#aaaaagggh this felt so cheesy but oh well

[mariethecrocheter]

Reflections of the Past Year & Thoughts For the Next

2016 was a pretty busy year, and for a whole lot of reasons. Some good, some bad, some...meh. (Whatever that means.)

I just wanted to take a few minutes to write about some stuff: a few games released over the past 12 months that were really important to me, some things that I plan to/hope to do over the next year, some personal challenges, and, most of all, my gratitude to everyone who has been putting up with me for the past...3+ years? That’s how long I’ve been on Tumblr? Time really flies, doesn’t it?

I have met so many friendly people through Tumblr and Twitter, and I am deeply grateful for all the kind comments and support! Let’s make 2017 a good one, right? Even though the rest of the world may be pretty bad right now argh

Anyways, time to briefly(?) delve DEEPLY AND IN A RAMBLING MANNER into some of the highlights of 2016 and discuss what’s to come in 2017!

First and Foremost: Story of Seasons: Trio of Towns Japanese release: 23 June 2016 North American release (tentative): 28 Feb 2017

A game celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Bokumono franchise! 1996 was the 20th anniversary of the series in the Japanese market, while 2017 is the 20th anniversary in the North American market. (And we now have two different series in the English-speaking world: the original series, now called Story of Seasons and localized by XSEED, and Natsume’s independently-made Harvest Moon games!)

Trio of Towns was first announced at the end of 2015, and released in Japan during the summer of 2016. I’ve been covering it on a side blog, http://friendsof3villages.tumblr.com/, so check that out if you haven’t already. (Seriously, though, I think about 90% of the people who subscribe to this blog subscribe to that one too, haha. Hooray for Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons love!)

@xseedgames is going to be bringing this title to North America early this year. Just a couple more months! 

Just a couple more months until we can shear our rabbits in English!! Heh heh. 

One question that I get asked from time to time is: is this game worth getting? If you liked previous instalments in the series (Story of Seasons, Harvest Moon: A New Beginning, etc.), then my answer would be YES!! If, like me, you really enjoyed those games, you’ll probably like this one. The controls and basic systems are very similar, but there are a lot of new features that will keep you busy. 

They made some improvements based on feedback they got about Story of Seasons: The story is easier to clear, there are more heart events for each marriage candidate, and the reverse confession/proposal scenes are pretty easy to trigger this time around. 

If, however, you weren’t as much of a fan of the two previous games, well... I’d still suggest you give this game a fair try if you get the chance, but I understand if it may not be your cup of tea. 

I haven’t had the chance to try Natsume’s new game yet (Skytree Village) so I can’t say anything on it. I do hope to get the chance to play it sometime, though! I...kind of have a backlog of games I want to/need to play... xD

The next most important game was Fire Emblem Fates, which came out in North America in February 2016. 

I have no physical copy of Fates or its Japanese version, so here’s a picture of the only physical Fates-related object I own: the beautifully boxed Japanese soundtrack! ...plus the other two games that made my year. Ahem. ^^; (And this totally wasn’t a test for photographing items on that shelf with the intention of later photographing some crocheted kitchen items I plan to sell. ...Kidding. This was a photography test. xD)

I’ve been doing some translations for the DLC here on this blog: http://fe14festivalofbondstranslations.tumblr.com/ Fellow admin Kiyoshi and I are going to finish up the Hoshidan Festival DLC soon, and...we’d like to translate more CD drama tracks. 

...I have no idea why the Nohrian and Hoshidan Festival DLC isn’t available outside of Japan, but I hope we see it released in the English-speaking world this year! I’m dying to see what kind of adjustments they make in the English version. The conversations give us more insights into character relationships, and perceptions of them can change or give us greater insight depending on how the conversation is presented.

I plan to do some translation comparison posts on Fates after the festival translation is complete. I have a couple of topics that I want to write about I just...haven’t yet. (Most of them involve Kana, Forrest, and Soleil, who seems to have more changes to her English support convos than any other character.)

Slight changes in her conversations with her mother, for one... Details later. Mwahahaha. (They’re slight, though. But kinda cool.)

The Surprise Hit (For Me): Pokémon Sun & Moon

Until December 2016, I hadn’t touched a Pokémon game in about 15 years. But, I have fond memories of the early games...

Pokémon Red Version and Pokémon Blue Version (both for the Game Boy) came out when I was in high school. I scoffed at them until trying my brother’s Red Version one day when I was very, very bored...and I liked it! I had my own GBC and managed to get a copy of Blue Version, and I liked it a lot. I also got Yellow Version after it came out, and after Gold and Silver were announced and released in Japan, I was miffed that I would have to wait a year or more to play them. I was so miffed, I decided to get the Japanese versions (through...means that I later realized were less than legal ^^;;;;;;;) and teach myself Japanese! And...I managed to do it. Somehow. xD I went through the ENTIRE Silver Version with a hiragana/katakana chart, a dictionary, and basic grammar/phrasebook I repeatedly checked out from the library (and my dad later bought them for me). Maybe I didn’t understand much of what was going on, but I got enough out of it to enjoy the game.

In other words, Pokémon Silver Version was the MAIN REASON I took up the Japanese language! Crazy, huh? 

But then I started college and lost interest. Gaming had to take a backseat for a while, and I just didn’t want to devote time to another series. (I lost interest in Fire Emblem for a long time due to this and other reasons, too.)

But, after hearing a lot of praise for Sun and Moon, especially praise about the story and character development (two things I love in a game), and attracted by the bright, cheery style, I decided to give them a try. And I love them! I’m fully hooked again! Goodbye, free time. Don’t need you anymore. 

The thing I found most intriguing is the number of languages available. This one was released simultaneously in English and Japanese!! I couldn’t even imagine that back in 1999 or 2000 or whenever it was that Gold and Silver were released!

I still have my copy of Yellow Version, and... I have my brother’s Red and (English) Gold versions. ...In fact, I have his Yellow, as well...? And where are my Blue and (English) Silver...? I have no idea, lol. He must have mine, and I have his...? Anyway, the battery that saves the data is long dead on all but one of them (I already forgot which one, though I know it wasn’t Gold but one of the older ones), so it doesn’t matter too much. 

In case you’re wondering: my favorite Pokémon of the original 151 (152 if you count Missingno! xD) are Clefable and Dragonair. (And Dragonite, but not quite as much.) Of the next generation, Pichu and Bellosom. (Who I always think of by its Japanese name: Kireihana.) I’ve now found myself quite fond of Lilligant (because it looks like Bellosom!), Comfey, and the various Oricorios! ...I’m a sucker for plant and fairy types, heh.

Moving Forward &  Personal Challenges & ...?

I want to branch out so I’m now doing a little work with Source Gaming, translating columns and such of one of my favorite game developer, Masahiro Sakurai. I’ve only done a couple, but this year I have some other interviews by a certain game producer that I want to translate and cover in-depth...

Yoshifumi Hashimoto Interviews

There’s a long interview with him in one of last year’s issues of Nintendo Dream. I’m sure others have already translated it, but... I want to do a FULL, thorough translation of the article because there’s a lot of interesting facts and trivia in it. He’s been the producer of the Bokujou Monogatari series since 2005, or for more than half the life of the series. (He took over upon the departure of creator Yasuhiro Wada.)

And there’s Mr. Hashimoto himself!

There’s an interview with him in the back of the guidebooks, too... AND some interesting trivia in the short official guidebooks! There’s a lot of trivia to be translated and shared! x)

In Conclusion

There’s so much to do this year, and I look forward to working on new projects when I’m able to! =D Unfortunately my health declined a bit in 2016, as some symptoms I hoped were temporary turned out to be long-lasting or even permanent, but it’s just one more thing learn to cope with and work around. That’s the nature of chronic illness, urgh. I’m used to it, but it still stinks. (In case you’re curious, I have something very similar to multiple sclerosis, so it really feels like I’m waging a war against the effects of time itself...)

Regardless of what happens, I’ve got a lot of stuff planned for the year. I’m especially looking forward to the English release of Trio of Towns, because I’m eager to see the writing in the English version! There are always small (and sometimes, big) changes and tweaks made to the localised English version, and comparing it to the Japanese one will be a lot of fun. I hope to get several more translated resident and heart events up before the game comes out in English, though! (And, if you must ask, my favorite bachelors are still Yuzuki and Ludus, and my favorite bachelorettes are the twins, Siluka especially. I like Kasumi a lot too. ...Actually, I like ALL the marriage candidates, so it’s hard to choose absolute favorites. The additional heart events and additional dialogue give the characters more depth and development than many of the previous games.)

That’s about all I have to say right now. Pretty much. Yep. Oh, wait, you read all this? Wow. xD Um, here, have a hug! **hug**

#personal #annual reflection #2017 #2016 #aaaaagggh this felt so cheesy but oh well #ok im having too much fun with these tags #TAGS #meow