My Favorite Video Games #2: 'Final Fantasy VIII'

Videogames are like films to me. I mean this in the sense that my opinion of a game is often strongly influenced by what how I was feeling emotionally at the time. Final Fantasy VIII is one of the most impacting games that I recall playing, and one that holds a special place in my memories.



A powerful story set in a huge world on the brink of war; what attracted me to this Final Fantasy above all others was its focus on the love story developing between Squall and Rinoa, rather than the conflict of the world. Squall himself, was a character that I felt held a lot of qualities and conflict that were very personal to me. As a character, Squall embodies traits that a large cross section of gamers can relate to.


I did not own a Playstation at the time, but managed to borrow one in order to play this game. Wanting to return the system to him as quickly as possible, I played the game almost non-stop for a week. Eventually I hit what I consider to be one of the most powerfully sad scenes in any game. Towards the end of the third disc, I found myself crying through the entire “Eyes on Me” scene, as well as what happens immediately afterward. It was enough to depress me, and I decided to take a break at this point.

During my break, my friend returned, claiming that he needed his Playstation back for a week, and that I could borrow it again when he returned. I reluctantly returned it to him, and spent the week miserable, pondering the fate of Rinoa and Squall, unable to know how it would be resolved.


I didn’t realize something like a video game could affect my mood so drastically. I guess this was an early sign that I was destined to find passion and beauty in video games, and experience them as I would any film or book. These were powerful stories with truth and emotion to be discovered, not only in the characters, but also in the hearts and minds of the players themselves.



The game play of Final Fantasy VIII revolved around encountering enemies in battle. This is typical of the Final Fantasy games, but in this iteration the designers created a 'Junction' system to change things up a little. Throughout the game your party acquires these mythical beasts known as 'Guardian Forces' that can 'bond' with your characters and augment their abilities and skills. These junctions are powered my magical energies that you can harvest from the monsters you encounter throughout the game. Many people were critical of this system, since it was so different from the previous Final Fantasy games, and required, initially, some time spent drawing magical energies from the foes you face. Later in the game, this behavior becomes less necessary as you can break down items and loot into magic bits.



The Guardian Forces make up some of the most incredible monster designs of any Final Fantasy leading up to this installment, including the return of some favorite 'summoned' creatures, like Shiva and Ifrit.


All of this is framed around (at the time) professional quality CG Cinemas, including a sweeping opening sequence that features a bombastic orchestral piece called Liberi Fatali (Fated Children). This features prominently into the overarching theme of the story: being forced to take on adult roles in an organization called SeeD that trains war orphans to become profitable mercenary teems to be dispatched around the world. Most of the characters in the story are under the age of 18, and are forced to confront some harsh truths about the adult world that they would have been shielded from had their childhood experiences been different. There are some extremely poignant scenarios throughout the 4-disc epic storyline.


Now that the world has had 13 seperate Final Fantasy games in the franchise, not including sub-sequels or spinoffs, there exists a large pool of games to compare Final Fantasy VIII to. While I enjoyed the gameplay changes made to this particular game, I have to say that it was the emotional impact of the story that pushed the game to being my clear favorite of the franchise, and a game that I will cherish as I play through it again and again.

My Favorite Video Games #1: "Riven"

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge Myst fan. I've read all the books, i've played all the games, countless times, and in my younger years I even helped maintain an AOL Help forum for Myst and Riven, its sequel. I've gone to Mysterium, the annual Myst convention, when it came to Los Angeles back in 2007, and I also regularly contribute to a monthly podcast called The Cavern Today, dedicated to the Myst franchise as well as the Online Multiplayer exploration of Myst Online: Uru Live, which has recently become a free-to-play online game.

The Myst series over the years has remained my favorite franchise, created by the remarkable creative minds at Cyan Worlds. No other game spoke to me so powerfully with a deep story of betrayal and consequence, told subtly through the clues and environment, rather than through cut scenes and dialogue.

I was at CompUSA as a child, shopping for a new PC with my parents; the first real computer my family would own after the ancient 386 I had been using. With this computer (a prefabricated Compaq model that eventually proved less than sufficient. My parents weren’t the savviest computer shoppers), my parents allowed each of their children to select a software title of their choice (within reason; no $400 AutoCAD or anything like that.) My sister chose some Winnie-The-Pooh Clipart program; my older brother selected an early home-architecture program from Broderbund. My younger brother chose Jet Fighter 2, and I chose a game that captivated me with its box-art of a lonely island amongst an endless sea: MYST.

Playing the game is among the happiest childhood memories I have of playing games with my siblings. My older brother and I worked hard to solve the puzzles in the game together, drawing out notes and maps. I felt so proud of how well we had done when at last we solved the final puzzle and completed the game.

By the time Riven had been released, my siblings were already starting to move on from games, or adopt a more casual attitude towards them. He didn’t want to play Riven with me as he had done before with Myst.

This was a pattern that could continue on until today, where I still remain deeply passionate about video games, and my siblings either no longer play them, or only retain a passing interest in them (With the distinct exception of my brother Jon who is well into the clutches of World of Warcraft). Even so, playing these games with my siblings would leave me with my fondest childhood memories.



While Myst was an intriguing game unlike anything I had ever played before, it couldn't compete with the far superior Riven. The game had a much darker and almost steam-punky feel to it, thanks to the hiring of Richard Vander Wende, an artist and designer who worked for Disney on Aladdin.



Throughout the game there are some pretty dynamic moments. Chief among them are the sequences where you travel between the five various islands that compromise Riven. Most of them are connected by Mag-Lev transport (Magnetic Levitation) or through mine cart tracks.


The sensation was pretty incredible. The other aspect that really intruigued me was the design of the puzzles. Everything in that wolrd felt like it belonged. The game didn't follow the common adventure game tropes of having puzzles for the sake of having puzzles. All the puzzles in Riven felt like they belonged where they were, and had a good reason for being there.
A good example is a puzzle involving decoding a security password written in D'ni, the fictional language of the Myst series of games. Solving the puzzle involved figuring out the unusual base 5 and 25 number system, which meant finding a school-house on one of the islands that was being used by the villagers to teach their children. There is a mechanical hangman game in the classroom where one could watch the D'ni numerals come up, and count the number of clicks, extrapolating from what they've learned to pick up the remaining numbers. All of it felt natural, as though you were a detective using all your resources to solve a mystery.


To date, I own 7 copies of Riven:
1. Original 5 CD-Rom release (Cardboard art-sleeves)
2. 5 CD-Rom release (Double Jewel-case)
3. Playstation Release, 5-Discs
4. Ages Beyond MYST - Myst + Riven CD-Rom bundle
5. MYST Anniversary DVD Versions (Includes MYST, Riven, MYST III: Exile)
6. GoG (Good Ol Games Digital Copy)
7. Steam Release Digital Copy

This may seem like a lot, but I own nearly every version of *all* the MYST games. Everyone's gotta collect something, right?




Yes, there were Myst III action figures!


And finally, the MYST Board game.... It's not very good. Basically a 'Competitive Jigsaw Puzzle'