Rules: just pick 1 and explain why.

I’ve been playing since the NES and despite being from a low income family I had the luck of being able to play and own many consoles over the 3 decades of my life, plus some pc.

If you ask me right now? Resident Evil 4 (2005).

A before and after in gaming, to this day still extremely fun to play even for casuals but 20 years ago it was THE masterpiece. And everyone took notice of it, everyone played it, even players that didn’t cared about resident evil. The gameplay was so good that it got photocopied by everyone right after in the action genre.

Arguably the last big innovator in videogames minus Minecraft and… PUBG (Fortnite did it better I know).

  • nl4real@lemmy.world
    0·
    3 months ago

    As someone who never played the games as a kid, I can be more or less impartial in saying that Mario Bros. was probably the gaming industry’s big break.

  • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 🏆@yiffit.netEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    Prior to August 8th, 2006: Chrono Trigger.

    Post August 8th, 2006: Dwarf Fortress.

    Dwarf Fortress is, mechanically, almost everything I think a game should be. And the only reason it’s only almost is because it’s not finished yet.

    • databender@lemmy.worldEnglish
      0·
      3 months ago

      This right here; and I would offer that Cataclysm DDA is either as good or just a tiny bit below

      • 🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 🇮 🏆@yiffit.netEnglish
        0·
        3 months ago

        I think of CDDA as mostly Dwarf Fortress with vehicles. Just as complex in the combat, but not as complex in world gen or with civilizations (because zombies who cares lol), but the vehicle building and sim is as far as I would expect DF to have, if it had vehicles.

        I once made a giant mobile fortress that could just drive straight through most anything that wasn’t made of metal.

  • Zozano@lemy.lolEnglish
    0·
    3 months ago

    I’m tempted to say either The Witcher 3, Grand Theft Auto V, or Metal Gear Solid 5 (if you can look past the fact it’s unfinished).

    All three are exceptionally polished, have huge, highly detailed world’s to explore, cinematic moments with blockbuster action scenes, smooth and balanced gameplay, are suitable for gaming noobs and veterans, and has moments to goof off and dick around.

    It’s hard not to be biased, though I’ll state I don’t personally like GTAV, I think it’s perhaps too ordinary for my tastes and feels too restrictive in its mission structure.

  • Nomecks@lemmy.ca
    0·
    3 months ago

    Runescape. It’s been around for more than 20 years and still is one of the most active online games.

  • GingaNinga@lemmy.world
    0·
    3 months ago

    It has its flaws but I’ve never had more fun than playing halo 3 custom games back in the day. You could do and make almost anything! I haven’t felt that playing any game since.

    • mysticpickle@lemmy.ca
      0·
      3 months ago

      You better be talking about DOS X-COM UFO Defense or I’ll send a blaster bomb down your gullet :o

      • The Picard Maneuver@lemmy.world
        0·
        3 months ago

        …I sadly didn’t know about the series until the new ones in 2012. I’ve played the hell out of them and do want to go back and play the DOS ones sometime.

        • mysticpickle@lemmy.ca
          0·
          3 months ago

          The remakes are solid for sure but they’re pretty different games that don’t quite fully capture the spirit of open ended gameplay you could do in the originals.

          For example:

          • Grenade relay involving 5 soldiers passing across the map until it lands at the foot of a Muton your out of actions scout ended his turn next to

          • Blow a hole in the roof of a landed UFO and drop your soldiers in behind aliens watching the doors expecting a conventional assault

          • Drive a tank into a single family home to dig out an alien hiding in a closet

          • The Picard Maneuver@lemmy.world
            0·
            3 months ago

            Amazing. Some of my favorite experiences in the new ones have also been creative problem-solving, like rocketing open a hole in a wall to allow my snipers to see through, or trying to carry my injured/dead soldiers with the good loot to extraction when I have to cut my losses and run.

            Sounds like I should just go ahead and play the old ones too. I started one up earlier this year, but it wasn’t clear what all the buttons did, and I didn’t have the focus to figure it out. I need to look up the manual or watch a video or something.

  • Horsey@lemmy.world
    0·
    3 months ago

    Red Dead Redemption 2, no contest.

    The game world is so close to feeling real… the physics and horse handling feel basically perfect. They took their time to make you feel like you were in 19th century America.

  • sem@lemmy.blahaj.zone
    0·
    3 months ago

    Marathon, by Bungie. From the box it came in, to the hugeness of the spaceship, the coolness of the story, all the secrets, and the fan community that sprang up to research and theorize.

    And then they made it open source so anybody could play it on any computer.

    It’s not favorite game to play any more, but it was the greatest game to me.

  • rbits@lemm.ee
    0·
    3 months ago

    I mean, come on, it has to be Minecraft. One of the most influential games of all time. There really is nothing like it