I'm so happy the Final Fantasy VII Remake demo turned out so well. I was legitimately, genuinely impressed by so much of it — more so than I've felt impressed by any game for a very long time, even notoriously "impressive" ones such as The Witcher 3 and the like.
As I noted in my piece today on MoeGamer, Final Fantasy VII is an incredibly important game for me. I associate it with what was probably the happiest time in my whole life: the period when I was at sixth form — out of compulsory education, into studying the things that personally interested me, and just living for the moment without worrying about the future.
That period of time was so happy for me because it's one of the few periods where I felt well and truly completely accepted for who I was. The friendships I built and developed during that time were extremely close ones, and the experiences I shared with those friends, while mostly pretty mundane, are ones that I'll always remember. That 36-hour Final Fantasy VII binge was definitely one such experience — and one of the reasons why I will always have such fond memories of that game.
It was a time when it was exciting to explore new games; a time before the Internet made jaded old cynics of us all; a time when we could all just be enthusiastic and passionate about things without feeling obliged to play devil's advocate, or be contrary just for the sake of it. It was a good time. It was a time where I bought a lot of games and discovered some all-time favourites — I just wish I still had some of them, but you can blame the collapse of my first marriage for the loss of most of them. That's another story though, of course.
For sure, while the modern age brings us many conveniences and many amazing things — and the means to express ourselves more freely than ever — if I had the opportunity to go back to then… I'd absolutely take it.
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