Board 8 > Trdl's Top 50 Gaming Moments: The Rankings! (Unmarked Spoilers) (Writeups)

(+) Yeah! (+)

#21: Risk of Rain -- Coalesence

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeGCoThXvr4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysPtBjY8o_A

(First video is gameplay with commentary because I couldn't find anything else. Second is the music. That's the important part.)

Risk of Rain is an absolutely brutal roguelike with permadeath. It's set on a remote planet after a strange figure called Providence sabotages my cargo spaceship and plunges it into a land full of everything trying to kill me. I died a lot. A LOT. Beyond Dark Souls level of dying. But as I played and got better, I also collected logs of the monsters fighting me, and the indirect lore really got to me.

I'm a big fan of Heart of Darkness (this won't be the only reference!). That's unpopular in some crowds, but I can justify that at some other point. The logs within Risk of Rain reminded me quite a bit of Conrad in excerpt form. The survivor notes observations of the very creatures out for his blood, noting that they're eerily peaceful and even playful until they see him. The guilt he feels magnifies as he speaks of killing the ghostly Children, then also having to dispatch the large, angry Parents seeking revenge. But while I understood it, I didn't feel it myself.

Fast-forward 20 or so runs. I finally have a good build. I finally have gitten gud enough to make it to the penultimate level. I have five drones trailing me, a truckload of HP, strong damage and dodging. I'm ready to take on the world, expecting something intense, something DOOM-esque as I fight my way to the path home aboard my crashed ship.

Then the music starts playing. Far from the intense soundtrack I anticipated, I'm instead greeted by a sad, haunting melody, and the weight of my crimes hits me like a truck.

I think back on the logs. How many creatures would still be alive if I hadn't been here? Why did they all attack me? Why did I slaughter so many of them when I could have streamlined my path to the end?

I want to freeze. I want to hide. I want to sit down and cry at the idiocy of it all. But more monsters -- no, creatures -- emerge. I have to keep moving. I have to keep fighting. I have to blink away the tears in my eyes and keep killing. I have to survive.

As the music goes on, I hear the electric guitar wail as though the planet itself is screaming in pain, and on queue, I reach the bridge, where I face Providence himself as my last barrier to going home. The fight's cool, but by this point, I feel numb. I feel like my soul has been shredded by my experience. When I finish him and set the computer to leave the planet, it is with only a sliver of satisfaction.

...And so I left, with everything but my humanity.
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List recap:
50. Portal 2: The Turret Aria
49. Bioshock: First Big Daddy fight
48. Metal Gear Solid 3: "It's a blank!"
47. Final Fantasy IX: Beatrix fights
46. Transistor: "Who gets to go first?"
45. Metal Gear Solid 4: The Microwave Hall
44. Guild Wars 2: Tybalt's Sacrifice
43. Life is Strange: Nightmare Sequence
42. Call of Duty 4: Aftermath
41. Dark Souls: Ornstein and Smough
40. Final Fantasy 7: Cloud's Memories
39. Half-Life 2: We Don't Go to Ravenholm
38. Shadowrun Dragonfall: The Raid on Feuerstelle
37. No More Heroes: Sir Henry Fight
36. Bastion: The Last Voyage of Weeping Nellie
35. Metal Gear Solid 3: The Salute
34. Dark Corners of the Earth: Attack of the Fishmen
33. Valkyria Chronicles: The Megatank
32. Undertale: "I know what you did."
31. Persona 3: First "Date" with Elizabeth
30. MadWorld: Look Pimpin'!
29. Touhou 8 Imperishable Night: Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke
28. Metal Gear Rising Revengeance: Make America Great Again
27. Persona 4: "Then let's get equal!"
26. Portal: The Companion Cube
25. Bastion: Saving Zulf
24. Final Fantasy IX: "Why...? Why would you do such a thing?!"
23. Persona 3: Ikutsuki's Betrayal
22. Touhou 7 Perfect Cherry Blossom: Saigyou Ayakashi
21. Risk of Rain: Coalescence
20.-1. ???

Leaderboard after 30!

Robazoid:
Starting total (5)
Ikutsuki's Betrayal (1)
=6

xp1337:
Starting total (6)
Reach for the Moon (1)
Make America Great Again (1)
=8

KanzarisKelshin:
Starting total (11)
Look Pimpin'! (2)
Make America Great Again (1)
=14

ProfDEADPOOL:
Starting total (1)
=1

Snake5555555555:
Starting total (3)
Make America Great Again (1)
=4

NFUN
Starting total (1)
=1

_______________

Commentary tonight!
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Third place comes right after second!
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Or mortgage paperwork could happen.

Coalescence is definitely getting nominated for VGMC this year!
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Also I'm disappointed with all of you.
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trdl23 posted...

Also I'm disappointed with all of you.

I think I'm doing pretty good given our frequently divergent gaming tastes and the fact that I'd played less than half of these games!
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I've played 1/6 of these games, so...

And why did I put "A lawyer can't cry" so low that's like a top 5 gaming moment for me
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Mortgages wheeeeeee

I'd been waiting to post that Risk of Rain writeup for so long.
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Okay, some real analysis.

-- How on Earth did only one person get one of the Touhous right? Yuyuko does kind of get the shaft because of the gaphag also being in that game, but come on, Mokou's amazing.

-- Armstrong was a gimme, as expected.

-- Told you there would be more P3! Again, I'm surprised it was only on one list.

-- MadWorld so good. MadWorld OST so good.

-- It saddens me how few people know about Risk of Rain, let alone have played it. I need to pick it up again.

Scores are much lower than I expected by this point, so anything could still happen! Except for NFUN placing, I think that's out of the question now.
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I'm makin that money, just you wait for top 10
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I can come back. Just ask anybody that plays B8 GWYF.
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trdl23 posted...

-- How on Earth did only one person get one of the Touhous right?

right i mean was anyone else even tryin'

trdl23 posted...

-- Told you there would be more P3! Again, I'm surprised it was only on one list.

i can't be faulted for you having wrong persona 3 opinions

KanzarisKelshen posted...

I'm makin that money, just you wait for top 10

i'm getting robbed by the predictions being extended tbqh
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trdl23 posted...

-- It saddens me how few people know about Risk of Rain, let alone have played it. I need to pick it up again.

I played RoR with my brother a little bit years ago but all I remember is dying a bunch. I honestly didn't even remember there being a semblance of a story. Maybe I should try it out again! I give up (marginally) less easily these days than I did back then.
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Probably just as well I didn't know about predictions, since I'm confident I would have picked absolutely nothing on the list. Certainly nothing that's been listed so far, anyway. (I'm familiar with 6 of the incidents listed so far.)

trdl23 posted...

-- How on Earth did only one person get one of the Touhous right? Yuyuko does kind of get the shaft because of the gaphag also being in that game, but come on, Mokou's amazing.

Too many casual fans.
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#20: Psychonauts -- The Milkman Conspiracy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OF7aIWxfgnA

The Milkman Conspiracy is one of the most brilliant and twisted journeys I've embarked upon. Going through the addled mind of an unhinged conspiracy theorist, Boyd, who's blocking the gate I need to rescue my friends, I must find my way to the Milkman, the center of a vast worldwide conspiracy.

This is a fantastic use of level design to convey characterization and tone. Everything in this bizarre suburbia fuels the unease. Everything is suspect. Everything is watching. The streets of this saccharine suburbia twist upon themselves, a tightly raveled knot guarding the dark secrets of the Milkman within. The G-men robots stand guard across where I need to be, and in order to infiltrate them, I must become one of them. Meanwhile, the cute Rainbow Squirts are everpresent, selling cookies with a cold, dead look in their eyes. It retains the hilarity of the game, but there's a tension in every one of my laughs; I'm both bewildered and worried about what I'll unearth next. How close is this to being how it actually feels to be a conspiracy theorist?

Several pieces of the level stand out, but I can't really separate them from the rest of the level, which is why this is probably the longest "moment" on this list. The best one has to be when a Rainbow Squirt does her best Lee Harvey Oswald impression at the Book Depository, but upon my confrontation, the girl scout throws herself from the building with a suicide cookie vest. It is simultaneously absurdly funny and completely fucked up. Indeed, that's how it is when I revive The Milkman in the end, and his explosive "deliveries" obliterate the wretched landscape around him.

And it turns out I've brought the Milkman back in the real world, too. I've unleashed him upon the world once more. At least I got the gate open.
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#19: Batman Arkham Asylum -- Scarecrow Sequences

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVpe04Xn3mw

Now THESE are nightmare sequences. It combines a few moments of previous entries into a whirlwind of terror. The exposure of Batman's warped psyche that gives him his powers (like Cloud). The abrupt change of pace from the power trip of "being Batman" to complete helplessness (like Aftermath). The landscape ripping itself apart as a metaphor for how Batman at his core sees the world around him (like the Milkman Conspiracy).

It helps that Scarecrow himself has one of the scariest designs I've ever seen in any medium. I want to hide away from his glowing eyes. I shudder every time the needles on his hand comes close to me. Whereas before I used my stealth and terror as my primary weapons, I'm now clinging to them for sheer survival in a cruel juxtaposition with my foe.

What unnerved me most was how Scarecrow reacted to my actions sometimes. Once I felt a bit at ease with his patterns, a sudden change to those patterns made me--

Oh who the hell am I kidding. The real scariest part was the interface screw before the third nightmare. Everything was just... wrong. The fake "mission failed" screen after being shot while helpless -- complete with a gag "tip" about using a "middle stick" to avoid death -- was icing on the horrifying cake. In the end, the nightmares show that Joker is right. Under his civilized facade, Batman is just as insane as his enemies are.
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#18: Final Fantasy X -- The Sending

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgVnds4gW3s

Final Fantasy X has one of the greatest aesthetics I've ever seen, and this scene captures that perfectly. It's simultaneously wondrous and tragic, her mesmerizing dance helping guide those souls from their senseless deaths.

Again, I'm at a loss at how to add much here. Watch it, and feel awe at its beauty. Watch it, and feel gripped by its grief.
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The Sending was when I first started getting into the world of FFX and started loving Yuna as a character. So good

Also you could've ranked this 17th so easily but I guess I'll take my three points and be happy
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Man, the next one's writeup is gonna be a big one.

Worth it, but I'm not getting to it this evening.
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UltimaterializerX posted...

Is that the highest spot FFX has on this list?

Nope!
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trdl23 posted...

Watch it, and feel awe at its beauty. Watch it, and feel gripped by its grief.

what if i watch it and don't feel anything

because i never have. never "got" the hype/love for that scene
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xp1337 posted...

trdl23 posted...

Watch it, and feel awe at its beauty. Watch it, and feel gripped by its grief.

what if i watch it and don't feel anything

because i never have. never "got" the hype/love for that scene

You have every right to be completely wrong, so it's OK!
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I fully admit that the Sending would not be on this list if it weren't so damn beautiful.
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I can give my thoughts on why I like The Sending. For me, that was the moment where it really sunk in how the people on Spira need to live. We have natural disasters in the real world, sure, but not with quite the same unpredictable regularity as Sin. These people just lost everything, including homes and loved ones. They're naturally saddened, but Yuna is there to send the souls of the dead in a beautiful scene and offer some comfort.

Then, immediately after, everyone seems to brush themselves off because it's time for blitzball! There's no time to truly mourn in this world because if they started they'd never stop. All they have is that one comforting ritual for the dead, and people like Yuna who are strong enough to perform it for them.

I dunno, seeing it like that got to me.
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Tonight maybe
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Tonight, actually.
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#17: World of Warcraft -- Arthas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9WiDQhUcG74

(This video is pretty high production value, which is good since raid vids are terrible unless you play WoW)

If there is such a thing as a "perfect raid," it is Icecrown Citadel. The story hype is sky-high, and the encounters are varied and memorable. There's a bunch of neat mechanics, and you can feel everything building up to an epic climax. That climax has a name. "Arthas."

If you're unfamiliar with Arthas, his story is a profound classic-style tragedy. A hero willing to do whatever it took to protect his people and unwittingly found himself becoming the ultimate villain. It's a rare instance of Blizzard doing an awesome job with storytelling. The fight on the Frozen Throne isn't just a climax of WoW; it's a climax of the entire franchise, and it's a reason why most raids afterward just don't "feel the same."

Just... what a fucking fight. There is SO much going on here. Adds. AoEs. Tank swaps. Off tanks. Positioning. Line of Sight. Enrage timer. Arthas pushed not just me but my entire guild to our limits. Everything had to be optimized and on-time; almost any stumble resulted in a wipe. I had to know what I needed to do, what the other DPS needed to do, what the healers needed to do, and what the tank needed to do when everything inevitably went wrong. I had to react to Val'Kyr shadowguards grabbing one of my healers and trying to throw it off a cliff, and when I got grabbed, I had to trust my group to be there for me.

That's really what raiding is about: Trust. It's probably the most "team-centric" theme in gaming. More than PvP, more than eSports, more than TSM or Curse or Cloud9 or anything like that. Raiding puts you and a bunch of friends against an impossible task and says, "Here are the resources you can work with. Find a solution." The sheer size of the team means you can't just be good at your class. You need good management that in the end -- you guessed it -- you have to trust. When you die, it's because somebody fucked up, but if you start turning on each other, you'll never make it. Don't blame and shame; find areas for improvement and learn. Sometimes it means kicking a person off the team until they improve, but if they come back, they'll be better for it, and if they don't come back, good riddance.

The phase transitions are amazing and unique too, adding a layer of terrain management to a fight that's already chaotic and punishing. You also can't deny that "Remorseless Winter" is a fucking metal name for a spell. But the stakes really go up when you start getting drawn into Frostmourne itself. Frostmourne might be the weapon with the greatest plot hype in our era, and it's in full force here as you try to help the spirit of Arthas's father stay "alive" and in the good fight.

1/2
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When we got Arthas to about 12%, everything fell apart. A healer went OoM. Our main tank died. Suddenly Arthas was coming for me, and my Mirror Images kept me alive just long enough to kite him and then go invisible while avoiding Defile pools, instead making him go for and promptly one-shot our rogue. (Sorry mate.) Just as we have only 4 people up, we knock him to 10%--

And get one shot for approximately a billion damage. That's what happens when Arthas stops fucking around.

The speech afterward is fantastic and magnifies why Arthas is a great villain: powerful, clever, and wise, just like a great hero is. Just like the great hero he was supposed to be. Then Tirion gets an absolutely badass scene and, with a miracle of the cosmic force of Good, the greatest paladin in the world shatters Frostmourne. We all are resurrected from a miracle, and we get to wail on Arthas as his entire past betrays him and the souls of the damned turn upon him.

"It is over, my son."

And Arthas knows. As Arthas is rendered helpless, he doesn't go on a Kefka "HATE HATE HATE HATE" tantrum. He realizes how his story is coming to an end here, and acknowledges that everything has turned against him. The very irony he had just relished was now at his expense.

"Now I stand, the lion before the lambs... and they do not fear. They... cannot... fear."

And then, finally...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAIrj_Vqdfc

"Epic" has lost much of its meaning nowadays, but that somber ending cutscene -- and its final stinger -- ends what can only be described as a true epic of our time.
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at least i got chicken
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I liked the part where 60% of the screen was taken up by buttons and bars and thus I couldn't see shit

very epic indeed

(this is pretty clearly a thing you need to play through to 'get', cause I really don't. Then again I'm pretty burned out on Blizzard because their storytelling is such garbage, sooooooo...)
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KanzarisKelshen posted...

I liked the part where 60% of the screen was taken up by buttons and bars and thus I couldn't see shit

trdl23 posted...

raid vids are terrible unless you play WoW

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It's not unique to WoW admittedly

just exacerbated since at least something like Final Fantasy 14 has much better eye candy and godlike music
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It also came out like 10 years after, so I sure hope it would.
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I played WoW during BC but then stopped and didn't come back until Legion so I missed all that. I intend to eventually go back and check all the old content, but I'd steamroll all the content since, y'know. Level 110. >_>
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Yeah, WoW isn't that great until you start doing dungeons and raids, though playing with a bunch of friends is the way to go. I miss my old guild. I wish I had the time to get back into it, but it's that or MtG, and I know where my true loyalties lie.
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Next one was a gimme for a lot of you.
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Ahoy
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#16: Devil May Cry 3 -- Final Confrontation with Vergil

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wmXhOQgWzEg

Of course it's the Vergil fight. Of course it's awesome. These two brothers are brilliant portrayals of duality. They love each other. They hate each other's methods. They're nearly the same person, just in completely different circumstances that have shaped what they value.

Despite everything, though, they're still bros. When Vergil's about to fall from that precipice, it's a strange mix of spite and concern. He knows his brother wants that amulet and that it's a "victory" to make sure Dante doesn't get it... but he also knows that his brother wants to get back to humanity where he belongs, and since Vergil's making damn sure Dante doesn't get the amulet, he should at least make sure his brother has the chance to go back.

Obviously the fight is hype as hell getting to see these two blatantly OP bros beat the shit out of each other, each taking hits that would fell anyone else and getting back up because lolregeneration. Yamato's a kickass weapon, Rebellion's a kickass weapon, and even those weapons are mirrors of each other: Yamato is sleek and elegant, where Rebellion is coarse but versatile. Just like their wielders.

But I'm just telling you what you already know.
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It's funny how DMC3 is told with minimal cutscenes and not a ton of dialogue and has a much better story and dynamic between its brothers than DmC.
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Indeed. "Show, don't tell" at its finest.
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I want to keep going this weekend, but I just feel like crap. Even that last writeup was half-assed.

Sorry this is going so slowly.
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It isn't minimal objectively, but in the context of DmC it sure feels that way.
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#15: Final Fantasy 7 -- End of Disc One

(Roba, you might want to skip this)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wx3duFYCcho

Ulti is right. Objectively, this scene is overrated, and Cloud's Memories is probably better. But fuck objectivity, this is my list, and the first time I ever gasped at a video game was right here. A complete tragedy, and oh man did 13-year-old Trdl hate Sephiroth's guts. Aeris was the equivalent of a sweet, friendly, innocent dog in a Young Adult novel, and she met the fate that the dog usually did with the same emotional cheap-shot gut punch. But usually the dog dies at the end, not before the halfway point.

Everyone knows where they were the moment Aeris died. To gamers, it's like the JFK shooting or 9/11. It's how you know shit's hit the fan. Plus, permanently losing a party member? In a JRPG? Unheard of to me.

The white materia falling to the bottom of the lake is the insult after the injury. Holy was the one chance the planet had to stop Sephiroth's Meteor from blowing the whole thing apart, and it looked like Aeris was killed before the prayer went through. Sure, we know now that she had completed it just in the nick of time, but at that moment? Everything seemed hopeless in that moment. And even if it is overrated nowadays, that was the first time I'd felt so powerless. What would I be able to do now?
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