Every story has a beginning. We gather to this site as RPG players. Everyone must have a tale to tell about their first RPG experience or how they became addicted to RPG that led us all here to this site as one happy family? Well, I feel it is necessary to tell my experience with RPG and how they affect me as a player and as a person.

            Growing up in a small town in [redacted], I had practically no neighbors except for my grandparents and one other family. Being deaf that I was, I didn’t really have any friends to go over to. So I tend to hang out with my brothers a lot. I really looked up to my oldest brother in my youth. I remember one time when it was maybe 7 or 8 in the morning. My brother came into my room and he woke me up. He asked, “You want to play Bubble Bobble?” I was always interested in playing with my brother. We would play, play, and play. I would watch most of the times because I was very young at least 5 in [redacted]. He would play Dragon Warrior made by Enix. It is a very good RPG. I was always his biggest fan, and I would celebrate with him when he won and stuff. We got the second, third, and fourth. I have never won any of those to date and that is my greatest regret. I wish before I stop playing RPGs, I will win all four of them. So I would watch and learn, I would remember a lot of stuff. I tend to remember stuff that my brother has forgotten now. Later, my brother got Final Fantasy 1. It was no Dragon Warrior but a good game in comparison. I don’t have a lot of memories pertaining to it. We also got Zelda 1 and 2. I remember the final boss for Zelda 2. I was always rooting for my brother. Yet to date, the second Zelda is the best one of them all!

Then we moved to [redacted]. We continued to play the Nintendo. I remember my second oldest brother, and I were playing Dragon Warrior 4 and it happened that we were on the same chapter as Dragon Warrior 4 is split into five chapters. Our goal was to race to the end of the second chapter. I don’t recall who won, but let’s say me. The second oldest brother was not very into video games as my oldest brother and me. We got a Super Nintendo during the Christmas of 1992. Our first RPG was possibly Zelda: Link to the Past. Then we got Secret of Mana along with a Multi tap. The Multi tap allowed us to have up to five controllers. We used it to go along together in Secret of Mana. Talking about Secret of Mana, I had a flashback to a scene where there was this village in the Ice continent. There was these penguins that would always walk they wouldn’t stop and there was an area where some of the penguins were. So we had this crazy obsession of gathering all the penguins and putting in the area like pigs. Two or one would stay to prevent the penguins from getting out and the other would horde them in. It was absolutely stupid, but it was so fun that we worked together. I think I was always the sprite that cast magic. Then we got Final Fantasy 6. I was more actively involved in that game than any other game because it was easy to play for my age and I could follow.

Then came the year of 1996 or sometime, we got a Nintendo 64. That is where my RPG life went astray. We had absolutely no RPG except for Quest 64 which we were disappointed in. I didn’t have many games for the 64 and I started to lose interest in RPGs. I started to play the computer more, and it was my main console for games. I got Final Fantasy 7 for the PC and I beat it on the PC. That was the last RPG I played until October of 1999. I decided that I wanted a Playstation. My main goal for the Playstation was to get Chrono Cross. Ended up to be maybe the best decision in my RPG career as I got Chrono Cross and finished it. I received Final Fantasy 9 on Christmas eve and finished the eve of Christmas eve (December 23) the next year which was last year. Those two games I had for several months then I got Final Fantasy Tactics and Legend of Mana. I got Dragon Warrior 7 for Christmas, got Saga Frontier 2, and bought Xenogears last March. The average cost of these games is 30 dollars. I still enjoy cheap games because many of them are preowned, however, the Playstation section is dwindling at Electronics Boutique now so it will be harder. Now what does the future hold for me? “Cloudy the future is, always in motion!” quoting a wise man! The strongest possibility is that I might get a Playstation 2 for my birthday which is coming up soon. Along with that I might get Final Fantasy 10, or I might wait until it becomes a greatest hit which should be in October or November at the latest. In the mean time, Dark Cloud might get my attention as it is cheap now. Also I will take the opportunity to grab upon some games that I could get such as Grandia 2 or some others. Also you might look for me to pre order Xenosaga when it comes as I am willing to shell out 60 dollars for it. So that is now, the past, and the future all in one! So what are your roots? Go on a journey to remember your beginnings, they might not be as memorable as me or maybe better but they all lead to the same place which is here! I am thankful for my brothers for their influence in the past and the present and hopefully continue in the future!

Hobbes Lionheart