Beyond the Game: Sentimental Titles

Written by Ryan Johnson (RyanDJ) Saturday, 23 July 2011 05:00

Do you have games that hold strong memories for you? Not just beating it or whatever, but held a huge impact on you, be it inside or out of gaming, be it the game or the physical media itself? Ryan Johnson reminisces on two in his history, and asks you to share your own stories.

Although I have since downloaded a copy for my PSP, and haven't touched the disc in years, I won't sell my copy of Twisted Metal 2. As the current pinnacle of that series, it was THE game my friends and I would play....I'm not sure if my PS1's tray ever opened for months after the game came out. This game single handedly made us miss the ball drop at two separate New Year's celebrations; that is a triumph in itself. Why does this game reach unsellable status for me? Co-Op.  Prior, every single game we played was versus. We never cared that there were no official endings for multi co-op, we loved strategizing ambushes, and rationing the shared life pool. This game showed us the glory of working together.

When I was in high school, Final Fantasy Tactics was originally released. While rereleased ad nauseum now, it was originally super rare. One of my friends got it, and it was his treasure. He played through it, and I wanted to so badly, but I could not find it anywhere. He eventually finished and offered to let me borrow it. I promised to take good care of it. Weeks went by, and I plodded through. Then one day I woke up to learn this awesome friend with a wonderfully bright future had died when his house burnt down. Feeling awkward, I went to his brother and returned the game. A couple days later, his brother came to my door and returned it to me, saying that he would have wanted me to have it. Misty eyed, I played through the rest in memory of my friend. You couldn't pay me enough to sell that copy of FFT.

So how about you? Any games that for gameplay or background have become so much more to you than anything else? Sound off in the comments!