Development for Black Diary Case 3 is complete! It will be available in stores within a few weeks.
The school festival is drawing near and someone's been leaving copies of a deceased student's compositions around. Now everyone involved in the school play is afraid that they are being cursed by a ghost! It's up to Colette to unravel the secrets behind the mysterious school play phantom! But... they're not the only secrets she'll be unraveling.
... I think I added way more comedy into this case. lol
Stuff to expect:
- More of Jean Bellerose
- Another bad end
- Ayase still missing
- A cliche fireworks scene?!
- Tom being a suspect... again.
- Tom's secret
- Fighting games and RPG battles
- More references
These are the walkthroughs I'm using while playing the game. Special thanks to Kimiko-chan for linking me to the complete Jap walkthrough!
You should be able to get by with google's page translation, but if someone requests it, I can do a bit of translating for those parts that are kinda vague.
(I think this is for a different ending? I'm not sure. I'm translating this from the page in the Jap walkthrough cause it seems important xD)
Chapter 1
- Talk to Leo, buy the old school uniform and give it to Sakura
Chapter 2
- Talk to Sakura in the infirmary before going inside the Sakura Labyrinth to look for Gatou
- Sakura Labyrinth 2nd Layer 5F, BB Channel
You gain BB's SG1 if you answer 「なぜセンパイと呼ぶ？」"Why do you call me senpai?"
- Before going inside Rani's relief/that place where boss fights are held, go to the Labyrinth's entrance and talk to Sakura. Answer either 「みんなのために」or「君が辛そうだから」, "For everyone's sake" or " Because you seem happy about it."
Chapter 3
- At the beginning of the chapter, after the student council room event and before entering the labyrinth, Talk to Sakura in the infirmary (and obtain her medicine)
- After the war against Passion Lip, pick these choices:
「…………それは、できない」, "..... I can't do that"
「……トドメを刺さない」, ".... deliver the final blow"
Chapter 4
- After getting Jinako's SG1 and the student council event, talk to Sakura in the infirmary before entering the labyrinth.
Chapter 5
- Gaining BB's SG2 (you can increase it as you please?) <-- not sure what it's referring to
- After getting Elizabeth's SG1 and the student council room event, go to the infirmary and transfer the sacrament before going to the labyrinth.
Chapter 6
- After reaching the 16F, go to the student council room then to the infirmary and transfer the sacrament (30,000SM)
- In the student council room after clearing the 17F
Talk to Rani then go to the infirmary
Answer 「……それは、できない」"... I can't do that"
- 18F, inside M3
Answer「BBを心配する」"I'm worried about BB"
- After the battle with メルトリリス
Answer「…………それは、できない」and「……このまま、止めさせない」
Chapter 7
- After obtaining the legendary formal attire and before entering your room, go to the infirmary (acquire BB's SG3)
Warning: From here on, the events will be the CCC route
After entering your room, answer:
「自分たちと桜のため」
- Before entering Sakura's relief, answer
「……桜のため」
Items
やきそばパン - Yakisoba Bread
Price: 150
マスターのMPを僅かに回復(MP3)
Restores a minuscule quantity of the master's MP
カレーパン - Curry Bread
Price: 100
マスターのMPを僅かに回復(MP2)
Restores a minuscule quantity of the master's MP
プレミアロールケーキ- Premium Jelly Roll
Price: 2000
マスターのMPを小回復
Restores a small quantity of the master's MP
エーテルの粉末 - Ether Powder
Price: 100
サーヴァントのHPを僅かに回復(HP100)
Restores a minuscule quantity of the servant's HP
エーテルの欠片 - Ether Fragment
Price: 500
サーヴァントのHPを小回復(HP300)
Restores a small quantity of the servant's HP
エーテルの塊 - Ether Shard
Price: 1500
サーヴァントのHPを中回復(HP600)
Restores a moderate quantity of the servant's HP
魔術結晶の欠片 - Magic Crystal Fragment
Price: 2000
マスターのMPを小回復(MP50)
Restores a small quantity of the master's MP
薬酒の瓶 - Alcohol Bottle
Price: 3000
サーヴァントのMPを小回復(MP30)
Restores a small quantity of the servant's MP
Title: World End Economica I Developer: Spicy Tails Released: 2011 Voiced? No Length: 10-30 hours
Download:
World End Economica is a visual novel written by the author of Spice and Wolf, Isuna Hasekura. It is released by episode. As of this moment, there are only 2 episodes released.
I'd highly recommend this for those who like slice of life and heartwarming stories. There's a bit of drama in it too, but it's the insightful kind.
Opening:
Plot Summary: *Warning! Contains spoilers!*
The protagonist is Yoshiharu Kawaura, who was born and raised on the moon.
Yoshiharu goes to a cheap internet cafe, Big Bull Cafe, and looks at the Lunar Stock Exchange, which is how he primarily earns money because it doesn't require him to break a sweat. His goal is to earn enough money and live in the center of the lunar city, where most of the rich moon people live. Once he learns from the clerk that the police are on the way inside, he makes a quick escape to avoid getting caught. Law states that those below 18 years old had to be part of an educational institution. Since Yoshiharu is below 18, he has to avoid the police.
He decides to have lunch at the Lunar Chinese Restaurant instead since he can't go back to the internet cafe. He turns on his PC again to continue where he left off. The waitress there asks him a bunch of questions, which he found annoying. Just as he was about to have dessert, the police enter the restaurant and have lunch there. The waitress helps him escape, so he takes off and arrives in some sort of atrium.
A dark figure starts searching his bag. He tackles the figure and finds out that it was a black haired girl. She contacts someone, and the waitress from the restaurant arrives. A tracking device was apparently placed in his bag by the waitress, allowing them to find him. The waitress, who introduces herself as Lisa, invites him to stay with her, saying that it's her 'hobby' to take in lost kids like him. He agrees to go with her. The black haired girl, whose name is Hagana, complains about being unable to stand because he tackled her earlier, so Lisa forces Yoshiharu to give her a piggyback ride.
They arrive at what seems to be a church. He takes a bath for the first time since he ran away from home. After his bath, he finds Lisa reading a book. They talk about Earth, Lisa's hobby, books, and religion. There, he reveals his real name to Lisa. Their talk is interrupted by Hagana who suddenly appears in somewhat revealing clothes, making Lisa scold her.
The next day, he gets back to his usual activity of trading stocks. He does not reveal to Lisa what he does on the PC, but she doesn't seem to mind as long as it's not anything illegal. With Hagana busy, Yoshiharu and Lisa have dinner together without her. Lisa tells him that he has to work for his meals and lodging, so she mentions a bunch of jobs Yoshiharu can do. The earnings from those jobs are way less than what he usually makes when trading stocks, so he declines. He takes out 200 moules and gives it to Lisa as payment for staying 20 days. She looks baffled about how he produced the money. He assures her that it isn't 'dirty' money. She then decides not to inquire further.
Yoshiharu makes a visit to Newton City to boost up his spirit. When he returns to the church, he hears the troubled voice of Hagana. He runs to the kitchen, which is now a mess, and finds a man there with her. Yoshiharu takes down the man and restrains him, thinking he was a burglar. He soon realizes that the man is a debt collector, who is there to collect the 200 moule interest. He pays the man and lets him go. Hagana asks Yoshiharu to help fix the furniture and cover up the scene. She finds 2 lilies missing from the vase, so she asks him to find 2 lilies. He uproots lilies from a nearby area and teaches her how to cut the stems. Afterwards, he spends the rest of the time in his room reading the news and checking his e-mail. An e-mail about an investment contest comes in. He saves it in case he decides to join in the future.
Lisa arrives with leftovers from the Lunar Chinese Restaurant. During dinner, Lisa finds out about the debt collector's visit. Hagane kicks Yoshiharu under the table before he could disclose any details about how the room was a mess. After dinner, Lisa makes a visit to Yoshiharu's room and invites him to her room while Hagana is in the bath. She serves him some alcohol (whooahh... giving alcohol to minors, eh, Lisa?) and begins inquiring about the debt collector's visit. After learning about everything, she tells Yoshiharu about the debt.
Lisa borrowed a book from the library for Hagana. They lost it, so they're forced to pay the fee, which is pricey because books are rare. And that's how they ended up borrowing money from the debt collector, Mr. Toyama. Hagane thinks it's her fault, so she gets upset when Mr. Toyama visits to collect the interest. She even went as far as offering to sell herself, which Lisa strongly opposes. As Lisa continues talking, she suddenly gives Yoshiharu a hug, which surprises him.
The next day, it rains. Hagana and Yoshiharu end up arguing about their clothes, so Lisa suggests that they go shopping together after the rain stops. It's a dull day for the stock market, so Yoshiharu has nothing better to do. Seeing this, Lisa suggests they bake cookies, so she makes Yoshiharu do all the work while she gives him instructions. In the middle of that, the doorbell rings, so Yoshiharu goes to get the door and finds a girl with glasses named Chris delivering vegetables. She is there to ask help from Hagana on some math problems. Then, he gets the idea of using Hagana's skills to help him with his trading. However, he does not ask because of Hagana's attitude towards him.
Later that day, he goes shopping with Hagana. Yoshiharu learns more things about Hagana as they talk and connect a bit for once. After a failed prank on getting Hagana to try out clothes from a colorful clothing store, they enter a normal store selling cheap clothes. Hagana goes on super haggle mode, irritating the clerk and making Yoshiharu uncomfortable. They manage to score a discount and Hagana pays for it all. When asking for Yoshiharu's share, she subtracts the moules saved from the haggle from his share. Yoshiharu insists on paying in full because she was the one doing all the haggling while he did nothing, but Hagana refuses to let him. This leads to Hagana kicking him and taking off crying. When he gets back to church, Lisa asks him why Hagana is crying. He learns that it was Lisa who told her to haggle as thanks for his help. When he gets to his room, he decides to sign up for the investment contest.
The next day, Lisa asks Hagana and Yoshiharu to eat lunch together. When they do, he tries to apologize, but Hagana gets angry and reveals why she didn't like him: because everyone else is doing their best to survive, while he just spends the day in front of his computer and doesn't work. (She's just jealous that Yoshiharu puts in less effort and earns more money than her. lol) Yoshiharu heads to his room and begins thinking about his life. With all the dull market days, he is unsure about where he is going in trading. Additionally, there's Hagana adding to his stress too.
Right in the middle of Yoshiharu's mental struggle, the doorbell rings. It's Mr. Toyama who is looking for Lisa, saying he has something important to discuss. He waits in the living room for Lisa's return. He and Yoshiharu have a decent conversation, making Yoshiharu realize that he's not a bad guy. When Lisa returns, they leave the room to speak in private. Afterwards, Lisa comes back with a serious look on her face.
The next day is a day off for Yoshiharu, since the stock market is closed. He heads out to look for Chris and asks her what Hagana likes. Before she could answer properly, they see Hagana approaching, so Yoshiharu leaves before he is spotted. He goes back to the church. A while later, he receives a call from Lisa asking him to prepare hot cocoa and a bath. She gets back and he hears Hagana's door slamming shut. Lisa tells him that Mr. Toyama wants the debt paid back in full. Hagana caught wind of the situation and confronted Mr. Toyama, so Lisa stepped in to stop her and Hagana's elbow accidentally hit Lisa's eye. Yoshiharu decides to help Lisa through the investment contest so she doesn't have to sell her precious books, but he needed Hagana's help. They head to Hagana's room where she is curled up in the corner crying. Lisa gives her a hug and explains what they decided on. Right after that, Yoshiharu begins teaching Hagana about the stock market.
They also spend the next day teaching Hagana about stocks. In the middle of the lesson, they spot Chris at the window spying on them and blushing, probably misunderstanding something. She takes off once Yoshiharu catches sight of her. They continue with the lesson.
Once Hagana learns all she can, she mentions that they need a programmer to build them a program for their calculations. They pay a visit to Serrault, a friend of Lisa's who is a programmer. When they follow the directions of where his place is at, Yoshiharu finds out that Serrault is the afro guy from the Big Bull Cafe, the cheap internet cafe he always visits. Hagana describes the program they want him to make, and he accepts.
While the program is being constructed, Yoshiharu does all the trading. Hagana wants the program improved, so she asks Yoshiharu to accompany her to the Big Bull Cafe (cause afros scare her lol). When they get there, Yoshiharu opens the booth Serrault is in and finds him sleeping while leaving a porn video on. In panic, he tells Hagana to wait outside while he wakes Serrault up and pull the plug of the monitor. A clueless Hagana soon joins them. After doing their business, they start heading to the church, but Yoshiharu tells her to walk home alone because he wants to eat out. Hagana tells him she wants to join him. They decide to buy bread and eat at the tunnel, since Chris usually eats there too. Hagana has a hard time moving herself up the tunnel, so Yoshiharu carries her. (omg XD) They savor the amazing view together until Chris arrives.
Finally, they test out the program. When the prediction works, Hagana breathes a sigh of relief. They start relying on the program and slowly increase their rank in the contest. Yoshiharu decides to try out the program in the real market despite Hagana's pessimism about its efficiency. The program does work and soon people who also owe money to Mr. Toyama like Chris' family hear of what they're doing, so they entrust their savings to them to use for trading.
Right around that time, Yoshiharu gets scouted by Barton from The Brittanica. He meets up with Barton in Newton City without informing Lisa and Hagana of the details. Barton was impressed with his performance during the first few days of the contest. Yoshiharu learns more about trading from him as they dine together in an expensive restaurant.
As the days progresses, Hagana's program improves and they begin relying on it so much. Yoshiharu loses his passion for trading and feels useless. He feels he has to catch up with the program or he will be replaced. He decides to see Barton again. Barton teaches him about getting insider information, and other predictors of the rise or fall of businesses, He also mentions that Yoshiharu's trading style became stabilized and wonders if he was working with one more person, which he terms as a 'quaint'. Yoshiharu admits that he is working with Hagana. Barton then advises him to part with her, because the essence of trading lies not in mathematics.
Yoshiharu decides to aim for first place in the contest, so he can give the money to Hagana and cover her living expenses before she enters the university. That way, he won't have regrets when he leaves to join Barton. Set on getting first place, Hagana and Yoshiharu work hard on trading. They end up sleeping together on the bed for a few days. Hagana asks why he wants to aim for first place. He mentions his intention to leave and follow his dream, which was to become an investor in Newton City and fund an expedition for Mars. Hagana starts crying when he tells her the money from getting first place is for her.
During the last day of the contest, Yoshiharu makes an attempt to raise enough money to get to first place, but it fails. Hagana is disappointed, but Yoshiharu tells her that it was a fun journey anyway.
Suddenly, Mr. Toyama and Serrault show up. Mr. Toyama wants to entrust his money to them too. They explain that they only have one week to raise enough money to pay back the debts. So, Hagana and Yoshiharu get to work. However, things don't go well for them. There's not enough time for them to raise the money, so Yoshiharu asks Barton to invest in him, but his offer was declined. However, Barton gives him some 'insider info' about which stock to look out for.
Yoshiharu trusts Barton's hint, which causes them to lose all their money. Barton tricked him. Yoshiharu collapses and falls into a coma from the shock. He is hospitalized and wakes up 10 days later. Despite him losing all the money, Chris and those who entrusted their money to him still visit. Apparently, Barton stepped in and helped reduce everyone's debt to 50,000 moules, so they're safe for now. When Yoshiharu returns to the church in a wheelchair, they find out Hagana ran away. The game ends there.
Comments:
This game was a roller coaster ride of relief, tension, happiness, and sadness. I like games like these that don't follow the cliche plot where the protagonist endures hardship then wins it all in the end. Rather, what happened was the opposite. Choosing to end the story that way must have been done on purpose to make readers realize that what can't be severed by money are the strong bonds you make with people who care for you.
I was drawn into the story right around when Yoshiharu/Hal starts living with Lisa and Hagana. Lisa was an interesting character. She was like a mother or older sister figure who held with her the remnants and values of Earth culture. Honestly, I wanted to slap Hagana several times for being so judgmental at the beginning. Right around the second half of the story, she became more likable. I particularly admire her genuine desire to help people paired with her straightforwardness. She and Yoshiharu make a great pair.
And now for the not plot related things...
I love the music in this game. It definitely gives a 'moon' or space-like atmosphere to it. It sorta reminds me of Terraria music though. The background music was utilized pretty well when the scene was tense.
There were a lot of CGs in the game. Well, it is a pretty lengthy game. I love the one where Hagana and Yoshiharu are on top of the tunnel, savoring the view. It was just perfect for the scene.
Overall, this game is worth playing. You don't just get entertainment, but also added knowledge on stock market trading and insights on life! I can't wait to play the next episode.
Title: Fantasy Maiden's Odd Hideout Developer: Buriki Clock Released: August 2014
Summary:
Ange and Bernd, two childhood friends, head out into the woods and enter a house made of delicious treats where they used to play at when they were little. After spending the night there, they find themselves locked inside. Then, suddenly fairies appear along with their dead childhood friend Cynthia! Cynthia tells Ange to collect breadcrumbs. Once she has enough, the bird in the cage will show her the way.
They spend each day partying and collecting breadcrumbs until reality starts to gradually become apparent and Bernd starts acting suspicious. The secret Bernd is hiding from her actually is...?!
Comments:
This game is one of those that are all cutesy and happy at the beginning, then horror and reality slowly comes in. Kinda like the game Patty and Mr. Miles except it actually gives you some closure.
The game is actually divided into 2 parts: one is Ange's side and the other is Bernd's side. Depending on how sensitive you are to feels, the heart-crushing moments start to come in right around the end of Ange's side.
So I was playing this game with my friend Toru... and we got stuck at the Poker mini-game cause we had so much fun gambling and buying Strawberry Jam from the Crow to raise Bernd-kouhai's affection level. xD
There are 3 endings, all of which are decided right near the end of Bernd's side. The true end is unlocked after seeing the bad end and the normal end.
A little tip if you've decided to play this game: Be sure to complete the puzzle picture in the first part, because you need it to see the true end a.k.a. Sunday End.
What to expect:
- Mini-quests
- Vampires
- Cute fairies
- Poker?! <--- Yes. You play poker in this game.
- Heart-crushing reality
Okay, maybe merging those three titles into one wasn't such a good idea, but... *shrug*
I'm on game playing mode this week cause I have extra free time, so I am simultaneously playing three games right now. I'll probably make a review or walkthrough for some of them after I finish playing.
After leaving it sitting around in my computer for a while, I finally started on Steins;Gate. Special thanks to Yuki-senpai for giving me a copy as a gift! I'm still on Chapter 2, but I've already been absorbed into the story. I can't believe I got used to Rintaro's chuunibyou narrations. I swear. If this was a dating sim, he'd be the worst protagonist ever, but he'd be the most entertaining one. Speaking of dating sims, there's a spin-off romatic comedy PSP game for Steins;Gate. It's not English translated though, but I heard of a recent effort to produce an Eng patch. I'm gonna give that Eng patch a chance and wait before getting the game.
I heard Steins;Gate has some heart-crushing moments right around the end and some crazy plot twists (cause time travel makes stuff like that happen). Bring on the feels!
Another game I'm playing is World End Economica I. I've been wanting to play this game for a while now. Finally, I managed to obtain a copy. Yay! It's a doujin game by Spicy Tails about life on the moon. I like the whole concept of building a city on the moon.
Although this game isn't voiced, they make up for it with the art and story. There is an official Eng translated version available (yay!).
The last game was recommended to me by Kimiko-chan. Actually, it was Fate Extra CCC she was recommending, but I playedFate Extracause it's in Eng. I was expecting real time battle, but it's apparently turn based with a rock-paper-scissors kind of gameplay. It's rather hard to explain in words so please refer to this video instead:
The Holy Grail War goes on for 6 weeks. You spend the week training and gathering info. At the end of the week, you have a boss battle. There are some surprises here and there like getting poisoned or getting locked out of the arena. Overall, it's entertaining. I just find the battle system kinda annoying cause if you don't keep a cheat sheet with you, you're forced to either memorize or guess the attack patterns of enemies.
And those are the games I've been playing. As for updates on Black Diary, Case 3 is around 70% complete. That 30% is just basically adding in the music, sfx, and character expressions. Everything else is pretty much done. It should be released before the end of this month. :3
