On: Etrian Odyssey

   Today, I take yet another venture into the Labyrinth. I’ve made many attempts to finish Etrian Odyssey, but I have a bad habit of picking up tedious games when I’m bored out of my mind. I bought this game on a whim, and though it takes up time when I have way too much to spare, I find myself fantasizing about the lives and personalities of the characters more than enjoying the game itself.

   So I begin the game anew. It tells a small story about an unending labyrinth that attracts adventurers of all kinds. I begin as a new adventurer, and have to create my party to delve into the dungeon. I name my guild Fay, as my creativity and caring are slight at the time. There are five slots. I am not ashamed to have my Zelda fan show through a tiny bit. My team consists of the survivalist, Link, complete with bow and blonde hair. I admit that a sword wielding landsknecht would also be appropriate, but there were no blondes for the image. Zelda, the blonde alchemist. Sheik, a dark hunter. I figured I might as well give her a whip and a title that sounded shadowy. I made Ganondorf, AKA Ganon, a landsknecht. I might as well let him join in. And the medic is Navi, simply for the fact that other fairies tend to heal you. And I never claimed to be very original.

   So I’m given a map. A blank map. I’m told to map out the floor myself for money. Well then. Okay. I can do that. I go on in, and after talking to a surly guard, I come across a group of flies. They nearly kick my ass. I keep going, mapping my progress. I run into a few more groups of monsters, and by the time I get to the point I was trying to reach, which is a door back to the beginning of the floor, I’m dying. Everyone is half dead. I’m imagining Navi flitting around, unable to heal yet because she doesn’t have the skill or the supplies, Ganon relying on Link to help him walk, Zelda scowling and arguing with Sheik because they, twins, had a fairly bad relationship. The argument was about their equipment and funds. The only equipment they have is knives, and that is no help to Navi and Zelda. And here comes the Clawbug. This thing is tough. I remember that it was weak to fire, but Zelda doesn’t have the spell yet. So we run. But there are no successful escapes. Sheik, the only one left, trembling in fear, her little knife amounting to nothing. Then it runs away. She doesn’t see why, but she’s thankful, and so drags her companions back to town, hoping beyond hope that the apothecary can save them.

   They sleep at the Inn, delving back into the Labyrinth the next day. They gather supplies, they continue on. Ganon takes a rather large risk, eating some berries he finds. Luckily, they heal him rather than harm him. Navi notes this and scolds him for taking the risk. Navi then makes her first ever kill, in fact her first ever successful hit. They rejoice, Link pats her on the back proudly. And then comes the Clawbug. It seemed to have caught their scent on the wind. The red eyes haunted them through the night, and Link carefully moves Navi and Zelda behind him. Sheik distracts it while the others run. Ganon stays behind, trying to help her. But Sheik takes a fatal hit, and the Clawbug vanishes back into the shadows. Ganon carried the wounded girl back to town, protected by their comrades.

   Sheik didn’t make it through the night. Ganondorf sat by her bedside, held her hand while she took her last breaths. The Fay guild disbanded the next day. Link, Zelda, and Navi traveled the countryside, honing their skills and searching for new partners to take into the Labyrinth. Zelda had little care for her lost sister, merely continued on with her life. Ganondorf however, he vanished into the Labyrinth. Some say he was the only to ever find the bottom of the endless dungeon. They say that he was rewarded by a sublime entity, who granted him his one true wish. The return of his dear companion. No one really knows, however. Secretly, Navi vowed to find out.

   Essentially, what happened was that a Clawbug killed everyone except Sheik, and then ran away, and I barely made it back to the exit before another monster took out Sheik. Then, the next time I went down, a Clawbug killed Sheik then ran away. And then I closed the DS and realized that I didn’t care enough to play anymore. About an hour later I tried again and was killed by a pack of Poison Woodflies. Considering I forgot to save the new file… I’m done with that for the day.

On: Eevees

   The new game is a no-go. It’s getting a bit tiring only having these few systems. I did however find Phantom Dust in the original box, and it even had the booklet. Being as I was introduced to the game without ever having seen these, I was excited. I even almost bought it. However I found a title I’m actually interested in. Harvest Moon: A Tale of Two Towns. The new features intrigue me. An actual dating system? What do you mean I have to take them out on dates? So I have to be a gentleman in the game, too? I do that enough in real life. Another game I’m set to play at the next opportunity is Chrono Trigger for the DS. I’m rather excited, because I’ve heard amazing things about it. This however is on hold until I get the game. So still I am wasting away the day with games I’ve played to hell and back.

   Today is a tad bit different. I decided it would be a good day to delve back into Pokémon Diamond. Now, I am an Eevee trainer. The sad thing about this is that I couldn’t be one until after I beat the Elite Four. So, after getting bored of that generation of Pokémon several times, I finally came upon these five trainers. I beat them even. I go find the person who will give you a free Eevee. I say great, now I just have to catch a female, and I can breed the fuck out of them and get my two sets of dream teams. One which is a fighting force and one which is filled with contest masters. The problem? Took me a week to come across a female Eevee. Then, it took another two weeks to breed the proper genders. I only got males. I needed females for Espeon, Vaporeon, Glaceon, and Leafeon. I only hatched males. I’m specific about my Eevees. So I finally get my first team. The fighters. I evolve them at the proper time in order to get the best moveset. The next problem is that everywhere I want to go has very high level wild Pokémon. I need to train them. Tedious, annoying work. All the while I’m still hatching eggs so that I can get the perfect contest entries. Getting the proper gender, tastes, AND personalities for each one? Nigh impossible. I curse the day I decided to make Eeveelutions my dream teams. I have about three dozen newborn Eevees in my boxes. Sweet. I feel like Ash with his overload of Tauros. The daycare must think I sell baby Eevees to rich old people as pets. Or that I’m trying to overpopulate the world with them. Imagine, finding more Eevees in tall grass than Zubat in a cave. That would be the ideal world to me.

   The other day some friends of mine showed me a website filled with videogame related shots and drinks. Now, I was intrigued, some looked rather interesting, some looked frightening, and some were downright cool. We came across the Pokémon related ones. They pointed out their favorite little beast and what they would have to take for that particular series of evolutions. Then we saw the Eeveelutions. I certainly hope they don’t make any more evolutions any time soon. That would wreck my night. They certainly did fit the Pokémon well, though.

   So anyone need some male Eevees? I have a few to spare.

On: What to Buy...

   With a trip to GameStop imminent, I’m thinking long and hard about what game, if any, to buy. Chances are I’ll rifle through the clearance bin, or station myself in front of the case of old DS and Gameboy Advance games. I have had limited funds over the years, and so my systems are limited at best. DS and all the applicable predecessors, Wii, GameCube, and Xbox. I have limited funds still, but much less limited than they have ever been. So at the top of my mind I have certain titles that I have a distinct desire to purchase.

   Very first is a game I played about a year or so ago. The World Ends with You is a charming little thing, a very dark yet humorous story, a good portion of it based off art. Being an artist as well as a gamer, I found the general experience pleasant at first. As I went on, and the designs and beauty of it became integral to the story, I became immersed in this world of pins and Noise. At every twist your character faced, I sucked in a breath. You never know a single thing more than he himself knows. And in the end, when all is said and done, I found myself emotionally invested in these people, hoping beyond hope that just around the corner was Another Day, brighter than what they faced. By far one of my favorite games of all time, it is also being crossed into the Kingdom Hearts game, Dream Drop Distance. I await that game with a nervous flutter in my stomach.

   I have in mind another game, Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. I enjoyed that game by far more than any of the newer handheld installments of the series. Let’s just say I love me some sidequests. And this game has one, huge, sidequest. The kinstone pieces are one of the biggest undertakings of the series, besides the figurines of Wind Waker of course. Finding the owners of the other halves of the pieces, and finding the proper pieces of all the commonly found kinstones, and then finding whatever you unlocked through that match? My god. That takes me forever. It keeps me busy like no other adventure game could.

   As I mentioned before, I love Harvest Moon. It’s a certain passion of mine, living out this fantasy life. However, there’s a certain game I wanted to play ever since I heard the concept. If Harvest Moon and a monster fighting adventure game had a child, it would be called Rune Factory. I have never seen this in stores, though I have kept my eyes wide open looking. Now I’m not sure which number in the series I would get, if given the option. Quite possibly the second, as it’s a polished, fresh and new version of the first. I like playing the original, the first in a series, but if they’re all the same, I feel the second would be okay too. However as I’ll likely not be given an option, I’ll take whatever I can get.

   Actually, I would honestly look to buying any Harvest Moon title that I don’t already have some experience in.

   I might consider picking up one of the multiple Crystal Chronicles titles. I’ve played the original and one other, Crystal Bearers, to death. If I can get them for cheap, I’ll certainly try out any others. I know there are a few somewhere, and the reviews were terrible, but I have a thing for the original, and I’m curious about them.

   For new titles, I haven’t been keeping all too up to date with anything other than Zelda. I’m looking forward to the new Kingdom Hearts game, of course. Speaking of KH, if I can get an older PlayStation for a good price, I’ll look into getting them again.

   I have a thing for older games. New is nice. But what I played as a kid is what I love.

On: Plot Holes

I may have mentioned this, but the Legend of Zelda franchise is my greatest passion. When Skyward Sword was released, I lunged at the opportunity to play. Now if you haven’t played, or even finished the game, and want to find out for yourself, I highly suggest you turn around now. Come back when you’ve finished. This is spoiler city. When I was going through the beginning, the very landscape intrigued me. I refused to look at the timeline they had released. I didn’t want to know until I finished the game. A good friend of mine came over and mentioned offhand that what I was doing was creating the Master Sword. My heart stopped. I didn’t understand, but I had an idea. When the time came that the game was good and done, I breathed a sigh of relief. I understood. The whole of the franchise made sense. However. I couldn’t make much sense of some things.

If Demon King Demise rose once more in the past, before Twilight Princess, before Ocarina of Time, before Windwaker, why does he have the scars on his forehead and chest? The one on the chest was inflicted in Ocarina of Time, on one of his reincarnations. It shows in Twilight Princess, just as the Demon King’s own. In Twilight Princess, he was impaled through the forehead, thus causing one of the crossed scars. Then again in Wind Waker, causing the other. Now, how would those be, if this was all in the past? Is it just for show? Or are they merely supposed to be there, and then Links of the future destined to wound the King’s reincarnations in his original weaker points? I don’t know. But the implications of either great thoughtfulness or great thoughtlessness make me wonder. Which is it?

Time travel has always made me cringe. In theory, what you do in the past should change the future, as some may say. However if Link had made one mistake, one slight difference in the timeline while he was in the past, then the future would be vastly different. However that would mean he would never go into the past and change it, and then the future would be untouched, but then he WOULD go, and so on and so forth. But if you think along the lines that you can’t change the past, as what you do is destined, then wouldn’t Impa know what was to happen? Don’t you think she’d be a bit more, all knowing? Have undeniable faith that Demise would be defeated? Also, if Demise was defeated, then The Imprisoned wouldn’t even be there. He’d be no issue whatsoever. If Demise was defeated, then Link wouldn’t need to seal him back up. Just. Time travel! It creates more questions than answers those already waiting.

Will there be more installments? How many? If we haven’t reached the end, we’re probably on the brink. I don’t see them carrying on the new continent timeline very far. But also, how many more descendants can the hero have in the only remaining branch? I couldn’t tell you. I do still want a game, or perhaps just a small spinoff based around the lives of the Sheikah. Even if it’s just a small, “Day in the life of,” or about the training of a Sheikah. Kind of like Kingdom Hearts had its little game about Roxas, numberXIII. I would buy that. Out of curiosity, and out of simply wanting more. Maybe a game centering around the events BEFORE Skyward Sword. The Goddess’ war with Demise. I just hope that this isn’t the end of the franchise. I hope someday I can teach my children about the Legend of Zelda, and know that the legend has yet to end, that it is still being written even in their lifetimes. And dress them as the characters for Halloween.

On: Strategic Agriculture

   Since I was young and got my first computer, a used model from my brother that had many quirks, I’ve been spending my sick days in the same way. I play Harvest Moon. Now, I’ll be the first to say I love fighting games and adventure games. However, when I was sick and my brother showed me how to play the game, I’ve always done so. Every time I’m sick and stuck at home, I play Harvest Moon. I’d love to play the original again. This isn’t in my to do list, so I’ll get around to getting the emulator and such, but for now, I can do without.

   Lying here, sick in bed, waiting to have to get up and leave for work and try to force myself through the day, I’ve got my Nintendo DS in hand. Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town. I’ve been ambling through this game for years. Now, since I tend to sleep sickness off, I haven’t played very much. But apparently when my head is fuzzy with medications, I am an excellent farmer. Quite wealthy, my wife and toddler want for nothing. However, when the fuck will that kid grow up some more? Jeez. I’m tired of having him scoot around, not talking yet, just pacing through my house. Regardless. The harvest sprites do all the work for me. All I have to do is run and take the crops I want to keep. My animals are all happy, healthy, prize winners. I'm well on my way to having that second house, and it's only year four. Well. I'm at about one out of one hundred million. But I get a good few thousand a day in winter just from my livestock. I'm set to buy a few more cows to amp up my earnings. I'm a master chef, pretty much made every recipe that doesn't involve the special crops I can only get by selling some thousands of other crops. I have a backstock of dresses and perfume for my wife in case I'm ever too busy to give her anything for a while. I'm working on getting the cursed tools right now. After all, winter is the time for that. This isn’t my first pick of games on a normal day, but on a day like this, when I’m conscious, I would never do without a bit of strategic agriculture. Feels good to be filthy rich, even if it is only in a game.

On: Phantom Dust

   Though I take pride in occasionally being a game hipster, it frustrates me to no end how many avid gamers have not heard of this game. I’m talking about Phantom Dust, for the original XBOX. This game is by far my favorite. I will be the first to say that I am a Zelda nerd. Zelda is my thing. But this game, in my mind, surpasses the entire franchise. I realize most may not agree, but then again this is of the three or four people I’ve met who have even heard of it.

   The game centers on a post apocalyptic world where a dust covers the surface, erasing the memory of anyone caught in it. All anyone ever remembers is an image of ruins, and an acute need to find them. Some of these people developed a skill, the ability to harness the dust as a weapon. The forms the dust takes varies highly, anything from a blade of fire to a healing energy to a projectile ice shard. The very dust that confines them underground is their only defense against the deformed creatures that roam the surface. The game opens to a scouting team finding two identical pods. They open them to reveal two men, one of which is your main character. The scouts bring them back to their base and explain to them what they are and what they’re doing. They are the Espers, and they are looking for those ruins. It’s a very somber story.

   At the end of the day, it’s the gameplay that captivates me. Put into a mission based sequence, you’re main base is the Esper’s HQ. In the missions, you simply have to kill whatever you’re faced with. It’s simple. But don't be fooled. The fights can be extremely difficult. Eventually, you even get to choose what skills you take into battle. Depending on your arsenal, you could be very ill fit for the fight you’re going into. However if you know how to arrange it, you could have just what you need for every situation. I’m personally a short range fighter. But I will carry some mid range attacks for those larger maps and plenty of shields. Low cost shields are my best asset.

   This game is unlike any other. I highly recommend giving it a try. At least so I may someday find someone else who has heard of this game.