Games that inspired you.

Hello, hope your having a nice day. Let's talk about games.

I love Mass Effect. (Still have not played 3, but that's a complicated issue.) I think it is one of the most important pieces of media I've consumed in my life. It will be something I carry with me till the day I die. That series, for me, is what Star Wars and Star Treck were for so many people a generation before mine.

What games have had a strong impact on you? Is there a game you can say is quantifiably unforgettable?

Deus Ex

Mass Effect

Alan Wake

The Walking Dead

being an aspiring musician, it's usually the games with really compelling music that do it to me. most recently Machinarium and Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP. although that first mass effect ST is killer.

MGS 2, particularly the ending speech by snake.

I had always people were bullshiting whenever the "Have you ever cried while playing a game" topic comes up. I honestly never thought that would happen to me until I got to a certain hospital scene in Persona 4.

When Nanako "dies"

I was seriously shedding tears. It's one of the many reasons why Persona 4 is one favorite games of all time.

Call of Doody.

Nah, I'm just kidding.

I would saw The Walking Dead. That game almost made me cry. But alas, my heart was to strong.

Hmm inspired huh?

Star Wars: X-Wing: (yes I actually played that before tie fighter or Vs came out) - Hell I think I might have been like 6 or 7 and played this before even seeing Star Wars although probably not before Space Balls(my parents are/were cool and weird people), It kicked off my love of space, exploration, adventure, you name it.

The Sims: Not for the game, for the building, It probably started my interest in design, architecture, and aesthetics. I probably owe that game for me wasting several years obtaining a degree in architecture. (I still love it, I'm just not using it for much of anything)

Sid Meier's Civilization: I'm minoring in History right now, so that probably tells you where this came in handy, granted, I also got dropped off at a museum every sunday for a summer to chill with mummies and tombs for the day, so I suppose my parents helped there a bit.

Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind

Game is my all time favorite. Blew my pre-teen mind, back on the original Xbox, that a game could have such depth, yet leave you free to discover it any way possible. I will never forget my first character, 500+ hours of discovery, death, and daedra!

Sure there are lot of Games, who can Inspire you. Like it was already mentioned for example Morrowind, but this game was something really special:

Mirror's Edge

It is my game of the Gen. I´ve never felt like this before, playing a Video-Game. At first it has this Art-Design which is stunning, so beautiful and in addition to that this amazing Soundtrack. I love this intro sequence after the tutorial, when Faith runs along a skyscraper, the ME Theme starts and she jumps over a huge gap. Or the ending sequence, when again the music starts and you have the best view over the city with a happy end.
And yes the Gameplay is also very unique, it is so different from other Games, when you are running away and the police tries to shoot you, but you are in that "flow" and getting away it feels amazing.
It is not like I am one of those Gamers, who play a Game again and again, when it is done, it is usually done for me. But in Mirror´s Edge I played it on every difficulty and even tried to get all the achievements. I had a Xbox 360 Version, but also bought it on PC, because of the better graphics.

I hope we will get a new ME with Next Gen graphics but the same old strengths of this game!

Dont think i've ever been 'inspired' by a game to really do anything other than play more of that game. But in terms of unforgettable and emotional experiences right off the top of my head i'd say;

Pokemon Silver, Oddworld Abes Oddysey, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Tactics Ogre: LUCT, The Walking Dead, Red Dead Redemption, MGS4 and Persona 2: Innocent Sin.

Journey is the most recent example that comes to mind. That game just blew me away on so many levels.

Inspired me to what?

I'm going to sound like a broken record, but stuff like Shadow of the Colossus and Journey were pretty inspiring.

The Mass Effect trilogy has to be one. I also love the whole feel of the Fallout franchise (3 and NV respectively). Nier was a great experience, although I don't carry it with me as much as the lore of other games. Elder Scrolls too of course, Morrowind, Oblivion and Skyrim. Spec Ops: The Line. But the games that influenced me the most aren't even from this generation. I think the SNES era has left some marks on me like no other. Secret of Mana, Secret of Evermore, Terranigma, those are some of the best SNES JRPGs in my opinion and I spent countless hours in their worlds. I think Terranigma was the first game that made me cry.

Ah, nostalgia... ._.

i'd probably say the Unfinished Swan

Journey, of course. Especially the soundtrack and the wonder of exploring the world and getting through the game. It was just brilliant, and it did it all without any words beyond the short tutorial.

Also Chrono Trigger.

I don't mean to trash Mass Effect at all but I never "got it". Good games, but they seem pretty emotionally stilted.

Persona 3

Persona 4

Inspired? None

Strong impact? Deadly Premonition

Many of the games that inspired me were already mentioned in the thread. So ill give special mention to Legacy of Kain: Soulreaver. The perfect example how a third person action game can have a fantastic story and a amazing soundtrack to go with it. A more recent example would be Amnesia: The Dark Descent, that game made me jump up in my chair!

A Link to the Past and Secret of Mana were the first, plus others like Ocarina of Time, the Metroid Prime's, Shadow of the Colossus and Ico, KOTOR, the Portal's, and the Mass Effect's, Half Life 2, Bioshock, Journey, Persona 4, and many, many more. Quite recently I played Spec Ops The Line and I just played through To The Moon yesterday and those games was amazing at telling their stories, which is where my real passion for games lies. I found both of them to be inspiring in that way.

@pyromagnestir: Glad to see another one enjoyed The Line :]

Probably 'Final Fantasy X'. I played it at an interesting point of my life that made it stick with me.

Gran Turismo 3 sparked my intense love of cars.

Gran Turismo 5 killed all of that.

Planescape Torment, Mother 3, Fallout 2, Red Dead Redemption, Nier. Some unmatched writing and world-building there.

@psylah: You did seem to be playing it an awful lot on PSN though

Dynasty Warriors 2 got me to read Three Kingdoms which is easily the best book ever written and the first novel

These cars aren't going to drift themselves.

@morrow:

That game did some very interesting things with it's approach to storytelling and how it was trying to make the player feel about playing the game, and I believe it was really successful at it! I also think they could've done a few things to make it a better playing game, while still getting their point across. (a better checkpointing system, for one, would've made a big difference) But I find it's often the stuff that gets things almost, but not quite right that I find to be the most inspiring in some ways. And damn did they pretty much nailed the story aspect.

@pyromagnestir: Yup, I agree ^^

Lots, but Majora's Mask would come out on top for me. It's not the most even, expansive, or polished Zelda, but it's the best one for me. It has this eerie, depressing, apocalyptic quality that changed the whole Zelda experience to something completely new. I suppose that's why some people didn't like it so much, but it certainly got to me.

Reflect on something about your life, brought a new persecutive to the way you see something. Even something as mundane as making you feel mad hyped. SSX 2012 does this for me, that shit is cash like Jonny.

Being a music guy...... I think Super Metroid did it for me. And because of its atmosphere, I think its the reason games like Year walk really interest me.

If I ever end up making games, they would draw heavily from Super MEtroid

Bioshock

Halo series, DKC, Super Metriod... uhhh and some other games.

Halo is the big one though.

Metal gear solid.

that's a fantastic call. there's something so incredibly atmospheric and claustrophobic about those tunes. talk about doing a lot with a little.

EarthBound inspired me to not take drugs.

Winners don't do drugs.

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 4 actually drove me to become somewhat of a more sociable person, which is pretty crazy for a game to do. The main theme of P4 (or the Persona series in general) is relationships, so naturally, this incredible, well-written game had me thinking about my own relationships.

The game beautifully illustrates how important a person's support system is through plot, and gameplay. I can't imagine how screwed I would be if I had ignored my relationships with the investigation team. On the gameplay side if I didn't try to improve my social links, I would be missing out on stronger Personas, and party-specific abilities, making the game much more difficult. And on the story side, there's no way I would survive the goings on in Inaba, and the going ons of Inaba would have claimed many more lives. I mean, what would happen to poor Nanako near the end of the game if we all didn't care for one another? ;_;

The consequences of not caring are very much exaggerated in P4 compared to reality, but even being less lonely is a good reason enough for me to pay more attention to others. Persona 4 became more enjoyable as I grow closer with the cast, and I'm very sure life is the same way.

Deus ex Human revolution "inspired" me a little bit as to pursue the career choices i currently am, would have done so without the game but it definitely inspired me a bit.

Also being somewhat passionate about history the Witcher series definitely inspired me as well... as to inspired me to do what I don't know, but i felt somehow inspired.

Mega Man/2 has inspired me to draw a collection of little characters actually. I decided to draw some evil dudes with individual powers mostly inspired by the Mega Man 2 level select screen.

Dear Esther, The Love Letter, Journey. All three of those games made me stop and think about who I am and what I'm doing with my life.

@ennosuke: I'm with you on Mirrors Edge. I absolutely loved that game... especially after I was able to run it maxed out. It feels like I've been waiting for 2 for a century.

This. Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty was a real eye-opener. And the themes and messages underlying this game seem to be getting more and more relevant over the years.

Another game that inspired me was Clannad. Its themes revolving around family, as well as life in general, resonated with me in a way no other game has done since.

And finally, Final Fantasy VII also inspired me. Not only did it get me more into RPG's, but the game's real highlight for me was that mind-blowing Zack twist, which I found to be an eye-opener (and one that even most FF VII fans often overlook in favour of the Aerith twist).

@jagged85:

The patriot AI conversation before the fight with solidus is possibly one of the smartest/complex segments in entertainment.

mass effect, most definitely.

i too was inspired by FFX... to turn off my console.

Half-Life 2, the Ravenholm part. I made a track heavily inspired by that part back when it was still new. On top of that there are tons of games that inspire me, even if I never do anything about it.

Indeed. I thought that whole conversation was profound and thought-provoking.

Not necessarily inspired me, but a recent game that had a strong impact on me was Skyrim. I moved home for a few months in late 2011 as my father was dying with cancer and that game was a massive escape from the pressures and stresses involved in that whole process. Not really sure how well I would have handled everything without it.

As an artist, there are really too damn many games to count as inspirational. All games I guess.

Journey. No other game has moved me on such a profound level. The first time I played through the pilgrimage from start to finish with another player, I literally wept at the end as we stood apart from one another and bowed our heads before walking into the white light together.

Plus, I'd be hard pressed to find another game that is so in line with my own spiritual viewpoint, there is so much wisdom, understanding and empathy in that game. I can feel myself getting all gushy about it as I type these words.. Aaaah..

And as of recent.. Year Walk. I can't thank Brad enough for that quick look. Truly a masterful piece of art.

Assassin's Creed One, Two, Brotherhood

Deus Ex Human Revolution

Batman Arkham City

Super Mario Bros 3

There a lot of games that I've enjoyed over the years, but I actually find it difficult to identify any that have actually "inspired" me. If I had to choose, I'd say, at least from a narrative perspective, Max Payne 1 & 2 really hooked me. Until then, I never would have believed games could tell stories like that, and that gave me a new found respect for the media.