Happy New Year, everyone! I ate a lot! And drank a lot! And played a lot of videogames! And now it’s time for another round of Video Game Resolutions I Will Totally Not Keep!
Actually I did pretty well last year and tried almost all the games on my list. But there have been years where I didn’t play even 50%, and then there’s that time I said I would quit gaming by the end of 2014… Whatever happened to that resolution, huh? :-p So just take these with a pinch of salt and don’t expect too much.
- Stella Glow (3DS) – From the late, great Imageepoch. I miss them so much already. I assumed they would always be around for me to hate on, but now they’re gone :’-(. Stella Glow is an SRPG, which is always a plus, and it sounds like a cross between Luminous Arc and Ar Tonelico, which is another plus. I’ll be shocked if I don’t enjoy it.
7th Dragon III Code: VFD (3DS) – Another no-brainer for me. I love me some 7th Dragon! I’m only holding back because I’m hoping to hear a localization announcement. If nothing has been announced by the end of June 2016 then I’ll go ahead and start, but I like to play games in English where available.- Rune Factory 4 (3DS) – I seem to have gone off Harvest Moon /Story of Seasons games completely these days, but there’s still room in my heart for Rune Factory. RF4 didn’t receive the same rave reviews 3 did, but it’s bound to be decent at least. Besides, it’s been a while since I played a good action RPG.
- Legend of Legacy (3DS) – Sometimes I really want to play this, sometimes I don’t. On one hand it’s supposedly Saga-inspired and I don’t know much about that series. On the other hand I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve played from FuRyu, and I just like turn-based RPGs in general. I think I’ll play it.
Shin Rorona no Atelier: Hajimari no Monogatari (3DS) – I haven’t played any of the more recent Atelier games, mostly because none of them are on consoles/handhelds I own. I know the art style and battle system of Shin Rorona are different from the original’s but the basic flow of the game and the alchemy should give me an idea of what the newer games have to offer… also I just want to craft lots of stuff so there.- Summon Night 5 (PSP) – Because it’s Summon Night. And because they’re bringing it out in English and that makes me happy. I’m trying to see if I can get a physical copy, but if that fails I’ll have to go digital. Either way it’s gonna get played.
Btw, there’s no edition of “Games that didn’t work out” this year. Guess I just didn’t play that many games to start with. There are a few things I started playing and went “Hmm…” and shelved them for later, like Soul Hackers, but they’re all stuff I’ll get back to eventually.
I’ll also be taking care of a few last stragglers before putting my DS to rest for good. On top of that I also have a number of unplayed otome games left on the PSP. For the rest of January, though, my PS2 is back in action so I already started Dragon Shadow Spell at long last. There’s also Tsukumonogatari and some indie PC games I really need to find the time to play. Looks like another busy gaming year for me!
And how is your new year shaping up?
Happy new year! That looks like a great list. With the exception of Rorona, due to no faults on its own, I’m just not a big fan of the Atelier games, I played all of those games and more or less enjoyed them. The first half of 2016 for me will probably be spent playing Odin Sphere HD, Dark Souls 3, SMT4 Final and Star Ocean 5, so it’s going to be a tight schedule.
Many happy returns! I tried the original Odin Sphere on PS2 but it was a little too hard for me. Beautiful game though, love the art.
SMT4 I’m waiting for the inevitable localization (if it comes out this year then it’s going on the list for sure). If I had a Vita in addition to a 3DS I don’t know how I’d be able to cope with all the new games coming out.
Looks like I will have my hands full with ps vita rpg for a while. lots coming out this year and still catching up on last year, so happy new year everyone! !!
Happy New Year! The Vita has so many fun games coming out this year, I’m envious! The part I envy most are the dungeon crawlers: Demon Gaze II, Ray Gigant and Stranger of Sword City all in one year? It’s too much >_<
Legend of Legacy didn’t end up being very SaGa-like as someone who has played most installment of that series.
I think you might have some fun with it but eventually drop it, because it’s honestly kind of barebones for its length
Shin Rorona 3DS not having a localization by now is rather odd to me, considering the company has been rather timely in localizing all of the modern Atelier games to this point. Don’t really know how it stacks up.
Barebones doesn’t bother me as long as the gameplay is good. I’ve been actively avoiding spoilers so I have ZERO idea what the story is about (some kind of legend… about a legacy?). This should be interesting.
I’ve heard conflicting things about the quality of NISA’s Atelier localizations, so with Shin Rorona I’m prepared to go ahead in Japanese. That’s how I played most Atelier games anyway.
What are you looking forward to this year?
Acquiring a new income source.
Oh, you mean “What am I looking forward in gaming”? Honestly not much – I’m probably going to take things as they come. I guess the new Fire Emblem English release isn’t that far off – though since I played the JP version I already have some idea of what to expect of it.
The Shin Rorona not being localized comment is more along the lines of whether there’s something about this particular version that warrants not being translated, just like that one really buggy DS Atelier game they didn’t pick because it would definitely lower public opinion of the series a lot. Amazon seems to give it pretty high stars though so I guess not.
As for Legend of Legacy, I was kind of speaking of the gameplay when I made the barebones comment – I just think there isn’t enough characters/items/spells etc to stop the game from getting repetitive quick. Tastes differ I guess, because I know it has a devoted following.
Good luck with the job hunt. I’ll spare you any specific advice because I’m sure you’ve heard it all before. Just hang in there until you find something.
You’ve given me a moment’s pause of Legend of Legacy, but I’m probably going to play it anyway. The 3DS doesn’t have enough RPGs for me to start picking and choosing just yet. The real deadly combination will be if the gameplay is meh AND the story is bad. I’m not quite sure what I’ll do in that case.
Rune Factory 4 was pretty great, I was practically glued to it until I scored 50% on a midterm. I’ll probably end up playing the 7th Dragon series sooner or later, but I don’t really feel like starting from the first game so I’ll try out the PSP games. I’ve still got the Japanese PSP copies of Summon Night 3 & 5 sitting in the shrinkwrap, better get to those too…
It sure is hard going back to the backlog when you have shiny new current-gen consoles. Haven’t played Rorona 3DS, but some of the PS3 Atelier games get pretty insane as far as item crafting and extra bosses go. When I went back to play Marie I was shocked at how you just…make the item.
Yah, I’ve given up on the backlog now. If it happens, it’s happens, that’s the most I can say. Onward to newer and shinier games!
*psst* Summon Night 3 was meh. Play 5 instead!
Hello just came across your blog was just wondering how you learned to read Japanese and what kind of advice materials etc you would point towards for learning Japanese? Currently English is my only language but I want to learn to read Japanese so I can play all these games too :3 I love visual novels, otome games, games with female protagonists etc and find all your reviews interesting to read through.
Thank you for reading my little blog!
I taught myself Japanese from a book for about two years then took college classes for another two years or so. Then I self-taught some more by reading lots of manga and watching lots of anime. However if I had to do it all over again, I would definitely take classes first to get a solid foundation and then move to self-teaching. It’s good to have someone holding your hand at the early stages to make sure you don’t learn bad habits you have to unlearn later.
Are there any classes nearby, or could you sign up to take an online class? I saw a lot of google results when I searched for “online Japanese class” but I can’t recommend any in particular. See if there are any with free trials and start with those. Or see what you can find on Youtube. When you’re starting at zero, anything that moves you forward is good enough.
Sometimes people hesitate to start learning Japanese because they think it will take them forever to get any good. But even if it takes you 20 years (which it won’t), you still have the rest of your life to enjoy reading and watching and playing stuff in Japanese. It’s a new year, start learning today!
Thankyou so much for your encouragement and suggestions! X3 I have purchased several programs/apps that have great reviews. Human Japanese, Textfugu, Mindsnacks I have been practicing with them since shortly after posting last time. There are not any Japanese language learning classes at the college near here so I will start with learning on my own with these apps/programs. I agree that it would have been cool to start with personalized help though. I can read hiragana and katakana with 95% efficiency. Learning so far has been fun and it will lead to a whole new world of games, books, manga, shows, I am really happy to have started 😀
Thankyou so much for your encouragement and suggestions! X3 I have purchased several programs/apps that have great reviews. Human Japanese, Textfugu, Mindsnacks I have been practicing with them since shortly after posting last time. There are not any Japanese language learning classes at the college here so I will start with learning on my own with these apps/programs. I agree that it would have been cool to start with personalized help though. Learning so far has been fun and it will lead to a whole new world of games, books, manga, shows, I am really happy to have started. I hope this msg gets through i tried to post it several times but my internet is sucking so sorry if somehow it posts more than once.
Happy New Year! ^^ Nice list of gaming resolutions, I cannot wait to read your impressions regarding these games! I’m also pinning for a localization of 7th Dragon III Code, preferably with physical copies involved. I think this game alone could rekindle my interest in the 3ds, which has waned significantly of late.
My own list of coveted games involves every 3ds RPG and nearly every single Vita game slated for release in 2016. So many dungeon crawlers ahead, it’s really exciting!
Your list is very similar to mine, minus the Vita games. Looking forward to hearing about Trillion God of Destruction, since that was the last game Imageepoch was involved with before they went belly up.
Btw, even though the 3DS is region-locked, there’s a very simple hack you can use to play other region games. It doesn’t work on a New 3DS, but if you have one of the older models it takes all of 2 minutes to set up. That’s what I’ll be using to play Shin Rorona and 7th Dragon III if a localization isn’t announced.
Well, good news, they announced the 7th Dragon III localization
As I knew they would, heh heh heh. Good things come to those who wait.
I own a PSN code for Summon Night 5, which is of no use to me since I’m based in Europe AND own the physical version of the game. I’ll be happy to let you have it for free if you’re interested, if only to thank you for all the entertaiment your posts provided me these last years. ^___^
;_________; I just downloaded my copy last week… ;_______; I remember you writing about the PSN code on your website but I figured someone must have grabbed it by now, so I didn’t bother. I’m going to build a time machine and go back in time and cancel it, so wait for me okay? XD I wish. Thank you so much for the offer, though.