I saw this Lemmy post, but a huge list of games with no discussion isn’t very interesting! Let’s talk about why the games that influenced us had such a big impact - how they affected us as people.
For me, it was the PC game Creatures. It’s a life simulation game featuring cute little beings called ‘Norns’ which you raise and teach.
You can almost think of it like a much cuter predecessor to The Sims, but which claimed to actually “simulate” their brains.
As a thirteen-year-old it was the first game that made me want to go online and seek out more info. What I discovered was a community of similar-interest nerds hanging out on IRC chat, and it felt like for the first time in my life I had “found my people” - others who weren’t just friends, but whom I really resonated with.
I learned web development (PHP at the time!) so I could make a site for the game, which became the foundation for my job in software engineering.
And through that group I also discovered the Furry community, which was a wild ride in itself.
So yeah, Creatures. Without that game, I think I’d have become quite a different person.
Many games cemented my love for video games. Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Prince of Persia… God of War, parents didn’t give a fux back then, the pixels weren’t that realistic.
Seeing Sonic the Hedgehog as an eyecatcher on a tv in a tv store.
Mario ofcourse. Super Mario World 3 on a cracked playstation.
Star Control II & Secret of Mana
They both set my expectations for how much fun a game can be.
Secret of Mana as a template for what kind of world I want to live in (minus the monsters and whatnot)
and Star Control II as a template for how to write a fun adventure.Falling sand is why I like/crave physics interactions in games
Most influential… it might be Castle Adventure on MSDOS or something like Alleyway on the Gameboy simply because they were the first games I remember playing. Or an old Mac program like Factory or Maelstrom or Power Pete with which I wiled away many hours. Quake III Arena and Unreal Tournament was the first time I messed around with modding and that computer literacy and problem solving certainly had an impact.
I didn’t go into any computer-related fields, I just really like video games and they’ve been both a solo hobby and social catalyst for my entire conscious life. Maybe Super Smash Bros Melee or Star Wars Battlefront 2 or Halo because the early 2000s cemented some of my longest friendships and those were at the forefront.
Kingdom Hearts 2. I think my parents randomly got it with the ps2 slim they got me for christmas or a birthday when I was a kid. I knew nothing about final fantasy or anime, but I absolutely loved disney movies. I don’t really know too well why it got me hooked so much. I had a head injury when I was 15, and have heavy amnesia of my life before it. The fact I remember so much about that time is really a testament to the impact it had on me.
I remember the aesthetic was completely new to me and I thought it was really cool. In hindsight final fantasy characters hanging out in disney movies is pretty weird, but they just looked like really cool guys fighting evil in the background of the movies.
Roxas’ story was also super compelling for kid me, the entire prologue felt dreamlike, emotional, and thought provoking. It was like I was playing a novel. For context, the games I had played up until that point were essentially just pokémon, spyro, smash bros, and mario kart. So the idea that a game could be emotional and have an interesting story was completely new to me.
Now I can see the flaws and oddities in the series, but I still love it and it’s had a ridiculous impact on my life. I sometimes worry a little that if the people in my life played the series they might see the inspiration for so many habits I have now and pretty much my entire sense of style is heavily influenced by the idea of Tetsuya Nomura design blended with disney vibes.
Removed by mod
As a child, has to be Diablo 2. I had no idea what I was doing but I had fun. And it got me into reading, actually. I read some books now and then, but wasn’t an avid reader. But when I played Diablo 2, I found out there are books from the Diablo world and got one. I remember when I got home I was like “ok, since I got the book I will read one chapter and then go to playing” - well I didn’t turn on the PC for 3 days until I have finished the book. And then went to get more.
Another was World of Warcraft (though I was not exactly a kid by then). It made me fall in love with MMOs, a genre which I still love (though no game holds me today quite as WoW did - still hope for one though). And thanks to it I got to know people I’m friends with to this day.
Planescape Torment. I don’t even have words… That game has been living rent-free in my head for 20 years 🤯
Otherwise Morrowind. It was the first game that introduced me to mods, that made me spend almost as much time looking for mods than playing, and that made me make a few.
I discovered Planescape Torment a few years ago - I can see how it would be impactful to a younger me. Even now I can still remember the moment the Undying One gave his answer to Ravel’s infamous question against the backdrop of the Fortress of Regret’s OST playing gives me a chill
Yes I rewatch it on Youtube from time to time it’s a great ending!
What also really marked me in the writing are the characters, and the choices you have not being the binary 1. selflessly good or 2. pointlessly cruel. It was great to play someone who didn’t have to be either, for once, not having to decide between the two and being able to just play a character, not an alignment. I accidentally ended up as the practical incarnation mark II 😁
