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[Uncle Rupee]

I feel like almost every new system and its games were mind-blowing until we got to the Dreamcast (and onwards), at which point I suppose diminishing returns began to settle in.
The generational shift from 8 to 16-bit (seeing Magician Lord in a store when I had only known NES games was a shocker), seeing 16-bit effects like "mode 7" and the "superfx chip" to full-fledged 3D games, all of that was such a magical time. These days we're lucky when we see stuff like Lara Croft's new hair.

 

[GobFather]

I think my thoughts went something like "WHAT THE HELL, THAT'S A COLOSSUS? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO FIGHT THAT?"

haha, the same for me! I first saw the game at a friend's house and was blown away.

 

[John Rabbit]

couldn't find a good screenshot, but i just started playing Halo 4 the other day and this moment in Chapter 2:

the music, the visuals, the timing of it all, just fell into place PERFECTLY. i was literally awe-struck at the sheer artistry of it.

 

[Vire]

Outside of DMC, nothing grabbed my attention outside of Ninja Gaiden on Xbox. The controls were something capturing and the demo had my attention for hours.

I could probably top that by a million different games, but having a set of judges who ruled over the empire in FF was fantastic.

As impressive as the God of War 1 Intro was, my mind was further blown by the God of War 3 intro. The scale simply was unmatched, I mean what kind of insane person agrees to building a introduction level like that? The budget must have been absurd.

 

[wamberz1]

Mass Effect, convincing Saren to...

When i did my first run of ME i didn't level my character well enough, so i got my ass kicked on the final boss. when i got to that I didn't have high enough renegade or paragon to give that option. A couple years later, i tried again and did another run. This time i got it, and i literally just stared open-jawed at the screen for 30 seconds.

 

[Timeaisis]

MGS2: The Thread.

 

[Diablos]

FFVII

Yes, specifically, when the post-credits scene is done and you see the stars. I just kinda sat there like 'whoa'. Blew my mind just a bit, probably because FFVII was my first RPG and it felt like I had been playing it for an eternity. I can still remember.

 

[Frosted]

Oblivion - When you exit into the beautiful world.

 

[BlackBuzzard]

1. Zeal in Chrono Trigger
2. Cutscenes in FF7
3. Metal Gear Solid 2 tanker lvl
4. Dragonquest VIII over world
5. God of War 2 Collosus of Rhodes
6. World of Warcraft just the entire scope of it
7. Uncharted 2 train level
8. God of War 3 intro/Poseidon battle
9. Infamous ending
10. MGS4 the last battle

In no particular order.

 

[Byronic Hero]

The ending had me questioning my reality. Okay, not really, but it does have quite a few other mind blowing parts as well.

Also,

Spoiler

Bioshock's "Would you kindly?" got me because I was barley paying attention to the story, but over the course of the game, I got to thinking "Why do these characters in games with missions actually feel they have to do them?" So when the twist was revealed, I felt like my mind had been peered into to give me an answer I would have never thought of.

 

[Macheezmo]

Donkey Kong Country. I remember my friend getting that VHS Nintendo mailed out and watching it and being just blown away by it.

Mario 64 for sure too. I was so hyped for this game and it just blew me away once I was finally able to play it.

Oblivion. This was my first X360 game and I remember stepping out into the open world and looking around and just being blown away, knowing that I could visit any of the places I could see.

 

[SneakyStephan]

Early on it was mostly arcade games that blew me away, they were always SO far ahead of anything you could get at home...
Glorious 60 fps, 480p with some insane AA and graphics that were easily a generation ahead of anything on my home consoles
virtua fighter, daytona usa, rage racer, some sega f1 game I can't remember, rush, sega rally etc were all mind blowing, this continued all the way till the ps2 era
I remember seeing some skiing game at an arcade during the psx era that looked vastly much better than anything that came out on the ps2 years later, can't remember the name though

battletoads on NES, because it was my first coop experience, I've wanted more coop ever since



sega rally on the dreamcast also blew me away when I first saw it in a store, that same 60 fps from arcades and way better image quality and textures than psx games with the shiny smooth looking car , it was like arcade quality graphics and smoothness at home

cs on pc in an internet cafe, I think it was the first game where I saw mip mapping being used, something simple as basic texture filtering made such a big difference, and the image quality was so good on the pcs (while I was still stuck with a psx at home and an old 386-2X dos PC)

medal of honor on psx, not the graphics but the hilarious AI that threw themselves on grenades or kicked/threw them back at you
to see some basic interaction from the game AI like that was new to me

Quake 3 on pc, ROUND arches and curves you say? What is this wizardry! (funnily enough we haven't seen them in other engines since, lol)
the game looked so damn good overall


mgs2 demo on ps2, the boat, the rain, the bridge, the cloth , the particles, the interaction, the AI, the smoke from the fire extinguishers , the reflections, the breakable objects, the realtime shadows
just everything about it was just amazing
they really made good use of that small super high bandwidth ram pool of the ps2
it looked so far ahead of anything else on consoles

crysis on pc back in 2007 (and during e3 in 2006), it was just insane... literally 4 years ahead of anything else



dead or alive 3 on xbox
the snow, the large levels, the character models, the reflections
holy shit that game looked good

I think overall the arcades were the most impressive for their time though

 

[Makai]

In LBW - identity of

Spoiler

Ravio

lol. So obvious, yet I did not see it coming.

 

[daevv]

Final Fantasy III on the SNES.

I thought I was finishing the game so a few friends were over to watch the ending. Turns out it was only the end of the normal world and the intro to the World of Ruin. When I woke up on the beach we were floored!

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

the start menu of God of War immediately passing into cutscene / game was also pretty mindblowing btw.

It's interesting to note that Sonic Unleashed is one of (too) few games (to my knowledge) to use the same lack of loading screen.

 

[eliochip]

Zelda OoT blew me away on all fronts as a kid.

Also something about seeing Disney characters roll around with a bunch of videogame characters in Kingdom Hearts blew me away too. The first one I mean.
It got old really quick

 

[z1ggy]

It would be easy to say Final Fantasy VI, Mario 64, DOOM, etc..but there´s one game that not only blew my mind away, but took me to another world.

Planescape Torment.

Nothing has been the same since i played this game. First time i got to listen to this song in game, i knew i was into something special

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OZOuy4YM0AI

 

[littleworm]

1. Playing Halo for the first time.
2. Leaving the Vault in Fallout 3 and seeing DC
3. Being able to read an in game food menu in Condemned (Basically first experience with a new generation of consoles).

 

[Vulcano's assistant]

Deionarra's sensory stone in Planescape Torment is one of the most intense experiences I had with a game, and I was just reading text.

 

[brotherbean]

Fallout 3, leaving the vault. I thought they captured that moment exceptionally well, your character stepping out into the irradiated wasteland and seeing sunlight for the first time, taking in the barren landscape and realizing that I have absolutely no idea where to go or what to do. That remains one of the most immersive experiences I've had in a game.

 

[Roto13]

A couple of moments from Wind Waker will stay with me forever.

 

[Pikelet]

This moment in Sen's Fortress in Dark Souls

 

[Crisium]

The experience of first playing Super Mario 64 in 1996 might never be equaled again. The analog stick, the slowly building up from a walk to a run, the flying, the exploration in a 3d playground. It is unmatched.

A number of games have given me story feels. But this stands supreme for the gameplay experience. I can think of no other video game after it that was this revolutionary.

 

[Prompto]

A lot of parts in The Stanley Parable. Most notably when

Spoiler

the game transports you to Minecraft and then Portal.

 

[Nickle]

Apart from crazy endings in games like Bioshock Infinite or The World Ends With You, most of my mind blowing experiences have involved new Nintendo hardware, like first seeing a 3DS or using motion and pointer controls in Wii Sports and Twilight Princess.

Gameplay-wise, however, I was blown away at how good the level design of Metroid Prime is. I got Metroid Prime and other games in a GameCube bundle as a gift, but I didn't really play the game the much until I forced myself to start the game again a year ago. I still find it incredible that modern day studios still can not replicate the quasi-open world design that a tiny unknown studio managed to master on its first try.

 

[someday]

The very beginning of Cod4. I had bought my first HDTV after I got my ps3 at launch. I mostly just played Resistance for months. When I started up Cod4 the visuals blew me away, driving through the streets somewhere in the Middle East and people are getting shot on the side of the road. The graphics were incredible.

A lot of other games have blown me away for a lot of other reasons since but that was the first big one.

 

[antitrop]

MGS2: The Thread.

I played it at release in 2001, but I was too confused to have my mind blown.

 

[unaveragekid2]

Washington DC on fire/under attack in Modern Warfare 2.

I don't know why this moment isn't talked about more. That had a greater impact for me than No Russian. That level was unreal.

 

[DracoBlade]

Bioshock Infinite. Did not see the ending coming.

Also the

Spoiler

actual

ending of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

Spoiler

Not only was he Dracula but the suggestion of a 3d modern day Castlevania

made both... my heads explode


Spec Ops: The Line....just wow...

Also Uncharted 2/GOW 3 for its sheer action glory blew my mind.

Super Mario Galaxy redefined Mario and my ideals for the platforming genre.

EDIT: For some reason I limited myself to ps360wii era. MGS2 I agree is a mindf**k to say the least! SOTC was a masterful experience as well.

 

[CrackPebbles]

The end of 999 and VLR

Mgs2 in general.

 

[leatherhat]

Kingdom hearts- nightmare before christmas and Sephiroth bonus boss

It helped that my friends and I were all playing it for the first time at a sleep over shortly after halloween.

 

[Tetraeon]

The submarine perched on the waterfall in Uncharted: Drake's Fortune. Holy shit was I amazed.

Storming the beach at the beginning of MoH: Frontline. The tension was unbelievable.

Infinity Blade on iOS... and I quote, "this... this is running... on my phone?"

Spotting the Citadel way off in the distance in Half Life 2 and knowing you'll end up there at the end of the game.

Surfacing for the first time after the plane crash in Bioshock. Wow.

Come to think of it, there's something in almost every game I've played that makes me stop and soak in how awesome it is to be a gamer sometimes.

 

[abstract alien]

Super Metroid

At this moment, I found out anything was possible in a game. I imagined what it would be like if I could blow this thing up, and decided to try so I could complain about how it would have been cool had it been blown to bits. Damn was I shocked, and so very wrong. So much happened after that.

 

[TheLostBigBoss]

Ok I'm kinda drunk and in a vulnerable state. What game should I play to get the most shock value over?

 

[nextgeneration]

My mind was consistently blown away by Sega when the arcade scene was still alive and thriving.

 

[HalfwayOrb]

i entered thinking mario 64. op delivered.
and then final fantasy ix that took me in its world. i wished it didnt end; it was a beautiful world.

 

[HK-47]

Deionarra's sensory stone in Planescape Torment is one of the most intense experiences I had with a game, and I was just reading text.

Yooo shit thats a great one. So twisted and sad. People underestimate text in video games.

 

[waggabond]

You mean, literally?

 

[HK-47]

This moment in Sen's Fortress in Dark Souls

Is there a video of that?

 

[hoggert]

Marathon Infinity on my old g3 mac.

The Phantom Limb terminal.

I just couldn't handle it anymore and just went back to playing Doom2 for a while.

Later games had a more profound influence on me like SMT3, Nier, or Siren, but that was the first I was like "Oh, fuck, shit man, fuck."

 

[Acrylic7]

First time seeing Chainsaw and Headshot in Gears 1

and of course ff7 opening is instantly burned into my head. Even though I cant find a gif of Cloud getting off the train, or the opening cutscene for some crazy reason.

and of course this moment is magic

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Hmm.

1.) Playing Metal Gear Solid 2 for the first time, at lauch.

2.) Seeing the first Madden game at PS2 launch.

3.) Finishing the "puzzle" thing in Assassin's Creed 2, along with the finale.

4.) The opening of Act Raiser.

5.) The opening for MGS4

6.) The church in Kameo.

7.) Seeing the smoke in Call of Duty 2 on the 360 for the first time.

8.) The opening of FFX

9.) Metroid Prime.

10.) The opening for Descent: FreeSpace.

 

[mltplkxr]

Gunstar Heroes and Contra: Hard Corps had mind-blowing moments in terms of technical prowess.
Another World was also mind-blowing at the time. There was nothing else like it. It was so smooth, realistic and stylish. A technical marvel. I used to watch and rewatch a tape of a documentary on video games, just to watch the intro. The fact that everything was made by a single person adds even more to it.

 

[Daingurse]

Super Metroid

At this moment, I found out anything was possible in a game. I imagined what it would be like if I could blow this thing up, and decided to try so I could complain about how it would have been cool had it been blown to bits. Damn was I shocked, and so very wrong. So much happened after that.

I beat Super Metroid only just last summer. This moment still holds up, blowing that hallway up felt soooooo good. Incredibly rewarding, game is still brilliant, and I have no feelings of nostalgia to potentially compromise my judgment. Simply an excellent game.

 

[IndustryX]

The jump from PS2 to PS3 blew me away. Resistance: Fall of Man, of all things, kind of spearheaded that. Not just in visuals, but multiplayer as well. That was where competitive online gaming started for me.

Yep same moment for me. I remember standing in a Fry's electronics while on vacation in Arizona just after Christmas 06, and seeing my first PS3 display and trying out R:FOM for the first time, I could hardly believe it was a video game after being raised on the Medal of Honor PS2 games, and Goldeneye.

Prior to that vacation, I had ordered my PS3 Christmas day 2006 when Futureshop finally got some stock after checking online every single day after release, needless to say I've ever been so excited to come home from a vacation lol. I also made sure to pick up R:FOM the next chance I got (May have conned Grandma into getting it for me) to go along with my copies of Ridge Racer 7 and NHL 2K7.

Honourable mention to seeing my first Gears of War Chainsaw kill, that single moment made me want an Xbox so badly.

 

[emiranda061288]

It was all a dream. Mind. Blown.

Spoiler

I was 8.

the twist that is still better than every triple A twist from the present or the future.

 

[RoKKeR]

Most recently Journey and The Last of Us. Those cut to blacks, the ending, the whole thing was just sublime.

And Journey was perhaps the most beautiful, peaceful, emotional and touching 2 hours of media I think I've ever experienced.

Oh and shoutout to Spec Ops. Never thought a game with such dull gameplay could captivate me as much as it did.

 

[Zee-Row]

The rain effects in A Link to the Past when you first go outslde of your Uncle's house in the beginning.

 

[Minion101]

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories ending is really phenomenal. It gave me feelings I never knew existed and was still affected by it days after.

 

[onQ123]

Sports Champions accuracy in Disc Golf challenge round 1st time I played it I just got lost in it playing for hours amazed that it was tracking my throws so well.