/jp/ - Otaku Culture

I've been playing a whole lot of Tokimeki Idol recently.
I only just found out about how after the game died the devs released an offline version with no cut content for free.
The rhythm game part is pretty fun. The song variety is surprisingly good. There's a lot of idol music but also video game remixes and a couple really wacky tracks. Some of the songs are ridiculously catchy, and I keep finding myself humming them.
The whole game has a really cheery, positive attitude. No matter how badly you clear a song, you still unlock new outfits and new story scenes. When I used to play rhythm games and I'd fail over and over, I would get pretty self-loathing and stressed out. Tokimeki Idol never makes me feel like that. It's always providing you with opportunities to improve and to strive to do new things, but it doesn't get upset at you or punish you when you fail. It's comfy.
There isn't much story, and there isn't anything that will be new to you if you've read a good moege in the last fifteen years. At the same time, I've found it oddly entrancing. I think about it a lot even when I'm not playing it. All of the girls are so supportive of each other and you and everyone around them. Even if their personalities can be on the shallow side, the way they uplift everyone they meet and stay positive no matter what is somehow incredibly inspiring to me.
I ended up especially liking Nanana, who is a female best friend kind of character. At first I thought she would be incredibly annoying, but I grew to understand how spontaneous and passionate and honest she really is. She's a great character and I smile a bit every time I see her.

If you're the kind of person who likes mobage but despises microtransactions or gets depressed that one day the game and all your favorite characters will be gone forever, I really recommend it. It's a solid freeware mobage you can play at any pace you like, and that something like that exists makes me happy.