Gaming

I have a couple games that stuck with me long after I played them. They're not similar to the ones that are being posted here though.

Pokerstars VR: During peak pandemic I played a lot, and a lot of the conversations have stuck with me. My irl friend and I started a little group with people we liked and it ended up being like 15 of us and at least 6 of us would be on every night. Nothing like playing poker and anonymously talking shit lol. I cried laughing a couple times

Minecraft: There are a lot of Minecraft memories I think about often. Some are back on Minecraft Pocket Edition on my iPod 4, some are playing hunger games with my cousin, others are of a server my friend and I made. I miss a lot of those old worlds and still remember where my secret chests are

A Short Hike: I played this game right after a breakup and it made me think back to what made me happy as a kid. The sense of wonder, discovery, and just not knowing anything. It made me realize that I still don't know shit and and I should still have that same sense of wonder. It has made my life significantly better

Persona 5 Royal. I normally don’t like JRPGs but there is something special about this one game. The design, the music and the gameplay never failed to put a smile on my face

Thief. The first three, at least. (*)

Splinter Cell as well.

Basically, Splinter Cell got me into what became my favorite genre: stealth.

Then I went and played Thief because stealth, and just everything about those games furthered my love for not only stealth, but it was my gateway to immersive sims as well.

Also, the level "Robbing the Cradle" in Deadly Shadows will always stick with me. As someone who hates survival horror, that level was both fucking incredible and also a nightmare that I had to use a walkthrough to get through quickly.

KOTOR got me into RPGs, and New Vegas came around and has stuck with me ever since.

And Skyrim I guess, since I've played it way too many times.

Should probably add Prey (2017) as well. Incredible game. For that matter, Dishonored. Both have a permanent place in my mind. And when I say Dishonored, I mean the first two, although I also enjoyed Death of the Outsider.

(*) I actually enjoyed Thief 2014 for what it was. Not nearly on the level as the originals, but it was still okay, if a sadly forgettable entry which kind of put the nail in the coffin for future releases.

The closest is Ghost Trick I guess? But frankly while being another masterpiece, it didn't stick THAT much more than the others, after a month or two even the 10/10 games come to mind only if I think of a related topic.

The most influencial would be Etrian Odyssey IV since it got me into giving JRPGs another go, after years of not being impressed by any of the classics (Final Fantasy 4-5, 6 kept my attention until the endgame, Golden Sun...), and now I basically beat them (mostly Atlus' so far) on a bimonthly basis. I guess EO in general sticks the best, but it's hard to label one game since I quickly went and started playing all of them.

Not a fantastic game, but the first Walking Dead Telltale series really hit me in the feels and so has stayed with me. The Witcher 3 definitely affected me, but it's hard to seperate that feeling from the books.

I'd say Kerbal Space Program, Factorio and Rimworld because whenever I play those it's like coming home, but since I'm always playing at least one of them, it feels a bit like cheating.

The feeling of the Tribes games is always there in my mind. I occasionally go back but the freedom of movement in that game is just so liberating. I never know why they aren't more celebrated. (Titanfall 2 comes close, but still not quite the same).

Battlezone 2 is IMHO another unsung classic. I loved the mix of RTS and FPS. Another one from before the mechanics of FPS and the general feel of motion had standardised (to a fault) which I think helps it keep it's hooks in me.

Night In The Woods deeply affected me first with the ending, and then again with the whole scenario that unraveled outside of the game. Few things make me feel melancholy like thinking of that game.

Your dog dying in fable (I think fable 2?) :( They make this lovable companion who is your best mate and he just... Dies, still messes me up

Shovel Knight stuck with me more than I think the developers even expected. Maybe because I went through a rather distressing breakup at the time.

Yeah yeah, I know I probably read more into it than they put into it, but I did and it stuck with me.

Firewatch, Hellblade, the Mass Effect trilogy, Cyberpunk 2077 to name a few. ME and CP77 are probably the ones that lodged themselves hardest in my mind by far.

Ports of Call on the Commodore 64. One of the first video games I ever played. Set up a shipping company, buy a ship, buy low and sell high and get better ships. Occasionally you have to take control of the ship (incredibly rudimentary, but it was 1986, give them a break) to dock or leave port, avoid a collision or avoid reefs, but for whatever reason I keep coming back to it.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1085260/Ports_of_Call_Classic/

its very short, but Trip World is a gameboy game I just cant stop thinking about, its one of the prettiest games on the system with a fun mechanic to it.

Ar Tonelico. I was very into world building in high school. And this game hits the closest to my imagination at that time. I just can't forget that feeling years after. Regardless of the weird visual novel-y parts of it

The Last Guardian. So many plot points were left a mystery never to be solved...

Alpha Protocol, cause and effect and replayability just made it one of the best of all time in my opinion.

Eastward is an indie game I got because I saw someone recommend it on Lemmy a couple years ago. The pixel art was amazing, and some of it had a very unique eerieness. The story was heartwarming at times and creepy at other times. The only real complaint I had was that so much of the story remained unexplained after the ending, I really wanted to see all the little pieces of plot tied together.

Last of Us Part 1 and Part 2. My favorite game series of all time. Honorable mention to Red Dead 2 and God of War Ragnarok. I’m a slut for cinematic games.

Spyro, Explorers of Sky, and Yoshi Island to name a few.

Some pretty good ones mentioned already, but another one that stuck with me is Disco Elysium

A lot of my faves on here already, but I'm gonna add Sable. I was so transported by the cell-shaded world and the unforgettable soundtrack. Nothing quite like it.

Nier:Automata

I still remember vividly how ending E broke me back then. Maybe because I have weight of the world in my playlist.