It’s been a long time since I faced such moments perhaps due to games taking longer to make and becoming a more mature medium. Also games as a whole are more consistent at just being good instead of being built around moments. But here’s my list
- Raphael’s Boss music in Baldurs Gate 3
- GoW 2018, Kratos uncovering the floorboards and recovering those things
- Dropping the monkey paw at the end of Obra Dinn
- The plane moment in Indiana Jones
Honourable mentions
- The open world reveal in ff7 rebirth didn’t hit as hard as we knew it would come, but still brought a smile to my face. The other big twist at the end of the game was more confusing than epic
- Unchartered 4 surprisingly still fits in the list from 2016. The boat chase and truck trying to kill you was awesome
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Prey 2018, when you break through the glass. The whole game was good, but that first bit was stellar.
Basically everything in Disco Elysium, there were so many moments that made my jaw drop.
The first ‘ending’ to Void Stranger.
Horizon Zero Dawn had some jaw dropping moments of storytelling.
Ashtray Labyrinth in Control
My first thought was “oh nice it would be cool to discover some new Leeeroy Jenkins!”. Then I entered the thread and saw that’s not at all what was meant.
Not For Broadcast, Day 296: The Heatwave.
It starts off with a slight shift in tone from the earlier broadcasts, you feel the tension ramping up, and then you know exactly what’s coming, but it’s still a fucking gut punch no matter what choice you make.
Honestly, that entire game has so many of these moments, but that’s probably the one that’s stuck with me most.
(The Lockdown episode also had a lot of “what the fuck is even happening” moments pretty much every time something new happened, so I want to just give that an honorable mention. I often find myself singing “Mr. Bear (What’s That Over There?)” for literally no reason whatsoever.)
Final Fantasy VII Remake, when the proper Jenova theme played. Props to the hours of auditory misdirect leading up to it.
“We wouldn’t just play it, of course. That song is too silly for a dramatic scene. But here is a subdued motif to remind you of it.”
“Well we have to play it now because there’s a new Jenova fight but you’re getting the respectable cinematic version.”
“Now the fight’s really getting going, you’re getting the upper hand so time to boost the epicness and heroicness during the climax. Isn’t this song so cool now that we fixed it?”
Then the synthesizer finally kicks in and it’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever heard.
Entire final hour of Tears of the Kingdom.
Some memorable moments in no particular order:
- Outer Wilds when you reach the Sun Station
- Descending into the Lost River biome in Subnautica
- Alan Wake 2: The Musical
Outer wilds ending is GOAT gaming moment for me.
The first time I fought a bile titan in helldivers 2 blew my mind.
I’m thinking we’re sticking with games older than this year, as the dust hasn’t settled yet so to speak? Because honestly otherwise some recent entries would qualify for me. I’m thinking of you, Blue Prince and Clair Obscur.
I have a lower opinion of BG3 than most (it’s fine), but I absolutely agree that the Raphael boss fight and music was an absolute gaming highlight, and worth the price of admission alone.
Alan Wake 2 in its entirety would qualify for me, but if one moment has to be singled out then the We Sing chapter was something else. Honorable mention for
spoiler
Saga’s corrupted mind place
near the end, that was incredibly memorable.
Finally, and the real standout for me was the Final Dream in Disco Elysium. The most emotional, most impactful and heartbreaking and memorable moment I’ve had in gaming. And the most impressive seeing as Kurvitz (who wrote the scene) managed to distill the pathos and denouement of the entire game into three words to close the dream:
spoiler
See you tomorrow.
you could have also marked the Saga mind palace spoiler
That’s fair I’ll edit.
Hard agree for that entire scene from Disco Elysium, that, the spoiler at the end that helps you to find the scope, and the payphone.
Calling…
Calling…
Calling…
Still calling…
Yeah the payphone is also up there, and honestly, opening the secret compartment in the ledger too. Which when you think about it, all those best moments are so missable. Completely psychotic by the devs.
Its a game that, by all means, shouldn’t exist
- Witcher 3 opening scene in Kaer Morhen.
- Dark Souls 3 Irithyll of the Boreal Valley and
spoiler
Return to Anor Londo
The spoiler formatting doesn’t seem to have worked 🫣
Thanks, mbin doesn’t support inline spoiler apparently
I loved Obra Dinn and yet when you said that I drew a complete blank. What I remember of Obra Dinn is figuring out the metapuzzle. And maybe the Kraken.
I think the problem with “gaming moments” is you need a kind of universally communal experience of a game. The reason the Mexico ride in Red Dead became the prototype for THAT is it was maybe the last time we were all playing the same thing at the same time and reading the same things so we could all talk about the same bit at the same time.
spoilwrs from Obra Dinn
True. I wish my app had better space for spoiler tags.
But also, I feel these are covered by the title of the thread. If you don’t want the best gaming moments of the last decade spoiled maybe don’t click on the “What are the best gaming moments of the last decade?” thread.
I enjoy reading about stuff I don’t know. It makes me curious. So if I don’t know the game, if the scene sounds interesting, I may look it up and play it. No universal game experience needed.
Not sure if “best” is the right word, but Joel’s death scene was so impactful, even when I knew he had it coming and had to happen.
Also, over a decade ago but inFamous 2 evil ending when you last encounter Zeke. Oof, what a gut punch!
The whole of the True Ending of Hollow Knight, from before even reaching the final final boss
I think my favorite moment in Hollow Knight was finding the City of Tears. I just sat on the bench next to Quirrel for a while, listening to the somber music and to the rain pattering against the windows.
Oh yeah, did the same, you just couldn’t avoid it, it’s the thing you just GOTTA do…
And here you go
The song and dance number Micheal and George do in honor of Henry stealing a lute for them, and also doing their chores in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.
