Nayu's Gaming Time #1 My Japanese 3DS arrives!!!

Shiny toy which is sucking up most of my free time (including anime time too!)

If you follow me on Twitter you may have noticed that almost 2 weekends ago (around the 11th June) I tweeted to let you know that a new shiny toy had arrived! It is the reason for the introduction of a new type of post. I've got a Japanese Nintendo 3DS, not an English one. This is because I adore music idol themed Aikatsu! anime, and there are Aikatsu! 3DS games which are only in Japanese. I understand enough Japanese to play the Aikatsu games, and since it is my top anime and a major obsession I decided against the English version just so I can experience what players in Japan do. I bought some Animal Crossing Games too. 

My back cover - Ichigo & Mizuki from Aikatsu!

My front cover with the girls from Aikatsu: from the left there's Yurika, Aoi, Ichigo, Mizuki, Ran, Kaede, Sakura, and Otome. I decorated mine with stickers instead of ordering a pretty cover for it!

This new type of post will be all about my experiences of the games, particularly from the view of a not fluent in Japanese gamer, as there seem to be very few English reviews/thoughts on the Aikatsu! series. I've stumbled across one, Joeker Straight Flush (which has nothing to do with card games as far as I can tell) 

who does have an imported Japanese 3DS and adores Aikatsu! I am getting in touch with them to see if I can a) have tips on the parts of games I struggle with & b) fangirl over Aikatsu with someone who speaks English. 

I've got heaps to say already, with some useful game tips as well as how to access and buy from the Japanese Nintendo eshop, but for now I'll show you the games I've got and extremely condensed initial first reactions. I got my Japanese 3DS from Amazon UK, and found loads of bargain games on Ebay UK too.

Aiktasu 3DS games

There are a total of 4 games, which I ordered, and these are the ones that have arrived so far. Both are in Japanese, use the card system in the arcade game too. 

Aikatsu! 365 Idol Days 

3rd game to be released, 

2nd game I played, 

Dance rhythm game

In a nutshell you create your own character and get to train as an idol alongside all the main characters in Aikatsu! series. It's super fun, was the 2nd game I played, and currently doesn't quite have full marks since I'm struggling with 2 types of audition. More on that soon! 

Aikatsu! My No. 1 Stage 

4th game to be released, 

1st game I played. 

Dance Rhythm Game

Absolutely amazing! No deadlines like Aikatsu! 365 Idol Days, you can level up loads without playing the main story, you can download lots of songs for free play, you can combie outfits, team up with the main Aikatsu! characters for auditions (once you've become friends with them) - this  is living the the Aikatsu! dream! Both gam

Animal Crossing 3DS games

Animal Crossing New Leaf 

Japanese version

Newest AC game 

2nd AC game I've played 

Life simulation/slice of life game

I have played previous versions so know what it's about. However, so much more has been added to it! You can play with friends which is hilarious, do all the usual fruit picking/fishing/shaking trees and hitting rocks for money. It helps knowing the main actions in the game, because there's a fair amount of text and a lot of words I don't know, but use my Japanese dictionary when I need to (sometimes just ignore what people say unless I have to do something!) 

Animal Crossing Happy Home Designer

Japanese version

Newest AC game (joint with ACNL)

3rd AC game I've played

Life simulation/slice of life game 

This is a new spin-off, focusing on designing rooms/buildings for the villagers. There's a huge amount of Japanese I don't know at the beginning, but I'm getting by slowly (have to be quite alert when I play it, so it hasn't had much game play). However, designing my home in ACNL & previous versions was always my favourite part, so being able to do soley this is amazing! You don't have your own home, it's quite different from ACNL but very cool all the same! 

I'd love to hear if you like this new range of posts, and obviously if you have played the games I chat about please get in touch!