Your 'WOW!' moments in gaming

[Fonejackerjon]

With the xbox one and Ps4 one year old now, they both still have yet to deliver that 'wow' moment and I fear it may never happen, however these are mine:

1) First time I play Super Mario on the NES (graphics looked amazing)

2) That boot up screen on the Playstation on on the demo disk! going from snes to PlayStation was and still is the biggest leap I have ever seen.

3) Playing GTA 3 on ps2!

4) First time playing the tennis games on wii sports! (Admittedly is was a deception as the motion tracking wasn't as accurate as I first thought but I was still blown away.)

5) Playing Uncharted 2 on ps3 (my jaw stayed dropped for ages, graphics were absolutely beautiful)

6) Plugging my android phone into my TV and playing dead trigger 2 with a bluetooth controller and finally understanding that this could be the future, when only 10 years ago games weren't even in colour!)

What are yours???

 

[Brain Tumor]

The first time I played Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on SNES. The rain effects blew my young mind.

The first time I saw Super Mario 64. I was so obsessed with getting that game back then. I remember Toys r Us having like 10 of them set up for demo. Stayed in the store for hours playing it before it came out.

 

[Fonejackerjon]

Pretty much any PS2 game when it just came out. It was such a change that no generation will experience ever again.
I remember Dark Cloud blew people's minds out.

The last time I said wow was probably Shadow of the Colossus.

Although changing AV cable on my PS3 to HDMI was nearly such a moment as well.

Agree with that one!

 

[vledleR]

-Climbing out of Hades(sp) in the original God of War.

-Playing BF2 on PC. That game seemed like paradise. After my 5 millionth time getting bombed by a jet, I realized some balance issues within the game that, sadly, were never resolved.

-Some bridge level in a forgotten shooter called Black, came out in 2006. That part of the game nailed the cinematic elements, during a period where the term "cinematic elements" didn't make you roll your eyes, and really, they haven't gotten any better since then; just more polygons and scripting.

-Bayonetta. No particular moment, really.

 

[BraveSirRobin]

Reaching Eryth Sea in Xenoblade Chronicles was a pretty huge wow moment. I got there at night and it happened to be during its meteor shower which, after the comparatively standard Makna/Satorl zones before it, left a pretty big impression.

The other one would probably be stepping through the Dark Portal at the start of WoW:TBC and seeing the demon war going on and the sheer scale of the portal on the other side. I would also probably have to tie this with the first look at Al'ar's room in Tempest Keep which still remains my favorite instance in that game.

 

[MysticSlayer]

There were quite a few in Xenoblade Chronicles. Getting out onto the Bionis Leg for the first time gave me quite a "Wow" moment. The same thing happened when I entered Satorl Marsh (it was at night) and Eryth Sea (night as well, during a meteor shower). There were a few other moments throughout the game as well, but those were the three most memorable.

Crysis 2 also had its moments. I know that a lot of people thought that the game looked horrible compared to the first game, but I still felt that it looked good and gave some very impressive-looking scenes.

The most recent in memory would be BioShock Infinite. As much as I loved the dark, twisted nature of Rapture, I can't really complain about the change in environments when Colombia was simply so beautiful.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

It seems like every time I get my own new console (talking new iterations...when I got my Xbox, when I got my PS2, etc) there's almost always a 'Wow' moment the first time I boot up a game.

I just started playing Uncharted on Friday (got the first two new on sale) and for a PS3 game from 2007, I'm impressed by how good it looks. There are games from 2007 that look like garbage now after all. There are games from this year that look horrible too but Uncharted looks freaking great in my opinion.

I haven't beaten Shadow of the Colossus (honestly, I've only beaten 3 of the titular creatures), but the first time I fought and killed the first one was a huge wow moment. That whole fight was a wow moment to me.

The final Bowser fight in New Super Mario Bros Wii and, 3D World were all pretty awesome and deserving of a Wow. I can't remember the Bowser fights from other games as well but in NSMBW, you have a deceptively east fight with the King Koopa then are chased by a magically charged, Giant Bowser. It's basically a scrolling level but it's still a ton of fun. Then in SM3DW, Bowser utilizes not only the Bell to become Meowser, but he also uses double-cherries to clone himself, chasing you up a huge, neon tower. Again, this is more of a scrolling level with neat hazards but it's still a sight to behold and the best looking Bowser fight Nintendo has ever shown off.

Super Mario World was the first platformer I beat as a kid, and Legend of Zelda: Link to the Past was the first adventure/puzzle/RPG thing that I ever beat as a kid (both wow moments).

 

[Fox12]

Oh, a few, and its funny, because they were all decades old at the time. Graphics never impressed me. My biggest would be FF7.
There were a lot of "wow" moments later in that game, but this was moment when I realized that I was in for something good.

The Kingdom Hearts 2 fight with axle certainly blew my young mind. Duel blades, running on walls of fire, seamlessly integrated reaction commands... it blew my expectations out of the water. It took a long time to start, but when it began, it hit the ground running.

 

[Imperioratorex Caprae]

Final Fantasy X is one of the games that wow'ed the crap out of me. At the time I almost couldn't tell when the cutscenes ended and the game began. Of course its different now, but when I got it, it was awesome.

 

[DaWaffledude]

Seeing the crates have actual physics in the PS3 Ratchet and Clank games instead of just falling straight down. Blew my 11-year-old mind.

 

[Bizzaro Stormy]

Going through the portal to enter hell in Doom 3. Most of the hell level was grey depressing and boring, as it rightly should be, but the entrance sequence got my attention! I still think it's the coolest thing I've seen in a video game.

 

[Noontide]

There are definitely recent games that can cause the wow reaction. Everyone I've talked to who played Dragon's Dogma took the same screenshot [http://www.herpy.net/gallery/data/media/68/1338943.jpg] at the same location during the final(ish) boss battle. That battle, and a lot of the battles in the game, are overwhelming.

I had a similar reaction when I discovered Ash Lake in Dark Souls.

 

[Lieju]

The first time I saw Super Mario 64. I was so obsessed with getting that game back then. I remember Toys r Us having like 10 of them set up for demo. Stayed in the store for hours playing it before it came out.

Ah yes. I didn't have money for N64 so I stared at screenshots of it.

Luigi's mansion impressed me too. I wasn't gaming as much at the time, but getting Gamecube got me back into video-games and I remember going 'wow' at the visuals and how great the controller was.

 

[The Wykydtron]

The ending to Persona 4 was pretty wow, though everything was wow in that total gem of a game so imma move on something slightly different.

Shadow Labrys' comeback scene in Persona 4 Ultimax was a great moment. I was waiting for it since the start of the game since y'know there's now three different versions of Labrys in the game and I wanted to see how they justified that. Basically uses her as a massive "no fuck you" to the main villain when he does the Labrys mind control bullshit again, accidentally wakes up Shadow Labrys instead and she legitimately tries to murder him once she beats him in battle. Then after the cheesiest "kill him over our dead bodies" scene from everyone else, she eyes all of her friends with disgust for a second and utters the best line in Persona 4 history.

...

*Drops axe*

"Fine. I'm done with this shit."

Like i've never been fully sold on the stories of the Persona 4 spinoffs after Vanilla Persona 4 because sticking random stuff onto something already perfect is more likely to harm it than improve it but that there was worth it.

 

[Zykon TheLich_v1legacy]

Walking out of vault 101 and traipsing down the hill towards the ruins of civilisation.

Not quite sure if it counts, but the cinematic trailer for DoW2 was pant shittingly awesome. The charging Banshees still send a bit of a chill down my spine.

Looking back over the Imperial city from one of the surrounding hillsides in Oblivion was pretty impressive.

 

[AnthrSolidSnake]

Watching the pre-rendered cutscenes of FFX. Nothing ever looked so good on my RF cable-only, blurry CRT TV.

The first time I built my own PC and witnessed Crysis at 1024X768 on medium graphics at about 30FPS.

Kingdom Hearts 2 came out.

Traveling the world of Oblivion. Nothing ever felt as expansive as that.

Playing Need for Speed Most Wanted: 5-1-0 on PSP. Followed by MGS: Portable Ops. Near console experiences on a handheld? Yes, Yes.

 

[vid87]

Playing Arkham City with a friend and getting down to one last guy in a stealth section who, having the crap scared out of him (we upside-down take-downed like 4 guys in the exact same spot in under a minute), drops his weapon and gives up. The soundtrack really kicked in at that point so it made the moment so much better.

 

[Chester Rabbit]

1) The first time I saw the very realistic and mind blowing (at the time) opening cinematic of Resident Evil Code Veronica

2) Code Veronica's cutscenes that actually featured character models who's lips moved and fingers moved individually.

3) Playing Resident Evil REmake for the first time and being taken aback at how unfamiliar this remake that I thought I would have a very firm grasp on was.

4) Being introduced to Fable for the first time and being very oversold by my friend with all the possible outcomes of how your character could turn out based on any little choice (he was of course lying)

5) Playing Halo 2 and seeing the textures of that game. It was the first time I had ever seen such sharp and detailed textures that actually seemed to have depth to them and made me feel as if I when I went up against a wall of rock I would really feel it's roughness on my cheek.
Before that I was used to blurry flat pixel textures. I was a PS2 gamer up until 2004 and didn't so..

6) Playing Gears of War for the first time and being blown away with how cinematic it felt. I felt as even though I was playing it it was still as if I was watching a film...sadly it doesn't feel like that now..

7) Playing Mass Effect and marveling at the scope of the game and the amount of detail in it all this coming to mind while watching Sovereign rocket off of Eden Prime. I had just never experienced a game so big and so seamless before.

8) Finishing Mass Effect for the first time. processing the entire adventure and capping it off with those credits was a very serious "Fucking WOW" moment.

9) Looking out into the beautiful vacuum of space in the destroyed Normandy in Mass Effect 2. It was a breath taking sight the first time you pan that camera up.

10) Getting what I thought would be a game over in Paul's apartment in Deus Ex only to wake up in a prison cell. I just can not believe how that game integrated that decision and outcome into the actual narrative. God I have to get back to that game!

11) The end of Bioshock Infinite. after that I just sat in my chair my mouth hung open and I felt so burned out after that journey haha. My mind is still sizzling from that heh.

12) Falling in love with the sweetness of Kirby's Epic Yarn. That game is just soooooooo fucking adorable.

13) Playing Heavenly Sword this spring and being blown away with how freaking amazing this game looked. Yeah I am just now catching up with the PS3.

 

[laggyteabag]

Assassin's Creed: Unity - Wow, this game really is bad!

OT:
Assassin's Creed 2 - Seeing how pretty and lifelike the cities were.

Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary - Whenever you swapped backwards and forwards between classic and anniversary graphics.

Mass Effect - Finishing the first game and realising that I was hooked.

Batman: Arkham Asylum - The combat and how satisfying it was (after I got used to it, that is).

Telltale's The Walking Dead - I cared about all of the characters so quickly. No other game or other form of media has matched that yet.

World of Warcraft - Those cinematic trailers are just sweet.