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[DonJorginho]

Video Games are a very powerful medium, they're capable of making one feel a wide variety of emotions and imprinting memories on the user that they'll never forget. You could say the same about a song that sparks a specific memory in you or a scene in a film that stays with you forever, but I believe Video Games are so much more special.

The fact that as a medium games are so vivid in how they always place you in the drivers seat, you aren't listening to a set song that has already been written and produced into one way, you aren't watching a film that always will follow the same structure with you as a mere observer, you are actually experiencing it all directly and gaining a vastly more memorable and emotional connection with said game. And whilst it is true that games too can follow a set structure and in some cases like a David Cage game you are for the most part literally watching it like a film, I believe Gaming is truly unique in how you can experience things and realise dreams you never thought were possible.

This forum is built off the widespread admiration for this medium and I think we can all agree on how special games are, I would love to know from some of my fellow Gaffers what moment/moments in your life time playing video games will stay with you forever and mean so much to you always, it can be a level/stage you adored, a character you fell in love with, a narrative that encapsulated you or a ending that left your mouth agape, in a time where there seems to be so much discourse between people over their gaming preferences, I think to be able to just reflect on what makes us love this art form so much would be nice.

So my friends, what moment and/or moments in Gaming will you never forget?

 

[Life]

Finding a secret shortcut in Super Mario on the NES - for the first time ever. I was 4.

 

[Nyxir]

Brothers a tale of two. That part.
Never thought I would experience emotions and storytelling through gameplay.

 

[Mr.ODST]

Playing a Halo 2 match for the first time or playing my first match of Counter-Strike 1.5 on PC

 

[Methos#1975]

Starting up the Genesis I got for Xmas and hearing "Rise from your grave" for the 1st time. It was amazing stuff back then.

 

[smart_brazileiro]

The QuickTime knifefight with Krauser. Resident Evil 4 - GameCube.

 

[Nyxir]

Playing a Halo 2 match for the first time or playing my first match of Counter-Strike 1.5 on PC

Oooh thats a good one.
Didn’t own a pc. One day stepped into internet cafe and the rest was history.

 

[Ellery]

Final Fantasy VIII is one of those games for me that holds hundreds of those moments and it basically starts with the intro



A lot of great moments in this game is accompanied by amazing music. In my opinion the best OST any game has ever seen.
I could list 10 more scenes like the dance scene, balamb garden being under attack etc. What a fantastic game with such an enjoyable journey/adventure and many unforgettable memories.

A more recent pick would be this scene in The Last of Us Part II. An immensely impactful scene.

 

[nush]

Seeing Virtua Fighter 2 for the first time in the arcade and thinking graphics could not get any better. I'm so happy to have been shown that opinion was wrong.

 

[Xyphie]

Super Mario 64 - Playing it for the first time felt like stepping onto the holodeck back in the day after gaming on the SNES. I don't think we'll have another massive incremental leap like that again in my lifetime.

 

[TintoConCasera]

I think the best ones were as a kid.

Watching one of my bros play Ocarina of Time for the first time. I was like 6 or 7 years old and I almost shit my pants with the atmosphere inside the Deku Tree. Kinda silly when you think about it today but back then it was really that amazing and scary.

Also those nights playing Perfect Dark or Smash Bros in multiplayer with my other bro. Good times.

 

[Max_Po]

Halo 2.... my friend talking how great it is and then invited me to play...

and rekt my butthole .... I could not get a single kill on them....


Single player: Snake jumping off hudson river bridge... the whole MGS2 opening give me goosebumps

 

[ManaByte]

1998

 

[reforen]

Pressing Start in Mario Bros NES

One of my favorites is the nuclear explosion in CoD4

 

[Orta]

Boring but the jump in frame rate & resolution when I fired up my first ever pc game after playing consoles for about fifteen years. 97 I think it was and the game was Quake. I had the Saturn version so an ever so slight difference between the two. If memory serves me correctly I think I was able to run it at 1152 x 864.

 

[DGrayson]

Probably the whole intro sequence with the rain in Link to the Past.

 

[sublimit]

Back in 1997 when i accidentally watched footage on tv of the first Tomb Raider. To be able to explore 3D environments with those graphics blew my mind back then.

It was a period that i had stopped caring about video games but that footage (and my first time playing a TR game with TR2) made me really appreciate games for the first time.

 

[SinDelta]

Ocarina of Time - Sheik is Zelda. Ascending Ganon's tower to rescue Zelda as the theme intensifies. Ganondorf transforming into a even worse nightmare.
Twilight Princess - Midna. The revelations at the top of Arbiter's Ground.
Link Between Worlds -

Spoiler: Spoilers

Link and Zelda make a wish.

Breath of the Wild - Coming out of the cave and seeing the expanse of Hyrule before you. First time Guardian locks on. Seeing the divine beasts fire.
Age of Mythology -

Spoiler: Spoilers

Invading Atlantis to stop the release of Chronos.

Chrono Trigger - When they see the recording of Lavos destroying the world, and you suddenly realize how big the stakes get.
Kotor -

Spoiler: Spoilers

You are Darth Revan. Choosing to save the galaxy and Bastila.

Jade Empire

Spoiler: Spoiler

Your Master trained an opening in your martial arts so he could kill you under certain circumstances.

Mass Effect 1 - Illos. Saving the council. Cavalry has arrived indeed.
Mass Effect 2 - The dead Reaper. The Suicide Mission. Confronting the Shadow Broker.
Bioshock -

Spoiler: Spoilers

"Would you kindly?"

Bioshock 2 -

Spoiler: Spoilers

Elizabeth puts on a big sister suit.

The World Ends with You -

Spoiler: Spoiler

Someone is not who they say they are. There's even a blurry photo of their true self.

Ghost Trick

Spoiler: Spoiler

The submarine. Also a old dog can learn new tricks.

Ace Combat 7 -

Spoiler: Spoilers

Taking down the Arsonal Birds.

Dragon Age Origins - The bantor. Why mages have templars as you enter the tower filled with their mutated living flesh. How darkspawn are made.
Dead Space 2 - Failing the eye test, the Church, the School, returning to the Ishimura."FUCK YOU AND FUCK YOUR MARKER!"
Dragon's Crown Pro - The adventure
Odin Sphere Leifthrasir - Gwendolyn fighting through hel to rescue her beloved.

Spoiler: Spoiler

Ragnarok. Mercedes sacrificing herself to stop Onyx.

13 Sentinels Aegis Rim - All of it.

 

[Inviusx]

Being deep in the YTMND community when 599 US DOLLARS and Giant Enemy Crab broke.

It was honestly the best time to be in a weird niche community creating hilarious OC.

 

[etp_1]

Launch of SNES and N64 and gaming as a whole in general back then felt like magic for me...might be just a thought of innocence, being in the youth and some nostalgia.
As of a specific moment there are several, like playing the Super Mario Series on NES with my best friend back then, or at the launch of SNES and N64 playing the Mario games or getting a Wheel (G25) to play Test Drive Unlimited and GT4 was a wow moment, too.

 

[MudoSkills]

The immense hype around RE4. My household had only relatively recently got home broadband rather than dial-up, and it's when I first got interested in gaming forums.

I decided to import the copy of Weekly Famitsu that came with an exclusive demo, and I played the absolute hell out of it.

The only other demo that got me that excited/that much replay value was the MGS 2 tanker.

Part of me misses demo disks.

 

[amigastar]

Listening to K-Jah in GTA 3 and cruising around in the rain, magical.
Made me fall in love with Dub music.

 

[Sander Cohen]

Watching MGS 2 intro for the first time as a kid. It was transcendental experience.

Doing Dead Space 2 three save run and returning to Ishimura, yes.

RDR 1 ending and many moments in RDR 2 (all spoilers so won’t mention here, you know them).

Riding or driving in the desert in GTA San Andreas listening to K-Rose.

FF X ending (as a kid), I teared up.

 

[MeteorVII]

If you know, you know...

Other moments I’ll never forget:

— the journey to Mexico in Red Dead Redemption

— first random dragon appearance in a town in Skyrim

— GTA IV‘s intro

— Assassin’s Creed 2’s intro

— leaving Kokiri Forest in Zelda: Ocarina of Time

— playing as Mickey Mouse in Kingdom Hearts 2

— exploring Andy’s House from Toy Box in Kingdom Hearts 3

— Woodside Apartments in Silent Hill 2

— first time entering Hogwarts in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

— Ifrit boss fight in Final Fantasy XV

— experiencing Midgar in its full glory in Chapter 3 of Final Fantasy VII Remake

— staying up all night trying to beat Yaldabaoth in Persona 5

 

[Mr.ODST]

Oooh thats a good one.
Didn’t own a pc. One day stepped into internet cafe and the rest was history.

Then the addiction started with Online gaming :'(

Favourite moment was Clan Playlists in Halo 2

 

[sadmaker]

Walked into a buddy's house in 1999, he was playing NFL 2k on DC. I looked at the tv and the game panned out to a shot of candlestick park in San Francisco. I thought I I was watching a live football game

 

[saintjules]

So many to choose from. Hitting start on Super Mario World, seeing Cloud's Braver for the first time in FFVII and playing Sonic and Knuckles for the first time.

 

[TLZ]

Not the games, but when my dad bought me the Famicom. A moment I'll never forget.

I have a Famicom keychain to always remind me of it.

 

[Arkam]

 

[Little Chicken]

Emerging from the sewers at the beginning of TES: Oblivion. I think that's a pretty popular one, too.

 

[fart town usa]

Too many to count.

Playing Mario 64 for the first time. OOT, Resident Evil 96, Phantasy Star Online, ZombiU, RE2 Remake, FF7 remake. I could go on and on.

 

[Arachnid]

The coolest shit I'd ever seen in a video game at the time. Blew me away

 

[Wunray]

Pulling the master sword out of the pedestal in OoT.

The first act of xenoblade chronicles.

The 1000 heartless battle in kh2

Going online for the for the first time on ps2

Beating eternal ring on the ps2

Persona 4, all of it.

The final fight with ganon in twilight princess.

All of BoTW.

 

[futurama78]

The N64 mario ads for the epic 3D open

 

[Maine84]

When me and my brother beat streets of rage 2 for the first time..... Memories

 

[namekuseijin]

several

I still remind my awe as a kid at the novelty of interacting with objects on screen in the early 80s!

the transition from atari stick figures to "textured" tiles and sprites. My first nextgen jump.

the speed and loops of Sonic.

figuring out I could explore secret areas in Super Metroid by bombing myself up.

seeing 3D polygonal games for the first time.

FFVII, MGS and OoT

Shadow of the Colossus open world and unfathomably big bosses

being inside games in VR and checking the true scale of game worlds

 

[Kuranghi]

I have a bunch from when I was a kid but those are more having your horizons expanded generally as a human.

If we are talking about being surprised after having played for years its The Witness, finding the secret puzzles was a truly magical experience where I just never expected the gameplay to extend in that way.

 

[FatboyTim]

Beating Mangar for the first time, in The Bard's Tale: Tales of the Unknown.

That T-Rex moment in Tomb Raider (PS1.)

My first round online in a PC FPS (Team Fortress Classic over dial-up.)

Our guild's first Onyxia kill in vanilla WoW.

 

[alabtrosMyster]

The beginning of the 16-bit generation, how impressed I was with the Genesis and tg-16 coming from the NES.

R-type
Blazing lazers

Ghouls n' Ghost
Golden axe
Super Shinobi
Thunder force III
Gaiares

Then the CD add-ons!

 

[lughnasadh123]

In no order:

-The scale of EverQuest.

-The bloody, pixelated violence of Doom on the SNES.

-The even bloodier violence of point-blank shot gunning off a Zombie's head in Resident Evil.

-The surprising (and some not so much) deaths of certain characters.

-Beating my first raid boss in WoW.

-Playing PacMan on the mini-arcade decades ago with my sis.

The list just goes on and on.

 

[bumleforce]

the opening of final fantasy 7 on ps1.
finding out your main character is also one ofthe villans in xenogears. I was young and didn't know what an ID was.
Cortana dieing in halo 4
KOTOR the end.
also my first raid in wow or just wow in general.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I went from playing Sega Genesis games straight to this when I was 10.

 

[Pantz]

Final Fantasy VII - FMV of Junon cannon firing was the coolest thing ever.

Counter-Strike - Seeing the green $ money go up after getting a kill. Baby's first dopamine.

Red Alert - Seeing the little troops go inside the APC and then letting them out again after driving around.

EverQuest - Interacting with first online game stranger, some random troll in the swamp. They were actually really friendly and helped me learn the basics and pointed me in the right direction. (Too many other stories from this to list).

No Man's Sky - Leaving the planet and flying to another. I was amazed with the game even at launch.

Call of Duty on Xbox 360 before private voice chat - It was the wild west of voice chat. If you had thick skin it was pretty entertaining. Sorry to those who were actually damaged by it =/

Dominion, a League of Legends game mode - Basically domination mode. It was so much fun, I played thousands of matches. It was the best game to play drunk too. Always doing off-meta strats that actually worked. Then in 2016 they removed the mode. RIP. I can still close my eyes and play the start of a match out in my head.

 

[Crimson Adventurer]

There’s so many to choose from, but I’ve condensed them to two.

Passing the first LEGO Batman game that came out for the DS. It’s an odd choice to mention, but it’s genuinely the first game I beaten by myself with no help. Gave me the strength to do it again with other games I had.

A more recent one was actually finding the secret crimson flower path in Fire Emblem Three Houses without even knowing it existed. Due to that I always crack a smile when I see the Black Eagles.

 

[Schmick]

Pushing the number 4 button on the Virtua Racing arcade game for the first time and being take into an external view high above the car!

 

[FranXico]

Sonic 2 - Sonic running faster than the scrolling speed in Chemical Plant Zone.

 

[Zheph]

Spoiler: FF7

 

[Elder Legend]

Getting to Irithryll for the first time in Dark Souls 3 by a small cliff overlooking the bridge and the cathedral.

I froze and dropped my controller on the floor. NO ONE does better sense of scale than From Software fight me.

 

[Valentino]

"Next stop, New Devon"



Don't think I see this games name get flung around here at all, but Tomb Raider Underworlds ending put my heart in my throat




When the music starts playing here

 

[Alan Wake]

Brothers a tale of two. That part.
Never thought I would experience emotions and storytelling through gameplay.

That was very special indeed.