Bloodborne. That slow, creeping realization that you're not in a gothic horror game. You're in a cosmic horror game. The stakes are far higher and you are far more fucked than you ever realized.
When did you last get your 'Wow factor' from video games?
- Thread starter Fonejackerjon
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Possibly Bayonetta 2, just from the sheer intensity of fights, and the crazy addictive yet brutal difficulty of the optional boss. It's the game that got me into fast-paced spectacle fighters. You rarely get bosses of that difficulty anymore (outside of Dark Souls inspired games), at least not in the games i've played. Three days of multiple hour sessions to take that guy down, loved it.
That or Undertale, just from all the love and depth that went into making the game. The first game I can remember that hit me so hard after the end, that I could do nothing else but play it again.
That or Undertale, just from all the love and depth that went into making the game. The first game I can remember that hit me so hard after the end, that I could do nothing else but play it again.
The Last Guardian
Nearly every moment Trico is on screen, but nothing beats that first time watching him jump into the water and seeing my character get washed away by the generated wave. Also running around with him atop the main tower bathed in that gorgeous lighting.
Before that, Owlboy. It's probably a game I'm never going to finish because it doesn't grab that much, but those backgrounds are mouth-wateringly beautiful.
Nearly every moment Trico is on screen, but nothing beats that first time watching him jump into the water and seeing my character get washed away by the generated wave. Also running around with him atop the main tower bathed in that gorgeous lighting.
Before that, Owlboy. It's probably a game I'm never going to finish because it doesn't grab that much, but those backgrounds are mouth-wateringly beautiful.
The Clockwork Mansion in Dishonored 2 was pretty amazing, a great lesson in (relatively) small scale level design imo.
Before that? As much as I loved the Witcher 3, I don't think it ever really wowed me in the same way that Skyrim did, I don't know if any recent game has managed to get the sense of size & scope that Skyrim did. The name itself seems to evoke huge sweeping vistas, and the game lived up to that.
I still vividly remember the first glimpse of the outside world after escaping the vault in Fallout 3 - I'm not completely sure why, but that first glimpse of the post nuclear war world definitely wowed me.
Before that? As much as I loved the Witcher 3, I don't think it ever really wowed me in the same way that Skyrim did, I don't know if any recent game has managed to get the sense of size & scope that Skyrim did. The name itself seems to evoke huge sweeping vistas, and the game lived up to that.
I still vividly remember the first glimpse of the outside world after escaping the vault in Fallout 3 - I'm not completely sure why, but that first glimpse of the post nuclear war world definitely wowed me.
Doom easily.
throughout decade no game impress me as Doom did. that excellent level design, combat, soundtrack etc. id Software nail it in every single possible way.
throughout decade no game impress me as Doom did. that excellent level design, combat, soundtrack etc. id Software nail it in every single possible way.
The alien ship in Crysis is probably the biggest wow-moment I've had with video games. However, much more recently (played it this summer) BioShock: Infinite delivered some bits of genuine excitement. Undertale was amazing in its own way, but maaaaaybe not graphically.
Battlefield 4, on the large field with the railway running through it, match started and jumped into a turret on the back of a friend's jeep as we merrily rode to the closest settlement to capture the point. But halfway through capture, an enemy in a helicopter appeared and started attacking with poor accuracy (its not easy controlling those things alone), at which point I unleashed all hell fire as it swayed about in the sky firing all around me. However, as I diminished the last of their health and the copter began spiralling in flames down, it became evident that it was aiming directly at me strapped in the turret, no amount of extra fire stopped its' descent or helped it explode early and my driver had caught a rather nasty case of death as my cries of "drive, damnit!" were met with silence and the ever increasing "weeb weeb weeb" of a disgruntled helicopter.
I should've got out then, but part of me doubted that it was capable of reaching me across such a distance and even if it would do any damage anyway. But it did explode upon impact after the classic final words of denial "No...no, surely n...nononNOOOOO!" were uttered. That probably was only about 5 seconds, but it remained an organic wow moment in memory that doesn't happen in other games.
I should've got out then, but part of me doubted that it was capable of reaching me across such a distance and even if it would do any damage anyway. But it did explode upon impact after the classic final words of denial "No...no, surely n...nononNOOOOO!" were uttered. That probably was only about 5 seconds, but it remained an organic wow moment in memory that doesn't happen in other games.
To latest memory, probably when I overheard a guard in Dishonored 2 mention an opened door and started a more erratic patrol pattern. They also do the same when they see that their patrol buddies aren't in position and start looking for them, too. It was such a "Holy shit" moment I mentioned it in my review.
The only one I can think of that has stuck with me til this day is this-
Ok yes there are other later game I did get wow but I can't remember! The reason why this trailer got the most wow from me was that I played and adore Xenoblade Chronicle. Seeing this and comparing to Xenoblade was huge due to the bigger quality grahpic and gameplay especially with the transforming mech!
Ok yes there are other later game I did get wow but I can't remember! The reason why this trailer got the most wow from me was that I played and adore Xenoblade Chronicle. Seeing this and comparing to Xenoblade was huge due to the bigger quality grahpic and gameplay especially with the transforming mech!
Super Smash Bros for 3DS. I'm being completely genuine here; if SSBf3DS was just able to keep pace with the Wii U version, that alone would be (or rather, is) praise worthy. I think it surpasses the Wii U version too; Smash on 3DS has Smash Run, which I think is a lot more fun than Smash Tour, and it has a few stages that I think are better like 3D Land, Balloon Fight, Dream Land (GB screen), Pac-Maze, Magicant and Pictochat 2. From a technical standpoint, I'm much more impressed by the 3DS version of Smash than the Wii U version...in fact I think I've put more time into 3DS than U...I've definitely unlocked more of the trophies and challenges on that version anyway...yeah, I realize the Wii U version has more but I'm talking percentage-wise, I've completely more of 3DS than Wii U.
When it comes to visuals alone I still think Pikmin 3 is the best looking Wii U game out there.
When it comes to visuals alone I still think Pikmin 3 is the best looking Wii U game out there.
Visually, nothing this year wowed me more than Ratchet & Clank. The bright colours of the vistas and detail of the models was breathtaking, plus there was the added bonus of seeing levels I'd played back in 2002 on the PS2 recreated in HD.
On the story and atmosphere front, the twin releases of Bloodborne and SOMA last year gave me two of my favourite brands of horrors coupled with some unexpected twists. Someone on the thread mentioned it already but it bears repeating: Bloodborne's shift from relatively mundane horror to Lovecraftian was executed brilliantly, with lots of subtle hints dropped throughout before everything officially goes off the rails at Byrgenwerth. For me, the turning point was when you get sent to Yar'ghul (an entirely optional event, mind you), the first time you have to deal with enemies who appear to have an intelligence behind them. The Amygdala statues around the place hint at what's coming later and the whole time you're listening to this eerie background choir, hinting at the disturbing ritualism behind everything. It's probably the best use of atmospheric music in a game since at least the first Bioshock.
As for SOMA, I just love that there's a horror game set in the deep sea, which is my favourite setting for horror. But of course, as those who have played it know, the horror elements are probably the least interesting part of the game when compared to the story and concepts it plays with. I can't remember the last time I played such a thought-provoking game. That said, there are plenty of viscerally amazing moments as well, like the walks across the ocean, the leadup to exploring the site where you get your deep-sea dive suit and the nerve-wracking "follow the lights" section. Even if a lot of the horror sequences wore out their welcome, I adored that bit.
On the story and atmosphere front, the twin releases of Bloodborne and SOMA last year gave me two of my favourite brands of horrors coupled with some unexpected twists. Someone on the thread mentioned it already but it bears repeating: Bloodborne's shift from relatively mundane horror to Lovecraftian was executed brilliantly, with lots of subtle hints dropped throughout before everything officially goes off the rails at Byrgenwerth. For me, the turning point was when you get sent to Yar'ghul (an entirely optional event, mind you), the first time you have to deal with enemies who appear to have an intelligence behind them. The Amygdala statues around the place hint at what's coming later and the whole time you're listening to this eerie background choir, hinting at the disturbing ritualism behind everything. It's probably the best use of atmospheric music in a game since at least the first Bioshock.
As for SOMA, I just love that there's a horror game set in the deep sea, which is my favourite setting for horror. But of course, as those who have played it know, the horror elements are probably the least interesting part of the game when compared to the story and concepts it plays with. I can't remember the last time I played such a thought-provoking game. That said, there are plenty of viscerally amazing moments as well, like the walks across the ocean, the leadup to exploring the site where you get your deep-sea dive suit and the nerve-wracking "follow the lights" section. Even if a lot of the horror sequences wore out their welcome, I adored that bit.
I'm thinking either Super Smash Bros. Brawl, or Mario Galaxy. former just because of how realistic it looked (at the time) as well as the unexpected guest stars. the latter just looked pretty gourgous whilst having great music, added Rosalina (who was pretty great at the time, considering past characters like...) and Bowser Jr was rerailed to an extent as a kind of minion for Bowser.
Think a thing that made Sunshine weird was that it was during that strange period where the Mario series was expanding their universe, like games like Paper Mario at least reused existing races like Spinies, Dayzees (yoshi's island enemy) with so few original races/monsters. then you suddenly have Luigi getting a defined personality and step their toes into a genre that would have seem out of place for Mario (Horror) but showed off the gamecube well. now with Sunshine, the 64 feeling was there, but having characters suddenly voiced and on vacation was pretty weird, it's even weirder for Bowser to have a hyper-competent Son who pretty much did his work for himself, Bowser wasn't even aware that Jr was doing that and had to be fought just because.
Not to say that it makes Sunshine a bad game ofcourse, but what ever subconscious hate people had about the game, chances are it was aimed at Bowser Jr....which is surprising considering his track record in appearances, he out beat Toadsworth and E Gadd. being agile and access to machines pretty much fits him as a character now.
Might have been the reason that the Luma that travels with Mario doesn't talk, since having a talking plot token took something away somehow. it works for the RPG series, but not so much for platforming.
Think a thing that made Sunshine weird was that it was during that strange period where the Mario series was expanding their universe, like games like Paper Mario at least reused existing races like Spinies, Dayzees (yoshi's island enemy) with so few original races/monsters. then you suddenly have Luigi getting a defined personality and step their toes into a genre that would have seem out of place for Mario (Horror) but showed off the gamecube well. now with Sunshine, the 64 feeling was there, but having characters suddenly voiced and on vacation was pretty weird, it's even weirder for Bowser to have a hyper-competent Son who pretty much did his work for himself, Bowser wasn't even aware that Jr was doing that and had to be fought just because.
Not to say that it makes Sunshine a bad game ofcourse, but what ever subconscious hate people had about the game, chances are it was aimed at Bowser Jr....which is surprising considering his track record in appearances, he out beat Toadsworth and E Gadd. being agile and access to machines pretty much fits him as a character now.
Might have been the reason that the Luma that travels with Mario doesn't talk, since having a talking plot token took something away somehow. it works for the RPG series, but not so much for platforming.
Doom 2016 comes immediately to mind! Probably the best FPS and the best action game I've played this decade. It was so much better than I ever expected it to be. There were a lot of great things about it, but a gameplay mechanic that actively encourages me to run out of cover (what's cover?) and murder everything is fantastic! I had sore fingers after that weekend.
The Second Dream quest in Warframe, as I simply didn't expect them to do what they did the way they did.
Really blew me away and got me excited for where it would go.
Really blew me away and got me excited for where it would go.
The moment below from INSIDE. The game had already blown my mind several times up to this point, then this section was so intense and hauntingly beautiful with the bittersweet music swelling and explosions in the background? wow. ChristopherOdd?s reaction to this moment in the video was exactly like mine; I literally had to stop for a few seconds and just take it in. If you?ve not played the game yet and might still, please don?t watch the video. This isn?t the end, but as with every moment of the game, it is a moment best appreciated when it?s built up to through every moment prior.