Hustle Cat

The installer/putter-together/whatever guys were here today to put together the elliptical machine that was my birthday present to myself (since we still have no car and I had to cancel the gym membership). So I had to get out of my office while they were here. I figured I'd try one of the games that we picked up during the Lunar New Year sale on Steam.

I gotta admit that I so love the sales on Steam. I was able to get Hustle Cat, one I've been eying for a while, for about £2. It's a great way to try games that you aren't sure about how the quality would be -- reviews of this one were pretty good, but you never know. People also love Hakuoki but I haven't been able to get through it yet.

So I got almost an hour in while they were hammering and screw driving or whatever. In this one, you play Avery Grey, who can be either male or female or unspecified, depending on how you want to play. This is a nice touch as there are both male and female routes (or so I gather) in this one, so however you want to identify, you can. I picked female and one of the more feminine looking avatars, but if I wind up unlocking all of the routes, I'll probably at some point be a Mr. Avery. Or maybe not. I dunno. Doesn't matter, which is the nice bit.

You're crashing on your aunt's couch as you try to find a job. She's away, which is good, because you're kinda a bit of a slob. You also have a fat cat named Mochi. While out wandering one day, you come across A Cat's Paw, a cafe with a help wanted sign in the window. It's a rather strange place, with cats everywhere, but after a (weird) interview with Mr. Graves (who's got that Older Goth thing going on), you get the job. And you immediately sign a contract without reading it over. Doh!

So knew that wasn't going to be a good idea.

You go to work the next day and meet all the rest of your co-workers. There's Landry, the first one you met, who seems like a tall, nice, helpful dude. There's Reese, a little spitfire of a dude in a cap, who's got that Napoleon complex going on. And Hayes, the bespectacled one who seems super sweet but very, very shy. That's it for the guys. Then there's Mason, the imposing but kind female cook and Finley, the adorable big-eyed waif type who moonlights as an internet sensation YouTube cat called Jelly Donut.

And, of course, the boss...Mr. Graves. Which I gather you can't unlock unless you manage to get all of the other routes.

You soon discover that all is not as it seems. Whenever the employees leave the cafe, they turn into a cat. And you're about to do the same. It was all in the contract you signed (sort of). You're determined to get to the bottom of it, though not everyone minds as much as you do at getting caught up in this weird magical transformation. Take Hayes, for instance. His "cat time" is how he gets away.

I haven't made it too far as yet, but it looks promising. The art is okay. Nothing to rave about, but not horrible either. The interface is very clean, though I would like some kind of status indicator screen where you have some idea of how you're doing/what route you're going down. Some decision points seem obvious (perhaps in hindsight), but others I have no idea. That's about the only quibble so far. The writing seems pretty good and engaging and the characters seem interesting.

I am going to attempt to lean towards Landry, as when Mr. Graves asked what kind of cat is my fav, I said Maine Coon and that's apparently what type he turns into. Besides, he seems nice and probably the easiest option (maybe?). So far, the only one that doesn't hold a lot of appeal for me is the Reese character. I'm just not into itty bitty bossy boys.

I want to do this without any walkthrough or hints and see how it goes. More later after I play a bit more.

Bring it on Ghost

Hmmm...when did we start this one? Bring It On Ghost. Ages ago. Ha. Last year. Is it January? Yes, yes it is. Anyway, it looked like a good one to watch with the little dude. A bit action-y, young-ish characters, etc. But I guess I should mention the story.

So...there's a upper teen guy, still in school (I've actually forgotten now if it's late high school or early university). He can see ghosts and interact with them. He sometimes hires himself out as a kind of ghostbuster to earn money.

There's a girl who's a ghost, but she can't remember exactly who she is or how she died. Through circumstances, they get thrown together in a fairly funny fashion. Hijinks.

She's the same girl as from Page Turner as well, so interesting to see her in such a different part.

Er...can you tell it's been a few months? We only watched one episode and we both did like it and were definitely planning on going back to it, but other shows have intervened. Mostly anime, as little dude wanted me to watch My Hero Academia with him.

Why am I writing up anything about it? Mostly so I don't forget to watch it later. It looks like it will be fairly predictable, but it's got that kind of physical humour that little dude likes, so I think it will be a good one for us.

Chapters, Choices, Moments oh my

I haven't been blogging much lately. Haven't really watched anything Kdrama-wise as I'm not going to the gym anymore without the membership/car. There are some things to type up, but I haven't had time. Wait. Why am I making excuses? I'm the only one that reads this.

So, there were a few apps that I had tried before because they had come up when I had searched for otome on the App Store. However...they really aren't otome. They're more like visual novels. Stories? There are choices but, depending on the app, they don't necessarily make a lot of difference and there's no such thing as a route. Of course, you could really say the same thing with Love 365.

Let me start with one that I'd tried, deleted, tried again, and then deleted again. Chapters. I tried it again recently because I kept getting ads for it in other apps. Some of the clips seemed...almost interesting. And I couldn't remember why I had deleted it before. Maybe I'd been too harsh.

Nah.

What I am is too old. I can't say what the stories were that I tried this time as I've already deleted it again, but they were all just so completely juvenile. And you definitely couldn't get any of the "good" story paths without spending gems or whatever in-game currency it was. Now, youthful stuff isn't necessarily a deal killer for me. I mean, that's what I write. But everything I tried was just...meh. Not well written, didn't make much sense, not really a good story. And the illustrations/animations were also not my thing. Why am I writing about it? Partly so I remember not to download it again and give it another go in a year or two.

Choices is another similar app that I had also tried before. It's the same style thing -- numerous stories where you get to customise (hair, skin colour, clothing) of your character and go through a story. I'd previously tried some Hollywood story one and got through maybe 5 or 6 chapters and went meh. It also seemed like you had to spend a lot of gems if you wanted to get any decent story development. And their ads are...pretty hokey and terrible. More fitting for the Chapters one.

But this time I tried some of their more adult (and by that I mean the characters are older) stories and I have to admit that they aren't bad. That's not to say that they are great or amazing, but there's a decent amount of plot and development in them and the choices you make actually make a difference. There are also some fantasy or sci-fi style pieces where there are extra things, like developing magic abilities or what not. They are imminently predictable plot-wise (or maybe I know too much) because I've basically guessed so far everything that was supposed to be a surprise. But they are decently executed. I even read a story about some ranch hands in Montana and that is SO not me at all.

The app lets you collect some free gems every day (not a lot) and you also get some for watching ads and finishing chapters. So it's possible to collect a fair amount of gems by reading stories you aren't totally invested in and then using the gems in another one that you are. Of these style apps, I'd say it's the one so far with the most consistent writing level and there's even potentially some re-playability. My biggest complaint is probably actually a bonus for some readers...two stories now have basically ended on cliffhangers and are continued in another "book." I really just wanted to get to a happy ending without having to read through an indefinite number of stories that were too same-same.

Bonus to it actually having some non-teenybopper stories (like one about a single mom). So I'll keep on with this one. And I might even spend actual money on it because I don't mind supporting decent developers. Or I might not. Not sure. I kinda feel it's a bit expensive for what you get...I'd be more likely to do some micro-transactions if it felt worthwhile...but it's £19.99 for 250 diamonds...which you could literally blow on one story (a lot of the diamond choices run between 10 and 25). Though, seriously, they should hire me to write some of their stories. But I guess formula is what works for these type of apps, so maybe not.

And lastly...Moments.

This is a new one I downloaded because of seeing so many ads recently and feeling encouraged by Choices turning out to be better than I remembered. I...oh man. I'm not totally sure what to think. Well, no, I kind of am. So. Let's unpack this.

This one is set up a little differently (and confusingly). There's some star tree? And I think you have to use the stars to unlock stories? I'm not sure, as there are also two free stories offered a day and so far I've just tried those. And there's gems that you have to use to unlock story choices (as per usual--more about that in a minute). And stardust? Which I think you use to charge up other people's trees, which in turn gives you something...but it's almost impossible to find a tree that hasn't already been "charged" so it seems rather useless and annoying. There's also some kind of dress up avatar/room thing, but it's for the app and not used in the stories, so I'm not sure what the point of it is. Or I'm just too old to see the point. At least the one in Ikemen Sengoku is used for the show downs or whatever.

So, anyway, the app itself is a little confusing and there's not much to go on tutorial-wise. Don't love the design. I'm sure I could figure it all out, but I didn't want to spend the time if it wasn't worth it.

So...is it worth it?

The first story I tried was relatively promising. The art style is more realistic. There was a modicum of plot development. I unlocked a couple of the "extra / in depth" scenes and they made sense. Choices were fairly seamless, so that the story made sense no matter what you picked. The story itself was kind of flat in that the barrier between the characters plot-wise was really a trumped up one conflated in importance just to keep them apart. Like, it was sorta stupid. But the characters were at least somewhat engaging. There were quite a bit more shmexy-times things going on than I would have anticipated, though I found them more...um...clinical than romantic? I dunno. I've never found it remotely sexy when someone's going "oooh, baby, f---- me now" or the "I grabbed his blahbedy-blah" ...yeah, I'm not using the words here. It's just not at all romantic. I mean, yes, you have to use descriptive words to communicate but there are ways to do it that are romantic and ways that are...not.

But. Anyway. I got through that story and thought, eh, it was...okay. The art was actually decent. It had a beginning, middle, and an end. It wrapped up well. I should try another one.

So I did. And this one started with a little blurb about the author (I didn't note who it was and now I don't want to know) saying how they were award-winning and what not woot woot so I was thinking, oh good, maybe this one will be awesome. The premise is kinda dodgy but out of the two free for a limited time stories being offered, it sounded more interesting.

It was about a girl in her twenties, previously burned by a horrible "bad boy" boyfriend + has a whack job mom, who had decided to seduce her boss by slipping into his bed one night because he seems like exactly the kind of guy she wants to be with/feels pressured to be with (successful, not a bad boy, etc. etc.). A very stupid decision, as her best friend points out, but she does it anyway.

Of course, it happens to be his bad boy brother that's in the bed instead. They do some things before she figures out he isn't who she thought, but not everything. And, at first, she's all panic attack-y and angry and all omg how could I possibly be attracted to this bad boy all full of tattoos. But then she gets to know him and blah blah blah.

So. This could've been an interesting story. Maybe. But there's POV shifts all over the damn place, including bits of third person omniscience told in a first person manner. I mean, it's a sloppy mess. And if you don't pick the "gem" choice, there's a bunch of story stuff left out and and it isn't remotely seamless. It often doesn't make any sense. Like, at all. Like, one thing is happening and you make a decision (not the gem choice) and now something entirely different is going on. And most of the decisions are a) do this shmexy very daring thing (which costs gems) or b) say something bitchy or weird.

What it does have is a whole lot of s-e-x. And since the continuity is all whacked out, it's very confusing sex. And it has a lot of...er...words that are so un-sexy that I just cringe. I wasn't going to type anything out but, seriously, there's a bit where she freaking describes in detail (using this very word) his scrotal sack and goes so far as to describe the skin/lines/wrinkles on it. W.T.H. And I have never seen the word [another name for a rooster] so many times in my life.

And even the art...half the time it doesn't even match where they are supposed to be...they're driving through Spokane and wow! Look! There's the Eiffel Tower. They're in a club with pool tables and wow! Look! It's a roulette wheel.  We're in a storage room with crates and a mop but no! It has a bed.

It is one whopping hot mess. And I don't at all mean hot like hot and heavy, though it's supposed to be, I imagine. There are 20 chapters in this thing and I've made it through almost all of it and I would bet like 90% of it is the MC either being really dumb or melting into a puddle as he does things with his fingers or whatever.

Why am I finishing it? Honestly, I don't know. It's like a train wreck you can't look away from. It's so horrendously bad from every point of view -- character development, plot (so very very thin), grammar, writing, art. Like, all of it. The first chapter or two I was, like, nah, it can't be...but now I'm, like, yeah. Wow. Just, wow.

The only good frame? There's a bit where the best girl friend tells the MC "Well, then you're an idiot."

Or maybe I am.

Edit: Ok, I struggled through. Basically, it was just utter rubbishy smut.

So then I was, like, do I delete the app? One story was decent, one made me want to bleach my eyeballs. I figured I'd give it one more try for an even three because I'm Asian and everything has to be done in threes.

So I started a time-travel-ish one that was up for free. And here I am torn again because it's back on par with the first story, though it actually has more story/plot/interest. It doesn't totally make sense, partly because I think the choices you make don't always make for a seamless story. But it is eons better than that second one. I was even tempted by their £1.99 special thing to unlock every gem choice in the story (though I did resist as it only lasts 24 hours).

I really don't know about this app. It's such a hodge podge. I guess maybe if I stick to the free ones? I dunno. I actually have a lot more stars than gems now, so maybe unlocking stories isn't the bottleneck, but the decision points (as per usual). Though the £1.99 price is reasonable...but why don't they offer it for longer than 24 hours or maybe right as you start the book, rather than when you're already part way through it? Well, I mean, I know why. But I also know that I'm much more likely to buy something if I feel like I'm really getting my money's worth. I do rather wish Choices offered something similar. There are a few stories so far I would have gladly paid a small amount like that to unlock a particular book, even for a limited time.