Member Interviews: YaoiGod

[Dreggit]

Welcome PSNP! Welcome back to the Member Interviews, amidst site updates and the chaos of the world, we take a moment to take some a break and shine a spotlight on @YaoiGod!

 

YaoiGod

 

Stock Questions

How did you come up with your PSN name?

I came up with my PSN name after playing Final Fantasy XIII on my previous account 8 to 9 years ago....and failing miserably at it. Anyways it's not a surprise that I'm a Lightning fan with that name, and that was literally my Muse at the time. I had the option to change it but YaoiGod was taken already (curse you!) and I see no reason in making yet another different online tag for myself.

 

What games convinced you get your PlayStation 3, Playstation Vita, and PlayStation 4?

Playstation Vita is the easiest to answer: Danganronpa, I saw that half-grinning half-menacing bear and I thought what a lovely kid friendly game! Look at them in a classroom looking slightly worried, that bear must be teaching them something tough! I can't wait to play it and have all my hopes and dreams be affirmed and not totally get too excited for characters dying!

Yeah so basically Danganronpa cemented the fact that I would buy a Vita before Christmas, and I did after working in a retail game store at the time.

Playstation 3 is another EAAAAASY one to answer: Disgaea 3. This is a bit of a fun story, so I did not know that there was a third game in the series until my brother pointed at a game case in a random game store we went to back in 2008 and told me that this is the third game of that blue shirtless boy with the grandma-voice, and that Mao, the protagonist of Disgaea 3, is actually the shirtless blue haired boy but in some Super Seiyan Form and that's why his hair is all frizzy and spiky, oh and I guess being powered up means you have glasses now too. Look we were like barely 11, imagination is literally wild at that age. Obviously 90% of what he hyped me up about were LIES.........but it's one of my favorite games back then and still is.

PS4: Kind of a boring answer compared to the other two but I'm almost certain it was....PS Plus games. Yup, I had no actual games and instead was excited that I had PS+ and meant that I would have free games when I bought the console. No AAA game at launch enticed me or even well after that.

 

Have you ever been tempted to switch over to the Xbox/Nintendo/PC gaming ecosystems?
Quite, yes. I have never owned any Xbox console and I only play FFXIV on PC from time to time but other than that I was raised mostly with Playstation. I did however cheat on sony from time to time by owning a gameboy color, GBA, N64, GameCube, a Wii, a DS and finally a Switch that I still own. Actually I might be a Nintendo guy more than a playstation guy but don't tell my uncle that definitely works at Sony.

 

What are your top 5 game series and why?

In no particular order:

1. Disgaea

Hilarious script, scenarios and delivery, addictive gameplay and sometimes the contrast between the colorful palettes and the grim netherworlds just pop as eye candy for me. I mean this series has the  second most playtime I have ever put in across all titles.

2. Project DIVA

Y'all, it's not a secret that I would put this series here, don't be surprised. I have owned literally every single game (except for Dreamy Theatre) back in PSP days to current gen games. It's just so addictive even though it's not really a "productive" game, that's not the point of this game. In my opinion Project DIVA exists so you can feel joy from playing a game while also listening to some top tier Vocaloid songs to match. Plus they feel like an idol gacha mobile game that have outfits for you to collect, minus the insane RNG and P2W aspects of course, except Project Sekai now exists so nevermind I guess? Oh did I mention that this series has, by a frickin' marathon compared to literally any other game, made me sink THOUSANDS of hours across all games.

3. Danganronpa

This series introduced me to the "interactive" VN/detective games and in such by googling more games Spike Chunsoft did, also helped introduce me to the Nonary Games series (which won't get a spot on this list unfortunately for variety reasons but hey keep reading and you might see it pop up). Back to Danganronpa, we have 3 Main entry games with the same but always improved "highschool captives" approach through the Visual Novel goggles, then we had Ultra Despair Girls, a spin-off game that's still important to the plot of this series regardless but a lot of people seem to dislike it because they literally took all the risks they could with this game, protagonist that isn't an Ultimate, the game genre is a third-person shooter using a megaphone to kill monokuma maid robots, not to mention the main story plot of literal CHIDLREN murdering adults. That spin-off game REALLY wanted to go over the edge and apparently that upset a lot of Danganronpa fans, not me though, I think it's spectacular, even platinum'd it twice. Anyways after the spin-off game we even got a 2-arc Anime for the conclusion and epilogue of the Hope's Peak Saga. I thought they were all great I really hope we get a 4th main entry game.

4. The Atelier Series

There's already a question asking me what I think of the series, so I decided to answer it in here as well to kill 2 birds with one stone.

So where to start? I never played an Atelier Game before or after Atelier Iris on the PS2, did not even know that the series was a "thing" back then. Anyways then I played Mana Khemia on the PSP and I thought holy frick isn't that Pamela from the Atelier games??? That opened my eyes to how massive the series is, and as such Pamela has a really warm spot in my heart ever since as one of the most iconic video game characters. A few years after that I happened upon a copy of Atelier Rorona.....and I didn't like it. The game admittedly had a lot of flaws that even GUST pretty much acknowledged, addressed and fixed simultaneously when they made the Plus versions of the Arland series. So I got hooked back into the series with Rorona Plus and then bought Totori Plus, then Meruru Plus.......then every single game afterwards except for Firis, Nelke, Lulua and Ryza (one day). I think I might be addicted. I have platinumed up to 7 atelier games so far, plus the PS3 version of Escha & Logy (so I guess 8?).

I even made 2 guides for the series on this site (one for Ayesha Plus and the other for Meruru Plus). Talking about the games themselves though, there is a pretty decent overall theme in each game, an up-and-coming young girl (or girls in case of Shallie and Lydie & Suelle, or girl and boy in case of Escha & Logy) run(s) an atelier that in most games isn't doing well until the kingdom wants to recruit the alchemist for their kingdom's benefit by synthesizing items for them, doing requests or even fighting monsters for them, or you know, following their dream with no ulterior motive. After that the game is divided into "assignments" that progress the plot and you get to see first-hand how the alchemist grows while doing these assignments. I personally find Atelier games, with an extreme exception of the Arland trilogy, to be a relaxing sand-box to sit back and enjoy your time gathering materials, fighting some enemy mobs with your created items, synthesize some new creations and even create your own trait, quality and effect combination for your own satisfaction, and sometimes I need that to balance the hectic and chaotic games I play as well. Fun fact, I'm currently working on Lydie & Suelle and it's really good as an Atelier game, really long too (or I'm slow), actually Kim Chi, the drag queen, apparently played Lydie & Suelle back in 2018 and she tweeted about needing help finding some ancient water.....if only I played Lydie & Suelle in 2018 so I could help.

5. Digimon.

This might be a bit confusing but please let me explain. First of all, I am more of a Digimon fan than a Pokemon fan but that has nothing to do with either series' quality or lineup, it's just based off the pure joy I felt growing up with Digimon, granted I also did grow up a bit with Pokemon, but it was around when I was 10-11, so digimon had the advantage on kid me by that point. Anyways we're talking about the games. I do not enjoy Pokemon games that much, it's basically playing a Digimon game but my brain goes into caveman mode for some reason. I don't know, soft spot for the underdog I guess? Right, so Digimon games come in different genres and styles pretty much like Pokemon, but my favorite of the series are the "Story" and "World" games. Rumble Arena 2 has a special place in my heart as well.

Honorable mentions (actually in order):

1.  Final Fantasy
2.  Persona
3. Kingdom Hearts
4. Hyperdimension Neptunia
5. The Nonary Games
6. Legend of Heroes
7. Ace Attorney
8. Criminal Girls
9. Dragon Quest
10. Tales of

 

What are your top 5 games and why?

Oh god this is such a hard question that I am happy to take a week's worth of time to answer:

In order:

1. Project DIVA Future Tone.

The definitive edition of the entire series, includes almost all songs from previous games and the arcade version with a few exceptions. Almost 300 songs (+ more if you count covers by other vocaloids) in one $45 Package (+ more for DLC). If that isn't a good deal back in 2017 and even more so now, I don't know what is. Of course this game has some flaws such as 3 or 4 DLC songs kinda being ehhhhh and that kinda matters when the season pass is like 9 songs (so 33.33% or 44.44% of the DLC flopped for me) but that isn't an issue since it's not the main game's fault. I also have this severe issue with the lack of Project DIVA F 2nd remastered PVs of old songs that game brought back then that are no where to be found in Future Tone? Why you gotta use the same crusty dusty ugly-ass PVs and pretend that F 2nd PVs did not happen? That's cheap. Megamix is not innocent of this either. Aside from those issues, I literally can play this game for hours daily, the variety is so much it's almost overwhelming.

2. It's Hard to choose favorites between Disgaea games, but I have chosen......Disgaea 3.

Let's start by saying Miss Disgaea 2 is never forgotten by me, I love that game so much and I hope they give it the attention they are giving Disgaea 4 and 5, however Disgaea 3 is such a mood and a vibe that it slightly has the edge on my favoritism spectrum.

Disgaea 3 has 3 of my favorite characters as part of the main game, Raspberyl (the absolute icon and queen), Salvatore (we love strong, independent lesbians and we love to see it luvs) and Marona (from Phantom Brave, another Iconic game). Actually let's take a pause here because I have something to say. Phantom Brave, Z.H.P, Soul Nomad and La Pucelle Tactics SLAP, if you have not played any of them and you're a fan of Disgaea, you might find your next favorite game in them. Back to Deciding why I chose Disgaea 3 over Disgaea 2.

Now with the vita version of 3, I got access to all the DLC content, just how I like to play my Disgaea games. And comparing the DLC roster to Disgaea 2's DLC list....it's not even a competition on who wins that, so another point for D3. D2 has the amazing Flonne and Etna special movie in postgame so that's definitely worth a few points, however Disgaea 3 has Flonne as well, but in a lesser role and no special movie in it, still not bad. Next the story. D2's story is more enjoyable and serious in the front and the back, and a bit more mature. However, D3 literally had you explore the protagonist's heart, pry the heart vault open, realize how effed up it is to force something out of someone and have to close it again, only for it to open willingly once danger ensues. All while you, the player, see for yourself how much the protagonist has changed even if his heart didn't open....and we call that character growth. Anyways now onto postgame content......i hate D2's postgame content in Adell's mode, I do not like how Carnage Land and pirates are handled here and I couldn't care less about Axel Mode (even though I love his family, bless them). D3's Postgame content.....muwah, chef's a-kiss! There's even a DLC campaign for Beryl....you know, one of my favorite characters ever only second to Flonne.

Disgaea 3 also introduced Evilities, one of my favorite modern disgaea features. So I think it's pretty clear why Disgaea 3 wins from my perspective =D

3. Namco x Capcom

Y'all already KNOW what's up with this choice of mine. Namco x Capcom SLAPS and EATS every crossover game (except for probably SSB) in its way. It's a crossover game like I said, but the gameplay is turn-based grid selection, and the actual, like, fighting gameplay is so bizarre and iconic. So basically, you move a character next to an enemy that they can reach with their attack range. Some characters have a Short Range and a Long range form, but by selecting the Long Range form you basically can't choose any of the short range attacks. So when the game transitions into the 1v1 (or 2v1 and 3v1 even) battle screen, you deal damage by moving the character next to the enemy and...unleashing a fighting game-esque set of commands provided to you, every character has a side attack, uppercut attack, a directionless attack and a downward attack, just like a fighting game but mixed in this fantasy JRPG world where KOSMOS can literally make M. Bison eat sh*t. Oh my god the character roster, there are so many characters pulled from so many games, and even VOICE ACTING!!!! THE BUDGET!

Anyways sad news is that it never saw the light of day in the west and instead its two sequels, Project X (and X2 maybe?) were Released in the west, but in my heart Namco x Capcom did the damn thing and then some even way back then. Anyways I hear you saying how did I get a hold of this game in the west if it was a japan-only game? Honestly don't know nor care, it was a hand-me-down from my siblings. Couldn't read or understand a damn thing back then but I was getting my life playing it.

It's my favorite JRPG ever and I will die with that statement.

4. Danganronpa V3

(Some spoilers ahead)

Already explained earlier why Danganronpa is one of my top series, but I can't pick my top 5 games of all time without including any of the danganronpa games, I happened to pick Danganronpa V3 because until the last chapter....this was presumed to be way past or even an AU of a certain arc that the other 3 games presumably ended, so from the start up until that point you're exploring a fresh arc and just soaking in that traditional main entry Danganronpa type of gameplay, story and interactivity and I was just constantly blown away each and every chapter. Here's hoping for a 4th main entry game or honestly I would like to see a spin-off game as well. Anything danganronpa is a-ok in my book.

5. Mana Khemia

Hmmmmm.....this list is turning out to be just me picking a game from each game series I already listed in the previous question and......what about it?

Anyways Mana Khemia, the spin-off of the Atelier series featuring frickin' Pamela as a playable character. Mana Khemia is basically an atelier game, but in a school-ground setting.....and with an Ar Tonelico/Atelier Iris take on the battle mechanics. How cool is that. It's very polished, well-rounded, atmospheric, has a pretty constantly enjoyable story, the side stories are entertaining and the combat is just amazing.

VERY Honorable Mentions that are just as precious and valuable to me as the 5 above:

1. Dragon Shadow Spell (this was a similar story to Namco x Capcom, japan-only, hand-me-down, could not understand a thing when I was a kid but still felt fabulous playing it)
2. Ar Tonelico 1 & 2
3. Soul Nomad
4. Phantom Brave
5. Final Fantasy IX
6. Persona 5
7. Hyperdevotion Noire
8. The Caligula Effect: Overdose (INCREDIBLE original soundtrack)
9. Tales of Symphonia 2
10. Ni No Kuni
11. Final Fantasy XIII trilogy (oops not sorry about it)
12. Kingdom Hearts 2
13. Transistor (amazing game AND soundtrack)
14. Resonance of Fate
15. Digimon World 2 and 3, Cyber Sleuth, Hacker's Memory, World DS, Rumble Arena 2.
16. The Nonary Games
17. Rainbow Skies
18. ANY legend of heroes: Trails of Cold Steel game.
19. Final Fantasy Tactics + Advance + Advance 2.
20. Paper Mario 64
21. Riviera: The Promised Land

 

Which unreleased game(s) are you looking forward to the most and why?

I'm looking forward to the release of these games, and by the time this interview comes out I would probably have more on my list but let's focus on the Now:

1. Disgaea 6. A no-brainer for me.
2. Digimon Survive, also known as the game stuck in Delay Hell.
3. Atelier Ryza 2 because the more people buy atelier games the more atelier titles we will have and the series wouldn't need to die.
4. Monster Sanctuary.
5. Vigil: The Longest Night
6. Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
7. Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhyth/mic Adventure Pack
8. The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel IV. Still have the third game to tackle until it comes out, so take your time luvs.
9. Ys IX: Monstrum Nox
10. Bravely Default II
11. LoveLive! After School Activity WaiWai Home Meeting only!

 

Do you have any other hobbies outside of gaming?

Why yes, so my favorite hobby is obviously drawing, writing and sketching, actually before I became a Mangaka I used to do it for fun and obviously with time and practice you get better and cringe at your old work but it's still a part of you. I still enjoy it and while I'm on a hiatus from being a Mangaka, I'm still drawing and making stuff, sometimes even get paid for digital work other people request of me but it's also VERY hard and anxiety-riddled to do commissions, just try to be nice while also being cautious if you commission art, yes you're paying money for a service but humans are faulty creatures, the artist being late or caught up alongside some occasional errors do not mean the end of the world for anyone and most of the time it can be made up for or fixed. I got a lot of requests for Halloween-themed art and it made me delay answering this lovely interview by my PSNP community because people just needed to have their requests done in such short notice, and I appreciate @Dreggit for being patient with me.

My other hobby is Drag. I basically started doing drag once quarantine hit and so technically I'm a baby/beginner drag queen. I'm not doing it as a job yet for obvious reasons but even when I do, I will still consider it a hobby and a passion of mine first.

Now for an actual hobby that I don't plan on making it a job is sewing. I make most of my boy clothes and my drag clothes, even some of my husband's wardrobe, because I'm more on the struggling-financially side so sometimes you gotta pick up a new skill or start to learn how to make stuff yourself. Also helped me decorate my house as well by creating covers for tables and custom design curtains.

 

Top 5 TV shows, Movies, and/or anime, why, and would you recommend them to people?

I don't watch a lot of TV shows but I am quite in love with reality TV shows so hope you didn't click off already. I don't think I will be including specific reasons to watch them because I learned that everyone is different in what they take from media or what they enjoy in them.

In no order

1. RuPaul's Drag Race
2. America's Next Top Model
3. Celebrity Big Brother UK
4. Flavor of Love
5. American Horror Story (Coven is the only one I could watch without a pillow covering most of my face, so she's my fave for that)

Movies, though, I definitely get attracted to campy, fun movies rather than serious ones. I also took liberty of doubling the number for the list, sue me.

1. Mommy Dearest
2. The Birdcage
3. Drop Dead Gorgeous
4. Shark Attack 3: Megalodon (fully trashy like you would expect but wow what a moment that's most pleasing to me in my career, watch this compilation here if you wanna laugh but not watch the entire movie)
5. Legally Blonde
6. Clueless.
7. Addams Family Values
8. A Goofy Movie
9. Troop Beverly Hills
10. Mars Attacks
11. Scream

Anime is kinda hard, I have not watched anime for a long time but I guess I will try pulling from my memory I will try to list them

1. Mirei Nikki
2. Elfen Lied
3. Sekai-icho Hatsukoi
4. Fate/Unlimited Blade Works
5. The Original Yu-Gi-Oh!
6. WIXOSS series
7. Osomatsu-san

 

Top 5 favorite music bands/group/artists/composers/ost?

Instead of a Top # List, I will instead just talk about what I listen to and who do I listen to. I feel more comfortable doing that.

Lady Gaga is the music artist that I have listened to the most throughout my entire life. At least one song of hers is always ony my playlist, if not more. She is an icon, she is a legend and she is the moment now come on now.

Let's not forget about Ariana Grande, while I don't always get what she sings in that high-pitch note, I always admire it and anyway she's also an icon and a legend. Side to Side, Positions, No tears left to cry, God is a Woman, 7 Rings, thank you next. Very strong list imo.

I also listen to some of Charli XCX's songs on-and-off. Her songs are good for certain moods and periods of the year so my playlist is always shuffling one song of hers in or out.

The gay community also seems to be obsessed with Dua Lipa, I only like One Kiss, Physical and Don't Start Now. Wouldn't call myself a huge fan or anything.

Now that my mainstream list is over let's get into Vocaloid music. I'm obsessed with the community and the power voice banks have alongside the people who produce the song. My favorite songs at the current time are Melty Land Nightmare, Patchwork Staccato, ECHO, Rolling Girl, See the Lights by IA, a Realistic Logical Ideologist by IA, The Living Ghost is Alive by flower, People Allergy by flower, Koshitantan [Project DIVA F 2nd Edit ver.] and Poster Girl's Prank.

I'm also a fan of the music the franchise called LoveLive! Produces but I won't get into much details there, let's just say Yuu&Ai and Aion no Uta slap.

As for game OSTs, I'm a very big fan of those and would go out of my way to own CDs or digital versions of them if I'm into the entire sountrack. The Caligula Effect: Overdose soundtrack and Transistor soundtrack are a couple of perfect examples for some GOOD soundtracks from start to finish, for me at least. Highly recommend giving them a listen. This battle remix from Caligula is my favorite because of how intense Reina Ueda (the voice of Mu and the singer of 97% of the entire soundtrack, ugh her range) sings the last part of the song. Did I mention that the entire soundtrack is also composed by different well-known Vocaloid composers and producers, can this soundtrack appeal to me even more??

 

Your favorite platinum and why?

Man, that's quite a heavy question. 161 of them, and I have to choose one? Well I will try to divide them into groups of "favorites" to make it easier on me.

My favorite platinum that didn't take me out of the immersion I had in the game by doing its trophies definitely has to be Project DIVA F 2nd, they introduced those challenge lists and I am a sucker for challenges written in clear, bold words. That list while finite, it offers more enjoyment to me personally than Project DIVA X's trophylist where that list is almost all random thanks to the RNG drop chance mechanic, which is cool by itself as well but I have a soft spot for "Do this in this specific and very clear detail" trophylists.

My favorite platinum that took a long time to achieve goes to Rainbow Skies, doesn't require a 100% in-game completion yet it takes 80+ hours to get the platinum, so even after getting the platinum, you're not finished playing yet.

My favorite platinum EVER goes to Ni No Kuni, I think the list is so fabulous, so much that I even completed it twice hehe.

 

Your least favorite platinum and why?

Ether One for the most glitchy and unresponsive game award, did not enjoy that mess.

And it's a tie between Sorcery Saga and A.W. Phoenix Festa for the most barebone game with grindfest trophy lists for NO reason other than to milk gametime award.

 

If you could have one game from any gaming generation be remade or re-released, which one would it be and why?

Namco x Capcom obviously, not Project X or whatever, I want the original. I also would love a remake of Ar Tonelico 1 or 2, Qoga was a major failure imo and killed the series with it so a remake of the best of the best in that series would definitely revive it and bring in the money honey.

Mana Khemia for sure, Riviera: The Promised Land, Phantom Brave, Soul Nomad, Bomberman 3D, Final Fantasy IX, and so on. Sorry but I can't just pick one.

 

How far are you willing to go for a platinum?

I don't think it's ridiculous to say that my limit on how far I would go for a platinum is also ridiculous, I have done platinums with loads of playthroughs, ones that could have been platinum'd in 70+ hours but instead have one or two trophies that only exist to milk game time, and so much more bullshit just to hear that bling sound

Take sorcery saga, dark rose valkyrie and A.W. Phoenix Festa as examples, all trashy games with several grindy troohies that literally reward nothing. What did I gain from killing 10k monsters in dark rose valkyrie and climbing 80+ floors of one dungeon almost 80 times in sorcery saga? Depression and hatred for myself.

I also paid $13 for DLC when i did Dark Rose Valkyrie because I simply don't think any normal human can do those insane requirements without giving a bucket of money to the developers. Did I mention that I bought the game for $6, not even 50% of the amount I paid for its DLC. I do regret it and I'm not proud of it.

 

What feature (besides backwards compatibility) do you think the next console generation should have?

Well sadly the next console has already been revealed and will be out to the public in less than two weeks so what I say here is something I'm hoping PS6 will have. I definitely would like the portable idea, I am very lazy and my console gaming setup isn't too favorable at the moment (working on it) to encourage me to sit my ass in there rather than my desk or bed, but I would love if the next console has a portable feature, I would be fine if there was something like a Switch Lite version of it as well.

 

What is your favorite thing about PSNP?

Sharing whatever random thought or game update I have using status updates, and best thing is that the 5 or so most recent ones get shown on the main page of the forum so more people are prone to see it and maybe contribute to the conversation or join in on how much fun a game is.

 

What is your least favorite thing about PSNP?

Well it's obviously not strictly applied to PSNP's side of the forums only because all forums have these issues but since PSNP is the one I only use I think they are valid. Duplicate thread making, arguments aplenty, elitists that get offended when you call them out on it only to shift the blame to something else, I have not had any scuffle with any member here without personally moving on from it even if they don't and I intend to keep it that way because everyone is very opinionated on the internet and I learned to just let it go unlike disney, did you know Olaf is having a damn movie about his backstory or something, wild.

 

Is there anyone in the PSNP Community you would like to give a shout out too and if so why?

Of course, Jeieem/@JaM. JaM is an absolute icon and my best friend on this site, I have talked to him basically since I joined this site, he's a cool and friendly guy and we happened to have a lot of things in common and so I really enjoy chatting with him and hearing his opinions on a lot of things, also he's a frickin' legendary masochist when it comes to games, and he dedicates his time and energy into them without complaining much, something I could never do luvs. I mean we became friends because I said I love The Amazing World of Gumball 6 years ago on some random thread here, you can't get more iconic than that.

 

Community Questions

Your country on PSN is Saudi Arabia and you say you are gay, do you actually currently reside in Saudi Arabia or is it your country of origin?

The answer is not that impressive I'm afraid, a bit of a backstory is necessary I guess. I'm actually Half Lebanese half Italian, I think I mentioned it on the website a couple of times and I even told JaM about it so it's not really something that I intended to keep secret, just not worth mentioning unless relevant, like now. Originally born and raised in Italy but somewhere in 2012 we used to live in Saudi Arabia for like a year in a compound thanks to my father's work at the time, but like I said it only lasted a year or a little more and the reason I made both of my accounts of that region is that I could use PSN top-up wallet cards that I could buy in that area, because back then the retail stores there did NOT have any japanese games that weren't already super popular outside of japan, so I had to resort to buying the games or DLC digitally through the only way I had access to as a naive kid, the PSN store. I wasn't out in that country if that is the answer you guys might have wondered about if you saw my PSN flag, I feel like the backstory was kinda necessary since this is an interview but if you felt that it was long then I don't blame you. Now, I moved to Canada with my husband 2 years ago but because I was just a kid back then, I didn't know that region-choice would make people question why I did it, make it seem like it's an ironic metaphor to how I identify or make it seem like I was making fun of anyone because that genuinely was not my intention, I just happened to buy a PS3 when I was there and the rest issssssssssssss history.

 

What's your favorite Pokemon and why?

Togepi was my OG favorite because it literally was a cracked egg that could destroy worlds if it wished with its little cutesy arms.

Piplup is my absolute favorite, I'm not really that fan of penguins but something about Piplup makes me wish I had a plushie of him and I don't think I looked at most pokemons and thought that way.

Hatterene is my favorite new-gen pokemon as well, she looks very elegant and also all her forms basically will snap your neck if you emit any strong emotions near them and I felt that

 

Any games you'd recommend for switch owners?

Uhhhh yes! I'm keeping the recommendation to third-party titles though since most first-party nintendo games are well-established already.

• Mary Skelter 2 (you actually get the first and second game if you buy this in the switch shop),
• Astral Chain
• Bravely Default II
• Mercenaries Saga Chronicle

Also two very honorable mentions, didn't put them in the main list since they are available on PS4 but I feel they were made to be played on Handheld mode:

• Fell Seal: Arbiter's Mark
• Bug Fables

 

As an artist, what are your thoughts on the below drawing I doodled on a sticky note as I waited for reports to run at work? Feel free to make critiques, compliments, suggestions for my next work, etc... I can take it!

Spoiler

Wow I'm impressed that this was just something you whipped out while waiting, do you draw or sketch by any chance? If so, it shows. I do have some small critiques as well but they should be taken as ways of improvement rather than criticizing it. Again I'm talking about improvements on something you just happened to do while waiting so please don't take offense to them.

1. The top right corner of your work looks very...empty and out of place, almost like you just happened to have the corner empty by the time you finished your flower orchids on the right side and your galaxy/space rocket-launch theme on the left side. That can happen on physical drawings and it's very understandable. My tip on this part is just to ignore it if it happens on a physical surface, trying to draw it in will draw more unnecessary attention to it. Draw your handle or artist tag on it instead! If it gets more attention with that, it will be a good thing because people will have a clear vision of your handle/contact method that way! Otherwise leave it empty if it's such a small corner anyways and you don't have the time or means to trace it back into one of your themes.

2. On the very left column of the note you can see that small column of space is blank, now IF you plan to blend it in the background, my tip would be to either draw some small falling leaves or miniature stars that are almost dot-like to tie in with your overall theme.

My critiques end here, again great job and great work on being able to differentiate everything you drew using only one color (i assume at least).

 

Knack 2 when?

H- wh- that's the most random question I have ever received, I didn't even play the first game. But okay you got me, I got the game for free....but from what I have seen, it's not something that I can't wait to play, but I will give it a fair shot in 2021 once I own a PS5, if it's compatible.

When the Interview Project was approved to come back, what were your thoughts? Were you hopeful? What do you think would improve this project?

I was surprised and also happy, I like learning about the people who preside in this community, new and old. So hope it continues to be a success! I was genuinely not expecting to get on this project and be interviewed so quickly but it finally happened.

For the most part I think the project itself, the host of the project and standard questions lists are doing a very good job of what they sought out to do, however an "improvement" would be alongside the standard question list, a question or two unique to the person would be very interesting to see, but that might be too much trouble to go through as a host and also the standard list does a good job of making each interview feel unique as is. Oh how about including standard questions about Youtube? Everyone is basically on that platform at some point everyday so it would be interesting to know what people watch or follow there.

Do you play online games or co-op games with friends?

Not really? The most games I play co-op or online nowadays are BlazBlue CTB and Super Smash Bros. I also play FFXIV on PC from time to time. However, I used to be a HUGE fan of Warframe on PS4 and would play it online with my friends at the time. Might give online play a try in the future again, maybe even on PS5?

What was your favourite part about platting Sorcery Saga?

The audacity of asking such a question, you KNOW damn well that Sorcery Saga is my favorite game ever made and I have nothing but loving wishes to its developers and every single person who worked on it. Simply can't pick one.

Now that pile of lies is done with, my favorite part about Sorcery Saga is the outfit change option (These producers are fecking idiots)

Out of the five guides you've written, which are you the most proud of?

I actually wrote 13 guides! The 5 you saw were probably just a summarized recent list. To go back on topic, my favorite is the very first one I ever made, Project DIVA F 2nd! So proud of my idoitic past self for not quitting on small details, the translations I made back then were somewhat rough so I have some nice folks correct some misinformations on it from time to time and I appreciate that!

Close second and third are my Arc the Lad TotS and Atelier Meruru Plus guides. The details I put in them were really fun to remember, trying to figure out the best way to list them or convey their message was fun and challenging, and even had fun writing down most of my notes on my phone's Memo as I played the game.

What's it like to live in or close to a desert if you do. If not - how'd  you think it'd feel like?

I don't live in one but I imagine you wouldn't need to use an A/C at nights since they get so cold at night. Though I can't imagine living in one, thinking of the many things crawling in the sand, under rocks, or even pests you find yourself would trigger some heavy anxiety attacks for me.

Hmmmm something else that's positive....i guess you would have a lot of space? Not much pollution? No annoying neighbors?

How did you get into Project DIVA? Did anyone introduce you to it?

Okay so fun history lesson about my younger self, I was introduced to the series with Project DIVA F, that's right I did not know the PSP games existed, and honestly who could blame me? The PSP games were japan-only. Anyway so how I stumbled upon our vocaloid gods is that I saw F on the PS3 PSN store and there was a demo option, so I downloaded that, did not know what vocaloids were and Played Tengaku and Weekender Girl and thought hmm I think these girls got too trigger happy with the autotone.....you're allowed to laugh at her (young me). And then I got tired of just playing on normal and also just two songs, so I researched the series on google and found out about the PSP games and thought hey I have that portable nut so I also took a free online course through youtube on how to illegaly download ISOs onto your PSP (not before taking ANOTHER course about the library of vocaloid music back then so I would be *smacks lips*.....cultured, mmmm the flavor) and the rest is what you see now.

What would you say is your proudest "Perfect" across the series?

So a bit of context about the songs I will mention below, I play these games on extreme (and/or Extra Extreme for Future Tone). I genuinely think any lesser difficulty is so empty and boring for me. Doesn't mean that I can perfect any song I want, even if it's just a standard on extreme, I will take it. I don't judge other people for what difficulty they play on either, live your life luvs.

I would say Two-Sided Lovers on F 2nd is my proudest perfect from that game, one from X would be Holy Lance Explosion Boy. I blocked F out of my memory so I don't remember, I was also a beginner back then so probably Freely Tomorrow. 2nd I remember being proud of perfecting my lesbian anthem Magnet and on Extend would be Sekiranun Graffiti because it was the opening theme for Extend.

As for Future Tone, do you have the time cuz hoo boy I have a ton, but I did narrow it down to:

Absolunote, the chart is so wack and off-putting that I never was able to replicate it again. Rumours say if you look closely in the thumbnail when you put the cursor on the song you can see me try perfecting it again.

Leia is a close second. Also I got 95%+ on ExExtreme Iroha Uta and I don't know how, when, why and who.

Are you competitive on the Future Tone leaderboards?

Not really. I am obssesed about the percentage bar and try to get as many perfects as possible to go beyond 100% (often getting to 103-105%) but I didn't even know there was a leaderboard until one of the project diva youtubers I watch mentioned it and checked it out, and I was like oh wow, didn't know that was there. I would definitely try to get into the competitive scene once I get a new controller.

For Future Tone specifically, do you use "macros" (in-game custom button mapping) for holds and tricky note patterns?

I do, I mapped Triangle+Circle+Square+X on the L2 button because the lower shoulder buttons are snappy and respond better to multiple holds, quick presses and the such. I don't think there's anything wrong for using Macros, you got 4 shoulder buttons, use them all honestly.

Which game in the series have you sunk the most time into?

Project DIVA Future Tone, easily.  1082 hours in total apparently.

F 2nd was a close second because I was really addicted to playing Edit charts, unfortunately can't tell you how many hours I spent on that one.

Have you dabbled with the Edit mode (custom PV/chart creation tools) in F or F 2nd?

I have actually tried making some on I think Project DIVA Extend, weren't horrible and just mainly for me to play but I have not done so ever since because I don't have the time unfortunately. However I used to download a lot of edits on F 2nd and play their custom charts, there were some great quality ones in that game.

From the god himself, which is the best yaoi?

The DRAMAtical Murder visual novel.

 

What do you think about this new level system?

Seems pretty harmless I guess, I don't know how it works yet or how they calculated the new ones based off the old ones but I hope it means that sony are more interested in modifying trophies or rewarding peeps for them in the future.

 

What weird food combinations do you enjoy?

Spread cheese on toast and BBQ/Spicy/Chili chips, I don't know I just like some spicy flavor to accompany the cheese taste. I don't like cheese flavored chips though. Another one would be cherries sprinkled with salt.

 

If you were to write a yaoi with one videogame character in it, which character would you throw in?

Um surprise but I actually make yaoi doujinshi as part of my Mangaka career. I have made a lot of them with ADULT video game characters like Snow from FFXIII, Aoba from DRAMAtical Murder, Bruce McGivern from Resident Evil (i know him from Namco x Capcom and his character sprite is also hotter there anyways), etc.
 

But a character that I would love to put in a future one is Juris Gruden from Atelier Ayesha.

 

How do you feel about the handling of the pandemic? Do you feel that anything could've been better executed to handle this?

I think every country handled the pandemic in their own ways, in Canada we actually got to go see drag queens perform around july-august and apparently everywhere else was still on lockdown so that was weird. I don't know much about what other countries did but if you meant america then surely the president acting like the pandemic is a hoax until he contracted it is definitely not good look for anyone. I think the pandemic could have been handled better if the economy stopped until the complete lockdown was over. Or rent should have been put on halt for just a couple of monthes.

 

What separates RPGs and JRPGs, in terms of what provides you with a mesmerizing experience?

Hmm, maybe in my introduction I may have made it seem like only JRPGs can mesmerize me, which is completely false, it's just that JRPGs are a much safer bet for me personally to get the enjoyment that I would expect from playing the genre compared to RPGs, where western RPGs have many sub-genres mixed within them  that each experience might be different from the other. It's not a bad thing, just that I have to do a lot of research before I buy an RPG game for those reasons. So basically both are wonderful, just easier for me to be invested with the setting of a JRPG game from the get.

 

Based on your name, I assume you like manga. What's your favorite manga of all time? (In general, because there is a yaoi-specific question already).

Not to be predictable, but my favorite manga of all time is actually a yaoi manga hehe. But for variety reasons here are my top 6 in no specific order.

Yaoi:

1. Ten Count
2. Love Stage!!
3. Mousou Elektel.

Non-Yaoi

1. Spy x Family
2. Akira.
3. Violet Evergarden

 

On a scale of 1 to 10, how much of a weeb are you?

Hmmmmm....a nice 7/10. Would be an 8/10 if I watched more Anime.

 

Have you ever been abroad?

I have, been to KSA and Canada before settling in Canada.

 

What country/countries would you like to visit?

Ooooooh......easy answer would be Japan, it just seems unreal and I wanna see it for myself. Germany would be a nice country to visit or even have a vacation in it as well.

 

Looking at your profile, you have a variety of games with romance options. What's a game you'd loved to see a gay option in, and with what character?

Zero Time Dilemma's Sigma is a character that I would love to romance in a game.

I also think Persona games should get on with it and just put gay options in.

I also think a JRPG should exist that has individual heroine romancing mechanic leading into endings, but instead of heroines it's very gay, or you know, could be heroine but lesbians, I don't discriminate. I don't want to just see BL represented in VNs anymore.

 

Do you have any upcoming guides or games you'd like to write a guide on?

Summon Night 6 is the lastest guide I'm "working on". It's a heavy project and by the quotation marks I used earlier you probably summed up that I have not done much of that work....on it. It's just a lot of talking and pointers and I'm afraid of it turning out to be a mess. Not giving up on it though, I didn't make like, 12 memo sheets on my phone with notes about the game I could not find anywhere online in clear text just for it to never see the light of day and not help other people.

 

Do you play an instrument?

I used to have a drum set when I was younger, probably would suck at it now but this could change in the future.

 

Will you ever try to get a VITA again, or maybe even a PS3?

Absolutely, as long as there are still games exclusive to that console, I will still try to get both of them in the future. Disgaea D2 and Cross Edge are enough reasons for me to want to buy a PS3 again honestly. Oh I would even throw a PSP in there as well, that portable nut was god-tier.
 

Is there any game that will forever haunt your nightmares?

Oh god, do you have the time for me to sit and list them? Yes? Okay. I have divided the below games into platinum nightmares and just nightmare games in general....actually nevermind, I just reviewed the list and the quality of the platinum nightmares is also horrible so here's one list.

• Sorcery Saga
• A.W. Phoenix Festa
• Dark Valkyrie Rose
• Arc of Alchemist.

If you meant haunt my nightmares as a frightening or scary sentement....then there isn't much memories of that within me because i don't play much horror games to begin with but i can provide one example: Until Dawn, you're in the basement with the creepy dollhouse, girl with glasses leaves the room, your character follows suit until a frickin' jumpscare ghoul-ghost lady pops in and just traumatizes you forever, or at least it did for me. I also think of the first Resident Evil game when you meet the first zombie ever and they turn around but i think that's a given for an iconic shock and fright moment. I guess also seeing Mileena from Mortal Kombat without her veil haunts my dreams anytime it happens.

 

Is Pineapple on pizza a sin or a blessing?

It's neither. I know people who put ketchup on pizza even thogh one of pizza's main ingredients is SAUCE (usually at least) so y'know, put whatever you want on YOUR pizza as long as you don't touch MINE is my general motto. Thank you for coming to my ted talk.
 

Trails of Cold Steel 3 when?

Funny you would mention it, just bought it recently. It's currently the most expensive game I bought in 2020, and it was even at a discount. Hope to see the quality content I signed up for when I get to this game soon.
 

What would you say is a good "entry game" for anyone looking to get into JRPGs?

Tough question to answer unbiased, I guess it's a person-to-person case on what they think is a good "opening statement" to the genre. In my personal opinion it would be based on what consoles you can get a hold of. In MY personal opinion, I think Final Fantasy Tactics is a perfect fit for newcomers and fans alike. If you want something more....weeb-ish, I think Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth 1 is fantastic to welcome in people interested in JRPGs....or scare them off hehehe.

A third option I see fit to help newcomers fall in love with the genre is Dark Cloud 2/Dark Chronicle, I can't put it in words but if you played this game before you might get why I chose it.
 

What is your opinion on the Atelier Series?

I have written a detail explaination on why Atelier is one of my top 5 game series so I hope you don't mind but I wrote my opinions on it there if you wanna check it out (Question #4 for general view and Question #5 for why Mana Khemia is my favorite of the series).
 

To my surprise, I noticed you only have 1 of your 4 Persona dancing games platted. Is there a reason for that?

Honestly laziness and the fact that my DS4 is very clunky and sticky at the moment, I haven't played much rhythm games since this problem started happening and hope I get it fixed. Definitely not forgetting about any of them though.

 

________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you to all of those that participated in asking questions in this rendition of Member Interviews.

Spoiler

 

@Sergen @Beyondthegrave07 @ZoutjeNL @Dr_Mayus @DoctorDrPepper @Rally-Vincent--- @ExistentialSolid @Crzy Minus @Phantochi @kidson2004 @VigilantCrow @Alderriz @Berendsapje

 

 

Edited October 31, 2020 by Dreggit

[Aeternull]

That was fun to read =) 

[Beyondthegrave07]

Thank you for the tips on my artwork, and if you were wondering, it started off as just a sketch of a rocket shooting off exhaust and well, damn those reports took longer than I expected.?

 

I did see that Mirai Nikki was one of your favorite anime @YaoiGod. So serious question.... Are you a Yuno fan? Answer wisely.

[kidson2004]

Fantastic interview! 

[Dr_Mayus]

Such love for Sorcery Saga ?

[ExistentialSolid]

Awesome interview! Thanks for taking the time to answer all of the Project DIVA questions I threw in there!  

That was a great story on how you first got into the series and you've got some serious skills to be able to perfect charts like Two-Sided Lovers in F 2nd and Absolunote in FT. Can absolutely relate to some charts just being wack. Even in the most recent MegaMix DLCs, there are some really janky sections like the absurdly quick ending to Bring It On or "that spam" in Ooedo Julianight (maybe the entirety of Jitterbug too). I could probably write a very long list of charts that make me shudder in one way or another. 

If you ever get that competitive itch, you might have fun climbing the "Clear %" leaderboards for EX/EXEX since you enjoy building the percentage bar. You may already know, but there's a really helpful site dedicated to the competitive side of Future Tone where you can find routes/hold switches for Max% or Score Attacks along with video references (the site is called "108Memo"). 

100% agreed about macros by the way. I've never really understood why some players think it's a cheap way to play; the game was designed for an arcade cabinet and would be borderline unplayable (especially holds) without macros on the shoulder buttons to assist. I think I've only ever pressed a handful of quad notes the "real" way in my time with the game (quads are almost always L2/R2 for me). 

Edited October 31, 2020 by ExistentialSolid