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

(+) Yeah! (+)

Natwaf_akidna posted...

I'm all about the Butz

fix'd
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Everyone loves the Butz.
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Zidane has plenty of fans here, yeah. FFIX as a whole is weirdly popular.
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zidane is dead to me personally
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FFIX is my favorite FF and Zidane is like at best my third favorite FF protagonist.
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FF9 is like one of board 8s favorite favorite things

That was a great write up for zidane btw
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UltimaterializerX posted...

Literally the most overrated FF scene.

I cannot stand when characters feel sorry for themselves, get through it with THE POWAH OF POSITIVITAH, and people see it as some huge positive. I get why people like that but it's not my thing.

I meant to put this in my writeup but I had to reconstruct it from memory due to the power outage:

This scene should not work. Period. It's somewhat generic and feels a bit like it's aping off Naruto (blugh). Yet for some reason it's compelling, maybe because I have felt it on a personal level.
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I love the music in the Zidane scene so that's what propels it into greatness for me. I usually dislike that 'power of friendship' stuff too, but only when it's intangible BS. People having faith in someone shouldn't suddenly give them a power boost during the final battle, for example. I don't think that's what this scene is, though. It's a lot more grounded than that, and Zidane really did just need to remember his friends were there for him.
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Aww, no love for Vaan.

kidding!

#7: Persona 4 -- Myriad Truths

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCS7D_MK9f0

(I technically played the P4 original one, but Golden is a mild improvement without much difference and has voice acting, so there you go.)

We go from a sappy power-of-friendship scene to... another sappy power-of-friendship scene. Alone, this wouldn't have come close to the top 10, but damn it, I fell in love with so many of these characters. Social Links are the best part of Persona, and seeing everyone I've touched come together and empower me to take on a literal god and relive the Shinto tale of Izanami and Izanagi was absolute hype.

The glasses coming off wasn't just to look cool (though it certainly did!). It was to show how with the power of everyone behind me, I didn't need help seeing the truth anymore. No more shortcuts. No more convenient assumptions or sticking my head in the sand. I can reach out to the truth without fear of what I will find. I have the courage to face it and overcome it.

There's a lesson to be learned here, not so much about friendship but about social interaction in life. Look at how many people had their lives change because of Yu Narukami. That isn't vidya game magic; that's 100% truth in fiction. It only takes one person to send ripples of improvement across a community, and that's what makes humanity great. It wasn't "so few" vs. "so many" like Izanami thought. It was a sample of what mankind can be; a proof of concept on how powerful the bonds that tie us to each other are. How empathy and just plain caring about each other can change the world.

I like people, and frankly, so should you. Every person is an incredible, vibrant tale with the potential for the miraculous. What Hamlet once said with irony, I say with conviction. What a piece of work is a man. How noble in reason! How infinite in faculty! In form, in moving, how express and admirable! In action, how like an angel! In apprehension, how like a... god.

Or in this case, greater than a god. Reject apathy and echo chambers. Be that person to cut through the convenient falsehoods around you and the people you know. Be the one to show everyone how to reach out to the truth.
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P3 equivalent better be ranked ahead of this.

because it's so much better

All right. Let's do this.

P3 GOAT Ending.

...probably. don't hold me to that. but damn it's definitely on that top tier
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xp1337 posted...

P3 GOAT Ending.

Now this is a post I can get behind.

Honestly P3 is pretty near GOAT at everything, but it definitely beats every other game I've played in the ending department. (With I guess some reasonable competition from FFX, FFIX, and MGS3.)
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Yesssss

I knew this had to show up

So good

(I personally think the music playing here is a HUGE part of how cool it is, because the orchestral, triumphant reprise of Reach out To The Truth is god tier and it's what I named this moment after in my list, but it's all good)
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#6: Undertale -- Your Best Nightmare

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ4kumxv_1k

Who would have thought the most terrifying video game villain of 2015 would be a cartoonish yellow flower.

Undertale exploits the gaming medium and the player's expectations to the limit and beyond, and Flowey is the shining example. For the record, the beginning of this encounter is Flowey murdering Asgore, stealing the human souls, and forcibly closing my game client. When I booted it again... nothing was right. Even the window's name scrambles as reality rearranged itself until it revealed I wasn't playing Undertale anymore. According to Windows, I was now playing "Floweytale."

They quickly get much less right as my wandering the void culminates in my SAVE file being erased by this bastard. With the human souls, Flowey has wrested the power to SAVE from me again, and he plans to have a field day with it.

As that outline descended upon me, I wasn't too worried -- but once I saw the photoshop abomination itself, I was scared. If any of you have watched Madoka, you know this feeling; how the jarring, coarse change in art style associated with witches sets nerves on edge, almost like the "alien geometries" described in Lovecraft's works. The entire fight is comprised of this visual dissonance, pitting me against bizarre danmaku as I scramble for my life, making pitiful swings at the beast.

Then the klaxons blared, and I was transported into another scenario and wove my way through danger to call for help... and one of the souls came. I didn't realize it at the time, but all the soul interludes feature the weapon associated with that soul from the game itself, a connection that's never spelled out unless you think about it. Once I had some much-needed healing from the soul's aid, I was back in the frying pan against Flowey's evermore nonsensical barrages. Despite the help I was getting, everything felt hopeless.

And then the jackass turned the tables on me again. I never thought I would fight a boss that literally savescummed ME. I died and got treated to my desktop screen again, only for Flowey to taunt me more when I came back for another round.

I eventually caught on to how things worked in this horrifying world and had my Touhou instincts kick in, sailing through unclear hitboxes and reaching out to all the souls. And that's when this moment cemented itself as one of the greatest boss fights in gaming history.

"Finale" started to play.

As my health restored, I personally felt invigorated too. Before, I had no idea how I would get through this, but now I knew. It was go time. The hype train shed its brakes, and the one-sided fight became a two-sided brawl. It sounds silly, but I almost felt myself punching the FIGHT button as we tore chunks out of each other. The healing kept me alive, and I wore him down to his very end...

Son of a bitch. I thought I was so close. Was I--

Wait, what? I'm... okay now? Oh dude, I called for help, and all the souls came!

In the end... I decided to spare Flowey. Not because he deserved mercy, but because I was better than him. I wouldn't stoop to his level. I reject his worldview, and now my dominance was clear. If he came back the same way, I'd just beat him back again.

The way the entire encounter jumps back and forth, never letting me feel comfortable and creating a cascade of mood whiplashes that never let me off the edge of my seat... I don't think I'll ever experience that kind of roller-coaster thrill again. I don't see how it would be possible.

But I didn't think it would happen the first time, either.
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Called it, told you so, vindicated, yet another thing I was ahead of the curve on

A whopping two spots off, too! Feels good man
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Chill, Kanz, pretty much everyone had it on their lists. Grats on having the closest call though.
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trdl23 posted...

Chill, Kanz, pretty much everyone had it on their lists. Grats on having the closest call though.

That was a joke yo :P

I'm glad it showed up though. All the Undertale endings are top 50 contenders. Yes, even the BAD END.
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Undertale is so fucking good.
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The Top 5 awaits...

This won't count for points, but does anyone want to revise their top 5 predix? (Or those who didn't make a list want to give it a shot for the lulz?)
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considering, but I'll probably never get around to it.

I may have been wrong a lot previously but I'm confident my top 5 guesses will be 100% accurate
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Mobilezoid posted...

I may have been wrong a lot previously but I'm confident my top 5 guesses will be 100% accurate

TC said in the Life is Strange nightmare writeup that he didn't like the endings. So you might want to re-think your #1.
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I presume he's since seen the error of his ways
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Up
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Was planning to do #5 tonight but had family plans come up. Tomorrow should be good!
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#5: Final Fantasy X -- Yunalesca / "Now is the time to choose!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ep_m0rNME7M

(Start at 9:25)

Get. Hyped.

HAHAHA jokes aside, the writing and voice acting in FFX are stellar. Spira is my favorite video game world; its culture and inhabitants are deep and intricate, and the cast is fantastic. Spira's gripped in transient interests as regular disasters plague the world, and people can find solace only in their faith and traditions. You can't really blame them. It's the only way they can hold onto hope and ignore the sorrow surrounding them.

The themes of the game are excellent too -- a rejection of resigning to fate, a celebration of self-determination, and an examination of sacrifice. When I was younger, I didn't really "get" FFX because its writing is more intricate than my previous experiences (FFVII and FFIX), but even then, I could point to one scene I knew was amazing: Lady Yunalesca.

This is, simply put, the greatest series of cutscenes in gaming. Period. It's not even close. Every character stays true to who they are even as everything they stood for shatters around them. Wakka puts it best: "I can't believe we're going to fight Lady Yunalesca. Gimme a break!" But everyone is so strong-willed that they recognize the importance of standing their ground against the sling and arrows of outrageous fortune. No more false hope. They're strong enough to face reality and find a real solution, not just another sacrificial band-aid over a gaping wound.

What really gets me is the growth of the bond between Tidus and Yuna here. "This is my story" becomes "This is our story." It's a show of maturity in Tidus, but more importantly, this scene is what made me realize Yuna wasn't the "staff chick" from most other RPGs, a trope that enveloped even characters I like such as Aeris and Dagger. Yuna was a fully realized person; a person of strong faith and love for her people, but ultimately, a person who decides her own path. A person who chooses what's really best for her people, even though it's perilous and painful. That's why her speech is so powerful and top-tier for speeches in any kind of fiction.

I've never been as hyped for a fight, as empowered, as I felt when I stared down Yunalesca. I wonder if I ever will be again. But no matter what, I will remember: Dying is easy. Living... that's more difficult. Especially when you do it without false hope.
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I almost had the opposite placement for this. "Woo".
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NFUN managed to get another point?! Oh no!
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Excellent choice. FFX is so good.
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#4: Spec Ops The Line -- White Phosphorous

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-b7TaLjdXMc

Jesus Christ.

Forget your Resident Evils and Amnesias. Forget jumpscares and bioweapons. Forget viruses and mutations. This scene, this right here, is the most horrifying thing I've ever experienced.

Because it was me. I did it. Lugo was right. It was all my fault.

This scene is a work of grisly genius. It's a direct shout out to a scene from Modern Warfare -- the greyscale infrared camera showing little white targets plays exactly the same. It's so easy. Aim, push a button, kill. But Spec Ops hit me with the reality of war: this game made me walk through the aftermath. It made me see everything I did. It made me see men with legs blown off and charred faces now unrecognizable. It made me hear panicked screams of agony as a paralyzed man burned alive. It even gave me the option to shoot the poor souls as a grim form of mercy. But there was no escaping it. I did this. It was me.

But those were the enemies, right? They're the bad guys. I can't feel that bad for them... until I come to the end. Until I saw those civilians cooked alive. Skin sloughed off in stinking piles. Strands of flesh seared onto smoldering bone. Some clinging to others for paltry comfort in their fiery end, now melted together.

And then the vision of that mother and child hits. It's an image that I'll never forget. It will always haunt me and remind me of just how easy it is to be cruel when I'm removed from a situation. When I don't have to witness the effect of my actions. My hands started shaking involuntarily. My breathing tightened. It's all fiction, yet I was traumatized, and I don't think I'll ever truly "get over it."

Forget what Walker said. I did this. It was me. And I knew I couldn't "play" this "game" anymore. I just had to look up the rest. It's too bad because the work is sheer artistry, especially the finale. But I just couldn't go through with this anymore myself. I just had to stop.

But I'll always remember that I did this. I lit the white phosphorous. It was me. Nobody else.

God help me.
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trdl23 posted...

Forget what Walker said. I did this. It was me. And I knew I couldn't "play" this "game" anymore. I just had to look up the rest. It's too bad because the work is sheer artistry, especially the finale. But I just couldn't go through with this anymore myself. I just had to stop.

In a way you beat the game then!

Spec Ops is such an amazing work.
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It is.

I really wish I'd played through the end if only so I could put that finale on this list. It would've easily been top 10.
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"Survivors...one too many."

I crossed The Line. It was worth it to learn more about the human condition.
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trdl23 posted...

It is.

I really wish I'd played through the end if only so I could put that finale on this list. It would've easily been top 10.

Spec Ops is so unique in that whether you quit or keep marching on like the soldier you are, it works perfectly no matter what.
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To be totally accurate, I played up until Lugo's death. That was the last straw for me. But I'd been hesitating to move forward ever since the WP.
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Snake5555555555 posted...

trdl23 posted...

It is.

I really wish I'd played through the end if only so I could put that finale on this list. It would've easily been top 10.

Spec Ops is so unique in that whether you quit or keep marching on like the soldier you are, it works perfectly no matter what.

"But on you marched... and for what."

"You're no savior, Walker. Your talents lie elsewhere."
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Man I legitimately don't like thinking about Spec Ops
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I totally get that, yeah.

I still wince whenever I so much as think about that scene.
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#3: Life is Strange -- "Okay, okay, I'm right here. Kate, please..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnXzq-nD9lU

Kate Marsh did nothing wrong. She's a sweet, God-loving girl who deserves so much more than what she has. It's clear from the beginning that something horrible happened to this poor girl, and things were only going to get worse. Whatever I could do for Kate, I wanted to do. It didn't matter if Chloe got pissy with me or if I caught some flak from the Vortexers. Someone like her needed to have a fighter in her corner, a champion to stand firm against the tyranny of her family, the suspicion of the faculty, and the vitriol of her so-called peers. She was going to have me.

So as I saw her leap from the roof of that building, my heart leaped too. I pressed the right mouse button so hard I hurt my fingers. No way on Earth I was going to let this girl die.

When my power started to sputter, I panicked. No, not like this, not now of all times. But then time just stopped. I hobbled, step by step, through the gawkers, the apathetic masses. They disgusted me. They cared more about framing Kate in a dark corner, about capturing Kate in her moment of desperation than they cared about trying to help her. I wanted to tell myself this was just a message from the game, but I know that's not true. Most people are content just to react to the world around them.

Screw that. Let the world react to me.

I managed to trudge my way up to the rooftop, but I was tapped out. Unlike any other scene in the game, I could feel the stakes. No more rewinds, no more hemming and hawing. Whatever happened next, happened for real.

Suicide is one of the most horrible things imaginable, and I'm too familiar with it. I've lost multiple family members to it. I've lost classmates. I've nearly lost my best friend -- a woman to whom I owe my own life. I know that look of anguish in a person's eyes, even if I've thankfully never been on the precipice with someone before. There's only one way to save that kind of person, and that's to convince them that someone cares.

It's not an easy process, and every single thing I'd done factored into the equation. I told her not to go to the cops -- the Prescotts owned the town, and you can never trust the police with a sexual assault victim who's easy to blame. But I wiped away the link to her video. I cleared away her whiteboard. I took her call when I was in the diner, much to Chloe's dismay. Every step of the way, I made sure I was there for her, and I'd cared enough to know that her father cared too, even if the rest of her family was monstrous. Exactly how I'd want my friends and family to be there for me.

Sorry... I'm choking back tears even as I write this. This hit me so hard personally. When she fell into my arms, I wasn't just hugging Kate Marsh. I was hugging Nat. I was hugging Kip. I was hugging John. I wouldn't wish this kind of pain on anyone. No one person can bear that alone.

No matter what happened later, I always had a shining light I could point to and know I had done something right.

I saved Kate.
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fuuuuuuuuuuuck
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I was tempted to rank that moment higher in my guesses because I knew it meant a lot to you, but ultimately I stuck with the gimmick of ranking my own favorite moments from those games and it didn't hit me quite as hard as it did for you.

Still, it's a great moment! I still regret pausing and restarting the scene when I failed it on my first time through. It would've meant more to me if I accepted the consequences, I think. Then again, the fact that I so desperately wanted the good outcome says a lot too.

It's still only the fourth best LiS moment, though!
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Not having played LiS I couldn't nail an exact moment but I KNEW something from it would be really high up. Glad to see my decisio to rank something from it near the top vindicated.
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If this is only the fourth best LiS moment for you, Roba, I'm happy for you. It means you've never had to experience this yourself.
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I really appreciate that a video game finally made a devout Christian character in this context who is a genuinely good person. Too often the faithful are treated as hypocrites and blind zealots -- which much of her family is -- but there's a beautiful side to faith. It's so much easier to notice all the ugliness in any given system, so good on you, Dontnod, for making Kate such a sweetie while unwavering in her faith.
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Yeah, that's a good example, but I really meant Christian specifically.

I'm not even Christian myself, but I'm sick of seeing it dragged through the dirt. Absolutely call out hypocrisy, corruption, and bigotry where you see it, but there's so much good that people often refuse to acknowledge.

Same applies to Judaism and Islam too, but in gaming, those (correctly) aren't considered acceptable targets since they're targeted by so many people irl.
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Me either. I'm sure an anthropologist could give us some insight.

The final 2 are coming Soon (TM).
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#2: Persona 3 -- The Battle for Everyone's Souls

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1IQ-ciVPDY

"It matters not who you are. Death awaits you."

I honestly don't know where to begin with this. Everything is just so... perfect. The blistering 13-part battle that tested my party to the absolute limits. The ever-shifting presence of Nyx Avatar, his lines laced with wisdom from the Arcana as the fight goes on -- embodying the "dim hope" that humanity clings to even as he brings its imminent doom. The absolutely badass, driving music featuring a callback to Aria of the Soul; it's on loop for half an hour and always feels fresh. The sheer hopelessness of when Nyx spams Moonless Gown and I was put on a perpetual defensive strategy. And then, finally, the line above.

A lot of games go for badassery by fighting gods, tyrants, and incarnations. It usually falls flat because we're saturated in it. But Persona 3 pulls it off because I wasn't just fighting the Avatar of Death. I was fighting the Avatar of Death that humanity as a whole desired. It was a mix of anime and Lovecraft on the grandest scale. Everything in the game has built up to this, and it is the greatest payoff in the medium.

But even after all that fighting... after all that effort... we couldn't do it. We were only a group of kids. How could we thwart the cosmic force of death when everyone else in the world welcomed it? This was on a higher scale than Izanami's fog of deceit. Nyx was cold and absolute. All shall perish.

Why is humanity so obsessed with the end of the world? It's a concept present in almost every culture and religion. Why do we, as gamers and media lovers, have such a fascination with the apocalypse and the post-apocalypse? If presented to us in the manner we expect, how many of us would actually considering supporting it? How many of us are one step away from being in the cult of Nyx without even knowing it?

I'm not sure how to answer those questions. But I had one last card up my sleeve. The Universe card. A power even Igor found fascinating. The elevator reached its final destination, and I reached mine. A square-off against Death itself.

Okay, SEES. We've had each others' backs this entire year as we overcame impossible odds. We've suffered pain and loss, yet held firm. We couldn't trust the world, so we trusted each other, for better or for worse. Junpei. Mitsuru. Yukari. Akihiko. Ken. Koromaru. Fuuka. Aigis.

Shinji.

It's time to make whatever sacrifice I need to make to give our species another chance.

It's time to burn my dread.
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