Monday, May 5, 2025

Cloud Monday - Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures - Part 2 - It's Own Issues Make It Not Fun


This week's new Cloud Monday video is part 2 of playing Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures on #PS4 via the #PlayStationPlus Cloud Streaming Service to my Japanese launch model #PlayStation4.

In Part 1 we discovered that there was no way to do manual saves in the game. As i said back then, this is bad because with PlayStation Plus Cloud Streaming Service you only get a 20 second warning before being disconnected and without manual saves you are relying on the game's auto save. we have seen that the game will save when you buy collectable cards, but other than that it's been somewhat mixed. With this in mind, this Part 2 look at the game let me focus more on the game itself.

Thankfully, the streaming experience this time was much better than in Part 1. this means that the lag in the controls i noticed are likely game based and not a result of the game being streamed to me via the cloud, but i should also admit that being streamed isn't helping. when this is combined with the obvious poor draw distance, on a technical level it really does feel like i'm playing a worse version of the game, tho i don't have a PS5 to compare it to so it could be equally as bad on there as it is on the PS4.

But it's not just the technical issues that make playing Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures a bit of a chore. i learnt between parts 1 and 2 that the movie voice cast didn't return for this game so my thought that the voices were a little off was correct. there are gameplay elements that make the game frustrating, too. combat shouldn't be a grind like it is. i have a powerful move that seemingly does little to the enemies, all whom can attack me quicker than i can use that move. the character also gets stuck in animations as they seem to have priority or take a fraction to long. i unlocked the high jump move and when i initialise it i jump up straight vertical, but in order to actually move forward to the ledge i have to wait for the jump animation to finish and then transform into a bat to get some forward momentum. the timing for such a move is tighter than it needs to be.

The premise of the game is good but the execution falls far to short to make it a fun experience. it's also not designed for being streamed from the cloud. not only do i not recommend streaming this from the cloud, i don't really recommend playing this version, at least, of the game. maybe you can try downloading the PS5 version of the game. but as it stands, on PS4 i can't recommend Hotel Transylvania: Scary-Tale Adventures.