I went on my honeymoon this year, after over three years of being married and saving, to Tokyo. I’d been before in 2008 for a meager three days, making the most of a situation I had dreamed about for so much of my life, and something I’d never thought I would be able to do. But there I was walking the streets of Akihabara to buy games I couldn’t read the language of, fascinated by the culture shock and plethora of lights and sounds from every street. It was heavenly.
While I was there this time with my wonderful wife I bought more games (no surprise there), and to my surprise, I stumbled into a couple at a second-hand store. As a terrible victim of nostalgia, I had to take them back to the US with me as a long-loved symbol of a trouble era of my life. I’d put in the work and rebuilt my life and mental health off the back of one.
That game was Disgaea 2: Dark Hero Days.