When Bub was young, I made the promise to myself (as mentioned in a previous post) that I was going to game with my children if they were interested in gaming with me — and although Monster is interested as the urges so strike, Bub is generally “down for the life” as the Generation Z kids say — but that I was going to introduce him to as many of the Final Fantasy games as he was willing to play with me. One of them was obviously Final Fantasy VIII, both the original version on the Vita and the remaster that just recently came out. The first of those two mentioned got Bub known in various gaming communities, to great amusement.

Bub, equipped to me and with only minimal assistance — having the game set up so that he would not quickly fail, having Rinoa as ready as she would ever be to go into Angel Wing, having Quistis ready enough to go into Limit Break with Mighty Guard, defeated all three forms of Ultimecia in fifteen minutes flat. I provided only the assistance that he needed. As an adolescent, I could never defeat her on my own. She trounced me. And with Bub on my lap, playing the game with him, helping him play the game, he trounced her. He danced all over her. And did I mention the fact that, before this battle, he proceeded to do this to Ultima Weapon in seven minutes as well, getting us the Guardian Force Eden? I didn’t even have time to attempt to Draw Apocalypse off of Ultimecia, because Bub was trouncing her, and I didn’t want to ruin what was clearly a good thing. Thanks to him, though, I got to see the ending of the game for the first time on my own without having to look it up on YouTube. Clearly my child makes final bosses cower. I will give him that.

I just set him up so that I know he’s not going to immediately fail going into final bosses, and I provide technical help when and where needed, as well as additional help on request and when it becomes clear that it is necessary. Bub just makes the final boss cower in fear. This is a final boss that frequently makes neurotypical gamers cower, though. She consistently ranks high on all-time lists of final bosses in terms of difficulty. Bub danced all over her like nobody’s business. I will give him credit where credit is due for making final bosses cower, though — he has developed that pattern, as many of you will see in later posts of mine.