Games that changed you as a person...

[Julius Terrell]

I liked a lot of the answers I've read so far. It's amazing how the nay sayers still look at video games as just children's toys is completely beyond me. Maybe it's just the fact these people that speak out against video games are looking at it from a perspective that doesn't allow them to understand. They are closed minded to the possibilities of video games being allowed to be an artistic,expressive medium.

Back on topic....

For me I have two examples. My first is Street Fighter II. Never did I ever play a fighting game that is so immersive and technically fascinating. The very concept of using your fighter like a chess piece to defeat your opponent changed me on a fundamental level. I became obsessive about learning strategies and advanced tactics to crush my foes. Even if I'm not a great chess player, I can appreciate why the game is as masterful as it is. Try playing against experts of most street fighter games, and you'll QUICKLY find out how inept your feeble skills are. Art at its finest.

The second is the NES system. Oddly enough for me, this is how I discovered electronic music and how I discovered that I had an exceptional singing voice. The more NES games I played, the more I realized that the music the was produced for these games could actually be it's own form of artistic expression. Years later with the invention called the internet, I learned that LOTS of people had created their own chiptunes, and more importantly that the genre of electronic music was wide open for expression. Music that cannot be done by any traditional means that can produce tones and melodies that are completely new. It's nothing short of earth shattering. There is unlimited potential for expression in every sub genre of electronic music. No matter what your tastes are. It almost makes me shed a tear when I think about that.

There is actually a third example. For me it was Dance Dance Revolution. I started going to the arcades a little over 10 years ago to play this game. This was the starting point for dance games of the like, and it showed everyone a new way to experience music. I mean yes, I played parapa the rapper, but THIS was a completely new way to experience music. Being that I'm a very physically minded person to begin with; I jumped all over this, and now it's evolved so much to the point that you can put arrows to ANYTHING you like and it will be an awesome experience. I know dance games are a complete niche genre now, but there are those of use that will NEVER stop playing these games.

There are people who went out and spent Thousands of dollars for an arcade machine. I would have done the same thing if I could afford to do so. THAT IS DEDICATION!! I'll probably play these games till I die for the most part.

Now another game that ties into my last answer that I thought evolved the idea in a different direction. It's Lumines for the PSP. The concept of tying two unrelated genres together is completely a stroke a of genius. I just only wish more skins and music would be developed so the experience can always change. How great is that?

Look at this guy. He actually BUILT is own arcade machine. Fucking crazy!!

 

[FrozenLaughs]

I don't look at dogfighting and Mexican cock fighting the same way after 6 gens of Pokemon...

All joking aside, FF7 was my first introduction to a real rpg, without it I would never have given the genre a glance, or learned that investing a Novel amount of time on a game could lead to truly great stories. It also lead to my initial interest in anime, also a favorite of mine.

 

[Bonk4licious]

Red Dead Redemption was one of those that's ending really got me. A lot of people gave it crap for not having a lot of engaging gameplay at the end but that was kind of the theme of the game's story, it was preparing you for the end and it really paid off if you invested. The ending message that redemption is not always attainable, and that you can't run from a lot of your ghosts is a message that really touched me with how the game handled it. It taught me that you should apply your true beliefs to what you do and that you shouldn't do things you know you'll regret later on. John Marston was a man of ideals ahead of his time, but not until after he'd dealt with what he'd done. The end of the game could have been translated into anything you felt applied, and that's how it hit me.

Also, I've gotta say that for someone who plays a lot of games and used to be terrible at making decisions, games that put these decisions on you and make you deal with the consequences, like Mass Effect and Persona, have really helped me long term when it came to decision making and figuring out what I should be reading for.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

For me it would probably be Katawa Shoujo.
It really made me confront my own prejudices on the nature of disability in a way I wasn't expecting.

Seconding Katawa Shoujo for the exact same reason. It's one hell of an experience.

 

[lacktheknack]

Geneforge.

You've likely never heard of it. That's an absolute shame. <link=http://www.spiderwebsoftware.com/products.html>Go try one of the huge demos right now. Then buy it. <link=http://www.gog.com/game/geneforge_15>gog.com has it too. If your a fan of RPGs, you'll probably like it.

The game took an interesting lore concept - the idea that gifted humans could literally create creatures out of "essence" - and takes it a very unexpected and somber direction.

The core conflict is set up quite simply: The creatures that may be created are highly regulated, and follow protocols. The Shaper ruling class has the rules set up so that any creature you make bends to your will fully. However, you, a young and inexperienced Shaper, are marooned on a "barred" (forbidden) island, and you discover several horribly disturbing things left on the island - most notably, created creatures that have free will.

The game has loads and loads of things to say about cloning, DNA enhancement, transhumanism, and "playing God". All of these topics are brought up often and forced directly in your face.

"Am I an abomination?" growls a creature who resents being left to die by the Shapers. "Have you come to enslave us?" asks the creature who hates his free will and longs for the Shaper return. "Why should we let you live?" asks the creature whose peaceful existence has been shattered by the arrival of his creators.

The Shapers discovered immensely powerful procedures that can directly enhance the very essence of a human... and they fled, locked the door and swallowed the key. Why? What other effects could such power have? Now that you're off the radar, do you indulge in the forbidden fruit? Will you justify it as survival, or are you open about it being a mere power-grab?

"We are superior, submit to us," says the Shaper that's taken what the others left behind.
"We are equals, we shall treat you as you treat us," says the creature that was never meant to speak like that.
"Kill them all, all of them," gasps the captured Shaper spy as he surveys the pure insanity that surrounds him.

The answers I came up with surprised me. Being forced to examine my decisions, alliances, emotions and their consequences made me develop a strong opinion on transhumanism and cloning where I previously didn't have one.

Well freaking done, Spiderweb Software. Well freaking done.

 

[ThreeName]

I'm gonna have to go with Spec Ops: The Line as well. An absolutely masterful experience, raising questions I never thought I'd be asked in this medium.

Deus Ex was a great experience as well, although I was only a young'un at the time, I definitely remember it fondly.

That said, I've still never had a Fight Club of gaming. One day, maybe, hopefully.

 

[JagermanXcell]

Damn, this won't make sense to you, but I just checked on user J-E-F-F-E-R-S and he's been banned. That kinda bums me out; I really liked his use of verifiable information for his discussions.

Jeffers, RIP ????-2013
;_;7

OT:
Persona 4. Its one of those games that turns your attention to the deepest part of one's true self, something I really never thought a game would ever make me want to think about. Teaching you to accept your dark side that makes you "you" in order to become a better person. Frankly it worked, I changed for the better and made a lot of good friends whom i'll never forget thanks to it. Also the theme of friendship and eternal bonds, that really hit home for me too.

DMC3. Great game but thats not the point, the point where it changed me as a person was with the main protagonist, Dante Sparda. He's such a goofball about everything, his charisma, his machismo, his style and even with all of that deep down the guy has such a heart of gold. To this day I mirror his care free personality, thanks to him I became a much more SSSociable person in the process.

 

[Sarge034]

I would have to say that no game has changed me, but several have affirmed who I think I am. A select few made me consciously think about personality traits I have that operate on a subconscious level. The one big one was The Last of Us. I am a self described "spiteful bastard" and am considered chaotic good with lawful good streaks.

Spoiler: The Last of Us spoilers from here on out.

I learned that I am essentially Joel, as scary as that sounds. My primary concern would be to keep my daughter safe (I have no kids at the moment btw), everyone else is secondary to that goal. I couldn't connect with smuggler Joel just because I don't know what I would do if I lost the one person I cherished above all others. I might withdraw and not worry about dying, I don't know. However, after Elli is in his care everything started lining up with me again. The one part in particular that stands out is after Elli is kidnapped and Joel tortures the two people for her whereabouts. When he offers to spare their lives if they both point at the same place on the map I literally said out loud, "You had better kill these sons of bitches." And then he did, but he went a step further. He let them both see it coming. He let them die with the knowledge that what they did was so unquestionably wrong that nothing they can do will save them from their punishment, and I found that concept in that particular situation... appropriate. Lastly, under the same circumstances the hospital scene would have played out the same way if I was there. To sacrifice a person, much less a child, without explicitly stated the intent and the probability of success is nothing more than murder in my eyes. If they had explained it to Elli and Joel in the same room and gotten Elli's permission I would have honored her decision, but they never gave her the chance. What is the point of "saving" humanity if you have to lose your humanity to do it?

And to quell any fears about me just being a bloodthirsty son of a *****. When I went into the operating room I tried to just grab Elli and gtfo, but the chief surgeon stepped in between us with a scalpel and would not let me pass. After I dispatched him with my shotgun I grabbed Elli and went. The other attendants (nurses?) were alive when I left them. I had no proof they had any knowledge of how Elli came to be in that operating room. The chief surgeon did though, so I'm glad he spoke up because I didn't have a face to put to the target.

 

[Goldringer]

Honestly I played the Mass Effect Series right as I was transitioning from middle to highschool when the first one came out and it influenced me to be a better human being in terms of trying to be kind and helpful, I couldn't bring myself to play anything but a Paragon Shep and it definitely influenced my developing mind towards helpful optimism and a belief in dedication to your beliefs. Though the end of the third one sort of made those beliefs not matter the idea was already rooted in my mind once that came out so it didn't phase me much. That's about it though Oblivion also consumed my life a bit never really changed it though. However the biggest possible influence any game has had on me was without a doubt Halo: CE and for a very noble reason, I had never really been introduced to Gregorian chant before I played that game when I was about nine and it forever changed my musical tastes. I heard it and wondered: "Hmm, does this get more complicated and where can I find some of that good stuff." Now I'm enrolled in the San Francisco School of the Arts Vocal department and busying myself with applications to colleges for Vocal performance majors and Choral music education. I would have never chosen to go there with my life if I hadn't first been sparked by the Halo soundtrack, say what you will about that game but it changed my life for the better.

 

[Fieldy409_v1legacy]

"So you would do nothing? Apathy is death, worse even. For at least in death you are food for the beasts and insects."

Ive been on a journey of losing weight and getting into shape and trying to become more sociable for the past couple of years and that lines sorta bubbled up from my memory of playing Knights of the Old Republic 2 and I realised, my life was shit and I was weak because I was so apathetic, I didnt do anything and it was like death. Not hanging with my friends enough, not going out or meeting women, never exercising, you know.

Now I refuse to be dead, I will never be apathetic again.

Its funny what gets to you.

 

[Faluva]

Operation Flashpoint.

When I first found its capabilities in 2003, I got very interested in military, serious, unforgiving games and realism.

No other game has changed or formed my new interests.

 

[Serioli]

I have to re-iterate the Civ series, Geneforge series and Spec ops statements above, for essentially the same reasons.

In an odd 'circular' way Dwarf Fortress changed the way I looked at games and game characters. As the character interactions are so interconnected to both the environment and each other I have started looking at how AI and physics act in other games, I have genuinely started taking an interest in whether things are re-acting or just acting, following set paths and patterns or creating paths and patterns. I have been re-playing old games and finding enjoyment by making stories rather than my old favourite game type of playing stories ('good' & 'evil' ending in RPG's) It has become more fascinating to play WITH the game rather than simply playing the game.

EDIT:- Ooh, small language one. I use 'Would you kindly' when making a spoken request about 1/3 - 1/2 of the time.

 

[the_great_cessation]

While I could prattle on again about the effect The Legend of Zelda series had on me growing up, I think it would be best if I use this thread as an opportunity to discuss why it is I love Beyond Good and Evil so much.

I played Beyond Good and Evil shortly after its release in 2003. I heard it was similar to Zelda and I noticed it was getting glowing reviews so I decided to give it a chance. All I really wanted from the game was something similar in style and tone to Zelda but what I got was so much more. While Beyond Good and Evil had many of the same mechanics as Zelda and possessed the same adventurous spirit, it had one thing that Zelda didn't - an oddly mature and subversive story that was fundamentally criticizing our own modern day existence. While time has revealed the game's wonderful characters and sharp writing to endear itself to me more, at the time it was the subversive themes about government indoctrination that completely blew my young mind. Beyond Good and Evil felt dangerous. Video games were always insular; always telling stories about their characters and their worlds. Beyond Good and Evil was different because - while it did tell it's own insular story - it had subtext. In fact, I'd say Beyond Good and Evil was the first work of fiction I ever engaged with that contained such depth to its narrative. Beyond Good and Evil fundamentally changed how I engaged with fiction becoming as much a tool that awakened my critical faculties as it was an aesthetic experience I lost myself in. Moreover, I feel as if Beyond Good and Evil was an essential starting point in my development of the critical literacy skills that would prove to be highly influential in the educational path I would go on later on in life. While I can't say that Beyond Good and Evil was the sole reason I went down the path I did, I can identify as an important piece of fiction that helped shape by later adolescence.

 

[Sight Unseen]

Easy answer for me:

Rock Band.

Prior to Rock Band I didn't really like music, had only maybe 100 songs by a small handful of artists on my crappy mp3 player, and just didnt really care to learn more about music.

After playing Rock Band all the way from Rock Band 1 to Rock Band 3, I have gained a gigantic appreciation for music, discovered whole new genres that have since become favorites of mine (punk, progressive metal, and power metal) and the majority of my current top 10 favorite bands I owe to Rock Band for showing me their first song (Rise Against, Sonata Arctica, Dream Theater, Disturbed, Bad Religion, etc.)

I now have several thousand songs in dozens of highly varied genres by hundreds of different artists. I own almost 800 songs in Rock Band itself, as well as their Beatles game, which gave me a great appreciation for their work. I listen to music every day and I can't imagine myself without it anymore, and I've even shown small amounts of interest in actually learning a real instrument (but that's hard and I don't have enough time to devote to it)

So yeah,

Rock Band for me.

 

[Salus]

"So you would do nothing? Apathy is death, worse even. For at least in death you are food for the beasts and insects."

Ive been on a journey of losing weight and getting into shape and trying to become more sociable for the past couple of years and that lines sorta bubbled up from my memory of playing Knights of the Old Republic 2 and I realised, my life was shit and I was weak because I was so apathetic, I didn't do anything and it was like death. Not hanging with my friends enough, not going out or meeting women, never exercising, you know.

Now I refuse to be dead, I will never be apathetic again.

Its funny what gets to you.

I couldn't count the little things in games that have changed my thinking. It alters your course just a tiny bit, but over the years you find you've become another person. Books and movies do it as often as video games, for me at least. A lot of times, like you said, you realize that YOU want to be the one adventuring. Who doesn't want to be Luke, deciding to leave Tatooine with Uncle Kenobi?

To sing the praises of another game, it was Age of Mythology (the RTS) that REALLY sparked my imagination when I was young. Like, how is it not the coolest game ever made? It was my ultimate childhood fantasy. You are the Egyptian race, and you choose which god to worship among the Egyptian Pantheon. Worship Ra, the God of the Sun, and he bestows rain on your crops. Worship Thoth, and be granted divine intervention through meteor strikes. Worship Dionysus as Greece to recruit Hydras, worship Loki as the Norse and get shapeshifting, or worship Skadi and get Frost Giants. The soundtrack was also one of the best I've ever heard to this day.

 

[The_Echo]

It wasn't a lasting change, but as the credits rolled when I finished Journey, I felt this really strange sensation, like I'd become 10 pounds lighter and the world outside my window seemed so much more vibrant.

Every time I recall it I have trouble putting it exactly into words, it was a very ethereal sort of moment for me.

Metal Gear Solid 4 had a similar effect; playing it felt really natural, in a way. Like... as natural as walking downstairs and making myself a midnight snack.

And of course ever since playing through the Metal Gear series I can no longer hear the word "patriot" and think it's a good thing.

 

[Lawnmooer]

Hmm... One of the biggest changes in me recently was because of the game Super Hexagon as it really reinforced in me a sense of confidence and crushed any sense of hesitation in me (As in order to succeed at that game you really need to take everything and not hesitate for even a split second) - So much time spent on this game really impacted on my overall confidence and hesitation in real life, really has helped me (And my horrible indecision) a lot.

Other games that have affected me:

World of Warcraft made me develop cynicism towards other people and a general distrust of everyone and everything - Not a positive effect, but that's what you get when people on the internet are selfish and exploitative asshats.

Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planewalkers 2012 allowed me to better learn about the game including the times at which various abilities could be used, how blocking with multiple creatures works and to be weary of burn/insta-kill cards when playing a powerful creature.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

I own plenty of games that mean a lot to me for various reasons. Usually because they remind me of particularly nostalgic good times or specific people. I'm not too sure I can claim that a game truly has changed my life though.

Some games have prompted me to research certain IRL events. WWII games such as Allied Assault had me looking at some of the real world operations that you play through the game. Metal Gear Solid had me intrigued by the Cold War and Cuban Missle Crisis, which I never learned in school (we barely learned any of our own history, let alone that of other countries!), Bioshock Infinite had me intrigued in the Wounded Knee Massacre and the Pinkertons.

Games like Silent Hill 2, Metal Gear Solid 3, The Last of Us, Bioshock: Infinite and The Walking Dead just blew me away when I played them. I still can't believe how effective a medium video games are for conveying story, experience and emotion.

As an added bonus: "Tell me, Dr. Freeman, if you can. You have destroyed so much. What is it, exactly, that you have created? Can you name even one thing? I thought not."

When Dr. Breen said this line in Half Life 2 I had to question my role in the entire game.

 

[Battenberg]

Crash Bandicoot 2 and then, a few years later, Resident Evil 4. Between them they stoked an interest in video games at a young age and then later cemented that interest as a real passion to the point that gaming is my favourite pasttime today. Between these two games I basically became a gamer.

 

[Elfgore]

Another one for Katawa Shoujo. I only have played the first chapter so far and I have already cried. When he was in the hospital and he learns the truth behind the gifts really hurt me and the the next blow about the girl started the tears.

The game really made me look at how someone with these disabilities can keep going and how it's always darkest before the dawn. (unless you die of a heart attack because everyone rejected you)