Why I no longer play final fantasy.
First encounter
My first encounter with Final Fantasy was on a summer after my 10th grade in High school. My best friend's big brother just upgraded his PC with a high-end NVIDIA graphics card (Back then supped up systems were all the rage to me). So he wanted to me to check it out. One of the demos of the new awesome power his PC was now endowed with, was game play of Final Fantasy 8 summoning. At the time I had no idea what the heck I was looking at. All I knew wast that the cinematic value couldn't be ignored. Watching Ifrit unleash Hell Fire was just amazing. I did not know video games were capable of that kind of visual spectacle It was just ridiculous.
15 year old game , so please keep that in mind as you watch this
My first Final Fantasy game
My first final fantasy game was FF7. I actually didn't buy it. My kid brother did. Not sure who told him to get it, but I am glad he did. At first I just watched him play it. Then seeing him come up with strategies to defeat tough bosses, made me want to be part of the adventure. Eventually I started helping with the gaming. It became like an adventure we all took part in. It was fun. I remember helping Squal fight his way out of the Shinra building.
I also remember the crazy number of times we got our butts handed to us by Midgar Zolom. That crazy snake beast was scary and its "Trine" attack was the bane of any noobie's existence.
Getting consumed by the game.
After FF7, I had acquired a taste for Final Fantasy bloodlust. The next game we got was FF8. FF8 was exceptional. It took the cinematic parts of the game to a new level. It was a lot of fun fighting the summons in order to own them. We learned our lesson from fighting the secret weapons in FF7. Without side quests, don't bother engaging any weapons. So, this is where the game went from being just a fun walk in the park to a full time job. Summer breaks meant time to go to work on whatever Final Fantasy game we were playing at the time.
I would print out pages upon pages of strategy guides, to help us figure out where the side quests were and how to beat the tough bosses we encountered. The amount of work we put in was comparable to research a post-grad college student would carry out on their thesis. It was ridiculous. We would play the game for at least 8 hours. The game was that addictive.
The turning point for me, actually it was more like the lowest point for me was when I chose to play the game instead of study for my exams. I remember it clearly. It was Final Fantasy 10. I was so caught up in leveling up Tidus for his blitz ball skills. I was so addicted to just playing blitz ball. I almost failed my exams thanks to that game.
When I stopped playing.
I don't quite remember , maybe it was 2012. I got a hold of FFXIII. I started playing it and I was already loving it. At the time, I was starting Boomslank. I suddenly noticed I was spending more time on the game than on the business. Call it luck or a moment of clarity, I suddenly had enough will power to return the game back to Blockbuster.
I was smart enough to rent it at the time. I guess I was quick to notice a sad pattern coming up. I quickly assessed my priorities and I think I made the right choice. Ever since then, I have observed all new Final Fantasy games from a safe distance. Is funny I never thought I could ever be addicted to anything. Guess you just don't know all your weaknesses.
