Moments in games that just stay with you

[oggyraiding]

Any scene with Senator Armstrong is great.

[AngryGazelle]

The Last of us - giraffe sequence. It's lost It's power somewhat but at the time it was perfect.

MGS2 - the entire Arsenal Gear section. Brilliant madness. Stupid sexy Raiden.

Batman Arkham Knight - when you play as the Joker and the perspective switches to first person and you shotgun some villains, then get scared shitless by Batman.

Snake Eater - river of death.

Bonus one specific to me - GTA V - murdered a prostitute, stole her money and then got killed by a cougar. All whilst my car was blasting some cheesy music.

[no no natus natus no]

Getting to Undead Parish in Dark Souls 1. I came to it very late, I had tried to play it on about three different platforms and bounced off it each time, I'd get a bit past the first boss on the bridge and just get frustrated that I wasn't progressing or get bored and would sack it off.

It was when I got to that little bit by the church, where you've got the lift back to Firelink, and the stairs leading up to the bell tower, and the tower with Andre at the bottom and the bridge to Sen's fortress and the Titanite demon in the basement with the woods beyond, and it was just the start of understanding that it was sort of an open world where everything fit together and linked back on itself. And with that you start to feel a bit more confidence and control of where you're going and what you're doing, and all of a sudden it doesn't feel like you're throwing yourself against a brick wall all the time. Didn't look back after that. It got me back into games after a good chunk of time away.

[no no natus natus no]

And a recent one (for me anyway as I only finished it the other week): in The Outer Wilds

Spoiler alert

Travelling to the eye of the universe. I know it's probably technically not as impressive as some other stuff but that noise and walking through the dark and the lightning and you see that big wall of cloud in front of you...it felt like proper cosmic horror in a way I've not had in a game before. I like the very ending too but it felt a little bit twee-ish to me. Landing on the eye and walking out and feeling like you had gone somewhere properly alien, somewhere you shouldn't be...that did it for me.

[close]

[Papa Wheelie]

It was when I got to that little bit by the church, where you've got the lift back to Firelink...

One of the greatest ever moments in gaming for me. Seems a little quaint now but I genuinely don't think it's been surpassed.

[druss]

Getting to Undead Parish in Dark Souls 1. I came to it very late, I had tried to play it on about three different platforms and bounced off it each time, I'd get a bit past the first boss on the bridge and just get frustrated that I wasn't progressing or get bored and would sack it off.

It was when I got to that little bit by the church, where you've got the lift back to Firelink, and the stairs leading up to the bell tower, and the tower with Andre at the bottom and the bridge to Sen's fortress and the Titanite demon in the basement with the woods beyond, and it was just the start of understanding that it was sort of an open world where everything fit together and linked back on itself. And with that you start to feel a bit more confidence and control of where you're going and what you're doing, and all of a sudden it doesn't feel like you're throwing yourself against a brick wall all the time. Didn't look back after that. It got me back into games after a good chunk of time away.

I was pretty much on my last attempt at the Parish, kept getting to the massive lad by the fire keeper soul and a standard longsword was still my best weapon and felt like I couldn't do shit against him. Hadn't noticed the path leading to Andre and was just about to give up when I accidentally backed on to said path when fighting the three hollows and stumbled upon Andre. Upgraded my weapon, destroyed big lad, found shortcut to fire link shrine and never looked back. Have 100% every soulsborne game and Fromsoftware are probably my favourite gaming company now. But if I hadn't stumbled upon Andre I was just about ready to give up.

[The Crumb]

And a recent one (for me anyway as I only finished it the other week): in The Outer Wilds

You'd probably enjoy the DLC. There's a location in that which made me feel properly awestruck, and is pretty technically impressive.

[Average Comedy Enjoyer]

And a recent one (for me anyway as I only finished it the other week): in The Outer Wilds

Thousand thanks, I've been wanting to play this for ever and you reminded me to check to see if it finally got onto Switch.

Turns out it was released yesterday and is on sale at 20% off!

[ros vulgaris]

Bonus one specific to me - GTA V - murdered a prostitute, stole her money and then got killed by a cougar. All whilst my car was blasting some cheesy music.

That reminds me, the last time I payed Vice City I killed myself by jumping from the lighthouse. It was a fitting end.

[Vodkafone]

A bit in Death Stranding quite early on where I hadn't prepared my gear properly and took bloody ages to get up a steep rocky section, then when I got to the top there were loads of BTs and I hadn't properly got the hang of how to use the odradek scanner to weave through them. Almost holding my breath IRL as I carefully picked my way through them, then eventually came out the other side, through a small ravine and then saw my destination far down in the valley below me as the emotional music kicked in and I exhaled and in my mind almost sobbed 'I made it'. A glorious moment.

[Mr Trumpet]

The Viking funeral at the end of The Banner Saga part 1 got some manful tears out of me. The burning ship passing into a moonlit underworld and all that.

Also the bit in the original Deus Ex where you break out of the MJ12 base and find out you're in UNATCO HQ. Blew my tiny 15 year old mind that did.

[no no natus natus no]

You'd probably enjoy the DLC. There's a location in that which made me feel properly awestruck, and is pretty technically impressive.

I started the DLC the other day:

Spoiler alert

Arriving at the Stranger?

I didn't know there was DLC when I finished the base game, was half listening to a podcast about the game, and they were describing in depth the moment where you find it and I realised too late that it was a bit from a DLC, so I'd sort of half ruined it for myself before I did it, which was annoying.

I also managed to make a bit of a shitey approach when flying there and sort of awkwardly bumped up against the back of it and took a minute to get my bearings rather than having a proper reveal...

But yeah it is absolutely magic. The place itself is very cool of course but the shadow moving across the sun as you approach is another proper cosmic wonder type moment. If I could fly in a straight line and avoid spoilers I'd probably be naming that rather than landing on the Eye but never mind.

[close]

Thousand thanks, I've been wanting to play this for ever and you reminded me to check to see if it finally got onto Switch.

Turns out it was released yesterday and is on sale at 20% off!

You're very welcome! I hope you enjoy, nothing else like it really.

[The Crumb]

I started the DLC the other day:

Spoiler alert

Arriving at the Stranger?

I didn't know there was DLC when I finished the base game, was half listening to a podcast about the game, and they were describing in depth the moment where you find it and I realised too late that it was a bit from a DLC, so I'd sort of half ruined it for myself before I did it, which was annoying.

I also managed to make a bit of a shitey approach when flying there and sort of awkwardly bumped up against the back of it and took a minute to get my bearings rather than having a proper reveal...

But yeah it is absolutely magic. The place itself is very cool of course but the shadow moving across the sun as you approach is another proper cosmic wonder type moment. If I could fly in a straight line and avoid spoilers I'd probably be naming that rather than landing on the Eye but never mind.

[close]

Yeah that's the one.

Spoiler alert

For me it was actually getting inside it and seeing the scale of it and the feeling of vertigo (?) I got from looking up which persisted for quite a chunk of my time in there. It's interesting that Halo did the whole ring world thing, but having some massive skybox didn't evoke nearly the same disorienting feelings as having a smaller but actually physically existant loop.

Enjoy the DLC, it's great. I love how the scale of everything gives you a kid sneaking around somewhere they shouldn't be feeling

[close]

[Memorex MP3]

Dying from a heart attack 5 minutes into my first Disco Elysium play

In my first ever RPG game getting out Midgar and discovering the world map

The first time I completed Tetris Effect's final level

The one time I played a game of Lumines and it went on for like 4 hours to the point where I was hoping it'd end

[no no natus natus no]

I was pretty much on my last attempt at the Parish, kept getting to the massive lad by the fire keeper soul and a standard longsword was still my best weapon and felt like I couldn't do shit against him. Hadn't noticed the path leading to Andre and was just about to give up when I accidentally backed on to said path when fighting the three hollows and stumbled upon Andre. Upgraded my weapon, destroyed big lad, found shortcut to fire link shrine and never looked back. Have 100% every soulsborne game and Fromsoftware are probably my favourite gaming company now. But if I hadn't stumbled upon Andre I was just about ready to give up.

The placement of Andre is probably a big part of it too thinking about it. Upgrading your weapons gives you more control and it was the first time I started actually looking at the numbers and engaging with the systems rather than just frittering my souls between stats randomly because I was scared to lose them.

I've done DS2, 3 and Elden Ring since and enjoyed them very much but I can think of loads of these magic moments in DS1 and less from the other three. The ones I can think of from 1 are mainly to do with the environment and enemy/npc reveals and placement...I think DS1 being 'emptier' and a bit more sort of basic/classic with its enemy design works in its favour.

There is something very storybook and evocative about the stone giants slowly waking up in the forest, or the big empty halls in Anor Londo, or the Titanite demon on it's own down in the basement, or Siegmeyer sitting on his own outside the Sen's gates. The memories I have of the others are mainly particular fights and to do with me overcoming the obstacle than anything else. Elden Ring had a lot of cool moments of awe and scale but that feels different to the feelings I get from DS1.

[druss]

The placement of Andre is probably a big part of it too thinking about it. Upgrading your weapons gives you more control and it was the first time I started actually looking at the numbers and engaging with the systems rather than just frittering my souls between stats randomly because I was scared to lose them.

I've done DS2, 3 and Elden Ring since and enjoyed them very much but I can think of loads of these magic moments in DS1 and less from the other three. The ones I can think of from 1 are mainly to do with the environment and enemy/npc reveals and placement...I think DS1 being 'emptier' and a bit more sort of basic/classic with its enemy design works in its favour.

There is something very storybook and evocative about the stone giants slowly waking up in the forest, or the big empty halls in Anor Londo, or the Titanite demon on it's own down in the basement, or Siegmeyer sitting on his own outside the Sen's gates. The memories I have of the others are mainly particular fights and to do with me overcoming the obstacle than anything else. Elden Ring had a lot of cool moments of awe and scale but that feels different to the feelings I get from DS1.

I think in terms of consistency, none of the other games beat DS1. It is pretty much perfect for 90% of the game and even lost Izalith has a bit of charm and cool lore surrounding it. Ash Lake is a nothing area gameplay wise but looks awesome. Those are the only two missteps and they are pretty minor.

Having said that, taking down Malenia in Elden Ring is hard to top for me. Had been banging my head against her for god knows how many hours and never got her second phase past half health, until suddenly I did. Ran out of estus when I had fuck all health, heart beat felt like it was through my mouth. I started panicked and before waiting for an opening I got greedy and went for a jump attack. Probably the 1/10000 time where getting greedy didn't end up with a death as for some reason she didn't attack and the jump attack killed her. I couldn't stop shaking for about ten minutes.

[Pink Gregory]

if anyone was following my antics in the Sekiro thread earlier this year I'm just gonna say ISSHIN CUNTED

[Poirots BigGarlickyCorpse]

The imperial bird soldiers in Laika: Aged Through Blood one-shot kill you unless you kill them first. Their blue uniforms stand out against the muted background colours of every level so you learn pretty quickly to shoot on sight. There are four types of soldiers: pistol, rifle, rocket launcher and machine-gunners, with slight variations as to species of bird. Some of the pistol-wielders have white bandages on their arms.

Spoiler alert

Late in the game you get an upgrade to your motorbike that allows you to reach areas that were previously inaccessible. I did a last sweep of the world before continuing to the end game, just in case I'd missed any side quests. I re-explored a cave I'd been in much earlier in the game to carry out a quest and found a ledge with a bird soldier on top of it. I hyperjumped up to the ledge, shot the soldier, and drove on only to find myself in an area with eleven birds. I aimed my weapon and got ready...

...and then I saw all the murals and posters saying NO WAR and PEACE and showing birds hand in hand with other animals.

None of the birds opened fire.

Every one of them had a white bandage on their arm.

I had been killing conscientious objectors along with the bird soldiers. It never occurred to me that the bandages were white armbands.

[close]