Nearly two years ago, I wrote an editorial sharing my reasons why the Girl-Band Boom will never happen. Since then, Bang Dream has grown in popularity, especially with their overseas mobile game release. From this, I thought I was going to eat crow over this. With some thought, I wonder if the statement Kidani Takaaki made was correct. Or maybe, does it represent another trend for gaming in Japan? Here are my thoughts.
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Playstation 4
PlayStation 4 – Worth it in the Age of PC Gaming and Nintendo Switch?
Since June 2016, I finally bought a PlayStation 4. You might be wondering, what took so long for you to write a review? There are many reasons why I didn’t hop on the PlayStation 4 bandwagon until later on.
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The Idolmaster Platinum Stars – Final Review
For a while now, idols have become popular in Japan. While I enjoy Idolmaster 2 and One for All on the Playstation 3, Bandai Namco decides to make the jump to the Playstation 4. They announced The Idolmaster Platinum Stars on the franchise’s 10th anniversary live concert and released in July of 2016. It improves on the graphics drastically while introducing new gameplay. The question is, does it live up to the hype.
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Yoru no Nai Kuni 2: Shingetsu no Hanayome – Final Review
In November 2015, Gust made a new franchise called Yoru no Nai Kuni (also known as Night of Azure outside of Japan). It focused on a half-demon girl named Arnice (アーナス) with her quest to protect Lilysse (リュリーティス) and stop the Nightlord
The sequel, Yoru no Nai Kuni 2: Shingetsu no Hanayome (よるのないくに2;新月の花嫁, lit: Land without Darkness: Bride of the New Moon) starts where the first game left off with a new cast with more refinements to the battle system and a new story. Of course, this game suffered development hell with it delayed several times. It’s not until August 31st it finally made it past development and released to the public in Japan. With that, this makes you wonder, is the sequel worth the wait?
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Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey – Final Review
In recent years, there has been a shift to open-world type games such as Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild with the advancements in graphics power to handle them. While Gust made improvements to the gameplay aspects in the Atelier series, Atelier Firis: The Alchemist and the Mysterious Journey (フィリスのアトリエ〜不思議な旅の錬金術士〜) is perhaps the most ambitious game they made in the franchise. It features a large world to explore while bringing new mechanics. How well did they execute this? Let’s find out.
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Atelier Sophie: Alchimist of the Mysterious Book – Final Review
With the Dusk/Twilight trilogy complete, Gust finally make their first entry to the Playstation 4. Atelier Sophie: Alchimist of the Mysterious Book (ソフィーのアトリー〜不思議な本の錬金術士〜) is Gust’s first entry to the new system with ports on the Vita and Playstation 3. While introducing new mechanics, Gust also brought back some old as well. How well is Gust’s first entry to the Playstation 4? Let’s find out.
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Yoru no Nai Kuni (Nights of Azure) – Final Review
For a while now, Gust has specialized in turn-based role-playing games, namely for the Atelier and Ar tonelico franchise. Yoru nai Kuni (よるのないくに, lit: Land without Darkness) also known as Nights of Azure in the west is Gust’s first attempt at an action role-playing game. With that in mind, how will their first action role-playing game will fare?
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New Atelier Rorona – Origin Story – Final Review
As mentioned a while back when I wrote my first impressions of the remake, Atelier Rorona was the weakest out of the Arland trilogy mostly for the fact that the graphics was the weakest aspect of the game. I didn’t play the original mostly because there was a good possibility that Gust would be remade it and I was right.
New Atelier Rorona pretty much took all the good aspects of Atelier Meruru (and some aspects from Atelier Escha and Logy) in terms of gameplay and graphics while adding cross-play compatibly with the PS3 and the Vita and combined them together with the original story. Since I have finished most of the game, it’s time to take an overall look at the game.
Note: Like with all the Arland games, the Plus versions were rereleased on the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch as DX on September 20, 2018. As with the Plus version, the review will cover the DX versions as well.
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Anime Weekly Digest – Spring 2013 – Week 11 – Post E3 Edition (Photo Kano and OreImouto Episode 11)
Since E3 happened last week, it’s time to share my brief thoughts about the Playstation 4 and games for the Nintendo consoles as everyone else already done so…
Also, Anime Impressions for Photo Kano and Ore no Imouto 2 Episode 11. (Image Source)
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Atelier Meruru Plus – The Alchemist of Arland 3 – Final Review
You might be asking, “if you have the English version of Atelier Meruru, why would you buy it again on the Vita, but in Japanese?” The answer is that I find the game addictive, but I want to play it on the go. This is where the Plus version comes in as it brings the full game with the DLC included, costumes and extra scenes. Since I use my Vita mainly to practice my Japanese skills, it’s one of the main reasons I bought this game. (Image Source)
Note: Like with all the Arland games, the Plus versions were rereleased on the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch as DX on September 20, 2018. As with the Plus version, the review will cover the DX versions as well.
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Atelier Totori Plus – Final Review
As released back in 2010, Atelier Totori made numerous improvements to the gameplay from Rorona after Gust made their first entry to the Playstation 3 such as the art style and game mechanics. Now, that is now made into a Playstation Vita game that only got a release in Japan. (Image Source)
Note: Like with all the Arland games, the Plus versions were rereleased on the PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch as DX on September 20, 2018. As with the Plus version, the review will cover the DX versions as well.
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