Gaming

I don't want to spoil anything, but the final (true final) boss for Titan Soul really blew me away. I was so dialed and so stressed and somehow came through on top, I felt like a god.

Escape velocity - I'd love to experience that game over again. Came out in the 90s.

Double dragon 2 in the helicopter when the twins come out of the cockpit and you’re basically stuck in a small area. Plus if you get knocked down there’s a good chance you get sucked out of the doorZ

The Last of Us, both of them. The gameplay is good and all, but it'll never really be the same as the first time.

I'd say What Remains of Edith Finch. Would love to replay that without knowledge of the game again

Final Fantasy VII, end of disc 2.

I really wonder what experiencing that as an adult, rather than a 15 year old, would be like.

Half Life Alyx, the moment when you realize you have to let Jeff out of the cooler. I remember just standing there frozen in silence.

The Witcher 3 story.

I have a couple gaming moments I would love to experience again for the first time:

Destiny 1 - The Taken King raid through and through. The atmosphere, the music, the sense of "what we're doing here really matters." Raids in Destiny have always been the best part of the game for me, but that one really holds a special place in my heart.

Bioshock - There's a moment in the campaign that I won't spoil, but if you know, you know.

Fallout 3 - This game was my first open world game, so it had a lot of lasting impressions on me. All the little side stories, side quests, lore, terminal entries, etc. I spent so many hours just reading terminal logs and learning about all these people that used to exist in this world. Up until that game, most games I played were an "on-rails" experience. This was a whole new thing for me: the idea of story being what I make of it, rather than what I'm told it is.

The Last of Us - In sort of the opposite to my reasoning for Fallout 3, this one is the best linear story of all time for me. It was just such a perfectly tailored experience, there's nothing like playing it for the first time.

Titanfall 2 - "Protocol 3" (if you know, you know)

Apex Legends - Launch day specifically, because they dropped it with no prior marketing or anything. Everyone was just running around trying to learn this brand new thing. It was my first BR I had any interest at all in playing. Unfortunately, it overstayed it's welcome for me, but launch day was something else.

The entirety of Outer Wilds was absolutely incredible.

So many....

Top I would have to say Witcher 3 OG game (though both DLC were amazing)

For a single boss....not for the 'wow' moments but more for the 'omg I finally did it!': one of the following from the Dark Souls series:

Black Dragon Kalameet (DS1)
Fume Knight (DS2)
Slave Knight Gael (DS3)

The original Deus Ex is always top of my list. I play through probably once a year and the dick around on multiplayer for a month or so after that.

So many but my favorite moment was my first playthrough of Skyrim. I had no idea what I was doing, my gear was just a hodgepodge of stuff I found and I just kept running away from dragons because I couldn't quite beat them. Then at one point I learned how to shield bash and realized I could interrupt the fire breath. I was still weak af, i had to run around and spam my weak heal spell...BUT...I was starting to win. I was going to take this one down damnit. The fight lasted so long that the music rolled into the main theme, and i was winning! I felt like a god damn hero. I wish I could forget it and do it all again.

For me it's Outer Wilds. It's a kind of space exploration/deduction game where you fly around in your ship at your own pace and explore what you want to explore. After a while you discover that there are small mysteries that all point to a central giant mystery and you start uncovering that by experimenting with the mechanics and discovering new places.

It's seriously amazing but you can only ever truly experience its mystery once.

The Neifirst fight in Phantasy Star II.

Mine has to be Xenoblade Chronicles. So many powerful moments in the story that just don't quite hit the same on subsequent play throughs. Exploring every nook and cranny and accidentally running across monsters six times your level. Then the retribution you get after leveling up and coming back to stomp that damn thing a new mud hole. It's a 10/10 masterpiece for me that I wish I could play again the first time.

Another I would add is the first Infamous, final boss fight. The reveal was great for an already great game.

Destiny 1 before all the DLC and taking away to stuff that made sense to get into goofy shit. Though I'd take being able to play it all again, too. As is I can't make myself play destiny at all any more.

But some of those early strikes solo for the first time were crazy immersive.

If I could go in full blind no prior knowledge? Final Fantasy 6. I get that it's cheating but it was a sprawling emotional epic and it's been twenty years. I remember getting to the end at like... 3AM after basically a full complete and maxed out run and that ending was.... I want to say a half hour. It had a hell of a lot of emotional callbacks, resolutions, and a few genuinely funny moments. All in a refutation of Kefka's strawman nihilism.

In Mafia there was a scene in a multifloor parking lot that there was supposed to be a deal made. Ofcourse the deal goes sideways when police crash the part and a shootout occurs. I don't know why I have a very vivid memory of this scene since I was a little boy, it must be like 20 years ago or something but I still remember every detail about this fight. Here you can see it

The End from MGS 3 and Glock Saint Isshin from Sekiro

Oh and maybe half life 2

i think about this a lot. would love to play through lost odyssey again fresh. it's my favorite game of all time and nothing has made me feel what i felt for that game. i invested every moment of free time i had into it, and it was the first game to make me buy a soundtrack lol. such a stunning gem in so many ways.

mother 3