Seasonal Anime Tag~

☆ Fall Anime Tag ☆

Yahalloooo~

As a few of you may know, I like doing tags on my blog (and more specifically, anime tags) but I can never really find many good ones (´；Д；｀)
I recently-- well, today saw a picture on my Facebook feed of a couple of questions about the Fall anime season asking people what their favourites were, least favourites were etc.
So I thought I'd turn it into a blog for everyone else to read and also do if they want to (＾▽＾)

Also, since this tag works out as a seasonal one, I might do this after every season depending on how much I enjoyed the line-up :3

[ Remember, of course, that the answers to these questions are all my opinion. So don't get all freaky if I dislike something you like ]

~   ~   ~

List of Fall Anime Series I watched;

- Ame-iro Cocoa: Rainy Color e Youkoso
- Comet Lucifer (recommend)
- Concrete Revolutio: Choujin Gensou
- Dance with Devils
- Diabolik Lovers More,Blood
- Garo: Guren no Tsuki (recommend)
- Heavy Object
- Kagewani
- Kowabon
- Osomatsu-san (BIG FAT RECOMMEND)
- Owari no Seraph: Nagoya Kessen-hen (recommend)
- Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru (recommend)
- Shinmai Maou no Testament Burst
- Starmyu (High School Star Musical)
- Subete ga F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider (recommend)
- Taimadou Gakuen 35 Shiken Shoutai
- Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen (recommend)
- Young Black Jack (recommend)

1. What was the best anime?
I'd say the best anime series was Young Black Jack.

It's not often that I watch an anime series that proper leaves me waiting for the next episode. Like, completely and totally pining for it! ;A; and each episode of Young Black Jack was worth the wait! This anime is so very, very EPIC! (✧∀✧)

Young Black Jack is set in 1968 during the Vietnam War and student protests. Hazama, the protagonist of the story, is in Medical School working towards getting his degree. Obviously he shouldn't be doing operations without one, but of course situations arrive where he finds that he may need to perform one. This story follows him and how he eventually earns the title Black Jack.

[ my rating: 9/10 on MAL ]

2. What was the worst anime?

I was stuck between Heavy Object, Diabolik Lovers More,Blood and Shinmai Maou no Testament Burst but decided to choose the latter.

The reason I chose Shinmai Maou no Testament Burst as the worst anime should be obvious to EVERYONE who has seen it :,)

I mean, don't get me wrong! I don't mind a bit of fanservice, you know? I'm cool with that.

But when it's borderline hentai? Then just NO.

This season, Basara's STUPIDSTUPIDSTUPID harem collects a few new members and he's basically just screwing everyone all up in the screen with Maria being a pervy little freak wanting to record it all and...it's basically no different from the first season apart from the fact there is some sort of magical-weapon-weilding-sports event coming up..? >. >

I really just...recommend that you stay away from this anime, okay?

And in case you're wondering why I watched this if I hated it so much, that's because I can't drop an anime series even if I want it to burn in hell. I don't like the idea of not finishing something, if that makes sense? And also because I saw the first season, I needed to watch the second one for the same reason as not being able to leave something unfinished :,) 

..I just wanted to put that out there :p

[ my rating; 4/10 on MAL ]

3. What was your favourite anime?

Without a doubt, I have to go with Osomatsu-san.

I had to choose this because I rarely find anime series SO funny that they make me cry :,)

Each episode has me in stitches because...I just...OMG! This is just freaking hilarious with the BEST seiyuus ever! >ω<

It basically just follows the daily life of a group of brothers (sextuplets, in fact) led by Osomatsu-san as they get up to all sorts of mischievous and ridiculous antics XD

If you love a comedy, please WATCH THIS! It's seriously funny stuff! :,D

[ my rating; 9/10 on MAL ]

4. What was your favourite OP. song?

I'm going to go with...Fuantei na Kamisama (Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen).

Fuantei na Kamisama - Utawarerumono: Itsuwari no Kamen OP.

I listen to this at least ten times before I actually start the episode :,) it's just SO catchy and I love Suara's voice! (´∀｀)♡

It's awesome, it's awesome, it's awesome!!! >ω<

5. What is your favourite ED. song?

This is a super easy answer! >ω< I'm going with Nana Hitsuji (Subete ga F ni Naru: The Perfect Insider).

Nana Hitsuji - Subete ga F ni Naru ED.

Again, I listened to this ED. song at least ten times after the episode finished because I just loved it SO much! It's got such a cool sound and fits so well with the series itself! 

AWESOME!! (ゝ。∂)

6. Who was your favourite character?

Kind of tricky to answer...but at the same time, very easy! :3

I'm going with Sakurako Kujou (Sakurako-san no Ashimoto ni wa Shitai ga Umatteiru). 

For starters...she's GORGEOUS! σ(≧ε≦ｏ)

She's also incredibly smart, calm and has a certain charm about her that's...very alluring ^////^

The series hasn't finished yet and Sakurako-san has already made it into my Favourite Character list on MAL :,)

She's just brilliant! *ω*

7. Who was your least favourite character?

I think I'll go with Alfried Macallan (Comet Lucifer).

There's always a lolicon.. >. >

And his obsession with Felia was a bit too weird for me to handle! ..and I'm fairly good at handling weird.

. . .

Wait a minute. That didn't sound too good :,)

I meant it takes a lot to weird me out, you know? That's what I meant. Not that I--

Oh. Nevermind!

Aaaaaanyway!

He's just a big fat weirdo and I didn't like him one bit. Not one! ( ⚆ _ ⚆ )

~   ~   ~

So that was my Fall Anime Tag! :3

I hope you enjoyed reading it and, like I said, I may do one of these at the end of each season, who knows? ^v^ 

Oh! 

And here's a link to my MAL account :3 just in case any of you were wondering about it! ^v^

MyAnimeList - Serahnyan

Thank you for reading and have a good day, everyone! n.n

BYESIES~! c:

                         xoxo~

Amnesia: Memories Game Review~

Yahalloooo~

I'm here with another game review~!ヾ(*´∀｀*)
(..like I said I would be.. heh ^ ^")

This time, I'm going to be reviewing Amnesia: Memories which I just finished the other day, so what better time to do the review than right now!? >ω<

So let's begin! n.n

--SPOILER WARNING--

I'm not going to go through each route in detail (because that would take WAY too long) but I'm going to talk about the characters and the game in general, so if you consider that a spoiler...

You have been warned.. x,D

~ ~ ~

Amnesia: Memories

Amnesia: Memories is a Visual Novel/Otome game for the PS Vita system. If you're unfamiliar with Visual Novel and Otome games, I'll explain that now :3

Visual Novel;

An interactive fiction game which usually requires the player (obviously being yourself) to make choices throughout which will lead to different possible endings.

Otome;

A story based game that is usually more directed towards a female audience. The point of Otome games is to follow different routes that centre around a certain male character and to build up a romantic relationship with that certain character. Each character route usually has good and bad endings.

So with that explained, let's get right into the review! ^ω^

Story~

Amnesia: Memories is set in a fictional Japan.

The Heroine of the story wakes up in a space between worlds with a young spirit boy named Orion telling her that, by complete accident, he collided with her while he was on business in the human world. The collision caused Orion to then get lodged in the Heroine's mind and as a result of that, caused her memories from everything before that moment to disappear.

Her personality, relationships, family, job, school...all of it is forgotten.

After Orion has finished explaining the situation to the Heroine, you then have to choose which world you want to travel to. The choice is between The Heart World, The Clover World, The Spade World and The Diamond World (there is also The Joker World but you need to see the GOOD endings in every other world before you unlock that one.)

Also, yes I've played the game and I still don't understand why each world is named after suits of cards :,)

Once you've chosen which world you'll travel to, you wake up on the 1st of August and the story of the Heroine trying to regain her memories of her life and love interest (who she no longer remembers) without raising suspicion of her amnesia will begin.

Game System~

Because you're able to choose which world you play through, you automatically get a specific male character to focus on. For example, if you choose The Clover World, you're love interest in that route will be Kent and based on the choices you make, you'll see either his GOOD ending, NORMAL ending or BAD endings.

[ RANDOM TIP WITH SERAH ]

I do recommend that, after doing a blind playthrough of each route, you then use cheats to help you out.. ^ ^" because when I thought I'd made all the right choices to get the GOOD ending, I was surprised with the NORMAL ending and, like I said, you need all four GOOD endings to unlock The Joker World which is a route you definitely have to see.

Also within each separate route, the heroine has relationship of sorts with each male character that changes depending on what world your choose. So for example, say you choose The Heart World, Shin (who is the main character of that world) is your childhood friend. But if you choose The Spade World (which is Ikki's route), Shin is only your work colleague. 

Game Flow~

From the 1st of August, the Heroine will have one month to regain her memories of the life she lead. She'll do this by interacting with people she knew, working at her job, investigating her surroundings and attempting to spend time with her boyfriend. 

All this has to be done without raising suspicion to the fact the Heroine lacks all of her memories.

Before I mentioned the spirit named Orion? Yea...well he sticks around .-.

That isn't so much a bad thing since he does help you out, but he can sometimes be a little annoying :,) Just butting in a word or two to the Heroine while she's talking with other people..

But more often than not, he's quite cute :3 and some of the things he says can be really funny. I'm just saying that if he wasn't there, it wouldn't be the biggest loss ever >ω<

Your Mobile Phone~

The Heroine has a phone in the game which often has a relevance to how different situations play out. You sometimes get messages from your boyfriend or maybe a friend and you'll need to decide what response is best without raising too much suspicion (although you don't always need to respond to text messages.)

Also at the start of the game, your phone is a good source of information as looking at it will show what numbers you have saved, the names of the contacts and who you've spoken to.

Choices To Be Made;

Until the Heroine regains her memories, the choices she makes are how she asserts herself.

If she chooses incorrectly, the recipient of the conversation will get suspicious. 

Although sometimes the only thing you can do is guess as you will occasionally get asked things that do have an actual correct answer that you may not know yet depending on what routes you've already played through as some routes give answers to things that are relevant to know in a different route.

[ RANDOM TIP WITH SERAH ]

The best way to make the correct choice is to use the character she is talking with as a basis for your choice. By that, I mean you need to look at what options there are to choose from and predict the response that won't raise any suspicion on the Heroine.

Even choices like these that seem "random" can raise suspicion if the answer seems odd to the recipient..

Parameter Meters~

The Parameter meter is how your measure the Heroine's favour towards the chosen character.

As you can see, there are three different parameters and these will change depending on the choices you, as the Heroine, make.

You have;

Affection;

This measures the amount of love the Heroine has for the chosen male character.

The higher the level is, the higher your chance is of reaching the GOOD ending.

Trust;

This measures how favourable the relationship is to the heroine.

The Trust level is separate to romance in the relationship, so the better the relationship is in general, this level will go up and if the relationship gets worse, the level will go down.

Suspicion;

This measures how suspicious the Heroine is to the male character.

Every time the Heroine says something she may not have said before or does something she may not have originally done, this level will go up.

The higher the Suspicion level is, the higher your chance is of reaching the BAD ending.

...though in Toma's, Shin's, Kent's and Ukyo's route...you can get the GOOD ending with the Suspicion level raised all the way to the top.

Kent guesses, Shin figures it out based on how the heroine acts, Ukyo just knows (..spoiler alert!!!) and it isn't actually said if Toma knows or not, but literally as soon as his route starts, the Suspicion level is already as high as it can be :,)

Doubt [ SECRET PARAMETER ];

This parameter is only available in Toma's route... SOO many reasons why.. > <;;

The Doubt parameter measures how much the Heroine doubts what Toma is telling her and rises when he says or does something strange or if the Heroine contradicts him.

Although, ironically, Toma's GOOD ending requires you to have a full Suspicion and Doubt level :,)

Extras~

As you play through the main game, you unlock Additional Content that can be found on the main menu.

Additional Scenarios [ Memories ];

Each Additional Memory is unlocked every time you get a GOOD ending.

It's basically just a bonus story of an event told through the male's point of view.

Voiced Images;

When you play through the game, you'll unlock different CG's that will be stored in the Gallery which you can access through the main menu. When you fulfil a certain requirement, a rose icon will appear in the top right hand corner of certain CG's and you'll be able to hear the thoughts of the male character when you touch different parts of the image.

It's really kinda cute because feelings from the male character that aren't shared in the actual game are told here and... Kyaaaah~ ♡ they're really cute! *ω*

..OMG BUT! In some images, you have to touch the heroines beeewbies!! SO DUTTY, AMNESIA!! >;3

Mini Games [ Rock-Paper-Scissors & Air Hockey ];

Just so these mini-games don't sound completely random, in Shin's route you play Rock-Paper-Scissors with him and Toma and Ikki, Kent, Toma and Shin play Air Hockey when they go to the Shinano Mountain Lodge :,)

Once you unlock this, you can play against all the characters in these mini-games and if you beat all of them, you will receive two special CG's that will be located in the etc. part of the gallery.

Characters~

Now for my favourite part...

The Characters!! >ω<

Main Characters~

Heroine AKA "Lucky B*tch"

Name; ..doesn't actually have one which makes it easier for you to choose one :,)

Age; 19

Seiyuu; Kaori Nazuka (only in the anime)

This is where I'd say something about her personality...but I just remembered it changes depending on the world you choose :,)

So...in Kent's route, it's made to think that she was always quite loud and argumentative but in Shin's route, it sounds like she was quite shy and sensitive..

Generally speaking though, let's say that she was very sweet, understanding and helpful to the people around her before she lost her memories ^v^

Kent AKA "Dorky AF Maths Nerd"

Name; Kent

Age; 25

World; Clover

Number of Endings; Four endings (GOOD, NORMAL and two BAD endings)

Seiyuu; Akira Ishida

MY FAAAAVOURITE!! ♡ω♡

He may be a hella dorky maths nerd and would very likely use the pick up line..

 "U+ME=69"

But he is SO sweet! ;ω;

He doesn't start off this way, though. At the beginning of the game, Kent is quite cold and insensitive towards the Heroine's feelings and thinks that "love" is nothing more than a complicated emotion created by brainwaves.

He's also really awkward and blushes a lot when the Heroine says or suggests doing anything even slightly romantic. Like when he goes to kiss the Heroine at one point, he's so nervous that he actually bumps her head by accident :,3

But throughout the game, he warms up to the Heroine a lot and becomes really sweet *ω*

He's also really conservative when it comes to romance. An example being that towards the end of the GOOD route, when he announces that he will one day propose to the Heroine, he gets down on one knee and kisses the back of her hand ; / / / / ;

I LOOOOVE him!! ;ω;

Shin AKA "Badass Emo Detective"

Name; Shin

Age; 18

World; Heart

Number of Endings; Four endings (GOOD, NORMAL and two BAD endings)

Seiyuu; Tetsuya Kakihara

He's clearly the BEST!

..that is all.

Literally I am NOT even kidding when I say the majority of his route is like FUK THA POLICE! 

In most of the routes, Shin is childhood friends with the Heroine and Toma so all three of them have pretty much always been together. Even though they're childhood friends, Toma will pretty much stop at nothing to cock block Shin from the Heroine > <;;

Let's see...

Well, Shin is very reserved and mysterious. Major HNNNNNNNG alert!! *ω*

He will often call the Heroine "baka" but I think he means it in a kind of affectionate way since it's clear that he really loves her <3

Also many kisses from this guy throughout the route, so... Th-That's good! ♥

Ukyo AKA "Beautiful Psycho Mermaid"

Name; Ukyo

Age; 24

World; Joker

Number of Endings; Nine endings (GOOD, NORMAL, and seven BAD endings)

Seiyuu; Kouki Miyata

Seriously, seven bad endings?! ..how delicious ; / / / / ;

His seventh bad ending is actually the BEST ending throughout the WHOLE game! It's just SO GODDAMN GOOD! UGH! > / / / / <

..I'm not a masochist, okay?! > <"

Ukyo, Ukyo, Ukyo... Where to begin with Ukyo?

I love his hair! ;ω;

..Okay, Serah. Get serious now.

. . .

Ukyo's personality is definitely "out-of-the-ordinary", let's say :,)

He actually has a split personality, so one side of him is really sweet and protective towards the Heroine whereas the other personality is really hostile and crazy! There's a reason for this, but it would take a while to explain :,)

He also enjoys Photography which is actually his job and, in his route, he turns up at the café a lot where the Heroine works and talks to her employer, Waka, and shows him his pictures. He's also a bit of a crybaby at times and becomes emotional easily, especially when talking or thinking about his grandfather.

Ikki AKA "Man Whore with a Perpetual Boner"

Name; Ikki

Age; 22

World; Spade

Number of Endings; Five endings (GOOD, NORMAL and three BAD endings)

Seiyuu; Kishou Taniyama

..I really, really, really hate this guy.

He's probably the worst playboy who ever lived!! >. >

He even has a stupid fanclub so his entire route is filled with screaming fangirls who want him WAY too much and they also make his route really annoying and irritating to play through.

While he is a playboy who flirts with other girls while making the Heroine wait hours for him to show up for a date...he is actually pretty polite and quite sweet.

I still don't like him.

Further along in his route, he actually becomes quite vulnerable and opens up a lot to the Heroine about things that he's dealing with. Yea, right.

I still don't like him.

It also actually turns out that when he was little, he made a wish on a shooting star to be popular with girls and this turned out to be a bad thing since he wasn't able to grow close to anyone since every girl who liked him tried to make Ikki and his girlfriend at the time to break up. Hence why now, he only dates girls for three months so none of them get too jealous.

The only reason he's so popular with girls is because the wish he made gave his eyes some sort of special power so that whenever a girl looks at him, they instantly fall in love with him and this leads you to believe that the only reason he's interested in the Heroine is because his eyes don't work on her.

I still don't like him.

Even though he outright says that he loves girls, wants them to like him and likes playing around with them, he yearns for real love and actually cares a lot for the Heroine.

...I still don't like him.

Toma AKA "Piece of TRASH"

Name; Toma

Age; 20

World; Diamond

Number of Endings; Four endings (GOOD, NORMAL and two BAD endings)

Seiyuu; Satoshi Hino

I hate Toma most of all.

Seriously, if anyone out there is actually a fan of this guy, answer me WHY?!

He's messed up. Beyond messed up. SO messed up that if he met Izaya, even he'd say..

 "Whoa, dude. What the hell is wrong with you?!"

He literally needs to be thrown into a trash bin and left to rot because he is MESSED UP! ;A;

But I need to try and give an unbiased run down of his personality for this review, so...

Toma.

He's quite calm, relaxed and laid-back. 

Also dresses like a bumblebee???

Even though he's weird and creepy...I guess you could say he really does care about Shin and the Heroine?

But! *takes a deep breath"

In his route...

He lies to the Heroine about being her boyfriend when actually he isn't and has some weird obsession with her so when it looks like she's targeted by people Toma takes her to his apartment for "safety" yea whatever you FREAK so he starts drugging her food to keep her asleep then when Shin shows up and is like WTF IS GOING ON HERE?! Toma shoves him off and forces the Heroine to drink some weird drug by kissing her??? and then keeps her in a giant dog cage.

*deep breath*

Yea...he's a DICK.

Go jump off a cliff into a dumpster, Toma.

Side Characters~

Orion AKA "The Navi of the Amnesia World"

Name; Orion

Seiyuu; Hiromi Igarashi

I suppose you could say that Orion is actually a main character...but I felt he belonged more in the "Side Characters" category...I'm not sure why :,)

I said Orion is like the Navi of the Amnesia world because he can be annoying sometimes...but only sometimes...he's cute, really :3

Orion is really eccentric and caring towards the Heroine. So much in fact that by the end of each route, they seem like brother and sister ;3; he's generally nice and innocent and...maybe slightly clumsy at times :,) I mean, he was stupid enough to collide with the Heroine and get lodged in her mind, so..

Sawa AKA "Needs a Mute Button"

Name; Sawa

Seiyuu; Satomi Moriya

Like, I love Sawa...but she really needs to shut up sometimes :,)

She doesn't pause to take a breath! 

I suppose you could say Sawa is the Heroine's best friend since they know each other very well in each route :3 

She's very bright and extravagant and gets along well with everyone in most routes. She's also kind, can be easily relied on and cares for the Heroine a lot ^ω^

Mine AKA "Two-Faced Kouhai"

Name; Mine

Seiyuu; Kana Akutsu

Basically...she's desperate and two-faced .-.

Mine is only friends with the Heroine in two routes...so out of five, that's not good.

She's one of those really annoying people who act super cute and friendly towards everyone, but is really cruel and harsh to the people she dislikes in secret. The person she dislikes here being the Heroine.

Rika AKA "Devil Lady"

Name; Rika

Seiyuu; Seiko Yoshida

She's the leader of Ikki's stupid fanclub.

She's horrible. Mean. A b*tch.

Rika is obsessed with Ikki and loves him a lot and detests the Heroine in the Spade route SO much that she actually tries to kill her in one of Ikki's BAD endings..

Geez..!

Waka AKA "Scary Boss Man"

Name; Waka

Age; 28

Seiyuu; Hidenori Takahashi

Waka is quite a funny character, actually :,)

In every route, he has a different personality..! Though not quite in the same was as Ukyo's split personality..

In one route, he may be an ex-assassin who threatens to kill employees if they make a mistake and in another route, he may be flamboyant and loves to dance! So, who knows who this guy REALLY is...

He manages the café where the Heroine works called Meido no Hitsuji.

My Thoughts~

I'd actually heard a lot about Amnesia before I played it. I mean, you've got the anime and a bunch of games and because none of them had been translated and I can't read Japanese...I couldn't play them ;O;

So when I heard an English version of Amnesia: Memories was coming to the PS Vita and since I LOVE Otome games, I was SO happy I couldn't even-- Like, I put the release date on my calendar and counted down the days until it came out X,3

I just gotta say...

Amnesia really is the BEST Otome game I've ever played! <3

Usually with Otome games, you need to play different routes more than once and sometimes that can be a bit boring if the story isn't gripping enough and the characters don't have enough depth...but I really LOVED replaying each route! I was excited every time (..apart from when I had to play Toma's route) >. >

Although...it would of made the game a bit better (..I guess?) if the routes for some characters were a bit longer because a few are kinda short /: like I said before, each route usually takes the entire duration of August to complete, so you play through the different days. But seriously some days are SO short that it's kinda like why even bother? > < 

A couple of days also go by without the player having to make any choices and consists of the Heroine going to work and going home. I found that a little irritating, like...at least add something a bit exciting if you're going to make days super short and pointless like that! T^T;

I mean, the extra content isn't really anything to write home about, but it's a nice change from the main story and the mini-games are fun, I guess.. x,D

And the art style of Amnesia is A-MAZ-ING! Like, the art style even makes Trash Boy Toma look good! ;3; and also the trophies for this game aren't hard to collect either, it literally just requires you to complete every possible route and view all the extra content and BOOM! You've earned all the trophies :,)

If you have a PS Vita and enjoy Otome games like myself, I really recommend this game :3

It's easy to get into, it's very enjoyable, each route holds it's own sense of mystery and each route ending (even the BAD endings) are great to some extent! Especially Ukyo's! His BAD endings are awesome, I just...don't even know how to explain them :,)

There is also quite a lot of emotion in this game! O:

Thinking back...I cried during Kent's, Ikki's, Toma's (I regret to admit..) and Ukyo's NORMAL endings ;~; Kent's especially broke my heart </3

This game just has a great balance of everything you could ever want for an Otome game so I really recommend trying it and I can promise you now that you won't regret it! ^ω<

Overall Score~

My overall score for Amnesia: Memories is...

9/10

I would rate it a ten if there was maybe slightly more to the extra content and if there weren't those pointless short days I mentioned :,)

..and if Toma wasn't involved.

Sorry, I just HATE him! :,D

So, it's a nine from me because this game is just awesome, awesome and awesome! >ω<b

~ ~ ~

So that was my review for Amnesia: Memories :3

I hope that you enjoyed reading it and that it was fairly informative. If you have any questions about the game, feel free to leave a comment and I'll reply back and try to be as helpful as possible ^v^

Thank you for reading and have a great day~! n.n

BYESIES~! c:

                          xoxo~

Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer Game Review~

Yahalloooo~

So...here I am! With a game review just like I promised in my last blog! ^ω^
I think I've played enough of this game to review it now-- well, I know I have since I've completed the buildings you're required to do :3
..you'll see what I mean later in the blog :,)

So with that said, let's begin! n.n

--SPOILER WARNING--

Not really though since there isn't any major plot to this game, I just thought I'd put this out there in case you don't want to read about what you can do but find out for yourself instead.

~ ~ ~

Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer!

This game is a spin-off from the main series for the 3DS and 2DS systems.

Now I will say that if you haven't played one of the original Animal Crossing games before and was thinking about buying this, I suggest you don't :,)

When I say this is a spin-off, it really IS a spin-off!

In Animal Crossing games, you have your town with your own home and you can go fishing, dig for fossils etc. etc. With Happy Home Designer, I was expecting the "home designing" aspect to just be another feature of the game while still being able to do all of those other things.

But nope!

EVERYTHING is gone. The town you place the animals homes in is just an illusion and you can't walk around it fishing, bug catching, fossil digging and tree shaking like you usually can. You don't even have your own home. When you come back to Nook's Homes (which is the Home Design Office) after designing a home or public building, you're told to "write a report" which is basically saving your game, so once you've done that, you have the option to Quit or Continue the game and if you continue, the next day starts so you don't even need a home to go to ;A;

You're practically homeless!! (T3T)

So the reason why I'm saying buy an original Animal Crossing game before this one is because it lacks almost everything that Animal Crossing is about and this game could easily put you off the main series because, in all honesty, it really isn't that great. But I'll get to that later :,)

Overview~

You start this game by arriving at Nook's Homes after choosing what your character looks like (which consists of eye shape, eye colour, hair style and hair colour). After that, you're straight away launched into the exciting ( . . . ) world of home designing! You meet animals outside the Office and select them to start designing their dream house.

Seriously.

They just lurk around waiting for you to choose them with a little ( . . . ) over their heads which means they want a home designing. But the next day, there will sometimes be different animals, so if you see an animal you want, snap them up before they disappear :,)

Once you've selected which animal you want, you then get to choose a plot of land, which season you want that land to be in (Summer, Autumn, Winter, Spring), what the house will look like and then you're taken to the spot where it'll be.

You then get to design the landscape of the garden and then the interior of the house. Because the animal already has an idea of what they want their home to look like, you don't have to buy or earn different items of furniture which is pretty convenient! You just choose the furniture that'll suit the theme of their house and place it however you want. You also get to choose the carpet, wallpaper, wall hangings etc.

So for example, if an animal has the idea of a Picnic in the Park theme, just design their home with furniture, wallpaper and carpeting that'll match that theme and they'll be happy! :3

As well as designing the homes of animals, you get to expand the main plaza area which consists of a hospital, school, café, shop, theatre, department store, office building, a second shop, a restaurant and a hotel :)

Within this game, your favourite characters will appear wanting homes designed over time, but if they don't, you can buy amiibo cards which are sold separately, scan them with the NFC Reader/Writer and you have your favourite animals/characters wanting a request for a home!

[ RANDOM WORD FROM SERAH ]

You can only use the amiibo cards and NFC Reader/Writer when you have unlocked the amiibo phone within the game which is only available after a certain point.

If you feel like you've done a suuuuper awesome job on one of the animals homes or plaza buildings, you can share them on Miiverse which is a social network within the game that allows people from around the world to see your projects and for you to see theirs :3

Gameplay~

Now let's go into a bit more detail regarding the main feature of the game; Designing!

Basics~

As I previously mentioned, you are part of Nook's Homes which is a team made up of different designers (of course, realistically, you're the only one who actually does any work ;p). 

These designers are...

Tom Nook;

Who we all know from previous installments of the game :,)

It kinda goes without saying that this time round, he owns Nook's Homes. He also isn't around a lot which...makes sense since it's his business.. > <"

Lottie;

Lottie is...kind of like a mentor to the main character. She shows you what do to and how to do it and helps you out from time to time :3

Lyle;

Lyle doesn't really do much...he's only around during the day (sometimes) and when he is, he sort of just stands around waiting for you to use the amiibo phone.

He's kinda useless :,)

Digby;

Digby doesn't really do much either :,) 

Once you've reached the point in the game where you can re-do buildings within the plaza area, he's the one you talk to. So until you reach that point, you don't really have much to do with him :,)

Isabelle;

We all know the cute little Isabelle :3

She appears after a while and she's the one you go to when you want to start work on buildings in the plaza :) she says she works at the Town Hall, but I've never seen her anywhere other than at Nook's Homes, so...what is Isabelle really, hmm?

A mystery.. THAT'S what. 

Once you've gotten past the introductions and everything is all A-OKAY, you can start your work! :) You just walk outside Nook's Homes and find animals wanting homes designed by YOU! ..you're kind of a legend already since the first home you designed is Lottie's and she's building you up to everyone! >. >

All the animals have different ideas about what they consider a perfect home and it's your job to decide which items suit that idea and where they go. 

We'll use the animal Goldie as an example since she is your first client (after Lottie, that is) who wants a home designing :3

So she comes in with the theme of being surrounded by books so once you've decided where her home will go, you're then able to start designing! *v*

Automatically, your catalogue gets filled with different items that Goldie would like. You have Library wallpaper, stacks of books, a magazine rack, bookshelves etc. Some animals will have a few items they specifically request and that can be checked on the clipboard which is displayed at the bottom of the touch screen, but usually with items they request, they're already in the room you just have to unpack them by selecting the box they are in.

Placing the items is EASY! n.n 

You just select the piece of furniture you want from the catalogue and it'll appear in the room as easy as that :3 you can then, using your stylus, move the piece of furniture to where you want it by holding down and dragging it. You can also rotate the item you have selected by, once again using your stylus and clicking until it's facing the direction you want :)

If you want another piece of furniture the same as the one you have out, instead of going back into the catalogue, you can simply hold down on the piece of furniture with the stylus and press L or R and another piece exactly the same will appear :3

Another thing that's very useful and also gives you more things to choose from when designing homes in the Handbook. If you go to Nook's Homes and sit down at your desk (after a certain amount of time) there will be a handbook there and you can read different lessons (in exchange for play coins) and you can gain things like fossils, bugs, fish and paintings to place in your animals home :3 new items will even become available from studying the handbook like lights to hang from the ceiling and rugs to place on the floor! So the possibilities for designing really are endless :)

With every home you complete, you'll get more furniture added to your catalogue so you can make future homes even better than the last :3 

You'll also start to build up a list of emotions! :,)

Like in Animal Crossing: Let's Go To The City and Animal Crossing: New Leaf, you'll be able to learn different emotions :3 ..not that there is really any huge point to them :,) 

But they're still cute :3

I think there are 48 emotions in total that you can learn, so...complete those houses to get those super cute, yet totally pointless emotions :,)

After playing for a while, Isabelle will show up making it possible to now add buildings to the plaza area :) these buildings require more work to decorate since they're a lot bigger, but I find them more fun since there is waaaay more you can do :3

Facilities like a school and hospital become available to work on! ^v^

School

Hospital

These new buildings will attract more animals to the plaza area which means more homes to design and more facilities to be made.

For example, the development of a larger school will lead to the development of a hotel or theatre which are the final two facilities you can build :)

 Hotel

Theatre

So you definitely have a few things to work on in-between designing homes for animals, too :)

Exterior Design~

When you're working on the home of an animal, you're given a map of the area and you can decide where to place their homes. 

You can place homes on a cliff, a private island, in the desert, a spot that has a bridge, on the beach and as well as that, choose the seasons. So they could live on a warm private island or live in the desert in winter...whatever you want!

You then come to the main task of designing the home.
While what the inside of the house looks like is important, it's also important you give the exterior a good feel to it :3
You can change the style of the house to a castle or a Japanese style home and you can even change the size of the front doors. You can then rework the surrounding area, so change the rope to a hedge or to a fence and add different items like trees, flowers, bushes and even go more creative than that to placing items such as benches or bicycles or lamp posts...basically if it's in your catalogue, use it!

(image found on Google; not owned by me)

Interior Design;
Once you're happy with the outside of the house, it's time to start the inside. Now it's time to really be creative and use your personal ideas (while keeping to the theme of what the animal desires) :3
You do sometimes get some animals who want the same requests, but that doesn't mean their home has to look exactly like how the home of the other animal looks; you can still make them different while in keeping with the theme :)
If you're a bit stumped at what the animal may like in their home, you can look at items they've already brought with them to give you more inspiration :3
[ RANDOM TIP WITH SERAH ]
I recommend you don't get rid of items the animals bring with them otherwise that'll make them upset and you also can't complete homes (or public facilities, for that matter) if there are pieces of furniture missing. Make sure you check your clipboard so you don't miss anything that is required of you.

Once you know what items of furniture you plan to use and the general theme of the room, it's then important you choose the right wallpaper and flooring to match! The house will look even better when the walls and floor match the furniture! :3

(image found on Google; not owned by me)

As well as adding furniture and other items to the room, you can also add different accessories like clothes, shoes, hats etc. The animal that owns this house will even wear them if it's what they like. You can hang the clothes on the wall or you can have them on a stand instead. There are also lots of new items to hang on walls! You have things like an air conditioner, an exit sign, flowers and wreaths and even new designs from older editions like clocks and lights.
A new aspect to this game that you haven't had previously is being able to change the shape and colour of windows, adding curtains, blinds or drapes (all with a different design) and also adding doors to another room; a single door, double doors, sliding door or even dividers.

When you start out, you only have the option to design one room, but as the game progresses, you'll be able to change that one room into town rooms and then two rooms into three rooms! This gives you the opportunity to add in even more furniture the animal would like and make their homes even better than before :3
To re-do a house you've already completed, visit the animal whose house to want to change and speak to them and the option to talk, offer a new house, offer a deluxe remodel will appear and you can choose whichever option you want :3

A couple of home examples;

Goldie's Room

(image found on Google; not owned by me)

Digby's Room

(image found on Google; not owned by me)

Amiibo~

I'll talk a bit more about the NFC Reader/Writer and Amiibo Cards now since that's a new feature added for Happy Home Designer.

Using Amiibo;

The Amiibo system is a way for you to invite different animals over for you to interact with.

Regarding the facilities you've built in the plaza, you can invite over animals through Amiibo and set up photo opportunities so you can upload them along with your room on the social network so people will see the photo and want to visit your room, or for you to just keep the photos for yourself!

You can even give the animals roles when you invite them over.

For example, if you want to take a photo off a classroom in your school, you can assign one animal to be the teacher and assign a few others to be the pupils and have them sit at desks :)

When animals come over, they can also remember different furniture items they see.

So if you use an amiibo card of an animal that's been used by other players, you can gain the items they've remembered if you haven't yet obtained them :3

Amiibo Cards;

You need to buy Amiibo cards separately and there are three cards to a pack (one special and two regulars) :3

Special characters are those like K.K., Harriet, Luna etc.

And normal characters are just animals who would move into your town like Nana, Shep, Pekoe etc. :3

The NFC Reader/Writer and the Isabelle Amiibo Card

Sharing~

Another good feature that Happy Home Designer has is being able to share your home and facility designs on their special social network, Happy Home Network.
You can upload your creations as well as look at other peoples and even get ideas and inspiration to use yourself :3

As well as posting your homes and viewing other peoples, you can also rate their creations and take part in different design competitions. (I haven't done that yet, though.. I just read that you could do that).
[ RANDOM TIP WITH SERAH ]
The Happy Home Network is only accessible with a free download, but don't worry! That comes up when you start the game :)

Miiverse (which I'm sure most of you are aware of) is incorporated into this game as well :3
As well as sharing your creations on the Happy Home Network, you can also share them on Miiverse for a wider audience to see what you've done on Happy Home Designer :)
More info. on Miiverse here!
You can also share your creations on Twitter and Facebook.. (surprise, surprise) x,D

My Thoughts~

After watching trailers for this game, I was suuuuper excited for it's release! *ω*
..but then hearing a lot of negative reviews about the game put me off a bit ;<
I actually decided against buying this game a few days before it's release. It just happened that the fact I pre-ordered it on Amazon slipped my mind :,) and I remembered when I got an email saying it had been dispatched.
..Oh well!

I have to say though...I'm not overly impressed with this game.
It was okay the first few times I played it, but designing the homes of animals became really boring really fast. I've only played so much of it because designing the facilities in the plaza was more fun because there was more to work with. But now I've finished all of those, there really isn't much left for me.
If I'm bored, I may visit the game again...but I'll probably never think something like..
 "OMG YEA!! I feel like playing Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer today!!!"
It's a shame that this game was such a disappointment because Animal Crossing games are usually really good and easy to play :3 there's no real challenge and while that may sound boring to some people, I like it because you can just do want you want and do that at your own pace.
I think instead of focusing on spin-off games, Nintendo should make another main edition to the series and think of ways to improve that instead of making spin-offs that will barely keep anyone interested for longer than a week of playing it.

My Overall Score~

I mean, it's still an Animal Crossing game after all, so I can't completely slate it :,)
If I was to give it a score out of 10, I'd give it..

4/10

Designing rooms only stays interesting for so long, after that, there really is nothing left to do. So to give it anything higher than a four seems ridiculous to me :,)
All of the aspects that make Animal Crossing Animal Crossing are gone leaving behind something that is only enjoyable if you're very bored :,)
If you're contemplating buying this game, I would personally say don't bother wasting your money. Unless you're determined to play this game...it really won't keep you interested for very long. And if you're new to Animal Crossing games and are thinking about buying this game, like I said before, definitely don't because if you do, you'll never want to play another Animal Crossing game again.

~ ~ ~

So that was my review on Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer for the 2DS and 3DS :)
I hope you found it informative enough and enjoyed reading it. If I left anything out, feel free to leave a comment and I'll try to answer as best as I can :3

Thank you for reading my review and have a great day! n.n

BYESIES~! :3
                          xoxo~