One thing that will always make [[games]] cool to me is their ability to let you define a role or power-fantasy for yourself. The ability to choose how I want to interact with different games has led to me realizing what my own “archetypes” are, and the kinds of things I enjoy, particularly in [[JRPG|JRPGs]] and [[Action-RPGs]], but even in games I play with friends. That ability to define yourself is what makes tabletop games so appealing to me as well – which makes sense, given how much of that genre’s mechanics are the backbone of most of my favorite games. For me I always end up going these directions depending on genre: ## Fighting Games Rushdown every time. I love getting to be fast and aggressive and in my opponent’s face. Bonus points if I can do fun mix-ups too. It’s a very simplistic style of play, but I’m a simple man. Plus it forces me to adapt when I go up against someone who knows the game-plan – that in turn makes me feel like I’m leveling up and learning something new. ## Co-Op Games I’m a healer / buffer / supporter at heart. I really mean that by the way – **Final Fantasy XI** came out when I was 8 years and wouldn’t play it for a few years afterwards, but I spent so much time enamored with the idea of being a White Mage that keeps everyone alive from the backlines. I have no idea where that came from but I hope it says something positive about me! If a straight up healer isn’t an option, like in co-op looting like **Diablo** and **Last Epoch**, then I’ll usually go for the Paladin archetype. I love being able to buff my friends and tank the hits for them. Whatever it is, if it’s with the homies, I’m playing support. ## Action-RPGs Whatever’s fastest! If I’m playing the games I mentioned above by myself, I’m always picking rogue or monk, stuff that lets me be active and press buttons and get around quickly. When people describe a class in an Action-RPG has having “piano buttons” – i.e. pressing lots of stuff all the time – that excites me! Same with stuff like [[Monster Hunter Wilds]] – things like Insect Glaive, Sword & Shield and Dual Blades are always what I’m drawn to. In fact I didn’t ever pick Longsword because I assumed it was slow, but it honestly isn’t! Call it [[ADHD]]-brain – you know, because it probably is – but I just like pressing buttons as much as possible. --- ## The Character I asked in the tagline for this post “where do you go in the character creator?” I feel like the character you create is an archetype of sorts too. I always try to make [[Mint (OC)|Mint]] – a far-cry from my attempts to just make myself when I was younger. If I can’t get green hair I move on to [[Peppermint]], and if neither of those options are possible I mostly just get upset! --- So what about you? What archetypes do you gravitate towards in games?