Nayu's News #247 Unsolicited emails are entertaining

No idea who the author is for this awesome artwork that's on my laptop

This morning I went through emails, even checked my spam email which make me laugh. There's the usual asking for money, the notice of a tax repayment, a TV licence issue (I don't even pay it, my family does), a delivery issue with a company I do sometimes receive goods from but I know it's fake, various inappropriate emails to name just a few. A few real emails got caught up in there which wasn't so good, but I've rescued them. 

I am primarily a book reviewer but my inbox sees a variety of requests which again make me smile. I've had a company contact me because they saw one post of mine a long time ago about a car wash, so they want to tell me all about how to wash my car. I get many requests for mentioning new bands/singers - I don't even listen to mainstream music so why would I be interested? I spotted one about a multi-climate control thingy - like why on earth would I need that? Seriously people definitely don't read my review policy, something that unfortunately happens far too regularly in the blogging world.

I hope to schedule more reviews next week: having my mega meds tonight, praying the weather improves soon as my body hates all the rain and cold, and in theory I should receive my special supplements which turn out to have more of an impact than I realised this week - the hospital pharmacy didn't inform me of the delay so I am on reduced dose of one and zero dose of the other. Fun times.

I feel is is what would happen if Hatsune Miku was evil

I've been reading a bit, and gaming loads on Animal Crossing Pocket Camp, which has had a fun event on, Farm Together which has me working hard on an event because the prizes are so cute (will show pictures when I talk about it in a future post, Yoshi's Crafted World which I am for some reason trying to complete absolutely everything on (all the collectibles) which is fun to do, if a bit time consuming, Dragon Quest  Builders 2 got even more amazing than it already was (again it will have a post soon), Animal Crossing Wild World which I'm replaying for fun and just got a house upgrade (so my room is no longer super tiny), and I think those are the main ones. Due to get The Caligula Effect: Overdose today or tomorrow which I really want to get into. Think it's a JRPG, I know that it has an idol like Miku (but eviler) in charge of the word that lets people live out their school lives in virtual reality. When I'm better I promise I'll do more game posts, need to rest for now. I stupidly got excited when a newspaper online had the headline including blistering heatwave: unfortunately I do not count 16'C as a heatwave. That is merely warm. A heatwave involves temperatures of over 20'C! Ideally nearer 30. Should have known better from a tabloid. 

Love this fanart of a Muslim Miku, she still looks as adoable as ever!

 I usually put a saying or quote, but would like to mention a random Twitter user I follow which is about the life of some frogs (yes I like frogs quite a bit, not as much as cats). Go check out Sticky Frogs whose latest tweet at the time of writing this post included the follow image. I love the colours frogs come in, the shine on their body and their cute little feet as much as I love how prehistoric looking crocodiles are, and how the babies are super miniature versions of their parents, which in turn I love as much as super adorable furry kitten. My tastes are eclectic! *coughstrangecough*

Nayu's Gaming Time #19 2019 Gaming Backlog Challenge Part 1

My mind is frequently on gaming even when I'm not playing games ^u^

It's that time of year when people make resolutions over goals for the year that they'd like to achieve. I tend not to do this, however, while on Patient Gamers on Reddit I spotted a post that was about saying which games you'd like to play this year, so I thought I'd give it a go. Here are the games I really want to finish (some are started already). These are not all my backlog games, which I have collected quite a few over the years (sales can be your friend, trust me!)

These are not in order, and while the original challenge states aiming to complete a game a month, completing a game one at a time - I'm not doing that, as I hop around games depending how much mental energy I have, as well as what I feel like. Although I am alternating days for when I only play Dragon Quest Builders 2 because otherwise that would be the only game I ever play (it is my all time favourite game!) 

For all games, to save me time, I'm using whatever summaries are available on Amazon UK, Nintendo UK and other websites.

Child of Light

Summary from Amazon UK for the Vita version

Art Brought to life: Child of Light was skillfully hand drawn and beautifully rendered with watercolor thanks to the UbiArt Engine. Much of the costumes and lighting were inspired by the world-renowned Cirque du Soleil 

 
The rich world of Lemuria: In your journey across Lemuria you will encounter eccentric creatures, from spirits of the forest to talking mice, wicked witches, and evil sea serpents. Discover a vast land with iconic locations and exciting dungeons 

 
Classic turn-based RPG combat: Child of Light utilizes classic turn-based RPG combat. Level up and use skill points to unlock unique abilities for Aurora and her allies. A deep crafting system allows players to combine gems to improve combat abilities 

 
Solve Puzzles and search for mysteries: Using the power of light, Aurora and Igniculus must work together to solve puzzles involving shadows and movable objects 

Nayu's thoughts

 This is a game I can't play daily because the graphics aren't bright and bubbly, something which strongly affects my mood, but I do want to try and finish it. So far it's not overly difficult., I love the girl's red hair which floats around her, and being able to fly like a fairy is incredible fun. I have the Switch version.

Pokemon Let's Go Eevee

Summary from Nintendo UK

Journey through the Kanto region on an exciting adventure in Pokemon Let's Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! for Nintendo Switch. Start your journey as a rookie Pokémon Trainer, and catch, battle and form friendships with many Pokémon along the way!

Nayu's thoughts

This probably needs no explaining - it's Pokemon! I adore Eevee so much, I'm looking forward to getting all her eevolution clothing sets, and while this may not get completed this year because I'm taking my time to level up Pokemon and enjoy the game, I do hope to finish the main story and become champion!

Gnomes Garden

Summary from Nintendo UK

A wonderful garden had always brought joy to all the people of the kingdom and all the residents of the castle. But a dry summer withered the king’s beloved garden and the surrounding gardens of the kingdom alike. The ruler has fallen ill and the kingdom is in danger. Help the princess save the gardens and make the king better again. Construct buildings, remove obstacles, repair damaged bridges and restore the beauty of the royal garden.

Key features:

Over 40 beautiful levels
Increasing difficulty
An upbeat plot, an extraordinary magical world
Exciting gameplay for all ages
Easy-to-learn controls and a well-designed tutorial will help you quickly learn the basics of the game.

 Nayu's thoughts

This is a relaxing type of game that I enjoy before bed. For some reason the 2nd game has only just come out, so I have the third,  but you don't need to play them in order to enjoy them. I've over half way through on this game, I don't exactly play for the story but for the fun of unblocking paths, mining resources, and fending off evil creatures!

Tales of Symphonia

Summary 

The most renowned Tales of game comes back in HD
The possibility to play with the Japanese voiceover
The whole saga of Tales of Symphonia combined in one game
More than 90 hours of Gameplay in total
Addition of new fierce Bosses
Brand new 40 Artes scattered between playable characters and enemies

Battle scene (I play as the blonde girl the most!)

Nayu's thoughts 

The tales series is full of fun JRPGs. I possibly have played Symphonia in the past because I dimly remember the start, but I've no idea if I finished it. I've barely started, and this one is apparently very grindy (you have to fight a lot of battles to level up and continue to the next area), so we'll see how far I can get. 

Atelier Totori

Summary from Amazon UK

 The small fishing village of Alanya on the Arland Republic's southern border is home to the young alchemist-in-training Totooria Helmold. She is called Totori by her friends and family, and she wishes to become a great adventurer.

Battle scene

Nayu's thoughts

The Atelier series is another well known JRPG, and while I have the originals which had issues, unlike the lovely remasters that are so far down on my game list I'll probably never get them because I'm more interested in new games than remakes, I'm enjoying how Totori has started. She is so cute!

Blue Reflection

Summary

Blue Reflection takes place at a vibrant all-girls school, Hoshinomiya Girls' High School
Experience the everyday school life and hang out with your friends
Open a mysterious parallel dimension filled with demonic inhabitants
Solve the problems between the dimensions
move freely and fight the demonic creatures that live within this realm
Use the 'FreeSpace!' social network for communication and exciting mini-games in and out of school.
Partake in after-class activities or explore a variety of exciting places in town.
Your actions affect what events will take place the next day!

 

This is Lime, who always uses a teddy bear for her attacks: it is so cute!

Nayu's thoughts 

Like many of the games this is another I'm part way through. It's very much a magical girl game, and it can get a bit repetitive which is why I haven't quite finished it yet, but overall it's really good fun. Please note that are some quite mature scenes but they aren't all the time. Also the voice over is only in Japanese, but there are English subtitles. I'm really hoping there's

going to be a sequel. 

Pokemon Ultra Moon

Summary from Nintendo UK

Pokemon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon for Nintendo 3DS family systems offer an alternative story taking place in the same world as Pokemon Sun and Pokemon Moon, as well as new Pokémon that didn’t appear in Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon.

Ominous dark clouds are spreading in the sky above the Alola region, the setting of Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon. In these adventures, a story unfolds on a grand scale, with the Legendary Pokémon Solgaleo, Lunala, and Necrozma at its centre. Secrets about Necrozma and the Alola region – undisclosed in the previous games – will come to light.

 

Nayu's thoughts

Again this shouldn't need an introduction. I played Pokemon Sun and loved it, for Ultra Moon I am using a detailed walkthrough so I can get all the secrets (which will help it be less repetitive, since a lot of it is the same as Sun/Moon games). 

 

Waku Waku Sweets

Summary from Nintendo UK

Make all kinds of confectioneries! ♪

*As if you were baking in real life!

Tilt to pour mixtures, rotate to mix, follow the steps and move the controller as shown on the screen. That's how you cook!

*Over 100 recipes included!

Ranging from popular cakes that everyone loves to traditional Japanese confectioneries called Wagashi. They all look so yummy!

*There is more to enjoy!

Change into your favorite outfit, and change your hairstyle. ♪

Participate in contests and chat with the people in town to complete your quest to become the best.

Make everyone smile with your confectioneries, and become a wonderful pastry chef!

Nayu's thoughts 

I've got the Japanese version because it's a fun way to keep practicing my Japanese: the writing is fairly simple, and I think all letters are shown, even on the kanji which is useful because I don't know a lot of kanji. Who wouldn't want to be a pastry chef with a magical creature? There's lots to chop, stir, and many sweet treats to dream over. I've started it, but may restart as it's been a while since I've played it. Since I love the anime Yume Patissiere, it's no surprise I was attracted to this game!

IA/VT Colorful

Summary from Play Asia 

Another contender enters the fray for top virtual diva - IA is a Vocaloid starring in her new rhythm game for the Vita! Developed by Kenichiro Takaki who was previously the producer of the infamous Senran Kagura, IA has a definite edge on the competition!

As with most console handheld rhythm games, players will be moving the analog sticks and pressing buttons in time with the tempo of musical notes. What makes IA/VT different is the dynamic feedback based on a player's performance - colors and more will change accordingly in the most fantastic of ways!

Track wise, there are 60 different songs with some tracks featuring new exclusive music video background footage of the artists performing their songs. There will also be different play modes, with challenge modes, consecutive play and free play.

Nayu's thoughts 

I love rhythm games, especially Hatsune Miku, so I was curious with IA and haven't regretted getting the game. My goal is to complete all the songs (all 50+ of them) on both easy and normal level (ideally getting the highest mark which is a triple S grade SSS) and to start laying the hard level. Hard is the highest level, and I'm not the best rhythm gamer, so we will see how far I get. IA is super cute, and her voice is a little ironic because I really don't like opera yet initially her vocaloid voice was aimed at opera. She seems a bit more sophisticated that Miku, a bit like Miku's friend Luka yet different. I love almost all the songs!

Kingdom Hearts

Summary from Amazon UK

The HD remastered compilation brings six beloved KINGDOM HEARTS adventures to the PlayStation 4 

 
KINGDOM HEARTS HD 15 + 25 ReMIX gives fans the opportunity to experience all of their favourite moments from the series so far for the very first time on one platform 

 
The full list of titles included in KINGDOM HEARTS HD 15 + 25 ReMIX are KINGDOM HEARTS HD 15 ReMIX including KINGDOM HEARTS FINAL MIX, KINGDOM HEARTS Re:Chain of Memories, KINGDOM HEARTS 358/2 Days (HD remastered cinematics) 

 
KINGDOM HEARTS HD 25 ReMIX including KINGDOM HEARTS II FINAL MIX, KINGDOM HEARTS Birth by Sleep FINAL MIX, KINGDOM HEARTS Re:coded 

 
KINGDOM HEARTS is a series of role-playing games created through the collaboration of Disney Interactive and Square Enix

 

Kairi in the first game.

Nayu's thoughts 

I've only ever played the first game, and while I will not be getting Kingdom Hearts 3 on release day this year, I do want to start playing all 6-9 games that are included in special bundles. I loved a lot of the game, I do find it confusing so I suspect I'll use a walkthrough because I've already done it and can only stand being frustrated with a puzzle a few times. Some parts I really hate because they are so scary, especially the Nightmare Before Christmas area, but I adore the girl Sora is trying to save, and the mix of Disney and Squaresoft characters makes me so very happy. I kept the capitals in the summary because I'm running out of time to finish this blog to put them in lower case (so it looks a little shouty - that isn't the case!) Although I do want to shout the news that it looks like Kairi is a playable character in Kingdom Hearts 3! YAYYYYYYYY!!!!!!

End of Part 1 

I'm sorry, I'd meant to do this as one blog post but there are about 20 games on the list (I aim to finish at least 12) so this is being separated into 2 parts. You'll see the rest of the games in part 2, where I'll put up the complete list in a simpler list form. Stay tuned for what else I'm hoping to play! 

Pusheen totally has the right idea when it comes to gaming!

Nayu's Gaming Time #18 Dragon Quest Builders 2 Demo First Impressions!

Seeint this screen was a magical moment!

SQUEEEEE!!!!! 

It felt like such a long wait when the demo downloaded!

The fangirl in me is over the moon (which is a bizarre phrase) with joy at getting my hands on this demo a bit after 3pm yesterday. Bless Japan and their midnight eshop releases! For context please see my early review of DQB's first game in August. It is my favourite game ever and I am so hyped for the sequel, as some of you saw earlier this week in this excited post. 

It is the demo so I don't know how much I will get to play, but oh it is so AMAZING!!!! It is everything I wanted and so much more. There's been a lot of improvement for the entire game, not that the first one was a bad game. There are a ton of new features which I haven't experienced yet, but here is what I loved: 

Oh, if you follow me on Twitter (link in the side bar) you will be inundated with gaming tweets especially for this game. Blame the switch for making it so easy to post screenshots! I apologise for spoilers but I want to promote this game as much as I can! I'd game on Youtube if talking wasn't so tiring for me, hence the frequent game status tweets when I play it. 

New features I love

• Water droplets lasting a second or two after you've been in the water and/or looked around with the camera in the water. 

Water droplets on the screen, plus water blocks are now blocks rather than plain water

• Water blocks. How water is done in this game is way better than the previous game (which was fun, but in the sequel you can actually use water a lot more). 

• Character design: I loved the old one, but the two pony tails/bunches are adorable! 

• The fact that when sleeping my character snores which is exactly how my cat Belle snores!

• Menu layout: I loved the old one, but the new one is cool and it's easier to build multiple items rather than doing them one at a time. 

Menu!

• Companions help me out by chopping up items

Cute starfish in the sea!

• The new range of items: really excited to decorate my houses with starfish and shells for buildings by the beach! 

• The dash mode: being able to run fast for a decent amount of time, and for the recharge to be quick is a blessing. 

Features I'm not fond of/have minor issues with

• Character design: I hate hoop earrings in real life, and I hate having them on my character. Doubt there will be a way to change them - sigh. 
•  

• Companions helping me out: while it may sometimes be useful for them to copy my actions, them chopping up ittems that I wanted to keep whole is not fun! 

• How items are held: I'm fairly certain that in the first game, whatever I held above my head be it a block or an item, it was fairly close to my head. Whenever I do this in the sequel's demo it looks like I've mastered the ability to levitate items. It's amusing, I'm hoping it may be an error that's fixed in the full game, but I'm doubtful about it.  

You can see the dialogue here

 The game is taking me longer than the English version to play, because I'm reading the Japanese, and I'm a slow reader. The fact they are using furigana on the kanji (letters above the words that aren't spelled out using other letters) makes it so much easier to understand what the words mean, saving me looking them up. I don't know them all, but so long as I get the gist of the sentence I'm okay with that. The furigana is a bit small, I've yet to play on the big screen, but them being there at all is a miracle. Whenever I'm not entirely sure of a word I simply make up what I think it could be! I've had a few amusing times thanks to mistranslation: there's one part on the pirate ship where I had to put down some flaming torches. I mistakenly thought I had to put a whole load around a hole in the deck. When nothing happened I looked about and realised thanks to little pointers on screen I was meant to place the torches on specific blocks! Another mistake was where to place some barrels. Ho hum! 

exploration!

I am getting the full game in Japanese, and in truth it will be a long time after the release of the game in English that I'll get that version due to the expense. I suspect I will get the DLC for the JP ver, and possibly get the JP online subscription so I can see what other people do. I'm not great at building, although I enjoy it a lot, so I am starting to watch Youtube guides for ideas on how to create structures. I want to get better at building! 

Spoiler alert 

One thing which you need to be aware of is that the game is a lot sadder than the previous one. Several of the characters you meet on the ship die, including my beloved slime! Seeing it dead in the water was horrifying, more so when it just disappeared, an action commonly seen in anime. I was traumatised by the experience because the slimes are my favourite monster! I suspect that's not the only tragedy I'll witness in the game, unfortunately. To prevent total spoiling I'm not including the images here.

Spoiler end

I can't seem to work out how to do multiple saves: there's an autosave, and a generic save but there's only one slot for it. So I've done a lot of exploring without saving to see what there is, because my hunger meter is present from the very start of the game (unlike the first game which had the hunger meter take time to appear) and because I haven't quite completed the quests I don't have a permanent source of food yet. 

The characters are hilarious, they use a variety of speech patterns which I can recognise in Japanese. I'm in love with the girl Lulu, she is quite a character and I'm hoping nothing bad happens to her. I do wish I could have her pretty dress though. 

That's it for my initial thoughts on this demo: I hope you've enjoyed it and if you want 'live' reactions come follow me on Twitter! The full game is out 20th December on the Japan Eshop. Unlike other games which sometimes use their English form, this is purely in Japanese. Let me know if you're getting the Japenese version or waiting until the English version is released! 

Holo the Wise wolf from Spice and Wolf wishes you a good day!

Nayu's Gaming Time #17 Dragon Quest Builders 2 is coming!!!!!

The title explains most of what this post is about. I am really excited about Super Smash Bros Ultimate which comes out on Friday, but unless I can win a copy in the several competitions that I've entered, I'm not getting it until next year as it's not on my list of must get games. That list is reserved for  My Time At Portia (hopefully out next year), 

Cross between Stardew Valley (which I love), Animal Crossing, and DQB

Pokemon 2019: which if Pokemon Let's Go Eevee is anything to go by it'll be epic 

My girl is on the right! Graphics are stunning. Shame about motion control in docked mode, praying Nintendo change that because I want to play on the big screen with my weak hands!

and.... DRAGON QUEST BUILDERS 2! I need to make it clear that DBQ 2 is releasing in Japan this month, the rest of the world will be next year (date unknown, I think). Because I can understand some Japanese (especially hiragana & katakana which has a tendency to be in games, yay!) plus I have played and completed the first game, I have preordered the JP version on the Switch JP account which I have. The game is downloaded on my Switch! I just can't play it until release day, on 20th. 

However, the demo is due out on 6th! That gives me plenty of time to get used to some new mechanics, to become familiar with new vocab, and just to get excited about the main game. I only played the game this year, but it truly is one of my most favourite games of all time. It's not overly difficult, which means even when I'm tired I don't have to think hard, which I do for some games, making them playable but not all the time. 

Leaning Tower of Pisa is random, but you can swim up/down waterfalls!

 I'm excited for being able to create and go through waterfalls, to swim in the sea (not just die every time I step off the shallows). 

I wonder how I'll breathe underwater?

A classic element of JRPGS and anime in my view is the protagonist falling down somewhere

I'm excited about being a cute girl with bunches (twin ponytails), new clothes, new characters, new worlds to explore - I'm totally hyped for this game! Possibly a bit more than Pokemon Let's Go Eevee, just a tiny bit. It's that amazing!!! 

There are lots of new blocks to build with - we can make tree houses with the log bricks, which blend into each other so it looks like 1 long log rather than loads of teenytiny log pieces all in a row.

I will be chatting about Let's Go Eevee in a future post. I've got 3 badges and have played it for about 27 hours already. I tend to take my time in games, I love wondering about, and Pokemon is so cute! However DQB2 will hijack my Twitter feed for a while, just so you are warned ^u^ (I'm active on Twitter most days unless I'm feeling rough)

Nayu's Gaming Time #14 Dragon Quest Builders: the best game ever!

So amazing!!!

Those of you who follow me on Twitter (see link on the side) know that lately I've been playing a lot of Dragon Quest Builders (mine is the Nintendo Switch version, it is on PS4, & PS Vita. Usually when gaming I have several on the go which I switch between regularly, but all I've been playing (aside from a few mobile games) is DQB. I've never played any of the Dragon Quest rpg games, so I don't know any of the locations in Dragon Quest Builders or the monsters, although one kind look like both Hershey's Kisses chocolate 

and a monster in the Atelier series (possibly called a puni).

not my gameplay

 See how similar they all are? Most of the monsters are fun to look at, almost all want to kill me, but it's fun bashing them on the head with a hammer. That isn't the only weapon I have, but it's the most used because it's the best for bashing items which you can then use to help build up your base. 

I haven't played many sandbox games, which I think are games where you get to do a lot of building/meeting people, but this one has completely won my heart. It's just so cool! Yes there are monsters to fight, including some bosses, but they aren't the main focus of the game. Building is what DQB is all about, searching out new materials so you can craft tools and workstations to make items that will increase your base value and make the inhabitants happier. 

This is Miss Multi-Console's screenshot, I think she built this!!! You can find her on Youtube. I love watching her walkthrough while I play DQB, her reactions are similar to mine and hilarious.

There are four chapters, each using a different world (so yes you do have to build a base 4 times and relearn skills, but I love buildling so much I don't care.). After chapter one you can then access a freeplay mode which gives you so much space to build on, with items learned from chapters already completed being available once you get the materials and items needed to craft them. You can then show off some of your building prowess to others online. 

I'm currently on chapter 2, which isn't as vibrant as chapter one in colour because it's in a poisoned land, so I'm making good use of grass seeds to brighten my base. In chapter 1 I actually replayed it part way through because I wanted to change the layout of my base. I nearly did the same in chapter 2, because monsters kept breaking through my multiple walls and invading my base, but I'm slowly changing it without having to start from scratch. I had so many items I didn't want to do that this time. 

There are quests to be completed which help you learn new skills and explore new areas: some are in the land around you, others have to be accessed through portals. I do a lot of harvesting of items wherever I go, as well as completing the quests. I often don't complete quests for ages because I have such fun creatingn my base and making it look nice. 

My character looks just like this, with green eyes.

A big plus of the game is that I can play as a girl (unlike the latest Dragon Quest game which only has a male protagonist), wearing cute clothes that I will discuss in a later post. There is a lot of customisation of hair and eye colour so you can make your character be as cool as you like. I think I'm enjoying it so much because when I was little I would take a deck of cards and create corridors and rooms using the cards.  I'd make up stories about the 'houses' I made, using my imagination and occasionally a few toys. I absolutely hate Minecraft because it is pixal-ated (don't know how to spell that), I love Animal Crossing for the tasks and house decoration but I don't actually craft items on the same level as I do in the Atelier series, or Dragon Quest Builders. 

In the past it's been next to impossible for me to say what my favourite game is. I love some of the Final Fantasy series, I'm becoming a huge fan of Atelier and Hyperdimension Neptunia series. Now I can safely say Dragon Quest Builders is my favourite game, because it is light hearted, the monsters aren't super hard to beat (apart from the bosses), I get to build and rebuild rooms to my heart's content! 

Let me know if you've played Dragon Quest Builders! I'm writing this in a hurry so will include my own ingame photos in a later post.  There is a sequel coming out this year in Japan, so I'm hoping the European release won't be too far away!