#miscellaneous.

as with most, you really do have to reign yourself in from allowing final fantasy to take most ( if not all ) availability. uniquely shared experiences with others concerning final fantasy x and final fantasy ix make them great contenders for places. but alas. 

final fantasy viii. speaks well enough for itself. the countless hours i’ve spent with this game and its characters alongside its messages. we all have this profound connection to that which has shaped a core part of our identities, a speech i'll spare you from for now. that aside, my playstation was second-hand when experiencing this game for the first time and had a mind of its own to reset whenever it felt like ... my earliest lessons of save early and save often.

final fantasy xv. where viii values loyalty, my favorite from xv values being loyal. to be the kind of man that ignis is not only for noctis and his friends, but to echo this profound sense of existing humbly alongside them and really carving out this invaluable place. 

final fantasy vi. xv still massively missed an opportunity by not bringing the opera a second wind when we visit altissia. we could have had so much. and yes, at the critical turning point, i did wait ( — if you know, you know. ) 

grandia ii. there aren’t many i’ve met that have heard of this game, much less played it, so there’s always a great flicker when i come across someone that has. played this one on the dreamcast back in the day and was thoroughly impressed by it through and through. tracks, great. story, great. the eye of valmar still has me fucked up.

tales of zestiria. the same issue with this series that i experience with final fantasy since i’ve played so many of them, but zestiria is really the one that shines through the most ( vesperia is a very strong second contender, though. ) something about the elemental armatus design really had me in a choke hold.  the legend of dragoon. some of my appreciation of the recent expedition 33 playthrough stems from this game and its battle system, really made me reminisce playing this game much earlier on. i made it my life's mission to perfect albert's combination attack ( gust of the wind dance. ) in the same breath as zestiria, the dragoon alt combat was really fascinating to me. 

ocarina of time. if i could forget a game and play it again for the first time, this would be my choice. to have the luxury of figuring out the dungeons and hearing the tracks again for the first time. don’t take these moments for granted. majora's mask, twilight princess, and skyward sword are also extremely worthy of mentions.

.hack//infection. what i had always dreamed playing online games might be like in my young, more impressionable mind. that, and i’ve got a soft spot for the music as a remnant of watching .hack//SIGN. lost my memory card of continued game data when i got to the fourth game, though.