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[Deleted member 752119]

Horizon Zero Dawn, first thunderjaw fight.

Horizon in general. Graphics blew my mind for the first time in a long while and that's what defines something feeling next gen to me aside from huge gameplay transitions like going from 2D to 3D that we obviously haven't had for ages.

Zelda is impressive for the hardware its on but doesn't look or feel next gen to me. Moreover it dropped what I liked most about Zelda games (dungeons) and doubled down on boring (IMO) openworld traversal with lots of empty spaces and little reason to seek out fights aside from bigger/tougher enemies that are few and far between. Still a good game, but not a great one to me as it's just too heavy on the things I like least about open worlds, lacks a compelling narrative (another big reason I game) etc.

 

[silva1991]

Gameplay wise? none. Probably need a VR for that.

 

[Give War A Chance]

Horizon Zero Dawn, first thunderjaw fight.

Same game, but it was either the robot that burrows in the ground in or my first Thunderjaw fight.

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

I still don't know what "next generation experience/gameplay" is. It's a really stupid term. I get a next gen-feeling with better graphics. So my games for PS3/PS4 era are:

Killzone: Shadow Fall - a big graphical leap from PS3.

Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter on Xbox 360 - also a big graphical leap from the original Xbox and an amazing game.

 

[Zakalwe]

I always had a pc so there weren't many wow moments for me when it came to consoles. GTA3 maybe. As far as PC, Counter-Strike beta for multiplayer. Rescuing hostages and defusing bombs in a multiplayer game seemed so advanced to me at the time. HL2 for single player stands out as well, mainly because of the physics and gravity gun. Crysis as well, because to me it wasn't just fancy graphics. A (small) open world with a supersuit that gave you so many options on how to approach combat made the game really feel like a playground.

Oh, I remember at the time I didn't have a PC, and my friend was showing off the beach level of the early version of Half Life 2 that was leaked to torrent sites.

Thinking back we were pretty amazed at that game, but I can't recall if I got the feeling I described in the OP... it was quite a while ago.

Yeah, playing BotW on an handheld was truly a next-gen experience, the greatest jump I've witnessed so far gen to gen (coming from MonHun on 3ds).

Before that, R6 Siege. Being able to blow to bits a whole house was something I had never experienced before.

Oh, right, destruction definitely does feel like a shiny new mechanic whenever it's implemented well. I think perhaps I could be forgetting a "next gen" feeling I had in relation to games with this feature in the past.

 

[correojon]

Is it weird that I played this on WiiU and got the same sensation?


I need a dev diary or a documentary of this game's development from start to finish. I need to know how this game was made. It just doesn't seem possible.

Me too, just from the very opening I was feeling something special and that feeling hasn´t disappeared even hundreds of hours later.

Another huge one for me was Super Mario World, I remember getting amazed at the big rotating platforms in one of the first levels and thinking how I was going to explain that to my friends at school the next day, there just were no words!

Special mention: SFIV. It blew my mind not having played any other SF game since SSF2. When I made my first Ultra and the crazy sequence played with the camera flying around I couldn´t believe it.

 

[Kamek]

For this gen probably MGS5.

 

[Brandon F]

Demon's Souls easily.

The online functionality alone was proof that a new generation of game design arrived, but factor in the complexity of its visual, combat, and progression and it was unmistakably a product only possibly conceived in the new era of tech.

 

[tareqsalah1]

This thread make me sooo excited to really jump into this gen. Lots of great games that i cant wait to play

 

[Vanille]

Zipping at incredible speeds and even flying across an open world city with incredible gfx and dynamic tod and weather in Infamous Second Son, and at 1080p30.

Yeah, Infamous was the first title this gen that felt like a proper generational leap.

 

[jobrro]

As a handheld game, certainly BotW is next gen. As a console game, I don't really see it. It's basically a very refined PS360U class game, taking a lot of lessons learned in that generation and capitalizing on them.

Mine from the PS4/Xbone/Switch gen I would say the first game that really felt next generation would probably have been Infamous Second Son. While I had AC: Black Flag at launch it felt more like Assassins Creed in a nice resolution, I enjoyed it and at times it looked great after the 1080p patch but Infamous took it to a new level with it's geometry and effects.

I remember in the OT (when they used to be up 7 days before launch on GAF) someone posted a real photo from the top of the Golden Gate Bridge and some people (including me) were blown away and thinking it was from the game.

 

[Carlius]

i started yesterday and i have to say videos don tdo it justice..game looks incredible and feels incredible. the animations, the grpahics...i am in for a treat i think.

 

[FonkyByNature]

Zelda is up there for sure. The size of the world plus all the cool physics shit you can do is fantastic.

I have all systems and since i got the Switch, i can't stop playing Zelda.

The game is truly an open world game. The way i can play with the physics, the variety of gameplay and how big and fun the world is makes it all incredible. I never played anything like it.

But most of all, it approaches the thing in a simple and easy to understand way. Unlike other open world games where crafting and too many options scare a lot of people. In Zelda, almost anyone can play and be immersed, even my wife who's not a big gamer and certainly not an rpg gamer loves Zelda because exactly that, simple to play yet very deep. I'm in love with Zelda BOTW and it's easily one of my favorite games of all time.

 

[Swimmer9800]

Uncharted 4
Breath of the wild

 

[Phatosaurus]

GTAV felt more next gen on the PS3/360 than any of the launch titles I played on the PS4. So that for 7th to 8th gen.

Other than that, Super Mario 3D World and Mario Kart 8 on the WiiU both wowed me visually. They were the first games on the WiiU that I played that proved to me that the console was a step above the 360/PS3.
Breath of the Wild is the cherry on top and I can comfortably say it's up there with the Witcher 3 and GTAV technically, visually and in terms of gameplay.

 

[davonaytor]

MGSV had Ground Zeroes come out before it, and I was basically like: "Wow, they're going to do a whole game like this!?" and they did a whole game like that, and it was amazing.

After that, breath of the wild, playing through the plateau section, was basically the same sensation, except it had more story sections to tie things together. And the whole game was like that. The more I looked into things, the more interesting they became. It's as if the developers knew what the player would be interested in at every turn, and made sure there was enough detail in it to satisfy the player.

I'm not sure which I prefer, but both were moments that stand out very strongly in my memories.

 

[Sheriff_Battlesnake]

Shadow of Mordor. It was beaten into the ground at the time, but the Nemesis System really was something else.

I want a Metal Gear Solid V with integrated Nemesis System. They already have the silly names.

 

[Gray-Fox]

Crash

 

[evilromero]

MGSV felt that way to me with its amazing scope and attention to detail. I'm still amazed by the limitless ways you can play the missions. It's about the most engrossing experience I've had in gaming ever.

 

[Ushay]

Zelda is definitely up there, what it achieved on a handheld has made me firm believer in Nintendo's strategy, at least for their exclusives.

The only other one I could think of was Witcher 3.

 

[Adam_Vania]

MGSV. no other game looks so good while playing like butter.

 

[lvl99 Pixel]

arent the "gens" defined by doing something not previously possible?
the game ran on wiiu and didnt really do anything technically impressive

 

[Rodin]

the game ran on wiiu and didnt really do anything technically impressive

Yeah sure.

 

[mindatlarge]

The Nemesis System from Shadow of Mordor.

 

[Cromat]

The Witcher 3 is so miles ahead of other RPGs.

 

[rochellepaws]

I don't really believe in those sort of "next gen" wow moments anymore. A great game can amaze me both new and old and I feel technology creeps forward so gradually that its been a long time since I've felt a technically impressive aspect was any more than just a "little better" than existing games in a particular technical aspect.
Persona 5 is the game I consider the most complete of recent years, I don't think though that it's a case that it couldn't have been accomplished 5 years ago, just simply nothing of that level was.

 

[00ich]

I don't know man. Oblivion looked pretty washed out on 360 and not that great at all. I recall being shocked in 2006 by how blurry everything looked once I stepped outside the cave. That looked nothing like the developer's walkthrough from 2005. Gears of War was the real next gen kickstart.

Graphically Gears of War was the start of that generation and obviously more influential.
Oblivions downgrade was also real, but I never expected the screenshots to be from the 360 version.
The final game was still very ambitious. Uncompromised RPG-like amounts of branching dialog all fully voiced (by about 5 voice actors). Physics on every object, AI on every NPC.
All of that contributed to hundreds(?) of quests far above and beyond GTA:SA's in complexity.

 

[jet1911]

The timelapse in Quantum Break.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpDO0LUUjH8

That shit blew my mind.

 

[Zakalwe]

arent the "gens" defined by doing something not previously possible?
the game ran on wiiu and didnt really do anything technically impressive

Like some others you've missed the point of the OP. This isn't about the actual technical merits of a game if you compare them to other current games, it's about /you/ getting a certain feeling from a game.

It's difficult enough to explain this feeling to others who've felt it, but if you haven't felt it I'm not sure how I could convey it in a way you'd understand.

 

[DarkConfidant]

Horizon Zero Dawn had some complex robot stuff going on in those fights. First time you fight a thunderjaw or a pack of glinthawks is crazy.

 

[Hindl]

Honestly Shadow of Mordor. That game has problems, but when I think of next-gen gameplay, I don't care about graphics. I care about systems and gameplay that wasn't possible on last gen hardware. And the Nemesis system is the first thing that felt like that. Hell, it didn't even make it on the PS360 versions. It just felt like something only possible on these newest consoles

 

[phanphare]

yeah Zelda is a good call. I haven't been that utterly immersed in a video game since I was a kid.

 

[zkorejo]

Witcher 3. This game did alot I never thought could be possible. Simply because none of the other games did that.

 

[GSG Flash]

TW3 is one game I can safely say can't be replicated on previous gen consoles without compromising the game, truly a next(current?) gen experience for me.

Just the feeling of seamlessly going indoors and then looking out the window and seeing life outside go on as normal with the weather effects and everything, it was mind blowing.

 

[Sami+]

Honestly DRIVECLUB blew me away. Looks beyond gorgeous and really fun too.

 

[Sleeping Lesson]

The timelapse in Quantum Break.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rpDO0LUUjH8

That shit blew my mind.

The effect is really awesome. It makes it all the worse that the game is so mediocre.

 

[etrain911]

I would have to say Infamous Second Son. It was the first AAA PS4 game I ever played, and my jaw dropped at the graphical fidelity, especially in comparison to Infamous 2.

 

[FinalAres]

You missed the point entirely. OP clearly explains it's about a feeling you get, not the actual relative technical merits of a particular game.

[Deleting. No idea why I said this XD]

 

[Ushay]

Zelda blew my mind in certain ways, for example I dropped some wood, followed by flint. Struck the flint with a metal weapon and it simply ignited into a fireplace.

Small touches like that felt really next gen, at least in terms of gameplay mechanics.

 

[Zakalwe]

The Witcher 3 is so miles ahead of other RPGs.

I don't know, while TW3 definitely raised the bar in terms of quality and scope, BotW is definitely on par (so far, and for me at least) in terms of setting new standards for open world games.

I think Persona 5 is the same for turn based JRPGs, and Soulsbourne has been the same for action RPGs. I definitely can't consider TW3 as "miles ahead" of any of these games, as they all have their own strengths and weaknesses, and very game listed does certain things better than TW3 imo.

Now, I can't argue at all if that "next gen feeling" comes from TW3 as that's entirely personal, but I can't see anything from a more overall view that sets TW3 so far ahead.

That feeling is called buying in to the hype and theres nothing particularly next gen about it. This has been happening since the dawn of gaming.

I can imagine how hype could fuel a feeling like this, but it's certainly not the only way for it to happen.

 

[borghe]

A few..

Arkham Knight
VR Worlds on PS VR (or really just any standout PS VR title)
Uncharted 4
and yes BotW. Not from a console standpoint. But Switch is easily the most impressive handheld ever released. Seamlessly connecting to the TV only adds to that.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

Like some others you've missed the point of the OP. This isn't about the actual technical merits of a game if you compare them to other current games, it's about /you/ getting a certain feeling from a game.

It's difficult enough to explain this feeling to others who've felt it, but if you haven't felt it I'm not sure how I could convey it in a way you'd understand.

For myself, I didn't miss the point. Technical merits/graphics leaps are what give me those feelings rather than gameplay stuff. I'm more about the spectacle and narrative etc. these days. I enjoy gameplay stuff (just bought Puyo Puyo Tetris yesterday for instance and like it) but those games don't wow me.

It's the graphics and narrative that suck me and get me immersed and let me escape from a world where Donald Fucking Trump is president and lots of other countries are going crazy as well. That's what wows me and gives me those certain feelings.

 

[_Clash_]

Zelda BoTW and Witcher 3 are definitely the two IMO

Absolute gaming nirvana

The switching aspect of BoTW is better than I had imagined

 

[tomwhite2004]

dead rising on the xbox 360 made me upgrade to a 720p tv and was a leap that i still have not experienced since.

 

[Naked Snake]

BotW might be the game that impressed me the most since MGS2. I'm 100 hours into the game and it's still blowing my mind with every play session.

Granted, I've been on a console/PC gaming hiatus for quite a while now (only played on handhelds), a lapsed gamer of sorts, so I don't know if games have become this good without me realizing it or if this game is really above and beyond anything that has come before it. I'm curious if any other modern games can grab my attention after I'm done with Zelda... Yes I believe the portability is a huge factor for me, so I might be out of the hobby again until a game of similar calibur is out for Switch, which might not happen for a while.

 

[Deleted member 752119]

I don't know, while TW3 definitely raised the bar in terms of quality and scope, BotW is definitely on par (so far, and for me at least) in terms of setting new standards for open world games.

I think Persona 5 is the same for turn based JRPGs, and Soulsbourne has been the same for action RPGs. I definitely can't consider TW3 as "miles ahead" of any of these games, as they all have their own strengths and weaknesses, and very game listed does certain things better than TW3 imo.

Now, I can't argue at all if that "next gen feeling" comes from TW3 as that's entirely personal, but I can't see anything from a more overall view that sets TW3 so far ahead.

For me it as the quality of the writing and the narrative and the graphics and world design. They completely sucked me into the world and, as I said in my previous post, those are the main reasons I love gaming these days.

Zelda is a good game. I've put over 70 hours in it so it obviously does a lot right. But it's like a 8/10 type game for me as I don't care for the art style, lack of story, lack of dungeons and as someone who isn't big on exploring and just fast travels a ton and follows objective markers in open world games the huge world and focus on exploration left me bored a lot of the time.

 

[Weebos]

It's certainly the freshest feeling game I've played this generation. Most things have felt like iterations on past things for the most part, which isn't a bad thing.

Breath of Wild feels like its bringing something new to the table, especially in a genre as stale as open world games.

 

[Scrawnton]

Titanfall. Seriously. I went to my friends house to play the beta and I was prepared to buy an Xbox One on the spot, but I didn't because I had a PS4 at launch. I ended up getting an Xbox One during summer 2015 after BC was announced but not buying it after that beta to experience Titanfall in its prime is one of my biggest gaming mistakes.

 

[teeny]

Nothing comes closer to that feeling than Super Mario 64, for me.

Don't get me wrong, there have been games that have floored me as I have transitioned from generation to generation and there will always be those beloved games that simply define the console and era they are on and from; Breath of the Wild is an excellent example. But they have also felt iterative in many ways. Nothing can beat transitioning from a SNES to a N64, as a kid, and simply having my mind blown by properly navigating a three-dimensional space for the first time in a game.

 

[Dynomutt]

Infamous Second Son. That game made me love my PS4 lol! The city, abilities, and graphics/gameplay were all amazing to me. Game is still a amazing looking game. Tagging made me really appreciate the controller!