Cover - Le Jour (Original by Satomi Sato) (Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete - 失われた未来を求めて)

The anime is Ushinawareta Mirai wo Motomete - 失われた未来を求めて- À la recherche du futur perdu

I didn't finish watching because I had limited internet back home where I can record, but I know the gist to the storyline. When I first started watching this anime, the opening song; Le Jour struck a nerve and it got me addicted to replaying every first few minutes just to listen to the song again and again.

I contemplated covering the song earlier - but I had classes and when my classes ended I went on a holiday trip to Queensland, Australia. Needless to say, this cover became delayed by two months or so before I finally went "Fck it, I MUST do it TODAY". And it took me around 6 hours to record. The MV itself took me around 5 hours, due to movie maker going buggy on me.

Again, as with Kuusou Rumba - the cover is HEAVILY customized. I would love to give my hearfilled thanks to sky_starry for the instrumental. Sound effects and illustrations used in the making of the MV are creditted in the video.

Uploaded this half an hour prior to Lunar New Year - just that it takes so long to upload. Happy Lunar New Year :)

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So yeah, I am back in Malaysia. The flight back was long and taxing. International flight was okay - I got to rest my long legs and all that but the domestic flight sucked real bad. I mean everyone wants to save money - but we do not need to be tortured so badly we have to squeeze into our seats and have nowhere to place our legs (yes, it sucks being tall). AirAsia is such a bitch to tall people with long legs :/

The weather in Malaysia is still the same - humid and hot. It rains freaking every day in Kuching. Drivers in Malaysia are still inconsiderate (70% of them!) - like they cut into lanes without any signal and park like assholes. I am glad there are a few special people in Malaysia who actually gives a flying fck about how they drive. It is safe to say that I will still look to public transport as a relevant means of travel - and since Malaysia's public transportation system is .. underdeveloped, the best life for me is out of it (no braindrain! well - partly it is because of the job opportunities as well but I just want out).

It is funny how everyone is wishing EVERYONE a happy CHINESE New Year. I mean it is a new year for Koreans, Japanese, Vietnamese etc - would people name it Korean New Year or Japanese New Year? I think not. The best bet is to rename it Lunar New Year, but well - conventions set by predecessors are hard to change. 

New Year New Me, bake more. be healthy. meet new people. be awesome. dont cry. dont think suicidal thoughts. no self harm. 

The FIRST and the LAST (A story of a game and how it changed my life)

This game was not the first game that I have played. The first MMO that I started playing was Gunbound. Gunbound was great because it really opened me up to the online world. Having no unlimited internet at that time, there was only dial up and it was fcking slow as hell! (As I finished typing that paragraph, my OCD kicked in and I had to JUSTIFY the whole paragraph heh)

The second MAJOR MMO I played was an RPG type game. I was introduced to the game by an online gaming community, GameSync- forums. The ride was great, it actually taught me about how the world was and how I should make my own decisions, trust only when I only it is really safe - yeah, this is caused by scammers and other gamers with horrible attitudes ingame. This game was Maplestory, and I am proud to say that I am an old timer because I have played this game since before all those major buffs happened - only when the four classes were available, and sticked with the game during the expansion to Aqualand and Ludibrium. I quit somewhere there though, but came back many times after major patches to play with my friends. 

The third MAJOR MMO I played as in a private server, but it wa with close friends. Ragnarok Online! The game was so much fun I physically dedicated myself to it. I can go on for long bouts of time without eating OR sleeping just to play the game, and because I dedicated my other time to studying for academic results, I sacrificed my sleep to play - and I can still say that I have enjoyed it very very much. 

I played two main classes, a Cleric that eventually became a High Bishop and a Mage that eventually became a Warlock. I played the Cleric for a supportive role when my friends are online to play, and the Warlock for when I was alone and there was nothing to do (when my friends are offline or are unwilling to play with me). That was what I tried to tell myself, but I couldn't help noticing how I was desperately lying to myself so badly.

I played Cleric a lot. It was my favorite type of character and I enjoy supporting my friends when they are playing. I wasn't a very good gamer, so I frequently messed up and caused everyone in the team to die or lose. But it was fun. There were times that I surprisingly shone when playing the role. There were times that I felt that I was actually doing a pretty good job. I met many people that I grew to know more and more and are now some of my closest friends. They fare from may different countries, and so I get to learn more about their cultures and also their way of life.

Not everyone was around most of the time, so I  was usually only playing and supporting one person that usually used a Monk or an Asura. You know, those characters with the lethal ASURA STRIKE that deals very huge amounts of damage. They are actually very capable of supporting themselves, but extra healing and buffs seem too good to be true at that point. I was following because of the FREE EXP and MONEY. And I am not going to lie, it was also because I had nothing to do and it was fun to follow.

This continued and our bonds grew stronger. I was young and stupid, and so I fell in love. I was so drawn into the game - I began to think of the game as a reality. Real life at that point was after all - meh, not so interesting. At 16, what humans want is only a place to belong to aside from their own families, and that was probably what I longed for. I began to spend more and more time ingame, waiting to go on another adventure. Another activity for me to fill my head with all sorts of fond memories. I have tried to tell myself that I am not doing the right thing - or am not about to do the right thing, but my heart was controlling my mind. My strength of mind was feeble and frail. I was just entrapped in the web that my longing heart has spun, aimlessly. And I did it. On one of the adventures. I did it.

I can still remember the map where it happened, and how it happened and how I felt then and also how I feel many years after that, and even now. It is actually very hard for me to express this in words, but I just had to get it out of my system. Somewhere where anyone can see and where people can learn from.

We were hunting Eddga, a boss in Payon Forest. And I said something stupid. Like "I Love You" (Yes, please attribute this song to that song resung by Nicole Kidman and Robbie Williams, except that the feeling wasn't mutual). The respond to that was that I was too tired. I probably was. I was so flustered and angry with myself that I just logged off midgame. What was I saying? I should have known better - my journey with Maplestory should have instilled in me to think more about what I say and when I should say them. I did not log on for days.

When I did log on, I created the mage (became a Warlock) so I could solo the game. When I play with my friends again, I would almost reluctantly switch back to the Cleric, but most of the time I played as a Warlock. I have also respec-ed my Cleric to become a battle type cleric so that I could solo as a Cleric. The incident influenced my playing style so much that I no longer play a fully supportive character nor could I handle being given a supportive role. Months later, I would still be invited into random parties as a Cleric and being expected to support. The mental trauma made me unable to do so, I failed so badly I went Solo again most of the time. In many other games I played after, I became more of a self-support offensive style cleric of some sorts.

We acted like nothing happened, it was for the best. Even now, we still play some games together as friends, and I am very happy that we were still able to do so after something that could have caused me three lives had occured. I am very grateful that the reaction was as such, I would have done the same thing. I am glad that this was made a secret and kept between us unanimously - though we never said anything.

Emotionally, I was scarred. It made me build a cage around my heart. Everything said to me now would first go through my brain. I would be wary of people that try to become close to me. It made me afraid to tell people that I love them, because it made me fear rejection again. It made me afraid that I would lose things even though I didn't lose anything the first time. For me, I was putting one foot down on making it the last.

Six long years have passed, and I am still affected badly. Convinced that it was because of my severe imperfections, I gave up on social life and tried to excel in how I look, my academics and how I am perceived in the eyes of others. Looking back, I regret trying to be someone I didn't want to be. I lost weight and got contacts - it is now very hard for me to go out without my contacts because I wouldn't have any confidence either wise, and my fears of how my body would look like made me hydrophobic.

I would go into depression by myself - so I am very thankful to the friends that I have that are very willing to talk to me to cheer me up. Yes, I am very proud to name them as Priscilla, Neo Yen and Alfred. Thank you for cheering me up unknowingly when I was about to sit in one corner and freak out. My biggest secrets will always stay only with you three and only you three. Promise.

There was this one time I was sitting in one corner of the room, feeling depressed as fck and thinking suicide thoughts. And then a voice message came, and I forgot everything and started laughing. That was how much it actually matters.

For me - that was the first and the last time I will speak my heart without my mind processing it through.

-- Still, I am looking forward to the Tree of Saviors Online to start fresh. That game will represent my reincarnation from the world of Ragnarok Online I played and left many fond memories in. Now I am less reluctant in moving forward because I have made new friends. Maybe I will regain the ability to become a supportive character here. (But I am very interested in either the Druid, Necromancer, Sorcerer or Bokor :3 )

The Deepest Sleep by Scriptwelder

First view of the game. So I needed to click play.

LOL NOPE. The title of the game sounds like some relaxing game with point-and-click but the disclaimer tells me otherwise. I probably wont play this for long, I am really reallly REALLLLY bad with scares when I'm alone so yeah. Since I really am alone, nope. No headphones. Nopeee I will leave my lights on even though its DAYTIME.

So I wake up in the middle of the night and someone is standing at the corner of my bed, watching me sleep. I hope its not Lisabelle or Carrie. Or any other stalkers that come to my room at night to take naked pictures of me sleeping and then distribute it to porn sites. Apparently I cannot move, and spam-clicking the window does not help me look out of it as well.

After spewing out my drinks from spam-clicking Lisabelle, I finally got some well deserved rest and began to explore my dreams. There's an empty shelf filled with white cotton candy, and a door that happens to be locked. After picking up a "sealed jar" from the bottom left floor, the door flings open. Such a gentleman.

AND HERE I AM IN THIS CORRIDOR WITH SOMETHING LOOKING LIKE EYES STARING AT ME. LOLNOPE LOLNOPE LOLNOPE LOLNOPE. I hope I'm not naked. 

Oh wait. Those are lights. Well, now I happen to be in a room with three doorless doors. My RPG senses tell me to explore the doors to the left and right first, because you know - there might be treasures.

What I found in the room on the left. So my name is Bert. I don't recall following any stupid travellers and no, I didn't know what was going to happen. Maybe its because I didnt play the prequels to this game. Silly me. Bottom feeders? do they feed of my bottom!? LOLNOPE level increased by 5.

What I found on the room to the right. Contrary to my predictions, they dont feed on my bottoms - unless they end up at the bottom layer of the "realm of dreams". I can ____________ by staying perfectly still? Yes, very helpful.

This skull helm seems to be in the middle of the... three door crossroads. It really is enough to make me go LOLNOPE. By using a screwdriver to scoop out a diamond from a statue on the room towards the right; previously you can give it an eye.

My instincts tell me that if I manage to find another diamond and give it another eye, it would come alove and bite my head off. LOLNOPE. NO. NO. NO. I will hide in the first room until I wake up from this nightmare.

Overall, I SCARE-rate this game a 8/10 because its scary. Yes, its pixelized - but it IS scary. I have always respected pixelized games too, because it gives a feeling of nolstagia. The controls (mouse) is smooth, and the crosshair is easy to aim with. Good job, Scriptwelder. I hope I sleep well tonight :|

Garden Diary Review (Mobile App)

Recently, I got into Garden Diary - a mobile application game by Windbell. I actually played Dungeon Diary by the same creator, so the mechanics were actually quite similar. 

When you first started the game, you will be prompted to create your main character (in terms of his/her appearance and name). This character will be the only character that is the most loyal - completing achievements in game will allow you to create another character to accompany your main character, but they will have a loyalty bar that either increases or drops whenever you finish or fail a quest respectively. Allies hired from pubs will presumeably have the same features as your other characters, but they're too costly to hire for a stingy gamer such as I. Something might happen once the loyalty bar hits 0, but I am not looking forward to find out!

The game features dungeons you can send your characters too (currently I only have two characters and Reborn Forest available for me). There are few types of dungeons; namely Free Quest, Collection, Escort and Extermination. Free Quests would be the one done more often to farm - and when it looks easy or possible to overcome, Escort and even Extermination (Extermination is the hardest). The dungeons may have multiple areas, increasing in difficulty in tandem with a higher area number selected to explore.

Once every dungeon exploration is complete, your characters will obtain stat points which you can invest. My character named Thanathos is purely wisdom based (as I have obtained a rule which allows him to cast spells with an 83% probability). Aeon, on the other hand is purely strength - explaining his high health (heart symbol) and physical attack (the sword symbol) compared to Thanathos' high magical attack (cane symbol). The shoe symbol indicates speed, which might influence the speed of which the dungeon is completed (Exploring to AREA 3 takes 1 hour). The blue star symbol indicates stress level, which increases if the character dies in battle. If you look closely, you can see the loyalty sign next to Aeon.

When the dungeon is completed successfully, items can be obtained. Most of the time, I sell these items as they have not much use for me currently. At the beginning of the game, I collected some wood to craft weapons for my characters, but now I just sell them. I keep the seemingly important stuff given to me by escorted NPCs, seeds that can be used to beautify my garden and eggs - but thats it. 

 

You get to have your own garden, in which the land are bought by using tickets of real estates. Seeds you obtain from completing dungeons can be planted here, but so far I still do not know the purpose of the growth besides making the garden look more pleasant to the eyes. You can dig for stuff in your garden and even hatch an egg here (I hatched a chicken but it ran away, IKR. Such randomness). You can give LOVE to your flowers and chickens once per day even if they are at a baby stage, and the dialogue is very funny to look at. "Some Seed Laughed", "Egg is Pleased" etc.

You get to pay to go into the Pub every day for free daily items (source of rule lottery ticket for your rules and free character tickets and other stuff). The more money you use to go into the Pub, the more the Pub earns - and that allows it to upgrade the spaces for allies that you can see inside the Pub and other (still unknown to me) stuff.

Gameplay wise, I give this game a 7/10 because it is that unique. I know of many games by Windbell, and the art is very cute and entertaining. The UI or User Interface to the game is also very friendly to first time players, if you know what you are doing. Although the translation done on the game is only so, so - it is basically still understandable and adds to the laughs. The ads are also pleasant - the game does not play video ads without permission like some other apps and leave advertisments in small windows that do not disrupt gameplay.

Looking forward to more from Windbell, Garden Diary has indeed captured my heart.

XOXO

KiiKii the Yu

Serenity Again

So I was cleaning up my files when I had the time, and one corner of the computer screen caught my eye. It was NOVELTY, a Visual Novel maker. I remembered a novel I wrote and voiced over, Serenity and I clicked to play it. How long has it been already, two years?

I was a little sceptical about the game I created myself, I don't even remember the choices you need to get to the true ending, so I just CTRL-ed through to find the true ending. At some points though I stopped to listen to the wonderful music, and at some points I felt stupid for writing such an ending. I would gladly use a time machine to slap my past self, lol.

Some of these endings really hit me emotionally, as part of the story was based on my emotions at that time. My needs and wants and what was going on in my life + how I felt. So I decided then, not to delete the file. a 100 Mb, but for keepsake why not?

The download link is probably in one of my old blog posts. It's a 4Shared link, so I dont expect anyone to register just to download it, hah.

HeRO \o/ Part 5

Training with Ian.

Taking rough sea salt to this aunty.

2 children protected by Snowysnow

SWOWYSNOW THE SNOWMAN

Creating the perfect instrument?

 

At last! a bard.

Was training with Ian until we both got to Job Level 40. With nothing to Lose (since I dont really like ensemble skills) I went for a job change. Going to Comodo was easy, I just needed to pay the Kafra in Morroc 1.8k z (easily earned). Talking to the wandering bard with an aloe flower in my hand, he told me I was skillful and that aloe leaflets can also be used to heal all kinds of illness. Baby I know, I have aloe vera plants in my garden.

Anyway, he said being a bard is no joke, and I need to befriend someone from Lutie, a christmas village and bring back some gifts. Since I am this antisocial bastard, I prefer talking to NPCs instead. Yeah this snowman was crying because he was alone, and that he has no legs to move to visit other people. This damn hipster, forever alone before it was cool.

Anyway, after some talking we learned that there was an alchemist named Phillip or Philz or something like that, walked into a village that was 80% destroyed, seeing some near to death villagers begging him to release them from his suffering but he ignored them and continued walking, barging into people's homes breaking jars for hearts, rupees and fairies. Anyway the main story is that at one point in the ruined village, he saw two children, still alive and hiding behind a snowman. He was amazed and touched that this snowman saved two children so he used his magic to transport the snowman somewhere where he can be preserved forever.

And that was how Snowysnow was born! in the village of Lutie. He seems to have a very good reputation, giving free candy from a Doraemon 4 Dimension santa sack that can be used to produce an unlimited amount of what the person desires. And he never gives anyone anything else except candy and also rough sea salt to make pickles for Mr Hairy that was old enough to know the history of the village. After talking to everyone and finding out Snowysnow's past, Snowysnow was glad that I took interest and promised to be my friend, giving me 2 pieces of cake. I bought the cake back to the wandering bard, and together with 60 barren trunk I demanded he made an instrument for me. So I became a bard, and got a mandolin. Good enough.

P.S : Snowysnow wasn't the only talking snowman, theres one more talking snowman in Lutie's church. :\