We have hit 200,000 views since we went live on February 1st of this year. In just 9 months we have hit that massive milestone and we want to thank each and everyone of you; Readers, developers and publishers, all of you that have visited Game Hype up to now! With that, we have a special article to mark this great occasion!
Take yourself back to your childhood if you will, video games has and always will have a tendency to create so many larger than life characters that in the days of your youth it was hard not to put them on a pedestal and essentially put yourselves in their shoes and live their adventures. It was something that made a lot of gamer’s early years nostalgic and is something that got us a Game Hype talking and looking back at our own formative years of gaming (WHICH WASN’T THAT LONG AGO WE’RE 8 VERILE YONG MEN AND I’M DEFINATELY NOT GOING GREY!……ahem) and remembering those characters that made us want to pick up a controller time and time again and ultimately lead us to what we do today.
Adam O’Connell (@gamehype_frog)
When I was a kid during the PlayStation era there was no game more awesome and talked about than Metal Gear Solid. It was the first huge game I played with an incredible story with such emotion, life and grandeur paired with amazingly in depth gameplay and to me Solid Snake was the epitome of awesome. A certified one man army, he took down a tank, a telekinetic mind reader, the worlds best sniper, a cyborg ninja and a goddamn soviet gunship and that was just one game! All while showing us the human beings behind the soldiers on the battlefield and that war itself is a bane that effects millions but somehow feels that is his only purpose (BECAUSE NANOMACHINES!). This made his degradation in MGS4 all the more heartbreaking and the fact that nothing of his status is known after its conclusion only adds to the mystery of this character. A genetically produced badass and all round good guy.
Kyle Doherty (@Antigenetic92)
For me it was the game that started it all, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain on the PlayStation 1. Having been a fan of horror movies from a very young age, the bloodthirsty nature of the eponymous antihero Kain is something that I found myself instantly drawn to, especially whilst watching him butcher his adversaries in the most violent ways possible. Relentlessly brutal and stoically arrogant on his right to rule, Kain is by no means a ‘good guy’ constantly shifting between protagonist and antagonist over the course of the five game series. While the last time we saw Kain was in 2003, he lives on as the hallmark standard of what a badass anti-hero should aspire to be in a video game. Vae Victis!
John Betts (@JohnBGameHype)
I could list a number of leading characters/games that influenced me almost as much as this game (Tidus in FFX, confession time, I cried at the end of his journey, Mario 64, Zelda Ocarina of time and numerous others). This title goes way back to 1999, where Yu Suzuki pioneered arguably the most influential open-world adventure seen in the gaming industry for its time on the SEGA Dreamcast. The emotionally charged journey of Ryo Hazuki, desperate to avenge his fallen father really struck a nerve. Experiencing Ryo’s behavioural changes, riddled with guilt, hate and being very cold, to mellowing, learning more about himself and helping others to achieve his aims. His journey from Japan, to Hong Kong is magnificent. (So much so, people have quite literally travelled to the known Shenmue areas in real life). On the side, joys of blowing all my yen on virtual toy capsules. (Praying for Sonic, but ending up with wolf from virtua fighter.) To forklift racing, or working a job on a lucky hit stand, getting drunk in a bar and blowing yen on pool or darts, this title had so many stand out moments (and plenty of goofy ones too, sailors anyone?). I was gutted when the game was left on a real cliff hanger at the end of Shenmue II. Thankfully Sony have seen sense and Shenmue III has had the green light for development. Due out in 2018, bring it on I say.
Damien O’Neill (@IrishPuddle)
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City’s very own Tommy Vercetti is your childhood hero? Why yes, yes he is! Tommy Vercetti… a man with an arsenal of weapons at his disposal, a take no shit attitude and bright blue Hawaiian shirt… what’s not to love and look up to? Sure, the man’s committed the odd murder and has to hang around with Kent Paul (voiced by Danny “I’m so fackin’ Landan” Dyer) but let’s not hold that against him. Tommy’s loyalty to his friend and brutality to his enemies is what makes this character so iconic and paved the way for most open world action-adventure games to date!
Daniel Scott (@The_DanielScott)
Dark cloud 2 (Dark Chronicle) Has always been one my favourite games and with Maximilian the young mechanic from Palm Brinks playing the lead role and with me sharing his trait of enjoying making thing that break other things I had an some of my best gaming memorises on this underrating Ps2 Classic. With a vast arsenal of upgradable weapons, Steve the coolest mech in any game ever, randomly generated dungeon floors a captivating story and many minigames to shake a wrench at I will only ever have good things to type about this gem.
Aaron Moger (@aaronvaanmoger)
Justin is a young boy who sets off out on an adventure across the world as he holds a magic stone that helps him uncover a long-lost civilization. I was at a young age at the time of playing Grandia for the first time. Justin starts off as a young boy who has a great relationship with his mother and his friend Sue; he spends his days eating around the table with his mother and Sue and going to visit people in his hometown and finding legendary kitchen utensils with bullies. Before long he finds himself on the biggest adventure and before long he meets new people such as Feena who are reluctant to Justin’s ways at first. Justin grows throughout his adventure in many ways. He handles situations in ways I would have done and the way he grows with his companions throughout his journey is definitely something I can relate to.
Caleb Moran (@Drake_sic)
It could be so easy for me to put a childhood hero on Link from The Legend of Zelda, I loved those games as a kid, but Link to me was always a bit basic, an elf like kid who went on adventures, but didn’t really scream badass or anything. It wasn’t until Majoras Mask Nintendo created a demigod for the Zelda series, who for some reason, has never been used since. Fierce Deity Link (or ‘Oni Link’ in Japan) was unlocked after collecting all 24 masks and selling them to kids right at the end of the game. The mask turned child Link into these overpowered warrior that decimated every single boss. The dark tinted armor, the blue and red facepaint, the white soulless eyes and the oversized double helix sword – younger me was in total awe over how badass this guy was, and the mysterious aurora of who he was in the Zelda series. Sadly you could only use the mask on boss rooms and while he has appeared as special outfits for Link on Hyrule Warriors, Breathe of the Wild and Smash Bros, Fierce Deity Link has not appeared as an actual character since.
Adam Neaves (@adamneaves)
16 years ago when I was only 13 (I wish I could go back to them days!), my dad took me to Woolworths to buy me a new game. I was intrigued by this game sitting on the shelf, a white case with ‘Final Fantasy X’ on it, supported by the Final Fantasy logo. I took it home and put it straight into my PlayStation 2, and hours of my life were sucked away into the world of Spira. However, it was one character, the main protagonist, that got my attention and to this day is my favourite character of all time. Yes, Tidus. Tidus was a mysterious one, with his dad being the epic Sin, destroying everything in his place. Hey, having a dad like that would surely end the debate over whose dad is harder you used to have in school! Tidus was also excellent at Blitzball and eventually got the girl in Yuna. Good in Sports, gets the girl and has one hell of a destroying machine as a father? Yeah, it’s safe to say I was envy!
