blog Rucio's Video Game Rant #1

[Rucio, Emperor of Cheese]

Hello everyone, this post is made on a mobile phone like everything I do, so formatting will be, well... Nonexistent. I'll color code things so you can tell which topic is which.

Welcome everyone, to the first edition of Rucio's Game Rant! I was thinking of a strong first topic for this, something that would be able to help tie people into this, so I figured what better topic than the things that got me into gaming? I can hardly imagine a time I'm not within a 5 foot radius of a device I can use to play a video game, phone included. It's hard to believe that the first video game I ever owned was actually a Vision training game for old people!

~Rucio's Gaming Origins~

Around when I was 9 or 10, the DS came out, and I remember seeing some ad for a game claiming that "Hand-eye coordination is not a joke." This game was meant to help improve reaction times and eyesight in older people, ranging from 20s to late 70s and 80s. I saw it, and my idiot self at the time wanted it REALLY badly. On Christmas that year, I got my dream: a blue DS, with the game Flash Focus: Vision Training for Just Minutes a Day. Along with that were 3 games for the GBA slot of the DS: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Spongebob: Atlantis Squarepantis, and one other I honestly can't remember... I don't think it ever worked, unfortunately. I loved ALL of them, and if it wasn't for that one game, I might never have become the gamer I am today. I still have that copy of Flash Focus, and I can confirm my eyesight has gotten worse. That being said... Flash Focus isn't a game, and you can find it for a whopping 99 cents at a US GameStop now. Neat concept at least.

Cannot be properly ranked due to the fact it's not quite a game.

 

~My First RPG~

My first proper RPG doesn't fall far from the Christmas Tree (literally). The day after Christmas, I woke up to see another DS game sitting on the kitchen table, which was odd as nobody had left the house since the Eve. The game was very Touch-Screen based, like Flash Focus, but... It was so much different... Capturing monsters, elemental advantages... This game was NOT Pokemon, but actually LostMagic, a Taito release. I was hooked on this game, though I never beat level 5 until I was 16 and bought a new copy after losing the first one years before. The game was a release title for the DS, and as a result was pretty awkward looking back, but the story was actually pretty intact and consistent, and was a LOT darker than my younger self had realized. Now that I understand what everyone meant, some parts cause me to actually cry due to how serious the problems are. The gameplay is great, except for one fatal flaw.

Lag.

The great game killer. The enjoyment ender. Lag is what kills this game really badly. When more than 5 sprites are on the screen, the game suffers badly, due to the lack of a decent CPU/optimization. To make matters worse, there's almost always at least 10 sprites, and the game chugs often. Like, a LOT. Holy shit if nostalgia didn't help me, I never would have completed this game. I love it though, and if they fixed that one bug, rereleased it on 3DS with the same graphics, I'd give it a whopping 9.5 out of 10 due to how enjoyable it was for me. Unfortunately, due to near fatal frame rates, this game gets an abysmal 4/10. You can get this game at GameStop for about 3 USD if you can find a copy. Definitely worth it, if it wasn't so risky.

 

~Conclusion~

Okay, so the first issue was just me rambling about my first few days with my DS, and that might not be interesting to you. I don't blame you for thinking that, to be honest, but I think it helps me put myself out there, and allows you, the reader, to understand where I come from in the vast world of gaming. I didn't grow up on TV or anything, so a thing with TWO screens that lit up was mind blowing. This was my entry point into the gaming world, and without it, I probably wouldn't be trying to make a game today... But that's for another issue, much later when I know what the hell I'm doing. Thank you all for reading this, and if there's a game you'd like to hear my opinions on, I'd be glad to try it out sometime when I can and review it! Have a great day everyone, and game on!

[Sunstone]

Hey, I enjoyed reading this. Thank you for writing up this post! I was reading through it, and I can relate to quite a few points you brought up - such as the Nintendo DS and its library of games; that too, was one of the first video game consoles I remember enjoying the most when I was around the same age.

As for RPGs... sadly I haven't heard of LostMagic before, nor have I played as many RPGs as I would've liked. T^T But it looks like a DS classic from what I've seen of it so far having done a Google search for it. x3 It looks cute, and some of the artstyle reminds of the Professor Layton games (one of my all-time favourite series ^u^).

Overall this was an interesting (and somewhat relatable) backstory about some of your history with gaming! I look forward to seeing further issues in this series,~, and finding out if there's any more games you've played that I'm familiar with too.

[Kalvoras Vertal Banned]

"Actually a nice read. The first console I played on was actually a GameCube instead of a DS, and that was followed up by the Atari 2600 (strange downgrade, I know). The DS was a great system, I I only ever really got one for Pokemon Black/White, but ended up with some other games that I can't remember XD"

"LostMagic looked like a fun game when I was browsing the stores for games, but at that time, I didn't even have a DS lol. I can imagine the lag being horrible since the DS didn't have the greatest CPU to play heavy games. Had a friend who had it, but never played it much. As for me, my first RPG was the original Final Fantasy :3"

"I look forward to reading more about your history of gaming, Ru ^_^ Hopefully some more promising titles and adventures ;3"

[Neptune]

I didn't get my hands on a DS until a couple of years back, with the New 3DS XL. My very first handheld console was a Gameboy Colour, which my mum bought for me, along with some of the Pokémon games (Pokémon Yellow was the first I had played). I still have that Gameboy Colour. It's sitting right underneath the keyboard I am writing this post with, in a locked drawer under my desk. It still works, although I have no games for it right now. I keep it for memories sake.

[SMFoxy]

On 08/04/2019 at 03:20, Rucio said:

...LostMagic, a Taito release...

One of my favourite games was Taito too. Puchi Carat for the PlayStation.