The Games Everyone Should Experience For the First Time

you know there's nothing better than experiencing an amazing game for the first time and that's because when it comes to memorable experiences nothing can replace that feeling you get the first time around when everything is new unknown and full of possibilities so often times when we Replay Games whether for Nostalgia or seeing things we missed the first go around it just doesn't quite hit the same as when we first played but despite all of that some games are harboring something so powerful or unexpected that that first playthrough can last with you for a lifetime and today today we're going to be looking at some of those [Music] games one of the coolest things a game can do is subvert our expectations whether it be with a big twist or Revelation that spins the story or narrative on its head or diverging into the strange and unexplained but games like this rely on the shock Factor on the idea that you don't quite know what is going on or you have no idea what's coming next this means while subsequent playthroughs can become more mundane as you figure out all of the secrets those first playthroughs are something that will keep you on the edge of your seat for hours on in and for games like this there's no better place to start than inscription inscription is an indie card game that was originally released in October of 2021 in the throws of a world confined to isolation and one on the surface looks like a harmless yet creepy card game with interesting mechanics and Rog likee elements is hiding something so so much darker throughout every moment you are playing this game you can't help but shake the feeling that something is just off you find yourself locked in a cabin in the woods and inside is a mysterious figure named Lei who guides you on how to play this Twisted card game along with leading you around a haunting cabin full of secrets even from the moment you load up the game and are met with the start screen everything about this experience has a sense of uneasiness that's hard to place and that's because on that first playthrough you aren't yet aware of the insanity that's yet to come because this game starts off like any other card game with you learning how to play building up new decks and Gathering new cards on each run to fill out your deck on the fly all of which are really great and funnily enough the core mechanics of the card game on offer here are fantastic in their own right the game is fun to play regardless and as someone that loves games I felt right at home here but trust me even if you aren't into games like this the secrets and twists and turns that will throw you down are some of the craziest in a game ever made no exaggeration even if you don't like card games believe me when I say this is an experience you won't be getting anywhere else and is a must play but the heart and soul of what makes inscription such an amazing first playthrough is how you slowly uncover what is really going on what starts as a creepy aesthetic with a fun card game built on top starts to unravel into horrifying screams of pain and torture coming from the cards strange noises being heard throughout the cabin and a story that is so unbelievable you wouldn't believe it unless I spoiled it for you which I won't be doing here because all I can say for now is that inscription is one of those games that everyone needs to experience for the first time because yes while it's fun and yes on subsequent playthroughs you can find things you missed on the first one there are moments and twists in this story that are horrifying in thought-provoking and as mindblowing as it gets and moments like that only come around the first time when you have no idea what to expect and what you are in for the whole reason I'm being so cryptic about this game in the first place and showing so little of what it actually becomes is because discovering that yourself is what makes this so special in the first place sometimes the most memorable moments in games are actually the ones we can only truly have the first time and while that means we could be chasing that Nostalgia high for the rest of our lives lives often moments like that are so worth it so don't even look up reviews for this one just trust me and go in blind and play for yourself and you won't be disappointed and speaking of great games and disappointment maybe the most underrated game of all time prey and it's Master Class DLC Moon crash are also home to shock and awe that just hits different the first time and Demands a playthrough from almost anyone interested in games you see on a list like this usually people would pick Bioshock for the game that really impacted them on that original playthrough that first time descending into the underwater Utopia of rapture or the would you kindly twist partway through to the ending of infinite the entire series embodies so much of what games can and should be but for my money pre is BioShock but just better in pretty much every way from the absolutely amazing intro sequence that sets the scene perfectly to this Ensemble to a twist ending of its own that calls everything into question prey is a game that Exel sells that first time around and that's because prey provides a narrative and more importantly a playground that really rewards imagination the story has countless twists and turns along with a variety of logs or videos to siphon through all in an attempt to figure out what happened on this abandoned space station and throughout it all it's the gameplay on offer here that really sticks with you taking cues from other great immersive Sims like Dex and System Shock prey has an utter and total focus on giving the player agency in everything they do and it's that exact agency that makes the first playthrough so special things like figuring out that you can use the glue cannon not only to freeze enemies but to climb to high up places as well breaking through a Looking Glass simulation and discovering a hidden passageway on the other side that leads to an entirely new section of the station or transforming into a simple coffee mug in order to slip through a small prison door only to pop up on the other side unharmed and avoiding all of the Hostile aliens along the way it's a game that rewards creativity and Ingenuity and in almost every casee you can ask yourself whether or not something can be done it can and it's that sense of satisfaction in figuring out the story and gameplay elements as you go that make it all so special uncovering the secret experiments and heinous things that went on in this space station and slowly unraveling how to use each and every weapon and tool to the fullest extent on top of that as well the DLC Moon crash takes all of these mechanics and amplifies them even further adding in more in-depth gadgets and obstacles as well as many ways to solve them all encapsulated into a simulation of sorts where you must take multiple different player characters on runs through it as it gets progressively harder each with their own skills and abilities they can use in order to escape a massive moon base like one who is a hacker that can unlock a door for a mechanic to come in on the next run of the simulation and fix a machine in that room which can then be used by the next character to unlock another exit it's genius game design and mechanics like this that make prey and moon crash the type of game that not only sticks with you from from a narrative and aesthetic perspective but also from a game design one if you haven't given prey and especially its DLC Moon crash a shot yet I highly recommend you do because they provide more than any game out there I think a look into what almost perfect game design really looks like and inspire a true sense of thinking and agency that most games only wish they could achieve it's the perfect example of what makes games as a medium so special and that first playthrough more than anything is so powerful because it opens your eyes to what games can actually be and even more interestingly in my opinion offers a glance into the best Rog likee game ever made with mechanics tons and tons of games should be using but just aren't due to the lack of sales from this underrated gem a first playthrough that will forever make you fall in love with this style of game it was attempting to perfect but not everything has to be perfect and in the case of doy DOI literature club and your animated wuss it's anything but some of you might not know this but I used to stream daily before I really started getting into YouTube and for me and my two viewers one of which was my mom and the other my second monitor maybe one of the most memorable games we ever played was doy DOI literature club and that's because on the surface what looks like a happy go-lucky anime game about dating some cute girls at school becomes something so Twisted so dark and so violently unexpected that it will quite literally put shock and horror on your face when you least expect it and because of that is one of the most impactful first playthroughs I have ever had of a game well ever you see doy DOI starts like any other anime dating Sim where you make your way from house to school and there you get to meet other classmates who strangely are all attractive anime girls and it's here you can try to form relationships with them through hours of standard text Adventure you get to choose what to say to who and must figure out how you can get on everyone's best side without starting too much drama all while handling the Dynamics of your standard classroom hellscape I won't lie I'm not at all into games like this and it's the same reason I have trouble getting into the Persona series even though I know how beloved those games are too I just find a lot of their writing and initial setup so cringy to be honest and it's no different here I remember struggling through the first hour of this game wondering why so many of my viewers wanted me to play it but as you get deeper into this strange and mysterious experience it starts to unravel in the craziest ways possible because what starts as a happy go-lucky school day slowly devolves into pure horror and Chaos along with some of the most depressing scenes and reveals you've ever seen in a game it's another game I won't fully spoil at all for you because much of the game relies on you not knowing what happens but what I will say is that everyone needs to experience this game for the first time because there just isn't anything else out there quite like it and I promise it will at minimum make sure you remember it for a long time similar to inscription it goes down paths that almost no other games in history have and while both titles tackle different subject matter both are just as horrifying in their own ways because that's a big part of what makes some first playthrough so memorable in the first place right unexpected twists and turns that flip an entire game and its narrative on its head where you will go into the journey expecting one thing and come out amazed at what you actually got I wish more than anything I could go back in time and play some of these games with shocking moments again because it's so seldom that Studios put out things like this and even more rare they hit so hard and they're the obvious initial piics for games that everyone needs to play for the first time because they are without a doubt the ones that will put a smile or look of Terror on your face but shocking games with crazy twists and turns or unexpected things happening aren't the only experiences that are amazing on that first playthrough because another great example is the games that hit a different chord entirely one of scale Wonder and Imagination the games that are home to Worlds that capture a sense of adventure the worlds and universes that come to life that first time around when everything around Each corner is new and exciting and the universe's secrets are still shrouded in mystery worlds like the outer Wilds maybe one of the most impactful indie games of all time and also one of the most celebrated with a DieHard fan base the outer Wilds is an experience unlike anything else out there and that's not because it has crazy twists or reveals it's because the outer Wilds gives us what a lot of us want most in our games a world to truly explore and get lost in one where you must slowly unravel the secrets of the fabric of the universe itself and uncover just what's out there because in outer Wilds every day begins with you only having 22 minutes until the sun goes Supernova and engulfs the entire galaxy meaning you and everyone else in it you must frantically travel from planet to planet and piece together each puzzle in this world slowly in order to figure out how to stop it and through each run of the simulation of sorts you learn more and more about how each planet works and how to time things perfectly in order to get to where you need to be at the start of the run one planet might be completely covered in sand and unexplorable but in the final minutes of that Loop it will have had all of its sand siphoned off its crust and revealed to you an entirely new location to explore and it's that sense of exploration and discovery that makes the game so special I'll never forget on my first playthrough landing on an icy Comet hurdling through space and as it approached the sun on its trajectory the ice melted away and I fell into a secret Cavern beneath which was holding some of the biggest secrets of all it's things like that that make the first playthrough of this game so magical when you don't quite know what's going on and all that's out there is endless planets and places to uncover and in each of them depending on the time you go and even where you have been before you will start to une Earth a grand mystery of Epic Proportions unlike so many other open world exploration games that Focus so much on side quests or random meaningless content everything in the outer Wilds is in service to its main goal of crafting a world that you must solve on your own one that at its core is hiding a message so power powerful and meaningful that you owe it to yourself to play this amazing game especially for the first time because while I personally find so many issues with the actual core gameplay Loop and mechanics of this beloved gem I can't deny that hiding beneath it all is a story and Adventure that is so optimistic and hopeful that it can light a fire in our souls like nothing else an adventure about venturing into the unknown into a universe doomed to die every 22 minutes and yet through it all discovering that maybe despite the endless death and despair there's still so much Beauty out there and so much to love pure ambition in the face of utter nihilism and the first playthrough of this game is so powerful because more than any other game in history the outer Wilds talks to this nomadic swashbuckler in all of us a calling in our hearts that beckons us to explore the great unknown and go to places that our minds could only dream of the first playthrough of outer Wilds is unlike anything else out there and perfectly captures what what real exploration should be all about in a universe teaming with passion and care if you haven't already treat yourself to one of the most memorable initial playthroughs you will ever have in a game and one of the most impactful worlds in the medium and speaking of impactful Worlds outer Wilds isn't the only initial playthrough that will last with you forever because sometimes instead of looking up into the stars for an adventure we can instead turn our attention the opposite direction downwards towards the deepest and most mysterious parts of any sufficiently advanced Planet the ocean and the beauty and Horrors it hides deep within its Waters and what better way to explore this forboding character of sorts than subnotica it's seldom a first playthrough of a game has left such an impact on me and in subnotica case that impact came from the world and the unbelievable places and things you unravel what starts as a traumatic crash landing on a far away planet quickly turns into an almost all underwater Adventure where you will find yourself swimming in vibrant and happy Coral reefs and dark and for boing empty expanses of hellish void alike but throughout it all at the core of this game continues to be that exploration that Eerie sense of dread you get around every corner or moist Cavern and the immense satisfaction you get from discovering a new and beautiful location teeming with life deep beneath the waves and on that first playthrough specifically there just isn't anything else out there quite like subnotica not only is the exploration and locations in the game very unique because of the setting but how progress is handled even itself is perfect on that first score round you'll be focused on finding new schematics for buildable Machinery to help you go deeper you will be building bases in any location you see fit in order to have a place of safety in some of the scariest locations in game and if you tread too far you will start to hear The Haunting screeches and screams of massive Leviathan creatures that stalk their prey including you so few games managed to so elegantly capture a sense of uneasiness and excited anticipation at the same time where you will all always feel like you were being watched and stalked but that feeling only drives you to push further and discover what's out there and because of how many varied and unique locations there are in Game it feels like you're always stumbling upon something new that especially the first time around is amazing to just swim around in and admire like the mushroom Forest full of massive and anxiety inducing flora and fauna or the volcano Zone with its piercing bright Reds you know I was never a big fan of survival games I always found them mundane tedious and if I'm being candid pointless and a waste of time without friends but subnotica completely changed that for me because that first playthrough was so powerful the world so engrossing that I couldn't help but get lost in its trans and the survival elements in the game became something I began to love because it only added to the immersion in a world I was already consumed by it's one of those first playthroughs that anyone even remotely interested in games needs to do because not only are there no other games like it but also subnotica and its world really do capture an idea of Adventure that is so pure if you haven't already you need to play and beat subnotica one of the greatest game worlds out there in gaming there are select few handful of Studios that year over-year decade over decade continue to create experiences that live in our hearts and souls forever and one of those acclaimed Studios that recently has seen some trouble but without a doubt has created some of the most memorable games of all time is Bethesda game Studio and as all of those who have played a Bethesda game know your favorite is also always your first because Bethesda games live and die on that first impression that first playthrough when you get to step out into a world you have never seen and look out at a mountain in the distance or a building that was skinned alive surrounded by a desolate Wasteland those stepout moments in Bethesda games are so important because they're an analogy to the adventure ahead hundreds of hours of new discoveries in a far away land but for me the best Bethesda game to experience first is obviously my own bias pick and the first game I played the Elder Scrolls Oblivion I'll never forget the first time coming out of the sewers under the Citadel surrounded by dark and damp environments full of rats and goblins and stepping out into a sunlit and sprawling Meadows and mountains covered in trees even to this day with the now data Graphics the style and awe of Oblivion is still unmatched even from other more recent Bethesda games in my opinion because Oblivion was a world and game full of love and pure Adventure behind every cave was a story and every town was a strange encounter and behind every murder a dark brotherhood member standing above your bed but most of all that first playthrough of this game is the type that will make you fall in love with the gamees medium altogether because I know it did for me and you know why I think Oblivion has the most memes of any Bethesda game it's because more than any others on that first playthrough it was so memorable and Unforgettable the things that would happen like meeting the adoring fan and having him follow you and annoy you everywhere you go until having him meet his unfortunate end discovering the Citadel and arena for the first time fighing your way through massive monsters to a screaming and cheering crowd egging you on unearthing the secrets of the gray fox and the Thieves Guild or speaking with a ghost aboard a deserted pirate ship at Doc the game is so full of love and care in a way that is reminiscent of how games were made at the time with smaller team sizes and less scope but a strange sense of grandeur despite all of that and listening to that Unforgettable music roar as you make your way through a canyon to a new Quest objective or hearing the sounds of a Meandering River nearby with deer feasting at its edges it's what makes that first playthrough of any Bethesda game so powerful and why these games are so beloved in the first place and for any Gamers out there you owe it to yourself to experience a Bethesda game for that first time without a doubt something so unique to this entire medium but sometimes the best worlds aren't ones from stored and Legacy franchises but rather entirely new IP ones that managed to create worlds that on that first playthrough Inspire emotions only the best of art could and speaking of which death stranding might just be one of the most impactful and memorable playthroughs I have ever had of a game because while the journey is far too boring and slow for many people there is a magic hiding beneath it all that's hard to explain in words alone if you just give it a chance that sense of wonder you get as you make your way to the top of a rigid mountain and peer out into the distance to see Port not city and mesmerizing music from the game soundtrack starts to blare through your speakers while other games tend to focus on engaging gameplay or endless set pieces death stranding is all about going slow and taking in everything around you most of the gameplay consists of nothing more than just walking from one location to another while trying not to trip over yourself carrying hundreds of pounds of supplies and goodies and the reason it all comes together so masterfully on that first playthrough is that there are just so few experiences out there like this one I can't stress enough how powerful some scenes in this game are when you discover a new location and a massive rainstorm starts to roll in as you Run for Cover listening to the utterly captivating soundtrack as the sun sets above or struggling to remain quiet as you make your way through a shallow River being chased by an unknown and invisible force out to kill you because it's moments like this which really make you just step back take a deep breath and revel at the journey you're going on and it's during that first playthrough specifically that these scenes hit the hardest like discovering the secrets of the world and what happened why so much of the world is dead and destitute in the first place and what little hope still lies at the center of it all the story is as weird and vast as the world itself and uncovering all the Mysteries and Beauty beneath all of it makes every second of that first playthrough so engaging because despite how weird the world and narrative can get it's all grounded in something that couldn't be further from weird that innate sense in all of us to gravitate towards the alluring and slower parts of life that voice in our head screaming just to slow down and take it all in enjoy the ride and I look back so fondly on my initial playthrough of death stranding because despite the lack of more meaningful gameplay consistently just walking through Blades of grass and staring off at a giant icy mountain in the distance provides its own sense of Splendor too the type of world that can only be fully appreciated and admired that first time around because of how much it relies on the shock factor of it all along with the vastness of an open space so if you haven't already at least give death stranding a shot because it's the type of experience that W that might not work for everyone if it does work for you it will give you a sense of wonder that will last with you for a lifetime a sense that sometimes games can be so much more than just shooting galleries with a focus on fun but rather deep introspective Journeys into our soul in my opinion what real art and coincidentally most of my favorite games of all time are all about but not every game world is great because it's beautiful from an aesthetic standpoint some are great because they are beautiful from a mechanical one too and no game World shines more on a mechanical level than balers Gate 3 based on the original beloved series from the '90s balers Gate 3 takes place in the Dungeons and Dragons realm of fyon and the map isn't the only thing they share because more than any other game in history balers Gate 3 gives us the closest thing to the experience at a real dungeons in Dragon's Table at so many points in the game you will be met with situations where you ask yourself what if I did this and in almost every one of those situations the game radically realizes you meaning there is a believable reaction for each and every action you take who you choose to Alli with and against can drastically change how things play out later in your playthrough and entire sections of the game can just be skipped over because you simply didn't look behind a secret bookcase in a mystical Tower it's a game that really puts the role playing back in role playing games where even the class and race you pick can fundamentally change how you play the game entirely for example on one playthrough I did as a gnome wizard I discovered I was able to sneak into a small hole in the druid's Grove I was blocked from before and inside was a sprawling network of children that were forming their own Thieves Guild of sorts on other characters I was too tall to fit through so I completely missed out on all of this story and lore in another playthrough I picked a drow sorcerer and because of my race and their reputation as being ruthless underground Killers every time I met a goblin they simply would cower and let me through instead of fighting me non-stop making the entire first part of the game so much easier than before and everywhere you go in balers gate the game radically reacts to you just like this the decisions you make even from the moment you hit the character creation screen become absolutely pivotal to how your playthrough and the story will progress and maybe more than any other game I've played there are so many secrets so many Legendary Weapons or strange things to find it truly is rewarding just exploring and figuring out the environment on top of this too for me the biggest strength of Boulders Gate 3 is how it combines not only great RPG mechanics together but also with a healthy dose of the immersive Sim genre my favorite of all time there's so many spells in game that you can use in genius ways even outside of combat like an invisibility spell to sneak past encounters flying to get up to high to reach places is turning into a gaseous form to move your way through pipes in a building or being able to read the minds of other characters while you talk making speech checks much easier the depth on offer here is what makes it so special and figuring out all the complexities on top of the amazing characters and story just adds so much to the journey and the world and because of the turn-based nature everything here is so much more tactical than other games and while I understand why so many people have trouble at first getting into this style of gameplay trust me when I say it's this type of have experienced everyone needs to try for the first time because it's in that first playthrough of balers gate that you can really uncover the magic that is so Everlasting figuring out cool things that you can do with spells or all the decisions you can make in the story with a branching narrative like even having sex with a bear all the different classes and races that stem from one of the most stored games of all time Dungeons and Dragons and more than anything everyone should experience this game because whether or not you are a D and D veteran or a complete newbie like myself it will make you fall fall in love with this universe and even better this type of game and in many ways is a gateway into finding more hardcore role playing experiences just like it in my opinion it's the greatest RPG ever made and one that will surely Inspire generations to come so if you were still on the fence about trying this for the first time trust me and give it a couple of hours to figure out why it's so special even if it doesn't initially seem like a game that you would be into but maybe the one genre of games that everyone needs to experience at least once in their life the most is MMOs from The Originals like EverQuest Ultima Online and RuneScape to Modern Classics like World of Warcraft this genre provides an experience that can't be matched by any other games out there because of their scale and communities along with how it all comes together I'll never forget that first time I ever loaded up World of Warcraft as a kid created a blood elf named janx and started off on my first ever Adventure that sense of scale and immersion you get when you first are thrown into to the world seeing the trees that reach into the sky all while hundreds of players around you were doing the same quests and objectives there really isn't anything else out there like MMOs and what would otherwise be fairly generic quests and stories become so much better when you start to meet and group up with others because you see in MMOs that first playthrough that first time you play isn't so special because the games necessarily do anything better than most other games if I wanted good combat I would go play the souls games if I wanted something competitive CS go ballerin and if I wanted to hate myself League of Legends and DOTA but MMOs offer something much different than that they offer the opportunity to form real relationships with other people in massive communities and guilds where the focus of your playthrough isn't always just beating a big boss but rather the politics and social dynamics that took place in your guild while you did the best part of a raid in World of Warcraft when I was growing up wasn't finally beating a boss it was stealing all the loot after and watching the hysterics and and funny or memorable moments like this are only really possible in such massive multiplayer games like MMOs where the fact that so many other real people rather than lifeless NPCs fill the world it's that social aspect behind MMOs that make them so special and the reason everyone needs to play at least one MMO at some point in their lives is it's just a fun way to meet friends make memories and experience something most other games can't even offer and on top of that there's a sense of scale in so many MMOs like World of Warcraft that is is staggering opening up your map in WoW for the first time and realizing just how much is out there to explore is daunting but in a good way and because of all the major cities and towns scattered throughout the landscape there's so much opportunity to meet people that will make your journey all that much better sadly though if I'm being honest this genre has struggled over the past couple of years with little interesting Innovation and so many resources needed it feels like MMOs just don't have the same magic they used to and that's because these games have lost a focus on forcing players to come into contact with the community rather than just playing by themselves like it's a single player RPG newer things like P day and Ashes of creation May fix this but I personally don't think so I think a new type of MMO needs to come around and completely mix up this genre rethink every single system and from the groundup put an emphasis on player interaction and Community the things that make an MMO special in the first place like for example requiring people to maintain and upkeep their housing needing guards for stuff that all must be other players and a world so dangerous that you can't get anywhere without forming Clans to protect one another but regardless of all that MMOs as a genre still have so much that makes those first playthroughs memorable and even to this day adventuring through something like World of Warcraft for the first time is almost a right of passage for understanding why this genre needs a Renaissance so badly another great example of games that are best that first time around as well is ones that Focus heavily on on the narrative Adventures where the story and its themes are front and center where characters and their relationships as well as overarching Tales of betrayal and heroics alike are highlighted because experiencing a story for the first time especially one unlike anything else out there can be so fun and engaging meeting now beloved characters or taking on standout moments for the first time can only happen once and because of that games like this provide a feeling that can only reach its Pinnacle when it's all new and what better place to start than the greatest sci-fi epic ever put to the games medium to date the original Mass Effect Trilogy I haven't mentioned it much on this channel but there were four games that were pivotal and making me fall so in love with this Medium as a kid Halo 3 Starcraft the Elder scrs Oblivion and maybe the most impactful of all the original Mass Effect Trilogy because you see the story of Mass Effect is so engaging interesting and memorable that that first playthrough can quite literally change how you see games alog together nowadays the ser series isn't as well known since it's been so long since its last entry and the most recent one wasn't particularly liked but regardless of that the original Three games to this day still stand as the greatest Peak into deep Sci-Fi games have ever seen the story starts with you finding mysterious artifact on a delicate planet that kicks off events that see Revelations from Ancient Alien superpowers and an entire galaxy teetering on the edge of Destruction and throughout it all you get to see a massive host of interesting characters striking locations and best of all the entire time you were piecing together a grand mystery of Epic Proportions including some of the best villains in fantasy I'll never forget that first time I ever stumbled upon the Citadel and watched that cut scene flying through massive purple nebulas into a sprawling digital City with hours of lore you could just sit and listen to the writers here thought about everything how biotics Works scientifically and game how each alien race came to be and what political conflicts each was in like the Krogan genocide side that was started from salarian interference after wartime concerns or what about the GU and the quorans who offer a perfect look into the dangers of AI and make us question what even being alive really means or even my personal favorite about finding a secret ancient alien race and a top secret underground science facility on an icy planet and piecing together what really happened and the larger implications on that first playthrough especially of the Mass Effect Trilogy every single moment new character or revelation hits so hard it's sci-fi writing at its best you thrown immediately into a strange world and forced to figure it out and everywhere you turn this universe feels alive and like a real place with a real history and custom and more than anything this narrative the first time around is something so special and Powerful more than any game in history Mass Effect especially in the first and third games will have you on the edge of your seat the entire time and the stakes and lore in this main story are unmatched in the entire industry even to this day you get to make massive World altering decisions constantly and the choices you make in the first and second game carry all the way over into the third where entire alien species will either be wiped out or flourish because of what you decided to do hundreds of hours before in previous titles and all of this Grand interconnecting Story and unrivaled World building culminate in something that is simply magical that first time around and on top of that there just aren't any other big budget sci-fi games like this out there at least ones with actually fantastic writing and storytelling because it's the hardest genre to pull off and Mass Effect showed how to do it perfectly I wish I could be someone that hasn't played this series yet one of those Fortunate Souls that aren't even aware of what they're missing because that first playthrough of this story is one that will make you fall in love with not only this series but sci-fi in general as a whole Mass Effect isn't just my favorite sci-fi game it's my favorite sci-fi story in any medium full stop it's that good and with moments like that horrifying speech was Sovereign on verm or the Mysteries surrounding the thorian on pharoh it's no wonder that the first playthrough of this series especially the first game is the best and certainly is a playthrough that all Gamers should try at least once in their lives but the thing about Mass Effect is that despite its lack of recent entries at the time it was extremely well known and popular however in the case of the plague tale series not quite as much which is a huge shame considering plagu tale innocence and especially its sequel requium tell one of the most heartfelt and Beautiful Stories in gaming throwing you into France in the Medieval Era you will be traveling across sprawling Vineyards and ancient castles alike and within each of these zones are towns folk struggling with a Great Plague that has overtaken the lands you will find dying families screaming for help rat infested cellers full of disease and bodies being burnt by the hundreds to hold back infection but the core of what makes these games and especially requium so great isn't the grandiose narrative that is a shadow of the black plague of our real lives but rather the smaller character tale between Amia and her little brother Hugo a story about a family ripped apart by politics and contagions alike and how an otherwise innocent little girl and her baby brother must become the biggest of Monsters Inside in order to stay alive there's so many moments in this game series where you will have to watch as Amia and Hugo Embrace or scream at one another in tears mad at themselves each other and the situation they have been damned to in each level and every new location they must fight tooth and nail for their survival and it makes those slower moments where you get to see Hugo's dying innocence or aia's Nostalgia for a Time long gone by that much more powerful the story on offer here is so great too because it Taps into a deeper sense of belonging within all of us and sheds light on the importance of family Duty responsibility and caring for those around us who we love so dearly and it's only on that first playthrough that you really get to fully acknowledge everything this game has to offer for each new beautiful scene and horrifying action sequence alike means so much more because it's happening for the first time in a lot of ways I find this series even boring or mundane a lot of the runtime for me personally I hate the game playay and I find it too slow and Meandering to even come close to actual fun most of the time but despite all of that the narrative on that first playthrough is so engaging that it makes it all worth it and some things that happen during this journey are REM incent of the en charted or The Last of Us series but all in a package that has an even stronger family feeling I think and in a more interesting setting too and speaking of interesting settings Horizon zero Dawn might just have one of the most fascinating first playthroughs of a game of all time all because of the setting it managed to pull off so masterfully you see what a lot of people don't know is that the first horizon game actually plays in some ways like a mystery thriller where every step you take towards the finale of the main story results in more and more heart-stopping Revelations the story you uncover here about this world and its unbelievable past is wholly unique and constantly as you play you will be met with twist after twist that turns the story on its head it's a perfect example of how to keep players engaged with the narrative the entire way through by constantly making you ask questions that are then answered only followed by even more interesting questions and this type of Adventure can only really be experienced like this the first time around when you don't know what exactly is is going on and each twist thus hits so much harder more than maybe any other story games in this video Horizon zero Dawn truly excels on that first playthrough because the world is so new and unknown what starts out as an adventure in a prehistoric setting filled with robotic dinosaurs quickly unravels into something so so much more than that and because I don't want to spoil any of the twists and turns in this game I can't go into specifics but I can say this is one of the best and most engaging narratives in the game you can find anywhere and on top on top of that the worlds on offer here in the original and in the sequel are breathtaking with a massive amount of variety and different types of locations to see all of which become so much more interesting as you get further into the story and unlock more and more context as to what's really going on because in games often times when one part of the experience excels so much other portions can be elevated as well because even though I don't find combat or gameplay that fun in the Horizon series that main storyline and the adventure it takes you on is so so fascinating that by proxy the world itself becomes more interesting too and it's just further proof that amazing Stories and games like this can be so important because they heighten the experience of everything else as well you know I've never been a big fan of jrpgs things like Persona Yakuza Final Fantasy and Kingdom Hearts I just find none of them really quite hit what I'm looking for and while I love how Wild and different the stories can be I don't connect with them usually especially cuz I don't play for long enough to but in the case of neoma it had a story so awesome I couldn't help but fall in love because you see in neoma you play as multiple different Androids trying to protect Earth and Humanity from an animatronic Alien Force invading and looking to wipe everything out but what starts off as a fairly straightforward premise completely is spun on its head as multiple huge reveals start to uncover themselves which not only completely change the story and lore of the world but also the meaning of the entire Journey you're going on throughout multiple playthroughs through the game you will you will get to take charge of different robotic characters and through each of them you will see a different perspective on the world and figure out more of what's really going on the reason this game is so great on that first playthrough as well is because as you unravel these Mysteries the philosophies of The Game come to Center Stage questions about God meaning and purpose also elegantly analyzed from the perspective of a civilization born into pure destruction and freedom alike and on top of all this there are countless endings to this game some funny and others introspective and even one final one that does some of the coolest things I have ever seen at the end of a game that you'll have to play and see for yourself because what I can really say about this game is that that first playthrough of this story is so powerful and impactful you will get to meet people and go to places that do the best thing a game possibly can make you think and now that I know the whole story and all the twists replaying this game for me at least isn't nearly as fun so going in that first time blind is so important if you really want to see why so many people regard this as one of the greatest games ever made even people like me who aren't usually into this style of art after all that first experience with this game might just put you on to a new genre like it did for me and show you a story that isn't quite like anything else we commonly see in other titles a one that every gamer or certainly those that love a good and engrossing narrative should experience at least once in their lives if you've watched my Channel at all before you're well aware at this point that cyberpunk 2077 is my favorite game of all time and to this day the reason that remains true is because that first playthrough I had playing it has never been matched from an emotional and thought-provoking standpoint to this day as many of you are well aware of cyber Punk has had its fair share of ups and down since release but even from day one I was trying my hardest to get people to give it a shot because to me what makes this game so special was always the narrative the characters and most importantly the lessons it taught us about life it was never about the bugs and glitches missing features or Endless Lies not to me at least because at the core of this experience is a journey about family friends love Duty and what it means to live a life and die in a blaze of glory or instead foro all of that for the quiet life instead you see throughout the story of cyberpunk you will be met with countless moments of pure Agony and despair people that are being tortured abused and rejected by Society altogether you will meet characters on every end of the spectrum from broken yet kind-hearted Souls who are seeking salvation to rocker boy terrorists who have come to the realization none of their actions in a past life matter but throughout it all there is an undying theme that fights its way to your soul about the importance of family of kindness even in a world that has been stripped the bone of all of it because that first playthrough of cyberpunk and now even Phantom Liberty teaches us the most important things we can ever learn in life why money and fame just isn't worth it in the end and if it means you have to give up your Humanity or your relationships in each ending of this game none of which I'll spoil you were taught a very valuable lesson about this very conundrum where only by choosing a quiet life one of Duty purpose and kindness can we truly find Salvation despite the horrors of what could or could not happen to us as well because of our decisions more than any other game I've ever played in my life cyberpunk 2077 truly changed me it didn't just make me think like other games have or put a smile on my face because of how much I liked it it attacked my very Soul it grabbed me and pulled me in and by the end because of the absolutely amazing narrative and character writing made me feel things in such a strong way that it quite literally made me re-evaluate how I saw my own life and also how I saw games as a medium and why I now without a doubt think they are by far the most powerful medium out there you see a lot of games can be memorable fun or just something that helped you pass the time but not a lot of games even years later can continue to have such a profound and lasting impact on the person you have become all because they told a story so powerful and meaningful that it reconfigured your brain and your soul alike and while I can't guarantee that cyberpunk will be that for you I can promise you that at least there's a story and heart in this game that shines like no other and without a doubt should be experienced by everyone at least once because it's that first playthrough specifically that might just leave an impression on you that never leaves I've never been especially fond of horror whether that be in my movies my books or my games horror is something only recently as I've gotten older have I found in the slightest bit intriguing but one game that managed to make me play despite some of its scarier elements is Allan Wake 2 and that's because Alan Wake 2 tells one of the most surreal and mind-bending stories you can experience especially on that first playthrough full of liveaction cutcenes intertwined into gameplay creepy noises in Nightmare fueled environments and most of all a hard to understand yet interesting story Allen wake 2 is everything I love about Thrillers and on that first playthrough specifically It Feels Like Anything Could Happen behind each chapter in game is not only a great soundtrack but also more and more questions as to what is really going on who is the protagonist the antagonist and what can you even trust from the narrators themselves because something truly strange is going on at cauldron Lake and because this game is based on the fictitious manuscripts of a mad man caught in his own hell the story always feels weird and incoherent yet at the core is a game that is just so fun to play and explore around in it almost feels like you're playing a serial killer movie in real time with all the awesome twists and turns and it's just so exciting and on top of that I usually hate jump scares and too much intensity but here it serves the narrative very well and adds to the tension in every scene and trying to piece together everything going on that first time around is so rewarding with multiple different Lost Tapes or writing you can find different different characters you can talk to that seem Eerie or locations that almost feel like you were being watched the whole time through every second you are playing this game you constantly on edge and watching behind you and once again while I usually hate this in series like Resident Evil here the story on offer that first time around is so intriguing that that Curiosity will get the best of you and push you forward past even the most horrifying scenes and I really appreciate that because once again as someone that isn't a huge horror fan it gets you out of your shell and into that fully immers of experience where your heart will always be racing but also your mind and it's because of that intensity and how interesting the story and how it all plays out is with so much meta narratives and twist that I can't help but feel like it's a type of narrative experience that everyone needs to try at least the first time and finally something has to be said about the games that just give us new experiences we can't get anywhere else games that are so good on that first playthrough not mainly because of a compelling narrative a breathtaking world or some an twist but because they offer something unlike anything else out there something that either challenges us and makes us think or provides entirely new ways to play or experiences that differ from games before or just a refinement in a way that makes the gameplay hit home games that focus on being a breath of fresh air and something that will last with us for a long time games like it takes to nowadays it feels like there are so many co-op games out there you can play with others Diablo Remnant portal overcooked and so many others but none quite capture the magic of what playing with another person should really be like like it takes to the greatest Co-op game ever made and the reason that is is because it takes 2 is not only an amazing game but was built from the ground up to be everything that we love about Co-op you play as May and Cody a married couple who have suddenly been transferred into some of their daughter's dolls and must fight their way back out into their original bodies all while going on crazy Adventures around a house as tiny people what sounds like a fairly mundane romp though is any anything but because throughout it takes tw's fairly long runtime especially for a co-op game you will find yourself in massive tree lines inside beehives and even inside grandfather clocks that lead to some of the most impressive and distinct levels in a game I've ever seen the real enchantment though comes from the game playay where you will at all times not only see your screen but also the screen of the person you're playing with and this is critical because the entire game is built around this mechanic where you will constantly be screaming at each other and laughing as you have to figure out each puzzle or boss encounter Each of which has the perfect amount of challenge to remain interesting without taking away the fun and speaking of fun the game is constantly switching things up moving from one style to another over and over and every time a new mechanic is introduced it only sticks around for Max an hour and by the time it's starting to feel old something entirely new is already happening there are music levels Mortal Combat style encounters tons of different types of platforming underwater levels that are some of the best ever fly flying diving running anything and everything that could happen does and it just makes the entire experience such an amazing one to have especially for the first time with a friend sitting on the same couch as it unravels in front of both of you as someone who is obviously personally so passionate about games myself I tend to like almost anything as long as it's made well and with passion behind it but it takes two is one of those few games I can show Almost anyone even my friends who hate games and they will instantly fall in love and play for hours on end one of those experiences especially on the first playthrough that shows just how far games have come and is a great example of why I always say games are better nowadays and that despite undying Nostalgia The Best Is Yet To Come Wasteland 3 has got to be one of the most underrated games out there it's a series that could capture the hearts and minds of a mainstream audience just like Fallout but because of the genre and time in which it was released never quite had the explosion I think it deserves and that's because your first first playthrough of this game will be one full of hysterical heartfelt and just downright insane moments alike taking place in a wasteland almost too familiar to Fallout which makes sense since Fallout was actually based on the original Wasteland in the third installment you get to build a rag tag group together as you take on robots Bandits and psychos alike the real charm of the game though comes from its riding and World it feels like everywhere you go there's some zany and out there little side story about a talking dog that is a murderous monster or a granny that leads you astray and that's the best part of the series it just doesn't take itself seriously at all and not in a cringey Borderlands way but in an adult mature violent yet very funny and entertaining wild sort of way and on top of that too the combat and turn-based mechanics are all super wellth thought out tactical and fun throwing grenades at heaps of enemies and watching blood and limbs fly or shooting electricity at a robot to shut it down for a turn never gets old and especially in some of the higher difficulties in late game fights things can actually get really hectic and you'll have to use everything in Your Arsenal and at your disposal to achieve Victory but more than all that the game just excels so much on that first playthrough because of the super strong Tone It really feels like a video game that was made first and foremost to be about fun not some super serious sad Family Matters or precise Gunplay but rather an environment to just play around with characters that will make you laugh an encounter so unbelievable and weird you just won't be able to get the same experience anywhere else even Fallout in fact I'd argue this game might be the best entry point into the crpg genre out of anything there because of just how approachable it is Far and Away Boulders Gate 3 and Wasteland 3 are my favorite in the entire genre which is home to so many greats and I think that's because just like Boulders Gate 3 Wasteland 3 perfectly understands what it was trying to do and executes it in such a great way a playthrough that the first time around will without a doubt be a blast from almost anyone especially if you go into Co co-op with friends the Dyson Sphere program is the most fun I've had in a simulation game probably ever you see I've always been a fan of things like Sim City Roller Coaster Zoo Tycoon and even the more hardcore experiences like factorio and more than any other hardcore simulation experience out there Dyson Sphere program or DSP just manages to scratch an itch that almost no games even try to at the start of each play through you land on a planet in a massive Galaxy you can explore and must start trying to research upgrades in order to eventually try travel to more planets all in an attempt to build a massive Dyson Sphere around a sun and in order to do so you have to extract and develop as many resources as possible from each planet starting from humble beginnings as one robot with no blueprints all the way to a massive space fairing civilization with automated supply lines and turret defenses it has the depth and complexity of the most hardcore games in the genre but also with a much more userfriendly UI as well as Graphics that actually are beautiful and interesting to look at the real thing though that makes this game so great on that first playthrough is just how satisfying it is to figure things out and improve upon them without any prior knowledge I spent countless hours doing nothing more than automating my supply lines seeing where I have a Slowdown and figuring out ways to improve my setup it's one of the most addicting gameplay Loops I've ever seen in my entire life where there is always something to improve something new to build or research or a new way to make things more efficient and because of the style of game and the game play a lot of people wouldn't even give this game a shot but it truly will suck you win once you start to get into the groove of making your setup as good as possible there really is just something so fun about creating miles and miles of conveyor belts pushing thousands of pounds of items and materials across the planet into different refineries and science facilities that all are helping you to reach the next step of your Evolution you have to account for the speed at which each belt is moving in relation to swappers that move materials across distances and compare that to the speed at which your refineries and research stations are working trying to create a perfectly harmonious balance that just feels so satisfying when you pull it off while also being lenient enough that it all still works even for beginners albeit much less efficiently and now that the game has been in Early Access for some time there's so many interesting mechanics and things to do that the perfectionist side to all of us will always have something to look into and really more than anything Dyson Sphere program is just the type of game that is so unique and special there isn't anything else out there quite like it and even for those of you who aren't into games like this it finally is approachable and easy enough to just get into and it's not almost impossible trying to just figure everything out it's just fun one of those first playthroughs where not looking at tutorials and watching countless videos can make it better as you just figure out Solutions on your own and Tackle situations in ways you initially didn't even think of in a way it's all one big puzzle that needs to be figured out and because of the Fantastic scale and presentation of everything it makes that first playthrough such an amazing and awesome one that I highly recommend for anyone out there that even thinks this looks remotely cool and speaking of games that unravel like a puzzle why not take a look at one of the best puzzle games out there that really left a first impression on me and that's because Talis principle 2 and even its first iteration are some of the most underrated games out there just like most puzzle games they focus on the challenge and here they tend to be better than a lot of other games in the genre I have tried in the sense of how they make you think there are more obstacles with spatial reasoning as opposed to purely pressing buttons in a certain order and especially in the second game new mechanics are constantly being introduced in every new Zone and they change how you tackle every objective to me though what makes the Talis principal Series so great on that first playthrough is also its huge focus on philosophy while portal is more fun and approachable with a much better storan world and while the witness has a special place all to its own the Talis principal Just Hits so many things I love to see in games too not only do you get the great puzzles that feel satisfying to finish but also dispersed in each area are tons of logs or discussions you can have with other robotic characters that dive into the great questions from so many of the world's best philosophers Through Time touching on queries of what even is intelligence is power irresponsible to hold and what even makes us human in the first place and that first playthrough of this game is so great specifically because not only do you not have the context of how the puzzles work yet meaning they provide a greater Challenge and thus feel more satisfying and rewarding but also those philosophical themes especially in conjunction with the ending all tie together nicely even the environments in the second game look great with Unreal Engine 5 and most impressively this game despite being about puzzles has some of the most varied and also grand in scale locations I've seen in a long time you will look out over vast snowy mountain ranges where you can descend all the way towards the sea or sprawling deserts that stretch for miles in each Direction with hidden Oasis in the middle or even vast Mega structures full of futuristic Tech and architecture so along with the Whimsical sound trck there's just a nice trance you get into while playing this game just exploring and finding puzzles which you feel so good after figuring out after all that time and again the best part is how it all just comes together with the philosophy as well meaning you will not only be thinking from a challenge perspective trying to solve puzzles but also from a philosophical one where you will be thinking about life and its meaning while traveling from one challenge to the next and honestly while the game has so many faults like mediocre riding and suspect pacing at points the core of what it aims to achieve is so great A Beautiful World with a rich history that is so full of lore and philosophy that will make you think and puzzles that will challenge your brain and it's a shame that these games aren't more beloved because despite puzzle games being such a n genre just like portal did years ago the Talis principle 2 is a great entry point that almost anyone could enjoy if they gave it a chance and it's also a blueprint for potentially a third game that might finally realize the AAA puzzle game vision of amazing design World game play and story so do yourself a favor and give this game a shot because that first place playthrough of figuring out each puzzle and unraveling the philosophy and mystery behind the main story is really something almost no other games have tried and I think you'll love it as I already mentioned earlier in this video pre from Arcane Studios is one of the greatest games ever made and yet so few people talk about it or have even tried it and sadly that failure at Arcane eventually resulted in the studio head along with many other members leaving the team and founding a new studio called wolfy whose first game just so happened to be another absolutely amazing journey to experience that first go around because that game otherwise known as weird West is all about crafting and experience focused on interactivity and emergent storytelling the game takes place in the wild west but with many strange twists involving the Paranormal and unnatural and throughout the runtime you take charge of five different characters including a sheriff Native American and even a walking Pigman monstrosity and in each of these five character sections you get to make multiple big decisions that will drastically affect the world quite literally changing en entire future sections of the game you will see on subsequent characters but while this is all cool the real Triumph of weird West is how it manages to make such an engaging gameplay Loop in each of these campaigns built as an immersive SIM from the ground up each item or weapon in game can serve multiple purposes you are able to upgrade your character in a variety of ways allowing things like jumping to Ledges that were too high before or turning invisible mid- combat to pull off Heist Without a Trace and whereas most immersive Sim games focus on firstperson action or over the shoulder third person weird West actually pulls the camera back even more which while it's less immersive actually provides a special sense of being more tactical as well in each of the campaigns too you will get special powers and access to certain locations and everything you do in previous parts of the game will affect what happens in the future you can even meet your previous characters you played as as a new character and then recruit them to your team to fight for you all while talking about how you both are a part of something bigger when you shoot Bandits out on a mission sometimes they f family members will find you later in game and come back for vengeance or if you help characters they may come to your Aid later down the line really though what makes the first playthrough so good is that everything about this game is so systems based I'm a sucker for immersive Sims as I already mentioned for this very reason and weird West does such a good job at making every system in the game interact with each other in such interesting ways along with having an intriguing story that drastically changes based on what you do with each character and how they interact with one another it's another example of game that still has a fair share of flaws but the fact that it's coming from a brand new studio is a huge Testament and it's laying the groundwork for what I think maybe one of the most underrated studios in the coming years if they play their cards right and just like many of the other games on this list it excels on that first playthrough because it's wholly unique to itself while still capitalizing on the vision in a very fun way you know games can be great for so many different reasons but the types of games I tend to connect with most are also the ones that seem to be best experience on that first playthrough for one reason or another and that's one of the biggest motivations behind why I'm so excited about this industry and where it might go in the future about the possibilities of future games and experiences we've never seen before or franchises that sparked that sense of imagination in all of us all over again so let me know down below what games had the biggest impact on you guys on that first playthrough and why and what you think about the games on my list and also let me know any other types of videos you guys would love to see for me I really enjoy making things that you guys find impactful and interesting and while it's a ton of work it's definitely worth it as always thank you all so much for watching the sport does mean the world to me and I'll see you all next time

Channel: FranklyGaming

Views: 766,507

Keywords: franklygaming, best first playthrough games, gaming, inscryption, prey, doki doki literature club, outer wilds, cyberpunk 2077, subnautica, skyrim, baldurs gate 3, world of warcraft, mass effect, horizon games, plague tale games, it takes two, wasteland 3, dyson sphere program, talos principle 2, weird west

Id: -w2IgFUrg-k

Length: 61min 38sec (3698 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 27 2023