Demo Play Thursday - Etrange Overlord DEMO On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation4  version of Etrange Overlord, from developers Gemdrops.

The PSN Store page for this demo doesn't have a lot of information and it has no screenshots. all i knew going in to this was that the save file would carry over to the retail version of the game, which the demo itself never said, and that there was some sort of musical aspect to this game.

Etrange Overlord starts with our death and with all things considered we seem to handle it well. we awaken in hell and it becomes clear quickly that the residents of hell should be the ones scared of me, not the other way round. this opening sequence acts as the game's battle tutorial and whilst it's light on information, it's not the only time we see this tutorial as more aspects of the game's battle systems open up as we play.

What struck me early on is how good the game looks. you may hear in the video that this demo was pushing my PS4 quite hard. all the enemies and characters we come across are vibrantly colored and whilst they may not have fine detail, they do look great. the art style used in this game throughout is nice. a good compromise was reached letting this game look as well as it does whilst also performing as well.

The biggest issue i had was that it was never clear when the game was saving. i admit i got the manual save wrong at the end of the demo, but up to then the only time i could say for sure i knew that game had saved was when i changed some options at the start of the demo.

the biggest, and pleasant, surprise goes to the game's musical aspect. at no point was i expecting the characters to burst out into song. what's impressive is that it fits well in to the game itself. it was surprising, but once i got over that, by the end of the demo i was looking forward to these little bursts of song. another aspect of the game's story telling that i enjoyed was the banter between our main character and some of the demons. they're not afraid to talk behind our main character's back, and she's not afraid to remind them who's the boss and that she can hear them. that sort of comedy wasn't over played and i feel like it worked well.

From the start of the demo, it suggests playing it on Sweets Mode, which makes the combat easier so the focus moves to the story telling. i'd suggest leaving this on as the combat, but the end of the demo, was starting to get a little difficult. the combat systems are good. i enjoyed how combat bonuses appeared and how they can help us. But what i wasn't expecting was when the game had a Capture An Area battle situation. our team had to battle to gain and hold parts of the battle world to win the fight. it was refreshing and i do wonder what other twists are instore later in the game.

I really enjoyed trying out this demo for Etrange Overlord. i never finished it so if you enjoyed what you see, i'd recommend trying the demo for yourself or just get the game. there's nothing here, in the demo at least, that comes across as hardcore. i think it's a decent introduction into RPG's for those who are a little older. i think some of the game's humour might be wasted on kids. 

Demo Play Thursday - Ariana and the Elder Codex DEMO On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Ariana and the Elder Codex, from developers Hyde, Compile Heart, and Idea Factory.

I didn't know anything about this demo going into it, but after playing it there's still more about the game i want to know. the demo shows one area not quite from the start of the game in what i assume to be a way to avoid story spoilers. but after playing it, i feel like we're not given enough information about the game's story and some of the game's mechanics. if this is a demo trying to sell itself to us, it falls short when it comes to the game's story.

Ariana and the Elder Codex DEMO doesn't run perfectly on Switch. in the game's options, i had the option for the game to prioritise frame rate or resolution so i picked frame rate. but there were many moments in this demo where the framerate dropped a lot. if you tried it with the focus on resolution, it would be interesting to know if you had even greater issues with framerate than i did.

Other than the game's music, there's a lot to like with the demo. i appreciated that it's honest from the start that the save won't carry over to the retail release and that things may be different in the retail release. whilst we only get one segment to play through, it's about an hours worth of content. but it doesn't take place from the very start of the game so there were some gameplay mechanics not explained. but for the most part, enough was explained clearly for us to enjoy the demo. 

I found the combat to be satisfying. it's pretty fluid and i found it easy to pull off different attacks. what's cool about this combat is how you can stagger the enemies with repeated hits of magic and when you defeat an enemy with magic they explode. this explosion can then stagger or defeat near by enemies in a cool looking combo system.

It felt like the area we got to play in has more secrets than i found, but because of the type of demo this is, there's no indication whether we would be able to go back and explore the level later in the game to get a 100% or if we only get one chance at it. it's just another example of how the game didn't quite sell to use the potential or the possibilities of Ariana and the Elder Codex DEMO.

I did enjoy playing this demo and if you're interested in Ariana and the Elder Codex DEMO it would be worth playing. but i don't think it's going to answer all the questions you'd have about the game. it would be worth checking out written or video reviews to get a better sense of what you'd get. at the very least, it does look nice on Switch. i just worry that performance wise, people should look at getting Ariana and the Elder Codex on Switch 2.

Demo Play Thursday - Rubato DEMO On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Rubato, from developer dconn.

going into this demo, i wasn't sure what to expect. the eShop page seemed to make it out to be a platformer where we have to collect stuff to rebuild the solar system. turns out, that's what we actually have to do. perhaps the eShop page revealed a little too much about the game as i was expecting something to happen at the start and instead we're shown something weird and i don't what it's for. that unknown aspect of the story, like there's something deeper or even a second story happening, was felt throughout this demo and i could only guess where things were going to go.

It took some time to get used to how this game plays. the jumping especially is an aspect of this game where i don't think i fully adjusted to it in this demo. i always seem to go further than expected and have less control than expected. another aspect that i struggled to adapt to was the tongue mechanic. i had full control of the tongue but my brain kept thinking that it would automatically face in the direction of the character whereas it didn't move unless i moved it. the rocket launcher i got later also did this but it was as expected whereas the tongue wasn't.

so the controls take sometime to get used to and the story is a little weird, but playing it went quite well. the stages are vast and the story seems to explain why we're able to play the same level again but with a new ability. having a rocket launcher really opened up new areas for us to go, but as i showed during the mid point i was able to take a projectile and carry it to a section and blow it up and get in. i can see how there's a lot of replayability in a level and the with the game's collecting nature it could be fun to go and explore these locations.

But it wasn't until much later that i found where the map is. the game has a good tutorial that's incorporated fairly well into the game's story but it never told me to press +. other than that, i found the tutorial and first area i was in to be appropriate for newcomers. the boss at the end took a bit if time and i liked how it smartly didn't do the trope of 3 hits and it's down. there is a message from the developers after the boss battle but no where does it say whether the save file from the demo will carry over to the final game.

Overall, it's a decent demo taken from the start of the game. using it a practice before getting the main game might be a smart way to play it. there are options to customise the difficulty and this demo offers the perfect place to practice and find what works for you before you decide to spend money on the game.

Demo Play Thursday - Bubblegum Galaxy DEMO On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Bubblegum Galaxy, from developer Smarto Club and publisher Astrolabe Games.

At the time of playing this demo, it looks like it might've been removed from the eShop, or at the very least it wasn't easy to find. the game itself is also out now. But i did find that the eShop page for this game to be quite revealing as to what the game is. to me, it came across something like a Katamari game, and with the unique art style i was genuinely looking forward to trying this demo.

Even though the eShop page spoils a little of the story, it was still told well. i enjoyed how they used the game's tutorial to tell the start of the story. playing through the demo, i got the feeling that there maybe more of a serious story behind the nice art. you'll have to let me know in the comments if there was or not.

I didn't find the tutorial to be as comprehensive as i wanted it to be. it explained the basics well, telling us about them, letting us use them, then having a video highlighting it, but there were other aspects of the gameplay that i didn't fully understand and had to guess. even now, after i've finished the demo, i'm still not sure how the game's score multiplier works or how i think i managed to turn the color of one plate into another.

the social aspect of the game seemed fine. each of the characters we met were very different and each had their own customised booth. though the way one of them talked to us did seem to be a little racist. it would be interesting to see a little bit more of this social aspect of the game as in the demo, the focus seemed to be more on the tutorial. but what was there was interesting.

as a demo, i think Bubblegum Galaxy is one of the better one's i've tried. it was clear when we started that the save file doesn't carry over into the retail game. this simple message is soo rare and yet soo important. i would say that the demo was also clear what was in it by calling the section of planets we made the demo section. we got a good bit of story, characters, tutorials, as well as a story hook at the end with the introduction of the managers. 

Demo Play Thursday - Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf DEMO On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf, from developers Wishfully Studios.

I hadn't heard of this series before so i hadn't played it. with it being a sequel, there's always the concern that you need to have played the first game to fully understand what's going on. but with this demo, that's not important as the developers have given us somewhat of a unique demo, or at the very least a style of demo i have rarely come across.

In the Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf DEMO, instead of spending a lot of time at a specific point in the game, we're treated to 5 segments from the game. the first four focus more on the game's puzzle platforming mechanics and are set outside but the final one has us using that knowledge and more in an indoor setting.

i thought it looked great and the music was nice too. the puzzle platforming wasn't too hard to work out either. often, things of interest are slightly highlighted by light. what also helps is that the section you're in is often small so there aren't too many factors to worry about. but as this demo isn't from the start of the game, there were a couple of times where it took a bit of time to work out what to do. i have to imagine those who played the first game and those who start this game from the beginning will have a greater understanding as to what both characters can do. as i didn't, there was a fair bit of trial and error and process of elimination. for me, it wasn't troublesome as the game has a very quick restart and very generous check pointing. but i wonder if an easy difficulty could be introduced that would offer more hints as to how to interact with the world. for example, i didn't realise my companion could use their powers and become/take over other animals but a prompt, perhaps shown as a memory, would've helped a lot.

I did enjoy my time playing Planet of Lana II: Children of the Leaf. the difficulty felt right and the characters and world were interesting. the demo ended with a trailer showing much more of the game. but i do come away with little to no idea what the game's story is all about but i don't think that detracts from the experience. i'd recommend trying this demo if you're interested in the game.

Demo Play Thursday - Revolgear Zero DEMO On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Revolgear Zero, from developers Bikkuri Software.

Side Scrolling Shooters is another genre, much like last week's Vertical Shooter, that i'm not great at. i've got more practice with this one but it's been a while since i last played a game like this. so the fact that there's a demo is great for me as i'm always happy to try one of these games, as i hope to find one i enjoy and might be decent at.

Revolgear Zero certainly got the look and soundtrack down.  it feels like a game from the Mega Drive, SNES, PlayStation era but with none of the slowdown. It has some interesting gameplay mechanics revolving around your ships power and weapon platform looking things called bits. But the game fails to properly convey how it all works. there is a tutorial to watch, but it goes fast and does it's best to never mention which buttons it's pressing. in the top right there is a listing of what some of the buttons do, but the terminology used there is different to what's said in the tutorial.

This demo only has Standard mode, consisting of two levels, and Mission mode but there is replay-ability as there's 4 different difficulty levels and you're able to play as different characters who have different attributes and also there's a large variety of bits you're able to equip. the two levels i played were very different from each other, not just in music and style but also in enemy mechanics and level hazards. the 10 missions available took place elsewhere and challenge you to do something specific in a very short time.

Because the tutorial for Revolgear Zero is a bit rough, i didn't quite get how best to play it and this affected both modes in the demo. however, now i've practiced a little and realise some things i was doing wrong, i feel like i could play the game better than i did this demo. so that almost makes the demo required playing before the retail game. other than that, i think that this is a decent demo but i don't think Revolgear Zero is quite for me.

Demo Play Thursday - Blaze of Storm DEMO On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Blaze of Storm.

I'm not good at vertical shoot'em ups but i'm always on the look out for some to try, and hopefully find one i like and i'm decent at. Blaze of Storm interested me because it's not small in size, the graphics are a bit chunky. this means the gameplay takes place in a fairly sizeable 2 thirds of the screen with the final third being used to show what power-up is currently equipped. 

The demo is fairly limited, only giving us a tutorial and a 5 minute score attack mode. the demo is quite effective as it goes over the game's mechanics and how power-ups work. it could be a little slower so we can read and then try to do what it says, but even with my low skill level i was able to manage the tutorial. if you let the screen stay on the main menu, a "Demo Play" mode activates and 1 of the demoes is showing the tutorial in action. it was first in my rotation so it might be worth watching it before tackling it if Blaze of Storm is your first vertical shooter.

An interesting aspect of the gameplay was that i found it just as tough evading enemy attacks as evading weapon power-ups i didn't want. the power-ups themselves aren't bad, it's more like there were a couple i liked to use more. i wouldn't say the difficulty was too high or too easy. i felt like i could clearly see and understand when it was Game Over.

If you're interested in vertical shoot'em ups, i wouldn't say Blaze of Storm is the easiest. but i would say that it's quite approachable and this demo is well worth checking out if you're curious.

Demo Play Thursday - BlazBlue Entropy Effect X DEMO On Switch

iPhone Friday - BlazBlue Entropy Effect - https://youtu.be/Pw4_669LiNQ

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of BlazBlue Entropy Effect X.

I had previously played the iPhone version in 2025 and put it 3rd in my Game of the Year list, https://youtube.com/shorts/UdYDuVw0L74, so i had an idea as to what to expect from this Nintendo Switch version.

One big thing i noticed immediately was how much better the UI looked. on phone's, because of the icons on screen it can look a little cluttered. but here on TV all the icons were pushed to the edge and we get to see so much more of the game. BlazBlue Entropy Effect X still looks great and on a Switch 2 i imagine the HDR would work great with the neon lights. the music is still great, too. before, i was pressing buttons on the screen but here i was using a Pro Controller and found the game to be responsive and the combat till fluid.

As fun as the game still is, the tutorial issues from the iPhone version are still here. the game starts with a good tutorial, but it just stops and then the game adds more mechanics and terminology to the experience with little to no information about what any of it means.

Demo Play Thursday - Dragon Quest VII Reimagined DEMO On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Dragon Quest VII Reimagined from HexaDrive.

I haven't played the original PlayStation One version of Dragon Quest VII nor the first remake of the game on 3DS so i came into this demo knowing nothing about it's story or who the characters are. one of the reasons why i wanted to try this demo is because of the game's art. there's something about the art style of the characters that grabs my attention more than the usual Akira Toriyama Dragon Quest Characters. i had wanted to try it on PS4, but the demo hasn't come out there but in the end this Switch version played great.

This is a much longer video than typical Demo Play Thursday videos and yet i didn't reach the end of it's story. but i did a lot in the demo and i had a great time doing it, too. i found the pacing very good, the story interesting, the game's performance solid, and most of the characters were cool. there was just one that really annoyed me and in 3 hours only really had 1 moment i could look at and say was nice. the rest of the time, Maribel was just unpleasant. 

The game's premise was odd, that this is the only island in the world. logically, it doesn't work. but as we played and learned that there are characters in -game who also think this, the story became more mysterious. in this video we uncover some secrets and go on an adventure and by the end when we came back, i couldn't help but wonder whether our island was the bad guys. it probably won't go that way, but after playing the demo i am curious about how the story will play out.

something i really liked about this demo, that will carry over into the main game, was how much you can customise your playing experience. when you start the demo the game will ask you to set the game's settings how you like. i chose to keep things normal but i did change it so my party's health would go back to full after battles. for me, this made the game's difficulty pleasant. but there are many other ways of making it easier or harder. thankfully, you're then able to change these whilst your playing the game so it's possible to fine tune the experience to how you want to play it.

I had a great time playing the Dragon Quest VII Reimagined DEMO, so much so that i'm really interested in getting the game now and continuing from where i left off in this demo. the art style might be a little polarizing but for me it works and it really feels modern whilst respectful to the original art. i look forward to Dragon Quest VIII getting the same treatment. this demo is worth trying for anyone curious about the series and i recommend people give it a go.

Demo Play Thursday - The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon Story DEMO On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon Story Demo, from Nihon Falcom.

I've been told before that these The Legend of Heroes games have a slow long start to them. so in this playthrough of the Story Demo, i allowed myself more time than usual to check out more of the game that i've done with previous games from this series.

The game does look great on PS4 and mostly runs fine but i did notice some pop-in and there was a moment when my PS4 froze. it's possible there were some minor tech issues with it as i remember near the end moments when it looked like one of a character's eyes was not open. Other than that, the demo went smoothly. this is the most recently patched version of the demo.

For this being a "Story Demo" there was a lot of battles at the start. the battle system is mostly introduced to us smartly, but the fact we have to do mostly the same thing twice in the first hour or so means it got a little boring. the final tutorial boss fight was fun. After that we were introduced to what's been happening in the game world, mostly between the end of the previous entry and this. But what's odd is that in this video i never worked out what the game's actual story is about. i speculated what it could be. but for the most part, all we did was the battle tutorial and have a reunion.

You'll have to let me know in the comments how much further i had to go to get the game's story. i know this demo is from The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon Prologue but i am surprised that for a demo they didn't include anything to hint at or tell us what the game's story actually is. there is no trailer nor screenshots on the main menu. there's no hint as to how much further i would've had to go either.

It's difficult to recommend The Legend of Heroes: Trails Beyond the Horizon as fans of the series know what they're getting themselves into and for those coming to the series for the first time there's a real chance they'll come away lacking the context to fully understand what's going on in the game.

Demo Play Thursday - Neon Inferno On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Neon Inferno from Zenovia Interactive.

Neon Inferno has been out for a few weeks now but i hadn't played the demo for it until now. i'm glad i did go back and try it as i have a good time with it. the demo is short with only a tutorial stage and the first mission/stage, but there are two characters and different difficulty levels to try.

Even though this is a short demo, we do get to learn quite a bit about the back story of the characters. the first mission also has different gameplay styles, starting with a side scrolling shooter before switching to a side scrolling car chase, and ending with a boss who switches from foreground to background. But what's missing from this demo is the story of the game. we learn so much about our character's pasts and what our jobs are currently, and yet we seem to have learned nothing of the game's story. i don't know if this is intentional or not, but i can say that there is no trailer or screenshots in this demo that could showcase such a story.

I really enjoyed the music and the world as a whole seemed to work well with the tone and graphics. there are plenty of options to give the game a CRT feel, tho the tutorial stage seemed a little broken. i can imagine that this came with it's neon would look great in HDR, but here on PS4 it looks and plays good. the controls felt responsive. i played on medium and never felt overwhelmed but there were times i needed to quickly dodge, attack, or do bullet time to counter enemies.

If you're a fan of side-scrolling brawlers or if you enjoy games with a Cyberpunk style aesthetic about them i think Neon Inferno is well worth checking out. the tutorial is good for new players so i would also say this demo is worth checking out for those who are curious. it's not perfect, it's a little short, and i would've liked a trailer at the end. but i did enjoy playing the demo and think it's worth checking out.

Demo Play Thursday - House Fighters: Total Mess On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of House Fighters: Total Mess from Revulo Games.

This wasn't a great demo experience to the point where i wouldn't recommend people trying it. for example, the icon for the game and it's label say's it's a demo but when you play it the only other time it say's it's a demo is when it tells you something is not included. the link to buy the game isn't on the main page, you have to start the demo to get access to buy the game. there's no trailer for the game, there's no information saying that this is from a game in development and that the final game may differ from this demo.

That last point is important because House Fighters: Total Mess can be difficult to watch at times. there are moments when you move the camera that the screen has numerous examples of screen tearing and it gets a little disorientating and hard to follow. the game doesn't say whether the game is from an in development build of the game or from the final game. from this experience alone i wouldn't recommend playing the game.

There is the option to change the game's video quality. but it's never explained. when you change it to low, there's a big visual difference. but from medium to high, i couldn't notice any changes. i assumed that going to low would increase the framerate, but i don't know for sure as the game doesn't explain. i assume also that this is the case in the released game and not just something in the demo.

It wasn't the easiest game to play. i admit i'm not great at flying games but i was surprised that the default controls were old school down is down and up is up. we only get 1 plane to use in this demo and there are just 4 levels, the tutorial, 1, 6.1, and 4. there are a lot of enemies to deal with across the stages and, in my opinion, not enough health or ammo pick-ups to deal with them, especially as this is a demo and our first time encountering them. for those who play the game, it probably won't be such an increase in difficulty as the game should build up to it rather than how this demo just dumps us in it.

Demo Play Thursday - Front Mission 3: Remake On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Front Mission 3: Remake from MegaPixel Studio and Forever Entertainment.

I haven't played any of the Front Mission games before so i was hoping that the demo would start with a good tutorial and not rely on prior knowledge of the previous two games in the series. There is a tutorial for the basics, but as soon as i got into actual proper battles, more things were popping up that i just had to guess. for the White Flag situation, i think i understand what's happening, but near the end when my character was doing 3 attacks when every time before it was only doing 1 i have no idea why that happened.

whilst i enjoyed the music in the game, i found the art to be surprisingly poor. i'd say all bar two of the character pictures looked odd, and not in a good way, and whilst most of the buildings looked like buildings the art was very simple. Apart from the mechs, most of the art and design of the game seemed old and low resolution. i did like the style of the old websites and navigating the internet, but that's more from a nostalgia point of view as it looks familiar. personally, i found the poor quality of art and design overall distracting. it felt like a phone game upscaled.

As for the story, it didn't really grab me. some of the character interactions felt odd, and how we instantly helped someone break the law at the end of the demo also seemed unbelievable. 

So whilst the demo was fine, i didn't enjoy playing the game and won't be seeking out the game now. the demo is best for those curious, but other than that it's hard to recommend. 

Demo Play Thursday - Octopath Traveler 0 Prologue DEMO On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Octopath Traveler 0 Prologue DEMO from DokiDoki Groove Works and Square Enix.

The Octopath Traveler 0 Prologue DEMO is a timed demo. as players, we only get to play for three hours. before i started playing i had no idea why we seemed to be arbitrarily limited, but now i've played it i can see why they did it. the game's pace changes depending on what happens. at the beginning, there's a focus on community and the town you live in. you get to meet many of the people, get  to interact with them and learn about them. there's an engagement reveal between two of your friends. for my first hour and twenty minutes, the game is just normal life in a village with some tutorials.

This means what comes next has more of an impact because very quickly village life as we know it is gone and so are our friends. as the sadness takes over things slow down and there's a time skip to when the grief has passed enough for us start moving on. with this desire to move forward, the pace of the game increases and in the last 30 minutes of this demo, or so, we're introduced to town building and set off on two quests. so the 3 hour limit doesn't act as much of a restriction as it provides a push forward.

On PS4, Octopath Traveler 0 Prologue DEMO looks and sounds fantastic. when the village gets attacked, the fire effects look almost too good against the pixel art world. when we're in battle, some effects look simple and effective and then there's the Rage Attacks which go over the top by enrobing the characters in a Super Saiyan light. Sun light and moon light look, much like the fire, too realistic in this pixel world. The music was also very nice. there wasn't a theme that disappointed me. 

Octopath Traveler 0 Prologue DEMO is well worth trying out. having now played it, i'm much more interested in the full game, it's world, and it's story. 3 hours may seem like a long time but it went quite quickly as i played it. at no point did i feel bored or that the game was taking it's time. But for those looking for a more action orientated RPG i can see why it may come across as slow or even old fashioned.

Demo Play Thursday - Windswept On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the#PlayStation 4 version of Windswept from WeatherFell and Top Hat Studios.

I was in the mood for something not so serious and charming and Windswept certainly has that appeal. the pixel art style is nice with some real nice animations. the music is nice and chill, and the platforming wasn't rage inducing hard. it was tricky at times, but the game gives the player a choice, do the simple platforming to complete the level and/or do the much harder platforming to get collectables.

When i checked out the options at the start of the game, it was clear that it's possible to personalise your gaming experience. if you want to do some speed running, there are options for that, and if you want things to be more difficult there are options for that too. but the base game, as shown in the demo, is quite a relaxed experience. the game never really punished me when i died. This early into the game, the secrets were quite often easy to spot. but there were a few i couldn't work out how to get. thankfully, there appears to be a world map where we can go back to previous levels and try again.

But, as a demo this isn't great. no where on the home screen does the demo say it's a demo. nor does it say what's included in the demo or even if our save file carries over to the main game. i ended my playthrough of the demo where i think it's ended, but seeing as the game never actually says if it's ended or not i could be mistaken. there are no links to purchase the game from the PSN either. i don't know how early or late the demo is, into the game's development cycle, so it's hard to say if the crash i experienced is likely to have been fixed or not in the retail game. 

If you're looking for a platformer to casually play, Windswept is a good choice. if you're looking for one to play and then master, Windswept has potential for you. whilst the demo itself may not be great, the game was quite enjoyable and charming. i'd certainly recommend people check out the demo if they're into the art style

Demo Play Thursday - Old School Rally On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Old School Rally from Frozen Lake Games, Astrolabe, and Meridiem.

Demo Play Thursday - GIGASWORD On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of GIGASWORD from Akupara Games and Studio Hybrid.

I saw the pixel art on the PSN and thought it looked great, but i hadn't watched a video for GIGASWORD so i was surprised when it started playing how good it was. But what's odd is how there are times when there's no music, not even some ambiance. going from some really great music to nothing at all to then more music was quite odd. You'll have to let me know in the comments if this is the case with the retail release of the game or not.

I quite enjoyed the start to GIGASWORD, i thought the opening segment worked great as a tutorial. the level design and puzzles worked great. nothing felt challenging and progress was nice and smooth. But one problem with this demo is how little it communicates to the player that this is a demo. when you start, there's nothing on the home screen that says "demo", nor is there any links to pre-order/buy the game from the PSN. the demo doesn't say what the limits to the demo are either. so i got to a point in the demo where i couldn't make progress and i have no idea if that's because i missed something or if that's the demo ending.

Or it could be a result of the demo crashing. it's not often that a demo fully crashes in this series, but it happened here with GIGASWORD. i got to the PS4 home screen, submitted the PS4 error report, and loaded up the game again. But once i was back in the game, i never made any progress. You'll have to let me know in the comments if i missed something in the demo or how this differs from the released game.

Even tho it crashed and i'm not thrilled with how little it communicated to me how it's a demo, i did enjoy my time with GIGASWORD. i thought the balance between platforming, puzzles, and fighting was spot on for just starting the game, i really liked the pixel art, and the music was fantastic and cleverly hid the loop. so if you're curious about GIGASWORD, i'd recommend checking it out.

Demo Play Thursday - Outlanders On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Outlanders from Pomelo Games and Big Games Machine.

I'm a bit behind schedule when it comes to demos so Outlanders is already out now, but i am glad i played it. It's one of my longer videos and yet i only completed the tutorial and 2 scenarios. i don't think i finished the demo nor do i know how much more there was to it. I never saw this demo say it was a demo

I appreciated that the demo came with a tutorial, but it wasn't as comprehensive as i expected. it taught the basic controls of the game but never went into how this game can be won. what's particularly frustrating is how the first scenario i played differed from the tutorial. i think the first scenario should act as a tutorial, too. there appears to be a village elder/leader that doesn't really have any interactions with us, so they would've been great offering some advice and tips.

That's not to say this is an overly complicated game. Outlanders tells the player what their goals are for each scenario, but not how to get there. this does mean that even tho i achieved and completed the first scenario, i do think i could go back and maybe do it 5 minutes quicker, if not more. This is also true for the second scenario, which i barely finished in the time limit. as this is a demo, i don't know if there is a reason to go back and re-do past scenarios. if this game was on a PlayStation or Xbox console then perhaps there would achievements to get by re-doing past levels, but here on Switch i don't know.

Personally, i enjoyed my time with Outlanders. it does have that "one more turn" appeal to it. if it had leaderboards where i could compare my completion time with my friends, then it could become a chill game to play and a competitive one to play, too. if you're curious about this, i would recommend trying out the demo. it isn't as complicated as a Civilisation game, but some of the core Outlanders mechanics are different enough that it may take some time to adapt. the key mechanic i understood was dismantling and moving gathering jobs. for some aspects of village life, you do need to move things around and more people from job to job.

Demo Play Thursday - Nuclear Gladiators 3000 On Switch

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the Nintendo Switch version of Nuclear Gladiators 3000 from Turbo Napalm.

I've played a few games like Vampire Survivors on mobile as part of Mobile Friday and just in my free time, but Nuclear Gladiators 3000 is the first time i've played one on consoles. the big concern i have with these games is that things can get crazy, not just in terms of difficulty but also in terms of explosions and stuff happening on screen and the worry is always can the platform i'm playing it on handle it. thankfully, after playing the DEMO i can say that the Switch was fine playing Nuclear Gladiators 3000.

With it's rocking soundtrack, it makes a good first impression. it's going after a certain 80's vibe and i think pulls it off, tho i would've like the odd sax solo or something similar to The Transformers Movie.  Nuclear Gladiators 3000 also does a good job in explaining what the goals are and how to play. i do feel that for the first couple of runs, this could all be simplified and then when you get your first sponsor things could then open up more.

The goal seems simple enough. you defeat wave after wave of enemies until trying to survive for 3 minutes to get to the next stage. by blowing things up and doing combo's, the audience gets more enthusiastic. by defeating enemies, you're able to level up weapons and abilities in a run. when the run is over, you're scores and audience values are converted into Freedom Bucks. these can be spent on permanent upgrades which will help you go further in the next run. But as you'll see in this video, i was never able to survive for 3 minutes on the third stage. the leap from second to third stage seemed a little too big.

As a demo, it's fun to play and worth checking out. But there is a downside to it. there is no trailer nor any screenshots. there's not even a message from the developers. so all i get to use is one character. i don't know how many others there are, how many stages there are, or sponsors. the demo succeeded in showing me the game mechanics but failed in showing me what the game has to offer.

Demo Play Thursday - Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit On PS4

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the PlayStation 4 version of Angry Video Game Nerd 8-bit from Retroware, Mega Cat Studios, and Programancer. 

Whilst i have been watching their video content probably from near the beginning, i have never played any of the videogames. when i recorded this video i thought that this was just a port of a previous Angry Video Game Nerd game but i have since learned that this is a brand new game. so apologies if things get a little confusing in the video.

My history with videogames starts more from the 16bit era with the Mega Drive, but i did play a few 8bit games on the Master System and i've played pixel looking sidescrollers before so for me it wasn't too unexpected when the game started with no tutorial. But as this is a demo there's a chance that the final game has a tutorial of sorts. you'll have to let me know in the comments if this game does have one or not.

Graphically, it sure is an 8bit looking game and it comes with some of the gameplay limitations i expected from such a game. an easy example is how you can only shoot horizontally. there's no up or down shooting. But what was unexpected and very welcomed was how the game isn't sticking to the rules i was used to back then. it was common in games to have jumps into the unknown but here the stages have been built in such a way that you can always see at least 1 platform to aim for when jumping down.

Personally, i found the normal difficulty to be hard and changed it to easy to beat the demo. difficulty in game's like this are rather subjective so whilst i'd recommend starting on easy then going up to normal, for those who like a challenge and like learning pattens the normal difficulty could be a good start.

There was a bug at the start of the game. the FMV sequence featuring the Nerd himself was out of sync. when i changed difficulty and started again, the same sequence played but it worked fine. i don't know if this is unique to the demo or a bug in the PS4 version. you'll have to let me know in the comments. but i will send an email out to the developers to let them know what happened.