Gaming moments that gave you the tingles.

[Kaamos_Llama]

Looking at some other threads got me thinking, some games I remember specific moments and ideas from some even 20 + years later. It can be a story twist or revelation or just an intense moment in some other way. A few of mine that came to mind trying not to spoil them:

Planescape: Torment: Ravel

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons: Losing the use of a hand

Bioshock: Would you kindly?

Doom 2016: So much adrenaline for such a sustained period of time.

Final Fantasy 7: Aerith

Dark Souls: Ornstein and Smough

Sekiro: Guardian Ape second phase

Dying Light: Outside at night for the first time.

Obviously its hard to not have a bias towards more recent titles, but I'm interested to see what moments might have really stuck in your memory over the years from when you originally experienced them. Even if revisiting them might not have had the same weight.

 

[Dan]

I will have to go with Halo 3.

The 360 was the first console that I used to play online with my real life friends.
Before the 360 I had always been a PC gamer (and was again after the 360), I never used a microphone to talk to people, and none of my friends had a PC. so when I got the 360 and jumped into the story with 4 of my friends all laughing and joking with each other, it was an amazing experience.

 

[I Will Haunt You]

Along with some you've already mentioned:

In Thief: Deadly Shadows during the 'Robbing the Cradle' mission when you learn that Shalebridge Cradle used to be a mental asylum and an orphanage at the same time.

The horrible truth about James revealed in Silent Hill 2. (Not to mention the Pyramid Head "rape" scene.)

Opening a portal to the moon in Portal 2.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

I will have to go with Halo 3....

As I never had any Xbox the whole of Halo pretty much passed me by until recently. I Finished Halo Reach the other day on the Master Chief edition through Gamepass and I really enjoyed it.

Along with some you've already mentioned:

In Thief: Deadly Shadows during the 'Robbing the Cradle' mission when you learn that Shalebridge Cradle used to be a mental asylum and an orphanage at the same time.

The horrible truth about James revealed in Silent Hill 2. (Not to mention the Pyramid Head "rape" scene.)

Opening a portal to the moon in Portal 2.

I played Silent Hill 2 with a friend at the time along with most of the early Resident Evils. I'm too much of a coward to play those games on my own but I think Pyramid Head is definitely iconic, good shout.

I missed out on Thief at the time and never went back to it, and I don't have much patience for a lot of puzzle games, or I'm just simple. Still I'm pretty sure others will remember those, nice.

 

[Zoid]

Bioshock: Would you kindly?

I came to this thread specifically for this. This moment destroyed me.

I will have to go with Halo 3.

The 360 was the first console that I used to play online with my real life friends.
Before the 360 I had always been a PC gamer (and was again after the 360), I never used a microphone to talk to people, and none of my friends had a PC. so when I got the 360 and jumped into the story with 4 of my friends all laughing and joking with each other, it was an amazing experience.

Halo 3 was a special game for me as well (to this day probably the game I have put the most hours into). The online community was incredible and I haven't seen it replicated since.

Opening a portal to the moon in Portal 2.

YES! Another worthy member of the list.

Other moments for me were:

• First stepping out of the sewer and into Cyrodiil in Oblivion. Or stepping out of the vault in either Fallout 3 or 4. Bethesda is good at those world reveals, huh?
• The battle for the Citadel in Mass Effect
• The ending of Limbo
• Stepping off the Odyssey into Cascade Kingdom in Super Mario Odyssey
• The ending of the Long Night of Solace mission from Halo Reach

 

[McStabStab]

I see many of these listed above and I posted some in the scariest moments thread, but here's my list:

• Getting tortured by Dr. Trager in Outlast
• The tension of exploring bunkers and labs in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl
• Visiting LV 426 in Alien: Isolation
• Watching the first VHS tape in Resident Evil 7 and then following in that person's footsteps
• The Pyramid Head and Mannequin Scene in Silent Hill 2
• Meeting Andrew Ryan in Bioshock
• The ending of Dead Space
• The ending of The Forest
• The ending of SOMA

These are the real memorable ones that left a lasting impression on me.

 

[Johnway]

i can easily say a lot of them recently was from Mass Effect series. Choosing who lived or died and the finale was brilliant made me feel like a true hero as i destroy the horrible monster (it dies a painful death), show the council how awesome humanity was and set me up for more. Mass effect 2 didn't disappoint either felt good to continue the story and was generally an entertaining romp start to finish making new friends and seeing old ones. Again finale rocked.

Mass Effect 3 on the other hand... welll, left a more deflated and crushing disappointment. First our local Game store shut so i might have missed out. Secondly the problems with exporting characters but found the opportunity to indulge in multiplayer and give my character a much needed upgrade. But that ending, yeah, for a game i had high regards, it was a crushing disappointment and i suppose the downward opinion for EA.


On the multiplayer front, Planetside 2 easily left a lasting impression. When the stars aligned and a lot of people were playing and the sides were balanced and organized, it was awesome. Felt like a real battle and there were many memorable moments that were glorious charges/assaults/last stands. Either way, a constant bloodbath and excitement, but most importantly fun. it kinda helped that i wasn't terrible at the game and could mostly get a positive k/d and the starting weapons didn't suck.

Generally speaking i enjoy pve games so coop experiences are my thing. L4d was probably my first and i felt good helping people covering people and helping them to overcome a common threat. I was perfectly happy helping and being a supportive person to inexperienced people offering to give up my stuff as and when needed.

 

[BornAgainPCGamer]

Oh man great question. It has my brain scrambling, i mean where to start?? Theres been so many moments that stuck with me. I started gaming on consoles but i was young so it was more of just a fun past time at first. I played all the classics on the Sega Mega Drive and SNES consoles.

I have great memories from them but the first time i had a jaw hit the floor gaming moment was on PS1. I got it for Christmas and got Resident Evil 1. That moment when you first enter the mansion, just blew me away. The graphics, the atmosphere, the music, just everything about it was so impressive.

The shifting worlds and no loading in Soul Reaver, was another truly impressive gaming moment for me. In fact pretty much the whole LoK series, holds a place in my heart.

Playing SWAT 3 for the first time was another amazing experience. The game seemed so realistic.

The twist in KotoR. I kinda had my suspicions so it didnt blindside me as much as some people but was still pretty great. The game in general was pretty brilliant, as was the sequel.

The true cost of being a White Warden being revealed in D.A Origins caught me off guard. Another fantastic game overall.

Planescape Torment. The Transcendent Ones reveal for the "true" ending. This game is probably my single favourite gaming experience, ever. "What can change the nature of a man?".

"Hawks" fate in Soldier of Fortune.

The Twins "reveal" in Bloodlines

The ending of GTA IV, theres no easy option which one you choose.


There are many many more, a few that have already been mentioned above.

 

[I Will Haunt You]

The Twins "reveal" in Bloodlines

Oh, my, how could I have forgotten such a great twist.

 

[Zloth]

Tingles? Well, Dead or Alive 5 with some mods that... oh, not those sorts of tingles?? OK.

Bioshock's "would you kindly" for sure but I also really liked the ending where all the little sisters were holding your hand as you passed away.

Also the ending to BioShock Infinite was incredible. When it ended and it faded back to the title with the "infinite" being unveiled and I really understood it... wow.

Final Fantasy 7 but not the normal part. Rather, it was a part later in the game where one of the towns' strange structures turned out to be a giant gun.

Dragon Age: Origins - the big rally speech near the end.

Oblivion's Shivering Isles DLC - the "butterfly room." My eyes absolutely did not understand what they were seeing for a second or two when that happened. Getting surprised is one thing. Getting so surprised that your brain can't even parse what it's seeing is another level!

Skyrim - finding Blackreach. I sure didn't expect all THAT to be there!

Mass Effect 1 - making your, uhhh, special entrance back to The Citadel.

 

[I Will Haunt You]

Skyrim - finding Blackreach. I sure didn't expect all THAT to be there!

 

[Mazer]

In Assassin's Creed II, climbing to the top of a building following the tutorial brawl and seeing the Florentine rooftops spread into the distance, I remember getting truly excited about the potential freedom.

Leaving the sewers in Oblivion, natch. But also reading the manual on the train ride home from buying it.

The credits rolling in Halo 2, and realising that I'd gotten home from the store, popped the disc in my 360 and played straight through in a single sitting.

Pre-ordering both New Vegas and Fable 2 for the same week, and going on annual leave for that same week.

The clerk in EB knocking $20 off of GTA: Vice City for me when I worked fast food and couldnt normally afford the full new release price and played most games a year late.

I've got a lot of fond memories of anticipating games, which is sort of sad in a way.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

NIce to hear so many experiences ! KOTOR Revan and Dead Space are definitely two I remember very well personally. I really love those moments when you are playing, reading, watching or listening to something when you know something just clicked between whatever youre experiencing and your state of mind at the time.

Fairly recently I remember watching Mad Max Fury Road for the first time and thinking I've never seen or experienced anything quite like this before, in a similar way that I felt reading Gene Wolfes Book of the New Sun or Dan Simmons Hyperion. That why I just called it the tingles

Cheers!

 

[mdzcpa]

The first flickering image of Alma Wade in the dark hallway in F.E.A.R.

That was the first time a pc game actually scared the crap out me.... tingly for sure.

 

[DarkShine]

In recent years... Mass effect 1, 2 and 3 !
Lots of moments in ME hard to point out a particual one, just the emotions it often made.
It definetly gave lots of tingles !!
DA origins was intense for me too.

Looking back "another world" on amiga 500 maybe.

It was just so revolutanary technecly. Still remember meeting an alien who became my ally. Think he was in a cage of sorts.

- And getting a laser gun!

Wow that memory is 30 years old.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

In recent years... Mass effect 1, 2 and 3 !
Lots of moments in ME hard to point out a particual one, just the emotions it often made.
It definetly gave lots of tingles !!
DA origins was intense for me too.

Looking back "another world" on amiga 500 maybe.

It was just so revolutanary technecly. Still remember meeting an alien who became my ally. Think he was in a cage of sorts.

- And getting a laser gun!

Wow that memory is 30 years old.

I have a confession to make I've never played Mass Effect!

I played and finished 2 on PS3 and enjoyed it, but I think I really missed out on immersion in the story because of that.

When Mass Effect came out my sad old Dell XPS Pentium 4 was on its 2nd el cheapo GPU upgrade. It just wasnt up to it anymore and I missed out on PC gaming between 2007 and 2011. I only had a PS3 that was able to play games during that period.

I do remember Another World looking incredible for the time but I never had the game myself either. I'd really love to go and play all the classics but I can barely play half of the new games I'd like to as it is

 

[Frindis]

The wonderful experience of getting out of the boring sewer in Oblivion and getting struck by the beauty outside. I used some minutes just sucking in all the details, thinking this had to be the most beautiful game ever made.

 

[Mazer]

The wonderful experience of getting out of the boring sewer in Oblivion and getting struck by the beauty outside. I used some minutes just sucking in all the details, thinking this had to be the most beautiful game ever made.

Oblivion may be one of the weaker entries in the series overall, but I think it captures this moment of emerging freedom better than any other.

 

[I Will Haunt You]

Oblivion may be one of the weaker entries in the series overall, but I think it captures this moment of emerging freedom better than any other.

Something they reused in Fallout 3.

 

[Sarafan]

Here are some I remember:

- Knights of the Old Republic and the twist that reveals true identity of the main character,
- Planescape Torment and the confrontation with Transcendent One (this game was full of memorable moments),
- Torment Tides of Numenera and its beginning (falling from the sky),
- Pillars of Eternity 2 and its shocking ending (nothing that we could do to stop the inevitable),
- Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer and its epic finale,
- The Witcher 3 and the Red Baron quest line,
- The Witcher 1 and the Salamandra case from Chapter 2.
- Dragon Age: Origins and the mysterious ending of Witch's Wake DLC,
- Fallout New Vegas and the seizure of power by the player in Mojave Wastelands.

I hope that Cyberpunk 2077 will add at least a few things to this list!

 

[Krud]

I often don't see twists coming, so I was pleasantly surprised by both the near-end of KOTOR, as well as Bioshock Infinite.

Honorable mention goes to Jade Empire, which might have surprised me more had I not already played KOTOR.

Also in Neverwinter Nights, the turning point with Aribeth.

The final villain reveals in both seasons two and three of TellTale's Sam & Max series.

Speaking of TellTale, in Walking Dead Season One, the moment Lee was bitten and various related subsequent moments until that really big moment at the end.

And though it quickly lost its impact for me in subequent restarts, the first time in Fallout 4 when you watch someone steal your baby and kill your spouse and there's nothing you can do from inside your cryo chamber.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Nice guys, thanks! I'm noticing a huge bias towards RPG's and story heavy games here. That's great and obviously its most often the stories that stick with us long after we have played the games often.

I'm going to go on a slightly different direction here, some moments where a game mechanic, style or feature was innovative or surprising at the time you played it.

I distinctly remember F.E.A.R. Not for the story moments, although that was excellent but for the AI. I havent played it in years, but I remember being in an office somewhere in a firefight. I was crouching behind a desk and everything went quiet. Suddenly I heard the clink of a grenade. The squad I was facing had sneaked around a back way and flanked me then tried to flush me out.

Now I'm a bad story teller, sorry, but I remember thinking the AI in this game is unbelievable! There are games out in the last couple of years (*cough* Wolfenstein 2) where the AI in nowhere near as good. Half Life should also get a mention for that reason, but for some reason that part didn't stick with me as much.

Speaking of Half Life, in 2 it was on the rails but at times made you feel as if you were clever in working things out. Even if it was in reality the only way to go, in a way no game has managed for me since.

This War of Mine was another one. There are scripted events in that game that are truly harrowing, and the fact you are setting traps for rats for food and so on. Never been anything like that before or since that I've experienced.

FTL The way the music in that game was so perfect for it. I love 8bit and bleepy electronic music so it might be just me, but the soundtrack made me play that game a lot more then I would have otherwise.

Anyway if you have any more I'm always interested to hear.

 

[Krud]

Half Life should also get a mention for that reason, but for some reason that part didn't stick with me as much.

I definitely remember being impressed with Half-Life at the time, despite how scripted it was (or perhaps because of it.) A lot of cool moments for sure.

 

[Frindis]

- The Witcher 3 and the Red Baron quest line,

That quest had me choked up near the end. Such a believable character and excellent voice acting.

 

[Volley]

Plenty of spoilers obviously:

Deus Ex - When I found out there was a Majestic 12 base below UNATCO on Liberty Island, and I only realized it once I escaped from it.

System Shock - Jettisoning Beta Grove from Citadel Station, oh boy SHODAN was mad! >:O

World of Warcraft - Sylvanas lighting up verdant and tranquil Teldrassil with flame catapults that were miles away, oh wait no--this absolutely sucked, was stupid, and signifies the state of Blizzard Entertainment today.

Unreal - Escaping the Vortex Rikers early in the game, hearing the ambient outdoor sounds of Na Pali, and then seeing that sky. Oh my goodness that sky. The point where one truly realized how incredible 3D acceleration was.

Crysis - The 'mountain' at the center of the Lingshan Islands explodes, revealing the alien structure underneath. The entire series of levels that work your way from the outside towards the center were truly epic and unforgettable.

Star Wars TIE Fighter - Flying with Darth Vader in a wing of TIE Defender starfighters, this one mission alone accomplished more than the entire sequel trilogy-combined.

C&C Tiberium Dawn - Attacking that Nod base prematurely and being completely wiped out by that lone Obelisk of Light. The charging sound effect it makes and the firing sound is something every gamer from that time period still remembers.

Star Wars Dark Forces - Stealing the Death Star plans and transmitting them to the Rebel Alliance, decades before Jyn Erso did it.

Clive Barker's Undying - When you use your power to see the ethereal and if you look at the picture of the family, it turns into the evil family. Lizbeth always scared me the most.

F.E.A.R. First Encounter Assault Recon - Go down that ladder, they said. It will be fun. They said. And that's the last thing they ever said.

Wing Commander II - Vengeance of the Kilrathi - Defying orders and Destroying K'Tithrak Mang, freeing the Enigma Sector from the Kilrathi.

Wing Commander III - Heart of the Tiger - Dropping the Temblor bomb that destroyed Kilrah, ending a war that spanned nearly half a century.

Being a DIK - Finally getting closer to being in the fraternity and then... ahh nuts gotta wait for Season 2.

Serious Sam - The First Encounter - Turning around with your massive cannon ball weapon in that last level at the Great Pyramid and seeing a huge skyscraper tall boss destroying the same buildings you crossed through mere moments earlier, and he's coming closer...

Mass Effect Andromeda - Restoring Memory and finding out about the silence of the Milky Way galaxy 600 years after the Arks left, I think BioWare may have chosen my ending to Mass Effect 3--depressing yes, but ultra-realistic given the circumstances of the 50,000 year Reaper Cycle that has endured for millions of years.