A fistful of moments. (Off-Topic)

by Chewbaccawakka , The Great Green Pacific Northwest!, Thursday, August 20, 2015, 22:26 (3611 days ago) @ cheapLEY

Like most here I've played a ton of video games over the years. There are many games I enjoy, several I love and at least one or two I consider "the best game ever." I've been thinking about it since last night, and though it's exceptionally difficult to come up with my favorite moments in gaming, I think I've finally arrived at a short-list.

Arranged according to my personal game chronology.

Metroid. Mother Brain.

Metroid was the very first game I beat. I was around six or seven years old and it took me months of playing and making hand-drawn maps of the game world to finally figure out that vertical maze of weapons and power ups. Eventually though, I made it to the games final boss, Mother Brain. The fight was tough for me, and I had to attempt it a few times, but finally I hit her with that last missile. Though just as I was breathing a sigh of relief, the message flashed up on the screen: "Time Bomb, you must escape!"

I panicked and rushed through the door to find a new area I'd never seen before! But by this time I was a seasoned Space Bounty Hunter, I knew what to do: jump on the platforms to climb up.

And so jump I did. Jump and jump and jump again! Occasionally I would fall and have to retrace my leaps, but with that countdown clock ticking away I was never further away from planning my next move. The time made it's way closer to zero, and I made my way closer to the exit. Upon attaining the very last elevator I remember clutching tightly my control, unwilling to be duped into another false victory. But it turned out that my skill was finally rewarded, the "you did it!" screen came up and I discovered that I had be playing a woman the entire game!

I was shocked at this revelation. Like I imagine most did, I'd assumed that I was some strapping young man wearing that power-armor. But no, it was a lady that wore the mechanical orange and red! But really, what did it matter? I was Samus Aran, badass star warrior! And who gave a butt (six year old me, remember?) if I was a woman?! I saved the galaxy and destroyed the bad guys! It was then that I learned that you didn't have to be a dude to kick ass, and it's always been one of my cherished gaming memories.

Freespace: The Great War. Boarding the Shivan freighter.

This one was technically a cutscene. It happens roughly half-way through the campaign, and for me at least came as a bit of a shock. Freespace is a space-fighter simulator, probably my all-time favorite genre of game. As such, all of the gameplay, and a good deal of the cutscenes revolve around ships and lazers and such. Hence my surprise at a scene showing a bunch of marines boarding one of the freighters I'd blown up.

It was a cool scene that showed that I was part of a greater world. A world where, yeah I was a fighter jock and flew through space, but there were also grunts who had to do their own heavy lifting. It also showed me just how alien the Shivans truly were, with tri-lateral symmetry and apparently having evolved in a zero-g environment, and incredibly vicious to boot!

Alan Wake. Old Gods of Asgard Concert.

This one was just awesome. If you haven't played Alan Wake before, I strongly suggest you do, also minor spoilers following. The majority of this game is tense and poorly-lit. Darkness plays a huge roll not only in the gameplay, but also the plot of the story. It is also a psychologically dark tale about the pull of insanity, and how much of our waking world we take for granted. Being that literal and metaphorical darkness plays such a pivotal roll in the narrative, having this moment of balls to the walls rick-rollen goof off time really helped to cut the tension in a fun and exciting way. I felt refreshed after this moment in the game, ready to tackle the remainder of the brooding plot of evil.

Batman: Arkham Asylum. Defeating Scarecrow.

The Arkham games are some of the best... No, wait, the are THE best Batman games out there. Everything about them screams "We understand the Bat." I've loved every moment of playing these games, but you'll always remember your first love. Asylum holds a special place in my heart because everything was new, yet recognizable. We hadn't had any Batman game of that caliber up to that point, learning the mechanics of becoming the Caped Crusader was a blast that I absolutely loved.

That said, there was one particular moment in the game that really stood apart from the others. In fact it was a single line of dialog spoken after you defeated Scarecrow (in arguably the best series of encounters in the game). It was this line that spoke to me of the true other-worldy nature of Batmans will and drive for vengeance. To me it was another beautiful and subtle nod to the darker side of the Batman franchise.

(Hmm, can't seem to set it to play from the middle. Go ahead and skip to 11:27)

The Last Of Us. The End.

Some of you have already mentioned this particular moment of gaming. For me it was the icing, the cherry, and the sugar on top of what was already a masterpiece of video-game history. I know some detractors would argue that TLoU isn't deserving of the praise it's received since the game came out in June of 2013. To you I would say: *blows raspberry*

For everyone else, you may have played the game and loved it as much as I did, or you may have yet to add the title to your personal list of completed games. I cannot urge you enough to play it. It's wonderful.

That said, the ending of this game was the pivotal "make or break" segment to the whole. If they hadn't nailed it here, the game still would have been pretty damn good. But it was this progression of events that made a really good game, into a phenomenal one. I could go on and on about this scene, but I'm not going to. I'll just post the video for you to watch or not watch on your own.

If you care to know, the specific moment I'm talking about is the last bit of dialog and the very last lie of the game. That's what did it for me, that perfect bit of storytelling and the last line of sympathetic character building for the games protagonists. Absolutely perfect.

Anyway, that's what I was able to come up with. I'm sure that as soon as I hit submit I'll think of a dozen more that belong on this list. Heh, ah well, nature of the beast I suppose.