questions about your video game preferences/experiences

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I've got a set of questions that anyone who plays games can answer.

1. What is your favorite, or most frequent genre?

2. In 1-2 sentences, explain why you prefer/enjoy that genre.

3. What playstyle do you prefer the most, or use the most in that genre?

4. In 1-2 sentences, explain how it appeals to you, or what draws you to it.

5. Who/what is your favorite/most-relatable/most-enjoyable video game protagonist?

6. 1-2 sentences to explain why it's this character.

7. Who/what is your favorite or most memorable boss fight?

8. In 1-2 sentences, can you explain why?

9. What is the most difficult or frustrating boss fight you've fought?

10. In 1-3 sentences, can you explain how defeating that boss felt for you in that moment?

11. How many times do you think you tried before you finally beat it?

12. In 1-3 sentences, explain your most memorable/favorite sequence or scene in video games.

1. Fantasy-based RPGs.

2. I've been playing them since childhood, starting with D&D before there was such a thing as AD&D. They provide an alternate reality in which I can disregard my personal limitations, but with so much richness of structure and reference materials that I'm not hampered by my own lack of ability in pretending/imagination.

3. Ranged DPS.

4. I am effective at a distance, which is more comfortable to me in real life and in play.

5. Currently playing WoW, my favorite protagonist is Khadgar.

6. He's a powerful Mage who overcame a difficult and unpromising start to become a great leader.

7. Any boss fight with large numbers of associated trash mobs during the encounter.

8. Taking the top spot on the DPS meters with the use of AoE attacks gives me the fun of the admiration/envy of my fellow gamers without the need to talk to them much about it.

9. Sisters of the Moon on Heroic difficulty in the Tomb of Sargeras.

10. I felt thankful to have it over with.

11. Seven or eight tries.

12. Cut scene in Diablo in which the hero (that's me) shoves the Soul Stone into her own head to conquer/contain the evil. Stupid decision, but done for all the right reasons.

1. What is your favorite, or most frequent genre?

Roguelikes/lites or whatever you want to call them. Turn-based, real-time, either works.

2. In 1-2 sentences, explain why you prefer/enjoy that genre.

They provide the challenge that most games wont give me, in a genre known for it's brutality. The procedural nature of these games also ensures that not only is replayability very high, but that you also cannot beat these games through pure memorization.

3. What playstyle do you prefer the most, or use the most in that genre?

During combat, I'm the berserker sort (well, in any genre, really). I've a tendency to charge directly at everything, even when bullet-hell elements are present. My playstyle is overall very much based on my unusual reaction and mental processing speed. Out of combat, I'll min-max the hell out of everything, and I always take my time and explore everywhere, and make decisions carefully. And then it's back to going bonkers when another enemy shows up.

4. In 1-2 sentences, explain how it appeals to you, or what draws you to it.

I'm not at all a patient individual, and I also have a very short fuse. But I have also learned through things like fighting games that my sheer speed can create an overwhelming advantage, so a berserker style works well with the concept of "overwhelming" the enemy.

5. Who/what is your favorite/most-relatable/most-enjoyable video game protagonist?

Bridget, from the older Guilty Gear games.

6. 1-2 sentences to explain why it's this character.

Bridget really, really looks like a girl, but is male, and learning about this character (and cosplaying as him too...) helped me learn about and accept some of my own gender issues. It helps also that in that particular fighting game, he's the character I'm best with.

7. Who/what is your favorite or most memorable boss fight?

Queen Larsa, the final boss of Mushihime-sama Futari, a bullet-hell game. Specifically, the version that is fought in Ultra mode, the game's highest difficulty.

8. In 1-2 sentences, can you explain why?

Larsa represents the absolute peak of video-game difficulty, a boss so stupidly hard (and legendary for it) that probably less than 20 people in the world have ever defeated her, despite the fight being *technically* entirely fair (it's a bullet hell game, it's entirely reliant on NEVER using unavoidable attacks no matter how insane they may be). Seeing that fight always shows me that I can keep pushing my own skill ever further, because until that point there are always higher levels to reach.

9. What is the most difficult or frustrating boss fight you've fought?

Aside from Larsa (who I've only fought in training mode, because actually GETTING to her is nigh-impossible), the hardest for me would be Aki, the final boss of the original Mushihime-sama (in that game's Ultra mode). While not QUITE as insane as Larsa, he's still almost unstoppable for even the best players.

10. In 1-3 sentences, can you explain how defeating that boss felt for you in that moment?

Indescribable. Beating a difficult boss is one thing, but beating one of Cave's (the developer) infamous True Final Bosses? These things are known for being the hardest ever, so taking down one of them was bloody incredible. I probably had some sort of breakdown immediately afterwards due to mental overload.

11. How many times do you think you tried before you finally beat it?

Well over a thousand. That's not an exaggeration.

12. In 1-3 sentences, explain your most memorable/favorite sequence or scene in video games.

Metroid's escape scene. Either in the original, or in Super Metroid. It's certainly been done in games since then, but those two did it best in my book.

1. What is your favorite, or most frequent genre?

RPG's

2. In 1-2 sentences, explain why you prefer/enjoy that genre.

I like the fact that even when you finish the main storyline there are side quests, optional bosses, and stupid hard items to find. I also like the leveling up structure which enables you to develop your own non linear fighting style.

3. What playstyle do you prefer the most, or use the most in that genre?

I err on the side of high level attacker. Some games force you to develop an all rounder though.

4. In 1-2 sentences, explain how it appeals to you, or what draws you to it.

I like anime so there's that. I like how much time I can invest in level grinding. The reward of chipping away at an iceberg so to say.

5. Who/what is your favorite/most-relatable/most-enjoyable video game protagonist?

Fran of FF12.

6. 1-2 sentences to explain why it's this character.

It pisses me off that the only dark skinned female is sexualized and not human, but she's a cool character regardless. She's tall too so it's almost as if I were to design my own character.

7. Who/what is your favorite or most memorable boss fight?

Hell Wyrm of FF12's Sochen Cave Palace

8. In 1-2 sentences, can you explain why?

It's the first REAL Rpg battle I felt I won

9. What is the most difficult or frustrating boss fight you've fought?

Zodiark in FF12

10. In 1-3 sentences, can you explain how defeating that boss felt for you in that moment?

He was so hard to beat I didn't feel much of anything lol. It was one of those scenarios where you have to know the exact right trick to beat the boss. Nothing else will work.

11. How many times do you think you tried before you finally beat it?

It took me maybe 8 tires before I realized the health sap trick.

12. In 1-3 sentences, explain your most memorable/favorite sequence or scene in video games.

I don't have one

1 RPG.
2 I like the freedom that it provides and the side quests are always fun.
3 Good guy with occasional outbursts of insanity.
4 Just the way I am.
5 Edward Kenway (Assassin's Creed IV Black Flag).
6 I always felt like I could relate to him.
7 Liquid Ocelot (Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots).
8 It's basically a giant homage to every game that came before it.
9 Ridley (Super Metroid).
10 It took seven years (I know that's sad but just roll with it) but after finding more upgrades I whopped his a** and I jumped up with joy.
11 I would say at least 15.
12 The Boss vs Naked Snake (Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater). I remember the first time I did this fight it honestly felt like everything leading up to it was setting you up for it. To quote the Boss before the battle "One must die, one must live" and she knew it had to be her, it wasn't a boss fight, it was a set piece. She died for her country.

1. What is your favorite, or most frequent genre?
Action RPGs

2. In 1-2 sentences, explain why you prefer/enjoy that genre.
I grew up playing and loving RPGs, both Japanese and Western style like Final Fantasy and Baldur's Gate. But with those sorts of games I tend to get a bit OCD and get stuck in the minutiae of min maxing and I end up spending less time having fun playing the game and more figuring out how to optimise everything. Action RPGs are generally by necessity more streamlined and I can just focus on playing the game (and I have less time for the former sort of games nowadays).

3. What playstyle do you prefer the most, or use the most in that genre?
Although I still like having things to manage like stats and inventory, I prefer them to be a little streamlined. I don't like games where I spend more time in menus doing inventory or build management or looking over spreadsheets than playing the game. Ergo, I would rather play Dark Souls or Nier Automata over Vagrant Story.

4. In 1-2 sentences, explain how it appeals to you, or what draws you to it.
Action gameplay is fun and rewards skill, but still managing things like equipment and builds adds extra depth and replayability.

5. Who/what is your favorite/most-relatable/most-enjoyable video game protagonist?
In my chosen favourite genre? That would be incredibly difficult. Most RPG protagonists are either silent, player made blank slates, or devoid of personality. If we're unrestricted with genre, I would say Big Boss from the Metal Gear Solid series.

6. 1-2 sentences to explain why it's this character.
He's a tragic character, who while doing things he sees as being for the greater good, ends up doing a lot of bad things. In the long run this ends up with him being painted as a villain, even though the so called 'good guys' are doing all the same things. He's interesting because it's often not clear whether the game wants you to think of him as a hero or villain.

7. Who/what is your favorite or most memorable boss fight?
Phalanx from Shadow of the Colossus. Many of the fights from this game could also fit here. It's not a particularly difficult fight by any means, but it's fun and memorable.

8. In 1-2 sentences, can you explain why?
The scale of the fight; you're fighting an enormous enemy that looks like a dragon in a huge arena, where to even get onto the thing you need to jump onto it from horseback after limiting its flight. It's also just an incredible showcase of the game's design, which lets you traverse across the beast's wingspan and hang onto its fur as it tries to knock you off.

9. What is the most difficult or frustrating boss fight you've fought?
That would probably be the Ancient Dragon from Dark Souls 2 at initial release. Absurdly difficult with little reward, with a bunch of nonsense leading up to it you'd have to get through between each attempt. Pretty much impossible to kill on PC at launch without two high end weapons as one would break while whittling down his absurdly high health pool. Most of his attacks were difficult to anticipate where they'd go as he'd fly above where you could see with the camera, before doing a one hit kill AOE attack. Not fun and probably the worst designed encounter in the series.

10. In 1-3 sentences, can you explain how defeating that boss felt for you in that moment?
It was relieving in the way I suppose losing consciousness might feel after smashing your head into a wall repeatedly.

11. How many times do you think you tried before you finally beat it?
I don't know. So many times that I had killed every enemy in the preceding area ten times because enemies only respawn ten times in this game, and they had stopped respawning.

12. In 1-3 sentences, explain your most memorable/favorite sequence or scene in video games.
I think going back now I'd maybe react to it differently, but I remember Final Fantasy VI being the first game that made me have an emotional reaction. I suppose the moment that was most affecting was when the villains win and the world gets destroyed. I'd played for ages and thought this must be the final boss fight. And then the villain wins. At the time the idea that the bad guys in a game of that scope could win and transform the world blew my mind, and then this was followed up with a main character dying and another attempting to commit suicide.