Otaku Collection 2016: June Update | PlayStation Birthday Stuff!

June was packed with a lot of games. That's because it was my 21st birthday so I celebrated with a new console and a bunch of titles. In addition I also received two of my delayed packages which is neat. The unfortunate part is that the pound has crashed like a motherfucker ;_;

So here's the items I picked up during June 2016.

Brexit has caused a lot of problems here in the UK but hopefully the pound gets better as time goes along. In the meantime I changed my focus on games for the time being and my plans on some Monogatari arcs has been put on-hold temporarily.

#1 | Clannad Visual Novel Kickstarter Items

The first pickup of the month is a very long delayed item that was supposed to come out months ago. Us UK/European backers finally received their copies of the Clannad visual novel from Sekai Project's kickstarter. At the same day I also received my bonus items; the Clannad side stories visual novel and the Anthology manga. Unfortunately I haven't yet played the game because at the same day the painful fraud situation happened. Looking back now, if it weren't for this set I may not have noticed this problem until days later...

#2 | Birthday | PlayStation 4 with Ratchet & Clank and Uncharted 4: A Thief's End

Originally due to acquire this on my birthday, after watching the Sony E3 conference I decided now was the right time to do it since no price cut was mentioned (I figured I would wait in case it happens). In GAME I managed to acquire the PS4 1TB console with Uncharted 4: A Thief's End as well as another game. The original deal included FIFA 16 so I told the staff if it were possible to swap it with another game, for instance I asked about the Nathan Drake Collection. He told me they were only able to swap it with one other title which turned out to be Ratchet & Clank. I was pleased with this turnout as Ratchet & Clank received positive feedback among fans in the gaming community. I haven't played Ratchet yet but I did complete Uncharted 4.

Uncharted 4 is a really good game and I highly recommend it to any PS4 owner out there. It's story is simple to understand and doesn't need any prior knowledge of previous instalments. The gameplay is great and the graphics are very impressive for a PS4 title. My only flaw is that certain places can have odd-pacing and the intro is slow but it's just a minor nitpick. Haven't tried the online due to not owning PlayStation Plus.

#3 | Nekomonogatari White Aniplex set

Originally due the week when I received Clannad, I finally picked up the first arc of Monogatari Second Season. My original plan was to get all of them at once but I figured it would be too much for the wallet so I decided to get them bit by bit. Neko White is also one of the two most expensive individual Monogatari arcs so that helps. I haven't checked out the episodes yet but I do intend on doing so at some point.

#4 | Birthday | Uncharted: The Nathan Drake Collection & a Blue PS4 Controller

I was expecting nothing on my birthday since I got the console 1 week prior but to my surprise my mum managed to get me the Uncharted Nathan Drake Collection from GAME at a good price. I did ask her to try and find Wolfenstein: New Order but she was unable to find one brand new (I don't go after used copies unless the game was OOP).

So far I have finished Uncharted: Drake's Fortune and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves. Uncharted 1 feels very dated but the story is simple enough. The gameplay has aged a lot and the shooting parts are rather tedious (you will die a lot if you don't pay good attention) but overall it was a solid start to the series. Uncharted 2 improves a lot with its cool interactive cutscenes, improved combat/shooting, the story taking a really cool direction and the ending being a wild ride. I can see why many feel this is the best of the four games in the series.

I also received another PlayStation 4 controller in case I want to do local multiplayer.

#5 | PSN | Hatsune Miku Project Diva Arcade Future Tone & Sword Art Online Re: Hollow Fragment

As a surprise to many I don't really go after digital games but in this instance there were two games I would allow as no physical copy actually exists. The first game I picked up was through the Japanese PlayStation store.

Hatsune Miku Project Diva Arcade Future Tone is a remastered/port of the Project Diva Arcade version put out a few years ago. This is considered to be the definitive version of the rhythm game so far with complex combos and really nice visuals. This PS4 version keeps the 1080p 60fps rate and provided a reasonable package with 127 songs on the Future Sound package (which I bought) that covers various songs from Project Diva games on PlayStation (PSP, Vita & PS3). There's also the Colorful Tone package that includes 95 songs from the Arcade and Project Mirai versions but I don't own that yet. Overall this game is worth picking up especially if you want a rhythm game to play on PS4 and are a fan of vocaloid music. The price is also reasonable which is great.

The other game I downloaded was Sword Art Online Re:Hollow Fragment, a remaster of a remaster of a PSP game. This game started off with Infinity Moment on the PSP, then it got a Vita release under the name Hollow Fragment which kept the main game plus added a new story arc. Now it's on PS4 remastered with improved gameplay (framerate is a mess in town areas though) and fixed translation (the Engrish from the Vita release is gone). So far from what I played it's a solid title and does take some dedication to as it's a big game. I've focusing on the Infinity Moment story at the moment which is simply beat floors 76-100.

#6 | Sword Art Online Lost Song

The last item I picked up for the month of June is another PS4 game; Sword Art Online Lost Song. What's worth mentioning about this title is that the PS4 version is actually gone out of print. It appears Bandai Namco have a new policy in mind where the physical copies are in fact limited rather than get reprints like other games do. So I better get my hands on other Japanese games before I get stuck in this situation again. I only paid £32 which is better than the prices being offered nowadays. I couldn't even import the US version because Amazon US won't support UK shipping for that specific title which makes no sense when other titles can.

As this is a sequel to Hollow Fragment it's on-hold for the time being but I'll get it sorted before the next instalment Hollow Realization is released.

Bonus | The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

You remember this set that Funimation announced during their September 2016 line-up?

Yeah well due to Brexit I immediately took the risk of paying off the set on Rightstuf right away so I now have secured a copy before either the pound gets worse or the set goes out of print. Robert's Anime Corner Store clarified that this special set will sell out not long after launch so I made the right decision. Plus it's nearly all of Haruhi, so it's worth the £102 I paid.

That's it for the month of June. Its very games focused but heck I'm behind on PS4 games so I need to catch up as soon as possible. For July & August nothing is planned as of yet but I hopefully will manage to get a few more titles before Uni happens.