1994 / Sega Mega Drive emulator game / 1–2 players
**
I could only find games for her new favourite anime in Japanese, but translation wasn't a barrier to understanding this Streets of Rage / Golden Axe / Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Hyperstone Heist, etc. side-scrolling beat-em-up clone. She tired of the brainless repetition before too long, though she doesn't seem to mind that in the show.
1993 / PC adventure game / 1 player
****
A step backwards from PlayStation RPGs technically, but she may have appreciated the low-effort respite and enjoyed the familiar fairy tale trappings and PG humour (Monkey Island™ may be a bit dark, for now), though her lack of literacy meant I had to go with the dreaded speech option for the whole game. I resisted looking up walkthroughs until desperate, so she got the authentically frustrating point-and-click-on-everything-everywhere experience.
Final Fantasy VIII
1999 (2013 remaster) / PC roleplaying game / 1 player
****
Back in the day, I found the sombre sequel to FFVII a more satisfying challenge, but a considerably less enthralling experience. Playing with a four-year-old, the constant need to draw magic and adjust stats drained what fun was left. She didn't like the blood at the start either, but at least no one died this time (or we just didn't make it that far).
I don't know whether Final Fantasy VII is the best game in the series or has the best soundtrack, I've only played about 2½ of them, but as a late landmark of my gaming childhood, it's always had a special place in my heart.
I've often listened to Nobuo Uematsu's soundtrack as background music over the years, which kept the dimming memories flickering, but a recent nostalgic playthrough with the next generation restored the missing visuals and brought the music back to life, like when you use the Phoenix summon.
Here are some of my favourites, why not.
Final Fantasy VII
1997 (2013 remaster) / PC roleplaying game / 1 player
*****
Four is probably a bit young for the ecopunk RPG classic (I don't even fully understand it now), but with a grown-up to simplify and slightly sanitise the story, handle the boring menus and offload the harder battles onto, she was quickly enthralled, so I decided I didn't have to delay my nostalgia further.
It seemed like a good idea at first. But after we escaped Midgar and progressed through ever more locations in the insanely dense but ultimately finite "Disc 1," always with her favourite Flower Girl in the party, my feelings of guilt and sickness grew as the inevitable event approached.
These unsolicited emails spammed to my brother document this formative event in my child's personal development for the benefit of future therapy.
2024 / Improvised deckbuilding card/dice game / 2 players
*
"Can we stop playing now? It's got a bit confusing." – The game's creator