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[Timu]

magician lord

Great choice, though the music is the main star of it.

 

[Stranger Things]

Bloodborne

Central yharnham is amazing

 

[jettpack]

Deus Ex: HR's first level is arguably the best one. It has all the multiple routes and goals of any good DX game, but with an additional level of polish and gameplay hooks that the rest of the game either didn't have or didn't implement with as much detail, like:

Spoiler

Getting punished if you screw around for too long before starting the mission.

Spoiler

A bomb defusing situation that could be handled multiple ways.

Spoiler

Being able to deal with a hostage situation that connects to the bomb situation, with your actions affecting what happens later in the game.

Sure, you have more powers to play with later in the game, but this level had features that the others didn't.

Idk, I disagree. I feel like that game isn't at its best till you get to the open hubs. The first times you are in Detroit and hengsha are amazing.

 

[Timu]

Super C
Super Turrican
The Last of Us
God of War 3
Sonic Adventure 2
Sonic 1(maybe)

 

[Danny 117]

I mean, you could consider Ground Zeroes as the first level of MGSV, lol

 

[Triforce141]

Traverse Town in Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

You expect the game to be structured something along the lines of "Hey I remember you, but you don't remember me, only now suddenly you have some memories of me" so going through the same place wouldn't be entirely redundant

But immediately leaving the place all of the remaining revisits are uninteresting retellings of the Kingdom Hearts 1 worlds (to which most of them were already stilted retellings of Disney worlds). Only replace "light and darkness" with "remembering and memories"

 

[MrS]

Destiny 2

Seeing my old stomping ground in flames was a mad ting.

 

[Champion of the Wild]

Breath of the Wild - Great Plateu. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a "self taught tutorial" as much as I did in this. But then again, Eventide might give it a run for it's money.

Breath of the Wild has an amazing opening I agree ,but i feel other parts of the game have it beat . Especially the sequences to board the Divine beasts. Or Hyrule castle on a whole.Eventide too...or when you fight a Lynel for the first time..

 

[Kumomeme]

first area in Bloodborne

hahaha

 

[Deleted member 30609]

Wolfenstein: The New Order

lol

 

[antitrop]

I mean, you could consider Ground Zeroes as the first level of MGSV, lol

I would understand that if GZ was specifically mentioned, but if someone just says MGS V and leaves it at that, I'm going to assume they have some kind of fetish with hospital floors.

 

[Rapscallion]

Most recently that I've seen: Yookalaylee. That's not a high bar either.

 

[GonzoCR]

People saying MGSV better be talking about Ground Zeroes. That first part felt like Kojima wanted me to quit. Such an unbelievable slog.

On topic, the village in RE4 is amazing, but the game is so consistently good it’s hard to call it the best part of the game.

 

[GamerJM]

Sonic Adventure 2

One and done. Most Sonic games are this way but this game is probably the epitome of this.

 

[Akuun]

deleted

 

[jdstorm]

Mirrors Edge

 

[RowdyReverb]

Ultimate DOOM.

E1M1.

'Nuff said.

It’s a classic and iconic level for sure, but it’s very short and doesn’t even offer the full Doom sandbox to play with

 

[Neff]

Shadows of the Empire has to be the definitive answer. The rest of the game ranges from acceptable to great, but none of it is remotely comparable to that Hoth battle. It was absolutely mindblowing at the time.

 

[Vinnk]

Jet Grind Radio. Or maybe I just played that one so much because it was in the Demo.

 

[Rhomega Beta]

Star Fox Assault

 

[oneida]

Breath of the Wild - Great Plateu. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a "self taught tutorial" as much as I did in this. But then again, Eventide might give it a run for it's money.

Eventide beats it for sure.

 

[yuoke]

Uncharted 4, if counting everything up until the intro credits.

 

[T.O.P]

Bloodborne

+1 to this

Nothing in the game reaches Central Yharnam's level imo

 

[nkarafo]

Goldeneye. The Dam >>> rest of the game combined.

I prefer Facility and the two Bunker levels (especially the second one). Heck, i would put Surface above Dam probably.

 

[MilkyJoe]

Shadow of the Empire

Yep!

Goldeneye. The Dam >>> rest of the game combined.

No way, it's a great level, but the very next level is better, as is Suface 1, Frigate and Caverns

 

[D_prOdigy]

Star Fox Assault

I only came to say this.

I liked that later level which is an all-range space battle around the space station, but that first stage promised a much better Star Fox game than was delivered.

 

[J@hranimo]

Sonic Heroes

 

[Kinsei]

Sonic 1


I can't agree with the people saying RE4. 1-1 is great but it can't beat 4-1 with it's amazing fight against Verdugo.

 

[Luigi87]

Indigo Prophecy when you have to escape the diner.

Absolutely this.

 

[Greedings]

Metal Gear Solid 5 The Phantom Pain

You are wrong. You are so wrong.

The first level is a great intro, but once you hit that open world, the game gets immeasurably better.

I should play MGSV again.

Spoiler

I think that every couple of weeks

 

[shmoglish]

Re4 is great, I agree with you op.

Wolfenstein: The New Order

Best not worst.

 

[rochellepaws]

Star Fox Assault is a great example, it really felt like a worthy successor to Star Fox 64 for those fleeting moments.

I'd add a lot of recent western AAA games which seem to overload everything early on and leave nothing in reserve for after the first 5 hours. Bioshock, the Arkham series, Fallout 3 and most AC games are some that come to mind for having a strong opening before becoming steadily more and more boring as they progressed.

 

[InquisitorAles]

Overlord. This game is amazing in it's first hours, but the more you progress the more it become bloated and not fun. I dropped it 10 years ago after sewers with zombies level, and when i recently played it again, i barely managed to finish the game because last levels are horrible, almost completely devalued everything good this game has.

 

[Melchiah]

Bloodborne

This. Not that the rest of them would be awful, although I like the Nightmare Frontier the least.

 

[cantona222]

Although I am not a big Sonic fan, but this level game me a hell of a first impression back when it was released.

 

[gelf]

Only really applies to Sonic 1, CD, and Adventure 2. Maybe Mania, depending on when you ask me.

Off the top of my head:
Sonic 2: Chemical Plant
Sonic 3&K: Flying Battery
Sonic Adventure: Speed Highway
Sonic Advance 2: Music Plant
Sonic Advance 3: Sunset Hill (which, to be fair, is a reimagining of a first level haha)
Sonic Heroes: Egg Fleet
Sonic Rush: Water Palace
Sonic Unleashed: Rooftop Run
Sonic Generations: Modern Seaside Hill / Classic Speed Highway

I knew there would be mentions of Sonic in this thread but I honestly can't think of a single one where the first level is my favourite(though I haven't played most of the 3D titles). Even in 1 I'd pick Starlight over Green Hill.

 

[eXistor]

RE4 for me as well. I loved that whole opening part, the rest of the game went downhill pretty fast for me.

 

[Freeman76]

Demon's Souls 1-1. Not sure if it counts since it's after the tutorial level, but I consider it the "first level".

They havent beaten that Palace with any of their levels imo. That epitomises the whole series to me and is always what springs to mind.

 

[Dark_castle]

People listing Bloodborne obviously never found Cainhurst Castle.

 

[Phoenixus]

The rest of the game is still great, but the first level of Viewtiful Joe was my favourite of the whole thing. Best music, simple yet fun level design, and an excellent intro on what's to come.

 

[archangelmorph]

Mario 64
Battletoads: Battlemaniacs (SNES)

 

[Melchiah]

People listing Bloodborne obviously never found Cainhurst Castle.

Nah. The area looks impressive, particularly inside the castle, but it's pretty small. Central Yharnam is more interesting to play with its branching paths.

 

[Markitron]

The Force Unleashed.

 

[Soul of the Beast]

Resident Evil 7

The first maybe hour of that game is the best part

No, just no.

 

[mernst23]

Ninja Gaiden Xbox

 

[amanset]

Most would probably say Zone 5, but the level I play the most in Rez is Zone 1. It has my favourite music from the game, isn't too drawn out and isn't too hard so becomes quite a chilled experience.

 

[m00h]

Streets of Rage

The first one was definitely the best one.

 

[I Wanna Be The Guy]

Earthworm Jim - New Junk City. Basically introduces all of the game mechanics you would need to know with a fun platforming level. Every other level afterwards get progressively more annoying, save for maybe Level 5.

Yeah that's another really good one. Without a doubt Earthworm Jim was at its best in that first stage.

 

[shimon]

Bloodborne and Dark Souls.

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

I don't think I've ever played a game like this. That would be sucky.