Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer, Endless Fun

Happy clients are the best!

I love the Animal Crossing games because for me they are a lot of fun. I really enjoyed Animal Crossing: New Leaf, but I didn't like some of the time constraints that were involved. Plus that Tom Nook really has a racket running the town. I was pretty excited for Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer the more I read about it. Then I started playing it and I absolutely loved it because there are no time constraints and it's so much fun to play. In the game you are an employee of Nook's Homes and design homes for the various animal villagers based on their interests and suggestions. You can also decide where to place a client's home when the map pops up. A mountain home, a beach house, or a desert oasis are just some of the choices. You don't just design homes however. You can also design a variety of buildings for the town such as restaurants, shops, and a school. Dragging and dropping items is a nice change from the pushing and pulling items to move them. This also makes it easier to fix mistakes or undo something. It's also easier to customize colors and patterns and as you progress you can unlock even more items for your designs.

   

Oh, a cute little cafe design!

You can also decorate the outside of a client's house, choosing a variety of roof colors, house colors, and items for their yard like gardens and swings. You can also revisit clients and do things like a house upgrade or even redecorate their home for them. Another cool thing is the Happy Home Network. You can upload any house or building you've designed and you can visit other people's homes and rate them. You can take pictures of your designs and post them to social media as well showing off your creative skills which is pretty neat too.

You can design an awesome yard for your clients.

There are also themed contests via the Happy Home network such as a candy house or a Halloween house. There are also Amiibo cards which look like Pokemon trading cards and they work exactly the same way that the Amiibo figures do without all that extra bulk. The Amiibo cards work exclusively with the New 3DS and New 3DS XL. If you want to use them with the old 3DS, 3DS XL, and 2DS you can use the NFC Reader/Writer accessory.

 After you've designed a couple of homes, you'll get the whole introduction to the Amiibo cards and how to use them as well as having an Amiibo phone in the Nook's Homes office. You'll be prompted to use an Amiibo card and when you do you'll be sent to the client's home where you can design to your heart's content. Each Amiibo card has different characters that you can design for. Another cool feature with these is if you have friends who have Amiibo cards, you can share furniture simply by visiting a client by tapping the Amiibo card to your friend's screen and if you do it twice the character will remember all their furniture. It's a fun way to socialize and get more items for your designs. 

A forest of books!

I do wish you had your own house to decorate as all the designing only happens in town or in a client's home. That's not a big deal though because you can design the buildings any way you want and I put a lot of my own personal touches in things like the school and a concert hall. There's also lots to choose from with the designs and items making for a unique and entertaining experience. This is all about creativity and just having a good time with it. I'm still playing the game, trying out all these different things as well as checking out other people's awesome designs. Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer overall is a great game full of endless fun. 

Designers unite!

Dragon Age Inquisition Trespasser DLC Review: All The Bells, Whistles, and More

 Many folks know I was deeply disappointed with The Descent DLC for Dragon Age Inquisition, so of course I was skeptical about the Trespasser DLC. Then I watched the teaser trailer for it and then watched it again. It gave me hope because it not only looked interesting, it promised answers to many of the questions we were left with at the end of the main story line and as this is the final DLC it promised to give an ending to the story. 

The beginning of Trespasser took an interesting perspective setting the scene two years later after the events with Corypheus. What happens when a world that needed saving no longer needs saving? is the main question of Trespasser as it begins at The Winter Palace for a meeting with the Exalted Council. 

The Inquisition on parade at The Winter Palace

 I played this DLC on my female Qunari Inquisitor. For the first few minutes I enjoyed actually getting to run around different areas of the Winter Palace and catching up with old friends. There are some really nice revelations with them; one of them with Cole caused me to smile a lot. My Qunari had romanced Sera and there is a scene with them that had me grinning from ear to ear because it was so sweet. There is also a nice moment with whichever character you chose to be the new Divine. 

 The story then moves on to the Council meeting and the debate over the purpose of the Inquisition when the Inquisitor and friends discover that their actions and meeting have drawn the attention of the Qun and they must work together for one last mission to save everyone in Thedas again. Their quest brings them through the Eluvian crossroads and as you travel through many Eluvians you learn more about the history of the Elves and how a certain old friend is a big part of it. 

Eluvians, a faster way to travel!

 As your journey continues, there are new abilities with the Anchor for your Inquisitor, but the mark on their hand is also slowly killing them. It puts into perspective for the key members of the Inquisition the possibility of the Inquisitor dying and what that could mean for everyone as well as what the future could hold. Many of the conversations my Inquisitor had with her friends pondering what it could mean had me smiling sadly, because these were characters that I had come to care about and it is always hard to say goodbye, but goodbyes happen and people move on. 

 The environments in Trespasser are beautiful making for fun exploration. There are a few interesting puzzles as well. You pick up more lore and hints about various characters which include some insights about your current mission. There are highlighted spots where you can listen to observations from people in your party; some are touching and some are humorous adding more to the story. 

Exploring areas behind the Eluvians

 The battles with the Qun while a little trying which included a boss battle, (seriously, why does everything have so much health?) were not nearly as frustrating or impossible as some of the battles in Descent. You also learn some things about the Qun and the threat to Thedas. And of course it wouldn't be Dragon Age if there wasn't at least one fight with a dragon, but that had an interesting twist to it too which actually gave you a choice about the situation. 

Inquisitor and friends battling Qun soldiers

 As you get to the end, there are some big reveals in Trespasser. A lot of the big questions get answered and it does give a sense of closure to the Inquisition story. Without spoiling it, there is even a hugely deep conversation with an old friend that brings to light many things and hints at what the future may bring. Trespasser does wrap things up very neatly and gives you a sense of finality to the game with a proper ending. Whatever you decide to do with the Inquisition's fate, you do get a lovely moment with artistic sketches that shows you what happens to all who were involved in the Inquisition. The one with Varric had me giggling, because it seemed so hilarious and yet it was perfect for him. 

A gorgeous view for the Inquisitor and an old friend

While it was sad to say goodbye, I wouldn't have it any other way. Trespasser did a great job of giving a solid ending to Dragon Age Inquisition and setting up the next location for the possibility of Dragon Age 4. So perhaps it's not a permanent goodbye and we may see the Inquisitor and their friends in one form or another in the next game. Trespasser definitely redeemed the Dragon Age Inquisition DLC in my eyes after Descent because it had all the bells, whistles, and more. It's definitely worth checking out and absolutely worth playing. Just a little side note, sit through the credits because there is a hysterically funny and adorable moment with Cassandra. 

Dragon Age Inquisition Trespasser DLC

While I was disappointed with the Descent DLC, the trailer for the Trespasser DLC does look promising. I also enjoyed that some familiar faces appear in the trailer. I felt some of that excitement that I had for Jaws of Hakkon which I loved. I really hope that they improved on the play through and learned from some of the mistakes that were made in Descent. You can check out the awesome trailer here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUQKGFMfXx0&feature=youtu.be&sf40117604=1

Dragon Age Inquisition The Descent DLC Review: Wait Until It's On Sale

I really liked The Jaws of Hakkon DLC. It offered a lot of new lore, some great story insights, and awesome items for my Inquisitor. I was very excited about The Descent when I saw the trailer for it because it showed a lot of the Deep Roads. The Deep Roads was one of my favorite explorations in Dragon Age Origins because it was quite creepy and added that atmosphere of danger to the adventure. So of course I got The Descent DLC. It started out pretty well, introducing a couple of new characters for this part of the story. There's even more interesting lore about Dwarves and their history. 

Riding the elevator down to the Deep Roads  

Basically there are earthquakes happening and The Inquisition is sent to The Deep Roads to investigate. There are all kinds of side tunnels and rooms to explore with a ton of great items for your party members ranging from weapons to upgraded armor. One room had a puzzle that was a familiar one because it was in  Mass Effect which was interesting and it gave you a pretty nice item once you solved it. The other areas you get to see are vast and colorfully beautiful. I spent a good few minutes just looking around at all of it. The designs for it are rather impressive. 

The Inquisition ready to explore the Deep Roads

Then the fun stops. I'm not kidding. I wish I was. Anyone who knows me at all knows how much I love the Dragon Age series (yes, even Dragon Age 2 in spite of its many many flaws) so it is really disappointing to me to have to write a less than stellar review especially considering the fact that I greatly enjoyed Dragon Age Inquisition and the DLC Jaws of Hakkon. The Descent just doesn't quite have the bite that Jaws of Hakkon did and there are many frustrating moments in it as well. 

 The separate war table for the Deep Roads is not only impractical, it makes no sense. I didn't understand why you couldn't just have the Deep Roads missions on the war table map back at Skyhold. Having two separate war tables just seemed like a convoluted way of doing things. I also found it mildly irritating that when my party would unlock an operation we would have to go all the way back to the top level just to do the mission from the war table. I did like that you got more influence as you sent your scouts on the various missions and sometimes you would get a few good items also. I did unlock the fast travel areas on the area map as quickly as possible so it made going back and forth easier. 

Oh look, another elevator for traveling all the way back to the top. Again.

There's hardly any Darkspawn. When I think Deep Roads, I think tons of Darkspawn. That's what makes the Deep Roads so frightening; the thought of hordes upon hordes of Darkspawn coming for all of Thedas. With the exception of one pretty epic battle, there's practically no Darkspawn at all. The combat is uneven. In some areas it's alright and in other areas, it's ridiculously hard and I had the game set to casual. When a game's combat is uneven like that, it makes for some pretty annoying boss fights (more on that later) and a ton of frustration. Let's talk about this Bioware. Let's talk about how you need to look up the meaning of casual and learn that when a game is set to casual i.e. the easy setting that's what it SHOULD be! I had horrifying flashbacks to Dragon Age 2 and the Last Straw battle as I played The Descent. Yes, it was that bad. I don't mind a challenge, but when it's on the easy setting, I expect it to play like it's on the easy setting. I actually had to check the game settings to make sure it was on casual because I really thought for a minute I had accidentally set it to Hard or Nightmare mode. It was on casual, so no I wasn't crazy, but I think you guys might be because you don't know what CASUAL means!

Believe it or not, this is one of the easier battles.

This brings me to the boss battle in The Descent. Bear in mind, the game was on the casual setting as I attempted this. My party wiped three times and every time I tried to revive a party member the boss would slap them dead. I even had Vivienne in my party who is basically unstoppable as a Knight Enchanter and still we got spanked hard. I swore. A LOT. I tried different party members, different strategies, and even invoked Cthulhu to help me win that damned boss fight. (The last part is a joke. Don't invoke Cthulhu, that's how you get sea monsters.) The one consistent thing was Blackwall. If you do this fight, bring Blackwall. Blackwall is by and far the best tank in Dragon Age Inquistion because he's crazily overpowered especially if you fully unlock his Champion skill tree. Out of all the fights I lost, he was the only one standing right until the end. Eventually after a ton of swearing and one more try, I did beat the boss. Did I feel good about it? No, not really. I felt pissed off that it had taken that much damned effort for one freaking boss on the easy setting. 

At least the scenery and surrounding areas are pretty.

 The story ending to the mission did not make me feel better either. It left me sitting there wondering what just happened because it gives you more questions than answers. It did not have that sense of closure that Jaws of Hakkon did. It also made me want to slug one of the characters. I wondered if the writers just got bored or deliberately left it like that as a possible opening for more DLC stuff. Either way, there is too little reward for too much effort with The Descent. While I did find the history and revelations about the Dwarves interesting, I wished for just a bit more. Without spoiling it, I did like the one character who was introduced a lot and I was pleased to hear David Hayter doing the voice acting for them. The areas further down are pretty and add some great atmosphere. However, I did not have as much fun playing The Descent as I did playing Jaws of Hakkon. In fact, it was downright frustrating at times and I feel it's not worth paying full price for. Jaws of Hakkon is on sale right now and that one I highly recommend buying. With The Descent, you're better off waiting until it's on sale. I really hope that the next story DLC will be better than this because The Descent was really not up to snuff.

New Dragon Age Inquisition DLC: The Descent Teaser Trailer

Dragon Age: Inquisition has went above and beyond my expectations. I'm currently doing my fifth play through (I know, but it's fun for me!) and enjoying it just as much as the first one. The Jaws of Hakkon was a great DLC because it had a lot of interesting lore and you finally got a chance to see the Avvar and learn more about their history and culture. I have to really like a game to purchase any DLC at all, so I was glad this first one was great.

I am pretty excited for the next DLC titled The Descent. I watched the trailer twice. It looks like you get to explore the Deep Roads which is very cool as I liked the creepy atmosphere of the Deep Roads in Dragon Age Origins. This looks even better and it looks like you may get some more Dwarven lore and history which is also fantastic. I can't wait to play it!

You can check out the trailer for Dragon Age Inquisition: The Descent here:

Final Fantasy XV Malboro Trailer

I played the demo on the PS4 for Final Fantasy XV and it looks amazing. Seeing the teaser trailer with a Malboro fight is even better. I can't wait to play this game because I'm a fan of the Final Fantasy series and this looks great. You can check out the video on their Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/FinalFantasy/videos/1032171660150926/?fref=nf

I for one can not wait for the game to get here. The release date is December 31, 2015. It looks like it's going to be an awesome year for my gaming! In the meantime, I have a lot of games to play. I still have to finish Final Fantasy Type 0 and a couple of Assassin's Creed games to play. So I'll have a lot to keep me busy until Final Fantasy XV arrives. 

EA Strikes Again, Fork Over Your Money (Bioware, This Is Your Fault Too)

So I raved about Dragon Age Inquisition and its DLC. I played on the 360. Yes, we have a PS4, but at the time when we got the game we didn't so I had the 360 version. Our old 360 died and there was no way for me to play. Then we replaced the 360 and we got a new PS4. I know. Everyone is wondering why we didn't just get an Xbox One. Honestly, we couldn't justify spending almost 400 dollars on that thing. If it was cheaper, then sure maybe. Perhaps when it goes down in price, we can upgrade to it.

This brings up the next thing. I have actively tried to ignore the fact that EA has Bioware in its clutches. I know my husband is still sore about what they did to Westwood Studios (for you young people; they created a pretty cool space game called Earth and Beyond) and how they totally sucked all the funding from their game, dismantled it, sent the developers to other projects, and shut everything down. I say actively because I do love the Dragon Age series. I wasn't fond of Dragon Age II but Inquisition has made up for that. I have mixed feelings with DLC. On the one hand, some of them are worth it. On the other hand, why can't developers just give you a full game with all the bells and whistles like the gaming days of old? It completely reeks of give us your money with no thought or respect for the gamers who already bought their game. I get it. There's money to be made and we're just the cash cow they want to milk to death, but there has to be a limit. Also the exclusivity DLC for Jaws of Hakkon (I was lucky I had a 360 so I got it) for 360 and Xbox One that actively excluded PS3 and PS4 gamers and gave them the DLC at a later date was bullshit and let's be honest, you knew it was bullshit.

So then I read this article which you can read here: http://www.gamesradar.com/dragon-age-inquisition-dlc-xbox-one-ps4-pc-save-import/

That's right. If you have an older console such as a PS3 or Xbox 360 and you want to play the upcoming new DLC at all; you have to upgrade to the new consoles. This is the biggest damn bait and switch I've seen in a long while. As they spoke about how there would be new DLC earlier; they claimed it would be for all the consoles and now they're singing a different tune. Now it's only for the PC, the Xbox One, and the PS4. This is a huge F- You to the very gamers that buy their games; to gamers everywhere. DLC in general is giving the middle finger to gamers.

Look, I understand that it's much easier to code for the new shiny next gen consoles. I understand it's time to move on to the next BIG thing. What I don't understand is actively punishing those who still hang on to the old ones. I don't understand effectively lying to people saying something is going to be for all of the consoles when it really isn't. If EA/Bioware had been upfront about it from the beginning, I'm sure it would have gone over a lot better. Sure, there would be people who would be angry about it, but it would not be nearly this level of fury that I'm seeing on their social media pages.

The other thing I'm wondering is when did it become a bad thing to be old? Yes, new things come along making the old ones obsolete, but when did it become acceptable to take your old console out to the woodshed and go Old Yeller on its ass simply because it wasn't new anymore? I still have my PS2 and Gamecube and they work great. I still play games on them and enjoy them. There are a lot of other gamers who feel that way too. So no, it's not completely ridiculous to get rid of your old consoles and upgrade to the new ones if that's your choice. What is foolish is to expect gamers to not be furious with you for essentially pulling a bait and switch and flooding your social media with just how much that pisses them off.

Bioware this is your fault too. You went along with this nonsense. I get it. The money is good and EA is the sugar daddy of your dreams, but how much more of your soul can you really sell? The founding members saw the writing on the wall and they quit when they had the chance. That was probably the smartest thing they could have done considering how this scenario is playing out. Many of the gamers are older people like myself who remember that first thrill of playing our first video games and how much we loved it. We love it still which is why it's frustrating that companies like yourselves seem to forget it wasn't about the money for us. It was about having fun and playing a truly amazing game with our family and friends. The younger generation understands that ideal too and it's great for us to see them enjoying some of the same games we grew up with and discovering new ones. It seems all that money has blinded you to that side of things and it's a damn shame.

I still love the Dragon Age games and I'll always love gaming. What I don't love is how greedy some of these companies have gotten and EA seems to be the biggest offender in that situation. They seem to be a repeated constant when it comes to running games into the ground or milking it for every last cent it has to further their own agenda which is making as much money as possible even if it means they disrespect the gamers because they do not care. I know that sounds harsh, but I'm cynical about this kind of stuff because I have seen it happen way too often of late. I want a full REAL game that shows that it was created by people who are gamers themselves and love games too without having some soulless corporation who thinks they "know games" telling us to fork over our money for every DLC that comes along. I think all of the gamers in the world deserve that. If you want us to buy your games, then at least show you care enough to make a great game that everyone will enjoy; not bleed us dry for every single penny.

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