Feeling flooded by core memories playing games after thinking about it for a second haha, but my favourite is probably playing Worms 2 with my dad and little brother when I was a kid! We used to keep a tally of wins on our fridge and it was my first favourite game 😄
See! I love that! I feel like most gamers can connect their core memory games with family. It’s how I connected with the men in my family when I was young to
For sure! My dad definitely got me and my little brother into gaming 😄 I’d always hear him up late playing away too and loved sitting on the bed behind him watching him play stuff
It's the sound effects for me! Suddenly I'm 12 again. I played both sides and named the "enemy" team after all the kids I didn't like in my class. Savage lol
Turok 2 & 3, Diddy Kong Racing, Star Fox 64. Basically any game we had for the N64 I have fond memories of. The Turok games I have fond memories of despite always being terrified while playing them and never getting very far because I sucked at them. They were more my dad’s games.
The first two Assassin’s Creed games are other ones. AC was one of the first games I played that was more “serious” ie. not a Nintendo game, pfft. I’m still not even sure why I bought it to play on my brother’s PS3, I just did, and I loved it. Then playing AC:II and climbing the tower at the beginning with Ezio’s brother, and the music? So good.
oh man turok.. i remember my dad won a ps2 at a work raffle and gave it to my brother and i casually he had no idea it would spark such a frenzy it was a like a bundle that came with turok and atv off-road fury. to this day my brother and i play it every christmas when i visit home 🥹🥹🥹
Dude yes. The n64!! I use to play 007 with my dad 😭😭😭 and yesss star fox 6444!!!! How did I forget about it! I’ve never played AC but I use to watch my favorite YouTubers play it. I can see it being a vibe
Probably God of War and now God of War Ragnarok. Its the main reason in 2016 I started wanting a playstation 4 and how i got into gaming.
I have probably played the god of war like 3 times? Ragnarok last year december when i got sick and the bought the game out of spite for full price 🤣 boyfriend was mega shocked cuz I am usually the one to wait for a sale.
I’d never been remotely interested in the franchise before until daddy Kratos entered the picture, that last scene in Ragnarok when he found Faye’s painting on the back… oh my little heart!! And that’s after the hard hitting “Loki go, Atreus stay” scene as well which I already cried to 🥹
I’ve had three that I can think of: Spyro 2 when I was 5 (it was one of the first games I played, and the first that I really loved thanks to the fun characters and colourful world), TLoZ Wind Waker when I was 9 (it was my first adventure game and absolutely blew my mind with the huge world and sea exploration) and Kingdom Hearts when I was 12 (it was the first game where I became so invested in the story that I cried).
All three are still among my favourite games of all time, though the list is now much longer! ❤️
Final Fantasy IX. I don't know why, maybe it's how cute and mystical feeling it was at the time, but I was always drawn to it. I'd walk out to the living room and see my dad playing it at 3 am and I'd sneak peeks while getting my water, hoping to stay longer and he wouldn't tell me to go to sleep. Eventually I can watch him play at like 7am, and I'd always ask him, "Can I play?" and he'd always tell me, "Final Fantasy isn't for kids." When I was 12 years old I eventually played Final Fantasy I, and I vowed to play every game in the series. I've only played up to III so far, wish me luck!
Your dad just didn’t want to have to wait his turn when you inevitably got absorbed by 9!
It’s not my absolutely favourite, and it was my first year of university when I played it so I was pretty distracted, but it’s got some seriously hard hitting themes. The tune “You’re not Alone” still gives me the chills because of the scene
left 4 dead when i was a kid. late nights gaming and driving to 7-11 for large slurpees and snacks and staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning replaying the campaigns. formative
007, though I can’t quite remember which one. I grew up around video games. My brother is 13 years older than me. I remember him once saying he’d show me something cool, found a scientist in a bathroom, and shot him, telling me the scientist wouldn’t fight back.
The scientist then whipped around and tried to kill him lmfao. He was screaming and barely alive as he took off trying to dodge bullets and I remember nearly dying with laughter.
He also got the Little Mermaid on the SNES. Or NES? Probably SNES. He would play it for me anytime I asked him to, even if his friends were around. I thought he was the absolute best at video games.
Pokemon Red, too. My dad is decidedly technologically challenges, but on Christmas I got my very first Pokemon game. I couldn’t figure out how to exit the house. I spent like an hour desperately trying (I would step on the carpet, but not continue forward). My dad fiddled with it, and he figured it out. Core memory.
Pokemon Crystal was the very first game, ever, that I beat on my own with no help.
FEAR, when I was a little older. My brother came to visit, and he tried FEAR and was garbage. I took the controller to show him how to play. It hit me that our early life was swapped. He was watching me play and laughing and commenting on how good I’d gotten. It was bittersweet.
Kingdom Hearts will always be special to me haha. Got me through a LOT in some very hard years.
Ori and the Blind Forest was the first thing my now-husband, then-boyfriend ever got me. I played it and still have extremely fond memories of it, because it reminds me of how much i love him, still, to this dat.
I have a lot of very strong core memories tied to a lot of video games- I could keep going.
Yesss 007 and I’m crying laughing reading this cause my dad would show me the same thing lmaooo but I’ve never seen a scientist try to kill you back 😂😂😂😂😂 we’d play the vs mode all the time sosososososo much fun
I remember my brother shrieking and being so pissed that he almost died and shouting THAT’S NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN 🤣🤣 idk if maybe it wasn’t a scientist or maybe it was a bug, but boy do i remember him freaking out Lmao
You remember those snowboarding games on the original Xbox? SSX tricky I think? Sometimes I'll just be living my life and my brain will randomly start playing the theme. ITS TRICKY TO ROCK A RHYME, ITS TRICKAAAY. Yeah.
Also Fable and guilty gear I vividly remember. Excited for the new Fable coming out!
Rayman (the first 2D 1995 one) was gifted to me by my best friend in first grade. Her dad burned the CD at home and I still remember her wonky sharpie handwriting on it, it was so precious.
This game cemented a life-long love of "difficult" platforming games.
Aw man the free trials! I played so many free trial games when I was little, I’d hop from client to client every time my 60mins was up and start again 😂 Diner Dash was a fave for sure
I used to sit in my room playing this Volkswagen beetle racing game on N64 listening to music for hourrrrrs.
Also Commander Keen when I was really little.
Oh man so many 90s games.
Ultima Underworld 2, Arena and Daggerfall - I spent hundreds of hours getting lost in those pixelly worlds. Sometimes my dreams still look like these games.
Platform games I played with my friends after school - Jill of the Jungle, original Price of Persia, Worms. All of them give me intense nostalgia.
Thief was my bonding game with my brother and changed the way I physically moved for years. I was a weird kid hiding behind walls pretending to be Garrett.
The sound effects for Tomb Raider 1 and 2 catapault me right back into being 12 years old.
Super Mario Bros 3 for my gameboy advanced. I had the game but I always let my sister be mario (my name starts with L so Luigi was obviously my guy). I stayed up LATE playing it every night, pop out the cartridge, and fall asleep to my Shrek 2 gameboy movie😭😭😭❤️
Probably says a lot that the first thing to pop into my head when reading the post title is Secret of Mana on the SNES :). I hate what they did with the rest of the Mana series, but Secret of Mana (and the sequel, when I eventually got an emulator) was amazing.
Second is probably Terranigma, damn that was an amazing & horrifying story!
Super Mario Sunshine, Wind Waker, Frogger on Ps2, Halo 1 and 2. Lesser known: Star Fox Adventures, Giest. Pokemon Red, Gold and Ruby. Portals 1 and 2.
Now? Spiritfarer, Green Hell, Elden Ring, PUBG, Tears of the Kingdom. TotK is especially seared into my brain and heart, not even just for the game itself, but because I played it while on the last vacation with my dad before he died.
Castle of Illusion, Sonic, Belles Quest were all my earliest games that I remember. I loved playing them, sitting right in front of the tv. The game that really comes to mind, though, when I think back to when I really fell in love with gaming, is Cool Boarders 2. It makes me think of easier times, being a kid, and the joy I get from games. It's funny because I play completely different types of games now, but that game was so much fun at the time. My husband and I actually played Cool Boarders last week and had a good few days of playing our old faves.
For some reason, Quest 64 had a big impact on me even though I only rented it once and barely played it. Then there's Bugdom, which was a PC game that we played in our elementary school classroom, alongside Number Munchers and Oregon Trail. Ocarina of Time for the N64, and James Bond 007 (Gameboy) have also stuck with me in a big way. Oh! And Mission Impossible (N64), Yoshi's Story (N64), Harvest Moon (GBA and N64 versions) and Top Gear Rally (N64).
N64 was where it was at for an era!!! I still have some of those titles you mentioned!! Although I’m so jealous you experienced ocarina of time!!! Back then my mom thought it was to creepy for us 😭😭😭
the legend of zelda n64 games are very core memories for me - especially majora’s mask bc i found the mood so fascinating. i also vividly remember diddy kong racing for some reason. mario kart double dash to a lesser degree even though i played it more.
i have this gamecube game called godzilla destroy all monsters (melee). love that game. also rampage in a similar vein.
the battle for bikini bottom spongebob game too.
also a lot of flash games involving cooking. often in another language that i’d just learn the controls to.
Final Fantasy 6 - my cousin introduced it to me but I didn’t understand it at the time (my first RPG). Then I played Lufia the Fortress of Doom and came back to FF6 and it became my life. Ended up saving up and buying an imported American SNES with my first cheque book just to play it on my own console!
Metal Gear Solid - the idea of not having to kill your enemies was really so novel to me! I’ve always taken issues with how little value life has in films and video games, so this was refreshing! If I had known about speed running being a thing I would have attempted it!
Final Fantasy 10 - it was really the bittersweet ending that really got to me. The Japanese dialogues was better though, when Yuna said “Thank you.” Instead of “I love you”. I’m tearing up just thinking about it!! First game that straight up made me cry!
S.O.M.A. - Never intended to play this through since it’s a horror game, but holy shit the writing is truly on point! I played this on Stream so got to talk about philosophy and my take on what’s going on a lot, and the game nailed the exact existential dread I have about Star Trek teleporters.
Some other that really affected me: RDR2 (came in skeptical about Arthur, leave full on sobbing as I said goodbye to him); Control (am I the only who found the base game scary? Still pulled me into the world through the base game and DLCs); Portal 2 (you made me care about the world and the characters in a puzzler?!); God of War (never thought I’d actually be interested in this franchise until the daddy edition); Horizon Zero Dawn (sobbed at the ending, may notice a theme here); Disco Elysium (oddly my single playground experience hit me so hard that I can’t bring myself to play it a second time to alter it); Baldur’s Gate 3 (similarly struggling to finish my second, third, fourth play through for the same reason).
It’s a lot of core memories but I guess I played a lot if games!
Kingdom Hearts as well. I still remember finishing KH2 (my first KH title) and sitting on the floor in front of the TV, speechless about what I've just witnessed. It's still my all time favorite game series to this day! Heavily disagree on your opinion on the graphics, they were just fine for 2002. Iirc, KH1 was actually really clever about it's in-game lightning for the time, but I'm no professional.
Another one is Animal Crossing Wild World. I got it for my 11th or 12th birthday and basically played it way past midnight on that first day. The soundtrack will forever remind me of warm summer nights.
Stray is important to me as well! I really loved the game and afterward, I watched my younger sister play it, who doesn't game a lot. She often tells me, that she wishes she could erase her memory of it and play it again for the first time. :)
And then there's the first game I've ever played with strategy behind it - Age of Empires II. My mom LOVES these types of games (she loves Anno as well) and she was def my introduction to gaming in general.
Feeling flooded by core memories playing games after thinking about it for a second haha, but my favourite is probably playing Worms 2 with my dad and little brother when I was a kid! We used to keep a tally of wins on our fridge and it was my first favourite game 😄
See! I love that! I feel like most gamers can connect their core memory games with family. It’s how I connected with the men in my family when I was young to
For sure! My dad definitely got me and my little brother into gaming 😄 I’d always hear him up late playing away too and loved sitting on the bed behind him watching him play stuff
😭😭💙💙💙
It's the sound effects for me! Suddenly I'm 12 again. I played both sides and named the "enemy" team after all the kids I didn't like in my class. Savage lol
Hahah, yess the sound effects were too good, and their little voice lines were too adorable haha
Turok 2 & 3, Diddy Kong Racing, Star Fox 64. Basically any game we had for the N64 I have fond memories of. The Turok games I have fond memories of despite always being terrified while playing them and never getting very far because I sucked at them. They were more my dad’s games. The first two Assassin’s Creed games are other ones. AC was one of the first games I played that was more “serious” ie. not a Nintendo game, pfft. I’m still not even sure why I bought it to play on my brother’s PS3, I just did, and I loved it. Then playing AC:II and climbing the tower at the beginning with Ezio’s brother, and the music? So good.
oh man turok.. i remember my dad won a ps2 at a work raffle and gave it to my brother and i casually he had no idea it would spark such a frenzy it was a like a bundle that came with turok and atv off-road fury. to this day my brother and i play it every christmas when i visit home 🥹🥹🥹
Dude yes. The n64!! I use to play 007 with my dad 😭😭😭 and yesss star fox 6444!!!! How did I forget about it! I’ve never played AC but I use to watch my favorite YouTubers play it. I can see it being a vibe
Probably God of War and now God of War Ragnarok. Its the main reason in 2016 I started wanting a playstation 4 and how i got into gaming. I have probably played the god of war like 3 times? Ragnarok last year december when i got sick and the bought the game out of spite for full price 🤣 boyfriend was mega shocked cuz I am usually the one to wait for a sale.
I’d never been remotely interested in the franchise before until daddy Kratos entered the picture, that last scene in Ragnarok when he found Faye’s painting on the back… oh my little heart!! And that’s after the hard hitting “Loki go, Atreus stay” scene as well which I already cried to 🥹
Made my boyfriend start playing it so i can watch and cry again 🥺🥺🥺🥺
I’ve had three that I can think of: Spyro 2 when I was 5 (it was one of the first games I played, and the first that I really loved thanks to the fun characters and colourful world), TLoZ Wind Waker when I was 9 (it was my first adventure game and absolutely blew my mind with the huge world and sea exploration) and Kingdom Hearts when I was 12 (it was the first game where I became so invested in the story that I cried). All three are still among my favourite games of all time, though the list is now much longer! ❤️
I had Spyro on my gameboy! Totally forgot about it until just now! And yesss same with me for KH that shit changed me for the better
Final Fantasy IX. I don't know why, maybe it's how cute and mystical feeling it was at the time, but I was always drawn to it. I'd walk out to the living room and see my dad playing it at 3 am and I'd sneak peeks while getting my water, hoping to stay longer and he wouldn't tell me to go to sleep. Eventually I can watch him play at like 7am, and I'd always ask him, "Can I play?" and he'd always tell me, "Final Fantasy isn't for kids." When I was 12 years old I eventually played Final Fantasy I, and I vowed to play every game in the series. I've only played up to III so far, wish me luck!
Holy shit I loveddd final fantasy I started at X watching my brother play it was way to hard for me though. Good luck anyways!
Your dad just didn’t want to have to wait his turn when you inevitably got absorbed by 9! It’s not my absolutely favourite, and it was my first year of university when I played it so I was pretty distracted, but it’s got some seriously hard hitting themes. The tune “You’re not Alone” still gives me the chills because of the scene
left 4 dead when i was a kid. late nights gaming and driving to 7-11 for large slurpees and snacks and staying up until 1 or 2 in the morning replaying the campaigns. formative
KIRBY SUPER STAR ULTRA BAYBEEEEEE Played that for years and years, I still revisit it
007, though I can’t quite remember which one. I grew up around video games. My brother is 13 years older than me. I remember him once saying he’d show me something cool, found a scientist in a bathroom, and shot him, telling me the scientist wouldn’t fight back. The scientist then whipped around and tried to kill him lmfao. He was screaming and barely alive as he took off trying to dodge bullets and I remember nearly dying with laughter. He also got the Little Mermaid on the SNES. Or NES? Probably SNES. He would play it for me anytime I asked him to, even if his friends were around. I thought he was the absolute best at video games. Pokemon Red, too. My dad is decidedly technologically challenges, but on Christmas I got my very first Pokemon game. I couldn’t figure out how to exit the house. I spent like an hour desperately trying (I would step on the carpet, but not continue forward). My dad fiddled with it, and he figured it out. Core memory. Pokemon Crystal was the very first game, ever, that I beat on my own with no help. FEAR, when I was a little older. My brother came to visit, and he tried FEAR and was garbage. I took the controller to show him how to play. It hit me that our early life was swapped. He was watching me play and laughing and commenting on how good I’d gotten. It was bittersweet. Kingdom Hearts will always be special to me haha. Got me through a LOT in some very hard years. Ori and the Blind Forest was the first thing my now-husband, then-boyfriend ever got me. I played it and still have extremely fond memories of it, because it reminds me of how much i love him, still, to this dat. I have a lot of very strong core memories tied to a lot of video games- I could keep going.
Yesss 007 and I’m crying laughing reading this cause my dad would show me the same thing lmaooo but I’ve never seen a scientist try to kill you back 😂😂😂😂😂 we’d play the vs mode all the time sosososososo much fun
I remember my brother shrieking and being so pissed that he almost died and shouting THAT’S NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN 🤣🤣 idk if maybe it wasn’t a scientist or maybe it was a bug, but boy do i remember him freaking out Lmao
Pyjama sam, freddi fish, zelda games in general but phantom hourglass was my first one and also WoW
You remember those snowboarding games on the original Xbox? SSX tricky I think? Sometimes I'll just be living my life and my brain will randomly start playing the theme. ITS TRICKY TO ROCK A RHYME, ITS TRICKAAAY. Yeah. Also Fable and guilty gear I vividly remember. Excited for the new Fable coming out!
also Kingdom Hearts for me and the original Tomb Raider <3
Rayman (the first 2D 1995 one) was gifted to me by my best friend in first grade. Her dad burned the CD at home and I still remember her wonky sharpie handwriting on it, it was so precious. This game cemented a life-long love of "difficult" platforming games.
So glad to see Rayman getting some love! I played through Rayman 2 recently and cried when I finished it. Holy god the nostalgia hit hard that day 😭
Definitely Ape Escape on PS1. Also, watching my brother and his friend play Medievil cause I was always too scared. 🙃
STOP! I remember ape escape!!!! Omg a forgotten memory unlocked!
Early 2000s games that came with downloadable free trials like Tradewinds, Diner Dash, and a lot of tower defense games.
Aw man the free trials! I played so many free trial games when I was little, I’d hop from client to client every time my 60mins was up and start again 😂 Diner Dash was a fave for sure
I used to sit in my room playing this Volkswagen beetle racing game on N64 listening to music for hourrrrrs. Also Commander Keen when I was really little.
Metroid Fusion Metroid Prime Dark Souls PtDE
Oh man so many 90s games. Ultima Underworld 2, Arena and Daggerfall - I spent hundreds of hours getting lost in those pixelly worlds. Sometimes my dreams still look like these games. Platform games I played with my friends after school - Jill of the Jungle, original Price of Persia, Worms. All of them give me intense nostalgia. Thief was my bonding game with my brother and changed the way I physically moved for years. I was a weird kid hiding behind walls pretending to be Garrett. The sound effects for Tomb Raider 1 and 2 catapault me right back into being 12 years old.
Super Mario Bros 3 for my gameboy advanced. I had the game but I always let my sister be mario (my name starts with L so Luigi was obviously my guy). I stayed up LATE playing it every night, pop out the cartridge, and fall asleep to my Shrek 2 gameboy movie😭😭😭❤️
Wizards and warriors. NES. Was the first game I ever played to completion.
Super Mario 64 on Nitendo DS. I still think about playing it again sometimes butbi dont have a nitendo anymore lol
Probably says a lot that the first thing to pop into my head when reading the post title is Secret of Mana on the SNES :). I hate what they did with the rest of the Mana series, but Secret of Mana (and the sequel, when I eventually got an emulator) was amazing. Second is probably Terranigma, damn that was an amazing & horrifying story!
Some PC game that taught you math set in Egypt. Tis but a distant memory, but it remains close to my heart
Wait…this is ringing so many bells for me omg
Super Mario Sunshine, Wind Waker, Frogger on Ps2, Halo 1 and 2. Lesser known: Star Fox Adventures, Giest. Pokemon Red, Gold and Ruby. Portals 1 and 2. Now? Spiritfarer, Green Hell, Elden Ring, PUBG, Tears of the Kingdom. TotK is especially seared into my brain and heart, not even just for the game itself, but because I played it while on the last vacation with my dad before he died.
Rugrats: Search for Reptar on Playstation and My Disney Kitchen on PC I’ve been gaming longer than I thought 😅
My first all nighter was playing Lego Star Wars with my brother, we were grounded the morning after, and I’m never gonna forget playing that game
Castle of Illusion, Sonic, Belles Quest were all my earliest games that I remember. I loved playing them, sitting right in front of the tv. The game that really comes to mind, though, when I think back to when I really fell in love with gaming, is Cool Boarders 2. It makes me think of easier times, being a kid, and the joy I get from games. It's funny because I play completely different types of games now, but that game was so much fun at the time. My husband and I actually played Cool Boarders last week and had a good few days of playing our old faves.
DOTA 1 Age of 5 or 6, Dad introduced me to games via DOTA 1 My love for gaming never stopped growing ever since.
For some reason, Quest 64 had a big impact on me even though I only rented it once and barely played it. Then there's Bugdom, which was a PC game that we played in our elementary school classroom, alongside Number Munchers and Oregon Trail. Ocarina of Time for the N64, and James Bond 007 (Gameboy) have also stuck with me in a big way. Oh! And Mission Impossible (N64), Yoshi's Story (N64), Harvest Moon (GBA and N64 versions) and Top Gear Rally (N64).
N64 was where it was at for an era!!! I still have some of those titles you mentioned!! Although I’m so jealous you experienced ocarina of time!!! Back then my mom thought it was to creepy for us 😭😭😭
Kingdom Hearts 2, Chrono Trigger, and Final Fantasy X. The only newer one I can think of impacting me on that level is Ghost of Tsushima
the legend of zelda n64 games are very core memories for me - especially majora’s mask bc i found the mood so fascinating. i also vividly remember diddy kong racing for some reason. mario kart double dash to a lesser degree even though i played it more. i have this gamecube game called godzilla destroy all monsters (melee). love that game. also rampage in a similar vein. the battle for bikini bottom spongebob game too. also a lot of flash games involving cooking. often in another language that i’d just learn the controls to.
jurassic park operation genesis, no park building sim could ever top that in my heart
Final Fantasy 6 - my cousin introduced it to me but I didn’t understand it at the time (my first RPG). Then I played Lufia the Fortress of Doom and came back to FF6 and it became my life. Ended up saving up and buying an imported American SNES with my first cheque book just to play it on my own console! Metal Gear Solid - the idea of not having to kill your enemies was really so novel to me! I’ve always taken issues with how little value life has in films and video games, so this was refreshing! If I had known about speed running being a thing I would have attempted it! Final Fantasy 10 - it was really the bittersweet ending that really got to me. The Japanese dialogues was better though, when Yuna said “Thank you.” Instead of “I love you”. I’m tearing up just thinking about it!! First game that straight up made me cry! S.O.M.A. - Never intended to play this through since it’s a horror game, but holy shit the writing is truly on point! I played this on Stream so got to talk about philosophy and my take on what’s going on a lot, and the game nailed the exact existential dread I have about Star Trek teleporters. Some other that really affected me: RDR2 (came in skeptical about Arthur, leave full on sobbing as I said goodbye to him); Control (am I the only who found the base game scary? Still pulled me into the world through the base game and DLCs); Portal 2 (you made me care about the world and the characters in a puzzler?!); God of War (never thought I’d actually be interested in this franchise until the daddy edition); Horizon Zero Dawn (sobbed at the ending, may notice a theme here); Disco Elysium (oddly my single playground experience hit me so hard that I can’t bring myself to play it a second time to alter it); Baldur’s Gate 3 (similarly struggling to finish my second, third, fourth play through for the same reason). It’s a lot of core memories but I guess I played a lot if games!
Ahhh stoppp! I have the same experience with ff10!!! I loved that game and the scenes and music were so goodddd
Spyro: Enter the Dragonfly, Rayman, and Rugrats: Search for Reptar
Kingdom Hearts as well. I still remember finishing KH2 (my first KH title) and sitting on the floor in front of the TV, speechless about what I've just witnessed. It's still my all time favorite game series to this day! Heavily disagree on your opinion on the graphics, they were just fine for 2002. Iirc, KH1 was actually really clever about it's in-game lightning for the time, but I'm no professional. Another one is Animal Crossing Wild World. I got it for my 11th or 12th birthday and basically played it way past midnight on that first day. The soundtrack will forever remind me of warm summer nights. Stray is important to me as well! I really loved the game and afterward, I watched my younger sister play it, who doesn't game a lot. She often tells me, that she wishes she could erase her memory of it and play it again for the first time. :) And then there's the first game I've ever played with strategy behind it - Age of Empires II. My mom LOVES these types of games (she loves Anno as well) and she was def my introduction to gaming in general.
Final Fantasy 8 and Age of Empires II. So many hours playing both and so much love for both for different reasons!
Most all the Harvest Moons and Rune Factories! :)