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is awesome32278 Posts
...get impaled by a flying ice shard.
There is a dichotomy when I look back on my early gaming days. On one hand, I would have loved to be more conscious of what I was doing and the amount of free time I had. On the other hand nothing beats the first experience, the discovery and thrill of being amazed by things for the first time.
Thirdteen years ago or so, my parents got my brother and me a Playstation console. Besides being an awesome gaming system, it allowed me to have hundreds of games (literally, I had over 300 PSX CDs), since they could be easily copied. It's not something I'm proud of, but it let me enjoy an incredible diversity of games at almost no cost. Only for historical reference purposes: each disk with an overlay print and it's case costed less than 1us$.
As an special deal, when buying your console, besides the controllers and what not you got to chose 10 CDs to take with you. And so began the moment in which I look at the shelves, thinking which ones to take. Now that I think of it, it's funny how much that situation resembles my toy picking rituals when I was 5, or my curiosity checks in technology shops nowadays. A similar situation would lead me to Brood War, but that's a story for another blog entry, maybe.
I remember most of the games I took on my first trip home: Crash Bandicoot, Jersey Devil, Medievil, Bloody Roar, Gran Turismo, Ace Combat 2.
I also remember one of the games standing out for me. The cover portrayed two embracing bodies turning into a whirlwind of colours over a white background. Narrow and stylish letters sealed the tittle in front of that.
It was actually the last game I tried out when we got back home. I kept that habit every time I came from the video game store. I would always try out first the less story driven games (fighting games, racing games, maybe a platformer, etc) and keep the story-driven ones as treats. I think I do something similar with food: I try to not mix it up and save the best for last. Maybe I need some professional help (with my eating habits, not with gaming).
So, there he was, 12 year old ITW sitting on his bed, his PSX making the CD spinning sounds as the PlayStation intro played. Black background and nothing but "New Game" - "Continue". So, of course I pressed New Game only to found out the disks were buggy and the game froze on every try. All 10 of them.
So weeks went by until I got my father to take me back to change the game for a working copy. I finally got one, but not without getting another not working copy in between, which delayed my Final Fantasy debut, but at the same time strengthened the hype.
Everything the game had hit me like brick in the face. Not that I know how a brick to face feels, but I imagine you would feel it a lot. The music, the gameplay, even the menues, the graphics, the story (YES THE STORY SHUT UP). I rarely saw up to that moment such well polished games, with so much detail to attention. Things like tutorials in-game, but disguised as part of the plot, tunes coming in and out of scenes, speeding up or going down depending on the mood of the plot, moving backgrounds, unexpected changes and most importantly a lasting experience, a commitment of time, that required planning and long gaming sessions.
I spent those days coming back from school, waiting for my brother to come as well, prepare some snacks for us both, putting as many pillows as I could rack into my bed and starting the game. From that moment the ritual would be repeated for every RPG we bought, with us taking 'timed' turns to play the games.
During class I would take moments for my mind to drift away and think of what could happen next in the story, or I would think of ways to build my characters. The same thought process would stay for Brood War and I would think of gay builds to do in TvZ during my sleep, class or during my bath sessions.
We sympathize with characters. That's why we sometimes get sad that a series or book ends, or feel bad when something happens to a likable character (Rorschach  ). Not always of course. I was waiting every single minute for Gex to die, so they could give me something else to control, but I had to settle with just not finishing the game.
It's a weekday, late at night playing FFVIII with my brother. It's almost sleep time, but we tell each other we will play some more since we are in a complot to assassinate a sorceress. Fuck sleeping, shoot the sorceress. Irvine? Irvine shoot? Irvine...
It goes without saying that we didn't sleep early that day.
I realize there's a little bit of irony in this, since most people would want Squall dead from what I wrote some paragraphs above. At that point I could relate to friends who were all worked up because a certain Aerith got stabbed (to this day, I could care less about her  ).
The process of finishing the game sped up a lot from that point onward, thought I must say I was too a little let down after disk 3. After finishing it, I couldn't find that many games (recommendations are welcomed), that made me interested in characters. Most PC RPGs I played have this "create your own character kit" at the start. I hate that. I hate having to name my characters and giving them looks. I would be an awful God. You should be all thankful I'm not God, or else you would be all walking around with orange and purple mohawks and bad face tatoos that make you look like like a beat-up slut.
Of course I did find some gems in the world or jRPGs and neighboring genres, but not that many, specially nowadays. Maybe I grew up. Or maybe the internet killed single player games for me.
But I know I can always go back and visit some of those old memories. I know he will be there too, getting impaled, only to give me his characteristic "..." 5 minutes later.
 
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is awesome32278 Posts
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^ Whoa wtf that is from the game? i didn't finish it yet haha that is creepy.
Also I was right! The moment I saw this title I was thinking about that scene. Then I kept reading and I began to be more and more assured I guessed right xD
That was pretty brutal for a T game. Maybe not exactly the fact that he was impaled by an ice shard but that, especially in that scene, the mood/atmosphere was very serious and "real", so the fantasy-sized (HUGE) ice shard flying at him made it pretty violent for me back then.
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If you like RPGs with good stories/scenarios, I'd suggest you try Suikoden 1 and 2 on PSX if you have not already. I heard Valkyrie Profile was a treat too but I never found the time to play it. You can also change your gaming system : SNES is full of "greatest RPGs of all time. Of all time."
Also I'm happy I guessed correctly about FFVIII when I understood you would talk about vidya games  I kind of had the same feeling when I played FFVIII, playing it before the VII but after many SNES titles. Good memories, bro.
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ALLEYCAT BLUES51109 Posts
On April 18 2012 16:39 Yoshi Kirishima wrote:
^ Whoa wtf that is from the game? i didn't finish it yet haha that is creepy.
Also I was right! The moment I saw this title I was thinking about that scene. Then I kept reading and I began to be more and more assured I guessed right xD
That was pretty brutal for a T game. Maybe not exactly the fact that he was impaled by an ice shard but that, especially in that scene, the mood/atmosphere was very serious and "real", so the fantasy-sized (HUGE) ice shard flying at him made it pretty violent for me back then.
thats squall from FF8 right?
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Omg spoilers!
Not being jaded is cool. I played FFVII much later and was like, meh.
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WTFFFFF that picture is going to give me nightmares
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is awesome32278 Posts
On April 18 2012 16:43 keioh wrote:If you like RPGs with good stories/scenarios, I'd suggest you try Suikoden 1 and 2 on PSX if you have not already. I heard Valkyrie Profile was a treat too but I never found the time to play it. You can also change your gaming system : SNES is full of "greatest RPGs of all time. Of all time." Also I'm happy I guessed correctly about FFVIII when I understood you would talk about vidya games I kind of had the same feeling when I played FFVIII, playing it before the VII but after many SNES titles. Good memories, bro.
Isn't Suikoden that series of games with focus on picking up games? The name rings a bell, but I'm not sure if I'm mixing things horribly.
O played a lot of SNES games after playing FFVIII. For starters I played all FF games, trigger, Secret of Mana, Bahamut's Lagoon, and so on
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is awesome32278 Posts
On April 18 2012 16:39 Yoshi Kirishima wrote:
^ Whoa wtf that is from the game? i didn't finish it yet haha that is creepy.
Yeah, that is from the game. There's a couple of others scenes like that. They creeped the shit out of me the first time I played it ha.
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I was following along until you said final fantasy EIGHT and my brain went into FUUUU mode.
Final fantasy 7 or gtfo 
Kidding aside some of my sharpest memories are of exploring and finding new games that were awesome. It is an odd thing to look back on years later and realize virtual worlds helped define me in certain ways. Not a bad thing, but odd.
Btw Suikoden 1 and 2 are definitely amazing storywise, gameplay not so much although they are unique to be sure. After that the series wasn't bad but got a bit muddy and weird.
EDIT: Almost forgot, what did you think of Gran Turismo way back then?
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Final Fantasy IX or bust. All the others suckkkk.
Great blog, ITW. Definite 5/5.
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In a way, FF8 embodies very well what's good in the serie, and what's terrible in it. As a preteen, it certainly appealed to me, so I can relate to you^^ My fondest memories from that time are from bw though^^
As for your request in the end, if you haven't already go play Planescape:Torment, max wisdom at the start and take high intelligence, and prepare for the best story ever told in a video game by far. You might have already played it though, but discovering it one year ago at the grand age of 22, I was not disappointed.
PS : the Squall is dead theory is pretty funny :D
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As soon as I read the "two embracing bodies turning into a whirlwind of color on a white background" I KNEW you were talking about FFVIII! Numero ocho was my first introduction to the series as well, and while I was a little younger (9 or 10ish), I remember very well how it effected me.
Great blog!
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is awesome32278 Posts
On April 18 2012 23:15 Synwave wrote:I was following along until you said final fantasy EIGHT and my brain went into FUUUU mode. Final fantasy 7 or gtfo Kidding aside some of my sharpest memories are of exploring and finding new games that were awesome. It is an odd thing to look back on years later and realize virtual worlds helped define me in certain ways. Not a bad thing, but odd. Btw Suikoden 1 and 2 are definitely amazing storywise, gameplay not so much although they are unique to be sure. After that the series wasn't bad but got a bit muddy and weird. EDIT: Almost forgot, what did you think of Gran Turismo way back then?
I thought it was hard as fuck. It took me a long damn time to get all my licenses in gold to get the free cars. I remember thinking when I was doing the first license runs: "If I can't even break properly, how am I even going to take a curve".
But it was a great experience. Up to that point racing games consisted in pressing a button all the time and choosing to move either left or right. It was one of the first games I actually sat to practice stuff down. I remember we discussed on how to take some curves with my brother.
I only played 1&2, since I didn't have a PS2 or 3 to try the next in the series.
Also the GT2 music is awesome
On April 18 2012 23:23 Aeres wrote:
Final Fantasy IX or bust. All the others suckkkk.
Great blog, ITW. Definite 5/5.
Thanks.
I hated FFIX at the start. Well not hated, but I disliked the story, it felt so childish or exaggerated. As I played two more times it started to grow on me.
What I like most about FFIX is the battle system escalation. Leveling past lvl50 starts to get hard/tedius, since EXP requirements turn exponential (a big flaw in FFVIII), so battles remain more interesting, at least until you grind some skills, then it breaks like every FF game. Also classes make it fun to play, in FFVIII every character was everything, a healer, a damage dealer, etc. I liked having to protect my mages or having to regain mana to summon.
I love the graphics in IX obviously, and some of the minigames/easter eggs in it are awesome. The chocobo game is amazing, but I hate the card game. Nothing beats the Triple Triad in FFVIII
On April 18 2012 23:31 corumjhaelen wrote:
In a way, FF8 embodies very well what's good in the serie, and what's terrible in it. As a preteen, it certainly appealed to me, so I can relate to you^^ My fondest memories from that time are from bw though^^
As for your request in the end, if you haven't already go play Planescape:Torment, max wisdom at the start and take high intelligence, and prepare for the best story ever told in a video game by far. You might have already played it though, but discovering it one year ago at the grand age of 22, I was not disappointed.
PS : the Squall is dead theory is pretty funny :D
I played PS:T, but I was considering starting something over again. That's one of the reasons I was asking for recommendations
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Ah, yeah I only got to disc 3 then i stopped playing for a while. So I guess I didn't get to those creepy scenes lol.
Also if you love good [J]RPGs, have you heard of Xenoblade Chronicles? It's ranked 6th best nintendo game of all time, and some of the people who worked on that are people who used to work in Square Soft and then left around the time it became Square Enix (AKA, if you look chrono trigger and secret of mana, the creators of Xenoblade "Monolith Soft" is as close to a spiritual successor as you can get!)
It's only on the Wii but the main story takes about 55 hours to beat with exploration/side quests taking another 150. To complete the game by collecting everything and beating all the extra things/bosses, it's another 50. It's game that has 250 hours of content for completionists xD
It doesn't have many 10/10 ratings but that's only because of the graphics being bad in relation to PS3 and Xbox360. However, the music is AMAZING. Especially for the important scenes, since the events in the cutscene fit so well with the music.
Also, even though the graphics are bad, the art direction is really good. The game world is HUGE (if you want to know how big it exactly is, look up some videos on youtube about it) and though the game might look shitty on youtube, most places are eye candy. Character models are bad and annoying to see in cutscenes but while playing it's zoomed out so you don't notice.
The OST is one of the best I've ever heard as well, and not just for games!
Example track:
+ Show Spoiler +
There is both English (british only lol) and Japanese voice acting and subs. All dialogue (except for random text bubbles...) is voice acted, and the english voices are NOT annoying. None of that cheesey voice acting in english translated JRPGs.
I also heard the game's difficulty was perfect, with fights not being too crazy but not being too EZ mode neither. Boss battles are intense and engaging.
I'm getting this game myself, but don't have it yet. I played it a bit on an emulator though, but I want to play it on Wii ^^.
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Man, I actually played FFVIII and FFVII recently, since although when I was a kid I watched my older brother play a good deal of both the first FF game I played myself in full was FFX. The experience of playing through FFVIII still had that "magical" feel to it though. I guess It was more personable and I certainly rooted for Squall and Rinoa while didn't really care about Aerith dying because I felt like we didn't really "know" her.
One of the best bits is when Rinoa tries to sacrifice herself to lose her powers or whatever, and Squalls like, FUCK YOU BITCH, YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT, I'M COMING FOR YOU.
And at the end, my PS2 froze at the end, so I thought Squall might have died, and the next morning I rushed to see the real ending from youtube and was really fucking happy when I saw he wasn't.
Also, FFVII was by far the better game and cloud and tifa were by far bigger badesses. FFVIII had a lot of game flaws but the story and music was just fantastic for 8 IMO. I think Nobuo Uematsu said "I would be sad if we couldn't cry playing our own game". I think he did a good job there.
EDIT Also the way Laguna fell off the cliff and couldn't go see Julia again, but you get the fulfillment of that where Squall has Lagunas memories while Rinoa is Julia's daughter.
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It's me and my brother, not my brother and I. Petpeeve, sorry.
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is awesome32278 Posts
I actually corrected that, cause I thought it was impolite to name yourself first lol
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On April 19 2012 08:04 IntoTheWow wrote:I actually corrected that, cause I thought it was impolite to name yourself first lol
nono I meant the case of swapping "me" for "I". You don't say "my mom gave I a playstation", you say "my mom gave me a playstation".
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is awesome32278 Posts
I'm going to see some videos on Xenoblade Chronicles, maybe after exams I can play a little of it, if it draws my attention
@NachiMe: noted and corrected!
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EPT![[image loading]](http://squallsdead.com/endshot8.jpg)
