The 3rd Birthday

My boyfriend lent me his PSP and PS3 so I could play those games I missed out on in the PSP and PS3 consoles. After Playstation, I haven't really found a game as immersive as Parasite Eve, Xenogears, Breath of Fire 3 - 5 and Final Fantasy 7 to 9.

As someone who enjoys fantasy and sci-fi novels, RPG games were the way for me to feel what it's like to be in their universe. For an hour or two (or more :D ) each day, I got to live as the main character of an amazing story. Final Fantasy, in particular, took my breath away with their superb world building, characterization and fresh plot lines. On the other hand, Parasite Eve took a more scientific approach, pushing the limits of evolutionary possibility. What if our mitochondria rebelled and are actually intelligent creatures just waiting to awaken? Mitochondria, after all, are said to have been independent organelles before it evolved to become a part of the cell structure.

Anywhoo when I played The 3rd Birthday and Final Fantasy XIII, I've noticed the trend these days of game makers putting more effort on breath-taking effects rather than story. They've begun (over)using the usual tropes for mass appeal: Love triangles, sexy girls you can "dress up," outcast characters and most notably, characters with amnesia. I mean come on, it's great that I have to go find out the character's past, but if that's all there is to the story, I think I'll just wiki the synopsis to get things over with. I bet I won't miss much anyway if I don't play the game. Most supporting characters in newer games are also not fleshed out well. In Final Fantasy XIII for instance, you have characters with varying diction and accents, but you don't get much backstory after that. Characters run around shouting Save the World--a world you don't really care to save since you've not been given a chance to know it better/explore.

Leave the arcade games in the arcade. Yeah they're fun, but that's not all there is to it. I hope I get the chance to play a real RPG again, with a real story and a fresh plot.