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[vilmer_]

One that comes to mind is the Algalon encounter in WoW. One of the very few times that I was actually stunned with what I was seeing.

 

[papercamm]

Getting the first star in Slimy Spring Galaxy caught me off guard, and for some reason the first time I saw it rain in Minecraft.

 

[jokkir]

Just Cause 2 when you climb a mountain and see how huge the world is. Or when you stunt jump out of a pland and see the scale of the world compared to you.

SotC when you fight the first boss and see how big that boss is. And that you have to climb it to beat it it

 

[ElbowRocket]

Dishonored - When I was in the flooded district and realized I am a ninja.. fighting ninjas

 

[Lord Griegous]

Red Dead Redemption, riding at dawn from the mountains towards Blackwater with the sun rising behind the Broken Tree. Just glorious.

 

[Moff]

the first time I fought onyxia.

40 players slashing and shooting arrows and frostbolts at her was incredible. that was the last time I was really amazed by something I saw in a game.

 

[Jinko]

Shenmue had my jaw to the floor on many occasions.

Blue Dragon cause it was the first time I couldn't tell the in game cutscenes apart from the CGI.

 

[Lord British]

I agree with the OP, with regards to Bioshock. The entire first half-hour was, I expect still is legitimately jaw-dropping.

I'd also like to vote for Rhythm Tengoku's fifth remix, for its sheer level of insane awesomeness. Additionally, Lock Step in Rhythm Heaven DS puts me into a trance every time.

 

[megashock5]

Going back a few years (yeah, I'm old)...

Running down the snowy hill in Strider on Genesis. I was floored.

 

[Conciliator]

The portal mechanic in Portal was one of the only times in recent years where someone legitimately had a single, brilliant gameplay idea that you could build a whole game on. Just one of those "how come no one has ever thought of this before?" moments. Getting to play around with that and seeing how fluidly it worked(though the original Portal does hitch just a bit when transitioning) was amazing.

Many moments in Dark Souls, but for me one moment that stands out, although I can't put my finger on a specific element, is

Spoiler

the combination of the Queelag boss fight and her 'sister' room after the fact. Just a nearly sublime combination of raw mechanics, art design, atmosphere and everything else.

Also seeing how far Super Meat Boy jumps horizontally.

EDIT: Forgot about Bioshock it's been so long. That opening sequence was unreal at the time.

 

[T.O.P]

On my first run of Tera i pretty much said "holy crap" every 2-3 hours

but the path to reach the Queen had me amazed

then you fight her and you feel like cryin

 

[Mephala]

I have been reasonably impressed many times but the only game that left me completely amazed recently is Katawa Shoujo.

Tried to find this pic without the text, but perhaps finding this first was better since I'm lazy.

 

[Kup]

- At the end of my 2nd play-through in Dragon's Dogma where

Spoiler

you fight yourself and your pawn

- The reflections puzzle in Another Code

- Installing Gran Turismo 5 for

Spoiler

15 minutes

- Playing the Final Fantasy XIII demo for the first time

- Holding my DS sideways for Hotel Dusk: Room 215

- Seeing the sheer amount of loot dropped when Crawmerax is killed in Borderlands

 

[charsace]

Phantasy Star 1 intro
Phantasy Star 4 ending
Mario Brothers 1, the first time you save the princess. Troll much nintendo
Mario Brothers 2 us version last battle
Killer Instinct attract mode
Wanderers from Ys 3 intro and last battle
Super Mario World Bowser fight
Battle Arena Toshinden attract screen
Tobal attract screen (animation was so damn beautiful in that game)
Strider sega genesis version gravity change level (the first the video game level really got me amped up. One of the best levels of gaming ever).
Grandia intro
FF Tactics when I made a hard to hit, duel wielding ninja.
Mortal Kombat. My cousin lit me on fire with scorpion and I was shocked.
MGS2 intro stage amazing and to this day its hard to match.
Halo all of it. The game was a wicked ride.
Jak and Daxter 1 The engine was a beast. Too bad the genre isn't as big because I want to see what ND would do with it now.
JSR and JSRF Both games from start to finish. The music, art and gameplay mesh together in way that just takes me to nirvana.
Tales of Symphonia The ending I got was great.
Xenosaga 1 intro
Dark Souls all of it.
UO all of it.
Fallout 1 and 2 All the choices.
Arcanum similar to fallout.

I have more games too, won't bother to list them.

 

[Tripp Daily]

Being able to see all the way around the ring by looking up in Halo CE.

 

[Kapoios]

I'm always amazed when vast landscapes/cityscapes are executed well. For example:

All of skyrim (nature photography simulator).
DE:HR, specifically just before and during the chinese overcity which i forget its name.
All of Just Cause 2
The

Spoiler

view ofruins of City 17

in HL2:EP2.
First 30 minutes of Bioshock
When you exit Vault 101 for the first time in Fallout 3.
etc.

As far as gameplay mechanics go i can get immersed when there's a lot of freedom of movement (Mirror's Edge, Just Cause 2, Portal), and when the combat is so good/fluid (Bulletstorm, Mass Effect 3 as vanguard, the last level of HL2:EP2).

 

[Wolfgunblood Garopa]

Going back a few years (yeah, I'm old)...

Running down the snowy hill in Strider on Genesis. I was floored.

Yeah this moment in the game was the biggest deal when this came out for the Genesis. That snowy hill. I would get butterflies in my stomach every time. Now it's still cool, but there was nothing like it then.

For me it's still the 3DS. It's amazing.

 

[plainr_]

Journey. This game caught me completely off guard too. I wasn't expecting it and I knew nothing of the game prior. I was just bored one summer day and decided to download it. It's kinda hard to put into words of what I felt during my time with the game but it in short let's just say it was beautiful and umm... peaceful.

Uncharted 2. Beginning to end. The game easily lived up to the gigantic hype that I had built up for the game. That in itself was an amazing feat.

Killzone 2. I forgot what stage but I remember stopping in the middle of a gunfight just to take in the amount of awesomeness that I was seeing on screen. It was before a bridge level or something.

Gears of War. I played this with a friend in SD my first time but holy shit was I completely floored. The presentation of the game just screamed next gen. Truly the first of its kind.

SOCOM 2. Jumped on single player and thought it was an 'okay' game. But then, I figured I would try going online since I had a PS2 network adapter laying around doing nothing. After playing just one game, my body was in complete shock at what I was experiencing. The map was Enowapi and I was there in a group of 8, talking and collaborating with real people, with a bomb satchel on my back, infiltrating a terrorist fortress atop a damn mountain. I've never really played an online game let alone a shooter before so it was pretty hard to grasp all that pure gaming goodness that I was witnessing all at once. Calling this moment amazing would be an understatement. It was mind blowing.

 

[daninthemix]

I'm experiencing it right now with Uncharted 2.

Gears of War - the rainy night level where you descend.

Oblivion - emerging from the sewer and learning what video game freedom is.