Most Memorable Game You Ever Played

Yakoob on 28/12/2016 at 03:52

Hmm what's the definition of memorable in this case? The most impactful? The one that pops into our mind the most? Or one we remember most moments from?

Sorry for going all meta but i was trying to answer the question and my answer would actually be different in all 3 cases heh.

Renault on 28/12/2016 at 05:33

I'd say you choose. But for me it would be #3.

PigLick on 28/12/2016 at 06:52

Landstalker on the megadrive/genesis. For some reason no other title has the same nostalgic impact as this does.

icemann on 28/12/2016 at 07:16

Quote Posted by Yakoob

I'd say "The one that pops into your mind the most".

Malf on 28/12/2016 at 08:34

Ah, now are we going for the classic definition of "Memorable", that cosy, rose-tinted glasses view of fondness reserved for something we remember with passion, or are we going for that unique form of "Memorable" that only videogames are capable of, where certain concepts and areas are burned in to your very body through muscle memory?

If the latter, certain first person shooters have pathways of my brain dedicated to the layouts of their levels. Doom being a prime example. I know every secret, every monster placement, every item location and every twist and turn of the entirety of the first episode of Doom. It exists as a place in my head.

Or one of my all-time favourite games, Dungeon Master, where to this day, I still remember certain secrets as well as the verbage its magic (Mon Ful Ir being the most memorable spell of all time for me).

Strafe jumping from Quake 3 was so essential to movement in that game that I still, to this day, find myself trying to do it at the earliest opportunity in any new FPS I play in the hopes I might fool the system and get around faster.

Or how about having music from a game branded in to your very soul, music that is more recognisable than most of the pop nonsense released by "Musicians" today?
I can can whistle three notes of a Mario tune, and seconds later, every person in my office will have it stuck in their heads and be humming it to themselves for the rest of the day. And that even includes people who "don't play videogames. They're a waste of time".

The rhythm of an excellent game ties together feedback loops with audio and reactivity on screen so tightly that almost the entirety of sensory perception is dedicated to said game. It's no wonder that "Memorable" moments in games have the potential to be so much more engaging than in other media. You don't just remember a good game through concepts of fiction. You remember it through your body. The language of gaming embeds itself in your nervous system, enabling you to pick up new games with ease, and the best ones introduce you to entirely new gameplay concepts that utilise new abilities you may never even have realised you had before. Such as Portal's ability to train you to solve complex 3D puzzles using tools that break the laws of physics.

Memory in games is so much more than remembering story beats. It's pattern recognition, spacial awareness, timing, reflex and reaction. It's architecture. It's music.

faetal on 28/12/2016 at 14:05

Quote Posted by Gryzemuis

Unfortunately I'll have to say World of Warcraft. Can't get more memorable when you played 10k+ hours in a single game.

So memorable in the sense that a noticeable % of all of your memories are WoW related.

icemann on 28/12/2016 at 15:13

Well that game certainly had it's moments. Majority of which would all be totally unscripted random stuff.

Had numerous memorable moments in that game. Guild raids and instance runs, the PVP battles, numerous solo memories playing as a feral druid and trying to PVE whilst avoiding horde players etc etc. So many moments.

Ultima Online when it was good (when it was PVP whether you liked it or not) literally nearly gave me a heart attack once. The fear of PK's (player killers) since if you died you lost everything on you (unless you made it back to your body in time), had me in mortal fear this one time. Had several PK's chasing me in a forest. Hid under a tree since it was isometric view. I have never felt fear like in any game before or since.

Gryzemuis on 28/12/2016 at 15:53

Quote Posted by faetal

So memorable in the sense that a noticeable % of all of your memories are WoW related.

Yes. Certainly more than any other game. Or movie. Or book. I got good memories of playing Unreal Tournament in 2000. But no other game is planted in my head like WoW is. Not Thief, not Morrowind or Skyrim.

I always thought I have no problem with addiction. I never smoked, never did drugs, hardly ever drank alcohol (never been drunk, not even tipsy). I never gamble. I don't see the attraction in those things. I can stop playing games when I want to, or have to.

But to be honest, there is still something in my head that keeps saying "go back and play WoW !". It's weird, because my brain knows that the game sucks now, and it'll never been like 2005-2009 again. And most of the people that I used to play with don't play anymore (only a small handful still do). I really do not want to play any more. But something that is not my brain wants to go back to WoW. It's weird. I never experienced this before.

Thirith on 28/12/2016 at 16:51

For me it'd probably have to be Ultima VII; it's the first time I realised just how alive a game world can feel, and that's still one of the things I like most about games.

Malf on 28/12/2016 at 16:51

In reply to Gryzemuis:

That's MMOs for you.

My first MMO love was the original Guild Wars. It was actually really good and really respected its players. Unfortunately, it acted as a gateway drug for me, introducing me to the more harmful types of MMO, those that hide all the shiny stuff behind microtransactions. And then GW2 came out and basically did the same. Yes, you can use in-game currency to buy stuff from the microtransaction shop, but the formula was always weighted so that doing so would take too much time and involve repeating content over and over, thereby making coughing up cash for the stuff all the more appealing.
The sick thing was, I'd be paying for skins and things, all the while knowing that this bullshit used to be free in games like Quake thanks to community modding. Hell, I made skins myself. I know how transient and disposable this bullshit is. Yet I was still paying for it.

I've now finally broken free of the pull of MMOs, but there's still that little devil in the back of my head telling me I should go back and play them. One of the best friends I ever made online, I completely abandoned when I walked away from GW2, and I miss him dreadfully. But it's not enough to pull me back in to the Skinner box. He became worse than me towards the end, finding excuses to get sicknotes for extended amounts of time off work in order to play the game, endangering his marriage and no longer engaging with the outside world. I've no idea how he's doing now, but we were starting to try and outcompete each-other, poisoning the friendship and dragging me down into the same depths, and I just had to walk away. I could never call in sick in order to play a videogame, no matter how much I want to. My mortgage and livelihood depend on my pay-cheque, and I can't go endangering my job.

Modern MMOs are nothing more than cynical attempts to milk their users for as much cash as possible whilst delivering as little content in return as possible.