Not really a big year for me aside from two games: the first being Grand Theft Auto Vice City, the second being Warcraft 3. The thing about Warcraft 3 is that while I enjoyed the cinematic upgrades over Starcraft and Warcraft 2, I found I probably didn't play the game even 1/10th as much as those two prior games, and it was really the last RTS game I ever got into - as I wasn't able to get into Starcraft 2. Not saying they're bad games, it's more like I lost interest in the genre - it's kind of like how I played a lot of Soul Caliber, Street Fighter II, and Smash Bros on N64, but was disinterested in later Soul Caliber, Street Fighter, and Smash Bros games - despite improvements. Same deal with GE007, despite Perfect Dark being an upgrade over GE007, I found myself largely disinterested in it. I guess what I'm saying, "Warcraft 3, it's me, not you."
Vice City, on the other hand, I felt was a giant improvement over GTA 3. The radio was massively improved, the city was flashier, more interesting. And while GTA3 hinted at the Scarface inspirations, Vice City embodied them. Of all the GTA games, this game probably accounts for about 70-80% of the total time played. This is also the game that made me really fall in love with open world gameplay. It was really just a lot about the wholesome things you could do in the game: cruisin the city while listening to tunes, listening to the radio shows, the advertisements, and exploring the different landmarks, lots of site seeing, going for walks in the park and along the beach, beating hookers and murdering cops, going to diners and fast food joints, having meetings about jobs, and just sitting around and enjoying the turning of the day... you know, wholesome stuff!
I describe myself as a little dose of toxic masculinity.
