iPhone Friday - Arknights: Endfield - Style And Good Combat Don't Make Up For A Dull Opening Story

For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Arknights: Endfield from Hypergryph and Mountain Contour on my iPhone 14 Pro.

I had seen many adverts for this game on various platforms, but i was always intending to try it out. But when something is seemingly being advertised so much i can't help but being a little weary why. 

Our immediate impression of Arknights: Endfield isn't great as the game starts downloading an update without warning, without permission, and then forces us to restart the app, which itself took longer than expected. i appreciate that the game gave us the option to chose which language the audio is in, but then it never said that it was going to download other stuff as well as that audio. so instead of the 786.06MB that Arknights: Endfield advertised it was going to download, it actually downloaded 17607.41MB (or 17.6GB) and it took about 25 minutes. Once that was finished, the game then had to install shaders which took an additional 3 minutes or so. 

So after 30 minutes we finally get to the game's home screen. It's an impressive looking screen, but it gets better when the game starts. the character select option looked cool but in terms of the game's story it also doesn't really make sense in hindsight. but once we go outside the tutorial begins and it's quite good. it introduces how to control the character step by step and for more complicated stuff the tutorial uses videos to show us how to do things. I also commented in the video that i thought the game's button placement was quite good, better than in Destiny: Rising, https://youtu.be/i4OljQxqzyg, because there was smart use of the same buttons and space for camera controls with my right hand.

Whilst the introduction to gameplay was good, in terms of story i have no idea what happened. i don't think it's ever explained in this video what we went through or even if it's normal. my issues with the game's story extend throughout this video and not just this opening tutorial segment. Our character is introduced as having amnesia and whilst we get a little bit of pity everyone is seemingly determined to talk to us and bombard us with information like we know what they're talking about. the game's story needs it's own tutorial to help give us context for it all. for example, key terms and names should be highlighted a different color and when touched we should be given a little bit of information to help us, the player, understand the context and story.

For me, from what i understand of it, i'm not enjoying the game's story. it's had nearly two hours to try and hook me and it's just not doing it. from what i understand of the story it seems like our character created or found a way to take advantage of a material what lets us create stuff, kinda like a replicator from Star Trek. we're at a planet and we're going to Terra Form it into something more suitable for mass production of stuff using this technology. But the local wildlife and seeming people already living there aren't too happy about this. it's possible i missed something, but i don't seem to remember any "why" being given. i don't know if we're a part of any Empire or not. i also don't remember any reason given for why we were away for ten years.

Thankfully, even though i'm not enjoying the story the gameplay is great. the combat is fluid and fast, maybe a little too fast for the camera controls so perhaps a tweak to the lock-on with a semi automated camera might help. the graphics are good and the video sequences look great. so the gameplay aspect of the game is fine, it's just the story aspect that i'm not getting into.

So that's why i've rated this game so-so. there's stuff to enjoy, but if you're like me there may not be enough to hook you. but it's probably worth checking out. just beware, it could take about 30 minutes after starting it to get to gameplay so maybe trying it on PC or console might be a better option.

Version 1.0.13 Played

Stories on Tuesday - Underworld Office: Ghost Story - Chapter 7 - The Final Part

The current story i'm playing is Underworld Office: Ghost Story. i'm playing this on #iPhone14pro.

Now i've played it, i understand how it works. so each video from this one going forward will be it's own chapter in the game. i will continue to blur out the advert at the bottom of the screen. there are full screen adverts during my playthrough and i will edit them out. this will mean that occasionally the music will skip or go from on to off abruptly where i've made the edit.

Chapter 7 is the final chapter. the previous chapter teased that what was happening could only be delt with by other mortals and so it comes down to us to try and save the day ... or not. both choices exist.

Check out the previous Chapters of this story:

Chapter 1 - https://youtu.be/Gte27gt0KuQ

Chapter 2 - https://youtu.be/DTE_yWs9UHU

Chapter 3 - https://youtu.be/izLKYJgJtiQ

Chapter 4 - https://youtu.be/OF6IQKLat9E

Chapter 5 - https://youtu.be/rUVifyzOhpw

Chapter 6 - https://youtu.be/C_sUVnUVOoA

Stories on Tuesday - Underworld Office: Ghost Story - Chapter 6

The current story i'm playing is Underworld Office: Ghost Story. i'm playing this on iPhone 14 pro.

Now i've played it, i understand how it works. so each video from this one going forward will be it's own chapter in the game. i will continue to blur out the advert at the bottom of the screen. there are full screen adverts during my playthrough and i will edit them out. this will mean that occasionally the music will skip or go from on to off abruptly where i've made the edit.

Chapter 6 saw us being teamed up with the Boss, but before that in the real world we continue to open up to Luke and once again we came across the mysterious man. thankfully the Boss agreed to help and we checked out that person as ghosts and the story took a turn, one that legit gave me goosebumps!

Check out the previous Chapters of this story:

Chapter 1 - https://youtu.be/Gte27gt0KuQ

Chapter 2 - https://youtu.be/DTE_yWs9UHU

Chapter 3 - https://youtu.be/izLKYJgJtiQ

Chapter 4 - https://youtu.be/OF6IQKLat9E

Chapter 5 - https://youtu.be/rUVifyzOhpw

iPhone Friday - The Land of Boggs: Decor Dash - A Runner That Feels Light On Content And Incomplete

For this week's iPhone Friday i tried The Land of Boggs from Buzzfeed on my iPhone 14 Pro.

I've been a fan of The Land of Boggs for many years now and enjoy watching their videos. when i saw, in their videos, that they have a new mobile game and that it was a runner i was keen to play it as i do like runner games. But The Land of Boggs: Decor Dash has some issues that prevent me from recommending it.

The initial presentation looks great, but it's a shame they couldn't get the voice actors to reprise their roles. the game does start with a tutorial for the basic controls, and then immediately stops whilst new things are still happening. as i've played a number of runners before i have a rough idea what's happening and what power-ups do, but the developers are making big assumptions here as there's a lack of information for the player throughout The Land of Boggs: Decor Dash.

For example, the game introduces an upgrade screen but never details what the upgrades do. do we need to upgrade an item 5 times to level them up or can the items only be leveled up 5 times to max. does levelling up the items make them stronger or does it only increase the time they're in use. i have no answers to this and the game makes no effort to tell me.

The same applies to the decorating aspect of the game. there's a tutorial on how to do it but the tutorial didn't mention that by doing it you increase your score multiplier. some items also have a +0.3 mark next to the and that's also not explained. i'd guess that's something to do with the score multiplier.

The running aspect of the game is fine but i'm concerned that there's only two stages. if there are other stages, i don't know how to unlock them. throughout this video i tried to run as far as i could in the main city stage and jungle stage to see what other stages would open up to me but i never encountered another one. In the city stage, because of the angle of the camera, there are moments when i couldn't see a car coming straight at me because of coins in the way and on both stages it was a little difficult to judge whether there was a gap i needed to jump or if it was just a different color. so even the running aspect of the game needs work.

I mentioned that the game doesn't have the voice actors from the video series but it may be more accurate to say actor as i didn't see anyone else from the show, just the Bogo character we play as. throughout the video i come up with ways that characters could be introduced and i kept waiting for one to show up. i don't know if there are other Bogg characters in this game and it's not made an effort to let me know.

For as much of a fan of the YouTube channel i am, i can't recommend The Land of Boggs: Decor Dash in it's current state. it feels incomplete and that  i played a Beta version of the game that wasn't feature complete. it may be worth downloading and checking out what the updates bring to the game. but after 45 minutes with it i think i've seen all there is to see for now.

Version 0.1.3 Played

Stories on Tuesday - Underworld Office: Ghost Story - Chapter 5

The current story i'm playing is Underworld Office: Ghost Story. i'm playing this on iPhone 14 pro.

Now i've played it, i understand how it works. so each video from this one going forward will be it's own chapter in the game. i will continue to blur out the advert at the bottom of the screen. there are full screen adverts during my playthrough and i will edit them out. this will mean that occasionally the music will skip or go from on to off abruptly where i've made the edit.

Chapter 4 had a plot twist and i was very interested to see where it would lead in Chapter 5. i was pleased with how things turned out. it would've been easy to allow our character to wallow in self pity and thankfully that didn't happen. it seemed like things were going to be ok until he came across the ghost energy on the subway once again. Whilst dealing with it didn't quite go to plan, the character growth of Eugene was nice and we got to see some backstory for Joan, who had some really cool moments. the next Chapter has us and The Boss together so i'm really interested in checking that out next.

Check out the previous Chapters of this story:

Chapter 1 - https://youtu.be/Gte27gt0KuQ

Chapter 2 - https://youtu.be/DTE_yWs9UHU

Chapter 3 - https://youtu.be/izLKYJgJtiQ

Chapter 4 - https://youtu.be/OF6IQKLat9E

iPhone Friday - Inkvasion - A Stage Based Bite Sized Town Builder And Defender With Great Art

For this week's iPhone Friday i tried Inkvasion from ChillyRoom on my iPhone 14 Pro.

I'll be honest, the name for this game doesn't really do it justice. i saw the name and thought it was going to be some sort of Splatoon style game on phones and that got me really interested. but when i checked out it's store page it revealed the game to be something else entirely. that's not a bad thing as i really enjoyed my time with this game.

From looking at the pictures, you'd assume that this is a city builder and you have to fight off enemies. that's kinda right, but you don't build one city in Inkvasion. the game is broken up into stages, like 1-1, 1-2, 1-3, and bonus extra stages. each stage has it's own requirements to complete it. each stage has you start from scratch in a different location. in this video the basic goals were the same, build farms to get food, use food to get people, use people to get troops, use troops to defend your town to complete the stage. to get 3 stars for completing a stage there will be an additional task, and each stage will give you a ranking based on your score.

The game smartly has a pause button. the stages are all kinda bite sized and suitable for mobile playing, but having a pause button is great for when you have to put your phone down. it's also great as it allows the player to take stock. what is the stage like, how long until the first wave hits, and what do you have to do to get 3 stars. you're able to start building things whilst it's paused and when you go back to play things start. that aspect of it's design almost reminds me of the PSP/DS era where games tended to be bite sized or could be paused as you put the system to sleep.

Another aspect of it's design i liked was the art. the app store page describes it as a wood block art style and i can see it. Inkvasion does have an Asian feel about it. the music helps with this, too. the game was developed in China but i found the English translation to be great. but Inkvasion does have a few issues. the first one happens quickly, there is no guest account. you must create an account to sign in to play it, i chose to go with Apple. the game also did a data download without asking for permission or warning. thankfully it was around 28MB, but still it's kinda rude. I did think the tutorial was good and gave us some tips, but the first level you play after it isn't quite the same as the tutorial. the tutorial shows you using 3 troops but when you start the level you only have 2. so i went back to the troop menu to see if i missed something and instead of troops there were buffs, something that the tutorial didn't mention. As with many games, the home screen also didn't have a tutorial but it wasn't overly complicated to work out.

The biggest disappointment with Inkvasion, in comparison to other issues mentioned above, is that the game feels like a straight port from Android. the main difference between the Android and iOS platforms is that iPhones have a Dynamic Island and most Android phones don't. it seems like Inkvasion has done nothing to mitigate this on iOS so it often is covering something. most of the time it doesn't seem too important so it's mostly just visually jarring.

As i said at the top, i enjoyed my time playing Inkvasion. i barely made a dent into the game's content. i was playing in the first few stages of the first world in the first game mode. there is a lot of content here and the game is being supported with new content being added. i do recommend Inkvasion as i feel like it'd be good for beginners and for those who know how these sort of games work. it's design is great for mobile players, maybe more so for those familiar with portable games on other past platforms. Inkvasion may even make it into my Game of the Year list i enjoyed it that much. i certainly won't be uninstalling it anytime soon.

Version 1.2.0 Played

Stories on Tuesday - Underworld Office: Ghost Story - Chapter 4

The new story is Underworld Office: Ghost Story. i'm playing this on iPhone 14 Pro.

Now i've played it, i understand how it works. so each video from this one going forward will be it's own chapter in the game. i will continue to blur out the advert at the bottom of the screen. there are full screen adverts during my playthrough and i will edit them out. this will mean that occasionally the music will skip or go from on to off abruptly where i've made the edit.

This chapter was now only shorter than i expected, it also took a turn that i didn't expect. i don't want to spoil what happens here but there's a plot twist. there were a couple of instances where the game seemed to be trying to funnel us to where it wants us to go so i disagreed with a couple of the choices i was presented with. What was nice was being able to see that Sean's mother does seem to be doing better now, as i was unsure my choices in Chapter 3 would've lead to her happiness as we only saw the conclusion from Sean's point of view.

Check out the previous Chapters of this story:

Chapter 1 - https://youtu.be/Gte27gt0KuQ

Chapter 2 - https://youtu.be/DTE_yWs9UHU

Chapter 3 - https://youtu.be/izLKYJgJtiQ

Stories on Tuesday - Underworld Office: Ghost Story - Part 3

The new story is Underworld Office: Ghost Story. i'm playing this on iPhone 14 pro.

Now i've played it, i understand how it works. so each video from this one going forward will be it's own chapter in the game. i will continue to blur out the advert at the bottom of the screen. there are full screen adverts during my playthrough and i will edit them out. this will mean that occasionally the music will skip or go from on to off abruptly where i've made the edit.

The result of Chapter 2 was great for the ghost and the human. in this chapter, Sean, i feel that i didn't get a result for the human character and even though the game said i got a result for the ghost character it felt like a light result, more by accident than what i was aiming for. i'm very interested in knowing what happens if i took the other branching story option, so let me know in the chat if you took it.

Check out the previous Chapters of this story:

Chapter 1 - https://youtu.be/Gte27gt0KuQ

Chapter 2 - https://youtu.be/DTE_yWs9UHU

iPhone Friday - FAIRY TAIL Wizard Chronicle - A Simple Gacha Focused Idle RPG With A Good Tutorial

For this week's iPhone Friday i tried FAIRY TAIL Wizard Chronicle from developers GooDRoiD on my iPhone 14 Pro.

I used to watch the FAIRY TAIL and i really enjoyed it. i haven't seen it lately but after playing this i'm interested in checking out what i've missed. I've not played a FAIRY TAIL game before, tho i think in the video i say i've played a PS4 game and i think i mistook a Black Clover game i played for FAIRY TAIL.

At the beginning, there was a bug or two. an error message would appear on screen and most of the time i could clear it, but there was one occasion where i couldn't and i had to restart the game. since i recorded this video the game has been patched but this bug still remains. it's much less frequent now but i have had to exit the game because i couldn't clear the error message and access the screen. as for the the missing apostrophes, they haven't been patched into the game.

There is a data download before you start the game, so it's best to start FAIRY TAIL Wizard Chronicle on Wi-fi before playing it. The video that plays seems to be taken from the anime but because the anime is horizontal and the game is vertical, it doesn't look the best and is often awkward looking.

I enjoyed the character art, it looks HD in quality. it's a shame none of it seems to be animated and that each character maybe only has 1 picture each. the rest of the game's graphics aren't too impressive but it's fine. I did enjoy the game's tutorial. it's simple without being patronising and uses an in-game character smartly to explain things. it's a pretty comprehensive tutorial that's paced to match what's happening in the game until things with red dots start appearing on the main screen. it's at this point the tutorial slows down and we're left to work things out ourselves. What helps with this pacing is that game modes and features are also locked and not accessible until they should be. this helps with us not being overwhelmed in the beginning. 

One of the risks of an Idle game is it's grind. at their worst, i've played games which have hit the grind in less than 30 minutes. with FAIRY TAIL Wizard Chronicle i only just starting hitting it at the end of the video. there are some game mechanics that can delay this grind a little, but for the most part it's a traditional idle game. the gacha and RPG mechanics are more tied together. often, the reward from the gacha has a benefit to our team. you collect characters to unlock them, and collect more of them to increase their star rating, their character rpg stats. these and levelling up characters are tied into missions/quests. so it does feel cohesive and well thought out. it may seem a little much at the start but because it all flows together it's really easy to understand. another thing that helps is that if you touch the current mission, a hand will appear showing where to go to complete it.

I enjoyed my time with FAIRY TAIL Wizard Chronicle. it doesn't do much revolutionary but it certainly is a good solid example of an idle rpg. there's enough here for fans of the series but i'd say it's very playable for those who don't know much about it. because it's an idle game it encourages pick up and play so for commuters it's a good one to play and as it's a vertical game it's fine to play one handed. i'd recommend giving it a go.

Version 1.0.7 Played

Stories on Tuesday - Underworld Office: Ghost Story - Part 2

The new story is Underworld Office: Ghost Story. i'm playing this on iPhone 14 pro.

Now i've played it, i understand how it works. so each video from this one going forward will be it's own chapter in the game. i will continue to blur out the advert at the bottom of the screen. there are full screen adverts during my playthrough and i will edit them out. this will mean that occasionally the music will skip or go from on to off abruptly where i've made the edit.

This Chapter focused on Luke and it can be quite sad at times. i really liked it and i'm glad that any comic relief there was didn't detract from the main sad story. Our character, Eugene, had some personality growth in a positive direction.

Check out the previous Chapters of this story:

Chapter 1 - https://youtu.be/Gte27gt0KuQ

iPhone Friday - Where Winds Meet - It Looks Great With Fluid And Fun Combat, But It's Story Is Slow

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Where Winds Meet from developers Everstone Studio on my iPhone 14 Pro.

When you start Where Winds Meet you really have to play it on Wi-Fi as the game will, without any warning, immediately start downloading extra content. Even when you start playing, there's extra content that can be downloaded at the character creation section and you even have the option to download the 12GB+ data for other regions in the game. it might be worth spending the time now to install everything rather than using up your data as you go.

For me, the other annoying thing about this extended look at the game is it's story. it starts with a great cinematic intro where we're able to join in with, and then it's over and we're with 2 other characters. it's never mentioned, or if it is i completely missed it, who exactly we are in relation to the two other characters we were just playing as. Is the girl we're with the baby from the previous sequence? the story progressed so slowly in this video. our initial goal of getting home wasn't completed. I didn't even finish the side goal we were to do before that. this slow progress really felt slow whilst playing it. i could feel how slow it was. it wasn't helped by how annoying the girl was. i found no redeeming qualities of her and every interaction with her pretty grating. 

The developers did a great job of bringing a console like combat experience to phones. it feels smooth, fluid, and is a spectacle to be hold. But there are soo many icons on the screen that my phone's screen felt really crowded and throughout this video, when i had unlocked it, i was accidentally pressing the tai-chi button.

Version 1.0.4 Played

iPhone Friday - Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond - Highley Polished, Welcoming, And Has A Great Tutorial

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Shadowverse: Worlds Beyond from developers Cygames on my iPhone 14 Pro.

Version 1.4.10 Played

Stories on Tuesday - Underworld Office: Ghost Story - Part 1

The new story is Underworld Office: Ghost Story. i'm playing this on iPhone 14 pro.

At the moment, i'm unsure if this will be a chapter each video or not. there is some sort of credit system that's not explained. so in this video, i played through until i ran out of credits, which was the start of Chapter 2.

Mobile Friday - Hungry Hearts Ramen - An Easy To Play Restaurant Game With A Nice Community Story

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Hungry Hearts Ramen from developers GAGEX on my iPhone 14 Pro.

I have seen these restaurant games from GAGEX in the App Store for a while and have nearly reviewed a few of them, but Hungry Hearts Ramen is the first one i have and i'm glad i did as it was a fantastic time. i didn't set out to record a video this long, i was just having such a nice time with the game that i lost track of time as i played.

Time is perhaps the only issue i have with Hungry Hearts Ramen. throughout the video you'll hear me say how i would like a pause button or want the game to pause during the story segments. there is a day mechanic here because customers come to the restaurant on different days but this isn't explicitly said by the game, rather i inferred it from the customer menu section.

For the most part, Hungry Hearts Ramen does a great job at getting across how to play the game and what does what. the tutorial is simple, telling us what to do via text and pictures rather then showing via a gif. but what was nice and surprising is how they use the customers, the Shrine Maiden in particular, to help remind us what to do.

I've highlighted the community aspect of this game in the title because i feel like each of the characters we've met so far in the game are very well written. they come across as genuine and interesting. mistakes and assumptions are made by our main characters but no one seems to get angry. as we played, we got to know a few of them better than others and in doing so this unlocks more food and drink options in the game. there are also customers who make delivery requests. the game makes it clear there's no pressure to fulfil them if you can't and these customers will call back in the future. but if you're able to their requests, we get even more story.

As well as the community aspect, there is another story that we've barely touched upon in this video. i won't go into spoilers, but this seems to be the second time we've opened a restaurant in this town and there seems to have been more of us the first time we did this. i speculate in the video what might have happened but there's no reason why it can't be sad or happy as the stories we've encountered so far have been both.

Graphically, i enjoyed the art in Hungry Hearts Ramen. it's a simple design that seems to look right for the era. the music is nice, too. but after the hour and a half i played the music was starting to get a little repetitive. 

Hungry Hearts Ramen does have adverts. i don't mind mobile games, especially the free to play ones, having them. but what really impressed me was how well Hungry Hearts Ramen deals with it. there's a TV in the restaurant that will play an add if you want and that'll restore your characters energy. As our characters are old, and they themselves mention about getting tired, the energy mechanic is well tied into the game universe. There is a banner advert at the bottom of the screen throughout this video. but it doesn't get in the way, it's not distracting, and my focus throughout was in the middle of the screen. And then there are the full screen adverts. thankfully the game put's up a little message that we're going to an ad break, plays the ad, puts the break screen up, and then get's us back into action. it's that attention to detail that makes this simple restaurant game feel really polished and something great.

After playing Hungry Hearts Ramen, i can say that it does make it into my top free to play games of the year list. i won't say where, but it's that good and well worth checking out. there's something for a lot of players here and it's all good.

Version 1.0.1 Played

Stories on Tuesday - High School Dog Simulator - 4 Different Endings Played

For a one off video, i played the iOS Visual Novel High School Dog Simulator from Shibamaru.

The game has 16 endings, but for this video i played through 4 of them. You'll have to let me know in the comments what happens in the other stories.

Mobile Friday - Seven Knights Re:Birth - A Good Turn Based RPG That You Can Control Or Watch

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Seven Knights Re:Birth from developer Netmarble on my iPhone 14 Pro.

I've had Seven Knights Re:Birth installed on my phone for a while and had noticed that the game was constantly being updated. But at 251.4 MB, there's even more to download once you start the game. to it's credit i did appreciate that the game let me start with a guest account and it gave me a heads up about the additional 5GB download, warning that it was best to download it over Wi-Fi. what surprised me was that the game was able to tell me that i was currently connected to Wi-Fi. Games have warned that these data installs should be down over Wi-Fi, but this was the first time i remember a game saying what my current connection was.

The install section is just a short slideshow with 1 song playing on loop. but when it stops and you launch the game we're greeted by a cinematic intro that looks cool. again, the game surprised me by then seamlessly transitioning from the cinematic to a gameplay tutorial to back to the intro, to gameplay story telling. it makes a fantastic first impression.

With such a spectacle for an introduction, the bar is high for the game to reach during normal gameplay and for the most part i think it reaches it. Seven Knights Re:Birth is a turn based RPG that gives players the choice to control the fight or to watch it happen. personally, once the ability to watch was unlocked i never went back to controlling the characters manually because it was such a pleasure to watch. It's a similar effect to Football Manager, a game where you spend time building the team and then watch them in action. in Seven Knights Re:Birth i was assigning characters to the team, equipping them, and then watching them attack enemies.

Between the action stuff is the story stuff. i'll be honest, i kinda saw the direction it was going to go and correctly guessed it. So the story maybe a little generic, but the presentation of said story is well done. the character interactions on screen remind me of larger console games. for a game like Seven Knights Re:Birth, this video isn't long enough to get a sense of the true story but for now there's enough here for me to want to continue playing.

Version 1.08.06 Played

Mobile Friday - Etheria: Restart - Graphics, Music, And Story Make A Great First Impression

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Etheria: Restart from developer XD Entertainment on my iPhone 14 Pro.

Etheria: Restart had been on my phone for a while but it was after it's big 1.0 update in September that i was reminded about it. maybe i missed it, but i don't remember seeing it high in the charts when i'm looking for mobile games.

The title of this video is not quite accurate. the first thing the game does when you start it is download a 2.49GB update to the game. there was no prompt, no warning about doing this over mobile networks, and there was no cinematic or artwork shown to make the time pass quicker. the screen the game starts with, and it's music, is kept whilst the update is downloaded. So the very first impression of the game isn't a good one.

But the remaining hour and a half does help redeem Etheria: Restart. I quite enjoyed the art style of the game. it's futuristic, but not full Cyberpunk. the game does a lot with color, probably because fine textures would push phones too hard, and pulls it off well. each of the characters we meet and use in this video are all distinct from each other not just in terms of their design but also their personalities and voice acting.

The world they inhabit is split into two. there's the real world, and then there the computer world Etheria. they look very different from each other, too. the real world was ravaged by nature whilst Etheria has a more clean future look. But then there's Genesis, a virus plaguing Etheria and those who inhabit it and turning them into monsters if they're not saved quick enough. these three styles do work together. coupled with the story i've had so far, the world mostly ties together and feels cohesive.

With combat being somewhat simple, i found the controls to be easier than some other mobile games i've played. a problem with a phone screen is it's size. some games may have cool cinematic set pieces and insane combat, but as soon as you try to move the camera you end up hitting buttons and doing things you don't want to. at this point in the game, it wasn't an issue for me.

In this video i played the Prologue and first part of the first chapter. the pace may look slow, but it didn't feel it. i was enjoying the world, the story, and i did want to know more. But after talking to my community about this, my thought's about how AI has been used in this game might actually be true. in the video i joked how their MiniDisc looking device for summoning kinda looks like someone told AI to make MiniDisc futuristic. but there's also some confusion i had about who or what the Animus are. i thought they were the virtual avatars of those in the world. but it doesn't seem like it, humans and Animus are described as being separate. that kinda detail feels like either an AI translation error or it's just been missed.

Right at the end of the video i noticed a stamina system. up to this point in the game, it hadn't crossed my mind that this sorta game would have one. i had been playing and enjoying the story. But now i know that this is in the game, i am concerned about how the game will change. it almost feels like the first part of the game is one style and the rest of it is something else. when games have stamina systems there's usually two reasons for it. 1, they don't want players seeing all the story right away so will slow them down. and 2, it's a way to add monetisation to the game, or a grind for those wanting to keep it free.

From what i played in this video, i couldn't tell you what it is. i don't know how the game is going to change or how well this is balanced. so if you know, talk about it in the comments. all i can say for now is that Etheria: Restart makes a good second impression. there maybe some questions about how AI was used in development of it. And i can't say for sure that the game you play at the start is the game you'll be playing throughout.

Version 1.0.1 Played

Mobile Friday - COSMO PANIC - An Easy To Play Retro Style Wave Based Shooter That Needs More Polish

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried COSMO PANIC from developer FUNDOSHI PARADE on my iPhone 14 Pro.

On the App Store, this game's icon not only looked cool but i also immediately had an idea as to it's gameplay. checking out the screenshots revealed it to be a retro style shooter.

When we start the game we're greeted to an opening crawl inspired by Star Wars. it tells an interesting story, but i suspect that's the only time we're going to be given story by the game. 

The first time playing was pleasant as there's a decent tutorial telling us how to move and what to do. i found it useful and a surprise that there was one. unfortunately, the tutorial kinda just stops. when we lost, we were greeted by a screen that i didn't immediately realise was the game's home screen. i was expecting a result screen or a story screen. i think the game needs to continue it's tutorial to help guide the player better and explain things more clearly.

The gameplay is solid. it does exactly what it sets out to do. what makes COSMO PANIC different to some other wave based games is that we're defending something that's not ourselves. most of these games have the enemies come after us, but here the enemies are targeting a planet we're defending. we can bounce into some enemies without consequence, whilst others can paralyse us momentarily. 

we're not expected to always win and survive but it did feel like progress in this game slowed down too quickly. i was able to do the first 3 waves fine but that fourth wave was much more difficult even after spending money on upgrades. i'm concerned that progression in this game might be a little off and will need tweaking.

Version 1.1.1 Played

Mobile Friday - Disney Magic Match 3D - A Basic Chill Matchmaking Game With Hints of Disney

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Disney Magic Match 3D from developer Jam City on my iPhone 14 Pro.

I was curious about Disney Magic Match 3D, was it a game aimed at a younger audience or was there something here for everyone. i've got previous experience with such a game called TsumTsum, which to this day i see being played daily here in Japan. after playing it, i don't think Disney Magic Match 3D is aimed at any group in particular.

Disney Magic Match 3D surprised me in a few ways. firstly, and something i mentioned a few times in the video, was how chill it felt. the music felt lo-fi to the extent that i couldn't tell how it was even Disney. The tutorial was also very simple and clear and continued to offer hints throughout this video, but again it lacked that Disney charm. there was no mascot character guiding us. we were matching items from Disney, but not really doing much with them once the level was finished. with a few minor changes, i can't help but feel that Disney Magic Match 3D could just as easily be any other matchmaking game.

This lack of personality doesn't hinder the gameplay aspect. it's fine to play. the stages are simple, they are quick, and if you fail it's made clear that you can spend money to continue trying or loose a life. this simplicity, and with the accessibility of the tutorial, make Disney Magic Match 3D a fine game to play. 

another weird thing was that the game had icons on the bottom of the screen for in-game stuff that's "Coming Soon". these icons weren't greyed out nor did they have a lock on them like other content that we didn't have access to. there was no hint as to what these features were nor a date when they were coming. So why then, are there these buttons on the screen? with Disney Magic Match 3D being so accessible and simple, this seems like a big oversight that detracts from the good they've done so far.

the main reason why this video stops when it does is because the developers have been too generous at the start of the game. Like many, if not all, of these sort of games the start is much easier than the later stages. levels are easy, money is easy to earn, and rewards are easy to get. in Disney Magic Match 3D they are too easy to get and they're automatically earned and applied if needed. this meant i got into a situation where i knew if i completed another stage i would be stuck with infinity health for an hour. it's a nice gift for sure, but i was still using up a previous timed infinity health gift. if i had both, i would've had to keep on playing for hours or just loose it all. Disney Magic Match 3D really needs a way to save these bonus, or like Pokémon Go let us click and obtain them when we're ready. 

Disney Magic Match 3D is a fine game. it's accessible and simple with light puzzle elements, well for the first 27 levels. But it's surprising how chill it feels with it's music and how it's not all Disney all the time. hardcore fans were probably going to try it anyway, but it does feel fine for anyone interested in this matchmaking game.

Version 5.0.3 Played

Mobile Friday - Coin&Dungeon: ReBurst - Simple Mechanics Feel Unbalanced And Slow, Not Much Story

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Coin&Dungeon: ReBurst from developer Ryogo Oka on my iPhone 14 Pro.

Version 1.2.2 Played