[[Blogroll]] [[Writing About My Favorite Games]] ## The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker I really, really wanted a GameCube when I was younger. I asked my mom if I could get one after being very, very good all year, and she relented, saying I could have it for my birthday. The day landed on a weekday, and after an agonizingly long day of school, I rushed into the backseat of the car, giddy as can be. My mom turned to me, her face crestfallen. "I'm sorry *habibi*, I couldn't find your Nintendo anywhere," she said. I did my best to hide the tears of disappointment, not wanting to seem bitter, and nodded in understanding. A sullen, quiet drive home followed. When we got home, my mom told me that she had made me my favorite food[^1], and to go down to the basement to get my siblings so we could eat. When I went down, I found my a GameCube, extra controller, a copy of **Wind Waker**, and the guidebook for the game arranged almost like a shrine, waiting for my arrival. I could get into why I like **Wind Waker** as a game, but it doesn't really matter. Everyone knows. It's ***Wind Waker***. But what it represents? That's why it's it's one of my favorites. ## [[Nioh 2 – The Complete Edition (2021)|Nioh 2]] This one might go into the top 10 eventually. I've put 100s of hours into **Nioh 2**, and I've never gotten tired of it. As someone who deeply appreciates [[Goopy Goblin Gamer Brain|goop]], **Nioh 2** is my kindred spirit. It's a game that puts all of the mechanics on the table and says "do with this what you will." Every one of those mechanics is polished to a fine sheen - yes, even the loot. Ah, the loot. Much has been said of the loot in **Nioh 2**. I love it, because I love making builds, but even if you don't, you can ignore the loot by picking the thing with the highest stat and keep it pushing through one playthrough, than dipping. You'll miss out on what the game has to offer beyond it, but a first playthrough is 30 hours or so anyways, so it's not like it'd be a waste either. But I'd encourage you to push past it. **Nioh 2** becomes an entirely different game by NG++. Then it changes again in NG+++, and *again* in NG++++. It constantly surprised me with more and more mechanical complexity, letting me turn into a tornado of terror on par with anyone in **Diablo 2**. It's a blast, and a game that I'll probably keep playing until they make **Nioh 3**. ## Final Fantasy IX There are fun games, there are good games, there are not so good games, and then there are games that change the entire trajectory of your aesthetic and being as a person. **Final Fantasy IX** is that last one for me. It wasn't the first FF game I played, but it was the one I stuck to immediately as a kid. I would draw tons and tons of doodles of moogles and Vivi and Zidane on my homework, until my teacher complained about it to my mom.[^2] I loved the high-fantasy vibes, the music, the cutscenes - all of it. It's also the game that got me into equipment abilities, even if this particular game's rendition of that mechanic could probably be a bit more polished in retrospect, haha. Vivi is the centerpiece of my obsession. Even at a young age, I was constantly worried about whether I was becoming the person I should be. I didn't have a sense of identity that I was happy about, especially because being a Black nerd in an all-White environment in the early 2000s was pretty difficult. I related so hard to Vivi for that fact, as well as being a younger brother. Zidane was pretty relatable for a lot of the same reasons. "[You're Not Alone!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ha6iWPqrJeE)" is, in my opinion, one of Uematsu's greatest themes. In fact, I'd argue that **FFIX** holds one of, if not the greatest soundtrack from the legendary composer. ## Pocket Card Jockey Developed by Game Freak, **Pocket Card Jockey** is a game where you win horse races by playing solitaire. It sounds ridiculous. It *is* ridiculous. Which makes its quality all the more incredible. I am actually too embarrassed to share with you how much time I've spent – and continue to spend – on this game. Despite its difficulty, and the fact that it takes a while of breeding good horses before I was finally winning races, none of it matters to me. The core gameplay loop of pairing cards and strategically maneuvering your horse around the track is so satisfying that I could do it forever. I now understand why all my elders love Solitaire so much, pfft. Anyways, I genuinely think this is one of the best games ever made. And whilst it used to be stock on the 3DS, you can get it on the Switch now. Check it out. ## Cave Story I hit a point at a pretty early on age where my appetite for games was vastly outpacing my mom's willingness to supply them to me - completely fair. And also good for my tastes, because it led to me going online to find free games I could play on the family computer. I was soon hitting up the TIG Source forums, where I played the very first, pixelated versions of Derek Yu's **Spelunky** before it became a smash hit, as well as **Iji** and other gems. But before any of those was the English fan-translation of **Cave Story**. This game blew my mind, not just because of the amount of detail and ingenuity, but because I learned that it was all made by *one single person*. That very thought rocked me as a creative little kid. It was inspiring. It made me want to create more than ever. I don't think I've made my own, personal **Cave Story** yet, but I'm always aiming to. [^1]: Grilled steak. I was a weird 8 year old [^2]: In retrospect: what a narc, huh.