Karini

[karini]

Play as your friendly neighborhood vampire!

#VampireKyuuketsukiDensetsu is basically an undead/village-managing sim!

As the vampire Christopher, you help the villagers in your local town prepare to withstand the attack of your rival Duran, by saving a little snack for yourself!

Unlocking traps during the day and engaging locals will cause them to leave their homes open to your midnight visits, you gently drain their blood to prepare them to help fend off your foe

As you move onto larger cities, your pool of potential servants increases, interacting with related characters will trigger "chain events", that help you grow your influence and at one point it’s even possible to recruit London’s Jack the Ripper

I had a difficult time with the language barrier in this one, managed to fumble around using some of the info on GameFAQs and Artdink’s own webpage, that is surprisingly still up for this game

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[karini]

Yakata Nightmare Project's many mansions are crafted to creepy perfection!

This detective tale starts off strong

🎥 A heavy use of animated cutscenes enhance the story

🏘 Elaborate sprawling floorplans make the homes feel large and intimidating

⚔️ Plus an array of RPG elements that mix really well together as you try to track down the mysterious forces at work in these haunted halls.

A joint venture with author Yukito Ayatsuji, his Yakata or Mansion series lends its framework for the structure of this game

Ayatsuji is perhaps most well-known here for his novel and the resulting anime series Another

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[karini]

Grab your stylus and draw your perfect disguise in Kaitou Rousseau!

Since Halloween is a day about pretending to be someone else, #KaitouRousseau or Phantom Thief Rousseau felt like a very fitting tribute!

Try on a variety of silly faces you’ve collected from locals around town in order to gather intel and track down your next target!

The way the game plays reminds me a bit of a goofier Hotel Dusk, as you use many of the DS’s built in gimmicks to avoid detection and outsmart your foes, including blowing into the mic and closing the DS lid to progress the story

The incredibly light hearted nature of this game makes it pretty freaking adorable!

The language barrier is quite steep, there is a lot of dialogue but it’s all rather easy to keep up on all the major plot points because they are told through comic book style panels.

A few quiz like segments are best played with Google Translate at the ready but there is no real punishment for missing too many besides being sent back slightly in order to try again.

Another DS game that would have likely been a beloved fan favorite had it been released around the world

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[karini]

Grab your stylus and draw your perfect disguise in Kaitou Rousseau!

Since Halloween is a day about pretending to be someone else, #KaitouRousseau or Phantom Thief Rousseau felt like a very fitting tribute!

Try on a variety of silly faces you’ve collected from locals around town in order to gather intel and track down your next target!

The way the game plays reminds me a bit of a goofier Hotel Dusk, as you use many of the DS’s built in gimmicks to avoid detection and outsmart your foes, including blowing into the mic and closing the DS lid to progress the story

The incredibly light hearted nature of this game makes it pretty freaking adorable!

The language barrier is quite steep, there is a lot of dialogue but it’s all rather easy to keep up on all the major plot points because they are told through comic book style panels.

A few quiz like segments are best played with Google Translate at the ready but there is no real punishment for missing too many besides being sent back slightly in order to try again.

Another DS game that would have likely been a beloved fan favorite had it been released around the world

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[karini]

Navigate through a city during its worst day imaginable? I'll give it my best shot!

I'd never tried any of the #AloneintheDark entries before, but I was ready when I read that this game throws everything but the kitchen sink at you, as far as having a ton of mechanics to work with!

The wide variety of waggle controlled tasks and serious tone remind me of one of my favorite Wii titles, Disaster: Day of Crisis

Eventually I’d like to add the other versions as well for the full experience, but there is something really fun about collecting M rated Wii titles

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[karini]

Kicking off the Halloween season with mystery author Misa Yamamura’s Suspense series

Kyoto Dragon Temple Murder Case introduces the protagonist, a game designer who is investigating a series of terrible events that are eerily similar to the plot of their new game that hasn’t been released yet!

Horrific murders set against the scenic backdrop of Kyoto’s temples, has the whole area on edge as you explore the potential motive and search for the suspect

I can’t get enough of this cover art, the gorgeous traditional painting style and delicate gold accents really make it stand out on the shelf

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[karini]

Tiny bit surprised that this game was comprised entirely of space battles!

Before last year, I had never seriously watched Star Trek

Now slowly working my way through

Any "must-play" Star Trek titles I've been missing out on?

#playstation #Playstation2 #videogamecollection #videogame #PS2 #game #videogames #startrek

#Picard #CaptainKirk #BenSisko #Data #GeordilaForge #startrekencounters

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[karini]

The Good, the bad and the ugly! I love arcade style golf games!

This one here was released abroad as The Final Round, not to be confused with a separate and much more aptly named arcade boxing game also by Konami. Originally that game went by Hard Puncher: Blood Soaked Glory, where in Japan this game’s title translates to Glory Fairway!

Trivial naming conventions aside, lining up your swing to take a whack at the Konami branded ball is definitely a high point for me!

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[karini]

Took a chance and picked this one up, thought the cover looked neat and the Capcom logo was enough to persuade me to grab it!

I wasn’t expecting was to fall in love with the soundtrack! Turns out God of War’s Bear McCreary was responsible for the unexpectedly grand score.

Looking into the game’s development, I couldn’t help but admire the labor of love that lead to a creation of a companion DSiWare piece entitled Dark Void Zero by Other Ocean

Promoting itself as a supposed long “lost” Capcom game, rescued from the vault and fashioned after NES classics, it would release just one day before Dark Void proper, complete with some lovely 8-bit tunes

While in general it seems like many strongly prefer the retro iteration over the full fledge game, it’s amazing how so many titles have interesting surprises like this mixed in, this is one I’m happy to have found

If you’ve played either of these two, what did you think? Zero will definitely be my next eShop purchase!

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[karini]

Honkaku Shogi and Gomoku Narabe here may not be real lookers by any means...

but I am always fascinated by the effort that went into creating the computer opponents in games like these, especially after watching DeepMind’s documentary on their program AlphaGo

Since the documentary’s release, DeepMind’s projects have gone on to learn other games including Shogi and even StarCraft II.

The blurbs on the back of these old boxes advertising a challenging CPU, are usually quite entertaining even if I always struggle with even the easiest setting

#playstation #psone #ps #shogi #gomokunarabe #alphago #go

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[karini]

"If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball!"

All-Star Slammin' D-Ball along with its beefed up bro #WorldChampionDodgeBaller on the #Playstation2!

The #PS2 entry changes things up with a chance to play as a supersized famous figure from history (or legend, in the case of King Arthur) as you battle it out with opponents from around the globe!

I'm a sucker for #SimpleSeries titles, especially the few that managed to make an appearance stateside.

#videogame #videogamecollection #dodgeball #playstation #simple2000

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[karini]

What in Blaze & Blade do we have here?

A real-time action RPG with up to 3 friends!?

Similar to Secret of Mana you can control up to four characters along with your buddies

or venture out solo with a CPU-controlled party in tow!

While those in PAL territories would see a release of the first game Eternal Quest, we would both end up missing out on the Japan only sequel Blaze & Blade Busters, a retooling of the original that was released just about eight months later!

Grade school me would have loved roaming the woods in these games fighting off mobs of monsters, most likely with a group inspired by Record of Lodoss War.

The character customization offers a nice variety of jobs to choose from, including those with special abilities to break walls or find hidden shortcuts to lead you to secret areas around the map

I’m quick to forgive any of the game’s quirks as it does a great job of taking you back to a simpler time of couch co-op

#videogame #game #videogamecollection #psone #playstation #japan #anime #blazeandblade #blazeandbladebusters #eternalquest #blazeandbladeeternalquest

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[karini]

Beyond the Stream of Time 3!  

Harukanaru Toki no Nakade 3 turned out to be similar to my post from last week about Genji!

Here is yet another version of the legendary warrior Yoshitsune, as both games are set during the Genpei Wars.

Toki no Naka 3 combines simple RPG elements with classic visual novel decision making to weave together a compelling tale.

Modern day schoolgirl Nozomi along with her two friends, Masaomi and his younger brother Yuzuru, are transported through time to the tumultuous time period.

Nozomi and Yuzuru are quickly reunited when they are both assisted by members of the Minamoto clan. 

A sudden surge in evil energy has awaken ghoulish enemies, Nozomi discovers she has the ability to seal these unsettled spirits away as a priestess of the White Dragon.

While searching for the missing Masaomi, Nozomi is heartbroken to learn that not only did he arrive years earlier than the other two, but he was recruited by the rival Heike Clan.

I was mainly prompted to try this entry out because of the high acclaim the game has with both fans of the series and the genre in general. 

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[karini]

PS3 pulls me back again!

In-between checking out all the other games I’ve been missing out on, I have to say… I keep coming back to #P5!! This is my first time through and I’m already loving it more than I could have hoped!

Today marks 5 years since it was released in Japan, I'm so happy to have finally gotten around to this awesome game!

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[karini]

Continuing my little ode to the PS3!

I couldn't say no to this Greatest Hits dual pack!!

Finally diving into the #Uncharted series for the first time this weekend!

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[karini]

Did you play #GenjiDawnoftheSamurai on the PS2? This is my first time checking out the short-lived series

Perfect timing because lately I've had a real soft spot for PS3 games and this one happened to make its way onto that the latest Game Sack episode about the console, so I had to try it!

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[karini]

Would you grab or pass for $1?

Finally checking this one out after all this time!

I can’t believe it has been so long that not only did it receive a sequel, followed by a remaster, then eventually a third installment but now there is even a fourth game in the series?!?

When I first heard about this game, it was way back when everyone was eagerly awaiting the arrival of Darksiders II! Time to play it and maybe in another ten years I’ll get around to the rest!

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