Hello, dear patrons. Before we begin today, I'd just like to take a moment to say a big thank you to each and every one of you; pretty much all of you reading this are long-term supporters of my work on MoeGamer, and I wanted you all to know that it's genuinely very much appreciated. Knowing that people enjoy my work enough to dig deep and help support it means the world to me, so from the bottom of my heart, thank you.

All right, on to more pressing business.

What's this all about?

I've been feeling like I should make better use of my Patreon for some time now. Up until now, it's basically been a "tip jar" in which I don't offer anything in exchange for your generous donations other than that which I already provide on MoeGamer.

In some ways, I was happy with that; while I firmly believe that creators should get paid for their work via means other than ad impressions, I'm not a fan of paywalling content and preventing those who are unable to pay for whatever reason from enjoying something.

In others, though, I felt like I wanted to offer something a bit "extra" for those generous enough to support the site. Something a bit more personal and special, but which hopefully wouldn't take up too much time — I run MoeGamer alongside a day job, after all! — and be relatively straightforward to produce.

As such, I now have two tiers of digital rewards: $1 a more per month gets you access to this feed, while $5 or more per month gets you access to this plus a special monthly wallpaper featuring site mascots Midori, Yumi and Penelope. (Not pictured below, those are the Nekopara catgirls.)

What's this feed for?

Anything, really! The focus will still be on video games, of course, but here I'll be posting more immediate reactions to things and updates on what's going on with the site as opposed to the more structured articles you'll find on the site itself. In the process, you can get to know me a bit better, find out what I'm up to and perhaps just have a bit of a private chat in the comments if you feel like it.

Expect at least two of these per week, but I'll endeavour not to spam you with rubbish if there's nothing worthwhile to say!

Okay. So, uh, what's up?

Glad you asked! Lots of things. I have a bunch of things in the pipeline right now. Besides the things I outlined in this recent post on the site, I have some smaller bits and pieces I'm interested in covering.

In particular, this week I'm intending to write a bit about Sega's classic arcade racer OutRun 2006 Coast 2 Coast, which I managed to track down a working PC copy of last night, and a bit about how virtual reality is bringing light-gun shooters back from the dead for the second time.

My friend Chris also made me aware of a game called Crimson Tears for PS2 following a discussion about Ehrgeiz on PS1, which those of you of a certain age may remember was an awesome 3D fighting game that, bizarrely, also included a complete action-RPG dungeon crawler. Crimson Tears is apparently an expanded reimagining of that concept, and Chris assures me it is an underappreciated, pretty much completely unknown gem. Ideal MoeGamer fodder, in other words, so I'm looking forward to exploring that when it arrives.

Besides that, I'm continuing to plough through Persona 5 (slowly, since my wife enjoys watching it, but she also enjoys playing Final Fantasy XIV) and Final Fantasy XII. I'm interested in writing something about the latter at some point, but with this month being devoted to Stormblood, I don't want to do too much Final Fantasy in too short a space of time! (I'm also really keen to cover the complete Final Fantasy XIII trilogy at some point, too, but holding off for now for the same reason.)

I'd say I'm interested in writing about Persona 5, too, but I kind of feel like it's a game that's been discussed to death even by the mainstream press (albeit with some gloriously dumb hot takes) so it's not a high priority right now. Other, lesser-known and underappreciated games need some love more!

Can I help with anything?

Why, how generous of you to offer! Of course you can. The most helpful thing you can do is continue to enjoy, like, comment on and share my articles. I've noticed a bit of a trend on social media recently that things people disagree with or find objectionable are much more likely to get shared, so I'd like to encourage all of you to consider sharing things you enjoy or find enjoyable — not just from my site, but from all over the Web. In doing so, we can try and create a more positive atmosphere for everyone, which will be nice.

It'd also be lovely if you could share my Patreon page with people who you think might be interested in my work. I'd love to get the monthly total up to $50, as that will cover some monthly expenses I have and allow me to plough anything beyond that into improving the site and expanding my hardware and software libraries.

Oh, also, don't forget to share the Nekopara giveaway with anyone who might be interested. Leave a reply to the appropriate comment for the episode you (or your friend/family member/lover) want(s) to win on the Nekopara Hub Page. Closing date is this Friday!

In the meantime, if you've got anything you want to chat about, feel free to leave a comment here, on MoeGamer or reach out to me on Twitter. I hope you all have a lovely week and I'll speak to you soon!

Pete x

Hello, patrons, prospective patrons and people just looking for a convenient roundup of the week. Here's what you might have missed on MoeGamer this week!

The MoeGamer GameCast, Episode 6: ZAWAZAWAZAWA
Midori, Yumi, Penelope and I discuss the matter of "auteurs" in video games, and how this is a much more common phenomenon in Japanese development than here in the West. We also talk a bit about the rather disturbing but awesome anime Kaiji.

From the Archives: Birds Suddenly Appear Every Time You Are Nier
With no apologies for the title, here's an article that I originally published on Games Are Evil back in 2012, focusing on Taro Yoko's rather wonderful Nier, the sequel to which has come out recently and which my friend Chris' wife will only refer to as "sad game".

Ne no Kami: Love, Innocence and Ayakashi
The big Cover Game feature for the week, we look in detail at the main narrative of Ne no Kami: The Two Princess Knights of Kyoto, with particular attention paid to the protagonist Len and her development over the course of the complete story. Ne no Kami is a thoroughly lovely yuri visual novel that you should check out if you like creative use of Japanese mythology, cute girls who love other cute girls, and a meaty, interesting story to get your teeth into.

Wii U Essentials: Super Mario Maker
A look back on one of the Wii U's coolest titles: a resurgence of the standalone "construction set", the likes of which we haven't really seen since the '80s and '90s.

From the Archives: Aselia the Eternal's World Made of Words
Another article recovered from defunct site Games Are Evil, this time looking at visual novel Aselia the Eternal from Xuse and JAST USA, and how it manages to build a thoroughly convincing fantasy world without actually allowing you to freely explore it.

Shmup Essentials: Zangeki Warp
Like shoot 'em ups that do things a little differently? Astro Port's Zangeki Warp combines the Gradius-style blasting of its spiritual predecessor Satazius with the point-to-point warping of FuturLab's Velocity to create something altogether rather special — and something that very much wants to kill you.

Thank you once again for your continued support of what I'm doing with MoeGamer. Please continue to show your support by following me on Twitter, liking, sharing and retweeting my articles and also pointing family and friends in the direction of this page. Don't forget I have some new goals  in mind for various milestones of monthly donations — it'd be great to achieve at least one of them.

I'd love for MoeGamer to help me get paid for doing what I love — and what I'm good at — so please consider a small pledge per month if you like what I'm doing, or if you can't stretch to that just some enthusiastic sharing on social media is very much appreciated!

I've set some new milestones for donations with more concrete "consequences" for meeting them. Your continued help and support is very much appreciated, and helps make MoeGamer continue its work as The Place to Be for in-depth exploration of Japanese games and visual novels — and, of course, those works inspired by the Japanese, too.

Here's a breakdown of the new goals.

At $50 per month, I'll arrange some web hosting for the browser-based versions of my "podcast as a visual novel", the GameCast. This means that you'll be able to play and enjoy them online rather than having to download them, which will be much more convenient for everyone.

At $100 per month, I'll sign up for WordPress' premium services, which will remove all ads from MoeGamer and add some additional functionality such as the ability to self-host audio and video. This means less reliance on external services such as YouTube, and more in the way of exciting multimedia articles.

At $300 per month, I'll invest in some proper streaming and capture equipment so I'll be able to produce more video content, hopefully on a regular basis. I'll also be able to expand my collection quite considerably, exploring an even broader array of games than I do already.

Please continue to read, enjoy and, most importantly, share the articles you enjoy on MoeGamer — and also do dip in to the other content across the site, too. You never know, you might find a new favourite to explore! Try clicking the "Anything!" button on the menu bar at the top of the site to jump right to a random article.

MoeGamer is a passion project but I'd love to turn it into something more. I can only do that with your help! Your continued support is appreciated.

Hello! Here's what you might have missed in the last week on MoeGamer.

The MoeGamer GameCast, Episode 5: The Stacey Dooley Incident
We talk about the BBC Three documentary "Young Sex for Sale in Japan", in which reporter Stacey Dooley made some rather bold accusations about Japan… and which a number of Japanese writers and artists responded rather strongly to.

Eorzean Diary: Lonely Explorer
Ponderings on Final Fantasy XIV's Palace of the Dead, one of the game's most unusual and interesting pieces of content.

Ne no Kami: Exploring Shinto Myths and Legends
First of this month's Cover Game articles, we explore how visual novel Ne no Kami: The Two Princess Knights of Kyoto makes use of Japanese mythology to form a backdrop to its action.

Wii U Essentials: Xenoblade Chronicles X
We look at one of the Wii U's most unusual and distinctive games — not to mention one of the most unusual and distinctive JRPGs there ever was. Xenoblade Chronicles X is a perpetually misunderstood and underrated game that is one of the console's finest titles.

Shmup Essentials: Minus Zero
Triangle Service's unusual "only lock-on shooting" game is a lot of fun, and a great way to while away a few minutes… or a few hours if you're anything like me and can't quite tear yourself away from just one more attempt.

From the Archives: I Will Fly You To the Moon and Back
A piece originally published on Games Are Evil back in 2012 that explores Freebird Games' beautiful narrative-centric adventure To The Moon.

Episode 6 of the GameCast  was released today, too. We talk about "auteur theory", Taro Yoko, Nier Automata, Neptunia in VR and bleak anime Kaiji.

Hello everyone! I've inadvertently forgotten to link a few posts on here recently, so here's a summary post of what you might have missed in the last week or two:

The MoeGamer GameCast  is my new, experimental "podcast as a visual novel", featuring discussion about games, anime, criticism and the news… as well as a few other mysteries along the way, too. Start from the Pilot episode if you want the full story; they only take about 10-15 minutes each to play through.

Wii U Essentials  has continued with a look at a few more fine games from the troubled console's library, including Twilight Princess HD and Super Mario 3D World.

READ.ME  is a column I've recovered from the Internet archives courtesy of the ever-wonderful Wayback Machine. Originally published in 2012-2013, it explores a variety of visual novels and topics surrounding this unique, narrative-centric niche of gaming.

And, of course, February's Cover Game coverage has continued with in-depth articles on Suou Amane  and Kazami Yuuji  from the Grisaia series.

I've also added a new button on the MoeGamer menu bar to take you to a random post. Check it out; you might find yourself reading about something you'd never considered taking a look at! Click here  or click the "Anything!" button on the top menu to surprise yourself.

The lineup for the next few months of Cover Games is as follows:

March: Ne no Kami and Sacrament of the Zodiac, two yuri-themed visual novels from Kuro Iroduru Yomiji (localised by Sekai Project/Denpasoft) with a shared setting and characters.

April: Nier Automata from Square Enix. Given how much I loved the original Nier, and how much I'm looking forward to this game, there ain't no way I'm not writing a ton of words about it!

May: Xanadu Next from Falcom and Xseed, a retro action dungeon crawler with Falcom's typically deep mechanics and worldbuilding.

Thanks once again for your continued support of long-form, positive writing about these underappreciated, often overlooked games. Please do share both the MoeGamer site and this Patreon page with your family, friends and social media followers and help show that there's still a place for this kind of coverage in a world increasingly dominated by outrage-led clickbait and hasty, kneejerk reactions!

When we first meet Komine Sachi inThe Fruit of Grisaia, she’s introduced almost as a caricature: she plays the role of “the perfect maid” to everyone else at Mihama Academy, right down to wearing a maid outfit when she’s not in school uniform.

But it doesn’t take a great deal of perceptiveness to notice her behaviour isn’t what you’d particularly call “normal”.

Specifically, it’s apparent pretty much from the outset that Sachi’s unusually compliant nature and tendency to take things literally is something out of the ordinary. Protagonist Yuuji isn’t quite sure what the exact problem is to begin with, but it gradually becomes clear to him as he starts to spend more time with her.

“She resembles me,” he says at one point. “Organising her life around diligently following orders, she never allows herself to doubt them, let alone defy those who make use of her. And almost as an extension of that, her ‘private’ activities are little more than the bare minimum routines of daily existence. Looking at Sachi, I’ve been seeing myself… and the discomfort I felt was a reflection of my uncertainty about my own way of life.”

Read the full article on MoeGamer .

When we’re first introduced to Sakaki Yumiko in the common route ofThe Fruit of Grisaia, it’s clear that she is both troubled and likely to be trouble for protagonist Yuuji.

When Yuuji first attempts to introduce himself to her, she initially tries her best to ignore him, and subsequently goes to slap him when he persists. This eventually escalates into her lashing out at him with a box cutter whenever she sees him, a fact which Yuuji’s fellow students just shrug off as being “something she does”, because they’ve all been through it too.

Yuuji, being a certified badass, shrugs off Yumiko’s attacks without injury easily, and eventually they stop altogether, though she still proves herself to be a prickly individual who is generally unwilling to interact with others.

Except, of course, it’s not that simple.

Read the full article on MoeGamer .

Matsushima Michiru is one of Grisaia’s most unusual, interesting characters, initially appearing to be present primarily for comic relief, but subsequently showing herself to be a complex, fascinating character with a considerable amount of depth.

We’re first introduced to Michiru in the common route of The Fruit of Grisaia, when protagonist Yuuji comes across her doing vocal exercises in an empty classroom, closely followed by her practicing bellowing out stock tsundere phrases such as “i-it’s not like I’m doing this for you or anything” and “d-don’t misunderstand!”

Already well aware by this point that his new classmates are a little on the peculiar side, Yuuji doesn’t probe too deeply into the matter, but it’s immediately obvious whenever Michiru interacts with Yuuji or her other classmates that her tsundere personality isn’t who she really is; rather, it’s a façade she’s putting up for reasons that, at the outset of the story, aren’t entirely clear.

Read the full article on MoeGamer.

 In this episode, Midori, Yumi, Penelope and I talk Grisaia, bonking, Ace Combat and more.

You'll notice a few tweaks from the pilot episode, most notably the addition of a custom interface and font as well as some distinctive PC-98-inspired FM synthesis music.

The font is the work of Style64, a North American demogroup for the Commodore 64 and PC. It's the same font used for MoeGamer's logo.

The music, meanwhile, is from MusMus, a site run by a composer from Japan known simply as "watson", who rather generously releases all his work royalty-free.

I made the interface, because I'm so 1337 pro noscope with Paint.Net. Also that's why the buttons look a bit shit.

I'm going to aim to release one of these each Monday for at least a little while to see how practical it is. Doubtless they'll become more ambitious over time. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy Episode 1!

Find out more and download the episode for Windows or Mac on MoeGamer .

Frontwing’s Grisaia series, which kicked off in 2011 with the Japanese release of first installment The Fruit of Grisaia, has come to be regarded as a particular high point for the visual novel medium.

Indeed, back in 2015, the /r/visualnovels subreddit voted The Fruit of Grisaia as number one on its list of top 10 visual novels (later republished on GameFAQs), and the community still holds the game in high regard today, as evidenced by its prominent position on the subreddit’s comprehensive diagram of recommendations.

Grisaia’s high ranking on /r/visualnovels’ list was particularly exciting to enthusiasts of the medium, as growing localisation company Sekai Project had already run a successful Kickstarter campaign to bring the whole series West in the twilight hours of 2014 and the start of 2015, potentially opening it up to a whole new audience that was perhaps less familiar with acquiring Japanese visual novels and patching them with fan translations.

But what makes this series so remarkable? Let’s take a high-level look at it.

Read the full article on MoeGamer .