It seems that Hajime wants to impress Aoba, but sadly, she fell short.
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New Game! – Episode 5 – Hajime’s Wallet Misheap, Thermostat Fun and Ko’s Past
Video Games
New Game! – Episode 4 – The Joys of a First Pay Check
At last, Aoba finally receives her first paycheck! To me, it feels very nostalgic.
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New Game! – Episode 1 – The First Day at Work
It’s Aobe’s first day working at a game company of her dreams. How well does it go?
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Vita Capture Mod Review
As you know, I record footage with a Vita TV since it’s a cheap way to capture footage. While it’s tricky to record footage since the Vita TV use HDCP, it has some downfalls, namely compatibility. It’s basically a hit or miss. Sure, it will work perfectly with most roleplaying games, but games that uses the touch screen such as Kancolle Kai will not work. It will just give you an error message saying it’s not compatible. Considering that I have a number of games that do not work on the Vita TV, it was a disappointment.
Since the Vita TV killed off by Sony earlier this year, it’s expected that the compatibility will get worse. In short, I pulled the trigger to mod my older Vita and here are my thoughts.
Note: It’s not possible to obtain a Playstation Vita with a capture mod since the company behind it, Katsukity went out of business. This review will remain for historical purposes. No, the capture kit is not for sale.
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Miracle Girls Festival – Final Review
Believe it or not, I enjoy rhythm games a lot considering my musical background. I have played several rhythm games ranging from Dance Dance Revolution, Audiosurf, The Idolmaster and even Project Diva along with a few anime licensed ones.
When I heard about Miracle Girls Festival back in 2015, it’s basically a dream come true. It’s a crossover game featuring female characters (a good chunk from shows that has a female cast) from 11 franchises (Yuru Yuri, Kin-iro Mosaic, Wake Up Girls, Gochuumon to name a few) with the same gameplay like the Project Diva games. How well does it fare? Let’s find out.
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Year in Review – Thoughts on What Japanese Games I Played This Year
Now that 2015 is coming to a close, it is time to focus on what I have played this year, which has been very busy.
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Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon – Final Review
I have to admit that the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon spinoffs are very enjoyable to play. While they are Pokémon themed versions of Spike Chunsoft’s Mysterious Dungeon games, which is a roguelike roleplaying game that consists of randomly generated dungeons, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon is the most known franchise out of the various licensed Mystery Dungeon games given how popular it is. The main basis of the game is that the player plays as a human who turned into a Pokémon with his/her memories lost and go on an adventure with a partner Pokémon.
While Blue and Red Rescue Team and Explorers of Time are geared to a young audience, it does not mean that the games are watered down. As you progress, the dungeons get progressively difficult, especially in the end game. Not to mention, there is a lot of nightmare fuel since the stories are a bit darker compared to the main series.
As mentioned in 2013, I find Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Gates to Infinity a very disappointing game. Not only they limited the amount of Pokémon that are in the games, but they made the game too easy while removing some things like hunger, personality test and genders along with adding DLC, which some fans are against. Given the backlash they received, Spike Chunsoft has listened and made Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon (ポケモン超不思議のダンジョン), a new installment to the series which contains all the Pokémon while mostly going back to the original formula with some changes and new additions. Does this game live up to the title? Let’s find out as I review the Japanese version.
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Anime Influences on Japanese Games and Thoughts about Licensed Anime Games
For a while, anime influenced many types of media not only because of its popularity, but also for its art style and the story telling. Because of this, it is easy to not only see anime not only as some form of advertisement, but also having a big influence on other types of media such as video games. You might be wondering: what aspects in video games do anime influences? I will share my take on it along with my thoughts about licensed anime games.
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The Idolm@ster Gravure For You (Main and Cinderella Girls) – Final Impressions
Unless you are a big Idolmaster fan, which I am, most people probably have not heard about Gravure For You. This is a bonus mini game that comes bundled with the Blu-ray packs that allows you to take pictures of idols wearing different outfits with different poses. There are nine different volumes for the main series and Cinderella Girls. With that, I will share my overall thoughts on these mini games, mainly focusing more on the Cinderella Girls Gravure For You, which introduces more features.
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So, I got a Japanese New Nintendo 3DS (and Yokai Watch 2 First Impressions)
As you know, I own the original Nintendo 3DS, which I bought several months after it came out in the states. I have to admit that there were not many games that I was interested in besides a few first party games. Since the Nintendo 3DS is region locked, a policy that I complained about, I couldn’t import any Japanese games, even if there are some that I am interested in.
Last year, Nintendo has announced a new Nintendo 3DS, which is an evolutionary upgrade of the highly successful 3DS. Since I play mostly Japanese language games nowadays, I decided to go for a Japanese model this time. With that, it’s time to share my overall impressions on the new 3DS along with my short first impressions of Youkai Watch 2.
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Atelier Shallie – Alchemists of the Twilight Sea – Final Review
Since the start of the Dusk/Twilight trilogy, Gust has experimented with gameplay elements while having a somewhat darker story with the Earth in decline. In the last game, Escha and Logy allowed all 6 members (three active) to participate in battle while improving the alchemy gameplay by allowing you to choose the traits again. Also, you can see what tasks you need to get done along with what rewards you will get if you get a line up. Of course, the biggest addition is that there are now two protagonists you can play as, which has not been in the game since Mana Khemia 2.
The third and possibly last entry in the Dusk/Twilight trilogy is Atelier Shallie, which of course not only have dual protagonists (both female), but it also bring backs some game mechanics from Mana Khemia 2 such as getting rid of the time limit, variable strike and the burst gauge while introducing some new features and improvements. Since I have beaten the game at least once, its time to share my thoughts.
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Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica The Battle Pentagram – Final Review
Back in 2011, Madoka Magica took the magical girl genre by storm as they deconstructed the whole genre by making it dark and filled with drama. As expected, the show received so much critical acclaim that it eventually received three featured length movies, a bunch of manga spinoffs and even a licensed video game, both were made by Bandai Namco. Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica The Battle Pentagram is a sequel to the first portable game, which swaps the rogue-like dungeon crawling for a hack and slash gameplay on the PlayStation Vita.
Warning: Contains some spoilers from the Anime and movies.
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Thoughts about Self-Insert and Featureless Characters – Do they Ruin Anime, Video Games, etc.? It Depends
In the past, I have shared my thoughts on why male lead characters tend be weak-minded. Just recently, an interesting discussion about self-insert characters has popped up at AnimeSuki, which intrigued me. It makes me wonder if this is the reason most male characters are portrayed as such in Anime and other forms of media.
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Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica The Battle Pentagram – First Impressions
In the past, I have been wary towards licensed video games for the fact that most of them produced in the west are notoriously bad. However, I have never played any licensed Anime games before. In the next few months, I am going to cover three Anime licensed video games over the course of several months. With that, I will share my first impressions thoughts on Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magica The Battle Pentagram.
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Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;birth2 Sister’s Generation – Final Review
Back in 2013, Compile Heart and Idea Factory started remaking Neptune games for the PlayStation Vita starting with the first game, Neptune Re;birth 1. Neptune Re;birth 2 Sister’s Generation in comparison to the prequel feels more like an enhanced port rather than a remake since Mk2 did not have as many problems in comparison to the first game in the franchise. If so, what improvements did Compile Heart and Felistella made in this enhanced port?
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The 5 Most Enjoyable Japanese Games of 2014
Since 2014 is coming to a close and I don’t plan on covering any more games for this year, it’s time to take a look at which Japanese video games were the most enjoyable.
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Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire – Final Review
Back in the early 2000s, Game Freak made a big leap in terms of gameplay and graphics with Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire when they finally transitioned to the Gameboy Advance for the 3rd generation. These games basically laid the foundation for future generations by introducing new mechanics such as abilities, natures, an overhauled IV/EV system and double battles.
While Game Freak hinted a Ruby and Sapphire remake in Pokémon X and Y last year, everyone knew that it was going to happen. Eventually, they revealed Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, which is a remake of the original games. These remakes add new features (including enhancements to Pokémon Contests and Secret Bases) while adding more mega evolutions and an expanded post-game. Does this new remake live up to the original? Let’s find out!
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Reminiscing about Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire – Memories and Favorite Aspects
It has been over 10 years since Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire released in America. Even though Generation III was not my favorite generation, there were many aspects that I liked. Since Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire releases tomorrow, the best way to share my anticipation for the new remakes is to look back at the original games and share some memories I have with it.
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Ciel nosurge – First Impressions
Back in 2012, Gust who is known for their work on the Atelier franchise decided to make another series that is set in the same world as the Ar tonelico series. Since the Playstation Vita came out in February of 2012, they decided to experiment with this new handheld by creating a communication dating sim called Ciel nosurge (シェルノサージュ〜失われた星捧ぐ詩〜 lit. Ciel nosurge ~Song offered to the Lost Star~ ), which is played in real-time over the internet. This game can be described as Animal Crossing meets Love Plus with social elements thrown into it. They recently released an Offline version that removed the online requirements with all the DLC content included, thus making it possible for the player to play at his/her own pace.
While two versions of the game got released after the original (Re:Incarnation and Offline), they also created a sequel titled Ar nosurge, which came out this year in Japan and later got localized to English. I find it odd that they would release that game first considering that the sequel requires the player to finish most of Ciel nosurge in order to fully understand the story. Considering that this game is a niche title, not a role-playing game and is very text heavy, I can understand why Gust and Koei Tecmo aren’t willing to localize it. Even so, it seems that people are interested in this game. With that, I will share my initial impressions of the gameplay from the Offline version.
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Chou Megami Shinkoku Noire Gekishin Black Heart – Final Review
With the success of the Neptune franchise, Idea Factory and Compile Heart has been expanding the franchise by making various spinoff games for the Playstation Vita. While I was disappointed with Neptune Idol PP, I had high hopes for Chou Megami Shinkoku Noire Gekishin Black Heart since it was a full-featured strategy RPG with Noire as the main heroine. Does it live up to expectations? Let’s find out.
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Bullying and Generalizing People for Liking Anime and/or Video Games
In the past few weeks, I have witnessed a lot of bullying and name-calling shaming people who play or enjoy video games. It’s true that people tend to judge people depending on tastes and their hobbies such as people who like Anime since it’s a niche medium. Because of this, people who are not familiar with it will likely hold an ignorant, distorted or uninformed view on it and generalize them to a certain stereotype or label.
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Atelier Shallie – Alchemists of the Twilight Sea – First Impressions
Last month, Gust finally released the third installment of the Dusk series, Atelier Shallie. Unlike the first two games in the Dusk series, it feels like a departure from the usual gameplay since this game feels more like Mana Khemia 2 since they replaced the time limit with a Life Task system. While there are some mixed reactions from the fans, here are my first impressions of the game.
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Chou Megami Shinkoku Noire Gekishin Black Heart – First Impressions
In the past year, Compile Heart and Idea Factory has been expanding the Neptune franchise by making various spinoffs in order to reach a wider audience. Last year, they made an idol simulator, which left a disappointing taste in my mouth. This year, they released a strategy RPG featuring Noire (Chou Megami Shinkoku Noire Gekishin, 超女神信仰ノワール激神) and planning to release an action game, which is developed by Tamsoft, the makers of Senran Kagura at the end of this month. While I’m not interested in the latter, I decided to get this game since I enjoy Noire/White Heart’s personality. Since I’m close to half way done with this game (currently on Chapter 4), it’s time to reveal what I think about the game first hand.
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Atelier Ayesha Plus – Final Review
Koei-Tecmo’s acquisition of Gust has left a bad taste in most fans’ mouths when they decided that they are not going to include dual audio in Atelier Ayesha (I shared my thoughts on this issue in an editorial about localization issues I wrote early last year). Not to mention, there has been reports that they poorly handled Escha and Logy localization. Eventually, I ended up just importing the Japanese copies of the game since I knew enough Japanese to understand most of the game.
Although I considered getting a Japanese copy of the game for the Playstation 3, I decided to wait since Gust in December announced a Plus version for the Vita. Since I finally finished the game, it’s time to share my overall thoughts about the game.
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