Shining Blade – Confusing for Shining Hearts fans (spoilers)

It’s a bit of a stretch to call myself a Shining Hearts fan after all the things I said about it, but I didn’t exactly hate the game either. The bread-baking gimmick was great, so much so that I was inspired to bake my own. The result was more b-r-i-c-k than b-r-e-a-d, but the process […]

Sakura Note – A study in parental selfishness (spoilers for a game no one has played)

Sakura Note is a short game, only about 4 or 5 hours long, so I finished it quickly once I put my mind to it. I had some harsh words for it last time, but the story improved dramatically in the last two chapters and the ending was very sweet, so I feel a lot […]

New half-year gaming resolutions

It’s more like 5/12th of a year, since we’re still technically, barely in June. I’ve realized I don’t feel like playing most of the games on my New Year’s resolution list right now. When I made that list, I thought I’d never see my PS2 again, but now that it has miraculously resurrected there’s stuff […]

Ore ga Omae wo Mamoru – Metroidvania for girls

The first release in Idea Factory’s now abandoned Otomate Forte series of games. The idea was to produce regular games with a ‘girl-friendly’ coating to make them more appealing to female gamers. The second game was Date ni Gametsui wake ja nai, which was a remake of Master of the Monster Lair with added bishies. […]

In which I moderately praise Phantasy Star Portable 2 for being a very good game, objectively speaking

It took me 20 hours, but I finished Phantasy Star Portable 2. Take that, stupid Kumhan! You and your stupid Light Attack that killed me 6 times until I realized it was blockable! It’s not just blockable but it’s his weakest attack once you block it. All those wasted attempts. Tch. I was a bit […]