Eric has been on the ball with playing video games lately, while I just plod along playing World of Warcraft, Call of Duty: Cold War, and Magic the Gathering: Arena. I’ve purchased other games, even played them a bit… but haven’t stuck around to much of anything. In part, because I’ve been doing a lot of other things, in part because I’m lazy, and in part just because there’s a bit of me that’s starting to “grow out” of video games (only took me into my 40s).
Maybe it’s that old part of me that keeps bringing me back to the old things, the stuff that’s familiar, and the things that I remember fondly. Much like how you just keep listening to the same bands as you get older (it works out well for me, as a lot of my favorite bands still release albums), you just go back to those same games. For me… there are some games I always go back to every so often: the Mass Effect games, the Legend of Zelda Series, stuff like that.
One that I’ve never gone back to nearly enough, despite having fond memories of it since the first game was released when I was a lot younger, is the Final Fantasy series. I’ve played a couple of them more than once, skipped a couple of others… but I don’t think I’ve touched most of the games in the series since they first dropped. I can’t really explain it… I loved these games, and every time they got re-released, I bought them intending to play. That’s led to a weird state where I own nearly every Final Fantasy game, and the spin-offs, in some form. Often multiple times, on multiple platforms. I’ve sold copies as I’ve gotten rid of systems, rebought them digitally, and bought them when the new platform comes out.
I’ve got them on iOS, on Steam, on Xbox, on PlayStation, on 3DS, and on Switch. And a couple on Android, when I had an Android tablet. Also one or two on Mac. I also still have physical copies of a few, on systems I don’t even own anymore. The image above are my original copies of the games, which I had as a kid. When I had a DS, I had every available game on Advance and the DS. I’ve played the MMOs, especially XIV, and even the little offshoots. Just saying… I’ve got the games covered.
Ultimately, this got me thinking that I should really play through them, and maybe even write about them. Some I’ll be revisiting for the first time in ages, some are games I’ve dabbled with, and some I’ve never played. I’d make a list, but there are a ton of them out there, with spin-offs, and sequels. I may give a pass to the MMO titles, especially XI, which I didn’t care for when I tried it. I haven’t played any of the spin-offs, stuff like X-2, Lightning Returns, etc.
It’s also going to have the tangental titles, stuff like SaGa / Legends and the Mana series (both of which are available on Switch), and maybe even Chrono Trigger… a game which I’ve maybe played an hour of, total. Yeah, I know, I know. I had other things going on at the time. In hindsight, I wish I owned that game on the SNES, even though my actual SNES console is long dead.
Mostly, writing about them here is an excuse to get me to play more games and get out of my little comfortable rut. Yeah, I’m mostly playing through games I like (or will be playing a couple I really hate)… but it’s still something to do. In the next couple of days, I’ll post my review of the first game and it’s weird history. It’s been awhile since I’ve played it, so I’m kind of curious how it holds up.
