Category: Games

Meet the Girlies of Girly Pop Island! | Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

It has been a week since Tomodachi Life has launched on the Nintendo Switch and so I thought I would do a little video introducing you to the Miis on my island!

Originally, I was not going to base the Miis off people in my real life, but then I changed my mind because I wanted to see how everyone would get along or not get along in the game, plus it’s kind of nice to have some familiar faces around the island.

So far, we are starting humbly with 12 Miis but I am slowly going to expand. I think it’s important to give everyone enough time to bond. Now I have my core selection of people, I can really start being creative and add more fictional characters or celebrities or even original characters to the mix.

In terms of first opinions of the game, I am really enjoying it but people on Reddit have put the fear into me that I am going to burn out of the game too quickly so I am making an effort to play at my own pace, which does include only playing an hour or so a day. I don’t want to unlock and see everything within the first week.

That being said, the content so far has lacked a little for me. I am disappointed by how few items we can actually give our Miis and the furniture we can place outside. I hope the game gives updates in the future with some more options but I’m not even sure if that’s on the cards.

Still, it’s nice to have a new console game to enjoy as I feel like it’s been a while. Will probably post another few updates of my island on my YouTube channel as things progress but couldn’t see it being a real Let’s Play. Anyway, if you need me for the foreseeable future, just know I’m tending to the girlies of Girly Pop Island.

My Thoughts on the Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream Nintendo Direct

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Last week Nintendo released a direct all about the new Tomodachi Life Nintendo Switch game and I am super excited about it! I really enjoyed the 3DS version of the game when it came out, I had created all my Miis based on real-life people and it was interesting to see how their lives played out in this mini simulation. There was never a dull moment in my little Tomodachi Life and I even documented it on a Tumblr blog. Maybe I will revive it for the Switch game who knows?

So let’s get into what Nintendo have shared about the new Tomodachi Life because you know I have thoughts.

First off, when we create a Mii you can do it from scratch or you can use prompts. I am disappointed they did not show what the prompts were to create the Mii, I wonder if it is similar to the Sims where it asks questions and will set their personality based on the questions and randomise the appearance or if there are some questions which will help determine appearance? It will be interesting to see what they are.

One of the big new features in Mii creation is that we can now set the gender as non-binary. Some people may have issue with this but I think it is a huge move for Nintendo. You can also set dating preferences as well which is nice; it reminds me of when they added pronouns and relationship preferences in the Sims. It’s a small feature but allows for more realistic and inclusive gameplay which I am all for.

I assume we can also import Miis as we could for the 3DS, not sure how it would work here as the 3DS had a camera to scan QR codes but it could be similar to how you read QR codes in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, by using the Nintendo app on your phone and linking to the game.

Continue reading “My Thoughts on the Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream Nintendo Direct” →

The Grand Opening of Hotel Reverie! | Exploring the 3.0 Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Who would’ve thought I’d be back making Animal Crossing content in 2026? This is a LONG video but I wanted to do my best to showcase the new 3.0 features and see if there was anything else new that wasn’t mentioned in Nintendo’s trailer.

The real question is if this will bring me back to playing Animal Crossing, and truthfully it won’t. At least not full-time. Sure, I want to play to decorate all the hotel rooms but once that’s done I am not sure if there is much else worth of substance here for me. I have enjoyed this game a lot over the years but I think I have done all that I want to.

My main concern is that with the next instalment of the game, it is just going to be a decorating game. Which is fine but that to me is not what Animal Crossing is about. So we will see what the future has in store for the game, I am just hoping we don’t forget its roots.

An Animal Crossing: New Horizons Update in 2026?!

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

I was not planning to make so many YouTube video posts on this blog in a row…sorry but that’s just how I’ve been feeling making content recently so here is my latest video talking about the new Animal Crossing update coming next year!

I don’t think anyone was expecting this so it’s a nice surprise. I am looking forward to seeing what it is like but at the same time, don’t think any of the new content is super groundbreaking. Still, I think it’s nice to have something to tide us over until they announce a new Animal Crossing game. But based on this update I am wondering if we are still a few years off another main title game…

For now we will take what we can get.

Hello Kitty Island Adventure First Impressions!

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

I got Hello Kitty Island Adventure back in March and I have to say I was not that impressed. I even tried to make a blog post at the time but I felt it was just very negative and not accomplishing much, so I’ve decided to give it a second chance. i.e. I played the game a few times in March, wasn’t a fan and haven’t played it since. Until last night when I picked it up again and now I want to keep playing lol.

So I’m going to give it another shot at writing my first impressions. A lot of what I thought in March still stands but I’m now more intrigued to keep going compared to before.

The first thing to point out is I find the game overall a bit clunky. The way the character moves, the controls, the menu navigation. It’s not my fave, and it really put me off in the beginning. Like do I really want to be navigating through every single collection menu to clear the red dot everytime I pick up a new item? No. But I try my best to ignore it and try to clear a bunch of them in one go lol. The same goes with achievements. It’s just annoying to have to manually clear them otherwise the red dot does not go away.

I also think it’s hard to get used to new controls in general, like X to gift items, Y to use tools. These are not common controls for me on Nintendo Switch and so it’s taking some time to get used to. Also switching tools is not the best, but I think maybe it’s just something I need to adapt to.

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Why I Stopped Playing Infinity Nikki

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

In December, I decided to take a chance on Infinity Nikki because some people were posting about it on Bluesky and it was free to play. Since the first day I started, I was hooked. I even made a YouTube video on the second day I played because I was so obsessed. And I have been posting photos on Bluesky ever since. I don’t think I have been so captivated by a game since Disney Dreamlight Valley.

And now sadly I think my love of this game might have come to an end. At least for now. I suppose these things always happen, you fall in love with a game, play it non-stop and then you don’t touch it for ages. But this is not one of those things.

Infinity Nikki is an open-world gatcha game and has pretty regular updates so there is always new content to pull you in. And unlike Disney Dreamlight Valley, it is not going back on its promise to go free to play, it just is free. However due to the gatcha element, there are times when you are tempted to spend money. But the microtransactions are not what is putting me off either. It’s the 1.5 update.

So this is not a secret, so many people have been posting online about this and so I thought I’d put my two cents out there.

Continue reading “Why I Stopped Playing Infinity Nikki” →

My Nintendo Switch 2 Direct Thoughts

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

I completely forgot about the direct today but I have watched it now and thought I’d share my thoughts here. Also three blog posts in the space of a week? Crazy lol.

First of all, here are the bullet points I made while watching, I will put some final thoughts below but if you want a quick overview of what was going on in my mind at the time then please enjoy:

  • Starting out strong with Mario Kart – a classic.
  • Driving anywhere in the world is kind of crazy, I will definitely be taking some scenic drives.
  • 24 drivers?? Yikes. Can barely keep track of 12 half the time.
  • Knockout is a cool gameplay mode, I can’t wait to immediately lose since I am not good at Mario Kart lol.
Continue reading “My Nintendo Switch 2 Direct Thoughts” →

Games I’m Excited About From the Nintendo Direct

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Jumping straight in with the blogging thing, I thought I’d talk about some of the games in the Nintendo Direct that caught my eye.

I haven’t really been playing my Switch recently due to having abandoned any game that isn’t Infinity Nikki. But I miss handheld gaming and I’m not ready to invest in a Steam deck so I think it’s worth seeing what Nintendo has in store for us. Especially with the Switch 2 right around the corner.

Most of the time, directs do not appeal to me because I play very few games lol. If it’s not Animal Crossing or the odd Pokémon game, Nintendo does not hold much for me. That being said as a child, I grew up exclusively on Nintendo and my DS was my best friend so maybe I need to give them more credit.

So here are the few games which caught my attention in the latest direct:

Because I am in the cosy gaming space, I have seen a lot of people on my timelines BEGGING for this game. I want to say I’m not one of them. But I am looking forward to it.

I had Tomodachi Life for DS and I thought it was fun and cute at the time. I even had a Tumblr blog dedicated to my Miis and everything.

That being said the downfall of the game is it got very repetitive very quickly. Which makes sense, given that the game could only be programmed to have a finite number of scenarios which your Miis went through etc. So I stopped playing once I thought I’d seen everything.

I worry the same thing will happen with this game. It’ll get repetitive too soon and it won’t be worth the cost. I think the concept might do well as a mobile game with constant updates but I guess we will see. I don’t think I want to get too committed to buying it until we have more information.

Continue reading “Games I’m Excited About From the Nintendo Direct” →

There’s No Business Like Show Business… | The Sims 1

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

Some more Sims 1 content! I filmed these two parts back to back on the same day I booted up Sims 1 for the first time. I am not committing to any Let’s Plays at this time because I am unreliable but if I feel like chatting about my Sims gameplay, then a video you shall receive. Turns out the Sims 1 is NOT easy to play and I was struggling A LOT. But it’s a learning curve. One day I’ll master it for sure… but not right now, we’ve got lots of other games to be playing lol

Making Magic and Fires | Playing the Sims 1 For the First Time!

~ Courtney Shek ~ Leave a comment

I have decided after almost 4 years to resurrect my Sims channel! I never abandoned it on purpose, I just stopped playing the Sims and so the Sims videos stopped. But I thought it would be fun to come back and play some Sims 1!

I’ve never played before so this was something new and I really enjoyed it! I will definitely be back with more. In fact, I already have two more videos edited and ready to go lol so look out for more Sims content soon.