(Saw this question asked on another popular link aggregation website and it got me thinking)
If you could play one game for the first time all over again, what would you choose? This might be because you want to do it all again, or because you don't think you got enough out of it the first time. It could be experiencing the game exactly as you were back then, or experiencing a game with what you know now.
For me, it's Legend of Zelda: A Link To The Past, experienced exactly as I was back in 1991.
Nothing comes close to how jaw-droppingly amazed I was by that opening sequence. The epic orchestral score, the cinematic rainstorm, creeping around in the dark... it was a generational leap above anything I'd played on 8-bit computers and consoles, and even the Megadrive. I'd love to play it again without thirty plus years of Nintendo/Zelda knowledge, or without knowing about the dark world.
There are two games I would love to play for the first time again and those are Portal and Dishonored.
Portal is obvious - it's a well-refined and immersive puzzle game with enough story and atmosphere to keep you invested, but never so much as to pull you away from its puzzles. It may only be a short game, but it is one of the best!
The only people I know who haven't given this game the upmost praise are those who've never played it before.
Edit: Portal 2 is also a fantastic game, but it definitely leans on the story more. That is by no means a bad thing though, as we wouldn't the absolute menace that is Cave Johnson without it.
As for Dishonored, the original is Arkane Studio's best game IMO - the world it's set in is so interesting and brimming with lore; the levels are well crafted, and reward the player's creativity and exploration without ever feeling forced; The gameplay is challenging, but without ever feeling overwhelming. I'm sure it has it's flaws, but all these years later, I still remember how much it got right.
Edit: Dishonored 2 was very much like it, and I remember it for all the same reasons, but the first is the one that really captured that lightning in a bottle for me.
I also loved Prey. It plays in a similar style without feeling too much like it's predecessor. I can't say I liked the Roguelike DLC very much though.
Edit 2 Electric-Boogaloo: I keep forgetting Dishonored uses the American spelling. I always remember it in the British spelling. Oops.
Dishonored absolutely holds up, just replayed it a month or two ago. I do also believe it's just a tighter, more well designed experience than Dishonored 2. It's hard to properly explain without taking notes, but Dishonored 2 felt like "well, we have to make a sequel, what can we expand on and add on?" Where Dishonored 1 just felt like they knew exactly what they wanted to do and expertly executed every single thing just like they wanted.
Still a blast to play today, and the art style holds up.
I think you've hit the nail on the head there. Dishonored 2 felt like it had to be made, rather than wanting to be made like the original.
Having said that, it is still a sequel worthy of it's predecessor, which is better than can be said for a lot of sequels.
Agreed, I would still recommend it since I enjoyed it, beat it, and got part ways through an NG+ playthrough, and that's a lot more than I get out of a lot of other games.
I just finished Dishonored 2 for the first time. I played it like 6 years ago, got to the second-last mission, and realized that even though I'd been playing ultra stealthy and non-violent, somehow someone I knocked out had died in an earlier mission, so I wasn't going to get the stealth achievements so I shelved it.
This time, I'd forgotten enough so I started from the beginning again, remembered to keep checking the stats page to ensure I was fully stealthy, fully non-violent, and got to the end with the achievements.
The funny thing is that the game gives you so many ways to play -- lots of gun upgrades, lots of ways of disposing of bodies, lots of health boosts and strength boosts. But, I play my way, and so both runs I did ultra stealthy, no killing. I've played almost the entire game twice, and have no idea what most of the powers are like because they're oriented around combat / killing, not stealth.