Games that shaped/matured you as a gamer

[Yokai]

Half-Life 2. First time I realized FPS games don't have to have an epic military/space opera storyline to be good.

 

[Infinatex]

FF8 the second time I played it. That made me shift to play story driven games a lot more until COD 4 came out and I started to play competitive online only. Now I'm a well rounded (not literally!) gamer, playing a variety of different things.

 

[Danpascooch]

Splinter Cell 1
Splinter Cell Pandora Tomorrow
Legend of Zelda - The Windwaker
Left 4 Dead
Fallout 3
Oblivion


All of these games have left a footprint in my life that I will never forget

I was with you until your last 2 choices. The only thing those games tought me was not to listen to hype.

WHAT!?

Oblivion taught me that I should never settle for subpar AI and that truly open worlds are possible

and Fallout 3 taught me that decapitating some ***** with a chessboard fired out of an impromptu vacuum cleaner never gets old.

Both very valuable lessons!

They both taught me that the fringe gaming community will settle for sub-par animation, plot, graphics, gameplay and an overall good development simply if the games are big.

How does Fallout 3 have subpar gameplay? It masterfully combined the best parts of both RPG's and FPS's. And Oblivion had bad development? The AI were absolutely amazing, to the point where the whole world felt alive, the dynamic world of AI that kept going about their lives and shaping the world even when the player wasn't around was revolutionary.

I could go on and on, but there's a reason these games are so highly regarded, it's because they fucking rock.

What planet are you on? Fallouts shooting mechanics were some of the poorest I've seen in a long time. It's RPG elements were decent but nothing rave about. The game feels lifeless, drab and uninteresting.

Oblivions AI wasn't so tastey in combat. Charge, swing repeat. Some of the worst fighting mechanics I have ever seen in that game. Again. It's a lifeless boring game.

"Charge swing repeat"?

What games have you been playing that offer so much variety in enemy attacks? Enemies can cast spells, use special attack moves that can knock you over, disable you, paralyze you, there was a lot more variety than most games.

I felt the opposite about Fallout, I loved the feeling that if I ever got bored of the main story, I could go explore the vast wilderness, because there's always something else out there.

 

[Funkiest Monkey]

-Super Mario Land. This is the game that started me on my gaming path, back when I was just a little boy.

-Pokemon Red/Blue. This game stretched my imagination, it made me want to explore and learn about the game world.

-Ocarina Of Time. I learned what it was like to be completely immersed in a game.

-Resident Evil 3. Taught me that games can scare the shit out of me.

-Secret Of Monkey Island. Showed me how in-game comedy can be pulled off, and how much some games can make you think.

-KotOR. Introduced me to the world of RPGs, and made me consider my actions within a game world.

-Halo 2. Introduced me to online gaming, playing with my best friend when we were younger are some great memories.

-GTA: Vice City. Showed me that I can have fun just dicking around and creating my own things to do.

-Okami. Showed me how games can look really, really stunning. Even artistic.

-Metal Gear Solid 3. Showed me that I could care for virtual characters, particularly the ending.

-Guitar Hero (Rock Band extends this). Showed me that gaming can be a very social experience. And fun. And extremely competitive. And immersive. And have good music. All at the same time.

-Viva Pinata. Looks can be incredibly deceiving.

-Team Fortress 2. Showed me the importance of team-work.

-Portal. Showed me that less is sometimes more. And that good writing still exists.

-Fallout 3. Basically took what Ocarina Of Time and KotOR did for me and ran with it. An experience I won't forget.

-LEGO Batman. Gaming with younger siblings can be fun and a rare bonding experience.

-Modern Warfare 2. Don't ever ride the hype train.

-Mega Man 10. The older days of gaming were really quite awesome, and bastard hard.

 

[Danpascooch]

"Charge swing repeat"?

What games have you been playing that offer so much variety in enemy attacks? Enemies can cast spells, use special attack moves that can knock you over, disable you, paralyze you, there was a lot more variety than most games.

I felt the opposite about Fallout, I loved the feeling that if I ever got bored of the main story, I could go explore the vast wilderness, because there's always something else out there.

Oh yes. What fantastic AI, however could I have been so blind ¬¬

So they had different classes you have to fight. So has every RPG for last 20 years.

"ever got bored of the main story, I could go explore the vast wilderness,"

Exactly see my earlier point.

"They both taught me that the fringe gaming community will settle for sub-par animation, plot, graphics, gameplay and an overall good development simply if the games are big."

Mmmyea.

That video was of someone playing a modded game, it can't be taken as the quality of the game itself, because it's unknown what the mods were, and how they conflicted with the NPC AI.

You can see in the video poster's responses to people's comments that he is using at least one mod.

 

[Danpascooch]

"Charge swing repeat"?

What games have you been playing that offer so much variety in enemy attacks? Enemies can cast spells, use special attack moves that can knock you over, disable you, paralyze you, there was a lot more variety than most games.

I felt the opposite about Fallout, I loved the feeling that if I ever got bored of the main story, I could go explore the vast wilderness, because there's always something else out there.

Oh yes. What fantastic AI, however could I have been so blind ¬¬

So they had different classes you have to fight. So has every RPG for last 20 years.

"ever got bored of the main story, I could go explore the vast wilderness,"

Exactly see my earlier point.

"They both taught me that the fringe gaming community will settle for sub-par animation, plot, graphics, gameplay and an overall good development simply if the games are big."

Mmmyea.

That video was of someone playing a modded game, it can't be taken as the quality of the game itself, because it's unknown what the mods were, and how they conflicted with the NPC AI.

You can see in the video poster's responses to people's comments that he is using at least one mod.

That's your defence? Weak man. Weak.

The mod was MMM. Basically it added gore to the game. And I have played oblivion and this is what the games AI is like. Don't try to deny it. You've played it too apparently.

That's the mod he confirmed he had, who knows what others he was using. I only brought it up because a bit more than halfway through, one of the mages seemed to cast a spell that caused himself to die in some sort of yellow glow, and I KNOW for a fact that doesn't happen in an unmodded game.

Think what you want, but I find the combat pretty impressive and challenging, and besides the suicide (which was definitely a modded event), I didn't see too much going wrong there, I assume that one dwarf-like guy who ran past him at the front was an ally.

 

[Manji187]

The Longest Journey and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey...they taught me that the potential for narrative and immersion in games IS present...but that it's just wasted 9 out of 10 times in contemporary games.

 

[Vhite]

Diablo 2 made my like RPGs. Doom FPS games, Warcraft 3 RTS games (even if I suck at them). HoMaM 3 turn based games. Any many freeware games I had and NES made me like platformers.

 

[Danpascooch]

That's the mod he confirmed he had, who knows what others he was using. I only brought it up because a bit more than halfway through, one of the mages seemed to cast a spell that caused himself to die in some sort of yellow glow, and I KNOW for a fact that doesn't happen in an unmodded game.

Think what you want, but I find the combat pretty impressive and challenging, and besides the suicide (which was definitely a modded event), I didn't see too much going wrong there, I assume that one dwarf-like guy who ran past him at the front was an ally.

Weak excuse is weak.

Watch it again, he fires a bolt of electricity at him as he's casting and that's not what I was going on about. I'm talking about it's general stupidity and slowness to act. If you're impressed by this AI there won't be much you're not impressed with.

I never said I was impressed with the combat AI, it's passable in my opinion, what I was impressed with was the dynamic AI system as a whole, the fact that things happen in the world and AI NPC's interact even when you're not there, I once entered town to see three guards fighting a beggar, I have no idea why it happened, but it must have had something to do with the dynamic AI while I was gone.

That sort of system is just impressive, the fact that you can steal someone's food, and plant a poison apple in their house which they will eat and die because they have a hunger stat and a need for food is an example of impressively deep AI in my opinion.

 

[tsb247]

Operation Flashpoint: Cold War Crisis turned me into a war-sim/tactical FPS fanatic. Ever since then, I haven't really cared for arcade style shooters like Battlefield Bad Company or MW2.

I prefer my bullets to be lethal, and my weapons to be carried - not pasted to the lower right corner of my screen.

As far as other genres go, Oblivion really opened my eyes to the wide-open world of RPGs. To an extent WoW did this as well, but I have since kicked my WoW habbit and have moved on to bigger and better things.

If I had to pick an RTS game that defines me, it would have to be the original C&C. That's what got me hooked to RTS games. Granted, it started with Dune 2, but C&C is the first RTS where the story really hooked me.

 

[Danpascooch]

That's the mod he confirmed he had, who knows what others he was using. I only brought it up because a bit more than halfway through, one of the mages seemed to cast a spell that caused himself to die in some sort of yellow glow, and I KNOW for a fact that doesn't happen in an unmodded game.

Think what you want, but I find the combat pretty impressive and challenging, and besides the suicide (which was definitely a modded event), I didn't see too much going wrong there, I assume that one dwarf-like guy who ran past him at the front was an ally.

Weak excuse is weak.

Watch it again, he fires a bolt of electricity at him as he's casting and that's not what I was going on about. I'm talking about it's general stupidity and slowness to act. If you're impressed by this AI there won't be much you're not impressed with.

I never said I was impressed with the combat AI, it's passable in my opinion, what I was impressed with was the dynamic AI system as a whole, the fact that things happen in the world and AI NPC's interact even when you're not there, I once entered town to see three guards fighting a beggar, I have no idea why it happened, but it must have had something to do with the dynamic AI while I was gone.

That sort of system is just impressive, the fact that you can steal someone's food, and plant a poison apple in their house which they will eat and die because they have a hunger stat and a need for food is an example of impressively deep AI in my opinion.

That's all well and good but it doesn't really effect the gameplay in any way. I'l admit they put thought into that, but I'd rather they spent their time making a playable game than indepth life sim.

And this is where we diverge, I thought combat and other elements of the game where at least average, and it was the huge world and dynamic AI system that brought it to exceptional status, and you think that while the huge world and dynamic AI is a merit, the rest is worse than average and drags the whole thing down to below average.

I guess it's a matter of taste.

 

[Xskills]

Black - I finally started to apprieciate FPSes because of this.
Too Human & Castlevania :SotN - I begin a love affair with level-grinding and item hunting.
Metal Gear Solid 2 - It made me consider production value of over titles with it's voice-acting, character backgrounds, and soundtrack.
Metal Gear Solid 3 - Your entire world perspective changes after the debriefing and you have to hold yourself back from crying during the credits as you realize there is a great tragedy to Big Boss.
Bionic Commando: Rearmed - There is a (commercial and cultural) future for retro-gaming and by-gone IP's.

 

[OceanSapphire]

Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark: First game I ever finished and it showed me that I could.

FFX: Intruduced me to consoles.

 

[Wayneguard]

Before I played Morrowind, I hated fantasy RPGs. I thought they were the gayest thing on the planet. Boy were my eyes opened...