Let’s Talk About…: A Good Game

So, I got used to these types of posts and I decided to continue! This will have a bit of a different flavor than the Video Game Challenge that was just wrapped up, insofar as this one delineates specific games to talk about. I figure this will be a fun challenge for me, as some of the games I’m not very familiar with, and is also another opportunity for you guys to talk all about your favorite gaming experiences. So here we go!

Let’s Talk About… Your Favorite Game

Seriously? I never stop talking about my favorite game.

I suppose something interesting about the game that doesn’t involve me gushing about how much I love it so much, is that I’m planning on comparing another of this series, Dragon Age: Inquisition, to Mass Effect: Andromeda. I’m also working up the courage to start a new theology post, now that I have a little more information gleaned from Inquisition DLC.

Someone in the physical world asked why I haven’t written an “Interesting Case of…” post for Dragon Age: Origins, and the truth of it is that I don’t think I could be as objective as I’d want to be. This is a game that I really, really love. It has flaws, but I can’t bring myself to analyze the stuffing out of it as a game. The closest I came was in this comparison post, and even for that it was hard to keep the fangirl quiet. If you all want to really watch me try and analyze the game, let me know and I’ll do my best, but without people banging down the door to read about Origins, there won’t be any “Interesting Cases” of it.

So let’s try something different.

Let’s Talk About… Your Second-Favorite Game

Okay!

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty.

I love this game. In fact, I love this whole series. I’m saving up for an HD television so I can finally play Phantom Pain and actually know what the heck is happening. I played MGS4 for almost 10 hours straight, through the night, and still managed to drag myself to work the next day. I can sing the whole Snake Eater theme song. I can recite Snake’s monologue from the end of MGS2, and at one point I had pages of scribbled notes from trying to figure out the entire plot and timeline of the series without resorting to the internet. Yeah. Sort of a fan.

I remember when I first played Metal Gear Solid on PSOne, I… didn’t finish it. It took me forever to get past the first level, because I wasn’t very good, and I didn’t like that I sometimes had to actually hurt people. But my lack of abilities reigned supreme, and so I played through the beginning a bunch of times (since I never really got too far into the game), fell in love with the characters, the story premise, and with Solid Snake’s voice. The game unfortunately went unfinished for a long time – until I was in college – but I picked up MGS2 when it came out anyway. And immediately loved it.

Of course, the beginning is just amazing, and after I played MGS I finally understood the camo Snake was wearing when he jumped off the bridge. But I digress.

This game hooked me from the start. Having not finished the previous title, I was intrigued as to why the super-soldier I loved so much was on the down-and-out, and was duly traumatized at the end of the tanker mission. And then Raiden came in to play and I was upset more for the loss of my hero Snake than being asked to play as another character. The story pulled me in. I wanted to know who these Patriot E-I-E-I-O people (this is a joke) were, who Dead Cell was, and why that freaking ninja was still around.

It was my favorite game for years. Although I would put it away for awhile, I would come back to it often.

It was during one of these “on again” times that… Well, it fell into my life again when I needed it most, like Dragon Age: Origins did, and so part of my love is also complete appreciation for its existence at that time in my life. I won’t bore you with details, but after one particular whirlwind week-of-awful following the Christmas of my high school senior year, I spent New Year’s Eve with Solid Snake and Raiden. It was like they reached out of the television and pulled me into their existence, letting me focus on saving someone else’s world instead of focusing on how mine seemed to have fallen apart.

I still pull it out every Christmas time, dust off my Playstation 2, and pop it in, because in spite of everything that was going wrong that one Christmas *mumble mumble* years ago, this game brought a smile back to my face. No matter what else is happening, to this day it still makes me so happy to play it.

So, while the Metal Gear series holds a special place in my heart because I have loved each game I’ve played, and found the story utterly fascinating, MGS2 had that magic touch that has not only held onto my attention and love for years, but also helped me out when I needed it!

What’s your favorite game? Have you written anything about it? What about your second-favorite game?  Let’s talk about them in the comments!

Thanks for stopping by, and I’ll see you soon!
~ Athena

What’s next? You can like, subscribe, and support if you like what you’ve seen!

– Support us on Patreon, become a revered Aegis of AmbiGaming, and access extra content!
– Say hello on Facebook, Twitter, and even Google+!
– Check out our Let’s Plays if you’re really adventurous!