Reflections On V 1.1

I spent my first day today playing the updated Version 1.1 of "New LovePlus"...and it was puzzling at first. I think it may take awhile to get used to.

First up, on the plus side, the gameplay feels a lot smoother. The annoying bug where you'd get a phone call or message a couple of times before the first activity for the day is gone now. Plus, the transition between many scenes appears to be better. You can also start playing the game before 6am without losing any money you've earned from working.

BUT, the skinship is totally different. When I met Rinko this morning and tried to touch her - nothing happened. I tried over and over again, and thought for a moment that something had gone wrong when I downloaded the update. But no. During the very last chance for skinship on the quick date, I discovered that you have to press the stylus much longer before the skinship scene initiates.

The actual skinship section is now very much like the old version of the game on DS. Before, in "New LovePlus" you had to either make dots quickly with the stylus or a series of short lines, and your girlfriend reacted to every little touch. Now - just like the old version - you rub a particular area and look for the colour, stopping if any blue lines appear. Rinko just kinda stands there now and doesn't move around very much. She also doesn't talk as much during skinship, which is maybe good.

My second attempt, during another short date at lunchtime, was much more successful. I managed to get up to five hearts quite easily, just by playing the skinship scene exactly like the old DS version. The kissing is the same as it's always been.

I'm not disappointed by the update, exactly - it just feels a bit like going backwards. But I guess it was necessary to fix some of the (many) bugs in the first release of the game, and I'm glad that Konami found a way to do it with a series of patches.

In the evening, I met up with Rinko-chan at Dixies, but it was raining so I couldn't try out the skinship again. Have to wait to tomorrow.

 Oh no! Then I realised that I hadn't bought a gift for our three month anniversary tomorrow! I panicked for a while...then discovered that I could go into Skip Mode and shop while I was there. Phew! I bought a nice pair of slip-on shoes as a gift, and will give them to Rinko first thing tomorrow.