Video Games The Video Game(s) that Changed Your Life?

[Daisie]

Everyone has at least one video game that they absolutely worship for the sole fact that it shaped their life in some way or another. This game could have been your first game, it could have been one that caused the greatest amount of nostalgia, it could have shaped your creativity, it may have even taught you some life lessons. It doesn't matter if it's a "Good" game or a "Bad" game. It's special because it means something to YOU, and will always hold that special place in your heart.

The video game that changed my life most would probably have to be Undertale. It sounds cheesy, and you've probably heard the same thing about the same game, but it really truly helped me become a more positive person, and just believe in the power of believing in other people. It helped me to stay determined, and it helped me gain that attitude of always seeing the potential in people, no matter how good or bad they are. Not only that, but I introduced this game to a friend of mine, and we shared our love for it together, and grew ever closer because of it. We're best friends now, and are practically family members now, and it all really began at Undertale. I can firmly say that this little indie game changed my life for the better. Again, it sounds cliche, and you probably hear it a lot, but no matter how notorious the fandom is, Undertale will always hold a special place in my heart.

What's the video game that changed your life the most? I'd love to hear about it. Gush away!

 

[Onmyoji]

Final Fantasy 6. It was my first jRPG and after I discovered those games I never looked back. Because once I accidentally played that game I became what I am now, a Japanese games nerd xD
That game inspired me to write a poem which never happened ever again.

 

[banshees]

definitely animal crossing. i started playing it when i was extremely young and i think it’s part of the reason why i’m such a fast reader, since the dialogue bubbles often moved pretty fast for a little kid. it’s still an anxiety-reliever all these years later, and it feels like a universal experience, like pokemon. EVERYONE has played either animal crossing or pokemon.

 

[AllyK8e]

Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic changed how I viewed video games. Before I found this game via a lovely little YouTube channel, (name redacted so as not to advertise, but available upon request), I was the type of gamer that played any and every game like an action movie. I would go in guns blazing, baseball bats swinging, or dragonfly-abusing (thank you Bugdom). This particular Youtuber's snarky sense of humor and the game he was playing (KotOR 1) opened my eyes to a more tactical, logical path to approaching video games. Years later, I discovered an Oblivion/Skyrim let's play by another Youtuber (name redacted but available upon request) who liked to play Robin Hood style sneak thieves. This was so contrary to my original style of gaming that I admittedly clashed with this person in their comments section on numerous videos. In the end, however, I can no longer play a game like Skyrim as the front line orc barbarian who puts all her points into two-handed weaponry and wields a giant greataxe.

Why was I so aggressive in games you ask? Well, you see, where I live, it's kind of illegal to say anything bad about anybody (unless it's a barroom brawl and/or sports-related, which I guess is fair game).

Nope! KotOR 1, for better or worse, turned me into a pansy, min-maxing, stealth-loving strategist!

 

[FlyingDemon]

Okami, it's the game that has changed my life (on a way), it's beautifull, the soundtrack fit all the places very well, and the characters are really different from each-other (humans to yokais to deities and to animals),
i never get tired of it.

The story... never seen a story that captiving and epic.

 

[Marzopup]

Honestly? Probably To the Moon, and I'd even go so far as to throw in its sequel Finding Paradise too. I was in a writing slump for years--then I played it, and I was honestly so moved and inspired by the story that I forced myself to sit down and start writing again and I even still use the soundtrack as my background music.

It's still the best story I've ever seen coming out of a videogame, hands down. It also led me to trying anime because I was told it was very 'animesque' and the rest is history there. xD

 

[aBoxNamedGD]

it's gotta be pokemon emerald for me. before playing it i just did the usual thing every kid from the 2000s does, play shooters of all genres. and while that's still SORT OF true, i fell in love with the game almost immediately after playing it. i got to have a bunch of fictional monsters fight for me against other fictional monsters? AND there was a somewhat competitive scene? although i'm pretty sure it wasn't matured yet. i had to try it out. and to this day, i have played most of the pokemon games and went from playing shooters to having one game get me into rpgs as a whole. so pat on the back for nintendo for being cool like that.

 

[HannaTheHippy]

Life is Strange, definitely. I wouldn't say it's a bad thing, but it contains events that are very similar to things that have happened in real life to me, such as the disappearance of Rachel, finding her dead, those types of things. Specific things as well, such as Chloe. I dated someone with the dead name (transgender) of Chloe, and seeing Chloe and my ex change in the same ways were...strange for me. I could tell why he liked the game so much, and I'm glad he recommended it, but Jesus, I wasn't ready for my heart to get ripped out like that from someone I love/d. I won't get into it too much, but also the soundtrack makes me cry just listening to songs from it. The game is beautiful, no doubt I love it's scenery, game play, plot, and soundtrack, but it hits me hard every time I think about it. It's a bittersweet thing, but holds a special place in my heart.

 

[lowroar]

Tales of Symphonia, hands down. I absolutely adore the plot + characters/their development. I'm biting at the bit to replay the game.

 

[Idea]

Well, whoever it may sound, that game to me was World of Warcraft.

I first came into contact with WoW when I was around 5 to 7 years old. I was visiting my godmother (she lives in the South of the country, so it was an event whenever I could) and the thing is her husband is very passionate about games (I hesitate to call my uncle a gamer), a passion he passed down to his sons. I can barely remember how it actually went down, but knowing me and the faint hazy memories I have left I believe I had just finished watching a digimon movie on tape, or some proto CD or something, got out of the sofa and just headed to the room where my cousins had been doing something closed in there all day. The next thing I remember I was just mindblown watching them play.

This wasn't the first game that utterly astonished me (the one with that pleasure was magic the gathering) and I probably reckoned I ought to have a similar attitude towards it, so I asked for them to teach me how to play and to let me try. I don't remember what happened, I just remember having a blast. From then on out anytime we went to visit my godmother, I always ended up playing a bit of wow with my cousin's help and eventually got my first little brother into it as well.

On my brother's 7th or 8th birthday, what he got as a present was none other than world of warcraft. I'll spare you all the details, but I played that game up until the begging of my last year of high school, when I decided I needed to start being more responsible and realized I just wouldn't have the time for studying, RPing, playig wow and watching anime etc... So I decided I would cut on wow. Still, those years in which I played defined so much about me. They were my first attempts at exploring an online persona and interactive storytelling. I had the opportunity to explore the rich world of Azeroth and meet people from around the world (or at least from around Europe cause servers), allowing me to realize a relationship is no less meaningful just because there are a pair of screens in between. Most of the English I know today, I learned it playing that game. World of warcraft helped shape my view and standards for games in general, and it helped me learn my own style of doing things. My relationship with eletronics and much of my relationship with my siblings growing up were often reflected and based upon how we interacted through the game and more specifically how we distributed the time without it.

As the oldest I felt the need to distribute fairness so I was always the one trying to mediate disputes (unless I was involved somehow) and I was the one who would usually make a schedule for who gets to play when and what rules there are for this or that exception etc...

On my final days playing the game before I took a big break, I was just starting to really get into roleplay. I believe I had already quit my first roleplaying site and joined RPN, but I was still very inexperienced and would simply routinely do my dailies and tend the garrison while listening to the writing excuses podcast to learn more about writing.


Recently, we've decided that none of us really played the game enough anymore to justify continuing to pay for it, so we stopped paying and there went the account. However, I've discovered that it is in fact possible for me to play with a free account, even though it only goes up to level 20 and has a bunch of other restrictions, I am happy to at least have the chance to play this game that pratically raised me from time to time.

 

[TheBlackCat0]

Legend Of Zelda: Majoras Mask.
I wasn't allowed to play it as a kid when it first came out, so of course when I could I played it to 100%
Even now I can still complete it 100% without looking anything up or referring to the guide. Its just...Yea holds a place in my heart.

 

[Iamkingdomhearts1000]

The Kingdom Hearts Franchise.

Star Fox 64.

Star Fox Adventures.

The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

Final Fantasy X.

and

Sonic Adventure 2.​

 

[Corrosion]

Spec Ops: The Line.

I still don't feel like a hero yet.

 

[lostamongtomes]

Resident Evil. Some solid memories of crowding round with my sisters to watch my dad play through it when we were way too young for zombie gore but loved it anyway.

 

[EricSings]

The two games that I cherish the most are the Smash Bros. Series and League of Legends. Both games include characters that I like to play, mainly for their design and fighting style. ^^

Yay for video games!

 

[Rexcaliburr]

I want to say Team Fortress 2 for being the most outstanding, time-defying game. It withstood the test of time. And that's incredible. But I gotta say, it all started in Borderlands 2. That's when I was first introduced to FPS games and I never looked back.

 

[Lakyr]

I have to go with Oblivion and/or Skyrim. I like Skyrim more and spend way more time in it, but ... Oblivion was my first venture into the World of TES. Those games taught me how to use my imagination to make games more fun, by creating a new story for my character. "I don't want to be the Dragonborn, let's be a travelling merchant!"

They also made me love exploration... . Maybe sounds little weird, but some of my greatest childhood memories were in those games.

Another game I should mention here is Baldurs Gate: Dark Alliance. It's pretty much my first gaming experience I can really remember. My father sat on the couch with me playing PlayStation ...

Good old times.

 

[Fluxbauble]

Hmm a game that was life changing for me? There are actually quite a few but a game that really changed my life would be the game Steambot Chronicles for the PS2. Not a whole lot of people have heard of this game, but this game made me really appreciate the significance of lyrics within a song and the diversity of musical instruments. The game uses machines called trotmobiles, take the body of a car and add arms on the sides of them and legs underneath the chassis and that's basically it. You can look up a picture to get a better idea.

Anyways what's important in the game is the songs and their lyrics. You hear the songs a lot as you actually end up playing them with the band as you travel the world. So the songs are gonna stick in your head. I recommend listening to the songs "In Your Voice" and "See you later". "In Your Voice" is the first song you hear the band playing. The song helps really set the tone of the beginning of the game and sort of carries throughout.

"See you Later" is the ending credits song and it's a song that I couldn't appreciate until I was older. But again this is game that made me appreciate the context of songs instead of just listening to them for listening sake. It's a song about two friends, though more like lovers if you did what I did and went out of your way to date the lead singer, going their separate ways. But instead of saying good-bye she opts to instead say "see you later" as it implies that they will meet again someday. That was really impactful for me because at the time I was going through a really rough patch cause one of my best friends growing up was moving away and we had no way of contacting each other. I had just finished this game and when the day came for him to move I didn't say good bye but instead said "see you later" in the hopes that I would one day see him again. It's been over 8 years and I still haven't seen him. Though he's probably forgotten about me I still cherish the time we spent together along with our other friends because they really helped me shape the man I am today. And this song still resonates with me even today as I have a hard time saying good bye since it implies I won't see them anymore so I tend to say see you later.

 

[ethanlefeb]

i've got a few games that are big influences on me, or could be put on my top favorites, but for games that changed my life i can't say i can think of too much...

it's a tie between metal gear solid 3 and halo 2, honestly. the former because the plot opened my eyes both to the fragility of life and relationships in general, and to the fact that holy shit, video games can have REALLY GOOD STORIES and they don't have to be just fun time wasters, and the latter because it was probably the first video game i'd ever played. it might not even be in my top ten favorite games, but i have a feeling without it my tastes would be VERY different.

 

[BakedTrollSock]

The game that touched me - WOW.
I've never before played it in mmorpg before and I was invited there. I was surprised that I really can do a lot of things, and the locations (the first addition is lich, then the panda). And I liked the location of the pandaria very much. I remember that time as if I was on vacation, with special love.
Already much later in other additions I found friends and learned to communicate with people (pk, ospea, discord). Although before that I had a severe social phobia (paranoia, fear, panic attacks).
The last time I played in the legion, I found a job and now I can not give the game the same time as before...

 

[Happenstance]

That’s such a hard question because games have shaped and influenced so much of my life! I think the one that might’ve opened my eyes the most to how fun and exploitable a game could be would be A Link to the Past. I only had it for my gameboy color when I was growing up, and I just thought it was the greatest thing ever. It was the first game that got me into the Zelda series and it will forever be my favorite 2D Zelda game!
I also adore Okami. The soundtrack, the visuals, the story, the friggin’ paintbrush! All of it! It was everything I ever wanted in a game when I was little.