i've had a ps1 ever since i was 3, my grandma got it for me back when she worked in germany. i don't think i played it until i was 5. this console definitely marked my childhood, and i didn't get another console until 10 years after. sadly the closing lid broke and i never tried fixing it but that's okay because i can play ps1 games on my ps2, psp or even pc. i spent countless hours sitting on the floor in my bedroom and staring at the tv, playing. i took my ps1 when i went to sleepover at my friend, or when i stayed at my grandmas. where i went to spend the night the ps1 followed. i owned the thinner model, often called psx, with the newer dualshock that came with the analog sticks. now my ps1 is peacefully resting on my game/manga shelf. i think it still works just fine, if i were to fix the lid.

Games I played

The Lion King: Simba's Mighty Adventure

the first game i remember playing was a lion king game. you played trough the storyline of both parts, it was really fun. my favourite part was the start where you played as the cub version of simba, playing with small animals feels satisfying.

Stuart Little 2, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

i remember getting first games from my uncle, those games were stuart little, harry potter 1 and 2. harry potter games grew to become a meme online but i still hold them dearly, i even replayed them recently. despite being bad graphically the music and atmosphere in those games were so incredible. sound effects were really good too.because of the limitations of the ps1 the game wasn't swarming with npcs, instead it was quite barren and desolate. just you and the empty hallways. it made the game feel really spooky at times and it also birthed one of my biggest fears which have been an occuring theme in my dreams ever since i played it. the fear includes being followed by something, but that something progressively becomes faster and faster until it catches up with you, much like the sentient knight armor that follows you ingame when you step within its aggro range. because of that, the game has made a lasting impression on me.

Xena: Warrior Princess

another favourite game of mine was xena: warrior princess. i got that game from a classmate when i was 8-9 or so. i was at his birthday party and we were shuffling through his extensive cd collection. he decided to give me xena because he never managed to figure out the high jump ha. i replayed that game a million times, i remember struggling with the final level a lot at first, took me weeks to clear it until i figured out what you had to do. it also had enemies that would follow you for an eternity while progressively getting faster, the zombies. funnily enough zombies aren't usually a big source of fear for me, but the way they move and look in that game really made me scared as hell. first time i gathered enough courage to play through the zombie levels i had my grandma and my great grandma backing me up. the game had quite a few levels with varied settings and many hidden easter eggs. i remember in the labyrinth you could find a hidden office room with a computer, it really started my love for easter eggs in games. i didn't find out about it online or from a friend, i discovered it on my own which only added to the enjoyment.

Spyro the Dragon

another game which i played a lot was spyro, the first game only. even though i had spyro since i was 7 or so the first time i beat it was when i was 12. i remember listening to code geass openings on my first complete playthrough.

Digimon: Rumble Arena

digimon rumble arena was another game i spent way too much time playing. gatomon was my favourite to play with, her abilities were so fun. i also loved renamon, terriermon and guilmon a lot. also i remember you could unlock impmon or something like that. the maps were fun and varied too, overall it's a really fun fighting game.

Need for Speed: High Stakes

lastly, among my most played games was need for speed: high stakes. after i got the ps2 i noticed just how bad the phsysics in high stakes were. when you collide with cars it would feel as if they weighed 50 tons, but the driving around european maps part was really enjoyable. i never managed to win all the trophies, it was really hard, at least in my child mind. also the music was bomb. menu music, opening music, music during the races, all of it was amazing.

Chrono Cross, Dragon Ball Z: Ultimate Battle 22, Disney's 102 Dalmatians: Puppies to the Rescue

later on when i was a teen i played chrono cross. i think i reached the second cd and the cd didn't work so i couldn't finish it. i still don't understand the fighting system but the opening is still in my head to this day, really nice soundtrack. i also played a really shitty dragon ball fighting game, dragon ball z ultimate battle 22, i think it was from 1995 and it looked really bad even for ps1 standards. for the life of me i couldn't figure out the charging mechanic so i stuck to playing characters that didn't have it, like android 18. i always loved playing female characters in fighting games because they felt lighter and more agile to control. the soundtrack in that dbz game is great but everything else sucked. now that i looked it up online it seems everyone else thought it was trash too. and lastly from the list of my most played games is 102 dalmatians. another really fun movie based game, a lot to explore and playing as animals is always cool.

Epilogue

i played a few other games but in hindsight most of the games i played on the ps1 were pretty obscure. all the games i listed here i either played for a long time or i completed them fully, there were others of course but i probably didn't pass more than a level or two. i'm definitely planning on playing mgs and silent hill on the ps1, i feel like i missed out honestly.

probably my favourite console with the biggest amount of games i consider to be my favourites to this day. i got the ps2 really late in its lifetime, 2011 i believe. that would make me 13. i saved up for it myself from my allowance money, but not fully like with the psp, i think one of my grandmas gave me half of the money for it. first games i got for the ps2 was a bundle from an auction like site but for my country. they were pirated games of course. there were around 10 games; kingdom hearts 2, final fantasy x and xii, need for speed most wanted and carbon, some simpsons gta like game that i never played because the dvd didn't work and a few others that i don't remember.

Games I played

Kingdom Hearts 2

the main reason i wanted the bundle was kingdom hearts 2. the order in which i played that franchise was so jumbled up. i ended up playing kh2 and then downloading final mix which was japanese only and patching the english version myself (i felt so cool because of that). great game, especially the secret bosses. i beat them all multiple times and my taste in games forever changed because of kindgom hearts, it's hard to find games with reactive and fun playstyles like that nowadays.

Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, Persona 3 FES, Persona 4, Digital Devil Saga 1 and 2, Devil Summoner: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. the Soulless Army, Devil Summoner 2: Raidou Kuzunoha vs. King Abaddon

next franchise i played through completely and loved was the shin megami tensei franchise on the ps2. i played every entry, it started with persona 4, then 3 fes, nocturne (my favourite of all of them), digital devil saga 1 and 2, raidou 1 and 2 and i think that's it. you can see how my taste in games got a lot weebier during my ps2 era becuase well, i did kind of become a massive weeaboo. i kept it to myself, mainly. i spent a lot of time lurking /smtg/ and i've got a whole huge folder of pics from those threads. a really fun little period in my life. i would also spend countless hours merging demons in nocturne, trying to get the best skills and create the strongest team.

Kingdom Hearts 1, Kingdom Hearts re:Chain of Memories, Final Fantasy X, GTA: Vice City, GTA: San Andreas

back to the kh franchise, i ended up playing kh 1 and then kh re:chain of memories. 1 was amazing even though it had me rage quitting a couple of times and then i'd come back to it a few days later. i did end up beating all the secret bosses in that one too though. re:com i just wanted to get it over with because the card playstyle wasn't really my thing. i tried playing final fantasy x but the blitzball part wasn't to my liking and i ended up dropping the game. ff xii had a really uncomfortable playstyle altogether. next games i loved and played through completely were gta:san andreas and vice city. vice city definitely had better music but both were extremely fun.

Silent Hill 3, Silent Hill 2

my favourite horror game ever (well it shares the place with one other game) is on the ps2 and it's silent hill 3. recently i watched a great video essay about it and i definitely think that the reason i played through it faster than silent hill 2 (which i never finished! but am pretty close, i picked it up again last year lol) was because i related to heather more and was simply more invested in her as a character. the mirror scene will forever remain in the back of my head, the sound effects in silent hill games are simply phenomenal and extremely frigthetning. also i believe new horror games will never reach the the level of ps1/2 era of horror games because of the graphics. something about the lack of crispy clear perfect graphics makes horror games so much more impactful. i guess its because you leave out more for the imagination, which is a big part of the appeal in horror for me.

Shadow of the Colossus, ICO

as for my ultimate favourites of all time, those would be shadow of the colossus and ico. sotc more than ico but ico is amazing too. i played through sotc more than 20 times, i beat all the timed fights in both normal and hard mode (because the rewards are different!) and most importantly, i spent so long immersed in that world, exploring endlessly and making up the lore in my head. later on i also spent a long time reading about sotc online, looking at all the abandoned objects and textures which were supposed to be used for other colossi and fighting areas. i spent so much time trying to glitch the game, climbing the tower, looking for fish to grab on their tails, grabbing the birds so they'd carry me with them, hitting turtles with my sword etc. i've never enjoyed a video game world as much as i did in sotc, and i still absolutely love that game. i love the way the wanderer moves and climbs and how he looks worse the more colossi he defeats, i love agro and how big she is, i loved how you could stand on top of her or spin around. so many details in that game it's insane. while ico doesn't have an open world like sotc some of the areas and the atmosphere in them is perfect and the game reminds me of my childhood where i spent a lot of time exploring abandoned buildings.

Epilogue

i played more ps2 games than i listed here, but i really can't remember right now. the ones i listed probably impacted me the most and i love them the most. the ps2 and psp mark my weeb teenage years, but i still turn them both on ocassionally. currently i'm waiting for some cables i ordered to arrive, so i can connect my psp to the tv for the first time. ah right i just remembered, i enjoyed need for speed carbon and most wanted a lot. i'll add a section for that once i remember more titles that i played.

the psp is a present i bought for myself when i was 11 or 12. don't remember exactly, but i did get it before the ps2. when i first bought it i received 2 games with it. tekken 5 and god of war: chains of olympus.

Games I played

Tekken 5

i didn't really like god of war but i looooved tekken 5. lily was my favourite to play as. again a female character, mostly because she felt so floaty and elegant, executing her combos felt so good. i installed the custom firmware myself, such a proud moment for 11 yr old me. i also added custom firmware to my friends ps3 which was an achievement as i heard it was hard around that time.

Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, Persona 3 Portable

shortly after i got my psp i bought my first legit game ever, kingdom hearts: birth by sleep. i fell in love with that game. at first i thought the disney + final fantasy characters mix was hilarious but i embraced the cheesiness and grew to love it. aqua was of course my favourite to play as but i loved ventus too. terra felt a bit too sluggish and clunky. i ended up playing the final mix version too, but never beat the hidden bosses from fm. eraqus armor was it, can't remember anymore. i did beat mysterious figure though. i played persona 3 on the psp as the female mc of course, since it was psp exclusive, i loved how she had the opposite personality of the male mc.

Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, Persona 1, Persona 2: Innocent Sin

one other legit game i bought for the psp was final fantasy vii: crisis core. super fun game, and a heartwrenching ending. i don't usually cry to video games much but this ending had me sobbing, and i knew what would happen. i also played persona 1 and 2 on my psp, even though they're ps1 games. liked them both but never finished them. persona 2 had a great story but persona 1's enemy encounter rate was way too frequent and you could auto the combat which i didn't like.

Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA, GTA: Vice City Stories, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, Dissidia 012 Final Fantasy, Corpse Party, Tekken 6...

a game i played extensively on the psp, and ultimately ended up destroying my x button for was project diva. the only rhytm game i was half decent at. i also played one of the blazblue games, tekken 6, vice city stories (loved that one), corpse party, final fantasy dissidia and i can't remember the other games, but there were many.

Epilogue

downloading and playing games for the psp was more convenient because i didn't have to burn discs but as a result i easily forgot which ones i played and there was no physical evidence of me having played them which i guess also impacts my memory. i took my psp on later school trips (grade 7 and 8) and then on high school english competitions. when i told this to my friends they'd say how the person with the psp on school trips was always the coolest bitch. i wish lol