It’s the butt of many a meme and internet gif. Short videos of it amass millions of views. It can range from shouting a few choice swear words to hurling heavy objects out of windows. It’s responsible for simmering toxicity in many an online gaming community, causing players to be ostracised. Friendships have dissolved because of it, marriages have died because of it, streamers have been banned over it.

That’s right, it’s:

Oops, no, sorry not Rage the video game.

It’s GAMER RAGE!

Gamer rage: “feeling extreme anger or performing violent acts in response to a video game.”

No video game is immune. Some attract it more than others, but it appears that anything involving winning or losing, success or failure, or trying to place a piece of furniture in the exact right orientation can cause a full-on rage. That said, research shows that violent and competitive games increase the probability of people becoming physically aggressive.1 In a survey conducted by time2play, Xbox players were the most likely to experience extreme anger from gaming at least once a day.2 So if you’re playing Call of Duty online on an Xbox… how’s your blood pressure buddy, you okay?

“… one time I let my rage loose was with a MOBA game, League of Legends… I did a lot of mistakes and misses. So my temper got the best of me and I punched my desk…”

Ragebait

Unsurprisingly, research also shows that losing can increase aggression. Typically, anger impacts cognitive functions and concentration, meaning that if you’re raging because you’re losing, you’re not suddenly going to start winning just because you got angry.3 With the rise of competitive “battle royale” online gaming over the past few years, there’s also a rise in aggression due to loss and toxic behaviours from players. This can even happen when you’re on the same team. Playing with perceived “noobs” or someone having a bad round can get the rage rising in everyone.

Countless female gamers document themselves being called all the names under the sun because they dared play a game, online or not. Many say these experiences make them feel like they don’t belong in the space, or push them to stop playing. Due to the open nature of online competitive gaming, children are also being exposed to adult’s rage and bullying, and often joining in.4

“Uninstalled GTAV in a rage because the voice chat is rampant with misogyny and homophobia and racism.”

Being a woman susceptible to a bit of rage, it’s things like this that mean I avoid online gaming like the plague. It would be like going and kicking a beehive naked, knowing you’re allergic to bee stings.

However, I am open to some couch co-op with friends. But just because you’re sitting next to your team mates or opponents, it doesn’t make you immune to the rage. Overcooked will send me into the red mist. Playing with other people can be difficult, however competent they are. I just want win, I want to succeed, but some of my friends just want to have a laugh and fuck about. I’m yelling at my them, thinking they’re scum when they can’t complete a simple task of putting a tomato in a pot to make soup, fucking imbeciles. In the moment, the boiling pot spills over and I’m yelling obscenities wondering why I’m friends with these idiots. But once the Switch is turned off, it’s forgotten, I couldn’t care less. It almost becomes quite funny to say that I lost my rag to a game where you have to make tomato soup with friends.

Rage against the machine

Outside factors such as lag, technical issues or interruptions from the outside world can also make you angry. The systems we play on can let us down, by running out of battery, not receiving signals properly, and succumbing to wear and tear, leading to things like “stick drift”. And of course these malfunctions always happen when you’re at a critical point in the game. Like the Game Boy battery dying just as you’re about to beat Pokémon’s Elite Four. Or the internet connection dropping as you’re about to land a snipey headshot in Call of Duty. Or a Bethesda game crashing after you’ve spent several hours exploring without saving.

“… I think I’ve only raged a few times in games, and all those times were related to when I either forgot to save a game and made a ton of progress or lost a save for some reason.”

Our anger can also be directed towards our hardware and any inanimate objects in close proximity. Any item in the immediate vicinity is at risk of being thrown, punched, kicked, yeeted or also bitten. Many of you reported breaking tables, making holes in walls or breaking controllers or keyboards. It’s interesting that rage stemming from a digital world can have drastic adverse effects in reality.

I distinctly remember playing Pokémon Silver and getting to the third gym - it’s Whitney bitch. You know, that vile woman with the Miltank who knows Rollout and absolutely humbles you the first time you challenge her. And the second time, third time, and fourth. I always thought I’d trained enough, but then I lost again. At some point I lost my cool and sank my teeth into the top of my Game Boy Colour in anger. The teethmarks are still there today. Whitney’s not, I beat her ass eventually. But my poor Game Boy still bears the scars of my anger getting the better of me.

“I turned the corner of my Game Boy Advance SP’s screen into a chew toy. Lose a narrow Pokémon battle? CHOMP. Throw an interception to the pixelated secondary in Madden 06? OMNOMNOM. Teeth marks dented and damaged the console that I loved so much, all because I was a little rage monster.”

Don’t look back in anger

Growing up I did have a problem with game rage. It started way before video games came into my life. Playing board games with my family, I would get super pissed off if I perceived I hadn’t won because someone else (usually my dad, the joker!) had cheated or wronged me in some way. I was a sore loser as a child, especially when I thought I was really good at something and I didn’t win it.

I still hate things that feel unfair and unwinnable. If I can’t complete a platforming level because the jumps feel impossible, I hate it. If a game doesn’t explain itself properly and I’m super stuck, I hate it. If a boss has a one-hit-kill mechanic, I hate it.

“ [In Shadow of the Colossus] I’m very bad at platforming and very very bad at 3D platforming, and there is ONE JUMP very early in that game… that I simply COULD NOT DO. I tried for almost an hour and my NERF PS2 controller got bounced all over my damn living room.”

This is why I’ve never ventured into games such as Dark Souls and Elden Ring, or competitive online games such as Call of Duty or Fortnite. Some people see these games as a skill challenge to be won. I honestly just see them as a red rag. I already know this is going to piss me off, so I’m not even going to attempt it. I’m sure I’ve missed out on some good gaming experiences because of that view, but as my time capacity for gaming becomes more limited, I actually want to enjoy my time spent on it rather than just swearing and getting stuck. I’ve talked about unfairness in Final Fantasy bosses, and yes, most of those drove me to angry tears because I just didn’t see a way around completing them. One hit KO’s, unavoidable ultimate moves, unfair targeting… they all added up to pure anger.

I’m (kind of) okay (I promise)

When I asked for stories about gamer rage, there was another emotion that also stood out: shame. When the red mist fades and your brain drops back into reality, the first emotion that often arises is shame. This “rage state” isn’t our norm, it forces us to do things that we wouldn’t normally do. We break stuff, we say things we don’t mean, we damage our relationships. We realise we have to repair a wall, buy a new keyboard, apologise for an outburst.

“I took my controller and threw it at the living room wall. The controller just stuck in the wall in a comical way. I removed it and there it was, a giant hole in the wall. The embarrassing part of this story isn’t that I was a fully grown adult crying over a FIFA game, it was the fact that the next day my wife questioned the hole and I blamed it on our toddler. Now I do come clean about 2 minutes later but in that moment I actually blamed my son because I was so embarrassed to admit the truth.”

At the end of the day we realise “it’s just a game”. Well, it is and it isn’t. I think that phrase often ignores the time, effort, skill and passion people have for and put into games. I think some gamer rage is pretty well justified. If you were building a large Lego model for 2 hours and someone just smashed it on the floor and you had to start again, that would be pretty rage-inducing right? If you were playing football with friends and they brought our a professional player and it was just too difficult to win against them, that would be pretty frustrating, right?

I think a problem arises when these feelings of frustration get taken out on others. Research has proven time and time again that violent video games do not, on the whole, create violent people. They can serve as an outlet for negative feelings; a lot of people describe using video games as a way to “switch off” after a stressful day. However, online gaming crash outs and cyber-bullying spoils things for everyone, turning the online gaming circuit into a circlejerk of obscenities and every -ism under the sun.

In Retrospect…

As I’ve grown older, I’ve learned to deal with these feelings a bit better, but that’s been a journey. You know that gambling slogan, “when the fun stops, STOP.” ? I have tried to take that to heart when it comes to games.

When I can feel my heart pounding, my voice raising, the swear words coming thick and fast, and sadly, when my dog comes over to me looking sad like I’m angry at him (sorry boy) then I check myself. If it’s a horrible boss I’m attempting, is it optional, do I care enough to attempt it again? Was I close, or is this never going to happen? If it’s a tricky puzzle, can I look up a solution? Is the rest of the game made up of more of the same? Is this going to piss me off the whole time I’m playing? Should I just give up now and leave it well alone?

It’s good to be able to ask ourselves questions like this when we’re playing games. The most important one should always be: “Am I enjoying myself?” Now that I have much less time to play games, I choose wisely and am much quicker to put something down if I’m not feeling it. Younger me would have ploughed through, getting more and more frustrated before throwing in the towel along with the controller.

Whilst my gamer rage is probably always going to be a part of me, I hope that it’s not an ugly part that puts other people off playing with me or around me. Maybe just watch out if you’re playing Overcooked though. Remember we’re here to make tomato soup and win, not spin in circles with a fire extinguisher (yes Nick that means YOU).

Do you have a rage story, gaming or not? How do you harness your anger when playing video games?

Leave a comment

HUGE THANK YOU to everyone who commented on my Note about gamer rage. I’ve included some quotes here, I didn’t include names in case folks didn’t want to be called out and personally shamed by their rage stories, but feel free to call yourselves out in the comments if you’re feeling brave.

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“Digimon, digital monsters, Digimon are the CHAMPIONS!”

None since Freddie Mercury have so proudly proclaimed that they are the champions of the world, albeit the digital one, but here they are. Digimon: Pokémon’s older, edgier brother. Digimon had guns, bazookas, lasers and bombs wayyyy before Palworld even existed, and Pokémon didn’t even say anything.

Digimon were created in the late 90’s by Bandai as a more masculine-marketed Tamagotchi. The OG digital pet was deemed too feminine, too cute, not “manly” enough. So they made “Digital Monsters”, featuring all the usual virtual pet hallmarks, but with an added battle feature. Because obviously all boys love fighting, what better way to get them hooked!

As with all good toys in the 90’s, Digimon needed a whole media ecosystem around it to be more marketable and sell units. We’d seen the same pattern with the likes of Transformers, Power Rangers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. And so, after the 1997 release of the Digimon Tamagotchi toys, a manga, anime and video game were created to help kids discover and love these new Digital Monsters.

A new ‘mon has appeared!

“Digimon Adventure” anime released in 1999 and went on to have several well-performing seasons. I remember this arriving on UK TV screens as an after-school cartoon, its thumping theme tune sticking to my dad’s brain like glue as he sung it regularly around the house. The show was grittier than Pokémon in both colouring and topics covered. There was always a bit of Pokémon VS Digimon rivalry in the playground, but I don’t think any of my school friends would have openly admitted to being a Digimon fan. Apart from the repetitive digi-volutions animation sequences every episode, the theme tune is a solid banger and the animation style is pretty amazing. I enjoyed it, secretly.

Digimon’s first venture into the PlayStation video game space came in 1999 through Digimon World. The game follows the staple Digimon narrative format where a child is absorbed into the Digital World to partner with a Digimon and save the world. You play said child (who looks like he’s popped straight out of a Limp Bizkit video) and are given a choice between two starter Digimon: the cute Dino-mon Agumon, and scary skin-wearing Gabumon. Seriously, I thought Gabumon was a cute dog, but ohhh no.

Similar to Bandai’s Digimon toys, your Digimon requires feeding, training, rest and regular toilet breaks. The overall aim of the game is to work with your digital partner to reunite the local Digimon, usually by tracking them down and beating them in battle. In the game, there’s a very fine line between long distance exploration and your Digimon’s survival. Your ‘mons require round the clock care; they’re not into wild pooing, and will be annoyed at you if you don’t provide a comfortable Japanese toilet for their number two’s. I mean, fair enough. Once you’ve used a Japanese toilet, anything else is just a hole in the ground. The Digimon can barely survive long enough to make it halfway across the island, often dying of “old age” (2 days, I swear a fly lives longer) or will be disgusted enough with your lack of care to evolve into something nasty. And I mean NASTY.

The origin of Digi-species

With hard work, care and regular toilet breaks, your Digimon will evolve into a more powerful form, allowing you to travel further, battle harder and discover new areas. Or, if you’re me as a child, they’ll “evolve” into the shit-throwing Numemon.

One of the worst things about Tamagotchi was waking up to find out it had grown up into an ugly little beast or died. You had to take care of this thing for days, weeks, months to get it to grow into something worth showing off. In the UK in the 90’s, they were banned in schools so my poor mum bravely volunteered to take mine to work and feed it for me. If you appeased its every whim, it would change into a bigger, cuter pet. If you neglected it, it would either die and you’d have to start again, or it would change into some horrendous monstrosity. Digimon World was no different.

Numemon, it seems, was created for this purpose. It’s described as possessing neither strength nor brains, and its attacks include “Poop throw”, “Long-range poop throw” and “Continuous poop throw”… you get the idea. I often thought this was the end when playing Digimon World. Numemon couldn’t hold its own against the other Digimon I was meant to be taming and bringing back, and it couldn’t really be trained. Sadly, it usually shuffled off this mortal coil before I could do much with it. Which is a shame, as I later learned that with a bit of training, this guy could evolve into quite a powerful dude. Ah well.

Despite the shit-throwing blob, Digimon evolutions generally felt increasingly ridiculous. Usually adding words like “metal” and “war” to existing names, sometimes both, to make long and bizarre names that sounded like you were an army general taking inventory. This makes more sense when you know the later Digimon designs were based on American comics, which to my biased brain, probably contain a lot of war, guns and missiles. Still, who doesn’t love a diva who can shoot missiles from her chest?

Compared to original Pokémon evolution lines, where the most complex one was Eevee having 3 forms easily identified by the stones used to evolve it, trying to understand Digimon evolution lines is similar to looking at Darwin’s evolutionary tree of life. Digimon World was never too forthcoming in how these evolution trees worked, and whilst I encountered strong and fearsome Digimon in the wild, I could never quite grasp how to evolve them for myself. Back in the pre-internet days, kids were just digi-destined to never know.

Similar to Pokémon, you had to fight to get stronger. The game’s battle system was a bit haphazard; you had to mash buttons to cheer your Digimon on from the sidelines until your opponent was defeated. I honestly couldn’t find much strategy apart from that. Your character opted to either yell “Attack” or “Do whatever”. Sometimes you won, sometimes you didn’t, there wasn’t any logic around it!

The game itself was great graphically, the Digimon sprites were detailed and interesting, and each area provided beautiful vistas and nature. However, this led to insanely long loading times EVERY TIME you went into a new screen. Considering a lot of the game requires you running from area to area, you spent a lot of time looking at a loading screen announcing the name of the area. There must have been some heavy lifting for the PS1 to do to even get this working.

I sadly don’t have any music shout-outs for Digimon World. The soundtrack didn’t really leave an impression on me, and a lot of the areas used nature sound effects as the background “music”, so there’s not much to go on.

In Retrospect…

For a first proper foray into the home video game space, I think this was a pretty good go. Bandai definitely captured the feel of a “Tamagotchi” video game, bathroom breaks included. It was easy to play but really difficult to master. Where Pokémon was simple - fight, gain EXP, level up, evolve, progress - Digimon World suffered from overcomplexity. I can see similarities in looking after my baby; every hour of his day is accounted for in food, sleep, stimulation and, of course, nappy changes. In Digimon World, you couldn’t afford to dally or go off piste, you had to be very direct and have a plan. Otherwise, you’re Digimon’s dead or turning into Numemon. For someone like me who gets distracted by everything in an open world(ish) game, I doubt I was ever going to succeed at being a Digimon Master. I didn’t get very far into the game, and struggled to fully comprehend it at the tender age of 10. But I still enjoyed the exploration aspect and discovering new and ridiculous Digimon made it an enjoyable romp.

Whilst it stuttered in reviews at the time, gaining an aggregated review score of about 50%, and only managed a meager 250k in Japanese sales, Digimon World appears to be a bit of a cult classic among late millennials. Plenty of people like me have returned to this game and quite enjoyed it now they’re older and wiser, more appreciative of the complex gameplay. There’s a host of YouTube videos about Digimon World, with players recounting fond memories in the comments. They often recall not knowing what the hell was going on, as did I, but enjoying the feel of the game and the ability to potter about with a Digimon friend nonetheless. Sometimes I think reviewers forget that kids enjoy games too, and kids enjoy the “worst” games in the weirdest ways.

I think what’s more important is the path this game paved for the Digimon franchise. The Digimon games that followed were much more experimental, especially when compared to Pokémon, trying different art styles, different genres, different platforms. Bandai kept trying new things, building on each game and each mistake. Whilst not always hitting the mark, they have delivered some really good games in more recent years; the Digimon Story series has fantastic ratings and consistently delivers cult hits. The IP continues to experiment, with fighting games, card games, racing game, visual novels, and sticking to their tried and tested virtual pet RPGs.

I had the pleasure of playing through Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth a few years back and was really impressed. While Pokémon continues to churn out the same game with a different hat on, Digimon quietly plugs away, steadily improving and throwing out mainline games that receive great ratings and rave reviews. But sadly to a much smaller audience.

If you’ve never dabbled, I’d definitely recommend giving a Digimon game a try. You might be scratching your head about how to get from A to Z in digi-volutions, but remember that if it gets bigger and has missile boobs, you’re probably going in the right direction.

Are you a digi-destined? Where did you start in the Digimon franchise? Or have you avoided it completely?

There’s a joke that all JRPGs boil down to killing god at the end. God - lord and master of all, creator and destroyer of worlds, a being of infinite power and knowledge. Should be easy, right 😬? Well, actually, it usually is. By the time you reach the end of the game, if you’re anything like me, your team is massively over-leveled, you’ve got all the OP gear, and you could probably nuke the last boss with a flick of your finger.

Today, we’re not here to talk about the battle with god (well, we will once). We’re here to talk about the other beings that get in your way before god, the real pains in the arse. Or at least the ones that have been a personal pain in my arse.

When you read through this list, please don’t laugh. Looking back, a lot of these bosses are not at all difficult, and I am throwing my head in my hands at how terrible my gaming skills could be way back when. So here’s me being “vulnerable” and exposing some of my most embarrassing stuck moments, and some that are just actually too hard.

*Spoilers for multiple Final Fantasy games from here on *

Ultros (Final Fantasy 6)

He’s big, he’s purple, he’s a complete menace! And he won’t go away!

Ultros is a giant purple tentacled monster who pummels your characters with his many arms and his cantankerous wit. The wise-cracking, hungry asshole shows up in Final Fantasy 6 a total of 4 times, but for me, the first was the worst.

This fight can be quite tough; Ultros’ strong tentacle attacks can easily smash through the whole party if you’re not careful. He also throws out ink which can blind your characters, making their attacks miss more often. Just to make things a bit harder, you also have to make sure Banon, the resistance fighter’s leader, survives the fight. If he goes down, it’s game over. Luckily he doesn’t get targeted too heavily, but it’s hard enough keeping the rest of the party alive! Ultros also enjoys taunting you throughout the battle, which makes it all feel a bit daft and ridiculous (as well as really bloody irritating if he’s winning).

I don’t know how my party was so underprepared for him, but I got annihilated every time I faced him. I went round that stretch of the river Lethe about 20 times before I eventually trounced him. Unfortunately, he doesn’t die and you have to roast him later in the game again, and again, and again before he finally goes away. Purple calamari, anyone?

BGH251F2 aka Iron Clad (Final Fantasy 8)

Countdown timers in games are always stressful for me. I like to play games how I like to do long runs - slowly, as relaxed as possible, and always heading towards something unknown. I am the queen of “what’s that?”, veering massively off track to look at an interesting rock that probably has absolutely nothing to do with anything and definitely isn’t a side quest, collectible or fun glitch. This is not at all conducive to being timed, so any introduction of a countdown clock will send me into a spiral.

At this point in the game, your team infiltrates an enemy missile base and reprograms it to self-destruct. The game graciously allows you to set a time limit for your escape: 10, 20, 30 or 40 minutes. Being a countdown timer hater, and not very confident in my team’s ass kicking abilities, I chose 40 minutes. On the way out, you’re accosted by a ridiculously large mech who can kick like a coked up donkey. You must exit the base and defeat the giant assault bot within the time limit, or you’ll all go kaboom.

I must have replayed this fight nearly 50 times, easily meeting the definition of madness by thinking I had even the slightest chance of winning each time I restarted. At the time, I couldn’t understand what I was doing wrong, what I was missing. It’s worth mentioning when I first played through Final Fantasy 8, I had no idea the Guardian Force summons (GFs) needed to be drawn from bosses. Therefore, I progressed through the main story with only 3 GFs (rather than 7 or 8) and did not know how to equip magic to my characters, making them about as strong as a dead twig. Looking back, I have no idea how I made it so far, this fight is about halfway through the game FFS! My characters hadn’t got a chance in hell and died over and over as I threw them into battle with no real strategy or clue what I was doing.

As luck would have it, my best friend accidentally overwrote this cursed save file for FF8. I was very annoyed at him when he did it, but with hindsight, he did me a massive favour. I bought the official Piggyback FF8 strategy guide, started again and made short work of this asshole boss when I reached him. When I later replayed the FF8 remaster and actually learned the junction system, complex as it is, I nuked this boss in less than 5 minutes. It felt good to get revenge for my younger self.

Orphan (Final Fantasy 13)

This is the only time I’ll talk about killing god in this piece (I think). Orphan is the final boss at the end of the long and straight road that is Final Fantasy 13. It’s one of those bosses similar to Final Fantasy 9’s Necron; they just kind of appear at the end as some evil deity and everyone agrees they have to die. It’s easier just to shrug and go along with it, down with overpowered deities!

Now Final Fantasy 13 has this really irritating mechanic where if your party leader gets KO’d, the game ends. That’s it, game over, reload your last save and try again. It can be a real kicker when it catches you off-guard. Luckily, this didn’t happen too often while I was pottering around; I’m quite a cautious RPGer, I’m more the type to heal and defend rather than going for a Hail Mary hit and crossing my fingers. But then I reached the final boss and it didn’t really care about my healing and defending strategies.

Orphan has a lovely instant-death attack, which randomly targets one of your three party members and straight up knocks them out. Let’s combine these two bits of information and you’ll see why this boss pained me for weeks.

Party leader dies, game over. Boss has insta-kill attack that has a 1 in 3 chance of targeting the party leader. 🤔😮‍💨 reader, the odds were never ever in my favour.

This cheating scumbag kicked my party leader to the kerb every time I challenged it, like some twisted game of Duck, Duck, Goose. There’s nothing I hate more than unfair video games, and this felt hideously unfair to 19 year old me. To rub salt in the wound, I had friends who completed the game completely untroubled by this attack. “Don’t think I got that one, I thought it was easy!” I felt personally targeted by this vengeful machine. Sure, during the course of the game I’d destroyed all its defenses and dismantled its systems of controlling the population, but come on mate, it’s all part of the very linear story! Get on board!

After unsuccessfully throwing everything at Orphan over ten times, Lady Luck looked down and took pity on me. In the early hours of a Monday in April 2010, I evaded insta-death and won the fight. I probably cried because I was so glad it was over and I didn’t have to play it again if I didn’t want to.

Sephiroth (Final Fantasy 7 - Rebirth)

Sephiroth is one of those inevitable boss fights at the end of most Final Fantasy 7 iterations. He’s one of the most iconic JRPG baddies with his long flowing silver locks and giant katana, but that doesn’t stop him from being a massive arsehole.

I’ll be honest, I never really fully got to grips with the 7 Remake and Rebirth battle systems. I understand stagger and weakness mechanics, but they never felt very natural in both games, so I usually opted for a “get over levelled and hammer attack” strategy for most parts of the game. I mostly used Yuffie to break down bosses stagger bars, as she was the easiest character for me to learn. I rarely used Aerith, finding her attacks slow and underpowered. And we all know what’s going to happen to her anyway, so what’s the point in investing in her? As I approached the final boss fight, I had to eat these words.

Rebirth’s final fight pits Cloud and recently deceased Aerith against Sephiroth. Forget all that levelling and maxing out you’ve done on the other party members, they don’t even get a look-in. Sephiroth is his usual speedy, overpowered self, flashing around being a royal pain in the arse. There comes a point where he’s pretty bored with this fight; if you haven’t smacked him down by then, he just unleashes an attack that knocks you both down to 1HP. If you haven’t got enough ATB charge to make a healing move when this happens, oops, looks like you’re a dead guy.

Oh, and by the way. If you lose this final fight, you must return to the very start of the whole final boss charade, which has 5 phases involving the rest of your party. The other 4 phases aren’t too difficult, but the whole shebang takes about 20-30 minutes to plod through, plus cut scenes. I attempted this at around 10pm, thinking I’d be able to smash out the final boss and roll credits before the day was out. Cut to 12am, I’m on attempt number 4, yelling at my husband to find an online guide that gave any tips to destroying this guy. I get close, once - he must have had around 10% health left. But that victory just falls into the jaws of defeat, bloody and wrecked like the other attempts before it.

I’ll be honest, I could not be bothered to go through it again, especially after putting over 100 hours into a bloated game that mostly felt like walking through 3 feet deep mud. We brought up the ending cut scenes on YouTube and I never opened the game again. That’s one PlayStation trophy I’m content in never winning. Life’s too short!

Seymour Guado (Final Fantasy 10)

Final Fantasy 10 fans are probably reading this thinking, “yeah, Seymour Flux is pretty difficult”. Well, I hate to disappoint you but I’m talking about the very first fight you have with Seymour. When he’s just a dude, not even some ethereal god-like being. However, I do feel a bit better about this one, as a quick search showed a lot of Reddit and forum posts titled “how to beat Seymour” - clearly I’m not alone!

This fight comes about halfway through the game; Yuna and her crew have just gained a fourth Aeon summon, Shiva, and found out that holier-than-thou Seymour murdered his dad just so he could take his job. They try to do the right thing and get him to confess his crime and turn himself in. However, Seymour quite likes his fancy life and decides to do away with these pesky kids so he can carry on being a big-shot Maester. A battle ensues!

Seymour himself isn’t too difficult to thrash. He has some pretty tricky defence mechanisms in the form of two Guado Guardians who defend and heal him, as well as a magic barrier reducing any spell damage. But that’s only the first part. Once sufficiently weakened, Seymour, will call forth his Aeon Anima. She is absolutely terrifying and can really pack a punch if you’re not prepared. Anima’s Pain attack can cause instant death to one of your team, and her Overdrive “Oblivion” smacks you about 16 times and is scary as hell. This is the part where I died. A lot.

It’s also quite a sticky part in the game; if you save at a certain point, there’s not a lot of opportunity to go back and grind to have a better chance at winning. I don’t have any big reveals or tactics here; it was one of those fights that I kept attempting until finally, Anima fell and Seymour was slain. Phew.

Yiazmat (Final Fantasy 12)

I’m sure this boss needs no introduction to a Final Fantasy fan, and probably makes everyone’s “bosses I hate” list. But for everyone else, I’ll explain.

Final Fantasy 12 has a bounty board side quest - a list of monsters increasing in strength that the player must defeat to gain money, cool gear and status. Once you’ve poked, prodded and scraped your way through this list, the monster to end all monsters appears: Yiazmat. He’s a big bad wyrm who has over 50 million HP, the most of any Final Fantasy boss ever. It can take anywhere between 1 to 10 hours to kill him, and you better have some pretty solid strategies in place before you start. This boss is so long, it even allows you to leave the arena to rest and return to carry on slaying him.

I admit, I love Final Fantasy 12, it’s one of my favourites. The gambit system was fun and interesting to use, requiring much more thought than my usual “just press attack until the enemy dies” way of playing. Set up in the right way, the game actually just plays itself; you can sit back and read a book, cook a meal or have a nap while the system plays for you. This is especially useful for some of the more difficult bosses later in the game. The player almost take the role of coach on the sidelines, subbing in team members and switching up strategies while your characters do all the physical work.

When I first played 12 back in 2007, I thought I had it all figured out. I easily trawled through the bounty board and unlocked the Yiazmat fight. I had heard about its difficulty and length, but thought I was a pretty superior Final Fantasy player at this point; surely all these other posers just didn’t know what they were doing. Hmm. I was humbled very quickly.

It wasn’t that the fight was too hard, it was just finicky and, well, boring. I toiled for an hour or so, slowly chipping away at Yiazmat’s enormous health bars. When I looked at the clock and saw how little time had passed and how few health bars I’d depleted, I realised I just couldn’t be bothered. There are few things in life that feel worth spending that amount of time on, and prodding this squiggly wyrm with a sword is not one of them. I replayed 12 when I bought the updated FF12 Zodiac Age a few years back, and still didn’t entertain the idea of this fight. Maybe one day, when I’m retired and can’t sleep? On my deathbed, perhaps?

In retro-spect…

So, that’s my Final Fantasy boss shit list. Any surprises? I have to say, I’m still embarrassed about some of these, especially Ultros and Iron Clad. Replays proved to me these are not at all difficult fights, I think I was just too young to properly understand and strategise. Now I’m older and not much wiser, but I know just bashing “Attack” like a bull in a china shop works sometimes, but definitely not all the time.

What boss fights have you been embarrassingly stuck on? Or ones that have made you just give up on a game completely?

Last year, my parents delivered a box of my old DVDs and games when they moved house. As we were flicking through them, my husband asked “why do you have so many sequels without the originals?” This annoyed him a little from a completionist element, why would you have 2 and not 1? And well, to be honest, a lot of the time, the second attempt is much better than the first. In film especially: Terminator 2, Aliens, Magic Mike 2… all better than the first (in my opinion)! The same is often true for games too. An idea is shipped, enjoyed by an adoring audience and then the creators have space and money to bring to life what they might not have been able to achieve the first time around.

Spyro 2: Gateway to Glimmer fits this mold. After the first game was released to moderate applause, fans wanted more purple dragon, but they wanted it better and, more importantly, harder. One of the main criticisms of Spyro 1 was its general ease and lack of challenge. I’d agree with this, as picking up 1 after playing 2 felt like walking into a room and being given a medal, a trophy and a million pounds for just existing.

The Spyro sequel sees everyone’s favourite gaming dragon and his dragonfly buddy accidentally transported to the realm of Avalar instead of going on holiday to Dragon Shores. Once there, they are beseeched by the locals to deal with the recent insurgency from despicable dino dwarf Ripto and his cronies. And so follows an epic adventure to collect talismans, orbs, gems and memories, all so Spyro can finally get on with his holidays.

I had completely missed the first Spyro game (probably buried in completing Crash Bandicoot 2, another great sequel) but I was drawn to the scaly beast through the ancient medium of the video game demo disc.

Heaven is a demo disc

Does anyone remember OPM? No, not the one-hit-wonder skate band from 2000. The Official (UK) PlayStation Magazine! Back when the PlayStation first came out, OPM often came with a demo disc attached. Pre-online store days, this was the only way to try out the latest and greatest PlayStation games, and decide whether to splash your hard earned pocket money or pester your parents to buy the whole thing. YouTuber PlayStation Advocate shows off the demo disc below.

If ComputingHistory.org has it correct, I had bought issue 52, containing a demo disc with several sequels on it. Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Gran Turismo 2, and… Spyro 2. The latter contained 2 demo levels: Skelos Badlands, a lava-filled caveman level, and Sunny Beach, where there are baby turtles to rescue. I played the hell out of these two levels. If these levels were lemons, they would be so shrivelled and dry after I squeezed every last drop out of them. I knew all the shortcuts and hiding places the demo would allow me to, I had aced all the mini-games, and solved all the puzzles. They had nothing left to give and yet still, I played them. I was obsessed.

My parents got the hint that I might quite like the game and bought it for Christmas. The side quests and puzzles in the game had challenged my little brain enough for them to realise it wasn’t just a mindless button basher. Spyro 2 did come with a challenge, but fun and family friendly along with it.

Obviously I cruised through both Sunny Beach and Skelos Badlands, even smashing the added extras that came with the full game. Other levels proved more difficult and there were a few I found so challenging and irritating at the time that I just got in and out as fast as I could without even stopping to look around (I’m looking at you Breeze Harbour and YOU Metropolis).

The developers definitely listened to players need for a more challenging Spyro game; some mini-games and puzzles actually required a bit of thought and strategy rather than just winging it. Their difficulty was sometimes exacerbated by the game’s controls and environment; skating on ice wasn’t the easiest, and Spyro often struggled to change direction quickly which meant you’d miss something important if you weren’t looking directly at it. Some demanded a perfect run, and any minor mistakes restarted the mini-game, usually with an NPC scolding or teasing you in some way that made you want to shout “FUCK OFF” at them (was that just me? 😅) And in others, the NPCs you were trying to help were just so damn UNHELPFUL. There’s an alchemist in the Fracture Hills level who asks you run an escort mission to avoid some big guys with hammers to get him to Hunter. Instead of trying to avoid the aggressive obstacles, he runs straight at them as if they’re going to give him a hug, and you’re expected to be there, charging them out of the way. Here’s a tip Mr. Alchemist - maybe don’t make a beeline for the guys who are out to smash your face in? Something to try, eh?

Speaking of unhelpful NPCs, there’s one guy in Spyro 2 who is undoubtedly the biggest dick of them all.

With friends like these…

Everyone needs a little help to save the world. Spyro obviously has his best buddy Sparx, who serves as his health gauge and compass, and luckily the inhabitants of Avalar are also willing to lend a hand. Well, most of them anyway.

The money hungry bear Moneybags is clearly capitalism personified and the obvious punching bag. He does his best to act as a progression blocker, citing a “small fee” for equally small favours to take you to the next area or part of a level. Moneybags is easy to hate, but at least he’s transparent. I respect him for that; the bear knows what he wants and he knows how to get it.

Hunter on the other hand, is a total shitbag. Touted as Spyro’s “friend”, this guy is nothing more than a treacherous walking disaster. Every time I found Hunter in a level, I knew I would want to scream and throw things after speaking to him.

“Hey Hunter, what do you mean you’ve collected one of the things we need to stop the bad guy but you won’t give it to me unless I beat you at some horrendously difficult game you just invented? We have the same goals, right? You want to save your world and get rid of Ripto, yeah? Because it doesn’t feel that way Hunter. It seems like you’d rather block me and play games? Why Hunter? WHY!?”

Let’s not forget that Hunter is the reason Ripto is in Avalar in the first place. He was the one who accidentally cocked up the portal, allowing the miniature tyrant unfettered access to all the worlds! You would think he’d want to fix his mistake and do everything to help. Perhaps he loves Spyro so much, he’d rather live under a dictatorship with Spyro than help him defeat it and go home. That’s the only rational explanation I have for his douchebaggery.

Reignited passions

Back in 1999, Spyro 2 was one PlayStation game I pretty much 100% completed, including secrets. Obviously I picked up the triple threat that was the Spyro Reignited trilogy when it came out, and found there wasn’t really much left that I didn’t know. Developers Toys for Bob did a stellar job on the remaster; I thoroughly enjoyed rediscovering the worlds I’d forgotten and, with age and patience, some puzzles and mini-games seemed easier. My husband even helped with the Speedway levels, which I’d previously avoided because of how annoyingly hard I’d found them.

Musical shout-outs

Spyro 2 has a fantastic soundtrack. Unsurprising, given that it’s composed by Stewart Copeland of The Police (which I honestly find WILD). In a San Diego Comic Con panel, Michael John (Universal Interactive Studios producer) talks about how he took a demo of the original Spyro to Copeland’s house after hearing some of his music against the game. Copeland loved the atmosphere of the game, and playing it, so agreed to compose the soundtrack. He talks about banging out 4 backing tracks a day, and the Spyro tunes continue to be a source of inspiration for him. Copeland clearly loved Spyro, he ended up composing soundtracks for 4 whole games.

The worlds of Spyro 2 can rapidly flip between the moody, thundering undertones of lightning valley Hurricos, to the fun, child-like turtle world of Sunny Beach. From the futuristic, robotic city of Metropolis, to the serene, ancient snowy mountain of Colossus. The soundtrack has vast range, still but manages to feel like it’s all part of the same game. You just know that you’re listening to a song from a Spyro game. The sounds of bells, synths and picky acoustic guitar riffs feature throughout, combined with a sort of semi-galloping rhythm that matches the way Spyro runs and jumps around each level.

It’s hard to pick favourites (as usual), but here are some of the more stand out tracks for me.

Hurricos

This track is one of the perfect examples of the music’s mood matching the level. Hurricos is filled with rain, thunder, lightning and electric tech that’s usually needing to be fixed. The music just sounds like something you could listen to while looking out at the rain. The steady drum rhythm sounds like rain on a roof and the chilled guitar riffs playfully tinkle in the background, providing a beautiful accompaniment to Hurricos’ moody downpour. I also used to think part of this track was someone saying “Create a good giz-wire” in a very distorted voice. Listen out for it?!

Magma Cone

I love the way this track builds. It starts off quite unassuming with some basic drum and bass. Then some meaty guitar riffs come in. Then some singing synths that sound like they belong praising the Lord. And then finally, some random growly noises blast through. All of this is happening while a volcano is erupting, and it’s perfect.

Autumn Plains

In Spyro 2, you have 3 base worlds, Summer Forest, Autumn Plains and Winter Tundra. You can access all the other levels through portals from one of these base worlds. The tracks for each of these really contrasts to the busy music from all the other levels. They feel like the ethereal tunes one might use for a meditation or massage. This matches the feel of the base worlds; there are no enemies here and you’re free to roam at a more leisurely pace. I could probably sit for a while listening to this…

In Retro-spect…

Spyro is still one of the most iconic PlayStation characters, easily defining a generation of gaming alongside Crash Bandicoot and Lara Croft. Spyro 2 cemented my love of the 3D platfomer with its charming visuals, comedic (and annoying) NPCs and intriguing secrets. Despite my enraged rant about challenging mini-games and frankly punchable NPCs, I actually enjoyed them. There were only a couple that felt unfair, and those mainly involved Hunter, the bastard. I usually had to question my strategy and change tack, rather than trying to brute force the problem (which is my usual go-to for some games…).

All in all, Spyro 2 is a game I am more than happy to pick up any time. Now the Reignited Trilogy is around, selling well and winning awards, it proves that Spyro can delight another generation, and definitely isn’t going anywhere. Perhaps we could expect a new Spyro game somewhere on the horizon? Pretty please?

Is Hunter the WORST sidekick in gaming history? What levels did you love / hate in Spyro 2?

**Contains some spoilers for Final Fantasy 10 and 10-2**

I shouldn’t like this game. It’s girly, in your face, poppy and bright, everything I was not back then, and still am not now. But somehow, despite myself, this is one of my favourite Final Fantasies of all time.

I am a perennial tomboy. As a child, I shunned most “gender appropriate” toys and leaned into the complete opposite. A well meaning distant relative bought me a Barbie for a birthday once, and that poor girlie was tormented. I bit her feet, cut her hair and generally discarded her. Sorry Barb, nothing personal, but the idea of playing dress-up disgusted me. On the surface, Final Fantasy 10-2 seemed to have more in common with the likes of Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura with the amount of outfit changes and its bright, poppy soundtrack. So why the hell would a game about “dress spheres” and changing into cute, powerful outfits appeal to me?

Well first of all it had “Final Fantasy” on it. By the time FF10-2 released, I had devoured 8 and 9, delved into 7 and dug into a PlayStation 1 port of 6. Having gotten into 10, the story and characters were still fresh in my head. Whilst not as memorable for me as some of the earlier instalments, I still enjoyed it (temple puzzled be damned). 10-2 came along as the first real Final Fantasy sequel. Despite being chronologically named, Final Fantasy games usually follow a self-contained plot with a self-contained set of characters - none of the main series games are direct sequels of one another. 10-2 was the first to do this as a sort of spin-off-sequel-not-quite-main-game. And who doesn’t like a “where are they now” follow-up?

Final Fantasy 10-2 picks up fairly closely to where 10 left off. We join now High Summoner Yuna and Rikku, and new character Paine on a rip roaring adventure through locations we know and love in Spira. Whilst hunting for treasure and spheres, the gang come across some old footage of a guy who looks like Yuna’s lost love, Tidus. They decide to investigate further, and follow a trail of evidence uncovering love, war and evil. As you do.

I was intrigued by the concept of Tidus possibly coming back to life, but Paine is honestly what really made me really look at this game. She was a cool, badass rocker chick, everything I wanted to be as a teenager. I mean, just look at her. This is absolutely the look that millennial teens who were obsessed with any form of guitar music were going for (sword included).

Real emotion

The start of the game felt like it reached out of the TV and slapped me in the face, demanding my attention. It begins on a stage in a futuristic arena with Yuna (maybe?) singing a song called “Real Emotion” while Rikki and Paine are kicking ass and taking names. I had been bitten by the Japanese pop bug following Hikaru Utada’s songs from Kingdom Hearts the year previous and this song at the very start of the game just blew me away. That’s it - 2 minutes in and I was hooked. Just listen and try not to have a little dance.

The three main female characters take on different roles in battle through “Dresspheres”. These are a fun take of the tried and tested job system mechanic, combining it with the Sphere grid from Final Fantasy 10. Job systems allow one character to take on multiple different roles, rather than having one character in one set role for the whole game. Rikku could become a Black Mage and throw Fire, mild-mannered Yuna could go wild as a Beserker and angsty rocker girl Paine could even don a dress and pump some feminine energy as a Songstress or Lady Luck.

Unlike other job-system games, it was also possible to switch roles within battle and the game rewarded you for doing so. If you switched enough times during one fight, you were granted access to each girl’s ultimate form. These were similar to summons in Final Fantasy 10; the other party members clear the battlefield and you’re left with one OP character dressed to kill. Rikku’s Machina Maw was one of my favourites, you can’t hate a giant robot bird, especially one as cute as Rikku’s. Through these encouraged switches, the game really leans into its magical girl inspirations. Each outfit change is accompanied by a theatrical, dramatic animation (this can be turned off as, like the FF7 summon animations, it can get tiring when it happens EVERY time, like come on just rinse this enemy already).

Despite being pretty girly, I really enjoyed seeing each character in their different costumes. Rather than just having each character lazily skinned with the same outfit, FFX-2 dresses each character individually for each job. There’s themes and similarities in their outfits, such as the Gunners all having a flowing side skirt, but each one feels like it embodies the girl wearing it. Yuna, Rikku and Paine all have their own personality and sass written into their characters, as well their clothes. Tetsu Tsukamoto, the alternate costume designer, has said he found it hard to design a lot of the costumes. Being the guy who usually designs the dark and evil monsters everyone fights against, I can see why it was hard for him to come up with bright, bold and fun costumes for girls. He did a great job though, and the designs really reflect the amount of work he put into them.

There were also plenty of cheeky little Easter eggs hidden in the dresspheres. Yuna’s Warrior form uses Tidus’ Brotherhood sword and she does the same victory animation as he did in Final Fantasy 10. Rikku’s Mascot form is Cait Sith from Final Fantasy 7, and there’s also a theory that 10 and 7 are in the same universe, thousands of years apart, connected by a little character in FF10-2 called “Shinra”… let that sink in.

At an average of 30 hours to complete the main story (and much less than that if you skipped the lengthy cutscenes) FF10-2 was made to be replayable. The game demanded multiple run throughs if you wanted to collect all the dresspheres, and uncover the “true” ending. I wouldn’t normally replay a Final Fantasy game just after completing it; the potential 100 hour time sink alone would make my brain melt. But 10-2 was bright and breezy, and easy to run through. I attempted plenty of New Game + runs, donning different dresspheres to master them, and different tactics. It almost feels like a rouge-like, if each run lasted 15 hours…

Musical shout-outs

I’ve already talked about the J-Pop smash hit that is “Real Emotion”, but this game has depth! I’ll be honest, as I listen again in 2026, the whole soundtrack has a very early 00’s feel (I can’t explain it but IYKYK…). Aside from the usual beautiful orchestral Final Fantasy music, the combination of squeaky guitars, blooping synths, Yuna’s Songstress Ugg boots all seems to scream fun and games in Y2K to me.

Musically, it feels very different to a usual Final Fantasy game. This is probably largely because legendary composer Nobuo Uematsu stepped back and composing power-couple Noriko Matsueda and Takahito Eguchi smashed it out instead. The soundtrack wasn’t very well received, with some calling it “shallow” and “too bubbly”, but I honestly think a traditional Final Fantasy soundtrack would feel weird on this game. It would be like Robert Smith from the Cure doing a duet with Britney Spears. It could work, but in trying to appeal to too many different audiences, you’re probably going to miss the mark and disappoint everyone. As a teenager who had just discovered J-Pop, I bloody loved it.

1000 Words

This song will stab you right in the heart, rip it out and then kick it across the room. YRP hold an impromptu concert in the Thunder Plains (fuck you Thunder Plains) and Yuna sings this gorgeous ballad. Talk about real emotions. This was easily one of my favourite songs of my teenage years, I played the hell out of it and it definitely featured on my MySpace profile.

Battle music

You end up listening to battle music A LOT in random encounter RPGs. These are the tunes that will worm their way into your brain and stay there. You might forget town music and “Main Character’s Theme” over time, but battle music is forever. The Final Fantasy X-2 battle music still has that early 2000’s feel about it. The YRP Battle Theme 2 is my favourite, it almost sounds a bit like drum & bass band Pendulum made it.

In Retro-spect…

Although Final Fantasy X-2 was never going to be the best game in the franchise, it’s still up there as one of my retrospective favourites. I think it taught me that games don’t have to be heftily masculine to be fun and women main characters can kick ass without being too overtly sexualised (though some of those outfits… 😬). I’m still hooked on magical girls and J-Pop, so it must have done something right. Overall, it’s just FUN, showing that Final Fantasy isn’t always a boys game and it can let its hair down every once in a while.

Have you played Final Fantasy X-2, either in the 2000’s or more recently?

Final note: if you’re a Final Fantasy X or X-2 fan and love a little meme, do check out @OllieDreamer on all socials. His on-point costumes and Final Fantasy X comedy always have me chuckling.

As my usual ramblings tend to look back further than 2025, I don’t usually write about what I’m currently playing. So I’m going to take this end of year opportunity to run you through all the games I’ve played over the last 12 months.

Without further ado, here’s my Retro-spect of 2025.

Mario Party Jamboree

Our house rang in the new year with a ridiculously long game of Mario Party. Me, my partner and my parents thrashing the dice til the wee hours of the morning. Although my patience wears thin after once again explaining the rules and controls of a mini-game we’ve played 10 times already, Mario Party is always a great game when snacks and beers are out. My mum would steal all my dad’s coins only for dad to randomly win at the end with a pity star. It’s the video game equivalent of whipping out Monopoly in the festive season, only with more betrayal.

⭐️ Retro-spect Rating: 7/10

Pokémon Scarlet

When you’ve got a cold and you’re pregnant, you can’t take medication. Not even a cheeky Lemsip. Yes, that is as bad as it sounds. I spent many nights unable to sleep, uncomfortable from having full sinuses and an aching back, so I ended up just getting up and going downstairs to play the most mindless game I could find - level grinding on Pokémon Scarlet.

Despite glitches, terrible rendering and bugs galore, it was a great “brain-off” game for those nights I couldn’t sleep. Making sandwiches to lure a mass amount of Chansey and Blissey for my levelling grind became my morning ritual. I also appreciated the pretty comprehensive Pokédex, as my aim in all Pokémon games is to try to catch ‘em all!

⭐️ Retro-spect Rating: 6/10

Split Fiction

My parents lived with us for a pretty big chunk of 2025. Whilst it was lovely having them around, both parties were glad to get their own space back after months of being crammed together in our 3 bed semi-detached house. Playing Split Fiction with a takeaway pizza felt like a mini celebration of having our own space back, our evenings and TV belonged to us again and we could revel in this marvellous game.

As usual, we raced through the story in a couple of nights, returning to mop up most of the trophies. Developers Hazelight can’t do much wrong in my book, and this was another example of their skillful storytelling and fun couch co-op gameplay that my husband and I love.

⭐️ Retro-spect Rating: 8/10

Blue Prince

After playing Tunic last year and it completely blowing my mind, I was on the lookout for something to scratch a puzzle itch. My husband noticed Blue Prince on an Instagram reel and we downloaded it immediately. We spent the next few nights with a pad of paper and various notes on our phones, desperately trying to solve the riddles of the house. The twists, turns and wild delight when we solved a puzzle made for a brilliant game.

My only gripe was that, like some rogue-like games, each day depended a lot on complete luck. This meant that many of our runs were ruined by one bad choice or one wrong turn. We found the 46th room, but weren’t compelled to continue much beyond that, even despite all my note scribbling and cryptic theories.

⭐️ Retro-spect Rating: 7/10

Mineko’s Night Market

I downloaded this on looks alone and loved the gameplay and the characters. The cat rescue mini game was particularly enjoyable! I only stopped playing because it crashed on me and I lost about 3 game days of progress and couldn’t be bothered to do them again. Sorry Mineko!

⭐️ Retro-spect Rating: 6/10

Elder Scrolls Oblivion

I never played Oblivion the first time around. However, I did adore wandering around Skyrim and Elder Scrolls Online, so it stood to reason I would enjoy this Bethesda re-release. Oblivion became the perfect “brain-off” game to delve into after long and busy days at work. My other half had played it previously, so was happy to point me in the direction of good weapons and quests. Including fast tracking for the Skeleton Key to avoid the rage-inducing lock picking (is it just me?!). As usual, I was distracted by side quests and big shiny buildings in the distance, so spent most of my time skipping around the map discovering random things and avoiding the main quest like the plague. Surely this is the only way to play any open world RPG?

⭐️ Retro-spect Rating: 7/10

Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life

Harvest Moon was one of my favourite series of games growing up and I’m a sucker for a farming sim. I ploughed a stupid amount of hours into Story of Seasons: Pioneers of Olive Town, so was keen to give this re-make a go. This one felt a little more restricted, but I still enjoyed milking cows and pottering about. I made it to the third year, marrying my partner and adopting a child. You could say this was art imitating life as I was playing this at the start of my maternity leave!

⭐️ Retro-spect Rating: 6/10

Date Everything

Now some people will have you thinking that there are a few contenders for Game of the Year (GOTY). But wait.

Step aside Silksong.

Get back Blue Prince.

Go home Expedition 33.

Date Everything is MY GOTY. Not enough people are talking about this game. A feat of voice acting excellence, this silly little dating sim lets you romance literally any and every object in your home, and it’s just fucking brilliant. It was a perfect game to plonk my fat pregnant arse down to play; sitting through hours of well crafted dialogue while I figured out how to get my lamp to love me, sex up my shower, or be best friends with my bath. I LOVED it.

The character designs go above and beyond, the detail of every single one of them is ridiculous. Anyone who’s anyone in the voice acting world is in this game; you’ll be sitting there wondering where you’ve heard them before. My favourites were Ben Starr as all doors, SungWon Cho as existential dread and Mela Lee as the bed. If you haven’t picked it up, just do it. You’ll have such a laugh and maybe fall in love with the fridge, he’s a real beast.

⭐️ Retro-spect Rating: 10/10

Hades 2

Coming home with a baby in early July meant there wasn’t much time for games in my life anymore. It’s hard to sit down for a “sesh” when you don’t know if your little one’s nap is going to last 15 minutes or 2 hours. And then there’s chores and other shit to do. I’d honestly struggled to find something I really wanted to play and was able to sink my teeth into.

And then Hades 2 was released. I enjoyed the first Hades, despite being pretty terrible at it, so decided to give it a go. I was not disappointed. The sectioned levels and runs made it the perfect game to pick up and put down in-between baby sleeps, and even one I could play while he slept on me. As usual with Supergiant game, the storyline is rich, the characters full-bodied and epic, and the gameplay is easy to pick up but hard to master. And damn do you feel accomplished when you smash that boss you’ve been stuck on!

⭐️ Retro-spect Rating: 9/10

Pode

My husband and I capitalised on baby’s nap time by downloading this cute couch co-op. A star and a rock use their powers to navigate a beautiful cave, requiring you to solve puzzles to progress. It’s a gorgeous game and will have you squealing with its adorable character designs and noises. The puzzles aren’t too hard and it’s easy to navigate, ideal for two sleep deprived parents just trying to enjoy themselves for 10 minutes while their baby sleeps.

⭐️ Retro-spect Rating: 7/10

Pokémon Legends Z-A

My husband surprised me with a Switch 2 and Pokémon Z-A for my birthday and I was delighted. It’s been another great drop-in/out game for when baby’s asleep, and I’ve really enjoyed the new direction it’s taken. The night/day distinction makes it easy to pick up and drop, and I actually enjoyed the new battle system. It’s definitely another Game Freak “experiment” game, but enjoyable enough to whittle away a few hours. I’ve JUST finished the main story (which is VERY unusual for me) but there seems to be plenty of post-game activities to keep me going before I figure out what I’m going to play next (it’s going to be Octopath Traveler 0 isn’t it).

⭐️ Retro-spect Rating: 8/10

In Retro-spect…

It’s been a funny old year; I’ve spent half of it very pregnant and half of it being responsible for a newborn baby, and my gaming habits have shifted accordingly. I also finally found my writing niche on Substack and I absolutely love the community here. Reading your pieces and hearing feedback on my own has given me a real zest for writing again. I can’t wait to write and read more in 2026!

Clearly my GOTY is Date Everything! What have been your favourites from this year? Is there anything in my list you are considering trying?

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The gaming community on Substack is wonderful, there’s so many folks writing exciting stuff. Christmas is a time for sharing, so why not fully lean into it and share some excellent writing over the festive period?

Enter: The 12 Plays of Game-mas!

12 Plays of Game-mas Guidelines

Each “day” will be 48 hours long. I know we’re all busy people with lives, especially around Christmas, so hopefully this helps people join in and not feel too pressured!

On the day, post a note with your choice for the day’s theme, tag the creator and try to use the hashtag #12plays so we can all read each other’s picks in one place. You don’t have to post something from Substack; it can be something you’ve read, watched or listened to from elsewhere too!

These daily themes are all open to interpretation, but I’ve provided a bit of a description to help jog your memory and think about what you’ve read or seen this year. I’m pretty sure I have a piece in mind for each of them, so hopefully you will too!

There will be an opportunity at the end for you to share your own writing, so try to take advantage of lifting up other writers and content creators for the rest of the 12 days. After all, sharing is caring!

Day 1 (1st & 2nd) - Share something about a game you’ve played this year

Did someone sing the praises of a game you loved? Did they tear apart a game you played, but you found yourself agreeing with them wholeheartedly? Did they change your mind about something you played and forgot about back in January?

Day 2 (3rd & 4th) - Share something about a retro game

There are so many amazing retro gaming publications out there. Dig up the past and show us your favourite one.

Day 3 (5th & 6th) - Share a review of a game

Show us your favourite review of any game, scathing or full of praise, I don’t mind! I know there are loads!

Day 4 (7th & 8th) - Share something that made you laugh

We can all use a bit of fun, especially when the festive period starts to get a bit stressful. So share a piece that made you chuckle this year.

Day 5 (9th & 10th) - Share something that made you play or reconsider a game

That game you’d disregarded or didn’t think was for you? Or that game that completely passed you by? Or that one that came out before you were born? Show us something that made you pick up and play it.

Day 6 (11th & 12th) - Share something not necessarily about gaming

Gaming Substack is amazing, but there are also lots of other epic publications out there. Or ones that combine games and other areas of life. Show us something completely different.

Day 7 (13th & 14th) - Share something about being a gamer

I’ve read lots of great pieces about how it feels to be a gamer, not necessarily about a specific game. What’s your favourite?

Day 8 (15th & 16th) - Share something about a game you’d never heard of

Some publications pride themselves on covering games that aren’t the big hitters everyone’s talking about. Show us your favourite piece on a hidden gem.

Day 9 (17th & 18th) - Share something about game development

This is going to be a pretty big category! Share something specifically about development, or video game art, music, writing, publications, studios… anything that talks about the behind the scenes of making a video game.

Day 10 (19th & 20th) - Share something about playing games

Not necessarily thinking about a specific game, but someone’s general experience of gaming. This could be someone’s emotional experience of a game, something that made them think, a series that’s close to their hearts, or someone talking about why they play games in the first place.

Day 11 (21st & 22nd) - Share anything else you’ve enjoyed

This is a pretty open category, so just share anything from anyone! The floor is yours (and theirs!)

Day 12 (23rd & 24th) - Share a piece you’ve written this year

Some shameless self-promotion to end the year, and maybe some extra subscribers and readers to help give you an extra push into writing for 2026. Share the piece you’re most proud of this year.

I hope this all makes sense and everyone can follow along; let me know if we can simplify or make it easier. Please save this post and feel free to refer back to it over the 12 days.

Happy 12 plays of Game-mas! Don’t forget to share!

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Today in Retro-spect, I’m digging into one of my biggest video game heroes - Sonic the Hedgehog. These 3 games all feel somewhat interconnected for me, so I thought I’d try to talk about them all together.

It’s June in the early 90’s. It’s my dad’s birthday and my mum’s bought him a Sega Mega Drive (Genesis to some of you) and two games. Despite it being his birthday, this moment isn’t going to be at all definitive for my dad. But it will change my life forever.

This is the day I discover video games.

The first game we play is Dungeons and Dragons. It’s terrible. Difficult to understand, the characters keep walking into each other, no one knows what’s going on. We all agree that one is going back to the game shop.

The second is Sonic the Hedgehog. A cool, blue cartoon character stands wagging his finger at us. Holding the controller, I am transfixed. The game starts immediately, no tutorial, no explanation (more on that in another post). Sonic goes so fast through the level, sometimes the game can’t even keep up. At the end of the level, the joyful music becomes menacing, and a rotund, mustachio’d man descends, swinging a wrecking ball from his floating robotic ship. I am terrified and thrust the controller at my dad, urging him to do something. Inevitably, we lose our rings and die, returning to the last save lamppost. But that’s it, I’m hooked. We go again…

Sonic the Hedgehog (1991)

If you’ve never played a Sonic game before, where the hell have you been? At their core, they are simple platform games; the player controls the eponymous blue hedgehog, getting him to run, jump and smash over and through obstacles, usually defeating enemies by jumping on them. Each level is called a “Zone” and is split into 2 or 3 “Acts”. As there’s a 10 minute time limit for each Act, you’re encouraged to move quickly and smoothly to complete each level. At the end of the final “Act”, you face Dr Robotnik, Sonic’s nemesis. He’ll come at you in his latest machine, laughing away as he strips you of your rings. This formula repeats through different environments of increasing difficulty, culminating in a big bad boss fight at the end where Robotnik reveals his ultimate killing machine and you must defeat him to complete the game.

Over the next few months, my parents and I spent many hours taking turns sending Sonic through as many levels as we could. We tackled lava, drowning, and plenty of encounters with Dr Robotnik in his various mechanical creations. I personally played this game so much that I can still remember where secret areas and cheats are, even after 30 odd years. As a family, we would take turns to control Sonic, passing over the controller to the next person when you died. My dad became an expert at the horrendous Labyrinth Zone, an underwater hellscape where Sonic could drown if he didn’t catch an air bubble in time. The countdown music is forever seared in my brain; if you played it to me now, I’d probably start to sweat and panic!

When I found out there was ANOTHER Sonic game, well I guess we just had to get that to play as well.

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (1992)

In Sonic 2, our blue hero is accompanied by his best buddy, Miles “Tails” Prower. A second player is able to control Tails, who can fly for a few seconds and carry Sonic. However, the game specifically focuses on Sonic, who often moves too fast and leaves Tails in his dust. I wouldn’t say the person playing Tails really has an active part in the game apart from in boss fights, special stages and occasionally flying Sonic over a difficult part of the level. Which made this game perfect for playing with my otherwise often busy parents.

My mum and I completed Sonic 2 from start to finish nearly every weekend. Usually I would speed through the levels as Sonic, with Tails in tow, and shout my mum to join me on the special stages. These were different to the main game, and allowed you to collect rings to get a Chaos Emerald. Get all the Chaos Emeralds and Sonic could turn into Super Sonic. He’d shout and turn yellow, shiny and practically invincible, making completing levels much easier in most cases. Tails controlled by the computer was increasingly frustrating in these increasingly difficult special stages, as he’d regularly kamikaze into bombs, losing all our collective rings and driving me mad. Tails controlled by my mum on the other hand was like watching a perfect synchronised swimming dance. As a pair, we had the special stages memorised, knowing where the rings would deploy, when to jump over bombs, and when to nudge the characters slightly left or slightly right. We were unstoppable.

Sonic 2 also featured a “VS mode”, splitting the screen in half and pitting two people AGAINST each other over 3 Zones and 1 special stage. Players were scored on things like time taken to complete the level, number of boxes opened and number of rings collected; it wasn’t necessarily just about speeding through to win. This caused some of the biggest rages for me. All item boxes in the level were a mystery - you didn’t know what you were going to get until you opened it. Some would be positive, like giving 10 rings or speed shoes, and some would be negative, like taking all your rings or, the worst, swapping your position with the other player. You could be just about to cross the finish line, and someone could swap places with you, sending you all the way back. For a kid, this was devastating as hell. Especially as I thought I was the best at this game!

Peter Monks wrote an excellent detailed retrospective about Sonic 2 that goes into loads more detail about the game and its history. I’d fully recommend diving in for a read.

Late to the LAN Party

Sonic the Hedgehog 2 - My Retrospective

I remember very clearly the first time I fell in love with Sonic the Hedgehog. In the Chemical Plant Zone - an industrial styled level, full of pipes, machinery and illuminous chemicals - you start the level and progress to build up speed, as is Sonic's modus operandi. Then you encounter a point where the blue pipes you are running on slope downwards, b…

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9 months ago · 15 likes · 21 comments · Peter Monks

Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (1994)

Sonic 3 was next to come into our household, with a save game feature and a sort of early “new game +” mode. Finally, we didn’t have always start again! This roughly coincided with the release of Sonic & Knuckles, a separate game and strange-looking cartridge that you could attach other Sonic game cartridges too, called “lock on”. This made Sonic 3 into a mega game, combining both games into one and making it super long. This video from Gaming the Systems shows roughly what happens when you try to lock on various different games with Sonic & Knuckles. The games never really changed in format, they still had time limits, rings, Robotnik and speed. But Sonic 3 just felt a bit more polished and better thought out than its predecessors.

With the two games locked on, you had a choice of 3 characters: Sonic, Tails and Knuckles the red echidna joining the roster. Knuckles could climb walls and get to certain areas that neither Sonic or Tails could reach. This game opened up my need to explore every nook and cranny of a game. That 10 minute time limit I mentioned earlier? I breached that plenty of times playing as Tails or Knuckles, taking my time through the levels, climbing or flying up every tall wall, navigating slowly down every pit, looking for as many secret areas as I could. And I’ll be honest, the game delivered. These levels are actually pretty big, with plenty to explore and different tiers to traverse depending on the character you’re playing as. You weren’t often left disappointed if you decided to go off piste.

Sonic 3 was the first game the family had to call a hotline to get help for. The Carnival Night Zone has a place where you essentially get stuck, and have to figure out how to move a bouncy barrel. We tried everything we could think of and were completely stuck. The game’s instruction manual had a help hotline number in the back and we actually called it in desperation (I was probably crying because I couldn’t finish my new favourite game). It turned out to be pretty simple, you had to hold up and down when standing on the barrel and it would eventually move far enough for you to jump off it. Please think of this next time you quickly Google a solution to a gaming problem, and count your blessings that we don’t have to call hotlines for help anymore. Personally, my phone bill would be through the roof.

(In researching this piece, I found I wasn’t alone in hatred of this barrel and it is commonly known as the “Barrel of doom”. Sonic 3 level designers Yuji Naka and Takashi Iizuka have since apologised for its inclusion in the game, and new players are still struggling with it today!)

What these games mean to me

Without Sonic, video games would probably be lost to me. The super low bar of entry combined with the fun of blasting through a level at top speed made them very addictive games for my younger self. I still love platformers now. They also opened conversations about frustration at difficult parts of the game, problem solving and turn-taking that no doubt shaped me in the years that followed.

They also represent a lot about my early relationship with my parents. Although gaming turned into more of “my thing”, we could always play Sonic games together, either by taking turns or teaming up. My dad would spend weeks with some of the game’s music stuck in his head on repeat, or putting up with me running around pretending to be a speedy blue hedgehog. I loved the time I got to spend with my mum playing as Sonic and Tails, memorising the special stage levels and feeling like we were completely in sync. Those were some really fun and meaningful times that I hope to replicate with my own child once he’s old enough to hold a controller. I wonder if we fired up the game today, 30 years on, we would activate some latent muscle memory and smash through the game as if we’d never stopped playing it every weekend.

Sonic also introduced me to friends; I played with other kids at school who knew him, and of course I would always pretend to be Sonic. I also got into the various Sonic TV programmes and the long running Sonic the Comic because of these games. I suppose it weirdly encouraged me to exercise too, I always wanted to imitate my blue hero and run faster than anyone else. What more inspiration could a kid need?

Musical shout-outs

It’s really difficult for me to choose one or two tunes from each game as they’re all so meaningful! Here’s my best effort, but I’d recommend listening to them all. They’re distinctively early video game sounds that stir up memories and feelings of the hours I spent as a child sat on the living room floor looking up at the TV at this little blue hedgehog racing around.

Sonic 1

The Green Hill Zone (0:10) for the exciting and happy feelings it brings out of me. The first song of the first game, starting something new and special.

The Labyrinth Zone (4:32) for the horror and terror it invokes in me. Couple this with “Drowning” (15:36) and I’ll be a sweaty, sweary mess.

Sonic 2

The Hill Top Zone (7:18) for its weird wailing that made me think of yodelling and hillbillies. This is one of my favourite levels for its strange aesthetics and enemies, accompanied by this odd little tune.

The Mystic Cave Zone (8:56) and its accompanying 2-player variation (32:06). The first, because it just sounds like a fun, campy Halloween tune. The second has a really fun bass line and gives me a mini rage remembering those switching places boxes…

Metropolis Zone (12:37) just sounds like a Van Halen song turned 16-bit. It was made for dancing and rocking out.

Sonic 3

Sonic 3 gave you different tracks for each Act, rather than each Zone. Act 2 was almost like a reprise variation in a musical, keeping elements of the first tune, but adding a spin so you knew the story had moved on and things were now different.

Hydropolis Zone (7:26) just has that funk that I love in a platformer soundtrack. To me, it sounds like it could be pulled straight from a musical, a big dance number.

The Ice Cap Zone (20:32) is a banger, it just sings. Another funky bass line, and I love that the Act 2 version pairs the sound right back because you go into a cave. Details!

In Retro-spect…

I stand by Sonic games, they’re just so fun and fantastically easy to get into. Even going back to them more than 30 years later, I still really enjoy how they play. Sonic is one of the poster boys of 90’s video games, and I feel like you just don’t get iconic characters like that any more.

All 3 games allowed me to connect with other people; through playing with my parents or friends, I learned to win and lose, work together and compete, and to try, try, and try again. I love that they’ve been remastered and introduced to new generations, and you can still pick them up on modern consoles, and even mobile phones. It goes to show they have stood the test of time and will continue to be around for many years. I can’t wait to hand my son a controller and play alongside him. It’ll be strange for me to play the backseat role in some of my favourite platform games, but I hope I can give him the same experience my parents gave me through playing Sonic games.

Which game got you into video games? If you played games as a child, did you play with your parents? If you’re a parent, have you subjected your child to any games from your childhood?

Today in Retro-spect, we’re traversing back to the turn of the century to delve into one of the most fantastical Final Fantasy games out there.

The ninth instalment in the Final Fantasy main series is a bit of a darling among fans. It celebrated its 25th birthday this year, and whilst that made me feel really old, it also made me reminisce about the good times I had playing this game. With rumours of a remake in the works, fans are getting excited about this game all over again.

There will be some spoilers in here, but without giving too much away, the game predominantly follows Zidane, a young man part of a theatre troupe / band of thieves. Through a series of explosive events, Zidane leaves his group to go travelling with Garnet, the princess of a kingdom called Alexandria, Steiner, Garnet’s knight in rusty armour, and Vivi, a shy black mage finding his feet. As they make their way through the war-torn world of Gaia, they recruit a colourful cast of characters to their cause. These include Freya, my favourite dragoon, Quina, often the warm-hearted comic relief, Eiko, a horned summoner, and Amarant, who wants to figure out what makes Zidane tick. During their adventures, the gang uncover secrets and lies about themselves and the world, changing their viewpoints and the landscape of Gaia forever.

Whilst seeming like the fun and excitable younger brother of the more serious-looking FF7 and FF8, the themes of Final Fantasy 9 actually run pretty deep. It makes a welcome return to more medieval-like early Final Fantasy games, with queens, castles and knights, but I feel like it much more heavily leans into the fantasy elements. There are a lot more races and creatures in the world, no one is quite 100% “human” and everything’s a little bit cartoonish and fun, rather than realistic and serious. Like most JRPGs, it’s about a group of people coming together to support each other through some shit, and saving the world from a ridiculously overpowered enemy while they’re at it. However, I also think it’s a game about discovering your sense of self and finding your place in the world. It’s about being open to new possibilities, and changing your path, even if that diverges from what others had planned out for you. In my opinion, it’s a perfect game for a teenager who’s going through all those exact thoughts and feelings (i.e. me when I first picked it up!)

The characters are incredibly well-rounded, with detailed backstories, hopes and dreams. Zidane and Vivi’s storylines are quite similar; they both discover that they were created to be weapons of mass destruction, but deviated from that path because of the lives they’ve lived and the people they’ve encountered. At the start of the game, Steiner would die for queen, princess and country, and despises Zidane and everything he and his merry band stand for. Along the way, he witnesses atrocities committed in Alexandria’s name and can’t help but evolve his thinking and extend his empathy to the other characters. Throughout the game, there is a lot about processing loss and complex grief. One of the hardest events is watching Princess Garnet come to terms with losing her “mother”, Queen Brahne. It’s tough seeing her deciphering her feelings after knowing her mother was using her to gain access to her latent summoning power. She’s sad to see the loss of the only mother figure in her life, who did love her deep down, but equally angry to know she was used for all those years.

A lot of RPGs focus on the “main” protagonist, but FF9 does a great job of giving all 8 of the ensemble characters depth, often splintering the story using “Active Time Events” to focus on other members of the party and give them a chance to develop. Even the side characters are well fleshed out. Beatrix, an Alexandrian general and Steiner’s rival, is one of my favourites; initially a heavy-hitting antagonist to our heroes and their quest, she does some deep soul searching to ask why she’s willing to kill for a corrupt queen and country. When you’re playing, the cast feel like people you could be friends with, and a real world you could really live in. Given half a chance, I would have moved to Lindblum to hang out with Freya and Zidane, especially to take part in the Festival of the Hunt!

The game is beautiful, noteworthy for its gorgeous “FMV” sequences spun into the gameplay. The towns, dungeons and overworld are all fully explorable and I loved that there were plenty of hidden locations and side quests to find. Similar to Final Fantasy 7, there are also a lot of fun mini games, such as skipping, a theatrical sword fight and catching frogs in the marshes.

From a gameplay perspective, its simple turn-based battle system is easy to learn and master. It’s mainly a game of numbers and type advantages which can be easily figured out - fire nukes plants, holy batters the undead, etc. There’s even a really tough mid-game boss that can be killed in one hit with a revival item. Characters learn abilities by equipping different weapons and gear, gaining ability points from battle to put towards new moves, as well as experience points to level up. It’s not the most innovative system out there, but that means you can focus more on the story and characters, without getting too bogged down in the details of gear and abilities. For me playing back in the early 2000’s, that was perfect. Especially since the Final Fantasy 8 battle system was overly complicated and I was never quite sure I entirely understood it… (that’s for another post!)

What this game means to me

If FF8 started my Final Fantasy journey, FF9 solidified my love for the series, and really, my love for RPGs overall. Before this I had predominantly played platformers, racing games and fighting games. The Final Fantasy series showed me that games could be like playable storybooks, with rich tales and fully realised characters. FF9 especially fuelled most of my early teenage doodles and writings, and pushed me into researching more about Japan and Japanese culture.

Final Fantasy 9 was one game my childhood best friend and I really bonded over. We loved the story, the characters, and would watch each other play. Zidane reminded me of him so in my original save game, I named him after my friend! There was something special about sharing secrets we’d found or theories about what was going to happen next.

PS1-era Final Fantasies ignited my passion for side quests and secrets, inviting me to explore every single inch of the over-world in search of undiscovered treasure. Back in the pre-widespread-internet days, you just had to fumble around with games and hope for the best. I feel like this made finding secret Chocobo locations or a hidden library behind a waterfall all the more magical. This is the reason I’m constantly running to look at a weird rock or building in RPGs - you never know what’s behind it!

The moogles, cute cat / teddy bear-like Final Fantasy mascots, in this game act as save points and allow you to participate in a letter delivery service for them. I absolutely loved finding all the different moogles in each area and giving them their letters. This definitely gave incentive to re-visit areas and search for secrets. The letters themselves often offered an insight into deeper game lore and places to discover. And hey, moogles are ridiculously cute and frankly I would do anything for them. Although they appear in different guises throughout the Final Fantasy series, FF9 moogles are the definitive ones for me, the G.O.A.Ts of moogles.

Musical shout-outs

Final Fantasy games are always well known for their stunning music, and FF9 is no exception. All composed by the brilliant mind of Nobuo Uematsu, who crafted over 160 pieces for the game, as well as reconstructing some melodies from previous games in the series. I struggled to pick just one defining track, so here’s 4 of my favourites that have stuck in my head over the years.

Vamo’alla Flamenco

Plays during the sword fight mini-game and the Chocobo Hot & Cold mini-game

This is a stand-out tune for me. Probably because I spent too much time playing Chocobo Hot & Cold and it became embedded in my brain. I gave this to my guitar teacher a few years on, and learned to play it. It was really tough for a beginner, but I stuck it out because I loved the tune! I’m not sure I could pick it up now, but it was an impressive one to whip out at a party.

Quina’s Theme

Plays during the frog catching mini-game

Quina’s theme always signalled it was time to catch some frogs, one of my favourite FF9 mini-games. Again, I think this one might have been embedded in my brain from spending too long catching frogs… but it’s a great track and provides a really fun contrast to the more sombre marsh theme. The drums and percussion sound almost tribal, and the squeaking instruments playing the tune contrast with the choir-like vocals in the background. All in all, it sounds like a wild and confused song, but that probably sums up Quina Quen quite well.

Village of Dali

Plays in the Village of Dali

I’m a sucker for a sleepy village tune, and this one is exceptionally good. I particularly like the way the calming melody provides a stark contrast to the underlying suspicious activities and the shitty villagers. I hate the Village of Dali, but damn I love its song.

Not Alone

Plays in Pandemonium and when fighting Garland

This one comes towards the end of the game when our hero Zidane is having a tough time coming to terms with who he really is, and tries to tough it out alone. His friends however are having none of it and doggedly stick with him until he realises he is definitely “Not Alone”. The guitar solo is enough to make you weep, it tugs at my heart every time I hear it!

In Retro-spect…

The Final Fantasy golden age is on the PS1, and 9 was a great game to round it off. However, I think this is still my favourite Final Fantasy of all. Apparently I’m in good company as Hironobu Sakaguchi, one of the original Final Fantasy creators, has mentioned it’s one of his favourites too! I’ve got so many good memories of it and can still remember it, even after all this time. It’s definitely a comfort game that I occasionally start again when I’m in the mood for something familiar that I could play with my eyes closed. Even after all this time I can still remember which waterfalls have treasure behind them, which houses have that most Gil stashed under their pillows and the best areas for grinding my characters. I will always choose this game, it’ll always be the Final Fantasy I’ll return to someday.

What do you think of Final Fantasy 9? Is it your favourite FF too or could you do without it? Let me know in the comments!

My name’s Amy James-Sharp and I’m here to write about the video games I love. I’m really pleased to join a thriving and vibrant gaming community here on Substack. I can’t wait to see what discussions I can have about one of my most passionate subjects.

I’ll be providing my retrospective look at the games of yester-year: which ones stuck in my head for the right and wrong reasons; which ones solidified my love of video games; and which ones are just plain ridiculous.

I do not and will not use AI for my writing, so everything you see comes from my heart and head. Please be forgiving of typos and mistakes, I’m always happy to listen to critique and discuss writing style.

All the best and hope to see you around!