The Game that changed you

[MajorKris]

Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. It was my first game that I got for Christmas with my first console which, of course, was the N64. I was so excited because it was MY first gaming console. (My brother had a SNES and a Sega Genesis, and since they were in his room I couldn't play them much.)

Majora's Mask was also the first game I ever beat all the way through, and I have been gaming ever since.

 

[Fenreil]

A few hours of playing Battlefield 2 many years ago really got me interested in online multiplayer. I still remember that night as being one of the most fun nights ever.

 

[StarStruckStrumpets]

Kingdom Hearts, in more ways than I'd be happy to admit.
It's actually embarrassing how much of an impact that game has had on my life.

 

[SoopaSte123]

Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. I played the first 150 hours or so completely solo, and it rocked my world. Besides being an amazing challenge, solo MHFU made me realize how moronic it is that many games can be beaten with grinding and leveling up instead of being skill-based. Going from a struggling newbie that nearly died from a lone Bullfango to a G-Rank master taking down dual Rajang in the arena is an incredible experience. I'm now addicted to challenging games that are conquered through developing the player's skill, not grinding baddies.
I was upset that the new Monster Hunter game only came out on the Wii, but I've already mastered Monster Hunter. Now I've got Demon's Souls

 

[MortalForNow]

Growing up playing early console games, games like Super Mario 64 ensured my enjoyment of console gaming for years to come.

In more recent terms, when I first got my Xbox 360, I had never played any online mulitplayer titles before. The first game I bought was Call of Duty 2, and after playing with my friends for hours on end, my views of online play were expanded on much broader terms.

EDIT: Also when I was younger, I remember Paper Mario being the first game that completely stumped me (mostly due to the fact that I was born after the popularity of incredibly hard classic games) thanks to that pyramid level with a confusing layout. Yeah, not really so much of a positive imapct as the other two were.

 

[OceanRunner]

Super Mario 64. It was game that introduced me to the concept of free-roaming and made me strongly desire my first console (Which was PlayStation).

 

[Edorf]

Probably WoW, or Oblivion or Gears of War.

 

[andreas3K]

I used to play nothing but first person shooters and sandbox action games and any RPG I played had shooter combat. I thought everything else was inferior and stupid.
Then I played Final Fantasy XIII and now I'm a lot more open-minded. That game was unlike anything I've ever played before and I loved every second of it.

 

[Thaius]

That'd be Final Fantasy VII.

I had played games with great stories before, king of which at the time was Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (a game most of us Escapists can agree was an incredible and well-written game). But I caved to the pressure and tried FFVII, and holy crap. The story was so in-depth, so complex, so surprising, so full of interesting and deep characters... I've still never quite had a storytelling experience like it (though VI and X came pretty close, and maybe also Mass Effect 2). Final Fantasy VII alerted me to the possibilities for gaming as an interactive storytelling medium and sparked the true passion I have for video games as an art form, and that passion drives me today.

I should also give credit to Crash Bandicoot for creating my love for gaming in the first place.

 

[Flippincrazy]

I remember when I was a about 6, playing four player on Super Smash Bros on the N64 really got me into the whole gaming thing. And then there was FFXIII and Halo Combat Evolved, getting me into both RPG'S and FPS's, the only genres which I really play today.