How a Video Game Impacted my life
So I only recently decide to play final fantasy VII despite how old it is and that I knew a lot of the spoilers. But man am I glad I did! First, I should explain: in the game, the protagonist (Cloud Strife) is a mercenary blah blah blah most of you know the story so I'll just get to the part that impacted me. Anyway, when Cloud is explaining his childhood he talks about how he always isolated himself from others because he felt he was much more mature than them. I've felt this way since 8th grade since no one ever talked to me and I was bullied a lot. So when he explained this I felt odd? almost like excitement! I know this is strange, but I honestly felt like relating to one of the most bad@$$ characters ever gave me hope that I could someday not be a loser. I want to know what you think about this and if you've ever felt something similar. So let's disscuss!
I've never played FFVII, although I should, butI've felt something similar for other stuff.
I think what you've felt is something many, many people have, especially teens like us. It's that sense of truly connecting to a character, the problems they've faced, their personalities, something unique that stands out to us and rings true.
And when there's just something about those characters we admire deeply, I think it helps us see ourselves a bit differently. Maybe we can overcome our problems like they have. Maybe we canchange ourselves like they have. Maybe we can be flawed yet strong like they are. Maybe we can be as intrinsically *ourselves* as they are.
In a nutshell, tl;dr, :p because we relate to those characters deeply, they inspire us.
It's happened multiple times for me. These will probably be obscure, but I'll list a few with huge impacts anyway. Mai-a seemingly emotionless knife thrower from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Rose and Kanaya- teenage girls playing a game called SBURB from Homestuck. Kyuubei- a swordswoman from Gintama.
A bit confusing, but I hope this makes enough sense. :)
@guidingMusic
I was told that only "emo kids like me" (I'm not emo btw) feel this. Thanks!
P. S. What does tl;dr mean?
tl;dr= too long; didn't read. People use it when talking about posts that are long and don't feel like reading them.
You are so not alone in this, just look at any fandom and you'll see people talking abouthow this game, that book or whatever changed their lives.
Regarding the below post,Kingdom Hearts is epic. What I learned from it was that there was always light within the darkness and that we decide whether we can find it or not.
I feel like thatsa lesson everyone should learn. No matter how dark things are, there is always light (I sound like aqua :p). But also riku taught me that no matter how hard you fall (getting possessed by Ansem/xehanort) you can always redeem yourself. Also in case you couldn't already tell, I'm a huge kh fan!
Kingdom Hearts 2 taught/first exposed me to the fact friends aren't always forever. Later in life that lesson lessened the blow of losing and leaving friends.
Have you even played 358/2 days!? Good god that ones so sad! It had that lesson more than any kh game! Seriously the feels! SPOILER: when Xion dies I cried!
Cloud is now officially my favorite video game protagonist of all time. He may be a bit emo, but I've never been able to relate to a protagonist like I have him. And get this: as part of national free comic book day I'll be co splaying as him! Nerds like myself getting together is pretty much the point of the holiday if you'd even call it that. So I'm excited to see the result.
