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.
Star Control II & Secret of Mana
They both set my expectations for how much fun a game can be.
Secret of Mana as a template for what kind of world I want to live in (minus the monsters and whatnot)
and Star Control II as a template for how to write a fun adventure.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.
First the settlers 2 and Caesar 3, a bit later and with a lot more impact Guild Wars (1).
The Settlers II… what a game.
I’m still desperate to find a port of the Mac version, the DOS intro just doesn’t hit the same.
MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat
It had an archive in the game. It detailed the social structure, military structure, customs, and history of the Clans, which you play as a member of, from an outside perspective. I was only 8, but I read through the whole thing, end-to-end. I put an album of it on Facebook for posterity when I was in high school.
I decided I wanted to be like them when I read it. I have a much better understanding of them now, and I do not agree with everything. The concepts behind some core tenants still stand for me. Individuals are valued within the context of the Clan. One’s value is based on their contribution to society, but society must value them in order to expect their contribution. If a leader acts in their own interest and not that of the Clan, their subordinates are obligated to challenge them. If the conflict stands, they face in a Circle of Equals. Generally, personal disputes are delayed and adjudicated, but there is a Trial of Grievance if the parties can conduct if they cannot delay. In the real world, I translate these to a value in community, a mandate to not tolerate poor leadership, and good practice in letting cooldown time followed by direct dispute resolve conflict.
Of course, there are questionable things. A caste system, though some Clans allow more mobility than others. Eugenics based on combat prowess for the warrior caste. Promotion by combat for the warrior caste. Poor military strategy based on the concept of honor.
I still consider myself a Clanner, to some degree. Sometimes I try to see if others took it as much to heart as I did, but I am afraid of rejection. I do not know if I could pass various Trials. I know I am too old, now, or at the very least, approaching that. Maybe someday, I will find other children of Kerensky.
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.Kingdom Hearts 2. I think my parents randomly got it with the ps2 slim they got me for christmas or a birthday when I was a kid. I knew nothing about final fantasy or anime, but I absolutely loved disney movies. I don’t really know too well why it got me hooked so much. I had a head injury when I was 15, and have heavy amnesia of my life before it. The fact I remember so much about that time is really a testament to the impact it had on me.
I remember the aesthetic was completely new to me and I thought it was really cool. In hindsight final fantasy characters hanging out in disney movies is pretty weird, but they just looked like really cool guys fighting evil in the background of the movies.
Roxas’ story was also super compelling for kid me, the entire prologue felt dreamlike, emotional, and thought provoking. It was like I was playing a novel. For context, the games I had played up until that point were essentially just pokémon, spyro, smash bros, and mario kart. So the idea that a game could be emotional and have an interesting story was completely new to me.
Now I can see the flaws and oddities in the series, but I still love it and it’s had a ridiculous impact on my life. I sometimes worry a little that if the people in my life played the series they might see the inspiration for so many habits I have now and pretty much my entire sense of style is heavily influenced by the idea of Tetsuya Nomura design blended with disney vibes.
Wing Commander series. Played a lot of Wing Commander 1 to 5 as well as the spinoff Privateer.
I also spent a good amount of time playing Civilization 1.
If we don’t have to have played it - the Zelda Cdi games, for obvious reasons. My most recent subscribtion is an active YTP channel.
The edutainment games presented by Germany’s beloved children’s show host Peter Lustig, published by Terzio.
The tie-in video games to both his TV series Löwenzahn as well as the Swedish Gary Gadget (Mulle Meck) books were elevated by his voice clips and I still quote them regularly. They really put a lot more effort into these games than anything I’ve ever experienced, there was fucking free DLC for Gary Gadget if you visited their website and had your father put some files in the right folder.
The worlds themselves both star an excentric man tinkering on inventions, but while sometimes fantastical they are more grounded that the world of Peterson and Findus. They teach children about community and physics, similar to the book “the way things work” - guess who presented it’s animated show of the same name in Germany?
Toy Story 2 for PS1, it hasn’t aged at all, and it looks better than the praised MGS (silly comparison, and graphic style helps the Disney game, but I have never seen praises to that title regarding that field, also I played Toy Story as a kid and MGS as a grown up, that’s why I brought this) change my mind.
Metal Gear Solid?
Yes, that one.
Dwarf Fortress. That’s where my mild obsession with technological bootstrapping and self-sufficiency started.
Although I think I was more of a tween or teen when I discovered it. If I needed to be an actual child, it’s harder, because Mario Kart and JumpStart influenced nothing. Probably RuneScape; it’s fuzzy, but I think that was my first taste of internet culture.
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 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 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!
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…)
Zork. It’s the reason I have any typing skills at all.
Planescape Torment. I don’t even have words… That game has been living rent-free in my head for 20 years 🤯
Otherwise Morrowind. It was the first game that introduced me to mods, that made me spend almost as much time looking for mods than playing, and that made me make a few.
I discovered Planescape Torment a few years ago - I can see how it would be impactful to a younger me. Even now I can still remember the moment the Undying One gave his answer to Ravel’s infamous question against the backdrop of the Fortress of Regret’s OST playing gives me a chill
Yes I rewatch it on Youtube from time to time it’s a great ending!
What also really marked me in the writing are the characters, and the choices you have not being the binary 1. selflessly good or 2. pointlessly cruel. It was great to play someone who didn’t have to be either, for once, not having to decide between the two and being able to just play a character, not an alignment. I accidentally ended up as the practical incarnation mark II 😁
