I saw this Lemmy post, but a huge list of games with no discussion isn’t very interesting! Let’s talk about why the games that influenced us had such a big impact - how they affected us as people.
For me, it was the PC game Creatures. It’s a life simulation game featuring cute little beings called ‘Norns’ which you raise and teach.
You can almost think of it like a much cuter predecessor to The Sims, but which claimed to actually “simulate” their brains.
As a thirteen-year-old it was the first game that made me want to go online and seek out more info. What I discovered was a community of similar-interest nerds hanging out on IRC chat, and it felt like for the first time in my life I had “found my people” - others who weren’t just friends, but whom I really resonated with.
I learned web development (PHP at the time!) so I could make a site for the game, which became the foundation for my job in software engineering.
And through that group I also discovered the Furry community, which was a wild ride in itself.
So yeah, Creatures. Without that game, I think I’d have become quite a different person.
E.V.O. Search for Eden on the Super Nintendo. It sparked my interest in evolution and honestly a fascination about the origins of “things”.
I only found out about E.V.O. way later, probably around 2005 when a friend made a web game that combined its evolution theme with gameplay similar to Legend of the Green Dragon. I still wonder why E.V.O. wasn’t more popular. It’s an amazing game, I still occasionally play it on my Analogue Pocket.
Zork. It’s the reason I have any typing skills at all.
I would love love love a spiritual successor to Zork: Grand Inquisitor. The zany humor is just on point from top to bottom.
Pemasuck Vaccums! We don’t just make things that suck. We make things that suck permanently!
Did you read the books? They’re not bad.
DOOM. It blew my mind when i played it. I learned a new genere, how fast paced a game can be and how clever map design makes a good game. I also learned about shareware which lead to a broader interest in the internet as a whole. Later i got a computer with a soundcard and when i fired up DOOM with music for the first time, it felt like a revelation.
Tales of Phantasia.
At the end, you find out that the BBEG was controlling monsters and waging war against the kingdom to save both your world and his.
You’re literally the villian in his story.
What a twist :) I like it when games subvert your expectations
Not as a kid, but when I was an adult, working my first job, RDR was really influential.
Influential how? :)
Robin’ dem banks n trains
John Marston before RDR was a terrible person and he was trying run away from his past. He was, eventually, forced to confront his past, specifically to save his family. Of course, he was killed regardless. Despite wanting to redeem himself and living peacefully with his family, he met a violent end. Almost as if the world saying that there is no redemption for him. This story really made me appreciate stories in general and flawed protagonists like John Marston. Perhaps, the story taught me how pointless ‘regret’ is. John had very little control over his life and his death. He couldn’t change his past, nor control his future, which hurt me really deeply. But this is true for everyone of us. And I have learnt not to regret the past. “World might not forgive you for your past mistakes, but you still can forgive yourself.” is my goto mantra.
Ocarina of Time - it was mindblowing to have the open world at the time (I didn’t play Ultima 7 until much later) and the music is incredible.
The secret of monkey island, the first two. Together with Eye Of The Beholder 2, the legend of DARKMOON.
And of course Leisure Suit Larry (n.1)
Then, probably Full Throttle a bit later.
And indeed, Ultima 7 and Ultima Underworld.
Also, Wing Commander 1!
They all defined every other game I enjoyed in the following years. Up to today.
Many games cemented my love for video games. Jak and Daxter, Ratchet and Clank, Prince of Persia… God of War, parents didn’t give a fux back then, the pixels weren’t that realistic.
Seeing Sonic the Hedgehog as an eyecatcher on a tv in a tv store.
Mario ofcourse. Super Mario World 3 on a cracked playstation.
Shadowrun on the Sega Genesis. It led me to my favorite genre of…well…anything… It was my introduction to Cyberpunk, essentially. And in a lot of different ways, it’s factored into most of hobbies (writing, painting, etc…)
It wasn’t my first RPG, but playing through Final Fantasy 6 (3 in the US) in middle school made me fall in love with music.
I ended up asking my parents for a digital piano and acoustic guitar which eventually spiraled into download ModPlug Tracker to sequent music. I didn’t have a powerful computer back then so I’d record one-shot samples from my digital piano and spent a few hours each day trying to create my own music.
I stopped recording around 2012 because I got really sick and music didn’t pay the bills. I’m a father now with a 5 year old son and I’m looking forward to sharing my love of music with him.
If anyone is interested, I can share one of my very early tracks and one of my last recordings to listen to. It’s one of my favorite things to do, sharing the culmination of my work.
It’s great that you can trace your love of music back to that specific game. Go ahead and share! I’m not really a musical person myself and only just started learning piano as my first ever instrument. That’s one childhood regret I’m working on fixing :)
My very first track (1996) Anteros Beat
My personal favorite track (2011) Starbortorium
And my last track that I never got to finish because I got really sick (2012) I’m Not A Bargain
I was never formally trained in music but I absolutely fell in love with everything about it. I ended up writing poetry and lyrics a lot towards the end up my recording journey. I’m hoping to get back into it once my son is a bit older but I’d need to purchase a lot of gear I sold haha.
Thank you for listening. It means the world to me.
Feel free to share. Would love to check your music.
I replied to the OP in an adjacent post but I’ll paste it here as well.
My very first track (1996) Anteros Beat
My personal favorite track (2011) Starbortorium
And my last track that I never got to finish because I got really sick (2012) I’m Not A Bargain
I was never formally trained in music but I absolutely fell in love with everything about it. I ended up writing poetry and lyrics a lot towards the end up my recording journey. I’m hoping to get back into it once my son is a bit older but I’d need to purchase a lot of gear I sold haha.
Thank you for listening. It means the world to me.
Myst, I wanted to write books that linked to worlds. Figured the closest thing was programming.
Civilization 1, patients, economics, frustration.
Doom, was just a shit ton of fun and got me into networking so we could play against each other.
I have a soft spot for Myst too, so I totally understand this. I own the “big box” PC versions of all the Myst games up until V (Revelations) which are the only big box games I still kept. It was magical to me at the time, Riven especially which I used to play together with my mother so there’s fond memories there.
Did you play the new 3D version of Riven? I’ve never had so much childhood nostalgia as I did with that!
I haven’t! I may give it a shot :)
I was obsessed with Myst, I loved the whole series, except maybe Myst 5. I so wanted Uru to turn into something.
When my dad gave me Myst, I had no idea what CD-ROMs were, so I put it in the cd player. Then he showed me the fancy new family Compaq computer and it’s amazing CD ROM drive.
Idk I kind of liked Uru. Love me some Peter Gabriel.
I was obsessed, played it to death. I was so sad when they shut it down.
Earthbound.
The game itself is a quirky but endearing turn based RPG with enduring graphics and score. The game came with a full strategy guide that was set up like a tour guide to the various locations in the game. It was intended to be a companion piece to the story and fleshed out characters and towns. I was so excited to get it as a kid that I measured the box a video rental place with a tape measure and compared it my Christmas presents to make sure one of the wrapped ones was actually it. I replay it once every 10 years or so.
The game was one of the strong inspirations for Undertale.Removed by mod
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.
My older cousins got me into it, and they were the coolest.
My first playthrough took months to finish. I would just roam fighting every enemy, cutting every bush, charge into every tree, sprinkle magic powder on every living being to see if they would transform. I loved that it felt limitless in the secrets and exploration. It’s definitely the main reason I’m so into the Dark Souls games as an adult.
I think as adults we’re still looking for a game that recaptures that childhood wonder.
One game that comes very close is Tunic, which is a zeldalike with a lot of spirit. I won’t spoil it for you or anyone else who may not have played, but it’s brilliant and I highly recommend it.
Best enjoyed on a lazy Saturday morning snuggled in a blanket pretending you’re nine years old again.
Tunic felt to me like being 3 or 4 again. Unable to read the instructions, working it out from the pictures and button icons.
I didnt complete it, I got stuck against some baddy quite early on and just sorta lost interest, but its on my list of games to go back to.
You should definitely go back, it’s so fun to learn about the inscrutable manual pages.
Rather than feeling like I was four, my experience was more like as if I was a kid in the 90s and my Dad was a businessman who brought home Zelda from Japan but it was all in Japanese and I didn’t know Japanese lol.
One thing to note about Tunic is that it has really good accessibility options. You can go in and give yourself extra hearts, or you can even turn on invincibility if you are really struggling and need to.get past a tough part sonyou can continue with the.story :)
I played TUNIC fairly recently and I also love and recommend it.
Yay <3
