Treats From Tokyo

So in a break from watching the conferences from E3 I got a little present from Tokyo. Tokyo Treat to be exact.

So, what is Tokyo Treat?

Tokyo Treat is a subscription box that delivers the most premium Japanese snacks and candies straight to your door every month. They are based in Japan and get their full sized products (No samples) straight from the factories that make them.

How do you sign up, and how much does it all cost?

First you have to choose what sized box you would like to receive, a small box contains 5-7 snacks and costs $14.99. A regular box contains 8-12 snacks and a DIY candy kit this costs $24.99. A premium box contains 13-17 snacks, a DIY candy kit, a drink and a special item this costs $34.99.

After choosing what box you wish to subscribe to you get to choose the plan you'd like. The four plans are typical of subscription boxes with the one month, 3 month, 6 month and 12 month which automatically renew at the end of their periods. You can always unsubscribe at anytime.

With the premium box subscription you get entered into a prize draw to win a Lucky Treat, which may contain figurines, apparel, and larger sized snacks.

June's Tokyo Treat Box

Now we get to the main even of this post, what I received today. From the picture above you can see that I was treated (see what I did here?) to 14 main snacks, a drink and a phone charm. I also received a bonus snack. I am currently subscribed to the Premium box, which is why I got a drink and a phone charm (which is the special item mentioned above). I have to admit I've already had the DIY candy kit, which turned into a syrupy mess but it was very tasty. I did have a video, but I'm not sure if you guys want to listen to me catch up on Orange is the New Black before I start season 4.

You receive a magazine with your snack package that gives you an overview of what your snacks are as there are no English language labels. It's also breaks down your package so you see what size box it would have come it, as I get the premium box I receive all of the items, but here is a breakdown for you all. 

(Small Box)

- Yaokin Big Ika a spicy squid snack

- KitKat Otona Crush and Spread

- Pine's Cola Lollipop with Sherbet

- Fujiya Chocolate Pencils with Stickers

- Crazy Bubbly Sod Ramune Candy

- Chocolate Dipped Corn Puffs

- Karaoke Mic Ramune Candies

(Regular Box)

All of the above plus:

- DIY Mysterious Coris Syrup

- Smartphone Mochi

- Limited Edition Chocolate Umaibo (There was 3 but my mum had one)

- Tohato's Neko Atsume Buscuit

- Hi-Eight Chocolate

(Premium Box)

All of the above plus:

- Sakura Cola

- Chimokke Mascot Phone Charm

- Koikeya's Potato Tiramisu Chips (apparently they change flavors)

- Super Long HimoQ Gummy

It should take me until my next box for me to finish all these, I like to pace them out. The Sakura Cola was drunk very quickly as I wrote this post and I have to admit I don't get what the 'Sakura' flavor was meant to be, it tasted like a supermarket own brand cola. I will try to keep you updated with how everything tastes but there are unboxing videos on youtube if you want to see a reaction rather than reading one. 

Shadow Spark out...

E3 Bethesda's Conference.

So right off the bat you get a graphically amazing trailer from the game Quake (which I was seriously confused about as I had no idea what to expect coming into this thing). I haven't even heard of this game yet, and with that trailer I already want to buy and play it. I cannot believe that it's over 20 years old, and that it's such a huge part of gaming. It's probably because I'm more of a console gamer than a computer gamer (I can already hear the boo's from the computer master race).

Only about 20 mins in and I'm already liking it more than the EA games one. It's also nice of them to pay homage to the games they showcased at last years E3,.. and all the awards they've racked up over the past 12 months. I was addicted to Fallout Shelter when it came out.

As a huge fan of card games I'm stoked for The Elder Scrolls Legends which is a strategy card game, much like Magic the gathering (even if I am a Yu-Gi-Oh card gamer) and is for PC and iPad. It will also be coming to android and Mac, tablets and phones later this year. Though the fact it's not something I can physically collect is rather disappointing but I'm going to see if I can get onto the BETA.

So Fallout really flew by me, what can I say? I just didn't have the money and Fallout shelter was taking up too much of my time. I did have a few friends that got it so they'll be pleased with all the new content that's coming out for them, like contraptions so you can build elevators, armour racks, weapon racks, track kits, sorting machines and conveyor belts.Vault-tech allows you to build your own vault, experiment on dwellers and even go for a holiday (vacations?) at Nuka World. All coming July 2016.

For Fallout shelter (YAY!), you get to send dwellers on quests, fight new enemies, meet new characters, explore new locations and it even extends to a computer system. There is also a whole new combat system.

They've also remastered Elder Scrolls Skyrim for the PS4 and Xbox1, now I didn't get on with the game on PS3 but I may get it for the PS4.

There is also a new game called Prey, which appears to be a FPS (first person shooter) psychological thriller, which sounds bloody awesome and is coming to Xbox1, PS4 and PC. You wake up on a space station where they have been genetically changing humans, and it's started to go wrong (obviously). You are being hunted by aliens while trying to find out more about yourself and the world you've woken up in.

DOOM flew over my head as well, but there will be some cool multiplayer and mods *shrug* You can also try a demo of the first level on PC, PS4 and Xbox1 so I will be giving that a try.

Elder Scrolls Online, once again this skipped over me, but I have been eyeing it at my local store, and I'm always up for trying new games so maybe, with all the new content coming out, I might join the ranks of my friends in Tamriel by assassinating my way to the top of the dark brotherhood whose DLC drops later this year. They also announced one Tamriel which means all new players will be able to go everywhere! No level restrictions, which is awesome sauce and this is making me even more eager to play this game.

They also spoke of a VR system that they are testing out, not really all that interested in virtual reality, at least not until there comes a game that I know I'm going to enjoy on it.

DISHONORED 2!!!! (Look out for those rats!) God have I been waiting for this game for a while, as a major fan of Dishonored I was pleased when they announced this game last year. It's great that you get to return to Dunwall but unfortunately it doesn't appear as if you stay there for long. You get introduced to a new area called Kanaka the Jewel of the South. I just love the whole steampunk feel to this game and they continue it even if it is based 15 years after the first one. Bethesda even created their own engine to bring the beautiful graphics and atmospherics to life with the Void Engine. But for me the best part is that you can play as either Emily, that little kid you were trying to find in the first game, and Corvo the main protagonist of Dishonored. It arrived with us on 11th November 2016 on PS4, Xbox1 and PC.

Shadow spark out...

E3's EA conference.

So as always, around this year I get a little crazy. As a UK gamer I find myself staying up late and reading everything I can about E3. I even try and watch the conferences from the major developers, even if I'm not a huge fan of them. So like every year on the lead up to E3 I stopped listening to podcasts about games, stopped buying my magazines and stopped going onto the blogs and sites dedicated to getting gamer news out there. I wanted to go in without knowing what I was getting into, to see the games for the first time.

So, the first conference I watched was EA. Let me tell you, there wasn't much point in staying up to watch it. I'm not a huge fan of sport games, I feel if you want to play sports go out there and do it. Star Wars completely passed me over, so listening to more games about this franchise also bores me. I was interested in Titanfall when it was first announced for XBOX One, but the length of the loading times on that console put me off, along with the multiplayer aspect. I prefer stories and being interactive with the game. So Titanfall 2 is right up my alley with its single-player option, and the fact it's coming to PS4 is an even bigger bonus. (I own both consoles but PlayStation wins hands down with me every time.) Mass Effect: Andromeda looks pretty cool too.

Fe, was interesting to say the least, I love the pretty graphics. It's very cute but there is hardly any further content out there for it. (At the time of writing this I've just breezed over my news sites and I can't find anything to do with this game.) What we were told is that it's part of a new series of games from EA Originals, which is basically an umbrella for their 'Indie' games. From what I can gather Fe, is much like unravel but it's more in touch with nature. There is no text or speech, and you play mainly as a young cub that wakes in a dark glade. Apparently there is no tutorial and its an exploration of sound and sight. There are also bad guys, The Silent Ones, that take away the sound of the game and you much sneak past them and stay out of their way. I have no idea if there is a boss battle in which you will finally defeat them and save the forest. Here is an article that explains way better than I can. But I will leave you with an image of The Silent Ones.

(See it's pretty!)

Now as someone who has played all of the previous Battlefield games, and enjoyed them even if  I did gripe and moan at my dad that it was a boys game, I do not find myself enjoying what I'm hearing about Battlefield 1. That's not to say I will not try it, I will, just not when it's at full price. The trailer does look really good though. But with the greatness of previous years and the plethora of games they normally show, and content I cannot help but feel immense disappointment. EA has not lived up to what I expect, and it saddens me. Maybe the others will wow me?

Shadow Spark out. 

Lets Start Again.

Okay, so it's been a while. I guess I'm just really bad at keeping up with things and I'm not going to make excuses, I just didn't even bother to blog. I'm still trying to sort everything out, on what I'm doing to what I want to do in the future. It's a lot to process and some days I just cannot be asked to deal with it.

What I have been doing recently is keeping up with my instagram. Yes people, I take pictures of EVERYTHING and post it there. Well, not everything, but enough to have over 60 followers. Why they follow me I will never know. I think most of them are facebook friends.... Maybe. Anyway, here is the link: Shadow Spark Instagram. Enjoy looking at all of the pretty pictures, that I will try and start posting on here as well, with a proper review of any and all subscription boxes that I do... Yes, I'm going to be one of those bloggers. Here is a little sample of my last box.

This was all the items that came in a subscription from Loot Crate, called Loot Anime. The theme was Unity. Loot Crate ships worldwide and has subscriptions for 1 month, with the 3 months, 6 months and 12 months subscriptions having further discounts. All subscriptions are automatically renewed at the end of their period. It costs $34.95 (for the 1 month subscription), which is about £23.00 in UK money, but it may cost more of less depending on the exchange rates for that day. It is an american based subscription but as I said they do ship worldwide. With Loot Anime, if you have a premium membership with crunchyroll you get an addition $5 off your subscription. 

They have different types of crate. So they have the basic Loot Crate, which has different themes each month, same subscription periods as above and around the same price. This months theme is Dystopia, with items coming from Fallout, Matrix, Bioshock Infinite, Robocop and Terminator 2: Judgement Day. If you enter code FREEFIG on subscribing to the 3,6 or 12 month subscriptions you will get and extra item in your crate. 

They have Loot Crate DX, it has the same theme as the normal Loot Crate but it comes bigger and better. Same subscriptions as above with the price being $74.99 or £50.00, but you are getting larger items and an extra item from Mirrors Edge: Catalyst. I'm not personally subscribed to this one but there are unboxing videos on youtube so you can see what came in previous boxes. 

Loot Anime's theme this month is Victory, with items arriving from Splatoon, Free! and Yowamushi Pedal. 

For the gamers out there they have a crate called Loot Gaming. Once again they have the 1,3,6 and 12 month subscriptions with the price being the same a the Loot Anime crate. This months theme is Arena, with items coming from Overwatch, Team Fortress 2, DOTA 2 and Street Fighter.  

And for those whose pets feel a little left out they have a Loot Pets crate, that has the same themes as Loot Crate but it is apparel and accessories for those companions in our lives that wake us up at ungodly hours. Also for every Loot Pets crate purchased Loot Crate sends $1 to a local, national or international animal welfare charity. The prices start at $29.99.

They also do limited edition crates for certain franchises and a ton of other stuff so be sure to check them out here and get a $5 discount: Loot Crate

Shadow Spark out

Kicked into Gear

It's funny. When I first started to write this blog, I never thought that I would continue after the first post, and I knew I was never going to post everyday or even every month, if by some miracle I did continue.

Anyway, that's not what this post is about. This post is to help me get myself sorted and still prove to my friends that, yes I still post onto this thing!


Recently I've been addicted to this game called Final Fantasy XIV, I'm a level 50 Au Ra Pugilist who has dabbled in everything. Here is what I look like:

Character Profile

Au Ra / Raen / ♀

Nameday

4th Sun of the 4th Astral Moon

Guardian

Azeyma, the Warden

City-state

Ul'dah

Grand Company

Immortal Flames/Flame Sergeant Third Class

Free Company

Made2Raid

• 6
 
• 50
 
• 5
 
• 7
 
• 3
 
• 3
 

• 3
 
• 6
 
• 6
 

• -
 
• -
 
• -

• 16
 
• 13
 
• 9
 
• 23
 
• 15
 
• 20
 
• 11
 
• 11

• 9
 
• 2
 
• 5

LEVEL 50

0057

I'm constantly growing so I may differ later in the game. The level cap at the moment is 60, so I only have 10 more levels to go. The free company that I'm with has been helping A LOT! I am a complete n00b at online RPG's and their guidance has been everything I needed. I still fail a lot, but I'm getting better.

As a side note I'm writing and drawing more, I will probably do a post to them both separately at some point, just to be able to go into everything in detail, but for the moment I thought I would tell you of the game that has been taking up most of my life other than work.