.: Meri :.
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Fave Game of All Time: Dragon Quest XI S
Incredible cast of characters, incredible story, beautiful graphics, and really just felt like a love letter to the series that has been so dear to me for so long. There was a ton of story and game content and I still didn't want it to end.
Fave Series: Dragon Quest
These games are like comfort food to me, I swear. I love a good classic heroic fantasy story, the turn-based combat is very accessible even to panicky players like me ahaha, and throughout most of the games there's this overarching sense of hope, no matter how bad things get.
Best Soundtrack: Jack Jeanne
I don't usually listen to songs on repeat, but I've made an exception for Jack Jeanne's opening theme because it's that good!! So many of the songs from the performances absolutely slap, it's clear that a lot of thought went into the background music and character themes, and don't get me started on the ending song(s) aaaaaa
Fav Protagonist: Ikemen Sengoku MC
There's a lot of really cool and relatable otome heroines out there that I love, but my favorite still has gotta be IkeSen's. I quit playing a couple years ago, but she was one of the best parts of the game for me—she was funny and had a ton of agency, but was still just a normal, kind-hearted person. I like to self-insert when it comes to my favorite otome routes, so a protagonist that I can really relate to is a big plus for me.
Fav Villain: Dragon Quest XI S - Jasper
If a game can give me a "love to hate" villain who is still complex and tragic enough that I wind up crying at multiple points, I consider that a win and oh boy did DQXIS succeed on that front.
Best Story: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky
I swear this game's story is good enough that I think it can really stand on it's own—I'd recommend it to fans of RPGs in general, not just Pokémon fans. Made me bawl multiple times even on replays, and the characters have really stuck with me throughout the years.
Have not played but want to: Ace Attorney
While I know the genre is wildly different ahaha, I have seen so many Dragon Quest fans who also love these games that I'm really looking forward to trying it for myself! I got the original trilogy for the Switch during the sale last month too, so we'll see!
You Love, Everyone Hates: Dairoku: Agents of Sakuratani
I don't think this is a widely hated title, per se, but it seemed to get a fairly average/lukewarm reception and I really loved it! I agree that the CG art could be a little underwhelming (though not bad) and I think certain elements were under-utilized (which is an issue that a fandisc could potentially totally resolve for me cough cough), but I absolutely adored the characters and had a great time playing it. Not to mention it has a great soundtrack and cool heroine too!
You Hate, Everyone Loves: Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity
I know the gameplay for this one wasn't very well-received at all, but that wasn't really what bugged me about this one—from what I've seen, a lot of people seem to really like the plot/characters, but I found most of the cast unlikeable and the story downright painful to get through at times. Easily my least favorite PMD game for that reason.
Best Art Style: Jack Jeanne
I was never into Tokyo Ghoul so I wasn't all that familiar with Sui Ishida's art before playing Jack Jeanne, but oh my god it's gorgeous?? And there's so much of it??? I don't know exactly how to describe it, but it's got kind of a different ~feel~ from a lot of otome art styles too, and I like that about it; it's kinda refreshing. Maybe it's some shonen manga influence?
Favorite Ending: Undertale - True Pacifist Route
Everything wrapped up really well and it made me cry in a good way!! This is the only Undertale route I'll play because it's just so nice!!
Favorite Boss Fight: Undertale - Asriel Dreemurr
I love epic final battles full of feels and the power of friendship!! Also I just really liked Undertale's bullet hell battles in general.
Childhood Game: Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia
I don't really remember much about the Ranger games anymore but oh my god I was so into them as a kid?? I would go out into the yard and pretend I was a Pokémon Ranger; I wanted to be one so bad omg
Relaxing Game: Rune Factory 5
Big comfort game for me, Rigbarth is my happy place—RF5 is the perfect combo of chill farm life/RPG/dating sim for me. I love talking to everyone every day, tending to my fields, recruiting cute monster pets like I'm playing Pokémon, and going on adventures and dates with my boyfriend and girlfriend!! The only real stressor for me is the typhoons, but after the main story those can be avoided altogether, which is v v nice. A lot of this also applies to RF4S and I love it too, but RF5 is my favorite.
Stressful Game: Stardew Valley
I play on Switch, so there's no mods to help me with this, but there is simply not enough time in a Stardew day!! I have too much I want to do!! also destructive weeds! and lightning! the unforgiving cycle of the seasons!!
Game you always come back to: Minecraft
The little blocky game has been with me for a long time, and between watching a lot of Youtube centered around it and the fact that it's still regularly updated with new content, sometimes I'm just in the mood to play Minecraft and nothing else will scratch that itch. It's very open and there's a lot of different ways to play, so that helps a lot too.
Guilty Pleasure: Piofiore (+sequel)
Okay okay I tend to avoid the heck out of darker otome with a lot of triggering content because I am DELICATE... but I kept hearing about Gil's route being much tamer and he sounded like my type!! It's not like his route is a guilty pleasure for me (he's wonderful and I have no regrets), but I do feel weird saying that I "played" this one considering that I just auto-skipped straight through the four routes needed to unlock his lol, and I only played Episodio 1926 for Gil too.
Birushana was another "play one route and run" otome for me for similar reasons so I'm giving it an honorary mention here too.
Tons of hours played: Probably either New Leaf or Minecraft
I played New Leaf consistently almost every day for about two and a half years and have 1189 hours logged on it ahahaha, but I've been playing Minecraft on-and-off for way longer. I can't check my hours on Minecraft, so I'm not sure which one would win out in the end.