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

Mobile Friday - Fire Emblem Shadows - Great Aspects Of Gameplay That Don't Quite Come Together

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Fire Emblem Shadows from developers Intelligent Systems on my iPhone 14 Pro.

Nintendo surprised released Fire Emblem Shadows this week. nothing was known about the game before it came out so it's been interesting playing it. the game's description on the app store is that it's a Real Time Tactics & Treachery game. one of the easier comparisons people will make is that it's an Among Us style game in the Fire Emblem universe, but after spending an hour with it that's not quite true.

It's disappointing to report that Fire Emblem Shadows has not one but two additional data downloads. thankfully the game lets us know, it suggests doing the download over wifi, and gives us the choice whether to download it or not, unlike some other games which'll just download the data. the first one isn't big, but what was nice was the video that played during it. the video has no words and yet successfully get's across the treachery aspect of the gameplay as a member of the group turns on the others. it's a bit of a shame that this same video plays during the second data download. it's unclear how this video fits into the game's story.

It's a high quality video that plays during the data downloads. the art is also high quality. the style of it is also quite striking and has an HD feel about it. it's very noticeable every time a new character appears and we get to see some great looking art. what's unfortunate is that there's not enough of it. the art isn't animated. so when characters start talking, the art will rarely change. each character has maybe 2 or 3 art pieces with slightly different faces, each showing a slightly different emotion. this means there were a few occasions where the story was being serious and the artwork had a big smile. tonally, what's being said and what's being shown can be quite hit or miss.

The key aspect of gameplay is the treachery system. when our team is attacking enemies, we need to pay attention to not just the enemy but also our team mates. someone on our team is working for the enemy and will attack the characters on our team. we need to pay attention to see what attacks are used by both our team mates on enemies and then on ourselves. during the tutorial, this came across quite well. but in gameplay, things move so quickly that this system actually becomes tough to follow. we have to check out health, the health of our team mates, who's attacking who, and then it ends with a vote before we've certain who's the bad guy. i did guess correctly each time, i did have a reason for choosing who i did, but it did feel a little lucky and not too satisfying. 

The way the story is told didn't work for me. that's not to say i didn't enjoy the story. i would like to get more of it and learn more about who the enemy really is. but the way it's told not only feels cheap, it feels disjointed and is hurt by the pauses when the loading screen hits. towards the end of the video we learn about what happened before the game start and it sounds like it would've made a fantastic video rather than just the few sentences it gets. 

The tutorial in Fire Emblem Shadows starts off good. the game's pace is slowed down and each aspect of gameplay is briefly mentioned. but it's not long before things get confusing. there's a bar top middle and it came across that we can only do actions when it's our color. but the game, outside of the tutorial, starts doing stuff outside of the player/enemy color. then much later we get the scenario where our characters are knocked out but we're still able to attack and the whole revive mechanic wasn't explained in this scenario. the tutorial also kinda fails on the main home screen. the game suggests checking out the red dots but the tutorial explanations feel even shorter here, to the point that i didn't initially grasp how the online has to be played to progress the single player story. The Online mode gives us a choice between wanting to play as good, bad, or let the game decide. Our team fights an enemy. but we have to watch out for the bad guy. get it right, we get points, get enough points and the story unlocks the next chapter.

There are many aspects of Fire Emblem Shadows that individually are good, or have good ideas, but they don't really come together in a satisfying way. i'll keep the game and see what updates come to it, but as it is Fire Emblem Shadows isn't for me. i do think it's worth checking out because of it's interesting ideas. but as a game, as a whole, it doesn't quite land.

Version 1.0.1 Played

Mobile Friday - Destiny: Rising - A Great Looking Shooter, Good Tutorial, But Some Control Issues

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Destiny: Rising from developers NetEase Games on my iPhone 14 Pro.

I've played both console Destiny games, tho admittedly not for a long time, and what i enjoyed about them the most was the gun combat. i really enjoyed online multiplayer, too. the game's story wasn't something i was concerned about. i have completed the story on disc for both, but i don't really remember it. for me, i wanted to try Destiny: Rising to see if they could replicate that gun feel the console games had.

After a good hour with the game i can say that they don't quite get there. that's not to say what's in Destiny: Rising is bad, it's actually good. but it doesn't quite reach the highs of the console versions. i played this hour in hand held mode, but Destiny: Rising is playable with a controller too. there's a lack of feedback from the phone when shooting, the rumble the console controllers have is far better and precise than anything my phone has. Playing on my phone also meant i needed much more aim assist that i would on console, to the point where Destiny: Rising kinda feels a little weird to play at first. that feeling went away after some time, but what really kept tripping me up were the on screen buttons.

On the right side, you control the camera and on the left you control your movement. the left side isn't much of an issue, but the right side has many buttons of differing sizes and throughout this video i kept on touching buttons by accident when i was trying to move the camera. for the start of the game, it's not an issue. but by the end and the boss battle i did, it really got frustrating that i was pressing buttons by accident and not having enough camera control for what was happening on screen. There are two possible solutions in the game, use a controller or adjust the placement and size of the buttons on the screen.

At the start, i wondered if Destiny: Rising would have additional downloads. the game's size is near 4GB so it could've gone either way. unfortunately, there were two additional downloads and the game never asked for permission to do the download. the combined size of them was less than 1GB but still, it's using data and not everyone has an unlimited data plan.

There are plenty of positives from Destiny: Rising. the presentation makes it feel like part of the Destiny universe. the graphics, like last week's Kaiju No.8 game, are great on the characters and fine everywhere else. i found the tutorial useful, and if you have played this elsewhere there's even an option to skip it. i felt like graphically, the game is closer to the PS3 generation, but there are aspects of it that do feel modern. it's up there as one of the better looking games on iOS.

I would recommend people give Destiny: Rising a try. whilst it's part of that universe, it still introduces the world and what's happening in a way that new players will have a good idea of what's happening whilst existing Destiny fans will be able to get more lore and expand on what they already know. i found it quite accessible and there are plenty of ways to customise the experience for how you want to play. the basic controls without any changes are fine but i do feel like they're better suited for larger phones than mine. But it's always online and over time that'll eat into your data limits so perhaps it's best played over wi-fi.

Version 1.0.6 Played

Mobile Friday - KAIJU NO. 8 THE GAME - An Approachable Great Looking Game With An Anime Feel

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried KAIJU NO. 8 THE GAME from developers Akatsuki Games on my iPhone 14 Pro.

I'm a little familiar with KAIJU NO. 8 having watched some of the first season, but i wasn't up to date with it so i was wondering if this was a game that covered the entire anime story or not. turns out, this takes place after the entrance exam ark from the first season.

Another thing i was curious about was the game's size. i knew that there would be additional data installed as the app store page showed the app was only 190.3 MB. Over 3 GB of additional data was installed. but this game was polite and honest about it. it installed about half a gig to get to the tutorial and whilst we're in the tutorial it downloaded and installed the rest of the data. so you really do need to be playing KAIJU NO. 8 THE GAME on wifi when you start it for the first time.

The tutorial is pretty decent, slowly showing and telling you to perform more and more moves. i found it quite accessible. the presentation of this game is also great. it looks like the anime and when you turn on the auto play function, it's actually enjoyable to watch the fights happen by themselves. this is also a useful feature for those commuting. as someone who uses buses and trains to get and from work there are times when i may not have both hands free so to have the game able to play itself is rather nice.

When you do want to play, the combat has some nice depth to it. you can have up to 4 people in your team, and they're paired up. you're able to do automatic combo attacks with your pair.  these are initiated when you destroy an enemy's plate. once this defensive plate has been broken, you'll automatically summon your teammate to attack and that enemy, if it survives, will be weakened. But the enemy, much like you, have special attacks that charge up. it's clear on screen how much time you have before the enemy unleashes their special attack and you're able to target different enemies. by defeating an enemies plate, you're able to reset that charge timer. so the combat is fine for simple attacking, but if you're paying attention you'll be able to stop enemy attacks, do combos, and unleash your own special attacks.

This first hour with the game only got me to the start of the game's main story. what we played was essentially a retelling and tutorial. but it was enough to keep me interested and wanting to know what happens next. i would recommend KAIJU NO. 8 THE GAME for fans of the anime/manga but also to action combat fans, too. the game makes a great first impression and is well worth trying regardless if it's based of an anime or not.

Version 1.0.4 Played

Mobile Friday - RPG Dragon Spira - An Interesting Freemium Pixel RPG That's Not Full Of Adverts

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried RPG Dragon Spira from developers KEMCO on my iPhone 14 Pro.

Many of the games i play for Mobile Friday are ever evolving and growing, which is why i always try and put the version of the game i played. but RPG Dragon Spira is a finished game. it's available as a premium version you can pay for and get no adverts whilst you play or you can download this freemium version and watch the occasional advert. 

After playing this for an hour, i had to sit through 8 adverts. it's more than i expected but certainly not as much as many other games i've played as part of Mobile Friday. all of these adverts were short, but they also had videos. personally, i'd recommend playing RPG Dragon Spira with wi-fi as the data these adverts use will build up over time.

Another odd thing about this first hour of RPG Dragon Spira is that i didn't get to the game's gimmick. KEMCO RPG's often have a unique gimmick and this one seemed like it was going to involve a roulette wheel. but the pace of RPG Dragon Spira meant i never got to use it. the game does have a lot of talking between characters which did slow down the pace. the adverts also slowed things down. but even tho it was slow, it didn't feel too slow as the story and character interactions were mostly fine.

What i found interesting about RPG Dragon Spira was how it did combat. it takes full advantage of the widescreen of my phone. i can see how the number of heroes and enemies could be quite high and there'd still be space on the screen. at the top it shows who's next to attack, the right are commands for our team, and on the left we can turn on auto attacks, speed up the fight, escape, and see the type chart. there is a lot on screen but it never felt crowded.

Launch Version Played.

Mobile Friday - Silver & Blood - A RPG With A Great First Hour That Makes Me Want To Play More

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Silver & Blood from developers Moonton and publishers Skystone Games on my iPhone 14 Pro.

I had seen this game rise slowly up the free to play App Store game charts and was curious how they'd make a vampire themed RPG work. the app store page offers some hints, but going in i wasn't too sure how it'd all work out.

It's disappointing to say that when you start the game you have to download extra data. i thought this might be the case as the game is less than 1GB to download. the game does say you can play through the start and it'll download in the background, which might be a decent option for those with newer phones, or you can download it all right now. the problem is, you have to download over 5GB of extra data. So it's safe to say that you must start this at home and download the data before playing this out and about. at such a big download size, especially when compared to the game's initial download size, it almost comes across as more suited to Apple TV or a Mac.

That initial disappointment is maybe the only disappointing thing i experienced across this hour of gameplay. We start the game with an almost anime like intro showing our death before the game shows us the day before. We're slowly introduced to numerous characters across this hour at a pace that didn't seem to fast whilst only being told enough about the world and what's happening to keep the story going forward. The game is also using it's tutorial smartly to introduce us to how basic combat is done whilst also tying it into the story on occasion to explain why a character is fighting at the back and why, to show how to use their special moves, they're only going to attack certain enemies.

Silver & Blood smartly uses it's own world to explain other game mechanics. So many games struggle to explain their "summoning" mechanics in a way that ties it into the world that's already been introduced. towards the end of this video we're introduced to it in such a smart way that it tied directly into the world and made sense. it also will make sense why the result can be random. they've done a fantastic job creating a world that makes sense and keeping you in it.

By the end of the first hour we came to the first chapter of the game and i was genuinely interested in learning more. i wanted to know about the world the game is set in as it comes across as rather bleak. i want to know more about our character and what makes them unique. and of course, there's the mystery behind Dracula ... or rather which body does it in habit, as in Silver & Blood it's memories that are key and what is past on to create immortality or insanity.

Version 1.3.4 Played.

Mobile Friday - Heroes Crew: Strategy Defense - A Recommended Tower Defense Game With Replayability

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Heroes Crew: Strategy Defense from developers Aloha Factory on my iPhone 14 Pro.

i've always been interested in Tower Defense games, i've uploaded a video of the Square Enix PS3 Tower Defense game Crystal Defenders https://youtu.be/CPxDtTKcWJY. but when these games get difficult it often feels like we're unable to make a change and we're stuck with the choices we made earlier on. Heroes Crew: Strategy Defense is great because we have the ability to change things.

Actually there's more to playing Heroes Crew: Strategy Defense that makes it a great game. it has one of the better tutorials i've played recently across any of the playlists i record for. the game doesn't try to add a story in, to then forget about it, the game is simply tower defense. so the game starting with a tutorial makes sense and this tutorial has 4 different sections to help with most aspects of the game. i'll say there's still room for improvement, but for the most part the tutorial is very useful. what surprised me a lot, is that the tutorial isn't over. when the game lets you take on the first section by yourself and you eventually loose, the game will then present you with a screen titled "Clear Guide" which will offer more hints and tricks for your next run. 

In this video, i completed the tutorial and then did 2 runs. after the second, i leveled up the area i was in. it's not just the location that levels up, each of the characters i use can also be leveled up, as can items. so they go into the next run stronger, and in that run you're able to combine 3 one star characters to make 1 two star character. the challenge is making use of the character limit. you need stronger rarer characters, long rang and short range characters, and characters that can use magic.

The tag line for Heroes Crew: Strategy Defense in the App store is "Pure Strategy, No RNG, No Luck" and managing how many characters on the field is part of this. The more important aspect of this is placement of these characters. once they've been put down, they can be moved again. a circle is laid out showing their area of attack. game over is when time runs out, there's a time limit to take out the boss. so moving characters around to keep attacking the boss is critical.

But as well as leveling up characters, getting a balance of different characters, and moving around characters, there's another thing to consider, Mythic Heroes. these are much stronger than your own characters, and can also be upgraded in the home area outside of battles. but to summon them you need a certain number of select characters. In the first run, i didn't summon a mythic character but in the second i did and it was very noticeable how much stronger they were and how useful they were when it came to bosses. you can hear in that second run how i try to level up my characters to 3 stars, get a balance, and summon the mythic. but whilst it may sound complicated, i felt that i could do it and i did.

Heroes Crew: Strategy Defense is one of the better Tower Defense games i've ever played and it's one of the most accessible free to play mobile games i've played. i highly recommend people trying it, whether you're into tower defense or not. 

Version 1.2.27 Played.

Stories on Tuesday - Visual Novel: I.B. - From Start To Finish On iOS

The Stories on Tuesday game was the iOS game Visual Novel: I.B. from Entabridge. 

With the story concluded, i have put all the parts together into one long story, from start to finish, including the credits and post credits scene. 

You can check out the previous parts of this playthrough:

Chapter 1 - https://youtu.be/yclMfGCp1Uo

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

Chapter 3 - https://youtu.be/I0W5ejOVq6I

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

Chapter 5 - https://youtu.be/I7g8FoFqT1Y

Chapter 6 - https://youtu.be/0V-653R46BU

Chapter 7 - https://youtu.be/Ku5QkKPTuFI

Mobile Friday - Rail Rescue: Puzzle Lines - Nice Single Screen Puzzles And Frequent Adverts

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Rail Rescue: Puzzle Lines from developers INFINITY GAMES on my iPhone 14 Pro.

The App store page for Rail Rescue: Puzzle Lines really highlights what this game is. there are train themed single screen puzzles. by completing a set, you get a star. you use stars to build buildings in your town. Whilst the puzzle aspect was pretty good, the building the town aspect of the game did seem to just be filler. there were no bonuses to building the town, nor did you have any control over where they could be built.

The problem with Rail Rescue: Puzzle Lines is that it can come off as rude. when we started there was a download. it's small, but there was no announcement made before hand, no warning about doing the download over wifi and not using your data by downloading it over a mobile network. it didn't even tell me what the download was for. The game has adverts but there was no warning when they were going to start. what's weird about them is how they happen during the results screen, but not once the results are finished. instead the adverts appear in a weird place. there's no effort made to hide them or incorporate them into the game world at all.

The game then does have a sale message about buying the game and turning adverts off. i don't mind the developers trying to push their store. but  then we got a sale offer that involved the game's in-game currency. at no point in this video was the currency used. trying to sell stuff to make money is fine, but i've said it for years now, the player needs to know the value of what you're selling. i had no idea about the currency, i don't know if that's a good deal or not. as for the adverts, i cut out 14 adverts from this video!

Rail Rescue: Puzzle Lines looks good. i thought the music and effects were fine, too. the tutorial is good and so is the gameplay. there is a lot to like about Rail Rescue: Puzzle Lines. but the forced download and repeated adverts make it hard to recommend. it'd be worth making this a paid for game instead of releasing a spoiled free to play experience. 

Version 1.3 Played.

Stories on Tuesday - Visual Novel: I.B. - Part 7 - The Final Part

The new game in the Stories on Tuesday series is the iOS version of Visual Novel: I.B. from Entabridge. 

This is Part 7 and it covers the game's final chapter titled Final.

You can check out the previous parts at these links:

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/yclMfGCp1Uo

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/pKZdQNymjhk

Part 3 - https://youtu.be/I0W5ejOVq6I

Part 4 - https://youtu.be/TenlvcJHmDk

Part 5 - https://youtu.be/I7g8FoFqT1Y

Part 6 - https://youtu.be/0V-653R46BU

Mobile Friday - BlazBlue Entropy Effect - A Polished Hack And Slash Run Based Side-scroller

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried BlazBlue Entropy Effect from developers 91Act on my iPhone 14 Pro.

I'm familiar with the BlazBlue fighting games as i used to have a couple on PS3. but i didn't know about this side-scroller. since i've played this iOS version, i've learned that the game had already come out on PC in 2023 and that there is an Android version.

I Wonder if the Android version was the lead platform as throughout this video you'll see there are moments where the Dynamic Island gets in the way and other times when the curved edges of the iPhone block little bits whereas on my TV i can see things have been cut off. these small things are really the only problems the game has. 

playing the game it felt polished and now i know it's a port of an existing game, it makes sense. the tutorial is mostly fantastic and sometimes only great. there was just one thing i didn't understand and that was implanting crystals. maybe the online multiplayer aspect of the game could've been more defined, but there's a chance i tried accessing that too early into the overall story.

I say that because the big story beat at the end required a power level much lower than what i was doing. maybe i was doing more and going further than what was needed so i could've been hitting limitations because i reached areas too soon.

Also at the end, there was the hint of a plot twist. for this video, i wanted to focus on the main story but a part of me is curious as to what the other character was talking about and whether something will happen to us now. the weirdest part of the story has to be the Mysterious Light Orb in the black and white section. that thing was soo huge it's odd that no one knows about it, especially the janitor standing next to it's section. It seemed to know us, tho we didn't know it, and it did reveal there's a collectable for us to look for. but i have no idea how it does or will tie into the story as right now it's still being revealed.

BlazBlue Entropy Effect does a lot right. it also looks fantastic and i enjoyed the soundtrack. there are a lot of customisation options, too. but, what might stop it being the Free to Play Game of the Year is the additional download at the start. there is no warning it's going to download, no message to the player as to how big it's going to be or that such a download should be done over wi-fi rather than using up data allowance. it's rare to find such a rude download nowadays.

The pick up and play nature of BlazBlue Entropy Effect, the way it teaches you how to play, and how the story's been told so far made it so easy to play and one i kept coming back to, which is why this video is so long. i think BlazBlue Entropy Effect is maybe one of, if not, the best game i've played so far this year on mobile and i highly recommend it. just beware, there's a data download at the start that should be done over Wi-fi.

Version 1.1.0 Played.

Stories on Tuesday - Visual Novel: I.B. - Part 6 - Chapter 6

The new game in the Stories on Tuesday series is the iOS version of Visual Novel: I.B. from Entabridge. 

This is Part 6 and it covers the game's fifth chapter titled The Future.

You can check out the previous parts at these links:

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/yclMfGCp1Uo

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/pKZdQNymjhk

Part 3 - https://youtu.be/I0W5ejOVq6I

Part 4 - https://youtu.be/TenlvcJHmDk

Part 5 - https://youtu.be/I7g8FoFqT1Y

Mobile Friday - Pompo: Backpack Heroes - Good Graphics And Mechanics But Wasted Story And Tutorial

For this week's Mobile Friday i tried Switching Pompo: Backpack Heroes from developers Tae won Go and Dave Studios on my iPhone 14 Pro.

I checked the App store on Friday and saw this newly released game topping the Free to Play Charts on the Japanese App Store. i was really curious as to why this was doing so well so that's why i've checked out Pompo: Backpack Heroes.

The game starts strong with a story introduction that hints that this group of characters  might be accidental heroes. But the next hour or so with the game almost ignores all of that. what i played didn't match the set up at all. if the game hadn't started so strongly with it's story and characters, then this wouldn't have been much of an issue. but because it does and them seemingly ignores so much of it, it really sticks out as a waste.

A new world is introduced to us by a character who seemingly knows about it. But that's it. the game makes little to no effort in tiring the game's mechanics into the world it's introduced. For example, the game introduces miners as a way to earn extra money. but this isn't done via a story beat, it's not done via a tutorial either. it's introduced as a mission that needs to be completed, there are no explanations as to who these miners are, where they are, or how it ties into anything in the game.

Pompo: Backpack Heroes is simple a bunch of mechanics tied together with great art and ease of gameplay. The game has a character who seems to know the world, but that character never acts as our guide or even helps with a tutorial. The weirdest part of the gameplay is how we started with a group, lost the group, and then spend no time trying to find our friends. instead a summon mechanic is added. and like most things in this game, there's no reason given for it, it's not tied into the story or the game world, and there's no summon animation. 

But Pompo: Backpack Heroes is mostly easy to play at a basic level. there are menus and abilities and power ups that i never touched in this first hour and it didn't seem to matter. that's not to say they won't in the future, but for now the game's lack of a tutorial and explanations don't seem to matter much as we're able to stumble through the opening section. However, a major mechanic, that i didn't expect, was introduced near the end of the video called Rebirth.

This concept is one i know of as it used to be popular in mobile and idle games a decade or so ago. but it's not one i've seen much of nowadays. essentially put, when the game starts to plateaux and you're unable to make any more progress or level up you're meant to use the Rebirth mechanic to rest some of your stats and gain a new currency that can be used to enhance your team. But with no tutorial on how best to use it, i can only hope that the game's missions are designed well enough to force the player to do it at the appropriate moment.

Pompo: Backpack Heroes looks great, with our team looking like Pixel Art but the world having a more water color look to it and there are giant monsters that look huge and very different to our team. the music is nice to, tho the gaps between songs/loops could've been dealt with better. the screen is smartly used, too. i only noticed one small issue with the Dynamic Island and a small issue when levelling up the miners. the placement is smart and enabled me to play most of the game with just one hand.

Pompo: Backpack Heroes is a fine game but there is so much wasted potential. if you're looking for an idle game that's easy to quickly pick up and play that maybe feels a little "retro", then this would do fine. but understand that even tho it makes a fantastic first impression, that's the only time any of that matters. it's possible the game will remember it's story later on, but in this first hour it doesn't and i can't guarantee it will.

Version 1.0.4 Played.

Demo Play Thursday - Pokémon Friends On iOS

For this week's Demo Play Thursday i played the iOS version of Pokémon Friends from The Pokémon Company.

The Pokémon Company released Pokémon Friends this week across Switch and Mobile. On Nintendo Switch, the game is released as a cheap base version with optional DLC. but on Mobile, there is a free to start TRIAL/DEMO of the game as well as the Paid DLC base game and optional Paid DLC. The free to start nature of this version of Pokémon Friends is why i included it as part of the Demo Play Thursday series and not as part of Mobile Friday.

In this free to start version, we're severely limited in what we can do. we can only do one set of puzzle per day, when the base game lets us play many. there are further limitations in the amount of Pokémon Plushes available to make, puzzles in the game, and there are no quest puzzles from the town's folk.

From what we get to play, i enjoyed this game's approach to new players. it felt modern. a key example is that the tutorial messages only appeared when they were needed instead of overloading with messages at the start. another great approach is how for each puzzle there is a gif/video showing the type of puzzle it is. we saw something similar to this in the Hogtie demo, and just like that it doesn't reveal the actual answer to the puzzle. when it came to putting our plushes on display, i greatly appreciated that the game didn't rely on the shadow of the plush and instead put an icon on screen showing exactly where it would be placed. 

As a free to start game, Pokémon Friends isn't great as it's just too limited. but as a trial/demo, this version of Pokémon Friends works great. if you're curious about Pokémon Friends, try this before you buy the base game on your platform of choice.

Stories on Tuesday - Visual Novel: I.B. - Part 5 - Chapter 5

The new game in the Stories on Tuesday series is the iOS version of Visual Novel: I.B. from Entabridge. 

This is Part 5 and it covers the game's fifth chapter titled The Past.

You can check out the previous parts at these links:

Part 1 - https://youtu.be/yclMfGCp1Uo

Part 2 - https://youtu.be/pKZdQNymjhk

Part 3 - https://youtu.be/I0W5ejOVq6I

Part 4 - https://youtu.be/TenlvcJHmDk