#PastebinMonday 06/29/2020 Bundles of Love Edition

Hey guys, how’s it goin?

First off, I'm doing fine. There isn't anything particularly wrong with me that has kept me from being able to stream lately. No, the reason I have not been streaming lately is because my family has run into health troubles that have killed my assurance that I could have a consistent stream every day without being interrupted. My brother was hospitalized last week for complications from diabetes. His pancreas was under attack. He was released on Friday and is fine now, except that he has been formally diagnosed as type 1 diabetic so now he has to manage his blood sugar for the rest of his life. Also, I learned yesterday that my stepfather who I haven't lived with in 25 years, but has been a part of my life ever since, was hospitalized with a stroke and is now, also, diabetic. I swear, if it ain't one type of malady, it's always something else around the corner.

To make up for what I did not do this past week, the next two weeks will be week-long specials. This week will be nothing but Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kindgom Monday-Sunday. Next week Monday-Sunday will be Pokemon Puzzle League, S-Hard especially, for the Licenseathon in a month where I will be making the runback with Tayman.

In my off-time, I've started playing through some of the games in the itch.io Racial Justice Bundle. I started with the visual novels to leave open the possibility of playing through the interactive games on stream. I'll probably use this space as an opportunity to give my thoughts on the games that I do play through. Here's what I played this past week:

-Highway Blossoms: Remastered Edition – Oh. My. God. This kinetic visual novel is so wholesome. It's two cute girls doing cute things together on a modern-day literal gold rush in the American Southwest before figuring out for themselves what they truly “treasure.” The art was nice and the soundtrack was AMAZING! I laughed multiple times. I almost cried multiple times. I enjoyed this. It's on sale on the developer's itch.io page. You like wholesome? GO GET IT! Before, you know, you lose it forever and stuff.

-ECCHI SKETCH: Draw cute girls every day! – This is supposed to be worth a $9.99 purchase? Everything about this story feels wrong: odd audio balancing, unfitting background music, off-putting English voice delivery, inconsistent use of those voices, off-model CG scenes, two-dimensional character personalities, lack of accessibility options (Message log? Back button?), and a plot that gives the characters no time to breathe before the next big development happens and the reader too little warning to mentally prepare for the inevitable route split. 80% of the time I've spent reading this story has felt completely wasted. At least it's short, I guess. I'd feel ripped off if I spent $10 on this. I'd say it's good for $2 of entertainment IF AND ONLY IF you pick the correct route.

-datingsim2; OR: a completely normal and innocent dating simulation that is definitely completely sweet, innocent and normal –
wow i sure am having some kind of time with this story that is totally intentionally bad and not at all completely lazy
wow i sure am expecting this to make me laugh over how stupid everything looks and sounds
wow i sure am permanently deleting this from my computer for not making me laugh at all

-Heartbreak High: A Break-Up Simulator – You take on different minigames and dialogue paths to break up with everyone in the high school, even getting the principal and janitor fired. I could not get out of gaming the system enough to enjoy anything about this game. I actually got stuck not being able to advance dialogue on the final boss and got bored. And people pay $5 for this on Steam? I'd want my money back.

-Sweet Volley High – As this was made by the makers of ECCHI SKETCH two years prior, I had my trepidation about this being any good. ECCHI SKETCH felt offensive with how many things wrong it did. This one uses a more traditional setting, being a high school club and all, and the story ends up more formulaic and safe as a result. The pacing is a little better and there's actual character development. Still not a fan of the soundtrack. Still had audio balancing issues. Still not a fan of the voices (goddammit Eri). I even had trouble with the Auto text feature for some reason. AND HOW MANY OF THESE BACKGROUNDS DID ECCHI SKETCH REUSE?! WHAT THE F**K?! This is better than ECCHI SKETCH, but the bar was not set very high. Like ECCHI SKETCH, it's normally priced at $10. It's on sale right now for $5, which is still higher than Highway Blossoms' current sale price, and I'm not sure it's worth that much. I guess I'm saying that if you want to spend $5 on a girls love visual novel, go get Highway Blossoms, not this, and definitely not ECCHI SKETCH.

That’s my life story for the week. Until next time, everyone, thanks for reading!

--Cards