From my little understanding of this game, since I have much left to explore, you, a mysterious traveler, were attacked by God where your twin was captured. You awake by a beach with a quest set in mind— to save your twin. Before you start the game, you get to select as a female/male player, basically selecting which twin you are. Along the game, you will be introduced to more characters which you can switch to using them as you like. This means you’re not only controlling one character until the end, but you may switch to any of your party members and walk them around.

Storytelling

While this story is still under development, only 2 world areas are revealed. There is still so much left in the story but so far, along the story, you were to meet friends, skill up, assemble your party and explore the world freely. As the plot goes on, more and more characters will be introduced along with finding out the truth behind the attack and your stolen twin. So far, the story is threading on a light surface where not much is revealed yet. The enjoyment of the game comes from the ability to define your own story at this point.

Battle

Hack & slash. My favorite combat mechanic is just to hack away the enemies. When your player is granted an element, you’ll be able to use it during battle as well. Conjuring gale to blow your enemies off or combine various elements for a combo attack (fire + wind to create a massive burning whirlwind). There are so many things you can do with the battle system.

Characters/Voice acting

You know how much I love properly animated and voiced characters. Additional points for having famous voice actors/seiyuu to bring the character to life. I squealed when I found out Kohsuke Toriumi was voicing one of the characters in the game. As game characters define how much you can relate and invest in the game, Genshin Impact did a wonderful job at casting the right seiyuus for the right characters which actually helps a lot with getting accustomed to the game.

Art style

I love myself some anime-esque art style in games. This is a fair reason why I enjoy visual novels so much. I love seeing 2D characters animated to look like I am watching an anime instead of a blurry mess of a pixel. The character designs of Genshin Impact was what drew me to the game initially and now I’m extremely hooked on the beautiful artwork. The character design, monsters, items and landscape is so much like living in an anime world. Gorgeously fictional.

Gacha games are very addicting, like in many mobile otome games, we pay a lot of cash to try our luck at getting impressive loots. Genshin Impact uses a gacha system to lure its players with lucrative loots, special weapons and unlockable characters. This gacha system hounds on those who are vulnerable to wanting better characters and in-game materials like weapons, closet, consumables, etc. As a F2P game, you can still complete the game (from what I've read) but it will take a lot of hours grinding and hoping for luck.

Run the world, explore the map, defeat monsters together with your friends. Unlocking only at Adventure Rank Lvl.16, you can pair up with your real team/friends to play Genshin Impact together! Only up to 4 players or a minimum of 2 players, this game became so much more fun. I can decide if I want to play leisurely with my friends over a party on Discord or a more serious gameplay where we have to discuss how to pair our elemental skills together. Read more here.

My thoughts

Genshin Impact is a free-to-play (aside from the gacha) game that everyone has to experience even if it is not your cup of tea. Immerse yourself in the world of Teyvat where endless possibilities and adventure guides you on a journey to finding your twin. Enjoy all the goods that Mihoyo (developer) has to offer in this beautiful, picturesque game.

While I’d love to comment so much more about his game, I am in no place to be making reviews as I’m still an Adventurer Level 8! That’s really early in-game. Once again, this post is a first impression review. I may enjoy the game now, but moving forward, my thoughts may/may not change.

Till then,
Melody

What is an otome game?

乙女ゲーム, otome game or maiden game are games created and aimed towards female audiences. These games are a form of visual novel games— a story based video game where the general goal is to romance one of the male characters in the game. Otome games are usually packed with more male characters than female characters, in an average ratio of 5:1.


It has been years since I was stuck in this rabbit hole like Alice being pulled into Wonderland by her curiosity and naivety— otome games have been a genre that defines my casual gamer status on atelierbymel. It felt like my love for hot 2D anime boys + gaming + reading merged into a single wish, presenting me a gift called otome game.


Most otomes games, and by most, I meant 90% of otome games are first Japanese before getting localized or translated to English to meet market demands. Compared to Japan, there are not many English otome games on the market but still enough to curb curiosities and indulge in the fantasy of being in love with various men. It almost felt sinful, to love these men so much.


Over the years of playing various otome games, only a few stuck close to my heart. From elegant, poised men to rugged, adventurous men, I have had my fair share of romancing them all in otome games. Let us take a look at a few of my favorite otome games.

4 of my best otome games by rank

1. Ikemen Sengoku (mobile/PS Vita)

Initially a mobile game which later on was introduced to PS Vita with additional characters, I have been obsessed with Ikesen for years, and never spent a single dime on this game. It's a free otome game but of course, if you are interested in getting more exclusive stories from their events/gachas, you'd have to pay. The name probably gave you an idea how the story was going to be. Your MC (main character, you) were accidentally transported back to the Sengoku era of Japan in a heavy thunderstorm— and from there on, your life as a châtelain in the Oda forces.


You may find very familiar names such as Oda Nobunaga, Date Masamune and Uesugi Kenshin in this game, where you can romance them. All of the Sengoku warlords are in your palms. Unlike other otome games, Ikesen’s two endings are both happy. Ikemen Sengoku will always be my no.1 otome game for its simplicity in character selection to blossoming stories and attractive artwork.

2. Nightshade (Steam/N.Switch)

This is my first ever Switch otome game— I had the game shipped in from Singapore, imagine how desperate I was to get a physical copy of this beautiful game. Similarly set up in the Sengoku era but instead of the warlords, you’re romancing ninjas who are hired to protect the warlords. The game is more lengthy compared to mobile otome games and each story is deeply developed. While Ikemen Sengoku is all about feel-good, giddy excitement, Nightshade carries the more serious, deep emotions of loss and lots of angst. MC is a ninja but also a sheltered princess as she is the daughter of the head of the ninja clan, her craving for more dangerous missions led her on a group mission where a murder unfurls a lengthy escape to survive.

3. Samurai Love Ballad Party (mobile)

Also set in the Sengoku era. Oh my, do you see a recurring theme going on here? With similar counterparts in Ikemen Sengoku, the personalities among similar characters are truly different. The MC is a woman running her family’s restaurant but was coerced into a marriage with a snobbish, old lord. While Ikemen Sengoku has better artwork and music, SLBP’s stories are more angsty, where it deals with character death (not spoiling but I did cry so much). It is also a free otome game where you pay only if you wanted their event exclusives. Compared to Ikesen, SLBP has more male suitors to romance including not only the warlords but also their ninjas.

4. Hakuouki (PS Vita, N.3DS, Steam)

The few best otome game on Steam and an otome fan favorite, Hakuouki is ranked no.4 in my list for the lengthy storyline. I usually lose interest even before I can get one route completed. Although the story is so well written and firmly held together by very fleshed out characters, I couldn’t help but just snooze off at some parts of the game. The MC sets out on a journey to search for her missing father but is drawn into the Shinsengumi and their battle against demons. The artwork and music is lovely and I’m a huge fan of the characters, just that their stories seem so long to the point where I lost interest.


The PS Vita is the best console to enjoy otome games for its many choices and Japanese localization while Steam and Nintendo Switch are getting more and more otome game ports coming up soon. As much as I’ve been enjoying JRPG games these days, it is always comforting to fall back to the familiar warmth of otome games.


Till then,
Melody

As much as I want to tell you to just fuck it, put away all your responsibilities and just game your day away, I will never encourage that. We hold so much responsibility in our life. Being an adult showed me that I have to manage myself, care for my pets alone, get to work and maintain a good social relationship with people. We need to learn that our lives will never be the same as when we are 10. We have responsibilities and we must prioritize them.

I have a pile of games backlogged, but I am in no rush to finish it. I can do both adulting and gaming with these 5 tips I’ve shared on how to manage my hobby as an adult. We might be too busy to share our passion for gaming, but don’t let that stop us.

Darling, connecting with your inner child can soothe your soul + mind. Find ways to connect with him/her once in a while. Even when life is tough, do the things that make you happy.

Towards more gaming days,

I start off my batching process by making a mental note on the tasks I have to complete during the batching. This includes taking photos for IG, taking photos for my blog, preparing topics to write about. Making these little step-by-step mental notes help to reduce anxiety and helps me align with the purpose of the process.

2. Batch taking photos

The best time to take photos in my room is a time between 10.30 am - 12.00 pm. Oftentimes, I make a visual note on what type of content I want to try creating a few days before. Lurking and getting inspired by IG and Pinterest is a great way to help you visualize what you want to create. Once you have the visualizations down, it’s time to start snapping away.

3. Quick editing with VSCO/ any other photo editing app

While I do know many Instagram influencers and top bloggers prefer to import their photos to their work laptop and edit using Lightroom, I prefer the simple + quickest way— which is to use VSCO and edit in bulk. I can select up to 50 images and edit them in one tap of a button. For photos that may need extra effort, I will spend a little more time fixing them, however, most of my photos are edited easily.

4. Keep your contents organized in Google Drive

My go-to cloud storage is Google Drive for its ease of access and simple interface. I drop them in different folders, all organized and named properly according to their blog topic. As for my IG contents, I’ll keep them in my phone storage so I am able to access it easily whenever I need to post.

For my writings, I work in a single Google Doc file so I may have access to it anytime and anywhere. Once the writings are transferred into blogger, it will be erased from the Google Docs.

5. Scheduling your posts

While I do agree that there is a certain “sweet” time to post in order to gain the best interactions, I work manually. I figured that the best time to post is around 7.00 pm - 8.00 pm, I do not use a scheduler as I can do it manually and save app space on my phone. Aside from that, most free Instagram schedulers would ruin the quality of the photos.

As for blog posts, I will find a day to sit down and insert all my contents from my google document (writings + photos) before scheduling using blogger. As for the best time to post, I usually don’t care much for my blogging times— however, after the blog post has been published, I will announce on my IG to drive IG traffic to my blog.

Now, let all the magic happen. My blog posts have been scheduled (this post is one of it!), all contents ready, and I would only need to take time to post on my Instagram— and that’s great because while I post, I can spend a few minutes interacting with others.

Batching posts is not something that we should feel badly about. People work on their own pace and style. Find your style.

On my journey in piecing myself together, it felt amazing. With my time away from Instagram, I was very much focused on other more important things in life— spending time with my loved one and myself. I do things to make me happier. My depression relapses got lesser as days go by and within a few weeks, I was ready to take on the world again

And the only negative side-effect of taking time off Instagram. The algorithms have been the one thing that constantly bothers me every single time I post. Of course, with the "break" from the social app itself, I was repaid with bad reach and interactions. A whopping drop from ~300 likes to ~90 likes itself. Oh, how that frustrates me but as I've realized, I do not care anymore. I just want to create.

 


Now I am dutifully back on Instagram but not as much as before.

I couldn’t bear to go on a social media detox again. Quitting social media cold turkey especially my one and only safe haven, Instagram was unbearable. This little app can be a monstrosity of anxiety sometimes, but my “break up” with Instagram has offered me peace + additional wisdom in return.

Compartmentalizing myself to give a few hours a day, than to obsessively scrolling throughout the hours I’m awake, gives me the power to prioritize myself.

The interaction and “likes” on my page has decreased significantly since the “break up”, but I’m happier as it doesn’t bother me anymore. I’m just content to use it as a platform to explore creativity and share my magic.

Social media is addicting, we are addicted to it in one way or another— perhaps to prove our worth, find companions, or to get lost in the sea of wonder. If used well, it can fulfil your needs but if used wrongly, it could breed envy + discontentment. So use yours wisely.