Author Topic: Favourite Game Openings (Read 3978 times)

The Boston Crab · « **on:** July 19, 2019, 07:23:28 AM »

I'm a bit obsessed with FF7 at the moment but having recently played it to completion and restarted it on the PS Classic, that opening with the swirling stars, then Aeris appearing from the shadows and the echoing footsteps as the first few notes twinkle and then the camera panning out through the streets and LOVELESS and then up through Midgar as the music swells to the triumphant fanfare of the title card and then slowly swooping back down with quick close cuts to the train and then we see it pulling into the station and the music switches and it's DUB-BA-DA-DUB-BA-DA and we see the lads jump off before Cloud does a backflip and we are in the thick of it.

Absolutely sensational start to a game and an amazing use of cinematics.

What about you guys?

Shoulders?-Stomach! · « **Reply #1 on:** July 19, 2019, 07:36:35 AM »

Minesweeper

Grey grid mate

What about that, you scared

madhair60 · « **Reply #2 on:** July 19, 2019, 08:05:22 AM »

R-Type 3, R-9 bootup sequence, protracted zoom-out cross-section of ship, settling into an excellent SNES remix of the original R-Type stage one theme

Shoulders?-Stomach! · « **Reply #3 on:** July 19, 2019, 08:13:09 AM »

Not sure what version of Minesweeper that was but I'm talking about the original mate, type uno, edition 1.

NoSleep · « **Reply #4 on:** July 19, 2019, 08:15:23 AM »

Quote from: The Boston Crab on July 19, 2019, 07:23:28 AM

that opening with the swirling stars

Can't think of a better game intro than FFVII. Those "stars" are some sort of Mako leak that Aeris is observing when we first see her, or a perhaps a vision that the leak is evoking. It's our first inkling that something is different about Aeris.

Final Fantasy Tactics has a pretty good set-up at the intro (not so dramatic with the CGI, though); a flash-forward to a point in the game where some key figures meet together in different circumstances to how things are when the game starts proper.

Ico and Shadow Of The Colossus have beautiful intros.

Mister Six · « **Reply #5 on:** July 19, 2019, 08:16:55 AM »

Intro to the original Borderlands. Perfect meshing of music, cool and comic timing. Skip to 1.30 as the backstory with the Strong Bad voiceover is a bit naff: https://youtu.be/pe4d6aPhbHo

Bazooka · « **Reply #6 on:** July 19, 2019, 09:47:12 AM »

Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Resident Evil 2 throws you straight in, any survival horror of that era. Ocarina of Time obviously.

Absorb the anus burn · « **Reply #7 on:** July 19, 2019, 09:52:10 AM »

The bit in Ludo when you take it out of the box.

lazarou · « **Reply #8 on:** July 19, 2019, 10:04:08 AM »

Every episode of Tales From The Borderlands, but especially 3 and 5. They lose a lot when viewed by themselves, but in the context of the game they do an amazing job setting the scene and tone for each new episode.

kidney · « **Reply #9 on:** July 19, 2019, 12:08:29 PM »

The opening of Lisa The Painful before you meet Terry. So much good stuff packed into a little 5 minute intro, from Brad's drug-induced flashback to his awful childhood, to finding Buddy and raising her in the basement of his shack with his dopey friends. It tells you so much about Brad and the world he lives in in relatively few words. The very brief scene of a smiling Buddy applying makeup to Brad and her uncles is wonderfully heartwarming and a rare snippet of happiness in the game and its story.

QDRPHNC · « **Reply #10 on:** July 19, 2019, 12:15:02 PM »

Bioshock.

Kelvin · « **Reply #11 on:** July 19, 2019, 12:27:54 PM »

Quote from: Bazooka on July 19, 2019, 09:47:12 AM

Ocarina of Time obviously.

Ocarina's great the first time you play it, less so on subsequent plays where you know the controls.

Everything up to the moment you step out onto Hyrule Field is so special that first time, though. The vision of Ganondorf. The melancholy of the music when you meet the Great Deku Tree. The reveal of Gohma amidst the darkness. That lingering shot of Saria watching Link run off to Hyrule. The reveal of the vast field at the end of that enclosed "tunnel" where you meet the owl.

I still prefer the ending, though. Ganondorf bursting out of the rubble and going atomic is my favourite shot in video games.

St_Eddie · « **Reply #12 on:** July 19, 2019, 02:56:09 PM »

How’s this thread gone this far without somebody mentioning Half-Life? On that note...

Half-Life.

Avril Lavigne · « **Reply #13 on:** July 19, 2019, 03:17:08 PM »

The intro / opening credits to Full Throttle, particularly the introduction of the main character at around 1:45 in the below video. It's the remastered version but aside from looking smoother it's identical to the original so you still get the idea of how cool & cinematic this was for a point & click game in 1995.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf9xqsmO9m4

NoSleep · « **Reply #14 on:** July 19, 2019, 03:18:42 PM »

Quote from: St_Eddie on July 19, 2019, 02:56:09 PM

How’s this thread gone this far without somebody mentioning Half-Life? On that note...

Half-Life.

Could be at least Half as long.

St_Eddie · « **Reply #15 on:** July 19, 2019, 03:25:18 PM »

Quote from: Avril Lavigne on July 19, 2019, 03:17:08 PM

The intro / opening credits to Full Throttle, particularly the introduction of the main character at around 1:45 in the below video. It's the remastered version but aside from looking smoother it's identical to the original so you still get the idea of how cool & cinematic this was for a point & click game in 1995.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf9xqsmO9m4

Good shout. Speaking of fantastic adventure game intros; Day of the Tentacle.

madhair60 · « **Reply #16 on:** July 19, 2019, 03:33:54 PM »

Quote from: Avril Lavigne on July 19, 2019, 03:17:08 PM

The intro / opening credits to Full Throttle, particularly the introduction of the main character at around 1:45 in the below video. It's the remastered version but aside from looking smoother it's identical to the original so you still get the idea of how cool & cinematic this was for a point & click game in 1995.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf9xqsmO9m4

Amazingly cool intro.

---

Can't agree with Half-Life, I'm afraid. At the time, yes, no doubt. I found it near-unbearable within a few years and it makes me never want to replay.

---

I'm also rather partial to the opening of Leisure Suit Larry 7: Love For Sail.

Cuellar · « **Reply #17 on:** July 19, 2019, 03:35:12 PM »

Altered Beast of course. Incomprehensible.

St_Eddie · « **Reply #18 on:** July 19, 2019, 03:51:02 PM »

Quote from: madhair60 on July 19, 2019, 03:33:54 PM

Can't agree with Half-Life, I'm afraid. At the time, yes, no doubt. I found it near-unbearable within a few years and it makes me never want to replay.

I think that this is a fair enough statement. It does seem very plodding these days, but as you suggest; back in 1997, it was revolutionary and I think that alone, warrants its inclusion within this thread.

Beagle 2 · « **Reply #19 on:** July 19, 2019, 03:51:27 PM »

I'd like a full game of the flashback in the first ten minutes of Call of Duty: Ghosts where they were in space, and for the rest of Call of Duty: Ghosts to be humanely destroyed.

Poobum · « **Reply #20 on:** July 19, 2019, 04:02:30 PM »

I'm gonna go with FF8. Brilliant, action packed, threads together moments from later in the game in a way that excites your curiosity without lessening their impact when you actually get to them. Also Liberi Fatali is a stunning song and accents the Squall/Seifer fight brilliantly. It still gives me shivers the way it slowly builds, always gets me in the mood for some epic questing and intricate junctioning. Put off playing it again though, cause I will have to get Lionheart, and can I be arsed fighting loads of Marlboros hoping Odin shows up? Maybe?

samadriel · « **Reply #21 on:** July 19, 2019, 04:09:05 PM »

Quote from: Cuellar on July 19, 2019, 03:35:12 PM

Altered Beast of course. Incomprehensible.

"WISE FROM YOUR GWAVE!"

Cerys · « **Reply #22 on:** July 19, 2019, 04:19:05 PM »

Another vote for FF VII - although (surprise surprise) the opening to Skyrim will always have a special place in my heart. Years and multiple playthroughs after the first time, and it still gives me the shivers.

The Boston Crab · « **Reply #23 on:** July 19, 2019, 05:01:00 PM »

Skyrim is definitely up there for me, too. Even with the mods and stuff giving the ability to skip it, I still love playing through that opening. The walk down to Riverwood is the stuff of dreams.

St_Eddie · « **Reply #24 on:** July 19, 2019, 05:08:21 PM »

Quote from: The Boston Crab on July 19, 2019, 05:01:00 PM

Skyrim is definitely up there for me, too. Even with the mods and stuff giving the ability to skip it, I still love playing through that opening. The walk down to Riverwood is the stuff of dreams.

It's the stuff of dream and then you kill a wild chicken and get unexpectedly attacked by a horde of angry guards. Who knew that chickens have citizenship?

madhair60 · « **Reply #25 on:** July 19, 2019, 07:50:35 PM »

Quote from: Beagle 2 on July 19, 2019, 03:51:27 PM

I'd like a full game of the flashback in the first ten minutes of Call of Duty: Ghosts where they were in space, and for the rest of Call of Duty: Ghosts to be humanely destroyed.

No, because CoD: Ghosts - while definitely shit - is utterly cow-tits MENTAL and the campaign is wonderful for that very reason. Utter, utter bollocks.

bgmnts · « **Reply #26 on:** July 19, 2019, 08:00:11 PM »

I think Phantom Pain has a really good opening sequence. The Man on Fire genuinely scared the shit out of me.

NoSleep · « **Reply #27 on:** July 19, 2019, 08:53:15 PM »

The opening of Vagrant Story is excellent, as one would expect from Square's final game for the Playstation.

Bazooka · « **Reply #28 on:** July 20, 2019, 10:33:05 AM »

Tomb Raider, some bastard has stolen a relic,Lara enters with completely inappropriate clothing for the climate, but doesn't give two fucks and gets in with raiding tombs.

Poobum · « **Reply #29 on:** July 20, 2019, 10:49:25 AM »

Red Alert 2, a game I played to death during my chronic insomnia phase.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnd0qg4I_MM

B-Movie bombast, cracking choon. Kirovs, Dreadnoughts, attack squid and apocalypse tanks. "For home country."

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Author Topic: Favourite Game Openings (Read 3978 times)