Mental Preparation and Musings

In anticipation of June 14th, I've been going over in my head how this whole thing is going to work, and in the process I've been thinking about my experiences with Final Fantasy to date. I thought a brief summary was in order, and doing so will help me get into the swing of this blogging thing, so that's just what I'll do.

Admittedly, my memory is a bit hazy of the actual order in which I played these, but I'll do my best to establish a loose interpretation of a timeline. Fair warning, this might get a bit long...

As a gamer, I feel like I got a late start. Video games weren't really something girls were 'supposed' to be into when I was growing up, and so my experience was limited to watching my brother play Mega Man, or Super Mario 3 and reading through manuals to advise him on how to get past certain parts. I convinced myself that video games weren't for me because I'd only ever seen platformers, and frankly I was absolutely terrible at them.

That changed when I first laid eyes on Super Mario RPG. The game was just not very interesting to my brother, so I took over for him, and he took the back seat for once. We marveled at how quickly I was able to plow through that game... It was my first RPG ever, and it basically opened the door for everything that followed.

Fast forward to college. After meeting my sweetheart (who would later become my husband) I finally got my own PlayStation, and my first Final Fantasy game, (Final Fantasy VIII, in fact) from a flea market of all things. My boyfriend and I agreed to only play it together because I was unsure of myself, or because he hadn't ever finished it or some similar reason... An accord which I quickly broke because I just couldn't wait for him to get out of class to play.

Final Fantasy VIII showed me that games could really affect you on a visceral level - That a video game could have the capacity to make me feel something as deeply as my favorite novels. Needless to say, I was hooked, despite the notorious quote by Squall: "..."

My next foray into the series was Final Fantasy VI, which still stands the test of time as one of the best. If VIII gave me feels, then VI gave me MEGAFEELS. That's not really a word, but words can't describe the effect that game had on me. The opera story arc floored me.

I believe the next game I tried was IV, and for whatever reason, I never did make it all the way through that one. Between that battle with Lugae for which I was ill prepared and college life interrupting, it just didn't pan out, so I'm excited to try again.

After that, I played IX, and loved it as much as the rest. Vamo alla Flamenco, is still one of my favorite songs. I also happened to get thoroughly addicted to Tetra Master. It sucked me in way more than Triple Triad ever did. I did have complaints about the chibi-style characters at first, but the rest of the game more than made up for this small qualm - The character style does grow on you.

I believe after that I decided to give VII a shot, and that was another that I never really finished. I'll be honest - I was reluctant to even try it because the sprites just looked so awkward. I think the furthest I got was the casino, and then gave up. Don't get me wrong, I understand that game's impact on the rest of the series, and I appreciate it for that, but I never really bought into the hype for it. Before you get upset, objectively I know it's not a bad game, it just never really tickled my fancy.

X was the next on my list. As much as I hated blitzball, I greatly enjoyed pretty much everything else about it... except the ending because... well heartbreak, right? But then X-2 came along and sucked me even deeper into Spira and I discovered that I could repair that broken heart from the previous game if I got 100% completion. You can bet I played that game to win. Not to mention I loved it's Girl Power aspects.

At some point just after graduating college, I decided to give I and II a try in the form of the GBA Dawn of Souls remake. Those games really helped me stay sane during the strange days in which I was attempting to establish myself as an adult and a functional member of society. With little else in the way of entertainment where I was living at the time, I enjoyed every minute I could squeeze in. I most vividly remember that it had a bestiary and I was determined to collect ALL THE THINGS in both games. It kept me out of trouble for quite a while. In the meanwhile, Final Fantasy XI was swiftly reaching it's heyday, but I wasn't really one for MMOs at that point, so I gave it a pass and instead I think I may have played around with V. That's another I never finished for one reason or another.

When XII was released, I was reluctant to play at first, because the battle system was a bit of a turn off, until I figured out what I was doing. Once I got past that, I was in love with everything about that game. It felt old school and brand new at the same time. The landscapes were gorgeous, and the character development was great for the most part if you just pretended that Basch was the main character. Turns out, he was supposed to be but someone decided Vaan would be more appealing for some reason. Wouldn't be the first time a marketing department made a bad decision.

After finishing XII, I played around with going back to try and finish some of my unfinished games in the series but never made much progress because life has a tendency to take priority over gaming when you spend all your time masquerading as a grown up. When XIII came out, I was pretty underwhelmed by it. To this day I maintain that while it's a decent game, it's not a very good Final Fantasy game. Suffice to say, Final Fantasy Hallway Simulator is lowest on my list. Can't win them all, I suppose.

Sometime in the midst of trying out all of the numbered titles, I want to assure you that I did in fact beat the pants off of Final Fantasy Tactics and later Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Both are fantastic in their own way. Tactics due to its general badassery, and Crystal Chronicles for its multiplayer action. Playing through that with friends in college is one of my fondest memories.

Let's raise a glass to fond gaming memories all around! In the coming weeks I'll be traversing 25+ years of one of the best gaming franchises in existence and reliving plenty of fond memories. To say I'm excited is an understatement. Bring on the #100daysofgaming!