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[WoJ]

I love threads like this.

A few that come to mind for me:

Final Fantasy IV - as a kid discovering there was an entire world underground was pretty mind blowing.

Final Fantasy VII - Again, you kind of had to be there for this, but I remember when this game came out my friends and I thought this game was going to be a deviation from the typical Final Fantasy/JRPG formula and be entirely contained in Midgar. The way the game started certainly made it seem that way. Then after 7 hours or so you escape Midgar and have the entire world map presented to you. It was a "holy shit" moment if there ever was one.

Mass Effect 1 -

Spoiler

A few moments for me. Both on Virmire. I didn't do Wrex's side quest and he got shot dead by Ashley. I was not expecting that to happen to a main character. Then the Sovereign interaction in Saren's base followed up by sacrificing Kaidan/Ashley. At the time I hadn't really seen two main characters just offed like that combined with the reveal of the Reapers just took the game and series to another level for me.

 

[Harkonnen]

Alien Isolation, maybe? The more I played the more I felt 'it must be ending now' but noooo... there's a lot more to do.

So good I didn't want this game to end. It kept me interested and involved from start to finish.

 

[NanaMiku]

Odin Sphere

 

[Danjin44]

Odin Sphere

Epic goes through the roof once the whole Ragnarok sequence starts.

This game does it 1000 times better job than God of War Ragnarok.

 

[BlackTron]

I was kind of a naive kid when I played OOT, and thought the whole quest was to find the three spiritual stones. But instead of the game ending, Link aged 7 years to do twice the amount of content you just cleared. I was completely floored.

 

[Corian33]

Tales of Symphonia does the thing where the story seems to come to a conclusion and then "Nope, there's an entire inverse world to go through, you're only halfway there!"

I always have fond memories of that game because I bought it on a complete whim just from looking at the box and absolutely loved it.

 

[Beechos]

Phantasy star 3. You got to play as not 1, not 2 but 3 generations of heroes.

 

[SpongeMonster30]

Elden Ring when I got to that underground area just by pulling a lever.

 

[kiphalfton]

Prince of Persia Lost Crown.

Map kept going on and on, and it was good.

 

[Dr Bass]

FF6, getting to the World of Ruin.

Small by today's standard. Totally epic at the time.

 

[Alexios]

Grandia does this but I won't spoil it. Also Skies of Arcadia a bit.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Elden Ring.

Too many moments where I had to stop to take it all in, while realizing there was so much more to look at and explore.

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

Ghosts and Goblins. Beat the hardest game ever made and then learn to get the true ending you have to do it all again... from the start... on an even harder difficulty. Literally doubles the size of your quest.

Recent example would be Shadow of Mordor. I thought it was just one map and by the time I cleared the first map I felt I had saw everything the game had to offer and then you end up opening up a second (much more vertical) map and it was like a whole new adventure.

Bloodstained RotN also ripped off SotN with the inverted castle which doubles the map size effectively.

 

[Gusy]

I love threads like this.

You are going to love the OP . In all honesty, thanks for sharing.

 

[falconhoof]

Post main story for Red Dead 2. I thought we were going to get a short moment to connect things to Red Dead 1, I was very wrong.

 

[Danjin44]

Elden Ring is the obvious modern example of this

Elden ring in two places... the elevator to Siofra River and those trap chests... they show that the map is WAAY bigger than what you would expect initially.

Elden Ring moment.

I initially thought the map was only mostly just Limgrave and the island to the south.

Then I decided to just ride as far north past Stormveil Castle as I could and it just kept going.

This game is truly magical.

 

[ToughestSoul]

Morrowind always comes to mind. When I realized that the area around Seyda Neen is just this tiny speck on the map I was blown away. Nowadays something like this is expected but back then fully realized 3D environments of that size were not really a thing yet.

 

[L*][*N*K]

Pokemom Gold/Silver when you realize Kanto is in the game too, it was crazy!

 

[yansolo]

when i got ff7 for my birthday when i was a kid and saw three discs when i opened the case

 

[cartman414]

Donkey Kong '94. The first 4 levels were just a preamble to 96 levels of puzzle platforming awesome.

 

[Fahdis]

Every Bethesda game after you come out of the Tutorial. Oblivion was my first, and I didnt realize I was going to get Lord of the Rings sort of gaming in real life. I almost shed a tear.

 

[Forth]

Elden Ring, the game. Playing this game knowing nothing about it is truly bliss.
I still stand by my belief that we got TOTK's depths because Nintendo devs played Elden Ring and got to experience Siofra River.

 

[Duchess]

You realize that it was nothing but a little dot on a huge map that you are now free to explore. Granted, not other place in that map was as detailed or developed as Midgar... but, the effect caused by the reveal was unforgettable.

Exactly what happened to me.

I thought the entire game was Midgar. I was used to playing games that could be finished in a few hours, at most, so this to me was mind blowing.

 

[CuteFaceJay]

Still getting quests in Hernand.

 

[MrJangles]

Every half hour as I played through BOTW for the first time.

'How the hell is this a handheld game' I kept asking myself.

 

[nordique]

Ocarina of time is the first I can recall….beating the deku tree then only to see hyrule field was huge back then

 

[The Silverlord]

Elaborate !!!

I went into that game knowing nothing about it (popped up on PSN Extra); wow, what an experience. Quite unlike any game I've played in last 40 years. It's like a rougelite but wrapped in a charming story that grows and grows and seems to progress and flow beautifully. So much to unlock and learn.

I'd add Trials to the list: seems at first like a simple motorbike game, but the way that game opens up as your skills get better, you begin to uncover layer after layer. Times get faster, Extreme courses become attemptable (well, kind of!).