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[NESpowerhouse]

I don't know if it's been mentioned, but the school trip in P4 where you visit the P3 school/dorm was a nice touch.

 

[daTRUballin]

I can't believe (almost) nobody has mentioned Throwback Galaxy in SMG2 yet.

Plenty of people have mentioned it before you. Including me.

 

[dan2026]

The surveillance camera fell off the wall.

 

[EVO]

GTA: San Andreas. Flying back to Liberty City.

 

[petran79]

Revisiting the Darm Tower in Ys

 

[Laieon]

Pokemon Gold and Silver returning you to Kanto.

Yep, best example in this thread by far.

 

[oatmeal]

As a non MGS fan, MGS 4 did amazing things there.

 

[shawnbuddy]

For me it'll always be how Dragon Quest III tied back into Dragon Quest. Blew my mind.

 

[GasProblem]

Pokemon Silver for me. Barely read the internet back then, so I had no idea. I can take the train to Kanto? Uh, sure...Holy shit this is Pokemon Red/Blue!

It was the only time I really had my mind blown in a game. The internet and GAF ruin most surprises now. I need to control myself and not let myself get spoiled

 

[HueyFreeman]

As much as I loved the MGS4 callback, the enemies there were so obnoxious it detracted from the experience.

Maan, i wish that game was available for PS4 Of all the games that have been remastered...

 

[Data West]

Dead Space 2 is the best

 

[xir]

Space Quest 4's sequence was incredibly clever for the time:

You are a good person and the world likes you. I also like when you pull out the VGA fuse and the graphics drop down to EGA.

 

[Drac84]

In Dishonoured 2 when you return to Dunwall Tower and see the Gazebo where Princess Jessamine was killed in the first Dishonoured.

 

[dadjumper]

Yup, MGS4 and Pokemon are the two I came here to say

 

[CAR105 3]

The Pillars of Nosgoth in Soul Reaver 1 and 2

 

[SatoAilDarko]

Super Paper Mario with

Spoiler

THE level 1-1

, specialy HOW

Paper Mario: Color Splash has a version of this as well but with

Spoiler

Super Mario Bros.
3

.

 

[Heartfyre]

Visiting

Spoiler

Gregminster from Suikoden I

in Suikoden II is a big one for me.

 

[GlassBurrito]

I really like this homage to the original Prince of Persia in Sands of Time
Return to Castle Wolfenstain hed the same starting room as Wolf3d
Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories

 

[Beren the Empty-Handed]

Definitely Pokemon. As a kid who poured hundreds of hours into RBY, that moment felt like coming home again.

 

[J_Ark]

Suikoden II did it really great (probably not the best though). The sidequest you get when importing data from the first game is superb, and to say you simply revisit an old location only scratches the surface of what the sidequest adds to the game.

Spoiler

The hero from the first game, Tir McDohl, joins your party and together, you cross the border to the Toran republic, where the first game took place. You can explore the main town, Gregminster, and its castle, both with updated music and graphics. You get to stay at McDohl's house where you get extra scenes of Suiko2 characters interacting with the first game's characters. Later, you can visit and put McDohl in your party whenever you want.

 

[StrategyFan]

witcher 3

Spoiler

kaer morhen

 

[ProgenitorCastle]

Resident Evil Zero. Finding your way into the train/elevator from part 2. That def caught me off guard.

Eeh...wouldn't consider that one the best example of a "location from an older game" nostalgia trip, as cool as it was to see how certain RE2 areas would look like in the REmake art style...mainly because there's only a small small amount of content in it, and you can't even enter the Security Room, which shouldn't have taken that much effort/resources/time to implement it (then again, I'm no expert in game development for commercial companies, so don't how how feasible it could've been)

 

[NipplesAndToes23]

GTA: San Andreas. Flying back to Liberty City.

You think that did it best? That was a quick in and out.

 

[Dusk Golem]

In a very different way, I'd say Silent Hill 3.

You spend the first half of the game out of Silent Hill, and some very emotionally impacting scenes happen right before this with going home and a car drive in the rain, so when you leave the hotel room you stopped at and begin to wander a familiar part of the town from SH2, it's quite a feeling.

And then going back to Brookhaven and the serious twists they put on that location, somewhat preying and subverting your expectations until you stumble on a door that shouldn't exist.

 

[Jimnymebob]

For me, I really got a kick out of

Spoiler

Dark Souls 3

taking you back to

Spoiler

Anor Londo

. Seeing the area almost perfectly enhanced from the original was a beautiful rollercoaster and with playing the game before the news cycle got a hold of it... it literally came out of the blue.



I know it'll make the thread a nightmare to read, but try not to be too egregious with open spoilers. A lot of these are so good just because they're unexpected.

I found

Spoiler

Anor Londo

on Dark Souls 3 to be a bit crap to be honest. The dark woman at Firelink (Yulia was it?) outright tells you to visit Anri at

Spoiler

the Darkmoon Chamber of Anor Londo

before you get there, so the surprise was ruined for me already, and when you get there, it's literally like the last 5% of the level that you get to explore. I like it when games reference old games in a meaningful way, but this just seemed to be going "Hey guys, remember this place?"

 

[McMoneyman]

The surveillance camera fell off the wall.

Hits me in the feels everytime

 

[Cheerilee]

I'm going to suggest Lufia 1&2 on the SNES.

Lufia 1 sort of pulled this effect off in just one game by itself. You start Lufia 1 in a flashback, playing as the previous hero loaded up with high levels and powerful items, as you take on the final dungeon. After you win, the game cuts to the modern hero who is level zero, and over the course of a lengthy RPG you eventually reach the end and challenge the final dungeon again.

Lufia 2 has a unique effect because the game is a prequel, and you play as the hero who was seen in the flashback at the start of the previous game. There's this weird sense of fate or destiny in the game as you climb towards an end that is already known, and when you reach the end of the second game there is a nostalgia for the beginning of the first game, and the location pulled from an older game is unique because it has been exactly pulled from an older game.

 

[Sesuadra]

Pokemon G/S easily. it was so amazing back then.

 

[hotcyder]

I think MGS4 is pretty much King of the Thread - my favourite is Throwback Galaxy for sure though.

 

[lazygecko]

Not the same location in a strict sense, but the first final stage in Mega Man X5 has the same layout as Quick Man's stage from Mega Man 2, complete with the annoying lasers.

 

[basic_text]

Space Quest 4's sequence was incredibly clever for the time:

I love this 'feature'. As a kid I remember inputting LOADS of combinations and ending up in random scenes.

 

[lawnchair]

time to replay every metal gear game.

 

[Nosgotham]

botw lon lon ranch?

 

[Acorn]

MGS4 return to Shadow Moses. Best moment in gaming history.

Plucked my heart strings when I started playing that section. Metal Gear began the year I was born and mgs 1 was one of my child(ish)hood greatest gaming memories. Huge fan ever since, always felt attached to the series.

 

[enzo_gt]

MGS4 is the obvious winner.

It's not the same, but seeing the Halo from the original being reborn in Halo 3 and detonating it was such a fitting end to the trilogy.

 

[Kyzer]

Pokemon Gold and Silver and MGS4 are godly in this respect and oddly enough i consider both to be some of my favorite games of all time

 

[xuchu]

Plucked my heart strings when I started playing that section. Metal Gear began the year I was born and mgs 1 was one of my child(ish)hood greatest gaming memories. Huge fan ever since, always felt attached to the series.

My heart

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D4aUcOOaOFw

 

[Widge]

I mean does FFX-2 count here? Revisiting a world post "big game" was totally new for the series.

Do I remember incorrectly but don't you go back to Liberty City in GTA:SA every so briefly?

 

[Linkark07]

I don't know if it pulled it best for everyone, but for me, in Final Doom Plutonia, there is a secret level that takes you back to Entryway of Doom 2. But this time, it is much more larger and difficult, with Cyberdemons, Heavy Weapon Dudes, Archviles and many others.

 

[Tangled Up in Blue]

Overall I hated MGS4 but that one part was pretty sweet.

This was the first thing I thought of. MGS4 had a LOT of problems, but they absolutely nailed that bit.

As far as recently goes, I would have to say Zelda: BotW

Spoiler

when you make your way through the Lost Woods to the Master Sword's resting place and The Great Deku Tree. Absolutely fantastic callbacks to LttP and Oot.

 

[EGM1966]

MGS4
Gravity Rush 2
Dead Space 2

 

[Markitron]

Another vote for Dead Space 2.

I kept expecting all hell to break loose, and they just keep you waiting and waiting until everything goes to shit. Fuck I wanna play that game right now.

Code Veronica

Are you referring to the the mansion bit? It's really only 2 rooms that bear a passing resemblance to the Spencer Mansion, and it's technically a completely different location as well.

As far as recently goes, I would have to say Zelda: BotW

Spoiler

when you make your way through the Lost Woods to the Master Sword's resting place and The Great Deku Tree. Absolutely fantastic callbacks to LttP and Oot.

That was awesome but the framerate really ruined it on me. Wish I had have gone there after the patch.

 

[Weltall Zero]

Spoiler

Ds3 Anor Londo

is a great example because of the way you came up from behind, too. I remember thinking, "wait, is this...? I think this is...?" and then the title card popping up at the exact moment. Great stuff.

I admit I laughed out loud at the OP's careful attempt to avoid spoling it just to have someone outright say it a couple posts in.

Dancing on the Corpse of the Mother Brain has a bunch of examples. Full disclosure, I wrote it a thousand years ago.

Super Metroid is also my pick, and thanks a lot for the link to your article, it might be old but it's a topic I always love.

 

[Fritz]

I kinda dig what they do with classic race tracks in Mario Kart.

 

[Green Mega Man]

The Pillars of Nosgoth in Soul Reaver 1 and 2

My man. Perfect place for a throne.

 

[13ruce]

Breath of the Wild has alot of these.
-Hyrule Town Ruins.
-Arbiter Grounds.
-Lon Lon Ranch ruins.
-Deku Tree, Lost Woods, Master Sword in pedestal.
-Hyrule Castle
-Gerudo and Sheikah having heir own cool town and society instead of being full thieves or extinct nearly.
-3 skeletons of monsters and the big wise fishes from old games.
-Koroks, Zora, Rito, Goron's.
-Alot of callbacks with music.
-Alot of callbacks reference wise.
-Lots ofcallbacks area/location wise.
-Temple of Time.
-Enemies (Lynels especially)
- BotW is a modern call back to the first Zelda game ever, it eveb started as such in development. They tried to do crazy things in a nes zelda build first and add that to BotW later.

And even more.

 

[AdequateSubject]

Ooh, I just remembered another good one - Borderlands 2!

Spoiler

One of the last areas in the game is the first area from Borderlands 1, the town of Fyrestone with surroundings, but built over by the Hyperion corporation.

 

[Masked Devil]

Dead Space 2 by a mile!

Others,

the town from Castelvania 2 appearing in Rondo of Blood was great:

Leene's Bell in Chrono Cross

 

[Screaming Meat]

MGS4 and going back to 1.

Yeah. That's my pick too.

 

[AndrewDean84xX]

MGS4 return to Shadow Moses. Best moment in gaming history.

This.