These two come in a bundle, as I first got 'em in their combo edition for the PS1. I remember thinking I bought 'a modern game', like, say, Final Fantasy 7 (this was the year 2001). Imagine my dismay as Final Fantasy IV's opening sequence. A 16-bit orchestra beating my ears as chonky airships travel a flat world, no 'real 3D' in sight. I was not gonna get another game for that year, so I stuck to it, and I cannot be more glad that I did.
These two games were the first time I took the format seriously. As an added bonus, the contrast between 4 and Trigger made the latter feel a lot more current than it was. FF4's stereotypical plot and characters gave me an insight into tropes, and Trigger's deeper, intertwined storytelling and time-traveling aspect further challenged those concepts of what a fantasy adventure 'ought and ought not to be'. Of the two, Trigger has had a stronger effect on me. Its powerful optimism and hope, the weight of connections and friendship, thinking outside the box and being resourceful and hinting to a bigger, livelier world than depicted on screen still shape how I see games and the real world at large.
