Fleeting Memories

by Phillipe Richer

Nowadays, different RPGs are released several times a month, every month of the year. With many of the old school gamers growing older and undertaking more responsibilities in life (work, school, dating, etc.), many find themselves confronted with the single most dreaded problem of every RPG enthusiast: lack of time. For many younger gamers, the main obstacle in their way to endless gaming might well be money, but for many of us, time itself has become the biggest hurdle in our path to gaming bliss. Nevertheless, we try our best to play the newest RPGs, trying to keep up with the surge of new experiences readily available for our enjoyment in exchange for a measly sum of money. However, it appears to me that many people are lacking the spark and the desire to truly understand and fully exploit the potential of their games. By constantly seeking to acquire new games and by rushing through those we own, many of us (not all, but certainly many) have forgotten why we play at all: for the experience.

In order to prove my point, I will use FFVI as an example, a game still revered by many and remembered by all. To begin my argument, I will ask this rhetorical question addressed to all old school gamers: why do you love FFVI so much? Surely, if we begin to analyze the game from a technical standpoint, its merits have long since then been outclassed. Rather, the game is loved because of its gameplay, its music, its plot, its characters, its charisma; in short, its experience. But aside from gameplay, anyone would (hopefully) acknowledge that those topics are all totally subjective. Therefore, no one can judge and assert that a soundtrack, a storyline, or a cast of personalities would entertain and please everyone. So then, why would FFVI be better than every single RPG ever made if its dominant traits are all subjective? I believe the answer is quite simply fondness, a fondness which has arisen from a total emotional attachment to an adventure that has been relived multiple times over.

Then, despite your current lack of free time, why not give other RPGs the same chance you gave FFVI when you had all the time in the world to savor it? In my case, I had played FFVI through a few times in the days, having never owned the cartridge myself. Having not re-played the game until very recently, I kept second-guessing everyone who still hailed the game to this day. I thought, "Is it really fair to still praise Uematsu's work on FFVI as his best ever? Is the cast really that fantastically personable? Is the experience truly that memorable, or is it just a question of perception?" And so, I replayed the game myself, and that is when I realized that I had forgotten a lot about FFVI. To me, and this is my subjective opinion only, the music unmistakably is sensational. To me, the cast and the overall adventure absolutely is memorable. My lasting perception of the game had always been favorable for certain, but I needed to refresh my memory to realize how truly astounding the production was and still is to this day.

Some might think that I am contradicting myself blatantly, but please do not forget that this editorial is in no way aimed at downsizing FFVI. Rather, I am solely using my experience and that of thousands of gamers with FFVI to showcase my point: most RPGs deserve to be relived multiple times. I would even go as far as to substitute most with every, of course depending on who is concerned. Adventures you tasted several years ago are most probably not quite lucid in your mind. Everyone has a certain lasting feeling for everything they've played, be it good, bad, or something in between those two adjectives. Instead of pursuing newer adventures constantly in hope of perhaps finding the one that would titillate your mind most profoundly, why not give those RPGs, the ones you still feel good about at the mere thought of them, a second, see third chance?

Sometimes, an RPG challenges you with the depth of its plot. In other instances, the mere act of escaping to that world you so cherished, to those friends whose emotions, torments, and joys resound more true than true in your heart can stir in you indescribable passions. And very often, the soundtrack accompanying a game can rival the genius of Beethoven himself to your unsuspecting ears. Whatever fragment of story has remained unresolved in your mind, whatever your reasons for still liking the game after so long, whatever particle of a glorious requiem lying on that shiny disc still beats within you, revisit that adventure in order to finally grasp the magnitude of the production completely. Experience less if time be a constraint, but experience what you can passionately and exhaustively. Who knows, maybe that one adventure you've been seeking is merely waiting on your shelf to be deciphered further and treasured forever.