Games that have stuck with you?
Games that have stuck with you?
Have you played a game that stayed in your head long after you played it?
For me, Outer Wilds would be that game. I feel like I haven't stopped thinking about it since I beat it a couple years ago.
Definitely Outer Wilds as well.
Hell, looking into the soundtrack changed my daily playlist to something heavily Midwest Emo.
For me, that game would definitely be Disco Elysium. I've never connected with a game as much as with that one. I'm actually reticent of playing it again for fear of it not living up to the first experience; I felt like my first playthrough was perfect, even if technically speaking it wasn't.
Other than that, I also still think about Mass Effect a fair bit.
On a side note: if you liked the investigating and "detective-ing" of Outer Wilds, then you will probably also enjoy Return of the Obra Dinn, The Forgotten City, and The Case of the Golden Idol. I'd also add Disco Elysium to that list, but be aware it's a lot more text heavy.
I never did finish Outer Wilds and still think about it a lot! I need to go start it again because it is genuinely spectacular, but I struggle with my constraint of only being able to put short-ish play sessions into it.
Playing Ocarina of Time with my son was an epic journey I treasure. It completely captured his imagination, and I was along for that ride.
Grim Fandango was, and continues to be, a dream for me.
While I'm there, Full Throttle also executed its style so well that some of its moments still serve as cultural/stylistic landmarks in my mind.
Mass Effect 2 had several moments where the atmosphere and universe totally hit the mark (Going into the Afterlife Club... come on!).
Red Dead Redemption connected me to that setting in ways movies can't reach.
Edit: I forgot to mention Firewatch! That game established a mood unlike any other game I can think of.
The Witcher 3 is probably the greatest video game I've ever played.
The Last of Us 1 & 2 is probably the greatest video game story I've ever experienced.
These 3 games are something I think about in some capacity very often and are, in my mind, the benchmarks that every other game is held to.
Mass Effect and Dragon Age are my notable mentions.
Easily RimWorld for me. The stories that play out over time, and how to make productivity more efficient live in my head rent free.
I've mentioned this game already in a few comments recently, but I think it really deserves more attention.
Prey (2017): I've loved it since the first moment, and I still think about the story and lore very often. It's almost impossible to find a similar game (Bioshock 1 and System Shock 2 have quite some things in common with Prey, but the latter has its own unique vibe).
The Talos Principle - for me, the puzzles hit the sweet spot of being hard enough to be on my mind all day, but never feeling like the solution was out of reach. But even more than the puzzles, the philosophical elements made me reflect on life, civilization, and personhood in a way nothing else has. It was a peaceful, tranquil experience of just me, a serene soundtrack, and thought provoking text and puzzles.
Mass Effect -- particularly Mass Effect 2 -- left an impression, but The Last of Us is and will always be the game that has stuck with me the most/longest.
- half life 1, finished around 25 times.
- kotor 1, finished around 20 times with different classes, genders, alignment.
- kotor 2, finished around 25 times with different classes, genders, alignments, party members.
- might and magic 7, finished around 25 times with different party classes, alignments.
- might and magic 8, finished around 25 times with different party classes, alignments.
- mass effect 1&2, finished around 3-4 times.
- morrowind, played few hundred hours with different genders and classes.
- skyrim, played around thousand hour.
Who has obsession, me? No you have 🙃
Spec Ops: The Line I thought it was just another military 3rd-person shooter. Boy was I wrong. That thing hit me hard!
Also Oni by bungie. I like the style and I remember that the climax was somewhat emotional for very jung me.
This war of mine I cannot play this game for long and I absolutely love it for that.
There are others too but the common thing is that they were emotional for me. Sure I remember great visuals or gameplay but at the end of the day the games that make me feel stuff stay with me.
Last of Us part1 and part 2. Probably Ghost of Tsushima and also Shadow Tactics
Bioshock Infinite. Love the aesthetics and world building in this game.
The final act of Disco Elysium fucked me up for a while
The STALKER series really stuck with me for some reason.It's probably the familiarity of the landscape/atmosphere. Post apoc eastern Europe isn't that much different from normal eastern Europe lol
Barotrauma also stuck with me because of the atmosphere. Amazing game to play solo and feel the weight of the setting, although the bots you play with are a bit iffy and the multiplayer doesn't carry the same feeling of dread and isolation
Deus Ex and Morrowind are always installed in my computer.
Terraria for sure, it took maybe 30 minutes and I was hooked for days until I beat it. I still come back every few years to do it again
Mass Effect series. Especially ME3 with the DLC's. I think it was the Citadel DLC that I enjoyed the most. The game was really emotional at times.
Kenshi. Kenshi is the single most unique game I have ever played I think. There is no campaign, you are just sent into one of the largest maps ive heard of in a video game with the goal of "survive". So many ways to play, I've had so many different adventures in that game, with stories that I crafted that have stuck with me for years. I am still heartbroken I lost my saves from 2019 :(
Second choice is prototype. I dunno why but I just adore the shapeshifting combat, and edgy early 2000s aesthetic. Alex Mercer is one of my all time favorite supervillian/hero characters, he's just cool, man.
For me it’s Return of the Obra Dinn. I was blown away by how well this game is done. I blew through it in like 2 days. The way the story plays out is so cool. Afterward I hassled my wife to play it because she loves that murder mystery stuff but she bought it and still hasn’t played it lol.
Anyway highly recommend if you’re into puzzle games.
No game has ever occupied so much of my mind as NieR: Automata. I beat the game, thought "huh, that was pretty good", and then thought about it again the next day. and again. and again. again. again. again. again. again. I just could not stop thinking about what the game was trying to say or how it made me feel, and it's just become more and more important to me as time has gone on. Really incredible game
Disco Elysium. There are so many good quotes, particularly out of the thought cabinet, that I remind myself of on like a weekly basis.
I was in a bad place the first time I played through it. The Precarious World and One More Door stick in the back of my mind constantly, and I cried like a baby the first time I read "In the dark times, should the stars also go out?" Never before has a game so emotionally resonated with me, this hope in the face of crushing despair, despite everything.
Loom
It's been, what, 30 years? I still think about that game pretty frequently.
Ori and the Blind Forest + Ori and the Will of the Wisps. So much can be said
Zelda Ocarina of Time. I was growing up when it came out and I was so little I couldnt' really play it yet, so I watched my big brother play it. Whenever he let me try, I woudl just run around on Epona around Hyrule Field in circles lol
Control, just so much fun
MMOs: Vindictus, BDO, and Lost Ark. Just with playing them for 2+ years ea, that creates a lot of fun and happy memories with the people I played with
The entire Witcher trilogy, but especially the Witcher 3. Replaying after reading the books adds so much depth the world and the political decisions you are forced to make. The world is beautiful, the ambient sounds and soundtrack are so good ("winds howling") and the story is gripping.
When I finished Life is Strange 1, it just felt I lost a friend and it lingered for weeks. Whenever I was hearing the soundtrack, I felt really sad because of stuff that happened in the game.
Death Stranding. Beautiful landscapes with awesome moments like treking through a snowstorm to reach a distant prepper outpost. Waiting for rain to stop while playing the harmonica for bb. Definitly could have had one more zone to round it all off, or maybe expanded the final boss area zone to full size.
Basically all Blizzard games between '95 and '04 (So Warcraft 2 up until World of Warcraft). I just loved them all. Great gameplay and awesome music. The soundtracks for the games of that era are just permanently recorded in my brain and they'll randomly start playing in my mind very often.
Diablo 1 was my first ARPG and I remember playing it online and not knowing what the hell people were talking about because I wasn't familiar with the lingo yet. I loved playing online with the overpowered duped items like the Godly Plate of the Whale and the Arch-Angel's Staff of Apocalypse. It was great.
Diablo 2 was even better than the first one. My favorite ARPG of all-time and in my opinion still the best one ever made. I've spent hundreds of hours on this game online and I still wish I could relive those days. One of the greatest games ever.
Warcraft 2 was also one of my favorite games, the soundtrack was especially great. I know every note of every piece of music in that game by heart. Sometimes a random piece of Warcraft 2 music will just pop in my head and start playing on repeat for hours on end.
World of Warcraft was the first MMORPG I got addicted to. I played others before, but WoW just had me hooked. I've played this game religiously up until the end of WotLK when the game lost its magic for me. I've played all the expansions that came after that but not much, usually just one or two characters to max level and then I get bored with it.
So many people mentioning Outer Wilds, think I will have to revisit that. There are a lot of honorable mentions like HL2, SOMA and Ocarina of Time. But for me, the outstanding mention would have to be the original Elite on the Sinclair Spectrum. For such an early, technically simple game it had so much depth and gameplay, and challenge (took me weeks to master that damn docking procedure without crashing!).
Started thinking about it and turns out I have a few:
- Thomas Was Alone for the overall vibe, music and writing
- Celeste for the the story and gameplay
- Hollow Knight for the world, music and mechanics
- Metroid Prime for being generally incredible
- Overwatch for being my intro to online games and the friends I made playing it
- Halo 3 because a mate of mine and I played it so damn much
Sometime in 2021 I was at kind of a low point and happened to play OMORI. It deals with many of the things I'd been struggling with at that time and taught me a lot about them. Naturally, I was obsessed with it for a year or so, and still think about it a lot.
Also, I've seen Outer Wilds mentioned in these kinds of threads multiple times now. I should probably just give it a try already...
Half-Life 2. I have so many playthroughs that I lost count. At the time of release, the gameplay and physics were mind-blowing. The atmosphere over time got even better when Valve released bloom lighting. The water and sky were breath taking. I still go back and visit to this day.
Outer Wilds and Soma.
Both live pretty much rent free in my head since I played them.
A few that come to mind:
- Gris - such a beautiful game. I was going through something when I played it and I just felt such a connection.
- Undertale - just an all around incredible game. I'm a big fan of Earthbound and this scratched a similar itch.
- Beneath a Steel Sky - I love point and click adventures and this one will love forever rent free in my head. (bonus: it's free on GoG)
The big ones for me are the one where I made friends and very personal experiences:
Tibia, Eve Online & Warhammer Online
Which reminds me, I haven't messaged certain former guild leader in a while!
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.
Red alert 2 and counterstrike will be with me forever. I played those games so much growing up that I always find myself going back to them.
Life is Strange Might have just been I played it at a point in my life that I could really relate to it but characters have stuck with me since playing it. Looking back, it could have been so much more then it was in terms of choices and such. But I still think overall it was great
For me it was Metal Gear Solid 3 and 4, as well as Devil May Cry 3.
I used to have a pretty hard time thinking about what were my favorite games and the ones that changed my tastes and probably perspectives.
I realized that every time get asked this question the first games that come to mind are always these 3.
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.
Metal Gear Solid 2. The reveal at the end has stuck with me because 9/11 happened a couple months before and it was so poignant and apropos that my heart rate jumped for the entirety.
Deus Ex. For the same reason as above but in the opposite direction time-wise.
Outer Wilds. Like most have said. Amazing game.
Black & White. Playing god had never been so much fun.
Thief. Stealth in a way that had never been done before.
Morrowind. First RPG I wanted to do every little thing in.
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. I grew up in LA during the 90s. This game was the closest thing to using a time machine. The amazing story was just a cherry on top.
Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is the easy answer for me. It hit me at just the right time, in just the right way. It was masterfully crafted. The sound track was, at the time, perhaps the best pairing of a video game and sound track ever made.
Ace Attorney. The first 3 and Edgeworth spinoffs are legit masterpieces.
The ending of Unreal 2 (the single player game) when your team have all died and left messages for you to listen to as you fly away alone on a spaceship
Shadow of the Colossus. The entire vibe of the world just got to me.
Hugos House of Horrors was the first video game I played — I was probably 7 or so and my mother would perm this ladies hair every few weeks. She was a family friend and was in a wheelchair, so we would go to her house. She had a computer that had this game on it and I was just mesmerized by the whole creepy/campy vibe.
Starcraft, when the first one released and then the expansion, I always wondered what happen to Kerrigan/Jimmy and the Protoss templars. We don't have any official answers all the way until Starcraft 2 released. That "it's about time" trailer was about as hype as I can be for a very long time. And then it faded behind DOTA 2 and LoL.( I didn't even know when the 2nd one or 3rd campaign released. too busy with indie game/kickstarter boom and then Rocket Leauge. ^^; )
Well I would answer Outer Wilds (in particular, with the DLC), but since you already said it, ummm....
Probably Hollow Knight. I remember just loving the exploration in that game, and the difficulty made everything feel well earned. I haven't played Elden Ring yet, but it sounds like people had a similar reaction to that, but in 3D.
Persona 3 FES. It was a pivotal game for me. Beating that game was my gateway to more challenging RPGs and made me start paying attention to voice actors due to the amazing performances in that game.
Oblivion has lived in my head since the moment I first played it back in 09. Finally started teaching myself how to make mods for it last year and now it takes up even more of my brain!
Medievil
Hollow Knight and Ori Will of the Wisps pop up in my head constantly. They're atmospheric masterpieces.
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
For me it's still Anarchy Online after almost a decade since I played it last. The atmosphere in the game and community was amazing. After that I would say mass effect, rdr2 and the elder scrolls series
I’ll never forget loading Myst on my performance 5200 and getting lost
Immediately reading the title, Outer Wilds was the first to come to mind. There's nothing quite like it, and I wish I could relive the feeling of playing it for the first time again.
Metal Gear Solid. All of them, but especially MGS 4 left me speechless and sad-tisfied. I played it pretty much every year until my PS3 didn't want to exist anymore. I still have times where I recall scenes from the whole saga.
Neverwinter nights and it's expansion packs still sticks with me
The Last of Us (both parts). Just started a new play through of Part I. It truly is a masterpiece in storytelling
Bioshock Infinite
Red Dead Redemption 2
The original spyro playstation games
Fallout 3. Especially the morale dilemma's I could never bring myself to blow up Nuke town.
At the risk of dating myself, Heroes of Might and Magic III. Took every bit of grunt my late 90s PC had, still play occasionally.
Neon white was super fun, still working in 100% for the good ending.
Final Fantasy XV, Subnautica, LOTRO, SWTOR, The Mana World
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/
Some pretty good ones mentioned already, but another one that stuck with me is Disco Elysium
Bloodborne has the most haunting atmosphere of any game I played and I haven't stopped thinking about it since I first played.
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice. When I finished it I couldn't stop thinking about it for a couple of days. It was quite the experience, hearing the voices and learning to trust them. Factorio. The factory must grow.
The Last Guardian. So many plot points were left a mystery never to be solved...
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 Witcher 3 (mainly the DLCs), the story was so good, like it's the only game I can remember where I was waiting to play it every weekend just for the story.
Ocarina of Time - the music is so amazing, I can still remember all of it.
Runescape Classic (like 2002) for making me impervious to scams - you get scammed by some players once and that sticks with you.
Mother 3 still affects me in ways no other game has, even to this day. It's truly a beautiful game.
Shadow of the Colossus
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.
I received Eternal Darkness for Christmas in 2002. I will NEVER forget the feelings that game inspired in me thanks to the unique "sanity" system and creepy lovecraftian atmosphere.
I remember my brothers and I huddled around the basement TV into the wee hours of the morning over our Christmas holiday totally creeped out but so driven to complete the story that we pressed onward.
What a fantastic game that was and I'm so grateful for those memories with my brothers. I don't think I've ever had such a deep connection with a game since.
Believe it or not, it was a flash game. You can't play it online anymore, though you can find it for download somewhere I'm sure.
It was called "Obliterate Everything 2" - it was just a small game about space battles, with fairly simple mechanics. But the amount of depth it got from that was so absurd. The difficulty curve was a bit wacky, and I remember talking at length to my friends about the various game design principles I'd learned from observing and judging it.
Chrono Trigger, for so many reasons. The soundtrack is outstanding. The use of time travel, with little moments where you affect the world in 1000 AD by making changes in 600 AD, is very satisfying. It has a New Game + feature with multiple endings to explore. The gameplay, particularly double and triple techs, was great too. Because of that gameplay, the choices you make for who you put on your team have meaning. Last but not least, the story gives every character you recruit some personal moments and a reason why they're hanging around with you.
I honestly think that Chrono Trigger is a game that nailed every essential element, and is the closest I've come to playing a perfect video game.
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.
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.
Spyro, Explorers of Sky, and Yoshi Island to name a few.
Mine has been FFXI, leveling my Black Mage (BLM) in valkrume dunes. The random people joining your party, the sheer fear of agroing the wrongs mobs, the music and the satisfaction of leveling up in such tough environment which took weeks. Reaching max level took months but you were truly an expert on the job.
I wish I could re-experience something like this but today's MMOs is all about the rush to the top.
Alpha Protocol, cause and effect and replayability just made it one of the best of all time in my opinion.