Nayu's Gaming Time #29 Early thoughts on Stellar Blade PS5

FYI the age rating is 18 not 8 - blame my in a hurry photo skills for missing out the 1 on the label.

Stellar Blade, Developer Shift Up, Publisher Sony, Console PlayStation 5, Released April 2024

 I thought about writing several sentences about Stellar Blade on social media but it felt easier to say what I think here. 

Way back when it's place holder name, Project Eve, was announced, I hadn't heard of it. I didn't have a PlayStation 5 back then, hadn't thought about getting one even when it launched as a) it took a lot of time to save for it and b) there were so few games (or so I thought) that I'd be interested in I never paid any attention to upcoming game presentations that Sony regularly shows. Fast forward a few years to last year, when I actually got my PS5 (end of April, or early May), and I decided to pay attention to State of Plays just in case I like any games. 

 When I saw Stellar Blade I was totally wowed by how awesome Eve is. Ok, some of the outfits aren't that pretty for me but overall she looks totally gorgeous and I love her signature long ponytail. I watched the trailer at least a few more times, and vowed to preorder it on release. Which I did, and that brings us to today. Or rather yesterday when I started it. 

My preferred genre is turn-based games as I have more time to think (mostly), or farming sims where again I don't have to think too much. I have a few action-y titles under my belt now, while never amazing at them I can get through them. Way back in the day of the first PlayStation console, with a woman called Lara Croft who I spent dozens of gaming hours using walkthroughs to get through the tricky parts. The way I felt back then with Lara is how I feel now with Eve. PS5 games are not cheap, think I managed to get it for £65 which I had to save for and is a lot of money, so if I'd made a mistake and disliked the game I'd have been annoyed with myself. 

Thankfully I hadn't misjudged the game at all. It plays as the trailer looks, there is so much exploration of the mostly deserted world I'm super happy playing it. It's interesting because Eve isn't fully human, she doesn't know human history so ordinary things like an elevator intrigue her. There is a skill tree for several different sets of skills  which feels overwhelming as I feel i won't recall 99% of the moves. I read an online review that said button mashing won't work with boss fights and that is so true. I kept button mashing but each boss takes me over 4 attempts to eliminate. There is a way to train at certain camps where i don't have to worry about death (I must be almost at 20 game overs now), although I'm on the easier of the 2 game difficulties, have activated prompts on screen so in theory i should be able to dodge fatal attacks but in practice I miss at least half of them. I am really very poor at action games like this. I get frustrated (why can't every game be turn based? It's so much easier!!) but I love the story. I already have theories about who Adam is and how he will or won't help Eve (I'm eyeing him with suspicion). I want Eve to succeed her mission but I also want her to live life and am afraid at the end of the game she may die. (Please DO NOT tell me if you know the end. I will be upset if that gets spoiled). 

I love using the scan feature on the droid to see where both enemies and items are. I love that some areas need a passcode that has to be found then used. I already know I'm going to replay this one day. I've almost enough material to create a whole new outfit for Eve which is exciting. Yes some of her looks/camera angles are a bit much, like Tomb Raider was, but overall I love playing as Eve and how she dresses makes sense for her character. I might have some conservative views in the real world, but fantasy life I'm ok running around in a skin-tight suit. I focus on improving defence mostly since my combat skills are not good. I'm definitely in a happy place with Stellar Blade especially as my current area is a construction site and apparently we get to use the crane to make a bridge! I've not yet got to can collecting but I'm eager to get to that, and get to the base where other humans are that was shown in the trailer.

We need to talk about the soundtrack. It is so beautiful, I love listening to songs which are easy on the ears and fitting for the overall atmosphere of the game. I could listen to the music all day. I'm using the English voices, whose tone fits how I'd expect characters to sound. It's a Korean game, I sadly don't speak Korean, or else I'd listen to it but I wanted to give the English a go. Maybe in my second playthrough one day I will play in Korean or even French I think might be an option. But oh the music....

Stellar Blade is a PS5 exclusive, and I for one absolutely love it. The only less than great element is there are no manual saves. I save every time I visit a camp which is helpful as they are usually right by where as boss appears, but I still have to take those steps from the camp to the boss which when it is repeated over and over due to my ineptitude it takes time to do. I love how it looks, sounds, the plot is intriguing for me as someone who rarely plays apocalyptic games (not into Nier which I've seen it referenced to). For me this is a really spectacular game, and I really hope they make another game like it one day.

Review: Super Mario 3D World (Nintendo Switch, platformer, 9/10E)

 

February 2021, Nintendo Switch, Platformer, Personal copy

Game summary from Nintendo

 From riding down river rapids, to skating across icy tundras, to even exploring a theme park built in the Koopa King’s own scaly image – excitement awaits around every corner, as you travel through the Sprixie Kingdom to save the princess and her followers from Bowser’s clutches!

Mario’s not going it alone – Luigi, Peach and Toad are ready to join in on the fun! Each character has their own unique abilities, so choose one to suit you.

 As an enhanced version of Super Mario 3D World, some brand new gameplay improvements have been made to spice up this adventure.

All characters have received a boost to their running speed and climb even higher after picking up a Super Bell, making platforming that little bit snappier. You can now also use gyro controls for certain sections of the game that previously required touch controls.

Nayu's thoughts

Technically this game includes DLC Bowser's Fury but I haven't been brave enough to try that part yet. I only just finished the base game of Super Mario 3D World and, since I could, I played the entire game as Princess Peach. This was much before I knew Princess Peach Showtime is launching tomorrow (22nd March) as I pre-scheduled this review. I felt this game was totally what I wanted in a Mario game. Super cute levels, with a lot of running around in a cute cat oufit. There is a decent mechanic of if you are not great at levels you can use an invincible icon at the start and breeze on through to the end. This did not prevent me from repeatedly falling at various jumps or acrobatics, but in the final levels especially it enabled me to complete the base game without having to repeat sections far too many times in ways that would make me cry. 

I love the vibrant vibe to this game, I only ever play handheld as I only have a Nintendo Switch Lite. It plays really well in my view, the music is upbeat and most of the levels are pretty coloured. I found a good amount of the collectables, maybe one day I will slowly try to collect them all. I know to get certain ones I will have to use other characters - even Mario - which will be a slight challenge for me, but I can mostly play as Princess Peach and will even give Toad a whirl as he looks cute in cat form. Mario never, EVER looks cute. Ever!!!! I really don't like him. 

The sole pic I could find on Nintendo's site of just Princess Peach (Rest were in multiplayer)

 

 I reached my goal of completing the base game before Princess Peach Showtime so I'm happy. I may dip in and out for collectables. I will try Bowser's Fury but I'm quite anxious that may prove too hard for me as it is supposed to be a harder level (and in a different format). I've played most of it which is what matters. I like the cloud areas and the way the lands connect to each other. It gives me happy feelings when I play, unlike some other Mario games that were too frustrating. May Nintendo make more cute Mario games like this which are slightly different to the norm and allow other characters to be the main focus! 

Tigeropolis Competition Winner!

 Two weeks has passed since I started the competition for those of you in the UK to win a copy of the Tigeropolis books by R. D. Dikstra, which means it is time to announce the winner. The one who got a copy of this super cute series is....

Sharon W! 

Many congratulations Sharon, I've emailed you to sort out prize sending details. I don't yet know when the next competition will be up but keep checking back and see what you can win here on Nayu's Reading Corner! 

To those of you expecting to see a meme today it's going to come later in the week. 

Time for a random Aikatsu Stars pic of Lola! The game for the 3DS is out at the end of the week and I'm super excited!

Nayu's Gaming Time #2 General chat on 3DS, Aikatsu! & Animal Crossing New Leaf Games

Being a huge Aikatsu! fangirl I've put Aikatsu! Stickers on my 3DS! from the left there's Yurika, Aoi, Ichigo, Mizuki, Ran, Kaede, Sakura, & Otome. Aikatsu! Aikatsu! (those words only makes sense if you know the show...)

Happy Sunday everyone! Today I want to share my progress with my still kind of new Japanese Nintendo 3DS.

Example of menu options in Animal Crossing New Leaf

I love it! I think I'm braver in checking out new menus because I don't understand the language as well as English, and I'm going on the basis that it's almost impossible to mess up either the system as a whole or the individual games. Since in English if you want to do something drastic like delete game data you get a few dialogue boxes asking if you're sure & really sure, anything that I do in Japanese is fine so long as there's only 1 dialogue box! 

Using that theory has worked well, I've discovered how to see how many hours I play on each game (So far Animal Crossing New Leaf is in the lead, but post Ramadan Aikatsu My No.1 Stage is catching up rather quickly!) I'm not sharing that information yet. If ever. Because it's a lot! I game when I'm tired and ill, which is a lot, so I guess overall it's not that bad. Some details shall remain secret for a reason! 

Animal Crossing New Leaf Japanese cover

Not all my hours are accurate. Due to weak hands I also play on a family member's 3DS - theirs is in English, thankfully. I clock up several hours a week game time on their console. It makes it a good thing that my yummy fruit (special fruit? it's yummy fruit in Japanese) trees keep producing yummy fruit which sell for a higher price in my family's town, as they save me having to catch loads of bugs and fish, which is fun but takes time. 

I did purchase a super cute background for my 3DS - it's My Melody! 

(not quite my 3DS which is black)

It's a bit more exciting than a plain background. There are Aikatsu! backgrounds, but I wasn't 100% keen on how they looked - I love Aikatsu! but sometimes the pictures just aren't to my taste. 

Speaking of Aikatsu! I am slowly getting to grips with both Aikatsu! My 2 Princesses (or whatever the odd title is) and Aikatsu! 365 Idol Days. My favourite is Aikatsu! My No.1 Stage because it's all about the singing. All I do (for 3 different style of auditions) is the dance sequence, which involves pressing the right buttons at the correct time while the original songs play. There's the outfit choosing too which is so much fun! 

The other two Aikatsu! games are slightly different. They aren't all about the song and dance. There are other mini-games which are needed to level up and gain different dresses. Some of them are ok, some are really cool, and there are the ones I struggle with. I can't remember off the top of my head which of the following games are in each game - I'm not taking the time to figure out. 

But in either Aikatsu! My 2 Princesses and Aikatsu! 365 Idol Days there's a modelling mini game, where you walk down the catwalk and press buttons according to what comes up on screen. I'm not 100% sure what I'm doing. I understand the waving the correct hand when told to, and why getting lucky stars are important (they have something to do with being successful in the audition), but I'm not entirely sure about button pressing for different poses. Before I start I know what type of game it is (pop, cute etc), yet during the show I do see/get asked to do a pose that isn't the main type: if it's a pop game I can get asked to do a cute pose. I just don't understand it all yet. I nearly gave up on the game because I found this so hard, but after many fails I'm finally improving enough to pass most of those auditions. 

The other audition I majorly struggled with was the one where it's a back and forth conversation with Sumire (so probably Aikatsu! 365 Idol Days). I contemplated giving up the game as I couldn't figure out how to know which answer to pick (first I had to say whether the line on screen was for me or Sumire, then I to pick 1 of 4 reactions to said comment). O.O 

I didn't understand it at all! And it was a main audition. However, in one of my random button pressing I discovered the huge secret to passing this type of audition - you get the answers beforehand! I was hugely relieved to see them, and I wrote down what I thought I needed to know (which was mostly right, it turns out I needed some of the key words which I only wrote part of), and voila, I finally passed one of the auditions!!! Success. As much as I love Sumire, I'm going to stick with mostly the singing auditions, as they are the ones I prefer ^o^ 

Outside my house! Yes I do have a halo, new today (it's a hat)

As for Animal Crossing New Leaf - there is so much to the game I'll leave it til next week. Until then here's a look what my house has looked like with expansions and exterior upgrades! I'm trying to collect the Mermaid set: I've got the mermaid fence, the mermaid door, the mermaid postbox, a sweet wall, a different roof). 

This photo took so long to load I'll show you the rest of the front room next time!

Inside I've got the mermaid wall & floor, screen, chair, chest of drawers, lounger, wardrobe (about half for both inside and outside). Unfortunately you can only get mermaid gear on the Island, and lately neither my island nor my family's Island has given new mermaid goods. I guess maybe I was just lucky so much appeared at the beginning. Hopefully I will get more of the collection soon. See you next week!

Facebook game for Paul Hoffman's The Last Four Things

In January 2011 I reviewed Paul Hoffman's (link goes to the book's website) The Left Hand of God, (link goes to my review) an intriguing fantasy.  

The Last Four Things has just been released in February, and Penguin have created a game on Facebook. Please go and take a look at it - I enjoyed the first book, but at the moment it's a series that is too dark for me to read. I'm not on Facebook, so I can't access the game either!