Your Favourite Sequences in Video Games.

[Rodders]

Very much in the same manner as Baylor’s “Choices for the Best Most Memorable Moments and Scenes in all of Cinema”, I thought I would ask the question on your favourite sequences in video games. I’m not much of a game player, but even in my limited experience, there are some truly epic bits in many games.

I’m currently replaying Half-Life2. I must confess that I never really cared much for the second half, (too much of a generic shooter, I think), but the first half was awesome. I especially adored “We Don’t Go To Ravenholm“ and “Nova Prospect”, although there were a lot of other bits that were fun.

The original Half-Life also had some great moments, but the one that stands out for me is the Rocket Lab.

Like I say, not much of a gamer, but I’d love to read what your favourite bits in video games are.

 

[Foxbat]

The first time I encountered a Cyberdemon in Doom. It probably looks a bit lame now but back then I almost had to go change my underwear....

 

[.matthew.]

Many, many parts of the Dishonored games. The atmosphere of a steampunk city engulfed by the plague was perfectly done, and using magic was so much fun. Being able to warp time, teleport, possess people and animals, etc, all to sneak around or straight-up murder folk led to some really memorable moments.

 

[Toby Frost]

I'd nominate the "A man chooses, a slave obeys" scene in Bioshock, which is the crux of the villain's Ayn Rand-type philosophy, and ends with an excellent twist, which couldn't work in any other medium except a computer game. Similarly, but a bit less good, is the big revelation about the identity of the villain in Knights of the Old Republic.

Inevitably, I'd also mention the final third of The Last of Us, particularly the giraffes, the killing of the surgeon, and the showdown with the leader of the Fireflies.

 

[HoopyFrood]

There are no doubt so many, but as is often the way, they are all going to go out of my head now.

I've been playing FF14 for years now and there have been so many amazing parts in that, particularly in the last major expansion, which really upped the quality of the story. I could make an entire list just based on that. But one really standout moment, from back in the Heavensward storyline, a massive dragon enemy lands on a bridge and everyone is running away in panic -- apart from you, striding against the tide to face him. Epic.

I've mentioned a few times how blown away I was when I opened the doors to the promenade of the Groundbreaker in Outer Worlds, love that.

Think it's in Destiny 2, there's a level where you're right next to a sun and it looks absolutely stunning (although you have to spend any time outside running from shadow to shadow or get crisped).

I found Fallout 4 overall a bit blah, but it did have some interesting bits. When you see the airship of that faction whose name I now forget go flying over. The Salem museum bit. And my personal favourite, when I followed a random arrow and ended up in some messed up maze; I loved it because I stumbled across it completely randomly and had no idea what to expect, I was on edge the entire time.

Batman Origins had some really brilliant sequences. I remember the fight with Killer Croc being especially terrifying and exciting.

 

[.matthew.]

There are no doubt so many, but as is often the way, they are all going to go out of my head now.

Happens to the best of us

I'd also mention the final third of The Last of Us, particularly the giraffes,

And for some reason, this, completely unrelated to anything said, made me think of Grim Fandango. That game had so many great scenes, the whole story was excellent, and there were some brilliant noir moments.

 

[Venusian Broon]

The whole of Knightlore for the ZX Spectrum. Proper puzzle solving maze game rendered in isometric 3-D. (1984 for those not born then and not having a clue what I'm talking about)

And still not too shabby for being squeezed into ~48,000 bytes only. That's about 10% of a normal bog-standard screenshot that resides on my PC today....

....the first campaigns of Medieval Total War & Rome Total War (not Medieval/Rome Total War 2.) I still play a little dribble of Rome 1...

<christ, showing my age>

...First time I 'got' Elder Scrolls Oblivion. Missed Morrowind, so this was my entry in Bethseda. Took a while to warm up, not really understanding RPG's at first, but eventually adored just roaming about the landscape just exploring.

 

[Toby Frost]

There wasn't any one moment in Morrowind that I found especially brilliant (except maybe a dude falling out of the sky as a silly joke) but the slow dawning that this game was absolutely vast was amazing. And it was very much its own world, without the standard D&D trappings of that kind of game. Amazing stuff, and still quite playable.

There's an extremely old game from 1995 or so called Alone In The Dark - probably the first survival horror game. My friend Mark and I played it. It looks ridiculous now, but there's a moment where you go into a room, the door closes behind you, and when you open it again - there's a zombie! It's a silly jump scare, really, but it was the first time either of us had seen anything like that in a computer game, and it worked.

Somewhere on the internet is a good article about why the killing of the surgeon in The Last of Us is important, but it boils down to the fact that you can't progress in the game without doing something unequivocally wrong, and that it marks the point that Joel really tips over the edge.

 

[HareBrain]

I have so many that come from just two games -- Final Fantasy 7 and the first Tomb Raider. And I think that's not just because they were great games in their own right, but both huge leaps forwards in their respective genres. I don't think there's ever been such a leap since. I'm not even sure it would be possible.

But if I had to pick one, it's the sequence in FF7 when Sephiroth shows Cloud a group photograph which, according to everything we know, should include Cloud, and it shows someone else in his place. If I could ever create such a long-building mind-exploding twist in my writing, I'd die a happy author.

 

[Venusian Broon]

Yes the first Tombraider was pretty amazing for the time - I always remember the vertiginous sections that really handled the depths and scale of giant momuments fantastically well for the time.

In terms of jump scares, two moments from PS1 games, definitely the locker in the school in Silent Hill (the second time!) and of course the moment dogs jump through the window at you in Resident Evil.

 

[thaddeus6th]

Taking down Sephiroth in FFVII was a highlight.

I also really liked taking vengeance upon Zio in Phantasy Star IV (NB this old RPG is great and included in Sega Classics re-releases for modern consoles, so if you like things old school give it a look).

More recently, in The Witcher 3, when Geralt is on an island in the mist.

 

[HareBrain]

I always remember the vertiginous sections that really handled the depths and scale of giant momuments fantastically well for the time.

Yup. I think the first example was at the start of the dinosaur valley level, where you could swan-dive off the cliff into the pool. That was so amazing, it might have proved a very irresponsible temptation to do something similar IRL, had I been able to get my arse off the sofa.

 

[Rodders]

I would instantly get The Last of Us if it came out on the PC. I have read so much about it.

 

[AlexH]

Most of my memorable sequences will be from the 90s.

In Diddy Kong Racing on the N64, it seemed I'd completed the game, with everyone partying on the beach in a joyous cutscene. Then suddenly the music changed, the sky darkened, and Wizpig (the enemy) appeared from behind the lighthouse, with Diddy and friends running off in fear. It was a great scene!

Again on the N64, Lylat Wars (AKA Star Fox 64) was my first cinematic experience in gaming. One cutscene ripped off Independence Day, but I don't care - it was awesome.

On Illusion of Time (AKA Illusion of Gaia), an RPG on the Super Nintendo, I remember being upset when my character was shipwrecked. That was a moving scene.

The first time on Hyrule Field riding Epona in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The music, sunrise and set - everything = wow!

Running around as Mario in 3D for the first time on the N64 felt incredible. I still don't think that game has been beaten in terms of how natural and fun it felt (and still feels) to play, and I've played Mario Odyssey on the Switch.

I used to love Knightlore @Venusian Broon. We had it on Amstrad CPC. My mum even drew out a map of all the rooms and where the charms were, which I still have!

 

[sule]

One of my favorite moments in a game was the first time I got the paraglider in Breath of the Wild. First, it was an incredible feeling to jump from a peak and glide slowly down to the ground, soaking in the beauty of the world I was falling towards. Second, it was a huge QoL change for me, as I have a habit of accidentally falling to my death from high places in video games.

 

[Rodders]

I never got too far into the gaming, but X-Wing vs Tie Fighter game had a lot of great battles. Playing it in the nineties just trying to dodge pursuing fighters. It was quite a rush in the day.

Half Life 2 "Highway 17", or more specifically the bridge part. A great sequence and I actually felt my heart pumping because of the sense of height.

 

[MemoryTale]

The return to Forsaken Fortress in Zelda: Wind Waker. The first time you go through here, you're weaponless, and have only three hearts, and have to stealth past enemies before finally being caught and tossed out. When you return you mow through enemies with impunity, have an awesome mini-boss battle with Phantom Gannon, and then there's the Helmaroc King sequence. It starts off with a tense chase up a staircase up a spiral staircase while water rises below you, and the King attacking you and destroying the staircase as you go. You reach the top, smack the King into its own trap and escape just before the boss fight. The only downside is it's a fairly easy fight, but after everything that bird does in the first half of the game it's very cathartic smacking it around with a hammer that's bigger than you are.

 

[AlexH]

Another scene came to me the other day, from Mystical Ninja Starring Goeman on the N64, a bonkers 3D platformer (and probably my second favourite on the console behind Mario 64). At this point in the game, Goeman summons a giant robot called Impact (I still remember the music over 20 years later!):

 

[alexvss]

In RE4, when you're stuck in a house and the zombies start coming non-stop. It's a straight-up action sequence, with tons of ammo. It was mimicked in RE3:Remake and The Evil Within (same creator).
In Ucharted 2, when the buildings are falling; and in Uncharted 4, when you are attached to a car.

 

[paranoid marvin]

Rescue On Fractulus (C64 or Atari 800). Waiting for the downed pilot to get to your ship and finding out it was a Jaggi. You'll know what I mean if you played it! Also the first time I saw Impossible Mission and heard a game speaking.

Yes I agree with the comments on the original Tomb Raider. Some truly unforgettable scenes and (probably) the first time in a computer generated 3d world that you could go anywhere that you could see. The puzzle was often the cliff-face or structure in front of you and (a bit like a real life rock climber) you had to judge which route was the one that took you to the top. The fact that there was very little violence in the game was a plus point, and the odd 'hostile' (especically the T-Rex) meant that when they did appear they added to the atmosphere. Sadly later TR games seemed to forget why the original was such a success and were never as good , despite improvements in graphics.

Although I've owned computers and consoles up to the GameCube, most of my fondest memories of gaming come from the days of the 8 bit machines, a time when much was new and innovative. Also the very fact that the games machines of the time had restrictions in graphics, sound and memory (although the SID chip still sounds exceptionally unique to this day) meant that programmers had to really think about how to make the most of the little they had to play with, and made for some of the most playable, addicitive and unique games ever made.