It was with the final fantasy games from the SNES era, (All the classics from that era, but these sticks out!) the first time I ever saw a hilarious dialogue sequence during battle, a dialogue scene during camping, the famous opera scene, and a literal 22 minute epilogue ending, I've had a soft spot for JRPGs ever since!

It was FF4/FF6 (FF2/FF3 in the u.s.)

Gather around, children:

Once upon a time, before the age of walkthroughs and internet access, I was a twelve year old in 1993 playing one of the few Macintosh games on the market: Myst. After bumbling around the island for a couple of weeks it finally dawned on me to go BELOW ground in the giant tree behind the cabin. There was a book to the next world, which was by far the coolest one in the game, imho.

Beating that game without any hints or spoilers at a junior high age is definitely a gold feather gaming achievement for me.

The first time I realised I had to put the sword down when fighting with the "mirror" warrior in the original Prince of Persia back in the 80's.

And also the time I passed by the local computer store the saw the Pandora Directive at the window.

One of my favorite gaming memories is at the start of ELEX when it's still essentially in tutorial mode and I used the open world aspect to go and pick a fight with what is essentially a super sized rat. Having played a lot of games I figured I could easliy pick up a few free exp and if I got in trouble the NPC would just tank for me and I'd still come out on top.

The game however had the idea that since I was a groggy, bearly armed, and generally unprepared character that attacking a huge animal would likely go very poorly. And go very poorly it did. As I loaded back into the game again I had a large grin on my face knowing I'd descovered a title that would entertain me for a long time to come.

My favourite memory of all time related to playing video games was completing my first speedrun of Disney Hercules with my friends.

In a winter when I was little playing Resident Evil 2 with my brother and my uncle, while we played in the dark room and pointing the objects on a sheet of paper to solve the puzzles and drawing the maps to connect the police station by hand.

I especially remember when the first licker entered through the corridor window, I had seen a shadow and warned them, but they ignored me, when we saw that creature for the first time we all jumped and screamed in fear, in the middle of the corridor being injured and with little ammunition the confrontation was epic, I remember it very well.

Especially now that my uncle passed away a few years ago, it makes me feel very homesick.

It was playing SOMA... the story was so great

The best memory I have related to video games is playing the Tell Tale Jurassic Park game with a close friend.

He insisted on playing it because he loved the brand and brought it over one day, I was against it as reviews at the time weren't very good. I ultimately humored him, but we both found out the definitive way to enjoy the game is to fail every single QTE in the game.

So much more effort and deliberate design was put into the comedy of every failure sequence than any of the actual critical path story content. The main character Jerry, is now one of my all-time favorites for being an incredible clutz. There are little sequences where you can mess up just walking down stairs by missing contextual button presses and some three-stooges style comedy ensues.

If you ever get the opportunity, try it out!

Thanks for the contest opportunity!

My most satisfying experience was during my 2nd time trying to play through the Gothic series. The first time I tried them, I wasn't too impressed by the dated blocky graphics and was just having a hard time with the difficulty, constantly dying to the lowest-level enemies. I tried to get into them again during lockdown and was able to get a better grasp of the controls and timing my attacks and blocks. And wow, was it an amazing ride, the game world was really well made and every enemy and NPC placement seemed intentional and well though-out. I had such a good time with the first 2 games, that I felt compelled to slog it out through the 3rd game, which although having its charms, dragged on for far too long. But I would recommend people check out this series if they have the chance as it is truly an unique experience.

Back in eighth grade, a lot of the friends I had were getting more distant. Everyone was starting to hang outside of school more often, and, usually, I wasn't really invited. This was mainly because the friend group got larger and filled with people I didn't really know. It didn't help that I was kind of socially awkward and shy around newer people.

So with all this happening, when I was asked to play a game of CS:GO, I immediately jumped on it. In the party, there were four of us, including myself. The guy who invited me was someone I had met recently and had got along with. The second guy, who I'll call E, was a friend that was growing unapproachable. He was someone I was close with the year before, but that changed quickly in eighth grade. He was just way more popular than me, so he always had people around him. The last person besides myself was a girl that I didn't really know. She was someone close to E and someone I never ever even talked to. It was safe to say I was really hoping to get closer with all of them through this game of CS:GO.

When we got into the game, we were absolutely smacking the enemy team. We were wiping them round after round. Teabagging after every kill was becoming my signature move. I was cracking jokes, and my teammates may or may have not been laughing at any of them. As we got one point away from game point, I decided to convince them just to kick our random fifth teammate. We were doing so well that we could just take the win for ourselves. It was also just funny watching the random person spam chat as the vote was going off. Sorry dude but you weren't in the party. I was.

Most importantly, this was the most talkative I had ever been with any of these people the entire year. Something about video games, or games in general, just get me going. It was like CS:GO was a rare candy that helped evolve my social skills. Man, I was already thinking about the games we would play after.

So, as we were getting close to winning, I decided to start trolling. I was flashbanging my friends, throwing smokes at them, trying to jump on their heads, etc. I couldn't help it. It is always never not funny trying to get a reaction out of your friends over something that is ultimately harmless. Unfortunately, I forgot that I was not very close with any of these people. One was someone I had just met recently, another was someone growing farther from me, and, lastly, one that I had not talked to at all before this game.

This meant none of them took kindly to my griefing. What I thought was friendly banter was actually just frustration. It didn't help that we were beginning to lose rounds. A lot of them. It also didn't help that it may or may not have been because of my griefing. Eventually, we lost the game. They also kicked me out of the Skype. Yeah, we were still using Skype back then.

Did I get karma for kicking out that random fifth teammate? Probably. Was I never invited to play with them again? Yeah. Is it funny looking back on it? Of course.

There have been so many memories, that I don't even know where to begin here. One game asked me what change the nature of man. Another game asked me if I should stay neutral, in many conflicts, as I was mutated beyond belief and constantly being referred to as the White Wolf. Other games had me round up a band and crew, trying to adventure across amazing dark-fantasy lands to stop some Darkspawn, Mythological worlds while learning tons of kung fu, planets as I go from Padawan to Jedi, and even galaxies even as I tried to stop the Geth. Some games even had me travel to a land full of turmoil & politics, as I played detective with a sidekick named Kit, trying to solve a brutal murder. One game even took me to a futuristic world w/ a dude named Jackie, as we explored a City during our Days and Nights, in a dystopian of a Cyberpunk-y type of future.

But, most of these games all had something in common: the anticipation of what you're about to play, Yes, there's no feeling like when I was younger, with your parents driving you home from the store, as you're highly anticipating the game you're about to play - as you're going through the manual, rummaging through the box, seeing what other goodies might be in the box (like posters, action figures, OST CD's, etc). One of my favorite game-boxes & CE's (Collector's Editions) came in lunchbox with a BoobleHead Doll, Behind the Scenes CD, and other cool stuff in there. Whether a retail game or a download, there's still nothing like the anticipation, as the game's installing - which you're already jazzed to hear the trumpets play and the Main Menu's music, as you're about to embark on a Journey; the Journey of a lifetime, in a virtual world.

If I'm going to narrow this one down memory though, it has to be Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines. A game I've installed and reinstalled on pretty much every computer since first owning this at retail. A game I've bought at retail, doing a lot of the "Car ride home" stuff I mentioned above. The rare game I've finished numerous times and often try to replay every year, as Halloween rides around on its broom. The game I seem to always update and/or have multiple installs on the same PC, when Wesp issues another awesome Unofficial Patch. Oh, and did I mention that I made sure I had to re-buy it on GOG, just to have it again...and to make it easier for multiple installs & set-ups on the same PC?

It's always the atmosphere in the worst parts of California and Hollywood here, as I walk into the Asylum, talking to the two twin sisters - one uptight and one who's the total...opposite. It's always that theme of Isolated by Chiasm, blaring throughout the speakers, as I dance on the dance-floor w/ numerous others. It's always the brooding score and soundtrack for the game, coming from Womb Music crew. It's always that haunting OceanView Hotel and exploring its secrets, as I jump and get scared, as a pot, pan, or some other objects flies across the room and tries to hit me. It's always Heather Poe...and trying to decide to save her or let her go, knowing it'll either way result in total heartbreak....and set me on a course and path.

The first bite (at the Hotel) and embrace of Bloodlines and also the last, as you decide what to do in that taxi-cab, thinking you might've just met a certain special someone and then it all in the ends comes crashing down - yes, there's nothing like it...

I still cannot shake this game.

This happened about 29 years ago, when I was a teenager.

A friend and I were playing Super Ninja Boy for the SNES; for those that have never played that game, it's a hybrid game that combines turn based RPG elements and side-scrolling stages. We decided to finish the entire game together, since it's co-op, so we rented it for an entire weekend. We played almost non-stop, determined to finish it before we had to return it to the rental store.

There is a feature in the game, that allows you to call upon a giant robot; pretty anime stuff! That is very useful to move quickly across the map, but here's the key part: there are areas in the game, that cannot be accessed by using the robot, you can only get to them on foot.

We were having a lot of trouble getting to a section in the mountains, that can only be reached on foot; it was very stressful, since we had to return the game soon. We were constantly dying, until we miraculously got through, each with about 2 or 3 health points remaining! We were about to go into the next section of the mountain, when suddenly, the giant robot appeared out of nowhere and picked us up! I turned around, with an expression of pure horror in my face, as I saw my friend with his big fat thumb on the button to summon the robot! Which basically meant we had to go through the cave all over again, after we had spent so many hours trying to beat that level! He basically pulled us back to the start, since the robot cannot land on the specific section of the mountain we had crossed. To this day, I never knew if it was an honest mistake on his part, or if he pushed the button on purpose, just to see how I would react.

We had to return the game in just a couple of hours, so we had to play like never before in our lives, to cross that difficult section again! But here's the thing: because we once again had to defeat the same tough enemies in that section, we were levelling up a lot, so when we finally got to the final boss, it was actually pretty easy. That was one of those days, were you have to agree with that old saying "good luck, bad luck, who knows?" I wonder if we would have been able to defeat the final boss, if my friend didn't "accidentally" press the button to take us all the way back to the start of that level.

So, if there is a moral to this story, is that if you ever suffer some sort of mishap, there is a small chance that it is a huge blessing in disguise, at least when it comes to video games ;-)

A love story, actually.

I've been playing games since I was 8, obsessed over story and powers and finishing games unlocking all secrets, be it shooters or platformers, just having fun living in different worlds - gamers relate. But connecting with others where I lived was hard. There were only other 3 maybe 4 dudes that liked games, most just didn't care for them... but worse? Girls.

And I'm not talking about your "yes I'm a gamer, I play Sims" type, which I'm ok with, but the "oh you play games? I could maybe try that Tomb Raider with you" and I'm assuming that's half-flirting half-interest in the game... but 5min into the game they're complaining about the chest size, the jump height... it's a game, at least focus on having fun?! Or flirt?!

Until I met my soon-to-be wife. We didn't even bond over games, I had learned my lesson by then. But one random day she sees me playing Skyrim, she sticks there silently watching, and I suggest maybe we do something together and she says "no, I'm having fun". I played Ziggurat and she starts making questions "so the levels change each time, that's awesome". Eventually I ask "so do you play games?" and she tells me she beat Contra when she was 7.

2 years happily married. At least, 10 or so games beaten in co-op. Videogames were there for me as a kid and I eventually found my princess in that castle.

I remember my first PC game that I really like from first run. This game is – Chasm_The Rift. Cool in all meanings FPS. At that time (when I first tried it) I was about 10 years old, my knowledge of English was almost "zero", but that didn't stop me. At first, it was difficult to understand what to do and how all work, but then after lot of trials and error still managed to pass the first difficult test - to understand main game menu. After that, launching first level - a new difficulty - to understand all game mechanics! I had never played FPS before, but after a while I more or less understood game mechanics and try to beat level after level. I have only positive memories and emotions about this game. It is a pity that developers for some reason don't want to make Remaster of this amazing game. At the same time, I don't lose faith in the fact that one day a full-fledged remaster will come out and it will be great in all meanings!