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Games that mean more to you beyond being just "a video game"

Tagyhag

Member
Runescape basically owned my life from middle school to mid-high school.

It was a lot of fun and I played with my school friends but at the end of the day all I had to show for it was able to type really fast.

It taught me to never ever let something consume me to that effect ever again.
 

gfxtwin

Member
I'll throw in one of my experiences:

Shadow of the Colossus helped me become a better painter and helped me visualize my imagination better. It also taught me how to animate.

When I was asked to submit a storyboard animation at work, I had never done something like that before and since SOTC had some of the most lively animation I'd seen at that time I used it as a tool to complete this difficult storyboard animation scene in one day. All because I was able to control the character and study the movements for a few hours and figure out some of the animation techniques used in that game. Learning from a movie or something would have been way more difficult I think.

I honestly think playing 3D games with nice graphics can help improve how you imagine. Most games don't leave a lot to the imagination, I admit, but as far as making visual art, they can help you visualize a 3D environment in your mind better since you're essentially looking at a 3D painting and can control the direction and angle of the camera.
 
Good point. A case can be made that video game music has/potentially has as much meaning or musicianship as just about any music, IMHO. To me, at least. It's probably debatable that any musician working in the games industry could have the cultural impact of Miles Davis, Beethoven, The Beatles, Bob Dylan, 2Pac, etc, but that's not due to any lack of talent, just that video games are seen as a more niche thing I suppose.

Cultural impact, sure, but if we're talking about emotional impact, then there's no question.

I haven't heard it in-game in years, but I still catch all kinds of feelings listening to Never More from Persona 4, to give just one example.
 

TheKeyPit

Banned
I nearly died. Around the time that I got out of the hospital, Red Dead Redemption released. This game is something special for me because of that.
 
Kingdom Hearts (the first)

I still get teary-eyed listening to Dearly Beloved. I remember when the advertisements aired with Simple and Clean and various clips of the game, and how I passed it off as a "cheap Disney game" when I saw Donald and Goofy. But the song grew on me and I had a PS2 anyway and I decided to get it.

I remember being so wowed by the intro sequence (and how amazing the graphics for it were) that I called my parents in to watch it too.

And I remember the secret ending with the first hints of Organization XIII and all the theories online breaking down the sequence.

I still remember how drained and depressed I felt when getting to Hollow Bastion.

I remember crying at the end sequence as Utada sang the slower version of Simple and Clean. And how excited I felt when the letter was delivered to Mickey's castle, haha.

...

Man, I was moving away from video games in general at that time, but Kingdom Hearts pulled me right back in just enough to keep me grounded in this thing called "gaming," haha. I can't wait for 1.5 + 2.5 and 2.8.
 

ChrisSTARR

Neo Member
Super Street Fighter 4 changed the course of my life and I can say in all honesty that I wouldn't be where I am today if it wasn't for that game.

When I first started, I was an awkward kid with few friends, but then I found out about my local FGC. When I did, I began going to meet ups with these great people who gave me confidence in myself as a person.

I started making more friends in school with my new found confidence and I would end up meeting a special someone that would become my wife.

As a result, SSFIV will always have a special place in my life.
 

Zolbrod

Member
Silent Hill 2.

It's an amazing game about dealing with a loved one suffering from a terminal disease.
Not saying the right way of dealing with it is what James Sunderland did, obviously, but it had a very deep impact on me and I still think about it frequently.
 
TLOU made me realize how much I care for the well being of children and made me more open to having children. That's powerful.

Halo CE and 2. Discovered I could become truly good at a game and make friends in my hobby.
 
I would say Halo 2. It kept me occupied for 3 years until Halo 3 came out. It kept me in touch with people after I graduated HS and brought me into the online gaming world.
 

Magnus

Member
World of Warcraft, for all the reasons you can imagine. Really had a profound and positive impact on my life overall.
 

AudioEppa

Member
Metal Gear Solid: This game surprised me at a time when video games we're losing my interest. I became invested in it's story and wanting to know how it all ended. The beginning of where I started to really fall in love with video games because of storytelling.

Broken Sword 1: My first PnC game. It really changed my outlook on games. I wasn't just another gun shooting bad ass. I was just a regular guy who wanted to solve a mystery. I thought that was really freaking cool.

GTA 3: This came out around the time of 9/11. Everything felt so completely different. Escaping all the news was critical because I was having nightmares of more attacks happening, even getting my house blown up. This game was on my radar before, once I realized it was still coming out I had to play it. It was also the first time I fell back into video games since losing my uncle.

MGS4: This franchise has a lot sentimental meaning to me. Watching it all unfold until the end, I can't really put into words just how much it hurt saying goodbye.

Telltale's The Walking Dead: A great story game and the only challenge with a controller is how fast you can press one of 4 buttons or how difficult it is to choose what to press. I felt a personal joy for everyone who got salty it was winning game of the year awards.

The last of us: The first video game that ever made me cry. Video Gaming at it's true best.

Uncharted 4: Until this game showed up. I was a fan of the franchise overall. Loved the first one. Thought the second one was decent. But I couldn't play the third one when it released. When this game was first announced I was like oh another uncharted for next gen. But when Neil and Bruce took over the game. My interest spiked. Playing the collection got me understanding the history even better than I did before. But when U4 released. It was a dream come true. Everything I love about video games was on displayed here. It felt like a true pirate adventure.
 

RBIYF

Neo Member
The Longest Journey, it was the first time I was invested in a game's story and characters on the level I had been reading a good book. After playing this game I had both a greater appreciation for stories in games, as well as gaming as a medium for story delivery.

Ico is another, it's story is simple, and there really isn't any dialogue (at least none you can understand the first time through), but there was something about the relationship between Ico and Yorda as well as the way it was presented to me as the player that made that game special for me.

Day of the Tentacle is a game that just takes me back and is a nostalgia trip for me, it's like a virtual time-machine for me, whenever I play that game I'm taken back to the more carefree decade of the 90's, to the point that I remember old friends faces and fun memories more vividly after time playing it.

Finally, in terms of recent experiences, To the Moon, Life Is Strange and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons were pretty special for me, they may not push boundaries from a technical or mechanical perspective, but in all three cases the whole package just came together to form something that was very engaging and special for me. In the case of To the Moon, it actually inspired me to take some positive steps in my life that I had been putting off for awhile. Also, I've never really cried at a game, but To the Moon came the closest.
 

Daingurse

Member
Entertainment media honestly has a lot of power.

World of Warcraft simply felt like more than a game. I don't believed I've ever been more obsessed with a video game. Despite being scrub who never really accomplished much in the game, it still became an unbelievable time-sink. Probably the first game I quit because it was just too much. There was not time for anything but WoW. My personality just didn't mesh well with that type of game, and that is probably why I stay away from MMOs to this day.

Sonic Generations was at one point one of the few things that I looked forward to in life. I have struggled with mental illness for the my entire adult life, and have had issues with suicidal ideation throughout this entire time. Sonic Generations was my dream game. I literally had dreams of such a game long before the announcement of Generations. Sonic Generations was a beacon of hope, and it gave me something to look forward to during my darkest moments, when irrational thoughts take hold.

The Witcher III is probably last game that has meaning to me far beyond being a game. The Witcher III is most memorable to me as a game that helped distract me after a suicide attempt. It was a time when my mind was not right at all. I had just been released from a treatment facility, and was on medical leave. I went ahead and picked up my save file, still very earlier in the game, just to try and distract myself a bit. Witcher III proved to be an escape from my head, and thoughts. Most of my time with the game was spent during that time period, and I definitely associate the game with that. I was truly immersed in the game-world, and was very happy to have something to occupy some of my spare time.
 

Milennia

Member
the kingdom hearts series means a ton to me simply due to the fact that it got me through really hard times

WoW goes without saying ive been playing it for years upon years
 
Twilight Princess. I came from sports games and shooters so this was the first game where I played where I was on an adventure. It blew my mind

The Last of Us. I thought about that ending a lot.
 

xealo

Member
World of warcraft back in wotlk and earlier. That time period of the game has some of the fondest memories of gaming I'll probably ever get.
 
Tales of Xillia really helped me through a dark month a couple of years ago.

And most every game I played after I lefted the hospital early December for more than just a brief time.

Inside and Kid Icarus: Uprising being the real standouts, these two games alone pretty much rekindled my love for video games over the course of January.
 

mcw

Member
I still feel sick from reading that Mega Man X story. I look over at my kid and can't imagine how anyone could do that...
 

mcw

Member
My own answer comes from 2007. I'd maintained a long distance relationship with a girl for six years. In 2007, I moved away from home and we moved in together. It was my first experience living with a partner, and was a big adjustment. Many times I felt like it wasn't going to work.

Then Persona 3 came out. In the midst of the toughest period in our relationship, we bonded over that game. We played it together at night. During the day, when I was at work, she would go through dungeons leveling up and looking for treasure. Months would pass before we finally moved on from that game, having exhausted all of its content.

To this day I think that game, and the shared experience we had with it, saved our relationship. We’ve been married for seven years and have a child now.
 

bluethree

Member
FFVII because it started my interest in Japan / anime etc and I wouldn't be where I am now if I didn't have that interest when I was younger.

On a smaller level - Yakuza 3 was just what I needed when I played it. Not a life changing experience, but I lived in southern Japan (not Okinawa) and I played it at a time when I was pining to go back but couldn't. It really nails the feel of a mid-sized Japanese city in a rural area.

Persona 5 - I won't give too much detail because of spoilers, but I was also kind of going through a tough time when playing it, and there's one story in the game that really struck a chord with me because I had gone through something similar when I worked at my previous job in Japan. I also love how the playable cast is filled with people who are kinda outsiders in society in their own ways, moreso than previous games.
 
Super Mario Bros. 3 and World, Donkey Kong Country and Kirby's Dreamland 3 are important because when I would get to see my sister (11 years older) we would often play these and it helped us connect.

Baldur's Gate I and especially II (my favorite game) helped me realized that games could be more than just a fun hobby but a fully engaging experience similar to a great book or movie.

Halo 1 because I bonded with a neighbor after moving into a new city before my freshman year, and subsequently Halo and Halo 2 would introduce me to many friends including my three closest friends today and we bonded on countless hours of playing.

And finally, Journey, because at a time in my life where I was really struggling with my father having cancer and my fear of losing him and some of the burdens I selfishly felt due to it. I played Journey and my goodness I just cried like a baby, thought about life and death and acceptance as well as prioritizing enjoying the moment rather than worry about tomorrow. Thankfully my father beat cancer, but I cannot say how important Journey is to me because of how carthartic it was at a time when I needed just that.
 
Persona 3 and 4 taught me the importance of time and managing my days and how I should spend my days with friends rather than being bitter at home.
 

zelhawks37

Member
Tales of Symphonia and Warcraft 2 helped me through my middle school days, but Persona 3 along with Trails in the Sky had the most impact for me emotionally.
 

Kthulhu

Member
Playing Persona 4 Golden made me appreciate my friends a lot more than I did before.

I knew Persona is famous for how it makes you connect with it's characters, but it went above and beyond what I thought was possible with a fictional character let alone all of them in a single game.

I actually was brought to tears at the end of the game when you get on the train to head back to the city.

I'm hoping Persona 5 can do the same for me, but in a different way.
 
Railroad Tycoon II Platinum: It's not a game that gets mentioned very much (if at all) but I borrowed it from a friend as a kid, and got hooked. Like, really hooked, to the point where I bought my own copy, played it till the disc was scratched up and couldn't read. Then I had the disc resurfaced and played it more. It was this love that made me first sign up for Steam, since I realized that I wouldn't need the disc to play and i could always have the game installed. That was almost 10 years ago now, and I still haven't actually finished the game, but I play it off and on every few months. The music is so charming, the scenarios at this point feel like comfort food, and the game has inspired a love for rail travel, a strong sense of geography, and a desire to see some of the places that have thus far been pictures or points on a map.
 

GamerJM

Banned
Grew up playing Super Smash Bros. Melee as a kid played it for hundreds of hours as a kid. As an adult, I traveled for the game, and met tons of people playing it from the competitive scene. It's my favorite video game but it definitely wouldn't be that had I never found so many people to play it with. Moments like seeing Armada vs. Hungrybox last EVO live are my favorite things gaming as a medium has offered me, but at that point I dunno if it's because of the game itself or the community and scene and passion that has formed up around the game.

Pokemon gens 1-3 I have such strong nostalgia for that I can't really examine them today in a way that's detached from that. Like all of the games that followed are better games and I will never, ever say anything otherwise (my favorites are definitely Platinum and Sun/Moon), but 1-3 are tied to my childhood in a way nothing else really is. Gen 1 is the first game I really played very much, is the game that made me learn to read at 5, and began a lifelong obsession. Gen 2 is still the game other than Melee that I poured the most time into. I spent an entire Summer bonding over gen 3 with my cousin and giving each other tips on raising a good team. Throughout all three gens it gave me something in common to talk about other kids at my elementary school with. It was a cultural phenomenon that hasn't been recreated until Pokemon GO (which I missed out on because my phone wasn't new enough).

Rock Band (specifically 2, 3, and following DLC releases for the series in general) introduced me to a ton of music at a time I didn't really listen to much music, and I don't think I'd be interested in music the same way I am today.
 
I posted this in another thread recently but I guess it applies here as well,

My most precious gaming memory is also part of one of the worst memories of my life.

The story that I'm about to tell is going to seem like part of a Lemony Snicket novel. A work of fiction, but I assure you, it isn't.

My father mentally and secondhandedly physically abused me and my brother and mother for years. I grew up poor, we lived in an tiny run down RV that my father would take around the surrounding state and do tile jobs. I literally ate ketchup sandwiches for lunch for 3 years. It was sometimes the only meal we would have unless we dumpster dived for the stuff that the fast food restaurants would throw out every night if we where lucky and camped out in time to see them do it. My parents eventually split.

My mother... sold me to a shady experimental research facility when I was ten because her new boyfriend didn't like me. This place made me sleep in a gown on a pad directly on the floor in a literally bare 6x7 room with metal walls and hard cement floor a sink and a drain in the middle of the floor. They would come every morning with big trays full of vials and draw blood until they where full, (This is why I hate needles now) then give me a ketchup cup full of pills to take.

I don't even want to talk about the showers... or bathroom breaks.

Then, so long as we didn't cry or complain while they where drawing blood and taking the pills, they would let me go to a very small room with other kids, a tv, SNES and a genesis and have only two turns playing a game. They had Mega man X and Ninja turtles. (This became my most precious gaming memory of my entire life. I would later learn to play and beat the main stages of Mega man blindfolded. I let myself get lost in that game and it saved me.) They also had a small basket with a few toys in it and it strangely had one of my transformers in it. (Beast Machines JetStorm) It was my favorite one and I wouldn't want the other kids playing with it but they made me keep it in the basket when I wasn't there. As time went on it started missing pieces.

They had a strict rule that we couldn't talk to each other. Ever. We where always under observation. They would then take me and do tests on me. Strange things. For one, they would always give me pills first and then make me play chess. There was always a person in a lab coat writing stuff down on a chart. At first it was against the other kids but eventually they made me play against people in lab coats. I never lost a game though as far as I can remember.

As you can imagine, I hated it. I was so confused. I kept asking for my mom but they wouldn't let me see her and she never came. I don't know how much time passed by but one day... I was taken to the "activity room" as usual and to my horror I found my little brother sitting there crying in a corner with snot all over his face. I was stunned. He saw me and we hugged and cried. They came immediately and separated us and told us that they would let us talk this once but only for 5 minutes if we where quiet... I just wanted to run and get him out of there. I did NOT want this for him. I can't even explain how painful that was. I don't know exactly how long we where there but it was months at the least. My mother came one day on her birthday to see us but they wouldn't let us be alone. We where told not to ask about going home or to say anything that would upset her. She only stayed for a moment and then left crying. Days went by, the seasons changed. I actually don't remember leaving that place. All I remember is waking up one day in the back seat of a car with my brother and my mother was driving. I've blocked a lot of it out. Really, if it weren't for my brother I would have thought it had all been in my head as my mother remains tight lipped about it to this day, denying that it ever happened and avoiding the subject.

Anyway, since that day mega man X has held a special place in my heart. God bless video games.
How old are you?
 

LotusHD

Banned
I don't have any grandiose paragraphs to type for Pokemon. All I can say that it is the epitome of my childhood, and the reason I play video games to begin with.

Smash in general is just "Friendship: The Game" to me. Didn't matter if you knew how to play or not, you could still pick up a controller and have a grand time. I'll never forget all the countless games I've played over the years.

Undertale. For starters, this game reminded me that sometimes you just need to jump in and try new things outside of your comfort zone. Additionally, despite playing this game awhile ago, it's still firmly in my mind, and probably will never fully go away. The ways that it could make you reflect on all the past games you've played, how you've treated both NPCs and enemies was magnificent. That it could make you, even for a second, think that the characters in its world don't deserve to have their lives tampered with is extremely impressive. Where it presents to you that rare moment in gaming where you get to see yourself as the villain, the one everyone is rightfully terrified of. What's worse is that you don't have to be that villain. But nah, the game knows all too well how you think. How most gamers think really, namely their inability to just simply let things go. In a way, it's even kind of scary how much the game understands the type of person you are. In a way, the game is just one big test, one that gives you multiple opportunities to pass it. And yet, it knows full well that so many would willingly choose to fail it, to willingly choose to have "that bad time." But yea, it really puts things into perspective, to put it lightly. I'm still in awe that such a magnificent experience cost me less than $10.

The Last of Us is the first thing to ever truly make me consider what it means to be a parent. If I ever have a child, do not fuck with me lol

The Gravity Rush (GR) series is just joy incarnate to me. For one thing, the gravity powers and the whimsical setting easily reminds me what I love about gaming. I love the absurd possibilities regarding the gameplay and settings; the more out there it is, the more likely I am to want to play it. But more importantly, the two games, with the sequel being a recent experience, just put a consistent smile on my face. I am, to put it simply, happy when I play Gravity Rush. Which feels weird to say, because of course, I've played many wonderful games that have been great experiences. But those moments of awe and excitement are more... fleeting, for lack of a better word. Where I would have some particularly great highs, but then I would quickly go back to a state of indifference/neutrality. Whereas in GR, just simply moving about in the air makes me feel good. The protagonist Kat (who is practically incapable of being mean) in particular is an utterly sincere joy to play as in a way that few protagonists have ever matched for me. Nearly everything about the series just feels like the primary goal is to repeatedly give you that warm, fuzzy feeling in your stomach, and it pretty much effortlessly does so. Additionally, this game came out in the U.S. on a very dark day in American history, January 20th, 2017. So yea, definitely came at a good time... =P
 

Rathorial

Member
Thief: The Dark Project + most other immersive sims - These games draw you into a world through simulation, systems, environmental storytelling and heavy player agency. They have the dynamism of a sandbox, but with the intent of being a unique place with a tale to tell that I effect. Gears of interlocking systems and design, that make the fake world feel more tangible than other games or media to me. They also influenced me to pick a career in designing games.

Planescape Torment - The first game whose narrative really struck me, and still holds up now. The central conceit of "what can change the nature of a man" expressed through choices I make throughout the journey are powerful. It made me reflect on my self, my personality, basic morality, and what I can do to be better.

World of Warcraft - Growing up, I was more into video games than my friends, but this one grabbed us all for multiple years. We were there at the beginning, sat through changes and additions, accomplishing things not just in the game, but socializing throughout. I grew closer to certain friends, I learned to open up myself to others quicker, and it was one of the only games that felt like a social ritual.

Mark of the Ninja - It was the 1st game to suck me into the indie scene. Before I thought smaller games like Braid or even Journey were nice little snack time-wasters between bigger games that mattered more to me, but Mark of the Ninja was different. It felt like a meaty full experience, innovating in areas like what I respected from smaller games, but with the level of polish that I expected from the best big titles. It was the catalyst to me wanting to form an indie company, and that's what I'm trying to make happen now.
 
Never a game has touched me as much as TO THE MOON! If anyone can recommend something better in that field, be my guest! (already played mother 3, undertale and LISA )

Also the final speech in Mgs2 still blows my mind and capture our society so well, and the way the game includes directly the player in the game is amazing to me!
 
MGS2 has had a long lasting effect on how I take in media in general. Especially news articles I read on the net.

SOMA has screwed with my perception of consciousness.
 

Mephala

Member
Animal Crossing. It is a warm, cute, friendly and charming game that helps me relax. I can load it up, do pretty much nothing worth writing about and feel better afterwards.
 

sn00zer

Member
We played Silent Hill 1-4 (and PT) and Tomb Raider 1-9 as a family. Have many good memories with family for both series so it kinda hurt when the TR reboot was a shooter and Silent Hill died a long silent death and gave a false hope with PT.
 
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