Have your cake, and men too, in Tokimeki Restaurant

While there’s been a constant stream of otome games, both free and paid, coming out on smartphones in recent years, I’ve never been drawn to very many of them. My iPhone 4’s small screen does not lend itself well to long stints of reading, and one of my favorite aspects of otome games, the voice acting, is often completely absent in smartphone games. But now one game has finally caught my attention… over a year after I originally downloaded it onto my phone!

Tokimeki Restaurant certainly comes from a good pedigree, as it falls into the famous Tokimeki Memorial dating sim series by Konami, specifically the Girls’ Side line that is, as the name suggests, aimed at a female audience. But what makes Tokimeki Restaurant different from the official Girls’ Side titles that came before it is that it forgoes traditional romance simulation gameplay in favor of restaurant management to get the guy (or, in this case, guys).

The basic premise of Tokimeki Restaurant is that you’ve landed a job at a cafe that just happens to near a famous talent agency. As such, all the gorgeous idols from the talent agency, specifically the members of two idol groups, stop by the cafe from time to time. Since you act as all but the official owner of said cafe, you can purchase new decor, change the layout, and, of course, decide what food to serve.

Welcome to my little establishment, the busy bee cafe! 

Since Tokimeki Restaurant is a free game with in-app purchases, a familiar stamina gauge rears it ugly head to keep those of us who don’t want to pay from playing constantly. All food costs stamina to prepare, with the more labor-intensive dishes requiring a bigger chunk of stamina. You’ll need to prepare each dish a certain number of times to level it up, which will often unlock new recipes to try.

I feel a little like the witch in Hansel and Gretel…

Of course, all of this is done to lure in unsuspecting men for you to engage with. It’s a strange concept – Tokimeki Restaurant isn’t quite a Dinner Dash clone, nor is it a traditional otome game since you’re never going down any single character “path” unless you deliberately choose to play that way (and even then, it’s very difficult to only romance one guy at a time). Rather, you’re simply trying to make your restaurant the best it can be and checking out as many hot guys as frequently as you can in the process!

Because of this, there really isn’t much romance per say, and in its absence are quaint little scenes with one or more of the characters that unlock after certain requirements are fulfilled. For example, right now I’m trying to raise my restaurant’s proficiency in meat dishes because my one true love Kento has a real “steak tooth,” as it were. After five scenes with a character have been unlocked, there will be the opportunity for a thoroughly embarrassing “skinship” scene, which is basically a minigame where you can poke and prod the men to elicit a range of amusing responses. This harkens back to the original Tokimeki Memorial Girls’ Side games, but it’s really the only thing in the game that is reminiscent of the original series.

Needless to say, I’ve found myself completely enamoured with this game, but I think it’s more for the food than the men! Everything is strangely cute and appetizing at the same time, and since it is free, it’s a great guilty pleasure for those few spare moments when I’m caught with nothing else to do (or, more frequently, when I’m multitasking). As it turns out, there were even a couple of pages on the game in the latest issue of B’s Log – a clear indication that even over a year later, the game still has many, many fans. The constant new events and merchandise can’t hurt, either…

As you can see, there are all sorts of different events, which usually are accomplished by cooking x amount of a certain food. Since I’m all about the deliciously-rendered food items, here are a couple close-ups:

Hina matsuri (girl’s day) treats! 

Special sweets for that special someone

I’m not sure how long I’ll actually stay with Tokimeki Restaurant due to its highly repetitive nature, but it certainly is adorable and could easily be something I pick up on occasion just to see what new events are going on. Though the game is only available in Japanese, it’s easy to make a Japanese iTunes account or download the APK to play the game on Android devices, so don’t let that stop you!

If you do intend to check the game out but aren’t confident in your Japanese, I highly recommend using these two guides over at Natto Pudding!

Apricotsushi Reviews: Candy Japan

I’ve always been a little wary of subscription services due to the cost and lack of control over the items one receives, but reviewing my first Japanese snack subscription service, OyatsuBox, a couple of weeks ago has completely changed my mind. As it turns out, it’s pretty hard to go wrong with Japanese snacks if you’re as big a fan of them as I am!
Mister Donut now has cronuts! Why are Japanese sweets always so amazing?
After realizing how great a Japanese snack subscription service could be, I really wanted to see how others stacked up. Luckily, the lovely folks at Candy Japan were kind enough to send me a review packet of one of their candy shipments for March. Candy Japan is the same price as OyatsuBox, with a monthly rate of $25 that includes shipping anywhere in the world, but they differ in that they offer not one, but two shipments of candy per month!
Unfortunately, I was not able to take a picture of the envelope that the items came in due to it getting ruined in a storm (which was totally not Candy Japan’s fault, I have a bad mailbox and it just happened to get rained on), but after seeing the items I received, it should be clear that the envelopes aren’t all that small! Candy Japan’s website specifies that recipients should expect 2-6 candies per month between the two envelopes. They also send a newsletter out a few days after the shipment has been mailed to give some background information on the items. I love how helpful and detailed it is, but if you like the surprise of opening a box and not knowing what’s inside, you’ll have to be careful not to open the email until after you’ve received your candy!

The first item in their 2nd March shipment was an Anpanman chocolate lollipop. It’s too adorable! So adorable, in fact, that we need to see it from another angle…

The flavor of the chocolate wasn’t anything special, but it was still a tasty and cute treat! I could have sworn I tasted a hint of strawberry in the pink chocolate, but I couldn’t see any mention of strawberry in the packaging, so I may have been imagining things…
I was slightly disappointed that the March OyatsuBox shipment didn’t have any “character” snacks, so it was great to see Anpanman candy come from Candy Japan!
Now this Kracie Popin’ Cookin’ Kuru kuru takoyaki kit was quite the pleasant surprise! I know these kits are really popular and hard to find overseas, so it was really great to see it included.

Ok, the back of the packet isn’t all that interesting, but it does provide instructions on how to make this takoyaki candy snack. I can’t wait to try it out! I’ll be filming an Apricotsushi Samples video for this one, so keep an eye out for that! In the meantime, you can watch Candy Japan’s how-to video if you’re curious to see what it looks like. I think it’s great that they included a video in their newsletter showing how to make this kit for those who can’t read the instructions.

The last item in the envelope was this bag of sakura mochi Chiroru (aka Tirol) chocolates! The last time I had Chiroru chocolates I was kind of so-so on them, but I am 100% on board anything with mochi in it! I’m not the biggest fan of sakura-flavored things, but if it’s mild, it can be very nice.

But I have to say, I just love these little chocolates! When you bite into them, they have a small amount of mochi in the center. Yum! The sakura flavor was definitely there, making them really unique, but it wasn’t strong enough to turn me off. I even had my husband try one, and he gives them a thumbs up, too!

I really enjoyed how fun and varied the items in this Candy Japan shipment were. I suppose if you’re not a huge chocolate fan, you might not be as happy with two out of three candies being chocolate-based, but I’m sure Candy Japan has put that into consideration and will follow up with more non-chocolate items in a future envelope.

via Candy Japan

Before I close out this review, I wanted to mention that I found this great 2013 Year in Review post on Candy Japan’s website when I was poking around for some information on the company. It’s an interesting read for anyone who wants to know more about the inner workings of any kind of subscription service, and I love how transparent the founder Bemmu is with his progress and thought processes. This coupled with his newsletters help give the feeling of a friend sending you some cool Japanese snacks, rather than an impersonal company, which I really appreciate.

If you like the idea of getting two small packages instead of one large one to space out the fun throughout the month, Candy Japan is the perfect Japanese candy subscription service. Their selection of items seems to be really top-notch, though they may be choosing quality over quantity, as some other comparable services may yield a few more candies each month for the same price. They also seem to focus more on candy rather than savory snacks, so if you don’t want only sweet items, I might suggest OyatsuBox instead. While you can’t go wrong with either service, Candy Japan stands out for their really unique selection of candies and friendly, personalized interactions.

Swooning Over the Monster Hunter 4 Bible and Lagombi Hunter Nendoroid

Anyone who’s following me on Twitter is probably well aware that I’ve gotten in a little, how should I put it, deep into Monster Hunter over the past couple of weeks (I blame MonMonth!). Just how deep, exactly? Well, I ordered this: 

While there are countless in-depth Wikis and guides to Monster Hunter 4 online, I couldn’t help but want a physical book that I could refer to for weapon upgrades, monster battling strategies, and, of course, sweet screenshots of all the armour and gear in the game. I was very impressed by the Animal Crossing: New Leaf guide I was gifted a while back, so I figured why not spring for another awesome, comprehensive Japanese game guide?

The full title, by the way, is the Monster Hunter 4 Official Guide Book by Famitsu. I’m told it’s the most comprehensive guide available, and it was just released in January of this year. The back cover is simple, yet they manage to pack in quite a bit of info on the obi (extra flap of paper that folds around the bottom)!

The book also comes with these two quick guides for “easy” reference when out in the field, I guess. I’ve already used the map with gathering point locations a couple of times. Inside the front jacket is a list of key quests, as well. Handy!

And when you take off the slip jacket… an adorable Felyne illustration is revealed! All of the outfits they’re wearing are armour sets you can get for your Felyne companions in the game.

The book itself is actually a whopping 1,380 pages, which makes it more than twice as big as my Animal Crossing: New Leaf book! The pages are much thinner, though, so size-wise it’s not significantly bigger.

If you buy this book looking for lots of pretty pictures, you’re probably going to be sorely disappointed. There are literally pages and pages of stats like the one above! This just shows some weapon upgrade trees and their stats, along with the items required to craft them. Page numbers are provided so it’s not hard at all to flip through and find where the items can be obtained.

The chapters, luckily, are broken up with some nice images such as the one above. It’s just too bad there aren’t more than them! Oh well, I shouldn’t have expected an art book.

Ok, I’m going to complain a little bit more (don’t worry, I really do love the book!): I wish they had better pictures of the monsters, too! But once again, I can tell they’re trying to fit as much information as they possibly can into the book. I love how they detail all of the monster’s different attack patterns and how you should fight them. Perfect for the diagram lovers out there!

Now this is a little more exciting for those who don’t just want to look at numbers and kanji: armor sets! I always have to check to see how a set looks here before I craft it, because who wants to go into battle donning an ugly set of armour?

And finally, my favourite section – the Felyne armour! I just love checking out all the different outfits! One of my Felyne sidekicks is wearing the Yian Kut-Ku fursuit on the top left corner of the right page. Cute!

I can tell I’m going to be using this book for quite a long time, especially since I’ve already clocked more than 70 hours into Monster Hunter 4! If you’d like to get your hands on one, they can be ordered for only $23 at CD Japan and other online retailers.

Another Monster Hunter-related item I received just the other day is something I preordered way back last year… the Female Hunter: Lagombi Edition! The Lagombi armour set is undoubtedly my favourite set so far, so as soon as she was announced I scrambled to place a preorder.

I forgot she actually comes with two weapons – a gunlance and a hammer! Since my main weapon is a hammer, I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised by this revelation. She looks so much like my own character in the game!

Before I get to the real good stuff, I just wanted to note that I think it’s a very nice touch that Good Smile Company added a winter mountain scene for the background. It’s separate from the box, so you could potentially use it as a backdrop yourself.

Here’s what she looks like just out of the box. I absolutely love that they included a Felyne companion along with the two different weapons. I’m not as happy about her facial expressions… It would have been nice if she got one more, or at least something different from her blank main expression and her tearful freaked out face.

The red things are called “action parts” and are supposed to help you simulate battle scenes. I assume one is supposed to be used with the hammer and the other with the gunlance, but I can’t help but think they’re extremely similar and I could’ve probably done with just one. Oh well!

And here she is all set up on my shelf with her Felyne companion! I still think her outfit is the best thing about her, but it’s a cute Nendoroid all in all. I’ve done a full video review if you’re interested in seeing more:

You can order the Lagombi Hunter Nendoroid at Jlist, CD Japan, and Ami Ami.

Announcing the Atlus Community Game-Along

I’m having so much fun with MonMonth that I almost don’t want to announce the next Community Game-Along, but the show must go on! For April, I’ve decided to go back to a game developer/publisher, and this time we’ll be focusing on Atlus! Atlus has a huge backlog of quality games, including some of the most well-regarded JRPG series around, so there should be plenty of great games to choose from! April is a particularly great time to celebrate Atlus as the company’s 28th anniversary is on the 7th, and they will be releasing Conception II: Children of the Seven Stars in English on April 15th!

As always, all you need to do to participate in the month’s Community Game-Along is play a game that fits the theme and talk about your experiences using #AtlusApril! Blog posts, podcasts, or anything else where there is discussion of the theme is welcome, and I will round up all of the content created in at least one post for others to check out by the end of the month (if we’re lucky and get a lot of participants, I’ll do more than one). In the case of Atlus April, I think it would be most interesting to play games developed by Atlus themselves, but if you find that too limiting, there’s nothing wrong with choosing a game published by Atlus, as well.

While most of the games that fit this month’s theme will inevitably be RPGs, here are a few suggestions of titles to check out:

The Persona series – The Shin Megami Tensei: Persona series is without a doubt Atlus’ biggest franchise to date, with the third and forth games spawning both game spinoffs and animated adaptations in Japan. If you’re looking to jump in to Persona for the first time, Persona 4 Golden for the PS Vita is a great place to start, as it is considered the most polished game in the series. Other options include Persona 3 Portable (PSP), Persona 3: FES (PS2, PSN), or the fighting game Persona 4 Arena (PS3, Xbox 360). If you want to go back to the very beginning, Shin Megami Tensei: Persona is available on PSN, as well.

The Shin Megami Tensei series – Shin Megami Tensei is a little more confusing, as technically nearly all of Atlus’ RPGs fall under the Shin Megami Tensei umbrella. Even Persona! But SMT fans are finally able to experience the one that started it all officially in English on iOS, so that’s a great place to start if you really want the retro Atlus experience. While not a “mainline” Shin Megami Tensei game, Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs The Soulless Army is coming to PSN next week, just in time for Atlus month! The game features real-time battles, so if you’re looking for something different than your standard RPG, that may be an interesting option.

Perhaps the best mainline SMT game suggestion would be the last year’s Shin Megami Tensei IV for the Nintendo 3DS. Since none of the games are directly connected to one another, you’ll be fine picking up this entry even with no prior experience with the series. Don’t forget, there are also the Devil Survivor titles, too! (Nintendo DS and 3DS)

The Battle B-Daman series –  I don’t profess to assume that this would be on anyone’s “best of Atlus” list, but for those of you who think you’ve played everything, here’s a goofy little series you may have missed. Both of the Battle B-Daman marble battling games (think Yu-Gi-Oh or Beyblade but with magical marbles) are available brand new on Amazon for less than $10 each, which is quite the feat considering that they’re Game Boy Advance games, so if you’re looking for something quirky and cheap to pick up for Atlus April, these might be your games!

The Trauma Center series – For those that don’t want to play a massive, 100 hour RPG, Trauma Center may be more your speed this April. The notoriously difficult surgeon simulation games will still give you a run for your money, but at least you won’t be looking at countless menus and stats. You can get versions of the games for both the Nintendo DS and Wii, but the most recent entry in the series is Trauma Team for the Wii. When are we going to get a new instalment for the 3DS or Wii U, Atlus?!

Catherine (PS3, Xbox 360) – Catherine is an extremely unique game that combines Q*bert-style puzzle games with a surprisingly mature story about a man who finds himself torn between two women and is quickly loosing his grip on reality. This game received great critical acclaim when it came out in 2011, and would be a great pick for Atlus April if you’ve never had the chance to play it!

Honourable mentions: The Etrian Odyssey series (DS and 3DS), Radiant Historia (DS), Princess Crown (Sega Saturn and PSP, Japanese only).

If you have an questions/suggestions about the Community Game-Along, be sure to leave them in this post! I think I’m finally going to buckle down and start Persona 4 Golden…

Apricotsushi Reviews: OyatsuBox

I’m a huge fan of Japanese snacks, but the sad fact is that it’s extremely difficult to find anything outside of the occasional box of Pocky here in Australia. Luckily, the internet has made it easier than ever to get my hands on all of my favorite Japanese treats, and a number of subscription services have even sprung up for Japanese snack enthusiasts around the globe. OyatsuBox is the first of such that I’ve tried, and I have to say, I might be hooked!

The folks at Oyatsu Cafe, a great website that sells all sorts of Japanese food, recently launched the OyatsuBox service, sends out a package of random Japanese snacks to subscribers on the first of every month. They were kind enough to send me March’s box, which arrived on March 14th, exactly 2 weeks after it was shipped. I decided to use this opportunity to film my first unboxing video – give it a watch to see my first impressions as I open the box!

A subscription costs $25 a month, which includes shipping anywhere in the world, and their official site guarantees 7 to 15 different snacks each month. If March’s box is any indication, they provide quite a varied and interesting selection. Though the shipping may be a little on the slow side, by not using the fastest option around they are able to pack even more snacks into the box while keeping it affordable, so I’m definitely not complaining!

The information sheet included with each box is also a very nice touch so that you know exactly what you’re getting, even if you don’t speak Japanese. It also includes transcriptions of each snack’s name so you can search for them on Oyatsu Cafe’s website if you find yourself craving more!

I won’t be discussing the actual taste of the individual snacks in this review, but look forward to an upcoming episode of Apricotsushi Samples where I try everything in the March OyatsuBox! For now, let’s take a closer look at all the goodies in this month’s box:

Now this container isn’t shy about advertising what flavor snack it contains: it says “kimchi” in huge red letters right on the front! If you’re not familiar, kimchi is spicy pickled cabbage originating in Korea, but it is also very popular in Japan. It has even made its way into Japanese ramen – hence these kimchi ramen bits, which are meant to be eaten raw. I’ve recently become quite a fan of kimchi, so I’m very excited to try these!

Next up are two different types of ramune (Japanese soda)-flavored candies. On the left are Coris whistle candies, which are a very classic Japanese candy that I’ve had the pleasure of trying before when I was in Japan. If you put your lips around the outside of the Lifesaver-shaped candy and blow through the hole, they whistle! The little box contains a random toy, too.

On the right are Morinaga pineapple ramune candies. I love how the package is shaped like a traditional ramune bottle! I don’t think I’ve ever had pineapple ramune before, so I’m very interested to see what these taste like.

Now this interesting, tongue-like snack had me a little perplexed at first until I realized it was meant to look like grilled eel! According to the OyatsuBox pamphlet, it’s made out of dried code and and has a grilled eel flavor. It’s also a common snack found all over Japan, so I’m rather surprised I’ve never tried it! I’m not a huge grilled eel fan, so that might be why…

This candy, on the other hand, is one I immediately wanted to try! I’m a huge mochi (sweet rice cake) fan, so it’s been really tough keeping myself from eating this Yaokin chocolate-covered mochi pie all up before filming the Apricotsushi Samples video! I just love the cute illustration of a pink rabbit pounding mochi on the wrapper. The rabbit pounding mochi is an iconic symbol in Japan (and Korea, I’ve recently learned), as instead of seeing a man in the moon like us westerners, the Japanese see a rabbit pounding mochi!

These Umaibo snacks are a colorful, iconic Japanese treat that I’m embarassed to say I’ve never tried, so I’m definitely happy to finally have to chance! OyatsuBox introduced subscribers to Umaibo last month, and is including two new flavors this month – tonkatsu (blue) and takoyaki (red). I love how they keep track of what they’ve sent and send thoughtful “follow-ups” in subsequent months.

Next is another item I was excited to try from the moment I saw it. For those of you familiar with the fruit, it’s clear from the packaging that this candy is lychee flavored, but more specifically, it’s salted lychee-flavored gum! How intriguing! I imagine the idea of pairing salt and fruit might scare away some, but I’m already a fan of salted watermelon, so I’m definitely excited at the prospect of salted lychee. Unfortunately I don’t really eat a lot of gum, but I’m still interested to try this one out.

Here’s another popular Japanese candy – the good old Crunky bar. It’s basically just a chocolate bar with malt crunch bits inside, much like a Crunch bar. In this case, however, this Crunky bar is matcha, or green tea, flavored, which should make it a refreshing treat!

Now this traditional snack is called Dondon-yaki, named after the regional cuisine that is popular in the Tohoku region. Regular dondon-yaki is okonomiyaki that is wrapped around a stick, and this snack supposedly replicates the experience. I believe the images on the package are referencing the New Year’s fire festival of a similar sounding-name to the snack, Dondo Yaki, but if anyone else has a better idea, please let me know! It could very well just be a generic festival scene since dondon-yaki is a popular festival food, but I like the fact that it may be a play on the festival’s name, as well. I’ve never had real dondon-yaki, so I won’t be able to speak to how authentic this snack is, but I’ll give it a shot none the less.

Here’s yet another snack based on a traditional Japanese food! This one’s called Guruguru Monja, which is a snack version of monja-yaki, or simply monja. Monja is another food I’ve not had the pleasure to try, but Google tells me it is very similar to okonomiyaki, but with a runnier batter and finer-chopped ingredients. This snack appears to be instant monja, as you add water much like you would to instant ramen noodles. I love the little kid on the package!

This Wata Pachi melon soda candy had the craziest packaging out of the whole bunch, so I just had to save it for last! I just love the crazy frog thing and all the little guys running around on the package. For those familiar with Pop Rocks, this Wata Pachi is very similar, except it mixes the popping rock candy with cotton candy for what I can only imagine is a very interesting combination.

I just couldn’t resist the opportunity to add a close-up of the funny characters on the package. Are they supposed to be anthropomorphic glasses of melon soda? Whatever they are, they’re adorable!

If this isn’t an impressive array of snacks and candy, I don’t know what is! The OyatsuBox subscription service is a great deal for so many goodies at only $25, and they even offer the ability to cancel your subscription at any time. I had a peek at Yummy Unchi’s review of February’s OyatsuBox, and I do have to note that it’s a shame they didn’t include any character snacks or “limited edition” goodies like they did last month. I know Family Mart is currently doing a Hatsune Miku campaign that includes some specially-packaged items such as Look chocolate, so it would be nice to see them include at least one item like that every month. This is a small quibble, however, as overall I am absolutely thrilled with the selection of snacks I received! If you’re a Japanese snack fan, I definitely suggest giving OyatsuBox a try!

Note: OyatsuBox sent me a sample box for the purpose of this review. I am also an Oyatsu Cafe affiliate, but that did not influence my impression of their service or this review in any way. If you’d like to support more articles like this on Chic Pixel, please consider purchasing your Japanese snacks using my affiliate links! 

Japan Envy: Avalanche of Pokémon Battle Trozei Merchandise

Whether you call it Pokémon Battle Trozei or Pokémon Link: Battle!, there’s no denying that the eShop-exclusive match three game’s announcement back in February came as a bit of a surprise. The game’s sudden announcement and its subsequent release in all territories just a month later left this Pokémon-obsessed gal assuming that Pokémon Battle Trozei would be left to die much like poor Pokémon Rumble U. But low and behold, the Japanese release of the game has brought an onslaught of exclusive merchandise, including not one, but two 3DS XLs!

The first item revealed was this lovely white limited edition 3DS XL. It won’t be available at retail, though – it’s a prize for a contest only available to memebers of the Pokémon Daisuki club. If you happen to be a member, you need to watch three videos between March 28th and April 18th and send in your guess of how many different Pokémon icons appear at the end of the videos to be entered in the drawing. There will only be two winners, but 30 runners up will get a cute set of two sticker sheets, which will also be going on sale at the end of April.

A second Pokémon Battle Trozei 3DS XL was revealed in the Japanese children’s magazine Coro Coro, but this one will also be extremely limited – only five readers who send in entries will be selected to win the lottery. In the bottom right corner of the above image it says there are only 5 of these 3DS’s in the world, so it’s probably safe to say we won’t be seeing them elsewhere.

In slightly more accessible Pokémon Battle Trozei merchandise news, Pokémon Centers across Japan are holding a lottery for a slew of adorable limited edition merchandise until April 6th. Anyone who buy the game on their 3DS while in the store will get a voucher for one prize, and after that subsequent entries can be acquired for every 3,000 yen, or $30, spent in the store. Just like the Hatsune Miku lottery event I covered a few days ago, everyone is guaranteed a prize with every entry. Let’s take a look at what’s available to win:

The “lowest” tier of items are Pokémon Battle Trozei postcards, of which there are five designs. Those who draw number 4 will be able to pick one of the five. 

The number 3 prize consists of three different sticker sheets, of which the winner can choose one.

The number 2 prize will win participants one of three different pencil cases. I wouldn’t be able to decide between the first two!

The number 4 prize is this adorable mug – winners can choose either the white or the yellow design. I don’t normally like yellow very much, but I think I prefer that one, personally.

Finally, the “special” prize, which I’m assuming is the most rare, is this very cool 65 cm by 45 cm pillow.

Unlike the Hatsune Miku lottery, the price of entry to this lottery is pretty high, but it’s great that they give people who download the game a free go. While once probably isn’t enough to win the pillow or mug, I wouldn’t mind a free postcard or sticker sheet, personally!

Unfortunately, the chances of any of us outside of Japan getting our hands on any Pokémon Battle Trozei merchandise is quite slim. Here’s hoping Nintendo decides to do at least a little something for the North American release on the 20th!

Dating Sim Community Game-Along Roundup #2

We’re well into the Monster Hunter 10th Anniversary Community Game-Along, but there’s still some content from last month’s dating sim event to catch up on! Interest did seem to drop off towards the second half of the month, both in the NeoGAF thread and content produced, but there are still plenty of articles worth sharing. I contributed a dating sim-themed podcast featuring Amanda Cosmos earlier in the month, so be sure to give that a listen if you haven’t already!

No context necessary #DatingSiMonth pic.twitter.com/X4xDReDcuF
— Badr Alomair (@BadoorSNK) February 19, 2014

First, Pete Davison continued his dating sim game picks for his weekly column JPgamer at USGamer with Kira Kira and Go! Go! Nippon. Kira Kira is a character-driven visual novel that Pete describes as a “good, accessible example of how games like this can tackle some significant narrative challenges and tell a compelling, convincing and believable story about some very normal characters” that also happens to have some romance themes. Go! Go! Nippon, on the other hand, is both a dating sim and an interactive guide to Japan, and even offers text in both English in Japanese for language learners. The game was recently made available on Steam, making it one of the more accessible titles covered for Dating Sim Month, and sounds like a great choice for a heterosexual otaku (or, at least, someone who doesn’t mind playing a game clearly aimed at the heterosexual otaku demographic) looking to brush up on their knowledge of Japan.

Tried DreamClub thanks to PS+ & I liked it. Maybe I should’ve played that for #DatingSiMonth instead of Sweet Fuse 😛 pic.twitter.com/i6EeoLJhSw
— Wassim Forrester (@Soulhouf) February 26, 2014

Meanwhile, Bryan over at The Gay Gamer has been chronicling his journey through Sweet Fuse: At Your Side, culminating with his Great Gaymathon review of the 2013 PSP otome game. Sweet Fuse is usually the first otome game I recommend to folks interested in trying out the genre, so I was very interested to hear how it stacked up for him. Overall, his impressions are very positive, but he does lament that the romance visual novel staple of choosing the correct options in order to get the romance desired is more obtuse than it should be. If you’re at all interested in giving the game a try, his review is definitely worth checking out!

All CGs! Loved Sweet Fuse. All the characters were diverse but still likeable. My fav otome game! #DatingSiMonth pic.twitter.com/llofI9kx5Y
— Ru Yi (@Westraid) February 27, 2014

Patrick over at Nintendo Everything wrote a brilliant, insightful piece about LovePlus, that notorious “hella heteronormative ‘girlfriend simulator'” for the Nintendo DS (note to self: make opportunities to use the phrase “hella heteronormative” more often). Not only does he describe the game’s systems in great depth, but he talks at length at exactly how the game goes about creating an interactive romance simulation, concluding, “if the game has the potential to make players approach actual relationships with more care and respect, I think that’s a really positive thing.” Even if you’re not interested in playing LovePlus, Patrick’s article is a must read, as it touches on themes that are applicable to all games in the genre.

Finally, Brian Clark tries his hand at his very first dating sim: Sakura Taisen! While the first few chapters dragged on for him, he claims that the game’s overall polished presentation and combination of simulation and SRPG elements were what managed to hook him in the end. Unfortunately the game is only available in Japanese, but Brian’s article does a great job of providing a nice overview of the game for those who want to know more but aren’t planning on springing for a copy.

Spent my last night of #DatingSiMonth with Kent and his buckles #Amnesia pic.twitter.com/H6SJJpCev1
— Anne Fujosushi Lee (@apricotsushi) February 28, 2014

I’d like to give a huge thanks to everyone who participated in the Dating Sim Community Game-Along during the month of February! The month may be over, but that doesn’t mean you should stop seeking out and playing these awesome dating sims! Hopefully this and the first roundup post will provide some good suggestions for future games to add to your library. And if you’re looking to continue with the Game-Along fun, be sure to join in on this month’s Monster Hunter Game-Along!