Is there a computer game, or a specific moment, a fight etc that you wish you could do fresh with no prior memory of it?
So hopefully I'm doing this right! :) (I'm still new to some of this so haven't figured out things yet! I did ask this via Mastodon also, but wanted to add more detail to my answer!)
Is there a computer game, a moment in a game, a boss fight, or a specific moment that you would love to experience fresh with no prior memory of it?
Mine would have to be The Seat of Sacrifice fight in Final Fantasy XIV, one of if not my most favourite fights in the game to date.
The mechanics work so well and tie into everything that's been happening, and then that moment where <redacted> (I refuse to spoil it!) shows up to help and then leaves with I think what made me cheer SO MUCH the first time I did the fight.
The music, the song To The Edge has become one of my most played songs in my entire music library (alongside Endwalker - Footfalls and Shadowbringers) as it is quite frankly perfect for the fight. and when they revealed that Soken had been battling cancer and wrote it whilst in hospital...
I adore the fight all together, and cannot help but say the lines in the cut scene bit in the middle every time I do the fight, and will never ever get bored of it.
So what moments in a game would you love to complete again with no prior experience?
In Metal Gear Solid for the original PlayStation, there was a boss fight against Psycho Mantis, who was a psychic who could predict your every move. The fight was literally impossible. It didn't matter what you did, he always had the perfect counter. Of course, he would taunt you about his ability to predict your every move.
My brother and I were absolutely stuck on the fight for what seemed like forever. At one point, a character mentions that he's reading your controller and you can block him by switching to the 2nd control port. So you physically unplug your PlayStation controller and plug it into the other port. Then he reacts by not being able to read your moves, and you can actually fight him "fair".
It blew my mind the first time it happened. I can't remember a video game ever breaking the forth wall like that before.
A game moment to do again with no memory? Leaving the sewers for the first time in Oblivion. It was the first open world game I had ever played as a kid, and seeing the glare of the sun and realizing that everything I saw was able to be explored? Pure gaming magic.
A whole game to do again? Disco Elysium. There are plenty of ways to go back through the game on another playthrough and do things differently, but there is nothing quite like the first run of that game.
Chrono Trigger, the battle with Magus. Most boss battles in any game have a really high beats per minute, or awesome high energy track. The music for this boss fills you with a sense of dread and fear. I remember the first time I played it, I had goose bumps.
The entirety of Outer Wilds fits that bill, an amazing experience that you only get to truly live through once. Lucky for me I still have half the DLC ahead of me, which is also pretty good.
But if I had to pull a moment from a few decades in the past, I'd say returning to Balmora through the foyada, after a successful expedition, full of loot, my quiver empty, my gear half broken and my potions gone, only to be awestruck from looking up at the starry sky, with the clouds passing by, and the soundtrack booming. I still have that save, and I still play and enjoy Morrowind to this day.
I don't remember the level name(I think it was Ash something or something Ashes?) But the part in Control where you go through the confusing rooms with the headphones on is probably one of my favorite levels in any game I've ever played but it definitely lost some of its appeal on a second play through. The worst boss I've every played against has to be that stupid barrel in DKC that just drops two of each enemy you've encountered up to that point in the game. WHO THOUGH THAT WAS A GOOD BOSS IDEA?
Return of the Obra Dinn and The Outer Wilds both for sure. Both have common themes of solving an over-arching puzzle by exploration and examination of an environment.
Confronting the great Dragon Grogori in dragons dogma. The entire game up to that point kept telling you that your fate was tied to his and that if you should want your heart back you must confront and defeat a creature considered invincible by all. When you first approach him he entices you with a wish of power stating you will become grand Duke over a kingdom and he will dissapear as if you had actually slain him all for the price of your loved ones life. There is so much more to the full battle but even just the beginning felt more personal than most final bosses.
For me it would be completing final fantasy 7 all over again.
I ended up moving right after making it to Genova at the end of the third disc and lost my discs.
Years later my cousin had the third disc and a PlayStation but no memory card, and I found my memory card with my save game on it and was able to beat final fantasy 7 for the first time.
It was beautiful and glorious and wouldn't hurt my feelings too much if I could live that over again
Mass Effect 2's final mission. Getting to use all the companions collected throughout the story, sending them off on tasks they may not survive and all within a brilliant atmosphere.
The Ashtray Maze in the game Control was an incredible experience. The whole game was great, but that one stage really stands out in my mind in front of almost all others. I loved it.
I always want to say like, Dark Souls in general but then I remember. I remember
Honestly tho I’m still trying to chase the high of my first playthrough of Undertale (yeah yeah.) I played it right after it came out and happened to be going through a lot. I definitely played it a few times after that and it’s always great but I feel like the first was just magical.
The final level of Bastion. The whole game touches hard, but if you choose to rescue Zulf in the Tazal Terminals, your hands are full of NPC and you can't attack - which resulted in this incredibly touching and poignant level experience, running through incoming fire and enemy attacks, unable to fight back and carrying your injured friend. It was such an unexpected and touching twist on how the game had gone so far that it's probably my most memorable gaming experience.
I would love love love to be able to fight Isshin the Sword Saint from Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.
When I finally beat that pole weaving old man it was a great gaming experience, and I've been into gaming for a long long time now. A close second would be when I first beat Half-Life 2. That game really amazed me. Had a major impact on me moving into tech too bc I got so into the modding scene.
So many golden moments mentioned on here… Morrowind, BioShock, shadow of the colossus. Amazing.
A recent one for me was Tunic - those who have played it will know there is a moment about halfway through where your entire understanding of the game is flipped on its head. Left me awestruck.
The first level of Homeworld, I had been playing games since pong and hadn't ever considered the impact music and a great story could have. That coupled with playing a type of game which was very new just floored me.
Half life, I remember running to the soldiers to protect me.
Everquest, walking out of Freeport city seeing dozens of other players, I spent the first night feeling like I'd found something I never knew I needed in video games, community.
The entirety of the NES game Crystalis. It is without a doubt the best action RPG on the NES. Blows everything else out of the water. The story is wicked cool. The graphics are great for an NES game. The controls are smooth, even with only an A and B button. The systems are varied and unique, even by today's standards. The weapon powers are very cool, too.
The scope of the world as you leave the starter area, discovering the world through quest lines, meeting people organically and playing with them for a while.
I still love it, but the discovery was great.
If it has to be a specific moment/level/fight/etc, off the top of my head I'd love to fight the final boss in Final Fantasy 13 fresh again. Its such a cool test of everything you've learned about the combat and a great example of how a JRPG boss can be vulnerable to ailments and debuffs while still putting up plenty of fight. There are definitely better boss fights in gaming but this was one of the most fun to learn how to do in the moment and it also loses a good bit of what makes it fun when you know whats coming.
If I'm allowed to pick a game in general, absolutely Xenoblade 1 as its my favorite game of all time. Amazing combat both in terms of system mechanics and party member variety, really fun to explore enviroments that are never annoying to fight in, and near perfect side content both in terms of amount and structure. Its replay value is insane as I've replayed it 4 times (2 on Wii, 2 on Switch) but I'd love to experience it for the first time again.
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
Ornstein and Smough on the 1.0 version of Dark Souls in 2011 when I was very bad at Dark Souls and video games in general. In the DLC Hawkeye Gough has some line about how hunting the dragons teased out his dearest emotions and that's truly how I felt about my O&S experience. They kicked the ever loving shit out of me so many times. I remember finally scoring the kill in spite of the controller nearly falling out of my hands due to sweat at like 4 AM. Reacted a bit too loud, woke up my girlfriend (now wife haha). Just one of those moments that I will always remember.
Besides that, mostly all the Destiny raids haha. The Day 1 raiding experience in Destiny is just such a unique and awesome thing. Nothing quite like problem solving with a group of friends. Deep Stone Crypt is probably the most memorable of such experienced to me, first time the group I play with tried a Day 1 raid and completing it just gave me such a crazy high.
It's a recent one, but the first time I entered Giant's Deep in Outer Wilds. I have a pretty big fear/anxiety of the ocean and meteorological objects in large sizes (strange one but I feel sick and get vertigo looking up at large clouds). I also find gas giants to be eerie in general.
The first time entering the atmosphere I was sweating so hard, I had to take a shower. No horror game where the main intention is to scare me has ever given me that feeling before. I've only felt that kind of stress when I played RE Nemesis on the PS1 as a young child. The Jeff chapter in Half Life Alyx also came pretty close to that feeling.
I might be a masochist, because I want to experience that again.
I would love to re-experience Shadow of the Colossus again. I loved the mystery and atmosphere of it. I tried the re-make and it just wasn't as special.
Also that first play through of Journey. So many amazing moments that gave be goosebumps, also have to experience the heartbreak of losing a random friend who I played most of the game with!
As well as the finale of MGS3....that The Boss final battle is heartbreaking on so many levels.
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.
Subnautica, Outer Wilds, Chrono Trigger, Wind Waker. In order: the first time I encountered a Leviathan, the Sun Station, the Ocean Palace, and returning to Hyrule.
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 emotional roller coaster that was the end of Chapter 5 and beginning of Chapter 6 of Xenoblade Chronicles 3. Everything that went on during it solidified the game as my new favorite of all time.
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.
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.
I wish I could go back and play Her Story again. My wife and I stayed up all night 100%-ing that game years ago, and it was one of the best gaming experiences I've had, sharing our theories as the story unfolded. Unfortunately though, once you know the story, there's no reason to replay it.
We tried the sequel, but imo it wasn't nearly as good - both mechanically and story-wise.
Bit of a different one, but absolutely The Witness.
I adored learning all the puzzle mechanics, and exploring the island.
And for those in the know, the biggest discovery of all would be incredible to experience again for the first time (I at least managed to get some second-hand wonder watching my girlfriend piece it together).
Oh man, so many games. All Metroid (except other M), the first Diablo (especially the Butcher fight), FF6, especially after the last boss battle, will always feel bad about shadow 😔
I'd love to play Noita again. I already love that game, but I'll never forget the fear and sense of mystery it evoked in me when I first played it. I beat the game without looking at any sort of wiki, guide, or community, and I'm very grateful I did (although it took me quite a while to beat it for the first time. That game is hard!).
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.
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