I consider myself an old gamer even though I am 22 because I really don't feel as excited about games as I used to. This is the second post in a "series" where I bitch about moments in games-- mostly rpgs from the late 90s/early 2000s. That was a time where I'd rush home after school to get to work on whatever rpg I had at the time.

Around the time I got a playstation, I was in 5th grade my friend 'Blake' had been chewing my ear off about how awesome Final Fantasy 7 was. At that point in my life I hadn't played many rpgs; just super mario rpg in 3rd grade and chrono trigger in 4th grade. As a plucky youngster my older brother was always able to beat games faster, more easily, and with all the endings(such was the case with chrono trigger). However, Final Fantasy 7 introduced a change in the status quo. Yes, he did play through the first disc once before we got our own copy of the game. And yes, I did still watch him play everyday. AND YES, I did cry when Aeris died. (I was 9, gimme a break!)


I remember seeing this cover in magazines and flyers EVERYWHERE.

My friends and I were huge nerds back in the day. At birthday parties we would show each other the final battles of whatever game we'd recently beaten. We made several doodles of game characters in class. I would get as many calls about math homework as I did about getting the key to Midgar. Many of us had respectable EGM and GamePro collections at the age of 12.


One of my first issues of gamepro.

By the time Blake's 11th birthday party rolled around, he'd already beaten the game twice or three times. He took the liberty of showing us the final bout against Sephiroth. He pulled out all the stops and used the ultimate of all summons. Knights of the Round. At the time I had not seen anything as spectacularly mind blowingly awesome and I don't believe any video game afterward has impressed me as much.



After that I was determined to get the game and get this summon for myself. Hoo boy. Easier said than done. On MY 11th birthday, Blake was kind enough to get me a copy of the game. I put in a ton of hours into Final Fantasy 7. I loved it immensely. It wasn't too difficult and the cutscenes were just so damn cool. My favorites are probably the motorcycle and weapon attack ones. On Halloween I dressed up as Cid and Blake was Cloud. Our costumes were probably the most difficult to explain. Wouldn't be the last time we'd dress up either as we had to cross-dress for our senior year conversational Spanish project.


No comment.

Anyway, aside from beating baddies left and right, I made it a point to become an excellent Chocobo breeder and racer. I did everything necessary to get the green, blue, and black chocobos. Went to the Icicle place and took a while to get the wonderful chocobo but was so glad when I finally got him. All my babies were prime S-class racing chickadees. Everything was looking great.


I could taste that sexy beast.

Got some Zeio nuts and girded them chocos' loins for some hot lovin'. It's all about the nuts baby. Then Kapow! A...yellow chocobo? I didn't think much of it at first but had a bad feeling in my mind. After several more unsuccessful attempts I started seeing things. Imagining yellow chocobos as gold chocobos, black chocobos as gold chocobos, my little sister as a gold chocobo...

I just went on with the game though. I pushed forward and beat it with ease.(all chars around level 60, just using regular attacks no magic or summons) But I couldn't help but feel that my game was incomplete. I definitely was not able to take on Ruby or Emerald Weapon. And I still had not gotten the Knights of the Round materia!! Sadly, I more or less gave up. With games like Final Fantasy 8, Xenogears, and Grandia coming out soon, I could not be bothered by starting up a new file for FF7. However, every now and then I would come back to the game, trying, but failing to create a gold chocobo. Sure, I had surpassed my brother by beating a game he could not. But I still felt unaccomplished.

Several years went by. Throughout the years I had played several different games but none were as significant to me as Final Fantasy 7. Sure, there were several games that I enjoyed more than that one. But FF7 dominated my life throughout the 6th grade.

Then one day last year during a weekend visit in my senior year of college, I decided to try once more. One final time. If I was not able to breed a gold chocobo then, I would put down the controller for good. I put in the game, putzed around a bit and got down to business. Did everything right and...another yellow chocobo. How disappointing. After all those years, still the same result. There must be a glitch in the game or something preventing me from getting one. <_< >_> Another try couldn't hurt. So I did it once more and... Wow ANOTHER yellow chocobo? Except this one looks a bit funky dunky. Oh wait, that's a gold one!!! After ten long years, I was so goddamn excited to have finally gotten my gold chocobo that I might have danced and yelled a bit.


I felt unstoppable.

I felt like I could take on any task. The MCAT and Medical school did not seem as difficult now. So I went on to get the Knights of the Round materia. I equipped it and went straight to fight Ruby Weapon. Used it, did not have any effect, and had my ass kicked. The End.