What are the games that got you into particular genres? Not necessarily the ones which you played first, but the ones which made you go "Yeah, I like this". Here's a few of mine:
FPS - Halo 3
I'd played a few shooters with friends before, but Halo 3 really stood out. I've spent countless hours hunched over in other people's bedrooms blowing up various aliens and each other. I loved the perfect level of seriousness and silliness it had, I loved the feel of the weapons, and I loved the vehicles. When I bought my own XBox, Halo 3 was the second game I bought after Portal 2. Almost nine years after release, although I've played better single player shooters since, Halo 3 still sees a lot of use among my friends and I as a split screen party game.
RPG - Dragon Quest IX
I had played and enjoyed Pokemon Diamond before this, but Dragon Quest IX was something else. It was probably the first truly epic story in a game I experienced, and it took me over a hundred hours to finish the story. The story itself is odd and fairly simple, and has it's fair share of silly stuff, but also goes to some surprisingly dark places. The town of Coffinwell particularly sticks out in that regard.
Adventure/Puzzle - Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Eleven year old me wasn't exactly best pleased at receiving this for Christmas, having been hoping for something a little more action oriented, instead of what looked like a somewhat mundane puzzle game. However, once I'd played an hour, I was hooked. The writing is wry and amusing, Layton is an excellent hero, the art is just wonderful, and the puzzles are varied and satisfying. While the prequels were somewhat disappointing, the original Layton trilogy remains one of my firm favourites.
FPS - Halo 3
I'd played a few shooters with friends before, but Halo 3 really stood out. I've spent countless hours hunched over in other people's bedrooms blowing up various aliens and each other. I loved the perfect level of seriousness and silliness it had, I loved the feel of the weapons, and I loved the vehicles. When I bought my own XBox, Halo 3 was the second game I bought after Portal 2. Almost nine years after release, although I've played better single player shooters since, Halo 3 still sees a lot of use among my friends and I as a split screen party game.
RPG - Dragon Quest IX
I had played and enjoyed Pokemon Diamond before this, but Dragon Quest IX was something else. It was probably the first truly epic story in a game I experienced, and it took me over a hundred hours to finish the story. The story itself is odd and fairly simple, and has it's fair share of silly stuff, but also goes to some surprisingly dark places. The town of Coffinwell particularly sticks out in that regard.
Adventure/Puzzle - Professor Layton and the Curious Village
Eleven year old me wasn't exactly best pleased at receiving this for Christmas, having been hoping for something a little more action oriented, instead of what looked like a somewhat mundane puzzle game. However, once I'd played an hour, I was hooked. The writing is wry and amusing, Layton is an excellent hero, the art is just wonderful, and the puzzles are varied and satisfying. While the prequels were somewhat disappointing, the original Layton trilogy remains one of my firm favourites.