The Gamer Tag

While my attempts to do content other than reviews have been largely unsuccessful thus far, I recently read a post over on The Hannie Corner and thought it would be a neat idea to make my own. So here’s a piece of content that is a little more blog-y than what I normally do, which will hopefully provide some insight into my taste in games.

1. What is your all-time favorite video game?

Pokemon: Blue. It’s the first console game I played, which I replay every few years. The passage of time has obliterated the game. Numerous technical limitations of the time make it clunky and repetitive, however I still enjoy replaying Pokemon: Blue with rose-tinted glasses.

2. What is your current favorite video game?

Hollow Knight. It’s something I’d like to be able to play for the first time again. A large part of why I enjoyed it was learning the map and exploring every corner of it, which is far less enjoyable on subsequent playthroughs.

3. What is your favorite video game genre?

My favourite genre is a toss up between strategy games, and metroidvania platformers. Can’t say I’d be willing to choose one over the other.

4. How long have you been playing video games?

For the better part of the last twenty years. I’ve been playing games since I was four or five years old starting with edutainment games on the family computer.

5. What’s the first game you ever played?

Some Reader Rabbit game I don’t quite remember the name of because I played it over twenty years ago.

6. What game have you clocked the most hours into?

MapleStory is easily the winner for the game I’ve spent the most time playing. My entire college career was spent playing it whenever I had a spare moment. I was originally really enamored by it, but over several years of playing I grew to eventually resent the time I’d spent playing it mostly because of burnout.

7. What’s your longest gaming session?

Some fourteen to sixteen hour straight MapleStory play session during a double experience weekend. The only breaks would have been to go to the washroom or grab a snack for sustenance.

8. Who is your favorite game developer?

My favourite developer is SuperGiant Games. They make games that are gorgeous to look at and feature soundtracks that are captivating to listen to. Despite making very arty games, SuperGiant still delivers a quality gaming experience and each successive release impresses me more than the previous. I still haven’t played Hades, but I intend to once it is fully released.

9. Who is your favorite hero character from a game?

Hat Kid from A Hat in Time. She is adorable, expressive, and charming throughout the entirety of A Hat in Time. What I especially like is how she manages to be so endearing without any proper spoken dialogue. It might actually be her lack of a voice that I find so appealing as she never gets sappy, or self aggrandizing.

10. Who is your favorite villain?

Handsome Jack. He is constantly in your face throughout Borderlands 2 and an enormous asshole. When you finally get the chance to kill him it feels great because of how much time he’s spent taunting you throughout the game. Being a consistent presence is what makes him stand out so well.

11. Who is your most hated character of any game?

The handler from Monster Hunter: World. The thing that bothers me the most about her is how she considers herself your teammate, while not ever contributing to said team. She is an obnoxious character who’s stupidity I’ve had the repeated misfortune of being subjugated to as I continue playing World.

12. What gaming systems do you own?

A computer, 3DS, DS, and Wii U. The list used to have more, but those are the ones I retained when I moved out of my parent’s place as I’d largely transitioned over to exclusively playing on my computer.

13. What was your first game system?

The Gameboy Pocket, which I used to play Pokemon: Blue.

14. What’s your favorite gaming system and why?

My computer is my favourite gaming system. The short version for why is that I have more control over my experience. Tweaking options, modding, being able to play at 60 fps (or higher), being able to record video without it being a huge pain in the butt, and not having to pay for the privilege of using online in peer-to-peer games sit at the top of my list of reasons for why I prefer using my computer over any console.

15. Do you prefer to play male characters or female characters?

I prefer playing female characters for a fairly shallow reason: if I have to stare at someone for twenty to forty hours I’d prefer they were a woman. Females also tend to have a greater variety for fashion options.

16. Do you follow walkthroughs, or do you play through on your own?

I play through games on my own. I’ll only use walkthroughs if I’ve been stuck on something for a long time, or want to read additional information about a game I’ve finished. For certain genres, puzzle games for example, I won’t use walkthroughs even if I get stuck as I feel that defeats the point of playing the game.

17. Have you ever been to a gaming convention?

Nope. I’d like to attend PAX East though.

18. What game are you most excited to come out in the future?

When it comes to upcoming games I try to keep my expectations in check as that’s usually a recipe for disappointment. However, Hollow Knight’s follow up SilkSong is something I’m looking forward to.

19. What’s your best memory of a video game?

When I played MapleStory a dedicated PVP group existed on my server that would play every evening. There was a three week period where I was out of school, but waiting for my seasonal job to start, so I would practice with one of the other members of the group who was also unemployed during the day. It was a lot of fun to practice with him, and I slowly got better at the different mechanics while playing thanks to him.

20. What’s your worst memory of a video game?

Worst memory, eh? While there are so many rage quit moments that could qualify for this, the absolute worst has to have been when I lost four and a half hours of progress in Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles. It happened after I got a game over without remembering to save at any point during that play session.

21. Which video game character do you see yourself as, or if you had to be represented by a video game character, who would it be?

Jill from Va-11 Hall-A. She’s an incredibly cynical lady who dwells on her past decisions and struggles with depression because of them. She is regularly full of regret, doesn’t like dealing with her problems, and struggles to come to terms with them. While I’ve moved past some of my own demons, I’ve never found a character in a game that I shared such a strong sympathetic relationship with. I understood Jill’s mindset on a very personal level making her the most suitable answer.

So there you have it. That’s a little insight into me and my tastes in games. Let me know what some of your answers to these questions are below in the comments, or if you want to do a full length response consider yourself tagged.