Formative Games

[Mr. Daddy]

What are the games that really influenced you as a gamer? It could be games that made you fall in love with a genre, taught you a habit you took with you into other games, opened you up to a new console, or just anything that affected your gaming tendencies in the long run.

 

[goregoregoregoregoregore]

If i didn't play Quake and violent FPS games since ever i probably wouldn't even be using this username

 

[DunkeyKong]

That's a lot, but I'll pick one of the first 2D platformer I've played like Donkey Kong on the Gameboy. I've learnt that this is the one of the genre I loved the most, helped me discovered a lot of hidden gem for a lot of systems and improved my decision making since you can complete the levels in many ways

Other than that, there's Doom. It taught me to…rip and tear

 

[No-Bo-Dy]

As a kid super Metroid, as a teenager Symphony of the night, as a young adult dark souls.

 

[Jeff]

Without Super Mario Bros. Sonic the hedgehog and Kirby, I would not master my platforming skills! Something about platformers made me love video games even more.

 

[Strategist's icon Strategist Strategist]

Legend of Zelda was the first game I really obsessed over and was a gateway to other fantasy games and RPGs. I really liked Zelda 2 with the extra RPG elements, even though some consider it the worst game in the series. That was a formative game, then I played Final Fantasy IV/II and I was a RPG gamer for life.

 

[RanmyakuIchi's icon RanmyakuIchi RanmyakuIchi]

Mechanically, Megaman X1, Devil May Cry 1, Doom, and Ninja Gaiden 1 (Modern) gave me my taste for fast paced Action games.
Narratively, Metal Gear Solid 1 was the first game that had a story that got me deeply invested and left me emotional.

For real life inspiration, The Last Blade 2 gave me a fascination with Samurai media and led to me taking Kendo and Iai classes for half a decade.

 

[PrismRed]

Ima be honest, I have no idea, I play games since I was 3 and I'm down with whatever.
Rather I wanna find out why I'm not into RTS.

 

[Stingy Perry Stingy Perry]

The OG Sonic turned me into a gamer and Phantasy Star 3 made me love rpgs.

 

[Strategist's icon Strategist Strategist]

Narratively, Metal Gear Solid 1 was the first game that had a story that got me deeply invested and left me emotional.

Yeah, definitively Metal Gear Solid was a standout game when it comes to immersion and narrative. Unfortunately, Kojima went deeper and deeper into the memes with each subsequent MGS game and forgot the importance of immersion and believability.

I'd say Final Fantasy VI was the first game that tried for that cinematic feel. The Opera scene was something that seems kind of questionable from the modern perspective, but it hinted at idea of cinematic storytelling and immersion. It was a big influence in me pursing computers and game dev as a career.

 

[Ezri_Muldoon]

This wasn't foundational, but having a collection of Lego games from the turn of the millennium and only really playing them in around 2005 gave me a life long appreciation and hyper fixation towards Lego original themes & their lore lol

Whilst everyone was playing the first Lego Star Wars I was playing Legoland, Rock Raiders, Island 2, Racers 2 & Alpha Team.

Not the most conventional gaming experience when you're 12 ?

Sure I had a Megadrive/Gameboy when I was little and a PS2 Since 2003 but I mostly stuck with licensed games at that time.
Star Trek Voyager Elite Force, Jurassic Park Operation Genesis, Simpsons Hit & Run, The Thing & Predator Concrete Jungle (Got to love it when Parents don't do parental checks on media) and Star Wars Battlefront.

But to this day both my Girlfriend and I build Lego and honestly I wouldn't care so much if I hadn't had the exposure to the video games. Somethings stick with you into your 30's lol

 

[naizou's icon naizou naizou]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 got me hooked on FPS.

 

[aru.aru]

I got a whole list of these

I think if I had to pick just one it would be Wind Waker. It was the first time a game world ever felt so vast to me. It really made me believe in the magic of the medium.

...now here are the rest on the 3x3

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

Heretic - Turned me into a gamer.

Civ 3 - Got me into 4X strategy games.

Star Ocean Second Evolution - Got me into RPGs.

Ghost Recon - Got me into Tactical Shooters.

 

[trickybus]

Jolly Roger Bay from SM64 is the reason why deep water in video games (and real life) makes me feel uneasy. Mario's drowning animation was nightmarish. And this dude right here can go suck a duck

 

[MasterEn]

Jolly Roger Bay from SM64 is the reason why deep water in video games (and real life) makes me feel uneasy. Mario's drowning animation was nightmarish. And this dude right here can go suck a duck
View attachment 26198

well, i have some good news for you:

https://retrogametalk.com/repository/n64-roms/shotgun-mario-64-hack/

the shotgun works underwater. swimming works better with it too.

 

[OmegaPunch's icon OmegaPunch OmegaPunch]

Need For Speed Most Wanted (2005) was the game that ignited my love for cars and turned me into a gearhead ( if I had never played that game, I wouldn't have the profile pic I have right now.)
And Final Fantasy VIII kick-started my obsession with jrpgs (or rpgs in general).

 

[Pandaprewmaster325]

Final fantasy 7 taught me how to evaluate things based on how practical they are best example is the oversoul a pair of knuckles for tifa that power up when she is low on health.

I stood there and thought for a minute about it do I want to replace the tiger fangs with this? Why? If tifa is low on health there is a risk she is knocked out depriving me of valuable damage and why trade better performance always with high performance on low health? So I sold the oversoul and stuck to the tiger fangs also oversoul reduced her damage compared to the one she was already wearing so yeah no.

Silent hill 1 I went into it with the mindset of thinking im some sort of superman in short I got clapped and pretty hard too , fighting isn't always optimal that was a good lesson from silent hill it got me interested in horror.

Also metal gear solid with "live snake live"

WarCraft 3 had a lot of impact from inspiration to workout to making me understand game design more its a game that keeps giving.

 

[Deleted member 121503]

Final Fantasy VI and VII definitely got me hooked on JRPGs. Before playing them I didn't exactly know what kind of games I enjoyed (aside from Nintendo games), but after trying FF6/7 all doubts were cleared: JRPGs are my shit lol. Both retro and modern, but playing retro JRPGs on a console hooked on a CRT give an unbeatable vibe imho. FFVI was also one of the games that made me love retro gaming lol, and probably my first non-Pokémon JRPG ever.

 

[Mecharocca]

 

[E0N]

DOOM 2 was the game that got me into gaming. Never knew something can be this fun until I played that. There's also Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure and Captain Claw that made me love platformer games and Pokemon that made me a fan of turn-based games. Last but not the least Age of Empires 2. I wouldn't have spent a significant amount of my childhood and teenage years playing strategy/4x games if it wasn't for this game.

 

[fake-kun]

I got a whole list of these

I think if I had to pick just one it would be Wind Waker. It was the first time a game world ever felt so vast to me. It really made me believe in the magic of the medium.

...now here are the rest on the 3x3
View attachment 26145

View attachment 26228 View attachment 26231View attachment 26229 View attachment 26230

Mega Man Legends and Mega Man X cameo.

 

[King Koopa's iconKing Koopa]

Playing DIablo and Warcraft made me love fantasy with darker tones to it. Also Doom made me love games that were scary and violent.

 

[stealthRUSH stealthRUSH]

Mega Man 2 - patience, memory
Blaster Master - admiration for armored vehicles, mobile suits etc.
Kirby Super Star - admiration for colorful, unique games
Dig Dug - strategy on later stages
Contra - admiration for frenetic games
Kung-Fu Master - admiration for beat'em ups
Bomberman - calculated playing
Street Fighter II - reflex, memory
Bubble Bobble - cooperative team work
Super Mario Bros. - trial and error

 

[ciro64]

Banjo-Kazooie and Mario 64 are part of my DNA