Over time I've become pretty jaded to the gaming experiences. Part of this I'd attribute to simply having played most of the genres, and seeing a lot of what there is to see. I'm not one of those artistic types, and while I do acknowledge above average graphics, or brilliant artistic design (I see you over there ICO), it's not something that will make me buy a game (Though Eternal Sonata looks fantastically charming). Anyways, my point is that I can only name one feature from a game that has completely changed the game's playstyle, and has not been emulated over the years.

Diablo II's hardcore mode.

Now Diablo II was a good game in it's own right. Hundreds of different items, an indepth skill tree, and character stat customization that would make World of Warcraft piss itself. It was a little short on the quests, but you never saw anyone brag about beating the Act 5 quests, it was the rare items and amassed wealth, and level 99 status that gave people their pride. I'm sure a good portion of people rocked Diablo II's normal mode, from Baal to the Cowlevel and everything inbetween. A good deal less of these people rocked Diablo II's hardcore mode.

Now as I mentioned before, items and levels were what people collected and prided in Diablo II, and those were exactly what they lost when they died. There has yet to be a video game experience that has affected me so as playing on hardcore mode. You play each area, quest, and enemy as if it were your last, because it pretty much could be. At higher difficulties you could suffer an epic death at the hands of Diablo's red lightening just as easily as you could suffer a humiliating defeat from teleporting into a random unique with a might aura. And there would be no difference, just lost time, lost items, lost levels, and the message "Your deeds of valor will be remembered". What was there to do after this? Either throw in the towel, or grit your teeth and start another character.

While some might consider it masochistic, cruel, or poorly designed, the fact remains that it is a gaming experience unrivaled. The anger, sadness, frustration, and humiliation of losing everything you had is something that has not been successfully and purposely redone in any of these next gen video games. Call me crazy, but I wouldn't mind seeing something similar to it incorporated in a future release. It defined those who played the mode. They were simply hardcore.