savepointe

[savepointe]

Loading - Mystic Messenger

Welcome back~ Hope you had a great game-filled weekend! (The southeastern US was frozen over, so I know a lot of us stayed inside playing games and drinking hot chocolate... or at least that's what I did.)

Today I'm gonna cover a game that's near and dear to my heart, one that I've -literally- played every single day since the end of September... Mystic Messenger~ Most ladies know this as the ubiquitous Korean dating sim by Cheritz that has stolen many a heart, while most guys know it as the reason their girl has been ignoring them and giggling at their cell phone in the middle of the night.

All right, so, yeah, this game has kinda taken over my life. I've played it over and over, cosplayed from it, bought merch and pillows, and even hosted a panel about it at NerdaCon last year... I have a problem. Continue reading the review knowing full well my bias towards this lovely gem of a game.

As far as dating sims go, this is definitely top tier. The story's a little convulted, but the dialogue feels very authentic and the overall feel of the game is very immersive. The way the characters talk/text really feels and sounds like 20-something-year-olds talking online, complete with emotes and chat speak. Even the phone calls from them sound real and in the moment - just a small example is, during a phone call from Zen, he'll stop and say he dropped his magazine off the bed and you can hear him reaching down to get it; just little things like that really make it feel like you're talking to real people. And sure, you, the MC, can only respond with pre-written chat options, but even those feel natural (for the most part).

The characters themselves are pretty diverse and definitely have their own personalities, too, each with their own unique backstories, so they really feel well-rounded and developed. I think there's definitely a character for everyone, whether you like charming ladies-men or just want a gal-pal to commiserate with (Jaehee Baehee, I also work in an office... I feel you 100%... T_T). Although, I think 90% of the fan base knows who the real best character is...

The replay value is also pretty high - there are multiple endings for each character, tons of pictures/cgs to collect, and now even agreat Christmas themed story to play. (The completionist in me will not rest until I have collected every. single. CG... Even though that requires getting the bad endings as well... my heart can't take it... But I just gotta!)

So, yeah. I love this game. I've finished every Good Ending, finished each end in the Christmas story and got all of those CGS, and now I'm replaying to get all the normal/bad ends and the CGs that come with them. (Helloooo, Jumin Bad-End CG~) I'm juuuuust about finished... and I don't know what I'll do when that day comes. (I'm sure my boyfriend will rejoice, however.) If you're debating about whether or not to try it out, just take the plunge and do it. It's free (besides in-app purchases, etc).

Your fake Korean boyfriends+girlfriend are waiting~

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P.S. - Honey Butter chips are real and they are amazing. Thanks, eBay! 

[savepointe]

Loading - Pokemon Moon, Post-Game Thoughts

Taking a small break from Fire Emblem to talk about some other games I've been pretty invested in recently - let's jump on into Pokemon Moon~

Pokemon and me go way back and the series will always hold a special place in my heart; been playing since Red and Blue on a grey-screen Gameboy Pocket (with not even a backlight... truly the Dark Ages!), and I've played every main-series game ever since. So, yeah, of course I jumped right into Moon with high expectations, and, for the most part, it did not disappoint.

I've completed the main story/made it to Champion status, and I've completed the Ultra Beasts after-story, so now I'm currently just poking (heh) around to find all the places I missed and such. The story for Sun/Moon was really great, and I absolutely ADORED all the new characters! <3 Lillie and Gladion are super high up on my list for best Pokemon series characters yet, and don't even get me started on Team Skull and Guzma... I haven't liked a villain team so much since the Rocket days~ Another high point for these games is definitely the MUSIC - phenomenal battle beats and killer tracks all around; I instantly bought the album from iTunes as soon as it was available, 'cause I just -had- to have the Gladion and Team Skull battle music available on demand at all times! <3

(No, really, can I talk about Gladion some more? Neat character design, fantastic music, cool mascot Pokemon, and a full-on Jojo battle pose on top of all that?! Be still, my heart!)

(Perfection.)

More under the cut, including minor spoilers about the Pokemon League~

There were some things that weren't great, however... While I liked the idea of the Island Challenge trials replacing Gyms, and most of the Totem battles were great (the Washiwashi one was particularly exciting, with the storm and everything going on around the player), I felt that the trials themselves were pretty weak and uninteresting, save for maybe the Ghost-camera one; did anyone else scream when they found Mimikyu?... No?Just me? ... I-I mean, no, I wasn't scared either!!;; ... ... ...  Ahem.

The Pokemon League was also a -really- big let down for me... Having the Kahunas take over as the Elite Four was really anti-climatic, and then the one new trainer they did include, Kahili, was a rather weak flying-type trainer. I always look forward to seeing the new character designs and wondering what different types they'll use, so I was super disappointed that it was just a bunch of rematches for trainers and types that we've already beaten during the Island Challenge.... The Champion fight was a surprise, but still didn't pose much of a threat at all - this was definitely the weakest Elite Four + Champion match up in all of the games, hands down (or maybe I was just overleveled...?). I appreciate the different Champion challenges when you go back and fight the League again, but having to fight the same four lackluster Elite is a real chore... Overall, it was a really lazy ending to an otherwise superb game.

I adored most of the new Pokemon designs though! My final team ended up being Incineroar, Slowbro, Vikavolt, Tsareena, Palosand, and Archeops~ (My MVP was surprisingly Tsareena; her moveset wasn't great or diverse at all, but she always seemed to come in clutch whenever I was against the wall. Palosand was also a surprise hero in my E4 fight against Hala's Poliwrath, as his Water Compaction ability made him near invincible against the froggy fighter's Waterfall.) What kind of teams have you made in your Island Challenges? I love seeing what different kinds of Pokemon other players go with!

I got Sun Version for Christmas, so I might go in for a re-run soon... I think I'll start with Popplio this time; that final evo is just too freaking cute! <3

'til next time~ <3

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Loading - FE:POR - Greil!!

Let's start with an update on Fire Emblem: POR! I realized I never talked about the actual story of the game in the last post, so a quick refresher: the game revolves around the Greil Mercenaries of the country of Crimea, led by a man named Greil who is also training his son, Ike, to one day take his place as commander. The Mercenaries get caught up in a war against Crimea by their neighboring country, Daein, ultimately siding with their homeland and tasked with escorting the princess Elinicia to safety after the king and queen fall during an attack on the capital.

We've now made it through Chapter 7; Ike and friends have successfully guided Elinicia to the southern country of Gallia, home of the beast men/laguz, but decide to turn back to locate their remaining members, including Greil, who left on a separate mission. The band comes together during a battle at an abandoned keep, but are nearly routed in the end thanks to a trap by the lovely yet lethal Daein General Petrine (wow, this game has some -fantastic- female characters; Petrine's definitely giving me the cosplay feels~). Luckily, the mercs are saved by group of laguz sent by the princess to aid her saviors, and the enemy retreats - but not before a mysterious Black Knight appears and disappears as quickly as he came, visibly shaking Greil to the core...

Spoilers under the cut~

For those who have played the game before, you know what's next... Greil's late night battle versus the Black Knight, ending in Greil's tragic death... so sad!! It wasn't a surprise to me, but the cut scene was still pretty powerful; Fire Emblem has never been a series to pull any punches when it comes to major character deaths, and POR is no different (just when I thought I'd gotten over all the deaths in Fates... OTL).

And to make matters worse, we're losing Shinon and Gatrie, too?? Dang it. I know they'll rejoin later, but, man... great units to have early in the game. Looking forward to starting to build a real team in the next coming chapters, though; hoping to replace Boyd and his low-accuracy axe (low axe-uracy?) with a better heavy hitter soon... Never been a fan of Fighters in the series until they class change, and even then they just seem less useful than their sword or lance-wielding companions... I hope that pegasus knight makes a reappearance soon! <3

All right, that's a wrap for now. Hoping to play a few more chapters tonight for the next post, and I've also made some new progress in Pokemon Moon end-game stuff, so be looking forward to that as well~

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[savepointe]

Game Start - Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

Starting the blog with something really, really exciting....

!!!!!!!!

A certain someone gave me the best Christmas present ever last month - Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance! Complete with clean, undamaged box and all paper inserts! Scratch-free, beautiful disc! Somewhere, 15-year-old me is crying tears of joy... oh, wait, that’s actually 26-year-old me crying. Wait, I’m not crying, you’re crying!

I rented this game years ago but wasn’t able to buy it at the time it came out, nor did I ever get to finish it... I watched the prices for it slowly climb up and up on eBay and thought I’d have to settle for an emulator... cut to 11 (!!!) years later, and now it’s in my hands!! 

... Ok, cue the gross sobbing. 

... Ok, get it together, Katie. 

Started the game yesterday afternoon and made it to Chapter 5. It’s a little odd transitioning from the game mechanics of newer titles like Awakening/Fates, but I’m getting the hang of it (ex, not using L/R to show enemy movement space, different buttons for switching to next unit, etc). The cutscenes and graphics still look really great, and I’m excited to start getting more into the story!! 

Here’s where I’d post current units/lvls, but there’s little room for team customization atm, so I’ll hold off until later. Let me just say how -difficult- it is not to use Titania for everything (definite lady-crush <3). I always try to avoid using the FE starter-kit Paladins, but she’s just... so... yeah. <3

All right, enough chit-chat, time to get back to games!

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[savepointe]

New Game

Difficulty Mode: Beginner

Welcome to Save Pointe! 

I’m Katie, and thanks for visiting! This blog is part of a new year’s resolution of mine to play more games and, more specifically, to FINISH more games! To motivate myself, I decided I would start a blog to log my progress and experiences to keep me playing to the end (I have a -really bad habit- of starting games and never completing them... let’s fix this!).

Games played will mostly be RPGs, including new and older titles. You can see what games I’m currently playing on my blog sidebar/description, and I’ll be keeping a running list of games started and completed in the Game List link on the right of my blog. Each post will be tagged with the game title and system, so you’ll be able to search for all posts about a specific game or console. “Spoiler” tag will also be used if I discuss any major plot points, so you can read worry-free!

Thanks for coming along on the journey, and I hope to keep you entertained! <3