I was a platformer fiend as a child. Mario, The Lion King, and Sonic the Hedgehog were some of my favorites, but I also have fond memories of titles such as Eco the Dolphin. If it involved real-time action, I was IN.
There was just one catch: Though I grew up in the golden age of 90’s Nintendo and Sega, I wasn’t allowed to have a system of my own! I tried everything to convince my parents to let me at least get a Gameboy or Game Gear, but it didn’t work. I didn’t purchase my own system until the Nintendo DS Lite in 2008. Because of this, it could very well be said that my taste in video games was dictated by what made it to the demo systems and the consoles my friends played. That was a whole lot of Mario and Sonic!
Obsessed with Video Games
To say I was obsessed with video games was a bit of an understatement. I am embarrassed to think about how much I bothered my friends to play their systems, and how well I knew where every demo system in every store was located and what was likely available to play on it.
One time we were at a local store, and I got to play The Lion King on a demo Sega system. I loved it. Even better, my dad accidentally locked us out of the car, so I got to play until the locksmith came! I shudder now to think how selfish that was on my part, but it was a day that went down as a major day in my childhood gaming memory.
JRPG’s
When I did get that DS Lite in 2008, I supplemented Mario with my first JRPG: The World Ends with You (or TWEWY). The World Ends with You really changed the way I think about RPGs. Up until that point, I considered them boring. All those back-and-forth battles, menus instead of jumping, grinding instead of tearing through enemies after catching a star. BORING!
After TWEWY, I became fascinated by the turn-based play style and deep storytelling. In an upgrade to my appreciation of JRPGs, I have since become very interested in strategy RPGs, especially Fire Emblem. In fact, Fire Emblem Awakening is easily one of my all-time favorite games.
Visual Novels
Another major twist in my gaming interests has been developing a love of visual novels. I believe this started with games like Hotel Dusk and the Professor Layton series. Then I got a PS Vita a few years ago, which has an extensive library of visual novel titles. I believe it was Code Realize Guardian of Rebirth that first got me hooked on Otome games and I haven’t looked back since!
Simulation
Probably the biggest change for me, other than the switch from platformers to RPGs, has been my enjoyment of simulation games. I’ve enjoyed Harvest Moon/Story of Seasons for a while now and enjoyed Disney Magical World as soon as I picked it up, but it took quite a bit longer to learn to love Animal Crossing: New Leaf.
The first time I had a copy, I didn’t understand that I was playing in someone else’s town. Don’t ask me how I didn’t know so I never started my own town. I didn’t like the lack of structure and ultimately returned it. Several years later, after the price came down significantly, I tried it again. I have been a devotee ever since. As of right now, I have a 2DS, 2DS XL, and a New 3DS XL and I have an Animal Crossing game going on each!
So, it’s safe to say that my video game tastes have changed a lot over the years. From platformers (which I rarely play now) to visual novels. On to simulation games, and SRPGS one thing has always been true, I have a lot of fun with this hobby!
