Remembering my gaming roots

Although I’m predominantly a console gamer, I got my start as a kid with PC gaming. This was back in the early 90s and on my father’s computer there was a small assortment of games. My dad only played from time to time, thus the limited selection. Also, my dad’s computer was a Mac and back then there weren’t too many games that came out for Mac. Like most little boys, I was quickly enthralled by these games and played them whenever I could. Many of them were in fact just demos of the full product, but as a kid I didn’t care – I was just happy to have them. Some of the games I only remember bits and pieces of, and others I remember how they played but I can’t remember their name. But even though I don’t remember all of them now, I do remember how much I loved gaming as a kid. There were worlds to be explored, stories to be told, puzzles to solve, and battles to fight.

Truth be told, some of them weren’t that good. As a kid with limited gaming access I didn’t have much of a perspective on what made for great game as opposed to a mediocre one. But there were some really good ones that I had the privilege of playing. Games like Oregon Trail, Space Invaders, Dark Forces, Pokemon (there was a Gameboy emulator on the computer), and SimCity gave me countless hours of entertainment and fun. And then there was Civilization 2, probably the defining game of my childhood and teenage years. I don’t know exactly how many hours total I put into that game, but I’m confident it still holds the title of the most hours I’ve put into an individual game. Most games hold my interest for a few weeks to a few months. Civilization 2 kept me enthralled for about ten years, a testament to its quality.

Together, Civilization 2 and these other great games became the foundation of my gaming experience and profoundly shaped my gaming preferences. It wouldn’t be until college that my gaming life would undergo a major transition, and that transition will be the topic of my next gaming related post.

Not the reason I played the game

Earlier today I completed my playthrough of the HD remastered version of Kingdom Hearts 2. This edition of Kingdom Hearts 2 is the Final Mix version of the game, which was previously only available in Japan. Though largely the same as the original, it contains additional items, boss battles and various other tweaks from the original game. Having not played Kingdom Hearts 2 since sometime around 2009, I felt like I was overdue to replay one of my favorite games from the PS2 era, and the HD remastered version seemed like the perfect way to do it.

Like my time with the HD remastered version of Final Fantasy 10, I played through the game knowing what to expect but also taking note of the new features. Towards the end of my time, I decided to look more into some of the extra boss fights. I completed a few of them, but then one boss fight stopped me dead. I took a second try at it, and failed again. Then a third attempt, still no success. At this point I was scratching my head trying to figure out how to best counter the boss’s attacks and getting a bit aggravated at what, from my irritated perspective, were some game mechanics that needed adjustment. But then I remembered something important, moved on and went back to finishing up the main storyline of the game. What I remembered was the original reason I had rented the game. I wasn’t playing to defeat every boss and collect every hidden item. Maybe one day in the future I’ll do that. All that extra stuff that’s part of the HD remastered version is cool, but it’s not the reason I played the game. I played the game to relive that story and remember why I love the Kingdom Hearts series so much, and I wasn’t going to let some optional boss fight take away my enjoyment of the experience.

Who says I have to go back with him?

This year I will make my second trip to Europe. It will happen in one of two ways. The first way is that a friend of mine is about to finish up his PhD and we have been talking about taking a trip together afterwards. If this happens we will probably be going around the start of June. The other way, if things fall through and my friend can’t go, will be for me to just go on my own, probably around mid-September. I would really like to go with my friend, but the thing is that he is also going to be getting married this year and probably cannot take more than about two weeks for this trip. For me, two weeks is a bit too short and I had been puzzling over how to make this trip work. As I was staring at the map a few nights ago, I was thinking over what cities we could land in and how we could best work our way around and get the most out of our time, when I had a sudden realization. “Wait, who says I have to leave with him?” popped into my head. I wish there had been a camera filming me at the moment, just to see the grin on my face. It’s such an obvious thing, but I had somehow overlooked this solution. Now the possibilities have grown exponentially and I’m diving all the more intensely into research for this trip. Let the planning begin.