Interview Interview with Xyphien

[Phil]

For November's GamingDNA interview, we're chatting with Xyphien, a lifelong gamer whose passion for gaming stretches all the way back to 2003. From spending countless hours in Old School RuneScape to competitive FPS gaming, MOBAs and a love for retro classics, there's very little Xyphien hasn't experienced across the gaming world.

Runescape clearly holds a special place in Xyphien's gaming history, with a dedication that spans hundreds of accounts, countless hours and plenty of unforgettable memories. But it's not all about grinding skills and chasing levels. Xyphien also shares stories of hilarious Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 moments, childhood gaming experiences, frustrating boss fights and some strong opinions on where modern gaming has gone wrong!

In this month's interview, we find out which game has consumed more time than almost everything else combined, which horror games genuinely got under their skin, why Master Chief would make the perfect teammate, and which forgotten competitive game deserves another chance in the spotlight.

There's plenty of nostalgia, humour and honest gaming opinions along the way.

So, grab your favourite snack, settle in and get to know Xyphien a little better!
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What game have you spent the most hours playing?
Oldschool Runescape. I've been playing it since 2003 and it was the first game I've ever genuinely got addicted to it. I'd spend 2-3 days at a time playing it without any breaks and I still play it do this day. I probably have the absolute most time out of anything on that game, heck I'd go as far as to say every game besides League of Legends combined probably still doesn't compare to the amount of time I've spent on Runescape.

What's the first game you remember being genuinely scared by?
Fear 2 or Outlast are the only two games that's ever truly scared me to be honest. However the first game to genuinely scare me was probably Nightmare Creatures for the N64. I remember playing that as a kid and being so scared, I'd always play it at night since it would scare me the most so I could get over my fear and it worked.

Which game character would you most want as a teammate?
Depends on for what but I'd say Master Chief for most things.

What's a game you've bought purely because of the hype?
Diablo 3. It was the first time I've wanted a game for years. They came out with a brief trailer or something in middle school and the release date was for my graduating year so I told me mom "That's what I want as a graduation present." She said there's no way I'd still want that by the end of high school and her mind was blown when I said I still wanted it. I never looked at any of the videos because they can't screw up one of the best video games ever made (Diablo 2 LOD) and turns out they 100% can. That was the beginning of the decline for modern gaming for me.

What's the best gaming bargain you've ever found?
G2A was amazing for bargains back in the day. I'd find brand new games on super sale for like $0.99 and the codes would actually work. I do not know any specifics sadly.

What game have you started the most times but never finished?
Runescape. I've had hundreds to maybe even a thousand accounts over the years and have never maxed my account a single time. I'm almost at base 70s on my main ROFL! (I hate slayer but I do have a lot of 99s, or at least enough rofl)

What's your favourite gaming memory with friends?
COD MW2 I had a made a clan called "The Spartans" and it was a fun stupid clan of kids my age. We all only used Spartan Shields (Riot Shields) and the Javelins. There's one memory in particular of us starting the game, all spamming our javelins getting a few random kills, then we all, and I mean ALL of us went into the bathroom with our shields and waited for the first person who turned the corner, saw all of us, literally just looked up and at all of us before getting bombarded by the entire enemy team with shields smacking him. Everyone in the entire lobby was dying laughing to include the enemy team. It was goofy, fun things like that, that made old games imo! The community just did random stuff and everyone enjoyed it

Which game world would you absolutely NOT want to live in?
Nearly all of them rofl. Heck even pokemon would be crazy. You're telling me you can get kidnapped by a hypno and then spend years missing life while pretending to be a seal? Then you have games like silent hill, Halo's Flood or just Halo in general. I do not know many games I'd enjoy living in to be honest.

What's the most frustrating boss you've ever faced?
Jad on Runescape. He's not technically hard, but you have to spend an hour beating countless waves of monsters to get to him, then when you finally do you have to click buttons in the exact way in a single second in order to survive. It's not hard as there's only 3 buttons to press, but one single mistake and you're dead so the pressure of finally getting there builds up, you start to shake, sweat, and inevitably you miss click and then die only to have to do it all over again...

What game do you secretly enjoy that you'd be embarrassed to admit?
None, I'm an open book and I'm okay letting people know what games I play lol. I play everything from horror to Palia, and more!

If you could instantly master one gaming genre, which would you choose?
MOBAs. I was semi-pro in FPS' so I have a chance of mastering it if anything ever caught my eye, but I feel like if you master a MOBA you can master almost any game since you'll have the know how to make split second decisions as well as pay attention to multiple things in a row. MOBAs aren't about being the best, but being able to predict events. The enemy jungle hasn't been seen in several minutes, based off his character he probably started red, which means by now he should be at the enemy gromps, so now you know that you can push and try to start a fight because of that information. That's basic tier but being able to pay attention to the map, figure out placement of everyone and determine the play around that would be helpful in literally any game you play, especially games like Halo where you're keeping track of rocket spawn, sniper, enemy locations, etc.

What's the oldest game you still regularly play?
Everything babyyyyyy. I play SNES still, I hop on the Atari 2600 occasionally, I have 2 arcade machines, I'm into retro and I play it all! The most active would be most games on the SNES though so I'd say 1991-1993 would be the oldest games. The absolute oldest I play semi-regularly is Mappy which is a 1986 I believe game.

Which game has made you laugh the most?
Either COD MW2 or Runescape. All based off the community to be honest.

What's your favourite gaming villain?
I do not have one I do not think. I never really played games with villians in it growing up or at least got far enough for them to matter too much.

If you could erase your memory of one game and play it again fresh, which would it be?
I don't think I would pick any game. I enjoy the memories I have of everything, and I enjoy the experience of replaying them to be honest. I feel like most of my games I play now wouldn't be nearly the same if I didn't have a memory of them.

What's the most expensive gaming purchase you've ever made?
Singular or over time? I've spent $3k on League in a single year, $1k with my wife on Fortnite in a single month. So if it's over time it will be League of Legends. I would drop my entire paycheck on them in highschool back when they truly were a small company and I was trying to support them.

Which game deserves far more attention from the gaming community?
Battlerite. It's a dead game now, and fun fact I've actually talked with the devs and almost got hired to make a team and upgrade the game for them. But that game is a 3v3 actual MOBA (Battle Arena) it played very similar to League of Legends but there was no monsters to kill. Just you, 2 teamates and you fight 3 other people. It was an amazingly competitive game, and well put together. It had the ability to become the next best thing but the devs like to jump ship and create something new the moment it doesn't get popular quickly...

What's one gaming trend you'd happily see disappear?
MTX. MTX of any sorts killed the game, and quite frankly **** bathesda for popularizing that trend with that damn horse...

If you could have dinner with one video game character, who would it be?
Jinx from League of Legends. It'd be chaotic but my wife would probably and quite literally kill me if I chose anyone else.

What's one game you could talk about for hours without getting bored?
Almost any game from my childhood. Runescape, Halo, Diablo are the big three. ​

 

[FreddyFox22]

Great interview