Pointer of the day :
How often do you feel alone?
Do you sometimes experience a crippling sense of desire for human interaction, but can't do anything about it?
The next time you feel that way, feel free to watch a horror movie in the middle of the night.
That way, you won’t feel so alone anymore.
Actually… don’t. That’s a terrible piece of advice.
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Games are among some of the best forms of entertainment when you think about it. With them, you can catch cool-looking creatures and force them to battle, go on a high fantasy adventure... or pay off your debt to some tanuki landlord for some reason if that's what you're into.
As a child, my first video game experience consisted of watching the rest of my family try different video games on the Wii. Living off this machine, they played Mario Party, Super Paper Mario, Mario Kart, Animal Crossing: City Folk, Super Smash Bros, Rhythm Heaven Fever, Skyward Sword.... and more. Or at least - those were the games I remembered where they played together.
And I would always watch my brother play different video games whenever I was done with my homework.
Isaac was mostly into games from the Legend of Zelda franchise. Though he has also tried multiple platforms and would often ask me to play multiplayer with him.
I always rejected his offer because I felt like I would mess up his gameplay.
And I've always thought that they just aren't for me.
Though I'll have to say - playing video games was a different matter than what I originally anticipated.
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My parents decided to get me my first console when I was six years old. It was a DS with a (pirated) cartridge - so I could play multiple games in one go without having to change cartridges all the time.
I proceeded to play mainstream games, before I realized that I was terrible at most of them (the exception was Pokémon Platinum, which I soloed with a purple psychic feline... only because I wanted to).
Other games that I had played include Animal Crossing Wild World, Nintendogs, Dr. Kawashima's Brain Training, Art Academy, and Super Mario 64.
And I do remember drowning multiple times in underwater levels for the last one.
Just like in real life, when I didn't know what I was doing and struggled to breathe multiple times in swimming lessons.
I guess some things may never change.
As a result, I got my dad to download pet simulators and played them instead. At least, there isn't a loss condition in them.
Since my parents forbade me from owning live animals, that was the next best option.
I remember spending a lot of hours on a bunny simulator, since I wanted to emulate the experience of having an animal companion.
And that pretty much ate up my free time in Kindergarten.
Until I stopped playing it...
... And returned to try it again after a decade (after changing the language settings to Spanish).
I'll have to say that it was perfect for children in terms of entertainment. It was a sandbox-style simulator, and controls are largely based on visual cues. However, it's more of an introduction to pet ownership. And some parts of the game aren't entirely accurate. For example, any rabbit owner would tell you that they don't need to be bathed or eat with their hands...
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Getting into my middle school years, I started playing more mobile games. As well as a handful of Nintendo games that I played using emulators on my computer.
My brother and I would play Deltarune together... Or in other words - I mostly watched him play since I wasn't great at dodging projectiles.
I also played multiple word puzzles and escape games on my phone that he introduced me to. As a result, I ended up learning how to play multiple different games (ex - sudoku, nonogram, word jumble, etc.).
Nowadays, I only play them when I have absolutely nothing to do.
Which almost never happens.
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Then there came the long period of time where I distanced myself from video games and simply watched the rest of my family play.
That is, until the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic hit the world.
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Now, we all know that Animal Crossing: New Horizons has exploded in popularity the moment it was released on March 2020.
This was likely due to the fact that it offers a dreamland in the form of a faraway island where players could impose some control over aspects of their lives.
It's just a game designed to give players soothing, social, and stimulating experiences - which just happened to be released at a time when people needed them most. Besides, it had vastly improved graphics and controls in contrast to its earlier instalments (in exchange for rather bland characters).
Originally, I wasn't too interested in the game. The same couldn't be said about my parents and Isaac, as they immediately created accounts and binge gamed for hours.
I remember declining my brother's request to make an account, only for him to reveal that my dad already created one for me anyways.
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Well.
At least I found something to do over the summer.
And you could say it helped me bond with my family :
(Just a birthday letter to my dad)
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I started getting into Pokémon sometime during the end of 2019 due to watching a friend of mine play. However, it wasn't until 2021 when I started trying out the games.
And the first thing I did as soon as I got myself a DS emulator on my computer was to solo Platinum again with a psychic cat. Again, this was because I wanted to.
A few months later, I remember trying my hand at rom hacks and fan games after playing through Leaf Green and Emerald - since I felt like the original instalments were a little too easy.
However, it wasn't long before I grew bored of them as well (mostly due to the repetitive formula it uses).
This was when I decided to try a certain dungeon crawler from the same franchise (as I have read multiple reviews on why it was such a cult classic within the fanbase).
And that was Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky (except I used a rom hack again since I wanted to play as my favorite pokémon).
Now, I've only played through the first few chapters and don't intend to continue until the school year is over. But I can already see why people would enjoy it.
It is a rather unexpectedly philosophical game about the meaning of life, self-sacrifice, and the multiple shades of morality that are shown throughout the plot.
Plus, the soundtrack is rather memorable...
Of course, I don't have a lot to say about this since I haven't completed the game yet.
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And if the official games were too easy (which I found them to be), then rom hacks and fangames exist as well.
As of now, I had played through Insurgence and Reborn - when I noticed a few similarities between each other :
Increases in difficulty
Edgier storylines
I do remember that the one thing I like about them most is that I can actually play online with others, since I can just download them onto my computer without any need for an emulator or link cables.
Regarding Reborn (which I'm more familiar with), the game is not afraid to touch on serious topics such as mental illnesses, religious conflicts, sexuality, and child abuse. The story takes place in a dystopian world struggling in the aftermath of a few natural disasters. (You literally start off as the sole survivor in a train that gets blown up in a terrorist attack, so...)
It's also a lot harder compared to the original games. For example - level grinding isn't allowed in the game. Not to mention the absurdly powerful bosses that seem to appear from nowhere. By the time you've beaten the game, you're practically guaranteed to know the strategies to play Pokémon competitively (as well as use them).
(Reborn)
(Out of context)
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Aside from Pokémon, there were plenty of games that I was interested in playing.
For example - Until Dawn, Silent Hill (2 & 3), and Amnesia.
They all do have something in common, don't they?
But apart from that, the psychological horror game that I'm interested in most is probably OMORI - since I heard it shows a good depiction of trauma, depression, and escapism...
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A thing that video games had helped me with (apart from boredom) is language learning.
If the video game I played had language settings, I would often set them in different languages to see how it would play out.
And in all honesty - they can be the perfect platform when wanting to learn something new.
In order to learn a new language, you need to have either motivation or fun. Otherwise, you would just forget everything you learned in a short amount of time.
Trust me. I know that from first-hand experience.
In most video games, you play your role as the protagonist. The story will only unfold because of the actions you choose to take and the non-player characters you talk to.
In a game that is completely translated to the language you chose, you are surrounded by that lexicon constantly. All the dialogue and item descriptions will be in the language that you are keen on learning. And you will see that your comprehension and intuition of the event options are getting better, since they have been stimulated for a while and you are immersed in the plot and gameplay.
And if the game has been localized, there is a chance that you may gain access to a wider range of vocabulary that certainly wouldn't be taught in your average school curriculum.
This was how I was able to learn some extra vocabulary for my Spanish classes.
For example, with Pokémon - I know the word for "flamethrower" in that language.
Except I have no idea when the sentence "Voy a usar un lanzallamas" will ever be used in casual conversation.
(Translation : "I am going to use a flamethrower.").
And with enough words, you can start piecing your own sentences after having a good sense of the grammar structure.
Case in point - "Creo que perdí mi fe en la humanidad."
(Translation : "I think I lost my faith in humanity.")
Essentially, games let you choose what you want to learn. Plus, it also allows you to choose your own pace.
We are all rather different in our learning styles. Some would want to binge learn a language by practicing on certain platforms (ex - Duolingo) for around eight hours straight a day. Others may want to only practice for around forty-five minutes each day.
No matter what you prefer, there would be a game out there that would perfectly suit your needs.
It would also be recommended to not try to translate everything. For if you carry around a dictionary with you for every new word you see, you could lose out on the experience that the game tries to give you.
To put it another way, just have fun. If you ever feel stressed because you don't understand the plot - try replaying a game that you've already finished. That way, you would be familiar with what goes on in the story. Plus, you would be able to easily link new phrases with the ones you already know.
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I'm sure that all the video games I played had a role in shaping the person I am today.
I know that I used to have a huge interest in pet simulations, but I also enjoyed dungeon crawlers, role-playing games, and puzzles. I did also like to tweak the language settings once in a while so I could learn more phrases for fun.
Of course - my tastes did grow to include other genres, but the ones I mentioned will always have a special place in my heart as they did serve as a foundation of a small hobby of mine.
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