Gaming... and alter-egos.

Listening to soundtracks from games and various anime on my playing list, I’m suddenly overcome with nostalgia for the past.

I remember spending at least a few hours each day, playing Final Fantasy IX on the PS in my brother’s room, and being all happy and smirking about it, because I was further ahead. Lol.

I miss the feel of the controller in my hand… okay, that just sounds a bit weird. But anyway, I just miss the good ol’ days… when there wasn’t so much worries, so much stress… and there was still enough hours in the day to play and finish your work.

Arrggh. I have a sudden desire to grab a PS and play the RPG games all over again!! Final Fantasy, of course – every gamer’s must-have and must-play! Tales of Destiny, Grandia, and other less well-known RPGs…

Yeah, I know, these games are considered old in the modern gaming world, but they’re still good! XD I remember playing Guardian’s Crusade with GameShark the whole way through, and I was basically just cruising through the game. But seriously, it’s practically impossible to even win a battle without cheating… LOL. But the graphics and storyline were lame. Thinking about it, it was the first game I actually finished. (Yes, with the help of GameShark =p) Oh well, I was just bored… and that was like… how many years ago… back when I was in primary.

Tales of Destiny! Now that is one old RPG, the graphics were in 2D in playing mode and the not really “up” there in terms of the quality and standards of today, but the FMVs were really detailed and remarkably beautiful for its time. I really enjoyed playing that, but never got round to finishing it! ToD was really long, filled with lots of puzzle-solving activities and mysteries that you have to solve in order to proceed on your journey. The storyline was really good though, but I just couldn’t crack one really confusing riddle somewhere at the end. I drove myself crazy over it, and ended up getting lost traveling here and there. I really would love to get back to it sometime; no matter how outdated I may be in doing so!

Then there was Grandia. It was another RPG I was really into. Grandia was around my upper primary/lower sec years. (I kind of gamed less and less as I slowly ‘grew’ up.) Anyway, there I was, happily leveling up my characters, getting new spells, obtaining new skills, etc.

And then I got stuck. (Again.)

Countless hours were spent wandering around that stupid forest (I remember lots of weird plants, typical fantasy games lah) and battling random enemies, which gained me even more experience, which was good I suppose… but I freakin’ just COULD NOT FIND MY WAY OUT. Because of those countless hours, I can still remember how that stupid place looks like in the game!! Yes, even like, 5 years later!

So that was another game give up in frustration. The storyline was quite good, though… sad!!

Does anyone know Star Ocean, the Second Story? Or something like that. It’s one of those RPG games with lots of endings, depending on which path you choose. So lame, and too lazy to explore the so-called “over 80 endings!” (as it said on the back cover of the pirated CD my brother bought). Who actually has that kind of time to play a game 80 miserable times over??

I gave up few minutes into the game after being defeated by the enemies… and any RPG gamer can tell you that I’m probably retarded for dying so early in the game, when the enemies aren’t suppose to be that hard!

(Actually, the same happened to me in FFVII, but I’m not going to say more about that. XP)

And, not forgetting Legend of Legaia!! My brother and I were playing it simultaneously, and he was ahead of me, but who cares… it’s a cool game, but I’m ashamed to say I didn’t use skills – I used the power of the GameShark (again), lol… 'cause it was hard!! *hides from stares* Anyway, most of those were played when I was in Form 1, actually.

So now you all know… this pale ghost is actually a gaming freak underneath. Heh. If it wasn’t for my brother, I wouldn’t have gotten hooked. I remember my brother persuading my mom and dad to buy the PlayStation. You know how they always have those promotions, like, buy one console and get 30 or so games free? Yep, that was how it happened. My brother and I messed around with a few dual-player games. It was enjoyable, really… Many games came and went, among them, Parasite Eve(which I watched my brother played - freaky storyline, but enjoyable, with nasty monsters), Resident Evil (I will never find the nerve to play horror games - one memorable scene from the game: main character walks down the stairs, suddenly a zombie crashes through the window. I had the shock of my life and actually screamed), Thousand Arms, Musashi, just random RPG games most of the time. Oh, yes, and there was Crash Bandicoot!! That was a nice one. It feels so long ago... The racing games were good as well.

Most of those days are gone now… playing, often with my brother beside me, watching and forever criticizing the way I play… not that I minded. I usually let him defeat the bosses for me since I often become over-excited and will die anyway! Excited, as in, when the boss attacks my characters, you can hear me squealing, “Oh no, my characters are dying!” (even when they’re not). Every time! No wonder my brother makes fun of me. (But I finished FFIX by myself, so there!!)

I know this is probably a little out of character for me to talk about games out of the blue, and I probably don’t even seem like the gaming type to most of you. Well, now you know! Lol. I actually wanted a PS2 very badly when FFX came out, and that was around after our Form 3 PMB exams finished as well. When my results came out, my brother was bugging me to ask my parents to buy for me, since I – um – did quite well.

But I didn’t. And I regret. =’(

I think I would have preferred most of the old PS RPG games though.

I haven’t touched a game in over a year… (PS game, that is!) Maybe when I go back at the end of this year or something! Lol. Just for ol’ times’ sake.

Disclaimer: What you have just read is not REALLY Connie; she's in a really weird mood now. So for the moment, just assume that this is her alter-ego in an alternate universe where only oddities exist. That’s because you know that she’s not REALLY a weirdo (as blatantly obvious in the undercurrent tones of the above post).

Right?