Ooo a vine...

I bow to your never ending wisdom, master Moogle. Never again shall I neglect your advice. I have seen the error of my ways, and I have learned. Oh have I learned........

Yet again I am playing FFIX (after yet again being shown my own internal organs in Dark Souls by the Taurus Demon. Yes, Mr. Demon. They are very pretty. No no, I most certainly do appreciate the way my blood sparkles in the light!). After finally meeting up with my favorite character of the game, Freya, and getting my monkey-tailed butt handed to me by her in the Festival of the Hunt, we are now off to her home nation of  Burmecia.

Oh but first we have to make a quick dash through Gizamaluke's Grotto, a place that even in adulthood I cannot pronounce (mostly because I don't care to try). It occurs to me that perhaps it would have been to my benefit to have done a bit of level grinding before heading straight here. At level 7 I certainly survive fights, but I feel as though I shouldn't be using a potion on everyone at the end of every battle.

Good old Moogles, always perfectly situated just where I need them. But whats this? A climbable vine in the Moogle room I had never noticed before? Why this seems the perfect opportunity for adventure! Whats that, Mr. Moogle? It's dangerous up here? Poppycock! I got this!

Atop the vine I found myself in a small grassy area with two large forest type things (PS1 graphics can be....abstract). Neat, I though, emerging from one of the forest...things. Lets see whats in the other forest...thing! Halfway to my destination the screen swirls and battle music booms triumphantly as I find myself face to face with...a dragon. Well crap.

Since silk shirts and leather hats don't protect particularly well against a Thundaga spell to the face, I reloaded my save from the game over screen and promptly ran in the opposite direction, toward the thing I was actually supposed (and capable, theoretically) to be killing: Gizamaluke. He too proceed to murder the three brave (and one annoying) warriors in my party.

Ok, I have him this time. Stupid fish can't fight me if he has A TENT IN HIS FACE! With above mentioned tent in his face Gizamaluke was pretty easy. I should probably level grind now.....

In a non-gaming note, Aaron and I earned our blue belt in karate today. YAY BLUE BELT!

RAAAAAAAAAAAAGE

Wow. That took a quick turn, even for me.

While I can proudly say I managed to NOT chuck my controller into my living room TV, I can't remember the last time I screamed that loudly or that many obscenities while playing anything, and that includes the last time I played Zombies. I don't mind dying, I DO mind nonsense teleporting behind me to spread my innards all over the nonsense in front of me. I can only handle so much (which really isn't all that much), so ON TO THE NEXT GAME!

I found myself quite surprised by the collection Aaron has accumulated on his PS3, and even more surprised by my complete lack of desire to play most of them. I loaded up Ratchet and Clank, but quit out at the loading screen. I then turned to the PS1 games he had on the system hoping for a twinge of nostalgia.

BAM, one of the first PS1 titles was Final Fantasy IX, my favorite of the Final Fantasy franchise and one of my favorite games of my childhood. I love that feeling, experiencing something for the second, third or fourth time years and years later, comfortably familiar yet just enough of it's details escape your memory that it feels somewhat new.

Just as before, I once again fell in love with the game. I love the style and the music, the story and its characters. All of its little quirks. Now that I am playing it as an adult it's a completely different experience. I'm now catching things I know I missed before, little nooks and crannies I never checked, abilities and strategies I never thought to maximize.

Then, in the middle of my happy trip to the past, I died in a fight. Zidane vs the first Black Waltz. I didn't account for turn speed and thus my life saving potion, set to be drunk upon my very next move, went unused as the Waltz's little pet Sealion decided my face was a perfect place to chuck a Blizzard spell. No big deal, I naively believed, I just didn't pay attention, I'll get him this time.

As I reloaded the game I came to the realization that, hey! Old games don't autosave!!! You know, autosave, that nifty little feature that most players, myself included, have come to take for granted. I loaded back in the middle of the Evil Forest, a clean 45 minutes from where I had been. Next game please!!!

Thus I spent the remained of Aaron's nap (he was asleep in the chair next to me, having passed out just after I started FFIX) playing Majong. So much for that. Tomorrow I think I'll throw Dark Souls back in, then more FFIX after I (inevitably) quit in a fiery explosion of anger and hate.