During the summer of 1999, I bought a Playstation magazine. In the package with it was a demo disc featuring about 10-12 demos and a few trailers of upcoming games. One demo on that disc would change the way I play and see video games forever. It was a demo for Final Fantasy VIII. I had never heard of Final Fantasy before, this was going to be my first experience with this series, hell with this genre on games (RPG's). In the demo, you played as Squall with two teammates from the full game and had to complete the SEED field test in a town called Dollet. You had to fight your way from a beach into town and then up to a tower in the mountains before facing the boss and fighting your way back to the beach. It was an amazing experience that I didn't want to finish because I enjoyed it so much. Even though there wasn't much story in the demo, at 11 years old I could tell this game was special and magical. A few months later, I found the full game in a store and I had to get it. Once I got home and started playing, I knew I had found a new love in the Final Fantasy series.

Since then, I have played every game in the main series (except XIV) and though some were better than others, I found myself in a new world with each game, full of adventures and that same magical feeling that I had while playing that demo so long ago. As of now, I have beaten 15 different Final Fantasy games and play 17 of them. I, like every other fan, have my favorites. My favorite is Final Fantasy IX, the story of Zidane Tribal and his friends. This game is what I consider to be the best in storytelling. During the game, you meet characters that send you on an emotional journey like no other game I've played. Characters like Dagger, who runs away from home and has to return to be a leader to her people. And Vivi, the black mage who wants to learn about life and find the answer to his question of why his friends have "stopped". Then there's Steiner, the knight who's...

During the summer of 1999, I bought a Playstation magazine. In the package with it was a demo disc featuring about 10-12 demos and a few trailers of upcoming games. One demo on that disc would change the way I play and see video games forever. It was a demo for Final Fantasy VIII. I had never heard of Final Fantasy before, this was going to be my first experience with this series, hell with this genre on games (RPG's). In the demo, you played as Squall with two teammates from the full game and had to complete the SEED field test in a town called Dollet. You had to fight your way from a beach into town and then up to a tower in the mountains before facing the boss and fighting your way back to the beach. It was an amazing experience that I didn't want to finish because I enjoyed it so much. Even though there wasn't much story in the demo, at 11 years old I could tell this game was special and magical. A few months later, I found the full game in a store and I had to get it. Once I got home and started playing, I knew I had found a new love in the Final Fantasy series.

Since then, I have played every game in the main series (except XIV) and though some were better than others, I found myself in a new world with each game, full of adventures and that same magical feeling that I had while playing that demo so long ago. As of now, I have beaten 15 different Final Fantasy games and play 17 of them. I, like every other fan, have my favorites. My favorite is Final Fantasy IX, the story of Zidane Tribal and his friends. This game is what I consider to be the best in storytelling. During the game, you meet characters that send you on an emotional journey like no other game I've played. Characters like Dagger, who runs away from home and has to return to be a leader to her people. And Vivi, the black mage who wants to learn about life and find the answer to his question of why his friends have "stopped". Then there's Steiner, the knight who's sworn duty is to protect the princess, even if it costs him his life. And of course, there's Zidane, a carefree young man who's searching for clues about his past and his family.

Each game in the series is a new journey in a new world with new people, but they all have amazing music, graphics and stories to leave you in awe and give you a connection in some way. Every game in the series is like a work of art, masterfully painted and presented so that when you play it or just watch it being played, you feel it. You feel like you are part of the game, one of the characters on the adventure to save the world. You feel overcome with joy and satisfaction when you beat it. You feel saddened when something bad happens. You feel excited when you see a character again that left your group a while back. You feel the adrenaline course through your body when you fight a boss. You feel it. That's what art is supposed to do, and that's what Final Fantasy does.