Reflection on the Past

[emeraldrafael]

So in honour of my 4000th post, I wanted to do something special (I know, it should be 5000 since I waited this long, but meh). So after mulling it around, and asking a friend, I decided whats better the looking back on what was in sort of memorandum.

So, after some collaboration with RedEyesBlackGamer, we came up with this.
A) Whats the game thats summed up your childhood? The one that you couldnt put down, or the one that when you played, it was just a damn good day.

B) What game sums up what you like most in a genre (can be any, though may be easiest to just use your favorite game/genre [if the game spans multiple genres])?



For me, its actually rather simple.

The game that made my childhood was the Spyro Series, but specifically the first. It was a snarky dragon who was pint sized but smart with his high flying dragonfly pal. They were out to free the elders and save the eggs to make a future, embodying both the importance of past and future on the present. And to top it off, you were fighting to dumb muscle head I think most anyone can associate with as a bully.
A close tie to it is LoZ: Windwaker. Just the mood and feel, the sense of wonderment in the cell shaded graphics in the adventure built for an adult. Plus, the feeling of just sailing away is just something you cant beat.

The game that sums up what I like most in a genre would have to be Persona 3 fes. I know, I sound like a broken record, but its all that I love in JRPGs. The characters are deep and explored, social link are well explored, and each character feels like their own (not just something out of the fold). THe battle mechanics are great, the role you can play in both social life and as a fighting member of the team are broad and worth while to play through again to explore.

SO yeah, those would be my choices. Anyone else care ot share?

 

[RedEyesBlackGamer]

A) Legend of Dragoon. I played it obsessively. I beat it I don't know how many times. If I was down, I'd pop it in and start a new file. It just felt amazing to me. The adventure, the magic, it cemented my love of the JRPG genre. If I want a smile and feel nostalgic I'll still put it in from time to time.

B) Persona 4. It was a perfect storm for me. It combined turn based combat and dungeon crawling with choice and role-playing. It felt like I was in an anime. The character exploration puts other games to shame. It also introduced Naoto Shirogane to me. It embodies why I like RPGs. Creative setting, hours of gameplay, immersion, and pure fun.

 

[Thaluikhain]

A+B) Exile 3. Great story and worldbuilding, innovative and topical without being preachy. Also, intuitive gamplay and layout, with enough complexity to be interesting (though alot of the fancy spell I never bothered with).

 

[AvsJoe]

A) Whats the game thats summed up your childhood? The one that you couldnt put down, or the one that when you played, it was just a damn good day.

NHL 99.

I was a huge NHL fan and an equally huge vidiot growing up. I had played a few NHL games before that, but the day I got my NHL 99 for my N64 was the day that solidified my love for both. I played NHL 99 for almost 3 years, rarely playing other games for very long, before my dad got me a Playstation and NHL 2000. I played NHL 2000 for a longer period of time and enjoyed it more, but NHL 99 is a better representative of my childhood gaming experience.

B) What game sums up what you like most in a genre (can be any, though may be easiest to just use your favorite game/genre [if the game spans multiple genres])?

I'm having a tough time with this question. First off, I don't know what my favourite genre is. I usually say turn-based strategic RPG, but I've grown bored of them lately. Sports games, including hockey games, haven't contended for my favourite genre in a while now. I also love plain old JRPGs but I haven't played a really great one in almost a decade now. I'll have to give you three answers:

Turn-based strategy: Final Fantasy Tactics.
It's not my favourite game in the genre (Disgaea: Hour of Darkness is), but it does everything I love in the genre as good as or better than any other game. The battle system is near perfection, the story is sublime (especially with its multiple endings), and it's characters, music, and non-combat elements, such as item trading and side missions, all work very well. Excellent title.

Sports: NHL 11.
Hate to give it to the shiny new game over my old favourites but I have to remove my nostalgia hat for a while. NHL 11 is a damn good game, sports or otherwise. You can play as hardcore and in-depth or as casual and fun as you like, it's multi-player is solid, and it's gameplay is damn near perfect. It also boasts an excellent soundtrack and I'm told the game's online multiplayer works beautifully. I should probably have chosen a Madden game here but I haven't played a console Madden title since Madden 06.

JRPG: Final Fantasy VII.
Oops, my nostalgia hat is back on. Screw it, this game encompasses what I love in the genre perfectly. There's little to dislike in this game, brooding aside. The gameplay is note perfect, the story excellent, the characters funny and memorable, the materia system works wonders... just a damn good game. Even after all these years of gaming I have found none better than this one. Can you tell it's my favourite game?

 

[Melian]

A: Icewind Dale. It was the first game I got, and the first game I obsessed over, and the first game I loved.
B: That would probablt have to be... Baldur's Gate 2, for defining what RPG really should be, and proving that dialogue and character development is as much a part of the game experience as kick-ass graphics and grunting marines (yes, that was a joke) are.

 

[darth.pixie]

A) Supaplex. I did not start playing on consoles and until later and that was one of the games that had me playing again and again. That and Jasper's Journeys.

B)My favorite game is either Planescape or Baldur but the one that encompasses everything I like is Divine Divinity. Excellent soundtrack, compelling story, interesting gameplay, amusing dialogue, fun world, attention to details. I would play it again and again even after finishing it for over 10 times. Vampire: Masquerade would also qualify since it has some of the same attributes.

 

[Yureina]

A) Legend of Dragoon. I played it obsessively. I beat it I don't know how many times. If I was down, I'd pop it in and start a new file. It just felt amazing to me. The adventure, the magic, it cemented my love of the JRPG genre. If I want a smile and feel nostalgic I'll still put it in from time to time.

I loved that game... I still own it. ^_^

As for me...

A) Star Ocean: The Second Story. This was my first RPG, and one that helped get me into several other games during that age as well like Legend of Dragoon, Chrono Cross, Final Fantasy 7/8/10, and eventually to Baldur's Gate 1/2. It was a great game in its own right (even if I disliked the sequels that came afterward), and proved to be a "gateway game" that got me into the RPG genre.

B) Fallout 3. This actually isn't the best choice for my "B option", since I find plenty of things wrong with this game. The story could be better, the immersion needed the help of mods to make it truly good, and the game itself was mostly a "create your own story" sort of experience. However... there is not another game around made within the past few years that I have sunk more time into (except WoW) and still managed to desire to come back for more. Not a perfect game, but certainly an important one for me.

 

[MisterShine]

A) Whats the game thats summed up your childhood? The one that you couldnt put down, or the one that when you played, it was just a damn good day.

Ocarina of Time. Majora's Mask had a similar effect, and overall I'd say I liked it better than its predecessor, but OoT got there first. It was my first N64 game, and my first 3d title (jumped from the Genesis to 64), running across Hyrule field blew me away. I think I spent about a month straight with all my free time used up trying to beat it. I was the first of my friends to do so, had a lot of pride in that. I also cried at the ending because it sucked so bad.

"THATS IT?! A STUPID FREEZE FRAME OF THEM LOOKING AT EACH OTHER?! WTF?!?!"

I was angry, but I still loved it.

B) What game sums up what you like most in a genre (can be any, though may be easiest to just use your favorite game/genre [if the game spans multiple genres])?

*looks at avatar*

Planescape: Torment as the Emperor of (c)RPG's.

It helps that I was already familiar with and a big fan of DnD mechanics even as they were translated into video games, but I really loved the combat mechanics (and those of its ilk, BG, Fallout, etc.), ability to change Nameless One's class, finding new items and such.. and the main reasons, the story and characters.

I will refrain from spoilers as everyone should experience this game fresh as the virgin snow, but to put it in a generic fashion the characters are deep, not at all what you'd expect and continually surprising. And snarky. Lots and lots of snark. The main story itself is... original. Very high praise. The main reason I still think fondly of it many years later is because it was the first game that inspired and forced me to redefine who I was as a human being, and what I wanted out of life and my role in it. Also the day I beat Planescape was the day gaming stopped being a hobby I did for fun sometimes and turned into a passion and would one day base my career around. What can change the nature of a man, indeed.

The second (and last) game to do this was Persona 3, 10 years later.

 

[floppylobster]

A) Phantasy Star (the original on Master System).

B) RTS/Tower Defence type games where you have a base to protect and limited resources to protect it with. (There are many variations on the genre that I don't like but Age of Empires and original C&C are two I do).

 

[8bitlove2a03]

A) the Super Mario Bros. 2 port for GBA (I think it was called Super Mario Advance). It was my first game ever. I loved it to death. It also had another Mario arcade-style game where you ran around the sewers collecting coins and smacking turtles. You could link it to another GBA to play, and my brother and I would always smack into, jump on, pick up, and throw each other around singing Kung Fu Fighting. Good times man.

B) Red Dead Redemption is everything good about open world games. The story is brilliant and beautifully told, John Marston is an amazing protagonist, you're always just a whistle away from transport, there's a variety of random world events that can break up travel and keep it from being boring, there's a dozens of ambient challenges, and the gunplay is satisfying. I don't know that I could ever go back to another free world game after RDR.

 

[Sacman]

A) Pokemon Red Version... it was the first game I ever seriously played as a kid cementing my love for the medium...

B) Deus Ex... it's everything I love in a game... well balanced Hybrid FPS RPG gameplay, interesting story(though hardly perfect) fun characters, cyberpunk setting and themes, enjoyable and at times witty writing that embraced the so bad it's good voice acting, and a pretty kick ass soundtrack... besides that it completely changed the way I look at games...<.<