Nine years ago, only a month into my ability to vote, I added a newly-released game to my collection. That game was Mega Man X7, which I, if no one else here, still regard as a kick-ass classic.
My first time through the game (as Axl, since he was controllable first) saw me go left after defeating Red. I remember what followed as a blur of death and loud swearing. Eventually, I made it through the gauntlet of security lasers and guard fans over bottomless pits, but swore never to go through that again, only ever facing the Ride Armor onslaught to the right in all subsequent playthroughs.
However, that changed today. Last Sunday, fresh off of my six-week Resident Evil binge, I jumped right into the Mega Man X series. Today, I went through X7 as Axl and, partway through, decided to do what I'd sworn off almost a decade prior. Damage was taken, but I made it, only losing one life in the process, and I was all like, "That's what I've been avoiding for nine years?!"
From now on, I'll be alternating between the paths playthrough-to-playthrough, binge-to-binge. Zero will face the Ride Armors tomorrow, but X will go through the gauntlet the day after. And on my next binge through the series, it'll be Zero who goes through the Gauntlet and Axl and X who face the Ride Armors.
So now, the only thing I don't like about that game is having to reset whenever an innocent Reploid gets killed, a carry-over from the previous title.
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