Before I came out to Seattle, I knew there was one very important thing my brother and I needed to do: play computer games. It was one of our favorite things to do together as kids, and this just happens to be the perfect time to be an adult reliving their childhood with computer game nostalgia.
Tomb Raider: Anniversary
Although this was released in 2007, it was on sale for $2.24 on Steam last week, so it’s new to me. Because it’s a recreation of the original Tomb Raider game, it brings back all the feels. I played for a couple hours on my own, delightedly remembering the joy of trying out jumping and climbing moves in Lara’s manor before attempting to explore ruins around the world.
This was a game that was played by Roy more than me, however, because I quickly realized I was not used to using a keyboard to move, jump, climb, pick things up, grapple, and duck, sometimes all in succession. When I once missed a jump, fell into a pit, and was immediately mauled by a bear, my heart had sped up to the rate of an actual adventurer/explorer.
Evoland
I had seen a preview for this months ago, and when I was lazily scrolling through the App Store on my computer last week, I saw that it was $9.99 and couldn’t resist. Although this isn’t a classic game I’m replaying as an adult, it is specifically designed with nostalgia in mind.
Roy and I started playing it last night, and it is DELIGHTFUL. You start out in an 8-bit music, colorless 2D world, and as you unlock treasure chests, you upgrade the experience to more complex music, better graphics, and a more advanced fighting style. It’s a journey through RPG tropes with tongue in cheek comments made about each upgrade (when the world map gets tilted in an eye-straining “3D,” the captioned comment reads something like “We used to think this was seriously cool in 1990.”)
I absolutely adored playing Evoland. It brought back the frustrations of playing old games with limited movement and frequent deaths. But it also touched my crotchety old heart, making me think that the old days were glory days, and these poor kids nowadays don’t know what they missed.
King’s Quest
And then: the best news ever! Roy’s friend Kate hung out with us last night. She and I became friends on a previous Seattle visit because, like Roy and I, she spent her childhood playing the King’s Quest games and immediately recognized my singing, “We’re the ants of King Anthony, we’re coming to help King Graham!”
I told her about Tomb Raider and Evoland, and she said, “Oh, well you’ve heard about the new King’s Quest game, right?” Roy and I both screamed, “NO, WHAT?” and she showed us this trailer.
Unfortunately, it is only for Windows right now, so I am going to have to bide my time. Which is also okay, because this version of the game is coming out in five episodes, and I would rather play them all at once instead of, ugh, waiting in between each one.
It’s a good time to be a nostalgia gamer!
And I didn’t even mention the Final Fantasy 7 remake coming out December 31, 2016 (according to Amazon).
It Is Trish 