My Elephant Japanese Kigurumi Costume for a Halloween Party at Work Today

Halloween 2015 | Elephant | Kigurumi | Costume
Halloween 2015 | Elephant | Kigurumi | Costume
Halloween 2015 | Elephant | Kigurumi | Costume
Halloween 2015 | Elephant | Kigurumi | Costume
Halloween 2014 | Black Cat | Kigurumi | Costume | Kigurumi Shop | Sazac
Halloween 2014 | Black Cat | Kigurumi | Costume | Kigurumi Shop | Sazac

Happy Halloween everybody! It is cold here in Northwestern PA (though not as bad as it has been the past few years). I’m nice and warm in a cute and comfy, cozy Kigurumi. What is a Kigurumi? It’s a type of costume made popular in Japanese street fashion and cosplay that is similar to a baby onesie without the feet and with a hood that often has an animal or anime face.

I have lots of Kigurumi. Cats, tigers, my little ponies, bears, mice, domukun, care bears, etc. But today, I’m wearing my elephant costume. Last year, I wore my black cat costume from Sazac. This was my very first Kigurumi and it’s now at least 6 years old and has lived through being washed multiple times. I used to have a cat that looked just like it and it was fun posing with her for pictures lol. I got the cat kigurumi from a place called Kigurumi Shop online. I highly highly recommend them and the Sazac brand!!! http://kigurumi-shop.com/

But Sazac, although they might have been the first, or most well known designer of Kigurumi, they are not alone in the market. Today’s elephant Kigurumi came from a local discount store called Gabriel Brothers. The brand just says Animal Onesie. And they’re sold usually around this time of year in the women’s lingerie and underwear department.

The fit of this “counterfeit” costume is NOT as comfy as the Sazac costumes. The legs are oddly short, like maybe they’re capris but I’m short so Capris pants almost always fit me like regular pants (almost) – but the elastic around the leg is tight and itchy. — The Sazac costume is much more loose around the legs. Though I do like that this counterfit one is a lot less baggy in the crotch area since it’s designed specifically for women, where as the Sazac brand are unisex costumes.

Although the fit is a bit different, the costume is still made of the same fleecey comfy soft and THICK fabric that the Sazac costumes are made from. It’s VERY cuddley.

It’s also incredibly cute! Although I am aware it looks like a certain male body appendage is sticking out of my head hahaha…. It’s amusing, and funny. and I feel cute and happy wearing it. I love Halloween and I love Kigurumi. I’d recommend buying from the Kigurumi Shop; but if you’re lucky, due to increased popularity in the United States, you just may be able to find one at a store near you! The ones from Sazac are pricey, but really last a long time and fit a lot better and are comfier than the cheapie ones. But the cheapie ones are still cute and make great halloween costumes (or pajamas!).

Check out some of these other zany Japanese and Korean Costumes from around the web:

English: Several "dollers", or "...
English: Several “dollers”, or “animegao” cosplayers, were at the 2008 Kyoto International Manga Summit. This one agreed to pose for a picture. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
splash mascots. Korean Amusement park.
splash mascots. Korean Amusement park. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

My Elephant Japanese Kigurumi Costume for a Halloween Party at Work Today was originally published on

Higurashi Chapter 2 Watanagashi Preorder Now Live. Game Launches Friday the 13th.

Manga Gamer sent me another email today to let me know that Higurashi Chapter 2 Watanagashi is now accepting Preorders and that the game will be available on Friday, November 13th, 2015 (although their website says the 14th). It costs $7.95, but if you preorder, you can save about 50 cents off that price (not much of a preorder incentive).

Like the original, the new release will also feature exclusive special artwork for the characters that’s only available in this version of the game. You can also play the game in either Japanese or English.

Higurashi is a murder mystery presented through 14 different chapters. It’s also a Kinetic Novel, which means that unlike most visual novels, there is not a branching plot nor multiple endings, and there’s in fact, absolutely no interaction by the player. It’s just a story. A very good story though. So if you like murder mysteries, you might like it!

Since this is chapter 2, you should play chapter 1 first to better enjoy this game. Check out my review of Higurashi Chapter 1 Onikakushi — right here to see if it may be something that you’d like. You can also see the lovely new sprites MangaGamer has developed for this release (and comparisons to the Japanese ones).

You can learn more, and preorder Chapter 2 Watanagashi on Manga Gamer’s Site (and soon also on Steam) at http://www.mangagamer.com/detail.php?goods_type=1&product_code=154

Happy Halloween!

Higurashi Chapter 2 Watanagashi Preorder Now Live. Game Launches Friday the 13th. was originally published on GeekySweetie.com – Geeky & Kawaii Anime, Tech, Toys, & Game Reviews & News

This Magical School Anime JRPG Simulator is Everything – and it needs your help!

I just discovered Valthirian Arc: Red Covenant which according to the developer, “is an action-packed magical school simulator with a classic JRPG twist. You play the principal of an academy, tasked with training your students to save the world, all while finding missing cats, delivering love letters, and helping elderly ladies to cross the road… oh and fighting monsters.”

Features:

  • School-simulation JRPG
  • Unique 2.5D graphics
  • Real-time battle system
  • Manage and build your school
  • Recruit and train your students
  • Promote your students into various class levels
  • Multiple endings
  • For Pc, Mac, and Linux, Available on Steam and DRM Free
  • Job Class System similar to FF5
  • Crafting System

The gameplay is 2 fold, focusing on managing your students so that they graduate, and then selecting a job class for them similar to Final Fantasy 5. Your students then go out and battle monster with a real-time active combat system.

Also, if you back the kickstarter, you get access to kickstarter exclusive backer reward “Night Mode” In which you may be surprised by your students’ behaviors after hours. Such things, remind me fondly of Graduation 95 by Mixx.

Kickstarter page here: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/agatestudio/valthirian-arc-red-covenant

It’s also being compared to Harry Potter.

The bad news is… they only have 2 weeks left to reach their funding goal! OH NOES. We need to #MakeItHappen

Go go throw money at your screens. We NEED this game!

The game has already been Greenlit on Steam. https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=526696289 – though I’m getting an error when I try to access this page right now.

Also, you can play the previous Valthirian Arc games to understand its gameplay.

Valthirian Arc 1: agate.id/playva1
Valthirian Arc 2: agate.id/playva2

 

This Magical School Anime JRPG Simulator is Everything – and it needs your help! was originally published on GeekySweetie.com – Geeky & Kawaii Anime, Tech, Toys, & Game Reviews & News

Yo-Kai Watch releases on the Nintendo 3DS in North America on November 6, 2015. What is Yo-Kai Watch? Million Selling Japanese Anime and Videogame Series. Now in English

Have you heard of Yo-Kai Watch? This Nintendo franchise is releasing for the first time in North America next week and here’s everything you need to know about the million selling anime and videogame series.

Title: Yo-Kai Watch
Publisher: Level 5 and Nintendo
Platform: 3DS
Release Date: November 6th, 2015

Where to buy: $39.99 from Amazon.com

Concept: From what I can see, this looks very similar to pokemon, except you can control a party of 3 cute monsters simultaneously in a single battle. You use your stylus to search different areas until you find a Yokai and you then have the opportunity to befriend them. You raise and train the Yokai to make them stronger. There’s 200 different Yokai to find.

Last Week Nintendo released an English demo on the Nintendo E-shop which you can download for free here.

Story: The story of Yo-kai Watch is that Yo-kai are mischievous spirits which exist in the real world, though unseen by humans. One day your character helps a ghost who grants them a special watch to detect the presence of Yo-kai. Yo-kai are not ghosts, monsters, or pets. Instead Yo-kai is the Japanese belief that all objects, both living, and inanimate possess a “spirit”. These Yo-kai sometimes come from humans, or sometimes animals, or sometimes even every day objects. Unlike Pokemon, there’s really not a grand quest or anything; instead it’s a story about innocence and discovering a magical world that’s always been there but has been hidden to most people.

Graphics: The graphics in Yo-Kai Watch are cute and there are a large variety of Yo-Kai to befriend within the game. The colors and images are very sharp and it’s all done in a cute anime style.

There are also a number of anime, manga, and toys and other merchandise that go along with this series. Nintendo hopes to create the next “pokemon craze” and make a lot of money off of merchandising – which has been working quite well for them overseas. Let’s see if this series takes off as well in North America.

Also, the first game, does not have different versions like Pokemon having different monsters in each version and encouraging trading amongst players. This is one feature I will miss and really the main draw of Pokemon for a lot of gamers. However, it looks like the 2nd game, which is already out in Japan, does have two versions and may focus on different Yo-kai in each one, making trading necessary to “catch em all”.

I read that you can choose a male or female player character, but have no further info on if the player characters can be further customized.

If you happen to be going to PAX in Australia you will get hands on time with Yo-Kai Watch and get to see the premiere of the anime before it goes live in December.

Last of all, Nintendo lists this title as 2 players. I assume it will feature battling eachother’s Yo-kai similar to Pokemon Battles.

Yo-Kai Watch releases on the Nintendo 3DS in North America on November 6, 2015. What is Yo-Kai Watch? Million Selling Japanese Anime and Videogame Series. Now in English was originally published on

Check out some of the great plugins and themes from Mythemeshop

MyThemeShop provides both free, as well as premium, wordpress themes and plugins to help you customize your wordpress site.

https://mythemeshop.com/?ref=jeni

Great looking, and most of all, fast loading themes for any kind of site, even Ecommerce site themes for under $50. Your customers won’t wait for slow loading websites. These themes will pay for themselves in the number of abandoned carts you will save and customers you will gain.

They also have magazine themes, one page themes, portfolio themes, and more.

Right now, they are also offering a 50% rate on their subscription plans. Use coupon code 50OffNow.

Here are some of my favorite FREE wordpress themes from MyThemeShop. Yep, they’re free. Go sign up and get a great looking, ultra fast loading, wordpress theme!

<img class="" src="https://mythemeshop.com/wp-content/images/AccentBox-270×343.jpg&quot; alt="Accent Box is Simple, Clean, and Fully Responsive for Mobile and Tablet Users. It looks great and loads fast. Check out their demo over at

http://demo.mythemeshop.com/s/?theme=AccentBox” width=”270″ height=”343″ /> Accent Box is Simple, Clean, and Fully Responsive for Mobile and Tablet Users. It looks great and loads fast. Check out their demo over at http://demo.mythemeshop.com/s/?theme=AccentBox

<img src="https://mythemeshop.com/wp-content/images/Launcher-270×343.jpg&quot; alt="Are you starting a new website? Check out the free launcher landing page theme from MyThemeShop, with 3 different styles designed to help build excitement and capture a user base before your site goes live. Launcher free theme from Mythemeshop. Live demo at

http://demo.mythemeshop.com/s/?theme=Launcher” width=”270″ height=”343″ /> Are you starting a new website? Check out the free launcher landing page theme from MyThemeShop, with 3 different styles designed to help build excitement and capture a user base before your site goes live. 

ch_client = “xenokitten”;
ch_width = 400;
ch_height = 90;
ch_type = “mpu”;
ch_sid = “Chitika Default”;
ch_color_site_link = “#164675”;
ch_color_title = “#164675”;
ch_color_border = “#B0C9EB”;
ch_color_text = “#333333”;
ch_color_bg = “#FFFFFF”;

http://scripts.chitika.net/eminimalls/amm.js

Launcher free theme from Mythemeshop. Live demo at http://demo.mythemeshop.com/s/?theme=Launcher

Check out some of the great plugins and themes from Mythemeshop was originally published on Geeky Sweetie

Girlish Love Revolution | Otometeki Koi Kakumei * Love Revo!! | Nintendo DS | Love Revo | Girlish Love Revo | Weight Loss | Anime | Dating Sim | Review | Editorial | English Translation

This review and editorial is for Girlish Love Revo (Otometeki Koi Kakumei * Love Revo!!), a dating sim, otome, and weight loss management simulation game on the Nintendo DS.

Note: This game has never been released “officially” in English, but it has been fan translated. You can grab the fan translation patch AND the handy walkthru from this site here: https://sites.google.com/site/loverevoguide/translation-project/download They also tell you how to patch your copy of the game.

The game can be purchased from sites like Yes! Asia or Play Asia or occasionally found on Amazon It’s currently only $8 bucks on amazon with 34 copies available, so that’s the one I recommend buying from (at time of this review).

For $8 bucks PLEASE help support the industry and send a message LOUD AND CLEAR that English speaking gamers WANT otome games like this by choosing to BUY the game instead of downloading a rom of it online. (You know, especially since Idea Factory right now IS listening to us American fans and bringing us many of their Otome games, because, this is in fact, also an Idea Factory game too! So chances are good, if they hear us say we want it, they’ll release an official English version.)

Here’s the link: http://www.amazon.com/Otometeki-Kakumei-DS-Japan-Import-Nintendo/dp/B0013D98Q0

So the past few days I’ve been playing this game again. I had tried to play the game a few years ago when the fan translation came out. But it kinda offended me. I’m overweight myself. And the message that it sends to young girls just sucks to be honest. The main problem I have is that all of the characters except for one of them, treat the girl (that’s you by the way) like sheer crap. Like she’s less than human. But the main character is so dumb that she wants their love and affection anyways and so she decides to lose weight to impress these assholes. Okay, fine, if you want to lose weight, that’s cool. I want to lose weight too; but you know, for the right reasons, like not getting diabetes, and being able to keep up with more fit friends and family when they want to go outdoors and be active and well to look and feel better for myself. I mean fuck everyone else. My weight has never been an issue for any of the guys I dated, except for one, and he was an abusive asshole and not worth all the time and effort I put into things. BUT enough about me — Let’s get back to discussing Love Revo.

I began again, because, man there’s a lot of people online who LOVE this game…. I think I must be missing something here…. and I kinda was…. I think when I first played it a few years ago I was confused about how large the girl actually was. The measurements are in Kilograms. I’m like what the fuck she’s only 100 lbs. But no, actually she’s 220 lbs because she’s 100 KG when the game starts, about the same or close to my weight, so yeah, my bad. She is obese. (and so am I) And actually… once you get your weight down to 89 KG or less, the guys begin to be nice to you… which is still PRETTY DAMN BIG…. ESPECIALLY… considering the fact that this game is ONLY available for sale in asian markets — 89 KG is 196 lbs…. Which is HUGE for an asian. Now before you get all mad and butthurt, I’m not trying to stereotype (or body shame anyone for that matter), I’m just saying that over there, with body shaming and stuff, and the peer pressure to fit in, o they would typically be a laughing stock at that weight because you know, that’s just how their society rolls over there. That’s all. Everyone is like a size 2. And if you aren’t a size 2, you’re ostracized by your students, peers, and even your family. SOOOOOO On that note…. Well this game isn’t that bad. Hell. 196 lbs is still Obese by a doctor’s definition, even in America, land of the fat. But it’s a lot healthier than 220 lbs. I’d like to lose 30 lbs like that too LOL. So on that note… This game is not REALLY about body shaming, but about just being healthier. But it’s STILL about losing weight for the WRONG reasons. which upsets me. 🙁

That said, as I continued to play the game, I began to think about losing weight myself. I hate exercise, like most geeky gamer girls probably out there. And I already don’t eat much and eat clean and healthy, lots of veg, etc, so I know for me, the whole obstacle, is I need to exercise dammit. I’m sedentary at work and in my leisure time. Playing this game made me feel like I should start exercising, and that exercising might be fun, and that wow look at her weight drop off, I want to lose weight like that too! I got kinda motivated by it I guess is what I’m trying to say. There are better games out there, that actually you know, help you to burn calories, such as “Walk it Off” or “Dance Dance Revolution” or “Just Dance!”; but still, any game that can make a fat girl want to exercise, has some merit I guess.

There’s also a new recently released, unrelated but similar Otome IOS Iphone Ipad game that helps you work out. I think I might download it (and review it at some point). Which is called, Burn your fat with me girls! which you can grab here for IOS: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/burn-your-fat-me!!-for-girls/id657192163?mt=8 and here for android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=jp.funsolution.nensho_eng&hl=en

Actually the news of the release of the above Otome weight loss IOS app is what prompted me to want to replay Love Revo.

I spent 3 days with Love Revo this week and this is what I discovered:

1.) It’s not as “bad” as I thought in terms of body shaming and making the character “throw herself” at these men.

2.) Not all of the characters are assholes. (Though some of them are and I still don’t like that they only get “nicer” when you lose weight.)

3.) It’s actually really educational and fairly accurate

a. It focuses on weight loss from different core muscle groups such as arms, legs, abs, face, whole body, etc.

b. There are a huge number of different exercises that target the different muscle groups and you get better results by mixing up your workout routine

c. You have to cheat occasionally on your diet, like when going out with guys, or friends and family, food is part of social interaction. Also, when you’re alone, if you’re stressed, you can lower your stress by eating snacks, but if you do this too much, you will gain weight. There are numerous snacks available and you can minimize your weight gain by choosing highly filling foods with lower calories. (Also just like in real life, eating healthy costs more money. Oh and also the food expires and you have to buy new food.) When you do go off your diet by overeating you can correct it by working out harder and eating better the next day(s)

d. You have to keep your studies up and also devote time to developing relationships so you have to be “well rounded” not just “smoking hot”

4.) This game is hard as balls. I have yet, either this time, or years ago, to ever get a guy’s ending!!! I have all of the stats at the right level (circle within a circle in the “dear sister” report and “You make my heart throb” when asking what they think of me… but they have NEVER once asked me out on Christmas OR accepted my Valentines Day chocolate. FOREVER ALONE LOL. I think I failed to go on enough dates with them. But to be fair a lot of times when I asked, they turned me down or were busy, and UNLIKE Tokimeki Memorial, the times they will turn you down are RANDOM in Girlish Love Revolution. Where in Tokimeki you’ll only get turned down if they have club or work and you can memorize their schedules to maximize use of your time. In Girlish Love Revo, if they turn you down it’s just pure coincidence. They recommend that you save before you ask the guy out and reload until he says yes. I’m too lazy to save/reload that often though.

5.) There’s a “good ending” in which you can fail to get any of the guys but just decide that you’re happy with yourself and decide to focus on your career instead of dating. I like this ending because it sorta addresses my main complaint with the game having a rather negative message for young girls.

6.) The game is actually pretty fun. But not as good in terms of story and character development as some other Otome games out there, but perhaps more fun than them in terms of gameplay and variety of things to do within the game.

With my thoughts on this game out of the way, let’s move on to the review!

Title: Otometeki Koi Kakumei * Love Revo!! (Girlish Love Revolution)

Genre: Otome Stat Raising Sim with Visual Novel and Dating Sim elements

Publisher: Idea Factory

Release Date: January 2006 (Japan only)

Platform: Nintendo DS (It was also later ported to windows PCs but there’s no english translation patch for that version)

Where to Buy: $8 bucks on Amazon at time of this review. Click here to Buy on Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Otometeki-Kakumei-DS-Japan-Import-Nintendo/dp/B0013D98Q0

Geeky: geekygeekygeeky

Sweetie: 

Overall: 53 / 80 66% D. Average Game for Girls.

Concept: 7/10 The concept of the game rubs me the wrong way a bit, as mentioned; most of the guys are assholes and only treat you like an actual human being when you begin to lose weight. However, despite the sort of “bad message” that this sends to girls, this is still an entertaining, fun, and very unique concept with cute anime art and quirky characters. The game is basically a weight loss “simulation”. You have to juggle losing weight with studying, and dating boys, and keep your stress low. It uses realistic workouts which target different muscle groups and offers a large variety of things to do including mini-games, dating the guys, studying, shopping, and working out.

Gameplay 10/10: Gameplay is actually really fun in this game. You can workout at home, or go to the sports center, beauty salon, or buy new equipment to help with your workouts. In addition to working out, you can go play mini games in the arcade to win really helpful premium items and break up some of the gameplay a bit with games like whack a mole and concentration. There are certain events that occur such as sports festivals and field trips or holidays, in which you need to have your stats at a certain amount to trigger certain scenes. And of course, there’s dating. Lots and lots of dating. There are numerous dateable guys (most of which I don’t think I’ve unlocked yet, cuz why are there all these empty apartment rooms?) which means of course, high replay value to get all the different endings. I will say, that I miss the skinship and dressup type of elements found in similar games such as Konami’s Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side series. But I understand this is a different game by a different publisher, Idea Factory, and so I’m not going to deduct any points for that. Plus it makes up for what it lacks by what new elements it brings to the table, such as the weight loss and work outs. 🙂

Story: 3/10 There just isn’t much story here. To be fair, similar games such as Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side, also don’t have much story. HOWEVER…. TMGS presents the story in a more “compelling” way… The downfall here in Girlish Love Revo is that there’s only one or two “scenes” for each date spot; and not many questions to ask when walking guys home, and only one answer, and no new questions unlock etc as you grow closer to the guys. The events and scenes within the game also seem fewer and far-er in between compared to TMGS. For example, the club scenes, field trips, etc, all feel flat. I had a spirit of 99 in the drama club and they still put me backstage?! Is there even a scene in which I get a role in the play? I dunno, haven’t found it. Doubt that 1 point of spirit would have made a difference. In TMGS by contrast (it’s so hard not to compare because the games are so damn similar), there’s a lot of different scenes and events you can unlock during the festivals and trips. It’s not always “the same every time” like it is in Love Revo. There’s more to discover about each guy in TMGS, and it feels more natural through the conversations, and also, the fact that there’s more dating spots and more questions etc in TMGS. Love Revo gets VERY boring on dates. And as I mentioned above, the fact that if a guy accepts your date or not, is totally random, this also makes it hard to even get dates in the first place, and its ultimately not very rewarding. I still don’t feel like I really know the characters, even though, some things are revealed about them, etc, it just still feels like they’re not very well fleshed out. The story is just lacking. It makes up for it in Gameplay, but I would have liked to have seen more effort go into this with more scenes and more choices on the dates, and an actual schedule that made sense for when the guys worked or had club meetings.

Characters: 3/10 I covered a lot of this above under story, about the guys feeling kinda flat and robotic. There are only 2 or 3 different “scenes” at each date spot and so you hear the same things over, and over, and over. This doesn’t make the characters very likable to me. Also the fact that most of the guys are assholes (which I know I keep saying over and over) is really a huge turn off to me. The only one I liked was Souta-kun. He was nice right from the beginning. I also like Toru and Oniichan who accept me (the playable character) no matter how large she is. Each of the characters do have their own quirks, strengths and weaknesses, from clumsy characters, to elegant “princes”, to athletic stars, to lonely and childlike characters. But none of the characters are terribly original; we’ve seen them all before in other otome games, and in games where they spend more time making the characters feel “alive”.

Graphics: 8/10 I really like the graphics in this game, they are very colorful, and cute. The main character looks like she weighs 500 lbs instead of 220, but well, it’s anime, and anime has a tendency to over exaggerate these sorts of things. There are a number of different graphics that are used while training and studying and they are quite cute, especially when her workouts don’t go quite so well. The guys are cute too. hehe. I will say, for some reason, the character art doesn’t feel as “clean” to me as it should. It feels almost pixelated at times? Or not as detailed as I’d like it to be, especially their faces. However, this is only for the “standees” or “standing character art” not sure what you call it, I call it a “sprite” but I don’t think that’s right. Anyways, the special event scenes, and other artwork, are very nicely detailed which show better character art than the normal “portrait” type art when speaking to the guys in the game. But the sometimes “pixelly” looking artwork is still a distraction when other Otome games also on the Nintendo DS have very crisp “clean” art at all times.

Music: 7/10 I like the soundtrack to this game, especially the ending theme. The other tracks aren’t too memorable, but they do provide some nice background noise when focusing on repetitive tasks such as planning your schedule.

Replay Value 9/10: It lacks any kind of skip function for previously read text, however, like all otome visual novel styled games, the multiple endings and branching plot make replay value very high and rewarding.

Overall: 53 / 80 66% D. Average Game for Girls.

Girlish Love Revolution | Otometeki Koi Kakumei * Love Revo!! | Nintendo DS | Love Revo | Girlish Love Revo | Weight Loss | Anime | Dating Sim | Review | Editorial | English Translation was originally published on

Catherine PS3 Xbox 360 Visual Novel RPG Review

My copy of Catherine Love is Over for the PS3
My copy of Catherine Love is Over for the PS3
the Tshirt from Love is Over
the Tshirt from Love is Over
The Pillow Case from the Special Love is Over Limited Edition of Catherine for PS3
The Pillow Case from the Special Love is Over Limited Edition of Catherine for PS3
The pizza box which contains all the other goodies and the game itself. Love is Over Catherine Atlus PS3.
The pizza box which contains all the other goodies and the game itself. Love is Over Catherine Atlus PS3.
Box Opening Catherine PS3 Love is Over Edition
Box Opening Catherine PS3 Love is Over Edition
Box Opening Catherine Love is Over Edition Atlus PS3
Box Opening Catherine Love is Over Edition Atlus PS3

Screenshots:

catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim

Title: Catherine

Genre: Action-RPG with Platformer and Visual Novel Elements

Publisher: Atlus

Release Date: July 2011

Platforms: PS3, Xbox 360

Where to Buy: Amazon: 360 Click here; and for PS4 Click here

There is a special Love is Over edition that included a pillow case, men’s boxers, a pizza box, tshirt, and some other goodies. I have this version and took some pictures when I got it a few years ago at release.
There’s also special box art for the 360 version, but I don’t have that, it is however, available, as well as the Love is Over edition, via the Amazon links above. The standard edition of the game costs about $12. And for PS3 you can also get the digital version. The limited edition will cost about $95.

Geeky: geekygeekygeekygeeky

Sweetie:

Concept 10/10: The concept of Catherine is quite unique. The gameplay is a bit like Qbert in a way while in Vincent’s nightmares. You see, Vince is having bad dreams because he is worried about being caught cheating on his long-time girlfriend, Katherine with a K, with his hot new heartthrob, Catherine with a C. He’s so scared of being caught that every night he sees strange demons trying to eat him in his sleep. He must climb an endless tower, where the screen moves from the bottom up, while avoiding monsters and obstacles, and racing against a clock to make it to the exit of each dream.  When not dreaming, Vince meets with the girls and his other friends in a local bar where the gameplay is very similar to a visual novel. You watch numerous cutscenes and choose the “correct” answer to get different endings ultimately within the game. There are numerous endings, including, good, bad, and true endings for each girl, and good, and true endings for Vince being single as well. So it’s a total of 8 different endings. The entire game is cel-shaded, in a way that’s never been done, before or since, at least not in any game that ever found it’s way to this side of the world. It’s so beautiful. It’s like watching an interactive anime. (actually school days may be similar now that I think about it; but Catherine’s art is higher quality.)

I covered a lot of the other aspects of the game which I’m reviewing below here in the concept above, but I feel like all of these elements make Catherine, what it is, and are what make it such a unique and awesome gaming experience and therefore, they’re all part of the “concept” of the game.

Gameplay 10/10: As mentioned above, the gameplay is really two fold. In his waking hours, Vincent interacts with the girls and his friends in visual novel fashion. When Vince returns home and falls asleep, the gameplay switches into a sort of Qbert style, climbing and jumping from blocks, which fall, as the screen moves and you race against the clock, grabbing power ups, and avoiding monsters and obstacles along the way. There’s also a number of interesting minigames and sidequests available back in the bar as well.

There are numerous difficulty settings in the game, including one hidden “Very Easy” mode which you can access by holding down select on the main screen until you hear a ding sound go off. You can then select Easy mode which will now become Very Easy. In this mode, more powerups appear, and the nightmare modes are all the same as easy. You can also climb 3 blocks at a time with special power drinks. This allows you to play the game more like a visual novel, by (practically) skipping all the puzzles in the game. I think this version is great for your second, third, etc playthrough, but kinda kills the fun of the game if this is your first playthrough. Part of the fun of the game is the difficult puzzles which await you in Vincent’s dreams. If you want a challenge, you can also decide to play the game on Nightmare mode. Different achievements are also available for different difficulty levels. But the story is the same regardless, so if you ONLY want to see the different stories/endings and enjoy the game in a relaxing way, feel free to pick an easier difficulty setting.

Graphics: 10/10 The majority of the graphics are all real-time 3d cell shaded anime style. I think there may be some anime cutscenes mixed in too; but the cell shaded 3d models are so good that it’s hard to tell sometimes which ones are 3d and which ones are 2d (if any). The graphics are truly unique and a sight to behold. They are vibrant, colorful, and look like a real anime. I’ve never seen a game with this style before. Check out these screenshots below as you continue to read the review.

Story: 10/10 Vince has a long time girlfriend, Katherine. Katherine wants Vince to get married, but Vince is too immature for such a big commitment. While struggling with both his feelings of love and feelings of fear, Vince meets Catherine, a girl who walks into his life unexpectedly and begins to have a week long affair with her. Tormented by feelings of guilt towards his longtime girlfriend, Katherine, Vincent begins to have nightmares each and every single night in which demons are chasing him. What unfolds next is a deadly love triangle. Can Vincent keep his affair a secret? Can he make the girls happy? And can he keep his own conscious from eating away at him?

Characters: 10/10 One of the really cool things about Catherine’s story is that it does not try to impose a “right” way to play onto you. None of the characters are perfect, not Vince, nor Catherine, nor Katherine. They all have flaws, they’re all equally to blame for any relationship problems within the course of the game; but they all have endearing qualities as well. Vince himself is feeling pressured to marry his long time girlfriend Katherine. Vince doesn’t really want to get married, but he realizes that if he doesn’t marry her, she will break up with him. Katherine is a VERY strong woman, and perhaps more woman than Vince can handle. She is very demanding in the relationship and she isn’t above lying or manipulating Vince to play on his emotions to make him more sympathetic to her and try to rush him into a marriage that he isn’t even sure he wants. Around this same time, Vince suddenly meets Catherine, a girl who only wants a no-strings-attached sexual relationship. She makes Vince feel alive, and young, and free, and all of the qualities that Katherine lacks, Catherine has in spades. However, when it comes to love, and a real lasting relationship, Catherine is too immature; she’s like Vince; she isn’t ready for all of that, and as the game progresses, Vince realizes that Katherine’s stability and commitment to him is something unique and special that Catherine can never offer him. (and for good reason too, but I won’t spoil that). There are basically, 3 routes you can take. Go back and beg Katherine for forgiveness, turn your back on her and continue down the path of sin and lust with Catherine, or tell both girls to go F*** themselves and realize your own dreams and ambitions which is perhaps the best feeling of all. However, the game never makes you feel like one ending or choice is better than the others. They both have pluses and minuses. They aren’t “right or wrong” they’re just different choices. That’s all. I also really like the artwork for the characters, Vince’s hair style is so cute. I want to play with it. It looks fluffy! lol. And both of the girls are ridiculously beautiful. Catherine is so cute, youthful, sexy, flirty, etc; while Katherine exudes maturity, calmness, intelligence, and a sort of refined elegance which is also sexy in it’s own right.

Music: 10/10 The music in this game is composed by Shoji Meguro and is often compared to the soundtracks of Persona 3 and Persona 4. Atlus USA released a version of this soundtrack with their Love is Over limited edition release (pictured above). You can listen to the soundtrack on youtube below:

Or you can pick the soundtrack online on sites like Amazon.com It’s out of print though and as of this writing goes for about $80. Here’s a link where you can check the current prices. http://www.amazon.com/CATHERINE-ORIGINAL-SOUDTRACK-MUSIC-O-S-T/dp/B004GN9AW6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1445396054&sr=8-1&keywords=catherine+ost

This is the full soundtrack which is DIFFERENT from the one that Atlus USA included in their special edition. The soundtrack included in Love is Over, only has 11 songs, which are the levels in Vince’s nightmares. It does not include the cutscene music and other tracks. However, the link above, via Amazon will include all of these awesome tracks for you.

catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim

Voice Acting: 7/10 My review is for the English dub voice cast. I thought they were fairly good actually for a dub. There were times where I felt they were overacting a tad. But it wasn’t distracting. Catherine has a cute, peppy sugary sweet voice; while Katherine is more quiet and refined, both of which fit their characters perfectly. Vince has kinda a dopey goofy voice, which I guess fits his character. I haven’t watched the japanese voice actors on youtube. I dunno if they are better, my guess would be yes. lol. It’s not that I hate the english cast though. I find it to be better than the Persona dub (which isn’t horrible either). (It may even have some of the same actors. I don’t follow the English voice acting “scene” so I wouldn’t know.) Their performances are all very convincing. Vince has a goofy scream sometimes, but it’s supposed to convey his fear (of himself/his conscious/his actions) and I think it does convey a lot of stress and emotion.

Replay Value: 10/10 The 7 different endings force you to play multiple times to see the entire story. You can skip cutscenes you’ve seen already, and you can also use the cheat above to get a “Very Easy” gameplay mode to make your multiple replays fast and as pain free as possible so you can just enjoy the story. The endings and the plot are very different, not just small differences, but very unique. This makes it a very rewarding game on multiple playthroughs. If you like achievements there are different ones which are specific to different difficulty settings which you will have to play to unlock them all.

Overall: 86/90 96%  A “Excellent Game For Girls” 

In fact, the Mature rating, horror, gore, and sexual themes, make it a great game for guys too 🙂 Maybe a good way to introduce your guy friends to anime or visual novels.

catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim
catherine | PS3 | Xbox 360 | RPG | Atlus | Atlus USA | Platform | Platformer | Multiple Endings | Love | Sim | Simulation | Dating | Cheating | Romance | Nightmare | Visual Novel | Dating Sim

Catherine PS3 Xbox 360 Visual Novel RPG Review was originally published on

Higurashi: When they Cry Chapter 1 Onikakushi Visual Novel Review and Chapter 2 Higurashi Watanagashi Preorder Announcement

MangaGamer just sent out an email that says Higurashi Chapter 2: Watanagashi will be available for preorder “this” month. Since there are only 8 days left in this month, it must be sometime soon. With this exciting news, I thought I should review the first chapter of Higurashi for those who have not played it yet.

Gameplay: 1/10: Higurashi is a kinetic novel. This means that unlike other types of visual novels, there are absolutely no choices which you, the player, makes through the game. Click and read, Click and read, Click and read… One story, one end, one “path” — That’s it. It’s little more, than a story with some pictures and a soundtrack.

 

Does that mean it’s bad? Not necessarily. People like to read. What people don’t like, is when they buy a GAME and discover only later that it has no “Gameplay”. So I want to preface my review by making it clear what it is, and what it is not. If you’re still cool with a game in which you absolutely, do not, interact, at all, ever, then read on to learn what Higurashi has to offer.

Concept: 10/10 Higurashi is a murder mystery. It spans multiple “episodes” (14 of them to be exact). I’ve read that each episode is about 10 hours long; but I must read slow because I think it took me about 23 hours to complete the first “chapter”. Your mileage may vary. Even with a conservative estimate of 10 hours, to read the entire thing, all 14 chapters, it’d take a minimum of 140 hours. That’s a LOT of bang for your buck.

Unlike most games in this genre – there is no “season pass” – so there’s no good way to save money if you’re wanting all 14 episodes (although I did pick up Chapter 1 in an awesome bundle from indiegala – I’m hooked now though and will not be waiting for a discount or bundle before ordering Chapter 2. I have GOT to see how it all ends – I refuse to watch the anime until I’ve completed all 14 chapters of the game to avoid any spoilers.) Also, Manga Gamer, being a very small company, is doing it’s best to translate the games as quickly as possible, and are releasing them one by one upon completion. Chapter 1 was released in May of this year…. I hope they are able to release chapters more quickly than this… It’s been almost 6 months now since Chapter 1’s release. And Chapter 2 STILL doesn’t have a definite release date, just that they are taking “preorders”. If they continue with 2 chapter releases per year, it will take 7 years to get all of them released. Perhaps this project was too large for Manga Gamer, or perhaps they should have just purchased the translation rights from one of the many fan translations that were already done for this game.

Tokyo Otaku Mode Inc.

Graphics: 8/10 However, Manga Gamer is also doing a lot of good with this game. It’s one of the first times I’ve ever seen an English release get HUGE improvements and upgrades over the Japanese version!!! We can make Japanese non-english speaking gamers totally jealous with our beautiful new sprites. When I first saw this feature, I had assumed that Manga Gamer was giving us the option of using the original (horrible) sprites from the PC Japanese version (which they are keeping as an option in Manga Gamer’s release too) OR I THOUGHT that they were giving us the option to select the much improved Playstation sprites from the Japanese version — BUT that is NOT the case!! Manga Gamer Went ALL OUT and developed BRAND NEW artwork for the English release. Sadly, they left the original Japanese PC version background art… The playstation Japanese version has REALLY nice background art — BUT their character sprites are no where near as nice as the ones Manga Gamer contracted for this release. Having these HIGHLY improved sprites makes me feel really special. For ONCE we get something in a port that is a HUGE big deal, and huge upgrade over what Japan has. That makes me feel like Manga Gamer really appreciates their customers and wants to do their best with this project.

See the sprites here below. Look at the level of detail in shading and better proportions. This makes the sprites much cuter than either of the Japanese versions. P.S. Click To Enlarge :).

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Left: Original PC Sprite Second from Left: New Manga Gamer Exclusive English Artwork Sprite Right and Second from Right: Playstation Japanese Sprites (and backgrounds)
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Left to Right: Original Pc Sprite, Japanese Playstation Sprite, Manga Gamer Exclusive English Artwork Sprite

Translation Quality: 10/10 In fact, also from a writing standpoint, the translation was very good. I can’t recall really almost ANY typos (though I’m sure there must have been a few) Compared to my most recently completed play through a similar style game (Amnesia Memories which is FULL of typos and inconsistencies) the translation of Manga Gamer’s version of Higurashi is REALLY high — I appreciate that, because it helps to immerse in the story

Music: 10/10 Sound wise, the music and especially the sound effects and atmospheric sounds REALLY stand out and add to the mystery and horror aspects of this game. Actually, I read before that Higurashi is what they call a Sound Novel instead of a Visual Novel, Higurashi relies on the soundtrack more than its artwork (especially when you look at the really amateur artwork from the original PC version).However, both the original PC version and the Manga Gamer release do not have any voice acting at all. The Playstation version had full voice acting and if you’re feeling brave, there are tutorials online to patch your game to have voice acting – Would have been nice if Manga Gamer either could have bought the rights to that version’s soundtrack and incorporated it, or cast an English dub cast for the game — I don’t particularly like English dubs, but It would have been another concession on Manga Gamer’s part towards pleasing their fans.

Story: 8/10 I don’t want to ruin anything for people who have not yet played Chapter One Onikakushi – but this game is very very very slowwww starting out — BUT… it rewards you if you put up with all of that by starting to REALLY pick up more horror/suspense/mystery themes towards the last 4-5 hours of the game. PRIOR to that, it’s very very light-hearted, slice of life, fluffy, happy…. When shit starts to go down though, that dark contrast against the MAJORITY of the first chapter being so innocent and pure, really stands out, and it is that contrast that becomes the real “heart and soul” of the first chapter.

Higurashi also leaves you to draw your own conclusions about wtf is going on – and I don’t know if it ever really explains things fully or if it leaves it up to you a la similar murder mysteries such as gone girl which end with an open ending. Since I’ve only played the first chapter I can’t be sure. Is it the occult? Is the town cursed? Do they hate outsiders? Is it all a coincidence? Is everyone just crazy? lol.

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Characters: 8/10 The characters are all highly likeable which makes it even more alarming that one (or more) of them could be capable of murder – especially on such a high brutality scale, in such a way, that they enjoy murder, enjoy watching their victims suffer – pretty creepy when these are just CHILDREN. But well, creepy children are a staple of horror films too; such as exorcist, ringu, grudge, children of the corn, etc. Children are kinda creepy with their small frame and large eyes and sometimes strange movements or gestures etc which I guess is why there are so many horror movies and books which focus on the whole creepy kid thing. But children are also pure, innocent, adorable, etc. And Higurashi does a perfect job of showing that, despite being murderers, the children are otherwise, perfectly normal little kids, who like to play tag, hide and seek, and go to school.

For awhile, it looks like there will be some romance options (well not that you the player have any choice anyways), but then the game decides to take a VERY different approach. If you don’t dig visual novels because they’re all sappy happy slice of life romance anime etc — Well you might just like Higurashi… BUT keep in mind what I said, the MAJORITY of the first chapter IS VERY MUCH like most any other novel, light, happy, innocent, slice of life, boring, slow, REAL slow in fact. — But it REALLY takes a dramatic turn that makes it unlike pretty much any other english visual novel on the market today. — And I hear the following chapters are even more bizarre and darker and that the first was merely a prologue/introduction. So fasten your seatbelts – you’re in for quite a ride.

The emotional impact of Higurashi was high, not only a sense of sadness, but perhaps more over, a feeling of isolation and desperation, a feeling of fear. It really gets creepy. It presents more questions than it solves and makes you the player think and reflect back on the story.

Overall: 55/70 79% C+ “Good Game For Girls”

Note: if you don’t count the lack of gameplay against the game, it then becomes 54/60 or a 90% 🙂 So if you don’t mind the Kinetic Novel genre, this is probably one of the best, if not the, best, kinetic novels to play. – I personally don’t like Kinetic Novels, but I am hooked on Higurashi!

Higurashi: When they Cry Chapter 1 Onikakushi Visual Novel Review and Chapter 2 Higurashi Watanagashi Preorder Announcement was originally published on

Yoru no Nai Kuni, Samurai Warriors 4 Heading West

Source: Yoru no Nai Kuni, Samurai Warriors 4 Heading West

Somehow I missed this announcement. Had never even heard of Yoru No Nai Kuni…. but man am I excited. Gameplay sounds extremely similar to Persona (which is my love) in that you make contracts with and summon demons into combat.

Also the main playable character can create different types of weapons using her blood and change her fighting style on the fly. She also has shape shifting abilities which sound reminiscent of Castlevania Symphony of the Night (another one of my favorite games).

Combat sounds fast and breezy with an emphasis on chaining different attacks to finish off your opponent.

It’s by Gust – the makers of Hyper Dimension Neptunia. It has an anime style vibe, but done in 3D and therefore slightly more realistic and darker looking than Neptunia.

If you’re like me, and have not heard of this game until now, you can check out the trailer below:

Otome Gamer’s Guide to Working Out (BYFWM!)

Source: Otome Gamer’s Guide to Working Out (BYFWM!)

This reminds me of Love Revolution on the Nintendo DS. That game left a bad taste in my mouth, because of the fact that the main character only chooses to lose weight to impress boys who are mean to her and body shame her. I mean, if you want to lose weight, fine, do it for yourself, to have better health, more confidence, be able to buy cute clothes, and have more energy, etc… There’s nothing wrong with wanting to lose weight – hell, I’d like to lose some weight myself.

The problem is that, the main character ONLY wants to lose weight to impress some ass hole guys who treat her like she’s less than human just because she’s overweight. And only after she begins to lose weight are they able to love her.

What kind of message is that sending to young girls???

With that out of the way, it does seem that this particlar game here, does have some fitness tracking activities and other things to help you, the player, get more fit. Which is a lot better than just a story about an overweight girl desperate to impress men who view her as less than human like in Love Revo lol.