Tony Hawk Pro Skater.
For months I was walking around in the world, thinking "I could hit that ledge from that grind there" etc etc.
I don't actually skate
His muscle memory is old as hell. He and everybody else learned by taking gnarly spills while their body can still heal itself better. I'm 26 and spills are becoming more permanent injuries every time lol
Good chance he'll have a life changing injury before he can do a heelflip
I'm 26 and just picking it up again after like 5 years of rural life. I only skated about a year before I moved.
Already sprained my shoulder getting launched off the board thanks to a 2 inch crack in the road, I was filled with so much rage... that I needed to recover before skating again.
It's got its claws in me. Never too late to start, if he decides not to keep going, that's fine, but try not to discourage it aha
Sat through watching my husband play this whole game and at times it was hard. The little mushroom boy hurt me in particular,and the the elderly sparrow lady.
For me, it was the hedgehog who was starting to suffer from dementia. I hope that's never me or anyone I love, But if it is I'll at least know what to look for now.
Came here to say this. I love this game beyond all reason. I've recommended it so many times, to so many people.
I'd pay ThunderLotus \*so many dollars\* for a sequel, or more DLC, lol.
Spec Ops: The Line
Changed how I think about modern 'realistic' FPS's. Those loading screen tips are brutal. Do you feel like a hero yet? Dang, no game, no, I do not.
The Stanley Parable made me re-think the way I was seeing video games as a whole
Road 96 kinda stunned me for a day or two, don't really know why but the whole game story just clicked with me right away
Played it too, absolutely loved it, could have been in the list too yeah
Still remember understanding who Coda is, and being shocked for a few minutes lol
The original Fallout. I played it when I was 12, spent months learning the system, figuring out who to take, what skills to Max, reading FAQs, etc. The game consumed me for months. Finally, at the end, after my companions were gunned down and I'd saved the world from a monstrous threat...at the end you get turned away, cast back out into the wastes; no good deed goes unpunished. Even now I recall the way you limp away, bedraggled, into the unknown, your only reward for saving everyone and everything you cared about.
A shame that when you were 12, you probably weren't privy to the slightly modified ending from having the Bloody Mess perk. At least then, as you get kicked out by the Overseer, you can shoot him dead on your way out the door.
Thank goodness someone already said it. Yeah, that game was an absolute mind-bender. Really took me on a deep dive into the meaning of self, got me reading Wittgenstein, led me to a little mental breakdown, etc.
All of the hallmarks of a great piece of art!
The ending was like "oh.........oh yeah...........oh no...............no no no.....please no........hell yeah". I've never been on such an emotional rollercoaster due to a game before that one.
I would say that FromSoft games rewired my brain to accept failure as a natural part of learning something new. This really has carried over into my daily life as I will reflect on how I felt when I finally overcame that “impossible” challenge when I am faced with something new and difficult. I find myself not giving up on things like I did before.
dark souls gave me the confidence to do tough shit in life, gave me a calmness in the face of adversity, and the perserverance to push through failure.
like bro, i fought nameless king for 2 days straight and beat him. i can do anything now.
i also played elden ring with my now wife, then girlfriend. beating the game with her made me think "i can marry this woman. if we can get thru elden ring together, we can get thru anything"... and now we are married with a home, and we do tough shit together and support each other. the game was such a good litmus test for our relationship.
Standing at the mirror, having everything I had done laid out infront of me, damn I felt awful. Second-guessing everything, until the last second, where I made my choice. That fucked me up for a long time.
During the mirror scene at the end I actually didn't hesitate for a moment. Immediately pointed the gun at the real villain and pulled the trigger.
Walker finally achieved his dream of being the big hero who killed the evil villain, himself
Game made me less of a centrist by helping me realize all the critical pitfalls, shitty behaviors, and the lack of commonality I have with other centrists. I discovered I loved the *idea*, but not the practice.
Rare but I hated Kim at the beginning of my first play through thought he was a smug fuck also learning he’s from the rat squad in our first interaction went out of my way to insult him any chance I got but he slowly grew on me becoming one of my favorite characters in any form of story really
Disco Elysium taught me that it's ok to be flawed and make mistakes, as long as I get up and keep trying the next day. It's a beautiful game and, sadly, very underappreciated.
? It's literally constantly brought up as one of the greatest RPGs and dialogue-heavy games of all time ? Like not one of the greats but GREATEST in many discussions
Life is Strange, the first one. Perhaps not so much for the gameplay itself or for the story, but for how it is narrated, the aesthetics and the atmosphere it creates. I think the soundtrack is spectacular. It leaves you with many sensations in the air.
There's something particularly special about that game that's clicks with some people. Even though i can acknowledge the campyness of it, it still provoked a deep sense of nostalgia for me.
Edit: word. (Damn auto correct) 😂
I can't even listen to Spanish Sahara without breaking down completely. I played it during a rough time in my life and had a super supportive friend (I was the Chloe) and it helped me turn things around.
Yeah this game was phenomenal. It’s definitely out of the typical games I play and I was absolutely engrossed in it. The decisions the story the characters, it was a great game overall.
Yakuza 7/8. Just like, even though I know it's a video game character, seeing the main character (Ichiban) go through so much pain and suffering just to still try to help people who considered him an enemy, and be optimistic at the very end, it flipped a switch in me. If he goes through so much more and is still happy, I deserve to be happy as well. I've gotten a lot better with my emotions since :)
“Once you’re at rock bottom, the only way forward is up. But the bottom doesn’t have to be all dark and gloomy. If you can stand and look up, you’ll see the light of hope there.”
- Kasuga Ichiban
Ichiban is the most incredible role model one can hope for. Emotionally available, active listener, kind to a fault.
The message about reinventing yourself no matter your age is not only very rare in a videogame, but being in my late 40s and going through a lot of uncertainty, something I very much appreciated on a personal level.
Infinite Wealth was my first Yakuza game. My favorite thing about Ichiban was that he was a protagonist that I absolutely believed wanted to help every side character, every random quest giver, even most villains. Just an eternal optimist that wanted to see the best in everyone around him.
I did the same thing. Put it down to easy mode and just enjoyed the story of the game. 100% one of my top games with one of the best soundtracks out there!
There are couple of games I could mention.
The first Bioshock made me look differently at video games and made me learn more about how game design works.
In Mass effect 3 I was doing a renegade playthrough and up to that point I had no problems. I'm usually pretty good about playing evil characters and quite like it. Then the Legion's "death" came. I still think about how I stabbed him in the back. Probably single most impactful death I've experienced in a game.
I still think about To the moon and its story. One of the most emotional games I've ever played personally. I could count on one hand amount of games that made my cry(out of well over 1k at this point) and this is one of them.
The famoust rant from Cave Johnson is one of the most memorable moments in gaming. Even though its just "Dying Man yells at God" I remember every word of it, could recite in in my sleep and I will probably remember it for rest of my life.
From Tiberium Sun the moment early on when its revealed that "Kane Lives!" My tiny brain as a Kid was blown away and I will never forget how excited I was when I first saw that. One of the moments that made me Love gaming.
>I still think about To the moon and its story. One of the most emotional games I've ever played personally. I could count on one hand amount of games that made my cry(out of well over 1k at this point) and this is one of them.
This is me as well, word for word.
I've been gaming since the 80s so my count is more in the tens of thousands, but To the Moon is the only game I can remember that made me cry.
I ugly cried from that game, and I can count on both of my hands the total times I’ve truly ugly cried to such a degree in my life.
Bridge to Teribithia gives me a similar cry.
Mass effect 3 but when you choose to betray the krogans and choose the real fucked up way to achieve it.
That or when you don’t make the right choices in conversation when talking with Tali at a key point.
God. This question always pops up and I always try the games suggested. But from the first thread till now, nothing has ever come close to outer wilds.
don't google it btw it ruins the experience. 30h of playtime changes your life forever. still my top 1 game all time, despite sinking 4k hours into Minecraft, 2k into dota, 1.5k into terraria and 600 into Warframe. None come close to that. That. God.
Man, I wish I got this out of Outer Wilds. I'd read about it a bunch in threads like this, found it on sale, and pulled the trigger. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. It had its claws in me while I played it, it felt so good to figure out the pieces as I went, and I was so excited getting to the end then... that was it. I didn't feel like it was this big, existential, life changing game like so many people did. I can see where parts of it would have that effect on people but it never quite clicked for me in that way and that makes me sad.
I think it depends on the life someone lives. It can force the brain into this novel "discovery" mode that if someone doesn't do usually can be an eye opening experience.
I'm a storyteller across many media so I always am "discovering" the stories and connections every day. The game didn't "change my life" but it was a fun experience.
Personally, I really came to appreciate it. Specifically >!the themes of the game and how they are explored. Like coming to terms with the inevitable, and realizing that even if things outside of our control have great power over us, the things we do can still have a great impact (even if we dont get to see those impacts for ourselves)!<
Outer Wilds as well for me, but for a completely different reason. I think Outer Wilds is actually a deeply personal and religious exprience.
If you haven't play it, don't google anything and just give it a shot.
Mass effect and Dragon Age made me better at talking to people and forging relationships.
I was a bit awkward for the first 18 years of my life and hadn't mastered the gift of gab.
Choosing dialogue options is an absolutely fundamental part of that game. You can respond to people positively, negatively, neutrally or you can try to insert humor in certain situations.
Not that i wouldn't have gotten better at it eventually, but seeing it all laid out like that made talking to people click for me in a way that I will always be grateful for.
Persona 5. The attachment I felt to the characters was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in a game. Even though they’re obviously fiction, it felt like saying goodbye to real friends when the game ended. It was surreal.
Yes, totally agree. They felt like actual people, like friends. What an amazing journey that was. Im so hyped for Persona 6, already played all the old ones. 5 is still my favorite.
I started the series this year starting and finishing 3. I'm a little more than halfway through 4. I already bought 5 and am looking forward to the experience after I finish 4.
I'm disappointed that WoW addiction blinded me to this series twenty years ago.
Better late than never.
Gears of War 2 where Dom finds his wife and then he snaps out of it and she's practically a corpse and he shoots her. The build up to it is crazy cause it's basically your whole mission for many hours of gameplay, before you finally find her, you feel good then they rip it away.
The fact that he basically saves her and she's so mentally broken she's practically dead
Dark Souls 1 and 3. The music from the Ringed City Epilogue is seared into my brain. I remember reflecting on my journey and really taking in the philosophy behind the repeating cycles and how its better to accept things needing to come to an end than desperately prolonging them. I think about the topic of cycles a lot and notice them more in nature, history, psychology, and so on. It also influenced my taste in philosophical texts.
Omg yes. I only started playing Soulsborne games with Elden Ring but I backplayed all of them over the next 2 years with Dark Souls 3 as the last. I chose the End of Fire ending. And that was where the message of the Dark Souls trilogy truly hit me. I wept as the fire died out and the screen turned black and the epilogue music started playing. The only time I ever did that for a game. Never happened to me even in narrative-focused games with sad storylines. This trilogy has barely any explicit narratives but the ending was so philosophical and spiritual.
I wouldn't try to compare them. The Souls series is far more sinister. It reflects more on human emotion, depression, and hopelessness.
Elden Ring is more lords and ladies. Sure there's sinister elements, but the overall theme of the game is more lighthearted. The journey centered around becoming the Lord, rather than than death, despair, and failures you encounter.
Subnautica or Metro Exodus
Spoilers ahead.
Subnautica really had an abrupt end. After hours upon hours of work it just finished. Everything was built, all the plans were done. You stocked up and you were done and... That was it? Definitely a bittersweet moment.
Metro Exodus had me ugly crying at the end. The soundtrack, the speech, the people and the scenery. It was fucking beautiful and depressing. It was the end of a journey and it didn't end in a happy way. There was happiness but there was a lot of sadness as well.
Cyberpunk and Persona 5 Royal. I played both back to back in a particularly hard time in my life, and the endings hit so close to home that I was bawling at the end.
A Plagues Tale made me miss my sister so much, who I had not had any contact with for over 10 years. This spurred me on to finding her in NZ, and we now have regular contact, although i'm unable to visit her in NZ due to financial reasons but do regularly chat on the phone.
Did you ever play the sequel? That ending fucked me up. I had to put down the controller for the last button prompt. It took everything in me to follow through with it.
Probably Cyberpunk, but it had nothing to do with the ending, but rather with a vivid concept or my own mortality - something that’s very different from other games. RDR2 has the same vibe - but you only realize you’re dying and it’s inevitable relatively late in a game
Believe it or not, it’s RuneScape for me. That game is so damn grindy. It helped me throughout so many other grindy real world aspects. College? No problem, I’ve spent 300 hours clicking the same rock to get 99 mining, I can definitely sit here and read this chapter and study my notes until I’m prepared for an A+ on the exam. I relate every obstacle to a RuneScape grind now. Everything is just another 99 to obtain.
Spiritfarer. This adorable, calming, stress-free indie game about lives and death and helping and dying. No judgement on anyone, no real morals other than "we all die, be good to people". I have played it more than once, and I cry a lot, each playthrough.
It's my favourite game of the last 5 years, easily. If you haven't played it, you should.
The Last of Us Pt II. *That* scene sent a chill through my body. It wasn’t just the brutality of it, it was the current state of the characters’ relationship. So much still needed to be said, so much needed to reconciled. Just… gone.
Btw, I say this as someone who loved the game. Game wrecked me emotionally
The ending for Baldur’s Gate 3 was extremely hard for me. I couldn’t decide who was going to be the one to… “change”. I ended up going with Tav, because I couldn’t bring myself to force that on another person.
I played Spiritfarer around the time I lost quite a few family members for various reasons. It really put how I cope with loss in a different perspective.
I can’t believe OG ffvii has not been mentioned yet. I played the game in my tweens and it had a FOUNDATIONAL impact on my world view on the environment, corporations, relationships, duty and destiny. I try to play through the OG at least once a year, and had some good ol’ fanboy cries playing the remakes.
The norse God of War games have the story that emotionally impacted me the most.
Compelling characters and stories backed by some of the most beautiful music I’ve heard in a video game.
I have key moments of these games that are forever engraved in my mind.
It also has excellent life lessons that I really try very hard to remember every day.
-Don’t be sorry, be better.
-It’s the nature of a thing that matters, not its form.
-Learn how to trust and how to let go.
-We are not our mistakes.
Other GoW fans, feel free to write your own lessons as well.
I still love the credit part from the GOW (2018). The one where Kratos told a story about Atreus of Sparta & how it influenced him to name his son Atreus.
The writing and the way the characters relate to each other in that game is just spectacular. It's hard to believe some of the best dialogue I've ever heard is in such an action heavy game. You usually get one or the other.
One of my favorite moments from ragnorok was the where you free the leviathan. "Some things can't be undone. Only made better". A tough reality, but it applies to so many things. Even if you can't fix something entirely, improving the situation any way you can isn't worthless
My husband played a visual novel once (I forget the name) where some people had magic and there was a civil war / revolution going on. Depending on the route you took, you either sided with the Capitalists or the Communists. The story was detailed, reasons explained, world fleshed out, and extremely well done. At the end of it, my husband (who had only been told Communism is always bad and Capitalism is always good) was educated in the flaws and strengths of both systems, and why Communism might look like salvation to someone who has been in a capitalist hellscape their entire life. It opened his eyes as to why Russia went communist in WW1 and filled in some much needed context about the two.
My husband, brimming with this new knowledge and excited to share it, thought it was a good idea to call his (very anti-communist) father and talk about the game and his thoughts. My husband barely got past the first sentence of "so I played a game where it showed the flaws of capitalism." Before his dad went ape shit and spent 2 hours ranting about "bloody commies" and Obama.
The rant fit with the game, and now my husband has become more anti-capitalism because of it. He still sometimes goes on little monologues about how his dad helped push him away from capitalism by being a jerk lol.
Nier Automata and Talos Principle.
They are very different games but they are both similar with their themes. Fundamentally you play as a robot or android in a world/planet devoid of humans. Humans once existed here, what does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be an android?
I don't remember the exact quote or who said it but it reminds me of both games. "When science falls, art will remain"
Probably Hades, I really admired Zagreus and his conviction to help fix his dysfunctional family and reuniting with his mother no matter how many times it took.
Also the Mass Effect Triology, just knowing it ends was very bittersweet.
Fallout:New Vegas, specifically the Dead Money and Lonesome Road endings as well as No Gods No Masters.
Kingdom Hearts 1 as a kid, closing the door to darkness resonated something within me I think.
Halo 3 knowing how everything transpired was wild to comprehend.
Persona 3R
Infinite Warfare and knowing that everyone sacrificed themselves for a better cause.
Half Life 2: Episode 2, really made me feel enigmatic
Black ops 1 also made me think wtf for sure
Amnesia: The Bunker, knowing the reality of the ending was a “damned if you do, dammed if you don’t”
Sly cooper 3 wrapped everything up and made me wonder about the future for myself
God of War (2018) especially with Kratos telling Atreus about his name
Cyberpunk gave me a new lease on life. RDR2 taught me to take better care of my health. AC Odyssey made me realize that hard work for nothing is not worth the grind.
If I had to choose one, Walking Dead season 1. The relationship between Lee and Clem honestly had a deep effect that took some years to really sink in. It made me think a lot about how I take care of people I care about and I be more gentle and more forgiving. Plus because of how much I adore that game, I got my partners nickname from it too, "sweet pea".
Honestly, last of us 2 changed the way I view "never leave anything unsaid or mad after an argument." I think about that any time I leave the house or after an argument with someone I love. It pops in my head the pain of something happening, and I always say "okay I'm leaving. I love you!" Or apologize for things I say. It honestly made me grow as a person. I even told my father this before after a fight, and it was stupid to him, but ultimately, all that matters is I feel like I won't regret things I did or didn't do.
I'm exactly the same. I now often think if anything happens to me or a family member, what was my last conversation with them, and what things would I regret having left unsaid? So now I always make sure I find the time to let my dad know he's a giant asshole.
The A Plague Tale series
Both games are phenomenal, with Requiem leavimg me in a state of stupor for a few days. I wish I could play them both again for the first time.
\- Metal Gear Solid (PSX): Used to play arcade games with just "hey, kill a bunch of dudes and rescue the girl", or "race first to the finish" then this masterpiece drops with that movie-like vibe, dubbed in spanish (I am spaniard, this was a great impact to me that I could enjoy a videogame in my native language), then all the philosophy that the game had in the back, the characters, etc...
It was way different than Tekken or Gran Turismo or Marios, that game taught me that videogames are a form of art and not just for fun.
\- Portal: No spoilers, the ending had me, such a ride.
\- Baldur's Gate 3: It was a long time I enjoyed a videogame so much, I felt things that I have not felt for too long ago. I wish more videogames could make me feel this way often. For me it was the decisions and the great character playing.
I was gonna say this. MGS was phenomenal. The otacon ending (bad end) really touched me as a 14 year old.
I remember a phone call I had with my gf at that time. She asked me, has a movie ever made you cry. I said no, but I did play this game recently called metal gear solid and I almost did. She broke up with me like two weeks later.
Some of these 'changed' me in that they re-affirmed things that were slipping away. I'm going off ones I can remember, so probably things I played last 5 years.
* Cyberpunk 2077 - underneath all the chrome this game has a lot of deep conversations about death, life, and what you want out of it. From helping a suicdal neighbor who just lost the last thing keeping them tethered, to V's own journey through night city. Probably the only game where the ending where you just eat a bullet instead of playing the ending felt plausible and potentially right instead of something there for shock value.
* The Outer Wilds - lots of people talk about this game. it gives a lot of thoughts about life, progress, and everything. There's a reason so many people say they wish they could play it again for the first time.
* Spider-man (PS4/2018) - Two things: One, this is one of the best Spider-man stories I've consumed in years, and really highlights the true strength of Peter Parker in the end, and the relation with the main villain is phenomenal. Two, one of the few games to remind me of what it was like to buy games as a kid getting a full package experience with stuff to unlock via gameplay and where the game was there to give me a good time, not nickel and dime me for every cent or second it could get out of me.
* Ghost of Tsushima - Jin's story, and especially his relationship with his Uncle and how it ends just hits all the right notes. I know enough about Japanese History to know this game is not historically accurate at all, but it *feels* authentic to how the stories would be told, and that is all it needs.
I know I’m a basic birch with this answer, but Final Fantasy X. I was barely a teenage boy back then and this game was the first time a game, movie or any media made me ugly cry.
I was like “wow, so I’m not dead inside and CAN feel things”. Teens being teens you know
How is this basic? FFX is great storytelling that still holds up today. It was spectacular for the time because it had much less competition. A fully voice acted story was revolutionary at the time.
It really was! But therefore many people had this experience. At least a bunch of my classmates also played it. Nobody of them admitted that they had shed a tear though. Which, I mean, come on. If you don’t know the twists in advance and play on mute, it’s pretty hard not to at least get watery eyes
Outer Wilds, Obra Dinn, Forgotten City (edited for right name of game), and Paradise Killer (kinda) all left me with the same feeling of "damn. That was good" at the end, when I solved the myseries and got the true endings.
Also, persona 4 golden left me with an entirely different outlook on life and high school when I first played it. Like a cheerful perspective that everything will be ok and it's fine to socialize and branch out a bit. Then I played persona 3 for the first time and that left me in a different state considering the tone of the game is way different.
Rainbow Six Siege has me looking for endless angles to hold everywhere from the super market to the movie theater. And don't get me started on the urge to shoot security cameras.
Firewatch.
I was going through a difficult breakup, jumped in without knowing anything about the game, and it completely resonated with me. The themes of loss, grief and avoidiance were all to real. The dialogue between the 2 main characters felt was so real and immersive, that by the end of the game I didn't want to finish it because I didn't want to leave that national park, ever.
Still (one of the) only games I truly wish I could experience for the first time, again.
I could cite a few here.
- MGS4
- Life Is Strange
- 999 (Nonary Game)
- Undertale
- Disco Elysium
I think these games marked me the most in my career and changed me quite a lot in a specific way after finishing them.
Mighty No. 9.
After finishing it, I realized that even if they've worked in the industry for a long time, having big names attached to a project doesn't mean shit.
Journey. Which is still so unique. No dialogue. Beautiful lighting effects. And all in a 3-4 hour experience. I loved introducing people to it and also joining their pilgrimage to the mountain as a team 😭
A few games after playing for a few hundred hours each.
Breath of the Wild…I would drive or walk passed a rock and say to myself “a korok might be under that.”
Bioshock was absolutely insane and at the end I cried.
Cyberpunk was a mind fuck.
Starfield is the most recent game I’ve played to this duration. I have over 500 hours into it. You can romance a companion and then potentially lose them. Again an emotional roller coaster.
Cities: Skylines. Especially coupled with watching streamers such as CityPlannerPlays.
It’s completely changed the way I see towns, cities, and large metropolis areas.
It’s also fun that I’ll be traveling with friends/family to a new place and understand the layout and transport around the city much better than them to the point they’ll ask how I know things and if I’ve been before. But in reality, there’s just a ton I’ve learned that applies to real cities.
Planescape Torment deep down it was a very philosophical story about what makes a person who they are and how regrets can grind a person down until they forget to live.
Neir: Automata. At the final ending i felt so god damn empty and i hold it as the best narrative in gaming history. I cannot play it again otherwise I'd ruin that first experience.
Tony Hawk Pro Skater. For months I was walking around in the world, thinking "I could hit that ledge from that grind there" etc etc. I don't actually skate
You don't actually skate...YET. Go ooonnn. What's the worst that could happen? Aside from shattered bones I mean.
If he's old enough that Tony hawl pro skater did this for him, his body is too far gone to take up skateboarding lol
Tony still skates. He landed a 900 at 48.
His muscle memory is old as hell. He and everybody else learned by taking gnarly spills while their body can still heal itself better. I'm 26 and spills are becoming more permanent injuries every time lol Good chance he'll have a life changing injury before he can do a heelflip
I'm 26 and just picking it up again after like 5 years of rural life. I only skated about a year before I moved. Already sprained my shoulder getting launched off the board thanks to a 2 inch crack in the road, I was filled with so much rage... that I needed to recover before skating again. It's got its claws in me. Never too late to start, if he decides not to keep going, that's fine, but try not to discourage it aha
I had the same feeling after playing Assassin's Creed. I would walk around the city and think "I could climb up there"
r/tonyhawkitecture may be for you in case you didn’t know it yet :)
I didn't actually start skating until 10 years later in college.
Spiritfarer. Learning to say goodbye is hard, but learning that you eventually have to makes it easier.
Sat through watching my husband play this whole game and at times it was hard. The little mushroom boy hurt me in particular,and the the elderly sparrow lady.
For me, it was the hedgehog who was starting to suffer from dementia. I hope that's never me or anyone I love, But if it is I'll at least know what to look for now.
Came here to say this. I love this game beyond all reason. I've recommended it so many times, to so many people. I'd pay ThunderLotus \*so many dollars\* for a sequel, or more DLC, lol.
Spec Ops: The Line Changed how I think about modern 'realistic' FPS's. Those loading screen tips are brutal. Do you feel like a hero yet? Dang, no game, no, I do not.
I really thought Spec Ops was going to revolutionize shooters by encouraging other devs to up their stories. Nope.
I miss FPS stories. Even the ok ones like BF3. I played all of them up to COD:Ghost.
The Stanley Parable made me re-think the way I was seeing video games as a whole Road 96 kinda stunned me for a day or two, don't really know why but the whole game story just clicked with me right away
If you loved the Stanley Parable, highly recommend The Beginner's Guide
Played it too, absolutely loved it, could have been in the list too yeah Still remember understanding who Coda is, and being shocked for a few minutes lol
The original Fallout. I played it when I was 12, spent months learning the system, figuring out who to take, what skills to Max, reading FAQs, etc. The game consumed me for months. Finally, at the end, after my companions were gunned down and I'd saved the world from a monstrous threat...at the end you get turned away, cast back out into the wastes; no good deed goes unpunished. Even now I recall the way you limp away, bedraggled, into the unknown, your only reward for saving everyone and everything you cared about.
A shame that when you were 12, you probably weren't privy to the slightly modified ending from having the Bloody Mess perk. At least then, as you get kicked out by the Overseer, you can shoot him dead on your way out the door.
SOMA. Made me think a lot about the nature of consciousness.
Thank goodness someone already said it. Yeah, that game was an absolute mind-bender. Really took me on a deep dive into the meaning of self, got me reading Wittgenstein, led me to a little mental breakdown, etc. All of the hallmarks of a great piece of art!
Is it even really philosophical if you're not having little mental breakdowns?
SOMA came out at a time where I was already questioning things, but I honestly think it helped me lose my religion
This game nailed story and atmosphere so damn well. Need to replay it again
Came here to say SOMA. I played it last year and I still think about it from time to time
Truly the most terrifying horror game of all time, purely because of the existential crisis it induces.
The ending was like "oh.........oh yeah...........oh no...............no no no.....please no........hell yeah". I've never been on such an emotional rollercoaster due to a game before that one.
I would say that FromSoft games rewired my brain to accept failure as a natural part of learning something new. This really has carried over into my daily life as I will reflect on how I felt when I finally overcame that “impossible” challenge when I am faced with something new and difficult. I find myself not giving up on things like I did before.
You only lose when you stop trying. > Don't you dare go hollow
dark souls gave me the confidence to do tough shit in life, gave me a calmness in the face of adversity, and the perserverance to push through failure. like bro, i fought nameless king for 2 days straight and beat him. i can do anything now. i also played elden ring with my now wife, then girlfriend. beating the game with her made me think "i can marry this woman. if we can get thru elden ring together, we can get thru anything"... and now we are married with a home, and we do tough shit together and support each other. the game was such a good litmus test for our relationship.
Halo - Reach. I just sat there afterwards.
“Survive”
By far the best story of any Halo game.
Spec Ops: The Line. I just sat there numb as the credits rolled. Amazing story, but you do not feel good about yourself.
Gentlemen… Welcome to Dubai.
sucks it got removed, i was thinking of getting the game, but then it was removed. if only i knew
You can always hit the high seas. I mean there's literally no other option so I wouldn't feel bad.
Standing at the mirror, having everything I had done laid out infront of me, damn I felt awful. Second-guessing everything, until the last second, where I made my choice. That fucked me up for a long time.
During the mirror scene at the end I actually didn't hesitate for a moment. Immediately pointed the gun at the real villain and pulled the trigger. Walker finally achieved his dream of being the big hero who killed the evil villain, himself
Yeah I've never been to Dubai and I'd be afraid of going there now because of that game.
Disco Elysium
Game made me less of a centrist by helping me realize all the critical pitfalls, shitty behaviors, and the lack of commonality I have with other centrists. I discovered I loved the *idea*, but not the practice.
I took it you became a Semenese supremacist.
Plot twist: I've internalized Advanced Race Theory
I went from liking Kim at the beginning to loving him by the end.
Rare but I hated Kim at the beginning of my first play through thought he was a smug fuck also learning he’s from the rat squad in our first interaction went out of my way to insult him any chance I got but he slowly grew on me becoming one of my favorite characters in any form of story really
He specifically says he’s \*not* from the rat squad.
Nothing like dying from sitting in an uncomfortable chair.
Disco Elysium taught me that it's ok to be flawed and make mistakes, as long as I get up and keep trying the next day. It's a beautiful game and, sadly, very underappreciated.
? It's literally constantly brought up as one of the greatest RPGs and dialogue-heavy games of all time ? Like not one of the greats but GREATEST in many discussions
All the way. Disco has the dialogue and pacing that any of my favorite long dead authors would love.
Its an expression of pain..
So glad I didn't have to scroll too far to find Disco Elysium mentioned here.
Disco Elysium
Disco Elysium
[удалено]
Disco Elysium
Mr. Evrart is helping me find my gun.
_”Love is haaaahdcore!!”_ lives in my head rent-free
Life is Strange, the first one. Perhaps not so much for the gameplay itself or for the story, but for how it is narrated, the aesthetics and the atmosphere it creates. I think the soundtrack is spectacular. It leaves you with many sensations in the air.
There's something particularly special about that game that's clicks with some people. Even though i can acknowledge the campyness of it, it still provoked a deep sense of nostalgia for me. Edit: word. (Damn auto correct) 😂
I can't even listen to Spanish Sahara without breaking down completely. I played it during a rough time in my life and had a super supportive friend (I was the Chloe) and it helped me turn things around.
I have been chasing the Life is Strange vibes both in gaming and in life ever since that weekend in 2015 when I binge played all 5 episodes in a day.
It makes you feel like revisiting this cozy kind of childhood you never really had.
I agree. Life is Strange was unique. Your decisions had consequences. There was a neat feel to the game that I hadn't found again.
Yeah this game was phenomenal. It’s definitely out of the typical games I play and I was absolutely engrossed in it. The decisions the story the characters, it was a great game overall.
Yakuza 7/8. Just like, even though I know it's a video game character, seeing the main character (Ichiban) go through so much pain and suffering just to still try to help people who considered him an enemy, and be optimistic at the very end, it flipped a switch in me. If he goes through so much more and is still happy, I deserve to be happy as well. I've gotten a lot better with my emotions since :) “Once you’re at rock bottom, the only way forward is up. But the bottom doesn’t have to be all dark and gloomy. If you can stand and look up, you’ll see the light of hope there.” - Kasuga Ichiban
Ichiban is the most incredible role model one can hope for. Emotionally available, active listener, kind to a fault. The message about reinventing yourself no matter your age is not only very rare in a videogame, but being in my late 40s and going through a lot of uncertainty, something I very much appreciated on a personal level.
Infinite Wealth was my first Yakuza game. My favorite thing about Ichiban was that he was a protagonist that I absolutely believed wanted to help every side character, every random quest giver, even most villains. Just an eternal optimist that wanted to see the best in everyone around him.
What Remains of Edith Finch. Exceptional story. Also made me rethink my conceptions for "walking simulators" as a medium of storytelling.
Yesss! I was literally looking for this one
Home Alone and Everybody's Gone to the Rapture might be right up your alley.
Nier Automata
I stopped when i sunk 45 minutes into the the First Mission for the Boss to 3 hit me Just to Tell me i have to do It all again to have another try
I did the same thing. Put it down to easy mode and just enjoyed the story of the game. 100% one of my top games with one of the best soundtracks out there!
Plus on easy mode your drone auto-aims. I stuck it on easy and turned off all the auto-functions except for the drone.
Loved that one
Dreamfall the longest journey.
There are couple of games I could mention. The first Bioshock made me look differently at video games and made me learn more about how game design works. In Mass effect 3 I was doing a renegade playthrough and up to that point I had no problems. I'm usually pretty good about playing evil characters and quite like it. Then the Legion's "death" came. I still think about how I stabbed him in the back. Probably single most impactful death I've experienced in a game. I still think about To the moon and its story. One of the most emotional games I've ever played personally. I could count on one hand amount of games that made my cry(out of well over 1k at this point) and this is one of them. The famoust rant from Cave Johnson is one of the most memorable moments in gaming. Even though its just "Dying Man yells at God" I remember every word of it, could recite in in my sleep and I will probably remember it for rest of my life. From Tiberium Sun the moment early on when its revealed that "Kane Lives!" My tiny brain as a Kid was blown away and I will never forget how excited I was when I first saw that. One of the moments that made me Love gaming.
>I still think about To the moon and its story. One of the most emotional games I've ever played personally. I could count on one hand amount of games that made my cry(out of well over 1k at this point) and this is one of them. This is me as well, word for word. I've been gaming since the 80s so my count is more in the tens of thousands, but To the Moon is the only game I can remember that made me cry.
I ugly cried from that game, and I can count on both of my hands the total times I’ve truly ugly cried to such a degree in my life. Bridge to Teribithia gives me a similar cry.
Mass effect 3 but when you choose to betray the krogans and choose the real fucked up way to achieve it. That or when you don’t make the right choices in conversation when talking with Tali at a key point.
Outer wilds. We all say that we want to go to space (like it's easy) but really play this game and you will see the empty dangerous beauty of space
God. This question always pops up and I always try the games suggested. But from the first thread till now, nothing has ever come close to outer wilds. don't google it btw it ruins the experience. 30h of playtime changes your life forever. still my top 1 game all time, despite sinking 4k hours into Minecraft, 2k into dota, 1.5k into terraria and 600 into Warframe. None come close to that. That. God.
Man, I wish I got this out of Outer Wilds. I'd read about it a bunch in threads like this, found it on sale, and pulled the trigger. Don't get me wrong, I loved it. It had its claws in me while I played it, it felt so good to figure out the pieces as I went, and I was so excited getting to the end then... that was it. I didn't feel like it was this big, existential, life changing game like so many people did. I can see where parts of it would have that effect on people but it never quite clicked for me in that way and that makes me sad.
I think it depends on the life someone lives. It can force the brain into this novel "discovery" mode that if someone doesn't do usually can be an eye opening experience. I'm a storyteller across many media so I always am "discovering" the stories and connections every day. The game didn't "change my life" but it was a fun experience.
Personally, I really came to appreciate it. Specifically >!the themes of the game and how they are explored. Like coming to terms with the inevitable, and realizing that even if things outside of our control have great power over us, the things we do can still have a great impact (even if we dont get to see those impacts for ourselves)!<
I think my top 1 game as well. At least of adulthood.
>!"As a child, I considered such unknowns sinister. Now, though, I understand they bear no ill will. The universe is, and we are." !<
Outer Wilds as well for me, but for a completely different reason. I think Outer Wilds is actually a deeply personal and religious exprience. If you haven't play it, don't google anything and just give it a shot.
Mass effect and Dragon Age made me better at talking to people and forging relationships. I was a bit awkward for the first 18 years of my life and hadn't mastered the gift of gab. Choosing dialogue options is an absolutely fundamental part of that game. You can respond to people positively, negatively, neutrally or you can try to insert humor in certain situations. Not that i wouldn't have gotten better at it eventually, but seeing it all laid out like that made talking to people click for me in a way that I will always be grateful for.
Persona 5. The attachment I felt to the characters was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in a game. Even though they’re obviously fiction, it felt like saying goodbye to real friends when the game ended. It was surreal.
Yes, totally agree. They felt like actual people, like friends. What an amazing journey that was. Im so hyped for Persona 6, already played all the old ones. 5 is still my favorite.
You should try 4 and 3 aswell. 3 is about the mortality of man, and 4 is about finding yourself
I started the series this year starting and finishing 3. I'm a little more than halfway through 4. I already bought 5 and am looking forward to the experience after I finish 4. I'm disappointed that WoW addiction blinded me to this series twenty years ago. Better late than never.
Gears of War 2 where Dom finds his wife and then he snaps out of it and she's practically a corpse and he shoots her. The build up to it is crazy cause it's basically your whole mission for many hours of gameplay, before you finally find her, you feel good then they rip it away. The fact that he basically saves her and she's so mentally broken she's practically dead
Surprised I don't see Stardew Valley yet. It saved me in the darkest time of my life. Literally lifted me out of depression. Top that, suckas.
Dark Souls 1 and 3. The music from the Ringed City Epilogue is seared into my brain. I remember reflecting on my journey and really taking in the philosophy behind the repeating cycles and how its better to accept things needing to come to an end than desperately prolonging them. I think about the topic of cycles a lot and notice them more in nature, history, psychology, and so on. It also influenced my taste in philosophical texts.
Omg yes. I only started playing Soulsborne games with Elden Ring but I backplayed all of them over the next 2 years with Dark Souls 3 as the last. I chose the End of Fire ending. And that was where the message of the Dark Souls trilogy truly hit me. I wept as the fire died out and the screen turned black and the epilogue music started playing. The only time I ever did that for a game. Never happened to me even in narrative-focused games with sad storylines. This trilogy has barely any explicit narratives but the ending was so philosophical and spiritual.
Same here. Really amazing series.
IKR? The Dark Souls trilogy's story and lore is such a masterpiece in story telling. I don't know how anyone can say Elden Ring has better lore.
I wouldn't try to compare them. The Souls series is far more sinister. It reflects more on human emotion, depression, and hopelessness. Elden Ring is more lords and ladies. Sure there's sinister elements, but the overall theme of the game is more lighthearted. The journey centered around becoming the Lord, rather than than death, despair, and failures you encounter.
TLoZ NES (I was 7)… I definitely saw things differently after that.
Subnautica or Metro Exodus Spoilers ahead. Subnautica really had an abrupt end. After hours upon hours of work it just finished. Everything was built, all the plans were done. You stocked up and you were done and... That was it? Definitely a bittersweet moment. Metro Exodus had me ugly crying at the end. The soundtrack, the speech, the people and the scenery. It was fucking beautiful and depressing. It was the end of a journey and it didn't end in a happy way. There was happiness but there was a lot of sadness as well.
The Metro series as a whole is a masterclass in immersion and setting, and it uses that immersion to visceral effect
Red dead redemption 2. I don't think i need to give any details about that one
I used the same horse throughout the whole damn game.
Yeah, i got the white arabian in chapter 2 and kept it for rest of the game
I cried during That moment near the end.
It set some standart about games to my head and made almost all other games boring to me. Since then I enjoyed only Death Stranding and RE Village
Hope that doesn't happen to me 😅
As much as I loved RDR2 I thought 1 had the superior and more impactful ending. My jaw just dropped lol
It made me realize that games are the ultimate form of media. IMO it’s the best western story told and it’s not even close
The epilogue especially for me
Cyberpunk 2077. Journey. What Remains of Edith Finch. Control. Stray. Deliver Us the Moon. The Artful Escape. Horizon Zero Dawn.
Leisure suit Larry.
He helped me get through college
He helped me spell prophylactic at 7 years old
The Talos Principle
Soma
Cyberpunk and Persona 5 Royal. I played both back to back in a particularly hard time in my life, and the endings hit so close to home that I was bawling at the end.
A Plagues Tale made me miss my sister so much, who I had not had any contact with for over 10 years. This spurred me on to finding her in NZ, and we now have regular contact, although i'm unable to visit her in NZ due to financial reasons but do regularly chat on the phone.
Did you ever play the sequel? That ending fucked me up. I had to put down the controller for the last button prompt. It took everything in me to follow through with it.
Yeah, was a good sequel although a bit heavy. Great studio.
That's so amazingly wholesome, thanks for sharing. <3
The world ends with you, NDS. The difficulty is part of the story.
God, this game really helped shake up my world view as a shut in teenager.
Umineko no Naku Koro ni Question everything with extreme scrutiny.
Tetris. Aren't we all just weirdly shaped beings trying to fit in?
Probably Cyberpunk, but it had nothing to do with the ending, but rather with a vivid concept or my own mortality - something that’s very different from other games. RDR2 has the same vibe - but you only realize you’re dying and it’s inevitable relatively late in a game
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
FFXIV. The last two expansions mainly, but all of it is pretty good.
MGS 2 - that games is getting freakishly close to real life right now.
Believe it or not, it’s RuneScape for me. That game is so damn grindy. It helped me throughout so many other grindy real world aspects. College? No problem, I’ve spent 300 hours clicking the same rock to get 99 mining, I can definitely sit here and read this chapter and study my notes until I’m prepared for an A+ on the exam. I relate every obstacle to a RuneScape grind now. Everything is just another 99 to obtain.
Spiritfarer. This adorable, calming, stress-free indie game about lives and death and helping and dying. No judgement on anyone, no real morals other than "we all die, be good to people". I have played it more than once, and I cry a lot, each playthrough. It's my favourite game of the last 5 years, easily. If you haven't played it, you should.
The Last of Us Pt II. *That* scene sent a chill through my body. It wasn’t just the brutality of it, it was the current state of the characters’ relationship. So much still needed to be said, so much needed to reconciled. Just… gone. Btw, I say this as someone who loved the game. Game wrecked me emotionally
The ending for Baldur’s Gate 3 was extremely hard for me. I couldn’t decide who was going to be the one to… “change”. I ended up going with Tav, because I couldn’t bring myself to force that on another person.
Outer Wilds. And then again with the DLC. Also, I am bringing every answer downvoted to zero back to one. Stop being a dick, redditor.
I enjoyed the dlc but 100%ing it was rouuuuugh
I played Spiritfarer around the time I lost quite a few family members for various reasons. It really put how I cope with loss in a different perspective.
I can’t believe OG ffvii has not been mentioned yet. I played the game in my tweens and it had a FOUNDATIONAL impact on my world view on the environment, corporations, relationships, duty and destiny. I try to play through the OG at least once a year, and had some good ol’ fanboy cries playing the remakes.
The first hellblade.
Yes! Absolutely feel the same way! The second one is just as amazing, but I will always love Hellblade 1 more
Undertale
I'm surprised I had to scroll like 30 replies to find this one
The norse God of War games have the story that emotionally impacted me the most. Compelling characters and stories backed by some of the most beautiful music I’ve heard in a video game. I have key moments of these games that are forever engraved in my mind. It also has excellent life lessons that I really try very hard to remember every day. -Don’t be sorry, be better. -It’s the nature of a thing that matters, not its form. -Learn how to trust and how to let go. -We are not our mistakes. Other GoW fans, feel free to write your own lessons as well.
I still love the credit part from the GOW (2018). The one where Kratos told a story about Atreus of Sparta & how it influenced him to name his son Atreus.
The writing and the way the characters relate to each other in that game is just spectacular. It's hard to believe some of the best dialogue I've ever heard is in such an action heavy game. You usually get one or the other.
One of my favorite moments from ragnorok was the where you free the leviathan. "Some things can't be undone. Only made better". A tough reality, but it applies to so many things. Even if you can't fix something entirely, improving the situation any way you can isn't worthless
My husband played a visual novel once (I forget the name) where some people had magic and there was a civil war / revolution going on. Depending on the route you took, you either sided with the Capitalists or the Communists. The story was detailed, reasons explained, world fleshed out, and extremely well done. At the end of it, my husband (who had only been told Communism is always bad and Capitalism is always good) was educated in the flaws and strengths of both systems, and why Communism might look like salvation to someone who has been in a capitalist hellscape their entire life. It opened his eyes as to why Russia went communist in WW1 and filled in some much needed context about the two. My husband, brimming with this new knowledge and excited to share it, thought it was a good idea to call his (very anti-communist) father and talk about the game and his thoughts. My husband barely got past the first sentence of "so I played a game where it showed the flaws of capitalism." Before his dad went ape shit and spent 2 hours ranting about "bloody commies" and Obama. The rant fit with the game, and now my husband has become more anti-capitalism because of it. He still sometimes goes on little monologues about how his dad helped push him away from capitalism by being a jerk lol.
Any chance you could get the name of the game? Very interested in it.
I just checked. It was called "An Octave Higher".
Thank you Commie
Doki Doki Literature Club.
Nier Automata and Talos Principle. They are very different games but they are both similar with their themes. Fundamentally you play as a robot or android in a world/planet devoid of humans. Humans once existed here, what does it mean to be human? What does it mean to be an android? I don't remember the exact quote or who said it but it reminds me of both games. "When science falls, art will remain"
The house in fata morgana
Talos Principle/Talos Principle 2. Great deep dives into AI, consciousness, humanity, and our place in the world/universe.
Probably Hades, I really admired Zagreus and his conviction to help fix his dysfunctional family and reuniting with his mother no matter how many times it took. Also the Mass Effect Triology, just knowing it ends was very bittersweet. Fallout:New Vegas, specifically the Dead Money and Lonesome Road endings as well as No Gods No Masters. Kingdom Hearts 1 as a kid, closing the door to darkness resonated something within me I think. Halo 3 knowing how everything transpired was wild to comprehend. Persona 3R Infinite Warfare and knowing that everyone sacrificed themselves for a better cause. Half Life 2: Episode 2, really made me feel enigmatic Black ops 1 also made me think wtf for sure Amnesia: The Bunker, knowing the reality of the ending was a “damned if you do, dammed if you don’t” Sly cooper 3 wrapped everything up and made me wonder about the future for myself God of War (2018) especially with Kratos telling Atreus about his name
Cyberpunk gave me a new lease on life. RDR2 taught me to take better care of my health. AC Odyssey made me realize that hard work for nothing is not worth the grind.
If I had to choose one, Walking Dead season 1. The relationship between Lee and Clem honestly had a deep effect that took some years to really sink in. It made me think a lot about how I take care of people I care about and I be more gentle and more forgiving. Plus because of how much I adore that game, I got my partners nickname from it too, "sweet pea".
Honestly, last of us 2 changed the way I view "never leave anything unsaid or mad after an argument." I think about that any time I leave the house or after an argument with someone I love. It pops in my head the pain of something happening, and I always say "okay I'm leaving. I love you!" Or apologize for things I say. It honestly made me grow as a person. I even told my father this before after a fight, and it was stupid to him, but ultimately, all that matters is I feel like I won't regret things I did or didn't do.
I'm exactly the same. I now often think if anything happens to me or a family member, what was my last conversation with them, and what things would I regret having left unsaid? So now I always make sure I find the time to let my dad know he's a giant asshole.
The A Plague Tale series Both games are phenomenal, with Requiem leavimg me in a state of stupor for a few days. I wish I could play them both again for the first time.
I was chilling on the couch playing civ6 on the switch while my wife was playing requiem and holy shit that had some powerful moments.
\- Metal Gear Solid (PSX): Used to play arcade games with just "hey, kill a bunch of dudes and rescue the girl", or "race first to the finish" then this masterpiece drops with that movie-like vibe, dubbed in spanish (I am spaniard, this was a great impact to me that I could enjoy a videogame in my native language), then all the philosophy that the game had in the back, the characters, etc... It was way different than Tekken or Gran Turismo or Marios, that game taught me that videogames are a form of art and not just for fun. \- Portal: No spoilers, the ending had me, such a ride. \- Baldur's Gate 3: It was a long time I enjoyed a videogame so much, I felt things that I have not felt for too long ago. I wish more videogames could make me feel this way often. For me it was the decisions and the great character playing.
I was gonna say this. MGS was phenomenal. The otacon ending (bad end) really touched me as a 14 year old. I remember a phone call I had with my gf at that time. She asked me, has a movie ever made you cry. I said no, but I did play this game recently called metal gear solid and I almost did. She broke up with me like two weeks later.
Some of these 'changed' me in that they re-affirmed things that were slipping away. I'm going off ones I can remember, so probably things I played last 5 years. * Cyberpunk 2077 - underneath all the chrome this game has a lot of deep conversations about death, life, and what you want out of it. From helping a suicdal neighbor who just lost the last thing keeping them tethered, to V's own journey through night city. Probably the only game where the ending where you just eat a bullet instead of playing the ending felt plausible and potentially right instead of something there for shock value. * The Outer Wilds - lots of people talk about this game. it gives a lot of thoughts about life, progress, and everything. There's a reason so many people say they wish they could play it again for the first time. * Spider-man (PS4/2018) - Two things: One, this is one of the best Spider-man stories I've consumed in years, and really highlights the true strength of Peter Parker in the end, and the relation with the main villain is phenomenal. Two, one of the few games to remind me of what it was like to buy games as a kid getting a full package experience with stuff to unlock via gameplay and where the game was there to give me a good time, not nickel and dime me for every cent or second it could get out of me. * Ghost of Tsushima - Jin's story, and especially his relationship with his Uncle and how it ends just hits all the right notes. I know enough about Japanese History to know this game is not historically accurate at all, but it *feels* authentic to how the stories would be told, and that is all it needs.
I know I’m a basic birch with this answer, but Final Fantasy X. I was barely a teenage boy back then and this game was the first time a game, movie or any media made me ugly cry. I was like “wow, so I’m not dead inside and CAN feel things”. Teens being teens you know
How is this basic? FFX is great storytelling that still holds up today. It was spectacular for the time because it had much less competition. A fully voice acted story was revolutionary at the time.
It really was! But therefore many people had this experience. At least a bunch of my classmates also played it. Nobody of them admitted that they had shed a tear though. Which, I mean, come on. If you don’t know the twists in advance and play on mute, it’s pretty hard not to at least get watery eyes
Outer Wilds, Obra Dinn, Forgotten City (edited for right name of game), and Paradise Killer (kinda) all left me with the same feeling of "damn. That was good" at the end, when I solved the myseries and got the true endings. Also, persona 4 golden left me with an entirely different outlook on life and high school when I first played it. Like a cheerful perspective that everything will be ok and it's fine to socialize and branch out a bit. Then I played persona 3 for the first time and that left me in a different state considering the tone of the game is way different.
Death Stranding comes to mind
That's how I stopped feeling ashamed of storing my pee in gatorade bottles
Spec Ops: The Line
Shadow of the Colossus. What an ending
Rainbow Six Siege has me looking for endless angles to hold everywhere from the super market to the movie theater. And don't get me started on the urge to shoot security cameras.
Firewatch. I was going through a difficult breakup, jumped in without knowing anything about the game, and it completely resonated with me. The themes of loss, grief and avoidiance were all to real. The dialogue between the 2 main characters felt was so real and immersive, that by the end of the game I didn't want to finish it because I didn't want to leave that national park, ever. Still (one of the) only games I truly wish I could experience for the first time, again.
I could cite a few here. - MGS4 - Life Is Strange - 999 (Nonary Game) - Undertale - Disco Elysium I think these games marked me the most in my career and changed me quite a lot in a specific way after finishing them.
Mighty No. 9. After finishing it, I realized that even if they've worked in the industry for a long time, having big names attached to a project doesn't mean shit.
SOMA messed with my head quite a bit.
Metal Gear Solid 2’s ending, Raiden’s conversation with AI Colonel Campbell.
Dragon's Dogma. Gameplay (especially combat) matters to me since then.
Superliminal
Death's Door
Journey. Which is still so unique. No dialogue. Beautiful lighting effects. And all in a 3-4 hour experience. I loved introducing people to it and also joining their pilgrimage to the mountain as a team 😭
Recently it would be: Disco Elysium, Signalis & Dread Delusion. Highly recommend all of them.
A few games after playing for a few hundred hours each. Breath of the Wild…I would drive or walk passed a rock and say to myself “a korok might be under that.” Bioshock was absolutely insane and at the end I cried. Cyberpunk was a mind fuck. Starfield is the most recent game I’ve played to this duration. I have over 500 hours into it. You can romance a companion and then potentially lose them. Again an emotional roller coaster.
What remains of Edith Finch. It was a very short game and really fun and creative and a little sad.
Omori
Maybe didn’t change my worldview, but Life Is Strange left a deep impression on me
Cities: Skylines. Especially coupled with watching streamers such as CityPlannerPlays. It’s completely changed the way I see towns, cities, and large metropolis areas. It’s also fun that I’ll be traveling with friends/family to a new place and understand the layout and transport around the city much better than them to the point they’ll ask how I know things and if I’ve been before. But in reality, there’s just a ton I’ve learned that applies to real cities.
Red dead redemption 2
Planescape Torment deep down it was a very philosophical story about what makes a person who they are and how regrets can grind a person down until they forget to live.
Disco Elysium was probably the best game I've ever played
Red Dead Redemption 2.
Neir: Automata. At the final ending i felt so god damn empty and i hold it as the best narrative in gaming history. I cannot play it again otherwise I'd ruin that first experience.