Tokimeki Memorial: Girl’s Side 4th Heart impressions and the depth of Unpacking [Now Gaming]

Publication date of the original Japanese article: 2021-11-07 15:27 (JST)
Translated by. Nick Mosier

Now Gaming is a weekly digest that provides a quick overview of what our writers had played recently. Here we have the translated version of this week’s Japanese edition of Now Gaming.

Turn off the background music and be immersed

by. Taijiro Yamanaka

This week I played Unpacking, a puzzle game about unpacking boxes and placing the contents around your new home. While each item has its allotted place, the game isn’t that strict about it. The layouts provide a lot of freedom, the types of objects you arrange are numerous, and how those objects are arranged will likely vary from person to person. I’ve seen these kinds of pixel art scenes on my timeline before, but it’s interesting to actually be able to fiddle with them. Plus, each item has its own sound when it’s put down which adds to the immersion.

As you progress through each stage, the months and years pass by in the game. While there isn’t a concrete story to talk about so to speak, it does feel like you’re following the progression of someone’s life. From the items that slowly change over time, to the items you can’t part with and the atmosphere of each new living space, your imagination swells in this rich, subtle puzzle game.

A new title after 11 years

by. Sachie Kawata

This week I’ve been quietly playing Tokimeki Memorial: Girl’s Side 4^th Heart in my alone time. I completed my first playthrough going after the protagonist’s childhood friend Ryota Kazama. Long ago, I thought the more dates we went on, the more they would like me and would always try to secure a date for the weekend. But this time, I put more focus on self-improvement (raising my stats), instead of just dating.

When I watched footage of the game before its release, I couldn’t imagine how the bobbing movement of the characters would be put to good use, but it actually looked more natural than I thought it would. It was also nice to see the realistic breath effect when talking during wintertime. It reminded me that these characters breathe, too.

But one thing that bothered me was the UI. Maybe the game was initially designed around touch controls, but I had trouble playing with a controller and couldn’t do things like shopping very smoothly. Plus, the load option is displayed at the top of the save screen which seems like an easy place for it to be selected by mistake. I started by playing in docked mode, but when also taking into consideration the controls in skinship mode, I switched to handheld mode and used a stylus.

With that being said, I had a good time with my first playthrough and saved over 100 screenshots. Before launch, I thought there weren’t many characters that would be my type, but while playing, I started to notice good things about each character and thinking about who I wanted to go for next. I think I’ll enjoy my second playthrough and beyond.

I caught everyone

by. Seiji Narita

This is week 2 of playing Dead by Daylight. I’ve focused on playing as the killer even though it doesn’t seem like a path well suited for beginners. Maybe my nature just aligns with that of the lone, struggling killer, but I’ve been having fun. I’ve also played some as the survivors in order to get a better understanding of the game, but the pressure of bothering my teammates is scary. It just further confirmed that my nature is more aligned with that of the killer.

Between all the survivors being rescued from their hooks, to having power generators repaired while I carefully stood guard, as I played through the sadness, I slowly improved. Until finally, I hooked all 4 survivors. But instead of the thrill of victory, I felt a sense of accomplishment that came with making all the survivors my own. I’m a little uneasy about how attuned my personality is to the killer, but I’m going to keep on playing.