What game would you say has had the most impact on you?

[Scarecrow23]

Prob Everquest for the multiplayer aspect, and Half-Life for the Sci-Fi story telling

[Juan-ton_Soup]

There's still nothing like booting up a game of slayer with some buddies and yelling at each other when someone pulls off some dumb shit. Top-tier even in 2018.

[MasterChief117]

Halo. It provided me with the best experience by myself and with friends, it's one of the best stories in gaming history and has one of the best multiplayers in gaming history (and pretty much gave birth to online multiplayer). Best soundtrack etc. I could go on and on. I love a great many games, but i'll never forget Halo.

Second to that is Mass Effect and for all the same reasons, but exchange the multiplayer point for the way the game made you feel like you were in an actual crew + its amazing RPG elements brought a new standerd to the genre.

And the main reason for both of these games is the fact that both gave you such a connection to the characters, that when they died, it felt like a gut punch, **SPOILERS** ie; Mordins, Johnson, Anderson, Noble Team etc. Impactful as hell.....

P.S. Can't forget, Slayer, Infection, Team Swat and all the custom games, oh and Forge. Damn, Halo is a beast. Juan-ton_Soup

[0x00]

Legend of Zelda 1 on the NES taught me what was possible in gaming, so I'd have to say that. In terms of actually impacting my life on a day to day basis, I'd say that was Diablo 2. That game was addictive as fuck.

[Gray]

Hmm. Tough choice. I can think of two.

The first is and RPG for the SNES called Lufia and the fortress of Doom. That was the first time that I truly experienced an RPG, as I had been a very eclectic gamer up until that point. I didn't really discriminate. This game changed that, and turned me into an RPG gamer, which I have remained ever since.

The other was an old MMORPG called The Realm. I tried it out on some kind of trial, and then I asked my mom to buy it and I was trying to explain to her what it was. She went to Babbages, and back with Ultima Online. Completely different game, and when I played it I didn't care that it wasn't what I asked for, was The Realm that sparked all this and got me into MMORPGs

Honorable mention goes to Diablo. It may have been my very first experience with an online game.

[Edon1987]

Final Fantasy XI really shaped me in my teenage years. From 11 to 18 I played this game almost exclusively. It was my first real MMO, or at least the first one I spent any amount of time with. I made friends in that game that I still talk to this day and has been the measuring stick that I use for MMO's to this day. The Final Fantasy series has been one of my favorite over the years and I'm still playing XIV, their most recent MMO.

After that, games like C&C shaped my competitive drive. Counterstrike brought me into the world of PC gaming, and the entirety of my youth was dominated by the N64.

[JackofTears]

As a whole, the Mass Effect Trilogy is my favorite gaming experience, ever - even taking the travesty of ME3's ending into account. I did not preorder Inquisition but I bought it at full price and it was just okay ... they tried for an open world and fell short, with only a couple good side quests and mostly an open and empty world. I played it for 70 hours before finally becoming bored with the tedium of exploration and rushed to the end.

I *did* pre-order Andromeda, after I played the ten hour demo, and don't regret doing so. Like Inquisition, it was just okay - certainly the worst of the ME series - but I enjoyed it for one playthrough and about 20 hours of multiplayer. I felt like I got my money's worth and no more. I have not managed to do a second playthrough, despite attempting to on three separate occasions.

I had virtually no interest in Anthem before the Alpha Test and even less interest in it after the fact. If I wanted to play Destiny, I could get that game for a lot cheaper.

[Juan-ton_Soup]

Halo 3 gave me the best multiplayer experience I ever had. I didn't gain any moral ideologies or life lessons, but it gave me the chance to be apart of what I believe to be the best game community ever. Halo 3 wasn't my first game and may not necessarily be my favorite, yet it was an experience. In its heyday, you could jump into any lobby and play with the same people for hours. We would all take turns sharing our user-created maps and it was a blast! At the time, I took this experience for granted. Now, it is a memory I will cherish forever.

[ScurvyRat]

Dragon Age Origins and Mass Effect series. Not only they introduced me to the RPG genre, but also ignited my love towards Bioware, their storytelling and unique characters. I was quite disappointed after the relase of DA: Inquisition, especially when it was my first pre-order (never again). Andromeda just put the nail in the coffin. Bioware isn't the same any more. I'm not even excited for their new relese - Anthem. I could even say that I don't care about it.
Nevertheless, I still consider DA:O and Mass Effect trilogy the best games I have ever played.

[JackofTears]

"Planescape: Torment". I had been DMing roleplaying games for a few years by the time I played this game but had never truly understood Planescape as a setting. Playing the game really solidified what the setting was supposed to be about and what kind of stories one should be trying to tell there. It transformed PS from a setting I occasionally brushed up against, into one of my two favorite settings for D&D. It also opened my mind to the idea of high concept games, where philosophy and ideology could be tied deeply into your stories and fanciful concepts could be used to investigate deep and meaningful narratives. Planescape helped define me as a GM.

[RevolverGirl]

It would have to be Pokemon Red my first ever RPG, before that the games I played were fun platformers and fighting games where the story is either irrelevant or small and it was about controlling my character through movement inputs.
Pokemon was a game where I actually had to READ dialougue and use strategy and plan my battles to enjoy the game which utterly confused me as a 6 year old (back when RPGs weren't that big in the west) It took me a while to get used to it cause it bored me at first but I ended up enjoying thanks to the Pokemon TV show and some imagination. (Technically Pokemon got me into anime too)
As a kid this game introduced me and got me into more and more RPGs like Final Fantasy.
Even today most games I enjoy the most are RPGs and story focused games, especially japanese ones. Even in TV, movies, comics and books I care more about story and characters than comedy.
(I still played every single Pokemon game btw)

[Chris Simon]

Most important game of my life is probably Mass Effect. It's not too long ago and definitely quite late into my life and gaming career, but while playing the first Mass Effect I realized that games are THE medium of choice for me when comes to entertainment. Before that, I was a filthy casual, but after that realization was made, I haven't watched a TV once (and for last 10 years I don't even have one) and I only occasionally go to the theatre or cinema.
So yeah, Mass Effect. The game that made me say "Wow, I now know what I do with my free time - I'm going to play videogames"

[Imnotanybody]

Knights of the old republic 1, my first rpg and it started my love for them. I learned the layout of every planet, and did every mission for my companions. I learned to love the world and it's options.