It’s been a long time since I faced such moments perhaps due to games taking longer to make and becoming a more mature medium. Also games as a whole are more consistent at just being good instead of being built around moments. But here’s my list
- Raphael’s Boss music in Baldurs Gate 3
- GoW 2018, Kratos uncovering the floorboards and recovering those things
- Dropping the monkey paw at the end of Obra Dinn
- The plane moment in Indiana Jones
Honourable mentions
- The open world reveal in ff7 rebirth didn’t hit as hard as we knew it would come, but still brought a smile to my face. The other big twist at the end of the game was more confusing than epic
- Unchartered 4 surprisingly still fits in the list from 2016. The boat chase and truck trying to kill you was awesome
I loved Obra Dinn and yet when you said that I drew a complete blank. What I remember of Obra Dinn is figuring out the metapuzzle. And maybe the Kraken.
I think the problem with “gaming moments” is you need a kind of universally communal experience of a game. The reason the Mexico ride in Red Dead became the prototype for THAT is it was maybe the last time we were all playing the same thing at the same time and reading the same things so we could all talk about the same bit at the same time.
I enjoy reading about stuff I don’t know. It makes me curious. So if I don’t know the game, if the scene sounds interesting, I may look it up and play it. No universal game experience needed.