How To Play Persona O.A.

Persona O.A.
     This is a great app for any fan of Persona games (Which are usually played via playstation).  This is doubly true for fans of Persona 5.  Persona O.A, is a Persona 5 game in the form of an app.  You play as yourself, but you wield multiple Persona and meet up with the members of the Phantom Thieves, travelling through Mementos and special event Palaces to steal hearts and gain levels.

     A lot of people complain because the application is Japanese only.  Though knowing Japanese certainly makes the game play easier and more enjoyable, English speaking users can still play the app so long as they know what to do.  I've decided to make a tutorial on how to play this app for those who can't read Japanese.  This will cover the basic functions of the app.  There is a great deal of dialogue in the story cut scenes that will not be covered here.  To view translations for those go here.

     Upon loading the app for the first time you'll be guided through the game elements and account set up by Sae Niijima.  I have created some graphics to take you through the account setup.  Click them to expand the images to a larger size if you find them difficult to read.

     Above you can see how to set up your new account.  If you have an existing account and know your user code, you can enter it in through the data transfer method.  Below you can see how to enter your name into the next section.

     Once you are able to start playing you will always start the app on the main home screen.  The home screen character and background changes every time you reload it.  It pulls from various characters in Persona 5 like the main characters and confidants.  They will have a quote under them as well but this isn't really important.  It is just a fun element of the game, so don't worry about not being able to read it.  The things you need to know on this page can be seen in the graphic below.

     I wouldn't worry too much about the Calendar, Twitter or P5A buttons.  If you want to watch the P5A with subtitles you can do so at Crunchy Roll.  The calendar will talk about upcoming events but it is all in Japanese, so unless you want to translate it don't worry about it.  The events will notify you when you start the app up if they are happening anyway.  The calendar is just to set up notifications for future events.

     The news also covers the more recent events, just like the calendar but again, it's in Japanese.  Just keep an eye on the dates so you know when something new is happening.

     The Event button shows you all the events (dialogues) in the game with the various characters.  You can see which you are missing and replay the ones you have already unlocked.

     You will start with some free PP (Persona Points).  You can spend these on the Persona Gacha which gives you a random Persona or skill card.  You can also spend your points on Persona wallpapers for your phone.  To use the Gacha, visit the Velvet Room at the bottom left.  To buy wallpapers, tap the More Options button on the top left.  You can see this screen below.

     The above graphic gives you a basic run down of the options here.  The only important ones are the Take The Day (I may have mistranslated this) option which gives you your data transfer code, and the Persona Point option.

     If you tap the Persona Points button you will be taken to the screen on the left of this text.  At the top left you have the Back button, the top right is your total PP.  You can scan QR codes with the top option or use the second option to type in codes.  The codes are obtained by purchasing official Persona products or from various magazines which release new codes every issue.  These magazines include PASH, Anime Japan, and several others.  A full list can be found on the official site.  If anyone gets access to the codes in these magazines and would like to share them, please leave a comment on this post.

     The bottom option is where you can spend your existing PP on special wallpapers.  The wallpapers cost quite a bit but when you purchase one you have options on what dimensions you would like to save the file as.  You will also unlock more wallpapers as you progress through the various dungeons.  Special seasonal events will allow you to unlock event exclusive wallpapers as well.  To be honest you can probably find any of these wallpapers online for free though.  Don't be like me and waste your PP on the wallpapers.

     If you access the Velvet Room through the home screen you will need to know what the various options given there are.  You can see the translations on the graphic below.

     You get your personas by playing the gacha.  There are more than one available usually.  Different gachas cost different amounts and give you access to different levels of persona.  There are also special event gachas that appear sometimes.

     The top gacha on the screen to the left is a special gacha.  It costs more (300PP for one draw) but you can get really amazing persona from it.  I got Futaba's persona on my first play.  However, all of the gacha only give you a chance at a persona.  You can alternatively get a skill card instead.  It's random so you never know if you'll get something good or not.

     If you do get a skill card you can use it on a persona by clicking the Skill Mastery button.  Skill cards have the skill type printed on as an image.  You can only use certain skill types on certain persona.  This is easy enough to figure out though.  If you look at your persona in Skill Mastery mode, at the bottom it shows what types of skills they can learn (And which they already have).  Below you can see the bottom skill area of a persona.  Below that is what a skill card option looks like in the skill select screen.  Clicking the cards image on the right of the skills will take you to your available skill cards so you can select one.  Once a card is used, it disappears.  Choose wisely.

     The compendiums are a way to see what personas and items you have gathered.  Looking at a Persona Compendium is a good way to see how strong it is.  You can also view the level that the personas you have are and how rare they are (More stars mean rarer persona).  I will show you what the stat translations are below.

Strength:
Magic:
Endurance:
Agility:
Luck:

     Those are what the stat options on the bottom left side say, in that order.  As you can see this persona has a lot of Luck but very little Strength.  Different dungeons are easier with different types of persona.  So it is good to collect a good range of persona with various stats and abilities.

     In order to level up your persona you;ll have to explore the dungeon areas such as Mementos and the special event Palaces.  Also please forgive the fact that I wrote Momentos instead of Mementos in all of my graphics.

     When you go to Mementos from the home screen you can choose which dungeon to explore.  More will unlock as you progress through the game and special Event Palaces will appear near the top of the list.  Each dungeon has a different difficulty level and recommended level written on it.  So choose the ones that will work best for you at the level that you are.  If you are unsure about what level you currently are, or what your personal stats are you can tap the button in the top right corner during dungeon selection.  It will take you to the screen to the left (You can change your name here if you want as well).

From the top, clockwise: Knowledge, Courage, Dexterity, Kindness, Charm

     After selecting a dungeon you get to choose one persona to take with you and one companion.  You can only choose from the characters you have met thus far.  You start with Morgana, then you meet Ann, then Ryuji, and so on.  The more dungeons you explore, the more characters you'll meet.

     Your persona, companion and yourself each will gain experience and levels when you are exploring a dungeon.  Below you can see what it looks like while you are exploring.

     This part of the game just requires you to wait.  You can exit the dungeon at any time by clicking the Finish Exploration button in the bottom left.  However, it is best to wait for the Investigation bar to fill up or the Security to be at 100 percent.  Because when either of these gauges fill, you will no longer be gaining items or experience. (UPDATE: Check out how to beat dungeons you get stuck on here)

     The game does not need to be open for exploration to commence.  If you want to play other parts of the app just click the Back button from this screen.  If you want to close the app, you can do that as well.  The exploration will continue until either security or investigation maxes.  Then you'll have to come back and tell it to finish so you can go to another dungeon.  If your security bar maxes before exploration does, don't worry.  You can always come back and continue to explore later.

     To the right you can see what it looks like when you complete an exploration.  You, your persona, and your companion rank ups are displayed as well as how close they are to get another level.  Scrolling down shows what items you found and how much PP you earned.

     After exploration you may trigger some dialogue with whatever companion you took with you into the dungeon.  If you can't read the dialogue you have two options.  Either you can click through it and guess at any dialogue options it gives you to choose, or you can use a translation app to help you translate the text.  Though these applications aren't always accurate.  You can see what I mean below.

     Like in the Persona 5 game, different options will have an effect on the affection of the character.  You'll get little music note animations if you choose the option that makes the character happy.  You will also be able to use items you found on your exploration, such as books, magazines, DVDs, etc.  An option to watch/read them will appear when you get home after your time spent with your chosen companion.  Depending on what you read or watch, you can boost different stats.  Boosted stats will help level companions as well as help you defeat certain dungeon bosses.

     After this you can go explore another (or the same) area.  This is pretty much the whole game.  If there is anything I missed that you want explained or elaborated on, just let me know.  I hope you enjoy playing this really cute Persona app game!

• Free
• Seller: Aniplex Inc
• Category: Entertainment
• Size: 113 MB
• Languages: Japanese
• Copyright: ©ATLUS ©SEGA All rights reserved.　©ATLUS ©SEGA/PERSONA5 the Animation Project

You must be at least 17 years old to download this app. Gambling and Contests

AlarmMon (Alarm Clock)

AlarmMon (Alarm Clock)
     Having trouble jump starting your brain in the morning?  Do you have a tendency of just slapping the snooze button and ignoring the alarm all together?  This alarm application finds a way to deal with that issue.

     I really like the concept behind the application which is an alarm that requires you to complete a mini game in order to shut it off.  In doing this you prove that you are at least awake enough to perform a simple task.  By getting your conscious mind working a bit, it makes it easier for you to wake up.  The app has potential, but only if you use it correctly.

     The app allows you to create multiple alarms for multiple times of the day or days of the week.  In creating a new alarm you can choose the mini game, the time of day, the day or days of the week it goes off (For reoccurring alarms), whether you want sound or vibration (or both), assign an MP3, choose whether to allow Snooze or not, choose a colour and add a memo.

     The app has tons of mini games to choose from and you can try them out before assigning them to an alarm.  You will need to download the mini games as there are only 2 installed with the basic app.  However, many of the mini games are free.  The ones that cost money are mostly the ones for pop music groups/celebrities.  These special celebrity mini games can be obtained either through in app purchase or saving up your points.  Users get points for every time they complete a mini game after an alarm goes off.  However, there is of course a daily limit for this (I believe it is 6 points a day).  Visiting the Shop allows you to see the mini games that cost points or money.  It also has a charging button to get free points (Though I found this does not work.  I followed the steps but no points were given).

     Different mini games may offer different sounds for the alarm.  Of course users can also assign their own MP3 sounds.  I found the sound without MP3 is just the same sound one might hear when they get a message on their phone.  it repeats over and over every few seconds, but it may be pretty easy to miss.  One MP3 I noticed was quite noisy and I feared using this might startle someone awake which isn't really good for your heart.  However, for those who sleep through alarms easily, this might be more practical.  For light sleepers like myself, it may just induce a heart attack.

     Once you unlock your phone (If it is locked) after the alarm goes off, the mini game begins.  The games are quite cute and simple and could easily be used for children or adults.  They feature simple tasks such as kissing someone until it wakes them up, dodging punches and punching back (Boxing style, not a street brawl), finding characters hidden in an area, repeating a pattern, etc.

     When you complete the mini game and the alarm turns off (It continues until the mini game is completed), you are taken to a page that gives you your local weather, an ad (Unless you remove the ads) and some recent news feed stuff.  however, for me, the weather did not work.  I had it turned on in the settings and gave it access in my phone settings.  I troubleshot this a lot turning settings on and off, looking up information, closing, opening the app, uninstalling, reinstalling...  It just would not work.  This is disappointing to me and certainly affects the point value I give to this application as far as rating it goes.

     The app also has a Quick Alarm function that will choose a random mini game for you.  it is a great way to set up an alarm for a short nap (Say an hour).

     There are other options the application gives you for further customisation as well.  The last icon tab on the bottom of the app (Circle with 3 dots) will take you to a place to customise your profile, check your point history, read the FAQ, check to see if you have coupons and most importantly, it gives you access to Alarm Functions.

     In the alarm functions are users can toggle notifications, delete alarms and alarm history, sync alarms, choose whether or not to display the weather in Fahrenheit, display time in 24 or 12 hours, manually set time, gradually increase sound (Dangerous, it gets loud very quickly), turn off alarms without playing mini games (Thus making the entire purpose of the application pointless), turn on Low Power Mode (uses device settings for sound volume, vibrate, etc), toggle the Snore Checker (uses your microphone to see if you snore... eats up battery) redownload previous purchases (Associated with your account) or turn on sleep inducing music to help you sleep.

     Users can click the calendar icon on the main area of the app to see what alarms they have previously had.  It tells them how long it took them to complete as well as when it went off and what game they chose.


     The app does have ads but users can choose to pay to turn them off.  The annoying part about this is that the ad removal is temporary, even though you pay for it.  You can pay to remove ads for 30 days (0.99USD) or one year (8.99USD).  The ads are a banner toward the bottom of the app that is always there, a large square ad on the weather/news screen after an alarm, and an occasional pop up ad after an alarm is completed.  It honestly seems like a lot of ads for an alarm app.  I also feel that a one time ad removal payment would be a better option.

     One more issue is that if anything interferes with the alarm, it will not go off.  This means if a phone call, message, notification, etc happens at exactly when the alarm is meant to go off, the alarm does not go off.  Also opening the app at precisely the time the alarm is meant to go off can override the alarm.

     Due to the ads and lack of some functionality the app is supposed to have that simply does not work, I can't give this full marks.  It is a cute application though.  If users make sure to use the sound (not just vibrate), remove the snooze option and choose to sit up to play the mini game (This makes it easier to wake up.  Playing while continuing to lay comfortably can make you simply fall back asleep), I believe this app could be a very helpful tool for waking up in the morning.
Rating: 3/5

• Free
• Seller: Malang Studio Co. Ltd
• Category: Lifestyle
• Size: 68.1 MB
• Languages: English, Arabic, German, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Simplified Chinese, Spanish, Thai, Traditional Chinese, Turkish
• Copyright: © malang studio

Rated 4+

Death - Fatal love with Tender Reaper

Death - Fatal Love with Tender Reaper
     A young woman falls in love with a grim reaper.  Cute graphics, a story translated from Japanese (Not very well) and a whole lot of pop up ads.

     This is one of those application games that has very little actual game play involved.  It is very similar to an app I reviewed a while back called Zombie Boy.  This one is a lot shorter, with fewer options and story, however.

     The little reaper wanders around your bedroom.  You can tap him to hear little conversation snippets.  Now and then a cat will wander across the screen giving you an option to watch a 30 second ad video to get a free item.  You can choose to ignore it but I suggest watching the video.  This is because using the Move feature will earn you 20 souls at a time.  Then you have to wait for it to reset to get more.  Using the Bonus Stage item you get from the cat can earn you between 100-150 (On average) souls at a time, depending on how fast you are.

     The Move and Bonus Stage is how you gather souls to feed your reaper.  Don't waste time tapping them one at a time, use your finger to quickly swipe across them on the screen.  This will especially come in handy on the Bonus Stage when you are timed to gather as many as you can.

     Feeding souls to the reaper will level him up.  He will go through different forms as you feed him more and more souls.  Each new form comes with a new story piece and a change in the look of the reaper.  You don't get a CG image until the end of a story play through.  There are 5 CGs total.  One for the intro, one for each of the three possible endings and one for the true ending which you earn after you get every other end.

     The story pieces are somewhat interesting but the English is pretty rough and broken.

     There is one part of the game I think is really cute and that is that petting the cat will allow your reaper to level up faster.  There are a lot of stories that suggest grim reapers and demons like cats.  I support this lore.  The cat petting button in the top right has 3 charges, then it needs to replenish over time.  You can always watch the reaper pet the cat in the Death's Diary page.  This area allows you to see the reaper forms you have unlocked and read the story so far.

     The reapers you get through out the game are as follows: Baby Reaper, Newbie Reaper, Soul Reaper, Sickle Reaper, Growing Up Reaper, Promoted Reaper, Mask Reaper *Which is the one on the icon), Reaper-Looking, Almost Reaper, The Reaper, Minister, A Human Child.

     Some of the different forms depend on the choice you make when you are given your 'wish'.  Wishing to stay with the reaper will grant you the Human Child ending.  Wishing for world piece grants the Minister ending and the billionaire one provides The Reaper ending.  Once you finish an ending it resets to the beginning and you can play through for another ending.

     The billionaire choice will change the souls into stacks of money.

     Now... about those ad popups.  There is the cat that allows you to watch an ad for an item, and I am not opposed to this.  However, I have played the app for less than a 3 minute segment and gotten more than 5 popup ads in that time.  Here are some of the things that can prompt a popup ad in this app.  Using the last cat petting charge, feeding your reaper the last of your souls you collected, clicking Move, using an item, closing the Death Diary or Memiors, closing basically any window within the app.  There is also an ad banner at the bottom of the app.  This just feels like way too many ads for a game that isn't even that impressive and doesn't have a great deal of content.

     Users can choose to pay for items in the app to gain more souls, but  considering how easy and fast this app is to complete for free, there isn't really a point.  A better paid feature would be to remove the ads, but there is no such feature, sadly.  The items are the same ones you get for watching the cat's ad.  they cost 0.99USD, 3.99USD or 19.99USD.  I feel bad for anyone who pays 20 USD on this app... honestly.  Please don't do that.

     The app is cute, the story is ok (Would be better with decent translations), the ads are obnoxious but it is an ok app overall.  I would give this a slightly higher rating if not for the ads but... I found them to be incredibly frustrating.
Rating: 2/5

• Free
• Seller: Agali Inc.
• Category: Games
• Size: 28.8 MB
• Languages: English
• Copyright: © Agali Inc.

Rated 4+

Weather Apps

Weather Apps
     So, this review will be for 3 different weather apps in one post.  I downloaded all of these while looking for a cute weather app.  I wanted to see if any of them would be able to replace the default weather app I usually use.

かりんの天気予報 (Karin Weather Forecast)
     I thought this app would be similar to an app that is no longer available called Moe Weather.  I was never able to use the app but it had a character read the local weather for you.  I can't really compare the two since I never used the Moe one but that was what inspired me to download this app.

     The Karin character featured in the app is cute.  However, there is nowhere in this app to set your location.  I assume it uses your current GPS and only uses locations in Japan.  Since I am not in Japan... this did not work.  It doesn't even give you the Japanese weather if you're curious to know what the weather is in Japan.  I can only assume you have to be in Japan for the app to work at all.

     There is a scroll bar on the side to make Karin smaller or bigger so you can see the map behind her.  She reacts when you tap on her but she does not make any noises.  Putting your finger on the screen and dragging it around will result in her following your finger movement with her head.  Users can also select an outfit for her from the settings menu in the top right.  The options are a Gothic Lolita costume, and two uniforms in pink or blue.

     The translation for the options menu is as follows:
Sound options
On Off
Bookmark startup location (Meaning to remember the location you initially access the app in rather than changing based on current location)
On Off
Change Clothes
3 options available...

     The top left toggle on the main screen is whether or not to show the temperature.  The right side of the board shows the current date.

     This visuals of the app are fine but the app not working outside of Japan or having any languages available aside from Japanese are a problem.  I would not recommend wasting time downloading this application for weather.

Rating: 1/5

• Free
• Seller: Satoru Umezawa
• Category: Weather
• Size: 41.9 MB
• Languages: Japanese
• Copyright: © 2018 dailyanime.news

Rated 12+ for the following: Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content and Nudity

Boo Weather: Pomeranian Puppy
     For those who have not heard of Boo, Boo is a Pomeranian dog who's photos have circulated all over the internet.  It is a cute and happy looking dog with a round headed teddy bear Asian fusion cut.  The images in this application of of this specific dog.  They are randomly generated for each location and cycled every hour (Like the Yahoo Weather app).
 
     When you start the app cute text pops up saying 'Boo: The world's cutest dog'.  Seems a bit presumptuous off the bat.  However, the app itself is easy to understand and fairly user friendly.

     This works just like the Yahoo Weather app.  Swiping left and right cycles through locations you have added.  To add new locations there is a +City icon that allows users to add more cities to the list.

     Tapping the Boo head button at the bottom brings up an option to pay 2.99USD to remove the ads from the app.  The share button is pretty self explanatory.  The settings app allows users to change the temperature from Fahrenheit to Celsius or visa-versa.

     Within the Settings users can also opt to get notifications when new Boo images are added, Help/FAQ/etc, the Booweather website and the ability to pay to remove ads again.

     On the main screen when checking the weather, aside from the dog image in the background you will see the city name, temperature, the day's high/low and what the weather condition is (Snow, overcast, fog, etc).  Swiping up will allow access to more information.

     In the swipe up section wind, humidity, UV index, visibility, 7 day forecast, radar, hour by hour forecast, sunrise and sunset time as well as some other information... and several ads.

     The popup asking users to rate the app is quite aggressive.  Upon opening the app I got the popup 3 times in under 5 minutes.  Of course I'd assume adding my rating to the app page would stop these.

     The app is alright... basically a dog themed version of the Yahoo Weather app.  The ads can sometimes get in the way, but not terribly often. That being said it is a solid application and does what it is supposed to.

Rating: 3.5/5

• Free
• Seller: Weather Creative Inc.
• Category: Weather
• Size: 78 MB
• Languages: English
• Copyright: © 2017 Weather Creative Inc.

Rated 4+

Weather Kitty: Forecast & Cats
     This is a cat themed weather app that is essentially identical to the Boo weather app I just reviewed above, at least in functionality.  However, there is some minor difference in the options.

Like the Boo app the main screen shows the city, temperature, etc, along with a random cat image.  Some of the cat images are cuter than others.

     Swiping left and right changes the location, and more locations can be added with the button at the bottom of the screen.

     In the Settings menu there are the same options as the Boo app but there is no link to the BooWeather website.  Instead there is a link to the featured animal shelter.  Clicking this gives you some information on the shelter and a link to the website for that shelter.

     Swiping up is how you get to the more detailed weather information where you can find the forecast over the next several days and so on.

     The buttons at the bottom of the main screen have the added bin icon to remove ads as well as a Kittens button.

     Unlike the Boo Weather app the ad removal here is a bit different.  To remove the ads users have to sign up for a Meow Prime Plan.  these are subscription packages that range from one month to 6 months to a lifetime subscription plan.  The subscription removes the ads but also gives you access to all of the Kitten themes.

     Kitten themes can be accessed by tapping the Kitten button at the bottom of the main app page.  All users have access to the Default theme which is what the app has upon downloading.  There is a free theme called Crazy Cat Art as well.  There are several other themes but users need to have Meow Prime in order to download and use them.  These themes include Yoga Cats, Sphynx, Holiday Kitties, Kitty Love and many more.  Users can even create their own theme by uploading their own cat images (Requires Meow Prime).  The themes will change the images available for the main page backgrounds.

     The app is cute and does what it is intended to do.  The functionality is simple and it has an easy user interface.  I think the fact that you can upload your own images is a great feature, though I'm not sure I'd wish to pay for it.

Rating: 3.5/5

• Free
• Seller: Weather Creative Inc.
• Category: Weather
• Size: 124.5 MB
• Languages: English
• Copyright: © 2015 Weather Creative Inc.

Rated 4+