I've always had confidence issues when it came to video games. Growing up I was surrounded by a lot of very good players, which probably didn't help. I wasn't necessarily struggling to play, like every player I had moments where I could clutch a game and moments where I'd make a bad choice and die three seconds into the game. Some games I was better at, and some games I was bad. When it came down to it, the only thing that kept me back was myself.

Then one day, after about a week of seeing my friends playing the new Titanfall 2 and watching some videos on it I decided that sure, I'll try my hand at it. I liked the idea of big mechs and getting the zoomies. Obviously, I played through the campaign first. Let me tell you, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I went back, this time for the helmets. After that I did some multiplayer, and that's where it really began. I would play with my friends, ones who would normally clap me in other games, except this time I was the one ahead. I was topping the leaderboards, and could 1v3 them when we would make fun custom matches. That really set in me a sort of, "Hey I can actually do this" kind of thought. Before I knew it I beat the campaign on masters, and that quickly turned into achievement hunting to get 100% completion on the game. I absolutely loved the game and would frequently talk about it everywhere I could. I got, and still are continuing to get, Titanfall merch and decorations. After a few months I realized something very important. When I would play Titanfall with my friends, my behavior would change. Where in another game I might ask for help or fall back in certain situations, in Titanfall I would push forward and had a ,"Let me handle it" sort of attitude. I realized that, if I really was a bad player, I wouldn't have been able to come this far. I realized that I had confidence in myself when I played Titanfall, and maybe that was the reason I was good at it.

After a while, I took that confidence over to the other games I would play. My gameplay drastically improved across the board, and it didn't go unnoticed. Now I play on a collegiate esports team, we're top five in the US for our game. It isn't Titanfall, but you can bet it would have been nothing at all if Titanfall hadn't given me the confidence in my own playing. So thank you Titanfall. You have an amazing campaign, impossibly fun mechanics, and tons of other features that make you an amazing game, and you will always be my favorite. You were the first game that I was ever able to recognize that I was "good" at, you were the game that made me see that I wasn't a bad player, I just never had the right mindset in the other games. No matter what other games come along, you will always be my favorite because you gave me something that no other game could. Thank you Titanfall! <3