I thought long and hard about what I wanted to do for this Thanksgiving, but I ultimately decided to go the easy route and just name off a few games or game series that I played that I'm thankful to have played that got me started on the road to being a NE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~RD. Sorry, I've gotten used to hearing that being said like that, so now I have to even type it as such...I don't know why. Anyway...as such, this is my list of games from different genres that I'm thankful for having played.
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Street Fighter II
(Fighting)
Ah, nothing says "thank you" like video games characters beating the shit out of each other and players raging whenever someone has discovered a new series of combos that just get cheaper and cheaper each time you play. I remember seeing a Street Fighter II arcade cabinet over at the local hamburger joint at around the early 1990's, putting in a coin and being sent home to be a family man by Guile...well, family kid since I was about 7 or 8 at the time. Since then I have grown to appreciate playing the fighting genre, no matter how often it leaves me throwing my controller out the window and forcing me to retrieve it every time I lose. While I have my problems with Capcom and their shady business decisions, I honestly think they still do good work when it comes to making their fighter games feel unique in a lot of ways. However, if you'd ask me which game company I'd follow when it comes to fighters, I'd have to go with Aksys Games who have made it big in the fighting genre with such titles as Guilty Gear, Blaz Blue and Persona 4 Arena.
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Ah, yes...scream more for me, my children, I feed upon your suffering as you scream about "Final Fantasy". But honestly, much like the platformer genre, I love all old school RPGs: Faxanadu, Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy, Ultima, Quest for Glory, Bard's Tale, Challenge of the Five Realms, and so forth. What I believe sets Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest for the Japanese/modern day release) apart from the rest is the fact that you're actually on an adventure that's guided only by your desire to explore the land, searching for a way to save a princess and to slay an evil dragon lord. Unless you bought a copy of Nintendo Power, you were almost always lost and trying to search towns in order to see who needs what and where to go next, or searching around those towns to find a nearby dungeon to find the magic treasure hidden within. But that was part of the fun of the game, just exploring to see where your journey takes you next. If I had to explain it by comparing it to a modern day concept, think of the Elder Scrolls: Oblivion or Skyrim made on an NES platform. I'll be straight though, I think modern day Square-Enix is terrible at making RPGs, but I would recommend picking up the modern Elder Scrolls series or the Fallout series.
Legend of Zelda
(Action/Adventure)
I remember spending so much time on this game when I was a kid; hell I even had my grandfather, a wood carver, craft me a shield and a sword, that's how much I loved this game. As a kid, I viewed Link as the prototypical hero: get cool swords/shields/magic/items, slay the big bad, rescue the princess and live happily ever after. To this day, I'm still trying to devise a time machine to go back in time to kick my younger self in the ass, but until that happens, I'm stuck with the shame of forever being a NE~~~~~~~~~~~~~RD. But to me that's what this game was all about: the gateway to something far greater from the video game world. From here, seeing the adventure that I could take was no longer set into stone (from the limited days of the Commodore 64 and the Atari), but was almost seemingly infinite, it just made my imagination soar as to what game companies could think of next. Which is why I'm always thankful for having played the original Zelda; to this day, I still think the Zelda series remains one of the best Action/Adventure game series out there. Of course, there are games like Devil May Cry, Dante's Inferno, Rygar the Legendary Adventure, and so on, but I don't think they ever quite capture the simplicity of it all.
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Metroid
(Platformer)
Now before you get on me about me not picking Mario or Castlevania, just hear me out: I love all of the damn good platformers that you can think of! Kirby, Mega Man, Kid Icarus, Rygar, Contra, Blaster Master, and the list goes on and on and on and on! Don't stop believin'! Hold on to the feelin'!...Whoa, sorry about that folks, had a musical interlude there for a minute.
Anyway, it ultimately boiled down to which game I thought had not only all of the elements that modern platformers seem to take after, but also balances of all of its elements with finesse; Metroid was that game. I got lost many times trying to figure this entire game out, but when I finally beat it fair and square, I felt like I was truly a man...only to find out the character I was playing was a woman (thank you Justin Bailey ------ ------)...but no matter what, it was all worth it in the end and left me thankful for having played such a revolutionary game. However, I've got mixed feelings on the modern day Metroid series, but Mario and Kirby continue to somehow remain classic platformers in the modern day age. As for Castlevania series...well...like the original Metroid, its series has left me wondering a very serious question: "WHAT IS A MAN!?"
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Dragon Warrior/Dragon Quest
(Role Playing Game)
Ah, yes...scream more for me, my children, I feed upon your suffering as you scream about "Final Fantasy". But honestly, much like the platformer genre, I love all old school RPGs: Faxanadu, Elder Scrolls, Final Fantasy, Ultima, Quest for Glory, Bard's Tale, Challenge of the Five Realms, and so forth. What I believe sets Dragon Warrior (Dragon Quest for the Japanese/modern day release) apart from the rest is the fact that you're actually on an adventure that's guided only by your desire to explore the land, searching for a way to save a princess and to slay an evil dragon lord. Unless you bought a copy of Nintendo Power, you were almost always lost and trying to search towns in order to see who needs what and where to go next, or searching around those towns to find a nearby dungeon to find the magic treasure hidden within. But that was part of the fun of the game, just exploring to see where your journey takes you next. If I had to explain it by comparing it to a modern day concept, think of the Elder Scrolls: Oblivion or Skyrim made on an NES platform. I'll be straight though, I think modern day Square-Enix is terrible at making RPGs, but I would recommend picking up the modern Elder Scrolls series or the Fallout series.
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Harvest Moon
(Simulator)
Okay, I'll admit, this genre is a guilty pleasure; but can you really blame me? Put down those pitchforks and torches right now, or I'll put you all in time out! But seriously, the idea of Harvest Moon is quite brilliant: I don't think anyone can argue against the fact that it's highly addicting to just tend a field, forage supplies, harvest crops, date/marry a woman, raise a kid and care for animals. It's part of the entire reason why I included this game and genre as part of my Thanksgiving list, a good game doesn't need to be complex or elaborate, sometimes it just needs to be something simple but done in a fun way. With a few exceptions, Natsume has continued to impress me with their farming simulator games, like their most recent Harvest Moon-spinoff series: Rune Factory. That's not to say there aren't other games like this, such as Shepard's Crossing, but nothing really left a lasting impact with me as much as this game did.
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Now, I could go on forever talking about the many different genres out there and my personal favorites within them, but I just wanted to give you guys and gals a glimpse into the past. It makes you want to look at how far we've come in just a few short decades and ponder about where will we go from here, doesn't it? For now though, let's just shut up, stuff our mouths full of food, get drunk and maybe get some gaming in...maybe not all in that order. Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This is the Schism, signing out!
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