I’ve always dreamed of revisiting classic RPGs with my kids; I wanted them to jump in time with me chrono triggeror pretend to be sky pirates in Skies of Arcadia. It’s not that difficult to transform a well-told role-playing game into an interactive storybook for children (although you may have to shield your eyes from the scarier parts of the story). Final Fantasy VII). I have been planning my "introduction to role playing games" playlist for years, waiting for the moment when my daughter Sophia would start looking beyond the narrative styles of Peppa Pig.
But one night she saw me playing. sea of starsthe recent chrono-Retro role-playing game inspired by Sabotage Studio, and she was hooked. I didn’t need to attract her like I originally thought. The game’s gorgeous 2D pixel art, its catchy music (including some tunes from chrono trigger composer Yasunori Mitsuda) and its epic story were more than enough to captivate her. While she held the Switch, she kept an eye out for enemies and treasure chests, and she stayed engaged with the story as she broke it down for them. She also cheered every time I pressed the action button at just the right time to land an extra hit or to block an enemy’s hit (a nifty feature borrowed from Super Mario RPG).
Sophia loved the two protagonists, Valere and Zale, whom she calls Moon Girl and Sun Boy, and their colorful companions. She cried when a major character sacrificed himself to defeat the Big Bad (that was a long conversation). And she stood her ground as we faced the final boss, preparing the two protagonists for a bigger adventure once we defeated them. Now, we are removing additional side quests and working towards achieving "TRUE" ending. Sophia doesn’t want to stop until we’ve seen everything the game has to offer, a sign that she’ll be quite well-rounded when she’s ready to play on her own.
Don’t judge me, but games have become an integral part of my daughter’s relaxation time at night. They help her calm down and relax before bath time, a sort of pre-story time before reading some real books before bed. We don’t play anything fast or loud, and the games offer many teaching moments when it comes to spelling words, counting, and making complex moral decisions. From what I can gather, looking at a screen at night (which I keep away from her and a little dark) has also not affected her ability to fall asleep as intended. (If I . I also waited until Sophia was over four years old before I started playing every night; I’m sure she would have been more problematic if she had started earlier).
Before sea of starsWe also played about 20 hours of , another recent release with a glorious pixel art aesthetic. We also recently spent some time with the lovely . But after playing a few levels, Sophia almost always wants to play. sea of stars instead. Now you can tell the difference between a platform game like Mario, a game with a variety of experiences like Dave the diver and a role-playing game (she calls them "adventure games," officially ). I’m sure you’ll appreciate the mechanics of other genres more once you learn how to run both. and jump at the same time on Mario. For now, she’s leaning toward history.
Once it became clear that Sophia really liked RPGs as a concept, I introduced her to chrono trigger. For some reason, Square Enix hasn’t re-released it on Switch yet and I wanted to play it on a more portable system than the Steam Deck. That left me with the iPhone version of the game, which looks pretty good on my iPhone 15 Pro Max. While there is no option to use the game’s original graphics (a plus of the Steam release), the iOS version of chrono trigger It still has all the charm and whimsy that made me fall in love with the SNES version. (And as a bonus, there’s an auto button to speed up minor fights!)
Sophia immediately noticed the many (many!) similarities between sea of stars and chrono trigger. The world map is framed similarly, both feature some of the best pixel art of their time, and both ultimately weave an epic story. Playing both games in a row reveals some of sea of stars weaker elements: it takes a while to really get going and the writing is a bit more simplistic. But it also makes me really want to play a proper role. chrono sequel with Sea of stars’ battle system.
15 minutes after starting chrono trigger, Sophia and I went back 400 years into the past. We were looking for Marle, the hidden princess, who disappeared shortly after we found her. I then had to explain the possible consequences of timeline interference to a 5 year old. And Sophia immediately understood what was happening: we had to save Marle’s ancestor before Marle ceased to exist! Try to compete with that, Peppa!
To be clear, this isn’t really Sophia’s first rodeo with a complex narrative. He has devoured almost all of Miyazaki’s films (we are postponing Princess Mononoke because it can be too scary, and probably not ready for the mature exploration of death and art in The wind increases), and I have guided her through Avatar the last airbender and The legend of Korra. So I shouldn’t be surprised that I’m fully embracing the power of role-playing games. After imagining this moment for years, I’m going to enjoy it while it lasts.
It won’t be long before you entertain me with stories of your own role-playing adventures. And when she’s ready, I’ll blow her away with a double whammy of Xenogears and Neon Genesis Evangelion. She’ll thank me later.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/i-taught-my- Daughter-to-love-rpgs-by-playing-sea-of-stars-170038097.html?src=rss
