31/01/26 - made it through another month

these days i've been feeling like a dead person walking, doing nothing but ruining my life reaaaaaaally slowly.

i don't actually have much to say other than im gna start working on my gallery lol. took long enough honestly.

Nier: Automata Review

Platform: PlayStation 4
Genre: Action JRPG

main gameplay

a regular hack and slash, mainly with 2 of the playable characters and then shoot 'em up segments / bullet hell. different difficulties made it easy for me to keep playing even when my hands got tired of crampy but still wanted to play, i mainly played on very hard, just because i like hurting myself, but then switched to normal/easy when i got tired or sleepy.

i enjoyed the gameplay, it was mostly dodging and timing counters, especially playing on harder difficulties when bosses can one/two/three-shot you lol i liked it since fights never took a horrible amount of time to play. another thing that sticks out with the hack-and-slash portions were the forced pov / side-scroller angles, showed off the environment really well honestly and it didn't feel out of place on the portions it was introduced in (mainly boss fights)

im really bad at shoot 'em ups, especially bullet hells, so doing the hacking portions was really difficult at first, and honestly, by the end of the game, i still couldnt do some levels of the harder stages LMFAO and i would just give up whenever those sections came up. its definitely a skill issue honestly because for some reason i couldn't focus on dodging and aiming at the same time until the very end where i finally used my brain LOOOOOL. either way i think i got so used to playing the bullet hell portion that when i switched back to the hack-and-slash gameplay i suddenly forgot how to dodge and i missed standing so far away from the enemies LMFAO

plot

you play as an android living in space who is sent to earth to reclaim the planet for humanity from the alien machines. "Glory to Mankind."

as you play the different endings, A-E for the main story, the plot becomes increasingly convoluted and things aren't as they seem. The androids are meant to be unfeeling and obedient to their mission, they're convinced that the machines are only that, machines. Throughout the story, their ideas about the machines start to change, their ability to speak, their ability to form family dynamic etc. challenging the intelligent androids' previous viewpoints on these beings. They begin to wonder, what gives an entity 'life', is it through having a consciousness? is it the ability to form connections? is it through the ability to feel? and what makes one able to judge who gets to remain on the planet. after all, you're playing as an android yourself, meant to protect mankind.

you get to play as 3 characters ! you get to see different viewpoints, making you think about the morally grey scenario and allow you to cast judgement on who gets to live and to die. overall, all perspectives felt satisfying when all the pieces were put together at the end and it was super fun seeing how the characters interact with eachother and hoe they change as the story progresses / as more and more information about the world comes to light.

no i will not be talking about the side quests bc icba and there were gag ones

environment

im a huge fan of photo ops in games and i really like taking screenshots and stuff...

i think all the stages were great ! it showed a post-apocalyptic, vacant earth with nature reclaiming the urban landscape. i think definitely my favorite stage visually was the amusement park !!! it was beautiful grrrrr im really easily scared though so i was literally on edge even walking up to it the first time and i genuinely am still scared or kinda tense whenever i go there. the darkening of the sky when you walk in and the dark / purple tone when you go around kinda gave it an atmosphere for sure compared to how green the other areas were.

i would definitely say my least favorite area was the factory, just because it was so dark and the fighting space to me was uncomfortable compared to all the other levels, especially since they tended to just spam the enemies but yeah oh well also the part in route B fuck off with that part genuinely long and probably my least fav part of the main quest.

gaaaaah i really want to talk more about each of the stage but i genuinely cant be bothered LMFAO but yeah. very green. very beautiful, very explorable and great photos available B)

music

i listen to the soundtrack all the time. i use it as a sleep aid LMFAO. its such a good ost. as with all the other nier songs, they use their own language (Chaos) same as the Nier: Replicant and the Drakengard series. ITS GREAT SHE SINGS BEAUTIFULLY AND I LOVE THE DIFFERENT VARIANTS OF THE SONGS DEPENDING ON WHAT AREA YOU'RE IN / IN THE HACKING MINIGAMES ! anyways, the amusement park ahs great music...

overall

do i recommend? yes yes yes i really like this game a lot and i think everyone should play its so awesome the story is epic the characters are wonderful and YEAAAAAAAHHHH fun fun game. its not that long either, especially if you dont plan on doing all the side quests it can be around 30~ hours, side quests made it another extra 30 lol.

19/01/26 - hello gamers

im currently bored of studying and procrastinating.

lwk these past few days ive been waking up at midday and bedrotting til around 2 pm when my stomach starts to hurt from not having eaten anything since 9 pm the night before. i also feel like a bum since ive been ordering food and eating out very often but its okay because ill cook tonight i swear. i should probably get out of my room and wash my cereal bowl, defrost the meat i was going to cook then also eat the leftover pizza that i ordered more than 24 hrs ago and ive left it at room temperature. im not dead yet so its okay. i even got my own pizza order wrong. i wanted a barbecue base.

one thing that went well is that my skin looks good for once, i actually started to care about my skincare since i see my friends irl and they have pretty and smooth skin and i was here with my really obvious acne scarring, especially huge on my nose with 3 billion redness. lately, its been looking a lot better ! i'm not doing this out of an insecurity thing, or out of jealousy of others, but moreso, i want to look after myself for once. i like how i say this after the previous statement. i guess its more like, i want to care a little bit more about my appearance bc the amount of care i put into myself when i was really severely mentally ill was pretty much nil.

anyways, i remember i was gna say something else but now ive forgotten LMFAO. ugh its raining, i cant buy bread. ive been wanting to make a grilled cheese since i came back to uni but forgot to buy bread and i cant be asked to go outside.

i want to go on an outing with someone, i want to go literally anywhere

17/01/26 - what am i doing

hello chat, i said to myself that i wasn't gonna update the site until after my exam period but i genuinely am so uninspired and bummed out by my last exam that im just gonna talk here anyway lol

i only had two midterms, which is a whopping 1 (one) less than last years midterms and finals, but grrrr i honestly am just so blehhhh. its okay though !! ive already done one of them and have 4 days til my next one, so now that im thinking about it its gonna be so chill boss when im finished with it ! i just need to look for placements after *choking self*

anyways, about my backlog of games... i didn't actually get very far because i was like yeah i should study. then i decided to choose two games that are probably the longest options i had, being ff7 rebirth and persona 4 golden so like there was no way in hell that i was gonna finish either of them during christmas break on top of my 9 hour study days or whatever gargantuan task i was doing.

luckily, the anime society decided to screen shit i dont really care about lol during the intersemester break so im mega chilling when it comes to that. so ill probably re-dye my hair, play games and watch stuff i know ill enjoy (even though one of the main reasons i go is to talk with friends anyway, but i dont wanna wake up to head to campus for 10am)

il probably get back to studying now but hopefully i can get the gallery page up (after 5 months of procrastination) when my exams are over and hopefully mroe updates if i remember to do so LMFAO

Collar x Malice Review

Platform: Nintendo Switch
Genre: Otome Visual Novel

it was good, i enjoyed it a lot. point and click gameplay elements, akin to ace attorney and danganronpa, that made the gameplay fun. i don't tend to prefer darker modern settings: when it comes to modern settings, i prefer light hearted games or ones with bright colors LOOOOL but i really loved the aesthetic of this one.

i enjoyed the mystery of Adonis and the moral ambiguity of it all, the overarching plot of the game as well as all of the LIs and how they also interact with the mystery with their own forms of justice and means of getting to their own endings in each route :D

most of all, i loved the interactions with all the characters, even outside of the LIs. although the romance aspect of the otome kind of takes a backburner compared to the actual plot and storytelling, i believe that the connections, both new and prestablished, are fantastic. ESPECIALLY with her younger brother (probably my second favorite character in the entire game) and how their relationship develops and how they resolve their issues in a normal, healthy way.

ichika as an mc is fantastic as well, shes strong-willed and actually has a head on her shoulders. shes able to think and act out of her own will and isn't afraid to fight back. shes a flawed mc, but is able to make up for each of those flaws everytime. shes extremely likable and im glad such a great game had a great protagonist as well.

love interests - written in the order i played their routes

kei okazaki

probably one of my favorites in terms of overall plot material, as well as his personality.

this man is ditzy, passionate and stubborn, cool as hell and just GRAAAAAAGH a really cute guy. I love how forward he is, especially in Yanagi's route LMFAO, and how possessive/protective he is over ichika. truly awesome. i also usually tend towards liking the more playful guys in every otome that i play, probably why i like him quite a bit. but as his route goes onto the mid to later chapters, he becomes more serious and blunt, driven by his skewed sense of justice and self-worth, making his arc a beautiful yet infuriating one.

mineo enomoto

i love him so much, hes genuinely one of my favorites ever i think

i love LIs that are super friendly, boisterous, just really airheaded but also strong-willed and brash. a lot of enomotos route feels quite unromantic, mostly ichika pushing their relationship to develop forward, but i always LOVE when characters tend to get close as friends first honestly. it just makes it all the better when they're like "wow i have so much fun when we're friends but damn, now im catching feelings!" GAAAAAAAH its so cute...

i think the best thing about the dynamic between ichika and enomoto is the fact that they have so much chemistry together that it feels the most real. i love cat and dog relationships where they butt heads and have petty little arguments, i love when the two characters have similar personalities where they can easily work together and i just LOVEEE them so much its unreal.

i do think i should've played his route first however, mostly due to the fact that his route probably had the least amount to contribute to the overall plot of the game in terms of information.

also i adored the relationship between enomoto and ichika's younger brother, kazuki, theyre so awesome.

takeru sasazuka

i was already biased going into it since im not that big a fan of tsunderes. in fact, im just not a fan at all.

he's an asshole and he does constantly berate ichika quite a bit! but i do admit that i did end up liking him as a character overall. i like smart characters and characters who flaunt how smart they are and have a bit of a stick up their ass so its funny i guess

i liked the plot of his route quite a lot though, i found it interesting and thought that his story was pretty amazing. he had some great CGs too........

kageyuki shiraishi

probably my least favorite route in the game, mostly due to his character archetype honestly.

despite my overall dislike for his character, i do think that his relationship with ichika is well developed and quite beautiful i liked it a lot, even if im not fond of how it started.

i think that his route, definitely, should be the penultimate route from just how much lore was in it. i believe that his backstory was probably the best out of all of the LIs and i did love it quite a lot. i lot more angst than the other routes but i believe that his good ending has a satisfying resolve :)

aiji yanagi

hes so cute i love him

his relationship with ichika is kinda slow moving, once again fully driven by ichika until the end. for good reason though. i love him as a character, hes a caretaker, a reliable partner and genuinely cool asf. i know that if i was younger his personality would probably make him my fav LI in the game: calm, collected, lowkey. i do think that the romance side of his route was definitely not my favorite and not very satisfying to watch but thats okay! they ended up together in the end anyway.

what is my favorite though is his overall story. thats kinda obvious though considering he is the "true route" and the poster boy, also being unlocked after completing every other route, therefore having the most plot to tie up loose ends. his ending was somewhat satisfying and i think that the way that they resolved issues in this route was great.

other notes:

the art in this game was stunning. all of the sprites, all of the cgs and best of all, the backgrounds. actually beautiful.

the target practice/shooting mechanism was fun, i kept getting scared that i would fail though LMFAO accidental bad end elol

i love love love love love this game a lot.

24/12/25 - merry christmas eve

so im currently trying to finish my backlog of switch games whilst also studying for exams so that i dont feel like im wasting my money.

yesterday i finished play through the last game, trials and tribulations, in the ace attorney trilogy and i liked it a lot as per usual ^_^

im not very smart at deduction and problem solving and tend to care more about the story and content, so i did find it tricky but its alright and i managed to get through it in a decent amount of time. i will say that its probably my least fav game in the trilogy but thats alright i still enjoyed it nonetheless

this christmas eve is a bit boring but i dont really mind honestly, i can jsut play game and eat well so its not too bad. ill probably write another entry in a bit to give my thoughts on collar x malice, which im currently playing through as well :)