The cat’s pajamas

Today I got up early to help my wife wrangle our cat, Anji, into the carrier for her annual vet visit. Historically, our cats have been quite a handful on car trips, but Anji surprised us, by hopping right into the carrier when we tossed in a treat. Things were going great, until we got to the vet, and discovered her appointment was actually next Tuesday. I have no idea if Anji will be as cooperative when we try this again in seven days, but the whole experience did bring a word to mind.

clowder, noun – a group of cats

Learned from: Akiba’s Beat (Playstation Vita, Playstation 4)

Developed by Acquire

Published by Xseed Games (2017)

Akiba’s Beat is a game that centers around a time loop, which I like. It also centers around fairly mindless, button-mashy combat, which I don’t like. The plot casts you as a “NEET,” which is a Japanese term meaning “not in education, employment, or training.” Basically, a lazy layabout who contributes nothing to society. And the biggest problem with the game (aside from the combat) is that the protagonist, Asahi, is just so damn proud of this. He’s so lazy and self-centered, that he regularly flakes out on appointments to meet up with the few friends he somehow has, and doesn’t even care. Thankfully, Asahi does start to come to terms with this part of himself once he starts repeating the same day over and over again.

See, Asahi lives in Akihabara, a sort of geek’s paradise. Gaming, idol singers, fashion, collectibles, regardless of what geeky hobbies you’re into, Akihabara is a nexus to find what you’re looking for. But for some reason, these fandoms are beginning to distort the flow of time, corrupting the world around them, and only Asahi (and a few others) are aware of the loop that keeps happening. To try and stop it, this motley crew has to identify the people whose delusions are warping reality, and fight their way through cognitive dungeons to destroy the root of the distortions. If this sounds a little familiar, it’s because Akiba’s Beat really is kinda like Persona, but with real-time combat. It’s not as polished, and it’s certainly lower-budget, but some of the characters are surprisingly likable. Like the catgirl maid.

She’s not an actual catgirl, just an employee at a cat-themed maid cafe, and she isn’t one of the folks who’s aware of what’s going on. But she’s always there to greet you outside of her establishment, with cat puns (“Welcome, meowster!”), and invitations to join her clowder. Realistically, it’s probably a bit cringe, but she helps add to the wacky, surreal atmosphere of the story.

And really, if you can deal with the bland combat, and initially irritating protagonist, *Akiba’s Beat* might be a purrfect example of a diamond in the rough.

Rwise fwom your gwave!

I really need to stop drifting away from this blog every so often. But, since this is the season associated with things coming back from the dead, I thought this was as good a time as any to get back to it. Happy Halloween, everyone!

necrolatry, noun – the worship of the dead

Learned from: Xenosaga: Episode 1 (Playstation 2, mobile, Nintendo DS, Wii)

Developed by Monolith Soft

Published by Namco Bandai (2002)

This is a strange name for a strange skill. I think only one type of enemy in the entire game uses it against you, and then only in tandem with another specific type of enemy. Necrolatry reverses how healing and damage work, on whichever character it targets, so healing skills hurt them, and attacks heal them. At first, this may seem rather pointless, until you realize the cleric-type enemies have no problem targeting your party with their healing skills, but it’s pretty hard for you to do damage to your own people, or try to cast healing on the enemy. It’s a neat trick–most certainly not a treat–and one I don’t think I’ve seen used in another RPG since.

Even KOS-MOS agrees that the fact that this series hasn’t gotten a remaster is the cruelest trick of all.

It’ll soothe what ails you

I recently received Fire Emblem: Engage for my birthday. I’d played through a bit of Three Houses, the previous entry, and while it was interesting, something about the whole military academy setting never really gelled with me. While I applaud Three Houses for at least experimenting with something different, I found myself missing the classic Fire Emblem experience: a more focused story, stakes that are laid out early on, more emphasis on the combat. I know it’s a controversial choice for some, but I was happy that Engage went back to that tried & true formula. Which brings us to today’s word.

vulnerary, noun – a medicine used in the healing of injuries

Learned from: Fire Emblem (Game Boy Advance)

Developed by Intelligent Systems

Published by Nintendo (2003)

Like most people in the West, my first exposure to Fire Emblem as a franchise came through the Super Smash Bros. games: specifically SSB: Melee on the Gamecube. Back in the early 2000s, everyone knew Mario, Donkey Kong, and Princess Zelda…but who the hell were Marth and Roy? Despite having never heard of them, or the series they were from, Roy ended up being my main in that game. And after awhile, I decided I should maybe learn a bit more about this “Fire Emblem” thing.

The only problem was, I didn’t own a Game Boy Advance, and as a poor college student, I couldn’t justify buying an entirely new system, just to try one game (a decision I still regret to this day, considering how good that handheld’s catalogue of games is). So I turned to…other means, to dip my toes into the Fire Emblem waters–specifically, a fan translation of the original Japanese ROM of the first game.

It’s because of this, that I initially wasn’t even sure that “vulnerary” was a real word. It was clear what these healing items did, but I kind of expected their name to be a mistranslation of something, given the source of the game I was playing. I looked it up soon after, and found that yes, it is a real word, but it wasn’t until some time later that I discovered that it was, in fact, the official translation Nintendo decided to use in their official releases of these games, even to this day. And while the earlier games are hard to find (some still haven’t received official English translations), they’re all well worth tracking down if you can. Even if you start later in the series, most of the games aren’t connected, so you can still jump in at any point and have a fun, engaging (see what I did there?) strategy RPG experience.

Except for Fire Emblem: Fates. The games in that branch of the series actually are connected–and the third part is nigh-impossible to find, now that the 3DS eShop is closing down. Unless you decide to get into the series the way I did, I guess (though, for legal reasons, I have to state for the record that I do not condone that).

Though, finding this, right here, complete in the box will set you back a couple hundred bucks. Just saying.

A word of caution

On this random Sunday, I’d just like to dispense a bit of advice: you never can really know when something you do or say could have unintended consequences. This might sound like I’m advocating living in a constant state of anxiety, but that’s not exactly the case. That sort of thing tends to be my general state of being, and I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Just, be mindful, because you don’t always know what other people may be going through. Which brings us to today’s word.

chary, adj. – exceptionally wary or cautious

Learned from: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim (Released on virtually everything that can display graphics, since the PS3 era. I’m not listing it all.)

Developed by Bethesda Game Studios

Published by Bethesda Softworks (originally 2011, with many, many re-releases afterward)

These games are full of books. Books about history, and poetry, and cooking, and travel guides–there’s a lot here for anyone with the patience and interest to seek it out and read through it all. That said, I don’t think I would’ve had the foggiest idea of which book the word “chary” showed up in, if I hadn’t scribbled an extra memo next to it in my notebook. If I was accurate, this word shows up somewhere in volume 2 of The Real Barenziah, in reference to how some townsfolk feel with regards to the titular character.

Now, if you offered me a million dollars to tell you just who Barenziah was, or why your average citizen might be overly wary of him, I would not leave the conversation a rich man. Heck, I can’t even say for certainty that Barenziah as a “him” at all, it’s been so long since I read this particular story-within-a-story. And that’s something I seem to remember from Skyrim as a whole: a lot of the ancillary, background material seemed significantly more detailed and fleshed out than the events taking place during your adventure.

In fairness though, I never finished it. After about 20 hours of primarily fighting the same reskinned “guy with melee weapon,” “guy with ranged weapon,” and “guy with magic” over and over again, I lost interest. If I find a subterranean nest of bug people, fighting them shouldn’t feel essentially the same as fighting a group of bandits. But it did. I guess I just wanted more of a chary feeling, venturing into the unknown, instead of the boredom that settled in.

I couldn’t find a screenshot of that exact page, so enjoy the hexadecimal codes for a bunch of crafting materials, instead.

‘Tis the season of giving…

…and of getting back to things. Hello, world, I’m sorry I’ve been gone so long. It’s like skipping time at the gym: You let one day slip by, and before you know it, months have gone by, and you’re 20 pounds heavier. But it’s the middle of the Holiday season right now, and I wanted to do a little something for both myself, and anyone who might happen upon this. Plus, holidays just so happen to be relevant to today’s word.

alms, noun – charitable donations to the poor; specifically: donations of leftover trenchers from the previous evening’s feast

Learned from: The Faery Tale Adventure (Sega Genesis, Amiga, Commodore 64, PC)

Developed by MicroIllusions

Published by MicroIllusions (1987 – Amiga, 1988 – Commodore 64, 1989 – MS-DOS) Electronic Arts (1991 – Genesis)

I don’t remember a whole lot of The Faery Tale Adventure. The terrible spelling on the cover caught my attention at my local video store when I was little, and set my expectations low, even to my young mind. But, it was an RPG, and I hadn’t played it before, so I gave it a shot…and was summarily rather lost, because someone had lost the instruction manual, and this was back in the days when those were actually important.

Most of what I recall from the gameplay is aimlessly wandering around a massive world (for the time), as one of the three playable characters, who might have been brothers or something. Well, that, and the beggar who tried to kill me.

I was traveling along some random stretch of road, and there was a guy standing off to the side, who asked me if I had any alms for the poor. I didn’t know what that meant at the time, but I think I said yes, because I was supposed to be the hero in this story, and this man was clearly a beggar…except when I answered, several other guys jumped out of nearby bushes, and they all started attacking me.

During the fight, I remember wondering what I did wrong. Did I actually not have any of whatever “alms” were, and was this guy pissed off that I lied to him? Were “alms” some sort of bad thing? Was this a secret code for a quest I hadn’t discovered yet, and I answered incorrectly?

Later, I looked up the word, and put the pieces together: I’d done the right, charitable thing, but this guy was just a bandit pretending to be a beggar, and I fell into his trap. It’s a moment that stuck with me all these years, and it’s the only solid memory I have of The Faery Tale Adventure.

What brought it to mind, all this time later, is a book I recently read: Medieval Holidays and Festivals, by Madeleine Pelner Cosman. I was trying to get inspiration for celebrations to work into a Pathfinder game I’m running, when I came across mention of what exactly alms are. Durable plates were expensive back then, so many feasts were served on plates or in bowls made of bread, called trenchers. At the end of the meal, the flavor-soaked remnants of the trenchers could be eaten, or donated the next day to the needy. These days, alms refer to any charitable gift to the needy, but during Medieval times, it had a more specific connotation.

And hey, I may have even given you a bonus word this time around, if you didn’t know what a trencher was. Happy holidays, everyone!

With a cover this generic, is it any surprise I don’t remember much from this game?

Is it too late for New Year’s resolutions?

Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated, though man, this past year was a doozy. I must have spent 3/4 of it either working longer hours to train people in, or working longer hours because we flat-out just didn’t have enough people. This shortage seems like it might finally be behind us (for the moment, at least), so I wanted to finally get back to some creative projects. In all honesty, I probably could’ve picked this back up a few weeks ago, but well, bodies at rest and all that. Which brings us to today’s word.

skiving, verb – progressive tense of “skive,” to slack off or avoid one’s duty

Learned from: Xenoblade Chronicles (Nintendo Switch, New 3DS, Wii)

Developed by Monolith Soft

Published by Nintendo (2010)

The fact that I haven’t finished Xenoblade Chronicles yet makes this word even more fitting. It’s not that it’s a bad game, or anything–far from it. With its mix of sci-fi and fantasy, engaging combat, and unique setting (pretty much all land masses are on the backs of two dead titans), it’s actually a very enjoyable title…even if the antagonists were more menacing before they started talking in thick, Cockney accents. That just feels weird, coming out of a hulking, murderous machine. But I digress. Some other game came out that distracted me while I was playing it (maybe Shin Megami Tensei V), and I just haven’t gotten back to it yet. I’d like to, though.

Anyway, in one of the earlier parts of the game, the main character is getting berated for not pulling his weight. Admittedly, in a world under the constant threat of invasion by nigh-unstoppable, mechanical behemoths, skiving is a bit more egregious than neglecting a little Internet blog, but I can still identify somewhat. And while I won’t be saving the world from a looming danger, I’m still going to pick up the slack and get back to doing things that matter to me. Expect more updates soon!

When your only tool is a sword, all your problems become things that need stabbing. Like this looming embodiment of procrastination.

Toss a coin to your teller

Hello, all. During the time I’ve been gone, I’ve been pretty consistently burnt out from the never-ending cycle of training in new tellers at work. We’d get close to full capacity, and then someone else would put in their two weeks’ notice; at this point, two thirds of the staff hasn’t even been there for three months. I’d say this long, excruciating ordeal was finally over…but yet another one (who hasn’t even been on staff for a month), has announced he’s moving to Idaho, to become a potato farmer. Or whatever other non-stereotypical things people in Idaho actually do. This constant shuffle has been exhausting, so I haven’t had much energy at the end of the day for gaming, or updating this blog, or much of anything. What I have had the time for, is reading. Which finally brings us to today’s word.

drachma, noun – ancient Greek currency

Learned from: Age of Adventure (Apple II, Atari, Commodore 64)

Developed by Stuart Smith

Published by Electronic Arts (1983)

One of the books I’ve read over the past several months was an absolutely wonderful history of computer RPGs, aptly titled The CRPG Book. In paging through the early parts of the book, I stumbled across one with graphics I swore I recognized, but a title that was unfamiliar (including screenshots of the inventory, with the word “drachmae,” the plural of drachma). But I was sure I’d played this…so I went digging.

Since Bitmap Books, the publisher of The CRPG Book is based in the UK, they used the title this game had, seemingly everywhere else outside of the US: The Return of Heracles (because I guess EA figured American kids are too flat-out ignorant to have known who Heracles was). And to be fair, when I was six or seven, or however old I was when I asked my parents to buy me this game, I was more familiar with Hercules. But its original title is far more interesting than the generic one we got over here. It’s like calling a game “Story of Excitement,” or “Time for Fun.”

Anyway, as you’ve probably guessed, Age of Adventure/The Return of Heracles is all about Greek mythology and history, letting you play as characters ranging from Odysseus to Achilles, to Hippolyta. I guess you could technically call it an edutainment title, but the RPG gameplay was surprisingly solid for a game whose purpose was to teach you things. I’m not sure if I ever beat all of the characters’ scenarios (there were 19 of them, according to the game’s entry in the book), but I did walk away with a greater knowledge of Greek myths and legends, so I consider that a win.

Even the cover is generic. This says less “Greek mythology,” and more “Sylvester Stallone’s arm wrestling movie, *Over the Top*, if it were about pirates.”

The new normal

Don’t worry, this isn’t going to be a post all about COVID. At least, not directly. Over the past few months, the company I work for has bled off no fewer than seven employees. We aren’t large, so this has really hurt. And because there’s a labor shortage in the US right now (the exact reasons why are a subject for another time), every place is hiring. That means we’ve had a ridiculously hard time getting people to apply–and if they do apply, most of them only stick around for a month or so before leaving to look for something less stressful. “Normal” this year has become an endless cycle of working extra hours because we’re so short-staffed, leading to a more stressful environment among those of us who have stuck around, and the new employees we do get pick up on that, and don’t want to stay, leading to more long hours, and more stress, and…

I miss the old normal. Which brings us to today’s word.

mundane, adj. – normal, ordinary, commonplace

Learned from: The Immortal (Apple IIGS, Amiga, Atari ST, Genesis, NES, PC, Nintendo Switch)

Developed by Will Harvey

Published by Electronic Arts (1990)

The Immortal was an odd, but memorable game. Part-adventure game, part-light RPG, it put you in the shoes of a rather old wizard, trying to find his mentor somewhere in a sprawling labyrinth. It sounds pretty straightforward (aside from the protagonist older than 30–how often do you see something like that, these days?), but the game was anything but. Your adventure was chock-full of clever puzzles to solve (or bash your head against), traps to avoid (or blunder into), monsters to fight (or sneak by, or even befriend), and spells to cast–even spells as “mundane” as fireballs, according to the manual.

The world usually felt threatening, sometimes alien (the will-o’-the-wisps stand out in my memory), and always lived-in. Even despite the clunky controls, and some would say unfair difficulty (how was I supposed to know that chest was full of spiders, ahead of time?!), I still have very fond recollections of my time with The Immortal. Despite the bland initial setup, the game is anything but mundane.

Believe it or not, EA publishing good, inventive games also used to be normal.

Achievement unlocked

This past week has been an absolute nightmare. Not so much for me, specifically, but if you’re from the U.S., you know what I’m talking about. Hell, even if you’re not living here, you probably know, because chances are, your news outlets actually cover international stories. So much is just…wrong, lately, that I wanted to focus on a word from simpler times, before the riots, and hatred, and boastful “leaders” who can’t even show their faces in times of crisis. So, let’s visit a game full of bright colors, cheeky humor, and young girls who announce their plans to conquer the universe by way of an idol concert. All of which brings us to today’s word:

vainglory, noun – disproportionately high pride in one’s accomplishments

Learned from: Mugen Souls (Playstation 3)

Developed by Compile Heart

Published by NIS America (2012)

I initially picked up Mugen Souls more for the fact that I know one of the English voice actors, than anything else. It got fairly mediocre reviews from critics, and I wanted to support her work. And hey, maybe it would end up being an underappreciated gem. Well…the game isn’t bad, but it’s nothing really outstanding, either.

Mugen Souls puts you in the shoes of Chou-Chou a girl who wants to rule the universe through the power of moe. (Moe is a Japanese term that basically refers to things that people find cute, often when they’re not supposed to be.) Essentially, she wants to subjugate everyone by making them become infatuated with her. But not everybody likes bubbly, pink-haired girls, right? Not a problem! Chou-Chou has multiple personalities, each with its own quirk: masochistic, sadistic, ditzy, bipolar, etc. Each has its own attributes, and skills, and effectiveness against different enemies. It’s goofy, and saccharine, and really, really weird (you can make entire continents fall in love with you. Not the people–the landmasses themselves).

One of the passive skills Chou-Chou has is called vainglory (fittingly, in her “Ego” form). It offers various buffs to her attacks, as well as boosts a…certain type of experience/reward you get from battles. It’s kinda hard to explain, because while the game has a silly premise, the actual gameplay is surprisingly complex. There are literally hours‘ worth of tutorials, explaining all the various mechanics. And really, it was this Gordian knot of things to keep straight, along with the death of my original PS3, that kept me from finishing this game.

However, if you have a better stomach for exhaustive tutorials than I do, you might want to dig up a copy of this strange little game. It’s certainly a different sort of experience, and maybe it’ll be just the distraction you need in these trying times.

Chou-Chou

The many faces of Chou-Chou.

Does anybody really know what time it is?

While my Pile of Shame (TM) still has a ton of games in it, I figured the quarantine was a good opportunity to tackle some of the longer ones–JRPGs, and such. Recently, I finished the first Trails in the Sky, and I see why the Legend of Heroes series (which includes the Sky trilogy, the Cold Steel quadrilogy, and two un-localized games in between them) is so highly regarded by fans. The plot is a slow burn until the final chapter, but once it kicks into high gear, it leads to one hell of a cliffhanger. Anyway, today’s word…

tourbillon, noun – a watch mechanism designed to mitigate gravity’s effect on the movement of the gears

Learned from: Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky (PSP, PC, Playstation 3, Playstation Vita)

Developed by Nihon Falcom

Published by XSeed Games (2011)

Literally meaning “whirlwind,” the use of “tourbillon” in Trails in the Sky was in a more mechanical sense. Much of the society in the game is based around technology derived from ancient artifacts (naturally). Called “orbments,” these devices combine clockwork mechanisms and elemental crystals to produce everything from street lights, to airships, to weapons. And as with all steampunk-ish technology, things can always be fine-tuned, hence the inclusion of tourbillons in some tech to make it more stable/accurate.

There’s actually quite a bit more depth behind the history of the orbments, as well as pretty much every aspect of the world in this series. Hell, even most of the individual townsfolk you run across have individual names, agendas, and dialog that’s more than “Welcome to <NAME OF TOWN>!” The sheer amount of text here can weigh things down a bit, but if you’re the sort of person who’d, say, read all the books in Skyrim, you’ll probably love getting immersed in the history of Liberl. Even if you don’t look through all the extra stuff, the tension and interplay between various factions of the military, the Bracer guild (sort of an international police/mercenary force), and the ruling family is plenty intriguing on its own.

tl;dr: If Trails in the Sky is any indication, this series is an underappreciated gem in the West. And all the games that have been translated into English are now available on Steam, so you don’t even have to be a weirdo who owns a PSP, like me, to enjoy them!

trails_in_the_sky

It’s also got quite the colorful cast of characters.