Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Azuneko Studio's Black Diary Case 1 is Released!

Title: Black Diary Case 1
Developer: Azuneko Studio
Release Date: July 2014
Platform: PC, iOS
Type: Visual Novel


Summary:

Colette is a high school detective who investigates a series of unusual mysteries that take place within the school. As she solves cases of missing students, an obsessed stalker, a play-sabotaging phantom, and a suicidal literature-lover, she starts to uncover bits and pieces of an even bigger mystery whose mastermind could be someone just by her side. Is the truth uncovered real? Or is it all just part of someone's plan?


This whole game is actually divided into cases. Right now, only the first case is released, which is about an hour of playtime (that is if no detours were taken).

The main character is the cheerful fried-eggs-loving girl named Colette Leblanc who is such a danger magnet that she gets hit by a ball in the head and ends up in the infirmary. There she meets Dr. Cohen, a creepy doctor whose smiles are a rarity (except around Colette of course), who challenges her to solve mysteries around the school. Colette accepts and her first task is to prove Tom Hamilton innocent.

Case 1 is divided into 2 parts, the first is all about helping Tom clear his name. The second part is the real deal, which is about a pianist named Risa who went missing on the night of the test of courage (which is pretty much that whole exploring an abandoned school building at night). So you go around, gather info, and finally piece together what happened that night. 

At times, you have to argue with some characters. The game employs a 'life' system, where you start off with 5 lives and lose one every time you pick the wrong choice. So, you're better off paying attention to details.

Black Diary also has a set of quirky characters like the justice-obsessed student council president Mikhail and the carrot-sporting Nora. Of course, there are normal ones too like Colette's best friend, Ayase, who acts like a mother figure, and the unfortunate Tom, who always ends up in people's suspect list. (lol. Poor Tom.)



Nope. Danger magnet Colette will always head to danger.



Nora defending her choice of TV shows.


Apple

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Papina's Otaku Life Update #3: Never Enough Corpse Party

I finally got myself to watch Gekkan Shoujo Nozaki-kun. I read the manga before, and the anime still portrays the scenes as hilariously as the manga. Oh gosh. My stomach hurts from laughing. This series has tons of really unique characters (I have no better term for them) who make you facepalm a lot.

And now,... more Corpse Party stuff because I love the series a lot:

Everybody Loves Yoshiki
Drama CD


If you're a Corpse Party fan, you should definitely listen to this. It's so hilarious! XD The story is just as the title goes... everybody looooves Yoshiki.

It's a little late, but I started playing Corpse Party -THE ANTHOLOGY- Sachiko's Game of Love ♥ Hysteric Birthday 2U. I'll post up my reactions review about it soon. It's been a really hilarious game so far.

All the hype for Corpse Party: Blood Drive is still going on in the Corpse Party community. Unfortunately, I didn't order the game cause I don't have a vita. Ugh. Well, I'll be patient and just wait. (Though I already spoiled myself from watching live streams of the game. Ehe. But they button mashed through the conversations, so I didn't pick up what they were really about.)

Ahh.. I wonder when will Gatchaman Crowds Season 2 will be be released.

Monday, July 21, 2014

Papina's Otaku Life Update #2: Awkward Moments

That awkward moment when you find out that crazy antagonist guy who kisses dudes from Gatchaman Crowds is voiced by Mamoru Miyano, who's this pop idol. (He also voiced Tokiya from Uta no Prince-sama)



I was at a restaurant with my friends when one of them suggested this drama CD to me. As I listened, I immediately recognized the voice. "MOCHIDA?!" ヘ(。□°)ヘ *imagination totally ruined* Derm it. Now I end up imagining Mochida Satoshi from Corpse Party whenever I listen to any drama CD voiced by Shimono Hiro. (。┰ω┰。)

Another awkward moment... but not anything anime related. I was at my friend Alis's place with my other friend Toru. As we were waiting for our other friend to arrive, Toru and I decided to go borrow Alis' prop swords and ambush our friend at the elevator. Toru was supposed to hold her hostage, then I appear declaring that I'm a warrior of justice (or something like that) and we have a short sword fight where I end up stabbing Toru. AND SO... we waited for our target to arrive. Once the elevator doors opened, Toru rushed in...!!! And...... *moment of silence* ........IT WAS ALIS' MOM!!!! (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻ WHYY?!


Sunday, July 20, 2014

[Review] Alicemare

Title: Alicemare
Developer: Miwashiba
Translator: vgperson

"The ant told me that the frog is bad."

"The frog told me that the cat is bad."

"The cat told me, no, the rabbit is the worst of them all."

"So I…"

I played this game because I like games with s'plorin', puzzles, Alice-themed things, and strange worlds. Alicemare has some psychological stuff in it too and dark pasts. The character sprites are so adorable. It also has a nice dream-like color palette.


So you play as this child named Allen who lives in an institution with other children and "Teacher" (Yeah. You don't know his name for most of the game). He lost his memories in an accident and it's his first night at the institution. So Teacher goes, "Obey the rules. Don't go out of your room at night." But like most horror game protagonists who are told that, Allen does go out of his room to investigate, but teacher stops him. He goes to sleep and wakes up in an odd dreamworld. There, he meets Cheshire and enters a closet that leads him to NARNIA a room with many doors. The White Rabbit then asks Allen to help him bring back the keys.

Behind each door is the world or dream of one of the children at the orphanage. There are tons of puzzle solving stuff there and also some re-enactments of their past memories. So Allen goes through the doors and meets the other children. Together, they go explore the dreamworld and find the keys.


This game has a lot of endings, some of them unsettling. The truth about the world is revealed if you read Teacher's diary, but you have to figure out his name first.

Walkthrough: http://alice-mare.wikia.com/wiki/Game_Play

Papina's Otaku Life Update #1: GATCHA MAAAAN!

I always ask myself nowadays: Where am I going with my life?
... but I'm not about to go on a rant on my personal life.

Instead, I want to talk about this anime I just watched because it's on my mind. I don't care if this is a blog for games, just let me off this once (or twice or thrice if I do it again in the future). Anyway, I was browsing through screenshots of stuff when I found a picture of Sugane from Gatchaman Crowds. I got intrigued, so I watched it... and now I love the show. GATCHA MAAAN!    (\˳˘ ɜ˘)˳ ♬♪♫


I really like the heroine, Hajime. She's so happy, playful, and carefree. She's extremely optimistic... even if the city just got burned down by aliens. I wish I had as much energy as her. I'm more like Utsutsu, the green-haired girl in the bikini who always looks sleepy.

I'm not into mecha animes. I think this is the first one that I actually really liked. This anime provided several perspectives on helping people, cooperation, and being happy. I got drawn by the whole "ideal world where everyone works together to help people in need through this social media called GALAX".

I totally ship Sugane and Hajime. lolol


Rui (guy with black hair and red glasses) is also so adorable! (●♡∀♡) He always cross-dresses when he goes out but he still looks adorable as a girl too! (´∀`)♡ Kyaa~ Megane!

Now that I finished watching this series, I'm back to playing Dreaming Mary and Brothers' Conflict Brilliant Blue. I need to redo the Bro Con game cause I missed an important event in Azusa's route. OTL Yeah. Maybe it's a good idea to follow a walkthrough for this one.

Gatcha! (*^▽^)/

List of RPGmaker Games Set in a Dream-like World

Note: This list isn't in a particular order. I'll update this every time I encounter a game that fits this category.

1. Yume Nikki



You explore the world of Madotsuki's dreams and encounter strange stuff.
Yay for s'plorin'!


2. Off


A surreal game where you "control" a batter to purify this strange world.
You also fight specter things with your hula-hoop buddy.


3. Dreaming Mary


You explore the world of Mary's wonderful dream and meet adorable creatures...
....UNTIL IT TURNS INTO A NIGHTMARE.



4. Toilet in Wonderland


This game is like Yume Nikki on crack. Nuff said.



5. Alicemare


This is like... Alice in Wonderland with a male Alice, some psychological stuff, and puzzles.


Friday, July 18, 2014

[Review] Seven Mysteries


Title: Seven Mysteries
Genre: Horror
Developer: Sanggameboy (Le Hong Sang)
Original Language: Vietnamese
Translators: Greater Good 45 | Blurry Mind | Neku Sakuraba


The game's charm is in its story telling and how they based the stories on a set of fictional ghost stories from Kindaichi Case Files. It's what drew me in in the first place. You can search up some info on the Seven Mysteries of Fudo High so you can better appreciate the game if you're planning to play it.

I love how the stories all connect. That as you play each chapter, you get a better understanding of what exactly is going on because the stories narrated in each chapter are all happening simultaneously. There's also a huge twist in the end, which gives this game extra points.

Scariness factor? Well, with the dark school hallways which you explore with just a flashlight or candle and the creepy background music, will scare perhaps those not quite used to the horror game atmosphere yet. Based on my standards, it's far from scary and relies heavily on loud sounds and jump scares. Jump scares are important in horror games, but inducing fear without them and just letting fear creep into the player gradually is something I look for in a horror game. Yes. I want to be horribly disturbed.

My reaction to this game? I kept laughing for the first 3 chapters. And there's nothing that's meant to be funny in this game. I just found so many random things funny. When something is out of place or too exaggerated, that's when I start laughing. The chapters after that got me intrigued, cause it's where they start to reveal the truth and stuff.

Overall, this game isn't bad. It's like listening to a classmate telling you ghost stories and later finding out the gruesome secrets behind them, which is pretty enjoyable.


Summary:

1: Thirteen Steps

You play as Sang in this chapter. Sang and My are on night patrol, walking through the hallway with flashlights. At some point, they end up splitting up. Sang's flashlight runs out of battery. (Sucks for him.) Suddenly, he hears the sound of glass breaking. Thinking it's a prank pulled by My, he unlocks the classroom door and finds the window broken. He peers through the window and finds someone standing outside.
Goes looking for My to warn her and passes the stairs. He stops and remembers playing counting steps with "him", so he decides to count the steps. He's sure there are 12 steps, buuut... he ends up counting 13 steps in all. After he continues walking, My suddenly drops from the ceiling and went *splat* on the floor. (It was so random. I was just like... lalalala s'plorin'.... *SPLAT* WOAH LOLWTF.)


Am I a maniac for laughing at this scene?

2: The Music Room

This time, you control My. As she walks alone in hallway, the piano starts playing in music room, so she decides to go check it out. When she enters the room, the door closes and she's locked in. (Such typical horror game scenario) Suddenly, light flashes and bloody dead students are littering the room for a brief moment. My mutters, "It has started." (For a minute there, she sounded like a paranormal investigator who knew exactly what was happening.) Then, a notebook drops on the floor. And *poof* there's suddenly a rope ladder so she climbs that. As she goes through the mysterious attic place, she bumps into blonde haired glasses guy who screams as if he just saw a ghost and runs away. My continues walking, but falls through hole and dies.

3: The Chemistry Lab

You play as Loi for this chapter (who's the dude My bumped into.) He comments about how creepy the candles are so he should turn on the lights. WAIT. DUDE, LIKE WHY DIDN'T YOU TURN THEM ON IN THE FIRST PLACE? WHY ARE YOU WAITING IN A ROOM WITH LIT CANDLES ALL OVER THE PLACE? THAT'S PRETTY SHADY.

Anyway, so he flips the switch on but it doesn't turn on, so he decides to look for his other classmates and bumps into one of them, Mahn, at the door. He's happy... but then the guy hits him with a knife. lolwtf So Loi grabs a knife and fights him in the dark.

When he gets to the cafeteria, his other classmate Minh tries to kill him too. so he's desperate for light so he turns on the oven and it explodes. Loi gets thrown outside from the blast. THAT'S ONE SCARY OVEN. AND HOW IS THAT GUY STILL EVEN ALIVE AFTER BEING BLASTED THROUGH CONCRETE WALLS?!


EVEN THE OVEN IS TRYING TO KILL YOU.

Then he suddenly goes on "kill or be killed" mode and decides that he must kill everyone. He walks around the school grounds and finds a window where the shattered glass sound came from. He peers in and sees someone inside. (Note: Sang also peered through the window in chapter 1) Something appears behind Loi and pokes or pushes him, then disappears.

He heads inside and goes on a killing spree. (I had fun stabbing people in this part of the game. lol) Then, he wakes up in chem lab. IT WAS JUST A DREAM?! But he's holding a knife... so IT WAS REAL. Then Mahn enteres the room and complains about how he's taking too long. Mahn is alive?! They go to where everyone else (all of the people Loi stabbed earlier) was. They're still alive?! Loi becomes frightened and says, "Stay back!" He climbs up the rope ladder bumps into My who now looks deformed, so he screams and runs.

4: The Library

You play as Tuan this time. He's locked in the library. As he searches around, he finds a list of students who transferred. He wonders why a lot transfer every month. So, he continues to search the room and finds a pretty badly drawn map that indicates where the 4 treasures are. He goes "Well, if I'm going to be killed anyway, might as well enjoy treasure hunting." (Well, somewhere along those lines.) So he ends up finding a  rope, a calendar, a pen, and a diary.

(Note: The diary is the notebook that dropped when My was in the music room. Apparently, Tuan was hiding under the table the whole time. Aand, he was the one who broke the window in the classroom)


This soo reminds me of Ib.
Plus, the hallway music sounds like the same one from Ib too.

5: Good Morning

This chapter is narrated by student named Linh. Everything in this chapter is what's written in the diary. I'll leave this part as a surprise because it's what ties all the events together. It's best if you played it yourself.

6: The End...?

You control Tuan again and go check out that secret room mentioned in the diary. He gets locked in. Then weird stuff start happening once he tries to get the door opened. (I must admit. This scene was directed pretty well.) After the weird stuff, he leaves the room and follows a trail of red arrows. Once he enters the room they lead to, he relives the memories of Linh. His eye is hit by a stone and starts bleeding so he walks to the infirmary. (The surreal effect is cool and all but I hate how it's hard to tell where you're going or what you're examining.) He gets to the infirmary, grabs the first aid kit and heads to the library. After he uses it, he wakes up in the infirmary the day after (?). OR IS THIS ANOTHER ILLUSION? Well, he walks to the classroom and talks to Sang and My (WHY ARE YOU ALIVE?!) who tell him that there are illusions caused by paranormal activity that take place at night in the school and he's caught by it so he has to die in another's illusion so he won't die in real life. WHAT MADNESS IS THIS?! I DON'T TRUST YOU SANG. YOU KNOW TOO MUCH.


I STILL DON'T TRUST YOU, SANG!


Tuan tells Sang to meet him after class. When they meet, Tuan tells him that he knows how to break the curse. He asks Sang to lead him to a place with lots of mirrors. Once Tuan discovers the secret entrance, Sang pushes him in. TRAITOR!

This game has several different endings. This summary is based on my first play, in which I got a bad ending. lol