Forgive me: I’ve come to write a confessional personal essay about videogames helping me through difficulties in my real life. This December I found myself exhausted from just about every direction. I had gone through a devastating break up a few months prior that still felt fresh and pulsing, the holidays had arrived with all the stress and loneliness they usually carry, and my immediate family were all acting unusually insane.
Now, this game solved nothing in my personal life, but it did consume me. Its challenges and its wonders provided me shelter in difficult times, as well as offering me victories that were sorely lacking and needed to move forward. By the time I was wrapping up playthrough four I could confidently say that I had gotten good, that I understood the game intimately, and with that I felt armed.