a decade ago i went through a long period where i had no friends, no money, no memory card for my ps1, and too much free time every night

one month, i sat down and played Final Fantasy VIII every night. because i had no memory card, the game was effectively in insta-permadeath mode: one bad decision in battle could kill the entire party.

that forced me to play very conservatively. i grinded every random encounter until my characters were overpowered for the area. this ensured that i'd never get accidentally ganked in battle. every night, i'd turn off the tv and leave the PSX on overnight.

after several weeks, i had made it about 40 hours into the game, and hit a nice cinematic reward cutscene. i sat back to enjoy the fmv: the party ran across a bridge, fleeing as the bridge disintegrated behind them. except it was weird: the party just stood there as the bridge collapsed.

......................

it was an *interactive* cutscene, and i was supposed to run the party the rest of the way myself.

the bridge collapsed, and they all died. the game over screen rolled.

i stood up, shut off the PSX for the first time in a month, and screamed

that was the last time i played FF8.

10 years later, i still don't have any friends or money, but i DO have a memory card.

is it time ff8? 🤔

#psx #retroGaming #finalFantasy #ff8