GoofsterStud
Member
The first time I saw vitua fighter 2 in the arcade. I was amazed...
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Times your mind was actually blown by a video game
- Thread starter Vire
- Start date
loganclaws
Plane Escape Torment
So nobody mentioned the SOTN twist? Crazy.
oconnomiyaki
Member
I might have been a bit dense and/or slightly less cynical at the time, but the KOTOR twist made me run around my dorm and wake up my friends at 2am to express my shock. (They'd already gotten that far and were waiting for me to catch up.)
That's probably the only case I can think of a game blowing my mind from a narrative or gameplay point of view.
Graphically, it probably just comes down to those big leaps, usually in the arcade. Virtua Racing, Killer Instinct 2, Daytona, Scud Race, etc. I remember getting a Dreamcast and that was the first time in so long I was just like "Holy shit!"
Playing Sonic CD on my phone was a pretty big one, too. It's pretty mind blowing to think that we casually play on our bloody phones what was cutting edge decades ago.
That's probably the only case I can think of a game blowing my mind from a narrative or gameplay point of view.
Graphically, it probably just comes down to those big leaps, usually in the arcade. Virtua Racing, Killer Instinct 2, Daytona, Scud Race, etc. I remember getting a Dreamcast and that was the first time in so long I was just like "Holy shit!"
Playing Sonic CD on my phone was a pretty big one, too. It's pretty mind blowing to think that we casually play on our bloody phones what was cutting edge decades ago.
JoeyJungle
Banned
Oh my god, I had just got my Dreamcast and popped in this game. My friend and I were in the same room and we just kept on going "IT LOOKS LIKE A MOVIE! IT LOOKS LIKE A MOVIE!"
And being able to pick up almost everything, flicking light switches on and off, picking up plates, going outside and hearing peoples conversations. SO AMAZING!
NinjaBoiX
Member
Metropolis Street Racer - internal clock dictating the time of day in whichever country you were racing in
Black - the sheer destruction left in your wake after a big gun fight
Max Payne - bullet time
LoZ:OoT - Hyrule Field
FFVII - opening cinematic merging into gameplay, leaving Midgar, Golden Saucer
Metal Gear Solid - "it's like a Hollywood movie! Look, the opening credits are rolling as I play!"
Goldeneye - dam + sniper rifle
Halo - The Silent Cartographer
F.E.A.R - AI
GTA4 - euphoria implementation
Gran Turismo - GT Hi-Fi mode
Black - the sheer destruction left in your wake after a big gun fight
Max Payne - bullet time
LoZ:OoT - Hyrule Field
FFVII - opening cinematic merging into gameplay, leaving Midgar, Golden Saucer
Metal Gear Solid - "it's like a Hollywood movie! Look, the opening credits are rolling as I play!"
Goldeneye - dam + sniper rifle
Halo - The Silent Cartographer
F.E.A.R - AI
GTA4 - euphoria implementation
Gran Turismo - GT Hi-Fi mode
CecilRousso
Member
I think my mind blown by 3D visuals for the first time when I played this game, Hunter, on Amiga 500 back in 1991.
And I think it's because of that that Mario 64 didn't have the same impact on me. It might look like crap next to that game, but it was released five years earlier.
The next one in terms of graphics was probably Daytona USA in the arcades. It just stood and stared on the game when I saw it.
And then.........the E3 trailer for Half Life 2, with the striders. It fel like it shouldn't be possible to do games like that.
Non graphics related:
*The ending of Jak 3.
*The second half of Portal 1.
*The horseless headless horsemans head in TF2.
And I think it's because of that that Mario 64 didn't have the same impact on me. It might look like crap next to that game, but it was released five years earlier.
The next one in terms of graphics was probably Daytona USA in the arcades. It just stood and stared on the game when I saw it.
And then.........the E3 trailer for Half Life 2, with the striders. It fel like it shouldn't be possible to do games like that.
Non graphics related:
*The ending of Jak 3.
*The second half of Portal 1.
*The horseless headless horsemans head in TF2.
The most recent one that i can think of is in AC2 the truth video and then the ending scene with minerva talking directly at the player scaring the shit out of me then to Desmond kicking ass then end credits. Wow i was so pumped at the end and had high hopes for the modern showdown being the next game, but nope we got brotherhood rev 3 and now black flag good games. It seems i was the only one who liked the modern plot and Desmond i wonder if its just a loud internet minority or the general public's view that the modern stuff sucked.
Hours Left
Member
999
MrCunningham
Member
Daytona USA - I turned up at the arcades one day and Daytona USA was there. Put simply, up until this point I hadn't ever actually imagined a video game looking this good.
.
Yeah, this left me pretty speechless when I saw it in the arcades in 1994. Full on textured mapping and 60 FPS gameplay, it was a ,massive jump ahead of anything in the arcade at the time, and there wasn't anything remotely like it on home consoles or personal computers in the early 90's. Even the 32bit consoles that came out a year later couldn't match the splendor of Sega's Model 2 arcade board.
Dark Castle blew my fucking mind. On a monochrome Apple computer. At the time, Mario and Donkey Kong were the standard for platforming excellence, but this was next level.
Next was Out of this World. The smoothness of those graphics in motion was amazing at the time. There was nothing like it.
And later Duke Nukem 3D Multiplayer. It was bliss. Over phoneline or college ethernet, it was some of the best gaming before that went mainstream with Quake and Unreal.
Next was Out of this World. The smoothness of those graphics in motion was amazing at the time. There was nothing like it.
And later Duke Nukem 3D Multiplayer. It was bliss. Over phoneline or college ethernet, it was some of the best gaming before that went mainstream with Quake and Unreal.
Mario 64 - Best Christmas ever and the transition to 3D was memorable to say the least.
SOCOM 1 - First time playing an online shooter and realizing I could communicate with these people and that each time I died, it was because of a real person was just crazy to me at the time.
Battlefield 1942 - Am I really able to control a ship while my friend is a mile away taking a village in his take? Wait, did I just sink that carrier?!!?!?
SOCOM 1 - First time playing an online shooter and realizing I could communicate with these people and that each time I died, it was because of a real person was just crazy to me at the time.
Battlefield 1942 - Am I really able to control a ship while my friend is a mile away taking a village in his take? Wait, did I just sink that carrier?!!?!?
CertifiedFP
Member
"Search - Valkyria".
Disappointed everyone.
Valkyria Chronicles. Beating the Chapter 7 boss for the first time as I finally grasped the concept of how strategy in the game works as I formulated my attack plan from studying how the Batomys moved around the map. Then there was the sheer size of the Chapter 6, 11, and 13 maps. My perception of map sizes in SRPGs before I played Valkyria Chronicles was 15x15 grids AT MOST. Goddamn the sheer size of those maps defied my expectations.
BF4 on PS4. Say what you want about how... Intact... The game is, let alone the lack of a basic feature like Party Join, or the SP deletion bug (Who plays BF for the SP anyway?). But 64 Player Battlefield on consoles WITH 60FPS is a technical accomplishment in my book.
Disappointed everyone.
Valkyria Chronicles. Beating the Chapter 7 boss for the first time as I finally grasped the concept of how strategy in the game works as I formulated my attack plan from studying how the Batomys moved around the map. Then there was the sheer size of the Chapter 6, 11, and 13 maps. My perception of map sizes in SRPGs before I played Valkyria Chronicles was 15x15 grids AT MOST. Goddamn the sheer size of those maps defied my expectations.
BF4 on PS4. Say what you want about how... Intact... The game is, let alone the lack of a basic feature like Party Join, or the SP deletion bug (Who plays BF for the SP anyway?). But 64 Player Battlefield on consoles WITH 60FPS is a technical accomplishment in my book.
Ommadawnyawn
Neo Member
8-bit:
Wonder Boy III - The intro tie-in to the prequel, the transformations, and discovering that falling into the water didn't mean death; instead there was a new world to explore down there. Then later discovering how the game world was tied together.
Mega Man series - The amazing audiovisual design and how you assimilated the enemy abilites to grow stronger.
Mario Bros 3 - The suits and for the time huge scope of it all.
Catrap - First video game to feature time rewind?
Gargoyle's Quest, Wario Land - It's good to be bad!
Metal Storm - In depth reverse gravity mind fudge
Zelda: Link's Awakening - That melancholy
Wario Land II -
16-bit:
International Karate +, Bomberman, Micro Machines, Scorched Earth, TMNT and SoR - Unforgettable multiplayer experiences
Doom, Star Fox - 3D! And great games too.
Sonic (Green Hill Zone) - Awesome flow and audiovisual design
Beneath a Steel Sky, Day of the Tentacle - Woah, games can be funny?
Zelda: ALTTP - Perfect way to start off an adventure
Space Hulk, Cannon Fodder - SH scared the shit out of me and both really made me care about the bunch of pixels I controlled
Another World, Super Metroid - Really stimulated my imagination and seemed like a big step towards storytelling for games done right.
Warcraft II, Red Alert, Heroes III, Dungeon Keeper - I have become the destroyer of worlds.
SimCity 2000 - It's not all about killing stuff, you kn- Oh look, a UFO!
32-bit:
Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, FF series, Daytona USA, Gran Turismo - Seemed like every second new game I played revolutionized the medium in some way at the time.
Diablo, AoE II, Quake II, Starcraft, Starsiege: Tribes - Where I started with online gaming and all that went with that.
Baldur's Gate, Fallout - Freedom, fairly complex character building, decent writing!
And so on...
Edit:
Wonder Boy III - The intro tie-in to the prequel, the transformations, and discovering that falling into the water didn't mean death; instead there was a new world to explore down there. Then later discovering how the game world was tied together.
Mega Man series - The amazing audiovisual design and how you assimilated the enemy abilites to grow stronger.
Mario Bros 3 - The suits and for the time huge scope of it all.
Catrap - First video game to feature time rewind?
Gargoyle's Quest, Wario Land - It's good to be bad!
Metal Storm - In depth reverse gravity mind fudge
Zelda: Link's Awakening - That melancholy
Wario Land II -
16-bit:
International Karate +, Bomberman, Micro Machines, Scorched Earth, TMNT and SoR - Unforgettable multiplayer experiences
Doom, Star Fox - 3D! And great games too.
Sonic (Green Hill Zone) - Awesome flow and audiovisual design
Beneath a Steel Sky, Day of the Tentacle - Woah, games can be funny?
Zelda: ALTTP - Perfect way to start off an adventure
Space Hulk, Cannon Fodder - SH scared the shit out of me and both really made me care about the bunch of pixels I controlled
Another World, Super Metroid - Really stimulated my imagination and seemed like a big step towards storytelling for games done right.
Warcraft II, Red Alert, Heroes III, Dungeon Keeper - I have become the destroyer of worlds.
SimCity 2000 - It's not all about killing stuff, you kn- Oh look, a UFO!
32-bit:
Tomb Raider, Resident Evil, FF series, Daytona USA, Gran Turismo - Seemed like every second new game I played revolutionized the medium in some way at the time.
Diablo, AoE II, Quake II, Starcraft, Starsiege: Tribes - Where I started with online gaming and all that went with that.
Baldur's Gate, Fallout - Freedom, fairly complex character building, decent writing!
And so on...
Edit:
Black Mantis
Member
MD Sonic - So fast and colourful, awesome soundtrack
Streets of Rage 1/2 - Graphics/soundtrack
Panzer Dragoon Zwei/Saga/Orta - One of the best gaming universe's ever, awesome soundtracks.
Shenmue 1/2 - I was in a state of wonder the whole time I played these games.
Halo: CE - Stepping out on Halo for the first time. Meeting The Flood.
Skies of Arcadia - The epic boss fights.
Final Fantasy VII - Great cast, good story and great soundtrack.
KoToR - Star Wars, my first Bioware game, THAT twist.
JSRF - Just an audio/visual treat.
Syndicate Wars - The destruction you could cause, was awesome at the time.
Ninja Gaiden Black - The best fighting ever in an action game imo.
Mass Effect 1 - Exploring the universe, first Thresher Maw, Feros/Noveria/Virmire/Ilos/Citadel Invasion, soundtrack, squadmates.
FFXIII - Graphics, soundtrack.
Bioshock - Game intro/setting.
GTA IV/V - The cities, soundtracks.
Plenty more, but if we're talking about moments where I had to drop my joypad...that goes to Halo 2...The moment when I took control of The Arbiter was the answer to my prayers that Bungie would have the balls to do it. I wanted more insight to how The Convenant operated as a society, and due to the way Bungie had told the Halo story to that point (where you only see what MC sees), the only way we'd get that info in the games, was to play as one of them.
I seriously dropped my joypad and lit up a cig!
Streets of Rage 1/2 - Graphics/soundtrack
Panzer Dragoon Zwei/Saga/Orta - One of the best gaming universe's ever, awesome soundtracks.
Shenmue 1/2 - I was in a state of wonder the whole time I played these games.
Halo: CE - Stepping out on Halo for the first time. Meeting The Flood.
Skies of Arcadia - The epic boss fights.
Final Fantasy VII - Great cast, good story and great soundtrack.
KoToR - Star Wars, my first Bioware game, THAT twist.
JSRF - Just an audio/visual treat.
Syndicate Wars - The destruction you could cause, was awesome at the time.
Ninja Gaiden Black - The best fighting ever in an action game imo.
Mass Effect 1 - Exploring the universe, first Thresher Maw, Feros/Noveria/Virmire/Ilos/Citadel Invasion, soundtrack, squadmates.
FFXIII - Graphics, soundtrack.
Bioshock - Game intro/setting.
GTA IV/V - The cities, soundtracks.
Plenty more, but if we're talking about moments where I had to drop my joypad...that goes to Halo 2...The moment when I took control of The Arbiter was the answer to my prayers that Bungie would have the balls to do it. I wanted more insight to how The Convenant operated as a society, and due to the way Bungie had told the Halo story to that point (where you only see what MC sees), the only way we'd get that info in the games, was to play as one of them.
I seriously dropped my joypad and lit up a cig!
Lots of games had impressive moments for me, but the only game that truly blew my mind was original EverQuest:
Damn it still almost shocks me looking into that world. It's the only online game I've ever played that felt like I had to earn my stay in it. The world felt so lived in and old, even when the game was brand new.
Damn it still almost shocks me looking into that world. It's the only online game I've ever played that felt like I had to earn my stay in it. The world felt so lived in and old, even when the game was brand new.
Garcia
Member
I know that feel bro. You're literally like: "The hell am I supposed to do now!"
And, for me:
Mario 64 no doubt about it.
Totally. That overwhelming feeling of joy and awe while shooting myself out of the cannon in the first level, dude, nothing tops it.
purpletentacle
Member
The intro sequence (hell, any sequence) in Wing Commander 3. I couldn't believe I was playing a video game - Malcolm McDowel was in that shit!
Also the reveal in Mass Effect that the Reapers had been resetting the universe for thousands of years. What an insanely cool and scary concept.
Also the reveal in Mass Effect that the Reapers had been resetting the universe for thousands of years. What an insanely cool and scary concept.
Lambda Pie
Banned
Scud Race and Virtua Fighter 3 when they first came out. i only saw Mario 64 afterwards and it looked ugly as sin next to the Model 3 games.
symmetrical
Member
Gears of war 1, and uncharted 2!
Oh and MGS2, mind was blown when the credits rolled and still waited to play as solid snake.
And actually the photo modes in gt5 and now gt6 still blows my mind how detailed and photo realistic they are.
Oh and MGS2, mind was blown when the credits rolled and still waited to play as solid snake.
And actually the photo modes in gt5 and now gt6 still blows my mind how detailed and photo realistic they are.
Ommadawnyawn
Neo Member
Apart for first seeing pong (The shock of playing a game ON A TV) it was I robot arcade.
First time seeing polygons and true 3D.Way ahead if it's time.
Yeah this made me raise an eyebrow or two when I saw it a few months ago. Really cool.
Garcia
Member
- First time playing Blood Omen, watching that opening cut scene with flawless voice acting, and seeing you could murder random NPCs and drink their blood, all whilst your vampire laughs mercilessly. It was the most badass thing ever. Also, this scene:
No fade to black, no off-camera shadow trick, just a simple beheading plain to see without censorship. Silicon Knights were so ahead of their time, nowadays you still get games with shitty writing and shitty voice acting and cliché plot devices, go figure.
-But I AM dead! *slash*. . . As are you.-
I consider this my favorite line in any game to date.
VicDaMoan03
Member
Delta Force 1 (1998)- What do you mean I can play with friends when they are at their house? Mind blown! I forget the term (system link?) but the method was my actual dial up connection actually calling his dial up connection and linking that way. The scale and draw distance of the open maps were insane/.
Motocross Madness 2 (2000)- What, you mean I can download an endless number of user created tracks and bikes? As a huge motocross enthusiast, this meant i could race all the same real world tracks, bikes, and riders that i always dreamed about and saw the pros doing on TV.
Halo Combat Evolved (2001)- My first game I bought with my OG Xbox after skipping the PS1/N64 generation. Wow at stepping out of the crashed ship to see my first look at Halo. Magical gaming moment.
Skyrim (2011)- The world of Skyrim drew my in and immersed me like no other before. I really felt like I was the dragon born on an epic quest to save the world. Over 350+ hours later I'm still playing this.
Motocross Madness 2 (2000)- What, you mean I can download an endless number of user created tracks and bikes? As a huge motocross enthusiast, this meant i could race all the same real world tracks, bikes, and riders that i always dreamed about and saw the pros doing on TV.
Halo Combat Evolved (2001)- My first game I bought with my OG Xbox after skipping the PS1/N64 generation. Wow at stepping out of the crashed ship to see my first look at Halo. Magical gaming moment.
Skyrim (2011)- The world of Skyrim drew my in and immersed me like no other before. I really felt like I was the dragon born on an epic quest to save the world. Over 350+ hours later I'm still playing this.
LilWayneSuckz
Member
GTAV when Michael was hiding in the backseat, it legitimately made me go wow. How is this happening in an open world game
The ones that are most recent are probably related to the 3d GTA games and the Assassins Creed games.
With GTA there are just so many little touches that sometimes you don't even see for weeks. I remember seeing the police pull over other drivers, or watching npc's spray graffiti or break into other cars. And in V noticing that when the character wears flip flops that they actually behave like they should rather than just being stuck to the feet. Amazing attention to detail.
And the ending to AC1 was unbelievable - watching the apple open up and project the world map, then using eagle vision in the lab and seeing all the cryptic messages written in blood. Then AC2 had an ending that was even crazier, the realisation that Minerva was talking directly to desmond (and me). Plus completing the glyphs and unlocking the Adam and Eve video for some reason gave me a feeling of dread and wonder at the same time.
These are just a few examples but over the years there have been plenty of in game moments that have given food for thought, uncharted 2's scale and set pieces are another example too.
With GTA there are just so many little touches that sometimes you don't even see for weeks. I remember seeing the police pull over other drivers, or watching npc's spray graffiti or break into other cars. And in V noticing that when the character wears flip flops that they actually behave like they should rather than just being stuck to the feet. Amazing attention to detail.
And the ending to AC1 was unbelievable - watching the apple open up and project the world map, then using eagle vision in the lab and seeing all the cryptic messages written in blood. Then AC2 had an ending that was even crazier, the realisation that Minerva was talking directly to desmond (and me). Plus completing the glyphs and unlocking the Adam and Eve video for some reason gave me a feeling of dread and wonder at the same time.
These are just a few examples but over the years there have been plenty of in game moments that have given food for thought, uncharted 2's scale and set pieces are another example too.
MrCunningham
Member
Delta Force 1 (1998)- What do you mean I can play with friends when they are at their house? Mind blown! I forget the term (system link?) but the method was my actual dial up connection actually calling his dial up connection and linking that way. The scale and draw distance of the open maps were insane/.
I absolutely loved the voxel environments in Novalogics games, this was way back before polygon hardware acceleration was a standard on PC's and developers were experimenting with different 3D rending techniques. I remember seeing the original Comanche on my friends PC way back in 1992, and that really wowed me too. It ran so painfully slow though, but those environments were like nothing else for their time:
This was much nicer than any fog filled polygon environment from the same era.
Crysis? Crysis.
I remember the game lagging badly on my computer (low with some medium put in), and then with the "Very High"-for dx9 cards hack, I changed it to max graphics and was literally blown away (as was my friend who was with me back then). The water, the physics, the crabs running away to the water, the trees, the freaking sunlight dappling through the leaves, the enemies' faces, the motion blur (which i saw a lot since the game was basically running at a frame per second)... then going underwater ... the underwater plants slowly moving with the current... god.
Good lord it looked so unbelievably sick back then.
I have never been flashed by graphics ever after. Especially since it looks like shit on Low.
I remember the game lagging badly on my computer (low with some medium put in), and then with the "Very High"-for dx9 cards hack, I changed it to max graphics and was literally blown away (as was my friend who was with me back then). The water, the physics, the crabs running away to the water, the trees, the freaking sunlight dappling through the leaves, the enemies' faces, the motion blur (which i saw a lot since the game was basically running at a frame per second)... then going underwater ... the underwater plants slowly moving with the current... god.
Good lord it looked so unbelievably sick back then.
I have never been flashed by graphics ever after. Especially since it looks like shit on Low.
This was really amazing. I couldnt believe what i just saw.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26I-Pw-yPJ4
Too soon...too soon executus
As shitty as molten core was, seeing Rag for the first time was amazing.
It's gotta be Okami for me. Just the unique art style blew my mind. Maybe it was because I had just come off disappointed with Twilight Princess and I didn't know too much about Okami. But the game really surprised me through presentation and style especially and is one of my top games of all-time.
derExperte
Member
Pixel Pete
Member
In Phantom Hourglass when you need to transfer a location on a map carved in stone in the drop screen to your map on the bottom screen.
I tried drawing and all kinds of shit. Eventually I just gave up and closed my DS to take a break when it made a noise upon closing the lid.
I opened it to found the lid action had 'stamped' it on the map on the bottom screen.
I'm still recovering.
I tried drawing and all kinds of shit. Eventually I just gave up and closed my DS to take a break when it made a noise upon closing the lid.
I opened it to found the lid action had 'stamped' it on the map on the bottom screen.
I'm still recovering.
Silent Hill: Shattered Memories ending is really phenomenal. It gave me feelings I never knew existed and was still affected by it days after.
Should I give this game another chance? I'm about 3 hours in (the part after the school) and I don't like it that much. Also I don't think it's scary at all.
This.
Also, Dynasty Warriors 2 ("omg, I'm fighting an actual army!"), Comix Zone (because of the comic book world), Vanquish (bullets everywhere), Gears Of War (that graphics), PES2, the intro to FF VIII, Zone of the Enders 2, Battlefield: BC2 and the entirety of FFX.
That's the moments/games that really made me go "OMG OMG!"... Man, now I want to play all that stuff again.
Psycho_Mantis
Banned
This game, everything about it.
Oh, yeah! That was pretty crazy.