I still consider myself to be a casual gamer more than anything else, but I’ve lived in Japan for too long without going to a Tokyo Game Show.

The problem for the past few years is I’ve missed the timing for buying tickets, realizing either thanks to the news that the show is happening (and the tickets are already sold out by then) or learning about the show after the fact.

And so, last year, I set a note on my phone’s calendar to buy tickets this year. It worked, and after years of wondering at all I was missing out on, I finally grabbed a ticket.

I asked a friend who’d gone in previous years for advice on what to do to prepare for this massive event spanning two enormous expo halls, and it was pretty sound advice:

1. Bring your own food if possible (this year, at least, they didn’t ban anyone bringing in outdoor food)
2. Bring a picnic sheet or very small folding chair that could fit into a bag
3. Bring a fan (although everyone was handing out plastic fans)

I’d also add:

1. Bring earplugs or noise-canceling headphones if you can’t tolerate loud noises for hours on end
2. Wear extremely comfortable shoes

I arrived at the Game Show at around 8 a.m., hoping I could be one of the first in because I really wanted to try Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment since, not owning a Switch 2, I have no idea when I’ll be able to try this game.

Unfortunately, the crowds were such that I had to wait in a line snaking around a building that I think could comfortably fit two commercial airplanes, catching wafts of loud music and video game sounds any time a staff member opened one of the doors leading inside.

At long last, I found my way inside and immediately went to Koei Tecmo’s area. The line to demo the new Zelda spinoff was “temporarily closed,” but joining a stream of people heading to the back of Square Enix’s area right next door, then joining the stream heading back to the front of Koei Tecmo’s area wasted enough time that the line was open again, and I immediately jumped in.

I have to say I really liked the 10 minutes of playtime I was given. In the demo, Zelda is in The Depths with Rauru and Mineru, and you end up encountering constructs who can’t figure out you aren’t the enemy and then a giant Frox. Compared to how Age of Calamity glitched a lot on the Switch, this was incredibly smooth playing with beautiful graphics (I wanted to just stare at how Zelda’s light magic illuminated the battles).

After Age of Imprisonment, I tried to get in line to play the latest rendition of Final Fantasy VII, but at 10 a.m., the sign for the start of the line already said, “Closed for the day.” I have no idea why, but that was disappointing.

The rest of the day was wandering around, stumbling across games that looked interesting and just trying to see what freebies were being handed out.

Sega had what looked like a cool way to display people trying out their gamees by stacking them in rows like it was a school play, except with everyone’s backs facing away from people walking past the area so that the focus could be on the games rather than who’s playing them.

I also liked how a game called Obakeidoro 2 asked that you fill out a questionnaire about the game before receiving a plastic folder as a gift. I am normally someone who loathes filling out questionnaires, but the questions about the game made me think maybe this is a company who actually wanted to hear from players, which I feel like game shows like this should be more about.

My least favorite parts of the show were the soul-crushing crowds of people making it difficult to navigate anywhere and the sheer number of women wearing hardly anything at all, forcing smiles to everyone sticking a camera in their face and doing predetermined poses. I know sex sells, but part of me keeps hoping video game makers might move past this at some point, especially as there are plenty of gamers out there who aren’t going to try a game just because there are well-endowed female protagonists. I know things will probably never change, but it does make me sigh with frustration.

Overall, I think I’ll try to go back next year only if, like this year, there are games available I really want to try. There were way too many games there this year that I knew nothing about, though just being there was incredibly exciting and fun, though exhausting.