I went overboard with VN purchases in the last month, so I’m probably going to keep focusing on those for a while.

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Finished Senren * Banka!

Last week I commented about the first three routes, and there were two left:

• Lena: By far the best story of all routes. We finally get a proper explanation for the origins of the curse, an incredibly satisfying resolution, and I love how they even hint that certain events from Murasame’s route also take place in this one. The only bad thing is that Lena’s romance was on the weak side, but even then I’d say it’s a strong contender for best route in the game.
• Roka/Kohaku: This “side” route goes entirely slice-of-life with the main character working a restaurant alongside the heroines, and was a surprisingly enjoyable read. The weakest part of this route is definitely Kohaku, she’s the least interesting heroine in the game, but I really liked Roka and wish she had more screentime.

Overall I had a good time with this game and might be willing to try more Yuzusoft titles in the future.

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Finished Loopers!

Had one last short VN from Key in my backlog.

It has a very interesting premise - it’s about a group of people stuck on a “groundhog day” loop, repeating the same day endlessly, but instead of dealing with the loop itself it’s more about their day-to-day lives as they try to keep themselves happy and sane in this situation. It also has a very nice and colorful artstyle that was one of the things that drew me to the game.

Sadly, I think the game is way too short to properly explore this premise or develop its fairly big cast - it has twice as many characters as another similar-length Key VN I played recently (Harmonia). There’s also some very questionable story choices, like some out-of-place horror segments in the early parts of the game or focusing too much on the treasure hunting theme.

Not a bad game, but I think it had the potential for a lot more.

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Finished The Fox Awaits Me!

A fairly obscure VN I picked because the art and themes looked interesting, and also my first time playing a Korean VN. And I liked it way more than I expected.

It starts with the MC awakening in a bamboo grove with no memories, and he ends up getting involved with a magic fox, a mountain deity and a grim reaper as he tries to piece together his past and figure out what was exactly his previous relationship with the heroines.

One of the most interesting things about this game is how well it maintains tension, even during the more chill segments. You know the heroines are hiding things from you and it’s hard to tell how much you should trust their words, plus it’s clear from some scenes (including some rather bloody bad endings) that danger is around and you shouldn’t relax. There’s also the writing of Shua, the titular fox - she’s clearly obsessed with the MC, and you often wonder if she’s about to snap and do something crazy.

The production values were great, with a good OST, nice backgrounds and animated sprites. The english translation could’ve used a bit more QA though, I’ve spotted a few typos and mistakes, and there’s bugs like text occasionally going outside the screen. Nothing gamebreaking, but annoying.

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Playing The Fox Awaits Me HANA (Link to Japanese eShop)

Direct sequel to the game above.

It has full english support and was originally planned for a US/Europe release, but it was suddenly cancelled with only some vague statements about it.

Decided to play this one first because it’s supposed to be shorter than other VNs I have on my backlog, hoping to finish it over the weekend.

Tactical Breach Wizards just released, so I’m picking back up where the demo left off! Excited to see more of it, the writing is great and the gameplay is just complex enough while rewarding experimentation.

And I just got into Voices of the Void, a free (likely while it’s in pre-alpha) light simulational game about receiving outer space signals and recording them to sell. You use the currency to clean up, upgrade, and decorate your small facility while moving around the Swiss forest valley you’re in to repair and upkeep the satellite dishes that make the operation function. I’m very early in learning how everything works, but I’m really enjoying it!

And I’m imminently finishing Edgeworth Investigations, the last case is massive, but I’ve got the perp, so I should be very close and then onwards to Investigations 2! Glad to see you continuing Ace Attorney, OP. Franziska is indeed a hardass and slightly unhinged, but she’s not so bad!

I’m in the final dungeon of Paper Mario: Thousand Year Door and I will probably beat it this weekend, after a quick backtrack to the bottom of the Pit of Trials. Gloomtail was almost a problem, but I had just enough defense badges to survive his best attack with 1HP. I’m a little worried about Bonetail now. I’ve done a 10HP run on the Gamecube and beaten him first try a long time ago, but I forgot exactly how I did that.

I’m also about 75% done with my mystery game that I’m not going to name until it’s done. Right now, I’m rather disappointed with it.

Making steady progress in Wild Arms, too. Recently got access to the ship to explore the first part of the sea. I may have fallen victim to nostalgia; I still think it’s a good game, but I remember it being better. Maybe I remember the later parts more.

Under Night In-Birth II [Sys:Celes] - Made top 8 at locals. Then played a long casual set with the guy who eliminated me from bracket, came out of it feeling like I understand the Carmine matchup better now. Bonus casual netplay clip.

Mahjong Soul/Riichi City/IRL mahjong - Ever since Balatro blew up, people have been joking about when we’re gonna see the mahjong roguelike next. Then four different ones went into development. Then Mahjong Soul surprised dropped a fifth one as a limited time event, and it might be the most promising of all of them. Then I broke the hell out of it.

Splatoon 3 - Team practice. Don’t have any cool clips to share rn, maybe next week.

Gunfire Reborn

I love this game so much, been honing in on the achievements now.

Also Backpack battles is such a great indie game, the concept can hook me for hours as well

And to everyone who wants a small local co-op game to play with friends or your kids, pizza possum has been blowing me away for a while and it’s always nice to dig it out again if I have someone new over.

Otherwise been still grinding Warframe. Getting towards 4k hours now. An insane grind game, but if you’re down for the grind, this game never ends. It just changes over time.

Just started Little Kitty Big City and I love it, it’s such an adorable game and the puzzles are nice and short.

I’ve kind of hit a slump since beating Final Fantasy I. Good game by the way, I give it a recommendation for a straight to the point JRPG. I put just over 20 hours in it, but I think I only ran from like 2 encounters

Google gave me 3 months of Play Pass, so I’ve been fucking around with some mindless mobile games. Any suggestions are welcome for Android games. I have Mother 3 and Final Fantasy II among others ready to go, I just can’t get myself to pull the trigger

I have a lot of ROM hacks I patched recently. The Legend of Banjo Kazzoie - The Jiggies of Time and Conker’s High Rule Tail are the main ones that I started. I have a hard time getting back to games

I was playing a hack called Learn 2 Kaizo, but I’m stuck on a 1 frame trick. I’m having a hard time finding documentation on it, and I’m not sure if the emulator or PS4 controller could be hindering me

Play Super Smash Bros Ultimate. Game is almost unchanged from Melee 20 years ago, and it’s very repetitive, but the drive to get the 1000+ collectible “spirits” is strong.