So I finished FF15 yesterday and I've sort of been wandering around in a haze of sadness and confusion. I feel lost, because even though I still have a significant amount of the post-game to do, the story's over. The credits have rolled, the curtain's dropped, the lights have gone down. I don't feel triumphant, or accomplished, or even really satisfied. I did what I set out to do and now it's over - I can revisit those memories but I know that's all I'm doing. There's nothing "new" to see.

If that sounds like a criticism, it's not, not even a little. It's been a long time, probably an unhealthily long time, since I felt such a profound sadness. It's a parting of ways that'll stay with me for a long time, and that's a good thing. Not every strong feeling is a good one, but feeling anything at all aside from frustration and ennui is great (Sidenote: seasonal affective disorder can suck my ass).

Very much like finishing a novel where you've really grown attached to the characters, at some point the book ends and you put it back on the shelf. Some day you'll probably pick it up again, and even if you never get around to it, you'll think about it now and then. And I think for all of its many and sometimes glaring flaws, I might love this game for that. It's something I'll think about long after I'm done with it as a game.

It's part of the reason I haven't finished the last book in the Temeraire series - I have it on my shelf but somewhere in the last few pages of that book is an end to it all, and the door to a strange and wonderful world will close. It was the same with finishing the Lord of the Rings, or Harry Potter, or War of the Spider Queen (even if the last book was terrible) - the long road ends and you're left at your front door again, your companions of many adventures gone with only the memory to mark their passage.

I'm sure I'm not alone in this - was there a work of fiction in your life, whether it was a book, a game, a movie, or a series, that left a strong and lasting impression on you?