Most Notable Moments in Gaming

[Elieson]

When you play a game, you either hate it, like it, love it, or just don't care enough to continue playing, regardless of emotional investment. However, there are games that have their Elements that you just can't forget. Maybe your youth got relived through a nostalgic event. Maybe you just experienced something so innovative and unique that you just had to make a mental note of it.

This thread is about those moments in gaming. This isn't a calling to see what just piqued your interest you in your most loved or despised game, but instead, should focus on what really stuck out to you, that no matter what, you find to be so unorthodox to the norm, that you just can,t break your mind's grip over.

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As simple as it sounds, the one thing that sticks out to me the most in all my years of gaming is the Reel Effect in Earthbound. Taking a fatal blow, but still being able to mash out quick commands in a last ditch effort to save your life by ending the battle is just such a marveled concept. Usually when you are hit, you just die. No dying breath efforts, no last chance. Just, boom 999/999 damage, boom dead.

My close friend and I started a running joke that we'd use when playing games calling for an offense-less bumrush to the endpoint (ala rushing to the elevator in perfect dark, saying screw the damage!) "we almost failed the mission, but thanks to the amazing reel effect, I survived."

I love earthbound, but it isn't my all time favorite game by any means. But, I was raised on it, and the concept of a diminishing health reel was so unheard of, and unrepeated, that I just can't ever forget it, and it is the lone element that has over time, always remained unique to me as my most favorite of all gaming elements.

So, what's yours?

[PKLucas531]

There are so many moments in the Mother/Earthbound series alone that I could never list them all. But I recently finished Mother 1/Earthbound Zero for the first time and I don't think I'll ever forget any of the NPCs just because of how great the dialogue is.

This one in particular just made me fall in love with the game:

[Zkirsche]

Super Mario Galaxy 2's Throwback galaxy (or whatever it's called) left me with my mouth open for a while.

Aside from that I can't really think of many notable events in games. I get that more from anime and tv.

[Icon of Sin]

In recent years that would probably be in Hotline Miami. While the game does have a trial and error nature that makes creating a strategy easy since you just restart at the beginning of a room when you die, the enemies do keep a certain sense of unpredictability since they often go out of their usual patrolling patterns.

Nevertheless, creating a massive one-man rampage against the Russian mafia in neon colors, complete with the map swerving and the 80's influenced music playing through the game is strangely fulfilling. And it is especially rewarding when you combo multiple kills together, while switching weapons midfight between melee and firearms, finishing off the last mobsters alive with your bare hands by bashing them against the floor.

Then the music stops and the dread drone music starts playing and you realize : holy shit, did I just do that? The game really gives an atmosphere that your character is going deeper into insanity, while always being in an altered state while doing his "errands" given to him on his answering machine.

And the sequel is coming this year. And it's going to be glorious.

[Breezy Kanzaki]

So, the first time I was playing the original Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.

I finally beat the final boss, and saw the ending. The ending was so sad, but what happened after is hilarious.

I had the guide, and it said Post Game after beating the final boss. Being the young child I was, I had no idea credits were a thing in games.

So when the credits were rolling, I promptly called the game a cheater and restarted from before fighting the boss.

I did eventually get through the credits!

[blyegg]

The thing that got me into gaming was Pokemon Firered. I saw my cousin play and he surprisingly let me.

Probably what made me like it was it was simple; you can play however you want. You can play casually or train your pokemon as high as you want. I dunno, but it got me into gaming, so it has a place of one of my favorite game ever.

Also, it was funny, because I thought I was so good as a kid, then I was at Champion with only an Articuno left... lawl.

Edited March 9, 2014 by BlueWyvern4

[Aleph]

Everything about Super Mario 64 was revolutionary.

Finally beating Mario Kart 64 and learning that it had a super dramatic end-credits song and sequence.

"Father?!" "Don't ever give up, my son."

Diddy Kong Racing was almost more of an adventure game than a racing game and for that I love it.

Everything about Ocarina of Time was pretty revolutionary too.

Hot Gruntilda from the Game Over sequence of Banjo Kazooie. More Game Over sequences should be this rewarding, haha.

Tooie coming up with an excuse to breathe underwater for exploring Jolly Roger's Lagoon's Atlantis.

The remakes with the Stop 'n' Swop stuff added in oh god

GoldenEye's weirdness letting you do things like fire your gun during cutscenes to hilarious effect. Also Geddan.

Donkey Kong 64's overworld. Hell, any overworld of any game. More games need playable overworlds.

Jet Force Gemini's Big Bug Fun Club. The original "sleazy bar sidequest". Well, maybe not original, but definitely the best.

The Moon being such a big deal and the super violent game over it causes. For that matter, realizing that the Oath to Order was actually just the "puzzle solve" jingle slowed down for dramatic effect. The Astral Observatory. The Bombers' hideout. Fighting the Garo. Watching the Gibdo circle the house from a distance and finding the composer in the cave behind the waterfall all in the same area.

Paper Mario, especially the Dry Dry Desert and Moustafa's mysteries. Bowser's glorious castle with the kick ass final boss music and castle theme that gained more instrumentation as you progressed.

Fighting THE Beastector in its final form. Mischief Maker's super anime style transformations.

Zero Two. The corrupt planet leading to him was pretty spine tingling too.

Mammon. Worth playing through the crapfest that is Quest 64 for him alone, although I did like some of the bosses in Limelin.

The first Mario Party game. Sort of went downhill after that, although 3 is my favourite. That's because 3 plays well, but all of the magic was in the first one.

Throwing apples at Mew back when Pokemon mattered.

The Devil's Arms in Tales of Lloyd. I love New Game Plus mechanics in general and the DAs took it to a new level.

Finding Blue Coins. Yes, I loved Blue Coins. I wish they brought them back. I guess they kind of did with Green Stars. Side note: I think Noki Bay was my favourite stage. It felt like it had more "hidden" in it.

Phendrana Drifts mostly, but Metroid Prime is a damn flawless game overall.

Glitzville and the Excess Express. Mobsters shaking fools down in the background while Goombella rattles her mouth. That catchy tune in the base on the moon.

That feel when Ganondorf pulled out a pair of swords and fought me like a man. Couldn't call him Ganondork anymore after that. Hell, underwater!Hyrule was crazy wonderful throughout. The bigger islands, probably the one with forest dungeon especially, spring to mind. Windfall was okay but flying from one giant island to the other using the leaf is a bigger deal. Oh yeah, finding out that I had my own Cabana and then finding where it actually is was pretty sweet too.

Snake jumping off of a rocket.

Live and Learn blasting in the background while Sonic and Shadow smash into the bioweapon. Any time Fox McCloud said "I've found the bioweapon" or similar

For that matter, Open Your Heart playing when...ever. Sega made a big deal out of having good music for the SA series and it stuck.

Opening any door in Luigi's Mansion.

The Sphere Grid. Blitzball unyuuuuu - FFX had great music and cutscenes, too, perhaps to the point where they could be considered innovative themselves.

Nuts and Bolts. Great game with Banjo and Kazooie in it. It may not be a platformer but it dances about on the ledges of my heart. Love building vehicles and trying them out, but it's fun to just play the game as a platformer too - and I've discovered that it can be.

Hope saying "Hi there". Titan's Trials and reaching the Archylte for the first time. Mostly Hope being badass though. Having Lightning be a voluptuous female lead was pretty sweet.

Also the Deceptisol abuse was awesome; hell I was upset when they changed the encounter system in the sequel and no longer let you see upcoming enemies from any distance, pre-empt them by attacking from behind or prepare for battle by using the sols.

The Sunleth Waterscape and similar places in both games were pretty great; one of them had a Day/Night cycle that affected the spawns too.

Purple Coin challenges, especially the one on the giant 8-bit sprites. Green Stars. That tiny planet in the ending...I think it was the first Galaxy game that had it and you had to do somethin there to finish the game? Skating on the planet you can completely freeze. Those cosmic backgrounds that I later learned (through hacking the game) are centred around the player so you can't ever quite reach them. The music and intergalactic themes from both games. Fiddling around in the overworld of the first one - they should have kept that size and complexity of overworld.

Philistine, Pleather for Breakfast and the bosses you fight while hearing those songs. Also Holly Summers. Hell, No More Heroes is a fairly wild concept in general.

Tadnotes.

"I am the morning sun" and using Dominus to blow Dracula away - Shanoa supposedly lost her emotions but had more than most Casltevania characters. Seeing Dracula march around in a non standard pattern. Hearing the best version of An Empty Tome upon reaching the part of the castle that plays it - hell, uncovering that castle after a whole game of tiny stages prior.

The Lost Village and futuristic variations of the legendary Castle of Dracula. The Garden of Madness and all of its lush foliage, not to mention the 3D background abuse because Nintendo's early game for a console are always about showing off. The return of Aria's Dance Hall as the Demon Guest House.

Aria of Sorrow's art style.

Dark Armors in the Observation Tower and hearing the kick ass tune in the background while they fire stuff at you out of their swords.

The final battle with Cackletta.

Seeing Nightmare's face melt off.

Everything about Laguna. Rinoa floating away in space while everyone freaks the fuck out. The entire final boss fight with Ultimecia.

Sephiroth was only fun in his final form but damn was it memorable. The bombing mission at the beginning was, too, because of how the opening flowed into it so smoothly. Only other thing that really stands out from the rest of the game were the scenes leading up Aerith getting killed (the scene itself was decently animated and memorable but that creepy music and city they were in was more memorable to me) and that scene that showed I guess like a flashback of Sephiroth rampaging through Tifa's hometown.

Zidane losing his mind. Necron. Garnet singing. There's a particular time toward the end of the game that sticks out, I think, but I don't remember.

Hearing Duke Nukem say any of his quotes in DN3D.

Finally figuring out how to return Tarin to normal (what? I was a dumb kid at the time). Reviving the Rooster. Navigating the egg. Awakening the Wind Fish.

Navigating Subrosia. Using the various "passwords". The Oracle games had great music, too.

The Star Maze.

All the weird secrets in the GameBoy Camera.

Watching Bowser dump giant bowling balls out of his tiny Clown Car.

Rustling K. Rool's jimmies at the end of the first DKC and having the fake credits roll seamlessly after the fight.

Edited March 9, 2014 by Izayoi

[Raven]

Nothing in gaming has hit me harder than Chopper's death in Ace Combat 5. The whole game's a masterpiece.

[peener weener]

When you fucking enter the kiln and gwyn's theme starts playing, a flurry of fucking emotions man

[BrightBow]

The red route of StarFox 64.

I saw this part first when I was with a friend. He failed countless times to beat the Star Wolf team.

When I got my own N64, I was quite tense at that point. Especially since I didn't know anything about the rules of the end sequence.

Can the flames behind me hurt me? Do I have to use the boaster or is James using his own to keep the lead? What happens when I take a wrong turn?

I had no time to ponder about these questions because I was on my last life.

When I finally made it, I was so exited I tried calling said friend. Thankfully I didn't reach him, so that saved me from that embarrassment.

Mario Party

I pretty much was on a sugar high from Bowser stealing the stars until I got my stuff back. That music on the Eternal Star got me so pumped that I constantly quoted Falco's "Time for a little Payback" for some reason. That was a nice evening.

The showdown at the Jupiter Lighthouse in Golden Sun TLA.

I was so captivated by that part, I must have replayed it dozens of times. Fun fact: If you somehow manage to get the party wiped out in only one turn, the remaining reinforcements will show up immediately like if you had taken two.

Also, Doom Dragon's Djinn Storm. I must have made a pretty funny face when I truly realized what just happened.

It's pretty cool for a final boss to throw you off your game like that.

And I was kinda disappointed that Camelot did absolutely nothing to prevent the player from killing of Isaac and Garet in Dark Dawn by taking advantage of the fact that the boss can only be finished with an attack of Matthew and Karis.

All that happens is that their standing animation freezes. What a letdown.

The ending of the human campaign in WarCraft III. Keep in mind, I was playing the English version, so I had absolutely no idea what was going on.

While I was paranoid enough to expect something like that, seeing Ashnard actually make use of his 10 Move in Path of Radiance nevertheless quite the sight. Berserk Ashnard however was really no surprise because of the suspicious absence of the ominous Dark God during the game's showdown and a certain seemingly unused track in the sound test. Turns out I was right to expect another boss but for the wrong reasons.

Also, the Black Knight in chapter 11. It's bad enough to see that guy showing up out of nowhere. But the first time, I just so happened to have parked Ike exactly 8 spaces away from him.

For Radiant Dawn, it was neat to see how many of my observations proved correct.

My guesses on the identities of BK and Bertram were correct, Sothe and his mystery friend were indeed protagonists and the massive red nation with Dragon Knights which just so happens to be in the possession of the song that releases the dark god turned out to be an antagonist faction... well, according to the cover at least. Conservation of detail is truly helpful.

For Awakening, there are a lot of moments that will haunt me forever. But what really broke me was chapter 23.

It just didn't seem possible that someone at IS could disrespect it's audience so much that they wrote something so shamelessly and transparently stupid. As if pilling bullshit upon bullshit upon bullshit upon bullshit would somehow make it impossible to notice that there is a big pile of bullshit in front of you.

I even restarted my 3DS and changed the language to English because even after going through the whole game this part simply had to be something that the translators screwed up.

I will not forget about that shiny Ho-oh in Pokemon Silver. I just had to restart in order to figure out what was different this time for this to happen rather then just using the Master Ball.

And of course, I was quite happy when I realized that the new map was not just for show and I was indeed going to explore the entire Kanto region.

Edited March 10, 2014 by BrightBow