current hyperfixation. this game took my brain apart and completely rewired it
i could go on a huge ass rant about the huge themes of finality and futility in this game, the character arc of realizing you're being taking advantage of and fighting back against your oppressors, and a million other things

previously fixated on this game so it gets a high spot

while mysteriously never became a fixation, ever since it released it frequently appears in my thoughts
it's a story of love, futility, betrayal, set in a world that died so long ago and i love it

incredible visuals
this game immersed me in its world, literally put me in the place of a little creature near the bottom of the food chain, fighting for my survival. hunting for food and looking for shelter from the rain being necessities for my every day life. i wake up in the morning, with droplets of the rain still hanging unto the foliage around me, not knowing what's in store for me that day. whether i get enough food to eat or if i'm going to return to my shelter with no option but to starve. whether i'm going to have some predatory bird swoop down from the sky and make me its meal, or have a couple of big ass lizards fight over my corpse. the absolute dread that comes with finding new creatures, areas, objects, and being overcome with curiosity while remaining extremely cautious and ready to flee in case of danger.
truly a survival game in its truest sense

this game simultaneously both made me love the sea and turned me thalassophobic. i still get nightmares sometimes where im underwater and look underneath me and realize i can't even see the bottom. people talk about space and the fear of being so small and lost in something so big, but the ocean captures that same exact feeling

act 1 and act 3 have a setting and atmosphere that makes you feel like you're trapped, not in control, and they do it in a way that stayed with me. banger visuals too

LET'S DANCE BOYS! bayonetta herself is a big favorite for me. i love her confidence and style

game that shaped my childhood, and consequently me
i loved midna as a kid, even if i didn't connect to her as much as i did with fi from ss. cried when i parted with her at the end
fucking loved the twilight aesthetics

partly influenced by stories and art made by fans, but the idea of risking your life for what would be worthless scraps to you to sell them to a who-knows-what you've never even actually seen just to barely get by does something to me

game that shaped my childhood, and consequently me
this game started my love for japanese mythology and aesthetics

this is the only game in this list where the thing that marked me wasn't the visuals or the story or anything else, but the simple act of playing it. there's really nothing than starting a new world and getting your first shelter and looking at clouds go by while some simple ambient music plays. the little dopamine hits from mining a few blocks of ore

something something about enjoying the sisyphean struggle of trying to escape
also this game rekindled my love for greek mythology.

This is what you are.
I don't know why but the gameplay loop of being deployed on missions while your handler orders you around really immersed me.

Art style, general setting and aesthetic, music, story, all of it stayed with me
the humming of the protagonist carries melancholy in it, but to me there's also a hint of joy in it, and it's really inspiring when considering all the stuff she goes through

game that shaped my childhood, and consequently me
i loved fi, even if she was more like an unemotional servant spirit that simply lived as a manifestation of your sword. parting with her made me cry

Dawn of The Final Day
-24 Hours Remain-

i LOVE dying worlds, i love the overbearing sense of finality in this game, the anxiety that you won't get to talk to everyone you want to, there's simply not enough time to
you live the end of the world again and again, and each time you roll time back again and again and subject the people to the cycle once more

Specifically for whatever insanity and subtle homoeroticism Trevor had going on

similar vibe to minecraft, but with the fantasy world i love from tp and ss. it says for something to the game when i boot up a new save file and just sit near a small campfire and watch in awe a dragon go by in the distance

totk surprised me when i discovered the depths, because despite being underground land, it gave me a feeling very close to what i felt when playing subnautica.
the sky islands also brought me back to when i was a kid playing ss, only this time i could see what was below me and marvel at the scale of it all

really big fan of The Lady and her presence
aesthetics that emphasize the grossness of eating really did something to me

Love satanistic/occult settings, the audio design and animations are living rent free in my head

it's not about the destination, but the journey.
cool aesthetics

Purification in progress...
something something about dying worlds and you being the reason it's dying

i love being subjected to tests against my will and having no choice but to listen to a sentient AI rant about wanting me dead

i love when the one who wanted me dead has no choice but to rely on my help and we end up learning how to tolerate each other