Topic: User Impressions/Reviews Thread

@Ralizah Great review, I played these two last year and did also enjoy them despite some truly dated mechanics and that puzzle in Ys 1’s tower. The 2nd game really is just better and feels like a sprawling adventure in comparison. I don’t mind the bump system but perhaps felt levels were slightly too far apart in terms of ability, 1 level could make the difference between dealing 0 damage and being able to beat a boss. The music is a proper highlight and especially Feena’s theme/title music which is incredible. Ys Origin is also really quite good and I’d recommend that after 1&2 because it ties so heavily into the story. I had no idea about Makoto Shinkai but it actually makes sense now I think about it. Another interesting tidbit is that Feena’s theme closely resembles my favourite piece from the Trails in the Sky trilogy, Continuation of the Dream, which also plays in my favourite sequence from the series. There’s just a certain charm with Falcom games that I haven’t found elsewhere!

@nessisonett LOL The harmonica version of Feena's theme IMMEDIATELY made me think of Trails in the Sky. I'm sure the same composers who worked on the re-orchestrated music for these games probably also worked on Trails.

Origin and IX will be my next two games in the series. Does Origin have maps, or is it at least more intuitively laid out than Darm Tower is in Ys I? It's seriously one of the most annoying dungeons I've ever trudged through in a video game.

One interesting thing I noticed: in Ys I, I hit the level cap extremely early in the game, but I'm not even sure I hit the cap in Ys II. The level cap was very artificially low in the first game. It's just another way in which the sequel is flat out a better experience.

And yeah, the Shinkai connection surprised me as well. But the animation really does look similar to his other work.

@Ralizah Origin doesn’t have a map but it’s a lot easier to navigate as the areas are both distinct and linear. You get a feel for it and by the third playthrough with the final character, you’ll know the tower like the back of your hand. There are loads of callbacks to Ys 1&2 in the tower so it’s a bit like if Darm Tower was dragged into the 21st century.

@RogerRoger No worries. I initially pronounced it that same way as well. I think everyone who sees the admittedly bizarre series name probably does. I have to wonder how much more successful this series would have become if the series name wasn't "Ys."

And yeah, I was really happy with how customizable this experience was. I'm halfway tempted to play through the games again with the PC-88 soundtrack, although I have other stuff to play in the near future, so that won't be happening.

The games really were engaging, although I'd probably recommend someone play a newer game in the series first, as there is a certain, inescapable level of jank associated with RPGs this old. Still, for a faithful remake of something from the dawn of console gaming? Not bad at all.

@mookysam @Ralizah Ok yeah, I forgot about the bat boss. That’s an absolute car crash of a boss. I hate it, hate it, hate it. Ys 2 loses to the first game just because of that boss 😂😂

https://jrpg.moe/ys-name-falcom-films-makoto-shinkai/

This links to a number of Shinkai's Falcom openings. Rather cool.

Oh, and I just stumbled across this: the english opening to the Turbografx version. Unironically one of the most charming openings I've ever seen to a video game. Wish there was an option to enable it in Chronicles Plus.

@mookysam Like Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap, Ys I & II feel genuinely ahead of their time. I do enjoy remakes like these that polish up the presentation a bit while leaving the broad game design alone, even if it means some frustration on my part.

Zava ("bat boss") was definitely the hardest boss in Ys II. Honestly, she gives the wimpy final boss a run for his money. Dark Fact is still worse, though, even with the framerate limiter in place. Holy moly, what a jerk.

A wonderfully written review there @Ralizah of Ys I & II (And thank you for the pronunciation as I'd not been clear on how to say it's title either).

As usual your screenshots and music show off the titles rather well indeed and I love the little extra information such as the anime and other openings.

Even at the beginning Falcom has had a tendency for interconnected and fairly engaging storytelling huh? I really should get back onto finishing Trails Of Cold Steel 2 (As that's part of a Falcom double bill review from me as well 😅)

I have been keeping my eye on Ys VIII too (Which you already previously recommended to me) and I assume if I said I've seen some new (PS4) physical copies of it going for £18 I should jump at it huh?

Oh and I know there's plenty of other reviews I missed whilst I was away including a review of Shadow The Hedgehog from RogerRoger.... I'll get on reading those soon!

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Definitely. Ys VIII is one of the best JRPGs I've played this generation, and even in a series filled with worldbuilding and references to previous titles, there's very little connection to other games in the series, making it pretty much the perfect game to start with.

Most of the games work well as independent experiences, but they also reference previous titles in the series, and, as Falcom has remade these games, it has been consistent with how it has developed the series' lore.

Thankfully, unlike with Trails, pretty much all the major games in the series (apart from Ys V, which still needs to be remade) are easily available in English on PC.

Looking forward to your ToCS 1 + 2 piece!

@Ralizah Ys V does have a PS2 remake but it was never translated. The SNES version has been translated by fans however.

Genshin Impact
Breath of the Gacha

Version played: PS4
Also available on: PC, Switch (At least at some point supposedly), Android & IOS
Time Played: 30 hours? (I'm really not sure thanks to playing the majority of it it at very weird times whilst off ill)

An adventure awaits just past that door

You remember my Let It Die review don't you?

The first free to play game I tried where I actively enjoyed the game and had played it for a solid 80+ hours til the gross difficulty increase in the final stretch (Which I presume was designed to hoover up cash unless you grinded for ages) that made it such a slog I never got round to beating it?

The one where I would've given it a good score if I wasn't so unamused by said shenanagins?

Well... Spoiler warning.

But let's not talk about that just yet.

Genshin Impact is a free to play open world RPG. You play as The Traveler whom is either the brother or sister of an opposite gendered twin.

Whilst traveling through worlds (For sh*ts and giggles or something I dunno... it's never explained why (or how) in game) the Twin Travelers end up in an incredibly anime cutscene against one of the many gods whom resides in the world of Tevyat.

Both have pretty neat designs

After selecting which of the twins you'd like to play as your other half is quickly captured by said god and defeated, drained of their power and destroyed before the god then bestows a similar fate to you, banishing you or something? (Again not fully explained what happens to either of you to be honest but it's not that important either beyond sh&t happens and you're seperated)

Your chosen twin and playable protagonist is then seen looking out on a beach several years later and your new Pixie/Fairy friend Paimon encourages you to get a move on so you can resume your journey to find the god that took your brother/sister from you.

Quickly the pair end up in the city of Mondstadt, dealing with the guardian dragon of anemo (wind) whom has become corrupted somehow and it's up to you and your new found allies in the Knights Of Favonius to sort that out and save the day.

At least that's the first part of the overarching main storyline. It's not finished in the slightest.

Some lovely storybook like cutscenes/flashbacks are sprinkled throughout

There's some decent variety during the main questline quests here with there being a flying shooter segment Well two actually and a stealth section that stood out in particular.

They weren't amazing or anything (The shooter segment in particular was rather easy to get through) but they were pretty memorable events and set pieces compared to some games (The terribly mediocre Days Gone for example) where I can barely remember half the quests I've done throughout it.

Hell the bigger side quests were pretty decent too with Kaeya and his grandfather's pirate treasure & the light puzzles/riddles that enschewed. Amber and the gliding test and ring challenges. Lisa and the restricted section in the library, Xiangling and her cooking contest... All of them were pretty nice diversions that were rather fun to go through.

And that'll lead me to the characters.

Barbara the Hydro (Water) alligned mage

They're pretty generic anime characters to be perfectly honest and they're still enjoyable enough when they get a moment to shine in the story I found (Though Paimon's english voice -shivers-). The designs are rather nice but again quite anime so obviously your taste may vary.

It's the battle mechanics where the characters honestly shine brightest.

There's 7 elements in game of Anemo (wind), Cryo (Ice), Pyro (Fire), Electro, Geo (Rock), Hydro & Dendro (Nature. Though there isn't a character yet whom has that element I believe) and characters will be alligned to one to of them permenantely (The main character however can switch to the Geo element once you get to Liyue (And can switch back and forth between anemo and geo via the statues of the seven in each region) as they're a special being not from this world).

Each character has one elemental ability that can be used fairly often and a special ability that needs to be charged up with elemental energy orbs before you can use it.

Electric arrows ahoy!

I have three sets of characters with the same element. Amber and Xiangling being Pyro characters, Fischl and Lisa are Electro characters and then there's the protagonist and Venti whom are Anemo alligned. The pairs however aren't alike at all.

Amber being a bow user is able to fire a volly of fire arrows, use a decoy of herself that explodes or she can charge up and shoot off a simgle fire arrow whereas Xiangling is a spear user who can summon her panda Boaba whom belches flames after nibbling on a chilli pepper at the closest enemy towards him or Xiangling can throw a flaming spear that arcs around her for a good 10-15 seconds.

Same with Lisa and Fischl or The Traveler and Venti. Despite being the same element the 5 different weapon types and the character specific abilities make them generally feel rather unique to play as and there's some neat little animations for each of them too (Which is fairly charming in some cases).

Not to mention with the character switching and all the elements having unique interactions and effects with one another it really does make the combat (which otherwise would be somewhat simple) feel rather fresh and engaging to play.

The four party member limit (mapped to the D-Pad) encouraging you to make parties (You can make up to 4 preset parties) that synergise well together.

"Shall I play you a song?"

The music in the game is rather lovely too.

With the two countries/regions in the game of Liyue and Mondstadt they both have very different musical styles to reflect that.

Mondstadt being based around Hyrule europe(I think?) where Liyue's obviously an expy of China and the music for Liyue in particular has a lovely oriental sound to it. In fact all the music changes when going to a different region, even the battle music in Liyue sounds completely different Mondstadt's battle music.

This is a very good choice into giving each area a VERY distinct feel (besides the notable change in scenery) and both the London Philharmonic Orchestra & the Shanghai Symphony Orchestra really knock it out the park in my opinion with their performances!

And of course the exploration in the title is rather good too.

There are some nice little enviromental puzzles to find goodies hidden all over the place such as pillars that need to be activated using different elements of your characters, using your bow and arrow characters to shoot down floating slimes to uncover a chest, little wind spirits that send you yourself aloft with your glider to reach places you couldn't get normally, spirits you need to follow to their resting place, various challenge statues and a bunch of other things.

The climbing mechanic (Pretty much lifted from Breath Of The Wild from what I can tell (Although there doesn't seem to be any penalty for climbing in rain)) and the wing glider along with the lovely scenery, absolutely ginormous map and the various knick knacks hidden everywhere does make Teyvat a rather enjoyable place to explore without a doubt and one of the few games that really did make me just pick a direction and go explore.

Alright... That's all the positives out the way.

Let's get on with the main problem and what rots this experience to the core

Monetisation and the grind

"Uh oh"

I'd argue that this is NOT a Open World RPG releasing on consoles or pc in the eyes of the developer.

This is a mobile game first and foremost. A "Live Service" one at that. Always has been and always will be.

Let's start off with Currencies shall we?

There's Genesis Crystals that you purchase with real money that you then convert into Primo Gems. I'm really not sure if there's any use for them as Crystals and frankly I'll never know personally.

Primo gems are used to purchase "Wishes" via the two Fate currencies "Acquaint Fate" and "Intertwined Fate". Primo gems are also used to replenish your "Resin".

The Fate currencies are used in wishes are how you roll new characters. Or rather how you get loaded with a crap ton of useless weapons you don't want and maybe a character if you're lucky.

Resin being what you use recieve the rewards from the repeatable quests, domains and some of the bosses you can find on the overworld. You have 120 (Though apparently it is getting graciously patched to 160! OoOooOh so generous!) and it costs either 20 or 40 resin used up to get your rewards and slowly replenishes at a rate of 1 per every 8 minutes! Horray for Timers!

There's also Masterless Star dust and Masterless Star Glitter that can be used for various upgrade items, characters (Only for the rarer Star Glitter) and you guessed it the wish currency too (Where it's typically obtained from too).

And there's Mora. Ya know... gold that's used in pretty much everything you do from upgrading weapons, ascending characters and leveling them up.

Exhausted after all that? Confused?

That's probably the whole damn point of it all.

There's also a battlepass that sneakily unlocks after reaching adventure rank level 20 that of course whilst having a free tier has exclusive and better rewards locked behind the higher tier and even better has the option to purchase levels with Primo gems or you can even get everything from the battlepass all at once for a cool £18.

Ya gotta love that terribly priced digital tat

Those wishes I previously mentioned by the way? The drop rates for a 5 star character are a measly 1%. Yes the game has a pity drop every 90 wishes for specific banners where you have a 50% of getting the advertised Five star character. If you get the other one worst case scenario you're doing another 90 wishes matey!

You know how much that'd cost by the way? Worst case scenario and you had to splurge out using cash to get that sweet sweet anime character?

£263.97

I probably wouldn't pay for these characters even if Genshin was a traditional experience...

Not even the highest crystal "micro"transaction for £88 would give you enough Crystals to net you your first 90 wishes. And the "bonus" crystals you get is a one time deal! You'd have to buy it 3 times (For your first attempt) and you'd be left with a piddly 320 of the currency left over after spending all that.

Of course that's an extreme circumstance.

You should get yourself a decent amount of characters and you can get very lucky indeed. I ended up getting one 5 star character and a bunch of 4 star ones (... A lot of bloody repeats though that the game already gave me... )

You know enemies barely give you any exp by the way? You have to use these paper items, in which I honestly can't be bothered to look the name of them up, to level your characters in any normal fashion and of course you either get them from the various rewards you're given from missions and stuff or (more likely) by using Resin to grind for them from the various repeatable quests.

Characters initially can only get to level twenty and you have to "ascend" them to unlock higher levels.

Guess what you need for ascending? Materials!

You get most of those from the various domains and bosses. Not only do these typically change daily... But it also means you have to use Resin to get those rewards. Oh how I loooooooooove timers.

There's also daily tasks that grant you primo gems and of course be sure log in every day to get some juicy rewards too!

Not to mention a bunch of other things I've either not seen since I put it down or that'll come with the update on the 11th or whatever.

I said I'd tag you @Johnnyshoulder & I figured I'd tag you @Th3solution as you also expressed interest in the game in the articles.

If you can look past the godawful mobile sh*te and gross monetisation... There's honestly a VERY enjoyable game here. In fact I'd say without them it'd be one of the best games i've played this year.

It's charming, the visuals are great, the music is divine, the gameplay's really nice and exploration is actually quite fun ... But to me those absolutely scummy practices bring the entire thing to it's knees. You can't ignore them. You'll soon hit a wall with the grind getting beyond tedious. They taint the entire thing.

So much so I'm not even going to score this. It's not finished for a start and frankly it doesn't deserve it.

I'm not disappointed Mi-Ho-Yo.

I'm mad.

Thanks to remember to tag me in @Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy! Yeesh, the monetisation does seem to be OTT. I will probably still try it out as it is free, probably on ps5 at this point, until I either get bored of it or feel I need to pay to progress.

It'll be a while til I bust out the ToCS 1+ 2 review as not only do I apparently have a bit to go in Cold Steel 2 but I might add in my impressions based on the Trails Of Cold Steel III demo to see how it leads in from the previous two @Ralizah.

Hopefully the Genshin Impact review above will tide you over for now if you've been itching for some reviewing content from yours truly

No worries @JohnnyShoulder. It's apparently already made 250million from it's 100million budget within the first month of it's release so there's no way they're gonna stop that monetisation method anytime soon (And it might only get worse).

I did have an additional bit saying maybe give it a go at least and get out after the main storyline (so far at least) is done but even then I felt a little skeezy saying that 😅

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Thanks for the tag and the very informative review!
I’m a little torn since the game seems to be right up my alley gameplay and gameworld-wise, but the F2P and microT stuff is off-putting. Like Johnny says, maybe a trial of it on PS5 would be more likely for me since there will be fewer games competing for my attention on there.

@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Great piece on Genshin Impact! It... basically confirms what I'd already suspected about the game re: monetization and game design. ALL companies are out to net money with their game. They can either design a proper game and charge an entry fee to enjoy it (my preference, obviously), or they can design a """""free-to-play""""" game and orient the game design around extorting money from the player (I guess there are full priced titles from big publishers that still try to bleed you dry with lootboxes and whatnot, too; THAT anyone makes any money with that model will always amaze me). Despite really liking the "BotW meets anime waifus" aesthetic of the game in general, I pretty much dropped any plans to ever play the game when I heard it was a freemium title. But I've still been very curious about it, given the obvious polish and high production values involved with this particular title.

Those various meters and microtransactions sound like a nightmare to manage. And, wait, you have to use a RESOURCE (resin) to get rewards for defeating bosses?! That's bananas! I imagine the strategy there is to just wear down the player to the point where they start agreeing to small purchases in exchange for the game allowing them to play in peace for a while.

It's a pity, too, because the art style is great, combat sounds fun, exploration seems like a good time, the music is unique (Mondstadt's field themes are gorgeous, and even the battle theme for that region is really chilled out and interesting; and yeah, the cool orchestral Chinese flair of Liyue's battle theme is great)... it seems like it's 90% of a good game, but that the early access nature of it and, especially, the predatory monetization just ruins it overall.

Great job as always, Foxy!

@nessisonett Yeah, Kondo has heavily hinted that they're interested in remaking Ys V on modern platforms, so I'll probably wait for that version. Their definitive remakes always seem like SIGNIFICANTLY better games than the originals were.

Taisen Hot Gimmick (Arcade) - A Japan only "Mature" Riichi Mahjong title I played on my tablet (I say "Mature" as while there are some scenes of topless female characters, it's really not much/if any more graphic than titles like Waifu Uncovered or the older God of War games, which are on console), and it's absolutely one of my guilty pleasures. For reference I do own the HD Switch version (which I believe is the only official western release), which is based on a PS2 port that added extra content (while I may touch on that port's additions, I'll mostly be focusing on the arcade original). Due to the nature of the title I've decided not to post screenshots (though like 95% of your playtime will consist of looking at mahjong tiles on a green background with no more than a portrait of your opponent's face in the upper right corner).

• As mentioned before it's a Riichi Mahjong game, and unlike the matching "Solitaire" variety we usually see in the west, the real deal is more akin to something like Poker, though much more complex. There are three different Suit tile types (each come numbered 1 through 9), and two different Face style tile sets (a set of four that I believe correlate to either the four directions or seasons and have a black kanji on them, and a set of three called Dragon tiles, one of which has a red kanji, the other a green kanji, and the last one appears blank here, though I believe might have a blue kanji in other games?). It's actually a really complex game, so I won't go into specifics (as I don't consider myself fully versed), but you have 14 tiles in your hand and make a winning hand with four sets of three tiles (such as matching identical tiles, or having three tiles in the same Suit in order, like the "2", "3", & "4"), plus a pair of matching tiles, though there are a few other winning configurations as well. There are some other complex rules to get your head around too, like in some situations you can't win on a hand if it contains a type of tile you have in your discard pile (I haven't gotten to grips with all of it's subtle little rules, and still pretty often find myself in a situation where I think I have a winning hand but the game won't let me play it). Needless to say the process of learning the game itself has been a very rewarding one.
• On a typical run you'll have 8 opponents to beat. The first three consist of 2 high school girls & an American woman (and you have your pick of which of the three you want to start with), the next 3 consist of an office worker, nurse, & police officer (again, you're able to pick which of the three you'll start with), while the 7th opponent is a dominatrix, and the 8th is a sultry Kitsune in human form. Whenever you ultimately win you'll have your choice between a few different fanservicy scenarios (three for the first three opponents, two for everyone else) & the option to let them stay modest, and it's that last option that's the key to unlocking the game's hidden opponents (3 in total, bringing the game's total to 11 opponents, though you'll only ever face 10 during a single run). The game is developed by Psikyo (behind shmups such as Samurai Aces & Gunbird), and if you beat the first three opponents without stripping them you unlock the option of either facing Samurai Ace's' Miko or Gunbird's Marion (you only get to face one during a run). If you clear the first 6 opponents without stripping them (and I believe this includes the first bonus opponent as well, so a total of 7), you get to face off against Samurai Ace's Flush (a muscular male samurai, it's a bit of a gag proving the game doesn't take itself seriously).
• Opponents essentially have two different health bars. The first is a point value, and the second is a trio of hearts. Winning hands have a point value associated with them (the harder they are to pull off the more they're worth) which is deducted from your opponent's point value. Whenever you fully drain their point value (or beat them three times, draining their hearts) you win. The first few opponents have such low point values that you'll likely win in one go no matter how common your hand is (unless it's just a Tenpai, which just means you're one tile off a winning hand by game's end, and is worth very few points), but when it comes to later opponents you'll have to decide whether or not you'll want to go for a war of attrition with easier hands that'll take multiple wins in order to beat them, or gamble on trying to go for a big hand that can take them out in one go. Of course being an arcade title winning isn't exactly an easy thing to pull off even if you generally know what your doing as your opponents can pull winning hands out of thin air at times. Luckily this is offset by a store of points that you build up after every round (win or lose) that you can spend on powerups, which when activated give you a starting hand that's only a few tiles off a winning configuration (the more expensive the powerup, the rarer the hand it'll give you), showing that if you just keep at it (pouring money into it if you were actually playing in an arcade) you can essentially power your way through it. From experience however, it's possible for the computer to pull out a miraculous win even if you start off one tile away from the rarest hand, so victory isn't always guaranteed this way. That's just the way of the arcade however, and I want to point out that I have beat many opponents without a powerup, so it's entirely possible to win normally.
• Otherwise your opponents are depicted in a realistic anime style (think less Senran Kagura or One Piece, and more Evangelion or Cowboy Bebop), through there is a cartoon dog that runs around the playfield & does things like hold up cards counting down the time you have left in your turn. There is a little narrative that goes along with each opponent (which I only know by playing the localized Switch port), but where it gets a little controversial is that it centers around "punishing" the women for some perceived slight. These are usually pretty silly (such as the American woman's sin being that she just won't admit that Japan is number 1!), but can definitely understand a bit of uncomfortability.
• As for the upgrades to the Switch port (since I said I'll touch on it in case you're interested), the most notable is the cleaned up art assets & presentation. Otherwise they increased the number of scenarios you can put the women in (though it removed the nudity from the arcade scenarios, & doesn't have any in the new scenarios), added a new unlockable bonus opponent between the dominatrix & Kitsune (not sure if she's from another game or is an original character however), and slightly aged up the two high school opponents to avoid controversy.

So yeah, a bit of a guilty pleasure. Apparently there are 2 or 3 other games in the series that haven't made it westward that I'll eventually try out.

My preference too of course @Ralizah if it wasn't obvious

In fact before I dropped and deleted the game they had sent an in game message to the mail box with a survey (That actually spurred said actions) in which I basically said If it was a traditonal experience I'd be all over it.

Yeah it really is exhausting with every little thing you have to keep track of (I didn't even mention a bunch of other things).

I think the big bosses in the overworld are considered raid bosses or something along the lines and why you have to use a rescource for the rewards? I dunno. I didn't even mention the co-op feature either! It works? I never personally used it myself. The frame rate isn't great on a slim PS4 either.

And yeah it's a very charming game, it's the reason why I spoke about it's many strengths first and foremost, which makes it all the more the pity regarding it's predatory monetisation methods.

And cheers Ralizah. Glad you enjoyed reading it!

I don't blame you @Th3solution still wanting to give it a try seeing as it is free and all. I gave it a chance after all despite not liking the sound/agreeing with it's monetisation methods despite the praise it was getting.

...There was wit?

Thanks for reading @RogerRoger (And nice to see you too! I was going to shoot you a message in fact asking if you were ok as I hadn't seen you in a little while)

It's a shame it unfortunately takes the mick with the monetisation and the likes (I didn't even mention that the only way you can unlock each character's skill tree is by getting repeats of those characters 6 (or maybe even 7) times needed to get it all fully unlocked) as I said in the review there's honestly something fairly special past all that.

@RogerRoger, Thanks! When I first played the Switch version I even had a page up on my phone about the general rules of the game to refer to while playing. I'll usually go on a kick of playing it quite a bit for a week or two, then put it down for a few months until I get the itch again.

@RR529 Nice, detailed review. I've seen a few of these Mahjong games on the eshop, I think, but wasn't really sure what to think of them. I'll confess: Mahjong looks like the most arcane thing in the world. It's interesting to hear about the crossover with Psikyo properties like Gunbird.

You said you played it on your tablet... does this mean you downloaded it from the Play Store or from the App Store?

@Ralizah, it's actually the reason I was enquiring about emulation awhile ago. There's no way Google (or I assume Apple) would let an uncensored version of one of these games on their app stores (from what I understand, even most gacha games from Japan & Korea often have to edit out mild fanservice from the western versions of their apps due to Google's strict policy on such stuff when it comes to female character designs).

Here's just one example, but you can find complaints of this nature in the fandoms of a lot of these games.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=F5wy2HyFrtY&t=61s