Games that had a powerful effect on you

[Astel]

RPG or otherwise

For me it would probably be an ancient NES game named Astyanax. This 2D plataformer featured the most cliched story in the book... a young man magically transported to another world, to fight the evil overlord and save the princess

It was a revelation at the time for me, and while i see it has been used to death in games and another media, it still hold a dear place in my hearth. I can beat the game without losing a single life, and from time to time i play one more time... and keep wondering why he didn't stay for the party

Still he was a lucky guy... i envy him

Spoiler

Asyanax Intro

 

[SOC]

The biggest impacting game I've played within the past 3 years is still FF Dimensions. Warhammer: Vermintide is also astoundingly good. And I'm still never bored of Diablo 3 or Chivalry: Medieval Warfare.

 

[Clord]

Dear Esther coupled with Oculus Rift.


You have no idea how emotional you can get with that game if you play it through "virtual reality."


One of rare cases I genuinely had strong emotions towards fiction.

 

[Mouser]

The Xenosaga trilogy, and more recently, The World Ends With You.

Both well done games with some pretty powerful messages wrapped up inside them.

 

[Sysen]

Honorable mention:

1. FF9

2. Legend of (Mana, Dragoon, Legaia)

3. .Hack G.U series 

The story really deserve a medal for giving my childhood happy, sad moments.and they got some moments that made me "whoa" while having goosebumps and smiling on the front of monitor

Super Honorable Mention:

Ragnarok Online

I don't know if it counts or not, but this game is the one that have most powerful effect for me, even after 10 years, i still remember the fun and good memories on my childhood when i played this game, i kinda miss that moment tho...

 

[Psyker]

The Last of Us

Heavy Rain

Amnesia: The Dark Descent

Spec Ops: The Line

To the Moon

 

[Touchfuzzy]

Nier

Spec Ops: The Line (Granted, this game is straight up built to have a powerful impact on the players)

There are others, but you get to digging too far back and it gets difficult.

 

[Astel]

Another contender is Breath of Fire 2... once that things got serious...  

Spoiler

poor Mina

 

[Sennie]

I think all games I have played had a good effect on me and inspired me enough to end up here and on other game creating websites and forums

 

[Synyster]

I really loved Morrowind and all of Bethesda's RPGs that came afterword.  I try to put some elements of those games into mine.

 

[Zabu]

Disney's Hercules (PS1), i really enjoyed it and it's like all my childhood!

 

[Kane Hart]

oddly enough being 30 I found one the newer FF's to provide the most emotional response that being FF10.

 

[Dalph]

This damn amazing thing (I friggin love it):
 

Spoiler

 

[Accendor]

For me it was Final Fantasy 10 once you realized what "fighting [sin]" really meant.

Honorable mentions to To the Moon (it had me literally in tears two times and I could not continue playing), The Zero Escapes series because of all the WTF moments and Final Fantasy 6 because it did something that most games do not do: It does not matter how hard you try, sometimes you just lose and there is nothing you can to about it.

And of course Life is Strange, although they screwed up a lot with the ending.

 

[Chris Porter Music]

As a composer, I'd have to say Xenogears, Wild Arms, and Final Fantasy VII, specifically their soundtracks, had a huge influence on me becoming a game music composer. 

 

[ThatMaestroGuy]

There are plenty that have had huge impacts in my life. Castlevania II (& the series as a whole), the entire Megaman series, Kirby as a whole (my goodness), the Marios, the Zeldas, etc. etc.

BUT! I have to say that, RPG-wise, the three games that STILL have a powerful effect on me are (in no particular order):

Super Mario RPG

Suikoden I

Final Fantasy VI

Heck, FF VI is what MADE ME want to make my own RPG in the first place...in theory, that game is the whole reason I'm here! XD

Also, I totally agree with you, Sysen. Ragnarok Online is crazy influential to me. While it still had its charm, it was easily one of the best (and overlooked) MMOs out there.

And not afraid to admit I still love (and play!) RuneScape.

 

[Niten Ichi Ryu]

SaGa Frontier 2.

The art was just amazing, the gameplay awesome, the stories told brilliant.

Probably my favorite.

 

[Galenmereth]

The only game from recent memory I can think of that had a powerful effect on me is Life is Strange. Can't really say anything else compares.

 

[Scythuz]

These aren't necessarily my favourite games but they're ones that had a powerful emotional effect on me in one way or another.

Final Fantasy 9 (mainly the intro play, hunting festival and 'You Are Not Alone' scenes)

To the Moon (one of the few games to make me tear up)

Elder Scrolls III Morrowind (never before and never since, have I been so fully engrossed and invested in a game)

 

[Alexander Amnell]

   Hmm, to the moon is definitely one. I got it for free...somewhere? (or maybe as part of a humble bundle, not really sure) Didn't really expect much of it to be honest but recognized quickly how mistaken I was by that first impression as well as touched to find a game that placed a focal point on the very disorder I'd been dealing with all of my life.

   Then there is Nier, with it's amazing soundtrack and story with so much of a combination of being fascinating, confusing and inspiring that it actually had me obsessively replaying the game four times without pause just to get as clear a picture of what was happening as possible. Since I'm normally the kind of person who dislikes and doesn't participate in games including incentives for replaying, story or otherwise, it clearly inspired something in me. 

   Lastly, Lost Odyssey with it's ancient and immortal protagonist. The primary story of the game is nothing special (though that isn't to say it isn't good) but what really struck me were the 'dream sequences' where the protagonist would remember encounters with people from his long past that showed the rise and fall of civilizations and the joys and sorrows of men and women long past through the eyes of someone who had experienced it all personally. It's not every day that you find a game with a series of text dumps as it's most well executed feature but, there it is.

   All the others are more commonly known (though the above are already mentioned in posts above mine as well).

The Last of Us

Final Fantasy Tactics, 8 and 10

Shadow of the Colossus