Fantasian Review on Canadian App Store

2022/03/16 koukoupuffs

I enjoyed the first half of Mistwalker’s strategy* RPG but, like many others, found the difficulty spike during the second half to be frustrating. I submitted a short review to the Canadian App Store back in the Fall of last year explaining how I felt about the damage sponge bosses plus their insane attack power among other things.

^{*It’s not officially labelled as one. I just consider it that based on the battle design.}

Apparently someone or some people didn’t take kindly to my critiques and down voted it making it impossible for anyone to see it unless they sorted by Most Critical or Most Recent. The latter would require a little bit of scrolling but at least it’s not sitting way at the bottom like it is with the default sort option — i.e. Most Helpful.

I’m just bewildered why my review was considered less helpful than the simple, common complaint, “The bosses are too hard.” I didn’t lie or exaggerate anything; it was what I saw happen when I played.

At any rate, even though I don’t get many views on this site, I’d still like the review to be a little more accessible so here it is:

This is a strategy RPG that is not meant for all JRPG players
Regarding part 2: I am absolutely fine with figuring out tricks and timing the swapping out of characters to tackle bosses. I am NOT fine with the absolute absurdity of every one of them hitting like a truck even when the party level is 2 – 3 levels higher. Healing is almost always a necessity after each hit as health easily falls into the yellow or red. Barrier & DEF Up barely mitigates any damage.

Aside from bosses, why does a level 50 area with level 50 enemies give puny amounts of experience for a party that’s several levels lower? Was the reduced experience after level 35 applied globally by accident?

Lastly, it feels like the only point for levelling up after Part 1 is to gain SP for Growth Maps and some extra cushion for characters so they an survive an extra hit from a boss.
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Original review which was written during Part 1:
Fantasian is good times except the crashing. I’m 13 hours in and enjoying the experience. The Dimengeon system is great for uninterrupted exploration. More JRPG developers should consider something similar. My only gripe with the game is that it will crash without fail after playing it for about an hour. It can be the only app running and it’ll still happen. I’m guessing because it’s running on an older iPad (6th generation, 2018 model). It would be amazing if something could be done at Mistwalker’s end to stop it from happening though.

Android · games · iOS

Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition Ramblings

2018/02/132018/02/17 koukoupuffsLeave a comment

FInal Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition - King Regis — King Regis in the game’s goofy caricature style.

This is not a review. I’m only writing out my thoughts about the game as I feel like sharing them. I may add more to this post later on.

There are spoilers. They’re found toward the bottom of the post. I marked the section with a header.

Update:

~~ Tuesday, February 13, 2018 ~~

Updated caption in IAP screenshot to note that the prices are in Canadian dollars.
Added screencaps of the app description from the App Store and iTunes.

Continue reading “Final Fantasy XV: Pocket Edition Ramblings” →

Android · annoyances · games · iOS · stupidity

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp — What’s Wrong with the Game Designers?

2018/01/312018/02/17 koukoupuffsLeave a comment

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp - Bunnie isn't taking your shit — Angry Bunnie

Edit on Saturday, February 17th, 2018: As of version 1.2.0, the quarry help, event creature catching success rates, and, to a degree, animal requests have been addressed. Hoping to see more improvements in the future!

I’m going to assume there’s more than one person involved when it came to designing the user interface and experience. It just boggles my mind that the following was given a pass by the designers and the folks that QC’d the app:

Sending Shovelstrike Quarry help requests to each friend individually.
I literally have to spend 2 – 3 minutes everyday going through my list of 20 or so active players to ask for assistance. Did Nintendo honestly think players were going to just stop at 5 people? Maybe we would if we knew who would reliably send help every single time but as far as I know, that information isn’t shown.
No categories for flower trade.
Some moron on staff decided it was a good idea to just lump everything onto one page and have everyone scroll for an eternity to look for the item they want to trade. To add insult to injury, the focus will jump back to the top of the list after the transaction is done. =____= Here’s what it looks like in action:

Look at this madness. Heaven forbid you want to buy multiples of an item at once; the list jumps back to the top after a transaction. 9_9

UX offense on all levels.#AnimalCrossing #PocketCamp #ScrollingForEternity pic.twitter.com/z0dctxtqHZ

— Kirby’s BFF (@koukoupuffs) December 21, 2017
Constantly needing to re-initiate conversations with animals
I realize that this is something from the main Animal Crossing games, but in those ones, you rarely had a need to speak to them multiple times in a row. In Pocket Camp, however, you’re trying to fulfill their 3 requests so why in all hell do I have to keep tapping on the animal over and over if I have everything they need? Why not just leave the dialogue topic menu open and let me close it myself if I have to go and get the items needed?
Abysmally low success rates of catching butterflies during Rover’s event
I guess Nintendo made it nigh difficult to catch butterflies in hopes that players would spend leaf tickets (a.k.a premium currency) to get Lloid to catch them. If anyone did, it was most likely the whales and they’ll spend on anything to “win”.

A sight like this was not uncommon.
Useless “cutscene” of a Re-Tail delivery
Unless you have severely short-term memory, you are most likely NOT going to forget what completed item you just tapped on in the Crafting menu so why show your character receiving it? It may just last a few seconds but it’s completely and wholly pointless. I’ve sent in a request to have an option to turn off the scene added. Who knows if it’ll ever happen?
The Market Box
You can only see a preview of the first 4 items, you HAVE to go to the user’s camp to see the rest or buy anything, and you can’t collect all the Bells you made from multiple sales at once. It seems like the people involved in making the Market Box was thinking about the most inconvenient and roundabout way of using the damn thing.

Aside from the above, Nintendo also introduced the whole gardening bit without giving a thought of making life easy for everyone when it came to accessing other players’ gardens and identifying when a friend’s flowers needed watering.

They’ve addressed these two issues in recent updates, and they’ve released a notice not so long ago stating that they’ll be making changes to some things I’ve pointed out above. It continues to amaze me how common sense escapes everyone that’s involved with making Pocket Camp.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp - Future improvements — Nintendo is too blind to realize what common sense user experience is and needs the community to tell them that.

Something I hope to see is a re-balance on animal requests since I run into situations where all 4 animals would ask for multiples of the same fruit, fish, or bugs.

I get that they want us to make use of the Market Boxes and/or stay in the game/log in a few times over the course of a 3-hour cycle to collect the necessary quantities. But realistically, that probably doesn’t happen often for anyone playing. And along with Boxes being annoying to access, a lot of players simply put in rare items so good luck finding the squids or monarch butterflies all the animals are simultaneously wishing for.

As for fruits, I’d use the fertilizer more often but that would require spending leaf tickets to replenish them so nuts to that.

Incidentally, if you’re finding certain things rubbing you the wrong way in Pocket Camp, be sure to let Nintendo know! You can access the feedback form from the game’s menu under More. Tap Misc. and then Customer Support. From there, choose Feedback. The rest should be self-explanatory.

Android · annoyances · games · iOS

Tiny Farm: The Event Lucky Bag Draw

2017/10/042017/10/31 koukoupuffsLeave a comment

Whoops. I meant to come up with something before September ended but forgot. The silly thing is that I always have a lot to write about! However, they always end up as snippets on Twitter.

I probably mentioned it before, but one of the biggest deterrents in writing a blog post is that I feel the need to think up a theme or two and then write a few paragraphs based on that/those. Composing a blog post takes up a good part of the day too.

With Twitter, on the other hand, I can just toss up anything at the spur of the moment without worry that it has to be some sort of short prose. I like that sort of freedom.

Anyway, let’s talk about the pesky event lucky bag draw from Com2uS’ free-to-play mobile game, Tiny Farm, and how using it can get expensive.

Continue reading “Tiny Farm: The Event Lucky Bag Draw” →

Android · annoyances · games · iOS · stupidity

App Developers, Stop Asking for 5-Star Reviews!!

2017/08/302017/08/30 koukoupuffs2 Comments

Back in 2012, I wrote a piece about the dos and don’ts of requesting and writing reviews on both Google Play and App Store. Nothing’s really changed from 5 years ago; people are still writing shitty useless one-word “reviews” and developers still put those prompts for a 5-star rating in their apps.

Once again, I will explain why I take issue to the latter:

The developer only has one thing in mind: A 5-star or perfect rating means better visibility in search results in the application’s store which ups the chances of it being downloaded. It doesn’t matter if the app is not right at the top of the results. The chances are many users LOOK for 4 or 5-star ones as it gives the impression that it’s a good product.
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Developers use the bullshit excuse that a 5-star rating will better motivate their team. If you actually valued user feedback, you’d be asking for critiques without tossing in the specific rating suggestion and incentive (or bribe as I like to refer to it as) to review.
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EVERYONE WANTS FREE STUFF — especially when it’s premium currency so of course most people will bite. Developers know this and they also know that they’ll fall for the following point.
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Users do what they’re asked to despite how they actually feel about the game.
Poor user is made to think that the only way to get the gift is by giving the app full stars. 😦

PRO TIP: I’m unsure how it is with Android apps but with iOS, you don’t NEED to even rate or write a review to get a gift/bribe. Simply tap on the prompt box and allow the device to automatically switch to the app’s store page. Once there, don’t do anything! Just immediately go back to the app.
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I believe this can also be applied to sharing on Twitter or other social services where you can just cancel the post and still receive the review incentive.

I leave 1-star reviews for companies that practices this sort of shit and call them out. I actually received a reply from one for a game I like playing which stated that players are free to give whatever rating they feel appropriate.

Well, gee. No shit. But as that example screenshot I provided showed, people a) rate 5-stars because they are told to, and b) believe giving a full rating is the only way to get the gift.

I’m not saying developers should outright stop asking for reviews and ratings or giving incentives. I’m only wishing they’d stop being dishonest and deceitful with the review prompts. Users will, in all likelihood, give the full rating and write positive comments if they’re happy with what they’re using. I think that should motivate the team more than all the blind & thoughtless 5-stars.

Android · annoyances · games · iOS

Tiny Farm: Forever Incomplete Collections

2017/04/30 koukoupuffsLeave a comment

In 2013, Com2uS, the game’s developer, introduced the Heroic Animals. They’re the fifth and final animal needed to complete a regular (re: not event-specific) collection. Unfortunately, even after 4 years, only 14 out of the 60 collections waiting for a Heroic type can be completed.

Tiny Farm - Rabbit Collection — These bunnies have been around since the beginning of the game 5 years ago and, like many collections, are still missing their Heroic companion.

For some reason, there are also these impossible achievements that no one can fulfill because the requisite fifth animal doesn’t exist:

Tiny Farm - Rabbits and Hare Achievement — Collect them all … somehow!

Tiny Farm - Cat and Dog Achievement — Imaginary cats and dogs are needed for this.

Perhaps they’ll eventually be doable but it would be nice if they could remove these in the meantime. 😛

I believe Com2uS didn’t consider the bigger picture when they created the Heroic Animals since, unlike the typical ones that just roam around the map or fill speech balloons popping up above their heads with inane statements, they possess skills that can usually help gameplay aspects such as allowing animals to instantly level up or increasing the chances of successfully obtaining a higher tier animal through breeding.

Inserting a bit of a tangent here: There’s one oddity among the Heroic types. The Heroic Bearded Pig, also known as The Crazy Doctor, can actually harm crop efficiency by tacking on a negative percentage value to crops causing the player to lose out on profit and experience. Thankfully, its skill effect can be cancelled before any damage can be done. However, this would mean that the player wasted Hearts on the Heroic Bearded Pig for nothing. 😐

It could be my luck but I do end up with the negative result more often than the positive one. Unless you have Hearts to spare, I advise against gambling on this nutty pig.

Here’s an image of it, by the way. 😀

Tiny Farm - Heroic Bearded Pig — One of my favourite heroic animal designs, but it also has one of the most annoying skills.

Anyway, new Heroic Animals used to come out on a consistent basis, but it’s not surprising that this stopped a few years ago. After all, it takes time to think up useful abilities that will keep the game in balance. Still, this lull feels rather lengthy. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt since they did eventually come up with third dog for the Dog collection years after the first and second ones. (It’ll probably take another couple of years before the Talking Dog shows up. :P)

In the interim, Com2uS has opted to keep churning out new limited time and event-based collections with increasingly insidious money-making ways.

Android · games · iOS

Tiny Farm Village Scores

2017/02/282017/04/30 koukoupuffsLeave a comment

Update on April 30th, 2017: As of version 4.6.0, there are far more ways to obtain Village Points than what’s listed below. Please refer to the “Village Point” button on the screen that shows Weekly Village and Individual Daily Goals for a list, or the new FAQ accessed through the Notice/News section in-game.

It’s been a long time since I’ve written about Tiny Farm. I tweet about it now and then though, especially when I have screenshots to post. 😀

There’s really not much to talk about since most things are straightforward, but there’s something I noticed in the village I was previously a part of — it seemed like some members didn’t know how to accumulate Village Scores.

In that village, we never made the Weekly Village Goal. There was only about 7 or so members and I think 2 of them weren’t around most of the time. Active members would have had to come up with about 1,000 points each and I don’t think anyone ever got past 600. The majority didn’t even complete the Individual Daily Goal.

In contrast, the current village I’m in blows past the weekly goal with ease since most members meet the their daily goals.

Tiny Farm - Villagers' Contributions For the Current Week — Tiny Farm – Villagers’ Contributions For the Current Week

Tiny Farm - Village Score Weekly and Individual Goals — Tiny Farm – Village Score Weekly and Individual Goals

So what are the ways to build up Village Score points? The question mark next to the Weekly Village Goal header in the image above provides a breakdown. Otherwise, a general list can be found in the Village FAQ that can be accessed through the Notice button.

Here’s the screencap of the details found in the Village FAQ:

Tiny Farm - Village Score Help — Tiny Farm – Village Score Help

One can easily gain a Village Score of 70+ per day by doing the following: Continue reading “Tiny Farm Village Scores” →

Android · games · iOS

Mobius Final Fantasy JP – Default Key Mapping in Steam Version

2016/11/282016/11/28 koukoupuffs11 Comments

You can change any of the following by selecting the hotkey. The button on the bottom of the screen is to reset all changes.

Q	Confirm (OK)/In battle: Attack
E	Cancel/In multiplayer: Action Cancel
W	Up
S	Down
D	Right
A	Left
Z	Card Menu/In battle: Ability 1/Full Auto: Defense Mode
X	Social Menu/In battle: Ability 1/Full Auto: Attack Mode
C	Shop Menu/In battle: Ability 3/Full Auto: Enable or disable Ultimate Usage
V	ETC Menu/In battle: Ability 4/Full Auto: Enable or disable Job Change
B	Home Menu/In battle: Ability 5/Full Auto: Enable or disable Prioritize using cards that have Extra Skills to unlock
Ctrl+Z	Element Drive element 1
Ctrl+X	Element Drive element 2
Ctrl+C	Element Drive element 3
Ctrl+V	Element Drive recovery element
Ctrl+B	Use Ultimate
Shift+Z	In battle: Special Command 1 (applies to Special Events only)
Shift+X	In battle: Special Command 2 (applies to Special Events only)
Shift+C	In battle: Special Command 3 (applies to Special Events only)
F	In battle: Enable or disable Full Auto/Region map: Teleport Mode
R	In battle: Change Target/Region map: Position reset
Ctrl+R	In battle: Enable or disable double speed
G	In multiplayer: Stamp menu
Ctrl+Q	In multiplayer: Action Lock
Shift+B	In battle: Job Change
T	In battle: Help menu

Android · games · iOS · PS4

Mobius Final Fantasy and FFXV Judgment Disc demo

2016/11/252016/11/25 koukoupuffsLeave a comment

I’d like to apologize to everyone coming to my blog looking for advice or information about Mobius FF jobs, ability cards and/or deck configurations. I don’t provide them because I’m not the type that analyzes their worth and I’m definitely not someone that can come up with “a good deck” for any occasion. ^^

My gameplay style is conservative & defensive and I always play to survive rather than for quick and efficient killing.

You can try web sites like the Mobius Final Fantasy wiki at Gamepedia or Reddit. There are lots of informed players, threads, and articles that give great advice. ^^~

Incidentally, I won’t be doing a write up of the JP content for December. Here’s a summary of the Japanese Square Enix Presents stream from a few days ago on Altema instead: http://altema.jp/ffmobius/namahousou24-24874

I still think the writer erroneously refers to the Cloud skin as a job. It will not have its own stats. Instead, you apply it to a Warrior job and you end up getting a Wol that looks like Cloud + an Ultimate that’s exclusive to the skin.

Anyway, here’s the meat of the post 😀

Continue reading “Mobius Final Fantasy and FFXV Judgment Disc demo” →

Android · games · iOS · Windows

Mobius Final Fantasy JP – A Troublesome Job Quest for the Mage and Mini Annoyances in Chapter 6 Part 2

2016/11/142016/11/14 koukoupuffs1 Comment

Mobius Final Fantasy - Mage Job Quest 5 — I’m stuck here. The objective is to defeat 6 enemies with Ultimates.

I believe this was my third attempt at this. I don’t ever die but it really looks like I’m going to need to change my strategy and defeat another enemy within the first two battles so I won’t have to rely on the final one. :V

The mission isn’t exactly difficult; it’s mostly about surviving and not killing off enemies before the Ultimate gauge is ready.

I once tried it with a main deck that focused on attacks and buffs, and a sub deck meant for replenishing the Ultimate gauge. The problem was that I didn’t equip any attack cards in the sub deck and the defensive buffs would run out before I could switch back. It really didn’t help I didn’t have any auto-abilities with Job Change Recast in the Ultimate recovery set. 😛

Hmmm. I can also chance switching to the sub deck when the Mighty Golem is in the Break phase since it has cards with Brave and Faith. I guess I’ll give this a try. ^^~

Oh, I almost forgot to write about the exciting adventures in Chapter 6 Part 2. XD

It’s all under the cut. 😀 Continue reading “Mobius Final Fantasy JP – A Troublesome Job Quest for the Mage and Mini Annoyances in Chapter 6 Part 2” →