Nintendo Switch: Octopath Traveller

Nintendo Switch: Octopath Traveller

Saturday, January 5, 2019 / No Comments

Hello hello my little nuggets!!! 

I got the Switch last month and I am loving it. I got mine off Lazada, and honestly if you want to get one too, it's pretty affordable during holiday season! Apparently 11.11 has the best sales so if you can wait till then to get one (which is practically a whole year away ;;), or if not, just aim for the next upcoming one! Also, 11.11 seems to have the best sales of the year, even surpassing Black Friday, so start saving bit by bit now~

I wanted to get Let's Go Pikachu, but I also wanted to save a little and get it secondhand instead, which means I'm still waiting for a suitable listing to pop up. There are plenty online, but the sellers are all so far away.. )': In the meantime, I got my mitts on Octopath Traveler instead!

The art reminds me particularly of Bravely Default (and I still have to get End Layer), so I went and looked it up a little. Honestly, I was a little put-off the with the pixel pop-up style, but after getting past that, the game is pretty spectacular. The graphics are sharp, the visuals are great, and the soundtrack is engaging. 

As the name implies, there are 8 characters, 8 storylines, but the annoying thing here is that you have a party of only 4. The other 4 sits in storage, and don't receive any exp. That means that it gets pretty grindy, and while I am generally ok with grinding, I don't quite like having to switch parties often, especially if I've found a set that I work with best. Also considering the fact that there are secondary jobs like Bravely Default, I don't really need the other 4 that I keep in storage, except when I want to continue their chapters. You also can't switch out the character you chose as your main, which means actually only swapping 3 of a team instead of doing a 4:4 grind. 

I'm currently only at chapter 2/4 of each character, and there are recommended levels for each chapter, which makes grinding super grating. I usually go with the Scholar (mage), the Apothecary. the Thief, and the Warrior. The other 4 that usually sit in storage are the Dancer, the Cleric, the Merchant, and the Hunter. Each comes with their own special skill- for example, the Merchant can pick up money while entering maps. I would rather use her than the Thief, but therein comes the frustrating part: there are special treasure boxes that can only be opened by the Thief.

there's usually only two

Story-wise, it's pretty cute when you're midway through a chapter and you get a chat interaction with someone else in your party. Other than that, I really don't see what the 8 characters have in common? Sure, you pick a main character and then start recruiting the others, but what made the others follow you? You merely lent them some muscle on their starting chapter, that's it. Because of the level limit per chapter, it's also pretty hard to do a single one all the way through, which means jumping between characters, and while the game does give you a 'previously on chapter' it gets a bit annoying. Especially if I kind of don't want to play a certain character's chapters. 

On to the combat system: they're actually pretty great. It's turn based, though the character's speed stat still determines which character will attack first. There is a box hovering below the enemy that shows their weakness types, but only if you've managed to unlock it. You can use the Scholar's Analyze to unlock one (and show their HP), but I generally just whack them with one of everything until it unlocks. I also just cheat and google the Bosses' weaknesses. There is also the BP system (as with Bravely Default), but instead of defaulting to the attain one BP level, Octopath gives you one per turn, allowing you to attack and accumulate instead of only defending. Now I'm doing this Bravely Default mini comparison thing based on memory, so I might be wrong.. 

All things aside, I'm enjoying myself a fair bit once I've passed the level grind. I tend to grind them all to the highest recommended level, then proceed with all the stories at once. There was an auto battle option for Bravely Default, but not for Octopath so that was a little irritating. But then again, grinding can be made less painful when you're playing another game on another system at the same time. 

Ultimately, I don't regret getting Octopath Traveler, but I don't see myself being able to play too long at a time without getting bored, especially in between chapters. 

Alright, that's all from me for now, nerd out!

Have a great 2019 my little nuggets! I'm super looking forward to Fire Emblem and hopefully Pokemon as well~

Written by: ninetylives

「Mobage」Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight: ReLive

「Mobage」Shoujo Kageki Revue Starlight: ReLive

Monday, December 17, 2018 / 1 Comment

It's been nearly two months since the game is released! My review for it is a little late this time,  because there are just so many noteworthy points (both good and bad)!

So without further ado, let's begin.

1. VPN required

With APKs and appstores nowadays, it's weird to think that a game would close its doors to other countries, but we have Ateam here who did it.

You will have to get a VPN for Japan to get through the login screen. Once inside the game, it functions perfectly fine without a running VPN. If you are searching for a VPN to use for this game, I'll recommend TunnelBear, which gives free monthly data on top of 1 GB for each successful friend invitation! I am using it and it hasn't caused me any hiccups thus far.

2. Similar to FGO

This is a comment that is always brought up when discussing about Revue Starlight and I think it is very true. The game (teambuilding) and gacha mechanisms are built around the same concepts.

Team-building in Revue Starlight is also limited by cost as you attempt to  fit up to five girls with memoirs in your team. In Revue Starlight, you also get an additional boost by equipping a song and getting its tagged boosts.

Scouting is quite similar as well. You are only guaranteed to get either a 2* cast (girl) or a 3* memoir in 10 scouts (3000 star gems). The chance of getting a 3* cast is lower than the chance of getting a 4* memoir. Also, a 4* cast member is only 1.2%.

3. Story

Similar to many other anime-turned-games out in the market, the game version includes many more characters. In this case, characters are from other schools.

The story mode comes with chapters where you have fully-voiced scenes. You can also read snippets of the girls' daily lives from the room.

Other than churning out the stories, the room is also apt for getting additional items such as coins, gifts (for increasing bond with the girls), and stamina (to clear stages) among others. 

And of course, you can decorate your room as well! You get to choose from a plethora of default items, and set furniture that come with the corresponding event and stay even after the event is finished! As of now, we have furniture to match Halloween, furniture to help recreate the atmosphere in an aquarium, and last but not the least, furniture to create a traditional Japanese stage set and an Arabian set. Mix and match items to find your own flair!

5. Battle mechanics

After building your team, you would start with either the story or the PVP mode. Both of this use the same battle mechanics. There is a three-row mechanism, and you can either choose a team which utilizes all three rows or even just one row. Beware as your opponents might have cards that are able to damage all girls in the same row, resulting a team built only with a single row vulnerable. Likewise, there are also single-target only girls, and some who can hit all opponent cards, regardless of row and position.

All cards come with a Kirameki gauge. When this gauge is filled in battle, you can use a Special attack, known as Climax.

When two or more girls who have used the Climax attack survive two turns after it, they would be able to do a Final Act. 

There are two kinds of Final Act: attribute-based or multi-attribute. Typically, the attribute-based attack would be stronger.

Each card also comes with a 1-AP, 2-AP, and 3-AP normal attack. A mixture of these would be used to fill a 6-AP attack gauge. The general rule of thumb is that the higher the AP of your move is, the more your Kirameki gauge would fill. However, some 3-AP moves are effect-based only (i.e. increase Act Power "attack") and deals no damage to your opponent's cards. Also, with more girls in your team, the chance of getting the move your need would lessen.

6. PVP

PVP is a huge aspect of this game, and it is probably where your enjoyment (or frustration) would come from. Without good cards that fit into your team, you would find it rather difficult to win as the cards in this game seem to be rather unbalanced at the moment. Cards that initially seem strong quickly faze out with newly released cards as Ateam seems to be releasing new cards with attributes and skills targeted to counteract specific cards.

For instance, an initial 4-star card Maya (purple planet attribute) was the strongest tank in game, boasting the highest HP and DEF. This meant that it was extremely difficult to get pass her, except if you used cards she is weak to (yellow moon attribute). In the second event, Ateam released Phantom Nana which could take out Maya with a Climax attack.

Another example would be initial 4-star Hikari, who is a front row girl and comes with a 3-AP move that does not deal any damage. Instead it increases her dodge count by one. However, with the increase in number of cards that can deal multiple hits even with just normal moves, it might be a little pointless to use Hikari's 3-AP move against some opponents.

Why play PVP and cause yourself anguish then, you may ask. Winning PVPs give treasure chests that are either bronze, silver (or blue), and gold (or red). 

These chests contain coins, or bronze/blue/red chips. The chips can then be exchanged in the shop for items such as a scouting ticket.

7. The Grind

I would have to say that the grind is very real for this game.

When you start the game, you would be grinding for tickets and possibly coins. This would be to level your girls to an acceptable level to clear story mode and win some PVPs for treasure chests. 

After which, you would be grinding to get item drops (also known as orbs) to skill rank your girls.

Each card can reach a maximum of 7+1 rank, where the additional +1 contains spots where the orbs are only attainable through events or through purchasing in the shop with red gems.

You get red gems through events or through duplicate cast cards. A 2-star duplicate gives 1 red gem, while a 3 or 4 star gives phenomenally more, so some players have even mentioned that getting duplicates is the way to improve your team in this game. Which also means that the gap between P2P and F2P players is very, very huge.

Another way that time can be spent on this game is to wait to star your girls to 6 star. All cast cards can be starred to 6 stars. To do this, you would have to get fragments of the specific card. 

And everyday you can only play 5 free stages and 5 paid stages (cost: 300 star gems to refill). As fragment drops are only up to 2 per stage, you would only get a maximum of 20 per day.

This is ineffective because it is not common to get 2 drops for all 5 stages, and you need a total of 20 fragments to get a 4 star to 5 star, and 30 fragments to get a 5 star to 6 star.

Thus, apart from spending to get your new cards, or duplicates, you would definitely have to allocate time in your day to this game if you would like to be able to get be able to win the more difficult bosses in events, or get some PVP enjoyment out of it.

8. Enjoyment 3/5

This is a game I tried so as to have a different genre of mobile game than usual, and I can say that I am pleasantly surprised. The animation and artwork is top-notch and I really love how the battle moves are fluid.

However, the need for a VPN is extremely inconvenient, especially since the game updates regularly with small patches, and you would be brought back to the login screen each time. Changing tabs or switching off the screen also causes you to disconnect, which would bring you back to the home page (you don't need a VPN in this case) except when you are in a stage (you can continue where you left off). In this second case, it's more of an annoyance than an actual inconvenience, especially when you have to reply to multiple messages, or if you are playing during working hours.

The above as well as the amount of grind you need to win PVP are my largest gripes about the game.

~ Reina-rin

「Mobage」 Tokyo Ghoul [:re birth]

「Mobage」 Tokyo Ghoul [:re birth]

Thursday, October 18, 2018 / No Comments

Tokyo Ghoul [:re birth] is a game where you can collect both ghoul and human characters and participate in many different types of events that are mentioned in the series as well, such as dispatches and incidents. In addition, there are new archetypes that are localized for the game version as well, such as strikes and raids.

There are help pages that help the players differentiate between the different events. One of the more interesting events that I notice would be strikes. Players are placed into either Team Human or Team Ghoul and players can dispatch characters to different wards where they can battle. The winning team will gain control of the ward and acquire territory points.

There are quite a number of items that can be used for leveling and improving your characters. These are mentioned in a help page where they explain more about the use of all the different items.

For the game, Haise would be your mentor and would guide your through the tutorial and some of the remaining parts of the game after.

Fighting is based on a front-back basis and you can always swap in the front and back characters, and thus have up to six different characters in your team that you can switch to and fro and get more turns that way. Each card has a different number of turns.

Enemies come out in waves and the game simply runs in a turn-based basis.

  

There are extra points to note about this game, and one of it is the weapon durability meter. When it reaches zero, defense will fall to zero as well and all their abilities will be nullified. In addition, more critical hits will be incurred during this window.

Hence, it is therefore crucial to try to bring the enemies' weapon durability meter down to zero, especially if you are facing a tough opponent (i.e. target, otherwise known as a boss).

When you scout for a new card, you would have a cut scene whereby you would be brought into the CCG database, where you will go through all the files. Files of different colors contain different rarities, with yellow being SR and rainbow being a SSR.

The same cutscene is used regardless of whether it is simply one single scout or a 10-roll, and furthermore, the sequence cannot be skipped, making it a little tedious to go through.

 

There were plenty of events when I tried this game out, along with many different banners to scout in. Some of these also give different rates and cards, so be sure to check the banner before you scout. 

The price of Kaku gems, which are used for scouting, is on the high side, but not completely unreasonable. It's rather similar to Love Live's price and with experience, I'll suggest for you to save your money and pass on these intangible purchases.

One last awesome thing about this game that I'll like to point out would be that it seems there is a lot of story content. You can play through the usual story of Tokyo Ghoul and/or Tokyo Ghoul :re, and after you've completed the former, you can play root A as well.

I'm unsure if it meets the manga's awesome standards or remain similar to the sub-par anime sequence, but in either case, it seems like you would be able to spend a lot of time indulging in the story and build-up of this game.

 ~ Reina-rin