What Video Game Did I Play Yesterday?
Fashion Dreamer (Switch)
April 27th, 2024
Yesterday, my focus was shot, which actually left me with quite a lot to post about here. Maybe the most unique part of it was that I dug around on itch.io for a bit after work to find a short visual novel to buzz through. I ended up going with Calling Card, a very short and nice kinetic novel (which means no choices) told over phones. It had the vibe of a little manga one-shot, extremely good color choices, and very realistically utilized profanity. This and Donut County both used the way people communicate over text to pretty good effect, so it was interesting to be playing them back to back. It was maybe only ten minutes, but I'm glad I played it.
I finished a Gunpla I'd set aside for months, too, this one being the SD Aerial. There was nothing really wrong with this kit, but the stickers were driving me crazy and my hands are shaking too much to do a lot of detailing by hand. The end result is pretty nice, though, and it's a relief to have it done.
As far as my more standard daily gaming goes, I finished this month's event in Fashion Dreamer, which I dragged out for way too long. The new photo frames have been really nice this time, and I'm sure I'll use them in the future, but I was unenthusiastic this month.
I continued the main story mode in Hyrule Warriors, too, and was extremely charmed by Linkle and her cucco army! If I'd seen this part of the proceedings on Wii U, I would have picked this game back up for Switch much faster than I actually did. I'm considering making her my main for Adventure Mode just out of the knowledge that she commands the chickens.
April 26th, 2024
I was still pretty low energy yesterday, so all I did gaming-wise was grind away at the monthly event in Fashion Dreamer. I should be able to finish this off the next time I play, and might actually use the prize patterns this month.
April 24th, 2024
I'm super tired today, so this is a somewhat late post, made during a work break. Yesterday was a somewhat not-normal day, so I played a lot more video games than normal. Knocking another set of event missions out in Fashion Dreamer was my main goal, and I achieved that quite easily. I really like this bold blue cherry background for character photos, and had been looking forward to scoring it.
I also scored a copy of Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition and did a lot of violence. I'd played the start of this before on Wii U, but hardly remembered any of it. I think I'd unlocked Young Link in that version, but am not even 100% sure about that. I'll see what happens, though! Playing this again was fun.
I played some Love Colors to try to get to sleep, too, but got too sleepy to keep playing without actually being able to sleep. Oh, well.
April 23rd, 2024
I'm doing some family stuff today, so this is a quick lil' post while I get some stuff together! I just played some Fashion Dreamer last night after zooming in on crafts, getting well over halfway through the monthly event. I should have this cleared by the end of the week!
April 22nd, 2024
I'm heading into a week with a strange setup today, and I can't decide if I should feel extra motivated at work today, having tomorrow off, or not motivated at all. I'll see how it shakes out!
Last night, I picked up a Pokemon model kit, this time of Zekrom, that I'd gotten frustrated with before. It had seemed to me that the pieces didn't fit, and I was going to give it up for lost. When I got to work on it for the second time, though, I had no problems at all. I wonder what my problem was? Past problems aside, I'm glad to have this done and know that the kit wasn't busted. It's so strange, though.
I kept plugging away at Fashion Dreamer's monthly event, too, but got waylaid by one of the in-game events where an NPC goes to your showroom. It's cute when it does that, and gives the game an extra flash of personality.
Today, I'm hoping for at least a mildly productive Monday.
April 21st, 2024
I actually have a somewhat busy, in a nice way, day today, so I tried to do a bunch of chores before posting here. After lunch, I'm going to go see Spy x Family: Code White at a local "bigger than a normal screen, but not by any means an IMAX, don't get your hopes up" theater, and after that, it's a Dungeons and Dragons night. I play as a barbarian, so I keep reminding myself to remember to use rage tonight. These constant reminders probably won't work.
Anyway, my current gaming goal is to finish Pikuniku before it leaves Game Pass at the end of the month, as it is fun and I'm not sure why I put it on the back burner. I did a couple boss fights last night, using my total lack of pine cone kicking skills to take out some robots, and felt like I was really moving the story along fast.
I did a couple of mission sets for the monthly event in Fashion Dreamer, too, and am hoping to get this event done this week. If I actually play it instead of messing with offline mode, that should be super attainable.
Before bed, I also filled in ten images in Love Colors to relax and knock myself out. It worked, and I actually slept decently. Having something as slow as a pixel color-by-numbers game on hand is sometimes magical.
April 20th, 2024
Last night, I hit a major logic gap in the design of my little city not-Legos. Why would a designer worry enough about retaliation from Fanta to put a Fento sign on their fake store, which is honestly way more unfortunate in today's society, but then straight up just use the McDonalds golden arches on the next building in the line? I respect it, and put tiny McDonalds on display next to my KFE, to make the chicken (?) establishment look even shadier. Still, it seems so strange! This delighted me.
I took longer than I expected to build the two little storefronts, though, so from there, I just did some offline outfit grinding in Fashion Dreamer for some quick, relaxing before-bed gaming. Today, I'll get back to the monthly event.
April 17th, 2024
Yesterday, we ended up having the tornado sirens go off twice in my area, and on top of the morning blood test, I was exhausted by the time I got home. My internet wasn't at its best, either, so I just played some offline Fashion Dreamer to relax. I unlocked quite a few character colors and parts, and had fun getting some goofy NPC poses. It was what I needed after a wild day.
April 16th, 2024
Today, I've got a blood test in the morning, and severe storms are expected to hit this afternoon, so I'm looking forward to the day being over.
Last night, though, I built this extremely cute Amy Rose Nanoblock. It looks almost like a figure that hasn't loaded into this dimension yet, and the slight unreality of that makes me happy.
Amy took most of my evening to build, so I just played a small bit of Fashion Dreamer before bed, inching forward in the current online event.
April 14th, 2024
I spent a lot of time yesterday messing around with this site, trying to get things set up for a future site section, which was fun. Since I just use this site for daily writing, it doesn't need to be fancy, but it's still fun to play.
Other than that, I didn't do a ton other than zone out yesterday. I finished an LOZ ice cream truck block set that had been plaguing me last night. LOZ kits are extremely fiddly to build, which can cause trouble with some hand tremor issues I've got. It's kind of worth it, though! Everything I've done from them is so charming and filled with little details, so I feel kind of accomplished when I finish one.
I also continued level grinding NPC relationships for character parts in Fashion Dreamer last night, again getting fed up with how plain the "type B" clothes are. I almost have a full fruit bunny outfit pattern for my current girl character, though, so I'll bounce back to the event soon.
April 13th, 2024
Last night, I did taxes and read the second half of Three Body Problem in one sitting after work, so it wasn't much of a game night. Before my attempted bedtime, which was a total whiff in terms of sleep, I did some offline grinding in Fashion Dreamer, trying to level up NPC relationships to get access to more clothing patterns and character parts. It was fun, but I wish there were some wilder menswear patterns in this game.
Since last night was big for almost getting to sleep and then jolting upright at noises that weren't actually happening, today might be somewhat challenging. I'm sure I'll play something to post about tomorrow, though!
April 12th, 2024
This week, I've been trying to brute force having good days by just telling myself I'm going to have them, and for the most part, it's worked. Trying to have a good attitude doesn't do a ton for health, but I'm certainly feeling a little less whiny on that front.
Yesterday, because it seemed cute to try, I built three not-Lego block flowers from a dollar bin at Target and jammed them in one of my King of Fighters soda cans for display. The flowers themselves were kind of crummy to build, and don't hold together well, but I like the end effect. It's clunky and cheerful.
I made better efforts at this month's Fashion Dreamer event than I had last night, too, and had a decent time wandering around and doing my little missions.
I spent way more time with Palworld, though, testing the limits of what materials I can carry and accidentally slaughtering a poor little chicken that wandered onto my base. I thought it was mine, and attacked instead of picking it up! It was a grand tragedy. I did manage to craft my new outfit, too, and am pleased that it is cute and makes it harder to freeze to death.
April 11th, 2024
Last night, a new event started in Fashion Dreamer, but I fiddled around too much making my character for it and didn't really make any headway. I also forgot to take a screenshot because I was sleepy, which I'm a little frustrated with myself about. I'll be posting about this for at least a few more days this month, though, so it's not a big deal.
Before that, I decided to try Palworld on my XBox, since I wanted to play something where I can just wander around. I've never played much of a survival game before, so I thought it was kind of interesting in that regard. I don't feel like I got far enough to really say much, but do hope to return tonight to make my girl some better clothes.
March 23rd, 2024
I'm very brick-focused right now, so I worked on lego stuff again last night. I have a bigger, name-brand Lego set I'm chipping away at, but my finish for last night was this fantastic off-brand diner from Five Below. (It's maybe dangerous to have a shop selling cheap toys so close to where I buy groceries. The little utensils and skillet were so bespoke they came on a model runner, and I like the design vibe of the signage stickers on this one, too. I'm really happy with it, especially for the price.
Games-wise, I put my almost-Waldo quest on hold to finish the current event in Fashion Dreamer. I had a lot of fun with it this month, and felt like the developers had really improved a lot of the tedium of the monthly events. I'll be looking forward to the next one.
From there, I got back to my very slow playthrough of Pokemon Shining Pearl, too, clearing exactly one very small route. I want to play a bit during daylight today or tomorrow, since my normal gaming habits don't mesh well with this game's day/night cycle.
March 22nd, 2024
There's a snowstorm this morning, which maybe surprises me more than it should. It makes me glad I'm well set up to have an indoors day.
Yesterday, I got feeling really down at work, so I went to Five Below after my shift ended to buy some off brand legos. I came right back and built a new Cinnamoroll, the one on the left in the photo below, immediately. I hadn't built anything for a few months, so I forgot how fun it is! I'm hoping to crack into my stash of Legos, on and off brand, and model kits this weekend.
As far as game go, I popped into offline mode on Fashion Dreamer again to continue on my almost-Waldo kick. The faux leather pants really made this outfit for me. I'm proud of myself.
March 21st, 2024
I was extremely tired last night, so I just played some Fashion Dreamer before bed. I didn't even go online, instead grinding out outfits for NPCs to get their outfit patterns and character parts. It wasn't bad at all, though, and I made a stunning "tiny person meant to briefly make you think you've found Waldo" cosplay for my characters. Tired as I was, that was the height of comedy for me.
March 18th, 2024
I'm actually going to try to stick to no new game starts this week, like I was talking about yesterday. Since I've started and not finished dozens upon dozens of games, this shouldn't be much of a challenge.
One of the big benefits I'll get from this is a shot at finishing some of the shorter games I've started, gotten distracted, and not finished on GamePass. I picked Gris back up last night and explored for a little over an hour, finishing the blue levels and reaching the yellow ones. I have no idea what that means in the scope of the game as a whole, but an eel chased me and it was very dramatic. As sedate as this game is, it does not slack on the setpieces.
I played my daily chunk of the Fashion Dreamer event while I was making an unecessairly complicated lunch out of a 38 cent pack of Maruchan ramen. For some reason, I was really set on making my character a cute little St. Patrick's Day outfit, so I did.
Before bed, I played Catlord until I was bored enough to sleep, racking up a lot of the game's static upgrades. When I get every upgrade bought, I guess I'll be done with this, but since I don't play it often, that's not an imminent concern.
March 17th, 2024
Yesterday wasn't a big gaming day for me. I had a lot of craft time, read a trashy vintage crime paperback cover to cover, and went to the grocery store in some surprisingly intense wind.
My biggest chunk of game time went to Fashion Dreamer, which I'm enjoying enough lately to consider playing outside of the current event. Mostly, I was just fiddling with color sliders on my own clothes, though, which doesn't make for wildly exciting blogging. It was fun, though, which is what matters more.
I also decided to play a bit with my all-Pokemon-regions tour and pick up Pokemon Leaf Green for a bit. I do have access to a real copy of this game, but felt so tired of the first chunk of first gen that I started on my Miyoo Mini+, gaining clandestine access to the ever-valuable fast forward button. Once I started playing, though, I was having a blast, which making the game run at double speed only enhanced.
I'm thinking of designating this as a "don't start any new games" week to see if I can make any progress in the many games I've got going. I don't intend to hold myself to that too hard, though, so it likely won't last.
March 16th, 2024
I had a lot of trouble getting started this morning, but am here now. My game time last night was weird. My allergies are making me feel so gross that I couldn't get myself to eat dinner until around 10 at night. A while after that, I turned on my XBox and tried Need For Speed Heat a try, wanting to drive around a palm trees and neon lights city. It was fine, but I don't know if I'll play it again. The load times and banners to buy stuff drove me a little crazy, and I felt like my starter car was handling too badly to have much fun. It delivered on blue skies and shiny lights, though, so it might be good to keep downloaded for mood-based game choices. I'll see!
As a side note, complaints like my load times one are why I specifically note on game pages that I'm using Game Pass on an XBox Series S. This could run great on a Series X, but I will most likely never test that.
I did another mission set in Fashion Dreamer's current event, too, but got knocked out so hard by the super-allergy-medicine I took that I didn't even make my character a new outfit this play session.
March 15th, 2024
The weather's been so up and down that I'm really dizzy this morning. I went over to the neighborhood coffee shop for a caffeine and sugar laden latte to get through the day, though, so hopefully this plan works.
Last night, I was too set on reading and crafts to play games much, but I did keep going in the current Fashion Dreamer event before bed. Making the events less repetitive made them a lot more fun, so I played longer than I expected to again. It was nice.
March 14th, 2024
A new event started in Fashion Dreamer last night, and I was almost shocked to see that events are now quicker and easier to play with more prizes for completed mission sets! I'd only intended to play for a few minutes or so, but I ended up going through the first fourth of the event in one go, really having a decent time. Pleasant surprises are nice.
February 29th, 2024
Today's post is my last one for February, and I don't feel that I had my most successful month. Bookbug is what I'm most frustrated with myself about screwing up this morning. Even though I'd been seeing posts come in about Giovanni's Room, this month's book by James Baldwin, coming in all month, I forgot to read it myself. It's pretty short, so I thought I could shotgun it in three days, and by raw page count, I still think that was a plausible plan. After one day of that, though, I felt so weighed down by the protagonist's regret and self-loathing that I decided it's better to pace things and just finish it a few days late. It's beautifully written, and I am going to finish it, but the emotional weight of it is so heavy that I can't do it as a speed read. Even if I had finished it on time, I think I would have needed to sit with it a few days to sort out my own feelings.
I don't know if I'll post about Giovanni's Room when I'm done reading it, since, despite being out of school for many years, I still have the dreadful feeling that I missed an assignment and am going to get a zero on it. My big takeaway from this, though, is that I'd best start reading The Left Hand of Darkness this weekend.
Gaming-wise, I fell short of my goal for the month, too, but I don't feel too bad about that. I started February intending to play four games over the month, and I got three instead, which isn't awful! Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore and Costume Quest were both somewhat substantial, and I hadn't enjoyed any game as much as I did Arzette for ages. Plus, I cleared both my "beat an RPG" and "beat a game on GamePass" side quests, which felt good, too. For March, I'm going to shoot for four games cleared again, but if I once again don't make it, that'll be fine.
As for the actual topic of this blog, I cleared the current event in Fashion Dreamer last night, raking in some prizes and giving myself a mild sense of accomplishment. There hasn't been any word that there'll be another in-game event, but I'm certainly hoping for one.
February 27th, 2024
I'm up early for a blood test before work today, my favorite, so I'm getting today's post in early today, too! This week might not be so great for games for me, though. One of my coworkers and I are trying to hit 100 novels read for the year, and my idea on this front is that if I read two novels a week, it's no problem. I mostly read vintage pulp novels and light novels, so this is pretty attainable. Last week I was so tired that I didn't read anything, though, so I'm reading four novels this week. Since I also forgot about reading the Bookbug novel of the month, despite reading others' thoughts on it, this has also come to involve tossing back 70 pages of James Baldwin a night for the next few days. It's a lot, but with two challenges on the line, I'm determined.
Game-wise last night, due to needing to go to bed earlier than normal and my time spent reading, I just played a little of Fashion Dreamer. I had a game crash, though, so though I got my mission rewards in online mode, I had to make my new outfit parts and use the photo frame offline, after a suspiciously slow restart. Hopefully, it works better next time.
February 26th, 2024
This morning, I slept longer than I should have, but am still glad I'm managing this before work. It's going to be a strange week, so I want to get it started right.
It helps, though, that I didn't play a ton last night. I had a decent amount of time to play My Sims Agents, and wanted to make good progress in it, but was feeling way too tired to stay upright and playing for more than half an hour. Alas, my characters shall jet to the mountains in my next play session.
From there, I played a really minimal round of Fashion Dreamer, getting my next set of event rewards. I actually like the new pose I got- it's very pin-up girl-ish- and should be clearing this event in the next couple of days.
February 25th, 2024
I slept way too much last night, almost 10 hours, so I'm having a challenging morning! It's an awards show weekend, though, so I mostly get to eat nice food with family and do crafts when I'm not trying not to doze off. Plus, I paid my bills this morning, so I'm not a total louse today.
Yesterday, I played a little more of Close to the Sun and quit, deciding it's not for me. It was a true magic of GamePass moment. It's fine, and if this were was a book, I'd be glued to it. The movement felt clunky, though, and I hit some progression points so linear they got frustrating. There's a chance I'll go back to it, but it's more likely that I won't.
After that, I wanted to play something for a few minutes before I had to be somewhere, so I popped Double Dragon Gaiden: Rise of the Dragons into my Switch. I don't know that I'll tackle this game immediately, but the twenty or thirty minutes I played were really enjoyable. I shall return to this.
Last but not least, I had a really enjoyable Fashion Dreamer play session before bed. I may have just been floating through on sleepiness, but I was hitting a lot of funny NPC dialogue, cute new outfit patterns, and just overall good game enjoyment. I'm almost through the current event, so'll probably clear it in my next few play sessions.
February 24th, 2024
It's the weekend, and I'm pleased to not be working today! Last night, I was super tired, so I didn't do much game stuff. On my XBox, though, I played the first 30 or 40 minutes of a wander-around game called Close to the Sun. It's a steampunk game, set on a spooky boat where Tesla seems to have caused some problems, and I'm not sure what to make of it yet. I'm not clear on why my character can delicately vault over gates, but not climb over a box, and it seems like a poor security protocol to clearly write codes to locks on papers next to the locks. It seems to be about vibes more than anything else, though, which is fine. I'm hoping to play a bit more of this later.
I also played a couple missions sets in Fashion Dreamer, and apologize to other players for the outfits I made them while half asleep but very determined to score some event rewards.
February 20th, 2024
My allergies are really nasty today, so I'm not pleased about being out of bed. It's an in-office day for me, though, so I've put together a Midwestern disaster lunch in a microwavable Hello Kitty bento set- leftover tuna and bean sprout casserole in the bigger box, and cottage cheese and canned mandarin oranges in the smaller one I'll keep cold- and am getting my daily post done. It's not nothing!
I played another hour of Costume Quest last night, and think I'm getting very close to the ending. I'm extremely pleased that one of my new costumes last night was a French fry monster, and will likely stubbornly drag this into the final boss battle when I get to it.
I also played a very small amount of Fashion Dreamer, clearing some event missions without unlocking any photo frames or poses. It wasn't very exciting, but I was playing it to fall asleep, so that's fine.
February 18th, 2024
Yesterday, I got super fixated on clearing Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore, and couldn't focus on anything until I beat the final boss that afternoon. It was really fun, though. The platforming and combat felt pretty good, and all the sidequests, with their nifty corresponding rewards, gave me a nearly constant sense of progression. I did check it out due to curiosity about how a CDi Zelda homage would function, but this ended up being one of my favorite games that I've played in quite a while! It was a good time, and I might eventually tackle it on the higher difficulty I unlocked.
After that, as if I hadn't burned my eyes out enough, I did a few sets of missions to earn the next photo frame in Fashion Dreamer. It feels like there's a lot of players active during this event, just from the amount of outfits I'm being sent, which is nice.
February 15th, 2024
It's somewhat exciting to be posting before work for a third day straight! I feel so productive!
Productivity is counter to the point of this blog, though, so more on topic, I started playing Arzette: The Jewel of Faramore last night. I had a 3DO, as far as failed 90s multimedia consoles go, so I don't have any specific CD-i nostalgia. The thought of figuring out the potential underneath the messy parts of the CD-i Zelda games seemed really interesting, though, so I'd wanted to give this a try. I'm not very far into it so far, but it was a fun start, and I'm hoping to wake up enough to play more tonight.
I also continued the steampunk event in Fashion Dreamer, unlocking a "marionette" pose. It makes my character look more irritated that she has no bench to relax on than anything, I think, so I was kind of amused by that.
February 14th, 2024
I'm very pleased to be getting posts done before both my office days for work this week, even if I don't have the most exciting gaming to talk about in them. Last night, I found out close to the end of my work day that a new Fashion Dreamer event was starting up in a few hours. It's not any different from the other events, albeit with some steampunk flavor, but I was in the right mood to get really excited about it. After getting everything done for the night, I got too distracted by messing with the character maker to do crafts effectively and enjoyed playing the first set of missions. It was perfect for my current gaming focus level, so I imagine I'll buzz through this event without much stalling.
February 5th, 2024
I finished the current event, of which I 100% forgot the name, in Fashion Dreamer last night, netting myself the last new photo frame and a hairstyle that'll come in handy later. It felt a little anticlimactic, since I didn't love the clothing prizes for this event. I'm looking forward to the next event, though. They make for nice pre-goin'-to-bed time killers.
In other games, I finished the "scurry around town to get very specific drinks for homeless guys" bit I was working on in Yakuza 0, too. I really didn't play this for long, since I was worried I'd get caught up in it and stay up way too late.
I turned on a couple of other games for less than five minutes, too, but nothing really clicked enough to stick with. In the next few days, I'll probably play one or two tiny, low challenge Switch games to fill late night game time between Fashion Dreamer events. Other than that, though, I'm not going to worry about what I play too much.
February 4th, 2024
Yesterday, my guts were the enemy, but between our battles, I did end up playing a lot of games. I probably spent the most time messing with Fashion Dreamer while I was chatting with a friend. I met my goal in the current event, got a character set up for whatever the next event will be, and actually got a few new NPCs pulled in while I was playing offline mode. Somewhat shockingly, I also reached my next "influencer level" and got a lot of new outfit patterns. It felt like a very productive gaming session, and I'm hoping to finish this in-game event today or tomorrow.
In the afternoon, I think that I figured out what I needed to be doing for a good ending in Elevator Hitch, but the game started crashing on startup when I was set on trial-and-erroring through it. It wasn't my favorite gaming moment, but I'm sure it'll be fine the next time I decide to play.
While my crock pot dinner finished cooking, I played Yakuza 0 for a while, too, and got back onto the story track. Even though I did do a couple of sidequests, most of my playtime was spent rushing from convenience store to convenience store to fulfill very specific liquor orders from the game's homeless community. I'm still not done with it, but I'll get that quest easily knocked out in my next play session.
January 29th, 2024
I did more crafts than anything yesterday, but did play a bit of video games before bed. My main goal was to clear the next set of missions in the Fashion Dreamer event, which I was able to do pretty easily. It netted me a new photo frame, and I think this event will have two more of them.
Right before going to sleep, I also used Nintendo Switch Online to play a little Game Boy Tetris. I hadn't played Tetris for an extremely long time, so I was pretty happy with topping out at about 95 lines.
January 28th, 2024
I half-attentively played a lot of games yesterday, so I actually get to do a good post now.
The most interesting thing, for me, at least, was Digital Dance Mix Vol. 1: Amuro Namie. I recently found a super cheap JP Sega Saturn, but didn't want to write about it in case it didn't work! Yesterday, I got a few games I'd ordered for it off of eBay, though, and was able to play a bit.
When I was first getting into stuff from Japan, way back in junior high, Amuro Namie was one of the first J-pop artists I really got fixated on, and I had an online ordered CD of Break the Rules that I played so often I wore out the clear plastic slipcover it was over-packaged in. Then, when I was living in Japan, she was doing her retirement tour, which resparked my interest. I got her 3-disc greatest hits album at 7-11 with a little tote bag and a clear file, and ran around used shops grabbing her entire back catalog dirt cheap. It was fun, and I've certainly gotten 300 yen worth of plays out of my copy of Concentration 20.
Because of all that nonsense, I'd wanted to play her Saturn game for a long time, so it was the first thing I ordered when I scored the console. It's barely a game, but I wasn't disappointed at all. There's a karaoke mode, a mode to dress her up and watch her slightly off-putting CG model dance- both limited to two songs- and some minigames named for bad puns based on her song titles. It's aesthetically excellent, though- weird fonts, flashing lights, bright candy colors, and way too much stuff moving on screen at once. It looks like a Lisa Frank designed motion capture demo and it makes me extremely happy. It will 100% pop up here again, as a bonkers way to play memory match feels like a top level "I can't get to sleep!" game.
At night, I was both extremely tired and totally unable to sleep, so my Switch got some playtime. I went through quite a few levels of Kirby's Adventure and kind of arbitrarily stopped. I think I'm pretty close to the end.
I got back to the current event in Fashion Dreamer, too, and crossed its halfway point. The Lunar New Year photo frame I unlocked is really nice, but I was too lazy to make my character a good new outfit for it! It's not going anywhere now that I have it, though, so that's not so bad.
From there, Love Colors is what finally got me ready to sleep. I am thankful for very boring games.
January 20th, 2024
Yesterday, I spilled a drink on my work computer, destroying it not ten minutes after I'd logged on for the day. It wasn't my best moment, but I got a new one within a few hours.
In that waiting period, though, I finished Time Gal! The last chunk of the game really spiked the difficulty, with some button presses needing done the split second they appeared on screen, making memorization a necessity. The final boss was really underwhelming, too! After fighting several dinosaurs, a cyberpunk bike gang, and a couple wars, a guy in a chair just didn't cut it. Still, the easier final encounter was a relief after the rest of the final stretch, and I was glad to see the game's end. For me, this was a pretty enjoyable laserdisc game, and I'm excited to tackle the other two in the Taito LD Game Collection.
Just to stay active, I played a short workout in Fitness Circuit again, without skipping the stretches like I had the day before. It was fine!
Then, before bed, I played another set of missions in Fashion Dreamer's Dramatic Fair. I'd planned to play slightly longer, but some new medicines knocked me on my butt, so I did not.
January 19th, 2024
Despite the fact that I didn't work yesterday, I didn't play that many games. My brain was shot, and making puffy blankets and reading manga on my phone held a lot more appeal. While I was waiting for test results and doctor's office calls, though, I did play a lot of Fashion Dreamer. It was amazing for keeping my mind off of stuff, and I made decent progress in the current event. Making other players outfits was great for killing time.
I also did the smallest workout possible in Fitness Circuit, which wasn't nothing!
Since this is Friday, I'm thinking a bit about what I want to play this weekend. I'd kind of like to get back to Portal and Death Stranding, and maybe finish off Time Gal or Frog Detective, too. Who knows, though! Anything will be okay.
January 18th, 2024
Today's post is being made between doctors' appointments, as I consider the effect all of these medical expenses are going to have on my budget. That is ok, though!
Last night, I just kept on with the current event in Fashion Dreamer until I got a new pose as a prize. I also got a nifty plaid coat pattern from an NPC that was fun to recolor. When I am extremely sleepy, I am grateful for nothing games.
Tomorrow's post will have more to it, since I've gotta do something while waiting for calls and games aren't a bad way to fill that spot. I'm gonna play at least a round of some sort of fitness game, too.
January 17th, 2024
This is a quick, late post for today. I'm super sleepy and have a doctor's appointment in the morning, so I want to go to bed early.
A new event, the Dramatic Fair, started in Fashion Dreamer last night, so I played that for a while. For this event, I'm using my very pastel guy character, to mix up the clothes I'm dealing with.
I did a short workout in Fitness Boxing, too, just to not give up on being active. Tonight, it's tempting to somehow try to do even less.
Tomorrow's post is probably going to be pretty similar to this, but I am okay with that.
January 11th, 2024
It's time for a quick post before work! Last night, I started Death Stranding, since it seemed like a good game to have going on a long weekend where going outside isn't recommended. I played the first 45 minutes or so and admire a game where it's as much of a pain to walk as it is in real life.
I played Fashion Dreamer quite a lot more, too, trying to farm character parts from NPCs. As far as this goes, though, I probably won't play too much more until another event starts. It feels kind of aimless otherwise.
January 10th, 2024
Last night, my apartment maintenance people were doing snowblowing at midnight, which resulted in me going "oh, one more level is fine!" over and over again in Peggle. I'm well into the second half of Adventure Mode now, and might not play tonight, just in an effort to avoid another late night from a lapse of judgement. It was really fun, though, and it's not like I was going to get to sleep that fast anyway.
Since the Fantasy Fair event officially ended in Fashion Dreamer yesterday, I turned that on to check for info on the next event. I played with the character and outfit creators for longer than I'd intended, but this, too, was enjoyable.
I'm really sleepy, so I don't know how much I'll play past what I already have tonight. With more rounds of snow ahead and a three day weekend in the mix, though, I'll make up for today's lost time handily.
December 27th, 2023
I'm doing a quick lunch break post today, but I am pleased that I finished the Fantasy Fair event in Fashion Dreamer last night! The missions made it way more interesting to play, so I'm going to cut back a bit on it until the next event starts. I might pop in to make or adjust an avatar to use in the next one, but I won't play as much for a couple weeks.
I half-heartedly played a round of Catlord when I couldn't sleep, too. It didn't help, which was kind of disappointing.
I've already been playing an old arcade game on Switch during my breaks today, so I know a little of what I'm going to write about tomorrow. Other than that, I might be rather lazy about games tonight.
December 26th, 2023
It's the last day of my four day weekend, but I'm also almost done with the Fantasy Fair event in Fashion Dreamer. I'm not going to get the main outfit pieces because I don't want to grind to a million followers within the next two weeks, but I'm still having a lot of fun getting the new poses and photo frames. It's a little disappointing that there's only one mission set left, but another event will start on January 9th in my time zone.
I also found some games for around 3 to 30 cents in the Switch eShop while I wasn't focusing or being useful last night, and picked a few of those up with coins I'd earned. I started in one of them, a simple hack and slash sort of RPG called Diabolic, and got way more into it than I expected! I cleared the first four of ten stages, including the first boss battle, and redid a couple to bolster my level. This seems like it'll be short, but I think I paid 3 Nintendo coins for it, so that's fair enough.
December 25th, 2023
Merry Christmas, other Neocities users who celebrate, and a lovely day otherwise to those who don't! My Christmas was last weekend, so I don't have to do much of anything today, but last night, I played about ten minutes of Fashion Dreamer to get the next set of missions' photo frame. I like the blue and white holiday color scheme more that the red and green one, so it seemed well suited to being a blog image today.
December 24th, 2023
Yesterday was pretty quiet, and today should be calm, too! I want to make some headway in a diamond painting I'm working on, but that's a small enough goal that I'll have plenty of time for games, too.
Next year, I want to play at least one game a month on Game Pass, so I turned on my XBox to take a look at what was there and got really excited that Turnip Boy Robs A Bank is coming soon! I thought the first Turnip Boy game was very enjoyable, so I'm looking forward to the new one.
For yesterday, though, I browsed Game Pass and thought Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery looked cute, so I downloaded and played the first case. It was, as I suspected, really cute, and I thought the low stress point and click gameplay was relaxing. I think I'll play another case today.
I carried out another set of missions in Fashion Dreamer, too, making a beautifully eye searing shiny lime green jacket and unlocking a delicate butterfly themed pose. Tonight, I'll be after the next set of missions' festive blue winter theme.
December 23rd, 2023
I'm starting my four day weekend pleasantly this morning, with some slightly out-of-season pumpkin spice coffee and a cozy cardigan. I have no big goals for the weekend, which is really nice, and some lovely, low effort food in wait.
Last night, yet again, I continued through the current event in Fashion Dreamer. I was really pleased with the new photo frame I got, pictured below, and'll get a new photo pose if I play even one set of missions today. For a bare bones, nothing to it dress up game, I'm having a great time with this, and am already thinking about what sort of character I'll use for the next event. Probably, I'll use a guy character, just to mix things up and use some different design templates, but I've got a couple weeks to think about that!
December 22nd, 2023
Today was my last day before four days off for Christmas, so I'm cheerful, but sleepy tonight. I'm over halfway done with the event in Fashion Dreamer last night, since I played a little harder than usual to get the fireworks photo frame pictured below. I'm hoping to finish this event over the long weekend, just for a sense of completion.
December 21st, 2023
I'm actually getting a morning post done today, I feel so fancy! There's not a ton for me to write about, though. I kept on with the event in Fashion Dreamer last night, and only finished one set of missions. The Christmas photo frame I unlocked struck my fancy, so I made my character an outfit for it and ran off to the stage where it's usable to snap a photo. It's not the most fascinating gameplay to discuss, but I had a nice time.
December 20th, 2023
The "Fantasy Fair Event" started back up in Fashion Dreamer, and it actually works this time! I played through the first 4 of 14 sets of missions last night, and'll attack another chunk of them tonight. I feel sluggish, though, so I might be slow about it. It's a low stress game, so that's no problem.
December 17th, 2023
Yesterday was a very lovely family Christmas, and I was gifted many lovely building toys. Right now, I feel super motivated to do legos and models, so they may have an outsized presence here for a while. Last night, I tackled a Nanoblock of Cinnamoroll, a Sanrio character that, like most Sanrio characters, I am quite fond of. This was my first Nanoblock, and I was pretty impressed with it! They were decently generous with extra parts, and the blocks clicking together had a good feeling. It's so cute, too!
On an inside-baseball kind of note, pertaining to Neocities, I found a book club on here, Bookbug, and thought it might be cool to join. I'm not sure yet if I have the wherewithal to buzz through a re-read of Crime and Punishment to jump in for this month, but I'll give it a shot- I've got a couple weeks! For next month, though, the book is Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata, so I got a copy on Thriftbooks to hop in and join the fun.
As you may have guessed from the rest of this post, however, my gaming for last night sucked. I played Fashion Dreamer for about 10 minutes and passed out. All things considered, that was perfect.
December 16th, 2023
I was extremely lazy yesterday, and ended up spending so much time reading manga about pop stars that I have to make a cake when I'm done posting here. I think I needed it, but it was still a bad feeling in terms of productivity.
Last night, I just played some Fashion Dreamer before bed, and got to see an NPC's hair clip through his chest. It was upsetting and I enjoyed it.
December 10th, 2023
I'm still moving towards feeling better than I did Friday, which is nice. Yesterday, I played Fashion Dreamer for a few minutes right after posting here. I just made a few outfits for other players and NPCs, so it was brief and low impact.
Way later, I played a round of survival mode in King of Fighters XIII: Global Match, too. I used to have KOF XIII on XBox 360, and jumped back in here, years later, with way more retained skill than I'd expected.
Today might not be a big game day again. I'm feeling crafty, want to do some reading, and am going to go see The Boy and the Heron tonight. It should be a calm day.
December 9th, 2023
Yesterday was crummy, so I didn't do much gaming. I ditched my entire normal after work routine to curl up in a ball and read, and barely had the appetite to get a Lean Cuisine down. I feel a lot better today, though, after copious amounts of good sleep.
I did play Fashion Dreamer for a few minutes, though, since it's a zero stress game. It was relaxing.
December 8th, 2023
I felt really down yesterday, so I spent more time than usual aimlessly wandering in Fashion Dreamer. It wasn't fun, exactly, but it helped me clear my head.
I also dodged all the trainers I could to visit Celadon City in Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee. There's so many cute buildings and strange NPCs in this area, and I like the game center "dungeon," too, so this is my favorite area in Kanto.
December 6th, 2023
I got out of bed at a decent time today, and'll be able to run errands before work! This feels like a small, but powerful victory.
In terms of games, I turned Fashion Dreamer on after work just to see what was going on. Another player had been kind enough to share their versions of the event items they'd been able to pick up before it shut down with me, so I went and passed what I could to a few other players. From there, I tossed on my recolor of a manga magazine collaboration before shutting the game off for the night, since that's going to end up being a limited item, too.
I got through Rock Tunnel in Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee, too. It was a lot smaller than I remembered, but that gauntlet of trainer battles was tough for me when I was a kid playing her first RPG! Of course, this was an easier version of it, but I was also massively overleveled. Tonight, I'll probably tackle a route's worth of trainer battles or knock out Lavender Town.
December 5th, 2023
Last night, a limited time event started up in Fashion Dreamer, so I played that for an hour or so. The butterfly themed outfit prize was very enticing, and the prizes inbetween parts of the outfit, like new poses, weren't bad, either. When I turned it on to play for a few minutes before posting, though, the event had been shut off for now due to "technical issues." It was kind of fun to grind through the little missions it spit out, and I'd barely scratched the surface, so I was disappointed! Hopefully, it comes back on soon. It was a good addition to a somewhat barebones game.
November 25th, 2023
I kept on with the holiday weekend yesterday, eating way too much and sitting on my butt to crochet the perfect amount. I also got an OLED Switch yesterday, and realized in what poor condition my first gen Switch had been in when I turned it on. It took a while to get all my data transferred over to it, so I ended up just stockpiling some points to make more outfits in Fashion Dreamer before bed. Bingo looks great on such a fancy screen.
November 24th, 2023
Yesterday was a nice holiday, but I came home overloaded with food and overexcited about crocheting dishcloths, so I didn't make much headway in any games. I did play Fashion Dreamer for a few minutes, though, and put one of my avatars in some cozy sweatpants. It felt appropriate.
November 21st, 2023
I'm doing a quick post before work today, not because I am stressed or in a hurry, but because I don't have all that much to say today.
I pressed on in my quest to reach the top designer level in Fashion Dreamer, and am into the 40s with that now. It is going to take ages to hit the point I'm after.
After that, I played a few minutes of Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee, too, starting in on Mt. Moon. With the Nuzlocke rules in play, I felt a bit underlevelled until I realized no random encounter was going to be a battle, saving me from getting hurt by confusion against Zubats. Anyway, I didn't play this for very long because I was sleepy.
November 20th, 2023
Today was my last day of training on my alternate shift, and I'm so relieved it's over! I'm so sleepy I don't even have an appetite, so I'm looking forward to going back to my normal sleep schedule.
As for yesterday, I perhaps finished the main goal in Fashion Dreamer. I logged onto online mode, and a few text boxes popped up that said I was a top influencer. Then, the credits rolled. It was anti-climactic in a really satisfying way. Once I went back in, I'd unlocked a new area to aimlessly wander, so I can change up the scenery a bit more as I max my levels. It was pretty amusing, though, overall.
I went to game night at a friend's house, too, where we played Clue, which I'd never played before, Uno, and the slightly mysterious Rack-O, a card game about putting numbers in order. It was fun, and I was as decent as Rack-O as I was terrible at Clue.
Lastly, I played about half an hour of Pokemon: Let's Go Eevee before bed, picking up a couple more Pokemon to serve as unwitting victims in my Nuzlocke challenge. I'm not sure yet if I'll use the Ekans or Zubat, but I'm leaning towards Ekans, just because I like Arbok's design better than Golbat's. I'm going to at least start Mt. Moon if I stay awake for any length of time tonight.
November 18th, 2023
Last night I spent a couple of hours building a really neat not-Lego set of a Famicom! It was really tempting to post the whole barrage of photos I sent a friend, gushing about how cute it was and how cool some of the little details were, but I'm sticking with one. It's in front of my real Famicom Mini here, just as a comparison shot. While I was building it, I felt like it was really crazy that there are people able to conceptualize how the different shapes of blocks can come together to build something so detailed.
I also kept plugging along in Fashion Dreamer, but wasn't interested in playing it for all that long. I'm still levelling up, though, so 'twas not in vain.
November 17th, 2023
I got a long break from work today, so I'm doing a quick post before I go back to training! Last night I was sleepy, so I only played a bit of Fashion Dreamer. Having had this for two weeks, I would say that it is maybe a bit boring, but I'm extremely determined to hit the top designer level. I wish it offered a bit more to do, though.
November 16th, 2023
Last night, I didn't play video games in bed to see if I slept better, but I only slept two or three hours. It wasn't my most successful experiment.
Before bed, though, I played Persona 5 Royal for about half an hour. I didn't want to get stuck without a save point and accidentally stay up too late, so it wasn't as long as I wanted to go.
I also played Fashion Dreamer for a little bit, but didn't accomplish anything notable in it at all.
November 15th, 2023
I just got back from the doctor, which went well, and am happy to have time to post before I start work today. Tonight's dinner will probably be quicker to cook than last night's cream cheese and spinach pasta, too, so I should get a good chunk of free time!
Last night wasn't bad in terms of free time at all, though. I was super sleepy, so I read a lot more than I played games. I did make a small chunk of levelling progress in Fashion Dreamer, though, and restocked my outfit design points with some bingo.
After that, I was going to play Persona 5 Royal, but I'd forgotten to switch game cards and didn't want to get back out of bed at that point. Instead, I played Metantei Conan Skateboard Run: Kaito Kid to Shinpi no Hihou and got extremely frustrated when I came three medals short of getting a star on a level. Tonight I'm going to make sure I remember to swap games.
November 14th, 2023
I am having a super strange week. Yesterday, I worked my normal (and very plush) 10:30-7 schedule, but I have training for the rest of the week, putting me at a more normal 8-4:30 schedule. Tomorrow morning, though, I have a doctor's appointment, which means I have an 11-4:30 schedule, which feels like the king of work days.
This semi-mess left me with a shorter gap than normal between shifts, so I didn't play much last night. I did some fiddling with online mode in Fashion Dreamer, though, progressing to the point that I have met a fashionable kappa girl. She's a powerful feature for a game to have.
November 13th, 2023
This morning, I have hiccups. I am suffering through this dark time in solitude.
As far as games went yesterday, I played another day of Persona 5 Royal, meeting some party members and getting into the first dungeon a bit. It was so strange to play a game with train stations I'd been baffled by in my real life, but cool, too.
I kept plugging away at Fashion Dreamer, too. My Switch can't pick up wi-fi in my bedroom, so I played offline mode while I was falling asleep. I felt like I made some headway, though. I got a lot of character parts from the NPCs, and even had a new NPC pop up in my world. It wasn't a bad deal.
November 12th, 2023
Yesterday was an okay day! I didn't catch back up with my reading goals, but I did some crafts, chatted with a friend, and watched the first Cardcaptor Sakura movie. It was nice and laid back.
I also played the first hour of Persona 5 Royal on Switch. My thought is that I'll be able to divide it up pretty easily by in game days, so it won't be super daunting to finish, despite its length. Plus, I've never played much of a mainline Persona game, which feels like an RPG blind spot. It's really difficult to see some bits on Switch in portable mode, but it was interesting so far.
I also continued my Fashion Dreamer journey, pressing onward in my quest to reach the top designer level. I didn't have as many bingo tickets as I thought, so I'll play for a few more days before embarking on a true bingo binge.
November 11th, 2023
I'm still super tired today, and a little disappointed in myself in that I skipped out on crafts entirely and fell way behind on reading this week. I'm hoping for a relaxing weekend where I can regain ground on both fronts. I'm thinking of starting a big game today, too, but don't know if I'm actually awake enough for it.
As for yesterday, I picked Dragon Warrior II back up and got my second party member. That was about it, though I did wander around to level him up a bit. I'm going for my third and final party member here soon!
I played some more of Fashion Dreamer, too, steadily increasing my designer level. I'll definitely play this a bit more today, even if it is just to use up the bingo tickets I've earned over the past few days.
November 10th, 2023
I felt super tired and burned out last night, so I half-heartedly fiddled with Fashion Dreamer as I ate frozen pizza and watched the first version of Hairspray. I made okay progress in my designer level just because I was having trouble making an outfit come together, which isn't a bad thing. I'm sure I'll at least get this out again tonight, but if I'm feeling peppier, I want to play something a little more in depth, too.
November 9th, 2023
My Fashion Dreamer saga continues today, as I spent a decent amount of time in online mode last night. I don't know that online mode makes the game better, as it's totally asynchronous, leaving you to make outfits for other players that have been uploaded in, just like you would NPCs. It feels good to see likes pour in on my own outfits, even if they are just glorified coloring book business, and other players put some cute ensembles together for me. Still, it feels kind of flat.
What online mode does do, however, is swing the balance of the game clear in the other direction. Now that I've tried online mode, I'm not grinding for points in bingo unless I want to do so. Likes from other players rack up the points you need to make new outfits like crazy. My quest to reach the top designer level in this still feels like a daunting level of tedium, but I definitely think it's more doable now.
November 8th, 2023
My computer's really bent out of shape that I intend on using it this morning, but that can't stop me from making an extremely repetitive post here!
I kept on with Fashion Dreamer last night, getting from designer level 4 to 7 thanks to some bingo plays. I wanted to see if I could get some athletic pants for girls, but gaining a few levels didn't get me any extra patterns on that front. If I play tonight, I'll probably just grind for bingo tickets and points to make some future outfits, rather than coming up with any design plans. I regret to say that it's not actually a very good game, but I'm pretty dug in as far as my intent to finish it goes.
November 7th, 2023
Last night was just more Fashion Dreamer, which I'm sure makes for some super scintillating posts. There weren't any gameplay changes in the new area, so I did some points grinding to be able to "make" some new clothing pieces. All this involves is recoloring pre-set items, but the designer levels run so staggeringly high that I've gotta see it through. I was tired enough that I ended up playing one of the basic bingo machines to cheat for points, rather than interacting with NPCs. I should play the standard rules bingo machine to move faster, but it seems kind of tedious.
November 6th, 2023
Yesterday was a nice, laid back Sunday. I went and played Dungeons and Dragons with friends, and my character fell in a security alert pit in a goblin base because she wasn't paying attention. I'm playing as a dingbat barbarian, so I felt like it was appropriate, but it was somewhat troublesome.
I played some more Fashion Dreamer last night, too, and unlocked, but haven't yet played, the next cocoon, or world I can visit. I am looking forward to checking that out tonight.
November 5th, 2023
For most of yesterday, I wasn't feeling very good, so I went hard into black hole mode with reading instead of doing anything else remotely active. That is okay, though. I did play Fashion Dreamer again for a little bit, taking a look at the menswear options. They didn't feel limited at all, at least not within 45 or so minutes, which was nice. It's cool that when you make and swap characters, they all have access to the same item/EXP pool, too, meaning that there's no loss of progress inherent in wanting to play dress up with another character for a bit.
I don't know that I'll play anything more exciting than this today, since I'm going to go play D&D with some work friends later. It should be a nice, relaxing Sunday, though, and I am looking forward to the rest of the day.
November 4th, 2023
Yesterday I, as the adult sophisticate that I am, got in my preorder of Fashion Dreamer. I played it for maybe between an hour and a half and two hours yesterday, and am not super sure what to make of it yet. It might just be that I've played too many of their other games, but it feels like a lot of stuff from the developer's past games jammed together so far- the "please make me an outfit!" gameplay loop from Style Savvy, the followers system from Kiratto Pri*Chan, and the outfit design systems from some of the 3DS entries in the Pretty Rhythm and PriPara games- but I'm not sure if I care or not yet. So far, it feels a little flimsy without the inventory management aspects of Style Savvy in place, but it looks like there's some sort of progression inherent to the online world setting in single player mode, so I'm still curious to see what comes next.
I played Dragon Warrior II a little more, too, but stopped to go to sleep while it had me running around in circles to find my second party member. I'll probably go back and find him today, but the "woah, too bad you came all the way back to your castle, we told the prince you were at *his* castle, so he went home!" vibes did me in last night.
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