Guessed by @UnderwaterFunktown
The game that officially made me stop thinking "graphics don't matter" and admit to myself that I'm a sucker for good looks. I had heard about it a few times, but never bothered to check it out until I was watching the Game Awards 2015. Ori came up in the best art direction category, and they had that little video showing snippets of gameplay of the nominated games, the few seconds I saw of this were so beautiful, I was sold.
It was my first indie metroidvania, actually I think it was my first non-Metroid metroidvania. I didn't know what to expect, but if I made a list of things to expect, I'm pretty sure "sobbing within 10 minutes" wouldn't be one of them. This game instantly captured my heart, through virtue of its incredible art direction and soundtrack, and eventually it captured my mind too because the game itself is also great. It actually debuted at #10 on my list, that's how much I loved it, but over the years I've realized how little I enjoy replaying this game, in part because of just how memorable it is (it's kinda boring if I always remember everything!). That said, regardless of how much fun I have when going back to it, it doesn't change how special that first time was.
