Backlog Conquering - RiME - Part 1 - The First 55 Minutes

RiME is the new Backlog Conquering game. i'm playing this on my launch model Japanese PS4 and it's a PSN download, i think there was a disc version of this game in some markets.

I've had this game for a while and i don't really know why i never played it. i think that it maybe wasn't as good as people had hoped for tho i don't really remember. i do remember there being some hype around this game.

It quickly became clear that this is a game that leaves it to the player to work it out. it does offer some hints as to what you need to do. for the first part, there were pillars of light and there was fruit strategically placed next to animals. but as i moved to the second area, i felt like there were fewer hints and that did lead me to stopping the game because i had been stuck for 5 to 10 minutes.

I did have fun exploring. there was no sense of urgency nor anything that seemed out to kill me. so it was nice to do it at my own pace. But it did feel a little dated in that your character is unable to climb and seems not able to jump high at all. i can understand why this character can't jump, it's to confine you to an area. the game may look like an open world but it's actually several gated areas. i have done the first area and i'm in the second, and yet i don't really know if i've finished the first area. there are many collectibles in the game but there doesn't seem to be any record of how many you need to find in area. maybe this'll be something that'll unlock at the end of the game or maybe i'll get a in-game map later.

There will be a part 2, but getting as stuck as i did at the end of part 1 has taken the wind out of my sails, so to speak, and completely halted any momentum i had up to that point.

Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday - Nintendo Switch Edition - Ilmina 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 Ilmina Cup! (2023/7/24 9:00～2023/7/31 8:59 JST) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and a docked Nintendo Switch.

I wasn't able to play this on Monday when the new cup started, playing on Tuesday usually means there are fewer players online. but it was still competitive and i never managed to beat any of the other human players. when it was just me versus the computer, i did manage to get a couple of wins. But ultimately, i was never able to defeat the boss even tho i got there a few times. i feel like i understood what i needed to do, but was either unlucky or not quite right. This cup was also the first time in a while where i felt held back by using a controller as everything felt slower, and less accurate, than what i wanted to do.

This week i played against:

Ciel - Rank 66

くれぴ - Rank 68

ハニーバナナコーン - Rank 95

モテぃ - Rank 52

Cloud Monday - Dodgeball Academia - Part 2 - The Underdodges Battle to The Tournament!

Today's Cloud Monday is part 2 of playing Dodgeball Academia on my launch model Japanese PS4 via the PlayStation Plus Premium Service. In part 1, https://youtu.be/8VHNzvngNfg, there were a few minor issues with streaming the game but nothing that got in the way of gameplay.

I'd say that today's part 2 went even better. there were a couple of noticeable things but they were slight and didn't get in the way of gameplay. because they were slight, there's a chance they were from the game itself rather than from streaming it from PlayStation Plus Premium to me.

As for playing the game, well it was a pleasant experience. both parts have been enjoyable. by the end of this part i came to the conclusion that it's a bit slow for a sports game but if you treat it like an RPG, then it becomes surprisingly approachable kinda like a Pokémon game. if you've played one of them, certain things about this game instantly became familiar, but it also has plenty of it's own unique ideas. coupled with the whole Dodgeball world, Dodgeball Academia feels familiar but also new and interesting. these two parts are still in the tutorial phase of the game, but because it's been soo well integrated into the story it doesn't stick out. it feels natural and very well crafted to ensure that you are always ready for what's next.

In part 1 i talked about how the game's generous Auto Save and ability to save quickly make it a game that's great to stream even if it wasn't designed for it. In this part, that auto save helped me out when i got stuck in a quest i couldn't finish. it didn't save after each battle, it saved before them. so thankfully all i needed to do was load that auto save and i was unstuck. the game was also helpful in saying that i had side quests unfinished and if i went to the next episode, i wouldn't be able to do them. coupled with the tutorial i mention above, it's clear that the focus for the game is letting the player play in accessible ways and it makes it a great choice for not just streaming but for playing in general.

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

Welcome to Switch Funday.

I checked and i hadn't got this month's Salmon Run item, See-an-Enemy HUD (It looks like the scouter from DragonBall Z) so i decided to have a "relaxing" time with Salmon and get it.

It wasn't too bad, result wise, today as my teams and i managed to complete the third wave in half of the games. we faced off against the King Salmonid once, but we could only get it down to about half health. we faced it on the smallest stage, too, so it was extremely difficult.

One nice thing about this weekends Salmon Run was that i enjoyed more of the available weapons than normal, but i did seem to get the one i don't like a little too frequently. i also noticed, and complain about it in the video, that it felt like there was less communication from my teammates than normal.

Online Saturday - Gundam Evolution - 4 Matches, 2 Wins!

Even tho this is my 6th video on Gundam Evolution, it's the first one since it was announced that the game will be closed on 29th November, https://gundamevolution.com/en/news/195.

It's sad to see it go soo quickly. it's not perfect, i'm complaining in every video. but there is something to it, there are many aspects of the game i enjoy. it feels like a good first attempt and i genuinely would be excited to play the sequel. but i doubt it'll come anytime soon, if at all. Here in Japan, there is still a good number of players on PlayStation. it doesn't take too long to get into games. 

So what went wrong. well, in my opinion after spending nearly 8 hours with it, i do think the name is bad, i believe the roster of Gundams is far too small, the number of maps is too small, having 3 unbalanced economies is just frustrating as it doesn't feel like a free to play game i can complete without spending large sums of money. the loot box system is ruined by the sheer numbers of different items it can unlock meaning as players we'd need to get far too many of them, but getting the loot boxes is difficult without money.

when it comes to gameplay, a lot is done right so it's the little things. respawn times are a tad too long whilst the amount of time it takes to kill you feels too short. many of the special moves seem like a waste and many attacks don't have weight behind them even tho you're in a Gundam. like the guns are fine, but i wouldn't say they're satisfying. there's a disconnect between the movement of the Gundams on screen compared to those from anime as well as the Gundams being far too fragile in comparison.

If i could help with a sequel, i'd firstly put in many many more Gundams and leave customisations as pay things to unlock. i'd lean into it being not soo serious so we could get mechs from other games or other anime or even crazy ones, like a Hello Kitty Mech! More maps, bigger maps where you move across them going from area to area as you complete objectives similar to Star Wars Battlefront. to make a better sense of scale, battles could be similar to Warhawk, which i might've got wrong in the video, where there are those in mechs, those on the ground, those up in buildings, or it could do what Eve and Dust 514 tried of battles across space and land.

the point is, there is a lot to like about this game but it's not without it's faults. it's up against some heavy hitters, games that are sequels in a series like Splatoon 3 and Overwatch 2, and games that have been around for a while which have a made a name for themselves and are far more polished, like Apex Legends, Fornite, and many others. I will keep playing as for me it's one of the better online games i've played. but who knows, will loosing this game mean i try Fortnite?!

Puzzle & Dragons Tuesday - Nintendo Switch Edition - Roche 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 Roche Cup! (2023/7/17 9:00～2023/7/24 8:59 JST) in Puzzle & Dragons: Nintendo Switch Edition whilst using a GamePad and a docked Nintendo Switch.

It was great fun playing against so many other players. it felt like a real fight to get into the top 3, so the fact that i managed it in nearly all my games makes me feel very happy. but i don't think i ever truly mastered this event, even tho i did win a couple of times. when i got to the boss i couldn't even do half damage to it, that's why i think i didn't fully get what i had to do. if you see what i was doing wrong, please let me know in the comments.

This week i played against:

パジャリガー Rank 59

Melusine - Rank 81

コジロー Rank 75

みっさー Rank 36

pyors - Rank 68

YURI - Rank 75

さづるな - Rank 75

e.k - Rank 62

RAY - Rank 63

Cloud Monday - Dodgeball Academia - Part 1 - THE UNDERDODGES ASSEMBLE!

Today's Cloud Monday is part 1 of playing Dodgeball Academia on PS4 via the PlayStation Plus Premium Cloud Streaming service. This is a game that came out a couple of years ago from Pocket Trap and Humble Bundle.

This is a game i didn't know about, but thankfully it's description on the PSN gave me enough to understand that it's not just a dodgeball game but there's school life and team building, too. It's a recent addition to the service and i picked it as i thought it's bright colorful graphics and artstyle would be an interesting challenge for cloud streaming as issues like Macroblocking would be very evident should it appear.

And it did appear. actually, there were a host of issues throughout playing the game. as well as the macroblocking, there were resolution drops, stream tearing, and stuttering. at times, it did feel like some blurring and blurring might've been from the game itself rather than from streaming it. however, the controls felt fine and i couldn't notice any lag from them.

Whilst these issues were rarely a problem, they were noticeable. But i did forget to do the internet speed test after i was done so i can't rule out the issue being my end this week. i don't think the issues got in the way of gameplay tho. the visuals are big and bright which meant that even when the resolution dropped, i could clearly see everything and when there was macroblocking it didn't cover up any object.

The game also has a robust autosave function as well as the ability for the player to save manually by bringing up the main menu. This means that if there ever is an issue with streaming and the cloud streaming service decides to terminate the stream, there's a higher chance that we can save before it kicks us off. so far, whilst not perfect, i do have to say that this is a good game for streaming so far. there'll be a part two where we can get a sense of how it is to stream it overall, and hopefully i'll remember to do the PS4 internet speed test.