RetroGaming

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.

Freelancer

Definitely Subnautica in VR. I didn't play it on flatscreen, only in VR, and it was the most immersive and amazing experience out of any game.

I wish I could experience Portal for the first time again.

Half Life or Command & Conquer for me

System Shock 2 or Thief: Dark Project. Those two were the games that impressed me most in my 40 years of playing games.

Honourable mention: Minecraft. The first few weeks playing that come very close.

Dark Souls.

But I suck and this time I don't get sucked into the entire series. That oughta save me some time and money.

If I had to take a Retro game, Chrono Trigger for sure.

Factorio of course, because that's what people already do. They start over and over again with ever bigger plans.

Monkey Island 2: lechuck's revenge.

There's a couple I'd have to choose from on this Portal 1 and 2 (if it can only be one game and not the series then portal 2) Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom or Breath of the wild maybe Prey Firewatch Fallout: New Vegas FRACT OSC Donut County ... This may have been more a list of my favorite games rather than play for the first time again...

Death Stranding

I still have dreams about that masterpiece of a game. There's just so few like it.

Neverwinter Nights

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

Inside

BioShock

All great stories with some very powerful moments.

Champions of Norrath on PS2. I played through the entire game with my dad and it was the most fun I ever him.my mother said he used to play video games all the time, but then stopped (having kids probably does this to many). So when he said he’d play the game with me i was very excited. i only wish i could have found the games sequel, return to arms, before heading off to college. that would have been a summer to remember.

i don’t know why he never shared his love of video games with either me or my sisters. some dads are weird like that. i bought him a series s for the holidays and while i don’t think he plays it, he enjoys watching his grandkids play.

Easily Majora’s Mask

Edit: upon further speculation, Final Fantasy X is tied

Gothic

My first open world game, unmatched freedom to do what you want and to go where you want, exploration rewarding with handplaced loot everywhere. I lived in that game for a whole year.

Probably Red Dead Redemption. It was an amazing game and even fun to 100%. The soundtrack was the icing on the cake.

Half-life is close too. That game blew my mind as a kid.

Either:

1. Mario 64 - seeing a fully realised 3d world for the first time was mind blowing. Great music, adventure, and fun.

Or

2. Morrowind - what a wild and rich world to explore for the first time. My best friend and I rotated shifts for weeks during school holidays. Great memories.

Minecraft, botw

CrossCode

Doki Doki Literature Club. Because I got spoiled the first time I played it.

Portal or Minecraft.

I've played so much Minecraft that I have everything down to a science.

Like quickly making a wooden pickaxe, mining exactly how much cobble I need for a furnace and a stone pickaxe, and how to find coal and iron in less than 5 minutes.

Wood and stone tools, outside the two pickaxes, are skipped entirely.

Before the end of the first night I am almost entirely decked out in iron stuff.

Farming cows for bookshelves for enchanting is quick and easy, and then getting fortune 3 and looting 3 pretty much makes the game easy mode. You print ores and food.

Not to mention you can get mending from a villager easily. Just pick up and put down the job station until they give you mending. It's not skill, it's just luck. You can get it in less than 2 minutes if you're lucky. Now you'll never have to worry about anything ever breaking again. You can also get fortune and looting this way as well, removing the need to waste time and materials on the enchanting table.

It's sad. I wish I could erase my knowledge of it, and play Minecraft how I used to. By savoring my enchanted items, creaming my pants at the sight of diamonds, and grinding hard for food.

Stardew Valley or Terraria.

Wow OP it's like we had the same childhood. That opening sequence and the early parts of LTTP are seared into my memory. +1

I know it's not really retro yet, but either Nier game. True perfection those two.

Inscryption. One of my favorite games to come out in years, but the secondary playthroughs don't have anywhere near the appeal without the mystery/intrigue sadly. The first time for me was magical though.

Chrono Trigger, Castlevania SOTN, Pokemon BW and B2W2, Dead Cells

Definitely Dragon Age Origins. Loved it all, from the weird combat mechanic to the relationship scores. I only wish Varric had been available to romance.

Either Oblivion or Fable: The Lost Chapters

Everquest. No other game I've played before or after instilled that feeling of exploration and wonder that this game did. I'm so glad I got to experience that before I got older.

Runescape, 2006 sort of era

Probably Planescape: Torment

Oh man.... I would love to experience Zork again for the first time. 😊

"West of House

You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door.

There is a small mailbox here."

Final fantasy tactics, or 7.

Wing Commander 3 and Black & White.

Played both of them when i was a kid and it'll be nice to be able to play them again as an adult.