RetroGaming

There are many games that I loved and would enjoy playing for the first time, but I'm going to pick Mario and Luigi Superstar Saga. My reason being that I spent the vast majority of the game waiting for it to morph into a spiritual successor of Super Mario RPG back when I first played it, rather than giving it a chance to stand on its own as a unique and hilarious game. My preconceived idea of what I hoped the game would be really hurt my initial enjoyment of it.

For a runner up, I'll mention Kirby's Dream Land 3. In the days of Blockbuster rentals, I'd rented Kirby Super Star first, so it took me a while to get used to the more traditional Kirby powerup system where copied abilities only do one type of action each.

Star Control 2

The Journeyman Project 3 - A legacy of time. I got it as a gift when I was a kid it was only in English and I didn’t speak the language yet. That game was my tally on my language learning skills. I also have a love for point n click games (Myst, Atlantis, Amerzona, Versailles and all of Cryo games)

This is Zelda 2 right? Where the princess is in a coma in the bed from the very beginning? First side scrolling Zelda?

I seem to remember some guy named Ragu, and I always thought about the spaghetti sauce.

Somehow I never played this again after emulators.

I did Kid Icarus on an emulator. Loved that game.

Same as OP!!!

Probably Pathologic 2, assuming I'd retain my fondness towards it.

On my way to completing my first playthrough, I had to spend at least 2 months warming up to the game and actually going through the first hour, after which it was absolutely amazing. I'm still replaying it once a year due to how much I love it.

The S.T.A.L.K.E.R series & Metal Gear Solid 1

Noita

Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom. BOTW was my first Zelda game and I honestly loved it. I would sit for hours in the living room zoned in to the game with checklist paper and notebooks next to me to keep track of what I was doing. If I could do it again I'd instead use an interactive map like I did with TOTK.

As for TOTK, the Rito dungeon was my favorite and if I could experience that adrenaline pumping battle for the first time again, I would. Tulin is a baby and I love him.

All the story based games:
TT The Walking Dead most, but Firewatch and Life is Strange in a close second/third. So many feels I wish I could relive.

The Witness