The History of MUDs
I kind of miss the times where graphics were evocative rather than articulate and half the rendering engine laid between your ears.
The closest thing to that feeling I can get these days is with games that encourage you to form your own story, to roleplay a character. It's a tremendously difficult task for a game to be reactive, yet leave you room to imagine the grander and more intimate aspects of the tale, to make it something personal and bigger than just the game.
Enderal is the last game to really do this for me and Kingmaker before it but some decisions in that game are just sub-optimal if you want to roleplay. It's hard not to look up guides. I also really liked Risk of Rain 2 for its evocative art style. It strikes that strange balance that isn't photorealistic and doesn't look like anything, yet strongly evokes a sense of place.