Ever had one of those moments where you think you're making a great decision, only to realize later that it was the worst fucking idea you've ever had?
My cousin, ••••, bless her soul, had been raving about this game series: "This Dying World Needs a Hero."
She swore up and down that it was the pinnacle of RPG storytelling.
She praised it so much that I initially suspected she was involved in the creation herself, but I promptly dismissed the thought; how many 16 year olds are capable of that?
"You'll love it," she said. "It's epic," she promised.
And, laughably, it was true, for the first two games at least.
The first two games in the series were nothing short of phenomenal, the breathtaking worlds sucked your soul from the moment you hit start, immersing you in a saga like no other.
With intricate plots and unforgettable characters brought to life with advanced AI, making their dialogue, reactions, development, and relationships as realistic and multidimensional as possible.
Every quest, every twist, every character and every piece of dialogue was crafted with such care that it felt like living through an epic venture yourself.
However, even with countless playthrough and multiple endings, with countless player all over the world, the devs commented that there are still approximately 187 hidden story combination in the quest that no one has achieve yet in the two games.
So, there I was, another uneventful Friday night, sprawled out on my couch and rewatching the Invasion of Pain Arc for the 40th time, when my phone buzzed.
It was ••••, Now, ••••'s my cousin— I heard, that she is the daughter of my brother in laws big brother.
In any case she was a very distant relatives, but because she has been following me ever since she was in elementary school, and because she was distant enough to not be involved into the family politics, I was naturally close to her, especially since the Riber incident she became the sole person I can rest easy with.
The same age as 'him', she's my favourite cousin—brilliant, with a low-tier Autism—though she got no superpowers like the other guy, she is freaky as hell, and I meant that in the nicest way possible, she is lovely, but she has a knack for always including me into her latest obsessions.
Last month, it was artisanal cheese making. Before that, competitive pigeon racing. Don't ask, In fact, she is more normal than her 'other' cousin.
"He—Hey, man!" Her happy voice was practically buzzing through the phone, though with a bit of a stutter.
"You—You gotta check this out, I just finished."
"Not interested." I replied almost instanttaneously, though if she pleaded I would probably end up accompanying her again.
"No, No, Just, Just listen First before, you, you."
"Haaah." I sigh, "Okay, my bad, What's it about this time? Something normal like underwater sweater weaving?"
"No, Ugh, seriously, this one's different. It's the 'TD' Series. Third game of the series."
"Uh-huh," I said, rolling my eyes, and, "Uh, what did you just said?!"
As mentioned, my dear cousin was the one who introduced me to the series, weirdly as a girl herself, she loved harem based games and novel, peculiar for a woman I always thought.
Personally though, whenever I tried watching... or read a reverse harem story, to understand how the ladies think of harem, I'm always somehow disgusted at the prospect and never able to finish it.
Sometimes, I suspect whether •••• was a man herself, as she shared the same sentiment as I.
The only one I remembered enjoying was, Bakarina, that shit was funny as-F.
"heeh, Heh he," It was a crooked laugh, the kind of giggle that made me think she was up to something no good.
"It's the thhiiiird Game~, It's, It's like the, the first Game." While I was Lost in thought, she spoke up once more.
"Like, Like really, really, Trust me, it got like everything. Drama, harem..." I frowned slightly, "... action, romance. You, You'll love it."
She was selling it, as hard as she could. Too hard.
I should've known something was up then, but as a dedicated fan of the first two games myself, I know how the protagonist of the third hero look.
"Alright, I'll tell you when I finish, didn't even realise it was released."
"Uh, yeah, it, it's been one month now, though?"
"I see—" She cut me off.
"We, uh the story is incredible. You start off as handsome he—"
"Of course, I know he's handsome."
"—a—and you're surrounded by beautiful heroines."
"So, same as 1 and 2? Sounds very generic." I teased, I could almost hear the gears turning in her little head, how adorable, I thought.
"Uh, n—no, the, they are really complex, and backstory, I I hate them at first, but I like them now. It's a narrative masterpiece!" She declared, I could picture her gesture even, in a more confident voice than her usual self.
"Sounds riveting," I said dryly, as if uninterested.
"Uh, no Trust me, you'll, you'll get really hooked."
"Hooked, huh?" I raised an eyebrow even though she couldn't see it. What a weird way to describe it.
"it's, more, a little more intense than the first two game."
"How so?"
"Nuh, uh, No spoilers." Is it weird how I can picture her adorable gestures?
"ha ha ha..." I chuckled heartily.
She continued, probably thinking she displeased me, "it, it's a bit more emotional, highs and lows you, you know?... it's like a rock. But you love a, a like hard thi—things, right?"
She tried to provoke me in her own, naive way it appears, but her choice of words was just terrible, extremely misleading.
"kukuku, fine, Fine, I'll give it a shot. But if it turns out to be weird... Again, I'm never trusting you. You hear?"
She laugh, her laughter echoed through the phone. "Uh, I, I'm sure, you'll find it unforgettable."
With that remark, she hung up, leaving me with a mix of curiosity and suspicion.
"Unforgettable, she said." I mused and attempted to ordered the game promptly.