A friend who was once my best friend came over to my house one night during the latter half of my ninth-grade year in High School. I never had friends over. If I did it was for a special occasion with a bunch of buddies playing smash brothers or watching a movie I convinced them to see. This time my friend asked to come over and I said yes. He wanted me to play Final Fantasy VII. We ate pizza while playing through the Midgar section before his ancient PS1 stopped working. He was two grades ahead of me, and I don't know if he hung out with me because he thought I needed a friend, or if he genuinely enjoyed spending time with me. I might never know. The next day at school I failed a Spanish test because I didn't study the previous night for obvious reasons. An upperclassman came up to me and asked me about Final Fantasy VII. He was a friend of my friend. He asked if I had left Midgar yet. I didn't know that you could leave Midgar. I forgot what I said to the upperclassman, but it was most likely an anxious mumble followed by a nervous laugh. Years went by and my friend graduated. During lunch, a month before he left, he began to indulge in Real Talk with me and a few other misfits that we liked talking to. He told us his fears of losing touch with us. We were not ready for Real Talk. We declared that we would stay in touch and that there was nothing to worry about. I knew deep down he was right. We didn't talk much after that. Sometimes we would bump into each other in our small town and say a few things or give a knowing nod as if to maintain the recognition that we still remembered the good times. I didn't play Final Fantasy VII for a long time.

At some point, I got my own PS1 and my own copy of Final Fantasy VII. My PS1 also stopped working so I borrowed my cousin's forgotten PS3. After three years, I am still borrowing that PS3. I started a new save file during my years at community college and finally left Midgar. It wasn't until this year, my senior year of college that I beat the game in its entirety. I didn't finish all the side quests. I aimed to go straight for the main story and finish what I had started long ago. Some of this game is a slog. I found myself underwhelmed with the gameplay at moments, wanting to rush through as fast as I could. However, when I was away from the game, I couldn't help but think about it. The aesthetic, the music, and these characters stayed in my mind until I came back. I think Final Fantasy VII excels more than it falters. It oozes significance that was a turning point for JRPGs and video games as a medium. I knew the spoilers, but it didn't deter me away from experiencing the story. I won't say that this was the best story I have ever experienced, or that I think the translated dialogue is all that good. I WILL say that it reminded me of the feeling of reading a thick novel. It has a literature quality to it that I can't stop thinking about. I adored the themes, the cinematic setpieces, and the character dynamics so much that it got me through a gameplay loop that continued to fight against my attention span. It was an incredible experience, and yet I can't help but think of my old friend after completing it.

Sometimes the people in our past can affect us in small ways that make us into the person we are today. Sometimes we lose those that are closest to us for reasons we can't quite comprehend. Sometimes we lose focus on who we are, and the person we want to share with those we love most. Final Fantasy VII might not be a perfect game, but it is absolutely a wonderful game.

within a span of two months, from september to november of 2019, i lost an old friend and former lover to bone cancer at 23 years old, and my father revealed to me that he’d been diagnosed with stage 2 lung cancer. this would indicate a nearly three year journey to where i am now - a sequence of events which tested the limits of my perseverance, willpower, camaraderie, self-love, and actualization of community. my life underwent severe changes throughout this period; essentially revising my entire outlook on my relationships to patching up and mending my relationship with my dad which had resulted in some pretty catastrophic gaps gashed out pretty equally on both sides. some outside events completely reformed how i lived, the safety and love i had to provide myself for my own wellbeing, and fostering a lot of growth and evolution out of a patch where what i’d known and what i held onto were slipping through my fingers.

during this time, my father set an example of how he would choose to live. he combatted cancer and heartbreak with rudiment, structure, dedication and iron will. i watched him break on more than a few occasions. but it was through his search for that light where he found his own branch of buddhism, practice of meditation, and a new outlook on his life. he began to teach me the lessons he’d taken away - both of us being that type of person with loud, constantly-spewing minds. he instilled and internalized the idea that meditation and serenity are not about clearing the mind of thought, but finding a means to acknowledge the thought and move on from it. it was only along the lines of that practice that we both began to unbox our trauma - both conjoined and individual. it was only then when we could cultivate growth, hope, and those first rays of light.

i had no access to therapy or professional help at the time. i was between jobs when i wasn't crammed into ones that abused and berated me and my time. my greatest resources for self-love, as they are now, were my loved ones and my then-cracked-yet-unbroken devotion to art. traumatic attachments kept me apart from those things i loved most, but in the process of recovering from a sequence in time in which i felt like i’d lost myself, figured it took recessing back to those works which had so clearly defined attics of my life to that point to regain shards of who i’d been, and define who i would choose to be moving forward. over the next year, i would play final fantasy vii six times to completion, twice with friends, four times on my own. the hanging threads of grief, trauma, self-actualization v. dissociation, lack of direction - these things culminated in a story which more and more i felt whispered answers directly to me, for my consumption alone. it’s in those moments where a bond is made between art and audience where the attachment becomes not just inseparable, but near essential.

final fantasy vii doesn’t hand you answers for the questions you come to it with. there isn’t a resolution to the trauma, there isn’t a solution to the pain or the grief. it is an embrace, and a hold of the hand, and a gentle call; “here is how you live with yourself. here is how you learn to be alive again.” the sociopolitical conflicts, the internal struggles, the budding seeds of affection and fraternity don’t reach a natural apex - they hum in anticipation of a deciding factor which never comes. perpetually trapped within the question, but offering you the means to provide your own answer in life. the final shot of the game isn’t a conclusion meant to be expanded upon. it’s simply a closing of the cover, the final page turned before the index of note paper before being passed to you with the command - “apply yourself. turn this into something that matters.” so i chose to.

and i found myself in midgar again, with new friends and a new outlook.

you come back to the slums of wall market and sector 7 with a new worldview and appreciation each time. there’s a different purpose, when your relationship with this game is as intimate as mine, for coming back here. i know the smog, the street life, the feeling of inescapable, walled-in urban destitution well. you grow up in any city poor enough and you get to know midgar intimately. it’s a familiar setting with a familiar social agency. the seventh heaven crew, they’re all faces i’ve known, fires in bellies i once shared, and now understand in a different light. they’re old friends i knew in my activism years as a teenager, they’re people i looked up to and lost through the years. i’ve lost a lot of people and a lot of faith over time. it might seem like a quick moment to many but the sector 7 tower fight reminds me of people and things that exist only in memories now.

the moment the world opens up and the main theme plays, while unscripted, is one of the most powerful in the game to me. i retain that this title track might be my favorite piece of video game music and such a perfect encapsulation of the game’s philosophy and emotional core. stinging synth strings meet acoustic woodwind and orchestral drones. playful countermelodies give way to massive, bombastic chords in a rocking interplay that rarely fails to inspire, intrigue and invoke. uematsu-sensei, unquestionably at the apex of his mastery here, provides his most timeless score. i think about, am inspired by, and draw from his work here intensely. the artistry pours out from every nook of final fantasy vii - the models, the cutscenes, the background renders, the gameplay systems, the story, the use of diegetic sound, the pacing, the designs - everything came together in a way that somehow evokes equal feelings of nostalgia, futurism, dread, fear, warmth, love, hope, and utter timelessness. streaming and voice-acting this entire game with my close friends was one of the best experiences of my year. hitting each turn with a decently blind audience provided both knowing and loving perspective and the unmitigated rush of first experience - in tandem, a passing of the torch, an unspeakable gift of an unbroken chain shared between loved ones. if final fantasy vii saved my life once before, this was the run which restored its meaning and direction.

i’ve been cloud, i’ve been tifa, i’ve been barret, i’ve been nanaki. i’ve been zack, i’ve been aerith. there are lives lived in the confines of final fantasy vii which i hold as pieces of my own, countless repetitions of those stories with those resolutions my own to meet, different each time. there was something magic about the ability to, a year after that painful strike of all of that anguish, that death, that loss, that fear, sit on the end screen as the series’ endless “prelude” played amongst 32-bit starfields and openly sob for a half hour surrounded by the voices and words of my loved ones. that was the day i learned to live again. it’s more than a game when you know it this intimately. it’s more than an experience when you share these scars. it’s more than art when you hold onto so dearly. there isn’t a classifier for what final fantasy vii means to me other than, “a lot”. sometimes, less is more. i don’t have a conclusion beyond that for you. the experience recalls everyone and everything i've ever loved and lost, and all that i've come to gain and hold dear. goodbye to some, hello to all the rest. true, reading this, it may have been a waste of your time, but i’m glad i was able to share this with someone. i hope this reaches at least one of you on a level you needed today, or maybe it invokes something in you about something you love so dearly. i’m here to tell you - this is how i learned to live again. if you need someone to tell you, today, that you can too, here it is. you aren’t alone. go find those answers for yourself.

please don't step on the flowers on your way.

Best game of all time fr.

The story is amazing, which has already been said by everyone and their mother by this point, but it truly is a one of a kind experience. While the twist midway through is probably the most spoiled moment in all of fire emblem, it’s still heart wrenching when you finally get to experience it for yourself. The characters are also really cool, and while a lot of them suffer from the early fire emblems focus on just a few characters, with the talk conversations and the growth gen 2 adds to gen 1 making many gems shine through, especially Arvis, Lewyn and Sigurd. The soundtrack is hands down the best in the entire series, with literally every single map theme standing out as bangers, in addition to other standouts like beloved one. A lot of people who dislike this game criticise the gameplay, and while it does have some flaws, primarily with empty stretches in the maps, the gameplay is really fun once you get a sense of what’s going on. Having played the game a few times I can say that it actually gets more fun on repeat playthroughs, when you know about the potential the various systems have to offer, in addition to how to set things up for gen 2.
Don’t play this as your first fire emblem, but don’t play it expecting it to play like all the other ones.

One thing I should say before this review is that this is a massive nostalgia game for me. The first time I ever touched a Wii was at a family friend's house and they let me play this game when I was about 7. I played through up until the Fountain dome and loved every second of it, to the point that I would get my own Wii later that christmas. And let me say this: Mario Galaxy was the best introduction to a game system I've ever experienced.

This is an incredibly fun game in of itself. That should be expected of a mainline Mario game, but what brings it to stardom is how much more this game feels like it is than just a typical nintendo romp. Now normally Mario is a fairly safe franchise for me, I love his games and barring a few noticable exceptions rarely do they stick out in my mind more than just a fun experience I come back to every now and then to relive my childhood. Super Mario Galaxy is one of those few games that I think about for more reasons than just its gameplay, for I believe that this has the overall more engaging interpretation of the space setting of any game I've played.

Space in real life is nothing. It's a void of emptiness that we as a species instill meaning into. We want to see the universe as something grander, which for what we know can still be, but everything we want is so intangible that we can only imagine it. There are so many different concepts and theories about exactly what lies beyond our planet that when combined of what we do know means that this black canvas can be interpreted in ways that vary from person to person. Why else would so many kids dream of becoming an astronaut? We invent so many stories of what lies in the distance that the imagination can take those ideas and run wild with an array of possibilities as vast as the universe itself. For what it's worth, I feel this game conveys those same ideas as well.

Having each level be a different galaxy allows for a different slice of that proverbial pie to be represented in its fullest. Adventurous like the first frontier of Good Egg Galaxy, meloncholic like the emptiness of Space Junk Galaxy, dangerous like the ongoing war of Battle Rock Galaxy, downright frightening like Bonefish Galaxy. There are so many different moods and feelings conveyed in this game's level design and yet they all encompass different and valid ideas of what space is. All this is compounded by my absolute favorite OST in video games, encapsulating each individual area with the appropriate theming. I could not have chosen a better choice for Mario's first orchestrated soundtrack.

This game as whimsical as it is still has underlying tones of darkness seeding into it. First let me say this game can be brutal, and not in a difficult way. So many ways mario can die in this game are straight up morbid, from the sheer horror of getting sucked into a black hole, disintegrating into dark matter (which put me off from completing this game for a good while), getting electrocuted so hard only your skeleton remains. Space is harsh and traumatizing in the wrong situations and I'm glad a Mario game is willing to go the steps to showcase it in some way, and they don't just do it in gameplay either.

I would be remissed if I didn't discuss what most people think about when it comes to this game. The introduction of Rosalina as a brand new character to the series, and now an official mainstay of the franchise. While I feel most people nowadays like her bc shes a giant space mommy wife, but to gloss over her origin in this game is a shame. Everything about her in this game just emanates this etheral comfort and warmness. Her observatory being a sanctuary for her lumas while also being modeled to accommodate her living there, along with this absolutely beautiful song that especially in the second version for me is something I would straight up play at my own wedding if I could. And let's not forget her library, going over her backstory over the course of the game with a song that's both nostalgically somber and tear jerking depending on the chapter shes reading. I cried in the later chapters of her book, a feat very few games can claim over me. For how vapid I see the Mario series overall (not in a bad way mind you), I'm reminded that genuine stories wanted to be told around 2000s, which has led to some of my favorite games of all time. It really is a bygone era that I reminisce on dearly.

Super Mario Galaxy is my absolute favorite of the mainline Mario games. It feels like more than a game at points with how much of a love letter it is to the world outside our world. As much as I love its sequel, I feel the fact it feels more like a normal game hurts it while helping this game feel more unique, and I often don't think about it as much as a result. Space is the most versatile setting one can ever imagine, and this game shows off the entire spectrum it brings.

I'm not normally interested in the 'PC Master Race' debate but I can't deny that this feels so much better to play on mouse & keyboard.
I actually dropped this game on PS4 a few years ago, but after playing Doomy Turtle via gamepass on my PC, I figured there was no way that game was so good and this one not worth finishing.

Playing through it from the start on PC, it was better almost immediately. Eternal takes what I like about this and turns it all up to 11, it's still a noticeable step down coming back to this one, but it just feels cool when you get in a groove and the soundtrack is kicking ass right with you.

Biggest complaint by far is the platforming and some levels designs are lacking and slow down an otherwise awesome momentum. Overall, really glad I gave it another go. Great reboot to a badass franchise with one of the most likeable silent protags in gaming

GO FOR BROKE
This one, oh boy this one. Countless hours spent. I’ve rarely gone a week without playing this damned game at least a little bit. Street Fighter Alpha 3 to this day is still one of the most unique but also divisive entries in the entire series, and my opinion has changed on it like 800 times. It’s good? It’s GOAT? Favorite fighter of all time? Second favorite? IDK. But what I DO know is that this game is awesome, and that I haven’t shut up about this thing for over a year now. I feel it is finally time to just barf out why I love this game so much, I am so motivated to get this message out to the world.
Alpha 3 to me perfectly encapsulates what the Alpha series is all about. It’s absolutely SEEPING with energy and aesthetic. Greatest character select screen in existence maybe. Fonts of like 5 different sizes scrolling all over the top and bottom of this thing, you’d think it would be clunky and incomprehensible but nah, it works. I always loved the character portraits and how they line up with both the character select and versus screen, courtesy of my man BENGUS. And man the VERSUS SCREEN??? The way the text for your name and ism pops in is literally genius, who animated this? This is combined alongside one of the coolest transitions I’ve ever seen in a video game, with the shape of the “door” closing being based on whatever ism you picked (A/Z-ism, X-ism, V-ism), and it’s also just so satisfying to watch.
The UI and just general aesthetics of Alpha 2 have been completely overhauled here. All of these thick fonts and colors are simplistic but somehow also very detailed and intricate. For me, anyway, they scream 90’s COOL aesthetic. Your health and super meter bars change color (and shape) based on your ism, and just generally the amount of effort put into the differences of isms here are very commendable. Honestly on the topic of that, I should discuss the gameplay.
The gameplay in this one is sick. There are three different fighting styles you get to pick, first there’s X-ism, which is a giant Super Turbo homage which limits your moveset but gives you insane damage output. A-ism is essentially the mechanics introduced from the first Alpha game (and also the best for beginners), and V-ism is the custom combo shit from Alpha 2 now made into it’s own fighting style. This is great, and for casual play makes the game more fun and diverse. Competitively… Everyone just picks V-ism because of the juggle combos here. On the topic of combos, Alpha 3 is THE most juggle heavy entry in the entire series, disregarding the EX lineup. Even without V-ism, so many moves will just LAUNCH your opponents which gives you time to followup and increase that combo count, it’s so fun to mess with. Alpha 3 generally just encourages aggressive gameplay, and it’s accentuated by the guard crush feature. Essentially, now the game will punish you if you try to just block constantly, as the guard meter being emptied leaves you vulnerable for attack. Did I mention I love this game because it’s fast? Once you get those turbo settings on, the matches in this game are t-i-g-h-t and lightning fast, which makes good play super rewarding. It’s my absolute favorite aspect of the Alpha series.
Alpha 3’s roster only introduces like- four new characters, with the rest of the roster additions being veterans from previous games. That being said, 25 (28 if you include secret characters, 29 counting Shin Bison) in the vanilla roster is nothing to scoff at. What’s even better is that every character has a bio whenever you pick them (only game in the series to do this from what I remember), along with three scripted fights in the arcade ladder, each with dialogue to boot. But to get even CRAZIER, the revisions of this game had even more. PS1/Dreamcast/Saturn added SIX extra characters, as well as making the secret characters properly integrated into the game with their own campaigns and portrait art, the GBA version added THREE characters from Capcom Vs SNK 2, and the PSP version added ONE character from Capcom Trashy Evolution! Meaning that Alpha 3 went from 29 fighters to THIRTY NINE CHARACTERS. Insanity. Now, for the newcomers, were they good? Karin was a great addition to the roster, her fighting styles and combos are fun, AND she’s a fun rival for Sakura. R. Mika is great and fits the energy of Alpha 3, sadly she’s low tier in terms of playability. Juli and Juni are mainly Cammy clones, but they’re great for expanding the lore, and really help establish the pure EVIL M. Bison is in this series. This roster is just fantastical every time I think about it, and I've even started trying out more of the characters I'm not used to for fun! Maybe someday I'll even become a world warrior.
I have countless memories of fighting the boss, Shin Bison. I remember thinking this guy was like, the hardest thing ever, but once you understand the rules of this fight, it’s not nearly as difficult. That being said, he’s still super annoying. Try to jump in? Stand HK or air grab. Whiff? Punish by sweep. Aaaaand he’s teleported behind me hasn't he [gets thrown which does a ton of damage in this game for some reason]. Everyone brings up that STUPID super move, but honestly the AI is so predictable with this. If his meter is full and he does that air dive move, 90% guarantee he will do it. Just block. Everything else about this fight is more difficult anyway. In the arcade version specifically, getting a game over to this dude was painful, you’re locked into a bad ending and that’s it, no second chances, back to the beginning of the arcade ladder for you. It’s surprisingly punishing, but in the age of save states and the console versions removing this “feature”, it’s not too big of a deal.
The music is great, unsurprisingly. This game’s soundtrack goes for an entirely different vibe from the previous entries, and it fits the tone of Alpha 3 for me. The amount of electronic instruments and guitars are blood pumping and just get you ready to go crazy on your opponent. Brave Or Grave is honestly one of THE best final boss themes in fighting games period, and it gets you SO hyped to wipe the floor with Shin Bison fr fr. Honestly just listen to the music yourself, it’s worth the time.
I’ve played this game’s arcade mode like over 30 times at this point, it’s so addicting. I love this game, so many memories to share honestly. I’ve even considered buying a physical copy of EVERY version of this game (yes, including the Saturn one, I’m THAT insane). I love this game so much I literally have like probably 5 more paragraphs of things I could write about this game because it has SO MUCH POLISH and SO. MUCH. CONTENT. There are like- 10 or 15 extra modes in the console versions I could write about, almost all of which I have played just for the heck of it. I sat down and did the 100 kumite mode which is 100 FIGHTS BACK TO BACK and I did the entire thing which took me almost an hour. I actually can never tire of this game, it’s so special and unique to me. I couldn’t even think of a proper closer for this review because I want to just keep typing about it!!! Who knows, maybe I could write a third review that covers what stuff I missed!!! But in the end, can I recommend this game to anyone? Well…
“IT ALL DEPENDS ON YOUR SKILL… GO FOR IT, MAN!!!”