This is a reblog of my site http://geekysweetie.com – Other stuff may appear here such as reblogs from other wordpress.com sites. I blog and reblog about anime, video games, kdrama, toys, technology, and kawaii fashion and decor.
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.
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.
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.
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:
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.
It’s extremely loud. It needs those fans to dissipate the heat, I understand. But still slightly annoying.
It is slow – first time booting up games takes forever, 2-3 minutes, or more.
It has other errors too besides the not supporting some games “issue”
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.
I own so many console and computer games, not to mention hundreds of mobile games, some from other countries even, and I have a husband and 2 cats and a full-time job. So how do I decide which games are worth my time, and which ones aren’t? This answer is different for everyone.
I created the flow chart here as a window into my thought process. Disclaimer: my thought process is just my opinion. It is not fact. My opinion is probably different from your opinion. If you’re a long-time reader and fan of my blog and like the games I cover here, you may also share some of the same opinions as myself. If you’re new and somehow stumbled into here, well sorry if my opinion is different from yours. Let’s just all go enjoy our games and be happy and not put each others’ opinions down.
Click on the flow chart to enlarge
I am a girl. I am a gamer. I am a gamer girl (or girl gamer). I am turning 41 years old this Sunday. My first ever video game console was NES – but later in my life I picked up an Atari and even a Colecovision. I have a lot of love for Retro Games, but I also love modern games. I own a PS5, and a Switch. I have no desire to own an Xbox (whatever generation they’re on now) because they have no exclusive games. All of their “so-called” exclusives, I can in fact, play on my PC. Now, you could say that about darn near any game console thanks to emulation. But, with Xbox, you don’t even need emulation, because Microsoft wants to sell Windows PCs, they make PC versions of dang near every game they release for their Xbox console. I owned the first 2 or 3 Xboxes. One of my all-time favorite games is even on an Xbox console – and yes, shockingly, it is exclusive, without even a PC version. It is Lost Odyssey – a spectacular emotionally beautiful RPG.
Kotori Cosplay
As you can tell from my flow-chart, I tend to gravitate towards RPG, or story driven games. I especially love if it has a branching plot, multiple endings, hundreds of hours of story, and if I feel like my choices and decisions shape that story. That’s the piece de resistance for me when it comes to gaming. *Chef’s Kiss Emoji*
The opposite is oddly true when I’m enjoying a casual mobile game. There are a metric ton of Otome and Visual novel games on mobile… but for some reason, here in this case, I am drawn to casual gacha games. A gacha game is where you spend in-game (and sometimes real-life) currency to play a “slot machine” style mechanism that gives you an in-game reward… These could be new characters you can play as, items you can equip (sometimes they’re just fashion items without stats, and other times, the stats help the gameplay, either way, I love dressing up my characters), or “cards” representing characters with illustrations, autographs, voice acting, and so on, or maybe an item that lets you decorate a room or house, or some other such little customization.
I play pretty much every Gacha game – under just one condition – Is it cute? If that answer is yes, I’m playing it, and probably maybe spending a little real life money – I’m not whaling, but maybe dolphining… I’m VP level 16 in Shining Nikki…. from spending so much money… I don’t want to think how much… probably enough to buy me a Dollfie Dream (dolls that I collect which cost around 400-500 dollars). And that game hasn’t even been out a year yet. Oh boy. But most the time, I’m a free-to-play user of MOST of my gacha games. I have to REALLY love a game to want to spend real life money on the gacha – because honestly, most of these games are gonna go the way of the dodo soon (become extinct). And I don’t want that money and those items and characters to just go POOF.
idolmaster million live theater days
I do play the Otome and Visual novel games too, but right now, I’d say on mobile my favorite games are: Shining Nikki, Love Live, Bang Dream Girls, Colorful Stage, Utapri,Ensemble Stars (can’t wait to finally get this one in English this summer, been playing the Japanese one since launch), and Idolm@ster – which I doubt we’ll ever get an English version. I am obsessed with Idolm@ster and I can’t read a thing.
But here’s the weird thing… in mobile games, and only in mobile games… I “Skip” the dialogue 98% of the time. Skip, Skip, Skip…. Gimme gems for “reading” your “lovely” story…. keep playing, get gems, pull Gacha again. Rinse and Repeat… I might be addicted to spinning the Gacha, just saying LOL. *crying emoji*
So it doesn’t really matter if it’s in English or not… I guess… but I mean, it’d be nice? LOL. At least a menu translation, please.
All of the limited events and cute dressup items or character cards – and so many events in such a short amount of time. Who has time to read a story? Pssht, not me LOL.
But when I sit down at my PC or Console – it’s time to do some SERIOUS gaming – for me, that means spending hundreds of hours reading story, getting invested and involved in the lives of the characters, and probably crying a lot because I’m so into their story, laughing with them, cheering them on, caring about them, wanting to see what happens next.
Ok but there are times when I’m playing a console game or pc game and NOT playing a story driven game – actually quite a bit now in the past oh 5 years or so since meeting my Husband. Now I play a LOT of multi-player games – and those aren’t story based at all. Some of our favorite games right now include Nintendo Switch Sports (as a plus it has dressup gacha for me yay lol), Mario Golf, Mario Tennis, Can’t wait for Mario Strikers, Fall Guys (love that one. My husband hasnt played it yet because up until now it lacked local play options). I was really into Smite about 7 years ago – I wasn’t that good at it but I had fun. I like fighting beatemup games too. I used to kick so much as as Kilik from Soul Calibur. Some of my old school favorites are now on online consoles and pcs and mobile apps too, such as Mappy Land – I love that game. Donkey Kong Country – another game lacking story but fun to play with friends. I have a local geek club that I created and we play a TON of Jackbox Party Pack Games – I WISH they had online play. They are the besssst!!!
But yes, if I am playing solo, then I do value story. But even playing solo, that’s not the “only” game type I will play. In addition to story, I like things like crafting, building, creating things. I like a lot of simulation games because of that. “The Sims” obviously being the most well known basic example of that. But other games like Romance Of The Three Kingdoms, building a city, Sim City, Theme Park, Roller Coaster Tycoon, Theme Hospital, Civilization, Warcraft, etc.
The best games for girls
I like otome games and visual novels, but there’s ways to work romance into a game that doesn’t necessarily make it just a visual novel. Look at some recent tripple A titles such as The Witcher or Dragon Age, it had romance options and dating options, but it still had excellent gameplay, combat, open world environments, etc. Harvest Moon and Story Of Seasons and Stardew Valley while casual games without much hardcore gameplay, also implement romance, and even furthermore let you have children. One of the things I also enjoy about some strategy games is seeing your heirs take over your kingdom and continueing to play as future generations. Other games implement romance in very subtle ways. Persona comes to mind right away as the prime example of this, using the dating elements and after school clubs and jobs to strengthen your characters in the JRPG battles and seeing new story scenes. Phantasy Star 3 Generations Of Doom, had a few romance options which branched the story and gave you a different perspective and playable characters. Some other Phantasy Star games had this too, but none of the recent ones. I haven’t enjoyed the series much in recent years and wish it would go back to an offline true RPG again. Suikoden had you seek out over 100 characters and build a city etc. Some of the Wild Arms, Tales Of, and Breath of Fire games also had small romance options. Even Final Fantasy 7 had a little minigame dating portion.
Stardew Valley
I think if you look at the image here, you will assume and think I’m just “hating” on shooters. That’s not the case, I just don’t enjoy them personally because I’m awful at them to the point that they frustrate me. I’ve played a few over the years, my first being Duke Nukem and Wolfenstein 3D. I also genuinely love Elemental Gearbolt, one of my favorite video games, by my favorite (now sadly defunct) publishers, Working Designs. But I’ve never beaten that game – I suck. I played the first few Halo games. I played the game where you have a flashlight and ride around and monsters come out of the dark – I can’t remember what it was called. I’ve played and enjoyed Point Blank and Duck Hunt. I’ve played some arcade games, ghost busters, mario/luigi, one as a cop, one hunting dinosaurs, some other random gun games. I just lack the hand eye coordination. I don’t want to play something if it’s frustrating for me, because that takes away my enjoyment. I play games to relax and destress, not become more stressed.
But as the diagram shows, if It’s an IP or Franchise I like, I’d play it. If they ever made a Sailor Moon “shooting game” – or any type of “magical girl anime” shooting game, I’d play it. Attacking enemies with cute pink sugar hearts, stars, rainbow beams etc. It could be unique and cute and fun lol.
And lastly if a game is just “inexplicably fun” or has crazy one of a kind unique gameplay – example Katamari Damacy – no storyline there etc, but just so original and unique that there’s nothing else like it. Stat-Raising Simulations are another “Rare” type of game (at least in America). We finally got Princess Maker (except for one of them). I use my phone and translate other Stat-Raising simulation games like Tokimeki Memorial and Angelique. Stat-Raising simulations are probably actually my favorite genre.
That gives you a little insight to how I choose to play and purchase games. What are you playing now?
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.
Palais De Reine looks quite similar to Princess Maker and Long Live The Queen, among other stat-raising simulation games. This game looks fantastic, but upon first installing the game, Windows 10 Defender detected a Trojan. For me, it was a severe one, and I’m praying it didn’t damage my PC. I am in the midst of contacting Steam for a refund.
In the discussion section, many other people are reporting Trojans – some with different names than the Trojan my PC discovered. My PC discovered Alec!ac – others are discovering Phonzy and Wacatac. The developers are telling people it is a false positive and to white list it and reinstall the game. Some people claim even after that, the game still can’t launch.
Others, like myself, trust our computer antivirus software more than some company on the internet in god knows what country. Many indie games on Steam are just pushed out by one person, such as the ever-popular Stardew Valley. So how do we know this “one person” has good intentions – or if they are a hacker or have malicious intent for releasing a “game” to steam? We can’t be sure.
The game is supposedly riddled with other problems, such as forced very high minimum resolution which does not work with various Laptop devices. It is also missing in-game content, such as missing dressup and decorating options. Even though the in-game items are present, the feature has been disabled for this PC release, but the items are still given out as rewards? Sloppy! Also, the tutorial has been removed from the beginning of the game making it have a sharp learning curve.
Well, I really am sad. I think I would have loved this game. If it wasn’t a virus, or if the developer cared enough to fix it so it would stop giving a false positive, I think they had a successful product here, but they will lose money because I will refund and I will spread the word to my thousands of monthly visitors to avoid this game. It cannot be trusted. Such a shame because there are too few games like Princess Maker out there. I would have loved this, except it’s really a Trojan Horse in disguise, or a lazily developed piece of software that the team can’t be bothered to fix, despite multiple complaints, dating back over a year ago… Wish I had read those first! That’s why I’m here now warning all of you!
If you want to trust it and whitelist it and maybe hopefully play it – that’s your business… Go for it if you want… But remember a trojan is the worst type of malware. It allows backdoor entry, keylogging, taking over control of your computer, installing millions of viruses and worms, and running and changing scripts in your computer’s registry, disabling your virus protection, and stealing your credit card and paypal information, just to name a few… For that reason, I advise all of my readers to stay far far far away from Palais De Reine.
Thanks to the folks at Galdra Studios for allowing me to review their debut visual novel, Arcadia Fallen. As a first release from an indie game publisher, Arcadia Fallen definitely exceeded my expectations in many ways. First of all, the game’s high production values from voice acting, to character portraits, and even a catchy anime opening song and animation, all pull you right into the game. From there, the characters and story and unraveling the mysteries of the game keep you glued to your gaming chair. For those that find routine visual novel gameplay a bit dull, you might like the puzzle aspects in Arcadia Fallen because it has a nice crafting and alchemy feature.
With that said, let’s dive into our review. Keep in mind, Arcadia Fallen is a small indie game, but is being held to the same scrutiny and standards as any other game I review here, be it from an indie or bigtime game publisher. For what it is, a small first attempt by a new indie studio, Arcadia Fallen actually holds its own in many areas.
Title: Arcadia Fallen
Platform: PC and Nintendo Switch
Release Date: November 17, 2021
Genre: Visual Novel
Publisher: Galdra Studios
Overall: 68/90 76% C+ “Good Game For Girls”
Geeky: 3/5 – At the end of the day, Arcadia Fallen is a story driven visual novel. For some people, these games are too casual, but for most of my readers, this is our preferred genre of games. I do think Arcadia Fallen has some breakthrough potential to reach a wider audience due to high production values and the alchemy crafting puzzle aspects of the game.
Sweetie: 5/5 – With high replay value, a lot of inclusivity when it comes to who you want to play as, same sex dating options, gender options, and interesting characters and story, girl gamers will love Arcadia Fallen.
Gameplay: 7/10 – Gameplay, like most visual novels, consists of reading a lot of character dialog. When you aren’t reading and making branching plot choices, you’re crafting alchemy items by using a puzzle like mechanic of dragging and dropping ingredients into three spheres and turning them until the inner rings hold the ingredients to make your items. These puzzles range from simple to challenging. It really adds to the gameplay and breaks up the monotony of visual novel style read and click gameplay that all of these games suffer from. It’s a much appreciated little break from the story.
There’s also numerous choices you make as a player that drive and determine the story, or even which characters will join your party. As mentioned, you have a lot of freedom in who you want to romance, including same sex, or gender fluid characters which is nice for diversity and inclusivity.
Another nice touch is that you have a ton of freedom in where to travel to and what order to explore and do things in. You aren’t just forced down one path. From the overworld map, you can go explore side quests, or make branching plot decisions on where to go and what to do next.
There are a lot of quests and rewards and gameplay diversions that help Arcadia Fallen stand out from other traditional visual novels.
Story: 8/10 – The story and writing are very interesting. Without spoiling too much for you, the game starts with a spirit accidentally binding itself to you, and a string of events that have people accusing you and your employer of being evil witches. In an effort to clear your name and unbind this spirit from yourself, you begin a journey where you meet many other interesting characters.
Characters: 10/10 – I really enjoy the diverse characters. The cast is small, but each character truly stands out. I feel like the developers have probably played a few dungeons and dragons campaigns. These characters are spot on representations of the classic “Lawful Good” “True Neutral” “Chaotic Good” “Chaotic Neutral” “Lawful Evil” etc. From a wandering bard/magician who seems to only be tagging along out of amusement/interest, to a young scientist seemingly motivated by fame and greed, to a knight working for the government making sure you don’t try anything suspiscious. These are just some of the characters you’ll meet along the way. The voice acting definitely helps the characters feel more real and personable as well.
Graphics: 6/10 The graphics are not my cup of tea and have a distinctive western style to them, opposed to traditional anime visual novels from Asia. But none the less, I will say these graphics are clean, sharp, and clear with numerous facial expressions.
Music: 7/10 – The opening theme is so cute and was a real surprise. Many of the background ambient tracks are nice and fitting for the scenes. There just wasn’t a big variety of music, but that’s to be expected in an indie game.
Voice Acting: 8/10 – I was surprised at the quality and also amount of voice acting used in this game. There was maybe only one or two characters that I didn’t really care for their voice actors, but the rest I thought fit the characters perfectly.
Character Customization: 4/10 – I was surprised by lack of character customization. It does ocassionally show your playable character. When I played there were only 2 hair styles, and ability to change eye/skin/hair color and a few (less than 10 maybe) options for colors for your clothing. hmm this was a miss for me. But a nice effort to include customization at all.
Replay Value: 10/10 With a somewhat nonlinear approach, and where your decisions matter, this is a fun game to replay to see all of the different effects of your decisions.
I’ve spent several hours and am on my third life in the new “child raising” sim game, Growing Up, available now via Steam. This game reminds me a great deal of Chinese Parents. Both games use a “brain map” type of setup to unlock skills. Both continue on forever as each life ends and a new life begins. Both have you balance your mental health and parent’s satisfaction. Both games involve dating and friendships and schoolwork and exams. Yes both games are incredibly similar. It’s hard to believe that they are different games or by different developers… but you know, Great minds think alike!
Both games, to somewhat of a lesser degree remind me of Princess Maker (but Princess Maker is much better than both of these games.) And also somewhat similar to Ciel Fledge. Another child raising simulation is Little One. I have played all of these.
So if you like any of those games, check out the others on my blog too.
For me, I think child raising games might be one of my favorite game genres. They’re so unique… and so many possibilities and high replay value – and well they’re strange and fascinating.
Ok but back to “Growing Up” – In this latest child rearing simulation, you can either select your gender and parents at the beginning of your first playthrough or leave it up to fate. I selected my stuff. On subsequent playthroughs it’s always left up to fate (well fate and your choices on the previous playthrough.)
On my most recent playthrough I had two girls fighting for my love and attention. One was a childhood tomboy friend and the other a preppy popular cheerleader I just recently met in highschool. They couldn’t have been more different. I went with the childhood friend, it just felt like the right thing to do. The pretty girl, was well prettier of course. Especially at the “adult” age. Damn my wife is ugly as a mudboard fence, not gonna lie lol. That cheerleader’s looking pretty good right now. The childhood friend was kinda attractive, even as a teenager, long brown hair, and a charming smile. Then she cuts it off almost into a buzzcut and – uhh lets just say she did not age well… at all.
I also have a bit of a problem with how “woke” this game is. Why must EVERY thing be about race…. I’m sick of it. I’m not racist. I’m in a real life biracial marriage, and hopefully someday will have real life children (biracial or maybe adopted maybe a completely different third race lol). I am SICK AND TIRED of all this political bullshit. Yes, I’m sorry the majority of the world are complete fucking assholes and that they treat people of different races poorly. But we get enough of that shit in real life. I play games to escape that shit.
I appreciate you wanting to make a game focused on inclusivity – lots of different races, a girl with one arm, lesbian and gay romance options – cool, awesome. But I think there’s a better MORE POSITIVE way to encourage acceptance instead of have the black one armed girl complain about “mean white girls” – REALLY? you REALLY went there? As if to say all white girls are rich or racist or stuck up. WHY MENTION THEY’RE WHITE. Why not just “Mean girls” Why “Mean WHITE girls?”
They had plenty of reason to tease/bully her – she had ONE ARM for fucks sake. Why make it about skin color. I just don’t get it. In addition to one arm, she was a fucking recluse, she was obsessed with horror and cultish shit and avoided people. ALL reasons someone would get teased in middle and high school. But nope, you decided that the only reason they’d tease her is because she’s black and they’re white. Really? I’m pretty sure at THAT AGE, that there would be plenty of black and brown and asian girls teasing her too because of her fake arm and reclusive antisocial behaivour, not just because of her SKIN COLOR. Let’s just STOP MAKING EVERYTHING ABOUT RACE?! OK?
Fucking face palm. I am sick and tired of this political shit being shoved down my fucking throat. We get it OK? Blacks (and browns and asians and indigenous people and every other fucking whatever race you are) have it harder than white people. White people have a privilege. Never said we didn’t. But jesus fucking christ. I didn’t ask to be born white. I can’t help being white anymore than you can help being whatever race you are. Stop making me feel “bad” just for being born white. That’s fucking bullshit.
They say reverse racism doesn’t exist, but yet here we are in a world with media, popculutre, video games, portraying white as “bad” “mean girls” “white mean girls” (direct quote there) and black as good, black as victim or hero, and white as a villain. Knock that shit off already. There’s good and bad people of every fucking race.
There end rant.
Sorry but it needed to be said, I’m not the only one sick of this whole “woke shit”. It needs to go away. It’s not the right way to deal with racial diversity and adversity. Making one race feel bad to make another race feel good is never the right answer, no matter what races are in that equation.
Back to the game itself…
The game is a lot of fun – but it does ultimately get repetitive. I’m not tired of it yet – but I would have liked even more choices/options/opportunities for interaction sequences, choices and consequences, and so on.
But at its heart it’s a fun and challenging game.
Like all the child raising simulation games before it, you start with a baby and your options are limited. As the child grows, new options, new skills, new friends, and new romances are unlocked, and at the end, you find out what career your baby has pursued and also whatever happened to the friends and romances along the way.
One of the biggest reasons it gets repetitive is the parents expectations and parents dialougue choices and sequences, they are VERY repetitive, not enough different parent/child interaction – AND if I’m playing the PARENT, I feel like I should have some options on how to interact with my child. In this case it almost feels more like I’m playing the child, instead of raising one.
Once you start school and meet new friends and so on, that’s when the story gets interesting – it can even get emotional and deal with some heavy topics.
The characters are very well fleshed out – each one is unique and has an interesting personality. These are no Mary Janes. They have flaws and things that make you dislike them honestly – but that makes them more real. My first playthrough, my love interest had autism or aspergers or something similar making them hate physical interaction and be very socially awkward. In that same playthrough I met the one armed girl who aside from angering me with the political racial issues, was actually a very interesting character, a rebel, and a sorta “badass” sassy girl. On that playthrough I also met a stoner punk rock girl who was adopted and seeking her birth parents even though she had a loving family already. Very complicated characters and relationships.
On my next playthrough I was born as a boy and had a tomboy female best friend, and later met a cheerleader whose brother was sick and dying and who herself was anorexic or bulemic. I also had a male best friend who was blaming himself for his parents divorce and caught in the middle of toxic fighting parents arguing over custody.
I mean these are all some really deep and interesting issues. It’s nice to see a game with characters that feel Real in that sense.
Gameplay, as I said, you work on a grid, unlocking “bubbles” for stat boosts until your energy runs out. You can buy items to increase your energy cap. You balance your happiness (extracurricular) with parents expectations (education). You interact with characters and dialougue prompts to make key choices to drive the story in various directions. You date, fall in love, and have a child – and the journey continues, on and on – forever.
For that reason, replay value is through the roof – possibilities nearly endless – and hopefully maybe we’ll see even more choices in the form of DLC in the future.
Here’s my score:
Overall: 54/70 77% C+ “Good Game For Girls”
Geeky: 2/5 – Gameplay is slow and can get repetitive. Graphics are still and although detailed, do feel dated. Only play this if you like child rearing sims (which I do, so it’s all good).
Sweetie: 4/5 – This would be 5/5 if it got rid of the racial “wokeness” – and added a few more diverse options for interacting with the parents.
Gameplay: 5/10 – There isn’t much gameplay wise honestly, but that’s not why we play these games. There are a lot of skills and places and locations and even some dressup options – so really, for THIS TYPE OF GAME – Gameplay is really good, honestly.
Story: 8/10 – I’d give it 10/10 if it got rid of the political “wokeness” – and added a few more different parent dialougue sequences
Graphics: 6/10 – I’m over these “static” graphics. Don’t they know about “Live 2D” – you can do 2D graphics and have them fully animated. If free mobile games are doing this – why aren’t ALL games doing this? But the graphics aren’t bad – They’re colorful. The backgrounds are especially crazy detailed, and the children and adult portraits are nice. No complaints. It’s not MY style (I prefer anime style over western style) – but I’m not gonna deduct points for that as it’s a preference.
Characters: 9/10 – minus 1 for being too politically “correct” – or “wrong” if you ask me. Otherwise, as mentioned, these characters are very real and troubled and have some realistic issues going on. Still waters run deep.
Music: 10/10 – Honeslty, 10/10 – I love the music. It’s so great and catchy and it gets stuck in my head. Love love love that most of it is vocal tracks. My favorite one is the one that goes “Don’t you love these rainy days?”.
I just finished Impostor Factory, a little short indie game by Freebird Games. They have a few other games under their belts including To The Moon, which is probably their most famous title.
Impostor Factory is meant to be a prequel in a way to To The Moon, although it’s slow to link the puzzle pieces together. It all makes sense by the end. You will see some familiar characters from To The Moon by the end.
I had thought I reviewed To The Moon here at some point, but I couldn’t find the review to link to it, so perhaps not.
I really love To The Moon though. I’d been very excited for Impostor Factory for a long time. But for me, it didn’t live up to its predecessor. That doesn’t mean it was a bad game though. I enjoyed Impostor Factory too.
I really disliked the first act of Impostor Factory – not only because it’s repetitive and confusing (intentionally so on both those accounts) – but because it lacked the emotion of the first game.
That emotion slowly begins to build in Acts 2 and 3 – and really hits home at the game’s end.
It’s an extremely short game. I clocked about 5 hours, but I went AFK a few times during that – so probably average playtime will be around 4 hours for most folks. – I feel like To The Moon was longer – but it’s been years since I played so perhaps I remember it incorrectly.
Like To The Moon, Impostor Factory also deals with illness, age, death, and regrets and unfinished business. I’d say Impostor Factory has more of a mysterious and dark tone.
You’re thrown in not knowing anything about any of the characters and it takes a long time to really build that emotional connection.
The game soundtrack is both equal parts memorable and minimal. Often times the game relies simply on ambient background sounds, but when it does use actual music, it is very beautiful. To The Moon also had lovely music.
The dialogue in Impostor Factory is usually pretty good, sometimes a little cheesy, but mostly heartfelt and endearing.
Eventually, once you figure out what’s going on near the end, there is a large emotional impact, so you do end up caring about the characters in the end, it’s just a slow build up before they really connect the dots there.
Short, sweet, mysterious, intriguing, and thought-provoking, all of these are words I would use to describe the story of Impostor Factory.
I’d rate it as follows:
Geeky: 4/5 – Yes it only has pixel “RPG Maker” style graphics, but it deals with time travel and scifi geeky themes. Very geeky indeed.
Sweetie: 5/5 – Once you figure out who or what everyone’s roles are in the game, it’s very sentimental indeed. Concepts of family are key.
Story: 9/10 – It was slow. Didn’t like Act 1, but the rest was good and pulled me in. It was short, but it was sufficient.
Characters: 9/10 – Once you figure out what’s happening, you see their lives from different perspectives and points of view, each building more character depth and revealing more about each character’s inner thoughts and feelings. At first I couldn’t connect with the characters, but that changed by act 2.
Graphics: 5/10 – Oldschool graphics don’t bother me, but for most people they’re not gonna be their cup of tea.
Music: 8/10 – what’s there is very nice and adds to the emotion – just there wasn’t much there really.
Voice Acting: N/A No Voice Acting
Replay Value: 0/10 – No need to replay – it is a linear short game with only 1 achievement and 1 story and 1 ending.
Overall Score: 67% D – Average Game For Girls
My personal enjoyment of the game is actually much higher than a D – but when analyzing each part, that’s the highest I can give it based on our website’s scoring system, mostly because I focus on reviewing Otome and Visual Novels or more complex RPGs where player choice matters – if it wasn’t graded 0/10 on replay value, it’s score would actually be 80% which is closer to how I feel really towards the game. But the fact that it has no replay value and is so short and is still a $9.99 purchase – well that does factor into it too. – I still feel like To The Moon was closer to 10 hours instead of 5, but it’s been years so I could be wrong… Either way they are both great games, I recommend you check them out.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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 🙂
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.
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”
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.
Still my favorite game series of all time, Lunar, deserves a sequel and has plenty of source material to derive such a sequel or rather, prequel from. What I’d like to play is the original tale that started it all, playing as Dyne, with the original reincarnation of the goddess Althena, and Ghaleon, and Mel, and the other 4 heroes (whose names I’ve forgotten at the moment). Of course, they could always just spin it off in a new direction in a future somewhere and use return appearances or references of some of the characters. But the logical next step to me, would be to let us see and play the tale of the original 4 heroes.
2.) Suikoden
Well Konami is crap and only cares about gambling pachinko machines these days – but that didn’t stop the original creators of Suikoden from starting a successfully funded kickstarter to a spiritual successor of Suikoden called Eiyuuden. I already backed it… It’s estimated to take about 2 years before we’ll see it. The gameplay is 100% Suikoden, just for legal reasons they couldn’t use that name, so Eiyuuden it is now. Recruit the stars of destiny. Some are chefs, or shop keepers, some are fighters, build your fortress, 6 team battles, etc. Suikoden is long one of my favorite game series. 2 is still the best really, but they’re all awesome. Very excited about this kickstarter. They’re posting lots of updates over here. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rabbitandbearstudios/eiyuden-chronicle-hundred-heroes
3. Azure Dreams
One of my favorites back on PS1. I don’t think there was ever any sequels. There was a watered down version for GBA or Gameboy Color, but it was fundamentally different because they took out the best parts of the game, the dating and town building, leaving only a randomly procedurally generated dungeon crawling game. Still fun but lacking from the original. I’d like to see a sequel. A few different indie projects have taken inspiration from this series, but none have quite hit the mark for me.
4. Jade Cocoon
This game isn’t well received, but honestly I enjoyed it for its deep level monster breeding aspects. The last sequel was in 2001. One of the kickstarters I backed recently and shared on this blog mention they were inspired by both Azure Dreams and Jade Cocoon – so we will have to wait to see how the final product turns out. Read more about that kickstarter here.
5. Monster Rancher
How fun was this game? Pop in ANY CD – could be a music CD, game CD, DVD, movie, whatever – and generate a unique monster. I had (and probably still have) an enormous collection of CDs (games, movies, not so much music), and finding rare monsters was so much fun and so exciting. Exploring, Training, and Fighting the monsters, also fun. Now in a world of digital games, they would need a different system. I think it could be a fun mobile game, maybe like Pokemon GO, using some type of VR elements to find and capture monsters maybe. If it was on console or PC perhaps it could scan your digital library or use bar codes or CD key codes or something of that nature. There was a mobile game at one point but I recall it not being very good honestly. Monster Rancher was popular enough to have 4 or 5 sequels, but I believe the last was on PS3? or maybe even PS2? Let’s bring it back for PS5 – or better yet, the Nintendo Switch.
6. Dragon Seeds
Am I the only one who remembers this game? Like Monster Rancher, it too allowed you to generate random monsters, though not from discs. I believe it used some type of in-game items (strands of DNA) that you found while battling. Was there a sequel? I feel like there may have been 2 games maybe total? But maybe only one (too lazy to look it up right now). I think both were on PS1, with possibly the sequel – if it exists – being on PS2. I enjoyed this little underrated gem. I liked that I could battle in 2 player mode – but now with the internet – and online games – it seems those capabilities could be expanded.
7. Arc The Lad
Working Deisgns brought us almost all of these games back on PS1 (and likely is the reason they shortly thereafter went bankrupt) There may have been a few sequels on PS2, but now I’m pretty sure it’s been over a decade, perhaps nearing two decades, and no new installments in this series. I liked the branching plot, deep storyline, and anime graphics of these games. Why did they stop making them? They had so many of them at one time. Working Designs collection had what? 4? or 5? of them I think, and I know there were others released after that too. It seems weird for a once wildly successful RPG series to just vanish.
8. Lost Odyssey
The only reason to own an Xbox gaming console in my opinion is for Lost Odyssey. It legitimately is one of the greatest RPGs of all time. But I’m too lazy to dig my Xbox (360 I think right?) out just to play one game. I loved this game deeply. I know the creator is working on some mobile shit now and we’ll probably never see a sequel to this game ever in our lifetimes – which is a shame. What a waste of such talent. But I know he’s got to make a living and just going to where the money is (with mobile games and pay to win being the new way kids are gaming in 2000 and beyond). I’d like to see him return to work on Lost Odyssey 2… Or even just a port / remake of the original…. I’d even buy a next gen Xbox console just for this one damn game or its well deserved sequel, and then never sell it, so I could replay it over and over.
9. Skies Of Arcadia
Here’s another great, and forgotten RPG game – It has had a few remakes and ports, but never a sequel. Why the hell not? A quick google search tells me that the creator wants to make a sequel and aknowledges there is a strong fanbase – so why the hell doesn’t he just make a kickstarter campaign? Duh… Even if you have to change the game title and tweak the gameplay “just enough” That’s what everyone else is doing. Suikoden became Eiyuuden, etc. Shenmue 3 finally came out via Kickstarter, and loads of other games got long awaited sequels. One thing’s for sure, if Skies of Arcadia creators did start a kickstarter, I’d back it. It’d probably be funded in like less than 24 hours. For sure. One of the best, most unique, fun, and outstanding RPGs, ever made. It is now over 20 years old.
10. Inherit The Earth
Well this is already happening – although it’s taking its bloody sweet time in development. It appears to still be happening at least. Seems the last update on the website was about 4 or 5 months ago now. This was a childhood favorite of mine. The sequel looks interesting…. from what little is actually shown…… the patreon page is mostly web comics? But it seems there is going to be a sequel to this game… we can only hope. I mean it’s only been almost thirty years since the first game and all…. lol. You can follow the progress on patreon. https://www.patreon.com/wyrmkeep/posts or take a look at the official website… which is pretty damn bare at this point. http://inherittheearth2.com/ The web page does show 2 youtube videos… which gives me a little hope that something might eventually come from this project.
Support Inherit the Earth: Sand and Shadows development by becoming a patron at http://patreon.com/wyrmkeep.May 2019 development update for Inherit the Earth…
But sadly, the most recent video is from May 2019 – almost a year ago. Perhaps this project is dead in the water now? Although it is still very deserving of a sequel. I hope to see it reach its goal someday.
11. Ever 17
This is one of the best visual novels of all time – I don’t care if it has typos and if the names are confusing – that’s arguably, intentional, anyways. Not the typos, but the name thing, you know. It’s one of the most mind fuckery games ever created, with huge revelations upon completing all branches, that nicely tie the story up and make it all, finally in the end, make sense. I do know that Ever 17 is part of a large series of games including Never 7 and Remember 11 – which I have played thanks to fan translations. Only Ever 17 was commercially released in North America, for the PC by the now bankrupt and defunct, Hirameki International. I love all the games, but Ever 17 was arguably the best. There’s also Riven 12, by the same developers, but as far as I know it did not receive a fan translation. After Riven 12, the creators went on to develop 999, 9 Persons, 9 Doors, whatever it was called, as well as Zero Escape and Nonary Games. The creator is hard at work right now on a new game, that’s not actually a visual novel, but still does have a branching plot, and like Ever 17 takes place in an abandoned theme park. I saw footage of it during the Nintendo Live Direct. So it appears to be coming along nicely still in 2020.
Anyways I don’t really want a sequel to Ever 17 because it’s perfect the way it is. The ending after all routes is perfect, leaving not a single question unanswered. But I do want someone to port this game to Steam or Nintendo Switch please for the love of god. Why hasn’t anyone brought this over yet? No one should own the rights anymore to it, so it seems like easy pickings. Someone even said years ago it was spotted in the steam database, so where the hell is it? I just want to play my favorite Visual Novel again please? thx.
12. Dogz and Catz – Petz
Ok so Dogz and Catz is argueably still going. Ubisoft bought them, and there’s been a few games here or there, but they’re poor clones of nintendogs at this point. They have lost what made them so great. Using the perfume to breed Muttz, to get unique looking petz, to mod the game to create your own breedz, the community – which could now be brought into an online or even mobile aspect to have showz, and so much more. I want THAT petz experience again please and thank you. Or at least bring PF Magic Petz 1-4 or whatever onto Steam or GOG.
13. Princess Maker
Where the hell is Princess Maker 4? People don’t particularly like it, because it’s text heavy and more like a visual novel, but I loved it. It had the cutest princess by far. Although Princess Maker 2, actually looks damn close to my real life self, with the brown curly hair, and brown eyes, lol. I like the animation style of Princess Maker 4 so much. Princess Maker 5 is kinda rather ugly, but I know the gameplay is better. I still haven’t beat it yet. It’s a long and slow game. Well that’s true of all the Princess Maker Games, but 5 feels slower than 1-3. I dunno why. I want 4 so bad I can taste it. I think I read one of the reasons it isn’t included is because of the ending where you can marry the princess. So if that’s all the fuss, just remove that one ending, shouldn’t be that difficult. I also heard it has too much text and they don’t want to bother translating all of it. Stop being lazy. We want PM4. Say it with me now. I’m still waiting… But while I’m waiting for that… where the hell is Princess Maker 6? When the hell was the last time a Princess Maker game was made in Japan? Like a million years ago? I just googled it and 5 was released in 2007… that was almost 20 years ago. We need more daughters. Release the daughters to us immediately.
14. Graduation
OK the last time we had a graduation game was in 1995… It was I think the 2nd? possibly 3rd game in the series in Japan and after that, they had many more graduation games, including Graduation M with all male students. These are not hentai games, though there is some questionable things, like you can marry all the students all at once lol. But anyways, these games are awesome. Can we at LEAST pretty please get the already 1995 English version on Steam or GOG? Please? Remember when GOG used to be for “great old games” – now it’s like an indie marketplace or Steam clone, and that’s a damn shame. I want more OLD GAMES. Gimme Graduation. I love the theme song. I love the game play. I love the whole game. I still play it from time to time. It’s challenging, it’s fun. It has a certain randomness to it, and unpredictability to it. It’s hard actually. You have to manage not just one daughter, but 5 or more girls (or boys in Graduation M). There’s dozens of endings, for each character. The voice acting was SOOOOOOOO bad. lol. I reviewed Graduation 95 over here. Can we get a re-release, with new voice acting? that’d be great.
15. Oreshika Tainted Blood Lines
I did not know until I went looking trying to remember what the hell this game was called, that I found out it was 1, a remake, of a 2011 psp game and 2, a sequel of a 1999 ps1 game. Oreshika Tainted Blood Lines was released in 2007 and a PS vita exclusive at the time. I really enjoyed it. It is very unique. And in some ways reminded a little bit of Azure Dreams. It has dungeon crawling, and a generational element. It stands out in my mind. And anything that stands out deserves a sequel. It seems to get remade or ported to other systems, about once a decade. So I think it’s time we see a remake or sequel of this unique dungeon crawling multigenerational RPG.
16. Earthbound (AKA Mother)
OK I know A.) The creators of Earthbound have 0 interest in any more games in the series. B.) The one we know in North America is Mother 2. C.) There are fan translations for at least one, if not both of the other Mother games. D.) Mother 3 is one of the greatest RPGs of all time according to many sources. E.) This has led to fans demanding a fourth game. Creators explicitly refused, which led to fans developing their own 4th game. F.) Work on the 4th game began in 2010. It originally was going to be a free no cost fan game. G.) Last year, it was announced it would sever ties with the Mother series and become its own commercial project titled Oddity. It remains to be seen how similar or dissimilar Oddity will be to Earthbound / Mother.
In the meanwhile while we wait for Oddity, could we get all 3 of the other games officially released in North America? And available on Nintendo Switch. I think the one we already know and love is available as part of the nintendo online thing. Maybe.
17. Breath Of Fire
What in god’s name happened to Breath of Fire? One of the greatest RPG series of all time and a favorite of my childhood? The last I heard, there was a mobile one a few years ago? When the hell was the last console installment? PS2? I think? It’s long overdue. Feels like forever ago. We miss you so much. Come back to us!
18. Tsukihime
OK where the hell is the Tsukihime remake? I remember sharing news that the remake was under way, like 10, or even 20 years ago, here on my blog… They keep pumping out god damn Fate/Stay Night/Extella games… All I want is Tsukihime. One of the best visual novels I ever played. We never did receive an official release. I was lucky enough to play the fan translation. Tsukihime is a long ass visual novel. It’s graphic and violent as hell. It has rape and murder. But also a pretty damn interesting story about psychosis and childhood and love and other interesting things. I assume we never got it because 1.) There’s a few possible incestuous things going on, and 2.) It’s just too damn offensive and violent. It is definitely a Porn game or Hentai game – however, it’s a LONG ASS game – did I mention this game is REALLY FREAKING LONG?!!! And the amount of Porn or Hentai only accounts for like 2-4% of the total story – So it’s not that bad – I’ve seen worse on American TV. Plus, I think it mostly could be edited out if they really wanted to? Without changing much of the story really.
I liked the story. I’m a woman, and I’m not offended by this game. It was quite interesting. I like the mystery aspect. Really probably the murder is no worse than say similar novels like Higarushi, although perhaps the rape thing would be bad, because of the latest in “cancel culture” I mean if we can’t handle a skunk hitting on cats, how will we handle a young man whose vampire hunting bloodlines, give him uncontrollable desires and urges to kill a vampire princess, in the most brutal of ways, only for her to appear before him the next day after being thoroughly violated in every way imaginable. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg. You see, as the story goes on, we learn why he has these urges, we learn about his fucked up family, his case of mistaken identity, psychosis, and childhood trauma, and why the heck he was sent away from his family as a child in the first place, and in the end, he even falls in love with this vampire he tried to rape and kill, and would do anything to protect her…. or not… the choice is up to you.
There’s other romanceable characters too – but she is definitely “cannon” (that is, the developer’s obvious path that they want you to take). But, you won’t know the whole story, unless you complete all the routes, the last of which is one of the lovely maid twins. There in lies the secrets to what the hell is actually going on in this bizarre, but brilliant mystery.
Uhhh OK I just went to google… to see where the fuck this remake is… because it was legit announced almost 2 decades ago… and it appears it’s COMING Summer of this year of our lord in 2021 AD. – they have a trailer and everything now…. How exciting…. Will we see it in English? Let us hope. If so, it will be the first time most English speaking gamers experience this beautiful story. One of the best, most intriguing visual novels I have ever played – and I’ve played just about damn near every visual novel ever. Tsukihime is one of my favorites. Top 5 for sure. LET’S GET EXCITED PEOPLE COME ON!!! Demand an English release of this game please. Write to everyone possible LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN!
TYPE-MOON’s long-awaited remake of its cult-classic visual novel, Tsukihime, is set for a Summer release in 2021 on consoles. Best known currently for their popular mobile game, Fate/Grand Order, was one of TYPE-MOON’s original works. Released in December 2000, Tsukihime served as the starting point for TYPE-MOON’s numerous franchises.
Ok this is an odd one – Pretty sure no one reading this will know what the fuck this is lol. It’s a playstation 1 game, that’s KINDA almost like Monopoly in a way…. We also recently saw Billion Road on Nintendo Switch (I’ve been meaning to do a review of that, but haven’t gotten around to it). It’s kinda like Billion Road too… Sort of… But not really? I dunno it’s hard to explain. It’s like Kairosoft’s Mall Story and Mall Story 2, but multiplayer? LOL. You roll dice and move around a shopping mall. If the building is empty, you can open your own store. If someone owns the store, you pay fees. You can upgrade your properties (similar to adding houses or hotels in monopoly). The visuals are cute. The theme is cute. I dunno it’s very fun. It’s been well over 30 years now since the game was on PS1. Reminiscent also of 100% Orange Juice kinda? I mean all of these games, are KINDA like Top Shop, but none quite EXACTLY the same? Top Shop is the best of its genre. I want to play it right now lol. Very very fun party game or 2 player versus game.
20. Air
OK Arguably the best Key Visual Novel – There is a fan translation for this game. I have played it. We got Clannad in English for multiple platforms now. And we get Key’s other new games, like Summer Pockets – I want them to give an official release of Air (and also Kanon, but my list is limited to 20 games, and I liked Air a little more than Kanon). Both Air and Kanon are better than Little Busters, and whatever else garbage Key games we got. The only other really great Key Game we got was Clannad. For me, I’d rank Air 1, Clannad 2, Kanon 3, haven’t played enough of Summer Pockets to rank it yet. Little Busters somewhere near the damn bottom. And the other one – oh Rewrite, yeah I’d put Rewrite dead last of the Key games. I greatly prefer Air and Kanon over Rewrite. Rewrite was so boring I never did finish it, same with Little Busters. Snoozeville. Is there any hope we will ever see official releases of Air or Kanon? In English ever? Air is so damn sad. The anime makes me cry like a little bitch. Every time she is just lying on the bed crying and crying and crying and crying…. It might be the saddest anime I’ve ever seen, and one of the saddest visual novels I’ve ever seen. If you remember the movie, Benjamin Buttons, it’s basically like that, yeah? That plus toss in some reincarnation and ancient curses, and first love, and fucked up mother/daughter neglectful relationship, and the mending there of that relationship, and death, and rebirth, and there you have the story of Air.
Honorable Mention:
Tactics Ogre:
Tactics Ogre definitely gets an honorable mention on my list. There have been recent interviews with the creators of the series and talks about possibly porting the existing games or a new game, but nothing currently in the works. It is like Final Fantasy Tactics, but more advanced? And with a branching plot? and Some good/evil/neutral type of elements going into it. It’s one of my favorites. It gets remade ever so often. First appearing on Super Nintendo in the 90s, with Sequels on Game Boy Advance (I think?) and N64 (one of the only good RPG on N64), and remakes on PS1 and PSP. It’s been well over 20 years since we’ve had a new entry, or a remake. I’d like to see the old ones brought to Steam, Mobile, and Nintendo Switch, and eventually some day, a brand new Ogre Battle or Tactics Ogre game.
Well there are lots of other games that deserve to be on this list too of course. Tell me, what game do you think deserves a sequel? Are you a fan of any of the games on our list? Leave me a comment below!
kawaiifluff 