2019-06-01_PC_Gamer

T

hefirsttimeI became
awareoftheconcept
ofgrindinginRPGs
waswhenI played
FinalFantasyVII. I’d
reachedtheTempleoftheAncients
and encountereda bosscalled
Demon’sGatewhototallywiped
me out.RealisingI was
underpowered,I spentseveral
hours runningbackandforthalong
the samecorridorfightinginsect
things untilI wastoughenoughto
beat it.Thiswasmypunishment
for skippingsomanyrandom
battlesearlierinthegame.

Here’s thething,though– I quite
enjoy grinding.Youcanswitchyour
brain offandjustloseyourselfinit,
listeningtomusicora podcastto
fight offtheboredom.There’s
somethinghypnoticaboutrepeating
a fairlysimple,undemandingtask
and receivinga rewardforit.
Yearslater,I’mplayingFinal
FantasyXIIandI’mdelightedto
discovera primespotforgrinding.In
the LhusuMinesonBhujerba,there’s
a bridgecalledtheShuniaTwinspan.
This is knownamongfansasthe
SkeletonBridgebecause,asyouwalk
back andforthacrossit,dozensof

undeadskeletonsspawn.Andthey

keeprespawning,forages,beforeyou

havetorunoffthescreenandback

againtorestarttheprocess.Whichis,

ofcourse,idealforlevellingup.

AndsoI linedupa fewpodcasts,

pluggedmyPCintomyTV,sunkinto

thecouchandenjoyedsomequality

grinding.I lostcountofhowmany

timesI ranalongthatbridgeand

back.I musthavekilledthousandsof

skeletons,andaftera coupleofhours

mypartywasobscenelypowerful– at

leastforthisstageofthegame.

Italsomademerich.The

skeletonsdropbones,whichyoucan

selltoa vendoroutsidetheLhusu

Minesforanoutrageousamountof

gil.BythetimeI wasfinished,Vaan

hadabout 200 grandinhisbank

account,orwhereverit is hekeeps

hismoney.SomemightargueI’m

ruiningtheexperienceformyselfby

doingthis,butI thinkit’sa perfectly

validwaytoplaythegame.Ithelps

thatyoucanhitthefastforward

buttonandspeedthegameupatany

time,makingthewholeprocessless

time-consuming.Butwatchingmy

partyskitteraroundthescreenso

rapidlydidmakemefeelslightly

queasyattimes.

MEDITATING

I don’tfullyunderstandwhyI find

grindingsorelaxing,andwhyallthat

timeI spentslayingskeletonsonthe

ShuniaTwinspanwassosatisfying.It

appealstomeinthesamewaygames

suchasEuroTruckSimulator 2 do

• enoughinteractionnottobe
  completelypassive,butpassive
  enoughtoletmymindslipintoan
  almostsubconsciousrhythm.
  Fora lotofpeople,grindingwill
  alwaysbea reasontodislikea game
  ora signthata gameis badlypaced
  ordesigned.Butforme,insome
  bizarreway,it’sa chancetounwind.
  Longlivethegrind.

ANDYKELLY

THISMONTH

Lostcountofhowmany

skeletonshekilled

ALSOPLAYED

GenerationZero

PuttingmynosetothegrindstoneinFINALFANTASYXII

“You can switch your brain off

and just lose yourself in it”

AFTERA COUPLEOF

HOURSMYPARTYWAS

OBSCENELYPOWERFUL

Fearme,forI amthe

skeletonslayer.

Chainingkillsearnsyoumore,

andbetter,items.

I don’t know why bone fragments

are so sought after.

NOW PLAYING (^) I UPDATE I DIARY I REINSTALL I WHY I LOVE I M U S T P L A Y
EXTRA LIFE