How's your backlog?

[RopeMaidenKirie]

Which things do you have left to do in DA2, Ronin?

Speaking of E3, there's going to be a Square Enix conference this year so I'm really excited to see what they announce! Maybe we'll finally get some FF7 Remake info or a KH3 release date.

@Bluie - I just saw some stuff on DQB2 where you can change your outfits/hairstyles/etc so that's pretty great news since you really disliked the look of the protags in this one, right?

Been busy so I haven't been able to dive into PoE2 like I've wanted to, but it's really fun so far! Enjoying it a lot. Also really excited for Detroit but I'm gonna have to wait until we are settled at the new place to pick it up.

[Bluie]

@Bluie - I just saw some stuff on DQB2 where you can change your outfits/hairstyles/etc so that's pretty great news since you really disliked the look of the protags in this one, right?

Oh thank goodness. I like that you can get colour variants of the costumes as well! The shirts of said variants are actual armors you can buy in almost every DQ game. I'm so conditioned to seeing them it clicked immediately.


I got my EB card safe and sound. I went to my local store and got a bunch of my preorders paid for (Mario Tennis Aces, Octopath Traveler, Happy Birthdays, and Yonder the Cloud Catcher Chronicles). Had a liiiiitle bit left over after all that so I put it on Shining Resonance Refrain. Sorry, Little Dragon's Cafe, i'll get to paying you off once I know when you release.

Also, MONSTER HUNTER GENERATIONS ULTIMATE AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

[Kikki]

I have new hopes for E3 this year thanks to Otomate's announcement that they are shifting focus to the Switch (bye, Vita!) They've announced TWELVE games for it, and I think three are for this year, but only in Japan, so...I'm hoping we'll here something from Aksys (or possibly even Xseed since one of the games was in collaboration with Marvelous, though I kind of doubt that at this point.) about at least a few of them. The one I want most is Reines des Fleurs, but they all look great, and there's apparently a NEW Hakuoki in the offing, but Otomate's site is in Japanese so of course even if there are any details there, it's all just wiggles on a screen to me.

I don't care about Code: Realize or Amnesia and so on since I have already played those games to death and have them on a system I still use and so am not at all interested in buying a port, but even if they only do those ones, I'll be happy to see quality (not Dogenzaka labs!) otome games become available on the Switch in English.

Right now I am way too tired for gaming even when I'm not busy. I just can't keep my head together for more than fifteen minutes. I'm not happy about it because I was doing so well and I wanted to continue, but...maybe now that I have my cozy new chair in front of my gaming set-up I can work on something quiet like Steins;Gate or the like.

EDIT: Did you see the news on XC2 today, Bluie?

[RopeMaidenKirie]

I hate to say it since you're looking forward to it, but Reines des Fleurs is beautiful but holy « Puppy Doodoo » the game is just bad. I imported and played the Japanese version and it was not good at all. 40 bad endings, disappointing plot and most of the characters are supremely unlikeable. I was so let down considering I spent a pretty penny to get it. Only my opinion of course, but one of the most disappointing otome games I've played. While I didn't like Sweet Fuse, it was mainly because it bored me to death and I wasn't a fan of the designs...this is just on a whole other level.

[Kikki]

Lol...it doesn't have any good endings? That's surprising. Even really sad stories like Hakuoki usually give you one happy or at least 'bittersweet' ending option. Well, thanks for the information, in any case. I haven't liked everything by Otomate...Norn 9 and Period Cube were both a load of dull nonsense to me...so if it's bad, it's not the first time.

Though that art is just so perfect. :/

[RopeMaidenKirie]

Here's my review of it from back in 2015

Spoiler:

I just platinumed Reine des Fleurs and « Harvest Goddess » I am so happy to be done. I probably should have just gone for the "good" routes and called it, but if I'm going to spend over $60 on a game I'm going to get my money's worth lol

Overall I give it a 5/10 at best and mostly because of the art. Story is all over the place and there's way too many bad endings that you can't avoid unless you sit there with a guide next to you. Not to mention many of the bad routes (if you want to collect them all) make you start the routes basically all over again which is such a complete waste of time. On that note, the bad routes aren't even all that creative so it's just not really worth it.


Rankings:
Orpheus >>>> Leon > Ghislain > Louis > Hubert

Orpheus is the only decent route imo. He's adorable and the route was sweet and ended well compared to most of the others. Leon's cute and I like his character design a lot, but wasn't a fan of his route at all. Ghislain I love his appearance but he's kind of...insane at times and another one where his route was just a complete trainwreck xD;; Louis also is gorgeous but his backstory and personality and definite no-gos. Hubert is probably my biggest disappointment--he is one of my favorite designs and I love Sugita but Hubert's character is seriously coo coo for cocoa puffs.

There are "good" endings but all besides Orpheus' I really disliked. YMMV of course and I'm sure someone will enjoy it if it does somehow come over, but it's a game that's pretty loathed overall in the import otome community for not living up to expectations. I should have seen it coming after it was delayed like 3 times in a row :/

[Bluie]

EDIT: Did you see the news on XC2 today, Bluie?

GIVE IT TO ME RIGHT NOW, HOLY CRAAAAAAAAAAAAP.

Spoiler:

I adore Lora and Haze, so, yes please.

I hope they port Binary Star to the Switch. GOSH i've wanted to play it for AAAAGES. I'll freaking import it if I have to. I. Want. To. Play. It.

[RopeMaidenKirie]

I adore the art in Binary Star and I wish it would come over too D: I've heard it's really good overall!

[Kikki]

Thank you, Kirie I also saw a (really long!) review on Reines de Fleurs elsewhere and she hated it too, only liking Leon. Though everyone is like 'wow this art!' and then, 'damn, the art is the only good thing about it'.

It is REALLY nice art, though. That's disappointing because when it looks that good it needs to turn out to be interesting! Or even if it's not that great...not horrible or offensive. It would still be worth playing if it were merely a bit boring or if the story had a few gaps, but if the story is outright irritating or offensive, even the art can't make up for it.

Well, ALL of the games I actually saw of those 12 looked quite good (though I couldn't find even a speck on LoverPretend) so any of them would be nice to have. Though I hope if they bring anything, they pick the overall best quality one, so as not to give otoges a bad name since if it goes on Switch it'll probably be a lot of people's first introduction to the genre.

Bluie...that XC2 stuff was surprising, wasn't it? I mean at least about

Spoiler:

Shulk and Fiora.

I'd love to see them in XC2 but it's a really weird thing to do, imo, so I have mixed feelings about it. Curiosity mixed with 'wth??', lol. I'm not sure how I feel about the idea of the added story, yet.

Edit: Do you even have to import? Aren't Switch games region free, so if you switch over to the Japanese e-shop...could you just buy it digitally? Or is that not possible?

[RopeMaidenKirie]

Yeah, it's so pretty ;_; it's just such a shame really about the rest of it lol. On the other hand, the artist has done a few other otoges, one being really good (Wand of Fortune) that unfortunately never came over, but I wish it would have. The other is Variable Barricade which actually has a decent chance since it's supposed to be releasing this year in Japan. Guess we'll have to see how good it is first..lol

[Bluie]

It's actually, usually, cheaper to import a Physical copy. Back in my Japanese 3DS days, the eShop took foreign credit cards and I bought most of my games digital for that system. The Switch, however, does not take foreign cards or paypal accounts, so you're gonna have to buy eShop points cards if you want a digital game.

And JPN eShop points cards are inflated mostly everywhere I look. I'd end up spending $90+ for a $70 game when I could import they physical copy for $80 after shipping. I've learned my lesson with PlayAsia so i'll be ordering from Amazon JP from now on. They get here suuuuper fast.

[Ronin19]

Which things do you have left to do in DA2, Ronin?

A lot. Mainly romancing Fenris, Merrill, and Sebastian. Going to romance Anders and Isabela again for good measure; got to make sure I know who I want as canon. At the moment, I'm just recreating my first file, so Anders-mancer and mage supporter with Fenris and Merrill being the only rivals.

In the file I thought was canon, I split my templar and mage support 50/50, so I never went full templar; I'll probably do that at some point too. I've also never had Bethany and Carver be anything more than

Spoiler:

Gray Wardens

, so it'll be interesting to see them in their other roles. Never played a full-on playthrough as a one-handed weapon warrior, two-handed weapon warrior, or an archer either, so there's that.

All in all, five playthroughs to go through, but the other four will have to wait after I've done my last three files for Andromeda and two files for Dragon Age Origins. They'll go on the back burner though when I get new games since I've beaten them all before.

Dragon Age 2 is pretty much my least favorite game in the series due to low replay value (choosing male/female and then warrior or rogue/mage is pretty much the only real difference), so I never did explore all options. I'm grateful it's backwards compatible now, so I can experience everything I missed.

[Miku134]

I work a lot, so only get to play video games a couple of times a week and don't really spend much money on them or consoles. However, there are a ton which I've started and gotten part-way through.

1) Okami - I played up until the end of the first part, then decided to take a break before going into the 2nd, because it does feel a lot like 3 games in one. Will get back to it eventually because it was fun.
2) Dying Light - Had never played it before, got pretty far now, it's good but on hiatus as I just don't have time.
3) Pokemon Black - Almost at the end. Already played through it once years ago though.
4) Pokemon Leaf Green - Almost at the end and love it. Played through it 100 times over but this time I've got some really good pokemon that I've never used before this time around.
5) Harvest Moon Tale of Two Towns - Not sure if I'll ever go back to this one tbh, I'm not even halfway through the first year yet, but I feel more bored playing it than when I don't play it which is a bad sign.

Currently I'm playing Magical Melody and Mario 64 DS, both very slowly lol.

[Bluie]

Aw man, I almost made it to Canada in Death Road to Canada! Got to the last day only for my whole party to get zombie nommed! I probs won't touch it for awhile as I was so close to tasting victory, and now it's goooone! I'll try again in a week or so, probably. I did one of the stories in Pripara just to cool off my frustration (one more story left, will save it for later).

Pretty much playing through DQB again, slowly. I'm probs just gonna do the bare minimum for the towns and then make my dream town in Terra Incognita.

Other than that, I pre-purchased the Fairune collection (i've always meant to play these games, but forgot to buy them lol) and it'll unlock later this week. Very tempted to buy Earthlock as it's on sale + i'm intrigued by all the effort the devs put into it. It's still $30 I'm not sure I want to spend though...

[Kikki]

I've been wanting Earthlock for about half a year and as usual, am waffling like...well, like a waffle, basically. Stick some butter and sugary strawberries on me...that's how waffley I am. The game has got its fair share of criticism, especially because the first version of it on Wii U was apparently pretty terrible...not fleshed out properly...but it has pretty good looks and it has farming of weird magical crops, so I wanna. And it's been improved a lot since the first version. Possibly the first two versions, as It was originally called Festival of Magic, and then Earthlock: Festival of Magic, and now on Switch is it just Earthlock. So there may have been more than one revision, I'm not sure, there.

But if I don't like the rest of the game too, it'll be a loss and end up rotting on the backlog.

I don't know if they're still planning for this to be the first part of a trilogy, or not.

PS: Sorry about the rage-quit situation. I hate those. I remember that happened to me once and I never picked the game back up at all, and it's so old now that I never will, lol.