Storm Lover Kai!! – I don’t like the guys

storm lover kaiActually I suspect D3 Publisher intentionally made them not-so-likeable because of the kind of game this is. Unlike most otome games, Storm Lover offers a lot of flexible (or should I say ‘loose’) dating options so you can date guys without actually being locked into a route until the game ends.

You can date Kyosuke for a month, dump him for Yuto, flirt with other guys until Yuto leaves you for another girl, win Yuto back, woo Kyosuke again on the side then leave Yuto for him, date Kyosuke for another month then ditch him for Tatsumi/Mio/Rikka/anyone else once and for all. You do have to get your final guy early enough to see his story events or risk breaking up after the ending (as I found out when I left Kyosuke for Mio in February) but otherwise you can get a perfectly good ending with the last guy not matter how many guys you’ve dated that year. Do please go on, this is most interesting →

Tales of Hearts, 20 hours in

tales of hearts start screenI’ve snuck into some facility with my crew to rescue Kohaku, who has been kidnapped. The traitor in my party has betrayed me and has been easily forgiven. I’m beginning to think easily-forgiven traitors are a staple of Tales games, since every game I’ve played or read about seems to have at least one. I imagine fans must have a good time playing “Spot the Traitor” as soon as the first characters are announced.

Anyway, that’s just by the way. After 20 hours my feelings for Tales of Hearts still fluctuate by the hour. Sometimes I really like it, most times it’s just okay and sometimes I wonder why I’m still playing. That happens to me a lot at late points in games, when I realize I could just watch the rest on Youtube and be done with it. Especially when I’m in a dungeon I’m not enjoying at all, as in the case of this Niberg facility thingy we’ve snuck into. I want to do another Spiria dungeon! I never thought I’d say that, but Spiria dungeons are more fun than regular ones because there are fewer monsters roaming around and no puzzles to solve. More importantly I just want this game to be over soon.

I did a little googling to find out how long it takes to beat Tales of Hearts. 36 hours on average? 16 more hours? I don’t think I’m going to make it. I can stomach maybe ONE more dungeon after this one, 2 if they’re really short and if the monsters drop lots of Soma Build items because soma building is FUN. Maybe it will be over sooner because I’m on Easy Mode. Either I finish this game in the next 5 hours or I drop it and Let’s Play the rest. I have spoken.

I want to play Entaku no Seito again…

Rakuen Seikatsu Hitsuji Mura – Play 5 minutes, wait 5 hours.

shepcross onlineI’m going to be referring to this game as ‘Shepherd’s Crossing’ a lot, simply because ‘Hitsuji Mura’ is the Japanese name of the Shepherd’s Crossing games, just like Bokujou Monogatari is the Japanese name for Harvest Moon. Rakuen Seikatsu Hitsuji Mura is Success’ second attempt at making an online Shepherd’s Crossing game after the first one, Makiba Seikatsu, was shut down in late 2014. Do please go on, this is most interesting →

Game progress report

progress-reportIn alphabetical order:

Adventure Bar Story – 13 hours and 58 minutes. It’s gotten old. I haven’t unlocked any new recipes or dungeons in a while and I’m too stubborn to look at a FAQ. Cook the same dishes, buy the same items, visit the same dungeons, fight the same monsters. I’ll give it another 2 hours and try to hit level 30 with my peeps before giving up. Do please go on, this is most interesting →

Adventure Bar Story (1)

adventure-bar-story-croppedTales of Hearts? Ao no Kiseki? How can mere big-budget handheld games compete with the charm of a $2.99 smartphone game? Say hello to your new mobile overlord!

Adventure Bar Story is an Atelier-inspired crafting RPG from a company called Rideon Japan. It’s been (passably but not well-)translated and is available for the Android, iOS and 3DS. A free demo called Adventure Bar Story LITE is also available if you want to try it before buying. It’s a good idea to do so just to make sure it works on your phone, but if it works on my dinky old rooted (many Japanese games won’t run on rooted phones) Android 2.3.5 512 MB phone, it will probably run on anything. Do please go on, this is most interesting →