1. Final Fantasy VIII
2. Street Fighter III 3rd Strike
3. Persona 4 Golden
4. Resident Evil 4
5. Dragon Quest 5
These are the games that I think changed me the most as a person, from the way I think about things to the way I view other games.
FF8 is such a special game to me, I really felt like I became a different person when I played it. I never really had a favourite game prior to playing it, but I knew pretty quickly that it would hold a special place for me. I love everything about it. The characters, the story, the music, the world. I feel like each taught me something or helped put feelings I had into words or something I could reference too. Squall's emotions being misjudged by the people around him, Zell's eagerness and desire to help being met with ire, Seifer wanting to prove himself to someone, mostly himself etc. It's things that I've felt throughout my life and it was great experiencing it in a game like this. The game gets such a bad reputation by people who either simply didn't like it (which is fair) or who have 20 year old prejudices about it that have morphed into blatantly incorrect misconceptions (which isn't fair). It's not a perfect game. None of the games on my list are, but in my eyes a game doesn't have to be flawless to be perfect. FF8 is perfect for me, because it's the only game in existence where I can experience the things it offers. I'll always hold it close to me, until the day I die.
3rd Strike to me is the personification of being knocked down but not out. The dev team were so far ahead of their time when they made it, the game is just to above and beyond any game that came out before or after it. The characters are not traditional at all, but that's what makes them good. There's no stupid stereotypes here, just characters with quirks and flaws that make them so wholly unique compared to other characters in the series who are just shitty stereotypes turned up to 11. The game is visually glorious. Every frame is a painting. Every idle animation opens a window into a character's personality. It's truly mindblowing. More than anything though, the game is just fucking fun to play. Everyone says that the game becomes a mess once you get to certain skill level, but that's not something I have to worry about. I'm at a skill level where I can just hop on, pick my main and just have a good time listening to the music and experiencing the visuals. I know 'GOAT' is subjective, but 3S really is the greatest fighting game of all time to me. It truly is that special.
Persona 4 Golden is a case of the right game coming in at the right time. When I played this in 2017, I was in a miserable place in my life. University finals were crushing me mentally and emotionally, I felt like I had very few real friends left and the expectations from friends, family and staff were getting too much for me. While working on my dissertation film project, there was a period of about two to three weeks that were just back to back days of gruelling production work that left me with about three hours on an evening to eat some food and just try to unwind before waking up early the next day to start it all over again. I'm talking about this because I fully believe I would not have gotten through these weeks without Persona 4 Golden. I loaned it from a friend who had bought the game but never played it. I wasn't so sure about the game at first, but I quickly began enjoying it after the first dungeon. Soon enough. the only thing, the only fucking thing I had to look forward to was P4G. I would play that game every night when I'd get home, even on some nights when I didn't even have time to eat. When I would get up the next day at 5am to continue filming, thinking about the game and the characters I was growing to love was the only thing keeping me from just packing it all in and going home. I truly believe it carried me through that time, and I'll always love it for doing so.
Few games to me are truly flawless, and even in some ways I don't think RE4 is a flawless game. There are several sections that I think are very rough, and I think the Island is nowhere near as solid as the Village and Castle. That being said, if I could say any game was near-flawless, it'd be RE4. I played this game for the first time when I was probably a bit too young for it, but me and my brother were desperate to play it. I have a lot of good memories watching my brother play RE4 as a kid. It was a game we bonded over a lot, at a time shortly before he started growing out of games. When I started playing the game myself, it was something I just couldn't put down. I would spend hours playing the game, playthrough after playthrough. I'd finish the game, watch the credits, then immediately start a new game. Very few games had that control over me where I literally couldn't stop playing. It's actually gotten to the point now where I can't play RE4 anymore because I played it so much. I haven't played it in like two or three years because I'm hoping a long break will make it fresh for me again. I'm cautiously excited for the remake, but I think I'll go into it knowing it won't be as good as this absolute masterpiece.
If you've been reading my LTTP threads on Dragon Quest, you'll know this is a very recent addition for me. I played this game only a few months ago, and loved it to death. I had always kind of mentally decided that DQ5 was going to be my favourite DQ game years before I ever played it. The story seemed lightyears ahead of other entries and the generational tale of sons surpassing fathers really caught my eye. Finally playing the game though? Wow, what an experience. The characters are incredibly charming and fun to be around. The story is tragic and heartwarming. The music is sublime (fuck Sugiyama) and the locations were enchanting. There are still a few DQ games I haven't played, but I truly believe this is the peak of the series. The story, the characters; all of it touched me in a way few games have. If you can only play one DQ game, make sure it's DQ5. It truly is a fantastic experience.
