Edwin backstory fragment #345: the greatest usage to which I have ever put my failing grasp of mathematics is determining how many different RPGs I could buy using the “same” money, by dint of trading them in promptly at Gamestation for carefully calculated diminishing returns. I’d save up to buy one of the premium headliners, attempt to get my money’s worth inside a week, then swap it for a respected double-A and perhaps a sub-£8 oddity with the manual missing – nesting one purchase within the other like a series of Matryoshka dolls.
This was my Big Short, my Money Ball. But it had a drawback: often, I was so eager to leapfrog to another game before the trade-in price changed that I skimmed RPGs that are now considered classics. The big one was Suikoden 2, which I spent only an evening with before gambling that I’d eke more FunValue out of a game with a less traditional battle system. I can’t remember what I traded that for, which says it all. Another was Baten Kaitos on Gamecube, which – yes, we are finally getting to the point here – has just been rereleased on Steam in the shape of a Baten Kaitos I & II HD Remaster. I can’t remember what I traded Baten Kaitos for either, which again, says it all. Please, gentle reader – be better.
