Let's just say I loved all the Devil May Cry 3 bosses

I remember the day I got the Devil May Cry 3 Dante's Awakening Special Edition game. It was really awesome because I'd been looking for a DMC for a while and when I saw this one, I knew I had to have it and I asked my mom to buy it. I tried it as soon as I got home and basically it was everything I wanted in a game.

To be honest, I'm not really that into First Person Shooters. 2 reasons: I prefer swords and I get motion sickness when playing video games and first-person games always make me feel the worst. But you see, Devil May Cry had this thing where your main weapon is a sword, but you also have guns and Dante knows how to use them, so you don't have to do much. Plus, its third person and I appreciate that. 

So back to DMC 3. It was long awaited. From the first battle in Dante's place, I was immediately hooked. For me, what stood out the most was the array of bosses in the game and I'm going to be dedicating this post to THE DEVIL MAY CRY BOSSES. My favourites and least favourites, the hard ones, the easy ones and the ugly ones. Let's do this.

1. Hell Vanguard

Hell Vanguard

The Hell Vanguard boss is the first one you encounter in the game. Even though this boss appears more than once in the game, the first one has the most significance as it has a boss health bar. It isn't very hard to defeat but it doesn't help that this treacherous grim reaper can teleport around you and has a deadly scythe that it uses to swing through the air. Big nope.

2. Cerberus

Cerberus

Cerberus was one of my favourite bosses because I LOVE DOGS. He wasn't overly hard, but he has some pretty good attacks that could really trip you up. He has 3 heads and if one head was taken off, he'd move them around so a new head could take over the fight. His ability was ice attacks mostly. He'd do this thing where he ices the floor in the area where you are and if you touch it, you'd lose health. He could make ice spikes rise up from the ground and fire ice bubbles at you. He also lunged forward and rammed you with his middle head. When you defeat him, he gives you his blessing and the weapon Cerberus.

3. Gigapede

Gigapede

The Gigapede isn't that special, honestly. Quite an easy boss. It never actually touched the ground but would kind of hover around or swim through the air if you will and go through the big holes in the room to escape Dante's attacks. It also had lightning ball attacks and could electrify you.

4. Agni and Rudra

Agni and Rudra

Agni and Rudra were another of my favourite bosses. They are twin swords with a head on each hilt. Agni is orange and wields fire abilities, while Rudra is turquoise and uses wind abilities. You fight both, at the same time, which just blew my mind. If you defeated one and not the other in time, one body would wield both swords and come at you with the deadliest moves you've ever seen. When you defeat them, you gain both swords to help you on your adventure.

5. Leviathan Heart

Leviathan

To be honest, this boss was a little boring for me. You get swallowed by a giant whale demon that swims in the sky and you have to fight your way through his inner crevices to reach his heart. While you're destroying his heart, lots of other demons jump you from all sides and you have to beat them down. Did I mention that there are small pools of stomach acid that burn you if you touch them? No? Well, now you know. I would've preferred having to fight the giant whale demon itself. That's all I have to say on the matter.

6. Nevan

Nevan

This sassy lady-demon is Nevan. She's actually pretty hard to fight, if you ask me, but really entertaining. She has electrifying abilities and uses bats to fight you. She and Dante flirt a bit in the cutscene before the fight but don't let that fool you. She's quite strong and fairly intimidating. A lot of her attacks are long range, and she has an attack which kind of turns the floor to lava, only it is electricity that replaces the lava. Once you defeat her, you gain a new weapon, an electrical guitar, Nevan.

7. Beowulf

Beowulf

This handsome fellow is Beowulf. The only reason I didn't like him: I was scared as hell of him. Imagine this giant demon just pounding around a small room after you. Okay, the room wasn't that small but with him after you, it was smaller than it seemed. And for his size, he's really fast too. You don't technically defeat this hunk but Dante blinds Beowulf during the fight and Beowulf promises to kill every last offspring of Sparda. Later in the game he tracks down Vergil (apparently Dante and Vergil smell the same) and Vergil kills Beowulf, taking his soul as Beowulf. Bruce Lee would be jealous.

8. Geryon

Geryon

Imagine playing chicken with a demonic horse on a bridge. That's what you're about to do with Geryon. When Dante meets Geryon, he challenges this horse to a game of chicken on a bridge. That's how the first part of the fight happens. And then the bridge breaks and you both fall into an arena below. I LOVE HORSES and this was the fight of my dreams. If only the horse was less demonic and more playful, and I could ride it instead. Geryon can manipulate time to a certain degree. He sets time capsules on the battlefield and if you touch them, you become slow, giving the horse a chance to attack you with his spiked wheel hearse. He can also jump through portals which 'teleport' him around the arena. Nope, nope and nope again. But I had fun. This beautiful blue fire horse doesn't give you a weapon, instead you receive a style, Quicksilver.

9. Doppelganger

Doppelganger

So, Dante fights his Doppelganger and it's really weird. The Doppelganger can't be hit in the dark, like, at all. Nothing. You must shine light on this one to actually attack him. And the light isn't always on because the Doppelganger fires darkness at it to switch it off. So, it's basically a switch fight with a five-year-old. The Doppelganger gives you another style instead of a weapon, Doppelganger.

10. Damned Chessmen

Damned Chessmen

Some would probably argue that the Damned Chessmen are not a real boss, but I would say otherwise. Seeing as you're in a room with no way out until you defeat the chessmen, you're in a boss fight. Picture being on a giant chessboard facing a whole side of chess pieces. Pawns, Bishops, Knights, Castles, a King and Queen. Like a real chess game, Pawns will turn into other pieces when reaching the other side of the board. The chess pieces are found in other parts of the game but are definitely less viscous than the ones in this game. Also just like a real chess game, defeat the King, and you win. (All other pieces are defeated if you beat the King.)

A tribute to Lady, Arkham and Vergil

Lady, Arkham (in Jester form) and Vergil

Although you do face Lady, Arkham (in his Jester form and his crazy demon form) and Vergil as bosses, since they are characters in the actual game and part of the story, its different. Lady is crazy and literally just wants to kill Dante. You face her in an old library and she's slippery as an eel. Arkham is her father and wants crazy levels of power. He often appears to Dante as a crazy, whack in the head, Jester but believe me, he dang well knows what he is doing. And Vergil, ah Vergil, Dante's twin brother. He doesn't need any words. His final fight is a cherry on the game's cake. He is definitely the only character in the game that actually gives Dante a run for his money. Class act Vergil, old bud!

I hope you guys enjoyed my post. Devil May Cry is one of my favourite video game franchises and DMC 3 is my favourite of the ones I've played. I got most of the pictures and links from the Devil May Cry Fandom Wiki. You can go here, to read and see more.

My story of the original Need for Speed Most Wanted

Its been a few months since my last blog post and I'm hoping this one will be just as good as the others. I guess I'm a bit rusty but hopefully when you read this, it'll hit the spot just right.

As the title says, this is my Need for Speed Most Wanted story.

A good few years back, in 2008, a friend sold my mom Need for Speed Most Wanted (2005). I was at school at the time and she brought it down to show me when she came to collect me after school. I was a bit skeptical about playing a racing game. The last racing game I played was Gran Turismo and hell, I couldn't even get my driver's license. That really annoyed me.

I got home and fired up the game. I don't remember much but I wasn't really good at handling a car. I remember that familiar first race with Razor. I was super angry when my BMW went and died on me during the race. Razor took my car and I'll just say that on that day he made a real dangerous enemy. On top of that, Cross keying my car... I didn't like that very much either.

My schoolmates raved about how awesome Need for Speed was and how good they were at it and I was determined to take the time to actually learn how to control the car.

As time went on, I got used to making turns, winning races and making my way up the Blacklist. I learned that you have to ever so lightly touch the analog stick to make the car move smoothly and how to use the handbrake to drift around corners. I remember the first profile I made and how happy I was to make it to the top 3 and was about to face Ronnie. The next time I switched on my ps2, my profile wouldn't load and I was so confused. 10 year old me made a new profile and restarted the game. I made it to Razor and again the dang profile wouldn't load. So, I looked my issue up on the internet and found out I was making the mistake of switching off the console while the game was saving.

I started a new profile called "Swagger" and again faced the Blacklist. My Fiat Punto whipped everyone right out of their shoes. I was really, really good at racing. I faced Razor and of course, defeated him. Facing Razor 5 times really showcased my racing skills. One final intense pursuit and the game was finished with me. But I wasn't finished with the game.

I made my way to the first spot on every rank in the Rap Sheet. Beat every Challenge Series challenge and finished all the milestones and races in the game. Till my profile was 100% completed. I can drive every car in the game EXCEPT the Ford Mustang. The weight of the car just gets away from me. I know that's my weakness.

Over the years, I've had friends and classmates come over and face me. Nobody really believed that a girl could be good at racing, that a Fiat Punto could ever finish the game or beat any of the 'better' cars. I proved every single one of them wrong.

My mom even made a profile and she's pretty damn good herself. She prefers cars like the Mustang and Cobalt SS while I like my Punto and Gallardo. I'm light and fast. One time, my mom was in a pursuit and a spike strip took out both back wheels of her Chevrolet Cobalt SS. She wasn't sure if she could finish the pursuit so I took over and drove that car, busted tires, slowness, bad turning and all 300 cops to the stadium and finished the pursuit.

Another time, I was in a pursuit with my Gallardo and two SUVs approached me from the front but one hit me on the front side and I flew into the air, turned over, hit the cliff and fell back down on my wheels and guess what... I kept driving. I bet the cops thought they'd caught me that day!

There is even a secret place to park your car during pursuits while the cops try and swarm you. I used this place to stay in a pursuit for 30 minutes. Hell, I watched Cross come over and get immobilized right next to me. It was INTENSE. And funny. "Punk, that's for keying my car!"

From time to time, I still fire up Need for Speed Most Wanted and play a couple races or start a pursuit, it just never gets old for me. I love the game and it shows in how I drive when I have a controller in my hand.

I loved the God of War Official Novelization and this is why

Recently I purchased the 2018 God of War Official Novelization online. It took about two or so weeks for it to reach me and I was super excited when it arrived. It was a Saturday morning when the courier tapped on my gate, announcing the arrival of the masterpiece. I had still been asleep but I was out of bed in 0.2 seconds to sign for it and the whole process took about 2 minutes. (2 minutes too long as I just wanted my book!) I got back into bed and opened the package to reveal the beautiful glossy cover displaying Kratos and his son, Atreus, standing together on a Viking boat against a breathtaking mountain peak. Its safe to say I DEFINITELY enjoyed the book, I could hardly put it down and I finished it Tuesday evening. I'm not even joking.

The God of War Official Novelization was released in August 2018 by Titan Books Ltd. and written by J.M. Barlog. It consists of 351 pages, 56 chapters split between the realms, Midgard, Alfheim, Helheim and Jotunheim as Kratos and Atreus (Mimir joins later) travel from one to the next using the Bifrost. 

The story summarized with as little spoilers as possible: Kratos and Atreus, set out on a journey to spread his wife's (mother to Atreus) ashes on the highest peak in all the nine realms. They find out that the highest peak is not in Midgard but in Jotunheim, realm of the giants. Along the way there are some unexpected bumps and let's just say things get serious and Kratos must wrestle with the grief of losing his wife, keeping his past a secret from his son, protecting his son on their treacherous path and becoming a father to Atreus. Things aren't made any easier when Baldur, a god from Asgard, shows up and kind of challenges Kratos.

My copy of the God of War novel

The novel follows the events of the main story in the 2018 God of War video game. But it also gives us some insight into what the main characters in the story think and how they feel. That is the first thing that I loved about the book. For example, instead of Kratos replying to Atreus asking if he could carry his mother's ashes with a simple no, we read and understand that he is saying no because it is almost like letting go of what remains of his wife. In reply, Atreus might not say anything but in his mind, the author captures that he thinks that his father might be selfish for wanting to keep his mother to himself when Atreus knows that he was with her most of the time while Kratos was away. He believes Kratos shouldn't be mourning as seriously as he is. 

And that type of sadness pops up in several chapters where Kratos and Atreus think about their grief, while both keep it to themselves, it is revealed to the reader. It makes me, as a reader, feel the emotions written only with words on pages. I give high praise to any book that makes me feel what fictional characters feel.

The second thing I LOVED was the fighting scenes. They were perfect. If you use your mind's eye, it is easy to imagine. This is a good example:

"Baldur bobbed and weaved to dodge the lad's attack, launching his own counterattack with a fist slamming squarely into the boy's chest. 

Atreus left the ground, tumbling backward into Kratos' arms."

In a few words, you can picture exactly what took place. In a few words, you can imagine everything. That theme runs throughout the book, from fights to the characters admiring scenery and other characters. 

The novel stays true to the game and doesn't really change anything, besides maybe one or two revealing things that can only be interpreted by seeing them in the actual game. Plus, I believe if the author outright told us, it would give the whole 'thing' away. And I think that 'thing' could be key events in a future game. It's a sort of 'Easter Egg' for gamers. 

J.M. Barlog also captured how and in what way Kratos called his son. It is well-known that
Kratos hardly ever uses his son's name in the video game. It is a way of Atreus knowing when Kratos is serious. "Boy" is informal, its unimportant. Whereas if Atreus is in trouble or out from under Kratos' watchful eye, he refers and will call out his true name. The name Atreus is used for important situations, Kratos does not use his name unnecessarily.

Like I said, I could hardly put the book down. I read in the afternoon when I could, I read every evening on my bed. I needed to know what was going to happen next and how it was going to play out. I felt many emotions throughout the book, when Kratos felt angry, I was angry, if Atreus was sad, I was sad. In a way, I felt like I grieved with Kratos and Atreus over the loss of the female figure in their lives. It emanated off the pages.

And with that said, I commend J.M. Barlog for the beautiful, captivating and enchanting story he was able to bring forward from an amazing video game. He has my utmost respect as an author. I proudly walked over and placed my God of War book on my favourite shelf, on show, in my lounge for everyone who visits to see.

If you'd like to see some of J.M. Barlog's other works, his website is: jmbarlog.com

God of War: My first real ps2 experience and the first game we clocked on the ps2

So, my neighbour from way down my road tells my mom and I that his son bought the wrong game and only realized when he got home that he already had it. We don't ask questions, we don't argue, we go along with viewing the game. We paid him a couple of bucks and left. "God of War" sounded like an interesting video game name. It was only the second game I had acquired for my ps2 (the first being Jak 3). Little did I know that this God of War disc was going to change so much in my gamer journey.

I put the mysterious disc into my ps2 console and watch the whole "The Gods of Olympus have abandoned me," speech and think not too much, but this guy does look sick cool, honestly.
Then I get to meet Kratos, the protagonist of this EPIC tale.

The God of War cover for the ps2 featuring Kratos holding Medusa's head

A little backstory before I begin: God of War was released on March 22nd 2005, developed by Santa Monica Studio and published by Song Computer Entertainment. Only released for the ps2 at the time. But, later for the ps3 and ps Vita. It is loosely based on Greek Mythology and tells the story of our main guy, Kratos, being sent on a quest to find Pandora's box and defeat Ares; Kratos' former mentor who tricked him into killing his wife and daughter. Of course, nothing is ever as simple as the words I just used.

Oh god, the game opens with you fighting these scary rotting, undead Spartan soldiers. I wasn't ready for this but I'm here already and I have to get this right. The game threw me in the deep end real quick and since I used the keypad on the ps1, the joysticks were a whole different ballgame for me. At least, I had the prompts, square for light attacks and triangle for heavy ones. Okay, okay, I can do this. That was basically me through the whole game.

Playing God of War got me into Greek Mythology. Just imagine 10 year old me telling my 5th grade teacher all about the Greek gods and goddesses, to be honest, he was impressed. And to this day, I still enjoy reading me some good Greek Mythology information.

Back to the game. It was a real journey. I felt like I was Kratos. He's a character that has made mistakes in his past, he's done some really bad stuff but you feel sorry for him and then you get angry when he gets treated badly and then you get involved. Ripping heads from bodies, stabbing swords through chests and doing all other kinds of bloodthirsty things just come with the territory and there was something about Kratos' arrogance that was entertaining. He's all like, "You can't kill me, I'll come for you Ares, vengeance will be mine," and every word he says is something you want to make come true while playing.

I find it kind of hard deciding which enemies were my favourite. I know I HATE archers with a passion. Seeing as most of the creatures in this game are the undead, they fight pretty well for a bunch of dead guys. Minotaurs were really awesome and really overpowering, you were puny compared to them. Centaurs made an appearance in the Challenge of Hades, the creepy looking half man, half horse abominations.
I guess if I should choose a favourite enemy, it would be the Satyrs. Ugh, they were such skilled fighters. And I loved strategically fighting them when they popped up. Their swordsmanship was flawless, quick and agile. Harpies swooped down, screeching like old ladies.

Some of the enemies that you face off against

And then don't get me started on the 4 bosses the game had. The Hydra, Medusa, The Guardian of Pandora and Ares, the final boss battle which had 3 stages.
The Hydra had too many heads, I don't need to add anything else to that description. Medusa had a tail for miles and a gaze that literally turned you to stone. The Guardian of Pandora was a giant Minotaur that definitely left an impression. You had different stages to this fight and he changed his approach to killing you throughout. His fight always gives me an adrenaline rush.

The game's four bosses

Ares. Ares needs a paragraph all to himself because he's a real mother *insert word here.* His battle (not a fight, it was a battle) consisted of 3 stages. My mom and I split the stages according to our strengths. I did the first and last one and she did the second stage. I will mention that that stage had a whole bunch of Kratos Doppelgangers trying to kill Kratos while he tried keeping his wife and child 'alive' by hugging them and giving his health to them.

The game also has some awesome weapons and magic granted to you by the Gods of Olympus. Aphrodite, Athena, Zeus, Artemis, Poseidon and Hades make an appearance in the game to aid our Kratos. And a relic called Poseidon's Trident which lets him breathe underwater, and honestly, that was my favourite tidbit. 

And then the disc we bought from the neighbour got stuck at a cutscene halfway through the game, on the way to Pandora's temple and it didn't want to get past that part. When I checked the disc, it had a circular scratch on it which kinda looked 'man-made.' I was determined to continue our play of God of War so I asked a friend if he could lend me his, which he did. I got past the cutscene, played on a bit, saved and then retried my own disc and voila!, it had worked. So my mom and I were super happy about that. A few years later, I purchased a proper copy of the game from the game shop. 

I must mention that even my grandmother knew who Kratos was and my mom actually got her to purchase God of War 2 for us because she agreed that "we should get to play the next game after finishing the one we have." ( But that's for another post ;) )

I had some heavy powered help in God of War. Let me just set this whole scene straight, my mom and I play video games together. My mom loves God of War. And, we're two completely different gamers. I'm the strategist, I go in slowly, I evaluate the area, I find weaknesses, alternative ways to get things done and I block. Then, you have my mom, she's 120% in the room, kicking butts left, right and center without even thinking twice. She's never used the block button in God of War and I envy that, I don't even think she knows which button it is (she does, I asked her while writing this). God of War was the first game that showed me how different our gaming styles were. Sometimes hers worked better than mine and other times mine got us through an area better. That's why this game was made for both of us and that's why I am proud to say that we finished God of War together. 

To sum most of this post up, we LOVED God of War, its our favourite gaming franchise and I'd light my toe on fire to play the other titles I haven't gotten to yet. A PlayStation 4 would open all those doors for me. One day is one day. 

Escape Or Die Trying: A rundown of the most underrated game in freaking history

I bet not many of you have heard about a game called O.D.T, or rather, Escape Or Die Trying. Well, then you've come to the right place because this post will give you the rundown and of course, you'll get my thoughts.

The PlayStation cover for O.D.T

So, firstly, some background: O.D.T was designed and published by Psygnosis. It was released on the 31st of August 1998 for the PlayStation and Microsoft Windows. It had a planned Nintendo 64 version but it got cancelled. The N64 version had another unlockable character, Mr. Bodybolt. 

Secret characters: Sophia Hawkins, Karma and Mr. Bodybolt

The plot goes like this: You play as one of 4 characters (there are also 2 unlockable characters, Stowaway Sophia Hawkins and Karma, the Ex-Deviant), Corporal Ike Hawkins, Cartographer Julia Chase, Chief Engineer Maxx Havok and Archbishop Solaar. You're on the Nautiflyus (an airship) with Captain Lamat and Marin (The pilot) transporting the Green Pearl back to Calli, the homeland of our heroes. The Green Pearl is a magical artifact that would hopefully heal the endemic Calli's people are facing. Due to time constraints, they were forced to fly over the Forbidden Zone and accidentally crash landed on a roof of a tower in the zone. The Captain and the Green Pearl are taken by Ah Puch, a super scary demon monster.

The Nautiflyus

Basically, you have 3 objectives:

• Collect gas canisters to refill the balloon of your ship, 
• Find and retrieve the Green Pearl and,
• Escape from the Forbidden Zone

In every level there in a final boss and every level feels different. There are different weapon ammo and cool spells that make the game interesting.

The 4 Main heroes of O.D.T

The Refinery, Gardens, Jails, Kitchens, Pools and Temple are the themes for the levels you face and the bosses are themed accordingly.

My favourite level was the Pools. The blue colours, the water (I love water in video games) and the fish wall patterns calmed me in a game filled with jumpscares. Well, jumpscares for me only actually.
My mom and I played this game together and I remember several times where I'd be watching her play, she'd head down a passage and where the light illuminates, I'd see movement, get a fright myself and grab hold of her shoulder and shout. She'd end up shouting as well and put the game on pause. I think that must've happened at least a million times. 

My Favourite level, The Pools

There were also these teal coloured monsters that wouldn't die even when they lay still on the ground and when you approached, they'd simply hop up and attack. And they'd make this scary groaning sound which kinda scared 6-7 year old me.
My least favourite level was the Kitchens. It had lots of jumping over lava, carcasses and spiders. And steamy warm chicken stood on every table. The boss at the end was also not cool. A monster wielding two butcher knives after playing a level filled with carcasses made me think I'd be a carcass soon too.

I did some research and found the bosses names in order; The Golem, The Prototype, The Treeman, Ek Ahau, Kisin, a Dragon and Ah Puch.

Ek Ahau was a cool dude. He was massive, with one arm and a deformed 'twin' stuck to his torso. He did these Kung-fu kicks and we literally nicknamed him Kung-fu Panda for that reason.
Being in a small room with this boss heavily stomping around after you was NOT a good thing.

And the Prototype had a funky move where if you had him walking into a corner, he'd turn the top half of his body around and suddenly he's facing you.
The Treeman had baby dinosaurs spewing from his chest, it was really annoying trying to fight a boss and also trying to keep the little rugrats from biting you.

My favourite character to play as was Ike. He balanced real well. Not too light or heavy in my hands. As a gamer, I can almost feel heavy and light characters in games. Julia was too light for me, one wrong flinch and she'd stroll off a ledge. Maxx was too heavy and I just never took to Solaar, honestly.

Some of the bosses and enemies you'll encounter

The array of enemies in the game fit into the environment, dinosaurs in the garden, bats in the open air outside and piranhas in the water. When you stood still in the water for too long, a piranha would take a chomp out of you. Them biting always sounded like they had false teeth rattling in their mouths. It was funny. 

This game brought me so much joy. As much as it was action packed, it had puzzle elements and it got my brain working. But I must admit dying over and over did frustrate me. When I got home early from school, you'd find me standing in my lounge, the controller in my hand, fighting the Dragon boss in the water level over and over. 

If I think about O.D.T objectively, I see few flaws. Better character back stories with more in game cutscenes could've strengthened the gameplay. More explanations to things. Back then, I loved the game for what it was. But if the game was remade as was then, today, critics would point out the same flaws. 

But, I think with a little creative flair and more backstory, the game could make it in today's gaming industry. I loved the game's layout and the impact the game had on my gaming journey is why, 100%, with no hesitation, Escape Or Die Trying makes it to my top favourite games of all time.

I thank my good friend, Lord Josh Allen, for the pictures I used in this post. He is a fellow O.D.T lover and has some great O.D.T related content on his Youtube and even has a Facebook group devoted to this amazing game, O.D.T Escape Or Die Trying.

I am a GAMER

I've thought long and hard about what my first blog post subject should be. After careful consideration, I think I found my answer. My first post is about how I found my gamer spirit.
I remember, way back in the day, the early 2000's, my neighbour asked my mom to help her paint her lounge area walls. She said that when my mom finished, she'd give her old Windows 95 PC to me as she was getting a new computer. My mom did end up finishing the job and I ended up getting the PC.
Wow, I was about 5 or 6 and I remember my mom and I trying to figure out how to hook up this old monitor and system unit to each other and to the power. We did figure it out eventually and I watched this beautiful computer screen come to life. The 'grrr' sound coming from the internal parts. Even just thinking about it gives me the feels. That PC was the start of EVERYTHING. Space Cadet Pinball and Solitaire was the reasons I put on that PC.

A family friend loaded Dangerous Dave onto that old PC and dang, did I love that game. I never finished it but it was loads of fun. I remember playing the heck out of this game on Saturday afternoons, those were the good old days.

Fast forward a year or two. My mom's friend sold us his old ps1 and a heap load of ps1 games. My gran actually bought me that ps1. My mom twisted her arm to do it because she knew I wanted it the moment he brought it over. But I didn't know anything about console gaming. I was still a newbie and had a long way to go to figure out how the buttons and sticks worked on this strange hand remote. Then came the days of running around endlessly in Lara Croft's home (Tomb Raider 2), skateboarding for hours (Street Skater and Pro Skater), and my personal favourite, fighting my way, alongside my mom, in the underrated Escape... Or Die Trying. I'd have this knack of grabbing my mom's shoulder and shouting, while she was playing, at the thrilling parts and she'd shout then too. This was the proper start I needed to realizing I was a gamer at heart.

Now, in 2007, that was when the real deal went down. December, Christmas school holidays, my gran asks my mom what it is that I have been eyeing in the tech store paper. My mom fetches the paper and asks me what exactly I want from this section, she points at the gaming section and my decision, with no hesitation, was the ps2. I was so excited when my mom called the store to find out if they had stock. I ran up and down the house shouting. We took a taxi to town and collected the console. The first game I chose with it was Jak 3. I didn't even know what I was choosing. Hearing my ps2 switch on for the first time was the best thing ever. I'll never forget that special day.
The second game I got was God of War. My favourite game to this day. My mom and I played together to finish it. I have clocked so many hours on my ps2. My trusty console. I literally feel love inside myself when I look at my ps2. Last year my gran passed away so it adds to the sentimental value of my ps2.

Its 2019 and I still have my ps2, in perfect working order. I got a tattoo done on my chest of the simple triangle-circle-X-square PlayStation key combination, on the left hand side, where my heart is.
I always wanted a ps3 but I watched its life start and end without being able to buy one. I haven't been able to save up to purchase a ps4 but I know that I will one day and hopefully, it'll be before its life comes to an end.

I follow a lot of gaming news and try and keep up with as much as I possibly can, short of playing the actual game. I watch videos, I ask friends what they've played and their experiences. The day I lay my hands on my own ps4 will be a new chapter in my book of being a GAMER.