Written: Saturday. December 24, 2022.
Starting the writing session off a little differently this time around. I usually listen to Lofi Girl whenever I start any of these journal entries, but now I'm listening to the Eterna City theme from the Sinnoh Region Pokemon games. I'm currently playing through Pokemon Pearl on my 2DS, and this city theme has stuck out from all of the themes I've listened to while I'm playing the game so far.
It's not too great to listen to, because of how fast it becomes at some parts of the theme, so I'll probably find like a general Sinnoh Region playlist to listen to after writing this sentence.
There, I've changed the playlist I'm listening to. Now we can start the journal entry.
I guess I'm gonna keep this one game-focused. Me and the folks went to SM Bicutan awhile ago for some last minute grocery shopping, and what usually happens is that I'd go my own route and window shop all around the mall while either or both of them are busy picking groceries. The common places I go to in SM Bicutan are the Department Stores in Building A, Book Sale (though not too often, because their curation is much to be desired compared to San Lazaro's Branch), National Bookstore, Octagon, and then the most frequent place I go to to pass the time would be Datablitz.
The Datablitz branch in SM Bicutan is very...narrow. It doesn't have a lot of space, which is weird, since it's the only video game-oriented store in the mall. The Toy Section in the Department Store doesn't sell any video games. There used to be a Game Line Branch in Building A, and the Appliance Store used to also sell video games (though they probably stopped around a decade ago cause that memory of mine was way back when GBA games were still being manufactured).
You know what SM Bicutan needs? A GamExtreme branch. Yeah, as much as I like Datablitz, that store's just too cramped for my style. A gaming store needs to have some room to pace around in. It definitely needs that kind of free space because who knows when a Master-Race kind of gamer would waltz in inside of the store. Also, I can't quite remember if that Datablitz branch was always that cramped. Or I guess it was because I was...younger...back then, that I remembered that store to be a little bit bigger than what it looks like now.
Anyway, to the topic at hand. I bought two games awhile ago. I bought Super Mario Odyssey & The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Those are two Triple A games (I'm assuming, 'cause it's Mario and Zelda), and I'm probably gonna play them for like 2 months...but I feel like it'll only take me about 1.
I didn't have money in my wallet to pay for those two games (and I only really planned on buying a physical copy of Hades originally, but we'll get into that later), so I went to an ATM machine, which would've been really difficult and annoying to go through, since it was literally the day before Christmas, but I was able to find a not-so-long line at one of the ATM machines inside of the Department Store (ground floor, left side from the entrance), and withdrew some cash (5K Pesos to be exact).
The other 2.5K would've been just pocket money in case of some emergency, or if I were to go out and travel for some reason, but since it's Christmas time, I listened to the devil on my shoulder, and bought two games instead. The selection of games I saw weren't as fruitful as usual, which makes sense because previous people have probably bought it earlier than me 'cause of Christmas being right around the corner.
On my first wave of browsing (before withdrawing cash), I didn't see and Hades copies around. There were two Eastward copies available...but would I really wanna spend money on buying a game that only lasts for like 30 hours, and has very little side-quests to get busy with? The game looks phenomenal, but unlike Zelda, which that game is inspired on (for some of its elements), Eastward doesn't let you play freely. I mean, you go through Chapters, which is more like an Earthbound style of storytelling (which is another game this indie is inspired by). I get that it's the developers' first game, but they should've polished the game more to make it sort of have some replay value, or at least some semblance of 'freedom' in gameplay. Not some linear storyline that's somewhat really good when it comes to writing and atmosphere, but really gets undershot by it's lack of the other things that make a video game good. Eastward is special, but I don't see buying a physical copy of it as a priority...yet.
Hades is a game that I already have a digital copy of. I also unwittingly downloaded the FitGirl repack of it for PC. Played the game alongside Eastward last year. First time beating Hades was in PC, but I only really defeated Hades (the character) once on my first playthrough. My second playthrough (which is my current playthrough) is on the Switch. I bough the game while it was on sale...or maybe I didn't. Maybe it was just damn low-priced enough for me to buy it with the remaining Eshop creds that I had after buying the BOTW DLC. But nevertheless, the Switch digital port is something that I'm still playing right now. I've already gotten Orpheus and Eurydice to sing "In the Blood", and have Persephone go home to Tartarus, but I just found out the other day that there's actually still another ending that I need to get to. I'll probably reach that ending once I've maxed out the friendship between Zagreus and the Gods, and also like finish Achilles' Journal or something, and have completed all of the Prophecies.
I still have a long way to go with Hades, and that's what's compelling me to buy a Physical copy! Well, that, and the new Hades 2 trailer that was shown during the Game Awards. I think as of a few days ago, it was voted as the most anticipated game that was shown during the Game Awards. Supergiant Games hasn't ever made a sequel to any of their games, so there being a Hades 2 coming out probably means something, and is needed to be given much attention to.
Ah, if only the middle part of 2023 could come much sooner. But anyway, I forgot that I was telling a different story than Hades.
Once I got back from withdrawing cash, there were a lot more people inside of the air-tight Datablitz store, and I had to like stand there for a few minutes, just to be able to reach the single copy of Super Mario Odyssey that I was already set to buy. I was still iffy about buying Luigi's Mansion 3, but in my head, it made some kind of sense since I was going to buy a Mario game. So buying a Luigi game alongside Mario Odyssey would've been alright...except when I looked down the store, there were some new Switch games stacked on the ground. I asked one of the employees if I could take a look at those games, and they said yes, and so I did exactly that. As I browsed through it, there came Pokemon Violet, another copy of Luigi's Mansion (to solidify the reasons for me to go ahead and buy that game), and then along came Skyward Sword HD.
Of course I was gonna pass off on Luigi's Mansion, in favor of Skyward Sword HD. It's a Zelda game. Plus, I haven't played Luigi's Mansion 1 & 2, and it's readily available on my 2DS. So I'll probably try finishing those 2 prior installments, before deciding to buy Luigi's Mansion 3. Super Mario Odyssey is reasonable, because I've already played Super Mario 64 and 3D Land. But for Luigi's Mansion...I guess it'll have to wait.
So yeah, I ended up buying Super Mario Odyssey and Skyward Sword HD for my Christmas gift to myself this year. No regrets. Well deserved. It's definitely an impulse buy, but who cares? It's Christmas, and I get a pass.
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