Moments in gaming that impressed you

[MegaHiro91]

As a sort of follow-up/sister topic to the one about favorite sounctracks (I did originally make them one), I wanna know what games impressed you throughout your lives?

Especially as kids we are super impressionable, and as we grow older, less so, but it also ain't no secret that the technological leap between generations is slimming more and more. As I described about how Final Fantasy X blew me away both musically and cinematically, the leap between blocky PS1 polygons and smooth life-like PS2 assets was astounding. The PS3 was then another fairly impressive leap. Less so between 3 and 4. And now, between 4 and 5, you have people arguing if the PS5 was even necessary in the first place as games still release for both consoles, since the PS4 practically can do anything 5 can, only 5 is faster.

Anyway, back on the PS2 two other games that impressed me were Resident Evil 4 where I looked at the opening scene with Leon in the car, looked at his detailed face, and thought "This is LIFE LIKE!!! Graphics are NEVER getting better than this!!" Another was how the AI in Shadows of the Colossus allowed the giant creatures to react to Wanderer's presence. I remember seeing my friend (the one I always talk about) running away from the bearded colossus and hide in a crevasse, only for the colossus to then kneel down and look for him. Such a simple thing, but it impressed me so much how life-like the game made its behavior look!

Speaking of little things that made big impressions; in Pokémon Crystal I was impressed that the Pokémon sprites were now moving when you encountered them (remember when THAT was an impressive bullet point on the box??). Then again in Pokémon Ruby where your trainer would actively move his/her arm to throw the Pokéball when engaging in battle. I remember nerding about the game with my homeroom teacher and geeking about how cool that was.

Equally impressive was it when I first played Final Fantasy Tactics where the characters would kneel down when hurt. That was the coolest and most realistic shit I'd ever seen (haha).

And to circle back and round off with the GameCube, I remember seeing footage of Resident Evil Remake, after having already played the original on the DS, looking at the dining hall, thinking back to the original game, and be like "Ain't no f**king way they have made that old game look THIS good!?"

What are some of yours, big and small?

 

[Bonkers225]

The whole zoom in to Aerith, and zoom out to show the Midgar City, and zooming back onto the train in FFVII back in 97.

Sonic running through the bridge with the Killer Whale behind him in SA back in 1998.

The train intro in Uncharted 2.

Going online with the Dreamcast.

Seeing Virtua Fighter 2 in action from playing only Capcom 2-D fighters.

Shenmue's 70 Men Brawl with Earth and Sea playing in the bg.

Playing Golden Sun on the GBA, especially with those summons. Nothing ever seen before on handhelds.

 

[frankied85]

Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite.

Bioshock - seeing the city underwater for the first time after the plane crash
Infinite - Clearing the clouds in the rocket and seeing the city above.

 

[Waffles's iconWaffles]

The fact that I could do whatever I felt like in Deus Ex and seeing it not only work, but work in a way that the game accounted for, no matter how random it was.

 

[RanmyakuIchi's iconRanmyakuIchi]

The fourth wall breaking series of events near the end of Metal Gear Solid 2 got me REAL good as a youngster. I legitimately almost turned the PS2 off when the AI Campbell told me to, I had been marathoning the game and thought it got mad at me for playing too long.

 

[LiberoVulpesLiberoVulpes's icon]

Halo CE - when you come out of the escape pod during the second mission, standing in halo seeing the curvature of the ring in the distance, the patrolling banshees, i just went: WHOAA! To this day i still feel the same every time i replay the game.

System Shock 1 - The "Who are you?" Monologue from SHODAN, you are just exploring the med floor, and out of nowhere one of the screen pops and you hear this:

Freedom Fighters - Chris' speech when you take over the TV Station, its so badass.

Dungeon Keeper 2 - The first time that i used the spell that let's you see things from your minion's perspective, i thought it was so cool to see things how they see it.

Ghost Recon - The intro cinematic was so badass, it was what opened the gates for my love for military fiction.

 

[ZEGA ZONIC]

The Uncharted 3 cargo plane sequence.

 

[Yousef]

Every time I beat game, I’m impressed

 

[PaleFolklore]

A more recent pick, but honestly? I was quite surprised at how well Horizon: Zero Dawn ran on the base PS4 back in the day.

Granted, while it could’ve definitely benefited from a 60 FPS target, I still found it to be very impressive, especially considering the sheer amount of physics and inputs being processed simultaneously, even in high-performance-demanding situations and fights.

 

[RustySK]

Mario 64.

Until that point I had only ever seen and played NES, SNES and Gameboy games, so Mario 64 was the first 3D game I had ever seen and man, the technological leap from 2D to 3D was mindblowing in a way that genuinely can never be replicated again for anyone.

Though I distinctly remember being even more impressed by Ocarina of Time, as that one had such an intensely immersive atmosphere by the standards of the time that I got completely absorbed into its world. Loved it.

 

[Korova]

Siren, when the game introduce the sightjacking mechanics. It's genius.

 

[Cu-Neo]

Seeing the X rays for the first time in Mortal Kombat 9

 

[Tonberry]

The sound design in the Demon’s Souls remake blew me away.
While I prefer the original, I don’t think I’ve ever played a game where the sound effects and ambiance elevated the experience as much as that.

I love sound design and it’s something I always like thinking about, but man that game was just excellent in that regard.

 

[moonbits]

DOOM 3 looked like a generational leap in 2004
Shadow of the Colossus scale blew my mind as a kid
Gears of War graphics and gore were amazing in 2006
God of War 3's intro was incredible

 

[Jeff]

Slimy Spring Galaxy from Super Mario Galaxy 2. It starts at a gloomy cave where you control Mario through an underwater sub cavern filled with Boos, turtle shells, urchins, monster eels and speed rings, you have Mario swimming and swimming when suddenly, you see a surface that shows the outside of the galaxy showing a morning sunrise with flowers and two trees. It's stuff like this that made me wonder, how technology and graphics have evolved so quickly and the adventures we all had since the NES days.

 

[Klonoa7]

This is a scene from Xenosaga, one of my top favorite games of all time.

I was most impressed when Kosmos came to Shion’s rescue after waking up to primarily protect Shion and other Vector employees from the Gnosis threat. It was a totally badass scene at the time. The scene where Shion thought that she was going to lose Kosmos as the Proto Merkabah was breaking up was moving as well.

Another scene that was shocking at the time was finding out that McDonald Miller revealed himself to be Liquid Snake in Metal Gear Solid.

 

[bjork]

As far as gaming itself, I've seen a lot of these. Even something like the sports games on Intellivision having athletes with elbows and knees was a cool moment at the time. Hearing games speak was cool, I think Berzerk was probably my first? Walking into an arcade and seeing Dragon's Lair. The generational leaps of consoles, specifically the PS1/Saturn to PS2/Dreamcast. Walking into the gamestop and seeing Sonic Adventure in motion sold me. If I sat down and recapped my gaming history, there are probably a hundred more, but those are off the top of my head.

For individual games, playing Pirates! and having a map I could freely explore was a big one. I'm sure others came before, but that was my first and so it's always one I go back to. The main two "wow" moments in games to me are more design than tech, and are spoilery even though the games are old, but "the moment" in both Fez and The Witness, truly incredible ways to communicate a thing to a player.

 

[thanonyx]

The very first time that I laid eyes upon...Rapture!

 

[IDMTINP]

Get this: I played the first Deus Ex in 2011. Pretty old game by then. I had never, ever played anything like that! Despite there being games with much larger maps, better AI and graphics, I'm yet to experience what I did with Deus Ex. Left me with my jaw hanging.

 

[KingKarlak]

For me personally, the first time I left the sewers in Oblivion, it was my first true RPG and just this overwhelming sense of wow, this world is huge

 

[ZombieFish]

Silent Hill 2’s legit real time shadows were wild, and added so much to the atmosphere, likewise with all the bizarre effects SH3 used. The first Resident Evil remake also blew everything else out of the water. Still looks incredible.

 

[Oni]

The one that got me was on Metal Gear Solid when psycho mantes read my memory card and moved my controller towards the TV in real life. Me and my friends let the expletives fly when the controller started to inch towards the screen. We went crazy. It was so surprising and awesome. The fact that it worked. We talked about it for days. Kojima had some real balls trying something so out there.

 

[Pandaprewmaster325]

Halo CE - when you come out of the escape pod during the second mission, standing in halo seeing the curvature of the ring in the distance, the patrolling banshees, i just went: WHOAA! To this day i still feel the same every time i replay the game.

System Shock 1 - The "Who are you?" Monologue from SHODAN, you are just exploring the med floor, and out of nowhere one of the screen pops and you hear this:

Freedom Fighters - Chris' speech when you take over the TV Station, its so badass.

Dungeon Keeper 2 - The first time that i used the spell that let's you see things from your minion's perspective, i thought it was so cool to see things how they see it.

Ghost Recon - The intro cinematic was so badass, it was what opened the gates for my love for military fiction.

Whoa a system shock fan? Man that's rare to encounter!

 

[Strategist's iconStrategist]

Final Fantasy IV/2 US was incredibly impressive when I first played it in '92. Something about the intro and the music entranced me.

Then FF VI and FFVII continued that tradition. Amazing intro sequences, music and 7 added cutscenes on top of that.

Metal Gear Solid and Resident Evil 2 were really impressive to me for different reasons. One was a truly cinematic spy/action movie in video game form while the other was a horror film.

Then Morrowind and Baldur's Gate 2 were impressive for different reasons. Oblivion was a more polished Morrowind, but I think Morrowind was the true evolutionary step for Bethesda.

Bioshock also was awe inspiring. I played System Shock 2 after Bioshock and liked it more than the spiritual sequel.

I'd say Witcher 3 caused a really strong impression in me in more recent times. The graphics, the storytelling, the ideas of certain quests. All top notch.

 

[iamthemilkman]

Definitely leaving the sewer and seeing the water and lush green landscape ahead of you in Oblivion.

Going into the Bathyspehere in Bioshock and entering Rapture was breathtaking.

Playing Halo: CE and seeing the vista and Halo ring when you crash at the beginning.

Lost Odyssey's beginning when it seamlessly transfers from an insanely impressive cutscene to gameplay.

Prey 2006 when you're in the bar and the abduction happens while "Don't Fear the Reaper" is playing.

Half-Life 2 impressed me in terms of facial animations. It completely blew away anything else in 2004 and many years later in that regard. Alyx Vance felt so real.