I can also really relate. For me as a kid, the biggest such effect came from Might and Magic VI. It was such an expansive game - starting from fighting cave goblins with daggers and culminating, about two months later, with fighting dragons with laser blasters while flying (in 3D). It was so incredibly liberating and empowering compared to what I was doing at school at the time, and in hindsight did a lot to pull me into a career in coding.