Turnip Sensei

The polls are really bugged. It shows that I have voted for Majikoi when I actually haven't voted for anything. And it doesn't even count my vote. Looking at close it seems like it mixes the votes with old votes from the Anime Club thread. The poll shows falsely that me, Shikomizue and Abyssal Monkey have voted for things before the poll even started, which also lines up with the time frame when the Anime Club poll was active.

Holy damn Trails of Cold Steel was amazing! I can easily put it right next to Persona 4 Golden as one of the absolute best games on Vita. What an awesome experience. And now I want to play Trails of Cold Steel II so badly...

I guess this could be fun from time to time. Here's my harem, or more like random collection of female characters I happened to really like. The ordering is really arbitrary and characters are limited to 1 per game, otherwise the list would be totally dominated by the Ladies of Steampunk games.

I've been playing the demo a little and from what I've seen it's looking to be pretty good. It's both really entertaining (Yurirei is almost Grisaia-level of quotable), but also really heartfelt how they tackle the relationships and how the girls react to their own sexual orientation and feelings. The demo might not be fully representative of the final product, but at least it totally sold me. Then again I was pretty interested from the moment I heard it's from Liar-soft and not a nukige. But yeah, it's little disappointing how the marketing went. It doesn't help it's the "first uncencored VN on Steam" and how fixated everyone is on the sex. I still want to hear a proper comment from someone who has read it Japanese, but at least since Koestl and some others have called it legitimately adorable I'm not too worried.

You are starting grasp why I like Persona 3 better. Because P3 ties character development to the main story and so the characters actually grow in a meaningful way. Whereas in Persona 4 you saw characters develop in their respective dungeon and that was mostly it. And while S.Links did develop characters further, they are also optional and don't make any difference on the main story, so in the end it all felt little hollow. But that's just the beginning, you are in for ride that at least equals, if not surpass Persona 4. I can't wait to hear more as you get further. Now I kinda feel like playing P3 again myself. I totally shouldn't, but maybe I can find my old save files and enjoy a little bit somewhere from the middle...

Here's the old Persona Waifu poll thread. It wasn't too hard to dig up and it's only been dead for like a year. But yeah, team Aigis is underrepresented. She easily the best girl and best character in the game, and well, best girl in general as well. ~ Persona 5 is looking amazing and I can't wait to experience once again the fulfilling feeling of playing a new Persona game for the first time. But I think expecting a summer release for English version of P5 is kind of silly. It could be possible, but I doubt they'd make it in time. (And knowing Atlus, the release date is like 2018 in Europe) Well, unluckily for me I'm not going to have proper time to play P5 until the start of 2017 (hopefully), since mandatory military service is waiting me in summer. Well, at least I have enough time to decide whether to take my friend's old PS3 or invest in PS4.

I just put a bunch of Liar-soft titles there, I don't really want anything else. I'll have to hope Gahkthun sold enough for Mangagamer to translate rest of the Steampunk games and more. Besides lately Mangagamer has been working with and putting out all kinds of interesting and varied VNs, so I'm more than happy leave the localization decisions to people how know what they are doing and what's actually good in Japanese.

Persona 3 fairly different from 4 in terms of themes and how the group dynamic are handled. This time it's not just fun and games, rainbows and friendships. But it's pretty much up the preferences which these styles you happen to prefer. I personally like 3 more; the main story is better and I feel the way the characters are handled and integrated to the story is better, but that's just me. Well, in terms of gameplay 3 has some inconveniences compared to 4 and especially Golden, but it's minor. Even Tartaros is kind of acquired taste, the reactions can range from "worst dungeon in all video games" to "Interesting way to portray progress and working towards a goal".

No no, Ar nosurge has way better translation than Ar Tonelico. The English in Ar Tonelico 1 is pretty clunky and simple in comparison. Don't know exactly how faithful Ar nosurge is to the Japanese script, but at least it reads well English. And what I've seen and remember comparing text to Japanese voice acting, it's pretty good.

Trails of Cold Steel is just too good. I have the "damn I like this game"-feeling going on all the time. The main party members have their characters fleshed out and presented so well that you grow really fond of them, quite like in Persona. But on top of having awesome main characters the side characters and the whole world is really fleshed out. Too often in games it feels like everything revolves around you, but in Cold Steel there's this feeling that you're just one small part of the world. Whether it's new political movements, seeing your neighbors flirting every morning or listening someone from other class ranting about new radio program; it all adds up to this wonderful sense almost living game world. Talking to every single character is really worth it. There's so many cool little details you'll miss if you don't. I learned my lesson in Chapter 2 when I realized I missed two chapters of Red Moon Rose. (I wanted to read them...) Some scenery shots: And other random shots

Few PSP JRPGs I imported just came in post. 7th Dragon 2020, it's sequal 7th Dragon 2020-II and Saigo no Yakusoku no Monogatari. I'm little anxious about using my precious Vita while commuting, but since my old PSP is not that important anymore I got these games to help me improve my Japanese and kill time while using public transport. This was also my first experience with customs, since the previous game I imported was so cheap that I didn't have to pay anything. I was slightly worried what would happen with customs, thanks to some horror stories, but in the end my experience really uneventful. I just filled a form on internet, the form got approved immediately, then I just had to pay some taxes and my package was sent to my nearest post office. Easy. And here's pics. (Sorry for super potato quality, I couldn't find anything else with camera other than my Vita) And as bonus, my meager physical game collection (excluding my old DS-games, they are in a box elsewhere)

I don't think that's going to be problem. Most of the time I just forget I'm supposed to take screenshots, that's how in to Cold Steel I am. I'm around chapter 2 and it's getting better all the time. The combat becomes more interesting as it gets more varied and story is starting to get going as well. I really like how slowly they handle the integration process between the students in Class VII. It's not just "let us all be friends" and I love it. The relationships and various factors behind them are delightfully complicated. The game looks pretty good as well. The location are really pretty and there's lot of thought put into little details. Good example is the following scenery shot from chapter 1, where a lone train passes by in the distance, accompanied by satisfying clatter of railways that really adds up to the atmosphere. And the side characters, the other students of the Academy are really interesting bunch as well. Talking to random NPCs was fun in Trails in the Sky, but Cold Steel takes it to a whole new level. They all have such silly and interesting things to say. I keep finding new favorite NPCs all the time.

Trails of Cold Steel arrived yesterday, so I've just started that. But also flu season arrived as well and I was too sick to play it properly yesterday. It's been pretty fun as I expected and the English voices aren't that bad either, almost on same level as Persona dubs. I think I'll just enjoy the game slowly trying to talk to pretty much everyone. The only minor complaints I have are that the loading times are pretty longish and the text pretty small on Vita. Oh, and that they made the prologue dungeon a complete sausage fest. I know it makes sense that girls would team up with girls and boys with boys in orientation, but I still wanted to play as the girls... (I always use as many female party members as I can, only really cool male characters or balance reasons can change that) I'll also try to challenge myself to take random screenshots of my experiences, inspired by Eclipsed stories. It looks fun, but I can't promise anything.

Finished Atelier Escha & Logy Plus! It was nice 30 hour experience to play over weekend. I feel like I'm liking every new Atelier game little more than the previous one. Ayesha was my previous favorite, but Escha & Logy surpassed that. It's just more fun to play all around. Especially the setting was used better this time around. There was more focus on why the world ended up like that and what really happened to the previous civilization. The improved combat system proved to be really entertaining, especially towards the end game encounters. There were some pretty epic boss battles, improved further by amazing Gust vocal tracks for BGM and my buffed Linca who did 4-8x more damage than most of my other characters, excluding attack items and special attacks of course. I'll have to play it again some time with Logy and get the endings I missed. But for the moment Linca's, Lucielle's and Threia's endings are plenty enough. Oh, and the Girls's Tea Party ending which is definitely the best.

Now that I managed to play Escha & Logy for a more respectable period of time, I'm liking it even more. The combat with six party members is crazy, abusable, explosive and really fun. The combat has been always my least favorite part in Atelier and while Ayesha made it somewhat enjoyable, it's always been kind of chore. But now it's actually fun. Unbalanced, but fun. Especially the active support attacks and guards feel nice for something so simple. I also really like the small changes they made to the alchemy system. Now the alchemy skills are important from the get-go and the alchemy feels more like a puzzle now, which is nice. And thanks to replenishing consumables I don't have waste time and materials for supplies and I can just focus on making something new and worthwhile. So far from the new (support) characters Threia is my favorite. I guess I'm sucker for older, dashing and aloof women, but that jacket hanging from the shoulders is just too cool! Now I just need to marathon this game before my copy of Trails of the Cold Steel arrives. I guess it's going to be a busy weekend...

Aah, Escha & Logy Plus was just what I needed. Laid back and adorable, it just makes me feel really cheerful. There's all kinds of nice quality-of-life improvements over the previous titles like consumables restock automatically after going back to village and some other smaller tweaks to combat and UI in general. The crafting system seems like it's streamlined a little, but because I never really got into crafting in-depth in previous games it's hard to say whether it's dumbed down or not. New and returning cast is joyful; Linca is moe as ever, adult Willbell is adult pretty much only in looks (barely) and the main due is pretty great too. I thought Logy was going to be the quiet and cool guy based on the few things I looked up before release (like one trailer), but he's actually really nice. And Escha has that cuteness of a energetic puppy, which I guess was the point if the tail accessory is any indication. It's really nice that there are companies which games you can just buy without looking up anything and still know you're going to like them. Gust is one them for me, and so far they haven't disappointed.

Oh Yeah! There hasn't been anything really exiting to play ever since I finished Gahkthun after Christmas, so I've been eagerly waiting for Escha & Logy. I need the cutesy stuff to heal my bored mind and having a main duo sounds pretty exiting, from a romantic standpoint.

Yup, Origin is PC only. But from the same series there's a similar game called Ys: Oath in Felghana (PSP) on PSN. It's not as amazing as Origin, but great game still. (The PC version of Oath is superior though) But there's Ys Seven (PSP) and Ys: Memories of Celceta (Vita) if you want to play Ys for vita, on Vita. They have somewhat different combat systems, but the feeling is the same and the games are equally fun and awesome. And all of the Ys games are stand-alones, so you can start from any of them. My personal recommendation is start from either Origin on PC or Celceta on Vita.

DO IT! Anyways, I took a break from everything and played through Ys Origin once again. Best action RPG I've ever played, it always feels so good to play. Gameplay is fast, fluid, responsive and really satisfying despite being fairly simple. All you have is one button combo, three different chargeable spells, dash attack and jump, but since the game is crafted to such perfection it's more than enough. And better yet, there's three different characters to choose from. The principles are the same, but the different attacks and spells means wildly different play styles. The boss battles is where the combat system shines and all of them are really intense encounters. Precise movement, dodging and carefully planned attacks are needed, especially on higher difficulties which brings out all the intricacies of the combat system. Beating a boss with just a sliver of health left, while barely dodging the final attack really gets adrenaline flowing. It also has kick-ass music and best story out of all Ys games, so if anyone's ever in a need of concise, no-nonsense ARPG experience give Ys Origin a go.

Since my last attempt was ganked by the forum updates, let's have an another try. Could you grant me a mighty title?

I already talk about Chapter 6 and I don't have much more to say, so I'll keep it short. Next up, Chapter 7. Probably my favorite chapter, featuring my favorite Lady. Whoops, that turned out to be something completely different. It was supposed to be about the strengths of Chapter 7, but I got little carried away and it kind of turned into a tribute to Emi with added rambling.

Valkyria: Blue Revolution is supposed to be a spin-off and a normal RPG at that. It's basically a completely new series, just using a the same setting as Valkyria Chronicles, so expecting more of the same it bit silly. I can understand why people would be upset that it's not a "real" Valkyria Chronicles game, but I'm personally pretty interested in it. It looks pretty cool and the setting is still great. Now I just want to see what they decided to do with the gameplay. The fan translation has been completed a while ago, and yes VC3 is way better than 2. The gameplay is improved, but still mostly the same. The atmosphere and the story is closer to VC1, in fact it's even darker this time. VC3 is my personal favorite of the series, it has best characters and story, and the smaller maps and faster gameplay suit me much better.

I have read little over 50 visual novels to completion, most of which I've read over the last year or so. I still have long way to go, especially on the untranslated front.

It's time for everyone's favorite beach episode! In other words, my thought about Chapter 5.