Mobile Friday - Disney Mirrorverse - The First 50 Minutes

Mobile Friday this week is Disney Mirrorverse, a game on iOS and Android that's been out for nearly a year now.

I've seen this game been advertised in other games i play as well as seeing it in the app store. But, with it being free to play and Disney, i didn't really give it much of a chance and that's on me for judging it before playing it.

So i played it and this video shows the first 50 minutes, or so, of the game. and i'll be honest, i was pleasantly surprised. one of the bigger things i took away from my time with the game is how polished it felt and how much it respected the player as a gamer rather than as something to extract money from.

one of the first things the game does is set out why everything is as it is, and they use a Mirror Universe. it's simple and they throw in some Disney Magic to add to the effect. it holds your hand in telling you what to do, maybe a little quick for some players, but for the most part i'd say it works well. tho, the first enemies do feel like they take a few hits to kill. throughout the first 10 levels of the game, Chapter 1, the game continues to help teach you how to play. 

The game also guides you at the home screen, again teaching you what things do, where things are, and how to do things. i do appreciate this approach. it's something that makes me, as a gamer, feel like the game is thinking about what i need rather than treating me as a cash resource first for what the game needs.

It was a satisfying first hour with fun gameplay. nothing too complicated, but just enough story and characters to keep my interest and to keep me going along. the game does use an energy system to gate how much/how long you can play, but in the time i spent with it i never came close to not having enough as i kept on leveling up and earning more as well as being able to carry more.

I'd definitely say give it a try. there were no extra downloads after installing it and whilst it did get my phone warm, that could be due to trying out a "beta" 60 fps mode. feel free to talk in the chat if your phones get warm without that mode.

Backlog Conquering - Malicious - The Final Part - Beating The Game

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 7, and the final part, of playing Malicious on PS3.

I DID IT! I FINALLY DID IT!!!!

this was quickly becoming the final video i was going to do with this game as i finally reached my limit. if i was ever going to complete it, it would've been in my own time and maybe released as a QT30E video. But with less than 5 minutes to spare, i did it. i beat that boss. it was close to failure at so many points i can't really believe i won.

Backlog Conquering - Malicious - Part 6 - Unable to Beat The Malicious

Welcome to Backlog Conquering.

Today's video is part 6 of playing Malicious on PS3.

i'm at the final boss of the game, i'm up against Malicious. but this video shows that it's not an easy boss fight. the boss battle is broken up into two parts, neither of which are easy nor are they straight forward. as well as the boss attacking you, with one attack being a one hit K.O if you don't block, there are also a number of flying enemies on the stage, too.

But there's also the issue of my own controller. one thing you'll see happen quite often is that when i try to use my shield i actually dash first as the stick drift gets in the way. the game has it's own issues. more than once i was inputting commands and nothing was happening on screen. there was also a glitch with the boss where it was preparing to launch an attack but never firing it until i moved.

Ultimately, this boss battle isn't as fun as the others had been in the game. they were difficult but it was easy to see progress in defeating them. with this one, it feels like it's maybe a bit too much for the game's own controls and design. 

Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday - Nintendo Switch Edition - Pixel Zeus Cup - Achievement Run

Welcome to Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday! Sit back and either watch me play through, with no commentary, the cup or leave it running in the background as BGM!

I play and earn all the achievements from The Pixel Zeus Cup! (2023/5/1 9:00～2023/5/8 8:59 JST) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and a docked Nintendo Switch.

This is a much shorter video than some recent ones. whilst i'm not sure i fully understood the gimmick this week, i do feel i understood it enough to always finish in the top 3. i got to the final boss a few times but i never managed to beat it. looking at how well the other players did, i think this will be a decent week for everyone as most got high scores or did well with the bonus catagories.

This week i played against:

Joker - Rank 73

かずけん - Rank 44

しよう - Rank 35

Mii - Rank 57

なな - Rank 60

ゆうな - Rank 59

Over on https://ko-fi.com/qtegamers, there's an exclusive tier where members can watch individual matches of my top Puzzle & Dragons finishes before they go live as a YouTube Short. There'll be one extra on Ko-fi that won't be on YouTube as a short for the public to see.

Cloud Monday - Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom - Part 2 - A Better Hour But Not Perfect

Today's Cloud Monday is part 2 of playing the PS4 game Monster Boy and the Cursed Kingdom on the PlayStation Plus Streaming Service.

Part 1, https://youtu.be/DJsShUH4x3A, wasn't too bad. there were some minor issues but nothing that affected gameplay. mostly, because of the graphical style and fidelity of the game, it was just distracting. 

In this video, what issues there were were few and far between. there were a couple of times where i could see some macroblocking. another time i saw some stream tearing. and whilst these were distracting, as they happened far less than in part 1 part 2 felt like a better overall gaming experience. 

But, there was something about the controls that just felt off. it could be that due to age, wear and tear, and use my controller is developing an issue. or it could be due to streaming the game from PlayStation Plus Premium there's some lag between what i press on the controller to what happens in the game. or it's just the game. i speculated a couple of times in the video, but one of better ideas was that in this game the ledges are slippery. so the closer you are to the edge, the more likely you are to slide off or have added momentum. coupled with potential lag, it could help explain why i found it more difficult doing the platforming in this part than part 1.

Switch Funday - Omega Strikers - 3 Wins From 7 Games For Team RubberRoss

Welcome to Switch Funday!

In yesterday's first look at Omega Strikers on Nintendo Switch, https://youtu.be/6HeCdaJLbMo, the focus was more on checking it out and seeing what was on offer. For Switch Funday the goal was to play it. In less than an hour i managed to get 7 games in, and it could've been as much as 8 or 9 if i had tried. it's a great example of how quick the games are but also how quick it is to find a match.

many of the small complaints from yesterday carry over into today, things like a lack of a sense of speed, a lack of player character clarity, and a general feeling that the gear and awakenings add nothing to the experience. But i don't think they impact the game enough where it becomes not a fun experience. I've certainly had a worse time with bigger games, namely when i played Overwatch 2 on PS4 and Switch.

But a problem the game has it that it's on the Switch, a console that has perhaps the most popular online games of recent years. Omega Strikers is fun, but i can't honestly say it's more fun than Splatoon 3. i haven't tried out Fortnite on switch but i do know more people who play it there than on PlayStation. It will be interesting to see what the support is like for the game post launch and what it can do to grab attention. for example, i won't play it for this upcoming weekend's videos because of the Splatoon 3 Zelda Splatfest. 

Online Saturday - Omega Strikers - The First Hour

Welcome to Online Saturday!

Today i'm playing Omega Strikers on Nintendo Switch. the game came out a day or two ago so this is my first hour with the game during it's debut weekend.

Going in, i didn't know too much about it other than what the Nintendo e-shop store page said about it. but one of the most surprising things about it was how slow it felt. one of the first comments i make about the game during the training is just how slow it is. It's something i'll say about the game a few times whilst playing and thinking back it's probably the biggest negative i have with it.

There are a few other minor negative feelings i have about the game, but it's mostly UI stuff. but in terms of core gameplay it's mostly fine. but the the game never felt fast enough, in nearly every game i was left wanting more speed or a sprint button at the very least. the only other thing about playing it that i feel is worth mentioning is that quite a few times i lost track of my own character on the pitch. the game is designed so that the whole pitch is on screen. this means, even on tv, the camera is somewhat zoomed out. there's something about this camera and the character design that makes it really hard to keep track of what's happening at times. it's also somewhat hard to work out what the other players are doing as the animations, whilst happening,  are also small. at the very least i'd like an option for a zoom camera, kinda like something you'd have in a Pinball game, or a lock on that keeps your character in the center.

For it being it's debut weekend, i found the game to have solid online. not once did a game drop and the waiting times were as low as Splatoon 3! it's free to play and i had fun in the first hour i played with it. Omega Strikers manages that first hour very well. the tutorial is a little heavy but goes over the basic gameplay loop using in-game examples, which is greatly appreciated. the Missions are also designed in such a way that it encourages you to explore the menus and customisation options. as you progress through the missions, you unlock other features such as the shop. that's something i'm a fan of, and one of the bigger complaints i have with mobile games is how quick they are to open the shop whilst explaining nothing about it. 

Omega Strikers is a free to play game and one that i recommend trying out. it's one i will be keeping on my Switch, but won't replace Splatoon 3 as my go to online multiplayer game. but it's one i will keep coming back to. if there are online events, i may pop in every month to take part. for example, this month is a Creators Vs. event. you can select to represent a Creator and as you win you earn points for them. in this video, i chose to fight for  @RubberRoss  . whilst i was only able to get a single win for his team. it was fun. (also, check out his YouTube Channel. i do enjoy not only the art but how much fun he has with his friends)