Name: Zangief
First Played: Street Fighter II
Description: The Giefer, The Gief, I first found out about while playing Street Fighter II, and I thought he was GARBAGE!!! My Dad would choose Ryu or Ken and absolutely obliterate me with fireballs, and I had NO answer!!! However, when Street Fighter 6 came out, and my time wrestling in high school had come to pass, I still heavily identified with grappling in general, so I HAD to pick the Gief. His throws were amazing. I even had someone angrily message me that I had beaten him in three moves, but they respected it because I used classic controls.
Name: King
First Played: Tekken 7
Description: King is a very special character to me. I had found out about Tekken 7 in general right as I entered high school. Seeing a character focused around grappling, right as I joined the wrestling team, made him an immediate pick as my main character for that game. I enjoyed the flashy movements and throw-chains. I wasn't really too technical with King, I just focused on mixing up the grabs, and trying to throw in some combos every now and then.
Name: Noob
First Played: Mortal Kombat 11
Description: Noob had my fascination due to his naming being after the creators of the Mortal Kombat game. Additionally, he looked insanely cool in the Mortal Kombat 11 game. He has a very versatile playstyle in my opinion. I also enjoyed the fact that the game allowed you to customize your own variants with differing special movements. You're absolutely right if you think I spammed the teleporting move.
Name: Nightmare
First Played: Soul Calibur IV
Description: I first encountered Nightmare playing SoulCalibur IV on the Xbox 360. I had a fascination for villains, and evil-looking characters, so seeing his art immediately swayed my character choice. Nightmare attacks with a greatsword and his attacks can tend to be very clunky and slow compared to the other characters in the Soul Calibur Series. Despite this, I always ignored this fact and tried to make him work.
Name: Dark Souls (Series)
First Played: Dark Souls 3 (2018)
Description: My introduction to the souls series was a brutal one. I had not played a single game of this kind before, and my introduction to Iudex Gundyr was hell. I spent the entire evening stuck on the tutorial boss...but eventually I got him! Then I reached Vordt, and was unaware of the universal rule to stay behind a boss (especially this one!). I got stuck on Vordt and did not pick up the game for years. Then I got a hold of Dark Souls 1, and used that game as a means to re-introduce myself to the series. IT IS AMAZING!!!! I highly recommend anyone try this game. Don't give up, it is part of the experience. The first playthrough is unlike any other experience.
Name: Blasphemous
First Played: 2021
Description: I can't remember how I found this game, I believe it was from a YouTube video of someone beating the bosses. The atmosphere in this game is UNMATCHED! From the pixel art, to the music, to the animations, it all works so well to cultivate this fanatic environment. The boss I was stuck on the longest was the Lady with the Charred Face (However, upon playing through it a second time, I beat her first-try). This game is truly excellent, and similar to Dark Souls, there is no playthrough like your first playthrough.
Name: Modern Warfare 2019
First Played: 2019 (Alpha Version -> Full release)
Description: I had been introduced to shooters for sometime, and my brother and I heavily played the Alpha and Beta releases of this game. We both loved it. When the full game came out, it was off to the races! Of course, COVID hit, and in my opinion, spiked the popularity of this game. I have very fond memories of staying up until 3-4am playing this game online with my father, cousins, and uncles on one team, taking on random people on the other. So many joyous times playing Search and Destroy. So many victories and losses in Warzone. So many awesome memories. I haven't picked up this game since they began releases Remastered Versions of the subsequent games. It was a very fun time in my life.
Name: Modern Warfare 3
First Played: 2013
Description: This game was one of the many shooters my father played. At this point in my life, I had no interest playing online. I would purely play custom matches with my brother for hours. We would also play the survival mode together a ton. I adored the killstreaks, the weapon customization (that wasn't all the same like newer games), and the emblems/calling cards.
Name: Tekken 7
First Played: 2017
Description: I was initially a 2D fighting-game player. I would only ever learn a fighter's special moves and see if I could hit my opponent with them. Combos were rarely something I worked towards (AKA I wasn't that good). I was at an arcade, and they were having a tournament for Tekken 7. I decided to join. I lost both of my matches, as my player repeateadly got juggled in the air by a streamer character. The 3D movement, and air juggling were knew to me, and they blew my mind. Immediately I decided I wanted to be better at this game. Upon opening the game, I was SHOCKED. So many characters! So many fighting styles! I believe I made it to the Usurper rank using King as my main.
Name: Street Fighter 6
First Played: 2023
Description: Having frequented Tekken 7 by this point, I considered myself to be a fighting-game amatuer. However, I had gotten so used to a 3D stage, a 2D stage seemed too foreign to me. However, the Street Fighter 6 clips looked too clean for me to deny playing it altogether. I thoroughly enjoyed the World Tour mode, acquiring moves from the different fighters to cultivate your own style. My online performance wasn't so good. I only ever made it to Silver. I mained Zangief, and struggled to deal with fireballs.