Forums » Smalltalk » Let's talk: videogames

Hello everybody!
I am feeling in the mood to talk about one of my favorite hobbies: gaming.

What is the most influential game you have played?
And what's your favorite game ever?
Do you prefer handhelds, console, mobiledevices or the PC?

Just some conversationstarters, but I am actually really interested in getting to know your opinion.

Hard to pick the most influential game among those I've played, and the list will be long and bore the readers.
Same with favorites. I can't pick the undisputed leader.
I do most of my gaming on PC, although I owned Famicom, Sega MD, PS1 and PS2 back in the day.
Genres are: RPGs, Fighting games and Beat'em Ups are leaders while the least liked are sports games.

The game I remember best is Majora's Mask on the N64. I'm not sure how to define something as the most influential game for me, but I definitely poured several years of my life into that golden cartridge and getting to play it again on the 3DS was absolutely wonderful!

Favorite game is a tie between two beautiful choices - Shadow of the Colossus, or Journey. They're both very minimal-contact games with huge emphasis on the world, and they're also some of the most gorgeous games I've ever played.

I usually prefer handhelds if only because I can play them wherever, but in an easy second is PC. Not to disparage my lovely consoles of course, but it's just easier to get online and browse my library on the computer.

The two most beloved games for me has been The Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time and of course Majora's mask. I started on the old Sega genesis, so Sonic the hedgehog was the first game I ever played... but nothing will ever be as beautiful as the LOZ games. I will be getting a switch soon just to play BotW

I live for video games! I love so many different ones I can’t chose a favorite! Like only probably half the games I love are on my profile maybe not even half!

Hard to say what the most influential game has been for me, but despite being awful at video games I love playing them. My favorite has to be Dragon Age Inquisition; I like the adventure type games with magic and mystery themes

The most influential game for me is Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifise. Beautiful game and amazingly crafted story. It feels me with both a sensation of dread but also enormous joy.

Going by hour count, my favorite game would be Payday 2. It is a bit of a tie with the Metal Gear Solid and Witcher series, really.

I grew up with PlayStation and I still play a lot of console. I’ve started to move over to PC simply because it makes aiming so much easier in shooters, lol. If I really had to pick, I’d go with console since I prefer having a bigger screen.

Haha, oh dear, Majora's mask. I have played it too, but only the 3DS remake and loved it!

For the most influential game I have ever played....it's definitely Xenoblade Chronicles for the Wii. I had been going through hard times when I first laid my hands onto this gem and it was a blast to play. I never played an "hardcore" RPG before, the only thing comes close was Pokemon, but Xenoblade was a completely other story.
It was just the world, the music, the gameplay and especially the 3 dimensional characters that hold my interest.
Especially Shulk and his struggle to protect his loved once, his fight for his own future. It touched my heart, really.
I usually don't cry while playing games, it only happens rarely (for example BOTW'S cutscene when Zelda and Link escape from the city and she cries in his arms), but Xenoblades twists and turns just touched me.
Oh, and the music played their part for my experience too. So much so that it gives me motivation when ever I hear it, to keep on and achieve my goal!

For favourite game, it's a hard question. It depends on my mood. As much as Iove Xenoblade & it's sequel, there is not always enough time for a longer session. Then A link between worlds (The legend of Zelda) is always a good choice, one of the few games that I can 100% (all items, hearts & upgrades + final boss) in ~6-8hours..

For consoles, definitely Nintendo ones, but to my shame, I only owned such. So yeah, I don't really know the alternative. And on TV, that's always better.

Blaster Master Zero changed my life and I adore that game. Best game I played in 2017.


Fave game ever? I have many.

I don't really feel that I've ever been influenced by games... at least not on a life level.
Creative inspiration though, I've definitely had that.
I guess my favourite game would have to have been Final Fantasy VII. Maybe it was because of the age I played it at, or maybe it really is just my favourite, it's the only game that ever really and truly hooked me. I'm talking playing until I cannot keep my eyes open anymore, wake up and start again kind of hooked.

But other games that are definitely at the top of my list? I have so damned many...

Streets of Rage II and III
Street Fighter Alpha 1 (Because if you completed it on the hardest difficulty, you got a mode where player one played Ryu, player two played Ken, and you shared a life bar and had to fight M. Bison)
Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Because it was just a really really cool game)
X-Men vs Streetfighter
Bloody Roar
Morrowind
Oblivion
Skyrim
Fallout 3
Fallout 4
Darkest Dungeon
Don't Starve
The Batman Arkham Series
Fable 1, 2 and 3
Baldur's Gate 1 and 2

There are so many more, I just can't think of them right now.

As for preferred platform? Console or PC. I don't mind handhelds or mobile games, but they lack the depth of console or PC games, so they are my preference.

Personally i don't have a favorite game, although what i play and invest into the most is probably Hearthstone.

It's really cool to get so much opinions from all of you guys!
So tell me, how much time do you usually spend for games?
Is it a part of your daily life or something that rarely happens?

I think my body molded in with the program codes of my pc
That should give you some insight.

So the only platform I have access to is my PC. I've got Steam, so I'm not lacking in the games department. I recently bought Assassin's Creed 2, which has been consuming my life for the past two weeks. I already beat it, but I started a second game so I could finish it to 100%. It's pretty good, but it's also really aggravating. I'll be bored with it in a few weeks or so, as per usual. I have about 24 games in my library, most of which have gone untouched in weeks, months. Some of them I haven't played since 2017.

You inspired my next question towards you.
Replayvalue!
I mean, we all buy games, but how much do we enjoy them actually? Do you replay a game, or is it just done then?

To me, the replay value of a game is defined by a bunch of different factors, but I find that the social aspect (multiplayer) is what keeps pulling me back when it comes to newer games.

I've 100+ games on my Steam account and roughly the same spread out over different generations of the PlayStation, and while I do replay some of those games, it might only be 4-5%. I've discussed this with my brother (he is 5 years older than me), and while we are both somewhat iffy about saying 'things were better back in the days', we both feel games were arguably better back in the days. You had smaller companies just doing whatever they wanted - you've very few of those left these days.
Take Ubisoft, most of their games rely on the same formula. Open world, you've one big hub area where you get missions. Then you go to smaller hub areas and liberate them and get more missions. Rinse and repeat for the rest of the game. I am not saying that there is anything wrong this with, but I feel like too many video games companies rely on something easy. They have something that sorta works, so why fix it? Far Cry games are still selling, hell - so is Assassin's Creed. To me video games have turned into a money-making machine with little room for creativity from the major companies, and I truly think it's a shame.

But to answer your question about replaying video games,

Is it an open world game, with hundreds of hours of missions and collectables to do? I probably won't replay it from the beginning (and if I do, I will give up quite early). I will however finish everything there is to finish over the span of perhaps a year or two. That being said, that I keep coming back to it could count as some sort of replay value. Or maybe I am just cheap and really want something for my 600DKK, lol.

Can I finish the game within the span of 30 minutes to four hours? Then I will probably reply it multiple times. I've a couple of games I find myself returning to, like Hotline Miami and Singularity, because they are short games. Obviously, that is not the only reason, but I do feel more compelled to replay shorter games rather than having to pour another hundred hours or so into a story I've already experienced.

Can it be played with friends? I find myself constantly returning to games I can play with friends. It's why I've so many hours in Payday 2 and have it for both PS4 and PC. I also find myself returning to World of Warcraft every other year to stay in touch with some of my friends there. Hell, I even return to games like TERA, Paladins and Overwatch just to chill.

Does it have sentimental value? Look, I will any day sit down and replay the old Spyro or Crash Bandicoot games or Metal Gear Solid 1. I love those games, I grew up with them and I love replaying them.

My game preference is dependent upon whether I can get settled and become fully invested. I usually don't touch games that I can finish under 50 hours. So, replay value or endless gameplay is a huge seller for me. For instance a couple of my all time loves are Skyrim and Final Fantasy XI (I miss this game so much even though it's still running, it's not what it used to be). I like a challenge and I don't mind hours of grinding or quests that take you all over.

A game that I will never forget though and few have seemed to play is Magna Carta: Tears of Blood by Atlus. It's an rpg and yeah, sometimes it could be restrictive but the characters and storyline really reeled you in if you gave it a chance.

I usually replay my games often. For example, i almost replayed every Pokemon game that i own 3-5 times. Same with Zelda, which is way better because of the hard mode.
But the biggest point of why i replay games is because of the experience. Sometimes, a game like Xenoblade that took me over 80h to complete on my first run caught my attention so deeply, that its story stuck with me.
It´s like a good book or movie, i usually read a book once or watch a movie for real once and the other times its just to distract or calm myself, but with games its way diffrent. Everytime i start a new file i can experience the entire game completelly diffrent than last time. Use glitches or exploids. Use garbage gear or no gear at all to get oneshoted, to make everything more thrilling and, in a way, more tactical.
Should i really try to face this enemy for his loot? Or should i really explore this area with my current skills and moves? Thats the thing that usually pulls me back, making the whole game way harder or just using new game plus and reck the ***** out of the game.
And with this methode i usually find stuff that i missed in the first run, because it literally forces me to take new routes.

But its not like i replay every game. I even own some games that i havent even beat yet, like mario64. And thats when i regret a bought.

Had you ever regret buying a game? And what makes a game valuable for you?

I usually go with the formula:
1$ = 1 hour of fun.
And in some cases a game which was 5$ or even less made me enjoy it for over 100hours.

Most influential: Probably Star Wars Jedi Outcast on the PC, or Shadows of the Empire on Nintendo 64, as those two are what got me into Star Wars games as a whole.

Favorite game(s) ever: KOTOR 1 & 2, both of Pandemic's Battlefront games (2 a bit more though), and Empire at War.

System preference: Really just depends on the game. When it came to KOTOR, the Jedi Knight series games like Jedi Outcast, or similar things, PC just worked better. But the Battlefront games, as fun as they were on PC, I loved even more on console, and I played them on the original Xbox.

Bonus: My favorite game I've played recently is Fallout: New Vegas. I just think that it is an awesome game with a fantastic story.