What moments in gaming will stick with you?

[Kitten Champion]

I was thinking about this, but I couldn't find a moment which wasn't already famous for being iconic like the FFVI Opera Scene or the final scene in The Last of Us. Then I remembered back when I was 6 playing through my dad's vast catalogue of retro-games - which included most NES titles at the time - and my somewhat frustrating experience with Metroid. I had played through the NES Megaman games before it and developed a taste for the whole jump-y shoot-y platformer thing and Metroid kind of resembled that so it was my next choice, but the whole Metroidvania style of backtracking and puzzle solving was new to me and I frequently found myself lost and annoyed with my life in general. This being prior to the time I could just Google walkthroughs to get over serious roadblocks to my enjoyment, so I was left with just trying all the things until something worked. So, after dying at a point I didn't enjoy dying at, I pushed random figures into the password menu and...suddenly my robot character became a woman runnin' round with green hair and a leotard.

This was quite a thing for me. I mean, this was well past the point where Samus' sex was known but I wasn't exactly participating in the gamer discourse in the second grade and didn't bother my parents with the ins and outs of what game I was playing, so it was news to me. I found myself excitingly expressing my wonderment to my parents that evening, which they've subsequently recalled in stories as being cute.

[tonberrian]

The ending of the second act in Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark. You've finally confronted the Valsharess, the drow who stole your stuff and tried to kill you. She's been played up as the biggest bad, commanding an Archdevil in her plans for conquest of the Underdark, and then the surface world. You're already epic levelled, ready to take on whatever she throws at you...

And then the Archdevil Mephistopheles throws off whatever control she had over him. And proceeds to free you to destroy her. Because the entire game thus far has been him maneuvering you to this confrontation, because through a fluke you've become metaphysically linked - and he can use that link to not only escape the bindings the drow put on him, but send you down to Cania in his place while he conquers the surface world. And to make absolutely sure you don't come back to interfere, he has your mysterious magical ally, who it's revealed serves Mephistopheles through an arcane binding and thus you through the link, trap you there so that even if you find a way out, the spirit who has grown fond of you is forced to bring you right back to Cania, a frozen over hellscape of ice. The sheer level of spite elevates that scene from the rest of the merely enjoyable yet forgettable plot of the rest of the expansion, and indeed the game.

[Geno9999]

Two interconnected moments I had while playing Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker. Now, I hadn't played either of those games when they came out, but I was at least already aware of the plot of those games. I only got around to them about when Ocarina was released on the Wii shop/Virtual Console, picking up Wind Waker roughly the same time, so ended up playing both of them at the same time, though I beat Ocarina of Time before Wind Waker since the former didn't have the padding in the second act that latter did.

When I beat Ocarina, I didn't feel happy despite watching all of the characters dancing. I felt grief. Hyrule Historia wasn't released yet to confirm it at the time, but the general theory about the Zelda timeline was that Wind Waker comes about from one of the timelines after the events of Ocarina; specifically the "Adult" timeline, the Hyrule that Link left behind to return to his childhood. And would be the Hyrule without a Hero to save them when Ganon returned. A Hyrule that had to be drowned. A Hyrule that I was sailing over in Wind Waker. It didn't feel like I truly save those people after all.

Then I got to the end of Wind Waker. Before the final fight, Ganondorf has a monologue about his motivations, how he envied the land of Hyrule. I felt angry at him, because I had walked through those plains in Ocarina of Time. It was a ruined Hyrule. A Hyrule of monsters. A Hyrule that suffered seven years of his rule. After I had beaten Ganondorf, I felt relief not just from beating Wind Waker, but it felt like I also put to rest Ocarina of Time as well.

[Traab]

One other amusing thing in ff6 was learning the narshe river leveling trick. Basically, you are traveling on a raft and at several points have to decide which way to go. However, at one spot, you can make a choice that leads you in a loop. If you setup your party so bannon I think it was, casts his heal ability every round, and own a turbo controller, you can tape down those buttons and go take a nap, coming back hours later to see all your characters many many levels higher than they should be at this stage. Its one of my favorite things about the ff games, all these level grinding spots. Sometimes its simple like the dino head forest, other times there may be a trick involved, but its always amusing.

[Gnoman]

One other amusing thing in ff6 was learning the narshe river leveling trick. Basically, you are traveling on a raft and at several points have to decide which way to go. However, at one spot, you can make a choice that leads you in a loop. If you setup your party so bannon I think it was, casts his heal ability every round, and own a turbo controller, you can tape down those buttons and go take a nap, coming back hours later to see all your characters many many levels higher than they should be at this stage.

It is, however, a stupid thing to do, and leaves you much weaker than leveling normally would.




More on-topic, one of the most powerful moments I've experienced was the intro video for Civilization 4 with one of the expansions. As is common with Civ intros, it showed various historical segments, one of which was Abraham Lincoln giving a speech - and morphing into the Lincoln Memorial midway through. I always found that to be a very powerful image, helping to cement the notion that today's history was yesterday's present - and today's present is tomorrows history.

[ArlEammon]

Crono Trigger: The music, especially Lavos'es theme and Magus'es theme, and Lavos'es scream is haunting even after all these years, especially if YOU FAIL!

Final Fantasy VI: Very beautiful music. I love the game mechanics as well, and the summoning system. Celes'es attempted suicide is only one moment in gaming that sticks with me in that game.


Dragon Quest V: A very good and beautiful, but sometimes sad story line. The murder of a certain Papa, the "Stoning" of a certain main character, and later, the murder of a certain mama are all hallmarks of good story telling for early video games.


Dragon Quest IV: A five chapter system, charming and the original Dragon Quest IV's Taloon theme song, and Mara and Nara's theme song all sound great! I feel sorry for Psaro too, especially in the remake.

Dragon Age Origins: I hate Arl Howe. The Human Noble Origin is wonderfully written. Getting to kill Arl Howe is so satisfying.

[Toric]

For a less "warm and fuzzy" moment that stuck with me, I present American McGee's Scrapland for the original X-Box.

Spoiler: Storytime

Show

You move between on-foot sections using Frankenstein ships you build from parts you find. At one point, a character (the Crazy Gambler I think) goes rogue and tries to shoot you down, with both his juggernaut of a ship and a horde of wasplike drones. I fought, died in seconds, respawned with the crappy starter ship that only exists so you can fly to the garage to repair your other ships. The garage was on the other side of said Gambler and swarm. Cue montage of me raising funds on foot, blitzing through the death zone, building the best Frankenship I could make, and blitzing to (ironically) the Crazy Gambler's den where I could complete my battle preparations by hiring mercenary ships.

What ensued was a Dark Souls-esque "gitting gud" period of fighting, losing, refining my tactics, and repeat. I learned when to stage a fighting retreat, where the best chokepoints were, and what targets to prioritize. On I think my twelfth run I could feel things going differently. I was holding my ground. Enemy numbers were dropping and I was under less pressure. I was winning.


And then the world froze.


The game crashed, forcing me to reset my Xbox. Which I interpreted as the game's software committing suicide rather than allow me the victory I had so tenaciously fought for. Even worse when I loaded my game I was back to the default Scooty Puff Junior with no mercenary backup. I accepted my symbolic victory, ejected the disk, threw it in the trash, and moved on to KOTOR.

[danzibr]

For a less "warm and fuzzy" moment that stuck with me, I present American McGee's Scrapland for the original X-Box.

Spoiler: Storytime

Show

You move between on-foot sections using Frankenstein ships you build from parts you find. At one point, a character (the Crazy Gambler I think) goes rogue and tries to shoot you down, with both his juggernaut of a ship and a horde of wasplike drones. I fought, died in seconds, respawned with the crappy starter ship that only exists so you can fly to the garage to repair your other ships. The garage was on the other side of said Gambler and swarm. Cue montage of me raising funds on foot, blitzing through the death zone, building the best Frankenship I could make, and blitzing to (ironically) the Crazy Gambler's den where I could complete my battle preparations by hiring mercenary ships.

What ensued was a Dark Souls-esque "gitting gud" period of fighting, losing, refining my tactics, and repeat. I learned when to stage a fighting retreat, where the best chokepoints were, and what targets to prioritize. On I think my twelfth run I could feel things going differently. I was holding my ground. Enemy numbers were dropping and I was under less pressure. I was winning.


And then the world froze.


The game crashed, forcing me to reset my Xbox. Which I interpreted as the game's software committing suicide rather than allow me the victory I had so tenaciously fought for. Even worse when I loaded my game I was back to the default Scooty Puff Junior with no mercenary backup. I accepted my symbolic victory, ejected the disk, threw it in the trash, and moved on to KOTOR.

Wow. That is epic. That game did not want to be beaten.

Anyway, one I recalled, the song Eyes on Me from FFVIII. When you play the game and realize who sings it and the meaning of the lyrics... nearly moves me to tears.

[LansXero]

Wow. That is epic. That game did not want to be beaten.

Anyway, one I recalled, the song Eyes on Me from FFVIII. When you play the game and realize who sings it and the meaning of the lyrics... nearly moves me to tears.

Spoiler: FF8

Show

Its not the girl thats also a witch?

[Gnoman]

Spoiler: FF8

Show

Its not the girl thats also a witch?

Spoiler

Show

"Eyes on me" was written by Julia about Laguna, and serves as a token of the never-was relationship between them. Thematically, it also plays into the Rinoa-Squall relationship, as she is Julia's daughter and Squall is (possibly) Laguna's son.

[danzibr]

Spoiler

Show

"Eyes on me" was written by Julia about Laguna, and serves as a token of the never-was relationship between them. Thematically, it also plays into the Rinoa-Squall relationship, as she is Julia's daughter and Squall is (possibly) Laguna's son.

Nailed it. I would’ve omitted that parenthetical word.

It’s weird though... the stuff on YouTube has Squall and Rinoa, when it’s not even about them.

[Gnoman]

Nailed it. I would’ve omitted that parenthetical word.

It’s weird though... the stuff on YouTube has Squall and Rinoa, when it’s not even about them.

The parenthetical word is an extrapolation that's never stated in-game. However much it makes sense, I don't like to treat that as absolutely confirmed.

Spoiler

Show

However, Squall and Rinoa do have a connection to the song, and it serves as a harbinger of their relationship. They are having the connection that their parents should have had.

[Calemyr]

Two come readily to mind for me, one of which is game related, the other a personal victory.

Drakengard 2: The party walks into a trap, and finds themselves boxed in by armies to the left, right, and center, and air forces filling the horizon on all corners. They're outnumbered to a comical degree. The main character's honest, entirely sincere, response to this development? "There's four of us, we can do this!" I'll readily admit that this is a setting where each member of the party is a one man (+ one mythical creature sidekick) army, but that scene and that assessment has stuck with me ever since.

Final Fantasy VII: This is going to date me, but tough. As a freshman in college, I didn't have much in the way of money and lived in a town without much in the way of entertainment. I relied on an old Playstation I to amuse myself by and large, but it eventually stopped working. I managed to scrounge up a second broken PSX and tore apart both of them, mixing and matching parts. Since I didn't have a cord long enough to reach the TV from my desk, I just plugged the audio into my little sound system, dropping Final Fantasy VII on the CD spinner and tested each combination I tried. I swear, hearing Prelude to Fantasy still gives me a grin as wide as when I heard it trickling through those speakers. FFVII may not be my favorite Final Fantasy, but that song is still so sweet...

[danzibr]

The parenthetical word is an extrapolation that's never stated in-game. However much it makes sense, I don't like to treat that as absolutely confirmed.

Spoiler

Show

However, Squall and Rinoa do have a connection to the song, and it serves as a harbinger of their relationship. They are having the connection that their parents should have had.

Hear hear!

100% agree.

However, personally I would’ve omitted it.

[Thrawn4]

The end of Planescape: Torment almost made me cry. It's even more disconcerting once you find out that there were suppossed to be different endings. So close...
Also, the main character's refusual to give in is so damn inspiring.

Kotor 1: I was so annoyed by Jolee, who always believed that he was so much wiser but actually was just obnoxious. But in this game every party member stays with you...
I was so happy when I finally reclaimed my lost identity and had the opportunity to kill him. I enjoyed it even more than the actual ending.

[danzibr]

Wait... but there *are* different endings. Unless there were supposed to be even more???

[Magic_Hat]

Off the top of my head...

Finding Yoshi in Mario 64
The Wesker fights from RE4
The regenerators from RE4
The ending to Shadow of the Colossus
Final boss fight from Yoshi Island
Fighting Ares and the ending to the first God of War
Continuously running into the sailor that got swallowed by the hydra in the first God of War game
Certain quicktime events with two ladies from the God of War series that yield a LOT of XP
The boss Dagron in Shantae and the Pirate's Curse
Too many instances to count from Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask (but the ending on the moon really sticks out)

[Thrawn4]

Wait... but there *are* different endings. Unless there were supposed to be even more???

Well, there are slightly different endings, but the result is basically the same. But the soundttack has unused songs like "neutral ending".

[Marillion]

I've experienced lots of great moments, but the ones I find myself thinking about most often comes from Dishonored. You play as Corvo Attano, a soldier who became Royal Protector to a foreign empress. You're forced to watch helplessly as she is assassinated and her daughter is kidnapped, and you are then framed for those events. On the eve of your execution, (the first capital-M Moment) a demon/spirit/god/????? known only as The Outsider appears to you in a dream and offers you power so that you might be able to exact your vengeance - in any manner you see fit. In this dream, you get a haunting glimpse of the Void outside of your world, where time doesn't pass and an enormous whale-like beast, horrific as it is majestic, swims through the aether. In addition to a brand on your left hand that imbues you with magical power, he also gives you a soul imprisoned inside of a human heart, kept beating by a terrible clockwork device.

Spoiler: The Heart

Show

This heart, when pointed at a place or person, will whisper some of their secrets to you. I spent hours pointing it at civilians ("She starves so that her children can have bread.", ) thugs ("His mother’s dying words to him were: Give us a whiskey, darling."), guardsmen, ("The pain in his head drives him to do unspeakable things."), and my supposed allies, ("He has killed whales and men for profit - and pleasure."), and it was a very clever way of driving home the despair that permeates the city - and indeed, world - that the game is set in. And though it's never explicitly stated in the game, slowly realizing that the soul being tortured and imprisoned in that heart is the woman you were in love with, who bore you a child secretly, who was murdered in front of you, the Empress herself, was almost physically sickening to me.

In games with morality systems, my first playthrough is almost always evil, challenging myself with a paragon ghost/pacifist run the second time. In Dishonored, it is VERY satisfying to be brutal. Of course you have a sword and a pistol, but it doesn't stop there. You can lay proximity mines that explode with razor wire; you can trap a man in a sauna and cook him to death; you can turn their automated defenses against the enemy, instantly vaporizing anybody in the room; You can use a gale-force wind to throw people into a wall and turn them into paste; You can summon a swarm of rats to messily devour any poor bastards in your way; and if you're feeling particularly extravagant, you can stop time as someone shoots at you, take control of that person's body, walk them into the path of the bullet, and unfreeze time, forcing them to kill themselves. So naturally, I did ALL OF THOSE THINGS as I unraveled the conspiracy against my Empress, rescued the twelve-year old heir to her throne (who is revealed to be your daughter), and deposed the tyrant usurper. Then I of course am betrayed and left for dead by my supposed allies, who kidnap the princess once more. So I set off on ANOTHER murderous rampage.

Spoiler: The Ending, high chaos

Show

My lone remaining ally, seemingly the only man with a truly good heart in the entire game, brings me to the island stronghold of the evil Admiral. He tells me that he is disgusted by the person I've become, that he owes me nothing more, and that he hopes I meet my fate on this island. Realizing that he's about to fire a pistol into the air to alert the guards, I slit his throat, dump his body into the ocean, and swim to shore. Security is tight, and I'm grievously wounded, needing to expend almost all of my resources in order to survive. Nevertheless I persevere, fighting my way to the top of the lighthouse, killing every one of the traitors if they haven't already turned on each other. I find the Admiral on a ledge at the very top of the lighthouse, holding my young daughter, the only living person that Corvo cares about, as a human shield. Realizing that there's no way he's getting out of this alive, the Admiral decides to rob me of my victory and jump over the edge. I have no spells left. He's too far away to attempt to grab. I desperately fire my last bullet....and miss, watching helplessly as my daughter plunges screaming to her death. I let out a frustrated sigh and wait to reload at the last save, intending to take much better aim this time. After all, I couldn't possibly fail, having come this far....Could I?

And then, the Outsider appears again. He shows me scenes in still life from the city as it descends into chaos and martial law, mocking me and making it very clear that because of my ruthlessness, the rightful queen was dead and an entire empire was mortally wounded by my hands.

I remember staring in disbelief as the credits rolled, eyes burning, feeling somehow BETRAYED by the game. I recovered. I reloaded my last save, playing it again, intending to prove that it was too late and I couldn't have saved the child. This time, I succeeded and I got another ending, but it didn't impact me nearly as much. It didn't feel real, because in that first moment, I'd panicked. When it mattered, I didn't do the right thing. I wasn't GOOD enough. And I put myself in that position by demanding bloody vengeance, by not caring about anyone or anything in my way, believing that because my cause was Right it justified anything I did in pursuit of it. Without realizing it, I'd crossed the line that separated men from monsters, and only too late understood that there ARE no monsters. Only men. And it had cost me everything.

It truly changed the way I think about evil.

Still gives me chills.

And another great moment, somewhat more lighthearted: Metal Gear Rising, fighting against Jetstream Sam. You're a cyborg supersoldier with white blood, sword-fighting against other cyborg supersoldiers with white blood, all of whom are ridiculously faster and stronger than a flesh and blood human. Sam, in particular, casually defeats and maims you the first time you meet, and the action in this game is so over-the-top Xtreme that you'd previously swung a 40-ton walking tank by the tail. So you meet Sam for your rematch, and although you're stronger than before, Sam is still almost too fast and skilled for you. Almost. It's a very difficult fight, but in the end you finally mortally wound him, sending a splash of red blood through the air. He slowly collapses, and - wait, RED blood?

That's right, aside from his prosthetic arm, he was entirely organic. No neural enhancements to speed up his reflexes, no steel skin to deflect bullets, no nanomachines to heal his injuries. He was mere flesh and blood, and he was just THAT good. That was a very cool twist.

[danzibr]

Oh yeah, Jetstream Sam. That dude was awesome. Playing as him was... a bit of a letdown.

Metal Gear Solid had that super awesome moment near the end with Gray Fox.

And MGS4 had the return to Shadow Moses Island. Also very cool.

[Thrawn4]

I've experienced lots of great moments, but the ones I find myself thinking about most often comes from Dishonored. You play as Corvo Attano, a soldier who became Royal Protector to a foreign empress. You're forced to watch helplessly as she is assassinated and her daughter is kidnapped, and you are then framed for those events. On the eve of your execution, (the first capital-M Moment) a demon/spirit/god/????? known only as The Outsider appears to you in a dream and offers you power so that you might be able to exact your vengeance - in any manner you see fit. In this dream, you get a haunting glimpse of the Void outside of your world, where time doesn't pass and an enormous whale-like beast, horrific as it is majestic, swims through the aether. In addition to a brand on your left hand that imbues you with magical power, he also gives you a soul imprisoned inside of a human heart, kept beating by a terrible clockwork device.

Spoiler: The Heart

Show

This heart, when pointed at a place or person, will whisper some of their secrets to you. I spent hours pointing it at civilians ("She starves so that her children can have bread.", ) thugs ("His mother’s dying words to him were: Give us a whiskey, darling."), guardsmen, ("The pain in his head drives him to do unspeakable things."), and my supposed allies, ("He has killed whales and men for profit - and pleasure."), and it was a very clever way of driving home the despair that permeates the city - and indeed, world - that the game is set in. And though it's never explicitly stated in the game, slowly realizing that the soul being tortured and imprisoned in that heart is the woman you were in love with, who bore you a child secretly, who was murdered in front of you, the Empress herself, was almost physically sickening to me.

In games with morality systems, my first playthrough is almost always evil, challenging myself with a paragon ghost/pacifist run the second time. In Dishonored, it is VERY satisfying to be brutal. Of course you have a sword and a pistol, but it doesn't stop there. You can lay proximity mines that explode with razor wire; you can trap a man in a sauna and cook him to death; you can turn their automated defenses against the enemy, instantly vaporizing anybody in the room; You can use a gale-force wind to throw people into a wall and turn them into paste; You can summon a swarm of rats to messily devour any poor bastards in your way; and if you're feeling particularly extravagant, you can stop time as someone shoots at you, take control of that person's body, walk them into the path of the bullet, and unfreeze time, forcing them to kill themselves. So naturally, I did ALL OF THOSE THINGS as I unraveled the conspiracy against my Empress, rescued the twelve-year old heir to her throne (who is revealed to be your daughter), and deposed the tyrant usurper. Then I of course am betrayed and left for dead by my supposed allies, who kidnap the princess once more. So I set off on ANOTHER murderous rampage.

Spoiler: The Ending, high chaos

Show

My lone remaining ally, seemingly the only man with a truly good heart in the entire game, brings me to the island stronghold of the evil Admiral. He tells me that he is disgusted by the person I've become, that he owes me nothing more, and that he hopes I meet my fate on this island. Realizing that he's about to fire a pistol into the air to alert the guards, I slit his throat, dump his body into the ocean, and swim to shore. Security is tight, and I'm grievously wounded, needing to expend almost all of my resources in order to survive. Nevertheless I persevere, fighting my way to the top of the lighthouse, killing every one of the traitors if they haven't already turned on each other. I find the Admiral on a ledge at the very top of the lighthouse, holding my young daughter, the only living person that Corvo cares about, as a human shield. Realizing that there's no way he's getting out of this alive, the Admiral decides to rob me of my victory and jump over the edge. I have no spells left. He's too far away to attempt to grab. I desperately fire my last bullet....and miss, watching helplessly as my daughter plunges screaming to her death. I let out a frustrated sigh and wait to reload at the last save, intending to take much better aim this time. After all, I couldn't possibly fail, having come this far....Could I?

And then, the Outsider appears again. He shows me scenes in still life from the city as it descends into chaos and martial law, mocking me and making it very clear that because of my ruthlessness, the rightful queen was dead and an entire empire was mortally wounded by my hands.

I remember staring in disbelief as the credits rolled, eyes burning, feeling somehow BETRAYED by the game. I recovered. I reloaded my last save, playing it again, intending to prove that it was too late and I couldn't have saved the child. This time, I succeeded and I got another ending, but it didn't impact me nearly as much. It didn't feel real, because in that first moment, I'd panicked. When it mattered, I didn't do the right thing. I wasn't GOOD enough. And I put myself in that position by demanding bloody vengeance, by not caring about anyone or anything in my way, believing that because my cause was Right it justified anything I did in pursuit of it. Without realizing it, I'd crossed the line that separated men from monsters, and only too late understood that there ARE no monsters. Only men. And it had cost me everything.

It truly changed the way I think about evil.

Still gives me chills.

And another great moment, somewhat more lighthearted: Metal Gear Rising, fighting against Jetstream Sam. You're a cyborg supersoldier with white blood, sword-fighting against other cyborg supersoldiers with white blood, all of whom are ridiculously faster and stronger than a flesh and blood human. Sam, in particular, casually defeats and maims you the first time you meet, and the action in this game is so over-the-top Xtreme that you'd previously swung a 40-ton walking tank by the tail. So you meet Sam for your rematch, and although you're stronger than before, Sam is still almost too fast and skilled for you. Almost. It's a very difficult fight, but in the end you finally mortally wound him, sending a splash of red blood through the air. He slowly collapses, and - wait, RED blood?

That's right, aside from his prosthetic arm, he was entirely organic. No neural enhancements to speed up his reflexes, no steel skin to deflect bullets, no nanomachines to heal his injuries. He was mere flesh and blood, and he was just THAT good. That was a very cool twist.

Had a similar experience on my second run in Bloodlines. I figured to try bloodthirsty vampire might be amusing. Being a roleplayer I tried to immerse myself... but for some reason, maybe the atmosphere, it struck a chord insight me. I could symphatize more and more with the suppossed morals of my character, zu the point it gut scary. Furthermore, my Dialoge options were limited to violence due to my low humanity. That was when I decided to spend precious XP to bump my humanity, because I as a player grew concerned about myself.
Very eery...

[LibraryOgre]

Fallout 3. I fast-travel to the Jury Street Metro Station and witness a battle royale between some Outcasts, a Super Mutant Abomination, an albino radscorpion, some raiders, and IIRC, some Talon Company Mercs. I just sat back and watched.

[Marillion]

Oh yeah, Jetstream Sam. That dude was awesome. Playing as him was... a bit of a letdown.

Metal Gear Solid had that super awesome moment near the end with Gray Fox.

And MGS4 had the return to Shadow Moses Island. Also very cool.

I can almost recite every line from that Gray Fox scene from memory. The Metal Gear series is chock full of moments. Snake Eater probably has the highest Moment Density, though. Action? Lots of cool hand-to-hand combat, awesome explosions, sharp-shooting, and my favorite rail-shooting sequence ever, hanging on for dear life from a motorcycle as a giant monster-tank smashes through the military base trying to crush you. Boss fights? A guy who vomits BEES, a guy who DISLOCATES his own ARMS to skitter up trees like a spider, the BEST counter-sniping sequence against a photosynthetic senior citizen, a pyromaniac cosmonaut with a jetpack, wading through a river as the souls of all the people you've killed try to drown you, a scenery-chewing sadist who detonates bullets with the electricity his body detonates, and the emotional final confrontation with your former lover/mentor. Plot? Probably the most coherent and straight-forward storyline in the Metal Gear series that nevertheless has some of the most emotionally-charged and tragic twists in a video game. Overall, I'd say it's probably one of the best video game experiences ever crafted.

[Hunter Noventa]

Given its recent resurrection, I'm going to call zoning into Atlas Park in City of Heroes after 6 years, seeing the massive statue and hearing that little bit of music that just sounds so triumphant isn't leaving my memory anytime soon.

[ShneekeyTheLost]

I used to do a lot of MMO's back in my misspent youth. Played Everquest, was a raiding monk, it was a blast. Played up to... I think Depths of Darkhollow, then just kind of gave up. There were many moments that I will carry with me, most of which probably no one will understand anyway. I played WoW briefly, well before Cata came out. I think the last expansion I played was Wrath of the Lich King, so Pandas weren't even a thing yet.

The thing that WoW hit me with was Pamela Redpath. She's cut content now, last I heard, which is a shame. This was the sort of questline that Blizzard used to make back in the day that got players engaged, rather than the Skinner's Box edition churn they're putting out today. For those unaware, I'll link an excellent Music Video which tells her tale, but in brief: Girl's father was a guard, was subdued by the initial invasion of the undead, got turned into undead and forced to lead the undead troops into his own hometown. Her spirit still resides in her burned out home, not entirely aware of what happened. As you try to help a ghost find release, you begin to understand the magnitude of what happened. And you end up helping the spirit of her father find a measure of solace, and the two ghosts go off together to wherever ghosts go.

Pamela, herself, is almost insignificant in terms of the overall plot. She's one of countless hundreds of thousands of victims. But how it was presented sent chills up your spine. And in WotLK, when you finally defeat Arthas, the whole guild was shouting and cheering. And then I say over the teamspeak channel "And that, for Pamela Redpath." and the whole channel just goes dead silent a moment in respect.

It is little stories like this that can make an MMO so immersive and memorable. Every time someone tries to beat WoW at their game, this is what critical element they often miss. In their rush to send players off to fetch-quest their way into the leaderboards, they often forget that it is these little sorts of things that can bring people back to your game.

[LansXero]

. And in WotLK, when you finally defeat Arthas, the whole guild was shouting and cheering. And then I say over the teamspeak channel "And that, for Pamela Redpath." and the whole channel just goes dead silent a moment in respect.

What did it for me was in the northern version of Ungoro, where the zombies are dragging the proto-murlocks around by chains. You cant save them, just let them die instead of having to keep suffering. Their quotes are awfully childish: 'take shinies, dont hurt more', 'was I bad? I give more shinies just stop'. They are this ridiculously innocent race from a land shielded from time that add NOTHING to Arthas plan, why the cruelty? I mean, sure, plenty of innocents in Kalimdor and Lordaeron, but those people had a civilization, armies, government, and were between Arthas and whatever screwed up goal he was chasing. But the little things? They did nothing other than eat fish and throw shiny crystals to their altars. Or well, just kill them, whatever. Why torture things that cant even understand why any of it is happening? Ugh.

I just wanted to raid that ******* down so hard after that.

[AdmiralCheez]

The MMO talk just reminded me of so many moments in different games, I'm ashamed I didn't remember them sooner.

Everquest - I only played this one a little bit, piggybacking off of my dad's account. One of my characters didn't do too well, but I remember earning something like 10 levels in a day attacking all the monsters in this one tower just outside the starting area. The other memory of that character was accidentally wandering into a high-level dungeon and dying many times trying to get my body back. Some high-level player decided to help me, but he ended up getting overwhelmed too; it was a tough fight to recover some cheap equipment spread out among 12 different corpses of mine.

Everquest 2 - My first character had so many good moments, but among my favorite were when the game first came out. The class selection was a process. At level 1 you could choose between four archetype classes (fighter, mage, rogue, cleric) and learn the basics of the game that way. At level 10 you chose a specialization, and at level 20 you made your permanent choice of which city you aligned with, which determined your final class. I went the path of fighter, to crusader, to paladin, and the quests to choose your path made it feel so natural, like my character was actually learning from nothing and organically choosing his own destiny.

But then at some point they made the decision to make the game like every other MMO and dropped the whole thing in favor of just choosing your class at the start. Starting a new character never felt the same after that.

Star Wars Galaxies - Probably my favorite moments come from this one. This game is where I truly started roleplaying and started a whole thing for me. The game itself was kinda dull on it's own, but the roleplayers there made it something special. My bounty hunter character had so many adventures that you just couldn't get from the mechanics of the game.

Like the time my character drunkenly harassed a stormtrooper squad of players in a back alley of Mos Eisley, and ended up beaten up, arrested, and transported to Naboo for interrogation regarding connections to the rebellion. And then a botched rescue attempt by a friend ended us both in jail, and his ship getting shot down.

Or the time my guild leader hired me to assassinate another guild leader, and when it came time to do it, he trapped me in the basement of his house until we worked out a deal to mess with the first guild leader.

And then another time, we were farming space XP in orbit of Tatooine, and the game server glitched or something, and spawned in far more pirate fleets around us than usual, so we rolled with it and just said we uncovered an invasion fleet, took out as many as we could, and then fled to "warn" our friends on the surface.

It was a great game.

[Talyn]

Given its recent resurrection, I'm going to call zoning into Atlas Park in City of Heroes after 6 years, seeing the massive statue and hearing that little bit of music that just sounds so triumphant isn't leaving my memory anytime soon.

Welcome back, City of Heroes - for however long it will last.



- For me, one of the things I can remember is, in Bioshock, seeing the board with all the pictures on it and 'would you kindly' scrawled across it. That was when I had to sit back, go 'wait, what?' and really think about what had been going on.

- the second map in Doom 3, when you only have the dinky pistol and a flashlight. You can hear the security forces making fighting retreats all over the map through your radio, hearing people getting murdered and/or turned into zombies and there is nothing you can do about it. Then, as your radio starts to get quieter and quieter are there are fewer people fighting back, and you are stumbling lost through this burning and falling apart facility, a freaking imp crawls through a broken ladder to launch itself at your face. Say what you will about the overall quality of that game, that second level was freaking terrifying.

- playing Duke Nukem 3d, and in the first level realizing that you are in a street in a ruined city that ACTUALLY LOOKED LIKE A STREET IN A RUINED CITY. After Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake, whose level designs were never particularly immersive, seeing an actual city in a shooter game blew my mind

- when you return the healer's lost wedding ring in Quest for Glory, and the old woman just tackles you and gives you a huge hug and kiss in thanks. Not only do you feel like a real hero for the first time, but your on-screen avatar looking embarrassed and just awkwardly sidling out of the room afterwards while the narration snarks at you is just fantastic.

- the firs time I accidentally sailed over a reef in Sid Meier's Pirates! and actually tore a hole in the bottom of my boat and it sank! The music and art as you wash ashore on the reef, just looking at the sunset and feeling like a fool, made me honestly inspired to learn how to sail for real and do better. (Also, how many games make you learn the best points of sail for different rigs of ships or have you use an actual navigation device and the freaking height of the sun to make you find your latitude - which you will then have to mark on the actual paper map of the Caribbean the game came with? I learned SO MUCH from that game.)