How could I have deprived myself for so long?

[Arnoxthe1]

The original Xbox in general.

I wanted a Gamecube instead at the time because my last console was an N64 and I don't think I need to remind anyone here how amazing those games on there were and, as a result, how thoroughly brainwashed to the big N I was.

But my bro was pretty darn adamant in getting an Xbox, promising it was just better and I wouldn't regret it. So we finally get one for Christmas, and lo and effing behold, I was turned quickly into an Xbox fanboy, starting with Halo: CE (naturally) and moving on to Fable, Mercenaries, Painkiller, Halo 2, Timesplitters 3, Burnout 3, and etc.

Xbox One's current lineup sucks mostly right now though, and before anyone thinks I have a more favorable disposition to the other consoles, I think the Wii U and the PS4 are even worse with the only exclusive game I want on the PS4 being No Man's Sky. And even then, that's also gonna be for the PC anyway so whatever.

 

[Adeptus Aspartem]

Definitly Undertale. It came out, i heard alot of hype and praise for "new" things, diversity in characters and such. Immediatly i had pictures of an ultra-pandering game in my head, which kinda tries hard to be special.

And then even ZP picked it up in the Top5 of the year. After some more time i thought, if the game is still praised, months after it's release, there has to be something that justifies that. When i saw that it's only like 10 bucks on steam, i immediatly bought it.

Oh boy, did i nearly miss one of the best games i've ever played in my life. Probably the best storytelling i've yet had to expirience in a video game. And then i bothered two very good friends of mine until they started playin' it too, took me 2-3 weeks of pestering them though.

 

[Creator002]

Mass Effect. I put it off until backwards compatibility was available for the Xbox One.
In a way, I'm glad, because since finishing Mass Effect 3, I don't have to wait so long for Andromeda.

 

[The White Hunter]

Dark Souls, I put the series off because I was constantly told "oh its so fun, you get killed constantly and you have to do fights over and over until you win" and that sounds about as fun as putting a nail under my toenail and kicking a wall, I was gifted Dark Souls III by a friend and I have to admit, its super fun and engaging, yeah you die a lot, but its not so bad when you actually experience it, its mostly fair too, very few deaths feel like they were due to bad game design, so I am happy I finally played it, will be looking to play the original two when I have time.

I'll drag you through 1 some time, though SotFS will be largely new to me to, so all the more fun! Maybe Bloodborne when I have the freedom to spend on a PS4K.

OT: Dark Souls, I loved Demon's Souls way back in the day but when I got round to Dark Souls PTD on PC my experience was one of constant invasion by twinks who would always send fabulous bits of abuse to me via GFWL's shitty PM's and I just went fuck this, came back to it recently and utterly loved it, I'm up to killing the 4 lords and dicking about in the painted world for a bit.

Find it oddly soothing as a series, and jolly co-operation with my incandescent bro's in III has been great fun.

 

[retsupurae yahtsee]

I agree about Shin Megami Tensei and Persona, a very challenging and intelligent franchise.

Twinbee and Parodius: I had played Stinger when I was young, but only later did I play the other games from these wonderfully insane series.

Bucky O'Hare: A forgotten Konami platformer but one of the best games on the NES. A true hidden treasure.

Shadow Hearts: Another impressive JRPG series that I only got into recently. It makes great use of an unusual setting.

FEDA: Emblem of Justice: I recently beat it, first time I ever beat a strategy game and I only died ina few places. A very good game and it was nice to succeed in a genre where I was inexperienced.

Mother: The most insane thing ever and I love it. Nothing is like the Mother series, nothing is even a thousandth as weird and imaginative and I love it.

Missing since January and Evidence: The Last Ritual: As close to the insanity of Mother as you can get and wonderful. A mostly unknown series that should be explored.

Kid Chameleon: A really great surprise--I heard mixed reviews, but it turned out to be a great platformer with a lot of variety. It does rely too much on trial and error, and it is not as elegant as Mario or Mega Man, but it is very fun and although challenging, it is fun: Extra continues and lives are very easy to find.

Layla, Otocky and Ai Senshi Nichol: Classic NES games I was unable to play before as they are exclusive to Japan. Impressive and fun. Otocky is notable for its sound design, which lets you create the music through your action.

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Mass Effect. I played this when Mass Effect 2 came out wanting to have a Shepard and choices to have carry through into ME2. It was a revelatory experience that brought me back into gaming.

 

[thewatergamer]

The Witcher 3

I played the first two witcher games, they were ok, haven't exactly aged gracefully (especially the first one) but god damn, the third one completely blew me away with how amazing it is, haven't been able to stop playing it the past few days

 

[Dalisclock]

Dark Souls, I put the series off because I was constantly told "oh its so fun, you get killed constantly and you have to do fights over and over until you win" and that sounds about as fun as putting a nail under my toenail and kicking a wall, I was gifted Dark Souls III by a friend and I have to admit, its super fun and engaging, yeah you die a lot, but its not so bad when you actually experience it, its mostly fair too, very few deaths feel like they were due to bad game design, so I am happy I finally played it, will be looking to play the original two when I have time.

Same boat here, except I bought DS1 during a steam sale 3 years ago and kept thinking I'd play it eventually. I finally decided now was the time, started it about a month ago and am definitely enjoying it. I'm far more engaged by DS then by either The Witcher(the first one) or Final Fantasy X, which were the last two RPG's I played. As much as I love a good story, the minimalism of DS's story works strangely appeals to me. It's much more interesting then FFX or FFXIII having people constantly jabbering on for hours and yet saying nothing in the most annoying way possible.

Though I just got to Blightown for the first time....and it's about as shitty as everyone says it is.

 

[TheMigrantSoldier]

Paradox games in general, from about four years ago, starting with Crusader Kings 2. Being able to create my own alternate histories within the context of specific time periods (unlike Civilization) over a thousand years is something I never knew I liked until I tried it.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to protect my 19th-Century Irish Empire from Aztec invaders.

 

[remnant_phoenix]

For me it was Dark Souls. Because all everyone talks about is how difficult that series is, I assumed it's popularity was in being some kind of throwback to old school coin-stealers that I had no interest in because I didn't spend my childhood staving off parental neglect in some arcade. What encouraged me to give it a go was the Best Friends' LP of Dark Souls 2, which made me realise it was actually just a really good, really deep action-RPG series that's actually quite manageable once you know how it works. So then I bought DS1, then a few months later Bloodborne came out and I've never looked back since.

Yes!

Once people got over saying "it's hard!" and started talking about how it built on beloved game design choices from the likes of Zelda and Metroidvania, how the game emphasized exploration and atmosphere in both gameplay and storytelling, you know started talking in understandable terms about what made the game, I started playing Dark Souls about a year ago, and my gaming life hasn't been the same since.

 

[Raggedstar]

For me it was Dark Souls. Because all everyone talks about is how difficult that series is, I assumed it's popularity was in being some kind of throwback to old school coin-stealers that I had no interest in because I didn't spend my childhood staving off parental neglect in some arcade. What encouraged me to give it a go was the Best Friends' LP of Dark Souls 2, which made me realise it was actually just a really good, really deep action-RPG series that's actually quite manageable once you know how it works. So then I bought DS1, then a few months later Bloodborne came out and I've never looked back since.

Omg, your experience was almost exactly like mine. I had a Dark Souls odyssey last year that started from watching the Best Friends play Dark Souls 2. I've scoffed at Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, etc in the past (think Yahtzee's first Demon's Souls review). I'm not fond of "hard" games (games that sell themselves on difficulty). I hated the severe "git gud" mentality from the fans, fantasy medieval settings were getting old to me, and any game that would go out of it's way to fuck you over as something I would rather not take part in. Then I saw Bloodborne, which I was attracted to by it's setting and design. And then I remembered the LP, and while I mostly drifted in and out, it did intrigue me enough to consider playing Dark Souls 1 (also the promise that there was a giant wolf with a greatsword in his mouth, and I needed a piece of that action). I had no PS4 at the time, so I thought it would be fair to give Dark Souls a stab since it was only $5 on Steam sale. Best 5 bucks I ever spent.

I won't lie, it was a rough start. Got through the tutorial without dying, but the Undead Burg gave me so much trouble (bashed my head against New Londo for a bit too, lol). Undead Parish too gave me some grief. Capra left me hitting my leg with a controller really hard (and it hurt!). Then I started. I don't know how long it took (...it was a long time, I assure you), or where exactly it happened, but I felt like I broke a "wall". Things were second nature to me and I would be better prepared for upcoming enemies. I would be less intimidated by bosses that would make me wet myself too. Then when things got a little lighter, I dug into the nice, chunky lore and greatly enjoyed that. I learned of the amazing characters (more than Solaire, who is still awesome but not alone in that state) and felt sad when they would come to troubles. I've even swatted a few (mostly shitty) invaders. There was a tragic beauty and madness in the game I just couldn't see (even in the DS2 LP) until I played the game for myself.

And then I hurriedly played the other games in the series and enjoyed myself greatly. Actually, I get a giggle when the games actively try to trip me up with a boulder or a giant anvil falling on my head. I've currently gotten all the trophies and achievements for all the games (DeS and Bloodborne included) except Dark Souls 3. Here I was thinking that Bloodborne would be the game I fell in love with (and I did, A LOT), but I somehow feel like it was actually Dark Souls 1 that was the more complete experience. If you told 2014 me that would happen, I would call you a dirty liar. I feel like I bought a completely different game/series that I was initially advertised.

EDIT: Looks like many of these posts are also of Dark Souls. Gives me warm fuzzies all around

 

[DrunkOnEstus]

Honestly, Demon's Souls. This was a few months before Dark was supposed to come out and we started seeing a PR push for that, and I kept seeing "super-hard action-RPG, it's so fucking hard your balls will be crushed and fed to you like oh my god there is no mercy" everywhere I looked about Demon's Souls. I had no desire to play "I wanna be the guy" in RPG form and honestly the only time I've been a fan of getting back up and trying the same fucking thing yet again was Hotline Miami because the restart was so fast.

I was at Best Buy looking for PS3 exclusives and there it was, cheap too. Obviously I've never looked back and spent hundreds of dollars and over 1,000 hours of my life since. I really wonder how much people talking up "difficulty" (including Namco themselves) have driven people away who would otherwise totally enjoy the evolved 3D Iga-vania with arguably the best 3D RPG combat that it/they actually is/are. After about 2 hours with Demon's, I retroactively wished that I had spent the last year platinum-ing and preparing for Dark Souls along with everyone else. The unfortunate side effect is that any game outside of those 5 has to do a lot more than before to keep my focus and attention all the way to completion.

As far as non-Souls goes, I'm still looking for the RTS or 4X game to make me love those genres like everyone else, but they may just not be for me. My fatal mistake was making Sword of the Stars 2 be my first earnest attempt...I'll never get that time back.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Guitar Hero for me. Back when GH was in its prime, it was literally everywhere you looked; seemed every two weeks another GH game was coming out, and I was sick of it. (Didn?t help that I?m not a fan of rock music either.) Then, one day, my cousin brought GH and two guitars over to my house and MADE me play it. The drinking might have helped, but I ended up having a blast. I advanced from Easy to Medium that same night. The following weekend, I went and bought my own guitar and GH II, III and Aerosmith. It never went much beyond that, but I definitely ate some crow for all the shit I talked about the series before falling in love with it.

 

[Dalisclock]

For me, this is 100% the Witcher series. I've had The Witcher 1 sitting in my library since 2011...
This has been without a doubt the most I've enjoyed anything since Snake Eater. I just finished the entire franchise in one long back-to-back play-through over the last few months and it took me about 350 hours, not to mention that Blood and Wine just came out and I haven't finished that yet. I'm half way through the novels right now too and I'm loving every second of them. I'll probably end up playing through it again somewhere down the road once I've finished the books, so I can cringe at all of the horrible decisions I made last time.

My experience kind of resembles yours, though I came away from the first game feeling rather "meh" about it. Liked the plot and some of the concepts, but the clumsiness of almost the entire thing had me putting the rest of the series on hold for awhile.

Then I decided to bite the bullet and play Witcher 2, which is when I realized that was the game I wanted the first time around. When I finished it(once through completely and most of the other branch completed), I decided I couldn't hold out any longer and booted up 3.

And now I'm neck deep in it. It's hard to describe to people why it's good other then "Open World done right".

Oh, and for the OP, Dark Souls. Put off for years by "Git Gud!" and I finally broke down and decided to try it. Within an hour or two I was sucked in and before I knew it, I had put 70 hours in when I completed the game for the first time. It reminded me of what I liked from Shadow of the Colussus/ICO.

 

[Kerg3927]

I bought the first Dark Souls game in May (DS1), and have been playing nothing else since. I could not believe I had never played them before. 4 months later... I've played through DS1 three times and DS2 twice.

Finally getting a little Souls'd out. So before I play DS3, I am going to take a detour and play another game that I keep hearing about... KOTOR. I've always been reluctant to play it because it's so old, but I keep seeing references to it, and there are a ton of mods out there for it, so hopefully that will make the graphics less archaic. We'll see if its all it's cracked up to be. I am a Bioware fanboy, and this is supposedly Bioware at its peak.

 

[sanquin]

Definitely Mass Effect 1 for me. I never really liked third person games before that. And sci-fi wasn't my usual genre either. But I could eventually get it for like half price off. So I decided to bite the bullet and see what all the praise was about. God was I glad I bought it. It was pretty much the best RPG I had played until then. Well, apart from Morrowind that is.

A second one would be Dark Souls 1. I'm a casual gamer, so the 'difficulty' the game was praised for made me not want to play it. Boy was I wrong. I decided to buy it during a steam sale, and I loved it. The 'difficulty' wasn't so much difficult but just a challenge once you got used to properly managing your stamina and blocking.

 

[WhiteNachos]

Halo

I used to be a Sony fanboy, I had a gameboy but for consoles I was a Sony fan. Then I got a gamecube and became an anti-Xbox fanboy. Then I played Halo (I think it was Halo 3) and I had a blast. It was at that moment that I realized how fucking stupid it is to take sides in the "console wars" (unless you have stock in one of the companies or can make money off it). I still have never gotten an Xbox, I didn't think Halo was enough to justify buying a console, especially one where the online wasn't free, but if I ever get my hands on one I'm buying Halo series. I don't even no the story I just played it with local multiplayer when I get the chance. I wish I had played it earlier so I could maybe have enjoyed the rise of the series when I was a kid/teen

 

[RedDeadFred]

Dark Souls. I finally picked it up off the summer Steam sale and I can now see what all the fuss is about. While I didn't end up caring for Dark Soul 2, I just finished the 3rd game and thought it was better than the first in many ways.

 

[CaitSeith]

Dark Souls, Mass Effect series, Skyrim, Fallout 3, Minecraft, Portal. These are games that I heard a lot about, but I didn't play until 2 - 5 years after launch.

 

[Droopie]

I don't think it was a specific game for me so much as games in general.

I've always been afraid that playing, or trying to get involved in any sort of gaming community, would be extremely unwelcoming and gatekeeper-y. I still don't know if it's true: I have experiences once in awhile where I feel just as I was afraid I would, but I can't really tell if that's just my own anxiousness or if it's a genuine problem on the part of the community. What I do know is that I spent years avoiding something I was interested in because I was afraid of the community and how it would think of me. Nowadays I'm more comfortable participating in gaming and I love it even more than I thought I would. I'm kicking myself for not starting earlier, both because I missed out for so long and because the amount of content there is to catch up on is simply massive.