Tomoyo After ~It's a Wonderful Life~ Mini Review

There are only a few things in this world that make me cry. "Tomoyo: It's A Wonderful Life" is now added to this list.

Let me take you back to when I was first introduced to this universe: I was an average freshman in my first semester in college after returning from my church mission. During my mission, I had gotten into this idea that I wanted to watch different anime shows. The problem was, I didn't know where exactly I should start. I finished one anime called "The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya" and liked it very much. I didn't know quite the genre I was particularly interested in. Then one of my roommates who was trying to connect with me so I didn't seem like an outsider in this apartment complex, suggested of an anime called, "CLANNAD".  I went into this blind trusting his suggestion. What I didn't expect was that this particular anime was going to be my favorite shows of all time. It wasn't some show where it was like, "Wow! That was truly amazing! I need to watch it again as soon as possible". It was more of a calm and heartwarming. But the number one reason why this show is talked about is defined in this image:

Have you ever watched a movie or a show where you swear you are so close to the characters or can directly relate to them that you care so much about them? This was the instance of CLANNAD. The characters are introduced to you and one particular character, named Tomoya (TO-MO-YA), tries his best to fix each character that he comes in contact with issues. This is the case with the first part of the show which is just named, "CLANNAD". This impact becomes even harder in "CLANNAD: After Story" which is the second part of the CLANNAD show. It has been said that if you don't shed a tear during this entire show, then you are a monster.

Sorry, I got a little to ahead of myself. I won't give any spoilers  Here is the plot summary that introduces the show: Tomoya Okazaki is a third year high school student resentful of his life. His mother passed away from a car accident when he was younger, causing his father to resort to alcohol and gambling. This results in fights between the two until Tomoya's shoulder is injured in a fight. Since then, Tomoya has had distant relationships with his father, causing him to become a delinquent over time. While on a walk to school, he meets a strange girl named Nagisa Furukawa who is a year older, but is repeating due to illness. Due to this, she is often alone as most of her friends have moved on. The two begin hanging out and slowly, as time goes by, Tomoya finds his life shifting in a new direction.

Now to introduce one of the characters that Tomoya meets in this show. This person, as mentioned in the title of the game I am reviewing, is Tomoyo Sakagami. Her summary from giantbomb.com says, "Tomoyo is a recently transferred second year student at Tomoya's school and is one of the top students of the school. Although she is a year younger than Tomoya, she does not show him respect as her senior. Tomoyo's goal is to become the student council president. " 

Now this show is based on a visual novel game that share the same name as the show. In this visual novel, you have the choice to choose different paths that lead to a different story and also a relationship with the different characters you encounter. Tomoyo After is following the story of your decisions to follow the Tomoyo route in the original novel where Tomoyo is now your girlfriend that you are steady dating. To put it short, Tomoyo After ~It's a Wonderful Life~ follows the same format as the CLANNAD visual novel. You have certain choices that you can make to choose different paths in the story. Some can really alternate the story and make some incredible emotional moments. Although these moments are everywhere, I never really cried or felt depressed here, UNTIL THE VERY END. I will not spoil it for anyone, but never had I felt so close to one character in a long time.

I was in the plasma center donating when I reach the ending of this long and heart wrenching story. When that particular part it, I started to tear up a bit and people started looking at me weird. I would probably have the same reaction if someone did the same thing I did. Although I was embarrassed, I was still glad I was able to read this story. I came home to my apartment where the roommate I had previously that introduced me to CLANNAD was and told him I hate him for introducing me into this show/universe. Of course I meant it jokingly. 

In the end, if you are looking for a heartwarming and tearful story, I would say that this visual novel/story is a good choice. I understand if you do not like anime or don't want to come even close to it. But for all those who can look past that, this is something I would highly recommend. 

*Note: The one on steam is the clean version so all the bad scenes so I rather get this one than the other.

Video Games CAN be a Money Trap

The first time I was ever introduced to video games was when my family got an Sega Dreamcast. We absolutely loved it. I got super addicted to it very fast. But I was young and didn't have much money back then. Over the years, our family got new game systems starting with N64, then PS2, X-Box, and so on till now. And over those years, I got games either through my birthday or through Christmas. No money spent for video games was awesome!

It wasn't till I hit the age of 16 where I got a job when I realized that video gaming can be a pretty fast money trap. I started spending as soon as I got my paycheck on the new games either for my iPod or the current game system that we had. It felt great to have that game as soon as you bought it and take it home, but it sucked knowing that you don't have much money left because of that big purchase. The consequences weren't too severe when I did this when I was young seeing that I didn't have to pay any bills or rent or much anything.

Through my Church mission, one of the things you learn is how to manage your money seeing that you get so much or your own money that you payed for your mission per month. It was really nice to get that idea and it help us in more months than not to manage our spending. But when I got home after, I had access to all of my money again and I hadn't really played any games during those 2 years while I was gone. "I had to catch up to gaming!" I kept telling myself and I just kept spending and spending money on games. Sometimes even peer pressure from friends who told me that I "NEEDED" to get this game or new system even worked. Again, that feeling of getting that game at first felt great! But after a time, I started to question why I even bought those games. I hardly played them. I just got them because either I was told I needed to or just jumped too fast to the purchase.

Now you notice that in the title it says "can" in all caps. Some people are very excellent of not falling into this trap and can manage their money very well and still buy games when they feel like it is right. But for others, we can jump on these purchases too fast and before we know it, our money is gone. Sure, there can be some deals that will be there, but we also have to be careful to not jump on too many of those as well or we lose track.

I still like playing video games today. But now, I research about the game to see whether or not if it is a game I would play quite a bit. Not just a game that seems very short and I can get it done in a day. But also I need to be careful that a game doesn't occupy all of my time. I want a game where it's something worth the money I spent on it, not just a $60 drop on something I will hardly even touch.

In today's gaming world, we see many times where you can buy a game, but if you want more you can buy these packs called DLC (Downloadable Content). You pay extra money for these and most of them are hit or miss.

This can also be applied to many other things, but I found this certain experience the one that I have to deal with every day. I sometimes got to GameStop or the electronic section in a store and it take a lot of will power to not purchase anything there. It is exceedingly difficult to see something that is the hit of video games and saying to yourself, "I don't need it". If you ever go into video gaming, just be very careful with your money.

I just needed to get this off my chest. I have seen many people who use all the money they earn and it is gone the next day and they have to work to get it all back to do the same thing again. Video gaming can be so much fun and even better with your friends. But it isn't worth the sacrifice of hundreds of dollars that you spend on games you don't need.

Review of Gaokoa.Love.100 Days (Visual Novel)

I started to get into the visual novel genre of video games (if you count visual novels video games) when I came back from my two year church service mission. The first one getting me into this interest was "If My Heart Had Wings". This game was beautiful and it just got me into the story at a early start. The art is beautiful, the characters are very memorable, and there are moments that stick out to me. This game was pretty dang long too and there were multiple endings. Just 5 endings, most of them good.

However, that is for another story on my complete thoughts on that game. For now, I am going to be talking about the second visual novel game I played and I am currently playing as well. This game is called "Gaokao.Love.100 Days". What caught my interest in this game is from the hugely overwhelmingly positive reviews I read on steam or just the internet in general. It claims to have 52 endings. 52 ENDINGS!!! That is way more than 5! But is this just a normal visual novel where I just read and click every once in forever to change my path? Although that is sometimes the case for this one, there are more added features that make this game super intense!!

Here is the basic story: You are a high school student in China who is about to take this test called the Gaokao in three months. I really don't know how to say it, but the point is it is a very important test. However, at the very beginning of the game it shows you asking a extremely lovable character named Muxin to be your girlfriend. She is amazed by this and agrees to do so. Later on you get introduced to other characters with different quirks. They add to your story as you are to prepare for the Gaokao and/or build your relationship with Muxin.

Sounds like a good start out to a game? I thought so. Then they introduce another part of the game other than just choosing a certain choice in this game. The study times! Here is what it looks like:

The numbers on the left are your subjects and your scores. If you want to get good scores, you review a certain subject and it will increase. While you need to pay attention to your health and stress because if your health starts to get close to zero or stress gets too high, your performance may be effected and it can trigger some nasty effects in your story that you wish you can undo. This is where the fun and also the killer stress kicks in. The choice is up to you. Do you want to ignore, though sometimes improve your scores and increase your relationship with Muxin, your new girlfriend, or do you want to focus on just studying. It can be hard to choose at times, because trust me, your choices early on have HUGE impact. But I won't spoil much of the story.

I remember my first play through. I thought I was on the right track trying to balance out my relationship with Muxin and my scores. Then my first mock test, I got a terrible result. Then one thing led to another and I kept making hard decisions that I continuously kept regretting.  I got really frustrated and, I'll admit, took a break from the game because I couldn't take it. But later on, I kept going and my first ending wasn't....terrible, but wasn't good at all. I can say I have played through this multiple times and have grown more attached to this game. It may take over my #1 favorite visual novel, "If My Heart Had Wings".

Are there any faults in this game? Well, being a game that comes from China and being translated from Chinese, there are a couple weird translations. It isn't enough to ruin the game, but they can be a bit noticeable. You may have noticed up in the picture, there is an items button. When you go through this game for the first time, you don't have much items at all that really help you. You can find other items to help you as you go more throughout the game. But you may get a little frustrated seeing that your scores are not improving as much as you want. Especially when you see others play the game and they do tremendously well and you can't seem to do so. Other than those, I don't really find much fault in the game.

Although I consider this game to be more clean than other visual novels I have explored or played, there are quite a bit of swears. But unlike other visual novel games, this one does not have a big emphasis on sex with each other. This is a pretty clean high school relationship game. If you want to start easing your way into visual novels, then cleanliness wise, I would point you to this game.

I really like this game and there are still a couple times where I sneak in a play here and there. The replay ability is there especially if you don't like your ending. I will say that the ones where you do get in a relationship with Muxin or others is really satisfying. If you are interested, it is on Steam for $9.99.

P.S.: I forgot to talk about the music in this game. I love it! It really captures the atmosphere of what you are in. There are some serious songs, but when there is a goofy moment, the song does not disappoint. I do have quite a bit of the songs on my phone and I do listen to them. The theme is really relaxing as well. Although I don't know the lyrics seeing that they are sung in a different language, it doesn't take away the relaxation at the ending of the game where you can rest from all your decisions. Go have a listen if you want!

(From left to right: Xiaohan, Muxin)