Kuro's Yearly Japanese Games Review and Top Rankings Blog: 2015

Miss Monochrome smiles beams of love upon this post. It has been blessed.

As if it was just a fleeting moment, 2015 ended in an instant. I had a lot of things happening around me this year. I graduated university, I found a job, I played a lot of games(the most important, perhaps).

And now, the time has come draw another finishing line.

This year, I have played a lot of games that were released in previous years, some even pretty long ago, but I have enjoyed them thoroughly nevertheless. And will write my feelings about them here.

First, same as last year, gotta think back, and say a word about the platforms.


Windows 8 OS-tan girls - Madobe Yuu and Ai

PC(on Windows 8 for me) - probably, the main platform this year for me. While consoles had a lot of releases, only a few, countable by fingers of one hand, managed to draw me in as much as PC titles I played this year.

WiiU - while yet again not so many releases as other competing 8th generation platforms got, still my favorite home console this generation. I especially appreciate it's full compatibility with last gen Nintendo console, the Wii.

Still am very happy to have a japanese region console. Saves me from needless waiting, possible awful dub(in case the game is even localized), and generally keeps me in shape, because it's interface is fully in Japanese, and no other option, which is only welcome for me.

PS(hit)4 - another year I didn't buy it, because there was seriously zero reason to actually buy one myself.

I did borrow it for a month from a friend to play Blade Arcus from Shining, which I have bought PS4 Tony Fan Box of because it had better boxart.

However, no matter how much I look at it or try it, I do not like it one bit. Graphics-shmaphics are good, but just a slight improvement over PS3, if you play on 26'' TV like one I use. And I'm not going to buy bigger TV, because it seriously isn't needed. Performance is just a little better overall, but new PS Store still lags, even if less than on PS3(if they didn't move PS3 to the new store interface, it'd suck against it tho, haha, Sooney).

But what's more, what's the most important - NO.FREAKING.GAMES. Imagine a person that doesn't like ~~Bloodporn~~, doesn't want Disgaea 5, Compile Crap games or western games(that's me). Such a guy would have exactly ZERO need in trapezioid console like Playstation 4.

There's seriously just not enough exclusive games that would interest me, and judging from announcements for 2016 - there aren't going to be any of them in 2016 too. Not surprised, though.

It again wins the "I do not want this shit" of the year award. If only Sooney(not going to call them properly, they don't deserve that) actually did some proper work on it, and didn't promote multiplatforming for their console family so much, perhaps it'd actually have been great.

But that didn't happen.

XBOX One - another thing I do not understand the purpose of. Okay, in the west, it's more of sport-TV box, to watch soccer etc., but look, it's(probably) a game console. And Microsoft even went for Region Free with it. However, that didn't help anyone anywhere.

Sales of XBONE are abyssmal, VitaTV tier, in Japan. However, 5pb and some danmaku makers do support it a bit, but just a bit, because their games will end up on Playstation consoles sooner or later.

Another "nothanks", same as last year.

3DS - Unexpectedly, I haven't "used" this girl much this year. No, I did use it a lot, but it just doesn't feel I did. Guess that's because the system didn't receive anything I'd consider to be FIRST PRIORITY game this year. This happens at times, yes, no way to get other way.

PS Vita/VitaTV - Another UNEXPECTEDNESS of the year. This year, it actually did a lot better with getting a few, but quite important, games, compared to last year.

VitaTV, thanks to scene hackers, got a hack that allows users on 3.52 and lower to patch the crap Sooney has done to it with making a blacklist of games(games that can't be launched on the system), which has become an important point in using it for me. I now can play games like PhotoKano Kiss, Love Live! school idol paradise, Dream Club Zero Portable etc. on big screen. And I don't care that Sooney doesn't want me to, or that I actually(probably) broke the user's agreement somewhere.

This hack, however, has proven it clearly, that blacklist was a measure that shouldn't have actually been taken, because most of the games are quite nice to play with touchscreen emulation.

They should've just allowed people to do it, and suffer if the game is totally unplayable with it. It's a choice for each of us, to suffer or not. Or so I think.

PS3 - a personal favorite of mine, yes, MY PRECIOUS!!! This year, she has yet again proven itself to be useful, because most of the games that come to her imouto, the PS4, are actually multiplatform with it(not all of them, but quite a number).

It worked really nice for me with using Custom PS2 Classics creation this year, allowing me to play most of PS2 game library on it with not-so-bad upscaling(or without it, but at least in progressive scan, which wasn't supported on actual PS2 for most games).

XBOX360 - it's dead, nothing to say here.

Wii - while I do not use this girl anymore, her games are still quite enjoyable, even if it's her imouto, the WiiU, which allows me to play them now.

She has done marvelously, but with WiiU's birth, she is finally able to rest peacefully in the back of my closet.

I want this year to become a healthy year for both me and everyone, so there won't be any alcoholic beverages in this post. Let's draw a line, and stop with alcohol, everyone.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

And with the final line drawn, let's drink something else. Start with green tea. It's tasty, really. And it's, probably, healthy.　Anime-girls recommend.

So, after having a sip of green tea, let's move to the main topic - GAMES.

Yet again, I do not write in any particular order.

Zelda Musou(WiiU, in the future - 3DS)

Who can say NO to a game with such cutie in it? Not me, sorry.

I have finally found some money to buy it this year, and some time to actually play it.

As any Omega Force developed Musou, it really annoys me with it's pacing, generals that die in a second, should you look away, but is still fun and enjoyable to play.

There is, however, a point in the game, after which I just couldn't play it, because it's has stopped being interesting to me. And that point was playing as THE bad guy - Ganondorf, after the story about Link/other good guys. Srsly, I am absolutely not interested in bad guys as characters, at least in this game. With me having little to none Zelda knowledge, it was seriously surprising for me that such a part to even exist.

Ganondorf is actually cool to play, no argue, I'd even go as far as to say he's overpowered, but... it's absolutely uninteresting to play story about him and his underlings. Perhaps it's because I am not a hardcore Zelda fan, and have only played a small number of games in the franchise.

However, I have enjoyed the game greatly despite all my complaints about it, mostly because Rana(or Lana, I don't like changing R for L, so bear with me) is in it. She's a game original character, which was good for me, as I didn't need to play through a lot of games to know anything about her. She was fun, and pretty awesome, considering her moveset, to play, which made even a pretty boring Musou game fun for me.

Also, I remember people saying "Oh, japanese version isn't important, it's Zelda, Zelda games aren't voiced, so there'll be no dub" or the like. HOWEVER, Zelda Musou proved that to be wrong.

While dialogues aren't voiced, while most character actions are silent too, there ARE voices in that game, and I don't hear about any voice option in ~~crapster~~...western release. The voices are, however, limited to narration between stages, and some(rare) character actions, like Rana's.

Perhaps that is just removed in western release, but either way, original is better.

Means I have yet again made a right choice with buying a JPN WiiU, considering I can't stand english voices at all.

Potion Maker(Android/iOS)

The game has other languages, but I believe japanese translation is the best one the game has

A simple game made by koreans, featuring 2 cute anime-style girls(koreans make our hentai, no wonder they can do this, haha) that run a potion shop.

The point of the game is making potions, unlocking ingredients, then making more potions to make more money.

However, after you unlock all upgrades, and get as much money as I have(131 quintillion. Sure is a korean game, haha, koreans like big numbers).

After that, all that is left is, if you feel like it, participating in events and unlocking costumes, which the game has quite a selection of. On pic, Pio is wearing a NAME-TAGGED sukumizu.

FULLY APPROVED BY ME, yes!

Summon Night Ex-These: Yoake no Tsubasa(PS2)

A spin-off of Summon Night series it is, but a magnificent one. Released in 2005, it is one of the finest 2D action RPG there are.

To people who only played the GBA/DS spin-offs the gameplay will feel quite familiar, however, Ex-These, released just a bit after first Swordcraft Monogatari on GBA, is too one of the founding pillars of Summon Night action-RPG spin-offs(main series games are still SRPG).

The game tells a story of two protagonists - Leon and Eina, two souls in one body.

Both have no memory, and no idea why the other is in the same body.

The player chooses who of the two is the protagonist at the beginning, and the game will tell the story as if it's the chosen character's body, while the other one is an outsider to it. That doesn't matter much to the story, I think, just some scenes will have either one as the speaking representative of the two.

You can switch between the characters almost freely, but there is a limit of 3 subsequent changes in a set period of time.

Leon is a two-handed sword user, and his attacks hit hard, while Eina is a shortsword wielder, and is good(after she learns the appropriate attack, though) in fighting a lot of enemies at once.

The characters level up separately, which might be a problem if you don't like grinding, but I, personally, didn't feel much problem with it.

The game's story gets quite dramatic near the end, when the protagonists actually know where they are, who they are, and what they should do(subsequently - who to beat to actually be able to).

Telling even a bit is a spoiler, but feel free to message me on twitter, I'll be glad to explain.

Also, the game has 3 types of endings, but I think the player should only get ONE, the one that satisfies the player the most.

A thing that shouldn't be forgotten is the game's music. While simple(in my opinion), it doesn't annoy you after playing for a long time. Not even once in my whole playthrough have I taken the headphones off my head, like I do when the music starts to annoy me.

Another thing to note is seiyuu that worked on game's voices. The game has my personal favorite - Wakamoto Norio, who AWESOMELY voices Faifer. Haven't heard him much recently, so that was one big game of happiness for me.

Summon Night Ex-These is a magnificent game, and I don't feel it has aged at all(probably thanks to PS3's nice 2D upscaling/filtering).

Note: this game is also the game where Ruchil, the demon who can travel between worlds, and her familiar, Muga, first appear. They also made appearance in Summon Night 4, and at least Ruchil will appear in Summon Night 6.

Summon Night Gran-These: Horobi no Tsurugi to Yakusoku no Kishi(PS2)

A game that follows Ex-These(in name only, mostly, haha), and transfers everything into three-dimensional world.

The game portraits the story of yet again two protagonists - Lost(the guy) and Milett(the girl, duh...). Their proper names are way longer, but no one calls them that, mostly, don't bother.

Noting an important point to voice lovers - Lost is voiced by Sakurai Takahiro. When I played, I was thinking about his voice a lot, and then it hit me - MOST OF LOST'S BATTLE VOICES ARE NEARLY THE SAME AS ASBEL'S(voiced by Sakurai Takahiro as well, duh...) IN TALES OF GRACES! Ahahaha, dumb me, how could I not notice.

With game being a 3D action, a few things changed from Ex-These, but the idea remains the same - changing characters.

Though, at high levels and with good equipment, it barely matters who to use.

A significant change to the game's flow - at the start of EVERY chapter, you get to fight a weaker version of this chapter's boss under the premise that the character is being shown a nightmare by...Nightmare.

A lot of bosses require a bit of "special" tactics, so at times you might not defeat the weaker boss version. That doesn't end in Game Over, but you will lose the chance to develop a tactic beforehand. I just reloaded and did it again in such cases.

Another significant change is introduction of the Synth system, allowing the player to make items from materials gotten along the way. If in Ex-These weapons/etc. are either found of bought, in Gran-These it is a whole Atelier in terms of item making. Except you have no recipes(just hints), and have to try everything to make a good piece of equipment.

And in result - another great game by Flight Plan(later Felistella, and now a part of Idea Factory). Transition to 3D went very smooth, and I didn't feel bad about that at all. I'd love some other devs to learn to do that...

Kagero: Mou Hitori no Princess(PS3/Vita)

The sadism of the Kagero series returned in form of Mou Hitori no Princess. The game actually includes the previous, Darkside Princess as well, and, well, re-uses a lot of materials from it.

The gameplay didn't change much from Darkside Princess(except the addition to kick enemies and stomp upon them later too), so there's nothing to say about it, pretty much. Still set traps, smash people, get new traps, humiliate everyone and everywhere, armor breaks for some ecchi fanservice(ehehe).

That is except that story of Mou Hitori no Princess is made as a Quest Mode. Re-using stages from Darkside Princess(and adding some new), the game forces missions on the player, which the player has to clear to proceed.

The story of M1P gathers all the "Princesses" of Kagero series in a single place - the Darkside Heaven, a place between dreams and reality. However, dying in Darkside Heaven means death in reality as well(not exactly true, as revealed later. For the Princesses, that is), where they must gather souls to grant their wish.

Vergirie(officially Verguirie, but hell, that really sounds awful if you pronounce it that way) is a new "princess", with the title of Nightmare Princess, who is said to be the "second daughter of the devil", and, well, her outfit looks pretty nightmarish, yes...ero-nightmarish, that is. So sexy.

Vergirie will, half-way through the game, enter strange stages(modern Japan), where she will stumble upon a girl called Fuyuno Kanata(an unusual name withing Kagero universe, since it's mostly medieval west based) , which will make Vergirie feel as if she knows her.

The girl is a very important character, and she has shown me the best ending in this game. Very dramatic, very.

Vergirie is actually something that powerless Kanata wished for existance of to fulfill her revenge, but, in the end, she became scared of Vergirie, and stopped wishing that, but the Nightmare Princess was already born, and both Kanata, people she wished to take revenge upon, as well as other Princesses and people, were already trapped inside Darkside Heaven.


The ending after clearing Quest 098 -. "Farewell, my beautiful, cruel, Nightmare Princess"

Yoru no Nai Kuni(PS3/Vita/PS4)

Best GUST game I've seen since Atelier Meruru or, maybe, Ar no Surge.

First of all(probably the reason for not so good sales), it is a very rare piece of game software with yuri-love between the two heroines(and no males involved at all! they turn them down as soon as they appear. HELL YEAH!)

The story is about a world, where there existed a being called Yoru no Kimi(夜の君, lit. You of the Night, however the right translation would be something like Lord of the Night), one of the rulers of Youma(妖魔).

After the defeat of Yoru no Kimi by the Holy Maiden, he spread his blue blood across the world, turning plants, humans, everything, into abominations called Jayou(邪妖). The world has changed into a world where humans rule the daytime, while jayou and youma operate in night time, forcing people to hide inside their homes and not set foot outside there. And thus "Land of No Night"(よるのないくに, can also be "World of No Night") was born.

The protagonist is Arnus, a girl who has taken in some blue blood of Yoru no Kimi during the disastrous rain after his defeat. She thus became a half-human, always on the brink of becoming monster.

She works for the holy organization 教皇庁(directly translates to "papacy", relating to the catholic religion, which is, of course, not related to this game) as someone who deals with jayou and youma, since she is able to, due to being a half-human half-youma, and being able to use Roger Clock to collect the blue blood so a Holy Maiden can then purify it, cleansing a bit of the plague.

After getting to the island, she acquires Demon Sword Yord in a dream, directly from Yoru no Kimi.

The second main character is Lyuritis, a girl who is a Holy Maiden candidate(later - the chosen Holy Maiden for the ritual of sealing Yoru no Kimi).

She met Arnus when Arnus came to all girls school Lyuritis attended. They were also roommates in the dorm.

Since then, she had a strong attachment to Arnus(which Arnus responded to, also getting attached to Lyuritis strongly), even though work for 教皇庁 had them separated for a long time before their meeting on the island where the game events occur.

But enough of the setting, I'm sure this is enough to interest anyone. Lets get to gameplay.

The gameplay reminded me of Koei Tecmo Musou series, even though Yoru no Nai Kuni isn't developed by Omega Force. The reason is the simplicity of controls, amount of enemies at times, and some other features.

While the overall battle system is very repetitive, once you get more weapons(total of five in the game), that goes away a bit, because some bosses really require you to operate with more than one weapon(that is, until you get good equipment and level 10-11).

The game uses Surge Concerto graphic engine, making the game look(not play) good on all the 3 platforms.

Vita version has crappy performance instead, though. PS3/PS4 versions are fine in every aspect.

As expected from such a game made by GUST, the music in the game is simply amazing. Perfectly matching the situations on the screen and beautiful even without anything on the screen(nice for listening in any place and time).

While I did mention main characters, the game has more than just their yuri scenes.

Males are barely worth mentioning, but females, hehe...

My personal favorite is Christophoros, a pure-blooded youma that Arnus meets during early parts of the game.

She wears a mask, and acts like she has split-personality, one being her with the mask on, and the other - without. Apparently she doesn't have anything like that, but just acts that way of her own accord.

Being born a youma, she has little knowledge or contact with humans or their culture, thus making her extremely interested in everything. She loves looking at clothes and other things sold in the Shopping District.

I especially like her because of her gothic-like clothes and split-personality play. Cute thing.

Another character worth mentioning is Mistral, another youma pureblood. She is a snake-woman(or is it a snake? well, she is certainly not mermaid or anything) with multiple pairs of hands.

While she once was very active as a youma, at the time of the game occuring, she peacefully lives in her palace, not hurting anyone.

She only appears after clearing the game in post-game(true end route). During post game, something like a side-story about her will be shown to the player. A story of how she once found an abandoned human child, brought him to a place where he was picked up, and how he, grown up, remembered her and wrote her letters of love. Everything further is a big spoiler.

She is a formidable extra boss, bringing a lot of trouble with changing equipment and tactics the first time I fought her.

I loved the game a lot due to it's unique theme, as well as great main and side characters, and,

of course, MAXIMUM YURI-NESS!

Kagura Douchuuki Sou(PC)

A game by DebonoSu Seisakujo(a.k.a DebonoSu Works), the company that Yamamoto Kazue founded after Studio e*go fell apart when she suddenly quit it(her OWN FOUNDED COMPANY! Studio e*go was also founded by her). All games I know are illustrated by her of both Studio e*go and DebonoSu Works games.

The gameplay will remind of Fuurai no Shiren, one of them founders of rogue-like games in Japan(barely anyone in Japan knows Rogue, which the genre actually takes from), to people who know a thing or two about games.

However, this is an adult-oriented game, with adult content like purification H-scenes and defeat H-scenes. Most of it are, of course, classic for Kagura series, defeat H-scenes.

The existance of them is pretty logical for the setting the game has. Youkai rape(sometimes abduct) human women for reproduction, due to either not having women of their kind or not being able to make children with them(I forgot the reason, but one of those two).

In my opinion, getting H-CG for being defeated in a rogue-like game is a nice idea, because seriously, if you play a rogue-like game, be it this game, or Shiren games, or anything of the like, you will be defeated a lot, and get kinda nothing, just return to the camp(or a city) and start it all over again. I felt that reading H-scenes after defeat is refrenshing me for another try, and thus I played and finished the game in one breath.

It was so addicting(like a rogue-like game should be), and interesting, that I couldn't stop playing at all.

Sou is a remastered version of original Kagura Douchuuki, having additional scenarios included, as well as a new, second set of defeat CGs for every monster. Yamamoto Kazue went all out on new CGs, which is also quite pleasing.

She really loves her mikos...in a lot of ways.

(note: my fav defeat scenes are with kappa)

There are a lot of words to say about main characters, and a lot of things to explain, but that is better done by oneself.

I can only say that Nazuna and Ibuki are a funny combo, but a pretty classic one.

Also, classic again, but there are 3 types of endings: normal(the heroine leaves having fulfilled the mission), Youkaification and Nympho-fication.

They exist for both heroines.

Kagura GakuenKi(PC)

A direct sequel to Douchuuki, but in a totally different genre and with different protagonist(even though Nazuna and Ibuki, the main characters of Douchuuki, also appear).

The interesting part about GakuenKi(School Record) is the gameplay, which should be game flow, because the game is a pure visual novel, but it doesn't feel that way to me.

The protagonist is a satori youkai, a youkai that reads a person's heart and says the thing he wants to say before he does.

That concept gives birth to the most interesting part of the game.

During the story, at times, the protagonist uses that ability on other characters, be they friends or foes. And at those times, the player has to choose what of the character thought to follow(as in "use" or "use against").

It looks like this:

The words appearing on the screen are what the character currently thinks.

Of course, by choosing a wrong line of thought to follow will result in a bad end.

The story itself isn't just about the main character, his story is actually the last or nearly last.

There are other stories he is involved too(as a result of which he meets Koharu, Nazuna and Ibuki).

The most interesting story is about "Mayoiga"(迷い家, lit. "The Lost House"), which is a place in school where a student accidentally wanders if he or she is, for some reason, at school at night. Trying to find it never leads there, which is why it is a one of the school's Seven Wonders.

The thing about Mayoiga is that the one who wanders in there will find a sack with wondrous items in it, of which one is free to choose one and take it. As shown in story, trying to take more will result in everything over the first disappearing as you exit the place.

I loved the game for quite interesting mysterious stories, and overall story, with harem end included. It is actually one of the rare Kagura games to have male protagonist(maybe actually the only one. didn't play the games before the series rogue-like debut).

Kagura Gensoutan(PC)

With Kagura Gensoutan, the series returned to rogue-like gameplay after GakuenKi, bringing back my beloved defeat-H scenes.

The game introduces completely new set of characters and story.

The protagonist is Seiichiro, an instructor at demon exterminator academy. Yayoi and Azusa, the playable characters, are his students. Yayoi is his actual imouto(younger sister) and Azusa is something like a childhood friend(even though their ages stand a bit apart, lol).

The academy is protected by a barrier, which a very important person, Sakura-hime(a loli! yeah), creates and supports.

However, one day a hole in the barrier is discovered, and Yayoi meets a very strong youkai after falling into it, and miraculously survives because the youkai(later revealed to be Kyouka) leaves.

From there begins a story of Yayoi and Azusa, as well as Seiichiro, who acts as their mentor, trying to deal with the problem.

I felt the story to be a bit more dramatic than Douchuuki, because Kyouka(狂歌) is too pitiable and cute. Well, she only actually becomes really cute in the sequel, hehe.

Kagura Soushunfu(PC)

Direct sequel to Kagura Gensoutan, and another rogue-like in the series.

Seiichiro, Yayoi and Azusa left the school after defeating Kyouka and sealing her demonic energy, leaving the baka-trio and Sakura-hime and others.

However, something there still is an unsealed part of the school, where youkai still lurk, and all that.

The new protagonists are Kanade and Akira of the baka-trio, with Makoto, a meek dumb boy, the last of the baka trio, left to guide and support them.

The game is more of a comedy, compared to previous rogue-like installments of the series. Not much seriousness and a lot of funny moments.

Also cute Kyouka who had most of her youki sealed.

Kagura Kaentan(PC)

The latest installment of Kagura rogue-like games.

Again, a whole change of place, characters and everything, except the core gameplay, which makes me happy a whole lot. I(at least usually) hate when devs change the core gameplay.

New protagonists, Mikoto and Ryouka, guided by the god Sakatome-sama(normally just Tome in the game). Both are still youkai exterminators in training, and are traveling as a part of that training.

The story feels, yet again, pretty light-hearted, I actually liked the more dark story of Gensoutan the best.

But with new things like challenge missions(never cleared some), etc. the game feels pretty nice. I still have to actually finish it. Stopped at some point because a higher priority game appeared.

I must like rogue-likes, if I played the whole rogue-like part of Kagura series, and feel like I can still do more, should DebonoSu Works make more in near time.

Senjin Otome -Makina ni Yadorishi Kokoro ga Negau wa...-(PC)

And yet another of DebonoSu games I have taken a liking to.

Describing it in a single sentence - Tales of in 3D DONE RIGHT!

Remember Namco made a really bad Tales of game on PS2 called Tales of Legendia(gods, it's more of Shitgendia, lol, except characters and story were good)?

Well, this reminded me of it visually, BUT GAMEPLAY IS FREAKING GREAT!

Since it's an official trailer, it might not look as dynamic as it actually is when you play it.

The game also caught my eye with it's setting and characters.

Of course, the setting of a normal japanese schoolboy receiving a cute android girl from his father, and then suddenly is forced to fight because blah-blah-blah(even though it's actually Miyabi who fights, but nah, that doesn't matter), isn't anything new. I'd say it's so old I can't actually even count when was such a setting first used.

But no matter how many years pass, I love such settings, and I love robot-girls.

Of course, the thing that caught me the most is gameplay. When I saw it, I knew the game would be awesome, and it was so. However, that doesn't mean I wasn't interested in Miyabi, heh.

Anyone who wants a good 3D Tales of (like) game should try this, at least the demo.

DebonoSu Works also made 2D games of the same kind. Try Sora o Aogite Kumo Takaku(while that game got a PSP version, latest Plus release on PC is the best edition. consoles sucked with DebonoSu games, ahaha)

Kenka Bancho 6: Soul and Blood(3DS)

The newest installment of Kenka Bancho series, this time for the Nintendo 3DS.

Why the sudden change to Nintendo platform - who knows, but all the previous games were on Sooney consoles.

While the game wasn't bad or good, it was normal, there was a thing I felt throughout the whole game, and that is - THE HELL? AM I FREAKING PLAYING RYU GA GOTOKU 3 AGAIN BUT WITH SETTING IN SCHOOL?

That's the game in a nutshell. Remember Ryu ga Gotoku 3? Where Kiryu Kazuma dealt with troubles with orphanage he managed?

Well hello, Kenka Bancho 6 deals with the same shit, but the protagonist isn't anyone responsible for the orphanage, but one of the orphans who grew there.

The differences from Ryu ga Gotoku 3 might be customizable combos, no Heat Actions, friend calling, possibility of pick up(yup, you can pick up girls. even tho I haven't figured out for freaking what purpose).

But general story flow is just another Ryu ga Gotoku 3. Meht.

Hamatora: Look at Smoking World(3DS)

The game happens in the same world, with the same setting as Hamatora anime and other material, but in a completely different place, and with completely different set of main characters, thus making it playable for me, because I don't want to explore a whole bunch of anime/reading material to understand things. At least not with this franchise.

The game has you create your own main character, and tells the story from his perspective, as he awakens as a Minimum Holder, and as he, together with Souken, Lucha and other members of the town's Trouble Busters, explore the case of people losing their memory out of nowhere, which seems to be related to a strange world the main characters slip into under special circumstances(the smell of a special flower's aroma?).

That strange world totally gives off a Persona-vibe, with Shadows(enemies) appearing there etc. I felt like I was playing Persona 2, but without any actual Personas and with different battle system.

The battles happen in SRPG fashion on a pretty small field. However, there are quite big differences from how it usually happens.

The game uses AP(Action Points), which are spent to move, attack, use items, everything. Means one of important things is getting more AP.

When attacking, the game will be moved to a field similar to...say Fire Emblem Kakusei, where you, however, will decide the combo to perform.

There are special attacks, which happen upon input of certain button combination.

Another thing to mention is the game's "elemental" thing. In usual games it's usual fire, water, earth and wind, but in Hamatora: Look at Smoking World it is Sun, Sea and Wind. Only 3, and all that comes with it. They connect like Sun>Wind, Wind>Sea, Sea>Sun.

Well, the game is quite complicated as it is, so I'm pretty thankful for only having 3.

Another interesting moment is that while there is an awful lot of stats and crap, there are no actual levels.

To increase statuses of playable characters, the player has to make different drinks, which can be made at a shop near the main characters' base.

However, I have encountered a big problem for me in this game - it's abundance with MALE characters. You know, I'm a man too, so I'd welcome more females, really. Looking at male character interaction isn't much fun, so I kinda stopped playing it half way. Not that it's bad, but it should've had more females, imo.

Eiyuu Densetsu: Ao no Kiseki Evolution(PSVita)

The best entry in Falcom's Kiseki series for me so far. The player grows really attached to Crossbell and the main party after Zero no Kiseki, so a sequel to that story was really called for.

However, that's not the only reason.

A lot of players complain that Zero no Kiseki actually DOESN'T EXPLAIN ANYTHING. Well, in a way, yes, it doesn't, because it is only a big first step towards Ao no Kiseki, that answers most things(or at least ones I wanted to know). Kinda similar to the relationship between Sora no Kiseki FC and SC. Probably, Zero and Ao were also initially planned as a SINGLE game, but then Falcom realised that the game would be too freaking large if they do, or that it wouldn't fit onto UMD(original media used for the game, as Evolution is just a port of a PSP game, not Vita exclusive title). A lot of different realizations went on for sure.

The general changes to the gameplay flow in AoEvo are that you can now skip Arts/Crafts animations(not only S-Crafts), which speeds up the game a bit, some new quests, and more little cosmetic changes.

However, a thing that was changed between PSP Zero and Ao, the main party get their own car, upon customization of which the player can restore CP(Craft Points) up to 200 for free(the main point of it's usage for me), which is a life saviour, even though at times you have to go back a whole dungeon to use it. It is also used for faster movement, because in Ao no Kiseki the amount of places to go is already at max, and at times you need to go from one corner of the map to one on the other side, which isn't a thing that is done fast if you go on foot.

I consider the story of Ao no Kiseki to be the best of currently existing Kiseki games, because of how emotional, decieving and COOL it is.

I seriously didn't know who is behind everything that happened in both previous installment and this game until the very end(yep, I missed that trophy on first playthrough...).

Well, that is if you don't count that I have already cleared the game on PSP. That part came from that time, when I didn't know japanese at all, haha. Playing the game on Vita, I already knew everything, but still missed the trophy for "Noticed that ***** is the Mastermind". Probably because I didn't get it in PSP version too, so I don't even know how.

A very good classic-styled jRPG, which, however, requires a lot of knowledge from previous games. Playing Ao no Kiseki as standalone is a very bad idea, because you will "WHAT?!" a lot on some things. And it's very important to know characters, is it not? I think it is.

Eiyuu Densetsu: Sen no Kiseki(PS3/PSVita)

While I have finished the game on PS3 2 years ago, this year, in summer, Falcom allowed the game to be put up as Playstation Plus freeplay title, so I decided that I should play it again. And so I did.

So I returned to Erebonian Empire as Rean Schwarzer once again, and again was put into Class VII of Thor's Military Academy.

I again completed tasks of the special curriculum and just things people asked of me.

And again became the Riser of Ash, the one who controls Knight God of Ashes, Valimar.

However it is all story talk, but really, Sen and Sen II are way weaker story-wise when compared to Crossbell Arc and Liberl Arc. Or at least so I felt.

I consider character relations to be the MAIN PART of Sen no Kiseki, as I feel that it is the part that received the most of the effort when the game was made.

But in that matter, the game totally becomes Sara-the-Game for me, because Sara is the best character to bond with, in my opinion.

No, of course, there are other characters, and to get my SECOND platinum trophy, I had to bond with them all, but Sara is the one whose bond I enjoy the most. That didn't change in two years.

If I'd have to pick a number 2 and number 3 - those would be Emma and Alisa, I guess. Not that I didn't enjoy Fie and Laura bonds, but I just like bespectacled girls and cute tsundere girls more(don't ask how can that be if I say I don't like tsundere type)

Enjoying this game another time(on another console too) is something that I should really thank Falcom for. Because I got to do it FOR FREE(nearly. Still had to pay 1500something yen for that 5 months Plus offer).

Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki FC Evolution(PSVita)

Klose best girl. nuff said

A remastered port I have waited for since ZeroEvo, because I really wanted to play full voiced Sora no Kiseki(both FC and SC, as well as THE 3RD!!!!).

Of changes between PC/PSP and this version - we can now fast-forward animations in battle, which really makes the game more comfortable to play if you have already cleared it 2 times before like I did.

The game received quite a bit of extra content that forces the player to finish the game at least twice.

They added an extra, pretty problematic, boss fight in the last dungeon, they added a few chests with insanely(for the moment they are available on first playthrough) strong monsters, new cut-ins and overall change in game's 2D arts(first time for Evo, because Zero/Ao only got animating 2D portraits and HD-fication treatment)

Strangely, no extra quests.

There are also small balance(breaking) changes, but listing them here is not the purpose of me writing it.

Overall, my wish of playing Sora no Kiseki voiced has been granted, and even better than I expected. Unlike ZeroEvo and AoEvo, besides main story, ALL quest dialogues are voiced too.

Shin Rorona no Atelier: Hajimari no Monogatari(3DS)

While chibi-fied, an absolutely expectedly GREAT game.

Rorona no Atelier was the weakest of PS3 Atelier games system-wise(for people, it was nearly unplayable due to a lot of problems with it), but was a great ATELIER game initially, forcing really tight and difficult time management on the player.

However, with the release of Shin Rorona no Atelier, that went away, as the game incorporated a number of systems introduced in Meruru no Atelier.

So what could be new in 3DS release? Oh, a whole bunch of things, considering 3DS isn't a piece of powerful hardware.

The very first, and very important change is the change of the battle system. Not exactly complete, but a big one.

The battles now happen ON THE SPOT, and are nearly seamless, NEARLY no transitions.

Battles now use grid-based semi-SRPG battle system, but still use Turn system as it is in Meruru.

I know I used this screenshot last year, but sorry, no new ones, it's 3DS.

Other semi-significant change is the addition of a small number of new recipes for synthesizing.

And a very significant change is the addition of Atelier Astrid mode, which is a story of how Astrid made the Water of Life(rings any bells? hehe) to cure the illness Rorona's parents caught. Incidentally, it is also a story of how Rorona became Astrid's apprentice.

Since everyone played Rorona, seriously, maybe even 2 or 3 times, I'll focus on Atelier Astrid now.

Atelier Astrid starts with Rorona asking Astrid for a medicine to cure the unknown illness of her parents, even though she knew Astrid isn't working on any requests for years.

Astrid, being a lolicon and lesbo she is, unexpectedly accepted the request. But Astrid is a genius, it would be too easy for her to make a cure for JUST that disease, so she decides to make an ultimate cure for ALL diseases there are in the world.

To do that, she needs a number of rare ingredients, like Scale of a Blue Dragon(Suni Sturm in this case), Donkelheit and and some sort of extra pure water.

But oh what, Astrid is lazy, but here comes her old "friend" - Sterkenburg Cranach, who is swiftly made her underling for the mission, after Astrid takes out an old love letter poor Sterk wrote to her many years ago.

Hey, but Sterk is super weak. No problem for the genius alchemist, Astrid Zexes. She had a ring that amplifies one's abilities(to LV50, which is the maximum level in this mode, unlike normal Shin Rorona mode, where max level is 99 or 100).

And so the two go out to gather the ingredients.

The player is given a whole year of doing nothing. Astrid has a lot of rare ingredients in her storage, so anything you need or nearly anything can just be made.

Since Astrid isn't really loved in Arland, she can't use shops, but she doesn't need to, because she can do fine without it.

Eh, but what about weapons? Weapons are found in chests in various areas of the game. To note, this mode has ALL areas unlocked initially, so one can try beating all the game's bosses with just 2 overpowered characters.

I particularly enjoyed this mode because the combo of Astrid and Sterk is super overpowered against the game's bosses. Well, Rorona+anyone else is also super overpowered once you craft good equipment, though.

In my opinion, the 3DS version of Rorona is the REAL definitive edition of the game, even if it has deformed chibi models, and even if you don't like them.

The change of the battle system really made the game feel fresh and new(no, it was actually new, not minding I've seen the story for 4 times already), and if you can - you really should play it.

What disappointed me is that GUST completely scrapped the idea of adding a playable Gisela into the game.

GUST, please, one more edition, WITH playable Gisela.

But overall, the game was worth the wait.

Totori no Atelier Plus: Arland no Renkinjutsushi 2(PSVita)

Another game I got for "free" on Playstation Plus this year.

Of all the PS3 Atelier games ported to Vita, it is the oldest, and thus, the most uncomfortable to play after the awesome Meruru Plus and Shin Rorona.

But besides just the synthesis system and other things, the worst is the FONT. On Vita, the font is super small, some symbols are barely readable or recognizeable, which is very bad for a game in japanese.

The drop in performance was expected, so I'm not going to complain.

However, I will complain about ZERO reasons to explore the new content(Orthogalaxen) and make new stuff(costumes).

The game really doesn't have any reasons for the player to do it. No trophies, no anything.

So I just took platinum trophy in Totori for the second time and consider myself done with it.

Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata -blessing flowers-(PSVita)

A new anime-based VN released this year. I picked it up ASAP, as I liked the anime series.

The colorful cast, the cute art, everything in it drew me into playing it.

However, after I cleared it first time, I was freaking NOT PREPARED.

The game's flow is pretty tricky, and I couldn't figure out how to go towards an ending I wanted, so I put the game down for nearly half a year until a guide to how everything is actually done was written by some guy in his blog.

This game was my honestly first time I did such illogical(for a galge) actions, and got endings I wanted.

The guy who wrote the guide said he had to actually manually try every choice in every situation to get everything. Poor guy, he had a job harder than one I get paid for.

My personal favorite route is Utaha route. Her endings were the most emotional, the most interesting, and the most funny ones in the game.


"If anyone on the internet knows how to conquer this person, please tell me!"

Unlike any other character in this or any other galge, Utaha doesn't directly respond to the protagonist's(Aki Tomoya) confession, saying she can't, because if she does, she might lose her writing ability, and that she is the worst, and if they continue their relationship as it is right now she'll become even worse as a human, but better as a writer.
However, in True End, that goes further. Utaha had that moment on her thoughts for a long time, which was easily noticed by her editor, who then directly tells her that she's just a high-schooler, and shouldn't think so hard about it.
Which makes Utaha finally make her decision, and go forward towards her own feelings, and to HIS side.

The whole ending is written in very emotional style I cannot even express here. I felt as if I am actually Kasumigaoka Utaha, and it is my worries, rather than hers.
Masterpiece, real masterpiece.

However, not all endings and routes are so interesting to read. For example, Michiru route is more of a comedy, and I failed to find anything interesting for myself.
Eriri route turned out unexpectedly boring too.
The only routes I actually enjoyed much are Utaha's and Megumi's routes, and, well, Megumi should've been expected to have a good one, but Utaha turned out to be very good without me actually expecting that ever.

Tenkuu no Kishi Rodea(Wii)

While the game was renamed and released as Rodea the Sky Soldier for the WiiU, the developers also kept and released Tenkuu no Kishi Rodea, the game as it was supposed to be, for the Wii.

And it turned out that while the story is exactly the same, the stages as well, but the game plays MUCH better in Wii version, than in WiiU version.

The story tells a dramatic tale of a robot's feelings that transcended a thousand years, because he received a heart.

Gameplay-wise it is said to be similar to NIGHTS, a game I couldn't play because of it's characters, so I can't confirm. However, I can say that the flying-action is a very interesting concept that I liked a lot, even though it took time to get used too.

Of differences between Wii and WiiU versions - Wii version uses more 2D images, which really fit to where they are used. WiiU version just doesn't have most for some stupid reason.
Wii version is also more comfortable to play, since it uses Wii Remote and Nunchuck, and the flight control is way easier with WiiMote, believe me.

If you still have a chance to get the Wii version - do not think a second time, get it, it's great.

OEdo BlackSmith(PSVita)

The Great Edo BlackSmith, how the game's name translates, was a very...mmm...controversial game for me.
I greatly enjoyed the craft system for the first 10 hours, I greatly enjoyed dungeon crawling and ingredient gathering for the whole time I played the game, but I didn't enjoy going to the brothel to meet girls much, even though that should be the main part of the game.
And I actually liked side characters more than the main girls.

The only main girl I liked, and finished endings of is Yuugiri(夕霧), a girl who is(as revealed around the middle of her route) the daughter of the protagonist's master, who taught him smithery, but was executed soon enough after he lost a smithing battle against the protagonist.
While normally apathetic and uninterested in everything around, including her work, which she prefers to ignore for most of the times, Yuugiri bears strong feelings of both hatred and love towards the protagonist, which made her interesting for me.

However, other heroines aren't nearly as interesting. Money-loving Asaka, and the girl that doesn't have any particular traits, Kiyohana, failed to make me interested in them even the smallest bit.

Bodyguards are much more interesting than main girls, sadly, but how can that be helped, in bodyguards we have the doctor, who is trying to ease the protagonist's illness with everything she's got, the protagonist's apprentice, an energetic girl who might seem manly, but is very girlish where no one sees, as well as Mase, a miko that is said to have the strongest spiritual powers ever.
The bodyguards are much more colorful and interesting than the main heroines. AND thankfully, all of them have their own endings.

However, while there are a lot of interesting things in this game, the time system is annoying with not being able to just skip until the last day after you triggered an ending. You must still either skip it day-by-day, or spend it in some other way, which killed any replayability it might have had, at least for me.

Mahou Sensei Negima! 1-jikan me: ~Okochama-sensei wa Mahoutsukai~(PS2)


Eva-chan is cute, isn't she.

Since I've finished reading the manga this year, I decided that it isn't a bad idea to play the games based on the franchise.

The first game is this one, and it was really good.
The player is put into the skin of Negi Springfield, a 10-years old mage, who is sent to Japan for his training, and he is made to work...as a teacher at an all girls school.
Ahaha, who of us doesn't know that.

The game system is quite interesting however. Since the class must avoid being the last in school mid-term test ranking(manga, manga, read it, read it), the player has to motivate the girls to study, as well as communicate with them personally.

Motivating the girls is a hard job. Each day, lessons will start with homeroom, during which you must motivate the girls to study.

As you can see, I failed awfully at doing that in this game.
However, I understood the important points.
One of the most important things is the character trait system. All characters, both girls of Negi's class and others, have 2 character trait slots.
During communication, depending on character mood an stats, a trait will occur and will take one slot. There are a lot of traits, and they are very important for reaching success. Both triggering and deleting
Like, for example, for the most part of the game, Eva will be absent from class, if you don't delete the "Problem Child" trait from her.

But things don't end on that. The recess and after school activities are free-roaming and communication with a total of 298 girls, as you need to communicate not only with girls of your class, but also other girls, to unlock more statements for homeroom, and for accumulating Trust.

During those parts, Negi, being a mage, can cast spells, which is also done in a peculiar way.

You control the magic circle in the lower left part of the screen with the left stick, and input commands, examples of which are shown in the upper right part of the screen.
Battle parts of the game also happen the same way.
Since this is an early part of the story, Negi doesn't fight using chinese martial arts yet, so movement and dodging are very important things in battles.
(Note: when the spell is cast, it's latin incantation is shown on the screen, but Negi won't pronounce it. He just says "Ras Tel Mas Scir Magister", the activation words)

As far as I know, this game only has one ending, unlike the second and third games, and the player gets it in both cases of success and failure EVERYWHERE. Just you won't see some scenes if you fail.

There are a lot of funny, cute and some ecchi scenes in this game, so if any of you thought the game is suitable for kids 15< years - I'd say no.
But for me it was a very enjoyable experience. I yet again fell in love with Evangeline(too bad Negi didn't in the manga. Idiot, honor student, baka, hentai).

Mahou Sensei Negima! 2-jikan me: Tatakau Otome-tachi! Mahora Dai Undoukai SP(PS2)

Doesn't fit the game's name, right?

The second game plays and works almost exactly the same as the first one, but with a few additions and improvements.
One new spell, melee fighting, some cool secrets like changing girl's outfit on eyecatch screen, or changing outfits on the 3D models, also a bit better 3D models, but honestly, it's PS2, it's barely noticeable.

The story, however, unlike the first game, is absolutely original, while it is noted to happen somewhere between the start of the story and the school trip arc.
The class is participating in the Mahora Sports Festival, and, considering class 3-A has a lot of people who are good with sports, Negi's students are burning with passion.
So Negi decides to help with training them physically.
The general system is the same, for the girls to train, you must motivate them, clear negative traits from them, and so on.

Battles have become a bit more dynamic thanks to the addition of melee to the player's options(but honestly, it doesn't do much damage, just allows you to stagger the enemy a bit to cast with less worries).
Battles happen because Negi didn't seal a certain book in the first game the right way, and the book took form of Negi(created a doppelganger of him), who does bad things, like a doppelganger should, to weaken Negi and take his place.

Unlike the first game, the second has proper chara-ends for at least Evangeline and Yue. Not sure about others, I only did Eva, and heard about Yue End existing from the internet.

A bit of cute fanservice I already mentioned in screenshots:


9999 affection makes the character wear swimsuit during eyecatches. Eva-chan SO cute!

9999 affection AND save data from the first game will make the character appear in her underwear during eyecatches.
Eva-chan SO CUTE!!!!


Character trait manipulations with a certain girl in the game will make EVERYONE in the game(except girls doing sports ATM) wear either bunny costume or goth-loli outfit. I chose the goth-loli one. EVA-CHAN SOOOOO CUTE!

Negima!? 3-jikan me ~Koi to Mahou to Sekaiju Densetsu~(PS2)

Having changed the name to what the 2 anime-adaptation called, the game also changes the gameplay completely...betraying fans expectations.
FucKonami decided to completely ditch one of the most interesting parts of the manga(The Festival arc, in which time traveling and Negi vs. Chao Rinshen battle happened), and they made a pretty BAD action game that happens just a few days before the festival.

The game is SUPER bad in just about everything. Like - none of the girls actually appear in 3D, except Setsuna and Asuna, who are playble using in-game codes.
As well as the battle system is SO SLOW. If Asuna and Setsuna manage to at least move fast, Negi is super slow.
The spellcasting has also became a matter of pressing a SINGLE button, which is super boring, even if fast.
Support characters talk without stopping, had to take off my earphones.

Endings don't mean much, even if all 31 girls have one(yes, even Sayo, who barely appears in first and second game), which is also pretty boooring.

Didn't enjoy it one bit. I thought my beloved Evangeline would save the game, because getting her as support character is VERY problematic, and requires a lot of luck and grind, but even she and her ending couldn't save this shit.
DO NOT RECOMMEND.

Mahou Sensei Negima! Kagai Jugyou: Otome no DokiDoki Beachside(PS2)

Seen that lower part of Ayaka's swimsuit? I actually thought it's a graphic bug because I'm playing the games on PS3, but..IT'S NOT! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?

Ever played Dead or Alive Xtreme Beach Volleyball, or are you waiting for Dead or Alive Xtreme 3?
Same thing, a purely fanservice game.

The girls decide to go to the beach during a small holiday period, and decide to bring Negi with them.
However, as expected, it all becomes a competition between the girls, and Negi has to oversee their training to win, because each girl promises to give Negi the main prize - the Cup of Soma, which he wants a lot, because the item is said to have been owned by his father, Nagi Springfield(and is actually pretty handy, since from it, Soma is born infinitely. In the game, it is explained that Soma will restore vitality and magical power greatly if drank. Some kind of super energy drink, eh).

There are 6 groups of girls, but first only 2 are unlocked.
The point is to first play mini-games to increase the girl's stats, to play MORE MINI-GAMES later to win the day, and, ultimately, the main prize, after the last day.

One of the training mini games - stretches.

Sad to note, the game has awful graphic bugs on PS3 at some moments(seems to use TokiMemo 3 engine, which is pretty...problematic, on PS2 it just looks bad, and doesn't work with PCSX2 in hardware mode, only software, which means NO upscaling.

But overall a fun game, with pretty hard quiz mini-games(seriously, I know japanese, but I have no idea what are they taught in middle school).

Princess Maker 4(PSP)

My favorite game of Princess Maker series. I actually replay it nearly every year.

When I first played this game, I couldn't even understand a word of japanese, but I already loved TIME MANAGEMENT and MONEY MANAGEMENT, which this game is full of.

I also love the game's art the best of the series.

Perhaps I would have become a good father, if I at least once ever got ANY other ending besides "Marrying Father" ending.

MY DAUGHTER IS ONLY MINE! I WILL NOT LET YOU, DIRTY MONGRELS, TO HAVE HER!

EVEN GIRLS! MY DAUGHTER BELONGS TO ME ONLY!

Or so I say, but I always wanted to see friend endings, which were added in PSP version.

BUT I CAN'T! I SIMPLY CAN'T! MY DAUGHTER IS MINE AND MINE ONLY!

THIS ENDING IS THE ONLY ONE I CAN GET, I'M CURSED WITH FATHERLY LOVE OVER THE NORMAL FATHERLY LOVE!

Princess Crown(PSP)

Princess Crown the game where it all started for Vanillaware, which didn't exist at the time, but the key members that worked on Princess Crown formed Vanillaware later(like the game's director and designer, Kamitani George).

It's battle system, not as complete as Odin Sphere, which was developed with the intent for it to be a spiritual successor to Princess Crown, is pretty good even now. It also introduced the inventory as we know it in Odin Sphere.

The game tells the story of Gradriel, a young princess who becomes queen at the age of 13.

While she is told to sit tight at the castle by her servants, sisters and advisors, Gradriel wants to see the world with her own eyes, and experience things that happen in it herself.

And thus she leaves a single piece of paper explaining that, and goes on a journey.

Gradriel's scenario is pretty long, and the player might think it is the only one.

And while Gradriel's story is, imo, the best one, it is not the ONLY one in Princess Crown. There are also shorter scenarios for Edward, the dragon killing knight, Proserpina, the mischievous witch, and Portgas, the gallant pirate captain.

The game's final dungeon was very long and complicated, which made me understand how much simpler the games have become in recent years.

Star Driver Kagayaki no Takuto Ginga Bishounen Densetsu(PSP)

After watching Star Driver in the middle of 2014, I really wanted MORE of the awesomeness it was.

First, I watched Star Driver the Movie, which, while being mostly a recap of the anime series, had around 5-10 minutes of new stuff, like the beginning, where Takuto and others are out of the island, and Cybodies are also let out, and the ending.

But that's not important, right. I found this game at the beginning of 2015, and was surprised how good it was.

While it is, mostly, a usual anime-VN with crappy battle system(no, seriously, battle system could've been better), a few traits redeem it, and make it a whole certain masterpiece.

The "traits" I'm talking about is it's non-linear story. The player is generally free to join anywhere, be it Kiraboshi Juujidan, or help Takuto and others.

What's more, the pretty large amount of characters the anime series had ALL have an ending in one of the 3 general routes of the game.

The game's 3 routes are: Ginga Bishounen route, the normal route which the player has to play through first, the Southern Cross Academy route and the Kiraboshi route, the last being the most interesting, imo.

The protagonist is a big self-insert character, and a big cheat character with being able to copy others' abilities completely with his 1st phase. That way, he copies Takuto's Tauburn(yes, the whole cybody), swords Emeraude and Saphir, and, in different routes, other abilities characters have.

But even if he's such an overpowered guy, the game doesn't feel wrong because of it.

There are total of 36 endings in the game.

I, personally, played through Jaguar, Keito, Kanako, Marino and Sakana-chan/Head character routes.

The game explains a few thing better than the anime, even if it's not canon, it just does a better job, and those points don't feel like holes.

And I have to say that overall writing is really good. The game was interesting to read and re-read, as some parts are the same in every route.

Blade Arcus from Shining EX(PS4/PS3)

The very first game I have purchased a PS(hit)4 version of. It was Sega's fault for putting Misty on PS4 LE box, and crapMaxima on PS3 LE box. I didn't have a choice.

The game is positioned as a 2D fighter, but from what I've played, it uses the same or similar technology as Crapty Gear Xturd, so it's half 3D anyways, which isn't to my liking, I love my 2D fighters to be 2D.

However, I am a fan of Shining Tony-designed Shining series, so I couldn't buy it and JUST put the box on my shelf and forget about it, so I borrowed a friend's PS4 and actually played it.

The game wasn't as bad as I expected, but nothing to say, it IS bad, as a fighting game. Nothing less expected from a game that uses the same or similar technology as Crapty Gear Xturd.

Nevertheless, I enjoyed the game for the high amount of Tony art, both in the game's story mode and in Gallery mode, where the player can unlock a total of 200 or 300 different Tony arts relating to different Shining Games.

Shining Hearts(PSP)

My beloved fox-girl, Rouna.
If you say "Shining Hearts", I hear "Rouna"

Another game I re-play almost annually.

When I played it back in 2010, I loved the game for it's slow pacing(yes, you read that right, I LOVE the slow pace and overall flow of the game), great, colorful characters, as well as it's focus on BREAD.

Hell, making bread for requests brought my butt temperature to about the sun's temperature, means my butt HURT.

However, replaying it for a few years, I have both finished it a few times(no, well, you don't think I managed to finish it in 2010, right from the first time, right?), and learned to play it in a way my butt doesn't hurt.

Rouna became one of my first game waifus from first sight(well, she appears with such a cute CG, should be expected, imo). I played the game completing every single one of the quests she gave me, just because I loved her so much. Made the game even more interesting for me, for reason you all know.

Besides Rouna, I also have another character I really like, which was reminded me of in Blade Arcus this year, - Mistral Nereis(called Misty).

Another type of (anime) girls I just love - a selfish, uncontrollable princess. Well, she's also my soul comrade, since we're both PIRATES, hahahaha. She's hellishly cute as well, and voiced by one of my favorite seiyuu - Tamura Yukari.

(note: while she looks pretty young, Misty is 317 years old, another thing I love - cute girls over hundred years old)

Just for these two characters, I'm ready to replay the whole long and slow game almost every year.

Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition (PS4)

If I had a disappointment this year, it's this game. Glad I at least didn't purchase it, but borrowed it from a friend, together with the console.

The biggest expectations I had for it was given by the freshly added japanese voices, but my expectations for it were completely betrayed.

If in the DMC anime, that isn't even remotely related to the games, Dante sounded REALLY AWESOME, then in this game he sounds like some stupid overconfident buffoon, and in a bad meaning. Of course, me being me, I like even this BAD version of Dante better than english voice(I just hate english voices, can't be helped), but it's REALLY isn't good.

I also looked forward to playing as Vergil, but that turned out to be really boring too, considering you're playing the exactly same stages as Nero. They could've added some new stage for him, nope? Ah, yes, this is Capcom, who was I expecting to do something right...

Everything really could've been better. Can't say I have any positive comments about this version of the game.

12-sai -Honto no Kimochi- (3DS)

I usually tell no one, but at times, I'm into playing games for girls.

No, not the gayish shit that's released on Vita right now, or the gayshit that's released on PC(thankfully, LESS than on Vita).

Most developers of female-oriented visual novels have fallen to simple and disgusting artstyle attraction of the audience.

But as we all know, the audience isn't going to grow, and is still very small for such games.

A new challenger(or are they?), Happinet, went a different way in all meanings. Their girl-oriented games are targeted at younger audience, and I feel that it may just be the best choice ever made.

And since it's not oriented on grown up adult fujoshi and the like, I can too enjoy their games.

12sai is based on manga of the same name. As you can guess, I NEVER read it, and not even planning to do it ever.

However, the game was enjoyable for me.

The main spotlight of the story is the relationship of Ayase Hanabi(the first heroine the story of whom the player can read) and Takao Yuuto, her boyfriend, however, it doesn't only go about that the whole time.

While the game is a romance game, it isn't a dating simulator with gayboys, it is a story about feelings(romantic feelings too) of a 12-years old girl.

However, relationship Hanabi isn't the ONLY heroine whose story and perception the player can take. There are also other unlockable characters.

One of the systems I thought of as most interesting is "Feelings Choice". At times, during dialogues and scenes, a promt will come up with 4 choices, of which you must choose the feelings of the heroine at the moment. Depending on those choices, the story dialogue will slightly change(I didn't actually try anything illogical, so I'm not sure if anything else changes).

It was a pleasant read, it was an interesting concept, and as a result, even if the game is targeted on young girls, even a grown man like myself can enjoy it.

Kobayashi ga Kawaiisugite Tsurai!! Game demo kyun Moe MAX ga tomaranai(3DS)

Another game by Happinet based on manga.

I purchased it without even thinking, because it's a game with the same idea as 12sai which I liked a lot.

It does have some bishounen-ish characters in it, but unlike those gayboy games for more adult audience, their existance didn't bother me at all. Rather, it was fun to read those "cool" lines that I've heard somewhere else as well, but from...middle schooler, even if cool looking.

Following the premises of the manga, Kobayashi Megumu, the heroine, is dating Sanada Aoi, one of those bishounen in the game that I mentioned the existance of.

While the opening scene emotionally says it is a story of overcoming just 10cm distance between the two...most of the time the game goes on, it won't be about that(but, of course, that is also included in the storyline).

Most of the time, it is a hilarious comedy, like about how Megumu and her brother Mitsuru crossdress and switch places(I seriously wondered how is that no one notices...they behave differently enough), or about Erio Falcone, a new character not present in the manga, a transfer student coming to Megumu's class.

Feelings Choice system makes a comeback here too, which made me happy. I love when developers keep the interesting systems they though of in newer games.

I'd say the game's story is balanced between sensual, emotional scenes of love that didn't yet start, but starts to bloom slowly, one step at a time, and mad hilarious comedic scenes, which makes it easier to read at least for me.

I can't read too much of all those love-related thoughts. Either fuck or get the fuck out it is for me, usually.

Fate/~~GudaGuda~~ Grand Order (Android/iOS)

I know we all love Medusa

A new ~~game~~...milking cow in the Fate franchise. Made by DelightWorks, it is a social game with a lot of RUUUULE Breaking(in terms of original universe), as well as a lot of cringe.

The story didn't exactly interest me much, because it's just "Oh, we need to save humanity from extinction in 2016, thus we must ~~DRAW DICKS ON THINGS~~ gather the Holy Grails from abnormal periods in the past that our SUPER COMPUTER finds". Okay, time travel, okay, okay, okay. STOOOOOOOP! Fate universe wasn't about that.

But I actually stopped caring halfway, because so many cute girls, yes.

However, the game is really a milk cow.

If you want to get those 4-5☆ rare servants, be ready to either pay, or suffer. It is only a miracle if you get them all with limited amount of Holy Quartz that you can get from clearing story stages.

The gameplay, while seeming fun when you start, will soon get boring, I think you wouldn't even clear Fuyuki 2004 before it becomes.

And after that, it's just an eternal repetition of the same shit, grind and all that.

I think I'll wait until the final chapter is released, read it on the internet, and show my big fat dick to the developers, because FUCK this game.

Why did they have to cancel Fate/Apocrypha project and make a novel out of it, it sounded so much cooler than this shit.

And FUCK THOSE FUCKING BLACK KEYS!

Boku wa Tomodachi ga sukunai Portable (PSP)

Dat limited edition

After FINALLY watching the second season of Haganai anime this year, my sould yearned for a related game, and, luckily, there was one for PSP.

The game was a popular topic in certain circles when it was released for it's high amount(compared to other anime-games) of PREGNANCY endings. Seriously, what...nah, doesn't matter.

I was seriously aiming for Sena, but seems my lolicon nature took over, and I got Kobato ending instead, and after that I decided I'll do the rest later.

Wonder if there is Kobato pregnancy end, haven't heard of one.

If I'm going to mention the story, I'd say there is...no story, just a big compilation of the usual Haganai crazy situations and a biiig Yozora trolling Meat playground.

Noting of the game's performance, it was made way before portable consoles could handle it.

Live2D used in game is super slow, but hey, it's PSP, we can be just happy it works.

If it was made for Vita, it'd be better, as it, probably, could handle the "heavy" Live2D the game uses.

However, no one is going to make a port, or a new game based on the franchise, or so it seems, and it saddens me greatly, I feel really attached to the characters and setting.

Boku wa Tomodachi ga sukunai Portable LE Bonus: Kirameki School Life SP the Wonder Years(PSP)

If you watched Haganai first season, you probably remember that TokiMemo-like game that Sena played in one of the episodes.

When I saw it, I thought "Oh, it'd be cool if they actually made it" and...in a way, they did.

This one isn't fun just because it is a TokiMemo parody, but it's fun because of how can you play it.

There are 2 options - play it yourself completely(long, boring, don't do it), or play it with outsider opinions.

The second option is seriously hilarious to try.

The members of the RInjin-bu are pretty unique in their personality and opinions, so the hazard will start right off the start.

At least they allowed me to input the name I wanted, lol.

After that, Yozora takes the controller from the player's hands, and plays in a way she thinks right...WRONG! That idiot just outright skips ALL event flags(as noted by Sena) and makes the character STUDY, STUDY and STUDY again(what is she, Lenin?).

And when she plays through about half of the game, she can't bear the criticism of the other characters, and leaves playing the rest to YOU.

Anyone who played TokiMemo knows that if you failed HALF of the game, you're basically fucked up for the rest too, but that wouldn't be fun, so the player still has a chance.

However, not everything is as bright as it looks. While the game has enough heroines, only TWO have romantic relationship ending(because the game is said to be a beta-version in the game text. For us it means - "We were lazy to make a whole TokiMemo parody game, so there'll only be 2 characters you can date, fuck you, bye"). With other characters there's only a general ending, without protagonist forming any kind of interpersonal relationship with them.

Haganai characters will comment on your actions frequently, at times the comments were so frequent I was annoyed and wanted to skip it(not possible, it seems).

Despite all that, I managed to enjoy the game, and accept the cruel fate of not being able to properly date Karen or at least get a romantic ending with her.

Gal☆Gun W(Double Peace) (PSVita)

The long awaited sequel to Gal*Gun, a rail-shooting game, that made me remember that the genre even existed at some point of time, that I played a few years ago.

Of notable changes - AWFUL interface. Gods, Unreal Engine certainly didn't make good to this game. The first game's gameplay felt more fluid.

Perhaps that's just PSShita fault, however.

Ekoro is a proper heroine in this game, Patako became a secret heroine, and they even added a devil into the heroine roster.

I LOVE THIS GAME!

...but not for that.

The most notable thing is that you can actually get an ending with ANY girl in the game(no CG, but you can). You kinda could in the first game too, but those were bad endings for being beaten by that girl and refusing to stand up and continue.

In this game, there is a whole separate route called "Fated Girl Route" for doing that.

And I'm really thankful it exists, because I could get an ending with the GHOST GIRL, Yuureino Yuuko, HELL YEAH!

While the game looks pretty easy, it's not, if you want to get a platinum trophy in it. There is a ton of things to do, and a lot of problems will arise.

While people say it's not so hard, I didn't even once reach God Rank(1000000+ score points).

Gathering girls' profiles became much more annoying, thanks to the need to measure their BWH and see every single girl in sports outfit and mizugi.

But, in a way, that's what makes the game enjoyable, and makes me want to play it again later. Next year, which starts from 00:00 today, I'll try to finish the platinum trophy in this game, because it's awesome.

Sword Art Online: Lost Song(PS3)

I NEVER ASKED FOR THIS!

When the "second" SAO game was announced, I rejoiced, as I totally, definitely, really loved Hollow Fragment and it's original, Infinity Moment.

But my dreams were shattered, when the developers announced that the new game WON'T be a continuation of Hollow Fragment, but will be a completely different game, set in ALO(Alfheim Online).

While the concept of flight was interesting, the implementation of it, and other features of the game, is awful, honestly awful.

Bland, generic dungeons with almost the same layout.

Boring bossfights. Flight only added "annoyingness" to the boss fights, rather than making them interesting.

Mostly annoying original characters. No, I enjoyed Rain/Seven part of the story, but gods that bishounen Kirito fights at the end of the game, gods I hated him from the first time I've seen his shitty smug face. I even forgot his shitty name.

ZERO, no, MINUS ONE, reason to replay, absolutely no replayability anywhere I tried to find it. It's also really short, probably no more than 50-60 hours to plat, and only 25-30 to finish the main story(compare that to 250 hrs I've spent to JUST FINISH HF, both Hollow Area and 25 floors of Aincrad)

Oh well, at least they offered new content in updates(NOT DLC! Hey, that's cool), and added playable Kuroyukihime(from Accel World).

Ukiyo no Shishi(PS3)

While the concept seemed interesting, Ukiyo no Shishi(same for Roushi, which is for Shita, so I didn't get it) is only a mediocre game very similar to Way of the Samurai series. So similar that people first mistook it for a new Way of the Samurai game.

The story honestly wasn't anything interesting, character interaction was actually minimal, it's an endless questcrap.

The only thing that makes Ukiyo games stand out is, well, the ukiyo engine, which allows the player to turn any screen in the game into ukiyo-e(google it, it's also on the screenshot I used as head of this game review).

But just drawing pictures isn't fun, thought the devs, and they were right. As a result, they make the protagonist learn a skill that allows him to strip the target, and automatically draw a shunga(春画, that's porn of that era. Actually looked quite hideous, but young men probably masturbated to those) picture. Due to the need to censor private parts, they are usually drawn with something on them.

The most hilarious is shunga drawn after stripping some males, where a tengu mask is drawn on their p*nis.

While a seriously mediocre game, I cleared it in a breeze, and wasn't even mad about it being so mediocre. At times, one needs a really bad or mediocre game to understand the value of good games.

Sengoku BASARA 4 Sumeragi (PS3)

Doing 99999 combo with Oichi is still SO EASY.
SUPER FEVEEEEEEER

Capcom yet again with their policy of first making a BASARA game, then make an addon to it in form of a separate game. Thanks CAPCOM, pirated with no remorse.

Sengoku BASARA 4 Sumeragi, same as BASARA 2 Heroes and BASARA 3 Utage, offers more playable characters(Kyogoku Maria, I was waiting for her to be playable, ahahahaha), significant boost in performance(and console heat up as well. this one can easily make an old PS3 burn to death, but, thankfully, I can set the fans to a higher speed, thus helping my PS3 survive such games), some new stages, a new mechanic with roulette, and a whole bunch of nothing.

But for me, a BASARA fan, that didn't matter. I still spent around 80 hrs grinding happily, and don't have any particular complaints.

The only thing that really saves CAPCOM is that I can just pirate PS3 games. If I couldn't - I'd rage over their "expanded re-releases" like hell. But as it is - were even, in my opinion.

Accel World -Ginyoku no Kakusei-(PS3)

Niko-chan is cute.

When I started watching Accel World as an on-going show, I was really shocked. The protagonist was such a fatass that, using normal logic, nothing good could ever come out of it. And I doubt anyone else thought different.

However, years later, when I watched the whole series, I understood that might not be as bad as I thought too. The story shown in the anime was fresh, new to me, thanks to the unique protagonist and setting created by Kawahara Reki.

So, as you can guess, since I'm doing it the...3rd time in this year's review?...I decided that if I watched the anime, it isn't a bad idea to play the games.

I actually tried Ginyoku no Kakusei when it just came out, but the strangeness of the battle system made me stop.
However, having matured both as a human and a gamer, I instantly understood that the system is super simple.

Just whose number is greater - hits, if numbers are even - the attacker usually misses(there is some small chance to hit it seems).

And despite the battles being super slow, the re-living the story of Accel World anime(in proper order, I think. haven't read the Light Novels yet, but by volume order, game does it right, and anime messed everything up) felt awesome.

Bright, colorful characters, including the fatass Haruyuki, made it really fun to play.

While it doesn't seem like it, Accel World as a game is MAINLY a dating simulator, and you can date all of them female characters, Kuroyukihime, Chiyuri, Yuniko, (Blood Leo)Pard, Fuuko, as well as...Takumu, but his route is a bro route. There also is an Ash BROller ending, who also becomes a MAXIMUM BRO!

During dates, the protagonist, Arita Haruyuki, feels really uneasy, and it's hard not to understand him, since he understands his poisition better than anyone else.

I myself still don't get how could Kawahara Reki create a story with such protagonist in which romantic feelings of girls towards the protagonist don't feel strained or forced.

But Ginyoku no Kakusei isn't the only Accel World game, and I played all of them, or, I should say, BOTH of them.

Accel World -Kasoku no Chouten-(PS3)

Niko-chan is cute, RIGHT?

While the first game was basically the anime but in proper(?) order, ending in battle with Dusk Taker(but not having battle with Chrome Disaster, because it, story wise, seems to have taken place AFTER the defeat of Dusk Taker, after the confrontation with Acceleration Research Group started), the second game continues a bit further than the anime did, in some If routes - even as far as battle with White Cosmos(though, her avatar in the game is said to be completely original).

The battle system of the second game got some big improvements, including fast forward, Incarnate System attacks(through a hidden in-game code under certain requirements), and so on.

Kasoku no Chouten also introduces a character that didn't appear in the anime(perhaps OVA that was bundled with Kasoku no Chouten LE, though) - Shinomiya Utai, avatar name - Ardor Maiden, who actually is a 4th grader, LOLI-DATING BANZAI! Niko-chan got a great rival in this game, but I still did her first, and Utai after her.

When playing Kasoku no Chouten, I was wondering if there'll ever be a 3rd and maybe 4th game, considering how far the normal ending went.

However when I got some character endings, I understood that Kasoku no Chouten was meant to be the LAST Accel World game ever, because the character endings are good enough for being the end of the story of Accelerated World, and I do not feel I need anything more.

So you understand, I'll give you some spoileristic ending pics. No one except me will play it anyways, right?
To note, the pic I used at the beginning is also an ending pic.

I enjoyed both games greatly, as they both showed the events of the anime in right(?) order, and as a bonus revealed some things from much further light novels in If routes. What's more, I don't know if this is canon or not, but the game shows that after Level 10, the game doesn't end, as originally assumed.

But most of all, I just enjoyed dating the female characters of Accel World. I liked Kuroyukihime right from the start, when I tried watching anime the first time, but Yuniko just stole my heart the first time I saw her years later, when I actually watched the already finished anime.

But in the game...in the game, Niko-chan made me love her even more.

I can only applaud to Kawahara Reki's ideas and writing. Marvelous, simply marvelous.

Criminal Girls 2(PSVita)

Another VIG(Very Important Game) that I have been waiting for this year.

The continuation of the Super Ultra Great Deluxe Pretty Dynamic loli-molestation RPG.

No, wait, it wasn't about that, right? RIGHT?

Criminal Girls 2 is, pretty surprisingly, VERY similar to original Criminal Girls in just about everything. But I'm saying it in a good way. If it has changed as much as Kami-sama to Unmei Kakumei no Paradox(transition to 3D and all the shit), I'd never buy the second game.

It is still a 2D jRPG with the same battle system, which basically was the main appeal point of the first game.

In this game, a new command was added to battle - "Coach", with which you motivate the girls, increasing their stats, thus making them fight more effectively.

But what, JUST INCREASING and NO requirements? Of course not.

Coaching depends on the character's S&M affinity, which is decided by the number of S or M skills you take at level up. You can always cancel a skill and take the other one, though, which adds a bit of a planning element before boss battles.

Obviously, the player tries to set S and Ms in a way that a single coaching line increases efficiency of the whole party.

The ecchiness of Punishments also got a step-up, but same as in Criminal Girls Invitation, they use only a single image, even if animated with Live2D and moving camera.

Femshits would die spewing shit out of their asses if they saw this one. Nude loli(well, upper half), on a horse, punished with electricity. Mua-ha-ha-ha-ha.

The game also had a lot of difficulty spikes, which made me mad, but, somehow, I got my platinum trophy in just 30 hours, same as in Criminal Girls Invitation.

People say it's about 38, but WHAT WERE THEY DOING FOR EXTRA 8 HOURS? I do not know.

It was an awesome experience, just what I wanted - another Criminal Girls game, with nearly no changes, but with new girls and more ecchi punishments. Nippon Ichi Software did it RIGHT.

The iDOLM@STER Cinderella Girls: Starlight Stage(Android/iOS)

Doesn't look bad, when it's not original size, but if you look at original size screenshot...

I hated Cinderella Girls Starlight Stage(shortened - DereSute) from the very moment I started it, and it wasn't baseless.

First of all, while the game features both 3D and 2D representations during Lives, 3D looks HIDEOUSLY on most mobile devices, except some VERY expensive ones.

I do not know if Bandai Namco were contacted by mobile devices makers, and are paid for making the 3D so awful, or are just lazy pieces of horse poo that decided to leave everything to the device's graphics processor, but the graphics are positively awful on most devices. Nintendo DS game of iDOLM@STER franchise had better graphics.

The gameplay seems to be a few other rhythm social games stiched together, and that's nothing I can praise, no imagination, seriously.

Generally a cheap shitty money milking cow. I pity people who PAY in this crap, but even more I pity people who PLAY this crap.

There just really are better social games out there, even if not iDOLM@STER-based.

Idol Chronicle(Android/iOS)

A Taito Corporation developed original rhythm social game. Playing it after DereSute was like a breath of fresh air. Both the rhythm system and most systems were so different that I was astonished.

First of all, there are no character cards, instead, there are costume cards, and each costume has a 3D representation when it is equipped.

Leveling is also done through leveling equipment cards.

Second, no more shitty circles you wait for the note(also a circle, lol) to reach, it is a whole screen area, and you hit the notes in that area.

Third, original characters are attractive, and make the game interesting to at least try. My fav is Yuria(the blond loli, half-German, if I remember right. She uses some German during dialogues, lol), btw.

Last one - high amount of voice acting. All story scenes and just about everything is voiced, which is rare for social games. One can say most of the game's size(over 1GB, installs on SD, thankfully) is it's voice acting.

Seireiko ~Mireiyu no Namida~(PC)

One of the 3 first H-games I bought after I opened a window into amazon.co.jp importing for myself.

It is, generally, Japan's take on Jean Giraudoux's play called Ondine(google it), but with unique japanese approach...of making everything about high schoolers.

Without explaining any details, I'll just say the game's story is very emotional, beautiful and magnificent.

It generally should've been a single ending game, so that only Mireiyu has an ending, but that's not the japanese approach to the problem.

There are generally 3 heroines, and some "bad" endings which result in the protagonist ending up with other heroines.

I'm quite a cynical man, considering that after clearing the beautiful, sensual Mireyu route, I went and banged her mother on next playthrough right off the bat(the choice only appears on second playthrough anyways).

Overall, I really liked the setting and characters, and even though the game was released back in 2003, I can still enjoy it now, in 2015.

By the way, my pirate brothers, there is no ISO on the internet(at least there wasn't when I looked), ask me directly, I can share.

Yuurei to Koi Shitai!(PC)

After playing Gal☆Gun W, I was nearly obsessed with ghost girls, and so I found this game on VNDB.

As expected from the name, it's a nukige with ghost girl as main heroine.

Mostly light, comedic story, with seriously strained reason for the protagonist to have sex with a ghost(he actually understoods that for anyone who might see the scene, it'll only seem like he's masturbating), but pretty dramatic reason for Nana's(that's how the girl is named, since she doesn't remember her name) death(revealed near the end), which makes the game look pretty dark for a moment, but since it ends happily soon enough, I don't think that matters.

While I can't say I particularly enjoyed reading the thing, as it was mostly comedic madness that I didn't really want, but it was nice for the moment I read it, because it had what I wanted - a ghost heroine.

Aoi Umi no Tristia: Nanoka Franka no Hatsumei KoubouKi(PSP)

After Atelier ~~Shitllie~~Shallie was released, I was despaired, 2 awful Atelier games in a row was hard to bear.

But then Atelier ~~Shitphie~~Sophie came, and I felt even greater despair from how bad it was.

It was then that I found this game from Kogado Studio, and first thing I noticed - it is SO much ATELIER(just about technology, not alchemy), that no Atelier was as much Atelier in 3 years now.

There are some differences, but the idea is the same, and time management/money management are just as good.

The main character, Nanoka Franka, is a genius inventor, working at her famous grandfather's, Prospero Franka, inventing workshop.

One day, Prospero received a request for help with Tristia's, a town built on water, Renovation project.

However, Prospero had suddenly fallen ill, and sent his granddaughter, Nanoka, to do the job, which she accepted happily.

If only people living in Tristia and the city's administation were as enthusiastic to accept the little Nanoka as the project's key. Of course not.

The game's flow generally includes 4 things: inventing, going out to buy ingredients, making and selling the items. The more items you invent and sell, the more the city grows, the more people are attracted there, etc.

There is an awful lot of characters, most notable ones being Stuka, a talking dog, born from some kind of experiment, that is Nanoka's greatest friend and supporter(voiced by Kosugi Juurouta, which is awesome), Nene Hanpdenz, Nanoka's classmate back at the Imperial academy, and the daughter of the wealthy Hanpdenz family, who loves Nanoka a lot, in a lot of meanings, and Rafaruu, a battle android, that was found in a mysterious unbreakable container that was pulled out from the sea.

This game awfully reminded me of old Atelier games, to pinpoint, it mostly reminds me of Atelier Marie, which I love a lot.

The game has successfully satisfied my time management needs, and I think I'll do the second game next year.

Amagami ebiKore+(PSVita)

Another game I got for free in Playstation Plus this year.

But I might still buy it cheap for collection, because I love Enterbrain developed datesims.

For me, playing this game on Playstation Vita is more of a trip to the past, back to winter of 2010, when I first played it on my beloved PS2.

The first time I played, it was so fascinating, breathtakingly exciting and fresh.

The protagonist's situation seemed so real, so close to me, even though I never experienced it.

But dating the protagonist himself is impossible, so I just decided that I must correct the mistake, and reach a happy ending.

The heroines of Amagami are, as expected of a dating simulation game, attractive so much that it was really hard to decide 5 years ago. Now I just chose Sae without thinking, though. Because Sae=best girl, obviously.

Had to switch to 4:3, because the game isn't exactly optimized for 16:9, or rather...it's not

Another thing I just love about Enterbrain datesims is that there always is a hidden imouto-route or ending, and Amagami isn't different, there is a hidden imouto ending. Myaa-chan so cute.

EbiKore+ version also includes a mahjong mini-game with it's special story. There are two routes, an Amagami route and a Kimikiss(my fav Enterbrain game!) route.

I love playing games that I've played years ago, so it's not a wonder I'll say I loved playing it for the 3rd time(I did it on PS2, I did on PSP, and now on Vita).

Natsuiro Highschool:Seishun Hakusho(PS3)

Announced as panty shooting(photo shooting, that is) game, it's actually a PANTY FISHING GAME! MUA-HA-HA-HA.

D3's take on open-world model.

I consider open world to be the shittiest game making model, and well, I'm not wrong. Or maybe just D3 failed miserably at it.

The point is, as expected, making photos of girls' panties doing whatever it takes to see the so desired scenery under the girls' skirts.

NOT!

While the game is totally about it, you can actually just date girls and get proper romantic endings.

BUT NOOOO, WHY WOULD I? I'D BETTER MAKE ALL GIRLS HATE ME, BECAUSE I'M A PERVERT WHO JUST WANTS THEIR PANTIES, YES! RIGHT!

Panty shooting is done nicely, everything else done sucky. That's about all that can be said about the game.

Oh, this game also has a ghost heroine, which is nice.

Also, after first playthrough, a mode called Free Mode is unlocked, in which you can play with the game's models however you want. I've seen some totally cool japanese screenshots, where they made a situation as if the dog is fucking a girl, etc.

SUPER.FUN for a bad game, imo. Couldn't stop playing it at all.

Girlfriend(仮): Kimi to sugosu Natsuyasumi(PSVita)

Let me experience more of "this dokidoki".

The game that made me the happiest this year, because it made my feelings towards Miss Monochrome awaken completely.

While I knew of Miss Monochrome's existance as a fact, I even watched the first season of Miss Monochrome the Animation, I haven't felt much about her.

But this game, oh this game. by some magic made me completely madly in love with the cute android. No, first of all, I love android girls as concept from the start, since I'm fascinated with the idea of loving an artificially created being.

Miss Monochrome, while understanding most things in the world(through google or something, tho), doesn't understand feelings, which she certainly has, but generally doesn't mind due to not understanding why it happens or what happens, and that makes her seem even cuter to me.

Monochrome-chan butt!

About the game, though, it's a very normal datesim, with the only thing that at times, character events about everyday life repeat, which shouldn't normally happen in this type of games.

Character routes are, however, very enjoyable, so reading it is fun. Nice, I'd even say GREAT art makes it more comfortable to do as well.

The game should actually have been released in summer as it was originally planned, and that'd fit the game's name. But oh well, for Japan, November is summer too, probably.

The game has a very easy platinum trophy, one just has to play through all characters' routes and get the best ending. Planning to do that in 2016, however, Miss Monochrome will remain the only one for me in this game.

Kkm fans go cry. I'm doing her last.

Girlfriend(♪)(Android/iOS)

GFonpu, GFnote for short.

Miss Monochrome in 3D right on my tablet, HELL YEAH!

A new game in Girlfriend(仮) franchise released for Android/iOS devices right on 1st December this year(not counting it was on maintenance for 2 weeks after that, lol), and, as you, probably, already guessed, featuring MISS MONOCHROME, my beloved android girl living on simple AA batteries, who is an official heroine of this franchise.

But my maniacal love for Monochrome-chan aside, the game is good. It simply is and it's hard to say it's not.

The rhythm gameplay reminds of LLSIF, however, is a bit different, like it has skills that the player can trigger at any time(though, they are only available for ones who have rarity R and higher costumes), the disco ball(glitter ball, mirror ball, call it however), that the player has to spin(or not, I don't know if it affects anything), and that the character icons you have to tap only appear when the notes are going their way.

Other than that - LLSIF, just with 3D dancing(can be turned off), CUTE MISS MONOCHROME, and different songs.

The real problem of the game is it's load times, the game really likes to load something, and, at times, download 2 blocks of something, whatever it is. That really annoys the player, especially during load sequences before starting a performance, since a fragment of the song is played numerous times.

But that doesn't make the game much worse, just needs the player to get used to it, I think.

I have only played a month of it, so I cannot say much more, but I feel I'll play it for a long time, because my beloved android is in it.

One of this game's songs opened a whole new world to me, after I knew the song was sung by Kugimiya Rie. Holy cows, I never knew she could sing, and is actually pretty good at that.

Tsundere combined feed she works on is a waste of her voice.

Rune Factory Frontier(Wii)

More like Waifu Factory Frontier this time.

Rune Factory Frontier is a game I have played before, as you can guess, but this year, I decided that I'll marry each and every heroine the game has, and I did.

I outright skipped any farming and grind with my almighty Ocarina cheat engine, because I wasn't in the mood for spending 150 hours to prepare all heroines for marriage the fair way.

The game, as any proper Rune Factory game, is super grindy, and I remember how much I grinded, farmed and did crap to prepare even a SINGLE heroine for marriage last time I played the game.

The biggest problem in doing this was that the game only has 3 save slots, and no data copy option found anywhere in the game.

No problem, I just made 13 backups, in each of which I married a different girl.

Mission complete, I'm very satisfied, you can watch the pics I made here - http://goo.gl/5qxpyH, and be jelly because you aren't going to get 13 waifus in one week ever.

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Okay, I'm done with expressing my thoughts about games I've played this year enough time to actually express something.

But as everyone knows and remembers, time is cruel, and not all games were played nearly enough.

It's BACKLOG TIME!

The backlog I have left

PS3:

Shining Resonance - nothing could be done about it. I simply couldn't get in the mood for doing it.

Eiyuu Densetsu: Sen no Kiseki II - same as Shining Resonance, but I know every important piece of information about it, so I can spoil people as much as I want. With Vita version being given on PS Plus earlier this month, I think I'll finish it in 2016.

3DS(Not really backlog, just games I didn't buy yet because at time of their release there were games with higher priority, and I didn't get them):

Dai Gyakuten Saiban

Stella Glow

Fire Emblem if

Girls Mode 3

Vita:

OEdo BlackSmith - well, I said that any replaying it is pretty annoying. But I still hope I get into the mood one day and do it.

Girlfriend(仮): Kimi to sugosu Natsuyasumi - platinum trophy needs to be acquired

Eiyuu Densetsu Sora no Kiseki FC Evolution - same

Eiyuu Densetsu Ao no Kiseki Evolution - same

WiiU

Nothing yet

*Usual mention of awfully large PS2 backlog, of course. While I did clear some this year, it wasn't even 3% of it.
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You might be tired of drinking freaking green tea. My advice - move to Cola, and put up with me just a bit more. Umaru-chan recommends.

This year's tops are super hard to make, because I've played so many different(and similar) games that it's hard to compile it into any kind of top. But let's try.

KURO TOPS 2015

Top3 ActionRPG 2015:

1. Yoru no Nai Kuni

2. Senjin Otome

3. Princess Crown

Top3 Action 2015:

1. Zelda Musou

2. Sengoku Basara 4 Sumeragi

3. Kenka Bancho 6

Top3 Anime-based VN 2015:

1. Star Driver: Kagayaki no Takuto Ginga Bishounen Densetsu

2. Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata -blessing flowers-

3. Boku wa Tomodachi ga Sukunai Portable

Top3 Anime-based Games 2015:

1. Accel World: Kasoku no Chouten

2. Mahou Sensei Negima! 2-jikan me

3. Sword Art Online: Lost Song

Top3 Management/Craft Games 2015:

1. Aoi Umi no Tristia

2. Rorona no Atelier 3DS

3. Princess Maker 4

Top3 VN 2015:

1. Girlfriend(仮): Kimi to sugosu Natsuyasumi

2. Seireiko ~Mireiyu no Namida~

3. Yuurei to Koi shitai

Top3 Rogue-like RPG 2015:

1. Kagura Gensoutan

2. Kagura Douchuuki Sou

3. Kagura Soushunfu

Can't help if I only played the Kagura series of rogue-likes this year, lol.

Top3 Games for Girls 2015:

1. -

2. 12sai ~Honto no Kimochi~

3. Kobayashi ga kawaiisugite tsurai!!

Yes, there wasn't a game I could place on first place. I have a hunch, but I didn't have the time to do it.

Top1 Rail shooting games 2015:

1. Gal☆Gun W Double Peace

There weren't any other games in this genre this year, as they are quite rare nowadays, but Gal☆Gun W deserves the first place in 2015 for sure.

Top3 Social games 2015:

1. Girlfriend(♪)

2. Fate/Grand Order

3. Idol Chronicle

And the most interesting to people I know - the jRPG top.

Top3 jRPG 2015:

1. Criminal Girls 2

2. Eiyuu Densetsu: Ao no Kiseki Evolution

3. Eiyuu Densetsu: Sora no Kiseki FC Evolution

I really want to write Shining Hearts, but annual games can't enter tops, imo

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Okay, now that I'm completely done with current year, I want to speak about the coming year. And I have to say, that compared to when it was 2014->2015, there are less games I consider worth waiting for in 2016.

But let's at least list what's available:

Persona 5(PS3/PS4)

Star Ocean 5: Integrity and Faithlessness(PS3/PS4)

Ryu ga Gotoku Kiwami(PS3/PS4)

Odin Sphere Leifdrasir(PS3/PS4/PSVita)

Shin Megami Tensei IV FINAL(3DS)

Summon Night 6(PSVita/PS4)

Bullet Girls 2(PSVita)

Ansatsu Kyoushitsu: Assassin Ikusei Keikaku!!(3DS)

Undoubtedly, Bullet Girls, SMTIVF and Summon Night 6 are ones I wait for the most. Persona 5/SO5 are the second priority, though.

Odin Sphere is something I'll get(cause ARTBOOK, GODLY VANILLAWARE ART!), but not sure I'll play it.

And Ryu ga Gotoku Kiwami and Ansatsu Kyoshitsu are something I'm interested in, but not sure if I'll even bother purchasing or playing them.

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And this year, I think I'll end the long story at this.

2015 was a nice year, however, more and more I'm finding myself playing old games rather than new games, which clearly shows that new games market doesn't completely satisfy me.

But that's me, if it's different for you - lucky you.

With this, I'm bidding farewell and ending this long pic filled post.

Happy New Year, and lets hope I'll still be playing games next year to write another textwall of a post.

Kuro's Yearly Japanese Games Review and Top Rankings Blog

Thursday, 31 December 2015

Kuro Waifu of the Year Top 2015

Kuro 2015 Year Review