If you follow me on Tumblr, you’ve already seen how I got REALLY attached to the character Phog in Xenoblade Chronicles X…  Well, his deal is that he is the younger brother of another party member, Frye, but mysteriously the two cannot be on your party together at the same time, and circumstances reveal that they are not on speaking terms.

I’ve spent a good chunk of this game looking forward to the quest that reunites them at last, and I went a little overboard and took a bamillion screenshots when I finally reached that point myself.  Here is a little screenshot diary of them!

Click any of them to see the full resolution – I cropped most of them so that the text size would be more readable on this page, but in the more zoomed-out ones feel free to click the image to see it larger if you have to.

Here is the Affinitiy Mission that initiates the quest – it’s near the East Gate of NLA.
I had to get through Chapter 8 to finally meet the requirements for it –
Chapter 8 was so stressful ahh!!!

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During the mission briefing, you’re given the option to go on offense with Frye
or defend the city with Phog.
I reloaded a few times during this quest to try each side
(in a bit you’ll see my character equipped differently and with other party members),
but for now, let’s see Phog’s side.

He’s appreciative of our help. c:

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Ahh, I wonder if this is the first time these two have spoken to each other in years. ;_;

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The others empty out, and Phog is still hoping for the safety of his bro.

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Here’s the first example of the other set of equipment and party members
you’ll see in these screenshots lol!
This is a cute line and I missed catching it the first time around.

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aaaaaaa any time my child (´▽｀人)

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Phog in almost all of his missions will tell you how appreciative he is toward you, actually.
It is one of the many things that I really, really like about him.

I wanted to give him some encouragement in his own efforts,
since there was an earlier mission where selecting this same “Downplay” option
was his preferred response, but he kinda shrugged it off this time.

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You’re actually supposed to Brag about your “awesome advice,”
because it reminds Phog of his bro.

There are actually a LOT of options that Phog appreciates because
they sound like what Frye would say.  Similarly, Frye is the inverse –
being kind to NPCs will often get you affinity with Frye since it
reminds him of Phog.

these bros make me feel a lot of things.

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In June this past Summer, an incredibly cute MMO that I had been enjoying closed its servers. ・°・(ノД｀)・°・  But, I enjoyed it heartily in the time that I played!

I’m a big fan of X-Legends’ games!!  Their artwork and character designs are sooo cuute, and they always have the most colorful and whimsical backgrounds and settings.  Spirit Tales was ESPECIALLY whimsical, because it was the ‘tiniest’ and cutest of their games, in terms of character design~

See?  It looked like this!

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This is going to be a reeeeaaally image-heavy post, so I’m putting a cut here!!  Check out the rest of my memories (and my cute spicy red bunny character) below!

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There is such a wonderfully cute roundup of games coming out in the next handful of months before the holidays!  It’s so rare to get happy, colorful, cute games – and there are so, so many of them all happening together in such a short time!  I’m so excited seeing all of them!

*All of the release dates listed here are according to their Amazon listings as of the time of this writing – they may change!

Yoshi’s Woolly World

This was first shown at E3 some years back –
for some time it was only known as “Yarn Yoshi!”
But it’s finally coming out in the US on October 16 –
I’m so excited!  And I can’t wait to play co-op! ^o^
There are so many cute yarn Yoshi designs to unlock and play as, too!
OH!!  And there will be these adorable yarn Yoshi Amiibos!!

Pink Yarn Yoshi Amiibo

I need one!!!

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Return to PopoloCrois: A Story of Seasons Fairytale

Ahhhh this looks so preciousssss!!
Story of Seasons is the current localization name for the Harvest Moon series,
so really, this has the same “Fantasy Harvest Moon” subtitle as Rune Factory!
This PopoloCrois adaptation of Story of Seasons looks like a combination
of Rune Factory and Fantasy Life – my favorite game from last year!
I’m really looking forward to it!

PopoloCrois: Story of Seasons comes out January 5, 2016!

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Yo-Kai Watch

Yo-Kai Watch is an INCREDIBLE sensation in Japan,
and this is the first installment of it reaching the US!
It will be coming over along with a cartoon on TV
and toys licensed by Hasbro.
I hope it becomes very successful, because it is a wonderful world
filled with kooky Yo-Kai critters that make for an awesomely fun
little monster-collecting, RPG-battling experience!
And the girl hero that you can play as is super cute! n_n

Yo-Kai Watch comes out November 6!!

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Moco Moco Friends

OK… LOOK AT HOW CUTE THIS IS… THIS IS INSANE!!!
Moco Moco Friends is a monster-collecting and RPG-battling game
much like Yo-Kai Watch, except your player character and all of her friends
are adorable magical witch girls, and their monsters are cuddly plushes!
Really, seriously, this is the Pokemon-like game
that I have been waiting for since the monster genre first emerged.
I can’t believe it took THIS long for a 100% cutesy version of the genre to happen.

Moco Moco Friends comes out November 17!

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Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer

After New Leaf was insanely successful,
this spinoff game centered on designing cute homes for your animal neighbors
will be out on September 25!
The options for customizing homes (and the yards outside of them)
are SO HUGELY enhanced – you have to watch videos or trailers
of this game to see it in action, it’s all sooo cuuuute!!

To explain the influx of games on the iOS platform I’ve been writing about, I must share something with you.  It is the year 2015, and I have never held a smartphone in my hands until just a few months ago. o_o  So, all of this time, I have heard about apps and games coming out on the platform, but I never had the technology to check it out for myself!

So, I’m a little overwhelmed by the options and I’m constantly on the lookout for new experiences that are cute!!  Here is a small handful of RPGs I’ve encountered – maybe you will like them, too!

DemonSouls

Not to be confused with another game of the same name!
There might be a lot of ladies in the art work,
but really, you’ll mostly be seeing the male protagonist’s
exposed chest more than any other.

Notable for being among the iOS RPGs available to play for free
without pay-to-win tactics involved.

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Defender Hero

More of a puzzle-y strategy game than an RPG,
but the art style and fantasy setting earn it a place in this list!

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Dawn of Magic

Even the title of this one brings to mind the Mana series of games,
although it relies on old-school turn-based battle format
rather than the Mana series’ action battles.

The cast of characters are very cool, I enjoy the art a lot!

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Hero’s Way

An arcade action game with cute heroes!!!
And that’s what’s most important!!

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Fantasy Adventure

An action strategy RPG, again with lots of cute characters!
You get to choose a party of 4 in this one rather than adventuring solo.
I love the beautiful environments and settings!

I don’t get to talk about one of my greatest loves as frequently as I’d like to on this cutesy, fashion-centered blog, but RPGs from the SNES era of gaming are among some of my favorite things that exist on this Earth.  I owe a lot of my creativity and imagination to those, even in my adult life.  Actually, ESPECIALLY in my adult life.

And they haven’t faded into obscurity, either; these decades-old games are available readily if you have a mobile device that can play them!  Here are some personal favorites, just from browsing what Square-Enix has available in iTunes.

Secret of Mana

The Mana series is a serious favorite, and to this day it has my favorite happy color palette
and cute enemy designs (look at those Rabites!).  The three heroes are ADORBS,
and the variety of weapons you collect makes each of them customizable.
…Probably the first action RPG I ever played, abandoning turn-based battles.

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Chrono Trigger

A true classic, with masterful storytelling and characterization.
The pacing of this game always struck me, with the player traveling through time
to gradually piece more and more of the plot together.
It makes for a perfect, highly gratifying experience.
Every music track from this game is classic as heck, too.

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Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

Agreed upon by many fans to be the most emotional in the Dragon Quest series,
due to the sheer involvement you get in the protagonist’s life playing as him from childhood.
And things don’t “settle down” for him once he gets a family,
since things only pick up in the story from there.
I’M NOT CRYING, YOU’RE CRYING!!

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Final Fantasy VI

I remember playing this as a kid and just being blown away by the fact that
video games, which I thought were just fun and adventurous,
could be as dark and emotionally intense as this.
Though I hear tell that this iOS version isn’t optimal for enjoying this fantastic game –
maybe you want to go for the GBA one, for normal-looking character sprites?

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Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation

I poured SOOOO many hours into the version of this game on the Game Boy Color,
accompanying me along many a road trip.
You’re allowed a fully customizable battle party, of any combination
of class, gender, and personality you like (seriously, the personality system
in this game is one of my favorite things ever).
A large-scale adventure, and a quintessentially important
entry in RPG history – this is the game you might have heard rumors about
that completely shut Japan down (with employees calling out of work
and kids skipping school) on the day that it was released.

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Final Fantasy IV

Another impactful memory from the SNES, although this version
uses the beautiful models (and I believe also the voice acting?)
rendered for the Nintendo DS remake.
Honestly I’d recommend this remake version just for the re-orchestrated music alone.