Questions, and Answers, and Voting! Oh, my!
Having been released for the Nintendo DS in North America in 2009, “Bleach: The 3rd Phantom” was another game in my collection that I’ve meant to play for quite some time, but never found the time to. Since most of my university classes at this point give more than enough time for writing essays, I’ve had plenty of time to enjoy playing portable games. And since this is a game that I can easily liveblog, why shouldn’t I?
- Q. The last time you started a liveblog was about two months ago. Shouldn't you focus on finishing things you have started, rather than moving on to other projects and forgetting about older stuff?
- A. I’ll admit, I have a procrastination problem, especially now that I’m attending university, and even more so with challenging games like Record of Agarest War ZERO. And I promise you, when I have the opportunity to do so, I will go and finish all of my other liveblogs. But for now, this is a mostly simple game that I’ve had fun playing between classes, and I’d like to share the experience with you.
- Q. Well, that is good to hear. So...what kind of game is this, again?
- A. An ordinary strategy RPG set in the universe of the anime and manga series ‘Bleach’. Grid-based movement, turn-based battles, et cetera. Notable features include a rock-paper-scissors weapon advantage system like the Fire Emblem games, and ally supports and team attacks akin to the Super Robot Wars series. Oh, and ‘Free Time’.
- Q. ‘Free Time’, you say? What is that?
- A. Well, with only a few exceptions, each ‘chapter’ of the game has a ‘Battle’ and ‘Free Time’ phase. And while ‘Battle’ is self-explanatory, ‘Free Time’ allows you to see events with other major characters in the plot. Some of these events are only available for a limited time, and others might net you rewards such as improved stats and free items. However, each event costs a set amount of AP, and after you have used up enough AP, ‘Free Time’ ends. Moreover, while most events you have not seen yet will carry over into the next ‘Free Time’ phase, there is only a set amount of chapters in the game...
- Q. Will this liveblog be interactive?
- A. Hopefully. On one hand, unlike Agarest ZERO, pretty much all of the choices you can make have absolutely no bearing on the plot, and are solely for the viewer’s enjoyment. And since I have already played a bit of the game and have made the choices I wanted to, the choices made in this liveblog should reflect the interests of everyone else instead. On the other hand, as I’ve stated in my Agarest ZERO liveblog, my previous projects haven’t received a lot of comments, and it can be bothersome to stop for weeks just to wait for one. If that happens, I’ll just choose at random.
- Q. Okay then. So, who is the star of this game?
- A. There are two stars, actually. They are twins, with the default names Fujimaru and Matsuri Kudo, though you can change the name of whichever one you choose to be the main character. Since they are both original characters created for this game, I won’t need to explain their backstory until it comes up in the plot. It’s important to mention that there will be minor story differences depending on which one the player chooses to play as, but the overall narrative is the same for both.
- Q. And which of the two will you be playing as?
- A. Well, this is the very first choice for the people reading this liveblog to vote on. And while I have already stated that I’ve played through a fair bit of the game already as one of the two, I won’t let that influence the vote unless there’s a tie. This liveblog isn’t about me; it’s about you wonderful viewers!
Well, that’s the end of another Q&A segment where both the Q’s and the A’s are written by yours truly. If you are interested in this project, please leave a comment below, and make sure to state whether you would prefer if I played as the guy or the girl. And don’t forget to leave a name as well; the character limit is eight for the first name, and six for the last. Thank you for your time, and have a wonderful day!
Comments
MFM
Since: Dec, 1969
Mar 20th 2012 at 7:22:38 PM
Lieutenant Aizen and Seigen then congratulate the Kudos
My mind is silly and read that as the word kudos, making me wonder why they were congratulating someone for congratulating someone.
Also, I am inclined to agree about Ukitake and his wonderful voice.
