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[TheAssist]

There is a ton of course, but I think the one that changed my perspective on games the most was after beating the first bombing run in FF7. Up until this point it was kinda like a lot of other games I knew. Little bit of story, nothing much, superficial character development and everything was just moving along. And then the story began and I was like "Wait, games have stories? And real character development? And whats this whole world building thing??". For my 11 year old brain this was like a complete revelation. I havent played a RPG, let alone a JRPG up to this point and I was completely floored by this pure concept.
It was the first time I felt like inhabiting this world and going on an adventure with my friends. Sort of like the promise of pokemon, but those games never quite delivered on this front.

 

[In Your Vase]

Pitchford losing his composure at PAX when the Borderlands 3 demo ended up being fubared.

 

[Concern]

Seeing the milo kinect e3 demo and thinking "what in the fuck is this garbage?"

 

[nkarafo]

First time i saw DOOM in late 1993, when the game was brand new. On a friend's 486, so it was running at great speed too.

That day, every other videogame i ever saw or played, including state of the art arcade games, were completely erased from my mind. It was all about DOOM.

 

[Jaybe]

Abby's sex scene though I wish I could forget.

In all seriousness though and in the spirit of your post: RDR2's House Building Theme scene truly and memorably hit my feels given what we know later happens there.

 

[ShadowNate]

Bullet time in Max Payne

Time Rewind in Prince of Persia - Sands of Time

 

[Come On Tars]

Christmas morning taking turns playing Ocarina of time.

 

[regawdless]

Resident Evil 1 - first Zombie encounter

So creepy.

Zelda OoT - first Ride through the world

 

[ShadowNate]

Also:

Driving around in GTA & GTA 2, listening to "radio" music and... running over everyone.

Same with GTA III, but when raining.

System Shock 2, *the thing* that happens, that Bioshock pretty much repeated.

The Chronicles of Riddick, being amazed with how good it looked for its time, especially the characters models.

When you figure out *the thing* in the Witness.

 

[RJMacready73]

Flat out on the bumbles at a house party and someone stuck on Wipeout on his new PS1 and played it through his sound system... Needless to say we all went WTF is that and played it right though to Sunday nite

 

[R6Rider]

First time seeing NFS Underground on the demo units in stores. People were lined up to play it.

The first time I saw Assassin's Creed on the PS3 in 2008. I had gotten the system and that game for Xmas gifts.

When I first played Morrowind and it's one of my favorite games to this day.

LOTS of moments with friends online in Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

Playing NASCAR 99 with the steering wheel with my dad.

My mom playing several PSVR games. Her first time playing any video game since Ms. Pacman.

 

[GrayDock]

My young self couldn't believe that cut scene...

 

[Fahdis]

That's a great one! It was my 1st WRPG. It made that genre and Bethesda my favorites by far and made me hate JRPGs after experiencing that game.

Mine too. JRPG's didn't feel special anymore. I played Oblivion for months. I'd say I still have to play it at some point on Xbox because of the achievements.

 

[KiNeMz]

Nier Automata ending.

 

[CatLady]

Mine too. JRPG's didn't feel special anymore. I played Oblivion for months. I'd say I still have to play it at some point on Xbox because of the achievements.

Do it! I played it once again last year on the X1X and it was amazing. It's probably even better on the Series X. No more loading or fps drops/stuttering and it still had all the beauty, charm and magic of my first 360 play through. I don't chase achievements but I have 100% of them including the DLC ones for Oblivion.

 

[Troozi]

Wow! There are so many I could pick, but looking back, these few stand out.

Donkey Kong Country on the SNES. There was just something awesome about it. A lot of my friends gravitated towards Mario etc, but I love the look, the music, the level variety.

Goldeneye - I know it wasn't the first FPS, but it was one that pulled me in, and I remember playing until I unlocked every cheat. I knew those levels inside out, and when I was younger I used to draw out levels and imagine how I would expand them.

FF7 - Firstly I was blown away by seeing the size of midgar, then exploring the city and imagining what all the other sectors looked like, and of course... the end of disc 1 was something unforgettable.

Alien Isolation - My favourite game of last gen. I love horror games, and I'm a massive fan of Alien. I felt like they absolutely nailed the vibe of the first film, and the fear of trying to survive/hide from the xenomorph. You knew there was no way to kill it, it was all about survival.

 

[spookyfish]

The music change in Resident Evil 4 when the Ganados became aware of you and started chasing you.

Street Fighter II’s main theme.

 

[TonyK]

Last part of Inside.
Ending of Yakuza 6.
Entering alien installation in Half Life 2.
So many moments to enumerate.

 

[Esca]

Resident evil. First dog encounter, going down the hallway and the dog jumps through the window behind you. Made me jump, only time a game ever got me to jump. Remember it so well getting that game on release

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Many mentioned in this thread are also unforgettable moments for me. So, another big highlight for me:

I was a huge fan of this fighting game franchise:

And also a huge fan of this Saturday morning cartoon:

Video game moment: WAIT, YOU'RE TELLING ME THAT THERE'S AN UPCOMING GAME THAT WILL COMBINE THAT FIGHTING GAME, WITH THOSE COMICS!?

Me:

 

[Fahdis]

Do it! I played it once again last year on the X1X and it was amazing. It's probably even better on the Series X. No more loading or fps drops/stuttering and it still had all the beauty, charm and magic of my first 360 play through. I don't chase achievements but I have 100% of them including the DLC ones for Oblivion.

In order to do this someday, I will have to get a really cheap series X. I personally can't wait to go back to Tamriel and the Imperial City in Oblivion again. I just wish there were less Oblivion gates.

 

[InfiniteCombo]

Another moment -- Tekken 2, when I first saw Kazuya transforming into Devil. And the soundtrack that plays is a more mellow (almost sad?) version of Kazuya's theme ("Emotionless Passion"). And the hall of mirrors. My mind was blown.

 

[Bartski]

There are so many, two off the top of my head last gen:

Somehow I managed to play God of War 2018 totally blind only seeing the first E3 gameplay prior and the whole sequence when Kratos returns home to get the you-know-what absolutely blew my mind. I was literally like I LIVE FOR THIS SHIT.

I'll never forget the feeling of beating Genichiro in Sekiro after ~6 hours of failing

 

[EruditeHobo]

Mario 64:
The initial load into the castle courtyard, the camera flight around the environment, then taking control of Mario.
The first time diving underwater into the first underwater level, hearing the music change when going beneath the surface... magical.

Unreal Tournament:
Flag cap to win an important, closely contested clan match. Might as well have hit a 3 to win the NBA finals, at least according to how I felt at the time.

WOW:
One of the first online betas, getting to the first contested area south of Darkshore and engaging in PvP. Mostly amounted to doing corpse runs... but even that was addictive in a way almost no game ever has been.

FF6:
Celes, picking up the pieces in the completely reformed world.

Xenogears:
The reveal, I don't even remember how many hours into the game, of the spaceship from the intro... stunning.
The entire ending is so epically great, it's hard to call it a "moment", but deserving of mention.

Grim Fandango:
The reveal of Manny owning his own club, and getting to explore the club a little bit before moving on with the story... incredible because it's such a shift from the previous chapter, as I remember it, just made me think there was nowhere the game couldn't go.

TIE Fighter:
Escorting the Emperor mission... might have been the final mission in the game? Great blend of the cinematic story with gameplay.

Doom 2:
First experience playing over a modem, against a friend. The funny thing is I remember setting it up more than actually playing, wrapping my young head around how it worked. From then to now it's been an absolute revolution in gaming, and communication in general.

 

[Yamisan]

Sephiroth dropping down out of no where and just impaling Aerith ;(

 

[Reality Czar]

Super Mario Bros. Seeing that scrolling was mind blowing. Plus that big blue sky. Til then videogames were only ever single-screen games with a black background.

Also Wolfenstein 3D and DOOM. Both game demos came on a single 3.5" floppy disk. Both played in 60fps. This was on MS-DOS. It's hard to understand now but gaming on PC in the 80s was not a very fun thing to do especially with action games. iD Software are true wizards.

 

[RaySoft]

 

[Torrent of Pork]

Feeling like such a badass after killing my first dragon in Skyrim that I got uppity with a giant.

My sides followed my corpse into orbit.

 

[Azelover]

In Zelda: Ocarina of Time, when I walked out of Kokiri Town, and into Hyrule Field.

That one was quite something at the time.

 

[spawn]

God of war 2 ending. I was hyped for years waiting for god of war 3. It didn't disappoint. Beginning of Last of Us 1 when Joel's daughter died. That was emotional.

 

[En Sama]

Loads that have already been mentioned but one that I remember as being a wow moment for me was leaving the vault in Fallout 3 and the light adjusts as you look out over the wasteland. Loved that.

 

[molasar]

Seeing Killer Instinct Arcade in 1994. No other game for its time impressed me on the same level.

 

[DansDans]

I worked in an arcade from 1999 - 2007, so saw some pretty amazing stuff

But the bit that I'll never forget, you'll all laugh..

When we installed Capcom VS SNK - two massive fighting game franchises/developers teaming up to make an awesome fight game

Yes please

 

[Kumomeme]

first time encounter Suicune in pokemon crystal
also first time fighting Ho-oh after capture all the 3 legendary.

 

[It's all in the wrist]

There are simply to many, but recently, the ending of TLoU2.

Spoiler: Ending

Ellie letting Abby go, the feral nature of that fight, Ellie sobbing on the floor...it was so impactful. And then the comments by Joel at the end, which really made me feel like he was at peace before he died. Great ending.

On an entirely different note, the new donk city festival level in Mario Odyssey. Shed a tear, no lie.

 

[Roni]

While playing the Medal of Honor reboot, the moment you're surrounded and captured. Random game and random moment, but it stuck with me...

 

[Dusktildawn48]

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

Pretty crazy remembering stuff like this. I can tell you the very first map I played in Halo 2, Waterworks. The first map I played in the Halo 3 beta, high ground. I have so many amazing memories of bungies Halo games. The first time I hit level 50 in Halo 3 MP was on Guardian playing with a friend in 2v2. We literally tied the other team and it ranked me up to 50.

 

[swaffles23]

First time playing Ultima Online at my friend's house. Blew my mind and was hooked for years.

They don't make games like that anymore.

 

[CitizenZ]

Hacking PCs and 360's, good times.

 

[intbal]

I don't have my own photo, but everyone of sufficient age will understand.

 

[reektann]

Connecting to a random IP address found on a website in 1996 in Quake and seeing another quake guy run past a doorway then realising that was another person in real time somewhere in the world.

 

[balls of snow]

The ending of mgs 3. Kojima is a god tier dev.

 

[Pejo]

• Leaving Midgar in FF7 and realizing that there was an entire world that you hadn't explored yet.
• Psycho Mantis fight in MGS
• Eternal Darkness (pick a part)
• Astro Bot VR water or ghost levels.
• FF4 turning into a Paladin and descending the mountain kicking ass
• TMNT Arcade game in the actual arcade with a stomach full of pizza and 3 friends
• Enjoying the story of Being a DIK more than 90% of current gen AAA stories
• Panzer Dragoon Zwei at the first evolution
• Jehuty vs. Anubis final battle in Zone of the Enders 2

Despite what it's mostly become, I really do like gaming and have a ton of fond memories of the hobby.

 

[UnNamed]

Ridge Racer for PSX. Arcade machines in your home. The moment everything has changed.

 

[Cob32]

Making the journey and arriving in Jeuno in ffxi.

 

[T4rz4]

Playing the first Call of duty expansion: United offensive.
At the end of the first campaign part, you have to defend a house from the enemy. It's hard (or at least I rememeber it hard) and when everithing seems lost you begin to hear the incredible orchestral Giacchino soundtrack and you know everithing it's going to be alright.

 

[mxbison]

Too many to list, but most recently it was:

• Astro Bot VR: Game loads and suddenly your inside this colorful, beautiful world. Mindblowing.
• Half-Life Alyx: Picked up a box, turned it upside down and dumped all the stuff on the table, some Ammo in there, nice. Then it hit me like "Holy shit, this is a video game".

 

[BlackTron]

Every time a question like this is asked, my mind instantly jumps back to the same thing. Standing in a Kay Bee Toys and seeing Super Mario 64 running on a demo kiosk for the first time, watching the intro sequence with Peach's cake letter and latiku panning around the castle.

I can't remember ANY other moment in gaming that made me feel such disbelief, such shock, such an almost paralyzing excitement. Honorable mentions:

TMNT and Simpsons in the arcade (thanks Konami, also bye.)

Starcraft 1 basement LANS

PSO1 on dreamcast, basically the entire first month of playing, magical times

Ocarina of Time -for many, seeing Hyrule Field was this epochal event, but what I remember more vividly was Sheik telling me to head to Death Mountain. It was in that moment I realized this game had much adventure hidden "behind the scenes" and that there would be a LOT to do -it gave me a feeling I've been looking for in Zelda ever since. I also remember (bless my heart) realizing that collecting all 3 stones wasn't the end of the game -LINK GREW UP AND THE GAME KEPT GOING. I was a kid, and this was like megaton. My sister who had been watching me play, also lost it when this happened. God I was stuck at the Forest Temple for so long lol.

Green Hill Zone on Genesis and Emerald Coast on DC were both about equally impressive for their time, and made me feel about equally excited to play for the first time as well. I remember where I was when I first played both.

 

[Red Rackham's Revenge]

I really like the field burning mission in Far Cry 3 and the "Last Night" quest in Skyrim

Going to the midnight launch for GTA IV and playing multiplayer with friends for the first time

The campfire intro for FFX and the water scene were pretty feels

Adding the ending for Red Dead Redemption

 

[JimmyRustler]

Playing RE4 for the first will forever remain with me. Such a great experiance.

I even remember the exact moment I said to myself "please don't end" when playing it. It was after the truck driving sequence with Ashley.