The Story About my Second Favorite Game (Bully)

When I first heard about this game, it was in 2006. That was when the game was new. I had no idea what it was about, the story, the characters. I didn't really care that much either.

I don't know exactly when, I think in June, but I seriously can't remember. Anyway, many months ago, I started looking for a PS2 catalog that had all the PS2 games ever made. I would use this to keep track and make a list of games I thought I would find interesting.

I happened to find one, but it only had games from 2000 to 2005. I found other games on there that I haven't heard of in years, such as Vexx and Viewtiful Joe,

Then I turned to GameSpot. Here, I found and entire catalog, but no cover art, but that's not the point. In the top 10 most popular games on the PS2, I saw a game called Bully. I said "Bully? Oh yeah, I remember that thing".

I had only seen trailers or commercials about the game, but never paid too much attention. So, at this time, I started really getting into the story and the characters. I even downloaded a walkthrough of the game via RealPlayer.

This and Tekken 5 were two games I was obsessing about, and I just had to get them. Since Tekken 5 is $19.99 and Bully was $9.99 (yeah, that's not really fair), I figured I would get Bully first.

I was so hell-bent on getting this game, that I actually SAVED MONEY and waited for my chance to buy it. Something I haven't done in years.

After more than 2 months, I finally got it. After I bought it, I went outside and "Linked" or did "The Link" (whenever Link gets an Item, he holds it up to the sky and a tune plays).

I hopped in the car with this psychotic grin on my face, and when I got home, I was so excited about playing it, that I didn't even go to sleep.

On the mission "Halloween", the game froze. Before that, there were glitches and other parts where it froze anyway. I was mad as all hell when I realized they gave me a broken copy. This was the third time in a row Gamestop had sabotoged me like this, and I haven't been there in a while.

So, by this time, I didn't even care anymore; I just said "whatever, I officially hate Gamestop now". It was only two days when I got the opportunity to return it. It wasn't too long, but it felt like a week.

I go in there, complain, and the guy tells me they don't have another copy and that he "Just sold the last one yesterday". I was so pissed, but I held it in. I go to the other Gamestop in my area, and guess what? They have the game.

There's a counter with a line full of people and an empty one. I don't even notice the line next to the other counter, so I go to the empty one. The clerk tells me I have to wait in line and she indicates to the other counter.

Now, I'm thinking "What...the heck? Then, what's this counter for, and why is it empty?". But insted i just go "Oh, okay. I didn't even notice". Because I really didn't care too much anyway.

I go to the other line, and stand there for 10 minutes (impatiently). By this time, I was in a bad mood with a bad attitude, and the guy at the counter is like "Hello", and I just looked at him, as if saying "I'm not in the mood".

Then, of course it's Gamestop regulation never to ask for an Edge Card, so I reminded him, pay for the game, get my change and receipt, and get the game. But there's something that bothered me.
He decides he doesn't want to give me a bag. They people at the other Gamestop give me a bag when I buy something.

But hey, he probably has a grudge against me because I didn't greet him. But that's not fair! It's regulation (from what the other Gamestop told me) to give the customer a bag. This made me even more upset, and I would've cried about something like this a few years ago.

In fact, I did cry. Only a little bit for like 10 seconds, but come on. Anyway, he probably forgot to get the bag. He seemed like his brained functions like "Duuhhh". Fat, Samoan son of a gun.

Anyway, by this time, the game didn't get that much hype from me, and it wasn't as exciting as it was when I first got it. I didn't feel like "Oh my god, I'm finally playing Bully" anymore. I already had the gameplay down, and to me...it was just another game. Nothing special.

I quote James Rolfe "I really wanted to love this game. But somehow, it fell flat. I felt I got myself too hyped, and had unreasonable expectations".

By now, my brother and I have already beat the game. But that's not saying much, becuase I didn't ever want to stop playing it. Every day, I would wake up and play the game. I felt like i flew through it too quickly, and didn't have time to enjoy it.

So, I'm going through it again, but this time, I'm just gonna try to let it grow on me, and take my time.

So, this is how Bully flew into my grasp, and why I officially hate Gamestop. Yeah, there were some other reasons, but this just really ruined it for me. Ruined my weekend, ruined my experience with the game, and ruined my point of view. And it's not like this is the only time they did this.

This story was written on October 29, 2010, finished at 2:50 PM