My Steam Deck Arrived Yesterday, and Games Are Unplayable

My Valve Steam Deck 521 GB model arrived yesterday. I preordered it on day one, which feels like it was probably a year ago now. At that time, I had a lot of hopes and dreams and spoke highly of the potential of the Steam Deck in this post here. Upon receiving it, my initial excitement turned to disappointment – however; that has since changed, at least a little, as I’ve spent time getting to play with it.

@geekysweetie.com So my Steamdeck arrived today… Not sure how to feel now… I ordered a 1tb card for expansion (and have the 521gb model so that part will be sorta kjnda fixed… but most my games are not compatible with it. I haven’t actually tried playing anything because im working and because it came dead and has to charge. I paid almost $700 for this and expected it to play wvery steam game… hmm 🫤🤔😐#steamdeck #fail #epicfail #happysad #wtf #computer #error #upset #doesntwork #wontwork #expensive #notwhatiexpected #unexpected #disappointment #unboxing #game #gaming #gamer #steam #steamdeckerrors #steamdeckfails #tech #technology #techunboxing #techreview #earlyadopter ♬ Steven Universe – L.Dre

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What went wrong, you ask? First, it was not fully charged upon arrival. Not a huge deal but a minor detail. I plug it in and the process to begin setup begins. It goes smoothly and everything is setup. And then the very first screen is an error about a missing library file. I restart and the error persists… After several more restarts that error goes away…

Also let me say that 521 GB fills up FAST!!!!!! I ordered a 1TB Microsdxc card on Amazon yesterday that’s supposed to arrive tomorrow. It’s on sale almost 50% off. If you’re like me and want as many games shoved onto the Steam Deck as humanly possible, pick this card up before the sale is over. These babies are expensive. You’ll thank me later.

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Next, it lost internet connectivity a few times – I can’t blame this on the Steam Deck, maybe it was picking up interference from other wireless devices… but those other wireless devices, my smartphone, smart tv, game consoles, and laptops, were all running internet and not having any drop offs – so there’s a little red flag in my mind here…

But the biggest, hugest, most heinous of problems is that many of my games in my steam library are not supported and not compatible with the Steam Deck. These fall under a few different categories:

  • Green Checkmark = these games are verified to run on Steam Deck – Good To Go. No Problems
  • Question Mark = these games are not popular enough so Valve does not have enough data to know if these games are compatible or not. – Most of my games fall under this category – trial and error to see which will work and which will not
  • Yellow Exclamation Point = These games are playable, but might have some slight issues. Each one will list out the different problems, some more severe than others, but most still fairly minor
  • White “NO” symbol = These games “supposedly” are so broken that they will not run on Steam Deck at all. A fair few of my games have this indicator – but oddly… a lot of them still appeared to run – granted I only attempted them each for a few minutes to experiment and see what worked and what didn’t. It’s totally possible that later in the game, after I’ve invested hundreds of hours (you know how JRPG and visual novels are, right?) that only then do I find the game suddenly crashes or stops working at some future point. Not looking forward to (possibly) discovering that later. – But those are the “lucky” ones – The rest with the “NO” symbol literally are unplayable. The screen flickers, they open and close back down, black screen of death upon startup, or they keep freezing/crashing etc. I’ve not found many of these in my tests yet, under 20 or so of the 100+ I have installed so far (out of over 1,000 in my steam library) – I’m estimating somewhere around 200 games I own might be unplayable on Steam Deck.
@geekysweetie.com Steamdeck not as bad as I initially thought #steamdeck #gaming #tech #technology #willitwork #whattoexpect #game #games #videogame #videogames #gamer #gamers #gamergirl #girlgamer #visualnovel #otomegame #jrpg #retrogames #otome #animegame ♬ original sound – GeekySweetie

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I shared this revelation in some online communities and got roasted and shat upon for not fangirling and worshiping the ground Steam Deck walks upon. I mean god forbid anyone say anything negative or critical about a $700 game console that doesn’t support and play the games actually made for the damn console, right? God forbid anyone plays different games than you, has a different opinion, or different expectations. God forbid someone didn’t spend 20 hours reading reviews and news – which by the way was only recently made available 4 months ago, meanwhile, I preordered this on day 1, which was like 8 months ago – and god forbid I understand and know and acknowledge more support will be added for more games – and god forbid I didn’t want to give up my spot in the already almost year long wait I had to withstand for this console – and god forbid I spend my god damn money however I god damn please – because you know those rabid fanboys and girls will be ripping me a new asshole. Quite clearly.

But let’s say you’re like me, which I assume you are if you’re a long-time reader of my blog here. You’re a CASUAL gamer. You might LOVE games – You might have started, like myself, gaming back in the 80s and still buy every new console on preorder before it comes out and have thousands of PC games too – but you have a million other things to do – I have hundreds of games I haven’t even played yet – so yeah god forbid I don’t gobble up every single new article or review or news tidbit that Valve and Game Reviewers And Tech Enthusiasts throw around. I have shit to do – and like I said, I didn’t want to lose my place in line – and I know damn well that support for more games will be added in the future…

But I can still be upset / angry / disappointed etc – I mean I buy a Nintendo Switch and it runs EVERY Nintendo Switch game – not just 80% of Nintendo Switch Games. I bought a PS5 and it runs EVERY PS5 game – not just 80% of PS5 games – Do you see where I’m going with this?

All I expected was to be able to play my Steam Games on Steam Deck. That’s all. Is that asking so much? Apparently to these fanboys it sure the hell is.

@geekysweetie.com Part two of testing some games on my new Steam Deck. #steamdeck #videogames #game #gamer #gamergirl #tech #technology #willitwork #jrpg #visualnovel #otome #otomegame #gaming #retro #retrogames #retrogaming #retrogame #retrogamer #animegame ♬ original sound – GeekySweetie

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But back to the Deck… Is it that bad? Nope. Will I be selling it? Nope. Do I regret buying it? Nope.

Here’s Why:

80% of the games I own do run – I’ll take that for now – with an understanding that hopefully in the future more support is added for more games.

My Steam Library is over 1,000 games – and growing – as my Steam library grows – 1,200, 1,500, etc etc – even without retroactively fixing the current broken games – that percent lessens because my total number of games has grown. So what’s 20% unplayable, drops to 10%, 5%, etc…. and becomes less of an issue

Still plenty of things to play – I have so many steam games and always buying more that it really doesn’t matter THAT much if those games don’t work. I can still be upset that they don’t work – I mean I would expect all steam games to work – maybe I’m just a Karen though, who the hell knows. Shrugs.

Ok So aside from my games not running what other remarks do I have. I have a few more critical or negative remarks and here we go:

  1. It’s extremely heavy. Not much larger than my switch, but 5 times heavier… It hurts my wrists. Maybe because I’m a female and have smaller hands and wrists. After an hour or two it hurts them.
  2. It’s extremely loud. It needs those fans to dissipate the heat, I understand. But still slightly annoying.
  3. It is slow – first time booting up games takes forever, 2-3 minutes, or more.
  4. It has other errors too besides the not supporting some games “issue”
  5. The battery life is shorter than I expected

But all in all, it’s still a pretty cool little handheld. I’m sure you’ll love yours once your preorder comes in. For those who didn’t preorder, you might be in for a long wait – and maybe by then, more support for more games will be added and some of the other kinks worked out.

Leave a comment and let me know how you’re enjoying your Steam Deck so far, or what games you most look forward to playing on the console.

My Steam Deck Arrived Yesterday, and Games Are Unplayable was originally published on Geeky Sweetie

Apple IPad Pro 12.9 Inch Review & Comparison To Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio

You might have seen my recent review about the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio over here. You may remember mine met with an ill fate. A fate likely caused by a defective Surface Pen… The pen would not do anything. I changed the batteries, I knew how to charge it correctly under the lip of the laptop… And in device settings it said it had 100% battery life.

I read an article about unpairing and repairing the device… so I unpaired it… and could not repair it… because it was effectively dead…. No lights, no nothing. I’d only had the device for 10 days… but since Best Buy’s cutoff for returns is 14 days… and at least my local Best Buy is running some weird COVID19 hours still… closing at 6 or 7 pm and I had to work past that time… We had gone up the night before only to discover they were closed, and knew we couldn’t make the next night either…. So on day 12 of 14, when they offered to ship me a new pen…. well… I was nervous… What if it WASN’T the pen?! What if it was a problem with the bluetooth inside the $3,000 computer???

No way was I going to have a dead defective $3,000 12 day old laptop… I took it back to Best Buy – my local store – with hopes of exchanging it – but they did not have the pen – at all. I am a graphic designer (among other marketing types of titles) and had some deadlines coming up this week and next week too and feeling stressed and pressured, I just returned the whole thing…

They also did not have the $3,000 2 TB Nvidia graphics card model…. I lamented my sad farewell to a device that I genuinely truly LOVED…. If that pen hadn’t died, it was a DREAM MACHINE…. One that the Ipad Pro does not even hold a candle to in my mind….

They could have shipped me a new Surface Pen and/or New Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio, but with deadlines approaching and return deadline looming, and needing a tablet… I asked them to recommend a device for me. I suggested Waccom – and told them I used to use them in college but that I missed having an all-in-one device, which is why I tried Surface – less cords, wires, accessories to carry, etc. I’d never owned one of the NICE Waccoms with the screens built-in, and even though I would still need a PC with that device, I was thinking that was the direction I would go in….

But the “kid” (sorry I’m 40, so you all look like kids to me now lol) working there recommended the Ipad Pro 12.9 Inch model…. I had/have had Ipads… LOTS of them, from the very first one, to minis, to in and out and inbetween… My most recent one being newer than my 2 year old laptop – BUT I’d never owned a Pro…. Inevitably… My Ipads collect dust. I think Oh that’s nice for travel, or that’s nice for hospital stays (I have epilepsy and have to get monitored sometimes for days or weeks on end and stuck with rails up in a hospital bed) – But aside from Travel and Hospital stays…. The last time I used my Ipad was a hospital stay less than a year ago – and I remember the damn thing falling over, falling apart, falling off of it’s expensive $100 keyboard accessory… It now lays in a drawer and my 2 older Ipad Minis lay at the bottom of a closet somewhere… Trade in value minimal and not worth the effort of trying to sell online. My Iphone with a larger hard drive runs most of the same apps and just makes digging my IPad out kinda pointless.

But the kid swore it’s the BEST tablet, top of the line, perfect for what I needed when I explained I need to do a lot of large size graphic design like trade show displays floor to ceiling huge art files. I grimaced and stared at the tiny screen… Then grimaced more when he told me it was out of stock and they had the 11 inch. I balked now and put my foot down. He checked his scanning tool one more time and somehow now magically had a 12.9 inch Ipad Pro in stock…

With Best Buy already technically closed – We barely made it in there like 20 minutes before closing with their weird COVID hours – And other stores like Staples soon closing as well – With already having returned my beloved Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio…. and most important projects due this week… I hastily decided to spend the $1,099 for the Ipad Pro 12.9 inch model, and another $300-400 for the pen and keyboard.

I just unboxed it yesterday and got it all set up. And I’m both impressed and disappointed at the same time. Having never owned any of the “Pro” Ipads before, I was impressed how amazingly sturdy the magnets were. It was not going to fall off of that keyboard which was my biggest complaint with any “non Pro” Ipad I’ve owned in the past.

I’m disappointed because not ALL of the adobe cloud applications work on Ipad Pro – Nope few and far do actually. The most important ones for the tablet, Illustrator and Photoshop work – and that’s good enough because I do have my Pink Razer Laptop from 2020. BUT inconvenient to have to start one project on one device and switch to another device – like dreamweaver or the full version of adobe premiere (instead of just premiere rush) or adobe captivate – or other I dunno, less “drawing” related applications. There’s a reason the word is “Multimedia” because multi means more than one – and in Adobe you can import and export files between all of the programs. Now I have to switch computers or even switch rooms if I’m downstairs with one device etc. It’s more of a hassle.

I’m also disappointed but knew fully well when I purchased it that it can’t run regular windows programs – office suite – but also all my steam games – not a deal breaker as I already preordered a steam deck – and my 2 year old Razer can still get the job done – but again just a huge hassle having so many different devices, when the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio was truly an all in one work of wonder.

The specific model of Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio that I purchased had a 2TB hard drive… My Ipad – the best most expensive model of IPad – at least at my local Best Buy – only has 256 GB – My Razer also only came with a 256GB Hard drive – I went out and bought a 5TB external HD for my Razer years ago… because of that hard drive though, my razer never leaves its desk now – all the cords and this hard drive is almost as big – and heavy – as the laptop itself… Hassle… Again the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio was a dream come true – convenient all in one – I was barely touching my Razer – and only for some saved files and logins on my Razer.

Another disapointing feature obviously is the tiny screen size. This is a huge drawback for an artist. It’s about as small as the tiniest Waccom tablet – Actually, I just checked and the Waccom One is an inch bigger diagonally and includes the pen – and is only $350. Compared to over $1,000 for the IPad Pro and $300-400 for the keyboard and pen.

Another advantage Waccom, and Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio both have over the Ipad Pro is their “Easel” modes. This puts the pad at like a 45 degree angle and is more comfortable for drawing. I’m sure there’s third party Easel stands/cases for the Ipad Pro on the market and I will probably buy one, but again more things to carry around when the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio was again “all in one”.

When drawing on the IPad Pro, it feels MUCH MORE like glass… I only had the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio for less than 2 weeks – but used it a lot 8+ hours a day in that time – and it felt VERY natural – I didn’t notice it feeling like drawing on glass. I used my IPad Pro for maybe 2 hours so far and it feels awful…. I dunno if it’s the pen or the screen – or the angle of the screen. I do see they make screen covers that will supposedly make it feel more like drawing on paper…. I might have to try that…. because it’s really uncomfortable and annoying and not natural at all. Completely different feeling than drawing on my Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio.

Also because of no easle mode, my wrists bump the keyboards when drawing and sometimes have unintended consequences interrupting me work, activating shortcuts or inserting text, etc. And the keyboard honestly digs into my wrists. The keyboard sits flat and isn’t very comfortable for typing either. It is much sturdier than any past Apple Keyboards I’ve owned and the keys have a satisfying feeling and sound when pressing them, but still not quite like a “real” keyboard.

The pen itself is a bit inferrior also the the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio. It lets you double tap to erase something but I can’t get it to work. It lets you scratch out text – and that works for me, but the keyboard is quicker. The Surface Pen had an eraser on one end and would automatically erase… And it felt more natural for me. It also had two programable shortcut keys, the Apple Pen has none.

But… Is it all bad?

No, it is not all bad at all…. For 1/3 of the price of the highest end Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio… It’s about what I’d expect for a more “value priced” product – if you call $1,000 + to be “value priced”. If I had my pick, I’d definitely pay the extra money and take the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio.

This IPad Pro is however MUCH better than previous IPads I have owned, never having owned the “Pro” of any generation before… The non-pros are pretty much worthless in my opinion because they won’t stay on their keyboards or even the Ipad cover with the little triangle flip stand without falling off / falling apart / falling over. The IPad Pro fixes that issue with stronger magnets. Why doesn’t Apple just use the same magnets in all their IPads? Magnets alone can’t be that expensive. I know the technology inside the IPad Pro is much better than the technology in non “Pros” – but still not as advanced as a computer – which the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio is an actual computer. The Ipad Pro is still just a tablet.

Battery life is about the same, and I’m pleased with that. Both Ipad Pro and Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio have excellent Battery Life. 8+ hours unplugged and doing intensive graphic work (or gaming in the case of the Surface).

And although I miss having my Steam Games and Windows Programs – Especially the full version of adobe suite products, Ipad does have some unique one of a kind programs, games, movies, and apps available only on the IPAD – does that make up for losing and lacking those other apps and games? In my opinion no, but it depends on what you plan to use the device for. I downloaded a lot of my streaming services to watch movies even though it’s a tiny screen, it’s good for on the go.

It’s lighter weight – by a little bit. Ipad Pro is 1.5 lbs for the IPAD itself plus another 1.3 lbs for the Magic Keyboard which is 2.8 lbs which is still one pound lighter than Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio at 3.8 lbs.

I dunno what else to say about it really – It gets the job done and is cheaper than Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio by a long shot – if you want the best of both models. You could buy 3 of the best IPAD pros for just one of the best Microsoft Surface Laptop Studios.

If budget is a concern, or you’re just a diehard Apple fan, get the IPAD Pro, otherwise for me, the clear winner here is Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio. If I wasn’t up against tight deadlines, I would have just had Bestbuy ship me another Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio… And this IPAD might go back before 14 days in favor of another Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio and try again – although I’m still scared about the pen dying. I googled it a bit and that does seem to be a common issue… I know the nibs on the Apple Pen will eventually need replaced too, but I couldn’t even buy a new Microsoft Surface Pen because it’s not as prolific as the IPAD.

That’s another win for Apple there, replacement parts, 3rd party parts, and new whole parts are readily available at every single Best Buy, Staples, Walmart, Target, you name it, they got it. My fear of a pen dying when I’m racing against deadlines, might just convince me to stick with this IPAD. My experiences with past Apple products (long time Iphone embracer) have all been positive. And even old IPADs although mostly collecting dust, still do work every time I decide to dig them out.

Apple IPad Pro 12.9 Inch Review & Comparison To Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio was originally published on Geeky Sweetie

Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio Review

I recently purchased Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio from Bestbuy. The highest end model here. It’s awesome when it works… but after just a few days my pen died. I tried changing the batteries. I know how to charge it. It sits under the laptop near the track pad. It will not light up. My device settings say the batteries are at 100%. I read about unpairing and repairing the pen, so I tried that. I was able to unpair it, but not able to repair it back to the device. For $3,000 for the laptop and $100 for the pen, I expected more…

I have started the process of a return or possible exchange because I do not want to get screwed out of $3,000. I am a graphic artist/marketing/video developer/web designer everything that this 3 in one device is designed to do – oh I’m also a gamer, and with this particular model, in theory if it works correctly, it should be the device of my dreams… and it was for about 10 days until the pen just died completely… I’m pretty sure it’s just the pen, but as time was running out to return/exchange I started the process for both pieces… I think it’s just the pen because my finger can move the screen…. but just in case bluetooth or something else is causing the problem, I needed to be extra sure.

So aside from that… my first few days with the device were great…. I was going to review it at some point with a video and lots of photos – I have some unboxing photos right now but that’s not very helpful I know.

I’ve seen a lot of people ask who would use this device, especially in easel mode – I watched a lot of videos before buying this… that was a common thing the reviewer would remark in their videos, because you see, those people they’re not artists like me (and possibly you reading this) – they aren’t the target audience. They’re just some youtuber and blogger with millions of views.

Let me tell you, I use easel mode a lot. I’m drawing and it’s more comfortable and natural that way if it’s on a desk. If it’s in my lap, I do like to squish it all the way down into a tablet.

Some reviewers remarked it’s too heavy to be a tablet. Yeah if you’re just casually browsing the internet or something… but not really much heavier than a large size waccom tablet (with the screen and well you know what I mean if you’re also a graphic designer). Those are heavy too.

Again a dumb marketing move by Microsoft sending the devices to people that aren’t even their target audience.

But I digress, aside from my pen dying in ten days – and yes, I’m very tech savvy and have tried literally everything. It is just fully dead. Aside from THAT pretty BIG caveat…. well I’m impressed. If I can get a new pen that works, I will keep this – and possibly have to keep returning and getting new pens every few days – but hopefully mine was just defective?

Why am I so impressed? Battery life. I told you, I’m editing videos, I’m working on huge large print files, like tradeshow banners that go ceiling to floor, I’m doing hours of web design and coding… This baby flies, he never slows down, and I can work 8 even 10 hours doing intensive graphic stuff UNPLUGGED. Yes it’s true. And the same goes for gaming. This thing is unstoppable.

Watching anime and Kdrama? Easel mode is great for that in my lap or on a desk.

Playing a casual game like a visual novel or otome game where you just read and click occasional prompts? Easel mode again please.

Want to play some hardcore games? Don’t worry this model’s got you covered with the latest intel processors and nvidia graphics. Open it as a laptop and use your standard keyboard and mouse controls, or keep it in Easel mode and pair it with a gaming controller.

2 TB Hard drive?! Yes please. In my review of my Razer Pink Laptop – which is only 2 or so years old now – That was my main complaint – 256gb hard drive only. I bought a 5TB external drive but because of that, I’m mostly chained to my desk, because that drive is big and has additional cords… kinda defeats the purpose of having a laptop. I’m using my Razer for this review, and I still find myself occasionally using my Razer for some tasks. But not for gaming anymore. I find myself using it because I have passwords and programs saved and files saved on here, that’s really the only reason. Every game I have tried in the 10 days with my Surface is running equally well here or there.

Rock solid Keyboard – YES PLEASE AGAIN! – I have an Ipad – It’s not a high end Ipad – it can’t use Apple’s pen, it’s an old model. Got it “free” when I had ATT years ago. (free but then $15 for a “line” ah that’s where they get you lol) – And the official Apple keyboard is whack…. In my lap just watching videos it folds over, falls off… and that damn thing wasn’t cheap either!!!! Fricken like 200 for the keypad… Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio Pro admittedly was not cheap either but at least….. MOSTLY all in one package…. Except that damn “expensive” pen that doesn’t work.

The magnetic pen and magnetic power supply… well they’re mostly pretty nice (aside from the pen literally not working right now) The magnet is strong and stays in place carrying it outdoors or room to room. – They power supply… err…. not so much? I have tripped over it and unplugged it, moved the computer just a LITTLE too far or too fast, and unplugged it, my cats have zoomed by and barely touched it and unplugged it…. But well…. it has amazing battery life for intensive graphic design and gaming work…. so there’s that…. Honestly 99% I use it unplugged and just charge it overnight. Perfect.

Screen is about probably the same size as my Razer. I will take some side by side pics later. Surface screen might be taller, but thinking the diagonal size is about the same there.

All in all, yes I recommend the Microsoft Surface Studio Laptop Pro – As long as I can fix this issue with my pen I will be keeping it.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio Review was originally published on Geeky Sweetie

How To Play Angelique Or Any Other Japanese Otome Game In English

I recently started playing Angelique Luminarise in English. The game was just released in May of 2021 in the Japanese Nintendo Eshop. It is not available in English. Not commercially – and not fan translated either. So how am I playing it in English?

Well it ain’t pretty, and it ain’t perfect but here’s how. Pretty simple really. The main thing you need is a smartphone with the free Google Translate app. I like to download the Japanese language pack for offline viewing too – but you don’t have to.

The other thing you’re going to need is to create a Japanese Nintendo Eshop account. This process is easy.

  • Go to accounts.nintendo.com
  • Enter your information
  • Select Japan as the country
  • Enter or create a new email address different from your existing nintendo email address
  • If it asks for a street address, you can use Tokyo University (just google the address) (this also works when creating Japanese Itune accounts)
  • Now on your nintendo switch create a new user account and link it to the new account you just created.
  • If any of the menus or text on screen is in Japanese, now you can get your phone and use live translation to convert it to your native language (which for me is English)
  • When you want to purchase games in the Eshop you will need a Japanese Nintendo Eshop Giftcard – I buy mine at Playasia and recommend them. I’ve bought probably over $500 in Japanese Egift codes from them and never have had a problem.

I would just use Paypal but Nintendo refuses paypals from my country (USA)

So I buy my giftcards at Playasia.

You can enter the giftcards into the Switch OR you can access the Nintendo Japanese eshop at https://store-jp.nintendo.com/ and add your balances or buy your games even this way. I find this easier – since with Google Chrome it automatically translates my screen without me needing to fumble around with my phone.

Even if you buy the games on the computer, you can install them remotely from your computer to your Nintendo Switch.

Very easy to buy Japanese games this way.

Now that you have the Japanese game you want to play, the awkward part may be trying to work two devices. I prop my Switch Lite up a bit – Switch users can use the kickstand, or play off their TV. I keep my Switch Lite in my lap, and in one hand I hold my phone with Google Translate running automatically.

Now in the case of Angelique you will want to go into settings and turn off the automatically advancing text option – use your phone to find it – It is on by default – and Google Translate is not fast enough to translate the screen before the text changes. Once you turn it off, you will have to press A to advance the text. It’s tedious but much better translation this way.

In my screen it says “Automatic Feed” TURN IT OFF!!!!!!! OFFFFFFF!! – You can thank me later lol.

Some scenes will still be “lost in translation” – not only because it’s machine translated and not 100% perfect – but because also some scenes are video and voice without text etc.

But nonetheless – this lets you play Angelique – and virtually any other game you can think of – in about 95% decent English.

The translation is pretty decent most of the time.

The funniest thing I saw was when playing Monster Rancher – the trainer introduces herself by saying “Hi, I’m Horrifying” instead of “Hi, I’m Holly”. After a few seconds google translate corrected itself – but it still made for a funny screenshot.

But no, in Angelique, from what I’ve seen with my brief like 15-minute journey into the game before work this morning, the translation is decent. I get the main gist of the intro story.

It starts out with a girl (that’s you) being soundly asleep and woken by a loud very rude kinda pompous and demanding character. He accuses you of being rude for not greeting him properly but says since you’re new he will forgive your rudeness. He introduces himself as the God of Light and one of 9 Gods in this universe and that he has taken you as a queen candidate from another world.

You meet a girl who arrived one day before you who is also another queen candidate and you meet a butler – who is also a God who gives you some paperwork to file. You enter your name, horoscope, blood type and answer a personality quiz.

After this, you’re taken to see the God of light again who explains the test you are about to face. You and your rival will be developing a nation using the powers of the gods, and whosever nation is more developed at the end will be elected as the new queen.

All of the screenshots that you see in this post were taken by me as I was playing Angelique Luminarise for Nintendo Switch. These are not edited in any way. Except for my featured image – the text is all correct – I just cropped it to fit as a featured image – and it was too funny and too appropriate not to use! “What the hell are these people saying? I have no idea” is exactly what I would be saying if I didn’t have my smartphone translating everything lol. So yes, that is what the character is saying in that scene, and every other image here. This is how it appears on my smartphone, replacing the text on the screen with English.

You don’t need to take photos – It does it real time. I just took a bunch of photos to illustrate on my blog here. I mean it’s not awful for machine translation. I have seen worse! And it’s better than being in Japanese – I have tried to learn before but it’s hard when it’s not just another language but a different alphabet – in fact… three different alphabets all of which can be used interchangably and like wtf… lol. Google you’re doing a good job. Keep being a bro.

It can be tricky especially if there is a glare or trying to get things at just the right distance or angle to translate properly. But it does in fact work, with a little finessing and fanangling.

What games will you be playing in English now?

I’m still most looking forward to Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side 4th Heart this October and Air I think in September – but for now, Angelique will keep me busy.

Japanese games are expensive I feel like… I feel like I’m spending $70-80 for one game – where in USA I’m used to spending about $50-60 – But still worth it. Because most of these games will never come out in English.

Angelique has been around for 25 years. Angelique Luminarise is part of a 25th birthday celebration. But we have never received a single Angelique game in English.

Another game series I treasure is Idol M@ster. I think there are ways – probably with android more so than IOS – to automatically translate the text on the phone screen while playing games – I do know there’s a new (or remastered) Idol M@ster coming out soon – or recently released for PC and PS4 – but I am happy with my many different Idol M@ster games on my phone. I haven’t figured out a good way to translate the phone app simultaneously as google translate and the game are running. I imagine there’s apps for that on android – or people are using bluestacks. I just do it the tedious way by taking a screenshot, translating it in the app, and repeat forever.

It’s different now on the Switch or other device because I can LIVE translate, so I don’t have to take screenshots or exit and re-enter the game. I can do everything on the fly.

Plus if I’m being honest….

I skip almost all the dialogue in games like Idol M@ster, Love Live, Bang Dream Girls, UtaPri, Ensemble Stars, etc…. Even when English versions are released because it’s not that interesting? LOL….. It’s really not. – I play to collect the cute girls (and cute guys) and enjoy the music… I think maybe it’s the way the text is divided or structured – forcing you to read bits of it to unlock the next scene or song – and wanting the rewards etc. I just skip all that shit – am I the only one? And I love story driven games – but damn, I just feel like all those mobile apps, the story slows down my gameplay and I just want to play and not be bogged down. Maybe because it’s slice of life? But that’s my preferred genre when reading manga or watching anime – I dunno what it is – but really – I’m not missing much by Idol M@ster not being in English – I’d be happy just with an English menu patch/release really. Good enough for me lol.

Other games like Angelique or Tokimeki Memorial or Air or Kannon etc where the story is actually interesting and good – I’ll use my smartphone to be able to enjoy the story – even though it’s inconvenient.

I already know I’ll buy Air and Tokimeki Memorial.

I’m thinking of buying Memories Off Historia 1 and 2 (a total of about 7 or 8 games there).

Plus lots of other Japanese games.

It’s awkward and cumbersome – but yes – for the most part “This will do”.

How To Play Angelique Or Any Other Japanese Otome Game In English was originally published on

Here’s Why I Ordered A Steam Deck

Kotaku recently penned an article about how they don’t see who would purchase a Steam Deck. I ordered my Steam Deck yesterday, and here’s why Steam Deck is for me. PS: You can preorder your Steam Deck from Valve here. Steam Deck will launch in December 2021.

What is Steam Deck? It’s kinda a Nintendo Switch “Clone” or “Rip Off” for lack of a better word – sorry, but it is – there’s lots of these clones out there – I have one from China for like $50 with some emulators and roms lol. BUT the one thing that makes Steam Deck different from these other Nintendo Switch like devices – Access to millions of games from the Steam Library – thousands of which I already own. The docking station will be sold separately – which is a bummer given how expensive the base units are.

Reasons Why I Pre-Ordered The Most Expensive $649 512GB Steam Deck:

I’m a gamer without PC or Console Bias – That is to say, I play games from all consoles, handhelds, PCs, mobile devices, whatever. I don’t care. I’m here for the games, thx.

Steam does have some questionable inventions when it comes to hardware which I’ve never purchased any of them myself – but you know who else has had questionable inventions in gaming – literally everyone? Nintendo’s Wii U flopped because people didn’t understand the difference between Wii and Wii U and the touch pad thing never took off. And Nintendo Switch – I love it so much, I bought it twice – the original and the lite – but my controllers are constantly getting sent back to fix drift and leaving me buying new expensive controllers – and Sega? Their consoles were amazing – and I deeply love all of them – even 32X and Dreamcast – and others that were “Flops” – And then there’s poor ill fated Sony Vita – what went wrong for the poor little Vita with a cult following of Otome and Visual Novel fans – for one thing – marketing and price point – and lots of other things – so so what, if Steam’s hardware has a “questionable track record”?

I already have a Steam account and over 1,200 games (1,273 to be exact).

How many Nintendo games do I have? Probably around 60? How many do I see owning within the lifetime of the Switch? Maybe 300? Max?

Yeah, some of the games I have purchased twice. I go back and forth between if I prefer handheld gaming or if I prefer my laptop (which might as well be a desktop since I haven’t moved it ((aside from actually physically moving to a new address about 2 weeks ago)) in like 6 months. So I did purchase some games twice – especially if they were on sale lol. For example, in the Steam recent summer sale, I splurged and picked up harvest moon mineral town again even though I have it on Switch too – there’s other examples I can think of – in the reverse, I’ve had Clannad on Steam for years, and decided to pick it up on Switch to enjoy it more easily / portably).

Now with Steam Deck, I don’t have to decide if I want to be Portable or if I want to be at a Desk… Or if I want to connect to a TV or other device – I have that freedom with one copy of the game and one client (Steam)

I will still buy Nintendo Switch exclusives and still love my Switch. Switch Lite is lighter weight and easier to carry (I’m guessing, I mean Steam Deck looks huge as heck and heavy and downright uncomfortable.) I mean the whole reason I bought Switch Lite even though I already owned a Switch was because the regular Switch overtime was cramping my little female gamer delicate hands/fingers/wrists. I much prefer the Switch Lite and only turn on original Switch now for multi-player fun – but that’s just me and my family/friends preference – your mileage may vary.

But now with Steam Deck if I want one save file and cloud saves (not all games support that – but most in fact do) – I can go back and forth comfortably from my bed or the couch to the desk to even on the road, outside, wherever I go.

I am unclear on how these games will be accessed outside the home – but with my cellplan or cable internet plan, I can enable hotspots (or use many hotspots provided through my cable plan, or free wifi hotspots (I know security risks). I’ll probably just stick to my phone hotspot). I do worry about lag/slow down from hotspot only wifi when outside the home. Especially in a rural area where I live.

But like I said above, sometimes I honestly do just want to “get up and stretch” or move to a different room, or see a different view for awhile – Steam Deck allows me to do just that.

Imagine if you will for a moment, the practicality of this little machine for LAN Parties – or playing games face to face with friends – like actual PC games – In the 90s – early 2k A LOT of people would lug around their huge-ass gaming rig PCs – Monitors, Keyboards, Tower Units – Heck, even now with gaming laptops – they’re still heavy – my 16 inch Razer (one of the lightest/smallest weight gaming laptops) is still probably about 14 lbs with battery and then there’s the cables and the mouse and other accessories – right? And once you’re at your friends’ house (or they’re at yours) or you’re at an actual convention or party of some kind – you’ll have reliable internet so the question of how will this perform on less desirable internet connections becomes pretty irrelevant. It’s literally a portable little PC Gaming machine – perfect for LAN Parties, or just taking to a friend’s house. And as you know, there’s tons of multiplayer PC games that we just don’t have on Switch or other handhelds.

So I think that’s a big gold star for Steam Deck right there – I know people like to get together to game – especially now with the vaccine and ability to get out and see our friends and families again. Those who game together stay together.

But that’s not all…

It’s speculated that Steam Deck will also allow you to run emulation – I dunno if I will try it – My Steam account did get hacked one time a few years ago – it was a scary experience. I hadn’t logged in in a year or so and so they had done some damage for sure. But Steam’s support was awesome and helped restore my account and now with the 2FA (it wasn’t available back when I was hacked I think) I feel more secure – nothing is ever 100% secure – but hey, it makes me feel more secure even if it’s a false sense of security in some ways lol. – Still I dunno if I’d load it full of roms and emus – so many viruses these days. I have a cheap as hell handheld that I bought on Aliexpress (that I will review some day probably) – that also looks like a Nintendo Switch clone – I legit only bought it for one game that came preloaded on it – one of my ALL TIME favorite games, Azure Dream – it came with hundreds or thousands of other roms and emus preloaded – but I can also add my own if I want to. I also bought a modded DS XL or something (I forgot the exact model) that was modded by someone on Etsy (their shop is no longer in business last I checked). He custom loaded the 3 DS games I really wanted – the trio of Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side games – probably my favorite game series ever – plus thousands of other preloaded DS games – for like under $350 – so no, I didn’t buy Steam Deck for emulation – and pay twice that price LOL. I also hear PSP or Vita modded is an awesome device for emulation – I just don’t really have a need for it? I have other devices for that? At one point, it was tempting to me to pick up a Vita, but now most of the Otome games have made their way over to a new home on Nintendo Switch.

I’m not a “hardcore” gamer? I do know Steam Deck can play hardcore games – but, in MOST cases, those aren’t my cup of tea. No, I’m a casual gamer. A casual gamer, who already owns a Switch and a Switch Lite, and DS, and pretty much every other console/handheld ever since the first 8 bit NES…. What’s one more “console” or device? I bought them all – except the last two Xboxes…. If Xbox would make a sequel or something similar to Lost Odyssey, I would buy the latest console JUST FOR THAT ONE GAME – seriously – one of the best RPGs of all time. That’s the type of gamer I am – the type who will buy a device JUST FOR ONE EXCLUSIVE GAME. Yup that’s me.

You might be like OMG that’s too expensive, that’s a waste of money – but I see people drive $50,000 luxury cars – when a $20,000 car gets better gas mileage (and gas is approaching $4 again (thank you Biden :(). I see people drink expensive alcohol drinks every night – or go out to expensive dinners (I’m guilty of the food thing – I don’t like to cook often lol). Take expensive vacations, play sports that require special expensive equipment and gear – whatever – just for the love of their hobbies.

So what’s $649 at the end of the day?

Plus you know, you don’t NEED the most expensive model – because you can use SD cards or external storage – I just prefer as much on board storage as I can get – but that’s just me personally. My Laptop also only has 512 GB – and it’s not much – I bought an external 8TB hard drive that stays plugged in and run my Steam games from there.

For Nintendo Switch – also not much storage space 32GB in both the original and Switch Lite – but like the Steam Deck it can also use SD cards (thank god). I have a 2TB card in both of them I think. (I buy a lot of digital games lol).

Lets look at the numbers:

Nintendo costs $299 for the original or $199 for the Switch Lite – both come with 32GB of onboard storage – but if you like digital games – which I do – you’re gonna need a memory card – let’s say at LEAST 500GB to get started, and those aren’t cheap! Best Buy and Game Stop are both selling those for $129 – and that’s a “sale price” so let’s add $299 + $129 = $428 – or $328 for the Switch Lite.

To be fair, that amount of money would only get you a 64GB Steam Deck, so yes, Nintendo is still much cheaper and more affordable there. Because 64GB is still not enough space to install many games. So you’d still need some SD cards.

Who has the bigger game library? Clearly, Steam does. Kotaku argues that many people will prefer Switch due to Nintendo’s exclusives. – Yes, Nintendo’s exclusives are fun – I own many myself such as Animal Crossing, Pokemon, Mario Party, Mario Kart, Mario Tennis, Zelda, and on and on (I’m terrible at Smash Brothers so I don’t own that one lol. My friends have it though and I do play it sometimes).

I do like I can get games I can’t get anywhere else on Switch – I mean that’s the whole reason I buy consoles or handhelds is if they have exclusive titles I want.

OK but what are some examples of games I love on Steam that aren’t on Nintendo (or any other devices) Here are a few off the top of my head:

  • Princess Maker – Nintendo has 2 of them – Steam has 5 of them (and I own them all already – and on a side note, really wish someone would make an English version of Princess Maker 4 (it’s my favorite.))
  • Summer Pockets – a visual novel by Key – the creators of Clannad – might some day land on Switch – some day – because Switch does have Clannad (and I’m pretty sure Switch has Little Busters too – I couldn’t get into that game for some reason).
  • Crusader Kings – No switch ports of any of those 3 games
  • Mabinogi – haven’t played it in awhile – but it’s cuuute
  • Ragnarok Online
  • Tree of Savior
  • (Lots of MMORPGs actually – so if you like MMORPGs – Steam Deck is for you)
  • Wildermyth – recently released on PC – may some day head to Switch – but who knows – enjoying this one
  • 100% Orange Juice
  • Agarest War series – It’s a little hentai-ish at times – but still an anime RPG series that Switch is missing
  • To The Moon and Bird Story
  • Sometimes Always Monsters – They do oddly have the other game Always Sometimes Monsters (I forget which game is first lol – I have both on steam and beat the first one and barely touched the 2nd one yet.).
  • Battleblock Theater
  • Ame No Marginal – Rain Marginal
  • Da Capo – Easily one of my favorite series – no lie. I know Steam doesn’t have the whole series – but they have Da Capo 3 R – and I purchased the others from directly from Manga Gamers – beat the first one years ago – and have yet to play the others yet but – easily, very easily – one of the best visual novel series ever – top 5.
  • Harmonia – another visual or kinetic novel
  • Himawari – another visual novel
  • Higurashi – horror visual novel

So as you can see, Steam Deck is good for girl gamers who play a lot of visual novels or Otome games too – although admittedly Switch has a ton of Otome and Visual Novels too 🙂

The list of games I enjoy not available on Switch goes on….

  • King’s Quest (all of them – much love!)
  • Inherit The Earth
  • Willy Beamish – I actually didn’t see this on Steam – but it’s on GOG – it remains to be seen what Steam Deck allows us to install or play. I have heard that we can install other software and even other operating systems – but that could be a rumor?
  • Gabrielle Knight
  • Sam and Max
  • Other old-school “point and click” style games
  • Sonicomi – absolutely love that dressup game.
  • Littlewitch Romanesque
  • Lucky Rabbit Reflex and Edge of Elsewhere – 2 fun Otome Games – quite similar to Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side
  • Magical Diary Horse Hall and Wolf Hall – 2 more fun otome games
  • Dandelion Wishes Brought To You and Nameless – both Otome games by Cheritz – they are both fantastic
  • The Sims – With all of my custom content installed so they won’t be ugly – I just cannot play Sims without CC (custom content) – Man that alone is a huge incentive for Steam Deck casual gamers right there.
  • Utawarerumono
  • Yakuza (all of them)

Those two are available on steam or playstation (or probably Xbox) but now can be in a handheld console the size of a Switch. – Niiiice.

Literally, thousands of other games.

So for people like me, who already own these games, and prefer buying digital over physical copies of games, Steam Deck is a no brainer – I have my reasons for preferring digital – such as don’t worry about getting scratches on the discs, or breaking the cartridges, or losing the cartridges – don’t worry about (physical) space to store all my games, etc – I know physical has advantage in that a.) it’ll always be there if the game ever gets pulled or the digital service goes belly up – and b.) it looks nice in a collection – if you have (physical) space to display all your games – but for me, I love digital – I do own a fair amount of physical too though. Shrugs.

And when it comes to digital, Steam is already my preferred provider – yes they don’t have everything – some stuff is direct from JAST, MangaGamer or GOG or other providers – but they have A LOT – probably MILLIONS of games.

Steam Deck is not “JUST” for hardcore gamers – I think I illustrated plenty of examples of games on Steam that Girl Gamers and Casual Gamers will love that aren’t on Nintendo Switch.

Nothing’s going to take away my love for Nintendo Switch (or any of my other consoles and devices).

But why slam the Steam Deck like that?

Why you gotta hate, bro?

Why not both?

/shrugs 🙂

Tell me, are you getting a Steam Deck? Which model did you buy (or would you buy)? And what are your reasons for wanting a Steam Deck?

Here’s Why I Ordered A Steam Deck was originally published on

Razer Opus X Wireless Headset Review

I just received my Razer Opus X Wireless Headset 3 days ago. I have done 6 videos included in this review. The first is an unboxing video. The other videos are “attempted soundtests” attempted because the audio YOU will hear while watching these videos is NOT exactly what you will hear while WEARING the Razer Opus X. I just have the Iphone placed right inside the ear cup of the Razer Opus X in those reviews.

I’m just going to sprinkle my videos throughout here in chronological order, starting with my unboxing, and then part 1 of the review / soundtest, part 2, and so on. Enjoy!

Also fair warning – these videos and review are all COMPLETELY amateur level. I have no idea what I’m doing. I do not have a tripod (yet), and so I drop the phone a few times or accidentally drop the headphone and turn power off on them and then you hear my computer audio for a few minutes before I realize what happens (I talk you through it though so you’ll know when it happens, plus you’ll probably hear when it happens too). ANYWAYS yeah sorry these videos are a HOT MESS.

Razer Opus X Quartz Edition 2021 Unboxing

Just an unboxing video. Stay tuned for a full review in the next few days. Razer Opus X Quartz Edition 2021 Unboxing

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My house is also a HOT MESS right now because we are moving in like 6 days and ahhh everything’s crazy. Also we just had a party for my fiance last night for his 38th birthday. So the house is like EXTRA messy, and everyone is coming over again later today for another party for their wrestling pay per view stuff – so we cleaned a little but largely left things as is instead of setting up again tonight lol.

Anyways enough excuses!!! ON TO THE REVIEW!!!

Also let me just say, I bought these headphones with my own money, under no sponsorship or anything of that sort. I like razer products and liked the color which matches my razer quartz laptop and (non razer cheap wireless) mouse, and my pink desk, and pink chair lol.

Razer Opus X Wireless Headset 2021 Full Review and Sound Test Part 1

Razer Opus X Wireless Headset 2021 Full Review and Sound Test Part 1

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Actually I think the neon green is the best of the three colors in my opinion, but since everything else I bought was pink, I went with pink. Pink is one of my favorite colors, but actually lately I prefer tiffany blue. I wish razer would come out with a tiffany blue color. They could call it Diamond Blue. Pretty catchy LOL.

So these headsets by Razer cost $99. The same price as the Kraken Wireless Headset (with color chromo kitty ears) Cute. But I read reviews of the Kraken BT Wireless Headset and – not good reviews at all. One of the chief complaints is that it sounds like a Tin Can, very hollow, no bass, and more high pitched overall.

The Kraken Wireless does not have noise cancellation either. I only wear headphones when my fiance is watching TV or something. It’s largely so I don’t disturb other people around me – but also, yeah when I’m gaming I don’t want to be disturbed either! So the fact that the Razer Opus X Wireless 2021 Headset has noise cancellation is a huge selling point for me. More so than the lower latency of the Kraken.

Razer Opus X Wireless Headset 2021 Full Review and Sound Test Part 2

Razer Opus X Wireless Headset 2021 Full Review and Sound Test Part 2

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So Razer’s product page for the Razer Opus X Wireless Headphones mentions how it has a lot of deep bass, and I believe that to be true. I am NOT an audiophile. You’ll see in my videos that I’m using some terribly old probably 90s WIRED noise cancelling headphones – Sony though which are believed by many to be the best in noise cancelling technology. They worked fine still. They belonged to my fiance and he gave them to me awhile back. No idea what model or how old they were. The sound was good, noise cancellation was great… But the wire… I HATED having to wrap it and/or untangle it before/after every single use… what a pain in the ass!

That’s why one day I decided – I want wireless headphones.

My natural first instinct was beats by Dre before I googled anything else. My fiance actually just got a great discount on Beats Solo3, an older model, like originally $200 he snagged for $80 at Target. Got the last pair at our local Target. He hasn’t even opened them yet. He bought them after I ordered mine. When he heard I was looking for a wireless headset, he wanted one too.

We both prefer Over the Ear design. I hate the buds that go inside the ear. They are just not comfortable! At least to me, especially for long periods of time ugh. I don’t want something IN my ear. No thanks!

Anyways maybe after he opens his, he’ll let me review them too 🙂

But for now, back to my Razer Opus X.

Razer Opus X Wireless Headset 2021 Full Review and Sound Test Part 3

Razer Opus X Wireless Headset 2021 Full Review and Sound Test Part 3

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I took to Google a week or two ago and just typed in “Wireless Headphones” just to see what was out there. You know Google uses algorithms to show you the search results, so for me, I saw these news articles one after another after another about Razer’s new Opus X Wireless Noise Cancelling Headphones for just $99. There weren’t ANY reviews anywhere, just NEWS announcing the upcoming / newly released product…

I was torn between the Kraken and Opus until as mentioned reading some negative reviews on Kraken, and ultimately deciding on the Opus X.

My initial thoughts on the Opux X are as follows:

Comfort: 5/5 Very comfortable, I gamed for 3-4 hours straight without any pressure or pain. Fully padded and adjustable and light weight – at least as light as to be expected for an Over the ear design.

Sound Quality: 4/5 Seemed a little quiet even when up all the way – In comparison I play my computer speakers at about 30-40%. I had to turn the Opus X up to 80-90% to achieve about the same volume… However, aside from that caveat, I do personally think the sound quality is quite nice. As promised, it has plenty of bass. The noise cancellation works GREAT. I live right next to a busy highway and constant traffic can be heard even with all windows closed. Also as mentioned, I use these when my fiance is watching TV (typically sports) – it drowns out the TV PLUS his wild cheering lol.

Ease of Use: 4/5 – PERFECT with Computer no problemo. Took less than 10 seconds. But with any type of console, you need a dongle. I don’t have one yet, but you can purchase them for about $10-20. If I decide to purchase one, I’ll let you know how easy it is to pair to a console. I have not tried to pair to my Iphone 12 Pro yet. Controls on left ear cup very straight forward, volume up, down, noise cancellation, and power buttons.

Razer Opus X Wireless Headset 2021 Full Review and Sound Test Part 4

Razer Opus X Wireless Headset 2021 Full Review and Sound Test Part 4

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Looks: 3/5 – EH I dunno, they’re super plain – no color chroma lights, no kitty ears, no serpent logo, just a very low profile same color “razer” name printed along the band. Controls etc all same color, very minimal. The green stands out and looks awesome. I do love pink, so I do love my color too, but I dunno, they’re not stylish compared to say Beats by Dre or TokiDoki – BUT…. They ARE definitely more stylish than Bose or Sony or some humdrum black pair.

Gaming: Up to You. ???/10 For me, they’re PERFECT. I am a CASUAL Gamer. I only play RPG, Visual Novel, Otome, and Simulation games. I do NOT play First Person Shooters, Arena Games, and other highly twitchy games. Razer is NOT marketing these as a gaming headset!!! The latency is MUCH TOO HIGH for serious competitive “hardcore” gamers!!! Because you react to what you HEAR, before what you SEE, so for HARDCORE gamers – go with a wired headset – even though yes wires suck, you need the lowest latency possible.

BUT for ME and MY types of games – and the readers of this blog who I assume are female gamers such as myself mostly playing casual games – GO FOR IT!!! THESE ARE AWESOME! You will not have ANY problems what so ever!!!

So for ME personally in my review, 10/10 CASUAL GAMING only – DO NOT USE FOR HARDCORE GAMING EVER K?

But for ME Casual Gaming is ALL I PLAY – so for ME in MY REVIEW – Gaming gets 10/10

I love not having a wire. I love the color. I love the noise cancellation. I love the sound quality. I love everything about these, except they could maybe be a little bit more stylish?

ALSO they DO NOT FOLD UP!!!

Beats and other popular products FOLD UP for traveling.

One of the biggest uses of noise cancelling headphones is for traveling on long flights…

By not folding up, they are big and cumbersome to pack on a carry on.

In comparrison the 10-20 year old Sony Noise Cancellation headphones I was already using FOLDED up.

So yeah – behind times with the design there! BIG TIME.

If I had to give it a flaw it’d be that they do not fold up.

Also it’d be NICE if it came with a dongle – because Razer is a gaming company, even if they’re NOT marketing these as gaming headsets (which they’re not), it’d still be nice – I can buy one for $10-20 which means it would have maybe cost razer like $5 to manufacture and include one with the headset.

Ah but overall, I am happy with my purchase. Using my traditional scoring system they come out to:

26/30 87% B+ “Very Good Headset For Casual Gamers”

Razer Opus X Wireless Headset 2021 Full Review and Sound Test Part 5

Razer Opus X Wireless Headset 2021 Full Review and Sound Test Part 5

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Pros:

  • Wireless
  • Easy Blue Tooth Pairing With PC
  • Lots of Bass – Nice Sound Quality
  • Excellent Noise Cancellation
  • Lasted for Longer than my play time of 3-4 hours – with Noise Cancellation activated
  • Nice colors
  • Comfortable
  • PERFECT for Casual Gaming, RPGs, Otome Games, Dressup Games, Visual Novels, Dating Sims, Simulation games, etc. Perfect for watching videos and other tasks too. They also say it’s great for conference calls and has dual action noise cancellation on the microphone to let you work from home without interference on your conference calls – I haven’t tested that yet, but in a post Covid work world – this might be a big selling point for you!
  • The fact that it even HAS a microphone is impressive (and see above about noise cancellation). Beats and (some) Sony headsets are headphones only without a mic.

Cons:

  • No dongle for console gaming included – but it’s cheap to buy $10-20 – just the fact that it is so cheap is like why didn’t razer just include one – makes me feel like THEY are cheap/lazy lol.
  • Kinda minimalistic styling – but not bad
  • THIS HEADSET DOES NOT FOLD – bad ! biggest minus in my opinion – bulky hard to pack or travel with. huge con right there.
  • NOT FOR HARDCORE GAMERS!! Latency is 60 MS – much too high for Hardcore Gamers – not me, but maybe important to some people, especially coming from Razer who has long been god tier for all things hardcore gaming related.

Razer Opus X Wireless Headset Review was originally published on

Hello Kitty World 2 Game For Girls Review

Today I’m here to tell you about another cute game for girls because that’s what I do. Let’s talk about Hello Kitty World 2, a free mobile game for IOS and Android smartphones. Hello Kitty World 2 is a theme park management simulation game. In Japan, there actually is a Hello Kitty World theme park. So I assume this game aims to bring the rides, attractions, Sanrio mascots, cute food, and clothes and accessories from the real world theme park into this game.

You start the game by selecting from your “favorite” (of only 3 at first) Sanrio characters to be your guide. I chose Pompompurin. Don’t worry, more characters, and buildings, and features will unlock as you level up. Initially, there isn’t much to do, but quickly the gameplay begins to expand. Gameplay includes many features once you reach certain levels.

Here are some of the key gameplay features of Hello Kitty World 2:

  • Build your own theme park with rides, shops, decorations, etc
  • Make cute food to complete quests
  • Dressup your avatar
  • Dressup your partner sanrio characters
  • Play the gacha to win rare limited edition items
  • Fashion battles (I haven’t gotten far enough yet – you have to be level 30 and I’m only level 22)
  • Visit other players theme parks
  • Vote for your favorite sanrio characters for future in-game items
  • Expand your map and unlock new maps to keep building more things
  • Possibly additional features I have yet to unlock

Here’s how I would rate Hello Kitty World 2

Geeky: 2/5 – If you ever played the retro game, Themepark Tycoon or Roller Coaster tycoon or any of the newer indie park sim games, you’ll love this. However, the gameplay is more simplistic. You can’t actually lay the track of your own roller coaster, the guests don’t queue in line, you can’t make food extra salty, to sell more drinks, or adjust how much ice is in the drink, you can’t hire/fire park staff, or fix broken down rides and attractions. Gameplay is simple and it’s a casual game, but the spirit of Themepark Tycoon is still there.

Sweetie: 5/5 – This is so cute. The gacha items are cute. The rides are cute. The food is cute. The avatars are cute. The decorations and stores are cute. The mascots are cute. Who doesn’t love Sanrio? So cute!

Gameplay: 7/10 – Well I kinda covered this above in many places, but gameplay consists of building your own theme park, decorating the theme park, selling cute food, playing the gacha, and fashion battles. I can’t give it perfect marks because compared to other theme park management games, the gameplay is really lacking. As I mentioned, there’s no hiring/firing staff, no fixing broken rides, no laying your own roller coaster tracks, etc. But it’s still a fun game with a few surprise features. The dressup features make up a little bit for the lack of actual theme park management features.

Graphics: 10/10 – There are so many cute and diverse gacha items for your avatar and your park. Everything is Sanrio and super kawaii.

Story: 0/10 – Uhh there’s no story? LOL. They could have had some type of story at least, but they don’t.

Characters 10/10 – All of them are favorite Sanrio characters and fans can vote for new characters in the game, and you can even dress each of the Sanrio characters too, as well as your avatar.

Music: 5/10 – It’s cute and soft, and dream like music. It’s a nice background but not ground breaking.

Voice Acting: N/A

Replay Value: 10/10 – It takes a long time to unlock content – and it’s a slow paced game… so be prepared for a long haul.

Cute: 10/10 – to help pad the score some, I think it needs repeated just how cute this game is

Gacha: 10/10 – Get limited items for your park and your avatar

Dressup: 10/10 – new items each month. LOTS of hair and face options. Lots of skin tones – and you can dressup all of the Sanrio characters too!!

Sanrio: 10/10 – Do you love Sanrio? This is the game for you!

Overall: 89/110 81% B- “Very Good Game For Girls”

If you like Hello Kitty and Sanrio, be sure to check out Hello Kitty World II. This game is so cute it might give you cavities. Speaking of cavities, one of the big draws of the game is cute Hello Kitty shaped food and beverages. From what I understand, that’s also one of the big draws of the actual real life amusement park. Also I hear the real life park is quite small and only takes about a half day to see/ride everything. All of the rides are kid friendly and not very thrilling. Most people go to Hello Kitty World in Japan to buy exclusive Sanrio merchandise, take photos with various Sanrio mascots, eat and drink some cute Sanrio shaped food and beverages, and watch a stage show with all of the Sanrio characters.

I was supposed to go to Japan last year, had already bought airfare and hotel, but then BOOM Coronavirus came into the world, and my dream was crushed. It’s been my life long dream… And sadly, Japan is not doing well at containing and controlling this virus and dead last in the entire world in percentage of people vaccinated. The news said it’s only 1%. They’re thinking they won’t hold the Olympics this year, and people are still on lockdowns and shortened work weeks. So I don’t know when… or if…. I will ever get to go to Japan. Maybe not in this lifetime.

I’m turning 40…. in a few weeks…. I would like to go to Japan while I’m still young and healthy enough for lots of walking, and to not be like 80 and wandering around Hello Kitty World and Tokyo Disney / Disney Sea. I don’t have children yet, and I don’t know if god has that in his plans for me. I’m already what they consider geriatric pregnancy and at risk for all kinds of birth defects plus dangers to myself and potential babies. I am getting married in 3 months and it’s definitely something I think about.

I don’t have the most patience in the world. Crying kids in restaurants make me cringe. People in general annoy me LOL. The thought of actually physically giving birth sounds painful and horrifying. Changing diapers and messes in general, not very fun sounding for sure…

But on the other hand, having someone that loves me, shaping another human being to be the best human being it can be, watching them grow, and achieve their own dreams, that’s pretty cool. I have no brothers, no sisters, no cousins living within thousands of miles. I have a 60 something year old mother and an 80 something year old grandmother – they aren’t going to be around forever…. that makes me want to have kids and a big family. I don’t want to be alone – that’s not a good reason to have kids though probably.

I want to have kids to experience life through their eyes, to see how excited they are at christmas, or their first day of school, their first love, their college graduation. And someone to share life with, go on vacations with. To the beach, or the pool, or even just out to the mall for a mommy / daughter (or son) date. Ideally, my children would share at least one or more of my hobbies (but maybe not, I don’t share any of my mom or grandma’s hobbies haha).

Maybe some day I will have kids, and take them to Hello Kitty World in Japan, and we’ll buy a bunch of Sanrio merchandise and eat Sanrio shaped food and beverages. We’ll watch the Sanrio stage play, and if my kid is still young they will think all the mascots are real life Sanrio characters and not just people in costumes. We’ll take cute pictures and make fun memories.

Maybe we’ll play video games, or they’ll collect dolls with me, or help me set up and take photographs of my dolls. Maybe they’ll learn to sew or do faceups or make wigs and spoil me with their handmade gifts for my dolls at Mother’s day.

Maybe it’s because I’m turning 40 in a few weeks and mother’s day is tomorrow and I’m getting married in 3 months, but kids are definitely on my mind a lot.

Maybe my future hypothetical kids that will probably never exist, because on top of everything else, I have PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome, but maybe they will be more like their father, into sports and have not a single geeky bone in their body. LOL.

Or maybe they would be their own unique and wonderful person with their own unique hobbies, ideas, and interests. Or maybe I’ll adopt.

Or maybe I’ll be 80 when I go to Japan with no children and no grand children and no living family remaining. Hopefully my fiance will still be alive and we’ll take cute old people photos and everyone can look at us weird, but we won’t care, because we’re still in love, after 40 years of marriage.

Or maybe I’ll get to go to Japan next year. I’m fat, and it works in my favor. I have very large cheeks. No botox needed. I only have one wrinkle. It’s on my forehead and I wear bangs and so it never shows. I have eyebags, which are the literal bane of my existence, but asian countries think eyebags are cute anyways so not bad over there. I could probably pass for someone in their thirties, or even late twenties. I look young still. Being fat has it’s perks sometimes LOL. I have friends like 7 and 8 years younger than me that look much older than me. My fat cheeks give me a super youthful appearance. If I could just get rid of my eyebags. I tried Plexaderm and it works, but it’s really uncomfortable. It makes the skin extremely tight lol.

Regardless whenever – if ever – I go to Japan – I definitely want to go to the real life Sanrio Hello Kitty World amusement park and spend hundreds of dollars on exclusive Sanrio merchandise.

Hello Kitty World 2 Game For Girls Review was originally published on

Birdie Crush Anime Multiplayer Mobile Game Golf Simulator

I just started playing Birdie Crush a few weeks ago. It has a lot going for it. First of all it has an awesome opening song that I absolutely adore. Secondly it has cute anime graphics with various costumes and equipment to collect that make it in part at least a Dressup game. Thirdly, even people that don’t like anime, like birdie crush for the golf gameplay such as my fiancé – finally found a cute game he will play with me lol .

Well what is there to say about birdie crush that hasn’t already been said? Lol. It’s a golf game. It’s free and available on both iPhone and android mobile devices. It has cute anime graphics and rare event items and costumes.

There’s some skill involved in the gameplay which makes it fun and challenging. There’s also different types of gameplay from solo to playing friends to limited time events, season tournaments, and more.

I like birdie crush golf a lot but there’s some room for improvement such as more playable characters and more Dressup items. But it’s a new game so I suspect we may see both those things in the future.

Check out birdie crush golf and let me know your thoughts!

Overall: 63/80 79% C+ Very Good Game For Girls

Geeky: 5/5 – cute 3D colorful and detailed graphics, great music, and challenging gameplay with lots of different gameplay modes

Sweetie: 5/5 Anime graphics, Dressup items, rockin anime theme song, cute characters, fun gameplay

Graphics: 8/10 – really nice 3D graphics in an anime style. Deducted a few points because could use a few more playable characters and costumes.

Gameplay: 8/10 has a little lag but offers a lot of surprisingly fun and challenging gameplay with lots of events and modes and tournaments and crafting and upgrading gear and the whole costume Dressup thing yeah it has plenty to do. Really enjoy the gameplay here. Deduct some points for lag issues.

Story: 5/10 honestly I just skip the story in this one. It’s okay but I just want to play the game. I have other games whose story I would want to read. This one isn’t terrible but not great either.

Characters: 8/10 so cute! Only one boy though! And only four characters total. Give us more characters please!

Music: 10/10 honestly I love this music !!!

Voice Acting: 4/10 – Korean voice overs are good but the lil sound effects like yawns and clearing throat get super repetitive and downright annoying. It’d be okay if it happened less frequently lol.

Replay value: 10/10 always new events and limited items to get. Fun times.

Overall: 63/80 79% C+ Very Good Game For Girls

Birdie Crush Anime Multiplayer Mobile Game Golf Simulator was originally published on

Starry Love Anime Dressup Otome Game Review Like Love Niki, Wannabe Fashionista, or Mr Love Queen’s Choice

I just started playing “Starry Love” yesterday after seeing a Facebook ad. It’s a brand new game from someone named Modo Games whom I’ve never heard of.

The gameplay is quite similar to Love Niki, or Mr Love Queen’s Choice or Wanabe Fashionista… all of which I’ve reviewed here and all of which I definitely recommend.

When I started playing Starry Love there was only one review and it was a one star rating. Maybe someone was confused and thought one meant good and 5 meant bad.

There’s not much bad about this game so let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first.

The worst part of this game is the chat filters which block weird common words such as game or server as well as av such as the word have will be h**ve making it difficult to chat in the game.

On the plus side, the chat is active and community seems friendly. Today there was discussion about Kdrama and Anime which is right in my wheel house of interests.

The search function and guild function is also pretty flawed making it darn near impossible to recruit people for your guild or find a guild to join.

Another negative is a lot of game’s content is only unlocked later into the game’s story. There is plenty to do, but it might not seem that way at first.

Lastly, the writing is hit or miss with some glaring typos or awkward wording. The story itself is pretty interesting.

You are a model who under distress from catching her boyfriend with another woman, runs into the road and is hit by a truck. When you wake up, you’ve gone several years into the past when you were just getting started as an online streamer.

Most of the activities revolve around this streaming and modeling theme. You can get ideas for new live streams, invite cohosts, talk to your fans, join other live streams, and so on. It’s worth mentioning that this is all within the context of a fantasy world and fantasy characters and you yourself need not appear on camera or anything yourself.

You recruit other characters to help with your live streams and some of them you can even date. All of them you can level up to increase your overall stats and popularity and viewer count. Also they will be useful later in fashion battles and server events.

Speaking of server events, there are a lot of them. There’s four going on right now, some focus on story some focus on spending in game currencies and some focus on community events.

You can unlock special outfits titles and items by participating in these events.

Artwork is all very cute and colorful. Again it is similar to love niki or mr love queen.

Overall: 54/70 77%

Geeky: 2/5 Artwork is good but chat and community features are severely flawed and limited.

Sweetie: 5/5 Cute graphics and interesting story. Dressup game is sure to please fans of love niki and mr love Queen’s choice.

Gameplay: 9/10 I think once you get far enough into the game to unlock all the content there is plenty of things to do from modeling to fashion battles, dating, story events, photo shoots, live streams, cohosts, support crew, tea parties, shopping, and more. It honestly in my opinion has more things to do than love niki or mr love Queen’s choice. The only option it may be missing is to decorate your room or house like love niki has, and it seems like that gameplay element could fit well with boosting stats and live stream concept to me. Maybe we will see it in the future as this is still a new game.

Story: 7/10 I like the theme of reincarnation or alternative reality and there are currently over 30 chapters to read. But the story is pretty flawed by typos and some grammar issues.

Characters: 6/10 Most of the characters are interesting and developed well as the story goes on. Sometimes some of the characters including your main character are rude or mean, I’m not sure it’s intentional or if it comes across wrong due to being lost in translation but it can put me off. And much like a game I recently reviewed it, this one also makes fun of overweight characters which is not very appealing .

Graphics: 9/10 Enjoy the graphics a lot, some do get reused a bit but the graphics are one of the highlights of the game for me

Music: 6/10 Slightly above average, not annoying, peaceful music that sets the tone of the themes in the game.

Replay Value: 10/10 with numerous events and new content added all the time, some of which is very limited, sometimes even one per server, this game has a high replay value.

Overall: 54/70 77%

If they fix up some of the actual interface and gameplay mechanics it’d easily be in the 80s or 90s ; it’s a super fun game. Check it out if you get a chance.

Starry Love Anime Dressup Otome Game Review Like Love Niki, Wannabe Fashionista, or Mr Love Queen’s Choice was originally published on

Starry Love Anime Dressup Otome Game Review Like Love Niki, Wannabe Fashionista, or Mr Love Queen’s Choice

I just started playing “Starry Love” yesterday after seeing a Facebook ad. It’s a brand new game from someone named Modo Games whom I’ve never heard of.

The gameplay is quite similar to Love Niki, or Mr Love Queen’s Choice or Wanabe Fashionista… all of which I’ve reviewed here and all of which I definitely recommend.

When I started playing Starry Love there was only one review and it was a one star rating. Maybe someone was confused and thought one meant good and 5 meant bad.

There’s not much bad about this game so let’s get the bad stuff out of the way first.

The worst part of this game is the chat filters which block weird common words such as game or server as well as av such as the word have will be h**ve making it difficult to chat in the game.

On the plus side, the chat is active and community seems friendly. Today there was discussion about Kdrama and Anime which is right in my wheel house of interests.

The search function and guild function is also pretty flawed making it darn near impossible to recruit people for your guild or find a guild to join.

Another negative is a lot of game’s content is only unlocked later into the game’s story. There is plenty to do, but it might not seem that way at first.

Lastly, the writing is hit or miss with some glaring typos or awkward wording. The story itself is pretty interesting.

You are a model who under distress from catching her boyfriend with another woman, runs into the road and is hit by a truck. When you wake up, you’ve gone several years into the past when you were just getting started as an online streamer.

Most of the activities revolve around this streaming and modeling theme. You can get ideas for new live streams, invite cohosts, talk to your fans, join other live streams, and so on. It’s worth mentioning that this is all within the context of a fantasy world and fantasy characters and you yourself need not appear on camera or anything yourself.

You recruit other characters to help with your live streams and some of them you can even date. All of them you can level up to increase your overall stats and popularity and viewer count. Also they will be useful later in fashion battles and server events.

Speaking of server events, there are a lot of them. There’s four going on right now, some focus on story some focus on spending in game currencies and some focus on community events.

You can unlock special outfits titles and items by participating in these events.

Artwork is all very cute and colorful. Again it is similar to love niki or mr love queen.

Overall: 54/70 77% C+ “Good Game For Girls”

Geeky: 2/5 Artwork is good but chat and community features are severely flawed and limited.

Sweetie: 5/5 Cute graphics and interesting story. Dressup game is sure to please fans of love niki and mr love Queen’s choice.

Gameplay: 9/10 I think once you get far enough into the game to unlock all the content there is plenty of things to do from modeling to fashion battles, dating, story events, photo shoots, live streams, cohosts, support crew, tea parties, shopping, and more. It honestly in my opinion has more things to do than love niki or mr love Queen’s choice. The only option it may be missing is to decorate your room or house like love niki has, and it seems like that gameplay element could fit well with boosting stats and live stream concept to me. Maybe we will see it in the future as this is still a new game.

Story: 7/10 I like the theme of reincarnation or alternative reality and there are currently over 30 chapters to read. But the story is pretty flawed by typos and some grammar issues.

Characters: 6/10 Most of the characters are interesting and developed well as the story goes on. Sometimes some of the characters including your main character are rude or mean, I’m not sure it’s intentional or if it comes across wrong due to being lost in translation but it can put me off. And much like a game I recently reviewed it, this one also makes fun of overweight characters which is not very appealing .

Graphics: 9/10 Enjoy the graphics a lot, some do get reused a bit but the graphics are one of the highlights of the game for me

Music: 6/10 Slightly above average, not annoying, peaceful music that sets the tone of the themes in the game.

Replay Value: 10/10 with numerous events and new content added all the time, some of which is very limited, sometimes even one per server, this game has a high replay value.

Overall: 54/70 77% C+ “Good Game For Girls”

If they fix up some of the actual interface and gameplay mechanics it’d easily be in the 80s or 90s ; it’s a super fun game. Check it out if you get a chance.

Starry Love Anime Dressup Otome Game Review Like Love Niki, Wannabe Fashionista, or Mr Love Queen’s Choice was originally published on