MovieStarPlanet at unreasonable times

Stress is something that comes naturally to me these days, with all the upcoming exams and coursework. I'm finding it hard to not only keep up motivation but to keep up with the work itself and it's leaving me utterly overwhelmed. Not to worry though, as MovieStarPlanet always has my back.

In my 13 years of MSP I have reached many goals on many accounts, but in recent years I took on the challenge of making as much progress as possible on one single US Server account, and recently there has been a lot of progress for me to be happy about. I understand it may seem ridiculous that Im 1. playing MSP at 20 years old and 2. I'm playing MSP during exam season, but when there are busy times filled with real-world troubles it's important to find time for things that will make you feel better - even if they're silly little online games.

The first cool thing I did recently was hit level 40 - and then 41 30 seconds later. I can't believe it. This is the highest level I've ever been and it's simply my 9-year-old self's dream. I am so happy to have such a developed account and Im even more thrilled to think about how I got there with hard work and dedication. Another wonderful thing about my level-ups is the fact that I am now already level 41 (and making my way to 42) which is just making me think level 50 - a lifetime goal - is not just possible but reasonable. As amazing as level 40/41 is, the prizes were still awful as always.

Of course, there is the question of how exactly I jumped 2 levels in under 1 minute and how difficult it was... to which the answer is my piggy bank. My beloved piggy bank, who had not been cracked open in over 3 years, finally met his maker so that I could meet level 41. I was umming and arring over whether it would be a good idea to open it, given the fact that it had been 1054 days of collecting all my diamonds, coins and fame but ultimately I decided if not now.. when? I couldn't sit on it forever. If I did then those rewards would probably end up wasted because I'd never open it until the game came to it's end. Now that I've done it I feel pretty chill and happy about it! I'm up to 4000 diamonds, plus the aforementioned 2 levels, and it feels pretty damn good.

Honourable Progress Mentions:

I hit 1 Million starcoins earned. That was another first-time milestone that also made me feel very cool and happy, but I will admit it doesn't necessarily feel like I've had 1 million coins... I've only got 150K now so where did they all go? Am I really that big of a shop-a-holic? Oh well...

There are almost 10,000 autographs in my fame mag (note: my fame mag has also not been opened in 3 years). This is less of an objective milestone and more of a 'hehe look at what I can do' thing. It just makes me feel good! 

Ultimately, none of this has anything to do with my exams or grades or feelings or whatever, but what it IS is a nice break when things are getting really tough to cope with. I hope that wherever you are you are not under too much stress and if your exams are soon then I wish you good luck!

Some art and an update (:

Hi all !! I hope you've been having a good few weeks. I wanted to take a little time out of my day to share with you this art I had commissioned on the Bell Tree Forums. Full credit to the artist is available from the link to my toyhou.se profile at the bottom of both my blogs (I think?? It may be elsewhere).

I haven't been posting much for a whole mix of reasons, but the major one is I have been super busy with law work trying to make sure I can attend university this September and its completely wiped me out. The other free time Ive had has been used to be with me and my friends, but worry not hypothetical blog reader!!! For I have not given up on blogging and will return reliably probably some time in June. 

The only reason I'd come out of hiding is for Animal Crossing or the new Fashion Dreamer game Ive  been waiting for since the Nintendo Direct in February - but there's still no firm date for the latter.

Anyways Im gonna go, I hope I see you all soon.

Monday in Bermuda: In defence of Tom Nook: The only good landlord.

This is a snip-it from: Monday in Bermuda: In defence of Tom Nook: The only good landlord. Please consider reading the full post and letting me know your thoughts.

 Tom Nook is the business-man turned bellionare landlord who is subject to the brunt of hate from a select group in the Animal Crossing community - but a lot of the hate seems to come from misjudgement of his character rather than genuine negative qualities. These concerns often stem from his character in Gamecube, who was known for non-optional house upgades with ever increasing loans, leaving the player in a seemly bottomless pit of debt, however the case for Tom Nook being more of a victim of angry players than an actually bad man is strong when considering the information Nintendo has slowly shared with us over the past 21 years. Therefore I present today: In defence of Tom Nook: The only good landlord.

It is made abundantly clear that in Animal Crossing houses are just as expensive and as big of a commitment as in the real world, and yet despite this Tom Nook is willing to give the player an entire house - free of charge if the player is never interested in paying off the loan given to them. There is no interest on the payments and profit margins don't appear to concern Nook. While it's true that in older games there was the expectation for chores to be completed for him, planting flowers and delivering carpets for a 20K bell house is still a fantastic opportunity for the player and these tasks can be easily completed in around 20 minutes. 

If the player is not satisfied with their house - since it is a fact that if you do choose to never pay your loans your house will remain a measley 4x4 room - then New Horizons might be the perfect solution because Tom Nook provides the player an entire island, leaving it up to the player to decide how the island will look, feel and operate. The island belongs to Tom Nook (Specifically Nook Inc.) and so, reasonably, if he wanted to take full control and manage the beautiful getaway himself he could; and yet he is happy for you to take control and for him to take a backseat simply excecuting whatever land development wishes you come to him with. It could be argued that maybe he lets you design it because he wouldn't be sure on how to do it himself but even then Nook could still retain a lot more control than he does.

Some may argue that Tom Nook's major drawback is not the loans but instead the view that he is harsh and tough - too harsh and tough. This can be seen in older games where he was abrasive and sometimes outrightly rude, at times questioning the player for slacking or accusing them of making chit-chat when they're supposed to be running his errands. However it is not the case that Nook is just uncessarily rude because his blunt and sometimes seemingly unfair attitude towards the player comes from a place of concern and care. Nook is a life long business man and some of his experiences have left him with a hardened view of the world that the player should be mindful of when considering his personality. It is known when Tom Nook entered the business world he faced hardship - leaving his home town to go to the city with plans of being a successful business man and ultimately being unable to see his dream become reality, in part due to negative experiences with Redd. Tom Nook says himself that he is ok with being viewed as intimidating because it may enourage people to pay back their loans and I therefore believe that criticising him for being 'too tough' is unfair, given that the rough exterior comes not only from a place of care but from real world experience. For Nook, unprofessional behaviour is something that has negatively impacted his life before, so its not unreasonable that he would have a low tolerance for such behaviour - even Nintendo officials said that Tom Nook wanted to teach the player about responsibility as well as the fact that if the player doesn't repay their loans he wont be mad or make an issue of it.

... The rest of this post is linked above (:

08.02.23 Nintendo Direct - Style Savvy fans this is our MOMENT !

 So just as I began complaining that for a long time no new game has come out that has been of interest to me Nintendo has held a surprise direct with 40 minutes of new games and content, some of which I am very very excited for. I do think we were due something new and exciting from Nintendo and am pretty pleased with what was announced, as Im sure my friends who were with me as the Direct happened could tell. (Sorry to Jasmine and Adam for essentially screaming when Fashion Dream was announced hehe). So without further ado here are the games of the 08.03 direct that I will be keeping the closest eye on.

If you have not watched it before reading this I would recommend you do so as I am not about to produce a comprehensive list of the games and will only be talking about select games I'm hyped for.

Fashion Dreamer

*Note: I call the same series of 3DS games both Style Boutique and Style Savvy. I am talking about the same series and simply use two names because here in the UK the series is called Style Boutique but it is better internationally known as Style Savvy.

Now, the keen eyes of Style Savvy fans were FIXED on their screens when a mere few minutes into the direct Nintendo whipped out Fashion Dreamer, a game so akin to Style Savvy in appearcance that myself and other fans of the game thought it could be Style Savvy 5. Fashion Dreamer is produced by the same team who made the original Style Boutique names which explains the resembelance and, for me at least, serves as a reassurance that despite the new name Fashion Dreamer is about to be my new favourite game.

I was so excited to see in the trailer features that I longed for in the original Style Boutique games as a child, like colour customisation of clothes! I know this is a small detail but when you think about the nature of the game its really not a small detail at all. Style Boutique is well known for having a large variety of clothes fitting into so so many styles and aesthetics, and the ability to customise colour just has me over the moon. (I'm not sure if this specific feature was in other Style Savvy games as I played the first game religiously and a bit of the 2nd but never got the others)

Online compatability is something I longed for in the original DS version and never experienced in later titles, so I'm incredibly interested in how that will pan out. A final feature spotted in the trailer that is of interest to me - and likely many other long term fans of the series - it seems to be that theres the option for the player character to be male this time! Style Boutique was always a femme orientated game which gave it a specific fan base, but I hope this extension to others may bring in more players as fashion is not just for femme people.

Overall, I am thrilled for this game to release this year, and pray that it does so earlier in the year rather than later - although I can appreaciate that the lack of a specific release date within the year does not make things look like theyre in my favour. I am a huge fashion and dress up fan, as well as a fan of completionist runs, and Fashion Dreamer looks as though it's a serious contender for my favourite game of 2023 before it's even released.

Kirby's Return to Dream Land Deluxe

Ok maybe this makes me a fake fan, but I've never legitimately played a Kirby game. I just like the 'some pink round thing' genre a whole lot, and Kirby is a fun guy who fit in that nicely. I am excited for this newest addition to the Kirby series but likely will not be able to play it anytime close to its release date of later this month due to the fact I happen to be moving to London this month and cannot afford £50 on a pink round guy. Regardless, the gameplay looks as entertaining as ever and I truly am excited for my chance to play my first proper Kirby game.

In the meantime between now and when I can officially buy the whole game, I have downloaded the demo and will be playing that and possibility producing a short review based on it.

Nintendo Switch Online: GameBoy and GameCube games

Ok this announcement drove me literally insane, because of the possibilities it opens up. I am so excited for the addition of GameBoy games to Nintendo Switch Online, specifically Tetris, which was the only game I had for my Gameboy as a child. In the modern day I'd like to see Nintendo do something like they did with the 3DS where you could buy and play Pokemon generations 1 & 2 but I'm not sure how likely they are to do that. 

Something I would really like to see, and something I think the remastering of Metroid Prime may have accidentally planted the seed of in my mind is the return of older generations of Animal Crossing on the Switch. Now, I can hear the laughs from here of 'that will never happen.' and while I'm inclined to agree with that based on experience its fun to consider... wouldn't it just be nice? I would personally pay through the roof to see ACPG ported to the Switch, as I know would hoards of other AC fans. And thats not even mentioning that they have done ports of old Animal Crossing games before, in the form of Wild World on the WiiU! I truly think if they brought any of those games over to an actually successful console (F for WiiU) Nintendo would have a best seller on their hands, and in a less commercial sense it would just be comforting to relive the days of New Leaf in the current world.

I dont know what Nintendo plan to do with old releases of AC, if anything, but there is so much potential for the return of AC games which are quickly becoming 'classics' in the series.

Honourable Mentions

Professor Layton - It had been so long since I saw a new Layton game I was beginning to feel fearful that the series may be heading towards it end, but worry not! A new Layton game is confirmed to becoming, and it looks to be just as capitvating as ever before (:.

Fantasy Life - This is not a series I have ever played personally, but I've heard some good things about it online as a good long-term project game.

All in all, I'm mostly here for Fashion Dreamer but I am by no means disapointed by the news Nintendo gave us this week and I'm really looking forward where Nintendo plans to go next as the Switch enters the end of its traditional life-span - a tradition Nintendo said they wanted to surpass with the Switch. 

Calico - 2.0 Update

Around 2 years ago I got my boyfriend to buy me Calico on the Switch after hearing about it on Youtube and for what its worth, its a game I really like.

People seemed to have mixed opinions about Calico - it was a fantastically cute game with cute design, many customization options for your cafe and a wide range of characters but it was also kind of buggy and not necessarily a "polished" game. A decent example of this is a video I posted roughly a year ago showing a strange glitch after talking to Kai at the lighthouse while holding an animal. Regardless, I like Calico. I think its fun and charming enough for me to mostly gloss over its odd bugs and the 2.0 update had me really excited!!

The new cooking minigames are probably the biggest change and I think they are very cool, adding a different kind of entertainment to the game. I have so far only tried six of the new minigames and while some elements are present in most of the games like running on a wheel to cook the goods, for a good chunk of these games you are doing a slightly different task for each treat. I do however find the gold silver bronze ranking very difficult to keep up with - it feels to me that Calico does not offer the player much time to get a gold ranking and it honestly feels pretty impossible. I know Im not a world class video game player, but I am having an extremely hard time trying to perfect my scores at the moment.

Another feature of this update was the change to wallpapers and floorings - an update I am a big fan of. The customisation options are diverse, as per usual for Calico, and the option to have your designs move slightly (or lots) really brings you into the magical-cat-world vibe. I went for a light pink with stars that spin slowly and it really livened up my cafe.

The final changes involved in this update were some new animals who are very cute and an outline potion but Ive yet to really explore these smaller additions and therefore cant really give my opinion on them. Overall I think its a swell update and a nice surprise as this game is 3 years old and I wasn't expecting a 2.0 this late on. Its sweet enough to bring old players back for a while and for current players to keep on a little longer and give us all a smile - thats a win in my books.