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“Ehhh, what do you mean this isn’t actually a mobile game?” Ai asked, tapping her phone’s screen. “I’m playing it on my phone right now!”
Rina didn’t look up from her own phone. “While you’re able to play it on your phone, it’s actually just a port of an older game to a mobile device.”
Looking down at her phone, Ai examined the title screen for Sonic the Hedgehog , scrunching her face up slightly before returning her gaze back to Rina, confusion still hanging on her face. “Ported? What’s that mean?”
“It’s the technical term used for games that move across platforms, usually from an older piece of hardware to a newer one. In the case of that Sonic game, it was ported from the Mega Drive to your phone.” She looked up from her phone, her blank expression fixating on the ceiling for a moment before returning to the screen between her fingers, adding, “Actually, that’s not entirely true, but for the sake of simplicity just think about it like that. They took an older game and remade it so that it could run on your phone.”
“So like… were the other Sonic games I saw on the app store also ports?”
“It depends. I know there are one or two mobile game originals in there like Sonic Dash , but I think a lot of them are ports.”
Ai placed a thoughtful hand against her chin, rubbing it slightly. “I guess that checks out… Do you own any of those old ones yourself?” she asked, propping herself up on the bed to get a better look at Rina, the girl whose lap she was currently using as a leg rest.
“No. Retro games are fun, but they can be clunky and difficult to get into. They can also be pretty expensive depending on which games you’re interested in collecting. I usually stick with newer games and consoles.” Looking up from her phone once more, she pointed at the console set up next to her TV. “Like that.”
“Oooh, that’s right! You got a new game recently didn’t you? What was it called again? Forged in Fire?”
“Are you talking about the Fire Emblem game I bought?”
There was an enthusiastic nod from Ai. “Yeah, that one! Wait, did they port that game to console from mobile? I swear I saw a Fire Emblem game on the app store before… Never played it myself.”
Rina shook her head, her pink hair twirling about her face as her fingers tapped loudly against her phone screen, suddenly flipping it over in Ai’s direction. On it, the store page for Fire Emblem Heroes was displayed. “I think you’re talking about this one? The one that I bought was Fire Emblem: Three Houses which is a completely different game made for console.”
“Really?! Huh! I guess Ai got it wrong then!” she grinned, letting out a gleeful giggle at her own joke. “How many of those games are there anyhow? Do you know?”
“Not exactly, no, I just know there’s a lot of them and that I haven’t played the majority of those released. I think I recall there being maybe 15 or 16 games in the franchise. It’s been going on for a long time now.”
Ai tilted her head at the statement, her confusion once again easily visible on her face. “Ehh? Doesn’t that mean you’re going to get lost while playing? How will you know what’s happening if you don’t play all of them in order? When I saw there was a Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and a Sonic the Hedgehog 4 I made sure to buy the first one so I could avoid that! Actually, come to think, I never saw a Sonic the Hedgehog 3 while I was looking. Wonder why that is…”
“Sonic 3 wasn’t ported to mobile due to a variety of reasons, some being legal problems with the music and some being business management issues caused by a shakeup of the company. It’s a lot to get into. As for the other thing… It varies from franchise to franchise. Some games are meant to be played in order, and some are standalone titles that don’t need prior knowledge of the story to enjoy. You can play Sonic 4 and still understand what’s going on because those games are self-contained adventures. When it comes to Fire Emblem it’s not exactly the same, but for Three Houses there shouldn’t be any issues with me playing it without playing a lot of the others.”
“I see! Man Rinari, you’re always so knowledgeable about this stuff! Maybe I should try getting more intro video games considering how im- port -ant they are to you!” Ai shifted herself around, plopping her head onto Rina’s lap with a warm smile, her brightly shining amber eyes peering up at Rina. “Where do you think I should start? Any suggestions?”
Putting down her phone to her side, Rina took a moment to consider Ai’s tastes, the neutral expression on her face unwavering despite her intense thoughts. After a minute or two, she finally said, “You can’t go wrong with the Switch. It has a lot of different games on it, and it’s geared towards a more casual audience with its multiple platformers and party games. I think you’d have a lot of different games to try out to see what you like. Plus, it has Mario.”
“Chris Pratt, you mean?”
Her eyes shifted to Ai, hands quickly moving to grab the sketchpad next to her. She flipped through its pages as quickly as she could, finally placing the pad against her face, an angry expression pointing itself down at Ai. “Rina-chan board says ‘Don’t remind me!’.”
Furious giggles erupted from Ai, her arms wrapping themselves around Rina’s stomach tightly. “Ahahah, forgive me, please! I didn’t mean to make you mad! I overheard you and Mia talking about it the other day and couldn’t resist bringing it up! Boy, the announcement really made her upset, didn’t it? I heard her go ‘Mamma Mia ’ from all the way across the cafeteria!” she howled between fits of laughter, kicking her legs wildly as she buried her face into Rina. “S-Sorry! Hahaha! I’m sorry!”
Rina sighed and flipped her board back around, combing through the pages until she found what she was looking for, the sketchpad now a beaming smile. “It’s fine. Rina-chan board says ‘I like seeing you happy!’.”
“Aww!” Pulling herself up from Rina’s lap, Ai’s face leveled with hers, a wide smile stretched across her face. Her hand pinched the corner of the sketchpad and pulled it down, gentle lips pressing softly against Rina’s. Rina’s eyes widened, the surprise kiss making her freeze up momentarily before she closed her eyes, letting the feeling of Ai wash over her. Slowly, Ai pulled herself away from Rina’s lips, giving a small sigh as she leaned her head against her, a far more satisfied smile now resting comfortably on her face. “If you like seeing me happy, you must be living after that then!” she teased, taking Rina’s hand in hers.
Intense redness filled Rina’s cheeks, mouth agape as her eyes turned to look away from Ai, her mind still trying to catch up to the present. “... Yes,” she softly whispered, “I definitely am.”
“Ah! Actually, that reminds me of something! I saw this game online called Doki Doki Literature Club and was thinking we should play it together! It looked like a really cute romance game from what I saw on the webpage. I’ve never played anything like it before, but it sounds like it could be a lot of fun!”
“Erm... Let’s just stick with something like Pokemon for now.”
“Really? Not one for romance games? But you always make my heart go doki doki when you’re around! Haha!”
Slightly more composed now, Rina quietly responded, “That game is more horror than romance, actually. It’s meant to be a shock factor for the game where it pulls the carpet out from under you and reveals what’s behind the curtain.”
“W-Whoa, really? A game that cute hides a dark secret? I’m not really one for horror but… It kind of makes me want to give it a try even more…”
“If you think you can handle it we could play it. I don’t really mind horror, I’m just trying to warn you is all.”
“My Rinari in shining armor! Always looking out for me. Want to boot it up now then? I still have plenty of time before I gotta go!”
Rina nodded, lifting her board back to her face and flashing a triumphant expression at Ai. “Sure. Rina-chan board says ‘I’ll protect you!’.”