Have there been games that left such a deep impact on you that they changed your perception of video games as a whole? Not games that merely impressed you. Games that made you go: "I had no idea games could do that!"

For me, Thief is probably one such game -- the level of immersion that it achieved with its sound design and world simulation was unlike anything I had previously seen in a game (and since then, unfortunately). It was an incredibly focused thieving simulator with stealth gameplay that made you stop, listen and observe, or at least consider every step you make. To this day, Thief is the yardstick I measure all stealth games by.

Oh, and incidentally I'm giving away a GOG bundle of Thief Gold and Thief 2, so if you want them, say, "I'm a taffer". In the case you feel the need to say that you're not in, say, "Garrett, I'm slipping!" Must redeem for yourself, the winner will probably be determined by random.org (unless there's a story that I really like) and the deadline is around July 14th.

I'm huge RTS fan and for me Age of Empires 2 is THE GAME OF MY LIFE. Its music, the hand-drawn sketch cutscenes, the level of things you had to do...... Its just indescribable . Released in 1998 (so 1 year younger than me, lol) and I still play it after discovering in 2008. Its just something that changed my perception of gaming- that games are the best medium and that they require thinking and tactical sacrfices.

Honourable mentions :

1.Mount and blade - HAVEN'T PLAYED this yet, but the fact that people will still try to cater to a nieche even though its a small one. The humanity of the developers.

2.Splinter Cell Chaos Theory - The pinnacle of 3rd person stealth, IMO. Has the ligh meter, sound meter and solid mechanics. Easy to beat without killing anyone if you use your head. Simple as that. But the problem is that succeeding games were crappy simply because the meters were screwed. I mean, WHY? Its just a few pixels more on screen. But no, ruined. Showed me human stupidity.

I am a taffer

In for the giveaway please :D

TR 1-4, TR Legend, TR Anniversary.
They don't have nearly that impact on me now (well maybe Anniversary does) but the 1st time I loaded each one for the first time, my head exploded.

OOOPS!
Didn't realize this was a GA thread. :P Not in because I have them and BTW while Thief 1 & 2 didn't blow mind, they for sure caused some pressure build up and swooning. :P

LucasArts adventures. Dunno which one in particular. The first one I played was Monkey Island 2 and I instantly fell in love with it.

Not in for the Thief games, but thanks for the giveaway!

I have some kind of strong aversion to thieves so I have never even tried any of those games. I know the thief in question is supposed to be stealing from bad guys, but the name of the game really makes me uneasy. I would definitely play it if they called it Benevolent Redistributor of Property or something like that.

Um, you don't have to state that you're not in, but just in case I'm adding a new rule -- if you really want to state that you're not in, say, "Garrett, I'm slipping!"

I think the first time I played the original Command & Conquer. The cutscenes, the awesome units and holy shit that soundtrack! I still hum "Act on Instinct" everytime I start a level in ANY RTS game to date.

No thanks to the giveaway. :)

Curator : Public Wealth Administrator

I'm a taffer Man I will never forget the first time my brother and I saw/played Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the 64. Everything about it was so much more advanced than anything we had been introduced to at that time. I remember standing in high spots using the first person view to look out at the beautiful horizon. I believe we had genuine tears over how stunning that was to our 10 year old little eyes. I had those feelings you had over thief too it was so spot on, but I wanted to share the first time I was totally blown away. +1 for a fun giveaway taking me down memory lane thank you.

For me, it was Mass Effect! I liked Prince of Persia quite a lot before, but ME just....blew my mind =) (could be because I hadn't played any other RPGs at that time, but still. The characters, the universe, the dialogues....simply love(d) it!)

Oh and "Garrett, I'm slipping!" :D

I'm sure there's quite a bit more, but these have had an impact on me:

Morrowind - one of my favorites... Most in depth game and enjoyed overall

ADOM (Ancient Domains of Mystery) - there's still plenty of secrets i have no idea about...

Ring Runner - Diverse enough ship building options for your play style

Questron - Be the good guy, bad buy, and buy items from roaming monsters instead of killing them. Gamble and stuff.

Metal Gear Rising is blowing my mind right now. I feel an urge to constantly yell "HOOOLYYYY SHIIIIIT" while playing the game.

Garrett, I'm slipping!

You know, I would like to add Metal Gear Solid to the list. Playing that on launch week was incredible.

Deus Ex
Suikoden
Anachronox
Planscape:Torment

Wizardry 6 and 7. These games totally changed the way I view RPGs and what I expect from them. Yes, these games are riddled with problems, but few other RPGs even try to achieve what W6+7 did, let alone actually do it. For me, nothing else measures up, including the wearisome and unambitious Proving Grounds remakes we sometimes get from Japan.