What RECENT games do you feel had the most impact on you?

[Loony BoB]

Just a twist on Wolf Kanno's recent thread, I noticed most people were pointing out old games and was wondering if anyone has been impacted by any more modern games of the PS3/360 generation onwards.

For me, Journey is one. It hasn't impacted my life in any real way, but it has impacted my impression of how online gaming can work, and how a short game can impact my emotions and tell a story without any dialogue whatsoever.

The other would be Final Fantasy XIV, because it has lead me to new friends and new experiences. I've never had much success with online gaming before FFXIV rolled around. I played FFXI but got bored of it. I'd played various online FPS games with Psy, Dan, Jess and co but always tended to suck and, again, got tired of it. With FFXIV, I might get tired of it for a month on occasion, but I will still be popping in and I will always get that enthusiasm back in one way or another.

You?

[metagloria]

Skyrim and Xenoblade come to mind. But I don't know if those games really "impacted" me in any deep, meaningful way.

[arenzi]

Mass Effect and Assassin's Creed, mostly because these games got me into PC gaming a bit more and made me want to build my own PC. Plus they gave me something to really look forward to.

[Sephiroth]

Recent: This year
impact: touching somehow




Lightning I had actually last year but it came out this year as well.

[Bolivar]

A lot of games come to mind that either impressed me or introduced me to a new genre but the one that stands out the most is Oblivion. It got me into this fascinating community that collaborates to both analyze the lore as well as optimize and mod the game. As far as the product itself, Bethesda creates very well done worlds where you can find your place, build your reputation, and just lose yourself in your character. But Oblivion's greatest achievement is giving its players the joy of solitude that can be found in nature. I watched a documentary where the environment designer went out to the woods to talk about how he tries to capture the formations of the land, erosion of the rocks, the sound of the rustling leaves and he started tearing up, as you could see how much that meant to him. It shone through in the final product and I can't wait to visit that world again.

[Slothy]

If anyone can make it through The Walking Dead season one (still need to play two) and not feel all kinds of emotions then they're probably a psychopath and should be avoided. That game made me feel things I was unaware I could still feel, and it proved that adventure games aren't dead yet.

[Karifean]

One recent game (visual novel) that had quite an impact on me was Little Busters!

For a while I'd never thought I'd find a storyline I could come to like as much as Clannad. Little Busters! dispelled that quickly enough. It's a 2007 game though I only got to know it this year. Clannad itself also had a huge impact on me, of course, but that's 2004 (still only got to know it in Fall of last year) which might be a little too far back.

I can't think of anything that had a major impact on me that's more recent than Little Busters!. Maybe Steins;Gate.

[Wolf Kanno]

Hmm....

Xenoblade_Chronicles_-_1.jpg

For showing me how JRPGs are not dead and confirming that FFXII really was the right direction for the genre. It's world design is probably the best I've seen in a JRPG. I will be seriously annoyed if the new console generation of JRPGs don't stand up and pay attention to what this game brought to the genre. It showed how to make a meaningful and fun world but also went out of its way to be as user-friendly as possible.

videogames_flower.jpg

The game that surprised me the most of all the That Game Company entries, wouldn't think a game about a Flower would be powerful. Journey was also powerful and showed the type of storytelling I've wanted to see in games for awhile, but I could tell Journey would be amazing whereas Flower caught me off guard.

smtwall610.jpg

While I have my gripes, this game took a series that was pretty difficult for new comers to come in and find a way to make it more accessible to newbies without compromising the challenge. It may also being one of the bleakest stories I've seen since Demon's Souls/Dark Souls. I love that it was a game that broke some modern RPG conventions by returning to older game design and making the player have to really work at uncovering all of its mysteries instead of coddling them or playing like a movie.

[Pumpkin]

Tales of Xillia! It got me in to the Tales series and I'm excited and looking forward to playing more of them. I was very impressed with both Xillia and Abyss in terms of gameplay, story, and characters.

[blackmage_nuke]

Zero Escape: Virtue's Last Reward
If NDS counts as a recent console then 999 as well.
Portal 1 and 2
If remakes count then MGS:PeaceWalker for PS3

These are just off the top of my head.

[Ayen]

Without a doubt The Last of Us and The Walking Dead has had more of an impact on me emotionally than any other game I have played since the Metal Gear Solid series. The Walking Dead more than The Last of Us. The new Tomb Raider took me on a pretty wild ride as well to the point I wanted to kill every enemy on that island. If we can include independent games, then I want to throw in Dust, Spelunky, and Game Dev Tycoon. They didn't impact me on an emotional level, but they wowed me in other ways with the gameplay, and in Dust's case, the story, music and voice acting on what I know was a smaller budget than most games have these days. I was hooked on Game Dev Tycoon for days.

[The Man]

Portal is the only recent game I can think of that truly impressed me as much as the classics. Haven't played enough of Portal 2 yet to evaluate it but it seems good.

[I Took the Red Pill]

Dark Souls.

[Mirage]

Mass effect. The first one.

[Fynn]

Xenoblade Chronocles and Bravely Default. Xenoblade for the same reasons that Wolf listed, and Bravely Default because it made me discover that I'm way more patient with games than I thought Oh, and for proving FF isn't dead.