Another one of those games that despite being shallow and rough around the edges, struck a chord with me far more than many "better" games have, for a reason I don't really understand. Completed it in a day during a time where I can't seem to conjure up the energy to play a game without bouncing off of it like rain on an umbrella after 15 minutes. I think I probably have baby instincts and the pretty colours drew me in.
If you like funny little animals and are partial to half-baked simulators like I am, this may be worth it for you.

Really enjoyed this, especially the middle chunk where the suspense builds as you're constantly finding more pieces of the puzzle. Those skungy original sprites and the dated (positive connotation) photoshop filter photographic backgrounds are really charming too. Although I think I've had my fill with this one, can't say I'll be playing all 7 of the next chapters anytime soon tbh.
edit: i lied. couldn't stop thinking about it so i'm playing chapter 2 now
edit 2: finished all 8 chapters and some of the bonus content. one of the most exciting pieces of fiction I've been lucky enough to experience, a real rollercoaster

this game's soundtrack has to be one of the biggest formative pieces for my music taste after i found out about it via the caddicarus video when i was like 14, though somehow it took me until yesterday to actually go and play the game. i think it must have settled in the "fact of life" section in my brain rather than the "games i want to play" section just from the soundtrack being so outstanding.
Anyway, goated game. classic easy to learn hard to master, and finally another good use case for me having a CD collection in 2023.

not even close to finishing the game yet but i can say this: very bare-bones version of the atelier formula. wouldn't recommend unless you're learning japanese, then it's great. it's all very simple language so if you're looking to play a somewhat text-heavy game but find yourself out of your depth with a typical visual novel, give this a shot.
this goes for the other atelier games too, but this one is even easier for some reason. I suppose limited screen space on the ds necessitates concise sentences.

Didn't realise this was on here lol
As someone with ADHD, finding study methods that work for me is virtually impossible, but this did wonders for my kanji skills. As Baxter said, you could do this on paper, but I think it being on the DS tricks my brain into thinking it's a game. Not sure if this is the intended method but what I like to do is jump into the drill section and complete 3-5 passages a day, while also looking up any words I don't know so I can read the full passage. Super quick and simple, and if you can keep up with doing it daily for a while, you will definitely start to feel more confident I think.

Got to 2 turns to go in task 5 and realised I wasn't gonna make it. As it went on I started to feel like I had to take notes with the constant stat and item juggling, it almost got kinda stressful. I constantly found myself going through menus to set up the events for the week, remembering something that needed doing and then going back and doing that thing, and it gets more and more tedious to do that the more facilities you build. I wish the weekday menu system was a little more streamlined, since that's probably the majority of the game.
That being said, it was pretty fun and addictive! Good dopamine hit when you're constantly unlocking new stuff. If I pick this back up to finish again it'll probably be on vita when I need another way to blow away my commute.