Looks like I’ll be heading offline for a few days. I’m going on a weekend trip during which I will be meeting my girlfriend’s parents for the first time. If I don’t update again by Monday, it is because I’m dead.
Meeting potential future in-laws isn’t a particularly daunting task in and of itself, and I’ve always figured the parents of the last person I dated inured me to the worst I could ever expect — it would be difficult for them to have been less civil to me without somehow bringing waterboarding into play, I think. But these are no ordinary parents! My girlfriend’s father, legend has it, once engaged in a shouting match with Donald Trump… and won. Me, I write about video games. Yeah.
At least I get a nice suit out of this whole affair! Of course, I had to buy it myself. And since the girlfriend aspires to be a fashion photographer, there was no way she’d let me get away with a reasonably-priced suit. So, basically, in exchange for much money and a weekend, I have the opportunity to go under the microscope for a man who, by reputation, makes deNiro’s character from Meet the Parents look like a snuggly kitten. Growing up is awesome.
Speaking of me writing about video games, I’m not sure if I’ve actually published anything at work all year. Allow me to make up for this lack with a preview of Rondo of Swords. You probably have not heard of this game, due to Atlus’ low-key approach to PR, but it’s the first tactical RPG I’ve played in a while that has really piqued my interest. Instead of trying to be Final Fantasy Tactics or Fire Emblem, it sort of does its own thing. I’ve played about two hours between tutorials and campaign and am having a difficult time expressing just how differently this game plays from all the other SRPGs out there — it’s the anti-Luminous Arc, basically. This is another review from which I will be excusing myself to avoid untoward appearances of positive bias, but I don’t feel any particular compunctions about saying that it is a game worth looking forward to. Unless you have a deep distrust of good things, of course.
Good luck surviving your weekend with the potential in-laws. I hope you don’t get asked anything too personal on the polygraph test. Then again, that’s kind of the point of the machine, isn’t it?
Have you been doing anything else at 1up aside from Retronauts, or do they let you just kind of slide along until something new comes along? As if you could make us any more jealous of your job.
holy crap… that *does* sound like an *innovative* take on the SRPG genre!
I didn’t think such things were possible, mostly because I’d never seen or heard of one before. I likely would have never heard of it, if it weren’t for this blog. For what it’s worth, you’ve broadened the gaming horizons of at least one individual today.
I’ve been working on plenty of things, simply nothing that has been published. 1UP is pretty laid back but I don’t think I could actually just sit around doing nothing and remain employed for long.
My father in law was a cop until a house he had chased a perp into exploded, and he was wounded in the line of duty.
Good luck Mr. Parish! *tries to imagine you in a suit….and fails*
Tomm, your father-in-law wouldn’t happen to be Danny Glover, would he? Dirty Callahan maybe?
You didn’t own a suit before?
anyway, i wish you luck. parents of other people are strange beasts.
I hope you make it through the Tet Offensive.
Good luck, sir.
(By the way, any hint on when the next episode of Retronauts might be coming out?)
I want to hear more about Tomm’s father-in-law. Was he “Out of Justice”?
And good luck with the future-in-laws.
Yeah, that’s the worst part of dating. Meeting the parents. They’re always like, “What year did you graduate” and “Why are you still dating highschool girls”.
Rondo certainly does look intriguing! I’ll have to keep an eye on it.
And I’ll add my “best of luck with your weekend” to everyone else’s.
Good luck, Parish.
Good luck with the GF’s parents! I remember meeting my wife’s dad for the first time…talk about nerve-wracking. All I knew about him going into it was that he was a truck driver, got in lots of bar fights in his younger days, and was very, very big and strong. At one point during the visit, he crumpled a two-liter soda bottle in his hands like it was a sheet of paper. I’m still convinced he was trying to send me a message, but my wife denies it to this day. Anyway, it all turned out fine for me (we eventually got married, and he loves me like a son now), so don’t worry!
Hey, dude, look on the bright side, if he turns out to be cool, it’ll be the awesomest surprise ever. My fiancee tried to convince me that my future dad-in-law was a real fire-and-brimstone type (which he kind of is, at least moreso than anyone else I’ve ever known), and that I need to be careful, because if he ever finds out I’m an atheist, there’s gonna be an issue. Well, I guess he still hasn’t figured that out, but he’s a super nice dude. Really laid back, and nice, for the most part.
Hope all turns out well.
Sometimes I wish Atlus would get more mainstream acknowledgment, just enough so that more people outside the hardcore were aware of their stuff. Anyways, I take it that this is one of those “buy it before it’s gone” games.
This sounds like it could be the best simple, simple-idea innovation in RPGing since you-capture-the-enemies-and-make-them-fight-each-other.
I mean that in a good way.
And I’m thinking about the Megami Tensei series on that last one–thank you Atlus, and may God bless you–in case it sounded like it was something else.
“Growing up is awesome.”
I hear you, brother. Granted, my own lady-related troubles are dwarfed by your own, but I hear you. Yes, I’m the only one to blame for not having entered the dating scene until 21, but how in the name of Zeus is an inexperienced schmuck like me supposed to impress a 28 year-old who is coincidentally my boss?
I’d wish you luck like the others, but I kind of need it for myself right now.
If you don’t make it back, can I have your Turbo Duo?
I remember when I first met my now-father-in-law, a man who had retired from an Air Force career that saw him do who-knows-what-and-he-ain’t-telling work in the Pentagon. I was scared silly. He turned out to be the nicest guy I know. So, good luck to you!
I walked past 2 gunsafes when I first met my father-in-law.