New guy here!

Hi! I'm Matt. I'm a twenty-something college kid studying Professional Writing at the University of Oklahoma. It's basically an English degree with one sweet benefit: I get to correct my friends' grammar, smirk, and say "Trust me. I'm a professional writer" whenever they get pissed. Good times.

For about six months last year I had a columnist gig at the late DS Fanboy, writing a weekly piece called Gaming to Go. All of the columnists got the boot whenever the site was annexed into the shiny new Joystiq Nintendo, leaving me sad and lonely until I started following Destructoid on a regular basis. Lurking for a couple of months has offered one very important conclusion: you guys are way more entertaining.

All the free time also gave me plenty of chances to sit on my ass and play video games, so that's what I've been doing. I'm an RPG gamer at heart, though it pains me to say I've only played a couple in the last year or so that I've genuinely liked (hello, Persona 3 and 4!). P3 really struck a chord with me more than any other RPG I can remember -- I get the sniffles way easier than any man probably should, so the emotional rollercoaster near the end there left me in a really embarrassing state.

More importantly, though, it drove me to find games that could tug on similar heartstrings. And while nothing has struck the exact same chords, I've found a few things that touch me in all the right places (shutup). Knytt Stories, which provided the sexy banner you see above, is one of them. If you guys haven't given it a shot, I'd suggest you go download it right this very instant.

It captures the appeal of the old Mario games perfectly -- running and jumping, pure fluidity of motion, the simple but satisfying mechanics of just getting from point A to point B. Beyond that, though, is the atmosphere, easily the most tangible aspect of the game and the whole reason I'm raving about it now. Knytt Stories (and predecessor Knytt) combine simple, colorful visuals and stirring music to tell a story of solitude and exploration that affected me just like Persona's, albeit in a different way.

The games that I really enjoy playing are all similar in the sense that I leave feeling like I've taken something away from their worlds. Persona 3 might have left me with the realization that I'm a weak shell of a man, sure, but it's a sensation I'm glad still to have experienced. These sorts of games are the ones that have captured my interest as of late, and half the reason I decided to register an account and start annoying everyone here: I want to talk about them.

Summertime leaves me plentiful opportunities to do that, so I hope everyone here tags along as I go. If nothing else, you might come across a game or two that you haven't played before (my choices have a tendency to go indie), and that's the beauty of the community blogs, right?

Nice to meet you all!

Also, cocks.