Gamers Lose Touch with Reality?

http://www.psxextreme.com/ps3-news/9856.html

I can see this as true, as the longer you spend in another reality, the more accustomed you get to it, and less accustomed you get to actual reality.

When I was little, I would play games fervently, even religiously, RPG games mostly.I would notice that the outside world (AKA, the trees outside my house) looked more unrealistic than Zelda, OoT did. Inquisitive as I was as a child, I guessed that the pixelated appearance and high graphics of the trees outside meant that I play too much videogames and accurately deduced that the video-game world was becoming my "true" reality.

Although, I personally don't see anything wrong with this unless it prevents you from living the life you want to have. As a gamer child, there was nothing else I desired to do. Now I write all the time about things.

But what do you think about this? Has this ever happened to you?

Getting the Chatter Flower in chapter 3, Atelier Iris 3

Took me a good hour to find one, but finally, I've done it!

The garden in valtessa is a horrible place to get it because all it ever gave me was Huffin Blossum's. To make matters worse, the fairys blocked off their side of the warzone, so I could not check the garden in the Prosphora Battlegrounds. But I finally found one while cutting grass near the beastmens village side of the warzone. Where all the houses are.

I am done with the hair pulling out for now, now that I finally found out where that stupid talking flower was!

My Top Ten Recommended RPG's

Now these are not going to be the newest games on the market, most, if not all, of the games I will list are old. But in my experience there are fun to play, and are good for the person who loves adventure. I love RPG's the best and most of the best ones I have played yet, I played during my childhood.


1. The Sly Cooper Series

This one goes before the game I have played and beat hundreds of times simply because there is a thieving raccoon as the main character. Sly is not only cunning and fun to play as, but he is also funny. Pick pocking people never gets old as you save up enough money to purchase upgrades and such.

There are minor differences between the three in the series that I have played, but I personally love the second one the best, although the first one is a close second.





2. Zelda: A Link to the Past

Yep, you read the message above correctly, I have played and beat this game hundreds of times, found all of the heart pieces, and every possible secret I can discover about this game, including glitches. This is a game I have been addicted with ever since I was really little, and it is the first game I remember ever playing. It never gets boring with me as I travel around in 8-bit saving Hyrule.

From the SNES to the GBA there are a lot of minor tweaks to the gameplay and how certain dungeons look, but unless you are looking for them, you probably won't notice too much different. Also, the map is not a huge jumbled mess of colors and crap, so you actually find where your going! :-D

3. Final Fantasy X

Probably the most religious of games I have played. Although I did love running around, fighting monsters and allowing the troubled souls that turned into the monsters to travel back to heaven. I also loved being a summoner and murdering monsters with my summons. The only bad part of this game I have discovered, is that I have yet, to date, filled up the overly complicated, massive Sphere Grid.

But my favorite parts of the game are the temples, saving simple yet complicated puzzles in order to pass through the game is fun, IMO. And... the elemental flans. Something about those monsters interest the heck outta me. But Final Fantasy X is one of my inspirations to write fantasy stories. So even the annoying sphere grid can get away with it's annoyingness this one time. -__-


4.  Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Most people who have played Zelda OoT can say that it is a very fun game (if you ignore that water temple).    traveling around, saving Hyrule, the princess, the races, and the seven sages from the powers of the evil Ganon. The main story-line travels back and forth through time 7 years, changing Link from kid form, to adolescent form. There are a ton of side quests in this game that have always distracted me from rescuing Zelda.

I only collected all 100 of the gold skultulas once. And by the time you collect them, the prize you will get is basically pointless. And I have never needed to use all 4 bottles for anything, but the Gerudo Training Grounds are my favorite part of the game. What I really want to know, is how he gets that sword out of his sheath.

5. Breath of Fire 3

This is another of the games that I have played numerous times and have had since childhood. This game, like Zelda OoT, starts you off as a child with no parents, and later on your transform into an adult. As a member of the brood (dragon people) you have to save the world by killing the equivalent of God. This game also has a ton of diversity in the lines of furries, magic princesses, talking onions, dragon people, and smart cannon wielding scholars.

There really isn't apart of this game that I don't like. But one sidequest I enjoyed a lot is the Fairy Village. You help a village of fairies build their town and survive. And it is very helpful in the future, when you need items.



6. Atelier Iris Series

Nothing makes my mind delve deep into the world of fantasy and magic than alchemy. Creating new items, making a pact with mana, and extracting elements, what could there be not to like about a game like this? The exquisitely made world (different in each game) has plenty to offer up as you travel to many places covered in elemental mana powers, and create friends with beast people, mages, and artificial life forms.

You can even create items while in battle, something I think is awesome! If you run out of healing potions, you can make one on the spot! Sounds kinda like cheating TBO...

7. Final Fantasy XII

You start off as an orphan, go figure, and wind up saving the land from destruction from an evil king who is set to backstab everybody. Going from place to place, from ancient runes to a hidden forest village. Traveling from magical crystal, to airship, and making the old turn-based battle sequence look slower than dirt.

My favorite part of this game is running around the plains, collecting sun energy and storing them in rocks. Nothing makes buying a new stronger weapon feel better than hard work selling energy crystals.

Speaking of which, like FFX, there is also a form of sphere grid you have to fill, something I have yet to do on this game either.




8. Zelda: Twlight Princess

Instead of changing from kid to adult, you now change from adult to wolf! This game seems very similar to A Link To The Past in where you stop the evil Zant from turning the light world into the twilight world, changing back and forth between the two, and even changing your shape while in the world of twilight. But, in the end, there is a girl who falls in love with link, but has to leave forever.

Playing this game on the Wii, and swinging the control with the fear of breaking something valuable, like a vase, or an eye, is what made this game fun! The ending is rather depressing though.

9. Metal Gear Solid 1

What was that noise?

My favorite Metal Gear has to be this one. I don't know why, but this one seems to have a better gameplay, and storyline than the other ones I have played, in my opinion. This multi-disc game made snooping around and killing people extremely fun to do! You know, back when you can have a CD get scratched and STILL be able to play it on the gaming system?

I have learned never to hide in air vents when being chased by security, unless a grenade to the face is what you enjoy.




10. Pokemon...

You played one, you've played them all. But there is still an addictive aspect about catching pokemon, and training them to beat gym leaders. But although the storyline slightly changes, that is basically all that ever does. But I still don't know why I keep playing them! Their fun! But why?!?!?

I can never collect all the pokemon in the game, and I refuse to use a game shark.

My Thoughts: Super Mario 64 DS

When I first saw this game, and bought it for 30$, my thoughts were along the lines of "Oooh! Super Mario 64! I can relive my childhood days!" I have not played this game for 5 minutes before I felt my childhood getting raped. This game, like it's predecessor, is easy to play and you can collect a lot of stars before hitting a giant brick wall. But the difference is, this game has become over simplified. You no longer have many of the massively mindbogglingly complicated levels which force you to think outside the box, strategize, or do anything of the sort anymore. Smaller platforms are larger, and complicated scenarios are now waaay too easy in order for the ignorant kids of todays age to be saved from the act of thinking. Albeit many hard levels do exist, they are not as hard, or fun, as in the original game.

Fuck wall jumping, that was soooo 1990's.

They took all the challenge out of this game, the challenge that made it fun. They also took out the numerous aspects of this game that made it not for stupid children that refuse to think or solve simple tricks like the now missing wall jump. Mario now eats a flower and becomes an obese helium-filled mess so you float to high places.

Even in the character's they screwed it up. In the original game you were Mario, going to the castle in order to eat cake, simply to find the princess kidnapped, and you had to defeat Bowser to rescue her. How you start off as Yoshi... yeah, Yoshi... And it is Yoshi's job to save everyone. Really, Nintendo? After you saved them, you can play as Mario, Yoshi, Wario, and Luigi. All of them are basically the same character, and in many places you cannot even get a star unless you play as one specific character.

Then to screw it up more each character has their own different useless trait or power when they hit a ? box. Luigi walks on water for a few seconds, for instance. Also, instead of working for a specific trait, like metal Mario, you only have to press one button, all the boxes are red, no more green or blue boxes, and no more metal Mario. It is now metal Wario, and Transparent Luigi. I guess that fits, because no one noticed Luigi anyhow.

Also, caps are laid out around each stage, so in case you are Yoshi, and need to be Mario, just put on a red cap, and now you look just like Mario, just with Yoshi's voice (seems legit). in many levels you have to "have a mustache" (which is the idiocy this game now revolves around) and bosses now talk about those "mustached guys" they imprisoned. it's just dumb IMO.

Aaaaaaaand mini-games. You know when they add mini-games like this to the game, they made it for very small children. If I wanted to play mini-games in Mario, I would have stuck with Mario Party. Also, instead of one rabbit you have to catch for a star, you have to catch numerous rabbits, and all they give you is a stupid key to a mini-game. it's not even one or two you can avoid, they are hopping all over the danged place!

Also, just to tie it all up, isn't Wario a bad guy? He was a bad guy in all the previous games, but now he is being heroic? Really? I mean, WTF!? And why not add Waluigi instead of Yoshi as a playable character? He is also not in the Super Smash Brothers series as a playable character while Wario is in SSBB. I guess it sucks to be walweegie.

I spent 30$ on this game, and have 50 stars and all three characters unlocked in about 6 hours of gameplay, and I wasn't even trying. I still have yet to die of quicksand in the desert level either. And don't even get me started on the controls... I consider this a waste of money, I wanted the original Super Mario 64, not this crappy game. I give this game a 2 out of 10. They better not do a remake of Ocarina of Time next, I'd be pissed.

My Thoughts: Atelier Iris 2

I am replaying this game after beating it one time beforehand. I love the gameplay and have become deeply infatuated with the storyline. It is one of those "boy and girl are in love, but boy has to leave and save the world while leaving the girl behind, but they stay connected through the power of magic" kind of storylines. Which is actually part of a short story I wrote a little about, but failed to finish.

I initially got hooked on this game through the premise of alchemy, which is something I am interested in as part of my imaginative fantasy world, right next to magic and fighting monsters, which both occur in this game. I also enjoyed it due to the nature of the game. I have always been a very picky gamer, but the games I did enjoy, I loved immensely.

I seem to enjoy games with little to no timeline, and this game is one of those kinds of games. There does not seem to be a very strong connection between the three that I have played, despite similar characters. it's similar to Zelda, or Final Fantasy, similar characters, but little to no actual connection between the games. So you can play the second first and not be confused. Although I personally believe that the second one is a prequel to the first one, namely because in the first one iris is dead, and in the second one she is a little girl. But I am not too sure about that.

I also love how you can switch between the girl and the guy character as the game progresses, and both have a completely different storyline and mission. There really isn't much that I don't like about this game, if anything at all. So I guess that's all I have to say about it for now.