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[Amir0x]

ITT we list things in gaming that gave us that feeling of wide-eyed wonder the first time we laid eyes on it. It is likely a visual thing, but it MAY also be something you experienced viscerally (i.e. the first time you pulled off a rad ass combo in Ninja Gaiden)

I'll give an obvious example:

Ex. - The First time I saw Hyrule Field in Ocarina of Time.

You can elaborate if you like on why, but that's the jist of it.

Personal Moments -

1. The first time I saw a Colossus stomping around the bend in Shadow of the Colossus
2. When I looked out from the crow's nest on Outset Island in Wind Waker
3. The first time I saw 32 other players rushing across a map at me and my 32 player crew in RTCW
4. The Compression battle in Z.O.E. 2
5. The Blacklight level in Psychonauts

 

[GaimeGuy]

THE FIRST TIME I HUMPED AN ELF IN PHANTASY STAR ONLINE

 

[Amir0x]

THE FIRST TIME I HUMPED AN ELF IN PHANTASY STAR ONLINE

you sick mother ****er

 

[Azure Dream]

There's been several, but ironic when attached to the subject title, one of the few time The Wind Waker actually impressed me in both presentation and graphics (boo, hiss, I know) was the

Spoiler

Hyrule Castle sequence. You really did get that "captured in time" feel, and you KNEW all those figures scattered about were going to be moving later, but even if you touched them or messed with them early, you wouldn't get hurt.

Rainbow Road in Super Mario Kart was another one. It really blew me away for some reason.

 

[AlanHemberger]

The first time I typed in /dance as a Taru taru in FFXI.

hahahahahaa yes!

make a macro

/dance
/run
/clap


so awesome and so so cute

 

[datruth29]

1)Fighting that first strider in Half-Life 2.
2)Getting your head chopped off by a hunter in RE1 for the first time. (True "Oh shit" moment right there)
3)Ending Diablo 1 confused only to find out that 4 years in Diablo 2 that you ****ed up big time.

 

[blackadde]

first time i saw a video of mario64 in some independant gamer shop that's long gone. i think my eyes melted like that guy from raiders.

first time i played multi online (mech2?), direct dialing over 28k. holy shit. being able to stomp on my friends heads without them having to physically be there was pretty intense.

there are lots more moments from games like mark of the wolves (guessing a high-low game right *eight* times in a row) or war3 (just huge 2v2v2v2v2 battles that swung wildly back and forth for hours) but those are a bit harder to relate without some visual aid.

 

[Reilly]

Tapping on the wall in MGS to get the gaurd's attention.

 

[Error]

1) LoZ WW :Windwaker's Ocean for all the hate it gets the first time Link started sailing with the hyrule's king boat and seeing the vastness of the Ocean that was an "oh shit" moment for me.

2) SMT3: the world getting destroyed it happens in the first what 5 minutes? and I was blown away seriously such a well made scene from that moment on I knew the game was going to be something special.

3) RE4: the whole intro sequence up until the title of the game is shown with Leon first getting into the village to fighting an army of crazy people couple that with the chainsaw dude. it was just the beginning and I was like "holy ****!!!! let me rest!"

4) SOTC: the 5th colossus yeah I dont think I need to explain this one.

5) Dragon Quest 8: the awesome overworld with the sun setting is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in a game.

 

[Amir0x]

2) SMT3: the world getting destroyed it happens in the first what 5 minutes? and I was blown away seriously such a well made scene from that moment on I knew the game was going to be something special.

That's a good one. I was like when I played it.

3) RE4: the whole intro sequence up until the title of the game is shown with Leon first getting into the village to fighting an army of crazy people couple that with the chainsaw dude. it was just the beginning and I was like "holy ****!!!! let me rest!"

The first time I entered the village I nearly shat my pants

 

[Tieno]

-The first time I got on a flying colossi and the music and everything.
-In Halo, on bloodgulch at the foot of the hill before the base a warthog flew over me from the top of the hill and I stickied a grenade to it. It was so unexpected but so awesome.
-The first time I powered on my N64 with Mario 64 inside and as I didn't had any internet back then I really didn't know what to expect. I could spend so much time in the start up screen playing with that face. It was my first 3d game.
-The knife fight in RE4 (and maybe also laser sequence) (best use of quick time events imo)
-God of War: when you see the titan.
-Geometry Wars, when I'm above 500k and crapping myself because I can't believe I just got out of that situation alive. That games make you feel like God more than any other but it's so easy to become arrogant when you're on that high/in the zone and **** it all up.

 

[Oldschoolgamer]

(not in any particular order)

1.When Mario hopped out of the warp pipe in Mario 64.
2.Seeing Link open up a chest for the first time in OOT. (Effin cinematic.lol)
3. The final battle in Z.O.E 2 (ZERO SHIFT Awesomeness!)
4. Getting a SSStylish in DMC3 for the first time.
5. The lava area in Resident Evil 4.
6. Running from the whale on Sonic Adventure, for the first time.
7. Seeing

Spoiler

Fortinbras

in dawn of Dreams
8. Seeing the Opening cutscene in Onimusha 3
9. Shooting a scientist in Goldeneye, only to watch him bust a few caps in my ass.
10. The huge battle in Z.O.E 2 (forget the name..)

 

[AlanHemberger]

The opening sequence to FF8 put me in awe along with certain cut scenes from ff 7 and ff 8

 

[Spire]

- First time I played Super Mario 64. I really can't describe the feeling I got the first time I ran around in a circle in front of the castle, it was a fundamental shift in gaming and it was so tangible.

- First time I set foot in the Kingdom of Zeal in Chrono Trigger. Gorgeous visuals and gorgeous music.

- First time I saw a CG cut scene (Cloud, Tifa, and Barret swinging off the collapsing pillar in Sector 7). I was a poor kid at the time and that single-handedly convinced me that the PS1 was the way to go. I missed out on playing OoT when it came out, but FFVII was definetly worth it.

- That fight with the ships in ZOE2. Just ****ing epic. A ZOE game on next-gen hardware would rock our collective faces.


There are a lot more, I'll think of them later.

 

[Reilly]

God of War: when you see the titan.

I think the part where you run up the stairs only to see Aries in the background destroying everything is better.

The best part with the Titan is when you're climbing around outside and the camera pans to show him crawling around. Gives you a good sense of just how massive he is.

 

[Joe]

edit: nvm i cant read

 

[ezekial45]

1. Watching the third Colossus swing it's weapon down to the ground
2. First encountering the Regenerator in RE4
3. First seeing The Mayor's transformation into his Mutant form

 

[datruth29]

Now that I think about it, I don't think I was ever in so much awe at a game as when playing Rome:TW with army size set to Huge. Get two full armies together to do battle and WOW!

 

[CO_Andy]

PLAYING KILLER 7

 

[Spire]

There are some games like RE4 and Metroid Prime that are just one long experience with no particular peak or central moment.

 

[Amir0x]

- In Grandia III, there's this one area where you go up into the mountains and you look out and see the clouds serenely floating past the snowy tops of the range. Combined with the audio, I remember actually letting my character go into that 'indian style' animation and just watching it for like 5 minutes

 

[DCharlie]

1. Seeing Knightlore on the Spectrum for the first time :O :O :O
2. First time on the top of a Colossus on the 100 inch projection screen and getting massive vertigo
3. Finally getting decent weaponry and going back to Las Vegas and teaching those Slicer Dicer f*cks a lesson or two.
4. Rez level 5.

 

[Greenpanda]

Maybe it's not quite applicable to this topic, but it's the first thing that popped into my head...

Ending of MGS1. When I was almost done with the game (up to fight with MG Rex), I was thinking, "Well, this was a really well done game, although there were sure a lot of loose threads in the story." I was completely convinced that all the loose ends (FOXDIE, Ocelot vanishing, etc.) were just typical oversights by a sloppy design team. In fact, during a break in the action, I even started posting this opinion online.

Then when I went back to the game, actually finished it, and in the span of discovered in ~15 minutes of game time that none of these plot elements had been forgotten, everything fit together, and Ocelot (and Kojima ) had been playing me the whole time. The game had suckered me into thinking I was smarter than it, only for me to discover the game was a lot smarter than me. I was completely blown away ... for like an hour after finishing the game, I couldn't do anything, I was just ":O :O :O what an AWESOME GAME"

 

[Snaku]

-Crashing landing on Halo, getting out of the escape pod and looking out at the horizon and seeing the land curve up, up, up, and then up over your head around down to the other side behind you. Breathtaking sense of scope right there.

-The fight with the Hydra in God of War. You knew you were in for an epic adventure right from the start with that awe inspiring boss fight.

-Snake vs. The Boss. Nuff said.

-Final battle in Beyond Good & Evil. The culmination of an awesome story, and some slight twists to the gameplay pretty much dropped my jaw.

-The entire motorbike escape sequence in MGS3.

 

[Amir0x]

4. Rez level 5.

**** YES

 

[tambourine]

The most awesome moment of gaming for me by far, was in the original Unreal for PC (1998). At the beginning you are in a spaceship that crashes on some alien planet. And then you break free from the airship, and have your first view at the luxuriant environments with large panoramas, and flying alien critters in the sky.

At the time the real-time graphics and scenery were incredibly in advance when compared to anything ever released previously. But the ambiance was quite incredible too.

 

[DCharlie]

**** YES

and i'll further refine the point where i get a very very warm sense flowing over me :

it's the point where the tube comes down and all the rockets fly out and the music just changes perfectly in time to that glorious sample from the 60s song that i forget the name of.

It's like a rush you get when you are clubbing and the music hits the heights.

 

[PolyGone]

The Super NES had its fair share of these moments for me, experiencing "mode 7" for the first time with F-Zero, polygons in StarFox or prerendered animation in DKC, and to a lesser extent some of the new graphical effects that were used in Super Mario World such as transparency, all of which were pretty cool for their time.

Virtua Fighter 2, the animation and detail in the characters and settings were stunning, especially playing it in the arcade

Wipeout, after the flatness of mode 7, the hills and valleys in this one really made for a rollercoaster ride on the ps

FFVii probably holds more of these moments for me than any other game for obvious reasons, and to a lesser extent every FF that has come after it...

Mario64 was another game that, simple as it looks now, cannot be underestimated for its vast openess at the time. Even the intro area outside the castle was impressive and fun to explore, let alone the platforming levels inside...

Zelda OoT also holds many for me, such as certain areas (Kakariko graveyard thunderstorm) or bosses (Ganon, Water Temple) etc

WaveRace64's opening title screen, and the fact it had untouchable water effects for a very long time

Castlevania SotN: Alucard's animation, the backgrounds, and the bosses

Pikmin, with 100 pikmin on the field

Ico, Yorda's animation, especially as you guide her by the arm

SotC, almost every colossus battle as well as Agro and the environments

The Resident Evil series over the years has had some great moments, RE1, RE2 and especially RE4. There's nothing like being chainsawed after a hectic 10 minute battle in that opening town the first time I played.

Zelda WW, not any one area but the cel-shading is still the best of any cel-shaded game, way better than previous cel-shaded graphics such as Jet Grind imo

Ikaruga, for level 4's "washing machine" segment

MGS2's opening tanker stage. Not only for the graphics, which was the first time I felt next-gen had finally arrived, but for the A.I. of the guards, which was so much more complex than the first game.

 

[AlanHemberger]

-Crashing landing on Halo, getting out of the escape pod and looking out at the horizon and seeing the land curve up, up, up, and then up over your head around down to the other side behind you. Breathtaking sense of scope right there.

Hell yeah. Awesome feeling.

 

[decumcp]

In no particular order

1. ICO: Finally getting out of the castle on that bridge at the end of the game
2. RE4: The knife fight scene - don't think I've ever died that many times in a cutscene
3. RE4: The boss in the lake - the best on by far!
4. Loco Roco: Don't think I've ever played a game that's presented like this!
5. Doom: Aliens mod
6. Quake: First time playing multiplayer online with 8 players on a 3dfx Voodoo
7. Slient Hill: Encoutering a shadow "baby" which creeped you out because you couldn't figure it what it does - it's harmless
8. Castlevania SOTN: The Orlyx's chamber
9. Gran Trusimo: Amazed by how real it looked during the replays
10. Killer Instinct: First time seeing it at the arcade - wow!
...

 

[Greenpanda]

Graphically, one would definitely be the entrance to the Amala Temple in SMT III Nocturne. I wish I could find a pic, but you step inside and you see this hall extended off as far as you can see into the distance with all these solid white pillars against a solid red background. Great use of color and the cel-shaded-ish graphics in the game.

The Super NES had its fair share of these moments for me, experiencing "mode 7" for the first time with F-Zero

Yeah ... in my case, my first experience was with FF IV, and that opening airship flight with the Red Wings theme was pretty O_O at the time

Ico, Yorda's animation, especially as you guide her by the arm

What got me in Ico was getting to the top of the castle walls (e.g., in the arena areas) and being able to look down and see all the areas you'd been traveling across on the way up. Really conveyed the idea that you were in a place that fit together like an actual building, and not just a bunch of randomly designed rooms stuck together.

 

[ThatCrazyGuy]

Seee an mortal kombat 2 machine for the first time and hearing/watching the intro.

 

[Greenpanda]

Oh, and the Garden vs. Garden battle in Final Fantasy VIII. (End of Disc 2) There's all these story scenes, you're gearing up to fight Galbadia, and the situation is getting worse and worse for the heroes... then Squall and this enemy soldier get thrown out airlock and suddenly this mini-fighting game comes up and you're punching the crap out of each other while watching all Garden fly by under you. You take out the enemy soldier, Squall grabs Rinoa, and you come to a landing as this HUGE battle rages all around you ... soldiers battling, spells flying, motorcycles crashing ... and you take off running right through the middle of it.

Totally exhilarating and one of the best integrations of cinema scenes/gameplay. I would, in fact, submit the hypothesis that it has never really been topped in this category.

The whole time it was going on for the first time, I couldn't believe what I was seeing

edit: I should add that the opera house in VI, while not so out-of-the-ordinary now, had a fairly similar effect back in the day

 

[BorkBork]

Prime: After going through Magmoor Caverns with the Norfair theme remix, stepping onto the elevator and going out to Phenandra Drifts with that really brief cutscene with Ridley's shadow flying above, all in the space of 5 minutes or so. God Damn.

 

[GDJustin]

Grandia (original)
Climbing over and beyond THE END OF THE WORLD, and realizing there was still much, much more game left, and much more area to be explored. The game did a GREAT job of not really forshadowing all the lands that lay beyond The End of the World. The "world" you begin the game in is the only world all those NPCs have ever known, so it didn't even really cross my mind that there could be so much else. It's so so... absurd. I mean, it had been built up to be THE END OF THE WORLD, and then there's so much more. It was an amazing moment, for me. The music on the climb up really enhanced the mood, as well.

Edit: Found the song, and also learned that it's EDGE of the world, not end. Which is almost more absurd:

http://downloads.ffshrine.org/sound...l_Soundtracks_I/109_the_edge_of_the_world.mp3
(it gets going about halfway through. More classic "adventuring" music I haven't heard)

SM64
I also agree with everyone pointing out SM64. I spent a long, LONG time just running around the courtyard and castle, because I didn't know I was supposed to jump in the painting I LITERALLY bet I ran around for over an hour, just in that small area.

Controlling Mario was SO FUN, at the time. I still remember the specific moment that did it for me - I accidentally had Mario dive, and he dove right into the castle wall, triggering his "doh!" animation/sound. That moment, along with flipping off the top of a tree, hit me like a ****ing lightning bolt, I swear. It's probably responsible for why I write about games for a living now.

 

[GDJustin]

Prime: After going through Magmoor Caverns with the Norfair theme remix, stepping onto the elevator and going out to Phenandra Drifts with that really brief cutscene with Ridley's shadow flying above, all in the space of 5 minutes or so. God Damn.

OMG I forgot all about Phendrana Drifts. I liked Metroid Prime a lot, but very very litte of the game actually blew me away.

THAT moment did, though. There's a moment when you're up a little higher in Phendrana, and can look down, and see the temple and most of the rest of the area... with the snow lightly falling, it looks AMAZING. That scene alone sold GameCubes and copies of MP to two of my friends, when they saw me get there.

 

[LaMeRz]

One moment that will always stand out for me in video games...

In the first splinter cell, during the last level (I believe) when after a long gun fight you get held up from all sides. I feel like I was dead for sure, then all of a sudden I hear Lambert say they are cutting the power in 5 seconds and that is my time to escape....ohh man that was crazy

 

[Demigod Mac]

T-Rex pops its head around the corner in Tomb Raider and starts charging at you.

Mother Brain's final form rises up in Super Metroid.

 

[Roders5]

Goldeneye. The first time I picked up the sniper rifle on the first level, zoomed into a guards head and pulled the trigger. I smiled for a week.

 

[RSLAEV]

The final battles in Z.O.E. 2-my mind was just ****ing blown.

 

[{Mike}]

Phantasy Star Online : the first time I entered the last boss room, which is like a paradise.

Resident Evil 4 : village introduction.

Resident Evil 3 : first time you encounter Nemesis and the first time he chases you with a bazooka. Holy shit

Resident Evil 2 : when Tyrant destroy walls. WOW. And personal moment of scare : when the floor collpase in the library's second floor, or when a licker destroy the window in a room. wowwww

Resident Evil : bath zombie

There's more, but I won't list everything ^_^

 

[Greenpanda]

Katamari Damacy - The first time I completed Make the Moon and got big enough to start rolling up not only ocean liners and office buildings, but eventually clouds, hurricanes, and the islands on which you started out the game ... at which point I'm invulnerable and just trying to demolish absolutely everything in sight before the time runs out.

 

[jko]

[\thread

Spoiler

...for me at least

]

 

[{Mike}]

Katamari Damacy - The first time I completed Make the Moon and got big enough to start rolling up not only ocean liners and office buildings, but eventually clouds, hurricanes, and the islands on which you started out the game ... at which point I'm invulnerable and just trying to demolish absolutely everything in sight before the time runs out.

Yea. This game is amazing on so many levels.

 

[Bebpo]

Earthbound - When you get to the neon lights wall ;_;

 

[BorkBork]

http://img245.imageshack.us/img245/3825/mapzealgx5.gif
[\thread

Spoiler

...for me at least

]

Yes this blew me away as well. The scenery and the music was perfectly surreal and dreamy.

 

[Amir0x]

Earthbound - When you get to the neon lights wall ;_;

even after all this time for me, same thing

 

[tsef]

- The end of Monkey Island 2
- Intro Movie of Wing Commander 3
- Playing DMC for the first time

 

[jko]

Yes this blew me away as well. The scenery and the music was perfectly surreal and dreamy.

so true, and especially that right before you get there, you are in that chaotic ice-age world below...when you are beamed up, it's like paradise/utopia...serene...

 

[SolidSnakex]

First time playing Mario 64 (the one that stands out the most to me)

The Aumaan fleet battle from ZOE2.

Spoiler

It was the first time i've played a game that actually pulled off one of the massive full screen enemy battles. You go through the entire game with a hand full of enemies on screen and then all of a sudden you're standing in a battle field and you start noticing a bunch of red dots pop up on your radar and you're swarmed by a bunch of mechs. Pulled it off so well because you weren't going through the entire game having to fight that same battle over and over so it had a sense of awe to it that the other games that base an entire game around that concept don't.

The entire Shagohod sequence from MGS3.

The QTE in Shenmue 2 with Ren when you're running through the building handcuffed.

Sonic Adventures opening level. So perfect for the series.

SoTC 5 Colossus

GT5 + DFP