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Forums - Gaming Discussion - What games have truly awed you?

Phendara Drifts in the original Metroid Prime




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patapon said:

 

Oblivion just like the mutt said. Walking out from the sewers was actually the first "holy shit HD is amazing!!" moment I had. I bought a 360 at oblivion's launch and was not dissipointed!


That was a great time, first Oblivion, then Dead Rising and shortly after Gears of War. Those were the first games of the generation to truly stun me.Twilight Princess did that at the time as well but for different reasons.

Also agree about SotC what a brilliant masterpiece!!

After Gears of War it took a while to get truly amazed over graphics again on the console side of things. Uncharted 2 did and still does. I still think it is better looking than God of War 3 or any other console game for that matter.



God of War - When I first scaled Cronos in the desert..i was just in awe of the scale..seeing the chains sway in the background underneathe you as cronos crawls through the desert...i had to actually stop what i was doing for a minute just to take in what I was seeing. Truely epic.

The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker - I've never been a huge fan of the series..I have never beaten a Zelda game until Wind Waker...While some people may not have like the cel-shaded graphics, I absolutely adored them. I had never played a game with graphics like this and i was blown away  with the graphics, and the world in which Link had to traverse. The scale of the ocean was breath-taking to me, and the sense of adventure was just purely amazing. My second favorite game of all time.

Uncharted 2 - While Uncharted 1's graphcis were amazing and the game itself was very solid..it wasn't util the second game where i was blown away..for the first time it literally felt like i was playing a movie. Great action sequences, great gameplay, great story, and great graphics made this game a jaw dropper for me.

Bioshock - The city of Rapture is a world that feels like no other. A beautifully stylized city that made you actually feel like you were in Rapture while playing through the game. A made up city that felt anything but as you keep playing more and more into the game.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare - The Nuke scene is a scene I probably won't forget any time soon..walking out of that copter in a daze into a world of death and looking around to see everything in a hellish color was terrofying yet beautiful scene. The rest of the game was no snooze-fest either. The sniping mission had me feeling as stealthy as ever, and the ending scene is one of my favorites in a FPS to date.



"If new things are so great, where have they been the whole time?"

Probably Oblivion.

And more than once through the game.



Reasonable said:

Elite, Ultima Underworld 2, Doom, Tie Fighter, Deus Ex, System Shock 2, STALKER, System Shock, Ico, SOTC, Silent Hill 2, Oblivion, Bioshock, Half Life Franchise, Portal, Uncharted 2...  Probably some more.  All, at the time, had moments that were pretty awesome.


More so than Silent Hill 1?



Rockstar: Announce Bully 2 already and make gamers proud!

Kojima: Come out with Project S already!

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Hrm... games that actually awed me?

-Super Mario Bros: What do you mean the board can scroll? And have multiple music tracks? A boss? As someone who was raised on the 2600, this was simply amazing to me.

-Dragon Warrior 1: This was my first JRPG, and the size and scope of this game just floored me. How big was it, where was the end? The size of this was quickly eclipsed by Final Fantasy 1, but it was this one that actually did the wow factor for the size of a game.

-Final Fantasy 6: Wait... the boss of the game DID destroy the world? And I have to play in this world? The thought that you don't always get everything you want. This also introduced for me, the actively switching out party members.

-Super Mario 64: Finally... a game that does 3D right, and, to this day, has not been surpassed. And all the new moves given to Mario really made this feel like a complete refresh, and reminded me of what it was like to start gaming anew.

-Revelations: Persona: This game seemed to do dark very well, and best conveyed that good and evil was not such a clear line in gaming. It had a good blend of classic and new, and for me, set the bar for what actually makes a game 'mature.' (Yes, I know that it was rated E at the time, and the PSP remake got a T.)

-Persona 3 FES: I was losing interest in gaming. It was becoming too flashy, too easy, too... well, boring. I remembered seeing praise for Persona 3, on a system that I did not have at the time. (I was late in getting a PS2.) That, with some other games got me to get it, but P3 was out of print. I was told of a "reprint" in one of the Gamestops around here due out in a few months; said reprint was actually for FES. And it made me think again! Something I'd not had to do in gaming for some time. The art of making what I enjoyed about games was not lost in a graphics rush!

-Fragile Dreams: I've always dreamt of being able to explore a place in ruins. But I'm a city person, I like the feeling that there was civilization there at one point. I've looked up several pictures of building from splunkers online for this, and now there was a game that would let me look around?

-Dragon Quest 9: I'm not going to lie, at this point, I'm very jaded against Square-Enix for what they've done to many of my beloved series of yore. But DQ9 has shown me that just by putting in a few silly little things, it'll keep me playing. To date, it has the highest timer on any single playthrough yet; I've beaten the game, sure, but I'm still trying to get those best grottos...

There've also been quite a few other games that have wowed me, and absorbed my soul, (see: Etrian Odyssey), but they didn't really awe me; I'd finish them and be done. Then again, a good chunk of the Atlus catalog does this to me anymore...



-dunno001

-On a quest for the truly perfect game; I don't think it exists...

d21lewis said:

I'm gonna go through my entire history of video gaming.  Here we go.

Dragon's Lair:  (arcade) At the time, when video games were nothing but Space Invaders and Pac-Man, this game came out and was as beautiful as a Saturday morning cartoon.  Of course, it was no more than a video that let you make choices as to which video would play next.  Still, at the time, I couldn't believe my eyes.

Super Mario Bros. 3: (Nes) Super Mario Bros. set one hell of a standard.  Super Mario 2 was very good but very different.  When I got my hands on SMB3, I never looked at games the same again.  The tricks (infinite 1-up traps), the secrets (like the coin ship), the gameplay, the graphics, the scope--my idea of what was possible in a game was blown wide open.

Street Fighter 2: (Arcade) I was in an arcade back in the early 90's and there was a crowd around one of the machines.  It was SF2.  I didn't even play.  I just watched.  It was the most fluid thing I'd ever seen.  People were jumping in using different characters, and pulling off the most amazing moves I'd ever seen.  I've been in love with the game/genre ever since.

Star Fox (Snes):  I'd played games in a 3D perspective--World Runner and F-Zero spring to mind.  When I got my hands on Starfox, I got a glimpse of the future.  I used to just sit there and watch the intro, over and over again.  This was real 3D and it was in my house.

Donkey Kong Country (Snes):  Great gameplay had become a bit of the norm, on the Snes.  Great graphics, too.  But at a time when the competition was pumping out CD peripherals and such, Nintendo and Rare showed what they were all about.  I recieved a VHS tape in the mail.  It was pretty much a Donkey Kong Country commercial.  The graphics were like nothing I'd ever seen before.  The music was beautiful--to the point where I STILL listen to it from time to time.  Once again, Nintendo had taken a new technology, tied it to a solid game, and blew my mind.

Chrono Trigger (Snes):  Maybe there ARE better RPG's than Chrono Trigger.  I refuse to believe that, though.  This was my first foray into the RPG genre and the gold standard by which all others will forever be compared.  It was the story that was on a scope I'd never experienced before.  It was the characters that were all memorable, likeable, and diverse.  I actually felt like I had some investment in the story and relationship with the characters.  It was the gameplay, complete with the first "New Game " that I'm aware of, combined magic techniques, and "Active Time Battle".  It was about time, and it was amazing.

Killer Instinct (Arcade):  Again, it was the graphics.  I never really liked Mortal Kombat.  The controls just didn't do it for me.  Here, we had a game that controlled like Street Fighter, was brutal likeMortal Kombat, and had a presentation like nothing I'd ever seen before.  This game was as much fun to watch as it was too play.

Super Mario 64/Zelda OoT (N64):  How many times do you play a game and know without a shadow of a doubt:  "This is the best game that the world has ever seen."  Twice. That's how many. These were those two times.

Tekken 2 (PS1):  My neighbor had a PS1.  In my head, I just knew that it sucked.  I sat there and watched him play Street Fighter Alpha.  I wasn't impressed.  "Look at the load times!  Look at the shitty characters!", I said.  Then, he tossed in Tekken 2.  I couldn't even hide my amazement.  The CGI cutscenes, the animation, the depth of moves.....it wasn't long before I bought a PS1!!  And when I bought my PS1, I also bought........

Resident Evil (PS1):  The intro didn't impress me.  The graphics were pretty good.  The controls took some getting used to.  But then, I went down that hallway.  ZOMBIE DOG THROUGH THE WINDOW!!  I dropped my controller and screamed like a little bitch in front of my little sister and my cousin.  We laughed.  I killed the dog and talked about how awesome that was.  Two seconds later, it happened again!!  It was the first time a game had actually scared me.  From that point on, I realized that games had the power to immerse you in atmosphere like nothing else, out there.

Metal Gear Solid (PS1):  My brother and I were Solid Snake fans since the Nes.  We even stole Snake's Revenge from our local video game store.  So, when I heard Metal Gear was coming to the PS1, I knew I had to have it.  I bought it on my first date with my eventual fiance (we still talk about that!).  The highlight of that night wasn't a good night kiss or anything.  It was me going home and playing the most cinematic game I'd ever seen.  This was one of the few times I would classify a game as "Absolutely perfect".  I use the term "awesome" to describe everything from shoelaces to pizza dough, these days.  Back when I played Metal Gear Solid on the Playstation, I called the game "Awesome" and I meant it.  I was in awe of how good this game was.

Gears of War (Xbox 360):  I was happy with last gen but it seemed like a better looking version of the previous gen.  This gen seemed like a better looking version of the 6th generation.  For the most part, it was.  I'd played and loved RE4 on the 'Cube and I didn't really plan on buying a console this generation.  This game (combined with the hype building for the Wii) made me change my mind.  Most of what I'd seen of the Xbox 360 left a bad taste in my mouth.  It didn't seem like a generational leap.  When I finally saw GoW running in person, I couldn't deny it.  The next gen was here.

Wii Sports:  (Duh!):  Yeah.  It was a trick.  The Wii didn't track my movements 1:1.  At the time, I didn't know it.  When I got my hands on my Wii (that sounds dirtier than I intended, honestly) I was impressed.  The crude Mii graphics quickly gave way.  When I punched, the character on screen punched.  When I swung the remote like a tennis racket, so did my onscreen avatar.  My imagination filled with what the future might hold.  Of course, much of what I imagined still hasn't been realized.  At the time, I can't deny that I was in awe.

 

--Off topic:  My kid played Space Channel 5 part 2 on the PS3 (B/C) this morning.  Somebody needs to port this game to Kinect, ASAP!!  Yes, it's pretty gay but then so is pro-wrestling and I like that. 

No love for Bayonetta?



Rockstar: Announce Bully 2 already and make gamers proud!

Kojima: Come out with Project S already!

MrT-Tar said:

Phendara Drifts in the original Metroid Prime


Oh yeah! I feel like replaying Metroid Prime every time I think of that place. It's so damn well done!

Coming from the lava levels and entering the silent, icy Phendara Drifts is an amazing experience. The music is incredible too!



FFXIII- first few moments with cinematics

Vanquish- Dodging giant laser beam, and a whole lotta rockets

Yakuza 3- entering battle



What I want from a game.

Gameplay > Story > Content > Graphics

Visual Style > Graphics

Smooth Camera, Intuitive Controls

Friction! When everything feels right!

oh and how could i forget Mario 64 my favorite game of all time. The first time I got my hands on this master piece was at a local store in which had the demo. The music was amazing. Mario and the world in 3d looked unbelievable, i don't even know if there are words to describe it. I couldn't not wait for christmas that year because that was one present i was not going to be without (Santa actually rented it from blockbuster...who knew Santa was so cheap). Playing the game going from world to world anticipating what was behind every picture i was jumping into will never be forgotten. I still remember the music from Cool, Cool Mountain..ahhh the good ol' days.



"If new things are so great, where have they been the whole time?"