I got a new game on impulse yesterday, the new NANA game for DS: NANAライブスタッフ大募集！〜初心者歓迎〜 ('Nana Live Performance Staff Mass Recruitment ~Beginner's Welcome~', or something like that in English) is supposed to be a limited 'Special Simulation' game. I've been playing it for a few hours and I can't quite figure out if it's an RPG or simulation, but it's pretty damn addictive.

Image source: Konami Style
The game begins the same way the NANA story does; a girl moves to Tokyo to start a new life. As the title suggests, the primary objective of the game is to get hired to work with the bands (Trapnest or Black Stones, I'm not really sure). In order to do this, you must work part-time jobs, befriend the cast from NANA and improve your abilities and talents as a musician, photographer, stage/set designer, hair and make-up artist and stylist. You only have three months to achieve your goal.

It's kind of like an RPG in the way that you need to level up your abilities, watch your stamina meter and savings and get important information from the characters. Instead of equipping yourself with items in the traditional sense, you put on make-up, change your clothes and your hair style and colour in order to gain favour with the characters. There are many different stores for everyday living including a family restaurant, gyuu-don restaurant (like Yoshinoya), drugstore and convenience store (where you start off working) as well as places you can go to go clothes shopping, attend a live performance or just chill out, hoping to bump into one of the NANA crew. Time passes only when you engage in an activity such as working your part-time job, talking to characters, practicing guitar, shopping, etc. You need to eat and sleep to regain stamina.

One of the most important objectives is to work to survive. You need money to buy pretty clothes, go to karaoke or eat. You can search for a job by reading a careers magazine or by word-of-mouth. You then call the company by your cell phone to arrange an interview. There's a really great shift-change feature in your inventory allowing you to reschedule your part-time work shifts if something important comes up, like an interview with a Punk/Gothic Lolita clothes store (which, incidentally, rejected me as I failed the test).

I spend most of my time at Junko's bar, hoping to find out more about the other characters weekly routines, preferences, etc. For example, Hachi told me that Nana likes it when people dress in punk when they see her, so I have to change my outfit if I know she's going to be shopping at the drugstore. It's pretty intense and I feel like a stalker. When Junko's bar is closed, I spend my time wandering around town hoping to bump into the characters or engaging in self-improvement activities such as guitar lessons or reading fashion magazines so that I can improve my musical/style stats.

There's a lot of text and my Japanese language skill is really not up to standard. I failed several mini-games and interview tests because I couldn't read fast enough to answer the questions! I might have to take it to work and get someone to help me get a good job. :O

It's also worth mentioning that the characters in the game are voiced by the same voice actors from the anime, and the opening song 'Lucy' by Anna Tsuchiya plays at the title screen.