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RetroGaming @lemmy.world
Dave @lemmy.world

If you could play one game for the first time all over again, what would it be?

(Saw this question asked on another popular link aggregation website and it got me thinking)

If you could play one game for the first time all over again, what would you choose? This might be because you want to do it all again, or because you don't think you got enough out of it the first time. It could be experiencing the game exactly as you were back then, or experiencing a game with what you know now.

For me, it's Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, experienced exactly as I was back in 1991.

Nothing comes close to how jaw-droppingly amazed I was by that opening sequence. The epic orchestral score, the cinematic rainstorm, creeping around in the dark... it was a generational leap above anything I'd played on 8-bit computers and consoles, and even the Megadrive. I'd love to play it again without thirty plus years of Nintendo/Zelda knowledge, or without knowing about the dark world.

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  • Disco Elysium

    The sheer joy of realising it's not "just another" RPG, slowly pulling the curtain on how intricate the worldbuilding is, discovering the main character and in turn reflecting on yourself. It's become a small addiction to watch first time streamers and let's players for me, to vicariously relive that process.

    Another candidate might be Ultima 7, the interactivity and how "real" it felt in the 90s was mindblowing for kid me.

  • Not retro, but Celeste hands down. That game is an emotional roadtrip of a platformer. My favorite indie game out there.

  • There are two games I would love to play for the first time again and those are Portal and Dishonored.

    Portal is obvious - it's a well-refined and immersive puzzle game with enough story and atmosphere to keep you invested, but never so much as to pull you away from its puzzles. It may only be a short game, but it is one of the best!
    The only people I know who haven't given this game the upmost praise are those who've never played it before.

    Edit: Portal 2 is also a fantastic game, but it definitely leans on the story more. That is by no means a bad thing though, as we wouldn't the absolute menace that is Cave Johnson without it.

    As for Dishonored, the original is Arkane Studio's best game IMO - the world it's set in is so interesting and brimming with lore; the levels are well crafted, and reward the player's creativity and exploration without ever feeling forced; The gameplay is challenging, but without ever feeling overwhelming. I'm sure it has it's flaws, but all these years later, I still remember how much it got right.

    Edit: Dishonored 2 was very much like it, and I remember it for all the same reasons, but the first is the one that really captured that lightning in a bottle for me.

    I also loved Prey. It plays in a similar style without feeling too much like it's predecessor. I can't say I liked the Roguelike DLC very much though.

    Edit 2 Electric-Boogaloo: I keep forgetting Dishonored uses the American spelling. I always remember it in the British spelling. Oops.

    • Dishonored absolutely holds up, just replayed it a month or two ago. I do also believe it's just a tighter, more well designed experience than Dishonored 2. It's hard to properly explain without taking notes, but Dishonored 2 felt like "well, we have to make a sequel, what can we expand on and add on?" Where Dishonored 1 just felt like they knew exactly what they wanted to do and expertly executed every single thing just like they wanted.

      Still a blast to play today, and the art style holds up.

      • I think you've hit the nail on the head there. Dishonored 2 felt like it had to be made, rather than wanting to be made like the original.

        Having said that, it is still a sequel worthy of it's predecessor, which is better than can be said for a lot of sequels.

  • Mass Effect trilogy.

    Or maybe Bioshock.

    Either/both.

    Very late edit: Deus Ex. I still play it every once in a while and while the graphics are terrible, it's a lot better with GMDX and you get used to it very quickly. That game is still a masterpiece.

    • I was thinking ME trilogy as well, but while ME1 is a great game it doesn't really hold up in terms of graphics today. ME2 and ME3 still look fine though.

      • Oh the graphics don't bother me at all, the Legndary edition holds up fine, I think. But ME1 has the best story in the trilogy, it's why I still play it. I still remember the first time I played it. Being made a Spectre, speaking to Sovereign, the attack on the Citadel. How scary and unknowable the Reapers were. Hanging up on the Council. ;) The main storyline is better than 2 and 3 combined, imo. However, you are right that ME1 has some issues. While the Legendary Edition fixed a lot of the issues (and it does play smoothly, I do think), there are some things in ME1 that have become so tedious I don't even do them anymore. Mainly talking about the exploration of unchartered worlds and the terrible handling of the Mako, or how every outpost looks the same, every mine looks the same, with the exact same layout. Makes it feel way more dated than it feels if you only go through the story. Not to mention the headache that is inventory management and swapping weapons and mods and grenades, turning everything into omni-gel because the stupid mini-game is even more annoying than inventory management!

        For this reason I made a few save games that I 100%ed (one paragon, one renegade, different romances, etc). And I backed those up. Now, whenever I play ME1 I only do the main storyline and some side quests, and ignore the rest, lol. Then in ME2 I import one of the files I saved. Cut out all the tedium. ;)

  • Dark Souls.

    But I suck and this time I don't get sucked into the entire series. That oughta save me some time and money.

    If I had to take a Retro game, Chrono Trigger for sure.

    • Considered Dark Souls... but, honestly, the first time I played it, I hated it. And every successive playthrough, I've loved it more and more. Playing it for the first time would feel like a step back.

  • Gothic

    My first open world game, unmatched freedom to do what you want and to go where you want, exploration rewarding with handplaced loot everywhere. I lived in that game for a whole year.

358 comments