I was asked if I was going to play the new Mass Effect, and what games I like. So, I’m going to answer here and separate this out into three sections. The genres of games I like, games which influenced me a lot, and games which I currently have and play.

Genres

First-Person/Third Person Shooters: I love the stories of so many of these games…but severe motion sickness sends me to the restroom. This is the primary reason why I will not be playing Mass Effect Andromeda. This unfortunately extends to most of the modern action-RPGs as well.

RPGs: In particular JRPGs. The recent push toward action-RPGs has caused this to wane, but Final Fantasy VII was one of the games that really kickstarted my imagination. I love them, but rarely have the patience anymore.

Real-Time Strategy: This is pretty much my go-to type of game. I enjoy them, I don’t get nearly as frustrated unless it is super-slow or requires super-fast reflexes.

Turn-Based Strategy: I love these games! I suck at them. I just cannot, for the life of me, balance research to production to expansion.

Memorable Games

Command & Conquer: Red Alert: I loved Tonya. I loved RTS games. I played this when I was…10? I think close to that. Beat my way through the game, misunderstanding half of the mechanics as normal. This was one of the first games I actually owned.

Final Fantasy: I played this when I was 6 or 8, on the original NES. We visited a friend down in Moab, Utah, and they had it. I had no clue how to equip items, and thus I had a whole party of fighters fighting with their fists and a full inventory, named after me and my family members. Good times. Eventually I re-played it when I was…14, I think, and I did quite well! However, in the elemental dungeons, there’s this teleportation stone to send you out of the place after you beat the end boss. I didn’t realize it was there. So I built up my party’s level until I was capable of grinding the entire way into the dungeon, killing the boss, and then walking all the way out. This was especially unpleasant in the volcano. I think this game burnt me out on grinding.

Final Fantasy VII: This is a divisive game, I know. However, I first played it when I was home sick, and my cousin had lent us his Playstation. Oh, how ignorant I was…I had no idea what a limit break was, so I assumed that it meant I couldn’t use the attack command. Hilarity ensued. Anyway, I eventually beat the game, and I loved the story, the bits of humor that lightened the dark bits, and how intricately everything was interconnected.

Homeworld: The original. Ow, that game was hard unless you captured as many ships as possible as the game progressed. First time, I got utterly annihilated by the Gardens of Khadesh. Second game…well, I had exceeded the game’s unit cap by 5 times via captures. I loved this game.

Games I Play

I’d probably play a few console games if I had a console…honestly, I intended to buy and play Final Fantasy 15, but then they did an all-male main cast, and lost me there.

Battlefleet Gothic: Armada: Very, very casual play, and I keep screwing up in it. I like it, but I haven’t gotten the hang of this game at all.

Dungeons & Dragons Online: The only MMO I’ve actually stuck with. I don’t play much anymore, but I occasionally poke my head in and do a couple of missions. My writing has pretty much killed this, though. It tends to take up the same periods of time where I’d normally game.

Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion: Gods, do I wish this had a campaign. I love this game, just slow enough to have plenty of time to react and play like a turn-based game, just fast enough to play like an RTS. I love it, even if I don’t play a lot.

Starbound: I have been playing this game most recently on casual. I enjoy the crafting, but I have little patience with the exploration and trying to track down materials, so I rarely play for more than half an hour at a time.

Starcraft 2: I play this co-op with my friends about once every other week or so. I’m decent, not great, and I’ve managed to beat every mission legitimately on normal difficulty.

Total War: Warhammer: I believe I’ve said I suck at turn based games, yes? I apparently have no head for tactics either. Still, when I managed to actually build up my overwhelming army, I do decently at this. *winces* If I build up the army, I suppose.

Looking back, I do tend toward the RTS games, but in part that’s because I haven’t found many RPGs that truly call out to me recently. I often play games for a little while to veg out between writing sessions or the like.

Odd as it may seem, I like playing science fiction more, but I like writing fantasy. A strange dichotomy, I think. But if you have questions about specific games, feel free to ask.