So many have had lasting impacts on me for different reasons. Recently OneShot was an unforgetable experience. If we go by play time Final Fantasy XIV would take the cake easily, and I love that game to bits. Platinum games consistently makes some of the best gameplay I've ever experienced, with both Vanquish and Bayonetta being stand out titles. XCom 2 scratches a strategy itch nothing else can for me. The whole Disgaea series manages to win me over with its charm, but especially the first. JRPGs like Chrono Trigger, Radiant Historia, and Lost Odyssey constantly remind me why I absolutely adore the genre. The Mass Effect series was one of the first to get me to think incredibly deeply about narratives and choices. The Legend of Zelda in all its forms manages to distill pure nostalgia and even if I don't follow it much these days it still holds a special place in my heart. The Sly Cooper, Jak & Daxter, and Ratchet & Clank series all lit my imagination and got me to love stylized worlds and personable characters. Satisfactory and Factorio manage to engage the logical fun side of my brain like nothing else. Shadow of the Colossus is such a somber masterpiece that speaks so much to me with so few words. And I always find myself getting pulled inexorably back to almost a few rhythm games, mostly DDR/Stepmania, with shocking regularity. Mice Tea was an incredibly special and well written experience for personal reasons, hehe.

In Stars and Time was also one I played recently that captivated me with everything that it offered, from incredible writing, a riveting plot, amazing lgbtq+ representation that let me feel seen, and themes that resonated with some of the most personal struggles I've ever had. I would almost want to say that would be it, but...

I think in the end I have to say the Kingdom Hearts series. Kingdom Hearts 2 in particular, if I had to pick one. It was a formative memory, and yeah it's very silly, immature, and self-indulgent at times. It is almost amongst the most convoluted of anything I have ever experienced. But it lit my imagination in ways that persist within me even 20 years later, and still fills the way I view the world and my connections with others in so much color. I don't think I'd be the girl I am today without it, hehe~