kingdom hearts 1! it's one of my earliest memories playing games and I was just totally spellbound by it. i played games before I touched that, but it was never really an engagement that went beyond pure play, given that I was like. 6. but that game's opening sequence was unlike anything i've ever seen before, and it made me feel things that nothing before ever had. pretty much any time my opinions on what i find valuable in games change, I go back to that first time playing kingdom hearts late at night on my best friend's ps2, and what I saw there.

another answer to this is mass effect lol. mixed complicated feelings on that game now but that was the game that I think really crystalised making and talking about video games as something I wanted to do, because i was so enthralled by the world and so invested in the characters.