"Games are objectively unreal in that they do not physically recreate the situations they represent, yet they are subjectively real to the player. The agent that transforms an objectively unreal situation into a subjectively real one is human fantasy. A game creates a fantasy representation, not a scientific model."

Ever since I first encountered it in Chris Crawford's renowned book, "The Art of Computer Game Design," this idea has remained deeply ingrained within me. It shaped my perspective on video games on a fundamental level: I view games as mediums that stimulate fantasy and allow us to engage with its contents through interactivity. No game has ever made Crawford's idea more evident to me than "Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer."

Slayers X evoked a profound sense of nostalgia within me. This nostalgia surpassed the typical feelings one gets from familiar imagery or reminiscent tunes from the good old days. It didn't arise from my senses; rather, it originated deep within my mind.

The game presents itself as a product of the fantasy of a 16 year old teenager from the year 1998. But the contents of the game are not what 16 year old teenagers imagine. In fact, it is antithetical to what they imagine. I am not an alien and I was once a teenager, so I believe I can make such judgement. When I was a teen, I did not imagine secret underground bases under buildings. When I was a teen, I did not imagine myself possessing cool magical superpowers. When I was a teen, my friends and I did not share a power fantasy where each of us had a unique super weapon that we used against the bad guys united under a catchy name, whom only we could stop from destroying the world. In fact, teens actively distance themselves from such "nonsense." It is a part of growing up. Teens' interests change, and they are pressured to adapt their fantasies to something more "realistic" and "adult." Instead of shooting beams of destructive power from their hands that decimate bad guys, teens imagine themselves as hyper-successful geniuses who will change the world, earn a lot of money, excel in some field beyond everyone else, make an important social change, succeed romantically, and engage in other such things. They are still fantasies about being super cool, but their content is adapted to suit the real world rather than engaging with a fantastical one. Teens who cling onto their "childish" fantasies don't socialize well. Their peers are moving forward, rejecting "childishness" in favor of being perceived as "adult." It's okay for a five-year-old to call himself a super mutant ninja turtle who is an unmatched sword master and a hacking genius. When a teen does it, it's better to be a joke. Because if it's not, it will raise eyebrows.

The older people get, the more pragmatic their fantasies become. The more time passes, the more distant wild fantastical imaginings of underground bases, superpowers, space mutant ninjas, cool mega guns, and other whimsical creations of a young mind become. Those fantasies are not completely forgotten, but there is nothing to trigger them to surface in the day-to-day life of an adult.

Unless there is a child around. A child who is completely engrossed in a fantastical play. Children can awaken the dormant fantasies that lie within the hearts of adults. The presence of a playful child can transport us back to a time when our imaginations knew no bounds and our dreams were filled with fantastical possibilities. When we watch a child lost in his play, imagining secret underground bases and pretending to possess extraordinary magical powers, we are reminded of our own youthful wonder. The child's uninhibited belief in the impossible temporarily rekindles a spark within us, reigniting the flames of our long-abandoned fantasies. It's endearing to watch a child play because we are reminded of ourselves.

Slayers X goes beyond watching a child play. It offers an opportunity to actively engage and immerse oneself in the play itself. You are not passively observing a child's fantasy. You are actively engaging with it. You are not watching a child pretend to shoot bad guys called "Psykos" with a chainsaw machine gun named "X100 Rapid Mutilator." It's YOU who shoots them.

In Slayer X, there is no child in between the fantasy and you.

So, what's the fantasy? You shoot members of the Psyko Sindikate with cool guns. This description may feel a little too dry, but that's the point. If you were to ask a child to describe his fantasies, you would get an endless flow of imaginative nonsense that is used to justify the "shoot bad guys with cool guns" play. Describing the fiction of Slayers X is exactly that. Oh, well!

The Psyko Sindikate exploded the main character's apartment, blew up his mom in her car, attacked Slayers X training Dojo, kidnapped his potential girlfriend, and turned her into a murderous werewolf that shoots a rocket launcher, killed his cool Hackblood master mentor Mikey Sikey, captured the town of Boise, and worst of all, stole the Hackblood Talismen from the Steel Sewer (the biggest secret base in the galaxy). The main character, Zane, has to defeat the Psyko Sindikate and find out who is behind Psyko's master plan.

Zane is no regular schmuck: his signature weapon is double pistols, and he was trained to harness the power of the Hackblood energy by Mikey Sikey himself (the first X-Slayer). Besides pistols, Zane is armed with the S-Blade (a melee weapon that can shoot Hackblood energy beams if Zane's Hackblood charge is above 95), the Glass Blasta (a shotgun that shoots glass), Explosive Sewage Launcher (launches explosive sludge cans that are also full of rats), X100 Rapid Mutilator (a chainsaw machine gun that does not use ammo when shot up-close to an enemy and is so powerful it can make Zane fly for some time if he shoots from it directly down), Triple Helix Missile Launcher (a rocket launcher that shoots 3 rockets at the same time), and the Hackblood Talismen (which allows Hackblood masters to shoot Hackblood energy charges from their hands. It also allows them to shoot a super powerful beam that makes Zane fly, causes time to slow down, and decimates any living creature it touches).

Armed to his teeth, Zane will visit numerous secret bases, supermarket, mobile home park, potato festival, sewer, highway, landfill and other cool locations. Locations familiar. Non-stop, Zane will have to blast away Psykos who are stupid enough to stand in his way! As Zane puts it himself: "You mess with Zane?! You got no brain!" (Zane has a lot of cool one-liners, such as "Your grandparents are turds. Literally," "Shove it up your bunghole and smoke it!" "You are lucky I did not kick you in your nards," and other masterfully crafted insults).

That's just the tip of the iceberg. When playing, I frequently caught myself with thoughts like:

"I have to break windows and bottles to get glass ammunition for Glass Blasta"
"Needleheads! Time to use Sewage Launcher!"
"There are too many Psykos! I have no choice: I must use the Hackblood Talismen to decimate them with the Hackblood energy beam!"
"I will shoot werewolves with my triple rocket launcher and then finish off the remaining Psykos with the chainsaw machine gun!"
"The S-Blade has a Hackblood charge"

It's all nonsense. But Slayers X makes this nonsense REAL. When you play the game, you immerse yourself in the fantasy it offers. As such, you engage with its nonsensical terms as if they were reasonable.

The game reminded me of the way I used to engage my imagination. It reminded me how I would spend hours concocting elaborate stories and adventures in my mind. Slayers X tapped into that inner childlike wonder and brought it to life. Zane's fantasy is a fantasy of a child, not a 16 years old teenager. And that's awesome!

Slayers X made my childish fantasies real again. It reminded me of who I used to be. I consider it to be an important experience. Do you think it will be for you?

"Games are objectively unreal in that they do not physically recreate the situations they represent, yet they are subjectively real to the player. The agent that transforms an objectively unreal situation into a subjectively real one is human fantasy. A game creates a fantasy representation, not a scientific model." Ever since I first encountered it in Chris Crawford's renowned book, "The Art of Computer Game Design," this idea has remained deeply ingrained within me. It shaped my perspective on video games on a fundamental level: I view games as mediums that stimulate fantasy and allow us to engage with its contents through interactivity. No game has ever made Crawford's idea more evident to me than "Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengeance of the Slayer." Slayers X evoked a profound sense of nostalgia within me. This nostalgia surpassed the typical feelings one gets from familiar imagery or reminiscent tunes from the good old days. It didn't arise from my senses; rather, it originated deep within my mind. The game presents itself as a product of the fantasy of a 16 year old teenager from the year 1998. But the contents of the game are not what 16 year old teenagers imagine. In fact, it is antithetical to what they imagine. I am not an alien and I was once a teenager, so I believe I can make such judgement. When I was a teen, I did not imagine secret underground bases under buildings. When I was a teen, I did not imagine myself possessing cool magical superpowers. When I was a teen, my friends and I did not share a power fantasy where each of us had a unique super weapon that we used against the bad guys united under a catchy name, whom only we could stop from destroying the world. In fact, teens actively distance themselves from such "nonsense." It is a part of growing up. Teens' interests change, and they are pressured to adapt their fantasies to something more "realistic" and "adult." Instead of shooting beams of destructive power from their hands that decimate bad guys, teens imagine themselves as hyper-successful geniuses who will change the world, earn a lot of money, excel in some field beyond everyone else, make an important social change, succeed romantically, and engage in other such things. They are still fantasies about being super cool, but their content is adapted to suit the real world rather than engaging with a fantastical one. Teens who cling onto their "childish" fantasies don't socialize well. Their peers are moving forward, rejecting "childishness" in favor of being perceived as "adult." It's okay for a five-year-old to call himself a super mutant ninja turtle who is an unmatched sword master and a hacking genius. When a teen does it, it's better to be a joke. Because if it's not, it will raise eyebrows. The older people get, the more pragmatic their fantasies become. The more time passes, the more distant wild fantastical imaginings of underground bases, superpowers, space mutant ninjas, cool mega guns, and other whimsical creations of a young mind become. Those fantasies are not completely forgotten, but there is nothing to trigger them to surface in the day-to-day life of an adult. Unless there is a child around. A child who is completely engrossed in a fantastical play. Children can awaken the dormant fantasies that lie within the hearts of adults. The presence of a playful child can transport us back to a time when our imaginations knew no bounds and our dreams were filled with fantastical possibilities. When we watch a child lost in his play, imagining secret underground bases and pretending to possess extraordinary magical powers, we are reminded of our own youthful wonder. The child's uninhibited belief in the impossible temporarily rekindles a spark within us, reigniting the flames of our long-abandoned fantasies. It's endearing to watch a child play because we are reminded of ourselves. Slayers X goes beyond watching a child play. It offers an opportunity to actively engage and immerse oneself in the play itself. You are not passively observing a child's fantasy. You are actively engaging with it. You are not watching a child pretend to shoot bad guys called "Psykos" with a chainsaw machine gun named "X100 Rapid Mutilator." It's YOU who shoots them. In Slayer X, there is no child in between the fantasy and you. So, what's the fantasy? You shoot members of the Psyko Sindikate with cool guns. This description may feel a little too dry, but that's the point. If you were to ask a child to describe his fantasies, you would get an endless flow of imaginative nonsense that is used to justify the "shoot bad guys with cool guns" play. Describing the fiction of Slayers X is exactly that. Oh, well! The Psyko Sindikate exploded the main character's apartment, blew up his mom in her car, attacked Slayers X training Dojo, kidnapped his potential girlfriend, and turned her into a murderous werewolf that shoots a rocket launcher, killed his cool Hackblood master mentor Mikey Sikey, captured the town of Boise, and worst of all, stole the Hackblood Talismen from the Steel Sewer (the biggest secret base in the galaxy). The main character, Zane, has to defeat the Psyko Sindikate and find out who is behind Psyko's master plan. Zane is no regular schmuck: his signature weapon is double pistols, and he was trained to harness the power of the Hackblood energy by Mikey Sikey himself (the first X-Slayer). Besides pistols, Zane is armed with the S-Blade (a melee weapon that can shoot Hackblood energy beams if Zane's Hackblood charge is above 95), the Glass Blasta (a shotgun that shoots glass), Explosive Sewage Launcher (launches explosive sludge cans that are also full of rats), X100 Rapid Mutilator (a chainsaw machine gun that does not use ammo when shot up-close to an enemy and is so powerful it can make Zane fly for some time if he shoots from it directly down), Triple Helix Missile Launcher (a rocket launcher that shoots 3 rockets at the same time), and the Hackblood Talismen (which allows Hackblood masters to shoot Hackblood energy charges from their hands. It also allows them to shoot a super powerful beam that makes Zane fly, causes time to slow down, and decimates any living creature it touches). Armed to his teeth, Zane will visit numerous secret bases, supermarket, mobile home park, potato festival, sewer, highway, landfill and other cool locations. Locations familiar. Non-stop, Zane will have to blast away Psykos who are stupid enough to stand in his way! As Zane puts it himself: "You mess with Zane?! You got no brain!" (Zane has a lot of cool one-liners, such as "Your grandparents are turds. Literally," "Shove it up your bunghole and smoke it!" "You are lucky I did not kick you in your nards," and other masterfully crafted insults). That's just the tip of the iceberg. When playing, I frequently caught myself with thoughts like: "I have to break windows and bottles to get glass ammunition for Glass Blasta" "Needleheads! Time to use Sewage Launcher!" "There are too many Psykos! I have no choice: I must use the Hackblood Talismen to decimate them with the Hackblood energy beam!" "I will shoot werewolves with my triple rocket launcher and then finish off the remaining Psykos with the chainsaw machine gun!" "The S-Blade has a Hackblood charge" It's all nonsense. But Slayers X makes this nonsense REAL. When you play the game, you immerse yourself in the fantasy it offers. As such, you engage with its nonsensical terms as if they were reasonable. The game reminded me of the way I used to engage my imagination. It reminded me how I would spend hours concocting elaborate stories and adventures in my mind. Slayers X tapped into that inner childlike wonder and brought it to life. Zane's fantasy is a fantasy of a child, not a 16 years old teenager. And that's awesome! Slayers X made my childish fantasies real again. It reminded me of who I used to be. I consider it to be an important experience. Do you think it will be for you?