We all have that one game that holds a special place in our hearts. What game is it for you?
For me, it’s Metal Slug. Growing up, every Monday, my parents would drag me to the laundromat after work. As a kid, it was a pretty boring, but I had my toys, origami books, and coloring books to keep me entertained. However, my favorite thing to do was playing the Metal Slug arcade machine with my dad.
My dad was great at the game, and he taught me how to play. Though I improved, I could never keep up. When I’d inevitably die, he’d let me take over his side to let me have a bit more playtime. My favorite part was when he’d share stories from when he lived in another country and would go to the local arcade.
Those moments are cherished memories, and even today, whenever I visit an arcade, Metal Slug is the first game I play, despite still being terrible at it haha
Honorable mention goes to Mario 64, another game that holds a special place in my heart. I got an N64 from a garage sale, and playing Mario 64 while at home, with my mom’s “chore” music in the background ignited my love for gaming
Outer Wilds, I refuse to elaborate because it will ruin the experience.
I have yet to play it and every time I see someone bring it up in a comment or video I instantly close it haha.
I love going in blind into new games and I’ve heard this game is a great experience
I can confirm that going in blind is a great way to enjoy it. I played it for my book club, having never seen a trailer, screenshot, or even recalled the text.
PLAY. IT.
Life is Strange. For me it was the most emotion I ever got out of any medium ever
It’s crazy how much of this game was exactly what I needed. I had lived not far from the Oregon coast during the time this was set. Spent a lot of time there. I left a couple years before this game out, just long enough to start missing it deeply. The visuals and the dialogue especially were so on point that it was deeply nostalgic for me. The story about losing and reconnecting with friends, the nerdy shit, all the anxieties, even the animist undertones, I connected with all of it. This game is even a big reason why I started following voice actors, as I was so impressed by Ashly Burch in this role. Chloe is why I played Before the Storm and the Farewell episode, too.
This is the closest a game has ever felt to being tailor-made for me. It was a step on my mental health journey. I started journaling after playing this. And I started moving on.
I’ll definitely check it out now! You make it sound like a great game
I don’t want to oversell it! So much of how the game connected with me was due to unique circumstances and a lot of coincidences.
It’s not a bad game, though. Got pretty decent reviews.
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Dear Esther made me realize games can be beautiful. The soundtrack is fantastic too.
Ghost Squad, also an arcade game.
For roughly 3 years of my life in college… after class, I’d go to the local arcade, spend $1, play roughly ~1 hour of the game… beat my old high score and go home. I did look up world-records and I’m a nobody on the world-record list, but I was #1 through #50 on that machine on the high score list, no one else at that arcade could even take out my #50 score.
SNES – Super Mario World. I got to the point of ~12 minute speedrun, also no where near record-breaking world record or anything, but I’d like to think I’m better at that game than most people. Before college, my routine when I got home was to speedrun the game and beat it within ~15 minutes.
Factorio is probably the “long running game” that I put a lot of effort into.
The only games I ever reached “advanced/expert” level in were BlazBlue, Puyo Puyo, and Tetris. I wish I had the guts to actually go to a major tournament for Blazblue (the most popular of the three games I reached expert status into…). I’d expect that I probably was strong enough to qualify for Evo but I wouldn’t expect to be in the top 32 even… just barely a qualifier. I was a regular training partner / punching bag for a few top-of-the-USA players on my friends list. I would lose 80%+ of the time but I was strong enough to occasionally eek out a victory vs top-level play (though you’re never quite sure if the expert is feeling bad and letting me win, lol). I did play at some local tournaments though and knew I was near top of my state/local neighborhood at least. So I think I qualify for the expert ranking, though there is a huge tier of difference between “top of USA” and “top of local tournament”.
EDIT: In terms of USA players, I’d regularly qualify for Puyo Puyo and/or Tetris tournaments. But I’m not top10 or anything crazy. Of course, USA-play is much weaker than overseas players. I’m not that good with regards to speed, only ~1 minute 40-line clear, but I think my downstacking and opening-theory is stronger than most people in Tetris and I can regularly beat faster players than me. Note that Puyo Puyo Tetris is a relatively slow Tetris game so top-tier PPT players are only ~40-seconds 40-line clear in this game, there’s a lot more focus on downstacking efficiently since line clears are so slow.
I can sometimes 14-chain in solitaire Puyo / training mode, though my style is mostly harassment / beginning to screenwatch at the midgame for Puyo. Again, expert level in USA, but only maybe “advanced” as far as Japanese players go. I’m relatively bad at chaining but I think my midgame is good enough to qualify me for the expert level. I never outchain players of equal ranking to me, but instead perform crushing power-2 or other harassments while they’re vulnerable on the 2nd level.
I also tried to reach advanced levels in Starcraft: BW and Age of Empires 2, but alas, I’m not that good at RTS. I’d say the games are still close to my heart due to the many hours / months / years of practice I put in, but I’m a nobody in these games.
Lords of the Realm II
It was my favorite game as a kid, and I still enjoy playing it today. It was perhaps the first game that I could do about as good or better as my older siblings, and I loved playing with the various settings and features.
An honorable mention is Sim City 2000, which we took turns playing. I don’t play it anymore though, so it’s more nostalgia and less something I actually play. I now play Cities: Skylines as a form of homage to those memories.
Spiritfarer. I don’t think I’ve ever cried harder while playing something than this.
I played this after losing both of my maternal grandparents within weeks of each other a couple years back (they were both in their mid-90s and one of them brought COVID home) and Spiritfarer really helped me process my emotions and get through everything. Some of the characters reminded me of them in various ways, which was touching and cathartic. What a beautiful game.
Oh god, “Spiritfarer” can break a person.
The soundtrack really hits you deeply, too.
Never played the game, but I do love the soundtrack
The only time i cried harder was while playing RiME, and part of it was how unexpected it was. That spiritfarer got to me was kind of expected from the start, still dived in head first.
I bought Continue?9876543210 because I thought it sounded interesting and had about $10 to burn.
I thought it was hauntingly beautiful, and I got hung up following Jason Oda after that. I think he’s got great instincts for video game design, even if his last game Waking still needs polish (but is also gorgeous). I’m actually afraid he’s thrown in the towel, having tried to bite off more than he could chew, but I hope to keep seeing new works from him anyway. Solo indie game development is a kind of hell I assume.
Star Control 2
It’s so good, although I think I only ever got about 20% through. I should try again now I’m older and wiser(?).
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Any of the PS1-era Crash Bandicoot games.
My dad, my older brother, and I would spend hours playing those games with each other. Dad wasn’t the greatest gamer, but he was always patient enough to get my brother and I a ton of lives so we all could play without worrying too much :) Still got those discs in good condition too, just played them again with my dad a few months back for the first time in forever!
Those games were some of the first games I really bit into as a kid. They were great. Just hard enough to be a real challenge for me when I was like 6ish.
I went back to them not too long ago and they’re still a challenge for me lol
Even the remasters got some hate for their difficulty even though I don’t think they changed it. Great games though and they have so much character. The animations are top notch even to this day
Oh wow this is top 5 for me as well. Whenever I first got my switch lite I played through the crash remasters and I loved every second of it
I also still have the PSX disks even though I don’t have a PSX but that’s okay haha
Borderlands. Couch co-op with my brother was pretty much what videogames was to me as a kid, and borderlands was always our favorite. I can’t wait to have a platform I can play borderlands 3 and the tiny Tina game on with him over the Christmases when hes back in town (I know they’re not quite as good, thats perfectly okay)
These days, hollow knight is also genuinely very special to me. I don’t think there’s any game I hold in the same kind of place of reverence
Batamas geo
I didn’t see it mentioned so…
Original EverQuest. Up to Rise of Kunark expansion specially.
It was my first MMORPG. I miss the way I used to feel playing it! Miss having to camp spawn points and actually talk to / interact with others to share resources and camps etc.
Planescape: Torment
The game changed the nature of who I am.I’m surprised and delighted to see this so high up! This was the first RPG I ever really got immersed in, and what an incredible ride it was.
What can change the nature of a man? This game, apparently
Updated my journal
Just noticed your username, what a great character. The whole arc with the unbroken circle of zerthimon… I might need to go ahead and reinstall.
It’s one of the few games where I genuinely cared for the characters.
Most RPGs these days, I end up becoming some variation of murderhobo because by the end I’m fed up with every other NPC or faction.Love the Planescape setting, love the characters.
I played Numerana… but it didn’t scratch the itch.
I didn’t finish it, maybe it got better, maybe it’s not for me.It’s been a few years since I reinstalled, maybe I should.
SOMA. Go in blind.
This one’s the game that lives rent-free in my head and is impossible to evict even though I’d like to sometimes😅
Tekken 3. The first game I got for my PS1 as a kid and the only one I had for a while.
I didn’t behave a memory card so I must’ve unlocked every character at least 10+ times because the power went out or my mom discovered I left the PlayStation on.
