then cleaning up that mess uses up time which is were the stealth element of the game comes in. the other characters have a timer above their heads and when it reaches 0 they move. we need to avoid them whilst also making our way across the stage or cleaning. it's a difficult balance that i didn't quite master. i felt like this challenge was well managed at the start, but by the 6th level i was on the difficulty had spiked.

We are given tools to help us clean and the info card before the level also talks about how we can use it against the other people. but it's one thing to read it and another to do it and it's this using the tools that didn't quite work how i expected. one tool is throwing a ball of trash. the other humans will pick it up and put it in the bin, clearing a path for you. but what i didn't anticipate was them putting it in a bin near us. Another item is the Knap, a bag we can use to pick up critters or a bag we can put over the heads of humans. But nearly every time i tried to use it it failed because i would instinctively kill the person i was trying to knap.

Another example where things are a little rough is in the controls. more than once i noticed and commented on how the on screen buttons didn't match what cleaning item i was using. i had heard the game make the noise that i had changed my tool, but on screen the buttons for that tool hadn't changed. so for a while it was a little frustrating not knowing what tool was equipped. by the end of the video i was getting used to it, but it's not ideal.

So whilst The WereCleaner does have some small issues and a few bugs, the core idea and presentation is still really good. so much so that it's already in my Free to Play Mobile Game of the Year List and i'd happily recommend it to anyone looking for something interesting to play. It's a shame there aren't pocketable portables from Sony or Nintendo as this is something i would've enjoyed on those platforms. On phone it does work well, but i can't help but feel that the controls would be better with buttons than touch screen.

Version ? Played. (Maybe it's the launch version)

Demo Play Thursday - Korean Rail Driving Tour: LRT Uijeongbu On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Korean Rail Driving Tour: LRT Uijeongbu, published by 14Dimension.

I have never played a train simulator game before and when i saw this demo come out on Switch i thought i should give it a go. starting the demo gives no hints that you're actually playing a demo. it looks and feels like the full game.

There is no tutorial either. for me it was very frustrating as not only did i not know what buttons to use, i had to use my intuition and the on screen speed prompts as to what i need to do. so needless to say i only manage to get the train from A to B three times and neither time was perfect.

And that's the end of the demo! it only allows us to play one section out of 15. i did like how it uses video from a real train doing the same route, it means i got to see somewhere new. the music was also surprisingly epic, and i left it playing at the end. but overall all, it's a poor demo that doesn't even have an option for us to purchase the game from within the demo like many do. I'm glad i tried it as i got to play a genre i've never played before, but it's a bad demo and difficult to recommend for people to try beyond curiosity like i had.

Backlog Conquering - Tearaway: Unfolded On PS4 - Part 1 - A Good First Impression

This new Backlog Conquering game is being played on PlayStation 4 but it'll cover the PlayStation Vita version as well. on PSV, the game was released as Tearaway back in 2013 and i do have that version. Like this PS4 version, i haven't finished it either so this is my chance to tackle Tearaway twice! ( i know there are differences in the controls and how you interact with the games, but you know what i mean.)

The start caught me by surprise as the game starts it's narrating before it's even revealed all the developer logos. It's a bit long, but it's uniqueness works for me and it gets to the point where the narrators interact with "you" and thus begins the events at the start of the game.

another thing the game does well is it's tutorial. it's impressive how it manages to balance telling us how to something whilst giving us the chance to use it with some imagination. One of the better features is the "Squirrel" as this guide will pop up if it thinks you're struggling to offer advice. so many games don't offer help after the tutorial and just leave it up to the player so it's nice that this game will try and help. It doesn't make Tearaway: Unfolded feel too easy either, but it's nice to have regardless.

It takes time, when playing the game, to get used to not having a jump button. i could see places i wanted to reach and for most of this video my first reaction is to press X for jump. as i played, what i learned is that there are ways to get anywhere if you're meant to get there. this often takes shape as ramps, flowers, and spring jumps. part of the puzzle is seeing somewhere you want to go, maybe there's a collectable present you want to get, and working out how the environment is set up for you to get there.

I really enjoyed what i've played so far so i will do a few more parts at least. i'm curious if the game does anything fun when you come back to the game. i'm also wondering if there'll be any more fun interactions with the controller. i know that we're able to backtrack with our current abilities so i may give that a try in part 2 as in this part i already found a white mystery and later in this part i was given a tool to deal with it.

Stories on Tuesday - Alternate Jake Hunter: Daedalus - The Awakening of Golden Jazz - Part 11

Hello and welcome to Part 11 of the new series here on QTE Gamers!

The goal with Stories on Tuesday is to play games with a heavy focus on their story. this can be Visual Novel games, like today's game, or it can be something more episodic. For me, it's a style of game i've not really explored. i have several games across a few platforms that i haven't played but i bought them because i wanted to. So now the time has come for me to experience these sorts of games.

Our debut game is Alternate Jake Hunter: Daedalus - The Awakening of Golden Jazz. I have the game on PS4 via DISC but i'll be playing the PlayStation Plus version of the game that's been downloaded to my PlayStation 4.

A lot happened in this part. Part 10, https://youtu.be/vfva7DWmvVo, saw us getting a lot of information which we dealt with in this part. much of this part goes how i expected it to. for a few parts now i had been making some assumptions and most are revealed here. But things take a dramatic turn around the half way mark and just keeps on going. Whilst the change of pace is welcomed, it does feel like a lot happened much quicker in this part than any previous part. but it has reenergized the story and i'm maybe even more excited to continue the 5th, and final, Chapter of this game.

If you're interested in watching the stories unfold without my commentary, head over to Ko-Fi. there, you can subscribe to the "Stories on Ko-Fi" which will let you watch all the stories. This tier will always be one week ahead of the free video on QTE Gamer's YouTube Channel. Or, of course, you can head to https://ko-fi.com/qtegamers and donate via PayPal.

Cloud Monday - Marvel's Midnight Suns - Part 1 - A Good First Impression, Auto And Manual Saves Too

This week's Cloud Monday video is part 1 of playing the #PS4 version of Marvel's Midnight Suns via the #PlayStationPlus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model PlayStation 4.

This game, from developers Firaxis Games, is one that was seemingly well received from reviewers but not necessarily the public at large. I've heard quite a lot of non specific praise about playing it but also reports on how poorly it sold, either in general or when compared to expectations. Thankfully, the point of this series is to talk about how suitable the game is as a game being played in the cloud. And i can say that it makes a great first impression.

Much like the previous game i played, The Wild At Heart https://youtu.be/Cg0q3nv-E58, this game starts with a choice on how you want to play it. i went with a focus on story, but there's also normal mode. If you've played one of these before, streaming the other from the cloud is a great option to have as this game is a fairly sizeable download around 32GB. I also chose to do the tutorial mission. 

I couldn't say where the tutorial mission ended and the game started. they did a great job incorporating the tutorial into the story. admittedly, playing a strong super heroes and being limited because of the tutorial could've been delt with better, like with a side comment that these are just henchmen so don't go all out just yet as someone stronger may come later. But after it, i did feel mostly confident that i understood the systems taught to me.

As well as the tutorial and options, the game's story also makes a great first impression. it's always made clear who is talking and when someone new is introduced there's a quick little banner to say who they are. about half way into the video i explore the save system and it's clear that at this early point in the game the auto save system has been working quite frequently and not overwriting one auto save. there are 4 auto saves the game makes and we can do manual saves, too. this sense of security means i can focus on the game instead of worrying about when or if i can save next.

In this part, the connection to the cloud was mostly fine. early on there were a couple of moments of macro blocking, where instead of fine details there are larger squares of color. but this was never an issue with gameplay. a lot of the text, characters, and pictures are quite big so were still legible. Later on there were more incidents of Stream Tearing, where there's grey on screen, and these do get in the way of gameplay. thankfully, there were no audio issues nor controller issues so i was still able to continue and understand what was happening. 

I'm looking forward to part 2. it'll be interesting to see how the game holds up on the PS4, especially when there are more effects and more enemies on screen in the first mission of the game. the card battle system we've played so far is slow enough that i always felt in control, again a good fit for being played in the cloud. But there were some hints that the PS4 was being pushed hard by this game.

Switch Funday - Splatoon 3 - Getting May's Salmon Run Item

This month's Splatoon 3 Salmon Run item is the Knockout Boots. The goal for this video was to get 1,00 points. that way i get the item twice and have a go at defeating a King Salmonoid. 

This Salmon Run might be the worst one i've ever done. it took 11 jobs to reach my goal of 1,000 points and it wasn't until the 12th, and final, job that my team mates and i actually completed all 3 waves! I admit i made a couple of mistakes, but it was tough anyway with such a poor selection of weapons,  in my opinion, in which i only enjoyed using the Aerospray. In the final job we did go up against a Megalodontia and got it to about half health. What's also annoying about all this effort is that both of the items i got were only two pins!

Online Saturday - Foamstars - Normal And Hard Squad Missions

For Online Saturday i'm back with Foamstars, from Square Enix and Toylogic. Foamstars is out across PS5 and PS4. I'll be playing the PlayStation 4 version of it. 

For this video i wanted to try out the online Squad Missions. These take place on specific maps and have a team of 4 players work together to defeat 10 waves of enemies. i tried out the Sunny Funny Factory, Rap Wrap Scrapyard, and Bath Vegas Marina Bay maps in Normal difficulty and i also tried out the Lucky Funky Street, twice, in Hard difficulty.

when you finish your attempt, you're awarded points towards the current season, i went up from 3 to 6 during this video, your own personal level, i went from 19 to 21, and Miracle Dust. This dust is important as you use it to level up your stats, that are used by any character you play with. I didn't realise this so my first attempt at Hard Difficulty didn't go well. but that's also down to the stats of my team mates. to upgrade your stats, head to the "Upgrade Energy Core" section, to the right of Squad Mission, and chose which stats you want to upgrade. during this video i put everything up to Lvl 1 and then a few others up to Lvl 2.

Mobile Friday - Cat Garden - Food Party Tycoon - A Fine Idle Game With Nice Art And New Ideas

For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out Cat Garden - Food Party Tycoon from developers Daerisoft . I Played this on my iPhone 14 Pro.

The art for this game caught my attention, like it has with other similar games, but what i was most curious about was whether or not it could stand out from the other idle games with nice art or if it would have the same grind issues that Cats & Soup, https://youtu.be/B5_zo0ov4IM, Cat Snack Bar, https://youtu.be/hhqyaTmhXw4, or if it had some interesting ideas to beat the grind like Animal Restaurant, https://youtu.be/DZhTicMX4Bo, had.

in Cat Garden - Food Party Tycoon,  the grind does come fairly soon. the pacing isn't bad but it's not quite right either. i could feel the grind a little before the next thing would unlock. It does have some interesting ideas to help break up the grind, but they don't feel finished. for example, there's a whole fishing aspect to the game that has no tutorial and seemingly little to no impact on the game. It sticks out the most because the tutorial, whilst a little forceful, is mostly great. i don't appreciate it wanting me to share a photo tho.

Another plus for Cat Garden - Food Party Tycoon is that there are no intrusive adverts. it's our choice if we want to watch an advert and we get in-game rewards for doing so. that's amazing and somewhat rare in idle games. this is a game good for commuters as i played it with one hand throughout and your "turn" can be finished in just a handful of minutes, then you put it down and come back to it later. adverts can be frustrating as they break up that flow but also use up data. for example, i would chose not to watch adverts whilst out and about but at home i wouldn't mind watching an advert via my wi-fi for some in-game benefits.

The nice artwork in Cat Garden - Food Party Tycoon isn't enough to make this a great game. it needs it's other ideas to be fleshed out more and the game to get a little bit more balancing. What is here now is fine and very playable and could be enough for idle restaurant fans. but if the developers can continue to improve and add to it, it could become a much better game.

Version 1.0.5 Played.

Demo Play Thursday - Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Stories from Sol: The Gun-Dog from developers Space Colony Studios.

This was an example of me seeing cool icon art and deciding to download because of it rather than me reading what i was about to play. so i was taken aback when this turned out to be a visual novel. But i wasn't deterred from playing it because it's a visual novel.

I'm going to be upfront and say that i stopped playing the demo because it broke. i reached a point where the demo would not progress and nothing i did would fix it. you can hear me talking through the button presses i was trying. Unfortunately, whilst this was a demo breaking issue it wasn't the only one i came across. right near the beginning i found navigating the option menu nearly impossible due to the lag in the controls. you can hear me say when i've pressed a button and a second or more later see it replicated on screen. The menu area and parts of the game also had an issue where pressing a direction on the controller once could mean it's done twice in game or not at all. safe to say this demo is a buggy mess to the point where i can't recommend it on PlayStation 4.

That's not to say there was nothing good about this. far from it. the music is fantastic and the artwork was amazing. when it came to setting the scene and story telling, i was hooked. i would've liked the option for bigger text and for the game to offer to automatically progress the story, but this is a demo and i haven't tried the final version. It's a shame their website doesn't list a way to buy the soundtrack because after playing the demo i'd like to get it.

As a demo it's not good because not only does it have issues but it also broke to the point where i couldn't continue. But this also makes me concerned that the game itself might have issues when it's released. there are hints of a cool story that i was really getting into, but i don't even know if my save from the demo will carry over or not. there was a real lack of communication in the demo. so overall i can't recommend the demo nor the game. but i would say it's one to watch out for. if reviewers say it's fixed then it could be something cool to try out.

Backlog Conquering - Deponia On PS4 - Part 2 - Watching The Story Was More Fun Than The Puzzles

This will be the last part of playing Deponia on PlayStation 4. It's a game that i have had for a long time and i had heard a lot of good things about it. But in part 1, https://youtu.be/BebaNadnGTw, it became clear that the game's logic and mine weren't quite matching up. it meant that how the game wanted me to play it wasn't how i wanted to play it.

I want to be clear that i'm not saying it's bad or broken, just that i personally found it difficult to play. I decided to give it one more try. now i knew what to expect, i went in knowing that i need to see everything, collect everything, and yet that still wasn't enough as by the end i was still stumped. I wasn't a fan of the collecting and seeing everything either as it was clear a couple of times that i had done things out of order and it messed with the story a little.

When the game was telling the larger story, rather than the small stuff during the puzzle sections, i was hooked. i enjoyed the humour and watching what happened. for me, i would've like this to have been a movie or cartoon/anime. for me, Deponia is at it's best when it's telling it's story.

So there will be a new game next week and it won't be any of the other Deponia games. i'm not saying that i won't ever play them. but for now, i want to try something else.