Your 5 most influential games

[Whispering Cynic]

Half Life: The first FPS I finished, many good times were had with this one.

Thief: The Dark Project: My introduction to the lovely genre of stealth games. This game was a great lesson in patience, a lesson I've learned well.

Knights of the Old Republic: This was the RPG that really grabbed me and sparked my interest in Bioware games and RPGs in general. Also made me seek out more dialogue-heavy games to refine my English (it's not my first language, and I've learned more of it from games than from any other source).

Deus Ex: What's there to say? This one is a legend and one unforgettable experience to which I regularly return.

C&C: Tiberian Sun: My first heavily played RTS, made me fall in love with C&C games and RTS in general.

There are others, of course, but the aforementioned five are the most defining, influential ones, those most deserving of their places in my personal hall of fame.

 

[WoW Killer]

That's a really tough one, and I must say a wonderful disguise of the usual "best games ever" kind of thread. So I'm thinking of games I liked that happened to be big on influencing other games. If it was just the most influential games then we'd all be talking Space Invaders and Tetris and stuff. And if it was just our favourite games then, well, we'd all just name our favourite games. It's a tough one. I can only think of one definite off the top of my head. Maybe I'll edit and add more later.

Castlevania: SOTN: The first game I remember where nearly the whole of gaming journalism was wrong and more importantly I was right. This was a game made specifically for the oldschool crowd, with it's retro graphics and 2D gameplay. Every review I read on release called this a bad game, probably from its retro styling. And yet I saw a video demo for this game long before its release (on VHS, because we didn't have t'internets in them days) and just from those few glimpses I knew the reviewers had it wrong. This was the game that proved (eventually, by being a massive success) that oldschool mechanics can still be extremely relevant so long as they are applied right. In fact the game wasn't all oldschool, it was a brilliant blend of old and new ideas, for instance putting a progression system and loot hunt into a traditional platform style, and adding beat-em-up button commands. Because the media got it so wrong, and to satisfy the inner hipster within me, I'm going to have to go out on a limb and call this the most important game ever made.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt (NES) This is more than likely the first video game that I ever played. As I mentioned on a different thread, possibly in a different forum, I've played this game in a time when I was so young I hadn't developed enough to have clear, linear, progressive memories (as opposed to muddy, skipping, fragmented ones).

The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (Super Nintendo) This is not the first game I was able to beat but it was one of the first few (Super Mario World was the first one I beat). Beating this game though was a whole lot more satisfying. I felt like I really, actually accomplished something by beating this game, especially considering that I was a single-digit age and had found most of the secrets (including the Fat Fairy which I thought was hilarious at the time)

Dance Dance: Revolution It WAS revolutionary. This was the first game I played with a group of people and after-school...Hell, this game kind of got me female attention during a time when I wanted that kind of thing. It was a major gaming thing that wasn't Pokemon and I was in on it. This game also got me into J-Rock before Final Fantasy began importing Gackt into the US so there's another point in its favor...sure, I got into Guitar Hero too but Dance Dance Revolution is closer to my heart and makes my Nostalgia Bladder quiver in a sort of melancholic feeling that I'm too sleepy to properly define.

Halo: Combat Evolved This game is by no means my favorite but it did show me how amazing playing through a game cooperatively can be. One summer, over a decade ago, my cousin and I beat this sucker on Legendary and it's just going to stick in my memory as being one of the greatest times in my life.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic Despite having played multiple Final Fantasy titles (among other JRPGs and story-driven titles) by this point, this was the first game I played that made me really care about the plot, characters and, universe in which the game took place. Thanks to this game, I got into extended Star Wars lore such as the Dark Horse comics and, the novels by Drew Karpyshyn.

Spoiler: Bonus, somewhat NSFW but not really

Guitar Hero 2 - Because playing through Buckethead's Jordan on hard (no, I can't do expert and have never been able to) got a past lady I dated to toss her panties at me...heh...I scored (and feel like I sound kind of cunty in this post...)

 

[McElroy]

GTA: San Andreas: It was the first game I ordered online ("ordered" as I was 13 at the time) and I've played it so much, had so much fun with it, learned to be a gangsta from it , and rustled my parents' jimmies with it (y'know, the game's rated 18).

Commander Keen: Goodbye Galaxy and others too, because it was one of the first games I played at my friend's place. It was also impossible to us back then.

Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped: Screw FFVII this was The Video Game for PlayStation for many years back then. What made it legendary was that we didn't own a PS so I always had to play it elsewhere thus never really getting a full playthrough until much later.

Heroes of Might and Magic III: Me and my dad are experts at this one with over a decade of experience. Both of us still enjoy it even though we've mapped most of its secrets now. There have been times when I've been sick of it and even said it sucks (so edgy), but I've probably spent a thousand hours at HOMM III. I'm a bit surprised I'm the first one to mention this.

The Witcher and Miniclip 8 Ball Pool Multiplayer These two are here because of their pure RECENT influence on my gaming habits. The Witcher made me realize I don't really have the patience for such a slow-paced game and it has led me to avoiding TES games for example. The second is in the same spot because it's probably the opposite of what The Witcher is and completely hooked me with its ease to play, win, and ragequit in frustration.

The was some honorable mention to give out but I forgot.

 

[FPLOON]

In no particular order:

Kingdom Hearts 1 (PS2) - Well, that escalated quickly close to the end... ("When's the sequel?" says my younger self... mainly to X-Play at the time...)

Rayman 3 (GBA) - First time actually getting 100% completion... (Also, platforming that wasn't Mario...)

Tales of Symphonia (GC) - So, this is a JRPG? ...Awesome! (Many more followed, including Persona 3 FES...)

Rez (Dreamcast) - Barely had a Dreamcast... but, this was the first game that connected me and my cousins...

Time Crisis 3 (Arcade) - The only first-person anything I would play for a LONG time... (until Portal came around...)

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order):
Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga
Portal (PC version)
Rayman Origins
Pokemon Emerald
Persona 3: FES