What Video Game Did I Play Yesterday?

Star Mobile (Genesis Mini 2)

November 9th, 2022

Yesterday was not chill, and work was stressful. I did a lot of wall staring last night. Today seems ripe for drama, too, so I grabbed some origami star folding paper and put it by my desk in advance.

Games were okay last night, though. I spent most of my game time, again, on Wild Arms, going through a mountain pass that served as a small, transitional, semi-dungeon. There was a little cutscene where one of my party members got the idea for a new attack, which I could then use in battle, and that was an interesting seeming mechanic. I also feel like I missed something on the mountain pass, because in the previous town, NPCs kept saying the bandits up there had stolen a magic map, which sure would be helpful on any journey, hint-hint. The path seemed so straightforward that the bandits could very well be somewhere else, though, so I'll see how things unfold.

I didn't want to go another save point worth of play once I reached the town, so from there, I played some simple puzzle games. I got out my Genesis Mini 2 and played one of the previously unreleased games on it, Star Mobile. It's not awful, but the thought occurred to me more than once that it was probably previously unreleased because it's not that good, either. In it, you put stars of varying weights on scales, trying to keep them balanced while also clearing colors off the scales- a mechanic that also alters the weights you've set up. I think I can get good at it and'll almost definitely try again, but it's a bit clunky.

After that, I grabbed my phone and played Mahjong Story 2, one of the Galaxy Store quick play games. Aside from my existential despair that I missed the emotional journey of the first game in the series, leaving me unable to understand the heart of why the game's title screen girl is compelled to match tiles, I'm fine with this. It's overly monetized and'll probably be never ending, but I really like mahjong solitare games and this is free. I'll play it until I either get sick of it begging me for cash, or get bored with the gameplay, and move onto something else.