Just a small thing… I must have played Civ II for hundreds and hundreds of hours as a kid. Then one day a large civilization in civil disorder had its capital taken and one half of the empire seceded as a brand new civilization. I yelped… one of those joyful wtaf moments…
Playing Solasta. Our D&D group had fallen apart, and we just didn’t seem to be able to get a new game together. Solasta scratched that D&D itch like no game before it has. My wife got really into it, too, so we ended up adventuring for hundreds of hours together.
I don’t know if these are the most joy but some good memories.
When I first saw Mario 64 in Toys R Us I was awestruck. Just unbelievable. Mario in 3D.
When I was playing Ocarina of Time I was hunting Poes in Hyrule field on Epona. I fell asleep because it was late. When I woke up the game was still running. Nothing overheated. Nothing killed me in game. No loud jarring noises. I wasnt late for anything. I just woke up and started hunting Poes again.
A friend and I were staying up late playing one of the early Kings Quest games where you can dial a 900 number to help you if you got stuck. This was back when save points were maybe once every 10 minutes if you’re lucky. We had gotten to a really verbose riddle that we were supposed to have found a clue for earlier in the game but missed it. We just figured out the riddle and guessed it on the first try. It was an unbelievable triumph.
Life is Strange, with the final decision of Bae vs Bay. It made me quit the game for two days before I came back and decided (Bae forever). I love a good, story-impactful decision. That might be weird in this context, but it was so great, and that enjoyment came entirely from the game.
As a millennial, I’m probably not alone when I write Red Alert, Atlantis, Diablo and Fallout 2 on a computer without internet connection. Also endless demos from PC Gamer CDs.
The more unusual game I want to add is Warlords 3. Got it as a Christmas gift from my cousins boyfriend (he was maybe 20 years older than me). Probably because he wanted someone he could play shared screen PvP with. Spent a lot of time with that game. The same guy also gave me a pirate copy of Diablo. I should probably give him a call today and thank him.
Also playing Tibia on a 33k dial up connection was special. A very laggy and expensive experience. Always afraid that mom would just turn off the connection because she had to make a phone call. And the true horror I felt when I encountered another player or a new monster deep within an unexplored dungeon. I didn’t like WoW when it came out. Probably because of emotional bluntedness that free PvP in combination with gear + xp loss causes.
And I’m still chasing the dragon.
Vermintide 2 dlc where Saltzpyre gets a piglet as a hat. Best goddamn $5 I’ve ever spent on dlc. His little legs and his butt wiggle around when you move and ofc the purity seals are on point.
Also way back in DCUO when fire tank was busted AF I kept summoning fireballs that I would then Chuck into my buddy trying his best to actually complete whatever task we were doing.
Also Also max difficulty helldivers 2 against the robots on Mavelon Creek. It was a struggle to survive more than 10 seconds out of the drop pod and it was some of the funniest shit I’ve ever played.
- Getting to the final boss of persona 3 as my first SMT game, feeling actually scared irl, fighting it for over an hour and then getting wiped out when it had zero pixels of hp bar left. The party AI was sabotaging me and I was coming up with new strategies in real time to counteract it, it was great
- The final dungeon of FFIV-2 (yes I agree most of the game is shit). I had to finish it in one night because it was the end of spring break and I was driving back to college the next day. My real world scheduling was good but I didn’t plan for it to be the longest final dungeon in FF history. Luckily this was the best part of the game and I played for 12 hours until sunrise, delirious while taking down the final boss and getting to see the credits roll.
I just finished P3R’s main story right before the new year and I haven’t recovered yet. I want to play the DLC but I’m too spooked
There are too many. Completing Lode Runner on my C64. Playing the Oregon Trail as a kid and making silly names ‘Tit face has died of dysentery’. The first time I played Sonic on my megadrive on Christmas day 1991. Playing Wonder Boy on my game gear for hours with my little bro. Crash Team Racing or FIFA tournaments (any FIFA after 16 is rubbish) on PS1 with my mates. Playing Echochrome on the PS3 on LSD. When the nuke exploded in Modern Warfare 2. Playing through Inside in one go in the dark by myself. Winning a PS5 in a raffle the day after my xbox1 died.
32-bit FIFA 98, best FIFA.
I never did beat Lode Runner on my Atari 800. What an absolute banger of a game though. Speaking of which, I remember playing Encounter on the Atari 800 and Mercenary III on the Atari ST, and realising “this is the direction of video games”. Incredible stuff.
I’ve probably played an uncomfortable amount of FF7 to most. During covid, I recently became single so I decided to find some like-minded discord communities to pass that time. I met someone who was streaming FF7. I hopped into the stream and kicked it off with explaining how to get a golden chocobo to reach the final red materia. We’re married now and have a dog :D
thats fun
Staying up all night playing GoldenEye.
I mean…you just described large portions of 1997 and 1998. On the weekend.
Some houses had a rule. No oddjob. I had a different rule. You’re oddjob. It was no fun if it was an even fight. I needed a handicap to make it harder.
thats one of the most badass statements ive ever read
1v1 where you’re expecting Oddjob is a lot different than 4P deathmatch where one guy is Oddjob. That’s where it’s a real dick move cause he’ll catch you by surprise.
Still, though. Respect.
24 hour Civ 5 marathon with beer and the boys in my college days.
…well. What happened???
It was just amazing to hang out and focus on playing a game deeply for 24 straight hours with my two closest friends. Can’t recall otherwise being so pleased with how I spent my time.
Meeting my wife on Elder Scrolls Online has got to be number one, but we didn’t even play the game very long to be honest lol.
I play games with my wife every now and then and it’s great. I wouldn’t say regularly but every few months we’ll play something like State of Decay 2 or Astroneer and get really in to it for a week.
I met my wife playing Rock Band. It was definitely a top gaming moment. But I didn’t realize at the time what it would lead to eventually.
Oh for sure, us either. We were guild mates for a while, then friends, then partners! The process took years.
I didn’t think anyone did.
KOTOR. just existing in a Star Wars world and becoming a Jedi. really have no idea why we can’t have another Jedi RPG, do you not like money Disney?
Well we’ve had a couple Jedi RPG-lites in the Fallen Order series.
But nothing quite like KotOR I’ll give you that. They just had incredible atmospheres on each planet. I loved the city planets the most, like Taris, Nar Shaddaa, and Manaan.
idunno, to me the heavy reliance on platforming and metroidvania-style traversal far outweighs any superficial RPG elements in those games. I just get annoyed rather than immersed in the game.
Playing Halo co-op with my wife.
I also choose playing with this guy’s wife.
Wandering around in Morrowind before I really knew what I was doing, being happy just to find a few coins in a tree stump or a crappy dagger.
Other games have given more extreme emotions. But no other game has instilled such a joyous sense of wonder.
Killing Vivec and then getting the message about being doomed was probably my favorite “oh shit” moment of all time.
