You only have a year of gaming left - what do you play?

This post was inspired by a very real and very serious question that was brought up by LobsterMobster in the 2015 Pile thread. Although full credit goes to Shoptroll for suggesting a dedicated thread.

Say you only had a year left to live, goodjers, what would you play?

Predictably enough, a lot of us answered the question with a question: what platform? what type of games do you favor?
My thoughts immediately went to some of the great games I've played most recently and which made my list of GOTY potentials: Transistor, the Blackwell games, Memoria, Gray Matter, Wolfenstein: New Order, Fez, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag...

I also suggest checking out the annual Community GOTY that ClockworkHouse kindly manages for us:
GWJ's 2014 Community Game of the Year
(will update with links to previous years, because I've bookmarked them at home).

Also, I'd like you all to join me in sending me happy thoughts to LobsterMobster and all the other goodjers battling fearsome and at times terminal diseases. And for those of you with funds to spare, head over to LobsterMobster's GoFundMe thread.

Honestly I think I would just keep going forward with the new games coming out. I rarely revisit games(except JRPGs those devils) and so I'm constantly trying to play that new awesome thing that just came out.

If perhaps there was nothing coming out that seemed interesting I think I would try to at least get through these 5 games again:

Suikoden 2 - My favorite JRPG
Final Fantasy Tactics - My favorite SRPG
X-Com Enemy Unknown/Within - My Favorite non-Japanese SRPG/Tactics game
Bioshock - My favorite FPS
Another game or two of Civ 5. Let's be real you could probably devote a whole year to this.

Beyond that there's quite a few other games I would play but they would be variations on the genres above.

Witcher 3. At the rate I've been going, it might be a year until I'm done. Yes, I'm a completionist.

I'm also really enjoying the Tomb Raider reboot (and I never liked the previous TR games)

Thinking of you, LobsterMobster. And all those who could use a good wish.

Nintendo tends to give me the highest amount of joy per minute of any developer out there.

If I were to select a game to play for my final year, I'd probably put my effort into an MMO. You'd get something akin to a feel for community while progressing through a large world.

If I only had a year left to live and I knew it, I probably wouldn't be playing video games. There's a wide world out there. But that's just me.

If I did, it would be something couch coop with good friends / family probably.

Big-ass RPGs. I think I might replay Dragon Age... all of them. Maybe Fallout 4, Mass Effect, Witcher 3, Divinity: Original Sin, etc. But yeah, big games. I think I may need some escapism if this was the case.

Warriorpoet897 wrote:

If I only had a year left to live and I knew it, I probably wouldn't be playing video games. There's a wide world out there. But that's just me.

I'm sure Libster would probably rather be flying all over the world or touring wineries and fancy restaurants (or both!), but terminal illnesses typically lead to hospice care which is Lobster's case.
And from what I've seen in my admittedly short practice, the hours can add up while you're in hospice and you end up filling them with books, or music or gaming or whatever makes you happy in between family and friends' visits. But that's neither here nor there.
Back to games!

I'd go all out on a big game. Mentioned in the other thread the game Fall Out 4.
Big world, lots of exploring to be done... love it

Warriorpoet897 wrote:

If I only had a year left to live and I knew it, I probably wouldn't be playing video games. There's a wide world out there. But that's just me.

Yep, as much as I love games I would not be spending the last year of my life playing them.

Read Eleima's post JeremyK

JeremyK wrote:
Warriorpoet897 wrote:

If I only had a year left to live and I knew it, I probably wouldn't be playing video games. There's a wide world out there. But that's just me.

Yep, as much as I love games I would not be spending the last year of my life playing them.

We get it, but just play along.

I'd probably play through all the Infocom games, with walkthroughs at hand. Very entertaining tales. I'd stay far away from anything that required grinding, maybe stick with adventure games and Tomb Raider-y type stuff.

True enough I guess. For me I doubt I'd play games even so though. I was never one to play games even when I have a cold. Just too much interaction required. Put me down in the book category.

If I had to pick a game it would probably be Super Mario World. It has the nostalgia to bring me back to better times, gameplay that still holds up, and tons of replay value.

I'd play a big meaty RPG like the Witcher 3 or Fallout 4. Either that, or I'd go for a big online game such as WoW, Destiny or Counter-Strike.

Edit: Wrote Skyrim instead of Fallout.

I would go for a large, popular MMO. The reason is that I would want to play something social and with a guild. I have met some awesome people through gaming and would love to do that in my final year. You could be on mumble with them, raiding, whatever. You just aren't doing it alone.

It's really hard to answer something this personal and emotional. Like, hard to say what I'd do in certain situations, versus what I THINK I would do. And also accounting for the fatigue etc. that comes with some illnesses and care.

Final Fantasy X reminded me a lot of the emotions I had when my mother had terminal cancer. I don't know if that would make me feel better or worse, playing that again if I was dying myself.

I would almost certainly revisit old favorites instead of tackling anything new, I think. I suspect I'd become nostalgic in these circumstances, looking back at the times of greatest joy in my life. For me personally, that probably means PS1/2 era RPGs of some kind or other.

I think it would be good to try to play some VR stuff, since there will be new experiences there.

Diablo 3 for me.
Mechcommander 2 would work as well.
Cursed Treasure 2 (its a flash based tower defense clone but i love it to pieces)
Dawn of War 2 series
Sword Coast Legends (due out in September)

That's a tough question. I tend to like new experiences, but I don't know how those would go and I'd hate to waste time playing something that wasn't good. If I know what I know now after playing The Witcher 3 and can erase it from my memory, I'd say The Witcher 3 + the expansions coming out. I think I'd like to focus on games with great writing and characters. Same would be said for The Walking Dead Telltale games.

If this question were asked 10 years ago I surely would of said Civilization IV. I've had a more difficult time getting into 4Xs. For some reason it's been hard to fire them up - like there is a lot of inertia to overcome.

Most of all I'd love to spend time in the mountains (real mountains) - Rainier is my favorite.

Journey
Brothers
Try to find a game with a dedicated group that I could play with regularly. If you have that, the actual game itself matters very little.

If I only had a year left, I sure wouldn't spend it playing videogames!

But, since videogames are the question, I shall comply. I would start by replaying the entire Starcraft series (assuming that Legacy of the Void is released). Then I would do Assassin's Creed from start to finish, and close with replaying the entire Halo series.

I think I'd want one last D&D campaign for sure.

On the video game front I'd push forward and play new stuff that's coming out that catches my attention. I might even become more prone to taking chances on genres and game types I'm not normally drawn to.

Unless there was something amazing just released, I'd want to go through my favorite recent experiences one more time. So I would end up playing through the entire Mass Effect and Dragon Age franchises, probably broken up by games of Civ.

I would start a blog and be completely crazy on it doing reviews of everything.

If I'm going out yall are gonna hear about every last stupid thing I do.

This is a fantastic and difficult question. Thanks Eleima! I'd definitely finish up Mass Effect 2 and 3 and that'd be it for story-based games. Beyond that, I'd try and find games I could play together with my wife and friends. I'd very much want my gaming to be a way to feel connected to others in a way that didn't revolve around the draining time I had left. That'd probably involve a lot of Race for the Galaxy and other board games.

garion333 wrote:

I would start a blog and be completely crazy on it doing reviews of everything.

If I'm going out yall are gonna hear about every last stupid thing I do.

I like this, but I think I'd get someone else to write for me. When my mom fought breast cancer a few years ago (all good now) my wife wrote up her experiences in a blog, which has been good to look back on from time to time. I'm thinking I'd try to play many things and tell the stupid stories that happen to my wife.

I'd probably spend a bunch of time on old favorites, which is probably most of the Blizzard catalog. I would finally play though Starcraft II. Finally, I'd find some co-op / local multiplayer stuff to play with people when they visit, such as Nidhogg and Towerfall.

...Guitar

I don't think I would want to play any story-driven games. I would be worried that I would get to the end too quickly, and then need to start again. Or I would reach my end too quickly without feeling like I accomplished what I set out to do.

If I had access to my friends from years back, I think I would choose something like Super Smash Bros or Unreal 2k4. I would want a multiplayer game that can be played in quick bursts, but where one game is never exactly the same. I would want to spend the time I have left with my friends, since gaming has always been a big part of my friendships.

If, for some reason, I didn't have access to friends, I would prefer to play something with a random element that could be endless, like Minecraft.

I'd mostly want to play games with friends. One of the best gaming times I had was when I was at University and we played a 5 player online game of Football Manager. We lost whole days to it! Although not always easy to get friends due to work and other commitments, I'd probably just look at stuff that was on my list of games I'd always wanted to play but couldn't.

Also, Eleima, would it be possible to put a link in the top post to the thread with the GoFundMe for Lobster? Could've sworn it was in this or the 12 month pile thread (unless it's been moved by request!) Just thought it might be useful for people who aren't aware, I know I wasn't until I saw it via a Tweet from Hatchet Job, as it can get hard to keep track of everything on these boards!

The link is also in the Pile thread I've linked to, but that's a good point, Clusks, I've amended the OP.

ConsonantQ wrote:

Minecraft.

Just came to post this. I'm big into creating things, so Minecraft would be a good place to do that.

TheHarpoMarxist wrote:

I might even become more prone to taking chances on genres and game types I'm not normally drawn to.

Yeah, this would definitely be the thing that I would do. If there was ever a game I had a tangential interest in, it would definitely be the first one I'd fire up. I'd probably start scouring sites like itch.io to see what kind of experimental / indie games catch my eye. A lot of those are pretty short and can normally be run on a pretty standard computer set up.

As for specific must-play games, though? That is a pretty hard question for me to answer. I would definitely suggest an MMO like FFXIV so that you have the ability to connect with people while playing in a really great world. It strikes a perfect balance for me between being able to play with a group, but still having really good story content to experience when you're by yourself

For the more strictly single player games, I have no idea. Much like others have suggested, I would probably just fall back on my personal favorites. That means a bunch of replays of Wing Commander, old adventure games, Double Dragon III (THE BEST DOUBLE DRAGON), and Mario Kart.

Notable mentions for Knights of the Old Republic, Doom, Magicka, and a whole list of other games I'm sure I'm forgetting.

garion333 wrote:

I would start a blog and be completely crazy on it doing reviews of everything.

If I'm going out yall are gonna hear about every last stupid thing I do.

I agree with this idea, too. I would chronicle everything that I played. Maybe not reviews exactly, but more of my reactions/feelings I had while playing.