In My first post I briefly mentioned some game genres. In this one, I will tell you a little bit about one of my favorite genres: The RPG. Not to be mistaken by "Really Powerful Gun". The acronym stands for Role Playing Game. Those are games where the player controls one or more characters that each play a role in a story. The player actively takes part in the development of the "Player Characters" or PC's. The characters that aren't being controlled by the player are called the NPC's or "Non-Player Characters". Those NPC's also fulfill a certain role in the story line but they are mostly only there to aid the player in progressing through it.
The first RPG I came in contact with was Wonder Boy in Monster Land. I was about 8 years old at that time. After playing a lot on a Sega Master System at my uncle's house, my parents decided to get us one as well. Borrowing games to and from each other was a trend back then. It was actually at a friends house that I played Wonder Boy 2 for the first time. I didn't think much of it at first. We couldn't really understand or read English very well, so we skipped through most of the dialogue. We didn't get very far into the game, as it required some knowledge of what they were talking about. It ended up on his "Pile of crappy games" faster than you could kill a snake in that game. After a year or so, my understanding of English was a little bit better and I was willing to give Wonder Boy 2 another try, so I borrowed it. It was on that day that I got to know the RPG.
Ever since Wonder Boy 2, I've been looking for games that offered the same gameplay or conjured feelings. Having a German mother, comes with the benefit of spending time in Germany during the school breaks. It was in Germany where I learned about a box called "Super Nintendo". The games played a lot like a Master System but 10 times better! Off course, the summer break in Belgium started a week or so earlier than the one in Germany, so I had that box all to myself during the day. And it was while browsing the collection of cartridges that I came across cool looking cartridge that hat a sword and shield on its sticker. I decided to give it a go.
I was amazed by how it looked, compared to the games I was used to playing on the Master System. It had more color and depth than anything I had ever seen. It still had a lot of dialogue, but I was able to go exploring right from the start. There was nothing keeping me from entering a cave, besides my auntie calling me to get some lunch or to take a break from "Zocken". That's German slang for "playing on that darn Super Nintendo".
What made The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past so worthwhile for me, was the amount of places you could go to and when you thought you beat the game, the whole world became a dark mirror image of itself. Other places became available. Things became harder. Off course, these are just memories. If they are a bit inaccurate of how the game really was, blame it on the age difference between then and now. The only real thing I still remember very well, are the feelings those games have unraveled within me. That's also one of the main reasons I'm not going deeper into those story lines. At that age, my understanding of the English language was still practically non-existent. It was only until I went to middle school that I finally got a real grasp of the language. Games started making a lot more sense.
Back in Belgium, around Christmas time that year or a year afterwards, my parents got us a Super Nintendo. They picked it up from some family who was selling it through an advertisement in the newspaper. We were all very happy with the gift. It came together with some games: Super Mario World, Donkey Kong Country and some other fun platformers. One of the games, however, brought back the feelings I had when playing A Link to the Past and Wonderboy 2: Illusion of Time
Illusion of Time is an RPG that played a lot like The Legend of Zelda. It featured an overworld map where you could move from one location to another and it also had a neat leveling system. One of the features that set it apart from the others, however, was the ability to change your Player Character into another one. There were 3 in total. The main character was a boy who used a flute as a weapon. Off course, it was not a regular flute. The flute could conjure the power of the wind. That ability would help you solve puzzles in order to reach new areas. The second character was a sword-wielding knight. The knight was able to slay monsters with ease and was very handy for boss fights. The Third character was Shadow, a Solid form of energy, created when the Dark Knight and the Light Knight merged together. I really played this game silly. What was also mind-blowing, come to think of it, was the presence of a complete walk-through of the game within the box!
I also found out recently that Illusion of Time was Illusion of Gaia in the US. Regrettably, we sold our SNES when we upgraded to a Playstation.
When I'm thinking about character development, I'm also thinking about grinding. Grinding is doing the same thing over and over again in order to gain its rewards. This is usually in the form of defeating a specific monster or doing a specific repeatable quest over and over again. In my opinion, it can help out a lot in molding your character into something you want it to be. If you're like me, you always want to have the best gear or have your skills and statistics at their highest points possible. Some times the only way to accomplish that, is by grinding.
Secrets of Grindea is a game that is all about, you guessed it, grinding! It reminds me a lot about A Link to the Past. That's actually one of the reasons I pre-ordered it: Nostalgia. As you may have already noticed, I'm into older (looking) and indie games.
The game itself consists of 2 modes: "Story Mode" and some kind of "Hardcore arcade mode" where, when your character dies, you need to start all over, but your general progression is saved, meaning you will unlock new equipment and perks. It is already very playable, but because of the early access, the story mode is not yet complete. There is still a lot of content to come!
The Player Character is created and named by the player and can be developed as the player sees fit. There are different skill trees and passive perk trees you can invest your "Talent Points" into and every class has its unique play style.
The world itself is full of quests and puzzles for you to take on. There are even secret areas and a lot of pets to collect. All in all, if you like the concept of grinding, this definitely is a game for you!
At this point, you're probably wondering "Lonnie, what the heck is a talent point? I don't really understand anything you're saying when you go full-on game nerd on me!". Yes, yes, I admit. I have slung a few terms at you without giving an explanation on what they're all about, but this isn't the last post I will make. The road of memories is a long one and we've only just begun walking it!
Tell me, did you have a video game console when you were a kid? Are you still a kid and do you have one? Which one and which game genre was or is your favorite? Do leave a comment!
In the end, we are all still a bunch of kids stuck in grown-up bodies... Thank you very much for reading!
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