Hello world. This is my first blog post ever.
My name is Jarnell Marasigan, I love JRPGs, and I'm the CEO and founder of JaR.P.G (I'll give you 3 guesses on how I came up with the name).
I have been a software developer professionally in a corporate setting for almost 5 years now, and a gamer since I was around 6 years old. I started my gaming career with the Sega Genesis with mostly platformers/side-scrolling games, but I have a special place in my heart for JRPG's on the PS1/PS2. That being said, I had a weird and limited exposure to JRPGs growing up. I played Chrono Cross and Suikoden 3 (and really enjoying them) when I was between 10-12 yrs old, and didn't play another one until I was about 15.
Which is when I was first introduced to the Final Fantasy series. I was a freshman in high school, and my dad took me to visit his girlfriend's brother's house for a weekend. I was shy and bored out of my mind as you could imagine, but as I walked around their unbelievably large house; I came across one of the doors opened just enough for me to see a PS2 and a colorful game case laying on top of it; It was Final Fantasy X. I spent that weekend immersing myself in the world, story, and characters and got hooked beyond belief. I didn't get to complete it in the day and a half there, but I remember really pushing my dad to rent it from Blockbuster (insert old joke here) the following week, and promptly playing it all over again.
Anyway, let me segue to the topic of this post. {Why am I doing this to myself?!}
Well as you might have guessed, my dad played a pivotal role in my life. He introduced me to gaming with the aforementioned Sega Genesis, and always played with me whenever he visited (I was raised by grandma after my parent's divorced; long story for another time). We did everything together, we talked and played sports, sang karaoke and played chess, and were just always on the same page. In 2018 we decided to work on a game together! I was somewhat experienced as a developer at the time, and I'd always wanted to create my own game. So I asked my dad what he thought, and he was not only extremely supportive, but he also wanted in on the action. We talked about story ideas for the game pretty much everyday after work. We ended up recording a few melodies together at his house, and constantly discussed the progress that I was making through messaging apps. Fast forward to early 2019, and everything was going great in my life; I just got a new developer job with a much bigger company, bought my dream house and found out I was expecting my first child. That's when my world got flipped outside down, and my dad passed away from a heart attack at just 53 years young. I always dealt with a lot of adversity in my life, but this took a toll on me like no other. After almost a year hiatus from working on the game, I picked myself up and started again.
Which brings us to the present. I have been (pretty) consistently working on the game nightly. I still have a lot to learn, but I did a good amount of research/training in pixel art, marketing, game design, etc., and am on track to complete this game sometime next year. I really wanted to keep my dad's work in the game, so I started working with a composer friend of the family, and he has worked wonders transforming the original music that my dad started, while still keeping the original sound intact. I have an obsessive drive to complete this game; not only to make my dad proud, but to make him timeless by creating a game that will be memorable and honor his legacy.
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