The first moments of every game I've always played have always started with a deep, deep breath. In, then out.
Why was that?
Perhaps, it might have been because the air told me so much about my surroundings. The temperature, the scents, the weight and atmosphere and ambiance - every minuscule and subtle detail reproduced by the AmuSphere felt distinctive depending on the environment you dived into.
In Sword Art Online, I was interfacing with the now discontinued NerveGear console in order to navigate my surroundings. That was my first taste of a Virtual Reality MMO, and it was an experience I would never, ever forget. It being a periolous death game was one thing... but it was in that world that I lost and then found my strength and resolve to continue living in order to protect those that are closest to me.
In Alfheim Online, I had always logged in to a world that welcomed me as much as I welcomed it, with the familiar, rustic air that undoubtedly belonged to an MMORPG about swords, magic, and monsters.
Gun Gale Online was the same— rather, it was a different type of the same air; that exaggerated grittiness, the scent of oil and metal and gunpowder and many other things whispered it's name into my ear upon my first breathing it in: "MMORPG." Well, that is, a futuristic one that was focused on firearms and not sword-fighting, but I digress.
In this new game, this new world, in Equestria Legends Online, the air tasted and smelled almost sweet, vaguely reminding me of every good fruit and pastry that I had ever tasted. That is to say, it was distinctive of this game. Of course it was.
After all, air - in it's utterly arbitrary fluidity and character - was surely one of the most organic and "real" things that could be imitated by virtual reality.
Then, that begs another question. What makes a game so different from the life you live now?
Just what is it that makes something "real"?