On a whim today, I preordered the ultra deluxe Blue Reflection Second Light that comes out for Nintendo Switch (and various other consoles) tomorrow. I spent all of 5 minutes checking out the free demo and did not get far at all. My curiosity was piqued though, because as you know, school simulation games are one of my favorite genres. This cute anime RPG promises to let you build your own school with cute anime girls. Cool, cool… But I didn’t know anything else about the game. Total whim purchase. read more
You may be new to this popular game, and you want to own one to entertain your friends and families. This is considered a sport where everyone would like to play as a pastime in their recreational areas or game rooms. Whether you want this for entertainment or to practice for tournaments, one thing is for sure; this is an excellent investment that will last for a very long time.
Two or more players are often playing this, and they can be fun but intense at the same time. It may be the best time to buy foosball table that the whole family can use, and you can start with going to the right website and choosing the best ones for your needs. To decide which ones are best for you, here are some guides to help you out.read more
Today I am reviewing Cencilia Fashion Fantasy for IOS Apple and Google Mobile Phones. I’ve had this wonderful game on my phone for awhile now, but unbelievably had never even played it until about an hour ago. So needless to say, I’m very early into this game.
This game is developed by Cocone. They have a bad track record in the United States which makes me wary of spending real life money on this game. I spent probably close to $100 on Pokemini before it shut down its US servers – and I had to start over on their Japanese game Pokecolo – without any of the items I purchased. So it left a bad taste in my mouth for this company…. Also not by this same company, but the same thing happened with Cocoppa Dolls – which broke my heart.read more
I just watched both the English AND Japanese Nintendo Direct Lives – and it came as a little surprise to me, that they both feature some different games!! – The Japanese one looks fantastic! So many good games for girls. The North American one – not as much but still some good surprises!
You can watch both of the presentations below for yourself in full. Each one is an hour long. Each one has a few of the same games – but also some unique to each region. I hope beyond hope that most of those Japanese games will get an English release!read more
Due to the size of the post covering and ranking the past 30 years of gaming consoles (plus pc and mobile too), ranking them based on the quantity and quality of girl games available on the systems, I had to break what I’d hoped to be one big post into about FORTY (unbelievable lol) smaller posts.
I think you need a table of contents and i’ll be going back into each of those forty posts and adding this. As well as possibly changing headings and images to make things less confusing lol.read more
I admit I stopped buying DVDs and Blu-rays when Crunchyroll entered the scene.
I recall back in the 90s, spending HUNDREDS of dollars on VHS boxsets of anime. Does anyone remember Suncoast Video? I’d go there all the time on birthdays with money from my grandparents or friends and family and buy anime box sets. I also would get catalogs in the mail from a company… I think it was called Funco? They sold anime by mail. I can’t remember if that was their name – but yep I’d order a TON of anime – VHS – through them. read more
Back the project within the next 7 days to get a digital copy of Maravilla Island for your platform of choice for just $5.
There’s also a free demo of the game available here: https://duplighosts.itch.io/beasts-of-maravilla-island-demo
Of course, as you can see in the comments section, the game has a lot of bugs and issues with bad controls right now so it is not a good indicator of how the final game may play out.
Beasts of Maravilla Island is an adventure game through nature where you research and photograph wildlife as you explore the island. Very similar to Pokemon Snap which is also coming soon to Nintendo Switch. It looks like Pokemon Snap won’t be the only animal photography game on the Nintendo Switch. And for fans who don’t have a Nintendo Switch, but do have a PC, they can get a similar gaming experience with Beasts of Maravilla.read more
I recently started playing Dragon Raja, a full featured MMORPG on smart mobile devices.
Overall Score: 75/90 83% B “Very Good Game For Girls”
Overview: 10/10 Dragon Raja is a beautiful game with amazing character customization and open world environment. Play as one of four starting classes and three “races” (male human, female human, or a kawaii lolita race (all of my characters are loli because they’re sooo cute!!) The character customization is the highlight of this game to me. Story, Gameplay, and Music are all pretty great though really.read more
The sequel to KLab’s smash hit Love Live School Idol Festival, Love Live All Stars takes it to the next level with fully animated Live2D characters that dance around on the screen.
Like its predecessor, Love Live School Idol Festival, Love Live All Stars is a card collecting rhythm game with cute anime girls to collect.
The new installment in Love Live has a few key differences from the original, most notably is the animation. There’s also costumes you can unlock for your girls to wear and a new voltage gameplay system that allows you to score more points.read more
I recently received Starlight Stage A Pop Idol Card Game from RightStuf. RightStuf is one of the oldest and largest distributors of Otaku merchandise in the US. Check out their website at www.RightStuf.com for everything from anime, manga, action figures, Japanese candy, games, and more.
I decided to purchase Starlight Stage because I’m a fan of mobile idol games and idol anime such as Love Live, Utapri, Bang Dream, Ensemble Stars, and yes, Idol M@ster.
I do not know for sure if this board game is based on Idol M@ster but I suspect it is, since one of the early and most popular Idol M@ster mobile games is titled Idol M@ster Starlight Stage. For whatever reason though, if it is in fact at all related, they stripped it of the Idol M@ster title and just dubbed it Starlight Stage. Either way, related or not, if you love the mobile games or anime idol games, you’ll love Starlight Stage Card Game by Japanime Games.read more
If You’re A Hot Wheels Collector, Better Read This
I think that at some point of our lives, we tend to find something that really grows on us. Like, we become attached to it and we want to have more of it in our lives. I don’t know if you’ve found yours yet but I’m pretty confident that you eventually will. It just so happens that some people find this “thing” in their lives early while others discover it much later on.
If you’re not quite sure of what I’m talking about, well, I’m talking about your life collection.read more
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.
I attended Replay FX, a retro gaming convention in Pittsburgh PA. I really enjoyed my time there, and definitely plan to return next year as well. The convention includes hundreds of arcade games, console games, and board games. All of the electronic games are from the 80s-90s with no modern games in sight so it’s definitely aimed at Retro gamers.
They had tournaments for Dr Mario, Tecmo Bowl, and Smash Brothers, to name a few. They also had a cosplay competition. There are large cash prizes for all of the competitions. We didn’t enter any competitions this time, but I did cosplay, just for fun. I brought out my Love Live School Idol Festival Kotori Cosplay Costume again – I’ve been wearing it a lot lately, and also plan to wear it again soon for Animu at the Zoo also in Pittsburgh, PA.
Some popular games that we saw other than the ones mentioned above, included Pac-Man, Zelda, Animal Crossing, Paper Boy, Soul Calibur, Mr. Do, Dig Dug, Maniac Mansion. Mario, Sonic, Battle Toads, Zookeeper, Tetris, Xandu, Centipede, Metroid, Dark Stalkers, Virtua Tennis, Tekken, Donkey Kong, lots of racing games, and tons of different Dance Dance Revolution and Beatmani style arcade games. There were also hundreds of pinball games.
All of the games are free of course, because you’re paying for admittance to the convention. There are lots of vendors too selling stuff – some of the things they’re selling may be questionable – like rom/emulator things that come preloaded with thousands of games – pretty sure that’s illegal to sell lol. I almost bought one though, because it is pretty cool – I’ve seen similar on wish and aliexpress. Or you can of course get your own roms online for free – which is illegal if you don’t own the actual games – but in my case, I do own like 80% of the games still I have all my consoles, from 80s, 90s, 2k, etc. But of course I can’t have them all hooked up all the time, too many wires, not enough space, etc, which makes having the roms very handy.
The board games were out in a separate more quiet space and provide a nice break from the flashing lights and sounds of all of the electronic games.
Back in the main hall they also had a giant ferris wheel that lit up later in the evening. I didn’t ride it, because it was a very unique ferris wheel – it flipped upside down…. It looked scary as heck to be honest lol. Each car rocked and shook back and forth and occasionally turned completely upside down. The cars are all enclosed of course so you don’t fall out, but still uhm no thanks lol.
Later in the evening, they also had live music, but it was hard to hear over the sounds of all the people and all the games.
There are food concessions on site, including alcohol, but it’s over priced, and most of the food is terrible. You can bring your own food – even if it’s against their rules, no one checks bags there.
Which brings to the next point, with all the crazy things happening in our country, you’d think they would have SOME type of security there…. There were no metal detectors, no one checking bags, and I didn’t see a single guard or any kind of personnel…. With thousands of loud chaotic games and thousands of people…… this is just a recipe for disaster… And it would be hard to contain or control the chaos, there’s 2 escalators, 1 up/1 down, and maybe some stairs somewhere but I didn’t see/know where. And the escalators and halls and everywhere were super crowded. It’s billed as the largest retro gaming convention in the US.
I didn’t really think about that at all while I was there though, and felt perfectly safe, but in retrospect, looking back, I wish they had more security in place. You just can’t trust crazy people these days. I don’t want to get into politics of it… But I will say video games are not to blame. Think about it… They have the exact same games in dozens of other countries, Europe, Asia, Japan, South Korea, Canada, even South America – and you know what they don’t have? Mass Shootings… you know why? Because they have gun control laws and mental health care (or any kind of health care for that matter).
Games are not to blame… I don’t play super violent games like shooting games, call of duty, rainbow six, and whatever else, they just aren’t fun or interesting to me (no story, no cute graphics, snoozeville lol) … So I could care less about if people sell them or play them… But I just think it’s ridiculous that they think banning them will do any good to stop these events from happening. United States needs to look at the rest of the world and “get it together” when it comes to these 2 things, gun control, and health care including mental health care, before it is too late.
We also are more diverse than most other nations. And for some reason, a large number of Americans don’t like other Americans who are different from themselves, and it’s not just white people either. My hispanic boyfried told me that he and his friends consisting of another hispanic and 2 asians and 1 white person, were rejected/kicked off a soccer field by some indian people the other day. All this hatred and racism towards each other is at the heart of all this violence, and until we address those issues, these problems are only going to escalate. Even if we do get reasonable gun control laws and better health care, we still need to find a way to stomp out racism.
Anyways I diverted a little bit from the topic here… but yeah… the only complaint I REALLY have with Replay FX is that it might be highly unsafe due to lack of security measures especially in midst of current events in our country right now. I would like to see metal detectors, guards checking bags at the gates – even if that means I can’t bring my own food/drink next year, and guards walking around up and down inside the convention also. We have to be smart and be safe. That whole convention center really needs to step up security. I was there 2 weeks ago for my boyfriend’s sporting tournament and again no security, no bag checking, etc.
I’ll still go next year, and still have a good time. I won’t live life in fear of what could happen. That’s what terrorists want. Live each day to the fullest with no regrets. If I were to die at a gaming convention, at least I would die doing what I love lol.
But in all honesty, Replay FX is great. For $35 for an adult day pass, or $100 to go all 4 days… And unlimited gameplay once you’re inside…. it can’t be beat. We spend more than $35 at Dave and Busters and it’s gone in an hour or two. Replay FX is also open late into the night, midnight this year, and opens at 9am, which is great. For 35 bucks you can play unlimited games for over 12 hours. Like I said, it can’t be beat for great value and more bang for your buck! Highly recommend this event for all gamers, especially those who grew up with retro games like Colecovision, Atari, and old school Nintendo. They had them all, plus Dreamcast and more rare retro finds. Very nostalgic – but I think young kids would enjoy this event too! It’s fun for the whole family.
Gameplay: 8/10 This is the last Princess Maker game in the series, aside from some online and mobile spin offs that were released later. As such, you can expect that the gameplay is much more advanced than previous Princess Maker games. Princess Maker 5 brings back the adventure system, previously seen in Princess Maker 2, allowing you to fight in simplistic rpg battles and search for treasure. It does not unlock until later in the game.
It is also the first time that you can select a female character to be the parent – Although if you play as a female, you cannot get the ending where the princess marries you (the parent).
Perhaps more importantly, there are many new activities that your daughter can participate in, compared to previous Princess Maker games. I felt that the gameplay more closely resembled Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side (which I reviewed here.)
You select a week’s worth of activities for your daughter. She will attend public school and have club activities but she will also have free time for you to schedule part time jobs or extra lessons to enhance her stats. On the weekends you will take your daughter out to try to reduce her stress or experience special seasonal events.
Like Tokimeki Memorial, you can see which events are happening by reading a paper that lists new events. You can have cube set a reminder on the day of the events so you don’t forget important dates. But the game will not automatically prompt/navigate you to the event so you still have to pay attention and remember when and where to go for the event.
Gameplay feels slow. Especially the first year. It feels repetitive and slow building your stats, and very few random encounters or events. But as I entered my 2nd year, that began to change. Suddenly, classmates/love interests began to invite my daughter out on dates, or suddenly teachers and employers invited my daughter to special events. Now it felt more interesting and exciting.
But still, ultimately, this game is long, and slow, and while this type of gameplay is best enjoyed in small bursts, because of the repetition and monotonous gameplay, it also is a game that doesn’t get interesting until several hours in. I spent over 6 hours in the first year… If like most princess maker games this one goes until the daughter’s 18th birthday, then this game has over 70 hours of gameplay, per playthrough, times 50 endings…. staggering… definitely a highlight of the game — but the gameplay is so monotonous that many people may never reach all 50 endings.
How could I give an 8/10 to a monotonous boring “dull” game? Well because of the added features the game presents, this game is the most realistic child rearing sim, and gives unprecedented freedom and control to the player. Your daughter grows in new ways never present in the previous princess maker games, and she grows more independent with her own hobbies and interests and desires and things become more complicated, it brings back the adventure system, and the new dating/events system seemingly borrowed from Tokimeki Memorial. All of these are an improvement over most of the gameplay features in previous princess maker games.
The game gives you unprecedented freedom to raise any kind of daughter you want, even if you want her to be a cosplaying anime fan who loves going to idol concerts. Seriously, she can become interested in just about anything you can imagine. lol.
Story: 5/10 I think part of the reason the game is so slow is that it has almost no story. You just literally keep clicking and waiting/hoping something changes/happens. Which doesn’t happen for several hours until you’ve been pumping up your stats. The opening movie is not translated or subtitled for the english release on steam. It seems that maybe it may have had at least an interesting introduction. I think from what I can tell, the daughter is a demon maybe. It says it began from bloody events that happened long ago. Seems to hint at a curse, and then from there I haven’t a clue as to what is going on, but you see cube fly away with the girl. The girl also has a special hair clip that lets her communicate with you and allows you to watch the girl while she’s away. Every once in awhile the girl talks about seeing spirits or fairies and other supernatural things. But I’m now about 10 hours into the game and there’s really no overall story, or direction, or plot, it’s basically an open ended sandbox game. Plot isn’t necessary in games like this, but since I play games for their stories, I think that’s why I feel bored while playing this game since it lacks an overarching plot of any kind.
Characters: 10/10 I really do like the characters. They are not strong from a story standpoint, but they feel very real, and their interactions and dialogues with each other are very cute. The independence of your daughter and new complex ways in which she can develop and grow make this the best daughter of all.
Graphics: 7/10 The artwork put me off at first, for years even before this official US release, I would see pictures of this game, compare it to 4 which was my favorite Princess Maker game, and just think YUCK!… But oddly… in the 10 hours I played the game, I now find it cute and charming. I’d played 4 years ago on my nintendo DS, even though I couldn’t read any of it. I loved that art style, and at first found this new art style for 5 to be a huge turn off. But after playing the game, I’ve changed my tune. I suggest if you like me, hate the way Princess Maker 5 looks, just give it a go, it’s a great game, and the artwork is strangely cute once you get used to it!
There’s this little fat boy, which normally would be like a blech, but I dunno there’s something sooo cute about him. He reminds me of the fat lil asian boy from Disney’s “Up” and there’s another little boy that looks like he could be straight outta card captor or some other sugary sweet shojo anime.
The daughter was what I found most unattractive, but watching her study, work, and play, I’ve realized she is the most “real” and endearing of any of the daughters in previous games. I love my little princess.
Music: 3/10 – I really dislike the opening song – it’s awful. blech. But the rest of the music is “OK” I guess. just kinda average to me really.
Voice Acting: 10/10 – the voice acting is very cute 🙂 I’m glad they kept the original Japanese voices in the game.
Replay Value: 10/10 – over 50 different endings and the variety of things to do within this game give it excellent replay value.
