FFXIV's rerelease was a huge moment for me. After being deeply disappointed with FFXIII, its sequels, and the initial release of FFXIV, A Realm Reborn worked for me on several levels: it was a game that my friends were interested in playing and so it was one of the games that brought us back together online to play together and it was a really strong social start to the game for us all; it was a return to an acceptable quality point for the FF series for me; it was my first MMORPG since WoW's Cataclysm expansion pack. It was a franchise (Final Fantasy) and genre (MMORPG) comeback for me, with the cherry on top that I was able to play the first couple of months after its launch with some of my best friends. I only played for about 3 months after and admittedly it did feel like it ran short on content in that amount of time for me, but I did return to it last summer just before Stormblood launched and had a great time playing with the then-GAF Free Company as well, which was one of the tightest-knit, helpful and social online communities I've ever been a part of that wasn't just comprised of my closest real-life friends. :) FFXIV didn't have the same impact on me as FFXI and WoW did as a whole (FFXI was my first-ever MMORPG and WoW revolutionized the genre, neither of which FFXIV can come close to replicating) but it's still an extremely good game with a strong ongoing storyline and good communities. I plan to make an eventual return but it likely won't be until the next major expansion.
Call of Duty 4. I understand the fatigue with the series and its vast influences across the industry that permeate through almost every FPS game now, but this game definitely popularized some design trends in the genre, established the modern warfare (literally the game's subtitle) setting in the FPS space, and frankly its legacy is still popular as hell today. I still like the COD series but I do understand people's weariness of it. I myself have trouble getting really excited for each annual release up until just before or just after it comes out myself, but every time I come back I more often than not have a pretty great time playing the game's multiplayer for a few weeks. I have only NOT enjoyed COD3 and COD Ghosts in the mainline series, the rest have been generally quite alright in my book, and IMO it really blew open and went mainstream with COD4, even though I'd been playing the series since COD's launch on PC, which in my personal life was right around the same time I got into Final Fantasy XI and the MMORPG genre in general, and sort of the upswing of my interest in WWII FPS games. COD4 came along and transitioned that previous WWII craze to a modern warfare craze and made everyone else in the FPS space want to try and borrow from some of its most appealing elements. I still remember what a positive shock COD4 felt like in 2007, after months of me personally doubting it could be any good due to my stubborn association of the COD brand with WWII. It was a damn fun game, and an industry legend IMO, even if its legacy has overstayed its welcome to many in 2018. Modern Warfare 2 would go on to continue the trend and bring and deliver on hype well beyond the scope of COD4's success, and despite being the favorite in the series to many, it all started with COD4.
God of War (2018). I loved God of War 1. I enjoyed God of War II as a gameplay continuation, but I felt a bit cheated by what I felt like was a great ending to the first game. I didn't feel completely exhausted on Kratos and his insane anger issues until God of War III previewed years and years later, with God of War II leaving an inevitable sequel pretty much certain -- the way his temper and violence was portrayed in God of War III didn't stick well with me, and by the time I finished the game, I knew I was feeling pretty done with the series. When God of War 2018 was first revealed several years ago, I just groaned and almost completely dismissed its merits without seeing a single shred of gameplay. That first trailer certainly did hint at a new vibe and tone but I just didn't think they could salvage Kratos as a character. Maybe 1 year after its initial unveiling, I remember seeing the first gameplay drop with the new camera perspective and immediately being intrigued, though my doubts about the game tied to Kratos as a character still lingered. It wasn't until maybe E3 2017 or so that it finally started to look like a game that appeared right up my alley -- everything from its more somber and emotional tone to the new gameplay finally clicked together to get me excited, and the final product managed to deliver, and it went well beyond my expectations when it came to characterizing Kratos and making him feel ... believable and likeable again. It's a hell of a feat, both from the perspective of salvaging the series from a very tired one-note ragefest to making Kratos feel worth investing some emotional attachment to again. It's also damn gorgeous, and I think the gameplay change up is fun, though perhaps not necessarily for the better -- I'm a bit neutral on the series' gameplay styles, and I don't think either one is better than the other -- they both excel at being fun, and that's fine. But I actually care about God of War again, and can't wait to see where this new branch of Kratos' personal life and legacy goes from here.
