Games you wish you could play of the first time

[Bocephus86]

A recent post in the games your currently playing thread got me thinking: What games do you wish you could experience for the first time again? To be clear, I'm making this thread for entirely selfish reasons as I am hoping to hear about a gem I've missed. To help that please give a brief overview of the type of game it is since I'm personally interested in the true RPG to action RPG-like games (like Mass Effect, or Deus Ex).

For me I think it's really 3 games, but I may end up adding more:

1. The Witcher 3: RPG leaning towards action RPG, open world
The story is just so freaking good, that's all I can say. I still replay it but the first time around I was just so immersed I was freaking day dreaming about it at work, waiting to get home to play it, and I'm not normally that guy. I just needed to see what was next in the story, or what that next random side quest was going to be like.

2. Mass Effect (1 to 3, I consider 1 game): Action RPG, stages/levels/not open world really
The story, again. And the squad members. Garrus is forever my boy.

3. Skyrim (true RPG, open world)
Another game I still play all the time, even though I've never actually beat the main quest (infinite side-tracking until I get the itch to restart because I get overpowered to 11). The world, the looting, the quests, the freedom. The first time I came out of a cave to see the rendered northern lights I just stopped and looked at it for 5 minutes.

So how about you guys & girls?

Click to read more...

 

[Dolemite]

A recent post in the games your currently playing thread got me thinking: What games do you wish you could experience for the first time again? To be clear, I'm making this thread for entirely selfish reasons as I am hoping to hear about a gem I've missed. To help that please give a brief overview of the type of game it is since I'm personally interested in the true RPG to action RPG-like games (like Mass Effect, or Deus Ex).

For me I think it's really 3 games, but I may end up adding more:

1. The Witcher 3: RPG leaning towards action RPG, open world
The story is just so freaking good, that's all I can say. I still replay it but the first time around I was just so immersed I was freaking day dreaming about it at work, waiting to get home to play it, and I'm not normally that guy. I just needed to see what was next in the story, or what that next random side quest was going to be like.

2. Mass Effect (1 to 3, I consider 1 game): Action RPG, stages/levels/not open world really
The story, again. And the squad members. Garrus is forever my boy.

3. Skyrim (true RPG, open world)
Another game I still play all the time, even though I've never actually beat the main quest (infinite side-tracking until I get the itch to restart because I get overpowered to 11). The world, the looting, the quests, the freedom. The first time I came out of a cave to see the rendered northern lights I just stopped and looked at it for 5 minutes.

So how about you guys & girls?

The Witcher 3 was made by the same people who made Cyberpunk. The launch of Witcher 3 was just as bad if not worse than Cyberpunk.

 

[tacogeoff]

Witcher 3 + expansions very easily. For me it was the most enjoyable game I have played thus far.

@The Mars Volchenkov ya. add in RD1 and RD2 for me as close runners up. loved them both.

 

[The Mars Volchenkov]

The two that stand out for me are Batman: Arkham Asylum and Red Dead 2. I finished Asylum in one sitting after finishing finals in College. It was glorious and have replayed it multiple times since.

 

[S E P H]

Good thread idea...

I probably have many that I missing out on even if I am trying to delve deeper within my hippocampus and fire all the neuron synapses of my memory banks...

I don't want to give these games numbers because they are truly my favourite games of all-time and the best of for me change like the seasons (except if you live in Florida). The first that came to my mind is Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, it was the first game that I played where the story really got to me. I was still in high-school and didn't realise about the craziness of you actually being one of the most powerful Sith Lords the universe has seen till that day. It was also one of the first few titles where your dialogue and choices could actually have an effect on the ending storyline. The genre of adventure is probably the most enjoyable aspect for me and it was awesome going to all these unique worlds to find more about yourself in the game and eventually the mind-blown scene where you find out that you yourself was this ultra powerful Sith Lord. Just insanely immersive stuff and would kill to go on that adventure again without knowing the story.

Another one I truly enjoyed was Mass Effect II, it was one of the few games where I think the hype created by the marketing team sufficed what happened in the actual game (looking at you Halo 5: Guardians). Was it a sequel? Yes...but was it also a stand-alone game in comparison to who the main villains were? Also yes, but I don't think it brings the quality down though. Sure, The Collectors were sort of pointless in the grand scheme of things, but they were just as brutal and detrimental to the galaxy that needed Shepard's help than the Reapers problem itself. It was nice actually playing the bad guy for once and forsaking your old team to partner up with an awesome anti-hero in The Illusive Man. Even though I don't necessarily have the time anymore, the game's story was so enjoyable for me that I consider the game to have a ton of replay value.

Next is Persona 5 and even though this might be the weirdest game of it all, it probably has the most immersive characters and setting. It was awesome going through places based in real Tokyo and coming to find that a lot of these characters that you meet have their own demons you need to help them conquer. Each one is unique and you find yourself developing a good relationship with everyone considering how well they're written. The ending is kind of plain and that prevents it from being a perfect game, but everything that got to this point is triple "A" title quality. It sucks because people will not play this game because it has JRPG written all over it aesthetically, but the game mechanics are just as good or even better than Pokemon. When going in, I didn't know what I was getting myself into as I just bought it from the advice on here and the overall ratings, but I will gladly put another 100+ hours into it easily.

Lastly has to be Battlefield 1. No doubt I am more of a Halo-fanboi when it comes to shooters, but in terms of complete overall captivating gameplay and entrancing elements of sound, visual, and just war, no game does it better than this one. I have probably had some of the most epic moments in any game going with a bunch of strangers without a mic running across open fields with snipers in the back ground, tanks appearing out of nowhere, while being suppressed by aircraft machine guns. It was one of the few games where you consistently had to work as a team. Probably the highest replayability of any game and definitely was one of the most memorable considering it is entirely a PvP game. I could still play it today if my catalogue wasn't so backed up and I do plan to eventually return to it, which is quite a high praise for a game five years old that isn't considered to be a classic.

 

[Rodgerwilco]

Awesome thread idea, I was actually just talking about this with my Fiancée just yesterday.

The Top 5 that I settled on were:
1. Subnautica - I am currently replaying this game for the first time since I beat it last year and it's still awesome. I did my best not to google any information about this game and earnestly explored the game with no outside influence. It really helped me become immersed in the feeling of being alone on Planet 4546B with only the information I could find for myself. I remember audibly gasping multiple times upon new discoveries, especially the first time I surfaced at night time after going underwater during the day. Just a wonderful experience, with a great storyline, and a huge area to explore.

2. Red Dead Redemption 2 - One of the very few games I've ever bought on launch. Despite never playing RDR1 or RDRevolver I was absolutely hyped on this game to come out. I actually went to Gamestop on my lunch break and swung by my house to start the download before returning to work so I could play it the same day. Quickly became absolutely obsessed with it and I still am. In Rockstar fashion the controls were rather Janky, but the environment was just stunning to me, with an insane attention to detail and the massive world to explore. I have some great memories of new discoveries in that game. I still find new experiences and interactions regularly, but nothing is like the first time!

3. Skyrim - If you're noticing a trend with my selections you'll see they all revolve around exploration and big world games, Skyrim is one of the biggest and best exploration experiences for my money. Just an absolutely epic experience in every facet. One of those games that you get absolutely sucked into.

4. Runescape - This is a hard one for me, because I think playing this game for the first time as an adult would be a WAY different experience. Runescape came about when MMO's were still really in their infancy. Many of us players were getting into the world of MMO's for the first time. The game was in its early days and many of us were kids to begin with so the experience of growing with the game and our peers made it a very unique experience. If you talk to any long-time Runescape player almost all of them will tell you that they miss the days of being a Noob, when the game was more about having fun and exploring than it was about having the best gear and training skills with the best efficiency.

5. Quern:Undying Thoughts - The only non-sandbox type game on my list. The problem with a puzzle game is that once you figure out the puzzle the replay value is pretty low. The atmosphere of Quern is just amazing and calm, the puzzles are unique and increasingly difficult without the game particularly holding your hand. The puzzles are challenging enough to make you really think, but not so challenging that they feel unsolve-able. I just loved everything about this game. I played through it twice, once with my parents and again a couple years later with my fiancée, but even given the long time between plays I found that I remembered most of the puzzles.

 

[AceKing21]

Half-Life - I remember installing the game and not knowing what to expect. I was just starting to get into PC gaming and heard about the game through PC Gamer magazine, I think. I remember after it was installed and started the game up, the opening cut scene really had me interested from the get go. Also, I was playing the game at night and had headphones I believe. I just remember being scared sh*tless once the action started popping off, but was addicted to it and went on to play for hours and hours progressing through the game.

Deus Ex - More then likely still my favorite game of all time. The story was great, the characters were great and the game play was amazing. Not frightening like Half-Life, but had a lot of surprise elements to it that kept me hooked to my screen for hours.

Asheron's Call 2 - My first MMO and it would be my favorite. At the time I didn't understand what an MMO was. I had no idea that I was playing a live game with actual people. I remember running around cluelessly and seeing other "people" in the game and thinking to myself, are these actual real people? I caught on pretty quick and spent 100's if not 1000's of hours in the game. I have made many friendships from AC2, some which I am still friends with. I've played played many MMO's including WoW, SW Galaxies, Guild Wars, Knights of the Old Republic, etc and I can honestly say AC2 was my favorite.

 

[JoVel]

Skyrim and the Last of Us. The greatest open world exploration game I've ever played and the greatest story based game out there. No other games really jump to mind.

 

[Bocephus86]

The Witcher 3 was made by the same people who made Cyberpunk. The launch of Witcher 3 was just as bad if not worse than Cyberpunk.

I do know that. I own Cyberpunk, got pretty far into it, and just kind of stopped. I will go back to it again at some point but I just wasn't as drawn into the world & characters as I was with The Witcher 3, ignoring all bugs and gameplay issues.

Love the suggestions & feedback here, and I've played most of these however Subnautica has been on my list for a long time and now I'm finally going to pull the trigger. @Rodgerwilco I think we share a lot of the same tastes in games.

Keep em coming all!

And as a minor edit: I can't believe I left of Ocarina of Time from my list. That was the first game that blew my mind as a kid.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Grand Theft Auto III

 

[SPV]

Skyrim for sure

Bioshock blew me away when it first came out

Pikmin, such a great original concept game. I haven’t played the newest one, but I remember when I first played it on the GameCube, even my wife was hooked

the NHL series, if I didn’t know how far we could have come, then I’d probably be really impressed with that for a start

 

[Andrei79]

Hollow knight:
Probably what will remain my greatest metroidvania experience ever. The exploration, the music, the lore... I wish I could discover the city of tears again. Or be shocked by the Soul Master. The subtle story elements are what probably put this game over the top for me. I think I replayed the ascent from the abyss 20 times on YouTube after I finished it, just to reexperience that moment when you realize who the Hollow knight is and what the Pale King did.


Breath of the Wild:
As someone who's played every Zelda since the original, this one somehow managed to exceed my expectations. It's what I consider to be the gold standard in open world games and exploration. People still discover game mechanics 4 years after its release.


Dark Souls 3:
I love all FromSoft games, and I hesitated between this one and Sekiro. That said, I'm a gamer, but I'm not an 8-10hour a day gamer, but I couldn't put this one down. I don't think it's one single thing. It's the combination of the fantastic art style, the ambiance, the medieval setting, the game play and the absolute satisfaction of beating each challenge. The game respects you. I don't want to go to deep into my background, but it's a big part of why I think I like this game. I'm an MD, I spent over a year of my residency in psychoanalytical training (psychodynamic to be more precise) and this game had such deep psychological undertones that I feel it can compare to many movies and books that I've analyzed. It's a work of art and the allegories, the grey in its characters... Just brilliant. As someone who's read Berserk from its start, I also loved the references.

Divinity Original Sin 2:
This game had a lot of love behind it from Larian and you could feel it from the details in the world to the writing and conversations between characters. The combat and the way you could approach any situation in creative ways was really something special. It's a definitive must play for any RPG fan.

Baldur's Gate 2:
I don't have much to say. Its probably the definitive RPG. The voice acting was brilliant. Irenicus was a fantastic villain.

HM: the Witcher 3.

I have to admit though, as a 90s gamer, I'm surprised most of these are from the 2010s. Because, it's also the era where Ive felt AAA gaming has taken a dramatic nosedive.

 

[Osprey]

System Shock 2 - I wish that I could experience the major twist in the story for the first time. Also, it was so creepy to walk around a deserted spaceship and have no idea what horrors were making the unsettling sounds and would suddenly appear. The developers went on to make the very similar BioShock, so it was the same experience that many people had playing BioShock for the first time. It's too bad that it's never been ported to consoles so that console gamers could experience it, though there is a cross-platform remake of the original (System Shock) due any month now that may give them a taste.

BioShock, itself, and Subnautica are also ones that I'd like to re-experience for the first time.

I have to admit though, as a 90s gamer, I'm surprised most of these are from the 2010s. Because, it's also the era where Ive felt AAA gaming has taken a dramatic nosedive.

I think that that's because games with strong stories and immersive worlds are mostly a 21st century thing and re-experiencing those aspects is how most people are interpreting the question. In other words, which games would you like to re-play in 2021 for the first time. That rules out most really old games because you can't do that and have the same experience. For example, I'd love to go back to high school and play the 1993 DOOM for the very first time, but that's not possible and, even if I had somehow never played it, I still would've played other shooters or other games with better graphics and much better stories by now. I could list dozens, if not hundreds, of old games like that, going back to the NES, that I'd love to go back in time to re-play for the first time, but just wouldn't be the same for 2021 me to do now.

 

[Andrei79]

System Shock 2 - I wish that I could experience the major twist in the story for the first time. Also, it was so creepy to walk around a deserted spaceship and have no idea what horrors were making the unsettling sounds and would suddenly appear. The developers went on to make the very similar BioShock, so it was the same experience that many people had playing BioShock for the first time. It's too bad that it's never been ported to consoles so that console gamers could experience it, though there is a cross-platform remake of the original (System Shock) due any month now that may give them a taste.

BioShock, itself, and Subnautica are also ones that I'd like to re-experience for the first time.


I think that that's because games with strong stories and immersive worlds are mostly a 21st century thing and re-experiencing those aspects is how most people are interpreting the question. In other words, which games would you like like to re-play it in 2021 for the first time. That rules out most really old games because you can't do that and have the same experience. For example, I'd love to go back to high school and play the 1993 DOOM for the very first time, but that's not possible and, even if I had somehow never played it, I still would've played other shooters or other games with better graphics and much better stories. It just wouldn't be nearly as amazing in 2021. I could list dozens, if not hundreds, of old games like that, going back to the NES, that I'd love to go back in time to re-play, but just wouldn't be the same for 2021 me to play for the first time.

Just to clarify, I wasn't talking about other posters lists or their interpretations of the thread. I was talking about my own with that comment (as in, as a 90s gamer, I'm surprised I've mostly listed 2010s games).

 

[Apex Predator]

For me it’s Mass Effect and Skyrim. Both games I found myself replaying from the beginning. Here I am now going to start another Skyrim playthrough.

 

[syz]

The only games I can think off of the top of my head that wouldn't also require a time machine for them to hold up either narratively or mechanically are Nier Automata, 13 Sentinels, and Persona 5. Doom 2016 would be another good one.

My first thought was World of Warcraft but the version of that game that I played for the first time doesn't exist anymore, and even if it did I might get bored after a couple hours by 2021 standards.

 

[aleshemsky83]

Off the top of my head, command and conquer red alert 2, total annihalation, diablo 2, age of empires 2, jet force gemini, super mario 64, ocarina of time and majoras mask.

Modern games, the only game I can honestly say got me truly invest in the characters as a big boy was Dragon Quest 11, the dub was amazing. When the party finally reunites again in Arboria I genuinely got emotional. If you know you know.

I have to be honest I ruin a lot of games for myself by looking at a guide for the "best" choice or whatever. I'm just too cowardly to truly immerse myself and risk the bad ending. If I could Id nut up and play witcher 3 blind and (most likely) get ciri killed.

 

[Mikeaveli]

Fallout: New Vegas

I've put well over 500 hours into this game across Xbox and PC. It's probably my favourite video game. I'd love to go back and have that untainted first experience again.

Bioshock

I already knew the plot of the game before I played it so it didn't hit as hard for me as it did for others.

I can't think of many more because normally when I really like a game I like to do multiple runs of it to get to know the game better and experience everything it has to offer. Maybe Resident Evil 2 (2019) would be fun to run through for the first time again but I also really enjoy playing the game now that I know what to do and can easily navigate through the areas and puzzles while knowing which enemies to kill or not kill.

It's also interesting to me to see so many mentions of Mass Effect, Witcher 3, and Skyrim, all games I've started at least three separate times each and have never finished lol. One day I'll get there

 

[SpookyTsuki]

Skyrim and dark souls. If we go back a little bit it’s super Mario 64. Oh and kotor

 

[pistolpete11]

The Last of Us was the first thing that came to mind being so story driven and all. I really enjoyed it, but now that I know the major plot points, I don't think I will ever play it again. There's nothing like experiencing a game for the first time, but other games hold up to re-plays much better.

 

[Unholy Diver]

Fallout: New Vegas

I've put well over 500 hours into this game across Xbox and PC. It's probably my favourite video game. I'd love to go back and have that untainted first experience again.

I'll say the same but for Fallout 3, enjoyed New Vegas a ton but FO3 just hooked me in a bit more

Bioshock - I still go back and replay it if not yearly then fairly close to it, I wish I had the Men in black thing to erase my mind after each play through

The Last of Us

Uncharted series

Dead Space series

 

[Rodgerwilco]

I do know that. I own Cyberpunk, got pretty far into it, and just kind of stopped. I will go back to it again at some point but I just wasn't as drawn into the world & characters as I was with The Witcher 3, ignoring all bugs and gameplay issues.

Love the suggestions & feedback here, and I've played most of these however Subnautica has been on my list for a long time and now I'm finally going to pull the trigger. @Rodgerwilco I think we share a lot of the same tastes in games.

Keep em coming all!

And as a minor edit: I can't believe I left of Ocarina of Time from my list. That was the first game that blew my mind as a kid.

Yep, sure sounds like it! I'm glad you'll be diving in to Subnautica soon (pun intended). Looking forward to seeing how you like it.

 

[Shareefruck]

Honestly, I don't really subscribe to the idea of the first experience of a piece of media being some special experience that matters enough to want to feel it again, personally.

My view is that if something's worth a damn, even the twentieth revisit should completely dwarf the power of the first experience, because appreciation/something ultimately feeling just right overwhelmingly outweighs novelty/being pleasantly surprised by something, for me.

Even with something like, say Final Fantasy VII, which was massively formative for me and blew me away as a kid (kind of introduced me to caring about the idea of artistry and creativity in general), but that I see tons of massive flaws in now, I think that understanding what elements do hold up as beautiful while acknowledging the things that don't, and losing the stuff I was delusional about at the time is a more rewarding type of satisfaction to me anyways.

Like, I guess experiencing that again for the first time would involve an explosive andrenaline rush that I can't get from it anymore, but I can take that or leave it, honestly.

 

[MetalheadPenguinsFan]

Blades of Steel for the NES

 

[Mikeaveli]

I'll say the same but for Fallout 3, enjoyed New Vegas a ton but FO3 just hooked me in a bit more

Personally if I'm in the mood for a Bethesda-style Fallout I stick to Fallout 4. I don't think the story and RPG mechanics of either game are particularly good but the improved combat and settlement mechanics of Fallout 4 just makes it a better game IMO.

Honestly, I don't really subscribe to the idea of the first experience of a piece of media being some special experience that matters enough to want to feel it again, personally.

My view is that if something's worth a damn, even the twentieth revisit should completely dwarf the power of the first experience, because appreciation/something ultimately feeling just right overwhelmingly outweighs novelty/being pleasantly surprised by something, for me.

Even with something like, say Final Fantasy VII, which was massively formative for me and blew me away as a kid (kind of introduced me to caring about the idea of artistry and creativity in general), but that I see tons of massive flaws in now, I think that understanding what elements do hold up as beautiful while acknowledging the things that don't, and losing the stuff I was delusional about at the time is a more rewarding type of satisfaction to me anyways.

Like, I guess experiencing that again for the first time would involve an explosive andrenaline rush that I can't get from it anymore, but I can take that or leave it, honestly.

I think it depends on the game. For example, my first playthrough of Resident Evil 7 I was legitimately creeped out for the majority of the game. However, on subsequent playthroughs where you know what to do and what's coming I still had fun but it really doesn't hit the same in that regard. I do generally agree with you though, if I can't enjoy playing through a game more than once or with prior knowledge then the game probably isn't that good to begin with. I think of something like The Last of Us where I knew the story going into the game and after a few hours I just thought to myself, "the gameplay isn't great and I already know the story, why am I even playing this?" and dropped it.