Support NeoGAF

[WoJ]

I love threads like this.

A few that come to mind for me:

Final Fantasy IV - as a kid discovering there was an entire world underground was pretty mind blowing.

Final Fantasy VII - Again, you kind of had to be there for this, but I remember when this game came out my friends and I thought this game was going to be a deviation from the typical Final Fantasy/JRPG formula and be entirely contained in Midgar. The way the game started certainly made it seem that way. Then after 7 hours or so you escape Midgar and have the entire world map presented to you. It was a "holy shit" moment if there ever was one.

Mass Effect 1 -

Spoiler

A few moments for me. Both on Virmire. I didn't do Wrex's side quest and he got shot dead by Ashley. I was not expecting that to happen to a main character. Then the Sovereign interaction in Saren's base followed up by sacrificing Kaidan/Ashley. At the time I hadn't really seen two main characters just offed like that combined with the reveal of the Reapers just took the game and series to another level for me.

 

[Harkonnen]

Alien Isolation, maybe? The more I played the more I felt 'it must be ending now' but noooo... there's a lot more to do.

So good I didn't want this game to end. It kept me interested and involved from start to finish.

 

[NanaMiku]

Odin Sphere

 

[Danjin44]

Odin Sphere

Epic goes through the roof once the whole Ragnarok sequence starts.

This game does it 1000 times better job than God of War Ragnarok.

 

[BlackTron]

I was kind of a naive kid when I played OOT, and thought the whole quest was to find the three spiritual stones. But instead of the game ending, Link aged 7 years to do twice the amount of content you just cleared. I was completely floored.

 

[Corian33]

Tales of Symphonia does the thing where the story seems to come to a conclusion and then "Nope, there's an entire inverse world to go through, you're only halfway there!"

I always have fond memories of that game because I bought it on a complete whim just from looking at the box and absolutely loved it.

 

[Beechos]

Phantasy star 3. You got to play as not 1, not 2 but 3 generations of heroes.

 

[SpongeMonster30]

Elden Ring when I got to that underground area just by pulling a lever.

 

[kiphalfton]

Prince of Persia Lost Crown.

Map kept going on and on, and it was good.

 

[Dr Bass]

FF6, getting to the World of Ruin.

Small by today's standard. Totally epic at the time.

 

[Alexios]

Grandia does this but I won't spoil it. Also Skies of Arcadia a bit.

 

[MiguelItUp]

Elden Ring.

Too many moments where I had to stop to take it all in, while realizing there was so much more to look at and explore.

 

[Hollowpoint5557]

Ghosts and Goblins. Beat the hardest game ever made and then learn to get the true ending you have to do it all again... from the start... on an even harder difficulty. Literally doubles the size of your quest.

Recent example would be Shadow of Mordor. I thought it was just one map and by the time I cleared the first map I felt I had saw everything the game had to offer and then you end up opening up a second (much more vertical) map and it was like a whole new adventure.

Bloodstained RotN also ripped off SotN with the inverted castle which doubles the map size effectively.

 

[Gusy]

I love threads like this.

You are going to love the OP . In all honesty, thanks for sharing.

 

[falconhoof]

Post main story for Red Dead 2. I thought we were going to get a short moment to connect things to Red Dead 1, I was very wrong.

 

[Danjin44]

Elden Ring is the obvious modern example of this

Elden ring in two places... the elevator to Siofra River and those trap chests... they show that the map is WAAY bigger than what you would expect initially.

Elden Ring moment.

I initially thought the map was only mostly just Limgrave and the island to the south.

Then I decided to just ride as far north past Stormveil Castle as I could and it just kept going.

This game is truly magical.

 

[ToughestSoul]

Morrowind always comes to mind. When I realized that the area around Seyda Neen is just this tiny speck on the map I was blown away. Nowadays something like this is expected but back then fully realized 3D environments of that size were not really a thing yet.

 

[L*][*N*K]

Pokemom Gold/Silver when you realize Kanto is in the game too, it was crazy!

 

[yansolo]

when i got ff7 for my birthday when i was a kid and saw three discs when i opened the case

 

[cartman414]

Donkey Kong '94. The first 4 levels were just a preamble to 96 levels of puzzle platforming awesome.

 

[Fahdis]

Every Bethesda game after you come out of the Tutorial. Oblivion was my first, and I didnt realize I was going to get Lord of the Rings sort of gaming in real life. I almost shed a tear.

 

[Forth]

Elden Ring, the game. Playing this game knowing nothing about it is truly bliss.
I still stand by my belief that we got TOTK's depths because Nintendo devs played Elden Ring and got to experience Siofra River.

 

[Duchess]

You realize that it was nothing but a little dot on a huge map that you are now free to explore. Granted, not other place in that map was as detailed or developed as Midgar... but, the effect caused by the reveal was unforgettable.

Exactly what happened to me.

I thought the entire game was Midgar. I was used to playing games that could be finished in a few hours, at most, so this to me was mind blowing.

 

[CuteFaceJay]

Still getting quests in Hernand.

 

[MrJangles]

Every half hour as I played through BOTW for the first time.

'How the hell is this a handheld game' I kept asking myself.

 

[nordique]

Ocarina of time is the first I can recall….beating the deku tree then only to see hyrule field was huge back then

 

[The Silverlord]

Elaborate !!!

I went into that game knowing nothing about it (popped up on PSN Extra); wow, what an experience. Quite unlike any game I've played in last 40 years. It's like a rougelite but wrapped in a charming story that grows and grows and seems to progress and flow beautifully. So much to unlock and learn.

I'd add Trials to the list: seems at first like a simple motorbike game, but the way that game opens up as your skills get better, you begin to uncover layer after layer. Times get faster, Extreme courses become attemptable (well, kind of!).

 

[Kuranghi]

The Witness has a giant meta game that blew me and my friends mind because we discovered it totally by accident by mis-clicking. Theres a panel you probably wouldn't find til near the end which heavily hints about it but we were well into it by then.

I'd say that and The Talos Principles contain my biggest surprise moments of the last decade and those games were barely two (2) years apart.

The Talos Principle 2 is starting to give me similar surprise moments in the puzzles in the latter half but the star secrets are pretty rote in comparison to TPP1 so far sadly. Will keep going and see what the star puzzles are like.

 

[Robb]

Going into the depths in Tears of the Kingdom for the first time and realizing there's a map corresponding to the size of the entire world map hiding below, in addition to the sky sections..

 

[TintoConCasera]

Donkey Kong '94. The first 4 levels were just a preamble to 96 levels of puzzle platforming awesome.

This one really got me as a kid. Was wondering why my older bro would buy a simple arcade game for the GB and then I saw the map of the city. Pretty cool game.

 

[Portugeezer]

It's hard these days because we see so much of games before launch, but I remember being shocked in Lost Odyssey when I got the boat; the world suddenly felt much bigger (also back then I hadn't played many JRPG's except Pokemon games).

Every half hour as I played through BOTW for the first time.

'How the hell is this a handheld game' I kept asking myself.

I used to love that feeling of a huge world in a handheld. It was magical.

 

[yogaflame]

Xenogears. I thought iwith its art style the game will just be short. Finals stages has that epic Evangelion anime feel.

 

[Sooner]

Okami.

When I realized that Orochi isn't the final boss.

That's an example of a game possibly being too long.

It feels like you're playing a trilogy collection of Okami games.

 

[Liopleurodon]

That's an example of a game possibly being too long.

It feels like you're playing a trilogy collection of Okami games.

Yes, while beautiful, and original, Okami definitely felt like it overstayed its welcome.

But then again, maybe one should have just put it aside for a while after Orochi, and then continue after at least a month, or two.

 

[Shockwave_Fox]

When Final Fantasy VII came out on the PS1, you spent hours exploring Midgar, a steam-punk , quasi-futuristic city full of variety and distinct places. Train and train stations, industrial complexes , Slums, Churches... In terms of variety it rivaled or surpassed most JRPGs you could play at the time.

Then the story progresses and you find yourself in a situation where you have to escape from the city. Reaching this point felt like finishing a whole game. And when you finally do escape.....

You realize that it was nothing but a little dot on a huge map that you are now free to explore. Granted, not other place in that map was as detailed or developed as Midgar... but, the effect caused by the reveal was unforgettable.

Have to agree with this but for FFIX - was my first ff ever and had no idea what it was gonna be like or about.

So many places, a huge world map and what I still love the most is every single area had its own unique music which really made every place you visited feel different and distinctive.

I was blown away playing that as a little kid.

 

[Hyper_hyper]

Oddworld Abe's Odyssey. Thought i've saved them all at first.

 

[Black_Stride]

When you get the Delphi in Skies of Arcadia and you relalize the world map is much much larger.
It can fly above and below the sky and can fly through those rifts.

Recently when I got to Act 2 of Expedition 33.
How long to finish says the game is about 25 - 30 hours........I only got to Act 2 after like 2x hours..........then there was a death and I was like wait what.....i might be in this world for a minute, and some of the moves are still locked.
Unlocking Limit Break after trying to take on enemies who could easy tank my 9999 attacks makes you realize there has to be a limit break skill and chances are there are still enemies who even with Limit Break youll have trouble with.

 

[adamsapple]

Resident Evil 4, the first village fight.

This shit ain't your grandpapi's RE.

 

[Cr1ptkeeper]

Devil May Cry 4. I thought I was nearing the end after this boss fight when I got the achievement "Half way there".

 

[cireza]

You realize that it was nothing but a little dot on a huge map

Really ? I actually found Midgar totally disproportionate compared to the rest of the world, and overall nothing makes sense in terms of scale and geography. The world map is actually tiny with few locations, and they are very small outside of a couple places.

In Phantasy Star on Master System (1987), you start on planet Parma. After exploring a bit, you eventually get access to the Spaceport and realize there are two other planets of the same size to explore. That was pretty insane.

 

[mèx]

Entering Gaur Plain in Xenoblade, seeing Mechonis and the massive sword in the sky. That's when it really hits you just how massive this game is going to be... and that was on a Wii (pictures are from the Switch version of course).

 

[Germuso]

Totk has the worst map design, that underground is superman64 level design.

Just cause 2 was big

 

[crackajack]

I don't know AC1, but every AC afterwards. I am exhausted halfway or in the later ones even earlier. Shit is theoretically still fun, but way too big for its own good. Valhalla having that starting norse island, then england, then Valhalla. Having different areas, sure, but scale it down. Offering england as its own addon or game would have been fine.
More, is not better, especially if you try to make a yearly franchise out of it.

 

[bumpkin]

Came to post this.

For a little added flavor...

 

[GrayChild]

Stealth Caelid thread?

 

[Gusy]

Really ? I actually found Midgar totally disproportionate compared to the rest of the world, and overall nothing makes sense in terms of scale and geography. The world map is actually tiny with few locations, and they are very small outside of a couple places.

In Phantasy Star on Master System (1987), you start on planet Parma. After exploring a bit, you eventually get access to the Spaceport and realize there are two other planets of the same size to explore. That was pretty insane.

I somewhat agree, at the end of that post I talk about how Midgar stands alone in that map in terms of detail and size. I dont agree with the map being tiny or the amount of locations being few, you have to consider that it was a game released in 1997 and we are talking about a different scale in terms of production, visuals, audio and variety. I dont think the Phantasy Star comparison is fair. The Elder Scrolls Arena also released before FF7 and its size still rivals modern RPGS But in terms of production , assets, etc is not even on the same league as FF7.

Even if the other locations are not even close to Midgar in terms of variety and size, It still is really amazing looking at all of the possible places you can potentially visit after that initial journey through the city.

 

[Yesterwynde]

DK Bananza had way more worlds than I expected. And some of those worlds were bigger than what I thought.

 

[cireza]

I dont think the Phantasy Star comparison is fair.

I am not comparing FF VII to Phantasy Star. I was simply answering the topic after I answered to your own opinion, without any intention to disrespect it by the way
In Phantasy Star everything was hand crafted by the way. Nothing generated or whatever.

However, before FF VII, there were much larger RPGs around with much more believable and consistent worlds, that's for sure. Production value was high, without a doubt. But something had to give, and the world building is simplistic and linear compared to Phantasy Star IV or Final Fantasy V to only name a couple games, and both had very high production values for their respective consoles.

 

[ergem]

FF9 did the same to me. I thought the entire game is the Mist Continent.

 

[Gusy]

I am not comparing to FF VII to Phantasy Star. I was simply answering the topic after I answered to your own opinion, without any intention to disrespect it by the way

However, before FF VII, there were much larger RPGs around with much more believable and consistent worlds, that's for sure. Production value was high, without a doubt. But something had to give, and the world building is simplistic and linear compared to Phantasy Star IV or Final Fantasy V to only name a couple games, and both had very high production values for their respective consoles.

No no, there's nothing even remotely disrespectful in your post. On the contrary, super glad to have dissenting opinions. After your triggered reaction to the OP and you disagreeing with FF7 as a candidate to the topic discussed, when you talked about Phantasy Star immediately after, it totally felt like a comparison to me. English is not my first language so I tend to make mistakes like that. Thanks for sharing your opinions!!