Ten pieces of media that have influenced you.

What it says on the tin, name me ten pieces of media (film, TV, Video Games, music, art, etc...) that has had a major influence on you.

Boy, there’s a lot.

Final Fantasy is an obvious one. I’d say the Ivalice entries were particularly inspiring since Yoshida’s artwork is now basically what I most strongly associate with what fantasy aesthetics should look like. But FF in general is where my love for colorful characters and epic plots arose.

Xenogears is where stuff really starts being rooted firmly in my head. The religious symbolism, combined with an incredibly intricate plot is something that has pretty much defined my sensibilities in terms of good sci fi.

Chrono Trigger was another big one - an incredibly tight, fun adventure that pretty much delivers on every front. I’d love to make something like it one day.

Outside games, there’s definitely Neon Genesis Evangelion. It’s kind of changed my perception on a lot of things, and I don’t really mean the psychological aspect - I’m speaking more about the relationship between author and audience, as well as the meaning of the text beyond the text.

The Witcher is something I’ve stumbled into relatively late, but it’s still pretty much redefined what I look for in fantasy. It’s still my favorite novel series and it helps that the various adaptations and sequels across media have been so good. Also, Sapkowski himself is just such a smurfing icon and I hope I can still meet him someday.

The art of Ryszard Beksiński has definitely given me nightmares, but in a good way. I still count the time we visited a gallery with his works during a summer trip one of the most defining moments of my adolescence.

SMT in general has also been a big game changer since it showed me that there are other things that can make a game compelling and I’ve come to really appreciate a bigger focus on gameplay and challenge.

I’m sure there’s more - like I’m certain there’s a movie or TV show out there somewhere - but these are what I got off the top of my head.

The biggest influence on me overall is doubtlessly Warcraft III, having played a huge part in how I live my passion for games and game design in particular. It is by far the game I have poured the most hours into and a game I still play and develop for to this day, the custom map Final Fantasy Epic RPG I advertise in my sig being my main continuous creative outlet. Insane for me to think I joined the dev team for it over ten years ago at this point, and still pushing out updates.

Can't be remiss to mention Umineko no Naku Koro ni as well, which made me think like no other and kickstarted a lot of things.

More in the middle there's also Final Fantasy X with a special mention to the musical piece To Zanarkand from it. Realizing that it was my favorite game (at the time) was a major part of discovering my own identity and developing tastes different from my brother's, and learning to play To Zanarkand on the piano was something I did entirely on my own. I don't have many memories of being an actual individual in my child and teenagehood, but my appreciation and love for FFX was definitely something I didn't take on externally, it was really my own.

In terms of TV, the influence of The Simpsons on me can hardly be overstated. They're the main reason my English is as good as it is and I can probably almost recite full episodes from those first 8 seasons to this day.

I'll also mention Elfen Lied for being both my first foray into the world of anime when I was around 11 years old, and being my further gateway into it when I rewatched it just out of high school. It's probably the main reason I got deeper into the medium as a whole, in no small part due to its opening and main theme Lilium which I'll also qualify on its own.

At this point though I feel like I'd be reaching to find 3 other media that match up to these. I might edit in some more if I think of some though.

SWTOTStar Wars
X-Men:TAS
FF7
TBWBeast Wars
Disney's Aladdin
FernGully
LOTR
Crystalis
Nightfall by Mickey Zucker Reichert
Hunter the Reckoning for XBOX

Bonus
*Bonus: KH2
*Bonus: FMA
*Bonus: Chronicle starring Michael B. Jordan
*Bonus: Legend of Legaia
*Bonus: HTTYD
*Bonus: ROTG

All listed influenced me as a writer. I'm not sure of anything to have influenced me as a person.

Let's see here...

1. I can't honestly start without including Dungeons and Dragons, especially 3rd and 4th edition for giving me a lot of my design sensibilities and helping me figure out what to do and what not to do. Trying to modify D20 3.5 was what set me down the path of designing my own system due to the sheer frustration of trying to modify it into something it wasn't, i.e. trying to build a system to manage the Anime Bleach in the D20 structure. 4th Edition provided a lot of interesting ideas I could iterate on and see where they failed to adapt into a system that really feels satisfying.

2. Since it came up earlier, the Anime Bleach for a lot of inspiration on a refined style and how to design things to look and feel cool. While the series ultimately meandered and fell apart, the Soul Society arc is still a lot of fun and the expanding cool sword system is the basis for a lot of our core design.

3. Fullmetal Alchemist (manga/Brotherhood Anime) is in my eyes the pinnacle of the general Shounen/Seinen action. Dramatic, political, comedic at times, FMA has a lot to say and does a lot of really interesting things with how the powers work, how the world is, and in centering a wide cast of heroes of all backgrounds working for positive change.

4. Avatar: the Last Airbender much like Fullmetal Alchemist weaves a really cool power system in with a lot of politics and drama, but all in a package that is really accessible to younger viewers and with a diverse, respectful and well-realized setting that is extremely uncommon in Western media.

5. Final Fantasy Tactics, one of my favorite games of all time. The storyline soars with its heavy political drama and well realized world that propels Ivalice into the forefront on my list of favorite settings of all time. The way the Job system is made with its flexible system and ability to specialize in multiple ability paths at once informs my design sensibilities - where many games strive to make you hyper-focus on one specific thing Tactics, and by extension my own design ask you to imagine a world in which you can mix, match, and be good at multiple things.

6. The Belgariad and Mallorean by David Eddings. I adore these books and they've had a huge impact on my writing style in terms of how I write characters and dialogue and my general sense of humor. These books taught me that a lot of what makes a compelling story are the characters behind that story, and also how important it is to have a cast that is likable and has a good dynamic when chatting amongst themselves.

7. The Dragonlance series initially by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman. This was my first honest exposure to the D&D-style game and it inspired me to start making my own Tabletop RPGs before I even was 100% clear on what D&D was. While the novels themselves are pulpy at best, they gave me a long-standing love of core fantasy and all the tropes within and, as a testament to the books themselves, helped me envision games in the way they were written, fitting as they themselves were based off D&D games.

8. Xenogears, a favorite of mine albeit one I haven't really replayed in awhile. One of my first Anime was Neon Genesis: Evangelion back when I was way too young to be watching Neon Genesis: Evangelion and while that series remains a major impact, I feel like Xenogears, which itself drew inspiration from Evangelion and ran in its own wild direction is more appropriate for my personal inspiration in terms of feel and design. It introduced me to the concept of someone fighting a mech on-foot which is something I am working to enshrine in my own design today because it's totally rad, and gave me a lot of great style inspirations (as well as one of my favorite soundtracks ever).

9. The Anime Shirobako is and continues to be a huge inspiration on my ultimate goal of creating my own creative studio and being able to make games full time alongside other creatives. Aside from being a great series with fantastic writing and characters, Shirobako really encapsulates the professional team in a creative space and the joy and love of creating as a career, I can't help but get excited and feel driven whenever I watch it.

10. Baldur's Gate 2, and to a lesser extent its predecessor Baldur's Gate which offer a tabletop inspired journey in the video game space and also combines heavy, serious storylines with weirder, more humorous arcs that capture a fantastic balance that I strive for in my own work. I'm admittedly worried about Baldur's Gate 3, I'm playing Larian Studio's excellently designed Divinity: Original Sin 2 and while it has occasionally bits of humor it is as a whole enormously edgy and dark, often for the sake of being so it feels like as opposed to any narrative satisfaction. Baldur's Gate 2 in my eyes really captures the mix of humor and serious that I want to see, games that are relentlessly dark and depressing often just feel like too much and in my own design and writing I strive to strike a strong balance that games like BG2 managed.

It is really hard to pick just 10 things, but I finally managed to do it!

1) Secret of Mana. This is the game that I grew up with, and the first game I ever completed 24 years ago. It is to date still my favorite game I've ever played (Currently have 4 copies of this game on different systems) I know it has it's flaws and definitely shows it's cuts and age but I have such fond memories of it. I enjoy the other mana games as well but it's hard to beat the game you grow up with.

2) Gotta echo void and give Bleach a mention. I was simultaneously recommended it by members of this very forum as well as high school friends and I was hooked. I was even part of the fandom during college and would obsess over things like the musicals and character cd's. (They WORK) I did lament how the series decayed towards the end, you can't top Aizen after all, but I will still watch how they adapt the thousand year blood war.

3) The Wheel of Time Series. Oh boy do you want to get into a series with over 1000 characters who all matter? It is a huge investment to read all the books but again being able to read them as they were written was part of the magic. I actually started to reread them and seeing how much the characters grow throughout the series is so much fun. also gotta respect the fact that there is an entire book without the main character in it and still having it work.

4) Avatar the last Airbender. Something about stuff that came out when I was in high school just sticks with me, especially with spiritual growth. Seeing it explode in popularity now that it's on Netflix is simply heartwarming

5) Kingdom Hearts. I couldn't have a media list without this. Being able to play each game as they came out is part of the magic. Even if the story is a hot mess half of the time. Plus you get to smack around enemies with a key.

6) Final Fantasy VII and X. While I played FFI, IV and VI when I was younger, these two were the first I completed, it was later on that I beat the older games. These are the games which brought me here after all.

7) Super Mario World. But not for the reason most people think. I'm specifically thinking about MariI/O, the AI that learned to play the game. It was one of those profound moments that got me started on the path to learning Computer science and leaving my pure math bubble. Now I'm getting ready to start a second masters focusing on AI and I'm making connections in order to research in the field while I get my degree.

8) Persona 3, 4, and 5. These games have actually helped shape how I interact with my own students. They really force you to look at things from others perspectives and I always keep that in mind when a student comes to me for help or even in my regular lectures. Calculus is pretty dry for most so anything that helps them grasp it is a big win. Also I was going through some heavy things and being able to immerse myself in Persona 3 and 4 really helped my mental state.

9) Mahou Sensei Negima! I got to read this as it was coming out with friends and I have lots of memories talking about it as the story progressed. I got so attached to the characters and it's just a really good series.

10) The Legend of Zelda. I have again simply so many fond memories of these games. I love going back and just having a good time with them.

Art by my mum - Got me appreciating art as a critic from my youth. I did a spot of art myself back then but nothing too fancy. I was just enamoured with watching the process, and my mum would constantly ask me for opinions and always said I was her biggest critic, but she liked it.

X-Men - The Animated TV Series - Loved watching this show as a kid, definitely got me far more interested in superheroes, particularly large casts with complex characters that all have interesting relationships with each other.

Shout to the Lord - I'm not religious anymore, but I was when my parents were going through a divorce. The song itself may not have impacted me directly, but it will always be in my head when I think about those times, because I'd sing it to myself when I was upset then.

Lord of the Rings - Favourite book series during my teens, read it many times while listening to Bon Jovi and Aerosmith at my mum's place. Got me into fantasy as a genre more than anything else I can remember.

Final Fantasy VII - Got me into the series, and the genre too. Favourite game of all time.

Eyes on Final Fantasy - Websites are a media right? I figure this applies. A story too long to tell in this thread, but many of you guys know it.

The Emperor's New Groove - My favourite movie of all time. I don't know if it's influenced me in a personal way but it has definitely been something that I still quote many times out loud, and even more so in my head.

Final Fantasy XIV - Taught me that not only can I build upon someone else's community such as I did at EoFF, but I can also build my own community too. Which is good to know, I guess. But, inevitably, it also taught me that I don't want to get back into MMOs anytime soon. It absorbed too much of my life.

Twitch - The likes of DrAssenov, Sezzadactyl, dren and more got me back into a world and life I actually loved and enjoyed, and helped me a lot. EoFF is kind of like the home I grew up in, while Twitch is the home I have been living as an adult, I suppose. I come back to EoFF and it feels like going to visit my family on a holiday or something.

Art by Sezzadactyl - Got me back into actually creating art, coming full circle on this media listing.

1. Star Wars - I got introduced to it back when I was a kid. Since that time, I became a major Star Wars fan
2. Final Fantasy IV - First game in the Final Fantasy series I played which introduced me to the franchise
3. Power Rangers - That introduced me to various tokusatsu series like Super Sentai (franchise that influenced Power Rangers), Ultraman, Godzilla
4. Pokemon - Got me interested in both anime and the Pokemon series
5. The Masked Singer- First reality singing competition that really interested me
6. Halo - Got me interested in Xbox
7. Lego Island - First Lego video game I played which led me to be interested in Lego itself, but also Lego video games
8. Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow - First Castlevania game I played which led me to be interested in the series.
9. Transformers Armada - Led to me being a fan of the Transformers franchise
10. Yu-Gi-Oh! - Got me interested in collecting certain card games, like Magic The Gathering (which influenced Yu-Gi-Oh!)