Mobile Game

Rival Stars Racing Mobile Game Review

Animals, Breeding Simulation, Casual Game, Farming Simulation, Game Review, Mobile Game, Review /

I just finished my review of another game, Horse Haven, which you can read here.

Rival Stars Racing is another similar, yet different, horse breeding, raising, and racing game. I just also learned that it is soon coming to Mac and PC so if you’re the type who doesn’t enjoy mobile games, you might be interested in the PC version with enhanced graphics and additional features.

What makes Rival Stars Racing so great? The first thing that really stands out is the genetic system, allowing for stats and colors/markings to be passed down from parents to foals. read more

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Horse Haven Mobile Game Review

Animals, Breeding Simulation, Casual Game, Dressup Games, Farming Simulation, Kawaii Cute, Mobile Game /

I recently discovered Horse Haven, a mobile horse breeding, horse racing, horse dress-up game. As a lover of My Little Pony back in the 80s and 90s (I never got into Friendship is Magic, I didn’t like the new style of artwork or the new style of the toys, that’s just me.), I immediately was drawn to Horse Haven when I saw the ads featuring fantasy cartoon looking horses.

The gameplay is simplistic, as most mobile games. You build up various farms by placing new buildings, upgrading buildings, and then breeding and raising, and racing and showing horses in events like steeple chase or dressage. read more

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Sweet Dance Online Anime Dressup Mobile Music Dancing Game

2 Comments / Anime, Casual Game, Dressup Games, Featured, Free Game, Game Review, Gaming, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii Review, Mobile Game, Review, Videogame /

I just started playing Sweet Dance, a pretty cute mobile game with a variety of music hits from around the world. Songs include English hits from the US and Europe as well as Chinese, Korean, and Japanese tracks.

The game has several different dance modes. In the first dance mode, bubble mode, you must simply tap the bubbles on the screen. In Trail mode you must tap left, right, or both sides of your screen depending on the colors of the bubbles. Pink is Right. Blue is left. Yellow is both. The beginning mandatory tutorial only makes you play Bubble mode so I was confused when I played Trail mode but eventually figured it out. There’s also a beat mode which is like DDR for your fingers. In beat mode you must quickly punch in a sequence of arrow movements and then lock in your sequence at the right time with the beat button (The right time is when the red dot is near the white line).
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CocoPPa Dolls New Anime Mobile Dressup Game From The Creators of CocoPPa Play That’s A Lot Like Love Nikki Dressup Queen.

Anime, Anime News, Casual Game, Dressup Games, Free Game, Game Review, In Game Events, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii News, Kawaii Review, Mobile Game, News, Otome Game, Review, Videogame /
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/cocoppa-dolls/id1489434676

I’ve been playing a new mobile Dressup game called CocoPPa Dolls. As its name suggests it is by the creator of CocoPPa Play although this new title plays a lot more like Love Nikki or Romantic Diary than CocoPPa Play.

The gameplay is simple. You play Gacha to get new items for your avatar to wear. Some Gacha are time limited and some have rare items and others are always available with less rare items.

Ok so I know what you’re thinking. That sounds just like CocoPPa Play but that’s about when the similarities end.

From here you have a few different unique features… Let’s look at them briefly. Pictures may not be related to the text here I’m just sharing cute screenshots I took while playing. read more

CocoPPa Dolls New Anime Mobile Dressup Game From The Creators of CocoPPa Play That’s A Lot Like Love Nikki Dressup Queen. Read More »

A3 Anime Otome Game

A3! Actor Training Game Review

Anime, Card Game, Casual Game, CCG, Collectibles, Dating Sim, Featured, Free Game, Game Review, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii Review, Mobile Game, Otome Game, Review, Shoujo, Videogame, Visual Novel /

I had previously played the Japanese version briefly of A3! Act, Actor, Addict, an otome simulation game that puts you in the role of a young woman looking for her father who went missing 8 years ago.

Cybrid has now released an English version of the game, which is good, because this one has almost no gameplay, and tons of reading (as most Otome and Visual novels). Which is why I only played the JP version very briefly, because I can’t read Japanese, and with little gameplay, and no story (since I couldn’t understand it) it became boring quickly. But now that it is in English, I’m enjoying it quite a bit. read more

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Tamagotchi On Review 2019

Casual Game, Game Review, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii Review, Mobile Game, Monster Taming, Raising Sim, Retro Game, Review, Simulation, Tech Review, Toy Review, Toys, Videogame, Virtual Pet /

I just recently purchased the Fairy Pink Tamagotchi On from Barnes and Noble. Here’s my thoughts after the first 24 hours. I did a lot of research prior to purchasing Tamagotchi On. Tamagotchi On is also known as Tamagotchi Meets in Japan and Tamagotchi Some in Korea. The Tamagotchi Meets has a lot of bugs which were all fixed for the English Tamagotchi On. The bugs included things such as draining the batteries in just a day or Tamagotchis getting glitched when they evolved.

I also read that a lot of people received used looking Tamagotchi On from amazon who had badly scratched screens despite being brand new. Luckily mine was in perfect condition. I don’t know if the scratched screens were just from Amazon, or maybe a bad batch, afterall it’s been out for about 2 months now so my tama is from a different manufacturing batch.

I chose to purchase from Barnes and Noble because you can get 30% off your first toy order when you join the free kid’s club. Tamagotchi On are pretty pricey around $50-60 so saving 30% is a big deal.

I also prepared for my Tamagotchi’s arrival by buying a “case” which as far as I can tell is just a decorative touch. It might offer some protection but not much. When it comes to Tamagotchi “cases” there’s 3 basic types. Silicone which is what I bought – I picked out a pink Pusheen case which still isn’t here. Crochet cases from places like Etsy – many of which have cat or rabbit ears. And Bath and Body Works Hand Sanitizer holders which people are using mostly as wrist straps. Unlike the original Tamagotchis of the 90s, the new ones are not keychains. They do have a place you could attach a chain, wrist strap, or lanyard though. Or just pop your tamagotchi into the Bath and Bodyworks hand sanitizer.

The other ways I prepared for my Tama’s arrival include buying a tiny screwdriver and some rechargeable batteries. The battery door is secured with a tiny screw. I bought an eyeglass repair kit. If you live in the united states you can buy these at the dollar tree store. It comes with 2 screw drivers that fit the tiny screw and a cleaning cloth that you can use on the screen. And it only costs a dollar.

I dunno about you, but I am a 90s kid. I grew up with the original Tamagotchi. The new Tamagotchi On is very similar to its 90s counterpart. The basic concept of the game remains the same, you navigate the menus with 3 buttons. The first button toggles through the menus, the 2nd button confirms your selection, and the third button cancels and goes to the previous screen.

The gameplay also has not changed much on the surface. You feed, play with, and clean up after your virtual pet. The big differences between Tamagotchi On and the 90s version are that the Tamagotchi On is in full color and has a backlit screen. The Tamagotchi On also features some new gameplay elements, the biggest of which is the ability to connect to the Tamagotchi On app and play minigames to earn coins, or meet other players from around the world. Once your Tamagotchi is an adult, you can even marry another player’s Tamagotchi and have babies, including twins. The genetics of the parents pass down and there are over 1 million different combinations and ways that your Tamagotchi can look. You  can use the coins from the minigames to dressup your tama, decorate your room, buy toys or food for your tama, or put your Tama in a daycare so you can take time away, perfect if you have to leave your tama when you go to work or school.

If you have 2 Tamagotchi they can have playdates or communicate when you connect via infrared. You may want 2 Tama anyways because there are 2 versions *and more in Japan* with exclusive places you can unlock and a few Tamagotchi exclusive to each version. And in some cases (in Japan) there are rare genes in the special versions. The two places you can visit right now are Magic Land in the Purple or Green Magic Tamagotchi On US versions, or Fairy Land in Pink or Blue Fairy versions. The fairy version has more cute type Tamagotchi while the Magic version has more cool type tamagotchi. So which version you get may be influenced by what type of Tamagotchi you like best. If you like cute things like unicorns, or cool things like bats, vampires, witches, etc. But in the end it really doesn’t matter since you can marry and have babies and get the genes from all of the versions, even the Japanese exclusive versions, so you should just go for the shell color you like best. The white Magic one was limited in Japan but it’s now going to be an amazon exclusive in the US and Canada.

There are also many special events that happen. Like right now it is fall time and sometimes a tamagotchi will visit mine and they will go harvest fall food from the trees. Sometimes my tamagotchi will play hide n seek, or play with bubbles, or try to talk to me to get my attention.

It is a simple cute game with the object being to reach adulthood and breed and aim either for genes you like, or for rare genes that you want to collect.

Is it worth the high price? It faces a tough market, saturated with apps on the phone, some including other virtual pets, or even more complex games, all for free. each day new apps release, and kids have cell phones these days. But maybe Bandai never intended to target kids in the first place; perhaps they’re banking on people like me who collected the first tamagotchi to be willing to pay for the new Tamagotchi On.

What I like about Tamagotchi On is the feeling of nostalgia, the cuteness, both of the graphics, and the outer shell, and the ability to breed and see genes pass down to the babies. I also like that I only need to spend a few minutes a couple times a day checking in on the Tamagotchi. It doesn’t require much time, effort, or thought. It’s just a simple cute game. I like the feel of the egg in my hand, and the buttons are comfortably placed. This Tamagotchi is larger than the 90s version and seems a perfect fit for my hands. The color backlit screen is also a big improvement over the 90s version.

What I don’t like about Tamagotchi On is no built in keychain/wrist strap/lanyard mechanism, and sadly, I think I’ll enjoy the game for a few weeks and then bore/tire of it quickly because it’s just too simplistic. But on the plus side I do think I will revisit the Tamagotchi from time to time, whenever I feel like playing a cute and carefree game.

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BTS

BTS World Game Review

Card Game, Casual Game, CCG, Collectibles, Dating Sim, Featured, Free Game, Game Review, Gaming, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii Review, Kpop, Mobile Game, Otome Game, Review /

BTS now has an official visual novel style game that puts you in the role of managing your favorite boy band. Unfortunately, it is a great concept but has poor execution. There are lots of features which sound fun, but somehow still miss the mark. Even if you love BTS, which I do, this game still feels dull and boring. But somehow it’s cute, and I still find myself playing it and hoping it will get better. I’m grateful they made this game and took time to translate the text to English. Even if it is rather mediocre at best.

Check out the full review below.

Name: BTS World

Genre: Visual Novel / Otome Game / Dating Sim / Manager Sim

Publisher: Net Marble

Where To Get:

Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.netmarble.btsw&hl=en_US

Iphone: https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bts-world/id1435577798

Price: Free

Release Date: June 2019

My Score: 51/80 64% D “Average Game For Girls”

The game has only been out for about 2 weeks at this point, so hopefully they can keep adding new updates to make the game more exciting. The first chapter is especially dull. It needs a better introduction to the game, because no one is going to stick around to keep playing when the first dozen or more missions are so lackluster. I keep playing to see the cute boys, but you could just watch BTS youtube videos and get the same effect lol.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=klC15XDGxTY[/embedyt]

Geeky: 2/5 – Gameplay is bad, story is boring, but yet, it is definitely geeky, only geeky girls (and guys?) who love BTS will play this game.

Sweetie: 5/5 – The game is cute, with each member being featured in their own chapters and putting you in the middle of their story – even though that story really isn’t good at all. I like being able to pretend to text/chat with BTS, and watch their cute reactions. Who is your favorite BTS member? I like Jimin and Jin. They are so cute.

Gameplay: 4/10 – I want to rate this higher… but I just can’t… It has so many features, collecting cards like in Love Live, visual novel/otome story like idea factory games, dressup minigames like love nikki, chatting/phoning like Mystic Messenger…. yet… somehow… even though it draws inspiration from all of these amazing popular games that I love… it somehow… feels flat to me… The features are there… but they lack heart if that makes any sense?

Also one thing that drives me crazy is we can’t take screenshots, and can’t share our cards / brag about rares, etc on social media; that kills a lot of the fun for me.

Story: 3/10 – The story is bad… really bad… Almost can’t force myself to keep playing the game because the story is so slow, boring, dull, just blah…. You guys know I don’t like giving spoilers when I review a game, I like to let you discover the stories for yourselves… I should add I’m not very far in the game yet? Maybe about half way through? Maybe it will get better?

To give you a “highlight” of the story “concept” BTS World takes place in an alternate universe where BTS has never met. You receive a strange message on your phone telling you that you have won a free ticket to a BTS concert, but when you arrive, it’s only a single member, who is waiting to sign a contract which you somehow mysteriously have been carrying around.

Surprise, you’re BTS’ manager. Only you have any memory of who BTS is in the “Real World”. Here in this alternate universe, you work at Big Hit and have been tasked with recruiting talent for a new boy band who will eventually become what we know as BTS.

You do this by progressing through a visual novel style game, although there are few choices along the way.

The game assumes alot about you as the player. It assumes you already know who BTS is, and that you have in depth intimate knowledge about each of the members of BTS. The game doesn’t really provide you any of this information, because why would you be playing this game unless you love BTS right? (that’s their thinking not mine, I personally “like” BTS, but I’m not really knowledgeable about every single member).

I think the story could be improved by assuming less. Giving the characters more… character? I want to learn/know more about each member of BTS while I’m playing… but I feel like it doesn’t really tell me much… which leaves me feeling uninterested…

The games first several missions are literally like “OMG it’s xyz Member, what’s he doing here? Oh he signed my contract, and teased me because I’m freaking out again. I’m a really bad manager. I will do my best to help BTS”

I rather it assume that the player only has minimal knowledge – or better yet even, no knowledge, of BTS. I rather see the members introduced doing things they enjoy/love, like what’s their favorite food, what other hobbies do they have aside from kpop, like maybe playing video games, playing basketball, reading, volunteering with animals, I dunno, whatever BTS does in their spare time.

I feel like that would add some… heart… or humanity… or something to this game…. Give me a reason to care about the characters….

The target audience of this game, the millions of ARMYs are probably perfectly happy with this game, as evidenced by the 4.8 rating on Google…. I don’t consider myself an ARMY… but I do consider myself a fan of BTS – as evidenced here the last month or two that I’ve been sharing my listening habits with you readers, you can see I constantly list BTS (among also other KPop artists).

But even though I’m a fan, I couldn’t tell you too much; hell I can’t even name every member honestly – sorry, I’m not like die-hard… I’m just kinda a casual fan… but I would like to play this game too… but it just… frustrates me that I feel detached from the story and characters because the game does nothing to introduce them, tell me about them, let me “get to know them”.

Which leads us to…

Characters: 7/10 – I’m rating this highly – I am taking points away for the lack of character “development” – but the characters are actual BTS members and they have made videos and pictures etc just for this game, which is really cute, where they speak right to you as a manager. And you can see cute clips and introductions and it’s very cute. I love the cute boys. That’s the only thing saving this game. lol.

Graphics: 8/10 – Sometimes… the graphics look very cheesy in the novel (main gameplay parts), because they are so stiff. I’m used to Live2D where the characters move fluidly… But… in other sections, even some high level cards, there is real video clips, and BTS is so cute, who couldn’t love the Graphics, really?

Voice: 10/10 – BTS provides voice clips for the game too. You can hear BTS talking to you :).

Music: 10/10 – What BTS game wouldn’t have good music? duh lol.

Replay Value: 2/10 – I’m not sure… it’s only been out for 2 weeks – will they have time-limited cards, special events, etc? I hope so, otherwise once you complete the story (which isn’t even that good in the first place) I see no reason to keep playing the game.

My Score: 51/80 64% D “Average Game For Girls” – Yeah, I’d say this game is really just Average. Much better games out there… but if you love BTS – and know a lot about BTS – like I know Millions of ARMYs do – then you will probably super love this game. For me, it’s just kinda cute/amusing but ultimately not a very good game at all, despite that I like BTS quite a bit, but my lack of intimate knowledge of the band and its members ultimately hurts my enjoyment of this game. Your mileage may vary, especially if you’re a BTS super fan. lol.

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Design Home

Game Review: Design Home vs Home Design Makeover – 2 Similar Apps With Similar Names – Which Home Decorating Game Is Better?

Casual Game, Game Review, Gaming, Home Decor, Mobile Game, Review /

I recently began playing both Home Design and Design Home Makeover. 2 Android mobile games that allow you to decorate your own homes.

Home Design Makeover is available here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=in.loop.hdmakeover&hl=en_US

Design Home is available here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.crowdstar.covetHome&hl=en_US

Both are free games with optional in-game purchases.

First, Home Design is by Storm8 Studios. They have an upcoming Property Brothers game coming soon too. https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.storm8.propertybrothers

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzM7KPsXkW4[/embedyt]

Storm8 Studios also has a lot of other kawaii games including Bakery Story and Dragon Story. Check em out.

Home Design Makeover is a Match 3 game, similar to Homescapes, Gardenscapes, etc. Yes, you do have some options in how to design the home, but not nearly as much flexibility as Design Home.

Design Home is by Crowdstar Inc. They have only one other game, a popular dressup game called Covet Fashion. I have played Covet Fashion for a long time. Design Home plays almost the same as Covet Fashion but the concept is to decorate your room instead of dressup your model.

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YJjyORH4C-o[/embedyt]

The concept is similar, you enter timed events and can borrow from your friends’ inventories, or use currently owned items, or purchase furnishing for gems or dollars in game currency. You can also vote on various events to earn more event tickets (called keys in Design home). And like Covet Fashion, the items are from real-world brands and have links to purchase or view the real-world equivalent of the item outside of the app as well.

The thing I love about Design Home is how much flexibility it has. You don’t just pick from 1 of 3 couches or 1 of 3 wallpapers, but hundreds of different items and there are many many items in each room, tables, chairs, accessories, wall decor, etc. This makes your design truly unique and much more exciting and creative than the match 3 system in games like Home Design Makeover or Homescapes.

In the end, I prefer Design Home, it’s more creative and enjoyable. But Home Design Makeover is fun especially if you are a fan of similar Match 3 games. Check them both out and leave a comment below for which game you prefer.

Game Review: Design Home vs Home Design Makeover – 2 Similar Apps With Similar Names – Which Home Decorating Game Is Better? Read More »

Idol M@ster Shiny Colors – Japanese Mobile Game Review and Kinda Brief English Walkthrough

Android Phone, Anime, Apple, Casual Game, CCG, Cellphone, Collectibles, Dating Sim, Decisions Matter, Featured, Free Game, Game Review, Gaming, In Game Events, Ipad & Iphone, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii Review, Life Sim, Mobile Game, Raising Sim, Review, Shoujo, Simulation, Slice of Life, Videogame /

I am really into Idol M@ster Shiny Colors. Unlike other Idol M@ster Mobile Games or Love Live or Bang Dream, Idol M@ster Shiny Colors is not a rhythm game. Idol M@ster Shiny Colors is a simulation game. You are a producer and “hire” idols to work in your studio. You draw the idols from gacha.

Please note – I did not realize this when I played, but on your first 10 play gacha, you get UNLIMITED REROLLS by pushing the YELLOW BUTTON on the left. Once you are happy with your cards press the PINK button on the right. I didn’t know, I pushed the pink button and I only had one SSR. I have been thinking about starting over (and still might) but I think I had some pre-registration bonuses and other things I don’t want to lose by restarting the game. So definitely do not push the Pink button until you have the cards you want.

Collecting and dressing girls is the main appeal of the game. But what do you do once you have a team of idol girls? You can plan their schedule – like a true sim game. You can have them practice, give interviews, or other activities to promote their stats.

The stats also can be increased in a final-fantasy-style skill tree system where you spend skill points to unlock stat-bonuses like +20 vocals, +30 dance, +20 vitality, etc. Depending what “path” you take in the skill tree your girls will develop in different ways.

You have one main girl, and several other backup idols. The main girl is the one to gain from this skill tree system.

Performing a live show is quite different from other mobile idol games. It’s more almost like an RPG battle. You tap a girl’s face below the stage and then tap a “skill” along the left such as vocal, dance, etc. Then a colored bar will appear on the screen, try to time it right and tap the screen when the needle on the bar is in the white color. White will give you the highest bonus. Purple the least, and yellow a medium boost. You can also “link” your girls’ actions to perform together in one attack. On the right hand side of the screen are some other bubbles. i think, but could be wrong since I do not read Japanese, but think that you are competing against other idols, and as you perform these skills you can defeat the idols to the right hand side. But if you miss, you will notice your own idols on the left dropping off the screen. Once all the idols either on left or right are gone, the performance ends.

The artwork in the game is very kawaii, and SSR and higher cards have movie animations, both when retrieving from the Gacha and also when performing a live show. All of the idols are animated with Live 2D which brings the characters to life on your screen. Many of the cards have “multiple characters” on one card, and when performing a live show, or meeting the idols out in town, you may see special scenes featuring the characters all together.

The voice acting and music is also top notch as you would expect from an idol game.

Replay value is high due to limited time events that offer rewards such as gacha tickets and gems.

My only complaint is a lot of the gacha are for paid gems only. However, the gems are fairly cheap, you can get a few hundred gems for under $10 – I haven’t bought any yet.

Will we see Idol M@ster Shiny Colors get an English release? Probably not. They tried years ago to release some Idol M@ster games in English and it flopped – however, they wanted $65 for a mobile game – And worst of all, after it flopped, they pulled it down and even if you had paid for it you could no longer play it!!! I wish they would try again but with some of their “FREE” mobile games, either Shiny Colors, Theater Days, or Cinderella Girls. — But my hope is slim… However there are 2 things that give me a little bit of hope. 1.) They seem to understand that there may be English speaking players playing Shiny Colors, when the visual novel aspects come up and the choices appear, they show in English an emoji and English words that say “Perfect” “Good” “Normal” so even if you can’t read the choices you can pick the best response still. And when purchasing diamonds, the currency is shown in US Dollars, not in Yen, which is odd. I’ve literally never seen that ever before in any Japanese games. Which is a nice touch so I don’t have to try to convert it, if I ever decide to buy diamonds. And 2.) I have hope because we are getting more and more and more English idol games, with the upcoming Revue Starlight Re LIVE, or last year’s Bang Dream Girl’s Band Party and Utapri, or the ever popular Love Live School Idol Festival, we continue to receive more and more games in this genre, but we have yet to receive any of the free Idol M@ster games… Shiny Colors is only a few weeks old in Japan, maybe in a year or two we could hope to see an English release? But it is still fairly easy to play even in Japanese. But it would be nice to be able to enjoy the story! I’d be more likely to buy paid gems if the game was in English.

Scorecard:

Overall Score 70/80 88% B+ “Very Good Game For Girls”

Geeky: 5/5 – collect virtual waifus. very geeky. And simulation aspects set this game apart from other idol games.

Sweetie: 5/5 – the girls are adorable

Gameplay: 10/10 – finally a true simulation game, similar to Princess Maker or Tokimeki Memorial, you schedule your idol’s activities and watch their stats grow. I enjoy this much more than just a tappy tap rhythm game. Your girls develop in different ways based on your choices and I love that.

Story: 0/10 – I can’t read Japanese so this may not be a “fair score” but until an English version exists I can’t judge the storyline.

Characters: 10/10 – cute, gorgeous artwork, huge diversity of girls.

Artwork: 10/10 – cute, live 2D, SSR and higher cards have full movie animation sequences.

Voice Acting: 10/10 – all of the girls sound so cute.

Music: 10/10 – of course a game about idols is going to have catchy and cute music.

Replay Value: 10/10 – Lots of events, they give a lot of SR tickets and free Gems and the fact that this is a simulation game also adds replay value because the girls change based on decisions you make.

Overall Score 70/80 88% B+ “Very Good Game For Girls”

Idol M@ster Shiny Colors – Japanese Mobile Game Review and Kinda Brief English Walkthrough Read More »

Qoo App Is The Easiest Way To Play Japanese Google Playstore Games On Your Android Device

Android Phone, Card Game, Casual Game, CCG, Cellphone, Dating Sim, Featured, Free Game, Gaming, How To, Kawaii Cute, MMORPG, MOBA, Mobile Game, Monster Taming, Online Gaming, Restaurant Simulation, Review, RPG, RTS, Service Review, Simulation, Slice of Life, SRPG, Strategy, Tech Review, Technology, Videogame, Visual Novel, Website Review /

How To Install Japanese Google Play Store Games On Your Android Device With Qoo App Without a VPN or Japanese Google Play Store Account

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Helix Waltz Review Casual Fashion Dressup Mobile Game Like Nikki Dressup Queen

2 Comments / Anime, Branching Plot, Cosplay, Costumes, Dating Sim, Drama, Dressup Games, Fantasy, Fashion, Featured, Game Review, Gaming, Kawaii Cute, Mobile Game, Online Gaming, Review, Simulation, Slice of Life /

helix waltz anime dressup game
helix waltz anime dressup game

Title: Helix Waltz

Publisher: Ubeejoy

Release Date:

Genre: Dressup Otome Game

Platform: IOS and Android

Price: Free with optional in-game purchases

Where to Get: https://waltz.ubeejoy.com/

Overview: 10/10 Helix Waltz is very similar to Love Nikki Dressup Queen or Romance Diary with a few differences. It has a slightly more detailed / less “cutesy” artstyle, and more focus on story. In fact, before getting the meat of the game, you must go through a very lengthy tutorial, that for a mobile/casual gamer will probably take more than a few days to complete. In this tutorial you learn a lot about the story and setting of Helix Waltz. This is where we see the majority of the differences that set Helix Waltz apart from other similar Dressup Games.

Story: 10/10 Helix Waltz puts you in role of a young orphan adopted by a (former) noble lady, and being groomed for a life of royalty. A strange visitor also enlists your help as a spy amongst the noble court. Your job is to chat with other nobles, gather intel as a spy, and impress them with your fashion to work your way back as a noble family. There is definitely more backstory than found in most dressup games, and that story is tied to the gameplay too.

Gameplay: 9/10 Like Love Nikki Dressup Queen and Romance Diary, you compete in Fashion Battles with NPCs to advance through various story stages. You collect various items which you layer and equip together to create unique looks. Each level requires certain styles or colors of clothing to get the best score possible. Such as equipping a dress, or tops and bottoms, along with shoes, stockings, jewelry, necklaces, rings, bracelets, hairstyles, makeup, and so on.

Unlike Love Nikki Dressup Queen or Romance Diary, the majority of the game is focused on navigating through the story and playing against NPCs. Until you reach at least level 19 when you finally complete the lengthy tutorial. Playing 2-3 hours a day, it will still take a few days to complete all of the tutorial missions to get to the free play mode. I have yet to complete the tutorial so I’m not sure if Helix Waltz allows you to compete against other human players as well.

Also unlike Love Nikki Dressup Queen, but similar to Romance Diary, Helix Waltz focuses more on Otome aspects, but not so much on romance. Instead it has a very interesting story of intrigue and deceit. At the waltzes, you can search for specific NPCs or you can wander about and bump into random NPCs, you can select various things to chat about and choose your responses which will affect the NPC’s moods and overall opinion of you. You can also challenge the NPCs to a fashion battle, or you can eavesdrop on NPCs to gain valuable intel.

I enjoyed the unique approach in both story and gameplay to focus more on infiltrating the noble court and gathering intel. I didn’t enjoy the linear nature of the game in the early levels and lengthy tutorial.

Artwork: 4/5 – The artwork is very detailed, but to me it isn’t as cute as similar games like Love Nikki Dressup Queen or Romance Diary. This may just be down to personal tastes. I’m sure some of my readers prefer the art style of Helix Waltz over the other games as well.

Music: 4/5 – The classical music fits the game’s theme very well. You also have the option to change the music later in the game.

Geeky: 2/5 – Although the aspects of infiltration and espionage add a new exciting twist to the traditional gameplay and story mechanics of most dressup games, this game is still for casual female gamers and not likely to appeal to a wider audience.

Sweetie: 4/5 – Helix Waltz loses a point for slightly less appealing artwork (compared to similar dressup games). Otherwise, those who enjoy dressup games, and a good story, with strong female lead, are sure to enjoy Helix Waltz.

Overall Score: 43/50 86% B “Very Good Game For Girls”

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Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition for IOS

Fantasy, Free Trial, Game Review, Ipad & Iphone, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii Review, Mobile Game, Review, Videogame /

I tried Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition. I had previously reviewed the original game for PlayStation 4. I enjoyed the game for its gameplay but felt the story and characters fell apart in the second half of the game. You can read my full review of Final Fantasy XV on PS4 here.

My favorite part of FFXV was Prompto’s photography skills. While other skills are in pocket edition, like Ignis’ cooking, Prompto doesn’t get to take photos. Actually thinking about Prompto’s photo skills is making me want to replay the PS4 version right now lol. There is also a lot of new DLC and events I’ve missed since I haven’t touched the game in over a year now.

How does Pocket Edition compare to FFXV on PS4? Obviously the biggest difference is a different art style, using chibi characters instead of photo realistic designs. The original game has some of the best graphics I’ve ever seen in an RPG. That said, the IOS version is no slouch. It too has some of the best graphics of any IOS RPG. Ignis’s food still looks delicious. And the chibi characters are kinda cute!

Music and voice acting and story are still the same, at least in chapter one which is as far as I’ve gotten. I do not think I will purchase the full game which costs just a meager $14.99. I rather play the original on my PS4 to have Prompto’s photo skills and the gorgeous graphics and more comfortable controls.

My recommendation is that if Pocket Edition is the only way you can experience Final Fantasy XV, it’s definitely worth $14.99 but if you have access to the console version (or PC if it’s available on PC) then shell out the extra cash and play the original.

Pocket edition is good but not without flaws. My iPad is a 2017 version with the latest updated IOS, and with graphics turned high in the settings it crashes… often… in chapter one it crashed 3 times already freezing completely and forcing me to reset and lose progress between saves.

But let’s look at some of the highlights of the game. In pocket edition you still get the full story identical to the original version at about a fifth of the price. You still get some really handy features to cut down on the monotonous parts of traditional RPGs. Final Fantasy XV offers many handy ways to travel such as by car or chocobo or by visiting previous locations on your map. There’s still the skill tree to customize your characters’s combat abilities. Healing, switching weapons, using items, etc is all done in real time. Combat is fast and fun and at times even challenging. Gameplay wise, the original Final Fantasy XV is one of the most fun RPGs I’ve played in the 2000s.

And pocket edition in many ways comes close to this gameplay. Like I said, if you have no other way to enjoy Final Fantasy 15, then you should give Pocket Edition a try. Even if you typically don’t play RPG games, you may enjoy this one because it’s much more fluid and less tedious than most other JRPGs.

Here is how I’d rank Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition

Title: Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition

Release Date: February 2018

Price: chapter 1 is free, after that it is $14.99 to unlock all chapters.

Platform: Mobile, IOS, Android, Switch, Xbox360, PS4

Developer: Square-Enix

Genre: JRPG

Where to get: https://itunes.apple.com/sg/app/finalfantasy-xv-pocket-edition/id1152350815?mt=8

Geeky: 3/5 Not as graphically intense as it’s original counterpart, and has some performance issues at times, also offers fewer skills, where’s Prompto’s Photography? However, it does a good job of mimicking the combat and fluid travel and gameplay features of the original.

Sweetie: 2/5 The story has highs and lows… and not just the emotional ups and downs, but in some cases a lack of emotion in parts and tendency to abandon side characters and create plot holes or weaknesses in character development. The lack of Prompto’s photography is also huge to me.

Gameplay: 6/10 without the photography skills I have to rate this much lower as that was the best part of FFXV. That said, it still offers many side quests, great combat, and quick and fluid gameplay. The skill tree has a lot to offer to help grow your characters’ combat skills and it is overall still a fun RPG

Story: 6/10 Story is pretty identical to the PS4 version, The story is about 4 male best friends, one of which who is a prince. The prince is not like your typical prince, he’s very kinda rough around the edges, smart mouthed, sarcastic, and at times apathetic. But as the story unfolds, he begins to mature into someone fitting of the throne, The best part of the story is the friendship of the four male main characters. But there are weaknesses in any of the other characters, Some are killed too soon to get any emotion from the audience when they die, others are even killed or left out if the second half of the game never to be shown again, especially all of the female characters and as a female gamer who reviews games for other girls, that’s a big ouch there for me and my readers.

Characters: 6/10 The four “bros” deserve a 10/10. They are really great and their character development superb. Their interactions with each other and message of the importance of “bromance” are really the highlight of the game, but all of the side characters are severely under developed.

Music: 10/10. It’s the same as the console version

Voice acting: 10/10 once again also the same as the console version

Graphics: 7/10 Given that it’s a mobile game… these graphics are pretty good but of course can’t compare at all to the original.

Overall: 50/70 71% C- “Good Game for Girls”

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Shin Na Zuki IOS JRPG

Game Review, In Game Events, Kawaii Cute, Kawaii Review, Mobile Game, Review, Videogame /

I began playing Shin Na Zuki, a free mobile JRPG featuring summoning mechanics in a beautiful fantasy anime setting.

What I like about the game:

  • Full voice acting and beautiful music
  • Cute characters
  • Pretty graphics
  • Summoning
  • Costumes
  • And most of all a really interesting story that feels like it could even be straight out of a console JRPG.

What I dislike about this game:

    Not enough characters to collect for a summoning type game
    Gameplay especially in combat is boring
    Crafting is also boring/mindless
    Stupid people in the chat rooms. So bad I disabled the comments.
    Couple of small typos/translation errors like using the word buy instead of but, etc

Also dunno what’s up with the seemingly excessive swear words in the dialogue lol. read more

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At Home or On the Go: Which Gaming Style is Most Popular?

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According to mygaming.com, an online video gaming magazine, more than 1.8 billion people play video games across the world. Considering that the current global population is around 7 billion, that comes to approximately one in every four people who play at least one video game every month. read more

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