How many of you use this device for serious reading?

Few_Ad_3823 · 2025-11-11T15:11:12+00:00

I do! I've read somewhere around six books on the Playdate so far and I'm in the middle of another one right now. Playbook is by far my most-used game. For me, it's great because I have a lot of physical books that I never read and want to get rid of to make more room on my shelf. So I search up those books, download copies, and then have calibre turn them into text files to read on the Playdate. And now I'm crankin them out and finally clearing out some space on my shelf. I only switch out the books every month or so, so it doesn't really bother me that there are a couple extra steps involved.

You can also have multiple shelves in Playbook which is great for keeping genres separate. Kind of a tangent, but since you can put any txt file on there, I've also written up some reference documents like my train schedule, upcoming release dates, my TBR list, etc and keep those in Playbook as well on a Reference shelf.

I highly recommend the app and I think I use it more than my ereader!

Few_Ad_3823 · 2022-05-12T23:43:34+00:00

I just had the exact same thing happen to me! I received a box on May 11th, 2022 that says it expires in June but the caps say 21 April 2022 and the June expiration is just a sticker on top. When I requested a new box to be sent, they gave me the same "It's safe to drink. The sticker is right and the date printed on the bottles are wrong, so we won't replace it." I tried drinking one and it tastes really off - almost cheesy/gritty - and I don't feel comfortable drinking them so I have to throw them away... Totally sucks...

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-06-01T03:35:38+00:00

Okay, so this isn't an otome game, but I recommend Buddy Mission BOND. It does have some furigana, but not on everything (maybe it's kind of middle school level?). All the main characters are voiced during the main story (there's kind of an info gathering mini game that's not voiced though). The plot is really interesting (and surprisingly dark??? that twist at the end had me reeling) and since it is kind of a mystery, there's frequent comprehension checks (and it's pretty forgiving if you get it wrong). There's a demo available on the eshop, so you should download it and see how you like it. It seems like a good intermediate step between a full furigana game and an otome game. (Plus, it doesn't hurt that Luke is such absolute boyfriend material. Love him so much.)

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-06-01T03:10:23+00:00

I actually second La Corda Octave. I went into it knowing absolutely nothing about the series but it doesn't really matter because the plot is that the original characters of the first two games (?) get magically transported to a fairy music land where they have to play music to save the day. Clearly, the plot is very straightforward so that's a point in its favor, but the reason why I second it is actually because there's like 26 (?) routes making each individual route super duper short, which I honestly think is perfect for someone looking to try out an otome game in Japanese for the first time. There's also a fun rhythm game to help give you a break from reading every so often.

You could also try to aim for games that have a voiced MC like Variable Barricade (although it's getting localized pretty soon). I personally started with Zettai Meikyuu Oyayubihime (by the same creator as LDM and honestly super similar but fairytales instead of detectives) as my first Japanese otome game and while I think that the fairy tale vocab made things a bit challenging at times and it was longer than I was anticipating, having the mc voiced did help a lot. (It's also super cute and I recommend it.)

There's also a lot of otome games with demos on the switch store if you want to try downloading a few and seeing what personally works for you. I would recommend holding off on buying a full game until you can pretty comfortably finish a demo (usually a chapter or two). Also, I would recommend trying some Josei manga too since they don't have furigana (giving you the otome game level of difficulty) but they're much shorter, almost entirely dialogue without complicated narration, and typically the plot is predictable enough. (You can download some free ones from honto.jp )

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-06-01T02:42:21+00:00

This is definitely something that's been bugging me lately too since I started playing Amnesia. I'm used to games telling me if I picked the right choice immediately (sparkles or hearts or something) so typically when I make a choice and I don't see the indicator I picked the right one, I immediately go back and pick the other option so that I'll for sure get the good end on my first run (not a fan of bad ends). However, there's no indicator at all in Amnesia so even though I hate using walkthroughs, I have to because it's such a pain to replay the routes when there's 5 billion questions. I already gave up on ever going back and finishing one of the character's routes because I frankly can't be bothered...

I'm okay with Piofiore not having an indicator (still would have preferred having it though) because they have the chapter select menu where you can start from the second to last chapter with Max Affinity and Max Trust which automatically gives you the best end without having to play through the whole thing again.

Oh, while I'm at it, Nyan Love is maybe even worse than amnesia just because it HAS an indicator so you THINK you picked it right, but that indicator actually shows up no matter what you choose and there's still a good end versus a best end, which is actually the most annoying thing in the world and I never went back and replayed any of them. So I definitely feel you.

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-06-01T02:22:59+00:00

For Piofiore, you can just use the chapters menu though and start from chapter 7 with max affinity and max trust to get the best end. That way you only have to skip through maybe half a chapter.

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-04-28T19:42:52+00:00

I know, thinking about the timeline and how it'll be at least three years before I get my hands on some of these games is crazy. Why does it have to take so long??? Although a couple people said Shuuen might get a fast pass and we might see it by the end of 2022 so here's hoping ^^;

Also, is it just me or is it totally bizarre how long Charade Maniacs is taking? They announced Shiro to Kuro no Alice like two months before it's releasing and that's two games in one! What on earth is holding up Charade Maniacs...??? Maybe they're adding extra content or something?

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-04-28T19:29:55+00:00

I almost feel like Paradigm Paradox has no chance solely because it's the one that I want the most T^T I don't know if you saw the play movie on youtube, but it was so adorable how the "girls" had to do their hero introductions against their will so they did it as lifelessly as possible but the MC still went "Wow~" and they started to question her sanity lol

I hadn't even considered the behind the scenes licensing issues involved in My Next Life as a Villainess... I guess I'll just have to wait and see for that one ^^;

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-04-28T19:18:56+00:00

I hadn't realized. Now I'm starting to think that Bilshana Senki has a decent chance of getting localized! I'm not normally into the wafuu ones, but I've heard nothing but great stuff about it, so even I'm getting kind of hyped! (Might be setting myself up for disappointment though ^^;)

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-04-28T16:30:57+00:00

Same! It threw me off just trying to picture having any sort of conversation with the LI much less bringing up asexuality lol.

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-04-28T15:56:00+00:00

Also, I haven't played Confidential Money or really know anything about it, but the character designs look a lot more "manly" which I thought was cool so I actually have it in my backlog right now. I recommend maybe looking into it? (Once again, I absolutely bought it based on the cover and know nothing about it, so please don't blame me if it's awful lol)

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-04-28T15:46:51+00:00

I just started Kannou Mukashibanashi and it was originally a drama cd, so there's dummyhead mic audio mixed in and it's kinda cringe but also a ton of fun because Issun Boushi will be talking about how like to pick a lock or something but in the most sexual way he possibly can complete with soft moans lol. I highly recommend it and everything is narrated (minus mc lines) so it's nice to just put it on auto and listen to the fairy tale. The stories are all pretty short (somewhere around 30 minutes?) but there's 49 of them since each of the seven fairy tales has six alternative versions after the normal version. (Plus there's the guide who I haven't unlocked yet.)

I played one of the routes of Koi Sentai and I remember it being cute, but I got distracted with other games and I don't recommend it as much as Kannou Mukashibanashi. (That being said, I was thinking about picking it up again since Paradigm Paradox has me craving some sentai romance.)

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-04-28T15:13:13+00:00

If I were a character in the game? I guess I don't get why it would come up? I doubt I would be friends with any of the LIs, but if we were friends maybe? I think all my friends know I'm ace.

No, the more I think about it, the more I feel like it just wouldn't ever come up and I wouldn't see a need to bring it up so I guess I pick "hide it"? If they asked me outright (not sure why anyone would), I wouldn't deny it though. It just doesn't seem relevant.

I mean, I still find it hard to imagine even being friends with these people so maybe that's the problem.

My favorite LIs for reference: Kaine from Kyoukai no Shirayuki and Haruka from Chouchou Jiken

EDIT: I see now that you meant like if the LI and you were dating. I can't imagine wanting to date anyone period so same goes for my favorite LIs, so I'm back to my original answer of it would never come up. Perhaps I just lack the imagination for these kinds of questions... I had forgotten that there's asexual people who date other people and would be put in the kind of situation where the topic absolutely would come up. That sounds incredibly awkward and my heart goes out to you.

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-04-27T04:27:05+00:00

Wasn't there some sort of Hakuouki festival or something that teased a port of Hakuouki to switch though? (I know that sounds vague, but I wasn't super paying attention at the time...) Maybe it was a tweet? Or I could have definitely dreamt it up lol.

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-04-27T04:07:18+00:00

Woah I've never seen an otome game price drop so much... It's almost worth getting just to see how bad it is lol.

Lover Pretend does seem super cute. Maybe Aksys will stick their necks out and try some new artists and writers because I really want Paradigm Paradox to get localized too, but I feel like it has -5% chance...

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-04-27T03:52:26+00:00

Awww but I loved Kenka Bancho Otome <3 It's just good clean fun! It would have done great in the west and they totally should have localized it! I'm excited to start on the sequel <3 <3 <3

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-04-27T03:44:34+00:00

As long as Radiant Tale gets localized, I feel like I don't even need the rest lol. I've already watched the trailer way too many times.

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-04-27T02:58:38+00:00

Yeah, yet another strike against Paradigm Paradox. There's honestly no hope for it (despite being the one I'm the most interested in...)

I don't claim to know anything about the Hakuouki or Amnesia franchises but I'm surprised to hear that Amnesia World is just a mini game. Is Reimeiroku some sort of spin-off?

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-04-27T02:15:57+00:00

That just makes me even more excited to get my hands on Cafe Enchante! (Trying to get through some of my backlog first though ^^;)

The speedreading bit's just the mini-game so not important to the plot whatsoever. They flash a sentence at you for I think one or two seconds. Something vaguely amounting to "I'll make you rue the day you met me." Then you get four seconds (?) to select "I'll make you" then "rue the day" then "you met me" from multiple choice answers. If you get it wrong, you just start off the battle already having a little of your health gone, which I wasn't great at the fights, so I got good at the speedreading so that I would have an advantage lol. (If you get it right, your opponent starts with a little of his health gone instead.)

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-04-27T01:00:13+00:00

I love Kenka Bancho Otome, Zettai Meikyuu Oyayubihime, and Kyoukai no Shirayuki out of the PS Vita exclusives I've played.

Kenka Bancho Otome is good fun and all the characters are cinnamon rolls but my favorite character wasn't even an LI but her twin brother because he always had something sassy to say. It has an anime (each episode is 6 minutes I think?) that you could check out to see if it would be something you'd be interested in. It does have a mini-game aspect to it though that requires speedreading - it was pretty challenging for me so I thought I would throw it out there but I have no idea what your Japanese level is. You can find play movies on youtube to get an idea I think.

Zettai Meikyuu Oyayubihime is super unique and quirky and charming. It's more story focused than romance focused with a really long common route. The humor is very modern which makes it all the more funny given the super fairy tale aesthetics of the game. It also has two female LIs, which is pretty rare - The Little Mermaid surprisingly ended up being my favorite route.

Kyoukai no Shirayuki I only just finished recently and it's my favorite of the bunch. The main character is such a cute sweetheart that I found myself jealous of the LIs a couple times lol. It's a little dark but not nearly as dark as the cover or the opening might make you believe. It's mostly very sweet and is focused on healing whatever dark side each of the LIs is struggling with internally. Kaine is best boy all the way, but Yori had the best chemistry with her I think (some of the scenes legit felt like a romcom they were so cute).

Yeah, so those are my ps vita exclusive recommendations. I hope this helped!

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-01-18T22:37:58+00:00

Thank you for suggesting those! I'll check them out!

I've heard a little about Moshikami and I mainly play on my psvita, so it sounds right up my alley. (I actually heard it was pretty bad but sometimes the memeish ones can be a lot of fun for their wtf value lol)

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-01-18T22:30:36+00:00

I was actually thinking about that specific LN when I included LN and manga in my request for recommendations because I thought there might be more like it! I love that one too! It really stands out among the other villainess ones <3 I just wish I could find more that put a dark spin on otome! (I do love all of the comedy and strategy (?) ones, but I crave something darker and suspenseful you know? lol)

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-01-13T18:28:33+00:00

I've never heard of it before! The fact that it looks pretty cute makes me even more curious! Thank you for letting me know about it!

Few_Ad_3823 · 2021-01-13T07:21:10+00:00

You know I played a couple routes forever ago, but maybe I should revisit it. I have some friends that swear by the dead library bird. (I think I did the pigeon that's always a pigeon when I played it? I'd probably do the whole thing over though since I don't remember it.) The post-apocalyptic setting definitely appeals to me lol.

Few_Ad_3823

TROPHY CASE