Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side 4th Heart – Not sure what I was hoping for, but this wasn’t it

Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 4th Heart cover imageI used to like the Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side series of otome games. I still kind of do, in my head, but when it came to playing 4th Heart, I realized the games are far too long and the characters are far too childish (or the gamer is far too old, IDK) to make the experience enjoyable. I did one playthrough that IMO took far too long and came away quite disappointed and bored.

1. Raising stats was too easy. Maybe it was like this all along and I didn’t notice. But in the past it felt like you had to make trade-offs to get the stats you wanted, e.g. raising Academics would ding your Athletics stat, raising Athletics would affect your Academics and Attractiveness, etc. Here the penalties still exist, but they are extremely mild, so it doesn’t take much effort to get really good in all subjects. And I mean, it’s more realistic, yeah? Like why should jogging a bit turn me into a drooling idiot? But a stat raiser game isn’t fun if the stats are too easy to raise.

I like the different rooms in TMGS4

2. The love interests are all flat and one-dimensional. Sassa like sports. That’s literally it. Kazama is your childhood friend who thinks he can waltz back into your life 10 years later and pick up where he left off. Honda is a nerd. Nana is a model who doesn’t want people to know he’s a model even though it’s totally obvious to anyone with eyes. And so on and so forth. That’s fine as a setting, but no change or development over the course of three years? I don’t need super drama, but at least something should happen, or they should realize something about themselves, perhaps overcome a challenge or two? And you know, maybe that did happen but I never triggered those events for any of the characters, so they were static all the way through.

You like running, I get it. So how did you do at the nationals?

3. There are a lot of date spots and a wide variety of things to do, which is really cool. Buuut, the dates at each place largely play out the same way. Meet, go inside, watch/do whatever, give a closing comment, hang out a little more if he likes you, home again home again jiggety-jig. Same expressions, same reactions, same events. I get that the game wanted to encourage you to visit places with different characters and even date widely for the lulz a la Storm Lover, but the dating process has to be fun (and the characters have to be interesting) to begin with to encourage the player to want more of it.

4. No complaints about the graphics, but the character designs were a bit… uh… not quite ugly, but very plain. A definite step down from the previous game. The designer who looked at Mikage-sensei’s goofy hair and honestly thought “Girls are gonna go wild for this!” needs his head and eyes examined. In fact, it’s not just one designer: there was a whole raft of them in the credit plus art directors and other people who should know better. The only conventionally attractive love interest in the whole game was Nanamori, and even he would barely stand out in the average otome game. Konami really brought their Z game for this one.

Hikaru and Michiru from Tokimeki Memorial Girl's Side 4th Heart

No need to worry about this lot stealing my man.

5. After two and a half boring years of boringly dating boring Sassa, I didn’t get his ending. It’s probably because I never gave him a birthday present, or maybe because I didn’t paw him enough during the “skinship” events that interrupt your date every five second. Either way, it was disappointing to spend so much time with a guy who was obviously in love with you only to have him pull a complete 404: Date not Found after the graduation ceremony. And not just him but all your friends as well – you’re all so buddy-buddy right up to the final moment and then complete radio silence. Were we ever friends to begin with?

I have that issue with other otome games like La Corda d’Oro as well. Yes, the ultimate point of the game is romance, but surely the friendships we made along the way have to count for something, right? (muses the person who hasn’t spoken to any of her friends(?) from high school and college since she deleted Facebook over 10 years ago)

Well anyway, despite all the negatives I just listed, I do intend to play TMGS4 one more time. This time by following a guide and doing things “properly” so I can see at least one guy’s ending and so I won’t be accused of not giving the game a fair chance. Not that it deserves one, TBH. And not that it will get that chance any time soon, because I’m currently playing Atelier Ryza and having a blast. I missed non-weird Atelier with lots of alchemy. More on that next time!

Picross Records of the Shield Hero, Murder by Numbers, Balatro and other puzzle adventures

So last time I said I was playing Tokimeki Memorial Girls’ Side 4 and I wasn’t sure it was for me. I kept at it, though, and slowly managed to get quite into it again. I was rooting for them like a Grandma watching over her grandkids… which is pretty accurate beecause they’re young enough to be my grandchildren (if I had been a very stupid teen).

So I thought my next post would be about that game. But then I idly went on Nintendo’s page and checked for new Picross games like I always do and discovered a new Picross game was out: Picross Records of the Shield Hero. It’s based on the irritating isekai manga, Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari (Rising of the Shield Hero), and you’re not missing anything by not reading it because it’s just rage bait. Everyone’s horrible to everyone else and the hero is angry, bitter and whiny as a result. I presume he softens up and gets better as the series goes on (or dies of a heart attack from all of that pent-up bitterness) but the 30-or-so chapters I read to set the stage for playing Picross Records of the Shield Hero were quite frustrating. I dropped it after that because I respect my time.

Picross Records of the Shield Hero: I’m a simple gamer. I see Mega Picross and Color Picross, I click. Nintendo could save us all a lot of time by sending Picross titles directly to my Switch and taking the cash from my account. It is really just like all the other Picross games based on franchises, like Picross Sega and Picross Lord of Nazarick (Overlord) in that you’ll get a extra kick of enjoyment from knowing what is being depicted, but it doesn’t really matter otherwise. Picross pictures don’t even look like what they’re supposed to be showing until they’re animated, anyway.

I finished all the Color Picross puzzles almost immediately, still wondering why they only give us 30 puzzles every time, and I’m done with the majority of the Mega Picross puzzles… Now what? Now I work on the last few ones slowly while waiting for the next Picross to come out. I’m a simple gamer.

Murder by Numbers – Phoenix Wright meets Picross. You explore areas and solve mysteries by completing nonogram puzzles. The idea was good, the characters are lively and the banter between them is interesting. If you like colorful characters (maybe even too colorful), a less common setting (Hollywood) and mysteries, Murder by Numbers should be right up your alley. And I thought I liked all those, which is why I got the game, but I’m struggling to play it for the same reason I don’t play Ace Attory these days: too much talking.

Murder by Numbers is a visual novel with occasional puzzle games, not a puzzle game first and foremost. Moreover the puzzles are just normal nonograms, nothing challenging or unusual like Mega/Color/3D Picross. I know they can’t copy those formats wholesale, but they could add something unique to the formula at least? Or maybe have a hard mode with super big puzzles for the veterans among us. …Or I could just admit that this game isn’t for me and give up. I’m only on the first murder case so I’ll try to force myself to get through that one and see if I still feel the same way by the end of it, but it’s not looking hopeful right now.

Picross Logiart Grimoire (demo) – Booooring. Not only did the puzzles lack challenge but the story was poorly translated and the wider idea of creating new items from smaller elements didn’t make a lot of sense (no, you don’t get humans from monkeys, WTH). All that, AND they didn’t have Mega/Color Picross even though the game was made by the same Jupiter that made all the other Picross S and e games. And as with Murder by Numbers, the game just wouldn’t shut up and let me get on with it.  Massive waste of time. I couldn’t even finish the demo. And can you believe the full game costs $19.99 versus $9.99 for the proper ones? Utterly ridiculous.

Balatro – It’s just gimmicky poker, what’s all the fuss about? I mean it’s not bad for gimmicky poker, but I tried it because of all the fuss about how “addictive” it was, and I’m not seeing that at all. For me to find a game addictive, especially when it’s a roguelike and all my progress resets on losing, the gameplay loop must be fun and there must be hope that I’ll actually get somewhere if I play long enough. With RPG roguelikes there’s a story, there are characters, there are changes of scenery, etc. Balatro is just about trying to beat your high score in dumbed down poker.

It’s decent enough, but almost everything boils down to the Jokers and other cards and multipliers you pick up in each run. This makes it feel more like the game playing you than vice versa. My memory is fuzzy, but I feel like I’ve played regular poker either as an RPG minigame (Dragon Quest?) or on the PC and had a much better time there, so it’s not like I have anything against poker. I don’t even have anything against card games in general. It boils down to this: Balatro is more work and less reward than I care for when I turn on the Switch. More work than brain dead Picross, less fun and rewarding than an RPG or action game. In short, too much work. At least I played it for free on my brother’s account, so I don’t feel too bad. Deleted for now.

Voxelgram – Can’t remember if I mentioned finishing it or not. It’s the closest we’ll ever get to Picross 3D, so I enjoyed it well enough, but the controls needed work and the puzzles were too easy. And of course the game wasn’t as snazzy and polished as the one on the 3DS, but no one can fault a one-man indie studio for that.

And that’s it for the games I’ve been playing recently (not including the usual gacha fare like Another Eden, Epic Seven and Love Nikki). Next on the agenda is finishing the Tokimemo GS4 route I’m working on and then starting Atelier Ryza: Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout before the end of the year. I bought it on a whim and it’s taking up a lot of space on the Switch. I really really hope I like it.🥺.

Quick update: Right after posting this, I learned that Atelier Ryza will be collabing with Another Eden from December 5th.

I low-key hate it when artists contort a character so they can show off both her breasts and her buttocks in one pose. It looks so unnatural and uncomfortable.

Unlike most games, Another Eden collabs are either permanent or super long-lasting, so there’s no rush to play Ryza right away, but on the other hand, it’s a good catalyst to get me to finally start this thing. I’m usually good at continuing games once I can get through the first few hours.

And although they say you don’t need to play the original game to enjoy the collab, I felt a big difference between when I played the Persona 5 x Another Eden collab long ago before playing Persona 5 Royal and when I replayed it recently after playing P5R. In the “after” version, I actually knew what Shadows were, what Mementos was, who the Phantom Thieves were and what they were trying to do, etc, so it was a way more enjoyable experience. It’s the same with the Tales games collabs – I’m enjoying the stories with the characters I’m familiar with more, even if I just played a little bit like with Tales of Vesperia. So yeah, I’m definitely going to try at least an hour or two of Ryza before the weekend just to set the scene.

BTW, Infinity Nikki is coming out tomorrow… Can’t decide whether to play it or wait a bit first, because there are bound to be crashes and bugs right at the start and I don’t wanna deal with that, but at the same time, more Nikki! Meh… Update 2: turns out my potato PC can’t even run Infinity Nikki, and I don’t want to install it on my phone, so that’s that.

Ranshima Monogatari Lairland Story – How to get the true ending (spoiler free)

Despite its cutesy look, this game can be unexpectedly dark.

Some years ago… wait, how many years is that?! So, uh, many many years ago I played an obscure Princess Maker-like game called Ranshima Monogatari Lairland Story on the PSP. I played it and played it, got a number of endings and had a great time in general, but I never did get the “true” ending that tells you the story behind your mysterious charge Chilia.

Time passed, and I moved on to other games, but then I heard the game had gotten a Switch port and an English translation, so I decided this was a good chance to support the brave (but clumsy) localizers and also get a few more endings. Playing it again after 13 years, I found it rather more tedious and childish than I remembered, so after one playthrough just to get the hang of things again, I made a beeline for the true ending to put the game behind me once and for all.

*Note, it’s mainly so tedious for me because 1) I played the heck out of it years ago and I’m really not into replaying games, 2) I dislike visual novel-type games even more than I did long ago, and 3) I don’t like flag-type “buy the strategy guide” games where you have to be at the right place at the right time with the right stats or that route is closed off for that playthrough. If you don’t have any of those problems, Lairland Story is a nice, affordable little game that will keep you busy for a couple of days. The characters are (mostly) nice and each playthrough is just the right length to allow for multiple playthroughs, unlike, say Princess Maker 5, which I liked a lot but simply can’t play again because it was waaay too long.

I couldn’t stop giving her crazy outfits and hairdos even though it was a waste of money

Anyway, on to the title: how to get the true ending of Lairland Story. Spoiler free. The spoiler free part is important, because I got all these steps from a YouTube video, which was awesome and very easy to follow BUT it spoiled the whole thing in the video. Here’s a link if you don’t mind spoilers: Lair Land Story – how to get the True good ending (not the marry Chilia one)

Personally I like to spoil, but I only like to be spoiled when I’m actively looking for spoilers. For the sake of people like me who want to see the game’s true ending for themselves, here’s the step by step guide to which events you need to trigger and which stats you need to raise (only one).

Preparations

It is recommended that you aim for the true ending on at least the second playthrough so that you can set bonuses like the card that gives you 2000 Eve to start with in order to make your life easier. Set your room ambience to the highest (50 Eve) so that it rises quickly. This will enable you to reach ambience 400 quickly so you can hold 2 parties a season. The goal of doing this is to raise Chilia’s affection as high as possible, so be sure to travel with her every chance you get and try to choose answers that raise her affection. You will also need 3000 Eve quite early on and 2000 Eve at another point, so try to keep those funds at hand at all times. Having Chilia work high-paying jobs is good, having her do lucrative research is good too.

Now to the events proper. To get Chilia’s true ending, you need really high affection (I had 999 at the end) and to see certain events in order.

1. Meet Dark Mage in the Streets in Spring 885. Reset until you find him. He might appear in early, mid or late spring, but keep visiting the Streets until you find him. Let Chilia decide what to do with the necklace.

Meet the Dark Mage again on another day in Spring and pay him 3000 Eve. There will be an automatic event shortly afterwards.

Screenshot of Chilia and the Dark Mage in Lairland Story

This is not the time to be stingy, Herol!

2. In Fall 885, visit the Church to learn more about Chilia’s pendant from Fay. BTW for all these events, there’s often flexibility in when exactly in a season an event will occur, so don’t despair if you don’t get an event in a particular outing, but do despair if you haven’t gotten it by the end of that season. Keep multiple saves just in case.
3. Summer 886, there will be a bard in the Plaza singing about the First Hazard.
4. In early Fall 886, visit the Church until you see an event with Fay dropping books. There will be an option to help her and another option to ask about the First Hazard. Ask about the First Hazard instead of helping her, because you’re a jerk.

Don’t look at me, I’m a jerk.

5. Visit the church in Late Winter 886 to talk to the priest. The guide I read said to find Fay in the Bathhouse first, but I never did and I still got the true ending.
6. In Early Spring 887, meet the Dark Mage in the Streets again and pay him 2000 eve.
7. In Late Summer 887, the priest should pay you a visit at home.

8. There will be an automatic event around or before Winter 887. Hug Chilia when given that option.


9. Affection should be around 800 in Winter 887 if you’ve been traveling with Chilia, holding parties, decorating the house etc. to raise her affection. A Mysterious Man will pay Chilia a visit.


10. Keep raising Chilia’s affection until it reaches 999. You might not need it that high, but that’s what is suggested both by the video guide by a Japanese guide I checked.

11. Late Spring 888 is the end of the game and your evaluation. Play through till the credits roll to get a post-credits scene.
12. Do NOT start a new game plus. This is where many people trip and fail. Reload your last save like nothing happened and play everything again up to the end of Late Spring 888. Try to save close to the end of that period to minimize the amount you have to replay.
13. Keep watching till the end and enjoy the changes in the new, true ending.

Non-spoiler comments about the true ending

I wanted it, I got it, so how do I feel about Lairland Story’s true ending? Well, it’s good to finally get some closure on Chilia’s past, where she came from and who she was before losing her memory. Some parts of her background still aren’t fully explained, like why she appeared in the church in front of Herol, how she deleted the monsters with her song, why she called herself Chilia (I feel like that was explained elsewhere but I forgot), etc. But you do get some solid answers about her past, and that’s enough for calling it a day.

On the other hand, the true ending isn’t a very happy one for a lot of people. Her past was really tragic, so I can’t help feeling that Chilia’s better off in the endings where she never recalls her past and instead blithely moves on with her new life and new friends. A certain tragic event that happens in 891 (three years after the end of the game) doesn’t seem to happen in any of the other endings either. Maybe Chilia’s sunny personality kept everyone so happy that nothing bad happened, or maybe her presence acted as a protection for the kingdom… or maybe everything goes to hell after the regular endings, but they don’t tell us. The true ending calls a lot of things into question if you want to dive deeper into it… which I don’t.

All’s well that ends well. I’ll definitely play the sequel if they ever release it, otherwise it’s time to put Lairland Story behind me. Next up, I’m playing Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side Fourth like I said I would, but… 😑 I think I’m too old for otome games now. More on that another time.

What I’m playing lately (September 2024)

death scene in xenoblade chronicles 3

…one regret… If only I could get the time and energy I spent on you back…

Just realized it’s been almost two months since my last post. Just a few notes so you know I’m alive and still gaming. Quite actively, actually, but nothing really worth writing about.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 – Definitively dropped. I tried to get back into it. Loaded it up, moved a little bit and was thrown into a long cutscene. “Aha, now I remember why I stopped playing it,” is what I thought wistfully to myself as I deleted it and filled the space with other games.

I ran out of momentum, that’s all. With some games you need to keep plowing through until you finish, because once you quit… That’s all she wrote. I can’t even remember the story any more, so there’s no point looking up the ending on YouTube. I’m gonna assume everyone lived happily ever after (or died. Died is fine too) and move on with my own life. Actually I do have a few more things I could say about XC3 and why I quit, but they would be spoilery so a separate post would be better. Or nah, it’s okay. Never mind, let’s move on.

Nobody. Especially not from you. The whole game was a giant mess of awkward.

Epic Seven – It’s their 6th anniversary now, so they’ve been giving out a lot of goodies as well as hunt, gold and EXP buffs. I haven’t rolled anything great or pulled anyone amazing yet, but I did get an ML dupe which let me unlock the Galaxy Coin Shop after like 4 years of playing. Now who to get, Requiem Roana or Lone Crescent Bellona? Hmmmmm… Honestly I had no idea that taking a short break of a few months this year would cause me to miss out on the most broken PVP characters of recent times (Dragon Bride Senya, New Moon Luna, Empyrean Ilynav). It’s like they planned it or something: “Haha, she’s gone, bring out the good stuff!” I’m still playing catch up and racking my brain to figure out strategies for Guild Wars. And trying to save mystics for Harsetti. And I gotta finish Episode 5, Fenris’s side story, Bittersweet Dessert Festival, save up for a second pity so I can pull Jenua… so busy.

Another Eden – Still trying to catch up to where I had reached before I lost my account. I regret not trying harder to get my old account back because I’m still plowing through old content and it’s been months! Guess I underestimated how seriously I played this back then. And I really miss my Pizzica-chan! But there’s light at the end of the tunnel now, barely. Just a little more and I’ll make it through the old stuff and start tackling the new content (tons and tons of it). Unlike before, I’m not making any effort to fight super bosses or anything vaguely tough/annoying, so things are going pretty fast. Proper post once I finally, finally make it out of the woods into new content.

Magic Chronicle Isekai RPG – The most recent game I posted about sadly (?) seems like it’s about to shutdown. Without any notice from the developers, it seems to have gone into ‘maintenance mode,’ which is where a game stops releasing new content or characters and just re-runs old content ad nauseam until the playerbase dwindles and then they shut it down. I hear King’s Raid is in maintenance mode now, which makes me sad because I liked the little I played of it.

It’s rare (possibly unheard of?) for even major games to make it out of maintenance mode, much less one as obscure as Magic Chronicle Isekai RPG. This game lives and dies by nickel and diming players, so for them to not release a single new character, a single new P2W package, or even re-run a limited character banner means they’re well and truly sunk. I’m giving them to the end of September to announce something concrete, otherwise I’m uninstalling.

That doesn’t mean I’m done with idle games, though. I’ll be looking for a replacement. I already tried Memento Mori and the art style and girls-only focus weren’t for me, but I’m still on the lookout if anyone has suggestions.👍

Update: the developers formally announced that Magic Chronicle Isekai RPG will be shutting down on October 29th 2024. I have already uninstalled, though. What a waste of potential. I really liked some of their modes like the Island Bounties and the Valley with all the gimmicks. Oh well…

Love Nikki – Same old, same old. They’re still actively releasing new suits, but I have suits in almost every genre now, so my focus is on hell suits (the good-looking ones, though. Some are needlessly elaborate), lifetime suits and the task suit de jour. My diamonds are around 14,000, which is probably the highest amount I’ve ever had in this game. I find it hard to save diamonds in Love Nikki because I have it filed in my brain as “game I am willing to spend money on.” Which means I don’t hesitate to spend diamonds because I can always buy more IMO. In practice I almost never do buy diamonds, but just knowing that I can if I want to makes me a lot more profligate. Now I see why gacha companies work so hard to get you to make that initial purchase, even if it’s just $0.99. Food for thought.

And that’s where I’m currently at right now. Trying to get back into Switch gaming, but I fear the combination of gacha games and YouTube have destroyed my attention span for good. If a game takes more than a few minutes to get going, I already start checking out mentally. Plus with gacha games and YouTube I’m not actually paying for the privilege of having my time wasted and my intelligence insulted, so it doesn’t hurt so bad. I like the lack of FOMO and the conclusiveness of “regular” games, but that’s about it. Does that mean I’m now lost to the world of console/PC gaming? Not quite, not quite. At least I want to try all the stuff I’ve bought already, seeing as I can’t get a refund. After that will come… the reckoning.

Magic Chronicle Isekai RPG – Money, money, money, money, money

It’s not that strategic TBH. Not that fun either. And the battle UI doesn’t look like that.

In case you’re wondering what I’m up to since I dropped Persona 5 Royal, I finished a playthrough of Lair Land Story, tried to get back into Xenoblade Chronicles 3 with limited success (haven’t given up, but the magic is totally gone) and kind of gave up on console games for now.

I’ve mainly been playing Another Eden: The Cat Beyond Time and Space, and regretting the loss of my previous account because I realise now that I had done a LOT of content that I’ll need to do again, urgh. Okay not need, but really. The game has a ton of content. On the other hand, insane power creep means the Jillfunny and Piggie I pulled can one-shot or two-shot just about every mob or boss that doesn’t absorb Water. More on AE if/when I exceed my previous stage in the story.

Today I’m here to talk about another game I’ve been playing, an idle game called Magic Chronicle Isekai RPG. It’s my first idle gacha, I think? “Idle games” are a genre of games where resources accumulate in the game over time and you log in once or twice a day to collect and allocate them. Strengthen your characters a bit, enhance your facilities so you can collect more resources, then log out again.

The cat at the bottom collects the stuff for you, and you later unlock a cat assistant which does dailies for you.

In theory it’s perfect for the busy gamer because it doesn’t make many demands on your time. Daily tasks don’t take long, and there’s no need to log in on specific days or at specific times for rewards/guild wars/all that nonsense. At the same time you still get the dopamine hit from raising stronger characters and getting better gear, progressing in the various modes, etc. so it’s the best of both worlds. In theory.

Mobile/gacha games have a reputation for cash-grabbing which I think is both fair and unfair. We’re all trying to make a buck here, but some practices are downright scummy. On the other hand, no game holds a gun to your head to spend on it, and I’ve gotten just as much entertainment from free games as from paid, so I’m not against the free-to-play model. Value for money counts for a lot.

That said, while there’s nothing with a game company trying to make money to keep the lights on, when does monetization go too far? Magic Chronicle Isekai RPG (name is too long, will call it MCIR from now on) has so many daily, weekly, monthly and progress passes and assorted packages that I got dizzy trying to keep up with them. Plus whenever you complete any achievement in the game, a character pops up offering you a long list of packages you can buy to “celebrate.”

I tried to screenshot all the various packages available, though I’m sure I’ve missed a few, plus new ones are always coming out. Check these out, though:

First thing you see every time you log in. Who decided it was 5000% value anyway?

Lots of these every time you clear anything.

Gold weekly pass, not to be confused with other weekly passes.

Just because it’s fun to paywall QOL features. I do prefer permanent stuff to temporary passes, but this game is too over the top for me.

Material pack (you can get most of this stuff just by playing, but that’s how these games roll)

Daily pack. I forgot to screenshot the weekly and monthly packs, but you get the picture.

Different types of daily pack in addition to those above.

More montly packs separate from those above.

Space-time heroes are super powerful and can’t be pulled normally, but this doesn’t even give you Odin, just his gear. And those prices…

I don’t know what that statue does. I’m assuming it washes your car and makes you breakfast in bed, otherwise why would it cost $49.99?

More “just because” offers.

Not sure what the point of buying just one Chronos is, TBH, since you need tons of dupes to max a character. Maybe there are more copies below the fold, dunno, duncare.

Meh. They should have at least made her cute.

I think it’s about 100 gems to $1, so this would be $1,500 for a single character. And you think your gacha game is greedy. Ahaha, ahahaha.

Incremental strength increases for your character. Not worth it IMO. Actually almost nothing I’ve posted so far is worth it.

I recently made an Eternal+ character and unlocked the Ancient Relics mode, which came with, you guessed it, another pack offer.

Assorted passes for clearing various game modes.

I have no idea what this one is about.

Or this one either, TBH. There’s nothing to exorcise in this game. Hm…

Ah, this one. Treasure hunt is a board game mode with piddling rewards, and what you get for $22.99 here is even more piddling.

Now this powder does significantly boost your party’s power… but I’d rather be weak than spend $29.99 on it.

If you’ve been counting, that’s 26 passes, packages or offers so far, and I didn’t even get all of them.

Luckily this game doesn’t have any meaningful PVP or rankings, so there’s no real pressure to get stronger other than at your own pace. I like the art direction and the character designs (the chibis are not too chibi either, which is good). I also enjoy some of the modes like the Valley and the race trials and sanctum. It’s more of competition against yourself than against others, and in fact, taking longer to grow means you’ve got that much more content to cover without burning out, so it’s all good.

I quite like MCIR TBH, so I might write a proper post about it later, especially since there isn’t much information about it out there. And I’ll probably try other idle gachas as well when I get tired of it. The reason I made this post was just to marvel at all the monetization, because I’ve never seen anything this aggressive in all my gaming years. It also answers the question: “What world-shatteringly important things have I been up to that kept me from posting for almost a month?” Now you know.