Games that change you

Oooh boy, this one's hard. There are a mirad of games that have affected my life one way or the other, me loving pinball games (Twister, Phantom of the Opera, Twilight Zone, Addam's Family, Terminator 2), me loving the Genesis (Shadowrun, Terminator 1 and 2), me discovering that a good narrative can be done in a game... at least 2/3s of it (Snatcher), me learning to love the arcades (Mortal Kombat 2, Street Fighter 2...).

I mean, for me personally, every good game has changed my life one way or the other because I become a fan of the genre. There was not one game that made me like games, period (and I played too many games as a kid to remember which one was the first one I played... maybe it was Mega Man 2). Even modern games, like Assassin's Creed, which I'm currently replaying from the start (some copies of Assassin's Creed Revelation include the first game as an instalable, so that makes it easier to replay) have changed my daily routine and so on.

If I had to put everything in a scale... jesus... it would be a very close tie between Resident Evil 2 for the N64 (made me a survival horror fan... shame the genre later imploded), Chrono Trigger (for obvious reasons), and I guess Metal Gear Solid because of its writing.

It's still a toss-up, tho'.

The Sims franchise showed me that being creative can come in different forms, whether it be creating stories for your sims or houses.

The Myst series also was pretty big with me growing up. The concept behind the game and the story line pretty much made me think that I could become a Video Game developer...then I found creative writing.

I have to go with Dragon Age: Origins. (Though it fought hard with The Last of Us, and Diablo) To this day, I have never found a game the submerged me with the characters so hard, so fast. I even had the biggest crush on Alistair for years. I still get a giddy feeling when I play it.

Skyrim is probably the game that changed me the most. I didn't play it until college, and up until that point, I was kind of snobby toward video games. Like, I thought they were a waste of time and that the people who played video games on a regular basis were wasting their time. I had played games as a kid, but stopped when I was a teenager and became a stuck-up asshole, apparently. But my sister watched Paulsoaresjr play Skyrim on YouTube, and she bought the game. I watched her play it, and then she asked if I wanted to play. The game blew my mind. The graphics were absolutely stunning, and I was simply in awe of it. The detail, the countless quests, the gameplay, everything. I felt like I was playing a movie, and I finally got it.

Skyrim was the game that made me re-fall in love with video games. And thank god it did, because I have made so many friends through video games. Actually, some of my first conversations with my ex-boyfriend and my current boyfriend were about video games. If you'd like evidence of how deep my obsession with Skyrim runs, I have multiple handmade Skyrim bookmarks. They're beautiful.

A couple other games have had an impact on me. Kingdom Hearts was THE game of my childhood. I still love; I still play it. I have a Keyblade necklace. Almost every gamer friend I have loves KH as well. It's another game that's gotten me friends, and it never seems to get old. Left 4 Dead 2 is another one, though that's more circumstantial than anything. That was THE game my ex and I played together. I then brought it with me to a conference and bonded with my peers over it. It was the first time I ever really taught people how to play a video game, and it was lovely. The Sims is another. God, I love The Sims. My friend and I would spend hours playing that game. It's so addictive. The Sims and Zoo Tycoon were/are my favorite computer games.

Sigh. Games are so great.

VeryBigBeard said:

I have definitely put a few hours into Zoo Tycoon. I always had tremendous difficulty with fence design, and have always been more of a Rollercoaster Tycoon person, maybe because of that.

Still a lot of fun, though.

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Oh, Rollercoaster Tycoon. The nostalgia. Loved that game, too.

Nier: Automata. Because of this game, every other game sucks.
All the games that I've played since beating Nier: Automata were all terrible, because Nier: Automata is the new bar.
So I tried playing old classics that I always love playing. Nope. They suck too. Thanks, Nier: Automata.
The game's director and lead scenario writer, Yoko Taro, has made me a better author just by experiencing his work. There is no better writer in gaming, except for maybe the wonderful people over at Naughty Dog, but even that's a stretch. And since I don't like video games anymore, I write more. Thanks, Yoko Taro.

Stepping out of vault 101, I left a lot of myself in there, well I guess once I understood that there is no rain or sun in the capital wasteland, much of my hopes and feelings retreated and found a corner of the canteen to huddle and sulk in for the remainder of the game. I am hurt by this game, I think about it everyday! There's only a sense of bottomless starkness and the ricocheting echo of the righteous rule of brutality acting upon the wasteland... that is what I perceived to splash and shine upon that monotonous, pulverized realm. It is a profound experience every time you step in there but damn does the atmosphere get inside you and stain you.

Earthbound, no game ever is going to give me that experience again. More recently, the Witcher 3, because 2016 was a really tough year and have a big 'ol time suck like that to escape to was helpful and sanity-inducing.

Two games that left a massive impression on me were Final Fantasy 6 and the Persona series.

6 because of the desperation and struggle the characters went through to only "sort of" win at the end. It was all about finding one's place in the world and surviving when everything around you is falling apart.

I would say Persona, especially 3 and 4, because I found that when I made bold choices in that game, I made bolder choices in real life. Similar to the game, I found I was "rewarded" more for my decision making. It's hung on ever since.

I was 13 when FF6 came out, and it will forever be the game I judge all others by. There can be no better.

Kingdom Hearts, hands down. I was ten when the first game came out, and I remember listening to the soundtrack while walking down the hallways in middle school. I only played the console games, so I recently bought the remixed versions on Ps4 in order to play all of them and get ready for KH3. There's really no other game that incites that level of nostalgia for me.

Last year I bought Final Fantasy XV, and the ending really hit me hard, which was very unusual for me. I literally couldn't listen to Stand By Me for months. There were some plot issues that were poorly done, but I guess the main character's circumstances got to me.

First and foremost - Halo. Halo impacted me from a young age to today. I've invested nearly 3,000 hours into the series since I started playing around 2003 or 04. I honestly forget when I did start playing, so I say I've played thirteen or fourteen years. It sounds great too haha. But it showed me what stories in games are like growing up, the social and competitive nature of multiplayer, creating levels in Forge, etc, etc. I've made so many more friends on Xbox LIVE through Halo than EASILY any other game or series. I'd like to join 343 Industries and contribute to the major narratives in the main Halo titles. Master Chief is my childhood hero, and I want to see his journey through till the end. Halo 3 has been my favorite in the series for more than ten years, and I still play it here and there; a masterpiece just like the whole original trilogy. Have over 900 hours played. Halo Reach, my least favorite Halo and the one I criticize the most, ironically is my most played game of all time at around 915 or so hours. So...Im working on surpassing it with Halo 3 haha.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. Nuff said. I didn't play it nearly as much as others, but it was my first big open world RPG. I watched my father play Oblivion and Skyrim in high school before I started my own game. As much as it gets criticized for its flaws, Skyrim is one of the best RPGs of all time.

The Last of Us. An absolute masterpiece. I have personal opinions on some creative choices Neil Druckmann wrote, but those aside what he did to raise the bar for game writing is simply amazing. Say what you will about its basic third person gameplay, which is still fun. In terms of writing, character development, lore, graphics, acting, music, and a few of the most emotionally powerful scenes I've ever seen in games, its outstanding. One of three games I rate 10/10, the other two being Halo 2 and HAlo 3. Every game has flaws or subjective opinions. Regardless I rate some games high or at the perfect 10. Really excited for Part II.

Life is Strange. The first episodic game I'd played, back in 2016. I had zero expectations for it. At the end of it, I was really pleased with my experience. The plot twists in Episode III and onwards just shocked me. Utterly shocked me. I cried during one moment so badly that I had to calm myself down with the help of just one guy in my Twitch stream watching me. You might know which moment it is. Rare does a game make me that emotional.

Horizon Zero Dawn. After breaking to buy it, I was blown away for around five or so straight months. Aloy, whom I have a crush on, the hero's journey narrative, the graphics...THEY'RE INCREDIBLE...the outstanding but underutilized musical score, the gameplay, and the in game lore. All just amazing. The final cutscene with Aloy made me tear up. I'm excited for a future sequel because...seriously...we HAVE to get one. Its my most played RPG at 92 hours and counting, still in my first save file.

This next one isn't as long term impactful for me as the others are. Regardless, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice is more than a game - its an experience. Although not one of the best games I've ever played, personally its absolutely one of the most unique, visually and audibly powerful games I've ever played.

VeryBigBeard said:

HD Simplicityy!

Not to rain on your ambitions, but I think Activision/Bungie are pretty well done with new Halo development for the foreseeable. I suppose it might get picked up again some time in the future, though.

Hellblade: Senua's... and Horizon:ZD are both on my to-be-played list. The footage I've seen from both looks amazing and I'd agree they've done a lot of cool stuff with the narrative, particularly Hellblade with the way they used cutscenes. Few years back, you tried to use the word "cutscene" in a pitch doc or design meeting and that was pretty much the end of the idea. QTEs have a horrible reputation, too. But as with anything, you do it well enough and you can do more or less whatever you want.

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I've continued to follow Halo through Bungie's and 343's years. Yeah I definitely know that Bungie is long gone. I still keep up with a lot of 343's doings. Particularly excited for Master Chief Collection fixes...again...and Halo 6 eventually. Also Activision never once worked on Halo; Bungie just got a new publisher.

Hellblade's cinematics used real time cinematography brilliantly. I loved it. I want to use that in my own games sometime.

When I was a kid, "video games" was Pong, which was hooked up to the TV set. We had to lay on the floor to comfortably use the controls. I like it until Mom said I had to let my baby sister play with the GIANT paddle that was like 3 pixels smaller than the entire space.

When computers got to the point they fit on desktops, my ex and I would team up to defeat WERDNA, carefully charting out the mazes on graphpaper so we didn't get lost. We memorized line after line of text commands so we didn't keep mucking up. As computers and graphics got better, we hooked the computer up to the TV so we could sit comfortably while playing. I navigated and he fought. It was good team work. As the kids were born and grew up, we got Little Critter and such games for them.

After my divorce in 1990, I got away from gaming. He stayed in it, got the various consoles, got the kids hooked on various games, but I didn't see much. Single parent whose ex spent money on himself and not help his family gripe finished.

When my daughter transferred to a local university from an out-of-state university, she introduced me to the new incarnation of video games. It was 2007. I watched in amazement as the Holy Land built itself up from nothing around Altair in Assassin's Creed. I wandered the Capital Wasteland with her in FallOut 3, astounded at the open post-apocalyptic world it presented. Devil May Cry 3 (IIRC), the game based on Dante's Inferno, and I honestly don't remember what other games I watched as she masterfully handled it all.

That was my life change in video games was realizing what an absolutely valid and interesting form of entertainment it was. When she graduated and went on with her life, I missed those stories, those characters (Especially the AC and FO franchises). I had to get my own set-up and games, and have continued playing for the last decade. I don't play a lot of games because of various reasons, but I watch many on YouTube. Many of my friends don't understand, even resent the time I spend gaming, but, yeah, it was life changing.

DeleyanLee said:

When I was a kid, "video games" was Pong, which was hooked up to the TV set. We had to lay on the floor to comfortably use the controls. I like it until Mom said I had to let my baby sister play with the GIANT paddle that was like 3 pixels smaller than the entire space.

When computers got to the point they fit on desktops, my ex and I would team up to defeat WERDNA, carefully charting out the mazes on graphpaper so we didn't get lost. We memorized line after line of text commands so we didn't keep mucking up. As computers and graphics got better, we hooked the computer up to the TV so we could sit comfortably while playing. I navigated and he fought. It was good team work. As the kids were born and grew up, we got Little Critter and such games for them.

After my divorce in 1990, I got away from gaming. He stayed in it, got the various consoles, got the kids hooked on various games, but I didn't see much. Single parent whose ex spent money on himself and not help his family gripe finished.

When my daughter transferred to a local university from an out-of-state university, she introduced me to the new incarnation of video games. It was 2007. I watched in amazement as the Holy Land built itself up from nothing around Altair in Assassin's Creed. I wandered the Capital Wasteland with her in FallOut 3, astounded at the open post-apocalyptic world it presented. Devil May Cry 3 (IIRC), the game based on Dante's Inferno, and I honestly don't remember what other games I watched as she masterfully handled it all.

That was my life change in video games was realizing what an absolutely valid and interesting form of entertainment it was. When she graduated and went on with her life, I missed those stories, those characters (Especially the AC and FO franchises). I had to get my own set-up and games, and have continued playing for the last decade. I don't play a lot of games because of various reasons, but I watch many on YouTube. Many of my friends don't understand, even resent the time I spend gaming, but, yeah, it was life changing.

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This was a good read, thanks for posting. Video games really have come a long way as a form of entertainment and art.

The Hyperdimension neptunia series.

The first time I learned about this game was with steam's recommandation (after playing Agarest). I must admit, my first though about this game was more like: "what is this bullshit". Out of curiosity, I read the comments and found one which picked my interest: this post was about what the game is and what the game is not.
So, I tried Rebirth1 on PC when it was on sale. I haven't had so much fun playing a game before. It is not a masterpiece and it has many flows, yet the story and the setting are really enjoyable.
The point of the game is to make fun of the entire gaming industry, from developers to gamers. The creators even make fun of themselves from time to time. A point I find interesting is that the main character knows she is the protagonist of a franchise and always talk in meta.
The franchise is a parody, yet it doesn't forget to have different pace and tones, from light-hearted scenes to more serious passages.

I have seen comments about this franchise from people who clearly never played this game and only make assumptions. If you like geek jokes, try this game.

Persona 3. I remember seeing the preview on G4 before the game came out and thinking it looked weird and a little offputting, but the story sounded intriguing. So, I picked it up on release day and played it through in basically a week and a half. Before that I understood intellectually that everyone has their own story and their own burdens, but for some reason, it was that game that made me really feel it and start acting on it, being less selfish.

Lissibith said:

Persona 3. I remember seeing the preview on G4 before the game came out and thinking it looked weird and a little offputting, but the story sounded intriguing. So, I picked it up on release day and played it through in basically a week and a half. Before that I understood intellectually that everyone has their own story and their own burdens, but for some reason, it was that game that made me really feel it and start acting on it, being less selfish.

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I remember playing the first two and being very impressed by this quality, as well as the Jungian kitsch.

Pokemon Go.

Literally has changed me. it's helped me to be more social, it's made me WANT to leave the house (for pleasure, other than the mandatory job and the relatives bday/graduation/whatever party). it's led me to places that i never knew existed or passed by for the 30+ years of my life in the same town. but for the past ALMOST couple of years....the urge to get outside and catch that digital monster or join a planned gathering with my new Pogo friends has overridden my autistic need to avoid the outside world.

How does one not mention the Infocomm classic Zork when discussing games changing lives? I suppose because it was text based. Still "it is pitch dark in here. You are likely to be eaten by a grue."

I guess I've always been story driven in my gaming the older games by Sierra when I was a kid like King's Quest (I remember 5 and 6 most), Police Quest, Space Quest, and The Dagger of Amon Ra. Completing the story in the right order was the only way to get through them successfully, even then we usually had to go peek at a walk through guide at the computer store.

The Sid Meier's series are great, but played the Romance of the Three Kingdoms waaay back on the NES. If you can find an emulator and have a love of old games like me, give it a try.

The original Final Fantasy games, I can't remember which number we got. I think it was 3, what number it really was I have no idea since the numbering was different between versions. Again, story driven and the grinding was just to beat the next boss. Can't stand games where you have to grind for hours and hours to progress the story.

Let's see...Elder Scrolls: Arena The first time I played a Real Time RPG and in first person, hwaaat!? It was the first time I felt like I was really in the story, it was Life-changing. Also, frustrating, because the game mechanics were so unusual, but I think we upgraded to a Pentium 1 just to play it.

Mass Effect was the first time I felt like I was playing a movie, and that the decisions I made could have an impact on the final outcome, don't care much for shooters, otherwise. Also, exploring other planets, just 'cause.

Now I've kind of slipped out of gamer mode, also just pinched on time that I'd rather be doing other things, darn life responsibilities.

Justobuddies said:

I guess I've always been story driven in my gaming the older games by Sierra when I was a kid like King's Quest (I remember 5 and 6 most), Police Quest, Space Quest, and The Dagger of Amon Ra.

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Longstanding favorites of mine, though if we're gonna talk point & click, a certain game that rhymes with 'Chunky Island' is always gonna take the prime spot for me.

I will never forget the 1980s arcade cabinets. These are still by first choice. Second, PC adventure games (the ones that solve a series of puzzles and beautiful graphics). I used to write walkthroughs for these, but I have not done so in over a decade.