LittleBigPlanet & Modnation Racers

5 / 7 / 14

Probably the only two PS3 games I actually played a lot. I loved the customization of them and the gameplay–and heck, both even have neat online stuff. The customization though was the main thing that threw me into both of them.

To this day, I still pop onto both (or well, LittleBigPlanet 2 more so than 1–but it’s more like a giant patch to 1 anyway so) every so often to play as even though I’ve beaten the main content, the fan created stuff leaves so much to explore.

In fact, one of the very first “game blogs” I did was actually for LittleBigPlanet–my boyfriend and I would go on levels and write up reviews on what we thought with pictures as I really loved to take pictures in the game. Unfortunately, LBP.me wasn’t a thing then and it was really annoying to constantly get pictures off the SD Card (which is why I got my Capture Card for the 3DS in preparation for Animal Crossing–I know how I can be and the constant removing and taking out would’ve really ruined the enjoyment for me in the blogging sense) or do a one of the time thing when I’m taking so many pictures per map through the web browser. To this day, I still have a large amount of pictures I haven’t gotten off my PS3.

That said, I still had a lot of fun with the game–to the point where I even replayed it several times despite 2 frustrating save mishaps:
1. The game could actually only save so much–I had done community levels inbetween the main game when I was having issues and had tons of items I picked up from levels other players made. Because of all the items, my progress kept being erased on the last several levels. I finally learned about the problem and deleted most of the items I had gotten which did fix it, but considering they were the last few levels in the game–they weren’t exactly easy ones.

2. As mentioned, I didn’t have a PS3 before I started playing LittleBigPlanet. I had already finished the story and 100%’d many of the levels, so when I had gotten my own PS3, I had just copied the save data over not realizing how the save protection worked… I didn’t really care about the lack of trophies, but when LBP2 came out, I was unable to transfer my data because of this and we had to replay the entire game over.

Regardless, I still enjoyed the game. I have nearly everything done–the only things left are in the Move and Cross-Controller packs due to the fact that I’m not very good with either of the different controllers.

As for Modnation Racers, I loved all the customization I have and the fact that it didn’t do the one thing Mario Kart loves to do–customization doesn’t determine stats. It’s the same with LBP too–I can dress however I want for whatever level and not worry about underperforming. As someone who really loves customization, this is such a huge deal to me.

One of my favorite things is to just roam around in the hub because I’m SO proud of the outcome–both with her outfit and her car.

My only wish is that I was better with the level/track creators in both! I’ve always had ideas, but I’m so bad with their system :(

A Barbecue Dinner

5 / 6 / 14

Every so often, my mother enjoys picking up something randomly and then dropping on me that I’ll be the one cooking it. Never asks–it just happens. It’s not so much that I necessarily mind cooking, but I kind of stress out and I’m not very fast and I’m still in the process of learning exactly when you start something.

This time, she bought a Pork Shoulder–my boyfriend loves barbecue and pretty much celebrated because pulled pork is one of his favorites. He requested me to make Macaroni & Cheese and Corn Bread with it–while I didn’t have enough time for the latter (which I guess works since my mom picked some up on the way home), I made sure to at least do one of the things he wanted. And he was still pretty happy about it judging by his plate:

I usually use the same Mac & Cheese recipe, but often use as many cheeses as we have in the house because I love cheese. One of my favorite foods hands down.

Of course, since everyone liked it so much that means this kind of surprise will probably show up again sometime soon for me to cook…

I’d like to make some brownies sometime soon though so maybe I’ll look into that when I have time.

Mario Kart 8! Revisited!

4 / 30 / 144 / 30 / 14

So, I will admit I wasn’t too hyped up about Mario Kart 8. I had been disappointed with 7 and hadn’t truly enjoyed a Mario Kart in a while (My favorite things with Mario Kart for the Wii were the special downloaded course tournaments each week–I do hope those make a comeback in this game), but the Nintendo Direct really kicked the hype up for me.

While I’m still apprehensive about some things (such as customization still being tied to stats–I just hope there isn’t a set that is obviously THE BEST EVER that just murders everything else), I’m trying to keep my hopes up. Plus, LOOK AT THESE KARTS:

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeee <3 The first one is my favorite, but I like the bear and yoshi ones a lot too. Pretty sure I'll end using the first though. Not sure if I will use those same tires or not though... Or the same glider. I know those Clouds were pretty cute. Moving on, I figure I'll play either Peach (Normal--though, I may try the Rose/Pink Gold one) or my Mii. Peach has really cute moves while Mii will be pretty standard sadly. I like being able to play with dark brown hair though (and also a girl) so

Sailor Moon :D

4 / 27 / 14

For those who aren’t aware, a special livestream is happening today for Sailor Moon with some news about the upcoming Anime this July (just in time for my birthday :D)

Sailor Moon is incredibly special to me for many reasons–but the number one is it really got me interested in Japan. It was the “first” Anime I watched (technically second–Pokemon was the first, but I honestly didn’t realize Pokemon was an Anime at the time) thanks to Toonami and I adored it. I ended up watching S through Stars subbed (as at the time, there was no dub for them) from a place not too far from where I lived. It was about 5 dollars to rent a VHS with about two episodes and I was always so excited.

Usagi/Serena and Rini/ChibiMoon were always my favorites. I identified with them a lot and just really adored them–plus with the same zodiac sign and the Moon as my “planet” from that, I had a lot of fun pretending. I had all the plushies and just really enjoyed everything. One day, I’d really like to rewatch it all–especially as I know some episodes were removed in the dub (though, I’ve seen some of them by now–including ones changed).

The next anime I watched was Card Captor Sakura–I also finished the dub version of it. Card Captor Sakura was also the first manga I had completed–I’d still like to read Sailor Moon’s at some point… but there’s quite a bit to go through.

But it was really thanks to Sailor Moon that I really learned so much of how much I loved and adored came from Japan. Animal Crossing brought me into the more cultural stuff with the Hinaningyou, but Sailor Moon took me that first step to really get interested in Japan itself.

I don’t really have any expectations for the Anime so there’s nothing in particular I’m super looking forward to–I’m just excited to see it and wish I could get more of the special merchandise for the anniversary!

Rhythm Games

4 / 21 / 144 / 22 / 14

Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove 3D has been on my list for a while. It looked cute and the customization seemed interesting so I was really tempted to try it. Despite that, I only finally picked it up recently due to one reason: It’s a rhythm game.

I have nothing against rhythm games. In fact, Zed is pretty awesome at them and it’s always fun to watch him play. I’m just awful at them.

And despite my awfulness, something always makes me want to try one and then I buy it and I never complete it and it’s always pretty depressing. That said, I’ve never regretted my purchases… though, my wrists sure have.

Parappa the Rapper is about the only rhythm game I can think of that I finished… which may be because my dad helped thinking about it. My first rhythm game since that was Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure as it’s story elements made me think of Professor Layton. I heard some people complain about the story and/or voice acting, but I actually really enjoyed both.

I had done well enough at first to the point where I thought maybe I’d have a shot… but as I got further along, the failing started happening. I HAD to have power-ups to get a score high enough for me to be able to progress in the story. And even then there was no guarantee I’d pass.

I’m pretty good with music–I love to play piano, I’m fairly good with hearing the different tunes and pitches, but that is also part of my weakness with these games–I heard each part of the song and never know exactly which part I’m supposed to be hitting along to. Then there’s ones where I get nervous and do the opposite of what I’m supposed to hit. I managed to beat Rhythm Thief, but just barely and because I was not good enough to get a better rating, I ended up having to look up the bonus scenes online. I just couldn’t do it.

Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove almost saved me due to the fact that it’s just hitting one button in the center with my stylus. Which would be good if it stayed that way, but nope, of course it doesn’t. More mechanics get thrown in as you go and as usual when it comes to slide mechanics, I’m just terrible. I always screw up the timing or my stylus somehow ends up in the wrong place or I’m too slow. And like every game I’m done, I had that “Maybe I CAN do this” moment only to hit a point where I can’t or just am not good enough. And it stinks as I really want to see what happens next or unlock something in particular and just no matter how hard I try, I can’t unless I manage to get lucky.

Theatrhythm was a game I almost passed on, but ended up getting once I heard Aerith could be unlocked. She’s my absolute favorite Final Fantasy character and I was ecstatic to get her on my team… and then I learned she wasn’t there from the beginning and then I learned how I needed to unlock her and other than completing each song once (most rather poorly), I didn’t get much further in the game. I had bought some DLC despite that as I really love some of the songs in the game, but I wish I could’ve unlocked Aerith and had her as part of my team. But I couldn’t do it–I was so awful at the Chaos songs and I could never get a good enough score for her shards even if I did manage to complete the whole thing.

And that’s the issue, either I’m too slow or get nervous and mess-up and it really stinks. The sad part is, if I had no fear of failure I’d probably do much better (not perfect, but much better)–the amount of games where I suddenly do amazingly better due to having an invincibility power-up to the point where people wonder why I even need it is absolutely ridiculous. And yet I just can’t get it down.

As for Gabrielle’s Ghostly Groove 3D, if it wasn’t for my complete failure in everything that is Rhythm Games (despite having a good sense of rhythm!), it’s a cute game. A really sad (though, I expect it to have a happy ending) story though that makes me regret entering my name in for the character.

For those who are curious what happens and have not gotten the game:
Gabrielle sneezes too hard (something I can relate to T__T) and ends up sneezed out of her body. Her body falls asleep and her mom puts her in bed, but it’s been days at this point where I am (Lab–3rd level area) and her mother is panicking, Gabrielle is getting colder, and it’s just incredibly sad seeing the mom worried and yelling for her to wake up and I’m going to cry if I keep going so I’m currently in a “oh my god rhythm games why” mood but also a “I need to finish this or I am not going to be able to sleep because this is so sad” and “too much use of the stylus is killing my wrist”.

But yes, off to fail again I suppose…

Edit: I did beat it! And it thankfully had a happy ending.

I don’t expect to 100% it though…

Random ESO Screenshots

4 / 17 / 144 / 17 / 14

A lovely view~ <3

A new outfit! A combination of styles plus riding my cute horse and enjoying the presence of my new light pet*

*Actually a lighting glitch from my weapon, but it reminds me of Watt (Paper Mario) so it amused me and I took a screenshot.

Edit:

Fountain-loving bonus:

The Disney Magical World Launch Event at Nintendo World

4 / 12 / 144 / 13 / 14

While I haven’t found many opportunities to go to an event in a while (Work, Allergies, and if I go down to buy the game the day it actually launches, I’m not too fond of going back the next day or some completely other time for the event–Manhattan has pricey tolls), I wanted to make sure I found time to get to this one. I wasn’t sure what to expect from the crowd, so I made sure to get there early.

Some of the outside displays:

With the beam in the way:

They also had one of the trailers in rotation on the screens facing outside:

Interior stuff (1st floor):

The characters looked really great. You actually couldn’t tell they were cut-outs right away because they used the ingame models.

Plus a photo booth!:

And the Radio Disney Booth!:

They also had the special 3DS XL behind the counter:

I really wish I had the money to get it :/

For buying the game during the event, you received:

A Thermal (There was a Mickey version as well)

A Calendar.

And a Magazine.

As for upstairs…

The Signing area.

My favorite part of the event… the Cafe. It was just beautifully done and looked straight out of the game (though, I don’t believe the Mickey Statue that was on each is in the game):

Better picture of the cafe’s logo:

An AR Card was put up behind the Cafe (to the left was a Sketch Artist, but I sadly was not able to get a picture…)

The AR Card got you the Tigger Russian Outfit:

Sitting in the Cafe, you got to pick a Chocolate or Vanilla Cupcake (which were awesome–My boyfriend got Vanilla and I got Chocolate). Plus you got some special punch (which was also really really good):

Plus, whoever’s seat number matched the number under the Mickey statue got to get a sketch from the Sketch Artist. I didn’t win which I was pretty sad about (I think what made it worse is the person who did win didn’t seem to care), though, I did my best not to seem that way.

After that, you could meet G. Hannelius, but we skipped that as we figured it’d be better for people who came to see her to go and we didn’t want to take up more time (we got to be in the first batch of Cafe goers). However, there was a lovely cake we saw coming out of a car while we were on line:

Due to not going to meet her, I was unable to get a closer photo of it out of the wrapping:

I’m not sure if they planned to cut it up at the end of the event (we couldn’t stay the entire time) or if they were giving it to her, but…

I managed to get a good amount of StreetPass for the event too, although, less from the game itself (Only 4 :/) than I expected so that was a bit disheartening… Despite that though, I got 10 people for Fire Emblem, 4 for Professor Layton, 2 for Style Savvy, 10 for Pokemon Trozei, 10 for Nintendogs plus Cats, and 20 for Animal Crossing. I lost track of how many I got for the Mii Plaza, but it helped me get further along with nearly all the games so yay.

But yes, the event was fun! We got to relax a good amount of time (about a half hour) in the cafe and I really enjoyed it. I wish the Radio Disney booth played Disney music though rather than the “hit songs” right now as I’m really not fond of most of the popular music on the radio…

The Disney Teddy Bears

4 / 10 / 14

And no, I’m not talking about Pooh–although, he’s definitely a favorite. I’m talking about the Tokyo Disney teddy bears–Duffy and the UniBEARsity line.

I’m going to go ahead and start with Duffy. He is pretty big in Tokyo Disney Sea (he even has his own website!) and a few years ago, finally came over to the US (not too long after getting a female companion–Shellie May).

To the left in that picture is my Duffy! I picked him up when I went to Tokyo Disney for the very first time several years ago. I adore him to pieces and it made me look up all sorts of things–like the costumes that came out and special releases. They make so many things for Duffy–candy, outfits, special accessories, and even sell special food shaped like him during special events.

As for that pink bear on the right who looks eerily similar to Duffy… I named her Ahim (kudos if you know where the name is from!) and she’s a Disney Bear. Disney Bears were sold in Disney World several years before Duffy, but due to lack of popularity (due to lack of advertising and doing much with them), they were discontinued.

Tokyo Disney then took up the old Disney Bear contract and recreated it into Duffy–a full character with his own story and events. His popularity over in Japan brought the Disney Bear back to the US–now as Duffy the Disney Bear.

Besides Duffy, Tokyo Disney also made the UniBEARsity line for their Disney Stores. Their story given through many videos. I had wanted one for a long time as I thought they looked super cute, but had been undecided on who to get (I really couldn’t afford to get all of them afterall). Eventually, one did come out that really caught my eye–Berry, a UniBEARsity Bear based off of Angel, Experiment 624 from the Lilo & Stitch TV Show. She was apart of a special set with bears based off of Stitch and Scrump to celebrate the anniversary of the movie and was limited to 5,000. I made sure to continue to keep an eye out for her and surely enough, one did pop up at a good price. And today, she arrived!

She’s around the same size as Duffy and Ahim and I absolutely adore her–she’s super soft as is her bow and she’s just so cute T~T Next, I think I’d like to get her a cute outfit one day…

Tomodachi Life!

4 / 10 / 14

Tomodachi Life is one of those games I’ve been really looking forward to! It was nice to see its name for the North American version along with a release date–June 6th! I was super excited to see a surprise Direct put up and a trailer and made sure to watch them as soon as I got home! If you haven’t seen them yet, I’ve embedded them below.

For those who never heard of the games, it has the cartoon-yness of the Simtown games with the craziness of the Sims–but in Nintendo’s own way. You can’t have families together in apartments, but these characters can get married and start a family and will then live together in an area outside the Apartment place. You help out these various characters by looking into their thoughts and ideas and it’s just super cute.

I was actually super impressed with how well the direct made it look both interesting while capturing the craziness of what the game can be. Some highlights of my favorites:

Every single time Iwata was too busy to talk about the game and Bill’s following commentary :P

Aww… <3
I feel concerned for these people, but laughed anyway.

Rollercoaster! I’m not too fond of them personally in real life, but I just enjoyed the scene.

I hope that dress is available in pink…

I’m really looking forward to making myself, friends, and then kind of doing what I do in the Sims where I may various characters from games and shows I like to see what happens. I can’t wait <3 Other bonus highlights: -The pretty map with Cherry blossoms and fountains <3 -Bill pulling out his 3DS -Super excited for the personality quiz! -This entire show. Was excited during the direct to see they kept it all voiced!

It’s going to be so hard deciding on which room for who…

Disney Magical World Review

4 / 8 / 145 / 2 / 14

So, if you have seen my Disney Magical World blog, you would know I received a copy of the game from Nintendo (THANK YOU NINTENDO). I’ve been having a blast playing it, so I decided to go ahead and post a review about it. You can also read this review over at Zero Reviews, my boyfriend’s website :)

Disney Magical World is a Simulation Adventure game for the 3DS based off a Japanese-only Web game. This game has many different activities you can do while being in a world with many of your favorite Disney characters. It is often referred to as similar to Animal Crossing, but other than customization/collecting and being in real time, I’d say it’s closer to Fantasy Life or Harvest Moon/Rune Factory. However, if you do enjoy Animal Crossing and/or Harvest Moon (or Disney in general), I do think the game is worth looking at. The game isn’t perfect, but its good outshines the flaws and it has a lot more layers and difficulty than you’d expect.