Games you wish you could experience again for the first time.
Two initially jump to mind for me.
Outer Wilds took me three attempts to get into, but when it did...wow. Its a game that I is definitely more than the sum of it's parts, and one that I'd argue is genuinely beautiful in it's story and how it tells that story.
That said, once you've worked out the games mystery; it's story, it's tricks, timing and logistics, I wonder how more pull the game would have.
Return of the Obra Dinn is a game that I spend a lot of my time thinking about. The music, the atmosphere and of course, the games moment to moment gameplay.
Those puzzles will likely (hopefully) melt from my mind at some point, but even then I fear that initial sense of excitement and intrigue will be lost.
As much as I plan on going back to it at some point, I'm not sure a game of it's nature is all that well suited to additional playthroughs unfortunately.
I didn’t find all the parts to the Cyclops on my first play until I was like an hour away from finishing the game. So months later I played it again, so that I could find the Cyclops sooner. Definitely didn’t feel as magical the second time around, even with my shiny new sub.
Definitely Subnautica. It doesn’t matter how many times I play it, there’s still the twitchy dread. I imagine if I could play it for the first time, but in VR, I would never have finished it and there’d be a hole in the wall where I threw the controller.
I've played it for the first time a month ago. I really wanted to love it. Not my cup of tea unfortunately, I'm really upset about it (about the fact I did not like it, not about the game)
That's fair, and honestly I feel like it's a game you either love or hate. And really, play what you love and don't let the haters bring you down. I was enthralled with the story being a fresh take on a post-apocalyptic world. There are some...quirks with the gameplay but still one of my favorite games of all time.
TUNIC. It's impossible to truly explain without spilling anything. But I don't think any other game could do what that game did again and succeed, unless of course whoever is playing it hasn't already played TUNIC.
Undertale, Chrono Trigger, Donkey Kong Country 2, Final Fantasy III/VI, Slay the Princess. All those games "lose" something the more that you've played them.
The gameplay is pretty unique in this one, and the world is enormous, so a long tutorial makes sense. Once you final escape the snowy mountains and can access the wider world you feel a real sense of release and freedom that's really worth it.
That said, like skyrim, it makes a new game a slog and I wish you could skip it on subsequent play throughs.
I only just started this game, but I will say this one too simply because I got the ending spoiled way back, and now that I'm finally playing it I can already tell it would have had a massive impact on me. So I'm sad I'll never get to experience that.
I mean, it's the Outer Wilds. That's the right answer to this question.
But also, Hellblade was absolutely incredible to play in one sitting with good headphones in a pitch black room. It took a few minutes to get used to the voices, but once I was finished with the game, my mind felt strangely empty for a while
I didn't play Hellblade in one sitting, but I also really loved it. The blind trial where you navigate purely through sound and controller vibration and have to ignore the scary monsters will stay with me for a while. Very cool level.
This. I wish I could finish Portal 1 and hear the ending song for the first time again. I remember finishing this game in like 3 in the morning after the party I hosted. I wanted to finish it so badly I couldn't resist. My jaw was so dropped. Still one of the best feelings I had with games.
Fallout 4, it's taken me ages, but I finally have a console mod set that makes survival mode what I always wanted it be, and being able to explore the world that way with fresh eyes would be amazing.
Man I just finished the DLC for Outer Wilds, then I went through the main game's ending again. And holy shit if it were possible for a game to make me cry, then that ending would do it.
It's World of Warcraft, and it includes being the age I was with the knowledge I had at the time. Vanilla was such a stabbing in the dark experience, and then stepping through to Hellfire Peninsula, what a vast view compared to the prior landscapes. I miss not knowing who's "bad" and who's "good" and who's "meta"
Maybe that was always there (though I doubt it was there as much without all the third party metric collecting interference) but that's why I caveat with knowing what I knew at the time
I still vividly remember, just a few hours into my first character (orc hunter), when I made it to the Crossroads in the Barrens for the first time. While I was seeing what NPCs were there and starting to pick up quests, a bunch of Alliance PCs turned up and attacked. Word made it back to Orgrimmar and high-level Horde characters started dropping in. As a level 5-ish character, watching all these high-level characters go at each other was so exciting.
I hit one of the Alliance guys with Hunter's Mark, which turned on PVP for me, and I was almost immediately one-shotted by something I never saw. coming. Worth it though.
Played through a few of the expansions, but nothing quite recaptured the sense of exploration of that vanilla experience.
The culture that grew up through that game has never been equaled. I was only there from BC onwards, so I missed the initial evolution but it's really interesting to look back and read the history, especially the parts I lived.
I'm definitely showing my age here, but for me it would be a PC game from 1996 called The Neverhood. When I played it at age 15 a lot of the biblical overtones were kind of lost on me, and the guy who created it turned out to be kind of a nut job, but it's one of the most fun and creative puzzle games I've ever played. The entire game was made in stop motion with real clay sets and figures. The music is amazing and the soundtrack is definitely worth listening to on its own even if you don't play the game. I've replayed it on emulators a few times over the years, but it was nothing like experiencing it for the first time and discovering all the puzzles and secrets! This was pre YouTube so even if you had to occasionally check the walkthrough you still didn't really know what to expect next!
Oh, yes. This was also a game of my childhood. I first played it when I was six, maybe? Didn't get very far, because I never thought to go back to the place the Weasel popped out of for that final button to get out of the first area. I think I was eight when my older sib and I finally completed it. This was before I had access to the internet, so we called up the family member who had given it to us for hints when we finally put our nose to the grindstone to get it done.
In retrospect, the help we needed was ridiculous and somehow we figured out the harder puzzles with less issues. (Probably not me. My sib is better at those things than I am.)
I also didn't know anything about the biblical overtones, because I wasn't raised with religion. It was just nutty and unique. Yet I still listen to the Neverhood OST and quote Willie Trombone's tapes.
I remember being scared of the first person sections. I genuinely expected something to pop out. XD
I've never been particularly religious so I missed that part the first time through. I loaned it to a friend of mine at school and he pointed it out to me lol!
My family has just gotten the Internet maybe a year or two before I got the game so I did have the advantage of being able to use a walkthrough someone had posted, but I tried to do as much on my own as I could!
I still listen to that soundtrack once or twice a year lol! The guys name is Terry S. Taylor and I checked out a few of his other albums later on but the OST from Neverhood is still my favorite thing he's done!
Although, really, it was a product of its time - not to mention the endless subtle (and not so subtle) movie references.
Also, classic LucasArts adventure games. Recently played through Grim Fandango for the first time, that was good, but it was nothing like Monkey Island and Loom.
Kick ass soundtrack
Main character has good quips (I'm not putting my lips on that)
Good old SCUMM interface
Crazy motorcycles
Comedy, drama, and most importantly motorcycle fights on desert roads.
I played the demo on my computer but it would crash. I had to edit the files to make it barely run.
My buddy always had a better computer than me and his brother ran a warez ftp so he always had the latest games. We would play that and Under a Killing Moon after school. Good times.
All I wanted and expected was yet another mediocre military schooter.
Mechanically I got that.
What I not expected: how hard the story would hit.
I am so very glad I went in blind.
There is no other game that has ever given me the same adrenaline rush as Dayz. It just hits different. The learning curve is a bit steep, but every step and every player encounter is a memory to remember. Really wish I was less experienced and not knowing the maps inside out, really wanting to get lost again not knowing might what happen next.
The game has come really far and more players are playing it now than ever. The game has great modding support and community servers. If you have never experienced Dayz then you really should give it a try as it is often on sale.
starcraft, warcraft 2, warcraft 3, world of warcraft (up to lich king) descent 2, descent 3, halo CE, the original dayZ (the arma II mod), unreal tournament 2004 multiplayer maps, life is strange
Everyone is here mentioning really good games. Im going to be dead honest: Minecraft. I remember dropping into this huge unknown world when the game had just dropped, and you didn't know anything about anything. There weren't youtube tutorials on how to craft all kinds of stuff yet, you didn't know what the scary things trying to kill you at night were. All you knew was that you could dig and cut trees and build stuff, and that there was some scary shit out there in the dark trying to get you.
It was just the perfect open-world exploration game.
Her Story - Played this game with my wife, and it was one of the most fun games we've played together. Tried the sequel, but it just didn't hit the same.
A Short Hike - Played this at the height of my pandemic depression, and it legit made me cry. It's just so cozy and welcoming that I wish I could explore that island for the first time again.
If you liked "A Short Hike" I would recommend Lil Gator Game. It's a little more childish, but has a similar feel. Kinda cozy game with a story that has elements of exploration, growing-up, etc.
I second outer wilds. It's so sad that the game is only best experienced once. The second I heard about the dlc I jumped right into that too. Only for me to have the same feeling after I beat it.
There has been no game like outer wilds that left me with such a feeling.
Witcher 3. My first thought after finishing it was that "oh man, I just want to forget this and restart". Played through it about 4 times and gathered all achievements.
Dragon Quest III - I originally played and completed the Japanese version without understanding Japanese. Now I am waiting for the HD2D remake to re-experience it.
I have to go back to the first game I was ever hooked on, and that was soldier of fortune II.
My buddies were all playing quake and unreal tournament... And I wanted something that was more modern and realistic. I picked up sof2 on a whim and played it a little bit. I was still fairly young and didn't understand online multi-player. It was this thought that it was very involved and clumsy, and could be a pain. One night I went to the multiplayer tab, which generated a list of servers. I double clicked on one and the game started to load. I remember being blown away! "Is that it?! Am I really loading in to play other real people?!"
I was instantly hooked. That whole experience was really something.
I know, it probably sounds lame to the younger people here... But growing up, the internet didn't exist... At least until I was about 8.
Noita, hands down!
Forgetting all the secret and dark knowledge I have now and most often not gathered through my own hard work over weeks and months cannot ever be forgotten enough to allow me the joy of rediscovering it all over again...
Mass Effect trilogy. Bioshock. Deus Ex (the first game). Disco Elysium: this game made me laugh so hard I ended up crying, made me feel the entire rainbow of emotions. Wish I could experience that again). The Witcher 3.
But yeah, most of all Mass Effect. Still look forward to N7 day each year, but I would give up my entire Steam library to experience the trilogy for the first time again.