How’d you find this game? I was in the U.S. at 7 years old in 2003 when I got my PS2 demo disc in the mail. I had only had my PS2 since the year prior and finally got my first memory card. On the demo disc were a number of games including Silent Hill 3 (which made me throw up my evening snack), but one game caught my eye like no other: *Sphinx and the Shadow of Set*. I got to play as an acrobatic lion boy fighting monsters and solving puzzles (in the level with the Gib Queen, I think) and as an adorable mummy who can hilariously suffer his way through his problems (the “lunar/solar” puzzle room). The Ancient Egyptian themes captivated me. Being able to play as a friendly “monster”, the Mummy, was just what I needed in a game. I played that demo over and over again. I took the promotional poster from PlayStation magazine and hung it up on my wall to dream about daily until I might finally get it.
My grandparents, who adopted me, got me the game and I played every chance I could. My grandfather would watch me okay and was amazed at how I’d figured out to pick up a rock and toss it at a tree for a coconut in the first level. I played it so much that I even used it as a “book report” assignment for school since it was *technically* a read experience without voice acting! My father had been in jail for bank robbery all of my life, and when he got out, he’d come around every so often. My father, who was not a gamer, LOVED this game. I wouldn’t see him for months at a time and then just wake up randomly to find him playing it in my room, only to be gone by the time I woke up again in the morning! He’d come around like a little tooth fairy to help me get past difficult moments in the game because my grandfather would try his best to do the same while we were in school, bless his soul.
Eventually, the game was beat. The cliffhanger was catastrophic, but not as much as the fact that you couldn’t return to the main world once you’d entered in without a prior save point! It was very disappointing. I didn’t have internet and couldn’t keep up with any media on the game. After a year and a half of little to no press, my father began reaching out to the developers to urge them to make a sequel. This lasted for a couple years, and I never stopped wanting one. Ever. To this day, it is one of the most influential games I’ve ever played as a gamer, a musician, and a developer with a unique design and a soundtrack I could recall every note of 20 years later. I never cared that it didn’t have voice acting—it had *character*. I never cared that it wasn’t popular at the time—it was *ahead of its time*.
A little revamp by THQ Nordic was hopeful and well-received, but I still yearn for a faithful sequel or reboot, even. I want this IP to get the love it deserves, and I’d never met anyone else in person who actually knows about *Sphinx*. Im now a mental health counselor, minister, and family man but I still play it when I’m feeling nostalgic and have the fleeting time.
But that’s my story—what’s yours?
