Update: It’s been a few weeks without an update to my blog. I’ve been very busy with work, including traveling out of state for work and I haven’t had time lately to write any new reviews. But I’m back. Today I’m reviewing Shira Oka 2nd Chances. I played this game last year and really enjoyed it. Let’s take a look at it together below!
Title: Shira Oka 2nd Chances
Publisher: Okashi Studios
Title: Animal Boyfriend
Genre: Dressup Game with Stat Raising and Otome Dating Sim elements
Get it for IOS here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/animal-boyfriend/id890845984?mt=8
Get it for Android here: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.ne.ambition.googleplay_gijin_glb&hl=en
Publisher: Ambition
Geeky:
Sweetie:
Overall: 54/70 77% C+ “Good Game For Girls”
Concept: 8/10 – This is a very cute app with a lot of fun features. The main focus is on dressing up your “student” and entering different monthly challenges for limited outfits. There’s also an otome element to the game as you can interact with your pet in a “dating sim” sort of fashion.
Title: Lufia 2 Rise of the Sinistrals
Genre: RPG
Publisher: Natsume
Platform: SNES
Release Date: 1996
Geeky:
Sweetie:
Overall Score: 60/80 75% C “Good Game For Girls”
Concept: 9/10 This review is for the 2nd game in the Lufia series. Although, chronologically, the events in this game take place before the events in Lufia & the Fortress of Doom. Which we reviewed by the way over here in our Lufia and the Fortress of Doom Review. The 2nd game improved upon many aspects of the original including some pacing issues with the story and enhanced graphics, more challenging puzzles to solve, and no more random encounters. The story in Lufia 2 Rise of the Sinistrals takes you back to playing as Maxim and the original heroes who helped defeat the sinistrals as shown briefly in the prologue of the first game. Like it’s predecessor, Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals also includes some dungeon crawling and adds a new monster taming mechanic, but the game is largely a traditional turn based JRPG with colorful graphics, endearing characters, and a heart warming story.
Lufia 2 Rise of the Sinistrals Retro SNES JRPG Game Review Read More »
Title: Anima Mundi The Dark Alchemist
Genre: Visual Novel (with crafting minigame)
Platform: PC
Publisher: Hirameki International
Where to Buy: Sometimes Appears on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Animamundi-Win-Mac/dp/B000EYXDTM or JLIST / JBOX: (no link available) and sometimes available via Playasia: http://www.play-asia.com/animamundi-dark-alchemist/13/701xnb — It’s out of print, and rare, and a highly regarded game so it can be difficult and expensive to find, but I promise you; this one’s worth it!
Title: Amnesia Memories
Genre: Otome Game / Visual Novel / Dating Sim
Release Date: August 2015
Publisher: Idea Factory
Platform: PS Vita / PS TV and PC and IOS / Android
Get it for PS Vita on Amazon Here: http://www.amazon.com/Amnesia-Memories-Vita-Digital-Code/dp/B0149HRMX2
Get it for PC on Steam Here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/359390/
Get it on IOS Here: WARNING THE IMAGES THEY HAVE CHOSEN FOR THIS PAGE HAVE MASSIVE SPOILERS:
Free Trial Version here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/amnesia-memories/id1019449265?mt=8
Title: Wolf Girl and Black Prince
Number of Episodes: 12 anime episodes – over 40 manga chapters – the anime ends with manga chapter 21; so you can continue the story by reading on from manga chapter 22.
Episode Length: Approximately 30 minutes
Genre: Shoujo, Romance, Drama, Comedy, Slice of Life
Where to Watch: http://www.crunchyroll.com/wolf-girl-and-black-prince
Story: 10/10 Erika is a typical highschool girl, worried about her reputation with her friends in her class. So when her friends all start bragging about their boyfriends, Erika decides that she’s going to make up a fictional boyfriend to impress her friends. Without thinking, she randomly takes a cellphone picture of a cute boy that she passes by on the street. When she shows her friends, they are shocked and don’t believe her, because it is the “prince” of the school; the one guy that all of the girls want to date, the most popular and most unobtainable boy in the school. Not wanting to get caught in her own lie, Erika approaches the “prince” to ask him if he could pretend to go out with her for a short time. He tells her he will be her boyfriend if she will be his dog. He tells her he likes dogs that follow him around and obey his every command. He literally treats her as if she were a dog. He makes her bark, turn circles, fetch, and sit and stay on command. She agrees to be his dog because she so badly wants to keep up appearances with her friends. While pretending to be dating, the two gradually draw closer. Erika almost instantly develops feelings for the prince, however, he does not trust women due to his own relationship with his mother and sister. He is afraid of being hurt and afraid that everyone will leave him if he gets too close. He is never honest about his feelings, and tries to deny that he also has grown rather fond of Erika. He slowly begins to change though throughout the series; his once playboy ways a thing of the past, as he refuses visits from other girls, and becomes increasingly possessive and jealous around Erika. He also at times shows her kindness that he never shows to other girls.
Title: Dragon Force
Platform: Sega Saturn (or if you’re able to read Japanese, the original game has also been ported to PS2 and PS3. No word if it’ll ever get ported over to the USA; chances are slim now that Working Designs, the original publisher in the USA, is defunct.)
Release Date: November 1996
Publisher: Working Designs
Where to Buy: This game goes for $100-$200 on sites like Amazon. (and yes, it’s worth it; it’s an amazing game) You can find it on this page here: http://www.amazon.com/Dragon-Force-Sega-Saturn/dp/B00004SW0Z
Title: Pokemini Dressup & Decorate
Genre: Dressup Game
Publisher: Cocone
Get it on IOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pokemini-dress-decorate!/id704331940?mt=8
Get it on Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.cocone.minime&hl=en
Geeky Factor:
Sweetie Factor:
Overall: 76/110 69% D+ “Average Game For Girls”
Concept: 10/10 The concept in Pokemini is to collect limited edition items to decorate, not only your avatar, but also your room, and your planet. The highlight of the game is the new “Fashion Fever” events which allow you to earn free items or donuts (the in-game currency) by designing different looks based on a given theme which are then voted on and scored by the community. There’s also a brand new flea market to trade/sell items with other players, and a cooking element as well as quests to further engage the user.
Pokemini | Dressup and Decorate | IOS | Android | Free Game | Review Read More »
Title: Unrest
Genre: RPG with Point and Click, Adventure Game, and Visual Novel Elements
Publishers: Pyrodactyl Games and Kiss LTD
Platform: PC
Release Date: July, 2014
Overall: 57/80 71% C- “Good Game for Girls”
Geeky Factor:
Sweetie Factor:
Concept: 10/10 Unrest is a different experience each time you play. The game jumps from perspective to perspective multiple times throughout the game, and it appears to be random each time. Sometimes you’re a human, other times a naga, sometimes a male, other times female, sometimes in power, sometimes oppressed, sometimes violent, sometimes a pacifist, sometimes good, sometimes corrupt, etc. But each time, you spend a few hours in the shoes of one of the many many different characters of this game. The choices you make do have consequences and do matter. It’s very unique. I highly recommend this game.
Unrest | Indie PC Game | Review | Multiple Endings and Branching Plot Read More »
Title: Katamari Damacy
Genre: Platform / Puzzle
Platform: PS2, Xbox 360
Publisher: Namco
Release Date: September 21, 2004
Language: English
Geeky Factor:
Sweetie Factor:
Overall: 53/70 76% C “Good Game For Girls”
Story: 2/10 The story in Katamari is really silly and crazy (as is much of the game itself). It follows a prince whose father has accidentally destroyed the universe and you find yourself in the role of said, young prince, ordered by your father, to go “roll up” the planets to put them back into the sky; meanwhile your actions are also impacting a human family back on earth whose father is an astronaut who’s unable to travel to the moon due to the king of the universe destroying the cosmos. The story is often told with still images, or silent clips and movies, and really plays a huge backseat compared to the gameplay. The fact is, story is not this game’s strong suit, but it doesn’t NEED to be, because the gameplay stands alone.
Note this series was never released outside of Japan, however, it has been fan translated by some great people in the otome community.
Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side 1 (Nintendo DS) Patch from https://sites.google.com/site/tokimemogs1/home
Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side 2 (Nintendo DS) Patch from https://gokusaishiki.wordpress.com/
Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side 3 (Sony PSP) Patch from https://sites.google.com/site/otomeundercover/otome-projects/tmgs3-psp#TOC-Patch-Download
Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side (Franchise) Review Read More »
Title: Lufia the Fortress of Doom
Genre: RPG
Release Date: December 1993
Platform: SNES
Publisher: Taito
Where to Buy: Amazon has a few used copies in stock from time to time; at time of this review, it’s priced around $68 You can keep an eye on this page on amazon to see when copies become available. http://www.amazon.com/Lufia-Fortress-Doom-Super-Nintendo/dp/B0007Y66N4 You may also have good luck searching on ebay for a used copy of the game.
Geeky Factor:
Sweetie Factor:
Lufia The Fortress of Doom Review SNES Retro RPG Videogame Read More »
Kokeshi dolls are traditional Japanese Wooden dolls that are often hand carved and painted. These dolls originated in the 1600s and were sold as souvenirs to traveling tourists who visited the Japanese Hotsprings.
Fastforward 400 years later, and meet the Momijii Doll. These Kokeshi inspired figurines have taken the Kokeshi theme and turned it into a profitable online business by creating dozens of super rare limited edition dolls at affordable prices.
What’s more, these dolls make great gifts, because you can turn them upside down and remove a note, which you can personalize. This makes them great ideas for holidays, weddings, anniversaries, or graduations. Any special occasion, there’s a doll to match that.
Momijii Dolls – Cute Limited Edition Dolls With Notes Inside Read More »
Title: Phantasy Star 3 Generations of Doom
Genre: RPG with Dating Sim elements
Publisher: Sega
Release Date: July 1991
Platforms: Originally for the Sega Genesis, it has since been ported to virtually every console, including the PC
Where to Buy: I recommend the Sega Genesis Collection which includes Phantasy Star II, III, and IV (and a buncha other awesome retro games). You can get it on amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Sega-Genesis-Classic-Game-Online/dp/B00AEV8HI2
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