Games That Affected You In Real Life? (spoilers)

[Starbird]

What are they and how did they affect you?

For me:

Doom 2: the final boss wigged me out so badly I couldn't sleep. No idea why - everything about him, from the music/room before you fight him to the horrible decapitated head when you clip into him...brr.

Baldur's Gate 2: The first time that dialogue and events from a game literally followed me out of my house and to lectures. I don't think any game has ever made me care that much about a bunch of pixels yet.

Mass Effect series (especially 3). The death of one of my favorite characters and then the suicide of another (due to my actions) was insane. I had to go for a walk after the latter and then spent half the evening trying to come up with ways to save her. Then I realized I should have imported saves. Blah.

But the funniest has to be...oh, a variety of oldschool arcadey racers (in particular Megarace on PC - ages ago).

In the game there were white arrows you could drive over for a speed boost. A few years ago I decided to apply for my drivers silence in Japan and had to do a practical test. Long story short - I encountered the same damn markings and instinctively accelerated. Except here...they mean slow down.

I failed the test in hilarious fashion. But wow...that was deeply programmed. Thanks videogames!

 

[CrystalViolet]

Mass Effect 3 seems to be occupying way too much of my thought space at the moment. I guess it's a form of escapism at the moment but I'm particularly invested.

 

[EHKOS]

VtM:B made me realize I could be less self conscious. I played as a Malkavian, and you could be really silly to everyone, and they were more scared of you than you were of them at that point. So I felt more comfortable being in public, and if I do get social anxiety I sometimes act strange and it helps.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

I remember when deus ex HR came out and I played it religiously for about a week, and after consuming it so much I noticed myself starting to "hug" walls more often and corner peek always expecting some enemy around a corner.


(and by wall hugging I don't literally mean on the wall, just I was much more prone to walk an inch from the wall rather than in the middle of the hallway, and I would keep my back to the wall when going around a corner)

It was a bit odd because I couldn't stop it for at least a couple weeks, it was just a reflex.

 

[The Goat Tsar]

May not be what you're asking for, but back when I played Skyrim I was really into it. One morning in the middle of my obsession I cut myself by accident while shaving and my initial thought was "damn, gotta reload previous save." I stood there for about half a minute before realizing how dumb I was.

 

[CrystalViolet]

May not be what you're asking for, but back when I played Skyrim I was really into it. One morning in the middle of my obsession I cut myself by accident while shaving and my initial thought was "damn, gotta reload previous save." I stood there for about half a minute before realizing how dumb I was.

Hahaha! I've done things like that too! I remember dropping a glass of milk and instinctively looking for the Load Quicksave option!

I also remember staying up all night playing Halo and finding myself watching windows for snipers.

 

[Silence]

To the Moon
It made me aware what Apergers is. Didn't even know what it really was before, and made me realize that it could have something to do with me.

Warcraft 3
Made me friends.

Well - most other games
Made me realize that this just is my thing.

EDIT: Oh god, my take on it is so serious. I probably always have some game that affects me in a way. Can't think on anything recently though.

edit2: something is going on with my "e".

 

[Evil Raccoon]

Bioshock, since I've played it. I always trigger at the words, "Would you kindly?" It's been like 4 years, but still I flip out when hearing it.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

May not be what you're asking for, but back when I played Skyrim I was really into it. One morning in the middle of my obsession I cut myself by accident while shaving and my initial thought was "damn, gotta reload previous save." I stood there for about half a minute before realizing how dumb I was.

I can one up this. Back in University I was playing a TON of the original X-Com, like 8-10 hours a day. I remember leaving early one morning for class, and as I was crossing the street my brain went into total revolt. "I cannot possibly have enough movement points to make it all the way there".

And it wasn't a cute "Lol imagine if real life behaved like a video game" moment either, I was literally confused for about 10 seconds about how it was even possible for me to be walking so far.

 

[hazabaza1]

Persona 4.
I played it when I was around 15-16 I think. At the time I had a lot of trouble coming to terms with the various mental and physical issues I (slightly exaggerated) having, as well as a lack of proper meaningful friendships. Persona 4's main story is all about various teenagers realising the issues and struggles they have, accepting them, but still managing to be good people despite them. It could be that they're insecure, that deep down they're angry, or that they're just embarrassed with their life in general, but they were all really well written and it never felt like it was demeaning the effects that these kinds of issues can have on insecure younger people or that it was judging people who couldn't accept themselves, only those who used their issues as an excuse to make life worse for others.

Good fucking game.

 

[small]

alien isolation would be the latest one to do something to me.. i play it for a few hours, leave it and for hours afterwards im on edge, aware of every noise, etc

only other thing to do that was the complete mod with call of pripyat.. when a psychic storm is going to hit with the mod a siren goes off giving you maybe 30 seconds or so warning to get under serious cover.. that put me on edge constantly and every time i heard the siren or ANY siren for weeks after it was instant panic. very much pavlov's bell there

 

[sumanoskae]

Knights of the Old Republic II is one of the only works of art that has ever changed the way I thought or believed about something, names good and evil.

 

[Dragonlayer]

First time I ever played the first Resident Evil game I had nightmares for a week. The funny part is, I wasn't even that affected while actually playing the game with company, but when I got home and went to sleep, the first zombie cut-scene popped into my head and all I could think about was my door creaking open to reveal a shambling, trench-coated feaster of flesh....

I have also attempted to pause and reload saves in real life, with less then stellar results.

 

[Starbird]

Persona 4.
I played it when I was around 15-16 I think. At the time I had a lot of trouble coming to terms with the various mental and physical issues I (slightly exaggerated) having, as well as a lack of proper meaningful friendships. Persona 4's main story is all about various teenagers realising the issues and struggles they have, accepting them, but still managing to be good people despite them. It could be that they're insecure, that deep down they're angry, or that they're just embarrassed with their life in general, but they were all really well written and it never felt like it was demeaning the effects that these kinds of issues can have on insecure younger people or that it was judging people who couldn't accept themselves, only those who used their issues as an excuse to make life worse for others.

Good fucking game.

I have a feeling that I need to give this game a look. Enough people seem to be recommending it to me.

 

[Millky95]

I personally believe video games are beautiful ways of release and helping you grow. I think if we looked deep down into our top 3 games of all time, they have truly shaped us as people in some way.

Pokemon. Particularly Pokemon Silver. Those games got me into video games to begin with. Played Silver to death. First game I managed to beat the E4 (and the finals boss) with. First level 100. Did so much in it, just loved it to pieces. This game got me some good friends in primary school as well as bullied. Taught me to help stand up for myself and what I enjoyed. Did go through a "Fuck Pokemon" phase but I still come back to it. It was such a big part of my childhood I'll always love it. Despite those times when I thought I hated it.

Mass Effect. I still remember how this love affair happened. Brother left to do a summer camp, I had just got an Xbox and he left me some games to play. Some were boring and average until I stumbled across Mass Effect. Thought "Pretty sure I saw a ZP on this, why not give it a go?" and I was so absorbed in the story I only did story missions and forgot you could romance someone. Played it so much. Then Mass Effect 2. Took me a while to get used to the new combat but it was amazing. Mass Effect 3 has been my only midnight launch and I love it despite whatever people say about it. Mass Effect was the first medium to make me cry (more than once too) because of how invested I got. I didn't know I could involve myself in any world as much as I did with this series. I doubt anything in my life right now could live up to what Mass Effect did to me emotionally. I feel like Mass Effect allowed me to grow as a person and help me through things. Plus I would give myself paragon and Renergade points for things I would do in everyday life.

Saints Row. Just helped teach me not to be so serious about life. Enjoy the strangeness. Laugh at the weird things and just have fun and try not to care so much. Also to use music in epic ways. Even if you think the Saints Row series is super juvenile and lame, fucking look up it's use of music in missions. It's amazing.

 

[etnavningenhar]

Lord of the Rings Online, it affected my real life more than any other game I ever played. Got invited into a great social and raiding guild early on, and stayed there for about 5 years with a really great community. I made some friends for life there, had a girlfriend I met through the guild, I went to several guild meetings in foreign countries, and I used to plan both studies and work around how I would be able to raid in the evenings. It also changed the way I am, as it made me more assertive, self-confident, able to deal with issues, and I became better at seeing things from both sides before making a call, during my tenure as an officer and raid leader in later years.

While I am not playing the game anymore, I do not regret spending my time there for a second.

 

[BeoW0lfe]

Persona 4.
I played it when I was around 15-16 I think. At the time I had a lot of trouble coming to terms with the various mental and physical issues I (slightly exaggerated) having, as well as a lack of proper meaningful friendships. Persona 4's main story is all about various teenagers realising the issues and struggles they have, accepting them, but still managing to be good people despite them. It could be that they're insecure, that deep down they're angry, or that they're just embarrassed with their life in general, but they were all really well written and it never felt like it was demeaning the effects that these kinds of issues can have on insecure younger people or that it was judging people who couldn't accept themselves, only those who used their issues as an excuse to make life worse for others.

Good fucking game.

I have a feeling that I need to give this game a look. Enough people seem to be recommending it to me.

Get off the Escapist and go play persona 4. NAO. If you have a Vita, play the Golden re-release. If you have a ps2, get the original on amazon, or if you have a ps3, get it on digital download. It is fantastic. Go before someone spoils the identity of the murderer. Why are you still reading? Go play persona 4.

ps. Rise is best.

 

[Souther Thorn]

Silent Hill 2.
Silly, yes...but it was all about the experience.
I was working at SCEA around...oh say 2003, and had a day of freeplay, so I checked silent hill 2 and a few other titles out and spent the day playing.....I didn't notice when everyone left. I was plugged into headphones, zoned to the system, bladder, bowel, hunger forgotten near lunch and decided 'lets try the horror title'. I finally rose out of my cube around 7pm and realized...'I'm alone, there's no one here' and I could hear a grating, metal grinding noise in the distance in the dark and cube filled floor. I crept out of that place with what was probably a days worth of suddenly URGENT to escape stress weighing down my....mind. It's haunted me ever since, I can't play it though I try once in a while. and if I hear something similar to Pyramid Heads blade scraping the ground, I get instant goosebumps and my heart rate JUMPS.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

The Myst franchise really strikes close to home, for me.

It encompasses everything I love, from quiet isolation to long walks at a ridiculously leisurely pace, to snooping around looking for things that excite the little gray cells. It was the first game I played that closely intertwined its lore with the gameplay, and it's made me emphasize my love of storytelling and reading. It also helps that I eventually got to meet the Miller brothers, and their creative process was so simple and so relatable I was immensely reassured about my own abilities as a world-builder.

They did run into some hurdles, of course (like Riven's Pentagonal Room puzzle and its four bajillion door placement options), but everything is so focused on the story that the overall creation process felt clear and streamlined.

Past that, I'd have to mention Bethesda RPGs. I come out of a Skyrim session with the aching need to talk about my character's most recent deeds of valor, and it's the only RPG system that, so far, drives me to invest myself that much. The Mass Effect series was brilliant, but it felt like it was giving me experiences I'd want to keep closer to home. I never felt the need to talk about my FemShep's developing relationships - not because I was ashamed, but because they felt intimate.

My Sarah Shepard is a part of me, in a sense, and I was surprised with how much I found myself wanting to interact with her squad members in a less formal manner.