When you're in gaming long enough, you'll come across some sort of weird coincidence. Just one of those moments that it seems that a game was made for you and it came to you in the most elaborate way. Here's my little story and it's also the reason why I'm a big Final Fantasy fan.

Back in 1990, I had already become a fan of RPGs thanks to Dragon Warrior. The game blew my mind in how epic it was compared to the other games that were out there. I really didnt understand the whole RPG thing back then(I was 11) but the experience kept me going. Even after that, I didnt search out for other RPGs. Like a lot of kids with no money, I would go with my mom to rent them. Looking at the back of each game, I tried my best to find the games that would interest me. At this one particular cheap video rental place, I had picked up FF1. I noticed on the back that even though it looked different, this game had that feeling of Dragon Warrior. That sealed the deal for me and for the next three days, the game would be my only focus in life. Like others, the first sequence really puts you in the mood with that music and those words giving you a taste of what the story entailed. When choosing my characters, I had read in the manual about the different characters. And in that 8 bit theater way, I picked four Red Mages because they are the best characters in the game.

I began to play and really had no clue of what was going on. I slowly picked up on what to do and how the game worked. Over the three days, I slowly made progress making my way to the fight with the Vampire. Then, as always, good things come to an end and it was time to return the game. We didnt visit that particular rental place much more after that. When I went to other rental places, I never did see the game available. Several months later, we made our way back to that particular rental place and going through the selection of games, I found FF again. Remembering how great the experience was and how I didnt beat it the last time, I had decided to rent it again. Once again, the game came with me and I played on, not getting much farther. Luckily, a cousin of mine who had moved from LA to San Antonio visited my mom and me noticing that I had the game. He too had the game and, as luck would have it, he had the Nintendo Power strategy guide. He let me borrow the game since he had already beaten it and let me keep the guide. After several months, beginning with that first rental, I had finally beaten FF.

The story doesnt end there though. Here comes the strange part. A few years after that, the SNES had been released and I had received it for Christmas like thousands of kids who's parent had to fight other parents for it. Early on, my games of choice were Super Mario World and Final Fight since those were the only two games I had actually owned at the time. Now where my mom works, occasional people will stop by selling their "wares" that they "acquired"(you know what I'm talking about). Since my mom worked with a lot of other ladies who all had kids that played games, well that became the product of choice to these parents. Games were sold cheaply, $10-20, a pop still with the price tag on them, uh I'm meant their "acquired" tags on them. So one day, out of the blue, my mom had come home and said she bought me a game. To my surprise, it was Final Fantasy 2/4j. I didnt get a lot of gaming info back then so I didnt even know about FF2(or that fact that this was actually #4). Through some coincidence, or what others would call fate, I had been reunited with one of my favorite games on the NES. My mom never knows what games I play unless it has Centipede or Pac Man on it, so she didnt know it was something I would have wanted nor was it something I asked for. Its these times that parents that a simple gesture can change the outlook of a child forever. Come to think of it, I should probably thank her again for it.

Originally blogged on 7/7/08