Games that changed our lives

[Deleted member 721]

So which game made an impact in your life that made you think differently, helped you in a bad time of your life, or teached you something?

My game of choice will be Final Fantasy VII (quote avatar)

So i was probably 9 years old the first time i played this game, i didn't knew shit in english, this was my second RPG (first was legend of legaia), so the way i played the game, was mostly by trial and error and it took me ages to discover how to get the fucking chocobo like that. But i really wanted to learn about the story i was playing. So i played this game a number of times, i had an english/portuguese dictionary and i started to translate word by word of the game, each time i played FF7 i learned more about the story and more of the english language, so in the end i learned english like this and thats probably why my english is broken.
I also remember showing the ending of Final Fantasy VII to my dad (now deceased), to show how cool it was, so that's also a memory i cherish a lot.
So thx Final Fantasy VII for teaching me english, environmentalism, to hate megacorps, and the memories.

 

[astro]

VII changed my expectation of video games. It was the largest 3D game I'd played at that point, and when I finished the Shinra HQ I thought I was near the end... then the entire map opened up and blew my mind.

Good pick, OP, for the other reasons you listed too.

 

[ffvorax]

FFVII for me too, for similar reasons. It helped me improve my english to understand the plot (I didnt know a word of it...), it started my love for JRPGs (and RPG later) genre and for more story focused games in general.

 

[oni-link]

Mario 64

Seeing it on Blue Peter back in 1996 made me want an N64 and the rest is history

 

[Cloud-Hidden]

It's FF VII for me too, OP. I was in third grade when it launched. I had already been really into games and RPGs before then, and I remember seeing a commercial for Final Fantasy VII and being *completely* enchanted. The music, the visuals, the epic feel of it all... I just couldn't believe it. I obsessed over it and begged for every magazine that had pictures of it or information about it.

We were visiting family out of state the day FF VII launched, and long story short, my parents were kind enough to take me to a store so I could get the game on launch day, even though I was days away from being able to play. I pored over that instruction book a thousand times over the next few days; it was dog-eared and wrinkled before I even booted up the game.

Then I started playing, and I was obviously swept away. What's more, a friend of mine who knew I was obsessed with the game introduced me to one of his friends at school who was also playing it at the time, and then we became best friends. We would call each other every day after school and "pen pal" through the game together. We played at the same pace and talked about everything happening as we were playing. We remained best friends through college, and even now (I'm 30) we live about a block away from each other and still get together to play and talk about games.

Final Fantasy VII will always hold a special place in my heart, and actually, I can't wait to start it again later this week on Switch!

 

[C.Mongler]

Dota 2 helped me cope during some of the most depressed periods of my life (though it probably didn't help me actually get out of said periods).

Half Life 2 sold me on PC gaming.

 

[Suikodan]

Street Fighter 2 (and the numerous sequels that came after it) had such an impact on my life. The music that plays like a soundtrack to your life, the atmosphere of the fight and the satisfaction of a Dragon Punch connecting to your foe had such a positive influence in my life.

 

[KymTheSpud]

Space Invaders...my dad took me to a pool hall when i was really young, maybe 5 or so and stood me on an empty beer crate while he shot some pool with his Lifeboat crew and that was me completely hooked on this strange machine.

That was nearly 40years ago...

 

[ClickyCal']

Probably sm64, with being the first game I really played mostly on my own. So it got me into gaming which obviously had a big impact in ways to who I am now.

 

[Dekuman]

Super Mario Bros (1st experience gaming on a home console)

Super Mario Bros 3 (opened my mind as to what was possible with games. The.sheer scale of the game was astonishing)

Civilization III (AI decision trees , valuation tables, open trades ) the game also helped me with a difficult time of my life.

Final Fantasy XI (still the best MMO and community experience in an MMO I've had. This was before MMOs becoming a bunch of disconnected instanced zones )

 

[Deleted member 11822]

Without a doubt UT2K4 had a massive impact on my life. The DVDs contained in this box taught me how to make levels, and that got me into 3D modeling.
From there I went to my first Developers conference just so I could get feedback on my work. This all culminated with me getting my first job at a game developer about a year later.

 

[Deleted member 864]

Mario 64.

It just left an impact on me, an impact that I still feel today and I'm glad happened. 64 taught me a lot of things and made me open my eyes to see what potential games can have going forward.

Ocarina of Time had a similar impact.

 

[____]

MGS1 is the one.

 

[carlosrox]

Mario 1
Street Fighter 2
Mario 64
Turok
Half Life
Smash 4 Wii U
Resident Evil 1
Resident Evil 4
RE2 Remake
BOTW
FF6
Zelda OOT

Dead Space

Etc

 

[oni-link]

I'm also gonna add FFVII, but I first played it in 2012 in my mid 20s, but it was the first older game I played after years of mainly playing new games, and it was what got interested in older games

After that I went back and started playing all the great games I missed out on at the time

So it's been a hugely influential title for me

 

[Xwing]

Pokemon. Made it super easy to make friends when I was in elementary/middle school.

After that, a lot of games that had social aspect to them really helped my introverted self growing up.

 

[astro]

Street Fighter 2 (and the numerous sequels that came after it) had such an impact on my life. The music that plays like a soundtrack to your life, the atmosphere of the fight and the satisfaction of a Dragon Punch connecting to your foe had such a positive influence in my life.

Click to shrink...

This is also another contender for me.

Every time I hear the original sound effects and music from SF2 I get a rush of nostalgia. Hanging out in a market in my home town next to the arcade cabinets playing winner stays on with other kids. Whenever we went somewhere with arcades we wold rush to see if SF2 was there.

Also the TMNT and Simpsons arcades have similar feelings. All these games helped build my love for the medium. Really fond memories.

 

[Deleted member 16753]

Halo 2.

Playing games on your own could finally be social and I have many "IRL" friends that I first met playing that game including the best man at my wedding.

It's a shame that online gaming is so antisocial now, even though I am no longer deafened by kids screaming at their mum that they don't want to go to bed and being forced to listen to crap rap music.

 

[Deleted member 8861]

9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors got me into visual novels and got me really deeply hooked on video game stories and here we are

 

[Faiyaz]

Pokemon. That's my childhood right there.

 

[Fularu]

Where to start

The first game that absolutely blew me away and changed everything was The Morteville Manor. It had a deep story with branching paths, digitized voices, great graphics and 10 years old me was enthralled

Then I played Another World and boy was the game a revelation. It had that cinematic feel, a textless and voiceless story that you could still understand, it was dark and gloomy

Then it was all about Dune 2 Battle fof Arrakis and discovering real time strategy games (Westwood <3). I still haven't beaten the nuclear missile mission but many a bight was wasted on it

Before that it was Turrican 2. The open ended level design, the music (Chris Hulsbeck <3 and the just as good ST adaptation), the graphics, the atmosphere, the shmup level. Game was amazing and infinitely replayable with tons of shortcuts and secrets to discover. Gods followed shortly after and before all that was Shadow of the Beast (I can still hum the whole soundtrack).

The last game to keep me sleepless during my teenage years was Civilization (first the OCS snd then the AGA version thanks to owning an HDD). It's still my favorite version to this day!

Only Amiga makes it possible ;-)

 

[Chumunga64]

I was amazingly nebbish and shy before I played Devil May Cry 3 at age seven (parents should not have gotten me a rated M game lol) but playing as Dante, a character who never gave up in the face of overwhelming odds made me realize that I should never give up (It didn't help that the USA "normal" was japanese "hard")

Dante also helped me grow more confident and finally venture out of my shell.

 

[Ubik]

Tetris, Doom, and Command & Conquer: Red Alert - I am still a kid when playing and loving these games, but my Dad is also playing them on his own when I am not around, I realise that they are suitable for adults too. Gaming isn't just toys for kids and will be a hobby for life.

 

[Deleted member 721]

It's FF VII for me too, OP. I was in third grade when it launched. I had already been really into games and RPGs before then, and I remember seeing a commercial for Final Fantasy VII and being *completely* enchanted. The music, the visuals, the epic feel of it all... I just couldn't believe it. I obsessed over it and begged for every magazine that had pictures of it or information about it.

We were visiting family out of state the day FF VII launched, and long story short, my parents were kind enough to take me to a store so I could get the game on launch day, even though I was days away from being able to play. I pored over that instruction book a thousand times over the next few days; it was dog-eared and wrinkled before I even booted up the game.

Then I started playing, and I was obviously swept away. What's more, a friend of mine who knew I was obsessed with the game introduced me to one of his friends at school who was also playing it at the time, and then we became best friends. We would call each other every day after school and "pen pal" through the game together. We played at the same pace and talked about everything happening as we were playing. We remained best friends through college, and even now (I'm 30) we live about a block away from each other and still get together to play and talk about games.

Final Fantasy VII will always hold a special place in my heart, and actually, I can't wait to start it again later this week on Switch!

Click to shrink...

I remember the kids talk "this game has 3CDs!" "WOW!" "its three times better!"

 

[MJnR]

GTA SA. That game was so gigantic, yet it had a story so fun to follow, I really was into it and so were most of my friends. We spent days talking about it, discovering its secrets, sharing edited game files and so on. Then San Andreas Multiplayer came and I meet great people that I still talk to this day. If something bad happened, I would just jump in at my favorite server, call anyone that I know and then drive around until I felt better.

Although it not changed my life, CS Source was the first game where I truly practiced for and always wanted to improve to become a better player. I never had felt that necessity in any other game before CSS, but for both CSS and CSGO I was willing to play with bots and spend hours in DM, download professional matches and try to learn from them.

 

[Twonny]

Each game has it's own reasons for changing my life, but the games that have done it for me are Dragon Quest III, Mega Man Legends, Xenogears, Asura's Wrath, and MGS2.

 

[Violence Jack]

GTA Vice City really got me out of the funk I was in during the time of its release. Because I hated almost every aspect of my life at that point, every waking moment I had free was spent just driving around Vice City becoming obsessed with its soundtrack.

DDR Max 2 got me back into getting in shape. I used it for an hour 5 days a week on workout mode, and lost like 20 pounds.

 

[Deleted member 721]

GTA Vice City really got me out of the funk I was in during the time of its release. Because I hated almost every aspect of my life at that point, every waking moment I had free was spent just driving around Vice City becoming obsessed with its soundtrack.

DDR Max 2 got me back into getting in shape. I used it for an hour 5 days a week on workout mode, and lost like 20 pounds.

Click to shrink...

my cousin had a similar story with pokemon Go, he started to run/walk and play the game, lost some pounds with it

 

[Boogler]

Super Mario Bros. 3 - first game I played with my dad as a kid
Dragon Warrior - helped me learn to read, hilariously (SOUND IT OUT)
Capcom vs. SNK 2 - my brother and I discovered a love of fighting games that has now eclipsed every other genre for me now
World of Warcraft - a lot of time spent on this game since 2006...I don't play much anymore, but I still have sub

 

[flyover]

So which game made an impact in your life that made you think differently, helped you in a bad time of your life, or teached you something?

My game of choice will be Final Fantasy VII (quote avatar)

Click to shrink...

Welp, add me to the list.

I wasn't a console gamer until I saw a commercial for this and had to try it.

I found it at a time in my life when I'd dropped out of school and was single, broke, unemployed, and pretty miserable. A friend let me borrow their PSX and this game, and it filled a huge gap in my life. I played FFVII several times in the proceeding months (eventually buying my own copy/console)--and no other game until Parasite Eve, a year later. I decided I wanted to be a game designer/developer--specifically at EA, once they had an affiliation with Square.

So, I taught myself graphic design and programming, taking whatever jobs I could get related to these disciplines. And a few years later, I actually got a job offer out of the blue from EA.

The postscript is I only worked there a couple years, got totally burned out on the game industry, and doubt I'll ever want to return to it! But I'm still a designer/developer, so I totally owe my career to FFVII.

 

[SmittyWerbenManJensen]

Knack is probably the biggest one for me

 

[DarkShame3]

Myst on CD-ROM when I was a kid totally blew my mind, and got me interested in metaphysics and the many-worlds theory back before "multiverse" was a word everyone used.

 

[Deleted member 721]

Welp, add me to the list.

I wasn't a console gamer until I saw a commercial for this and had to try it.

I found it at a time in my life when I'd dropped out of school and was single, broke, unemployed, and pretty miserable. A friend let me borrow their PSX and this game, and it filled a huge gap in my life. I played FFVII several times in the proceeding months (eventually buying my own copy/console)--and no other game until Parasite Eve, a year later. I decided I wanted to be a game designer/developer--specifically at EA, once they had an affiliation with Square.

So, I taught myself graphic design and programming, taking whatever jobs I could get related to these disciplines. And a few years later, I actually got a job offer out of the blue from EA.

The postscript is I only worked there a couple years, got totally burned out on the game industry, and doubt I'll ever want to return to it! But I'm still a designer/developer, so I totally owe my career to FFVII.

Click to shrink...

As a teen my dream was to work at square, then i started to see how hard is programming and not my cup of tea, then i dropped that idea, decided to keep games as a hobby
but i remember to have that idea at that time for years because of FF.

 

[Bethell]

WoW. Didn't leave my house for years because of it. Scary really.

 

[Hippopuncher12]

Everquest and WoW by far. A bunch of others have as well but those two stand out the most, just the sheer amount of time I put into them and the relationships I built doing it.

 

[JB2448]

Mother 3 for me. A game that got me through the most depressing point in my life after finding out a lot of shit about my family that was hidden from me. Also the only game I can think of that made me cry like a baby at the end.

 

[Jerm411]

Probably World of Warcraft...the solidarity and friendships formed, great times with friends, the parties on different launches, etc.

 

[thepaincave]

Hot Shots Out of Bounds.

Really.

 

[Masterspeed]

Halo 2 Multiplayer. I was around 15 when I first got Halo 2 and due to really bad anxiety, I spent most time at home due to the fear of school. I met so many more friends on Halo 2 than I ever did in real life.

It'll always be my favourite game because it turned me into the person I am today.

 

[dancingphlower]

Fighting games, particularly Marvel vs Capcom and Smash, helped me cement a ton of friendships over the years.

 

[Twister]

Pokémon Gold/Silver, Spyro 2/3, Sonic Adventure 2: Battle, Animal Crossing, Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, Portal 2, Pokémon Diamond/Pearl, Pokémon HeartGold/SoulSilver, Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, Minecraft, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

 

[Mr. Poolman]

What can change the nature of a man?

 

[chandoog]

Resident Evil 1 (PSX) is the game that really got me into gaming. So I'd say that game changed my life.

 

[Deleted member 17643]

Halo 2 Multiplayer. I was around 15 when I first got Halo 2 and due to really bad anxiety, I spent most time at home due to the fear of school. I met so many more friends on Halo 2 than I ever did in real life.

It'll always be my favourite game because it turned me into the person I am today.

Click to shrink...

Hey I have a similar story but with Halo 1. I met my entire group of high school friends thanks to Halo.

 

[Goldenroad]

The Legend of Zelda (NES)

The first game I ever beat was Atari Adventure on the 2600, and I remember being like "Why aren't there more games like this?". Open world, collect items, fight bosses...I kind of though Atari Adventure had everything I wanted in a game until I played The Legend of Zelda. It was like going from black and white film to 4K HDR D-box movies in a matter of only a couple years. I don't think any game ever captured my imagination the way Zelda did, and it completely changed the way I looked at the medium of video games, and I'm sure a lot of people feel the same.