What's Your Story - TangoBunny

Answers by TangoBunny

Introduction and captions by Ilmari

England. Even though there's very little to do near where I live, in a way I think I'm grateful for that, as I've spent all my free time playing video games instead!

My age is…

18. It feels good to finally be an age that's considered pretty normal! I remember when I would babble endlessly online about games years ago, and people would get really confused when I said I was still in my early-to-mid teens.

The first adventure game I played was…

Nancy Drew: Secrets Can Kill. It was one of those Myst-style slideshow games. I really loved it because you got to explore an American college, as opposed to a fantasy/cartoon/historical setting like a lot of games, and it was full of little novelty puzzles hidden in the scenery.

Morse code in the border of a poster, cryptograms, some letters on a memo in slightly different coloured ink that spelled out a secret message... almost all of it was completely optional, but I had a great time sitting down with a notepad and glitter gel pens decoding all the hidden clues scattered around.

I've never played any of these, but I loved the books as a kid I guess we'll get to play them in couple of years

My favourite adventure game is…

The Legend of Kyrandia 2: Hand of Fate. I absolutely adore its music, the characters are charming, the interface and potion-making mechanic works really well, and it just feels like a really pleasant experience from start to finish.

I especially love the protagonist, Zanthia. It's hard to explain what makes some characters appealing, so I'll just say that she's one of those characters where I think "She's great. I'd totally want to hang out with her."

I dork out over entertainment, so my other hobbies are things like novels, anime, comics/manga, toys, and trading card games. When I was little I did ballroom dancing, and when I was in my teens I played tennis, but I don't have as much time for those any more.

I still like to keep fit though, so I often go on lengthy walks to various towns to buy something just so it feels like I had a purpose to go there, and then barely using the thing I ended up buying. That kind of mindset is probably how my unplayed game collection grew so much! I spend a short amount of time each day on a treadmill or exercise bike too.

I like my games in (a box, digital format)…

In an ideal world, both in a box as well as on a digital distribution platform, which some games have been doing lately. I like having a physical box so I have something tangible, but I like the convenience of just having to click a button to play it.

If I was forced to pick between them, I'd choose digital just so I knew I'd always be able to play them at any time. Old games tend to get scratched up and their boxes can take up a lot of space!

The thing I miss about old games is…

Synthesised 90s music, detailed pixel art, vibrant colours, and painted backgrounds.

I miss quirkiness too, games that go out of their way to be stylish and interesting, rather than trying to appeal to the widest possible audience and removing anything that caters to very niche tastes.

The best thing about modern games is…

New game genres that can only exist with modern technology. First person puzzle games, multilayered music scores that seamlessly change, huge open worlds, crowdfunded niche games, and I guess the most recent one would be virtual reality games that are actually playable, rather than headache-inducing 2.5D low-framerate nightmares.

I definitely appreciate that there are ways to play older games from all systems on a PC too, where you can dump cartridges you've bought and play them on a PC without worrying about old TV standards, cables, and region-locked consoles. Save stating and load stating is a godsend for me too, where I often just like to experience some older games without dedicating a month or two to mastering it.

The one TV show I never miss is…

My favourite TV shows are physical and creative game shows. Knightmare, Fort Boyard, Sasuke/Ninja Warrior, Fun House, DERO!, TORE!, and so on. They aren't on UK TV often, so I don't 'miss' them, but I'll often seek them out!

If I could see any band live it would be…

I'm not sure if it counts as a band, but the video game composer Shoji Meguro, and the rapper Lotus Juice, put on absolutely incredible Persona music concerts in Japan, and I would love to experience that.

For a more standard band, it'd have to be Metric.

My favourite movie is…

I'm not as much of a movie watcher as most people, so it's hard to pick a favourite, but I'll probably go with Battle Royale. I love stories like that for similar reasons to liking physical game shows, and as cheesy as it is, it's definitely memorable. Doubly so with Takeshi Kitano in it.

One interesting thing about me is…

It's hard to pick just one thing! Given this is a game-related questionnaire, I'll stick with something game-related. I love the concept of gambling in video games, so as a result, I have huge stacks of Japanese pachinko, pachislot, and strip mahjong games.

When people see my room housing dozens upon dozens of strip mahjong games, they tend to find it pretty odd.