Pokémon Champions - An OK Battle System With A Poor Story And A Poor Tutorial - iPhone Friday

For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Pokémon Champions, from The Pokémon Works, on my iPhone 14 Pro. 

I had downloaded this on Switch but i haven't played it yet because my favorite Pokémon wasn't in the game. But now it's out on phones, i decided to give it a try, even if Jumpluff still isn't in the game. Honestly, i do think that is a negative for Pokémon Champions. there are over 1,000 thousand Pokémon now, so there are over 1,000 possible favorites. it's an unenviable task to try and get all of them in the game from the start. so they're always going to make someone unhappy with their choices.

I had heard a little of this game from PokéYouTubers but i was surprised to discover that this game tries to do a story. it's something i had heard nothing about and after trying it i can understand why. logically, even in a Pokémon world, it makes no sense. you could pretty much cut it out of the game and the game would continue as normal.

It could be argued that the story is there as an introduction for newcomers to Pokémon, unfortunately the game's tutorial makes it clear that this game isn't for them. very early on the tutorial says my Pokémon is faster than the opposition. but there's nothing in-game for me to see that information. the tutorial kinda makes it clear that to play this game you need an extra device with Pokémon stats on because this game won't provide them.

The tutorial also feels old, it's more that it tells us what to do rather than telling and showing before letting us try. having a wall of text with still pictures is something not done much nowadays, something that even console games have started moving away from, so it felt kinda old getting it in Pokémon Champions' tutorial.

This is a menu based game, though the language used in the story did make me think that i would be navigating a 3D world, going from place to place to do each thing. so when we get a menu, that's the end of the main tutorial and nothing about that screen is explained. i also found it odd that the game's language doesn't quite match that of the mainline Pokémon games. for example, i don't think i ever saw an attack be supper effective, mostly likely being extremely effective, and yet the text on the move said it was super effective.

The battles themselves are fine. the stage is fairly lifeless and the Pokémon models aren't too detailed, but some of the moves did look cool. but to get to the information you need, you have to go into menus and all of this happens within a timer. it feels like they're not taking full advantage of the screen and should give us more customisation options. Oh, i couldn't find any accessibility options for this game. not even an auto play on the story.

The start to Pokémon Champions just isn't very welcoming to new players or more experienced players. there's a lot of fluff around the main fighting and i don't know who it's for. it feels tact on and not fully realized. 

Version 1.1.2 Played

Switch Funday - Tetris 99 - 52nd Maximus Cup - Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2

There is a Maximus Cup this weekend in Tetris 99 on Nintendo Switch. The 52nd Maximus Cup is for the Wii games Super Mario Galaxy + Super Mario Galaxy 2. By getting 100 points, you can unlock it all.

Whilst i wasn't able to get my first win in Tetris 99, i did manage to get close to the top 10. i felt quite rusty and there were a few mistakes. Even though Tetris 99 had been updated, it did seem like there was a bug with the "Watch Out" warning at the bottom of the screen sticking around for longer than it should.

Switch Funday - Pokémon Legends: Z-A - My Battles Z to A

I really enjoyed my time with Pokémon Legends: Z-A. playing it in my own time meant i was able to play the game at my own pace and try different Pokémon in my team. As i went, i recorded the battles of my Z to A journey as well as the end game. The Battle for F video had some tech issues but the key battle was safe.

Switch Funday - F-Zero X - My First Time

Welcome to Switch Funday!

This week's game is F-Zero X and this is my first time playing it. i've played some of most of the other F-Zero games across GBA, GameCube, Switch, and 3DS but never this one. I think i've played a little of the SNES game, but that's similar to the GBA release so i'm not worried about playing it. 

After playing Extreme G a few weeks ago, https://youtu.be/7Y9M26roAs0, i wondered how this game would deal with speed. in that game, it felt like at the highest speeds the only way to navigate tracks was to crash your way round. but i was pleasantly surprised that in F-Zero X i felt more in control.

the tracks were much wider than i expected and whilst that made it easier to race on them, it introduced other issues that i hadn't experienced when playing the more constrictive Extreme G. You'll see throughout this video on every track pop-in. that's when the track or elements of the track pop-in not too far in front of us. whilst it doesn't get in the way of racing as i'm able to see where to go, it's very distracting.

The music choice while fun, also felt a little off. between the music and character art style, it feels like Nintendo was aiming at a specific audience at maybe the detriment to the game. i'm not saying the music was bad, it just didn't gel with the gameplay. with no story, i just didn't get rock music vibes from the gameplay.

I think F-Zero X is fine. i don't think there's a lot of game here

Switch Funday - Splatoon 3 - September's Big Run - 15 Matches!

This is a special weekend in #Splatoon3, it's the Big Run Event! our goal here is to save the stage that'll be used in the Grand Festival from the invaders. In Big Run, it's unknown what the waves will be in each match but it is known what score you need to get the three rewards. so my main goal is to get one of the three rewards and to also get this month's Salmon Run item too.

This was such a different gaming session in comparison to yesterday's video, https://youtu.be/Ewzm0wdjcZQ. In that video, we played 10 matches and my team mates and I completed all 3 waves each time. Whereas today, out of the 15 matches we played we were only able to complete all 3 waves three times! it felt like the overall difficulty was much higher today. thankfully, my main goal of improving my score was achieved. But, my recording device ran out of storage during the final wave of the final match, so i'm not able to show you the amazing wave it was. It is a bit of a shame we could only get to 120, it would've been amazing to have gotten the Silver. but honestly, i'm just happy we were able to beat yesterday's score.

Online Saturday - Splatoon 3 - September's Big Run - 10 Matches!

This is a special weekend in Splatoon 3, it's the Big Run Event! our goal here is to save the stage that'll be used in the Grand Festival from the invaders. In Big Run, it's unknown what the waves will be in each match but it is known what score you need to get the three rewards. so my main goal is to get one of the three rewards and to also get this month's Salmon Run item too.

What makes this Big Run interesting is that there's a second target to aim for. Globally, the players are tasked with getting 700,000,000 golden eggs. In the video i suspect this is the main reason why this Big Run felt so easy, in terms of the difficulty of the enemy and in how easy it was for us as a team to get over 100 golden eggs in a match.

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

This month's Splatoon3 Salmon Run item is the Octavio Dome. 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 was quite good. in all but one job, my team mates and I managed to get to the third wave. unfortunately, we only managed to beat the the third wave once!

Online Saturday - Pokémon GO - Mega Lucario Raid Day In Shin Yokohama

This Saturday, July 17th 2024, was the Mega Lucario Raid day in Pokémon GO. I went to Shin Yokohama!

It didn't quite go to plan. there was a Twice concert at Nissan Stadium so Shin Yokohama was packed full of people. so i wasn't able to record as much as i wanted because recording people isn't the thing to do in Japan. It was also meant to rain so i didn't bring my other camera and had to use my phone.

It's also the first time i've tried something like this, even tho i've been playing Pokémon GO since it came out here! so i may do something like this in future, kinda two birds with one stone. i get to do the day and i get a video out of it! Any suggestions are welcome!

Switch Funday - Splatoon 3 - July’s Eggstra Work – 116 Top Score!

Welcome to Switch Funday!

This weekend is July's Eggstra Work Event in Splatoon 3 on Switch. I haven't had much luck with the previous events so i came into this just wanting to get a decent score, one i felt satisfied with, a 1,000 points for the Gatchapon, and if possible finishing Wave 5.

There are a lot of factors that go into whether an Eggstra Work event is going to go well. i feel like this weekends went mostly ok and a big reason for that were the weapons. all 4, tho i only use 2 of them across the 8 matches i played, are weapons i like but also they help create a balanced team. as for the waves, Wave 2 was the biggest pain as it's a glowfly wave. but the others were much more manageable, with Wave 5 being obviously the most difficult. My team mates and I got to Wave 5 twice and came close to beating it each time.

So overall, i'm satisfied with my top score of 116. whilst i never finished Wave 5, i feel like i came close so i don't think i would've been able to get a much higher score.

Switch Funday - Splatoon 3 - July's Weekend Splatfest Tricolor - 15 Battles 6 Wins!

Welcome to Switch Funday.

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

For the second Splatfest in a row all 15 games i played were with the other two teams. i chose teambeach and came into today with only 5 wins yesterday, https://youtu.be/ZHhUeZ8hiII. yesterday we only played against teamthemepark but thankfully today we also played with teampalace.

For yesterday, i chose to use 3 different brellas weapons. today i had a similar idea and only used brush weapons. i started with the Painbrush, then went with the Inkbrush Nouveau, and finished with the regular Inkbrush. It's a type of weapon i've not really used much and only had 3 of that type to chose from so it was an interesting time using them.

Online Saturday - Splatoon 3 - July's Weekend Splatfest Battle - 15 Battles 5 Wins!

Welcome to Online Saturday!

This weekend is a Splatfest weekend in Splatoon 3 on Switch. the question being asked this Splatfest is "Which would you reserve for a day? A Palace, a Theme Park, or a Beach?"

I picked TeamBeach and played 15 matches for them. unfortunately, i only managed to win 5. Also, i only played against TeamThemePark. i never played against TeamPalace.

I was in the mood to use Brellas so i started with the Splat Brella, i changed to the Undercover Sorella Brella, and finished with the Sorella Brella.

Switch Funday - F-Zero 99 - Trying Out Patch 1.40's Team Battle Mode And Festival Events

For Switch Funday i'm back with F-Zero 99 as the game has been updated to 1.40. this brought some new additions, including the new Team Battle mode i tried out and the current Festival Event.

Online Saturday - Splatoon 3 - It’s My Birthday And I Wanted To Play It

For this week's Online Saturday video i'm back on the Switch with Splatoon 3. It's my birthday and i wanted to play something fun and relaxing so here are 15 matches of Turf War, of which my team mates and I managed to win 10 of them.

Switch Funday - Splatoon 3 - Big Big Run – 20 Matches!

This is a special weekend in Splatoon 3, it's the Big Big Run event. Unlike previous Big Run events which took place on one Turf War map, all maps could be played on and weapons are randomised. The goal is to get as many golden eggs as possible, with Bronze Rewards starting at 82 collected. However, there's a second twist. instead of the possibility of fighting against one King Salmonid, you could face off against three of them fighting together as a Triumvirate. 

I got very competitive trying to get a high score in Big Big Run, hence why this video is much longer than my typical Splatoon 3 videos. my high score was 72, 10 shy of getting the bronze reward. but my team mates and I also had a poor win record. only 7 times, out of 20, did we manage to defeat all 3 waves. we typically failed at the Griller wave of the Fireflies. they're both waves where enemies have a singular goal of attacking and defeating you.

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

This month's Splatoon 3 Salmon Run item is the Cooler Jacket. 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 #Salmonrun wasn't much better than last month's, https://youtu.be/d9T2BU-ru-A, as that took 11 games to get to the 1,000 points and here i did it in 9. i can admit that in one or two of the games i made a mistake that either lead to us loosing or that we lost because of me. but on the whole, there weren't many games were i felt that there was a lot of team work. simple things like passing the eggs up or communicating just weren't happening. What helped make this Salmon Run OK was the weapon choice. the weapons were Splattershot, Splattershot JR, Rapid Blaster, and one random weapon.

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.

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.

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!

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

This month's Splatoon 3 Salmon Run item is the El Rey Calamar. 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 #Salmonrun might be the best i've ever been a part of. it took just 5 games to get the 1,000 points and out of those 5 my team mates and I managed to clear 4 of the 5, with that other one being a loss in the third round. We faced a King Salmonoid but could only get it to half health. whilst it's not beating it, it's definitely one of our best attempts.