Games that stuck with you

I watched a YouTube video about this topic today and thought it was the perfect idea for a post here. It’s pretty straightforward, it’s games you played in the past that you’re still stuck thinking about, or games that taught you a lesson that you’ve held on to.

I’m going to start. For me, the two games that perfectly exemplify the idea of a game that sticks with you are Sekiro and BioShock. I have a feeling Dark Souls will be a popular choice but I think Sekiro did it more for me personally.

Starting with Sekiro, I honestly think it’s the closest to perfect I’ve ever seen in a video game, at least for a first playthrough. It’s fun, challenging, rewarding, thoughtfully made, beautiful to look at, it’s got great voice acting, memorable characters, and I honestly can only think of two mini bosses that bring the whole game very slightly down. Every other aspect is a 10/10 from me. Not to mention the combat is the best combat of any game I’ve ever played. Personally, this game is the purist example of a game that forces you to get good at it, and does the best job at teaching perseverance. In the rest of the Souls games, you can upgrade your weapon, get a new weapon, use buffs, summon NPCs or another player to help, if you’re getting stuck. With Sekiro on the other hand, you need to get good. Above any other game, this one showed me just how well hard work can pay off. I feel about this game the same way video essayists feel about Dark Souls. If you know, you know.

Moving on to BioShock, this one really taught me the value of a good story, and showed me that video games truly are art. It helped that the game itself is a ton of fun to play, but on top of that the writing is just phenomenal. I’m assuming most people on here have played this one so I won’t get too into it, and in case you haven’t, most of what I’d be gushing about would spoil the whole game anyway, so I’m just leaving it short, but yeah. This game is the finest example of video games being an art form.

What about you guys? What has stuck with you the hardest? I’ve got more games I could talk about but I’d love to see discussion from you.

cybervseas,

Games that play with metanarratives stick with me:

  • Beginner’s Guide
  • The Stanley Parable (Ultra Deluxe especially)
  • Break The Game really stuck with me the ending especially.
clearedtoland, (edited )

Damn! Your list made me remember that I missed Superliminal.

Which led me to Stanley’s Parable, which I hated. I maintain that I totally missed something despite a few playthroughs to “the end” but it seems to have just gone over my head.

*Break the Game is $2 during the Summer Sale. Definitely trying it.

Poik,
@Poik@pawb.social avatar

Which end? The main story is just a narrative device, in fact you shouldn’t really obey the narrator at all. Calling any end “The End” doesn’t make sense in the context of the game, really. Unless you just broke out of the mind control facility three times then called it quits? That end is supposed to be non enticing so that you try literally anything else before putting it down. I think the going insane end sticks with me the most. Although the game dev commentary in the recent release is fun.

all-knight-party,
@all-knight-party@kbin.run avatar

You should play Slay the Princess if you haven't. It'll be up your alley and it's fucking good

cybervseas,

Thanks for the rec. It’s on sale on GOG so I nabbed it!

all-knight-party,
@all-knight-party@kbin.run avatar

I hope you thoroughly enjoy it like I did!

clearedtoland,

My game time is limited so I play what I hope to be most impactful. My list is chock full of unforgettable experiences:

  • Control
  • RDR2
  • Uncharted
  • Dead Space
  • God of War
  • Ori and The Will of the Wisps
  • Disco Elysium
  • The Artful Escape
  • What Remains of Edith Finch
  • Gris

The first three I’d say there was life before and then life after. The rest, I wouldn’t want to miss if I had a redo in life.

cod,
@cod@lemmy.world avatar

Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2 both could’ve made it for me too, but for the sake of the post I only wanted to do two games so other people could suggest some. I absolutely agree with your picks

Oni_eyes,

Mine’s probably nostalgia tinged but here goes: FFVII, VIII, IX, and X I love the setting, I love the mechanic changes between the series from materia giving various boosts in 7 to the actual spell slots changing stats in 8 and the summons in 9, and blitzball in 10. The story for each was unique in their own world ending way and beautiful to run through. I replay them probably once every three-five years or so but they mark a high point for me. Adding to the list, Demon’s Souls. I never fully understood the storyline behind it but the sequencing of zones around the central hub and the combat are some of my favorite aspects. I need another play on that soon… It would probably be a little weeby of me to take some life lessons from them but they did help me to understand that hard decisions sometimes have to be made that include personal sacrifice and doing things that are unpleasant in order to move everyone forward and up.

Sanctus,
@Sanctus@lemmy.world avatar
  • Rain World (top favorite game if all time)
  • Cassette Beasts
  • Lotr: BfME2
  • Wizard of Legend (favorite Roguelike)
  • Bloodborne
  • Dark Souls (original)
  • Gauntlet: Dark Legacy
jwiggler,
@jwiggler@sh.itjust.works avatar

No game has ever affected me as much as Outer Wilds. Out of every life changing piece of art I’ve ever experienced, whether it be film, television, music, literature, or videogames, this is the first and only time I’ve ever gotten chills by the end.

The story isn’t super deep and it isn’t necessarily profound – it’s not really a belief-changer, outside of, perhaps, your idea of what a videogame is – but the experience itself is beautiful and rewarding and I’m not sure it can be recaptured.

domi,
@domi@lemmy.secnd.me avatar

Same.

The story isn’t super deep and it isn’t necessarily profound – it’s not really a belief-changer, outside of, perhaps, your idea of what a videogame is – but the experience itself is beautiful and rewarding and I’m not sure it can be recaptured.

::: spoiler Spoilers for Outer Wilds ahead

I had an interesting discussion about this game with a friend who didn’t feel anything after finishing Outer Wilds. We came to the conclusion that while the “concept” of Outer Wilds is incredibly sad/beautiful, not everyone feels something for concepts and ideas.

For example, my friend is a serious cry baby when characters he knows well die in games/shows/movies. We barely know anything about the Outer Wilds universe, its inhabitants or even our protagonist, so there’s nothing sad about individual characters perishing.

Yet you, I and many others deeply connected with a story about the volatility of the universe and life itself and how everything has to come to an end.

(DLC spoilers ahead)

The same applies to the DLC, there is nothing inherently sad about either of us perishing. We barely know anything about the stranger, the owlks, the prisoner or our protagonist. But the idea of both of us being dead inside of a simulation, drifting through space on a dying vessel in a dying universe is a heart breaking thought to me.

As disappointed as I was that not everyone seems to experience these emotions, it for sure is interesting.

::spoiler

SorteKanin,
@SorteKanin@feddit.dk avatar

Also for anyone looking to play it, don’t read anything about it! Not even the Steam description! It’s best experienced completely blind.

thesohoriots,

SOMA. Duplicating consciousness across multiple bodies and the branching off of one particular conscious mind to carry the narrative while the others were left behind was a fascinating concept for a game to engage with. Plus the atmosphere was a sublime nightmare.

domi,
@domi@lemmy.secnd.me avatar

The discussion between Catherine and Simon on the elevator is my favorite dialogue in any game. Not just are the voice actors amazing but a common sci-fi trope is presented from a much darker view than usual.

(Spoilers for SOMA ahead; go play the game, it only costs 5 bucks on sale)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnJ09VPnG-Y&t=188

Suck_on_my_Presence,

That’s what I came here to say as well. It’s so well done and it hits in such a profound way.

Have you read any of the short stories on the game’s website? I highly recommend it. Catherine’s is so sad and it really gives a ton of insight into what she went through.

Ashtear,

This game has lived rent-free in my brain ever since playing it. Not always in a good way either, it’s some genuine existential horror.

The ethical explorations are interesting too, such as the implications of repeatedly booting up a personality to extract information from it.

all-knight-party,
@all-knight-party@kbin.run avatar

Persona 4 as it was my first. the concept of having to choose how to spend your time, split between training in the dungeons, fostering relationships with friends, or studying and working part time was affecting for me, and its characters and stories are very good.

By extension Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney for showing childhood me that I liked visual novels, before I even knew what that was.

Monster Hunter. I learned to play MH purely because of its reputation as an obtuse game, I thought if I can learn to play and maybe even enjoy MH, that the other parts of my life I wasn't happy with couldn't be that much harder to figure out. Years later and I still adore this series, and don't think it's actually that complex, it's just hard to teach.

Dark Souls. Really taught me that games are more than just games. They're worlds, concepts, feelings. I'm sure I have more games than this that were formative to me, but these are what came to mind.

mossy_,

Which Monster Hunter game did you start with? I like listening to old players gripe about how MH:W ruined the series for them. I haven’t played any others but it was an awesome game for me.

all-knight-party, (edited )
@all-knight-party@kbin.run avatar

I started with Freedom Unite on a PSP as an early teen, but had no idea what the fuck was happening, just that it all looked awesome.

Then in my early 20s I resolved to learn Generations Ultimate. I slightly gripe about how almost all non hunting quests have disappeared in World & Rise, because it takes away your ability to change the pacing of the game without putting it down for a more relaxing game.

However, what World did to MH's weapon movesets in its expansion and... sleekening is incredible, and the move to open levels with no load zones along with the interactions of multiple monsters does an incredible amount to the atmosphere and experience.

So I love GU and I love World. And I love Rise. It's a series I pre-order because I know that even if it might be different, I know the developers gave a huge fat shit about the game as they made it and it shows.

mossy_,

That seems like a really healthy opinion, lol. My most used weapon is sword and shield, and watching the gameplay change from base World->Iceborne->Rise has been like going from a Penny Farthing to a modern racing bike. I’m not super happy with how dominant the wire bugs are for armoring through moves and ignoring attacks but I’m optimistic that Wilds will do something different with them.

What kind of quests have disappeared from the new games?

dditty,

Has it been confirmed that wirebugs will return in Wilds?

mossy_,

I don’t believe they will, the team who made World is making Wilds. But I speculate that the “super move on a timer” style of attacks might make a return.

I’m hoping to see some switch skills anyway. Rage slash was so much fun.

greengnu,

Warzone 2100 (you can download for free as it is an old PC game that went GPL)

gets more on the nose by the day

SteveNashFan,

Oneshot, Undertale, Mother 2 and 3 are games I think about years after playing them, great worlds and characters. Super Metroid too, the ambience alone still strikes a chord with me.

janus2,
@janus2@lemmy.zip avatar

Mother I feel like changed the way I view storytelling and RPG game design, like I use it as a mental benchmark for story-driven and/or turn based RPGs

Like I don’t think I would have appreciated OFF or Omori the same way without having played Mother games as a teen

TechieDamien,

Outer Wilds.

JuanPeece,

This is definitely my answer as well. Really wish I could wipe my memory and experience it again, I’ve never played a game quite like it. That first bombshell they drop after 20 mins in (IFYKYK) absolutely blew me away

missingno,
@missingno@fedia.io avatar

It's been years since I finished CrossCode, but I just cannot stop thinking about the characters and world. I won't spoil anything for anyone who hasn't experienced it yet, please go play this game it's on sale right now and make sure you get the epilogue DLC, but Lea holds a special place in my heart for what an emotionally compelling protagonist she is.

Kory,
@Kory@lemmy.ml avatar

For me its Subnautica because the progression works so well. I’ve tried lots of survival games and sandbox games with similar progression afterwards, but none of them had the same impact on me. It’s also because of the genre - Sci-fi on an alien planet, discovering what actually happened, and all that baked into some real satisfying gaming loop. Also, without spoilers, the end sequence always makes me emotional, regardless of how many times I’ve played it. It just speaks to me on a personal level.

craftyindividual,

There was so much thought put into that game. While I couldn’t work it out for myself, with the help of guides I worked it out. The sense of peril and discovery was wonderful.

Khrux,

Subnautica is the perfect mesh of several things that work fantastically. It is a good survival game but with it’s upgrade and discovery based exploration limitations, it’s closer to a metroidvania than it is to Minecraft. The thing it does so well is sneak this past you, it’s a mystery driven metroidvania where the downtime is a resource gathering, based building game.

The closest game I can think of of that tried the same mystery metroidvania approach is The Forest, but this feels like one of the many many games from the post Minecraft and DayZ boom that has a certain scrappiness to it that somehow Subnautica absolutely sidesteps, and it’s all from just being a really well made game. The vibrant and often tranquil art style that lends itself to awe inspiring locations, and the level design and overall plot support eachother so well.

That said, I’m not in love with the amount of resources. A 4*8 gridded inventory puts me off a game from a worry of it to getting too grindy, and subnautica is a “I need to build another storeroom” kind of game. With a full survival game like Minecraft, which is endless and about exploration and progress alone, I know my storage will be unweildy and I can forgive it, but I’d have appreciated Subnautica finding a way to require less mindless resource hunting / busywork unless itnwas optional base cosmetics or the like.

rob200,

Rayman 2 PS1, Rayman 1 PS1, Rayman Rush PS1, Rayman Arena PS2, Rayman 3 PS2, Rayman Origins Wii, Rayman Legends PS3 and Switch.

CleoTheWizard,
@CleoTheWizard@lemmy.world avatar

I have many choices but here’s a few that really stand out to me

  1. The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine If you’ve played just the base game of Witcher 3, you’ve missed out. I decided after playing the base game and waiting for a couple years that I’d go back for the DLC. I spent upwards of 100+ hours with this game on the hardest difficulty and the story in the base game is long, engrossing, and whimsical. But at the end you aren’t really completely satisfied despite several moving moments. Enter the DLC of Blood and Wine though and now you’re basically in The Witcher 3 part 2. This is where you leave the baggage of the main game behind and play out the best ending to any character I’ve ever seen. It’s full of adventure and new sights to see, its full of interesting characters to meet, and it captures the sense of love that Geralt has for the other characters. I legitimately cried at the end of the epic adventure when you sit down next to Ciri and just… realize that its over. Every good book I’ve ever read makes you really feel an empty heart to see the last page and read the final words on it. It felt just like that and I was sad to leave that world behind.
  2. Kingdom Hearts Series Just an incredible game series that appears almost made for children but turns into a very convoluted and at times extremely beautiful story. Whats so wild about it is that the story is somewhat complex but the emotions throughout are so simple, pure, and understandable. It gets to the core of what we all feel and makes cartoons of our emotions and never leaves that space. And the music matched with those emotions is just the purest art.
  3. To The Moon Its short, its sweet, it has great music, go play it and bring tissues. Its a sad tale with very simple gameplay but I listen to the soundtrack once in a while to this day and I never stop thinking about the themes of this game. What exists in this game is so thoughtful, thought provoking, understandable, and most importantly human. I can’t discuss the story at all without spoiling it but just go play it. It takes a few hours and I recommend never leaving your seat for the whole thing. You can probably even just watch it be played on youtube without commentary and get 95% of the experience.
cod,
@cod@lemmy.world avatar

Do you need to play the first two Witcher games to play the third one? I want to play the Witcher 3 but I can’t seem to get into the first one. I’ve got about 6-7 hours put into it on steam and I haven’t had any desire to come back since

CleoTheWizard,
@CleoTheWizard@lemmy.world avatar

I actually haven’t played the other two since they’re both very old games at this point but I do plan to try them out. Witcher 3 seems like it mostly stands on its own and you won’t be missing anything too huge when it comes to the story and characters from the other games. That being said, its a situation where knowing the prior games helps and you’ll understand the relationships better. If you bounced off of the first one though, my recommendation is just to at least read up on the characters and major events of the first two. Maybe watch a game movie if you can find one. I went in completely blind into the third game and it turned out fine so really you can’t go wrong, don’t let the prep for playing the game stop you from actually playing it.

cod,
@cod@lemmy.world avatar

I appreciate it. Thank you!

SolOrion,

Absolutely not- you can just play TW2 which is significantly less dated than TW1, or just skip directly to TW3. Maybe watch a recap of the first two games if you do that, though.

HelixDab2,

Blood and Wine was especially tragic; I sympathized with Dettlaff and his pain, and Syanna was a terrible person. But preventing Detlaff from killing Syanna for using him leads to him attacking Geralt, who has to defend himself. Regis understands why you had to kill Dettlaff, but he still loved him like a brother; the death of Dettlaff leaves him feeling terribly alone. There isn’t any way to end the bloodshed; everyone is hell-bent on destroying themselves.

CleoTheWizard,
@CleoTheWizard@lemmy.world avatar

That’s what I really love about the Witcher and its writing, there aren’t very many characters that I can think of that don’t have many dimensions to them. And every decision you make isn’t good or bad, just different. Even the love interest you can completely turn your back on and for understandable reasons. It’s just phenomenal writing that doesn’t exist in any other game of its caliber imo

flubba86,

Another vote for outer wilds. Its weird how often it pops into my head.

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • patientgamers@sh.itjust.works
  • fightinggames
  • All magazines
    •