Video Gamers Podcast - Games That Hooked Us Instantly – Gaming Podcast

Episode Date: May 19, 2026

Gaming hosts Josh, Ryan and Ace are diving into the video game intros that instantly hooked us and made us HAVE to keep playing. From jaw-dropping openings to unforgettable first missions, we’re breaking down the moments that define great gaming and why some video games grab you from the very first second. Which intros changed gaming forever, and which ones still live rent free in our heads? If you love video games with incredible openings and unforgettable vibes, this is one gaming packed episode you don’t want to miss from the Video Gamers Podcast!   Thanks to our MYTHIC Supporters: Redletter, Disratory, Ol’ Jake, Gaius, Jigglepuf, Phelps and NorwegianGreaser, Dettmarp and Night Wizard63   Thanks to our Legendary Supporters: HypnoticPyro, PeopleWonder, Bobby S.   Connect with the show: Support us on Patreon: ⁠patreon.com/videogamerspod⁠ Join our Gaming Community: https://discord.gg/h2cHKAvSmu Follow us on Instagram:⁠ https://www.instagram.com/videogamerspod/⁠  Follow us on X:⁠ https://twitter.com/VideoGamersPod⁠  Subscribe to us on YouTube:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@VideoGamersPod?sub_confirmation=1⁠    Visit us on the web:⁠https://videogamerspod.com/⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hello, fellow gamers, and welcome to the video gamers podcast. Some games start off with a bang, while others may be a slow burn before they really get rolling. I'm looking at you, Witcher 3. For some of us with limited time or attention spans, the slow starts can be a challenge. But what about those games that just grab you from the get-go? The games that hook you within the first couple hours or even minutes. Well, on today's episode, we're chatting some of the best beginnings in gaming. But before we get to that, some introductions are in order.

I am your host, Josh. And joining me, he literally nominated Red Dead Redemption 2 Snow Level for this episode. Before we made him change it, because that's the worst answer ever. It's Ryan. You know, I did genuinely, I genuinely thought about it. to me it's amazing but nobody else I think I'm in the less than

1% in this one. It's a good thing this is democracy. I'll say yes. Yeah, that's right. I mean, pick them off the boat. We've been picking on ace. We've been picking on ace for a set an ace back to the well and Ryan legitimately brought up Red Dead Redemption 2 and he was like,

but I love the snow level and we were like Ryan. That's the opposite of this episode, buddy. And joining us, he thinks that Any game that starts off announcing it was made by some little-known indie studio is the perfect beginning to any game. It's A's. Hey, I can't help it.

I get hyped when I see that title screen. It's like, Team Cherry or something. Yeah. Hey, we didn't spend a lot of money. Blue Water Studios. Yacht Club games. I've never heard of these guys.

This game must be awesome. Brain jar. Oh. Well, welcome in. everybody, listen, this is, you know, this is one of those things that it puts off a lot of gamers. There's a lot of people out there that go, I don't have six hours to invest in this game before it gets good. We have been guilty of that as well. I mean, there's plenty of games that we've bounced off of where people go, bro, once you put 30 hours in, that's when it gets awesome. Crimson Desert, you know, but there are some games that kind of buck this trend where right from the get-go, you

just jump in and this game just throws you to the fire or there's some crazy cutscene or there's some sequence that happens and from the initial impression you are just like I am in I don't know what this game is all I know is I'm in for a ride on this bad boy because if it starts off like this my goodness what's in store for me so we're going to be breaking down some of the top beginnings and intros to games that get you hooked. But like any good intro, guys, we got a couple new people to thank the trend continues. The trend continues. And guys, this trend, we're not thanking two rare members.

We're thanking to epic members today, boys. Yeah. So a huge shout out to Mithril Honor who joined our Discord server and within minutes signed up to support the podcast at the epic level has been chatting away just jumped right into the community with both feet we love to see it so thank you missful honor yep thank you much and then somebody else not to be out done doing the exact same thing just join the discord started chatting with people then boom we see this notice it says hey lion's main signed up to support the show at the epic tier which is incredible so lions main thank you

you so much. Love seeing you in the community as well. Love seeing both of you just chatting it up and just making yourselves at home in this in this awesome community. And thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. And then like any good episode, like any good game, Ryan, we've got a review to read. We do. We have another amazing five-star review from Hero 1210. It's titled, Giving Me a Key. community. And it reads as follows. I am your reviewer, Hero, and with me today are always not many, until now. I don't have many gaming friends, and listening to your podcast makes me feel part of something. This podcast has gotten me to try games I'd otherwise just ignore. Biggest one,

probably Expedition 33, and I'm so glad I played it. Also considering joining the Discord, never had one before, but you guys make it seem like a great time. So thanks. Awesome review. Awesome review. Can confirm. Can confirm the community is amazing. We just got done talking about Lions May and Mithral Honor who both joined, realized we weren't

overselling this. Immediately. You know what? Yeah, this is worth supporting. We say it all the time to people. There's only one way to find out, and that's join the community. There's a link in the episode description. It is our Discord server.

It is free to join. There's no toxicity. There's no opinion shaming. There's no politics. There's none of that. It's family friendly. So if you're younger, you know, this is, it's a safe place for you to be. Your parents won't mind you participating in there either.

We have people of all ages. But it is truly as incredible as we tell people. And the only reason we say that is because having an amazing gaming community is super rare. And we want people that want an amazing gaming community to actually know that it does exist and be a part of it. So, all right, guys. Let's do it. Let's go.

Let's go. Talk some, dude, I'd love, okay, now, this is not on the list, but I will just say this because I did just reference this recently, but mixtape. You know, I mentioned that when I loaded mixtape in the morning, I was up at like 5 a.m. I didn't want to be up at 5 a.m., but I was like, you know, I got 30 minutes. Let me load up mixtape. And right away, in my opinion, mixtape just caught my attention. It was, you know, I'm skating down the hill.

They're yelling car. went, guys, this is how a game should start. And then that got us thinking about, what are some other games that actually just start off with a bang? So we're going to be diving into those. Who wants to go first? Ace, I'll toss it to you, buddy. You know what?

Yeah, I'll go ahead. Go first. Why don't you kick us off on this one? What is a game that just starts off with an absolute bang and then why? And then does it continue through the game for you? I think I'm going to go ahead and pull out the one that we all agreed on. We thought was possibly one of the best. openings we've kind of forgotten about.

That's Tomb Raider. Oh man. You punk. That was mine. Yeah, no, it's mine now, buddy. For those that don't know, Tombator got like a remake trilogy done by Crystal Dynamics, I believe. And those games are really, really good.

They're phenomenal. Yeah. So slept on, for sure. Yeah, the game opens with you, like, on this ship making your way towards the island, and she's like laying in bed. And then it just cuts to, like, Like the ship's been cut in half. It's filling with water.

She can't get out of her cabin. She's beaten on the window. And she finally breaks out and she's, you just see the camera pan out to this ship perfectly split in half as Laura takes a massive running leap to the other side. But that's not where it ends. All her friends are like consciously over on the shore. And she wakes up half dead on the shore and gets knocked out and dragged away by a cannibal. and then it gets even crazier from there as you fall from the freaking roof and get rebar like stabbed through your gut.

Impaled right off the rip. Yeah. That game just has the most bananas opening and I'll never forget it because like it stays pretty crazy the whole way through. Like you know what you're in for. Imagine her like 90% of her voice lines as a voice actor must have been like just. It was just screaming and grunting. You know, she was just like, because she just got stabbed by something. or impaled by something the whole time. That was,

it's, oh man, what, what an opening for sure. That, that is one that I remember, I remember booting it up and thinking, because I grew up with Tomb Raider.

I was, you know, I'm in 90s kid and hopping into Tomb Raider and getting this reboot. And you, you start in this world and you're immediately sucked in. You're like, what's going on? Like,

where am I? What happened? How is this going to be? and like, what is this island and what are they doing? Like, what the heck? So it absolutely sucks you in immediately. It's not no play to the bloody baron. It's not take, you know, 15, 20 hours.

It's within the first hour you're drawn in if you like that style. Oh, you immediately know the tone of this game. It's like, oh, I'm just going to be on edge the entire time. Well, and I like how it starts you off. Even past the initial cut scene, you know, where she's wrapped up upside down. she falls, she gets impaled by the rebar, and then she starts going through these caves in this cavern system. And the game's like, you know, it's, you're just in it like right away. Like, it just, there's this crazy chaotic beginning. And then it's just, boom, you're in this game.

You have no idea where you are. All you know is like things went really, really terribly. You're trying to figure out how to get out of this cave. It's got you burning things. And it's kind of the beginning like almost tutorials section. But my goodness, man, what a way. I mean, no hesitation. It is just for the first few minutes of the. the game. I mean, I think it's a five minute intro and you are absolutely hooked. If you haven't played the, let's just pause for a second. If you haven't played the Tomb Raider games, the remakes, they're so good. They're so good. They are incredible people. Incredible. Like, number one, graphically, they did a phenomenal job. They hold up very, very well. The gameplay

is, is awesome. Like, Lara Croft is, is awesome. These are really, really good games that if you're like, you know what, I forgot about those and I need to play those. This. This is us telling you add to your backlog but move these up to the front of your backlog because they really are spectacular man yeah all three of them are incredibly solid games very good yeah yep all right right right right let's uh let's move to you what uh what's one that you want to talk about that got you hooked right off the rip um gosh i'm gonna go with one of probably my favorite games ever uh i was i was gonna do one but i don't want to steal from you josh because I know it'll be yours.

So I'm going to do Last of Us. Oh, yes. Getting into a world, I remember booting up this game for the first time. And Joel comes in and he's with his daughter, Sarah. And sorry, spoilers. If you haven't played her by now, it's been out for a while. Too bad. Come back later.

But, like, you go there and they're hanging out and they're talking. It's like a regular world. And then the chaos erupts. And it's just what happens. in an apocalypse and what happens in an apocalyptic world within that moment. And it flips from something that's so standard and normal to something so chaotic and crazy within seconds that it just throws you off. And you're like, oh, man.

You know, and you like, I got to pay attention. I got to lock in. Like you're instantly dialed in. And that's what a game should do, especially within a few minutes, like after watching it. And you're just, you're hardlining into it. And so that one for me, like you have a little bit of build up, a little bit of kind of background, and then it just goes into chaos and anarchy in the world ending. And there's nothing like that big of a jump for an intro to a game.

And this is one of those that are like, it's an all-timer. Oh, dude. Yeah. This intro is like iconic. That's where my tattoo comes from is Joel's broken watch from the intro. Yeah. And I just remember everyone else had started playing like. like Hogwarts legacy and I sat down to start the Last of Us finally.

And man, it gets you immediately hooked on this world, on the characters. And you just immediately feel bad for Joel. Oh, dude, right away. So famously, I had started Last of Us long ago and then I only played maybe three or four hours and then I bounced off of it. And then I played it recently along with Last of Us 2. and it's like, I think I blocked out

the intro to this game because of how emotionally devastating it is because it does a masterful job of like you said, Ryan, just showing you normal life and then when the crap hits the fan,

it hits the fan and things fall apart so quickly. Yeah. You know what I mean? That it's like, I don't think people realize that like that's probably a pretty accurate like representation

of what would happen. Yeah. But then just the gut punch with Joel and his daughter and what happens in this world, it tells you right away, you are in for something special with this game and it doesn't let up. I mean, Last of Us is an all-timer. And it does. It sets the tone. But I can't think of another game where it's just like it is gut punching you. It's like the beginning of up, like the cartoon up, you know, where you're just like within the first 10 minutes you're crying.

Come on. What are you guys doing to me right now, man? But they nailed it, dude. I'm assuming it really hits y'all since you have kids. Like you can connect. I was going to say, especially having teenage daughters like Josh and myself do. Like having that happen and then, and then, you know, with Joel and what happens with it all, like, it's, it's, it definitely is a different feeling. And you understand his response and his reaction and how he lives the rest of his life after that.

You know, like it explains it all, especially when you have kids. So, yeah, it's, I can relate to Joel in a lot of ways just because of what he went through and, like, being able to, like, relate to that. And it kind of going like, I don't, I don't blame you too. Yeah. Like, honestly, you know, not saying it's right. I'm just saying I don't blame you either. And you're both old. All right.

Well, I'll, I'll bring this one up because this is on point for me and what would an episode of this be? if I didn't bring up one of my favorite games of all time and one of my favorite characters of all time, and that is God of War 2018. Now listen, there's going to be people that are going to be like, but Josh, like the God of War games all start off really well. And you know what? You're right.

Yes, they do. They do. And that's like a calling card of this franchise, but for me especially, God of War 2018, you start off with, you know, you're doing the funeral for your wife. man you're dead wife and then you know you're doing all this stuff it's it's somber as solemn you're you know you're in this new area it's cold and wintry and you've got atreas all of a sudden

you're like what the heck and it just kind of throws you in to this very difficult like situation where you're you know you're doing you're literally doing like the funeral pyre for your wife and then you're like well wow okay that was an emotional moment and then you get a knock on your door while you're still like literally like grieving. Like her ashes aren't even cold yet. You know, and then it's like you get this knock on your door and there's the stranger, you know,

standing outside your door. And then you go into this epic boss fight within the first like 15 minutes of the game. Yeah. What kind of game does that to you, man? You know, you don't know what's going on. But I can't think of another game that just like throws you in to what this game is going to be as like,

as well as God of War 2018 does, man. It's such a masterful beginning to an incredible game. God of War had me at the beginning just from the menu screen, how it smoothly cuts into him chopping down the tree as soon as you hit Star. Oh, yeah, dude. As soon as you hit Start, it's in. You're in the game. Like, that's it.

But fighting the stranger, as we'll call him. Yeah, the stranger. It's just insane. There's something to be set for those transitions. But also, like, you mentioned the Tree Ace, like, the thing that was cool too is you see in the intro there like you know uh superheroes punching superheroes like yeah that doesn't mean a lot like you know these guys are so strong and they just punch each other it looks like a regular fight but but when when kratos chops down the tree and then he's got a giant full size

freaking tree and he just throws it over his shoulder and he's walking you get kind of a glimpse and a grasp of of how powerful and how strong he really is and you see the world that you're about to go into and you're like, whoa, okay, this dude's like, he's the real deal. You know, this is, I'm, I'm ready for this. And then obviously the fight happens and stuff. But, but, but yeah, that was, that was such an intro, um, for getting somebody back into a series. I think they did such a good job on that. Like, hey, you know, I know we have these other three that were amazing, but like, we're, we're starting something new and it's going to be big. Yeah, they could have slow burned it and they didn't, you know, because with a franchise like this,

they could have gone any direction they wanted to with that, you know, like I said, if they wanted to set the story for four hours before they really got into it, like, it still would have worked. Yeah. But for them to just come into this and right off the bat, just go, here you go. Here you go. This is what you're in for. Like, to me, it set the stage so well, dude. And then, of course, the game doesn't let up from there, like, at all.

No. It's also just a great way to reintroduce Cretus now that we've kind of got this newer, calmer crados. Yeah, which I loved. Like, Ryan, you touched on the fact that this guy can hoist on tree over the shoulder. Yeah, but then he is calmer. He wants to be left alone. But then, you know, somebody doesn't leave him alone. And that kicks everything off where it's like, bro, if you just let me be, none of this would have happened.

You know, so it's like, learn your lesson, people. All right, Ace, why don't you do, give us one more and then we'll take a break after this one. We still got a lot to cover. Yeah, we got a few, man. We got a hurry. All right, let's start with dead space. You and your crew board the ship, the Ishimora. You're basically being taken through, I guess, like almost a tour.

As you get on the ship and suddenly, all hell breaks loose. Literally. And literally, as necromorphs start slashing apart your crew and other people on the ship, and you just have to take a mad dash away from it. And lo and behold, you find the holy grail of weapons to keep. you alive above a sign that says cut the limbs off or something like that. Yeah. And from there, Dead Space does not let up.

It makes you feel scared. It makes you feel worried. And it makes it so you don't want to trust anyone. You don't trust anyone on that ship. Dude, the beginning to Dead Space, and if, listen, here's another one. If you haven't played the Dead Space remake, it's one of the best remakes. It's like, it's a phenomenal remake. Oh, Ryan, I would love to watch you play Dead Space.

Dude, you're such a chicken. I changed my answer. I haven't played it. Yeah. I know, right? Yeah, for the hijack. For the hijack? Yeah.

Dead space would get Ryan so well. But it is. I mean, it's, you know, you're flying into the ship. There's been a problem. You're like a maintenance crew that has to go in and fix things. You can't find people. You're an engineer. You got armed guards.

Yeah. You got armed guards. You know, they're fine. You're not really worried. And then all of a sudden, you're behind a window, you know, like rebooting a system. And then. crap just hits the fan everything breaks loose

and that's when you realize like oh my gosh this really is a horror game and this is horrific and I don't want to be I don't want to be here anymore and then you get to run and like you said Acey find the plasma cutter which is phenomenal as a weapon

but yeah dude Dead Space is another one of those games where it just instantly draws you in and then it does not let you go the whole time it's a phenomenal game and if you haven't played the remake you are missing out because it is a great remake as well. Dang, Ryan, this one, like, I still want you to play Eldon Ring,

but man, the Dead Space Remake would be so good. After I watched the intro and stuff, I totally watched through the whole intro, and I'm like, this kind of got me sucked in right now. Like, I want to, like, play, I want to continue this. That image of the plasma cutter sitting on the desk with the bloody handwritten sign that just says cut off their limbs is like, like, seared into my brain. Yeah.

Yeah, because bullets don't work. You see that in the intro. The dudes lighten up one of the necromorphs with a gun, and it's like, nothing happening, man. He literally just runs at him through it and stabs him in the chest. Yeah, and you get to witness all of it. That is, yeah, what an incredible start to an incredible game, man. Yeah. Have you guys noticed a trend here?

Last of Us, God of War, Tomb Raider, Dead Space, and we're going to talk about a bunch others. I'll say there's a trend here, huh? There is. kind of all timers and yet it's they're all timers because like they don't take six hours to get going you know they draw you in right away and it's like and they don't let up and it's like these this is how you get people into your awesome game so tell you what we'll take a break real quick and then we'll come back and we'll talk some more of these we'll be right back all right ryan what do you want to bring up next buddy oh man uh well i'd be remiss if i didn't if i didn't bring up one of my

favorite games of all time. I'm going to go with one that that I have seen this intro more times than I cared to admit and I've bought this game more times than I care to admit. I marked it off before you said anything

because I knew. I already knew. I'm going with the Elder Scrolls 5 Skyrim. It's just there was nothing like it. After playing you know, Morwind and these other Elder Scrolls.

Yeah, I just, you come to Skyrim and you're thinking like it's just going to be another general elder scrolls, which in many ways it was. It had the same mechanics in a lot of ways and a lot of the same graphics kind of settings and all that stuff. But it was just,

that intro, you're rolling in on this cart and then you're like, where am I? And you're kind of waking up. up with the character and you're with a storm cloak, Henrik Storm Cloak or whatever, and then a dragon rolls up. And it's just, it's,

it's one of the craziest intros to a game that, that results in such a serene, peaceful environment right after. Yeah. I've ever seen like, you're like, oh my God, oh my God, oh my God. And you do it. And then you're like, oh, this is, this is a pretty beautiful world. You're just like looking around. Oh, this is nice.

You know, and then you can start to play the game. And they just did such a good job on showing you what could happen and then what you could explore. Like what else you could experience too. So you got just this crazy dichotomy of the two ebbs and flows and the yin, yin and the yang of what Skyrim can be, this beautiful serene setting.

And then also a crazy chaotic world with dragons, like within, a few minutes just like that. And so it was one of the most ridiculous entries to a game I've ever seen. And I love it. And I've played it so many times. Skyrim, its opening is like so iconic.

It gets meme to heck now. Oh, just because of that. Oh, yeah. Anytime like a character gets like knocked out, like I've seen the, like the Resident Evil 7,

the welcome to the family son. Yeah, yeah, he talks about anyway, stuff on the cart. Yeah. It's just so good. Most games save you fighting a dragon as like the final boss fight.

Yeah, they don't open. They don't open with you fighting a dragon, you know? And so, yeah, they did a masterful job at that. And you're right, Ryan, going from the chaos of that dragon fight too, like, now you're in these beautiful woods and just have fun and take your time and look around. And it's, yeah, it's whiplash, but, man, it works. All right. Well, I mean, dude, we can't do an episode that talks about some of the best intros in gaming if we don't bring up

Bioshock, dude. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Dude, you know, goodness gracious, dude, the way Bioshock starts off is masterful. You are on a trip. You're flying. You crash into the ocean.

It is a glorious plane crash scene, by the way. Oh, yeah. This is not, yeah. Yeah, this is like, this is done really, really well. But then, you know, you're in the middle of the ocean at night. You're literally watching the plane sinking around you. You see the big tail of the plane, like slowly going down. there's fire everywhere.

And then you see the lighthouse. And it's like, what the heck is this thing? And you swim over to it. You know, you see the giant sign that's the iconic no gods only men thing. And then you find the elevator. You start going down the elevator. Atlas comes on and starts talking to you. And this is literally the start of Bioshock.

God, now I want to play. Then the spice starts a car. I know, right? I'm rewatched the intro because it had been a little bit. And then I was just like, dude, this is so good. It's so good. crash and the being in the ocean and the swimming over to the lighthouse and it's all like it's so creepy and like surreal and it's just it is a masterful intro to a game bioshop in itself is a

masterful game and again great intro great game we might be on to something here but what a start dude what a start and honestly like bioshop infinite we're not going to bring this one up but it's it's pretty good too part of the bioshop franchise is yeah when you go up to the clouds and you kind of walk out into the city for the first time. That is another one of those like, oh my gosh type moments. You never forget that first trip down to rapture. Like as you're down in the tube,

past like the giant sign that just says rapture. There's all the sea life and everything around. And then when you get there, splicers start climbing all around your pod and things like, he's like, oh no, I don't want to go out there. What the? No, like not everything is as it should be down here. I'm not sure I like this place after all.

This doesn't look right. And the biggest thing, too, is I think that, I mean, this game's almost 20 years old. 19 years ago was released in 2007. And for it to create that world in that setting with like, I mean, you know, graphically pleasing, like with the waves and the lighthouse and the way everything looked and once you went down and just all the elements of it lended itself to just an awesome intro and an awesome game overall. but like, dude, props to them for two decades ago, they made this masterpiece.

I remember, I remember being so excited for Bioshock to come out. Like, just absolutely giddy, dude, hype level through the, and then to have that intro, like,

already being excited, but you boot the game up and then you go through that intro, and then you were like, oh my gosh, dude. Like, what is this game going to be? Yeah.

And it stays great the whole time. Unforgettable. That's what it's going to be. Yeah, unforgettable, honestly. All right, Ace, what do you got next for us? I would be remiss if we miss this one. So let's talk about Expedition 33. Oh, yes. Yeah. Yes. You got to talk about it. It's probably got one of the best openings in the last, I'm going to say 10 years of games. I'll be real. I don't disagree with you at all, dude. This is another one where it just absolutely tugs on your

heartstrings and your emotions from the get-go. Some games take a long time to kind of start caring about the characters and getting invested in them and, you know, getting attached to them and things like that. Expedition 33 within the first 40 minutes of the game has you so emotionally invested in these characters. And then like, you know, basically crying over the gomage and what's going on, you know, that you're just like, what? It's another one of these like, what the heck, guys? Like, what are you doing to me right now? Yeah, because you start with Gustav and there's like a festival going on as my L comes to get you. He's like, you know, Sophie's gomages today is like, oh, what's that?

That must be a good thing, right? All these people wearing flowers, you know? Yeah. It must be great. You run and you meet up with Sophie and you guys, you walk around the town, you talk to everyone and you start kind of figuring out maybe the gamage isn't a good thing. It might be a bad thing. That's not a good thing.

And you just, you try your hardest to put it off, but you go, eventually you go down to the dock. and there at the massive monolith the painter's appears and wipes away the 34 and it becomes 33 and all the people around you just start turning into petals and disappearing before your eyes including Sophie who Gustav is holding quite closely to him

and it is just heart wrenching what a stab in the heart dude in the first 40 minutes of the game I don't know anybody whether they like whether they like Expedition 33 or not I get the whole turn-based combat thing but I still remember Ryan like in the beginning don't be calling me I don't be calling me out without

this part wasn't even turn-based this is like full well that's my point is that even if you don't like the gameplay part like that part of the game people were like oh my gosh dude like I'm so into these characters are ready and then to share that like pain with them

instantly has you emotionally invested in them and then you want to see what happens you know, after that. But it also makes you be like, bro, screw that Pinterest, man. Screw that Patriot. I'm coming after her. It gives you the killer.

I'm a killer. And you're just like, all right, Gustav, we're going to see this to the end. Yep. Oh, guys. Expedition 33 is one of those games that I will absolutely replay in the future.

And that's very, very rare for me. But I will, I will absolutely do it. Yeah. All right, Ryan. Give us another one for you, buddy. What's a game that just blows you away right from the very beginning?

So this one, Josh, you're going to know this. This is going to be a throwback for older viewers. Our younger listeners may not. There's a lot of people that have been screaming. If you don't bring this game up, I'm going to hate you guys. I've experienced this. But there was not not only just for what it was and what it became and what it has developed to be in this day and age. but like Half-Life was one of the best intros to a video game that we've ever experienced.

Oh yeah. I agree. I agree. I agree. ...through the tram in 1998 as a kid looking around as I'm going through this tram and seeing the world. And it's like describing things to me. And I feel like I'm actually like going to work. Like I am I am a worker and I'm seeing the production and I'm seeing the forklifts and I'm seeing the

the special facilities and I'm seeing little lab scientists like around in the background. There was there was nothing like riding that tram and running through everything and then going to the beginning of that to go do this test that you had to do. I hadn't played anything like it. Most likely I haven't played anything like it up to now. Like it was just it was one of those amazing things that will last with you forever, especially if you experienced. that back in the day, but even now they have Black Mesa, like, I'm sure it would hold up. Like, it's so good, dude.

It holds up because I just rewatch this intro. Yeah. I just rewatch this because it's been a long time since I played out. For sure. Yeah. I do remember the intro, but like, I was like, let me watch. And it's like, it is the most boring day at work for Gordon Freeman where he's talking to all the scientists.

You're in this mega facility. You feel like you're just going to work. And then you have to go to the experimental chamber. and then the crap hits the fan and then you get these weird glimpses into these alien worlds for a second you know what I mean to where it's like and then portaling back in

yes and then it's like and then it's like the game just turns you loose and it is absolutely one of those like iconic beginnings to a game because you think it's going to be boring and you're like oh guys what is this game like you know people are talking to you and then it just goes haywire

in the best way possible and then the game just stays like that for honestly the entire series at that point. Half-Life's opening is iconic, dude. Yeah, so good. I can understand why it took off after watching the intro. I was like, oh, okay. So it does get interesting.

Well, and like one of the things not to get too deep on this, but that people don't understand is Half-Life was so far ahead of its time that the interactivity of you just walking through the facility and talking to the scientists, like they would respond. Like you could go and like push the button at the. guard station and then he'd be like oh gordon what are you doing you're going to get me in trouble yeah you know that didn't exist to that level so you know half life was one of those games where it was like this is so like real in how the game is responding to what you're doing that like i said we

hadn't seen a lot of that it really kind of set it apart right from the get go this is the 90s too so yeah exactly so yeah all right well i'll bring one up we don't have to spend very long on this one but I have to give credit to cyberpunk 2077. One of my favorite games is... Welcome to the Knight City. Dude, the way that it starts off with allowing you to kind of

pick your life path where you're the street kid, the corpo, or what's the one out in the desert? I forget. The nomad. The nomad. Yeah, that's what it was.

Yeah, so it's like, hey, pick your life path. Right. And a lot of games do this with like just a little tech summary. We see this in like Bethesda games where it's like, you know, where did you come from kind of thing. but you do this and then cyberpunk puts you in it to experience like your your beginning and how you wind up getting to night city as v and then you know the escapades and all that and then when you finally actually get to the splash screen where it's like cyberpunk 26 you're already like so invested in this game at that point that you're like wait i'm just now getting to the title screen like this game's bananas dude and it does such a masterful job of just showing off the the gameplay, the mechanics, that your choices matter and all that stuff, regardless of the path

that you take. And then I've played through cyberpunk a couple times now. So it's like, all right, first time I went nomad. Now I got to be Corpo because it's like the exact opposite. And it is a different beginning for for a little while until again you get to the title screen. But I think cyberpunk did an incredible job of just saying like you were in for something special with this game. So if, Listen, if you haven't played cyberpunk, this is, this is like one of the greatest games ever made. And I know that the release press was, was really terrible.

And it's funny because we still talk to people that say, oh yeah, I got really excited. But then when it got the bad press, I bounced off it and I've never thought about it again. Bro, go play cyberpunk 277 people. Yeah. So, all right, Ace, you've got one more for us. And then we'll hit a couple quick honorable

mentions. But what's the, what's the last one on this list, Ace? Last, but not least we'll be talking about the lands between of Eldon Ring. Eldon Ring, if you haven't played it already, like, what are you doing? Where you been hiding? Like, is it Ryan? Ryan? Yeah, Ryan.

Hold on. That may change this summer. That may change this summer. That may change this summer. But, you know, Eldon Ring's opening is like most Souls games. You go, you know, walk out of a church or a building, get your butt handed to you by the first enemy there and then wake up somewhere else with a hot lady who wants to give you skill points.

I'm in. I'm in guys. Guys, I'm in. Always a nice thing to find. It's a nice thing. Yeah. But, you know,

you wake up in this ditch and you make your way towards this elevator and there's a big old door that you have to lift up. And there it is the world before you. The lands between just a massive. With the urge tree elf in the background, dude. What a reveal, dude. You've got Vare standing there calling you maidenless. Yeah.

It's just such an experience, dude. That walkout, we've heard Bethesda talk about this before, too, where it's something that they try to do. But that walkout moment for Eldon Ring is something that, like, people just never forget. And I love it, how they keep you in this little small claustrophobic dungeon. And then, like you said, you open up those doors and then here is the world, the urd tree off in the distance. the dude on the shining knight down, you know, off in front of you a little ways.

There's some ruins off to the left. And it's like, where am I supposed to go? And then you just kind of go like, wherever you want. I guess I'll go check out this night guy and see what he. Oh, my gosh. But it just happened. Okay. And then it puts you right back out that doorway.

And then you go like, how dare you? Okay. Okay. I'm going to, oh, my gosh, you got me again. And then you finally just go, yeah, okay. I'm going somewhere else, but... What an intro, dude. The first guy you could talk to just insults you.

So it's like, oh, you're no help. Yeah. Yeah. I love... I'm not going to like, guys, I really, after playing Night Rain, I genuinely, especially if we can play, like, a co-op, like, three-player or two players, like, we'll do that. Modded obsession. Like, I am all in on it, so we have to do it this summer. Yeah.

All right, man. You heard it, people. You heard it, people. Ryan has committed to playing Eldon Ring over the... the summer. We will make sure that happens. And we will absolutely stream and report that and probably do an episode on it just because. Guys, we got to do a couple honorable mentions because right now there are thousands of people out there just screaming going, but you guys didn't mention Mass Effect 2. Mass Effect 2. The Normandy gets blown up in the first few minutes and you get to see the reapers.

And okay, yes, Mass Effect 2's beginning is epic. series for Mass Effect is epic. So we're giving it an honorable mention here. Another one that we brought up that is phenomenal and still sticks with me is Horizon Zero Dawn. So you start the game off with this intro with Ross, who is your guardian for Aloy, and she's just a cute little toddler at that point. And he's taking her on this quest, I think get named, if I remember properly, but she's an outcast or an exile or whatever they call them. So it's like this big dangerous thing. And then you go through the whole thing where she's growing up and she becomes, you know, like an adult and she has all these skills now that she's developed and then you go through the loss of Ross and all that stuff. And it's, that's another game that's just absolutely incredible. And then fallout three is another one where, you know, you basically, you know, have your birthday in the vault and you're doing all that stuff. And then these are these are Bethesda's like calling cards where it's like you're walking out of the vault and into the world and stuff like that. Fallout does this for, I think, almost every Fallout game,

but Fallout 3 kind of stands apart as one of the better beginnings for that series also. Shout out New Vegas, getting shot in the Mojave Desert. Yeah, yeah, exactly. Yeah, that's another, honestly, another, like, phenomenal one is just like, what the heck? Like, what did I do? Truth is, it was rigged from the start. It was rigged from the start. So, you know, here's just a few of the games.

that we thought, you know, hey, let's talk about these games that grab you right off the beginning. We know that there are more on this list. So, hey, let us know. If you, if there's one that we haven't talked about or given an honorable mention to that you think is just an absolutely phenomenal example of a game that grabs you right from the beginning, leave us a comment. You can do that on Spotify. There's a comment section. We read every comment that people leave on that. We want to know what you think. If you'd like to talk about this a little bit more, join our Discord server. It is the community that we referenced all the time. But anytime we have a new episode like this drop,

people are always talking and chatting about the games that we missed or didn't get to mention and things like that. We love seeing that discussion there. It's just fun to talk about these things afterwards. So you can do that on our Discord server. There's a link in the episode description there. And finally, if you want to be like the awesome Mithril Honor and Lions Main and help support the show along with all of the other supporters of this podcast,

that make all of this possible. You can do that over on Patreon. There's a link in the episode description there. You just tap that. It takes about two minutes to sign up. You can cancel it any time. It's as little as five bucks a month. We give you a ton of awesome perks,

including access to our pre-show, Discord perks, and a shout-out on the show as our way of saying thank you for making all of this possible. That's going to do it for this episode, everybody. Until next time, happy gaming. See ya Peace out