8 Videogames To Get To Know Me
Tagged by the lovely @heniareth , and tbh I don't have anyone to tag besides maybe my sister. I never really reviewed things I play but I'll start with most relevance:
Final Fantasy VII: CRISIS CORE / Reunion
Need I say more. This was literally the first game I've finished, gone back for, and played till my PSP's main buttons fell off. Well, it broke and was replaced and THEN the buttons fell off but also the battery doubled while moving and yikes. Anyway, Zack Fair is THE tragic hero of my time, anything else is spoilers. Angeal? The used Cinderella mentor. Genesis? The gifted kid faliure before I even knew about Azula. And Sephiroth? The big bad? He was once good. But good like "morally I am refusing this mission, I will purposefully fail it" good. You will cry in this game. Repeatedly. It's a series of faliures that makes you hate the world if it weren't for Zack's eternal optimism.
As an edgy and lonely teen obsessed with identity, this game was my drug. It was hands down the best thing to happen to me after Crisis Core. Where Crisis Core had me crying for it's ending, TWEWY gave me hope. Gave me and undead (literally) purpose. A cruel angel's game of recently deceased (usually via accident) battling it out for a chance at life?? And their player FEE is literally the thing they held most dear to them while they were alive?? Seriously tackles appearance, arrogance, sibling love (NOT RIVALRY!), Identity, memories, acceptance and friendship. Including what it means across the planes of existence including humans, reapers, angels and Jesus himself (now in an edgy teen repackaging for game purposes)
Jokes aside, but seriously Joshua's attacks give those vibes when his second stage is unlocked.
Besides having the biggest crush on Ignis Scientia and recently maybe Ardyn Izunya ? I am floored with everything Tabata managed to do with the game and LET ME AT THE FANS WHO BASH HIM WHEN LITERALLY THE PROJECT WAS OVERHYPED BY THE COMPANY AND SUDDENLY THRUST INTO HIS HANDS
And for the good parts: friendships, ups and downs. A hero who will annoy you because he's got no clue how to grieve. The additional episodes were fun, but Iggy and Ardyn were 👌👌👌. Low-key the most terrifying and charismatic villain I've come across- and he wins. A bold new gameplay style- for FINAL FANTASY that is. The weight of a crown, even without a kingdom. The literal darkest before dawn. Mercy from the villain. Revenge plots come true.
I aknowledge it's incompleteness, I know it feels rushed, but the capitalist bullshit behind making all this really have me loving this 70-30 game. Not the ABSOLUTE best, but the best it could ever get imo and Hajime Tabata doesn't get enough love.
It is obvious that he really wanted to continue TYPE 0, another one of my favourite tragedies. I've waited maybe 5 years for that release, but it was already made and done great. It's a balancing act between field work and strategy number games, with the audiance figuring things out a little before the main characters in a war that literally destroys the fabrics of space and time.
Honorable mentions: other Final Fantasies: 10,13,2,4, After Years, Soul of Rebirth, VII remake, DISSIDIA Duodecim, and Mobius for the damn gorgeous art, beautiful animation which low-key made me want to become an animator
THE FIRST STEP TO MY CURIOSITY OF ANCESTRY, WICCAN PRACTICES, AND SEARCH FOR SLAVIC PRE-CHRISTIAN RELIGIONS, WAS BECAUSE OF ANDREY'S WITCHER. Low-key also the first open world game I played and loved. No I'm still not done I'm not over the battle at Kaer Morhen.
...but I love the monster designs ngl. But WHO PUT SO MANY QUESTION MARKS ON THE SKELLIGE ISLES IM GONNA HUNT YOU DOWN MAN I DONT EVEN LIKE SWIMMING anymore
Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection
This was my version of Mario Kart. My dad and I spent countless hours on this game, and it was pure chaos for the sake of competition.
Unlike in Tenchu Time Of The Assassins, where I made him fight Orochimaru as a kid all the damn time cause I felt my heart in my throat.
Similarly, this was my uncle's pick and 👌👌. It is very much a blend between Tenchu and Witcher, except I will admit I'm missing the MC's struggle between Bushido and the stealth. Tenchu taught me to use my cowardice productively, why don't the Samurai understand that 🤣🤣🤣🤣 I mean I know why but this strong plot missed me. Everything else though? I'm for it. Especially when we find a Bulgarian vase in a commander's tent- so yes, the Hans were *Khans and dang. A tale of betraying your morals to protect your people- I've always been up for a good Villain/ghost origin story...
In a dystopia long after humanity's presence on the earth has left... And long before the idiots that made AI art a thing, regrettably, I was up for it. I loved the idea of AI finding the core of humanity, it's beauty and brutality, in a world without it. And that's exactly what this game delivers. Also between eco brutalism, suspicious outfits, proportionally questionable fishing impacts, comes another very aesthetically pleasing absolute tragedy. In a world with no need to adhere to ethics, some still try. Some don't care. Some discover wrath with pain. Some discover the duality of betrayal and love. Huh no wonder my doc thinks I'm depressed.
AND HERE WE LAUNCH INTO THIEVES AND PSYCHE! Literally. It's kind of goofy in it's edginess but props, it takes terrifying experiences from all angles. Friends suffering because you manage to fight off your demons? Check. Being groomed into a moneymaker? Yes. Sold off to be a wife in this day and age? Having people cover up your mother's murder by framing it a suicide and blaming it on you? This edition's theme is Abuse of Power and Thieves Justice, and I kindda vibe with that. It also goes to the lengths of reminding people healing is not a lonely journey, and eventually makes one question concepts like Hope, Delerium, Vengeance, and in a way Morgana is Shroedinger's cat to me.
And that's me, I haven't tried a LOT, since my mom absolutely hated the idea of me playing videogames. Another few honorable mentions may be a selection of Barbie and two- three Disney games, a Winx and a W.I.T.C.H. entry, Etreyan Oddessy, and a large Gameboy chunk of a game chip holding ripoffs of sonic, Tarzan, Mario and others that actually genuinely fuelled my love for gaming 🤣🤣🤣
I forgot to write about Birth By Sleep and Kingdom Hearts why the fluff.
I'm still saving for Assassin's Creed, I've been convinced to try Three House's and if I can get my hands on a way to play I will. I wanna try the last Devil May Cry cause V looked like all my teenage self would have loved in a character, plus Dante gets his white hair again (I have the first three and CAMERA ANGLES WERE WORRIBLE???)
