Welcome to Backlog Conquering. This is a series were i play a game from my backlog that i may or may not have played before. the goal isn't necessarily to finish the game, the goal is to play it. that way, i can have an opinion about it.
With Part 10 being as shocking as it was facing off against the Black Poisonette, i wasn't surprised that Part 11 was a little more back to normal. there wasn't any story stuff for our characters, but there were some interesting stories in the Hells we visited.
The new game in the Stories on Tuesday series is the PS3 PSN version of Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi. I've not played an Otome style game before and whilst this style of game may not be marketed or aimed at me, i'm still curious to try it out and see what the story is.
Part 4 ended with revelations and surprises so i wasn't expecting Part 5 to be just as exciting and yet it also had it's moments. there was a moment that was significant for the Shinsengumi, but it didn't go well for us. then we had someone appear who we were looking for way back in Part 1. and Part 5 then finished with more trouble for us. all in all, the story is still interesting but i do have a number of questions yet to be answered.
For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out The Crown Saga: Pi’s Adventure from Super Planet on my iPhone 14 Pro.
The game's art style caught my attention in the app store but it was the game's Guild Mechanic that made me want to try it. unfortunately, i was not able to try out the Guild feature in The Crown Saga: Pi’s Adventure as i wasn't able to progress the game enough to unlock it. when i checked out the App Store page, i was concerned that this game may have an additional download but thankfully that wasn't the case.
Right from the start, The Crown Saga: Pi’s Adventure is a great looking and great sounding game. the intro cinematic/tutorial also makes a great first impression. but after that it's almost relentless. The game doesn't have a tutorial that most other games do, it's similar to last week's King Smith: Forgemaster Quest, https://youtu.be/Jdjm2JGh3xE, in that the game has a mission system that helps teach aspects of gameplay. when there's a mission, you press it and it takes you to where you need to go to complete it. But this means that the main screen starts filling up with icons quickly and at times it can feel somewhat overwhelming.
Other aspects of the game's design have made the game feel streamlined and easy to play. the first example i came across was with the loot. when i obtained a better item, instead of having to go through menus to equip it i could tap a notification on the screen and it automatically equips it. i can visually see the item on my character, too.
But whilst decisions like that make The Crown Saga: Pi’s Adventure easy to pick up and play, i played most of it one handed, it also means that there are aspects of the game that are not tied into the game's story. the one that stood out the most was the summon system. it doesn't feel tied into the game world at all.
I think The Crown Saga: Pi’s Adventure would be a great idle game for many players. the ease of play would be good for those who commute, the story helps elevate it above many other idle games, and it will take time to unlock all the features of the game. But it's the game world and how disconnected it feels from the game's story, the tutorial, and the missions, that will probably mean The Crown Saga: Pi’s Adventure won't win many, if any, awards. However i think it does more than enough right to be a pleasant gaming experience.
For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Dog Man: Mission Impawsible, from Mindscape.
Dog Man: Mission Impawsible looks like a licensed game from something aimed at kids, and i mean that in a positive way. the art style in the game matches the box art!
The demo starts well with a fun story sequence that sets up the game's story. once we start gameplay, it also starts with a basic tutorial that has good level design built around it so that by the end of the level we're good at the controls. unfortunately, i did find the tutorial to be a bit lacking. for example, i only knew of one button to change character when there was a second.
We only get two stages to play. the first sets up the story and is a solid tutorial level. i assume that the second stage we get to play is maybe the third in the game. it had some nice simple puzzles but i think i got soft locked and had to restart the level again. there appears to be no way to restart from a checkpoint so i retried the level. i still kept the item i had made, but i had to collect the icons once again.
Overall, i don't think Dog Man: Mission Impawsible is great for a young kids first platformer. the jumping in the game doesn't have much room for error and isn't too satisfying. but for older kids i think it would be a good time. for someone older, it's more difficult to say as the two levels we played were quite repetitive and i worry that we may do the same things over and over again. this demo was a bit too short to get a sense of what the final game would be like, but i think it's decent enough to judge how well someone younger may cope with it's platforming.
Welcome to Backlog Conquering. This is a series were i play a game from my backlog that i may or may not have played before. the goal isn't necessarily to finish the game, the goal is to play it. that way, i can have an opinion about it.
In Part 9 we learned more about the Black Poisonette and it was very weird. it looked like we would have to defend ourselves but thankfully the White Poisonette team arrived and we were fine. But the situation wasn't over and in this part it took a turn for the worse and things got even weirder. we did get some new story about the Black Poisonette and about ourselves, but it didn't make things clearer.
The new game in the Stories on Tuesday series is the PS3 PSN version of Hakuoki: Stories of the Shinsengumi. I've not played an Otome style game before and whilst this style of game may not be marketed or aimed at me, i'm still curious to try it out and see what the story is.
Part 4 was really interesting. it started with the end of the attack that dominated part 3, then there was a time skip, and it finished with the group expanding, news about our father, and a surprising act that nearly cost us our life.
For Mobile Friday this week is i tried out King Smith : Forgemaster Quest from Cat Lab on my #iPhone 14 Pro.
I mention it at the start of the video, but i'll repeat myself here, the recording of this video didn't go to plan. my recording stopped halfway and i lost that file. i restarted the recording and continued my first playthrough of King Smith : Forgemaster Quest. the start of this video is that continuation and it uses the gameplay i recorded. after that, i have included my audio from when i started playing the game. as that video recording is lost, i have included "B-Roll" of King Smith : Forgemaster Quest's App Store Page.
I was interested in trying out King Smith : Forgemaster Quest because i wanted to see how it would combine forge, dungeon, and shop keeping. i have played a few games similar to this in the past and really enjoyed them so i came into this with some hope of finding something cool.
Unfortunately, King Smith : Forgemaster Quest lacks a tutorial and my first 30 minutes or more were frustrating as i tried to work things out. it's not just a lack of a tutorial that makes starting King Smith : Forgemaster Quest frustrating, some of the UI just doesn't make sense. one of the bigger culprits was levelling up our heroes, on that screen the information on how much of an item we'd use to level up must've been a pixel or two high.
Another frustrating aspect of this first hour were the bugs. you'll hear when the gameplay video starts that there's no BGM. that stopped within the first 30 minutes. when the boss levels start there's a splutter of sound before it starts and fails. when i went into a portal, one of my characters got stuck a floor ahead of my team and just spun in circles. sometimes there were sfx, some times there weren't.
but despite these issues, i did have a good time playing King Smith : Forgemaster Quest. there is something to it's gameplay that's simple but effective. the graphics are good and there are some nice little animations here and there. when i heard the music, it wasn't too bad. I would say the good outweighs the bad, it's still possible to have a good time with it.
But all these issues do mean i won't be considering King Smith : Forgemaster Quest for Mobile Game of the Year. i would still recommend it to people looking for a fun new idle game, but i'd also tell them to watch out for updates via the app store.
Version 1.0.13 Played.
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