Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ My Alter Egos ❯ Chapter 1

My Alter Egos

What do you think about first when you wake in the morning? For me, it is my alter egos. I have several, each with their own set of strengths and weaknesses. Sora's unbelievable power allows him to overcome incredible foes but at the same time…he likes to attack thin air instead of the actual enemies. Link's arsenal of weapons leaves little to be desired….but he likes to fall off ledges and run into walls. Jak…is just awesome, but his laser scope can be quite ornery. If you haven't guessed by now, my alter egos are the characters I play in my video games. I am an RPGer. RPG stands for Role-Playing Game. In an RPG, the player takes on the role of a certain character and completes a task or journey. RPGs let the player escape from his or her life for a short while and travel to a place of excitement and adventure. When I am playing a game, nothing else matters. The paper I just slaved over for hours on end is forgotten in favor of saving Disney princesses and preventing Hyrule from being sucked into the Twilight realm.

Kingdom Hearts, for the PlayStation II (PS2) is, by far, my favorite series of games. When the original game first came out, my brother and I immediately bought it. We couldn't wait to fight the strange creatures called Heartless that had invaded the Disney worlds. The game became an instant favorite. We invoked the three hour rule, which stated that we would alternate playing every three hours until a week later when I beat the game. Kingdom Hearts was the first game created by both Square-Enix (the creators of Final Fantasy) and Disney Interactive. GamePro Magazine said in its review of the game that, “Square has taken 75 years of Disney history, added a few pages from its own library, and created what's easily the best action/RPG for the PS2.” This couldn't be truer. Kingdom Hearts is perfect for introducing anyone to the Final Fantasy legacy.

Kingdom Hearts was one of the first really complex RPGs (besides Pokemon) that I played when I was younger. The game play is relatively simple—the player goes to the different worlds and, with the help of Donald and Goofy, fights the Heartless and tries to save the seven princesses of heart by using magic and the keyblade. This game transformed me into an intense gamer. I love the plotline and I even learned about synthesis. In the game, the player has to synthesize various items from across the worlds together to form new items he or she needs to complete the quest. I now own every Kingdom Hearts game that has been released in the United States. And when the newest one comes out in May, I will buy that one as well.

The Jak games are among my most prized possessions. Naughty Dog (the creators of Crash Bandicoot) made the Jak games for the PS2 console. The first three games are about the development of the main character, Jak, and his friend Daxter, a boy who falls in Dark Eco (an evil substance that has devastating effects on anyone who comes in contact with it) and is transformed into an ottsel (a combination of an otter and a weasel). I learned my favorite word, commandeer, from this game. The guide for the second game states that if you get tired of walking around the city you can just commandeer yourself a zoomer (which is the game's version of automobiles). The word intrigued me, so I googled it and couldn't help but laugh when I discovered that it's a fancy word for steal. I now use this word all the time.

Over time, I have come to think of the Jak series, especially the second game, as my anger management system. What I mean is, when I get angry I play these games to calm down. For example, earlier this semester my mom called to tell me about the flowers my grandpa had dedicated at my church in my father's memory. We were ecstatic because my father's birthday had actually fallen on a Sunday. But the church claimed to have “forgotten” that they had reserved this spot for my father and had dedicated the flowers to someone else. I was furious. I was so mad that I was shaking and my mom told me to go play Jak II so that I would calm down. So, I went into the port area in the game and shot Krimson Guards (soldiers that are kind of like police). After about an hour I forgot what I was mad about in the first place.

Because I grew up with a Playstation and a PS2 instead of Nintendo (mine broke when I was relatively little) and didn't get a Wii until last year, my experience with Zelda is rather limited. As of this moment, I have only played The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, but nevertheless, I am very attached to the main character, Link. My friend Tess is responsible for my newfound addiction. The first time I watched her play the game, I was intrigued with the exquisite graphics and the wide variety of unique weapons. So, after watching her play for a few hours, I immediately went out and bought the game.

Although the first thing that attracted me to this game was the graphics, what I really love is the complexity of the game. I love trying to figure out what's going to happen next. I also love the extensive selection of weapons that allow me to annihilate the unique line of villains. My favorite weapons include the ball and chain, the spinner (a giant spinning top that Link rides on top of), and the clawshot (a chain with a set of claws that hook onto objects out of Link's reach). The evils of college have thus far delayed my victory over this game, but the end is near and I shall defeat the sinister villains that occupy the Twilight realm. And I have no doubt that when I do, I will be buying another Zelda game so that I may return to the splendid country that is Hyrule.

As you can see, video games-RPGs in particular-take up a big chunk of my life. I own around 100 games for various consoles. Video games allow me to escape the unoriginal society in which I live. I'm known to play for hours on end, and become absorbed in my alter egos. Without these egos, my life would be significantly less interesting. I love RPGs because they allow me to become someone else. The idiots that make up our world do not matter once I have assumed an alter ego. My alter egos, and the various other characters in my video games, surround me with nobler beings. These beings do not judge. They do not segregate. They do not conform. My name is Katlyn Ashe and I'm a gamer. And I'm damn proud of it!