#mendofweststar

[megatownac]

As soon as I started the dream, I saw the cute paths. I absolutely love the shading on these bricks, and the braided border is really neat! I don't know if this is an original path or not, but either way, it makes it pretty clear right off the bat that it's Valentine's Day.

The fence contained a heart tee, heart bopper, and some toys and snacks. Rika devoured the chocolate cake, and it made her automatically do the "happy" emotion.

Coco's still here, ha ha! I love it. She's smiling at me in the second photo, you just can't tell. (Seriously, she is, I'm not joking. Her eyes just never change shape.)

Four flower hearts. I've seen a couple of other flower hearts in other people's towns, and I always love them. They're so pretty and nice.

I then ran into Kyle, and...wait a second. That jacket...is that what I think it is? Turn around. I want to see something.

 IT IS.

He's Travis Touchdown! I can never forget that jacket. I once painted my own red leather jacket to have those exact same stripes. First cosplay I ever did! I never was able to get a good wig or sword, though.

Ah, I know I'm getting totally sidetracked, but this is a huge thrill to me. I was really floored when I saw this. I actually searched for a Travis QR code early on when I started playing, and though I never found one, I love the fact that somebody made one. It's, uh, probably true that No More Heroes doesn't really have the same atmosphere as Animal Crossing, but I don't apologize for having varied interests.

Anyway!!! This is a Valentine's Day town, remember?? 

Kyle's house was a fully functional one, but not really Valentine's Day themed, so let's move on to Mend's. The other rooms on the first floor are blocked, as is normal, but the main room is really beautiful. I love that pieces from multiple furniture sets were used and recolored so that they all matched, and the use of pink lighting (three red light fixtures can be turned off to return the room to normal light) makes it feel really warm and inviting. Maybe I'm a sucker for little details like this, but I feel like it shows a lot of effort. Also, Coco's pic!

Ah, I wonder if the bear has grown since last time? Luckily, there is a height chart we can use to check...

Closing it out with these last two pics of me just running around and having fun! I know I keep hammering on this one thing, but I still love seeing wide open spaces like the one in this last pic.

I think that Weststar is the only town I've visited three times? It's incredible to me to see how much it's changed each time.

[megatownac]

Time for another trip to Weststar! I last visited for the Halloween decorations, and this time it was all festive! It was January, so the trees were green again, and there was snow on the ground and in the air.

First things first: just like last time, there were presents and clothes laid out in the plaza.

I got dressed up in the Santa suit (with beard, natch) and chugged some sparkling cider.

There are a LOT of flowers around! It kind of looks like they were allowed to grow wild, but there are enough hybrids that I'm not sure that's the case. Maybe, though, I don't know. It's pretty cool, though!

Also, Bob and Renee!

There were also a couple of rather wide open empty areas. I don't know if that's because there are planned pwps, or if they're just supposed to be empty, but it's pretty unusual. I don't have any problem with it, though! It's unusual but not bad by any means. I kind of like it, personally...

I had to use a party popper in the second area, though, just to brighten the scenery a bit.

The path in Weststar pretty much consists of this one type of tile, so it's a good thing it's a useful all-purpose tile! I really like the way it was used to make a border around the plaza. It creates a very cool effect.

No more candy and skeletons in the fence. I guess there's really nothing you can put in here to make it seem "festive," though.

Coco is still around! She's kind of grown on me since last time, though of course I don't have her in my town.

Found the mayor, and the mayor's house!

I didn't know there was a snowman hood! I...should pay more attention. This room is surprisingly dark. I mean, I can see perfectly well, and it makes the room seem more...I dunno, cozy, I guess? I love the presents around the trees.

I am probably not supposed to be able to get over here, but it's a bed, and I was able to roll off of it to get across and into the next room. Since I'm pretty sure, based on what was in there, that I'm not supposed to check that room, I won't post any pictures of it.

The upstairs room was a good deal simpler, with some teddy bears and an album on the wall. I kind of liked it! It was really bright.

I still don't really know what's going on here...

I moved on and found Kyle. Kyle's house is significantly less impressive than Mend's.

Wrapping things up, I found a golden axe on the beach. Naturally, I had to use it.

The last thing I did before leaving was run around talking to everybody I saw. Mostly this is because I like it when my own villagers tell me who they spoke to in dreams, so hopefully Mend will hear from Bob that he spoke with Rika of Megatown in a dream.

I still really like Weststar! It's totally worth running around and exploring. Most towns try hard to cram as much into every area as possible, so it's actually a really nice change of pace to see a town as simple and clear as Weststar. It's hard to say that without it sounding like I'm coming down on one approach or the other, so to make it perfectly clear: I like both! And the holiday decorations in Mend's house were very charming. It made me think of spending the day with family.