There’s a meme going around in Instagram (I saw it on a video, not on Insta itself) about posting an image of you in a book author pose surrounded by the ten games you’ve played that you would tell people if you wanted them to get to know you. It’s emphatically not a list of your ten favorite games, but the ten games that define you. I was intrigued by the idea because I would have thought they were one and the same. The more I thought about it, though, thne more I understood the difference.
I decided to make my own list, and I think there are a few really surprising choices on the list. Several are what you would expect, and then there are a few that are just what they are. I’ll explain that more when I get to them. These are in no particular order. They might be loosely chronological, but maybe not. We’ll see!
1. Ms. Pac-Man (Atari). When I was a teenager, my parents would drag my brother and me to various Taiwanese events that went on for hours. It didn’t help that they NEVER started on time, so that added an hour to the wait.
The events were often at the local uni student union. In the basement was a bowling alley with a few arcade games. One of them was Ms. Pac-Man, and I would play it for hours to pass the thime. It was a comfort game, plus it planted the idea in the back of my brain that the protag of a video game could be a woman. Or at least female-coded. Yes it was just Pac-Man with a bow, but still! It was also a beacon of light during a very dark period of my life, and I will always appreciate it for that.
2. Pitfall! (Activision). This was the first video game I played. Well, among the first video games I played and my favorite. We had an Atari, and I would play this over and over. This game really scratched the itch that my neurospicy brain has in that playing it over and over again soothed the savage beast within. I have fond memories of playing this with my brother when I was a preteen–one of the only pleasant memories I had as a child.
3. Torchlight (Runic Games). During my twenties and early-to-mid thirties, I only played casual games. I loved them, but I wanted to spread my wings. I asked my new buddy, Ian, what game he would recommend. He thought about it and said I might like a new game called Torchlight. I booted it up, saw that there was a choice of three characters. One of them was a woman who looked vaguely Asian, and the other two were dudes. I immediately chose the woman because that’s always going to appeal to me more. She was the ranged class, which also suited me. and I had a pet cat who took items to town for me, sold them, and brought me back the money.
It’s an Action RPG/Hack-N-Slash, something like that. There was an overarching story, but it was pretty basic. A big baddie was doing big baddie bad things. It was up to the player character to stop it from happening.
This one is more an emotional pick for me because it’s what got me (back) into ‘hardcore’ games. It was also a perfect pick by Ian for said first game. I kept it installed in my Steam Library for roughly a decade after I played it just for the nostalgic factor. I am one of the few who liked the first game better than the sequel, but Torchlight II was solid, too.
4. Dark Souls (FromSoft). Look. You knew there was going to be one if not several FromSoft games on this list. Ian also told me about this game when it first came out. His brother loved it and suggested it to him. I did a hard pass on it because I wasn’t about hard games, thank you very much.
I can’t quite remember why I decided to try it, but it was after the Prepare to Die edition was released (which meant it included the Artorias of the Abyss DLC). This was back in the days of FromSoft not giving a shit about their PC players, so the port was atrocious. You had to use the DSFix mode to have any hope of making the game run on PC.
I hated the game from the very start. I chose Pyromancer because I like fire, and I found out much later that it was considered the cheese class and OP. I didn’t feel OP during my first playthrough, I’ll tell you that much for free.
The game was so fucking hard. More than that, it was cruel to someone like me. I have motor issues, spatial issues, no depth perception, terrible reflexes, and a million other reasons why I should never have played the game in the first place.
I remember making my way through the first part of the game, grimly hating every minute. I should have quit, but there was something in me that would not let me give up. I got a Battle Axe drop from an enemy fairly early and decided to make that my main weapon. Plus my pyromancies. I had both my Battle Axe and my Pyro Flame in my right hand because I needed a shield in my left.
When I reached the Bell Gargoyles, I was done. I had accidentally aggravated Andre (I am so glad FromSoft changed it so one hit to an NPC doesn’t permanently aggro them), which meant that I could not use him. He’s the main blacksmith, so that was a big fucking deal. I did Google to see what I could do about it, but I had to kill the Bell Gargs first in order to reach the NPC who would absolve me of my sins.
This game is not my favorite of the Dark Souls games, but it’s had the biggest impact on me. It taught me so much about myself–and not all of it was good. I really should have put it down and walked away about a third into the game, but I was too stubborn for that. By the end of the game, I was hating the game–and myself.
I finished it, yes, but I vowed to never play it again. Which is perhaps the funniest thing I’ve ever thought/said/written.
I have now played Dark Souls, Dark Souls II, Dark Souls III, Bloodborne, Sekiro, and Elden Ring. I have platted all the Souls games, Bloodborne, and ER. I always have at least one FromSoft playthrough on the go, and sometimes, two. I have played all the games I’ve platted umpteen times, and started several more playthroughs.
This is not my favorite of the FromSoft games, but it has a special place in my heart for being the one to kick off my passion for FromSoft games.
That’s it for today. I did not even make it halfway through my list, but, really, I did better than I expected.