Games that have affected you

Greetings,

I think the first few games to ever really effect me were Final Fantasy 1, Crystalis, and The Magic of Scheherazade.

FF1 for reasons I don't think I entirely understand now. At the time it was simply incredible, but now I think I lack the imagination to thoroughly fill in all the gaps. Perhaps it was just the ease of the interface (although dog slow) as compared to some C-64 RPG games that made it so appealing back then. I still remember the feeling of playing it back then, the sense of escapism into another fantastical world where one could be the hero was quite satisfying.

Crystalis was an amazing game to me, it gave me a feeling not exactly the same but yet reminiscent nevertheless of some of Miyazaki's films, a strange sense of otherworldly adventure which was so bitter sweet and wonderful as to be unbearable much in the same way I imagine a heroin high is to an addict. It feels so good while playing, but somewhere deep inside you know the adventure must come to a close.

The Magic of Scheherazade had some of that too, though I would quantify not quite as much. It had some flaws to it, but presented a unique enviroment with some unusual situations, problems, and ways to solve those problems. It is still one of the RPGs with the most replete plethora of 'systems', IMO.

Actually these three games have within them three of what I would consider to be important RPG settings. Those settings being the High Tolkien-esque Fantasy, the Post Apocolyptic Fantasy, and the Fairy Tale. Certainly there are other categorizations, and even better games which seem to defy such self imposed structure altogether.

I don't know how to do the nifty SPOILER highlight thing, so I am just going to say WARNING: SPOILER for CRYSTALIS. The point at which your character finally meets Deo, well, that brought tears to my eyes as a kid. Actually, it seems like that game almost made me cry multiple times. :laugh:

Sincerely,
TastEPlasma

PS You know what I hate? Videogames and anime that give you that wonderful feeling of, I guess I would call it "story time", that you are about to hear an fascinating tale of daring with interesting if not intricate characters, and then drop the damn ball at the end by not finishing it and calling it 'artistic' because the readers/viewers/players are left to wonder forever what the hell really happened. :cuss2: Write an ending you lazy bastards!

hmm, lets start out with the first few videogames i played

old atari... donkey kong and pole position and ofcourse... pacman!

then at age 6 or so i got my first console i ever remember getting, the sega genesis. Great system. I still remember Sonic 1 and 2 which came with it (and ofcourse the other sonics as well), rings of power - the first sega rpg i played, phantasy star 4 - the first "deep" rpg i ever passed (and i still love that game), and the shining force series which was just plain fun and awesome, loved every minute of it. Gunstar heroes, another very fun game on sega that is hard to forget (actually i usually forget about it but that doesn't mean it wasn't as awesome as i'm making it sound )

who could forget about mario though? 1, 2, 3... all of them are at the very least somewhat memorable. FF2 (4) was the first rpg on any console i ever played, i still remember renting it for the first time. It was a fun game. FF3 (6) is still to date one of my favourite games of all time, it had a deep story to it, all the characters had their own background you could explore, it had emotional moments, and everything. Chrono Trigger would be next, with its fun gameplay and story. Shadowrun for both genesis and snes was also a fun game imo, its a shame most people didnt really get into them because they were fun games, both of which i replayed this last month.

now, lets get to the system that I am known for, the computer

Starting with my first pc games, warcraft 2, my first rts. It will always be nostalgic for me for that reason alone, but the fun gameplay and good array of music made it an awesome game. Next would be Mechwarrior 2, a game that i got with a 3d accelerator i bought oh so long ago, the music was awesome, the gameplay was awesome, it will also be among my top games of all time list. Age of empires, i remember playing this game every night when i got it, i'd have bloodshot eyes because of it but its not like i cared, i was playing AoE . And who can forget Heroes of Might and Magic, a true classic series. I still remember getting HoMM2 for my 8th or so birthday... i couldn't stop playing it for probably a year, the homm series is still one that i go back to every now and then, another one on the top games list for sure. And then theres fallout, the game that got me into computer rpgs... what true gamer hasn't played this one? Unreal Tournament, the title speaks for itself, game of the year, fps of the decade imo, and still some of the best fps action you can find. And then there's grim fandango, and curse of monkey island, two classic lucasarts games, both award winners, but side splitters, both truly classics. At last, we come to anachronox, the buried treasure, i've talked about it already so many times that anyone who's been here long enough has probably already read about it... my #1 of all time.


sooo... to recap... heres my top 10 list of games that affected me

#10) Mechwarrior 2, one of a kind, great music, very fun gameplay
#9) FF2 (4), will remain a thing of nostalgia, my first ever rpg, that alone makes it deserve this spot if not for anything else
#8) Grim Fandango, for all the great laugs, the classy atmospheres, fitting music, and awesome characters (go glottis!)
#7) Curse of Monkey Island 3, another LucasArts adventure that had a wacky art style, funky music, awesome characters (go Murray!), and some of the funniest gaming moments in history
#6) Unreal Tournament, the great fps that set the standards that haven't been passed to date
#5) Heroes of Might and Magic 2 (though all in the series were great), a turn based classic that cost me countless hours of sleep, and who knows how many marks on report cards
#4) Phantasy Star 4, for the deep storyline and character backgrounds, for the music, and for the fun
#3) Fallout, for its post apocalyptic mayhem, for the freedom of choice, for the bloody mess trait, Go Dogmeat!
#2) FF6, for its deep emotional storyline, the great array of music, and the characters, it won't be forgotten
#1) Anachronox, for all the hours of humour, emotion, and pleasure (non sexual) it's brought

It's hard making a list of your top games, i had to leave out sonic and gunstar heroes for one thing

Many games affected me in many ways... But one that comes into my mind ATM is Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within!!! Not only I've learned english because of this game, but I could see how good PC games can be!!!

I want to find a game that could teach me japanese like Gabriel Knight taught psicomaniaco. Where's the sesame street like japanese games for 5 year olds!

Games that have affected me? Any MMORPG that I've played, not because of the game but the people in the world server I'm on. Playing with real people for hours and hours and hours over hte period of a year or more, I get a bond with them as if they were friends in real life. I miss them when they're gone, and enjoy being around their virtual characters while I play. It may sound strange to anybody who hasn't played MMORPG's, but the couple hours of day that you play...really is like hanging out with your friends in RL (and some of them are in the game with you too anyway)...so these people you would have otherwise never met half-way across the globe - become as close a friend as possible because of how the games are set up.

I don't think any other gaming experience I've had can top that honestly. Even after I stop playing a MMORPG I still remain in contact with them over the years - usually it's only the MMORPG's I played for a couple years that I have aquiantances like that though.