Video Gamers Podcast - Gamings Most Memorable Levels And Zones Gaming Podcast Flashback Friday

Episode Date: January 11, 2026

Gaming hosts Josh, Ryan, and Ace are diving deep into their all-time favorite levels and areas in video games. The unforgettable spots that define what makes gaming great. From haunting castles to neon-lit cityscapes, we're breaking down the zones that stuck with us long after the credits rolled. Which games nailed atmosphere, gameplay, and design all in one? And what makes a level truly iconic in the world of gaming? Whether you’re a nostalgic fan or discovering these places for the first time, this episode is your map to some of the most legendary locations in video games. Buckle up for a nostalgia-packed ride on the Video Gamers Podcast Thanks to our MYTHIC Supporters: Redletter, Disratory, Ol’ Jake, Gaius, Jigglepuf, Phelps and NorwegianGreaser, and Dettmarp   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/SKQvqrbT 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. Gaming is an escape for many. It's a beautiful form of art for others, and sometimes it can be a horrifying glimpse into an alternate reality. But throughout the decades, some levels or zones in a game stand apart from the crowd. On today's episode, we're going to be talking about our favorite levels or zones in gaming. But first, some introductions are in order. I am your host Josh and joining me, he said his favorite zone is the auto one.

It's Ryan. Get in the zone. Auto zone. Yeah. Please don't let this joke go to waste. Oh, man. That's just some dumb. Dad mode.

Dad mode. Right off the bat. And joining us, he sent us his list to see if we'd heard of any of his nominations and well let's just hope he's good at explaining weird obscure games because apparently that's all he plays it's ace these aren't even that weird most of these are mainline titles like resident evil and assassins creed i i do this is no joke people for everybody out there like ryan and i we share a list i'm like bro i've heard of every one of those i get it i i had some of those like on my longer list maybe i'm not bringing them up today but it's like and then ace is like

you guys have heard of these games, right? And it's like, I've won. Heard of them? I know one of them. We have one in common. I know one of them. This is what I love, dude. Ryan, like, Ryan has only ever been, like, the AAA guy.

Ace has only ever been the indie guy. And it's like, and I'm a little bit of mix of both, to be honest. But I love that it's like Ryan is getting introduced to Indies. Ace is getting introduced to AAA games. And we're just broadening everybody's horizons now at this point. Love it. You know, yeah, it really is. This is a reminder.

Get out of your gaming comfort zone, man. There's a gazillion games out there, and you are missing out, man. Yeah. Like, that's like, bro. I know I'm getting off already, but it's like, you know, we have an amazing Discord server. 1,100 gamers in there. It's awesome. We talk about it all the time.

The number of people that have not played God of War 2018. Crazy. Cyberpunk. Red Dead 2. I mean, name. Name like the top 10 games of all time. And like the number of people that are like, oh yeah, I've heard that's really good. I've just never played it.

And it's like, what are you doing? I mean, you were part of that for a while. You hadn't played The Last of Us. That's fair. Okay. I don't know if I'd consider The Last of Us even as much as I like the top 10 game of all time. It's an all time. Maybe a top 15 or something.

Yeah, it's in the top 15. What did I rate last of us? What did I rate? say like 8.8 or something like that. I mean, it's really good, but I don't know if it's like a top 10 game of all time. But okay, aside, yes, everybody should play Last of Us. It is an

incredible game, so I'll throw it into that list. But it's just, it baffles me that it's like, guys, there is, there are these peak pinnacle games that exist in the world that are the Mount Rushmore of games. And it's like, go play them, people.

Go play them. You know, they're highly regarded for reason. Don't sell yourself short. Enjoy that experience. Like, Ace, we had to force, we, meaning the community, had to force Ace to play Red Dead too, man. Yeah. And you know what? That was like, you know, the final straw of things, I will go play the more mainstream AAA games now. It doesn't make you special for not playing the big games. It just makes you feel left out when people are talking about it. I played Red Dead before it was mainstream, bro. I know. I hate that. That's exactly what I was like.

I do understand the hype can't possibly live up to this kind of thing. So what if I don't like it at that? Like, I absolutely get that thinking. But if that is your thinking, you are selling yourself short. You were missing out on a crazy good experience in a lot of these just top games, man. I would say that about some movies too. Yeah, well, honestly, that's very true, dude. Like, that absolutely crosses all AAA and indie games.

But it's like the thing with these games too is they hold up, dude. You know, like how old is The Witcher 3 at this point? But it's like maybe it's starting to feel like a tiny bit dated, but it's like it's still one of the best games ever made. Like just plain and simple, man. I remember pulling footage for something we were doing. And I was like, oh my gosh, I want to play again already. Like just watching a couple of the levels like in the bogs and stuff like instantly. Oh, I want more.

Yeah. So all right, guys. We're going to jump into this. So we kind of left this a little bit vague. You know, this started off with like, hey, what are some of you the most memorable levels, your favorite levels in a game? But then we kind of went, level is a little bit niche almost. It's like, what am I going to do? Talk about like the sewer level and battle toads or something, you know?

Like, so then we kind of went, what if we just? I mean, it is a really good level. But it's like, then we kind of said, well, let's talk about like zones or even like an area in a game. Like what we don't want to do is just say like all of Skyrim. Right? It's like, okay, cool. That's a really immersive world. But like, can you name up?

place in Skyrim that stood out to you or something like that. So the goal here is to say, hey, this part of a game was very memorable to me based on the zone or the level, the area or something like that. So yes, we are intentionally leaving a little open to interpretation there because, man, sometimes these things just stand out to you. And we were talking, you know, pre-recording. We always have, you know, some banter and some just, kind of off the record chat that we get into and it's a little less filtered and stuff like that. If you would like access to that, it is one of the perks for supporting the show. So you can support us on Patreon and then you get access to that too.

We get comments all the time about how much people love the pre-show talk and the post-show talk. And again, if you want a little bit less structure and filtered stuff, well, that's definitely how you get it. But we were talking about, you know, these levels and these things that stood out to us that are memorable. And it's like the things that come to mind first are sometimes the most memorable things to you. If you have to like sit there and really, really think about it, it's like, that might be awesome. But is it really that memorable if it wasn't right there at the front of your mind at the same time. So, all right, let's kick this off boys. Ryan, let's start with you, buddy.

I want, because I'm curious, man. Like, I'm very curious what stands out to you from a level or zone standpoint. I feel like you were a wow guy. Do you, you don't have to answer this, like, name it, but do you have any, like, MMO, wow level, like levels or zones in your list? I do. I do. And I guess I can start, start off with that, you know, right off. Okay. Well, there you go. Right off the bat, you're just going to lead right into it for me. So hopefully nobody steals some of my top ones that I have. But I'm going with the original Wow Iron Forge, which is like the main alliance base in Wow.

It was the castle? Was this like a giant castle? No, it's like a giant almost like imagine the Hobbit, like the dwarf dungeon area. with the you're in the heart of the mountain that's what the iron forged oh yeah that's what the iron force looked like yeah it was so cool oh you're looking at up base yes so yeah so yeah if you're listening to you haven't seen it so you play dwarf

then is what you're saying so um I forget what I was when I did alliance I'm I'm a horde guy I played that alliance in the very beginning when I first started wow in like 2003 or whatever and that was anyone who wasn't born then frick you so don't don't don't at me bro I was a little bit before my time.

Anyway, it was just, it was one of those levels that was, especially for the time, it was just awe-inspiring. It was something that you just, you saw the lava flowing down. You saw the forge. You saw all these shops. It was so expansive and so different than anything I'd had seen at that time. Obviously, we've talked about EverQuest a million times over with you. And I'm sure there's levels in that. But this was like the.

next iteration of that, the next stage of MMOs, and that was my awakening to that world and what they could be, where it was just this vast, amazing structure and complex. That was like a city. And so, yeah, it was my, one of the first real big level levels that I remember, you know, when I was younger. Dude, this is 100% the minds of Moria. 100%, right? Yeah, it looks amazing. It was so cool. Is this the, you know, is this the, dwarf starting area? It is, it is the starting area for the alliance.

So you have the alliance and the horse. So all alliance people start here. You start out there, you kill 500 rabbits like in South Park. Right. And then, you know, you can go through there. But that's like the main, that's like the main hub in the beginning. And then other areas have like their own, you know, again, I was more horde guy. So like there's the undead city, you know, for for the undead.

And there's like, everyone has their own kind of area, but there's always. the main one. So this was kind of that main alliance one. I'm watching the video as you're talking. It's pretty cool, right? And I'm like, I'm in on this, dude, because this freaking looks cool as anything.

So imagine like, it's all underground. Like you said, the lava flows like lighting up the area and stuff. It's like 2003, 2004, you've never, you've just playing like golden eye and these blocky games with polygons

and everything. And then you come into this and you walk into this world. Like it was, it was something different at the time. And it just, it sticks with me as like a, very, very memorable level. Yeah.

Yeah, I intentionally am not going to talk about EverQuest zones. They are some of my favorite. But it's like, we were joking around this. Like, there's five people out there that are going to be like, heck yeah, man, Temple of Vishan, you know. And it's like, I'm not going to do that to people. So again, those five people just fist pumped in there. Heck yeah.

Well, you mentioned it now anyway, so you good. You got it. Yeah, exactly. You see I snuck that in there. You got the mention in. All right, Ace. Give us one of your weird games here. All right.

I'm going to have to explain the game first, I guess. But it comes from Assassin's Creed Rogue. What? Wait, Rogue? Which one is that? Rogue is the game that came out for the prior console when Unity came out. And Rogue follows the story of a assassin turned Templar. So you're running the story of a Templar instead.

It's super interesting. I really like it. But the climax of Rogue takes place inside of a giant glacier in the, in the coast of Nova Scotia Canada and it's super freaking cool because you're chasing down your assassin who was once your best friend in this giant glacier as he's removed this piece of Eden

and the whole thing is collapsing around you as you're trying to catch up to him that's neat it's pretty sweet I'm not going to spoil how it ends but it's freaking sweet and I'll always remember it because I replay like Assassin's Creed Rogue probably like once a year What do I not even know about Assassin's Creed Roke?

Is this like between two and three? Like where did Rode fall into? It was for the prior systems when Assassin's Creed Unity came out for the more modern consoles. So people could still continue to play Assassin's Creed without upgrading. Okay. Interesting. It's very short. I will say I fell off the Assassin's Creed franchise, I think after three.

So did I. And then I didn't pick it up again until Odyssey. the problem was Odyssey was so bloated to me. Like it was a good game. It's a good game. It's not a good Assassin's Creed game. Right, exactly. And that was kind of the thing. And then because Odyssey really didn't grab me,

I just, I haven't gone back to the series, to be honest. But I also feel like I'm really not missing that much either because I haven't heard anything amazing about the series since then either. Mirage. Climb building, jump in hay. I like to Mirage. Mirage is really fun. But, you know.

So this one is like the set, pieces with the glacier like crumbling around you? Yes, because they've, uh, the whole story is about them removing these like pieces of Eden, which are like holding the earth in place, basically. They're holding the gravity in place. And of course, assassins are just pulling them out randomly because they're dangerous items. It caused an earthquake in Haiti that killed like a ton of people or something like that.

It was, uh, freaking assassins. Always killing people, man. Yeah. That's kind of like you're, you feel very. very conflicted about hunting them down because they're your mentors and your friends.

Thanks, Ryan. You don't think that's something better. Come on, man. Don't they got something better than anybody gave me credit for right? I'm not giving you credit for that when they're assassins. I already know they killed people. But they were killing innocent people like loads and loads of people. I think it's Lisbon.

You actually get to take gravity away. I feel like that's a lot of people going to die. Yeah, no kidding. But you know, you actually get to run through the disasters like multiple times and this is when you're able to stop. So it's pretty cool. And you said it's like crumbling. Is it like crumbling as you're running through?

Oh, yeah. Yeah, you've got a dodge falling icicles and things like that. Those are some of my favorite levels is when there's that, that essence of just like sheer death collapsing around you and you just have to get out of there. But you got to survive and dodge and platform. Those are always the best. I know a lot of those games, they're programmed to not kill you. Like it just is really meant to like enhance like the tension of the game. And it's like you're pretty important.

But man, do they work. Because sometimes I'm just like, oh God, I'm not going to make it. I was panicking as I ran towards the cliffside. Like, oh no, no,

no. Yeah. Yeah. Love it. All right. Well, I am going to start off with one of my favorite games of all time. And one of my favorite zones in that game.

God of War 2018, the Lake of the Nine is absolutely incredible to me. It not only is it visually impressive, right? Lake of the Nine, it's gorgeous. The water, You know, you're paddling around on the canoe with Atreus and Mimir.

You're hearing these awesome stories and banter and things like that. You've got the temples off in the distance, the background. But then you've also got like, you know, there's the giant trapped beast that you can free. There's like things sparkling in the water. You know, you've got the dwarven smoke towers that, you know, are just billowing pollution into the air. And it's like, well, what's that over there? And everything you see you can go to. And actually, there's something.

there. So I don't know that there is a better, like, hub in a, in a game than the Lake of the Nine, in my opinion, dude. Like, it is just an absolute masterpiece, how they designed it. I love the fact that it's like, there are so many little nooks and crannies and little beaches to explore, uh, you know, again, this is where a ton of the banter for the game comes from, which I think really helps to set that tone of, in the personality of like Atreus and Mimir and even Cratos with his grunting and saying, hey, that's enough for now or something like that. But I could paddle around the Lake of the Nine and just explore for days, dude. It is instantly, this is like the number one thing that came to mind for me.

The second I was like, what is an awesome level or zone? And I was like, dude, I freaking love the Lake of the Nine. I like how it changes depending on when you're in the game and whether it's frozen and thimble winter's coming and stuff like that. It's just what an awesome. What an awesome zone, man. whoever designed that, I think was just absolutely, it's just peak.

Like, it's a peak level for me. And I love how the whole game is kind of centered around that. That's the thing is like, like you said, you know, there's so many nooks and crannies. There's something to be said for designing a level where it's in a lot of games where you pass through this zone quite often or it's like a hub for where you're at. A lot of times they get kind of mundane, boring. You see everything.

This, there's just always something you find. It's unique. Every time you're there. and you explore and you want to, you're not like, oh, I got to go through here, you know, you're excited because you look around, oh, I haven't seen that yet,

and you go over there and you can explore. So there's just so much visually and then gameplay-wise. Like, it just, it makes for one of the best levels ever designed. I agree with you wholeheartedly, man. Yeah, it's awesome. It's super iconic.

And it says something that you've made a level. I don't mind getting in the boat for. Like, just going around that hub, just getting in the boat every time. I was like, oh, I can't wait to hear a story. Sometimes when you had to leave, I'm like, oh, man, like, I got to go here now. Like, okay, like, I could just paddle around the zone forever, man.

Brother, we'll pick this up later. We're going to take a quick break, and then we're going to have to speed this up a little bit, boys. We've got a lot to get through, and we love just getting into the talking about this stuff. So we'll be back in just a second with some more awesome levels and zones. At Medcan, we know that life's greatest moments are built on a foundation of good health. From the big milestones to the quiet winds. That's why our annual health assessment offers a physician-led, full-body checkup that provides a clear picture of your health today.

And may uncover early signs of conditions like heart disease and cancer. The healthier you means more moments to cherish. Take control of your well-being and book an assessment today. Medcan. Live well for life. Visit medcan.com slash moments to get started. All right, we are back. hit us buddy what's your next one my name is father gagoree

aim for the head nope no you guys don't know no no no oh resident evil no what that's not resident no father gregory no no dude I have heard this voice line dude

dude man come on think hard people in their car like I know what it is I know what it is it's Father gregory Half-Life 2, Ravenholm. Oh, Ray. Oh, yes. That level was freaky, dude.

What a change in a game to where you're going through the world of Half-Life 2, and you're just oppressed, and there's all these guards and there's all this stuff going on, and then you have to deal with everything that ensues in the Half-Life world, and then you go to Ravenholm, and even them, they're like, you don't go to Ravenholm. We ain't going there. You don't put a Raven home. And so then you got this Father Grigori guy running around.

Just the level design, the areas where the alleyways are just pitch black and you've got to use your light, your flashlight. They have traps set up. And then there's just all the crab headwalkers and everything else running through there. It's just, it was such a difference in that game from the rest of it to what that level all ensued,

like in the design of it. I just, it was one that stood out and that timeline again. It's that early 2000s. It was very unique and very ahead of its time for what they created. So, yeah, Ravenholm is a, is one for me, dude. That is a great one. And see, this goes back to the ones I knew I was going to forget about.

But like you mentioned, you have Half-Life, too. You've got the military guys, the, what is it, the combine, I think, is the name of the bad guys. Citizen. They're all decked out. They've, you know, they've got guns and armor and all stuff. And then they're like, dude, nobody. We're not going there. And then they put this like horror level.

Yeah. In this game all of a sudden with a crazy Father Gregori run. I see, I knew I knew that name from somewhere, man. I couldn't remember where it was. This dude's running around. Like he's just like, what are you doing here, man? Like you shouldn't be here. And he's like, oh, no, this is, this is the home, man.

Just chilling with all the headwalker crab thing people. And you never played, did you play Half Life 2, Ace? No. I have it. I did buy it. I just haven't got it. Yeah, dude, once you play, dude, you'll be like, Ryan, you'll hit us up. Ryan, Josh, dude, I played it.

I got the Ravenholm. This level's crazy. That's a game, I wonder if it holds up. Like, I know that it was, was it the original Half-Life with the Black Mesa? Because that's not Half-Life 2, right? Oh, the original Black, uh, yeah, the Black Mesa's for Half-Life 1. The original half- That's the remake, which holds up pretty well. It does pretty well.

Half-Life 2 still, in my opinion, holds up some of the stuff, like, if you're on the Air Jetboat and you're like, the machine guns are kind of, weird and janky and some of the mechanics are a little off. But overall, you know, it's just kind of old school, old school. Half-F-F-F-2 is an all-timer, man. I've got some kind of massive bundle of just Half-Life games. I have to go through eventually. Is it the Orange Box?

Yeah, I think so. Yeah. Dude, you talk about the old Orange Box. Poof. You got Portal. You got Half-Life. What else did it come with? Team Fortress?

Team Fortress. T.F. was a T-F-C and then Counterstrike Day defeat. Bro. Like, just here, have all these amazing games. in one box guys. And they're all absolute bangers. It was like three bucks.

Oh yeah, it was dirt cheap too, man. Yeah. All right, A, so what you got, man? What's up next on your list? All right, I really want to get to this one, so I didn't want to leave it for last. But the garage fight with Jack Baker and Resident Evil 7 Biohazard is possibly one of the best, like, levels slash zones

you could play through in a Resident Evil game. Do you remember this fight, right? I missed this. And I am upset because I did not play Biohazard all the way through Or I think I played like four or five hours And then something happened But you were talking about this and now I'm a little jelly

Because I'm like dude this sounds great man So Ethan has made his way through this house This horrible horrible house in Louisiana And made his way to the garage Where he thinks he's going to make it outside And he met up with a cop he called And managed to get the attention of The cop will not let Ethan pass

to just leave and the garage door is slowly shutting behind them as Jack Baker gets behind this cop and takes off half his face with a shovel. Oh. Oh. Oh. It's pretty gnarly, Josh. It's gnarly, dude. Resident Evil's so good with those moments

dude. You are trapped in a confined garage with a maddened hillbilly with a shovel. See, I had the house as one of mine like it was on my list or whatever, but. house in general. Yeah, the whole house in general, because it was just so creepy. But, like, to narrow it down to the garage, that's, I mean, that's, yeah, that was crazy. Yeah, talk about suspense and, like, crazy paranoia. Do you remember what he does halfway through that fight? Oh, dude, it's been so long. He goes and picks up the car keys and just starts ramming the car around in the garage. And eventually, nine point turn. Nine point turn. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's insane, dude. And eventually he pulls you into the car and, drives you into the wall.

Dude, that game is nuts, man. Try it in VR. I need to go back to that one. You got to play Resident Evil 7 Biohazard, dude. I do. I loved Village, you know? I mean, and Biohazard's supposed to be fantastic, and you can play it in VR, which I might do.

That would be pretty cool. That one would be pretty freaking sweet. You want to talk about, like, set in the stage for a game? Oh, yeah. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Biohazard does it well. I have a tie, and so this might be cheating a little bit,

but when I'm thinking about different zones in a game, I can't not mention Eldon Ring. Let's be honest, dude. Eldon Ring has some of the most memorable, visually stunning, like, areas in gaming, in my opinion. I mean, whether you're looking at the Erd Tree off in the distance or, you know, any of these things, man. So I kind of have a tie here because one is Knockron, the Eternal City.

That one's so good. Which is bananas to me because you're playing, you're probably 15, 20 hours into, Eldon Ring before you find this just ruins out in the wilderness and it's got an elevator in it and then you're like, what the heck is this? And you take this elevator down and it goes

so far underground. I mean, it's literally like a 60 second elevator ride and then you just come out in this absolutely gigantic underground city and there's stars in the sky. And it's just like, what is this area man? This is insane.

It was a really neat moment. I cannot believe it like it gave you this kind of glimpse at the actual scale of Eldon Ring at that point because it's like, how did I not even know this existed? It's mysterious. Like I said, it's beautiful. It's eerie.

Like that is absolutely one for me that stands out. And then the other one is crumbling for room Azula. You've got this ancient place. I love it. That one might edge out knock around for me. But it's like you have this ancient crumbling city that is falling apart that is levitating in the sky. you've got these gigantic tornadoes

whirling around everywhere. To me that is one of the most memorable zones. Are you looking up? You're looking at Faramazula? Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It really is. It's so good, dude.

Like, the visuals in that, like, it's closer to, like, the end of the game, so both of those just stand out to me. According to the lore, it's a ruin that's being ripped apart stuck in a time loop, is what it is. So it's, it's perpetually,

being ripped. It is perpetually being ripped apart and put back together. Oh my gosh. All right. Ryan, let's hit us with another one, but let's speed this up a little bit. I know we all got some honorable mentions we want to get to as well. Definitely. I'm going to go with again, we talked about it kind of in some of the preamble and the

pre-show stuff, but I'm going to go with Last of Us, the mall level. Yes. When you're kind of first starting out. So it is, it is, where is the mall? I just played this game. I don't remember being in the mall. It's in the beginning area. That's where Ellie gets bit. Yeah.

This is real early. Are you sure you played the right last of us? Wasn't some off brand or something? I played the PC port, the remastered version. It's in the beginning when you're walking through and then you like go into, um, you go into like the separate thing. And you go into. I think this is a DLC or something, guys.

Cause I do know. Yeah, I think he's right. I think it actually might be a separate DLC. No. No. Which is okay. It's literally no. It is the main.

You guys are blowing my mind. mind here. Wait, no, no, no. I'm like, I remember the mall from the, from the TV show, which I watched before I played the game, but then I played last of us. I'm like, I don't remember being in a mall. They always put DLC in the TV shows. Get out of here. That is in the TV show, though, because yeah, that's because that's how she gets bit. What do you mean? But I, dude, I'm telling you right now, this is not in the base game. I played this. All right. We're going to have to do this again, and then everyone's going to message in and comment, Ryan. I mean, hey, I had a left behind No. No. That's something else. Okay. No, I don't know, dude. No. I'm 100,000% right. Look at them. Look at those listening right now. They're both scrambling to look because they... No, it is. Last of Us left behind DLC. Yeah, it is. Yeah. I just Google it. It says, no, the abandoned mall featured in the Last of Us. The TV show is not a location from the original game. It is from the DLC. No, no. It's in the original game where Ellie gets been. It's been.

in the mall when you're when you're scrambling through out of the city. Yes. You, you, bro. Bro. Bro. I'm telling.

I just played this a month ago. Like, I just played this a month ago. Dude, I'm telling you right now, you do not see Ellie get bit. You go find her with, with Tess.

You have to go and find her. This is when her and her friend, her and her friend are exploring. And then she, I saw the TV show. I understand. The TV show is not. The game.

I'm talking games. I know, but I'm saying this is not in the face game, Ryan. I'm going to read the description for this DLC, and you tell me how it is. It's set the first three weeks before the events of The Last of Us follows Ellie as she spends time with her best friend Riley in an abandoned mall in Boston. It takes place between the two chapters of the last of us and focuses on Ellie's attempts to scour an abandoned mall in Colorado for medical supplies to Hill Joe. So it was. It was DLC. It was not DLC.

just saying, this did not exist in the base game. Nope. All right. All right, listen. I'm looking this up later. Whatever. I just looked it up. I have it right in front of me. I'm fact checking this.

I know. I know. I'm fact checking this right. All right. Listen, that's one to one. Josh one, Ryan won. We went on the rest of it thing and I went on that this is not being in the original last of us. I need to respite from this podcast.

It's still a level in a video game. It is still a level. All right. Yes. Why is it memorable? Anyways, it's freaking sweet. the I just It's the whole mall level

Is that what it's like yeah The exploration of the mall level I love post-apocalyptic worlds I love I love if humanity stopped And seeing what it could be like And how people kind of portray that And so I think this this level did such a good job of You know when you think of a mall

You think of just a hustle bustle Crazy busy place And then it's just empty and nothingness And you see these stores That still have stuff on the shelves and stuff. And so to me, that one just really stuck out right away. Like you said earlier, Josh, it's the ones that really

pop in your head right away. Like, that was one of them immediately, especially because it wasn't a DLC, so he was on the base game. So it's just kind of everybody got to play it. I know number one, I know I'm right on this one. But freaking Ryan making me think I'm going senile or something, because I'm like, how do I

not remember a mall, dude? Like, did I just zone out on like two hours of this game or what? I don't remember ever getting any DLC. And I remember them all. So I don't know what, I don't know what's going on here. Maybe you had it like a complete edition or something like old day just getting to me. I'm like, I'd be questioning myself. I'm like, am I really this old where I just don't remember this at all? So, all right. Ace, what do you got, buddy? I have so many, man. It's so hard to pick one. I'm going to go

with the most recent one for me, which was the Monad Charity House and Liza P. Overture. This is the Liza P. D.L.C., which I have not. played. Yeah, you have not played this. But I hear it's awesome. It is incredible. So what makes this level so cool? It's the connection of the charity house to the characters for one thing. This is where Carlo, which is

who he has, you know, been made to replace. This is where Carlo was sent to live when his mother died mysteriously. And then he died there. So, you know, that was great. Oh, no. That doesn't sound like a very nice place. But you get there after Carlos' friend Romeo has been

kidnapped by a evil human puppet hybrid guy and you get there and all the people who tried to take refuge inside the charity home are just corpses lying on the ground in the hall as you walk past and it is just this dark and dour moment where you get to the like the center hall of the charity house and you're just like those are human arms hanging from the banister Yeah. This is horrible. Man. Yeah, these robots went off on humanity, man. And that game does not shy away from making it look like this is terrible.

Yeah. All right. Okay, I'll tell you what, I'm going to name one and then we'll just rapid fire a few because we're running along here already. I am going to mention, I've mentioned this before, this is one of those memorable moments in a game, but the fire ritual level, I'm going to call it a level in Hellblade 2 where the guys are chanting. and they're blowing fire you can't see. She winds up crawling through this river of blood. It is absolutely just nightmare fuel. It will always stand out to me as just a super, super memorable moment. You can say what you want about Hellblade 2. But my goodness, dude, that level stands out in my brain forever, like legitimately forever. You hear the chanting.

It's all smoky and foggy, so it's like you can't really see well. There's these creepy dudes down there. You're crawling under like the little bridge. ripping down. Yeah, remember? Yeah, and you're falling through this river of blood and there's freaking body parts

falling down on you and stuff. And I was just like, this is a, this is something, man. See, that's what, dude, there's,

I didn't even think of that. But that's totally, totally exactly what we're talking about, those iconic levels that just sit in your brain. So, like, yeah. Later on,

when you're freeing the giant in that one, remember where you have to go and run behind the pillars and the giant lava explosions happen and stuff? Like, that was another memorable one in that game too. So that's right. I'll tell you what, let's rapid fire a couple.

Ryan, what else you got on your list? Just name some so we don't look like idiots for not naming a couple of these things. I got a fallout four, the Red Rocket area zone, if you will. The gas station. Walking in, yeah, walking into the gas station, getting dog meat. Just kind of that whole area kind of sets the stage for what that game's going to be. Some old school throwbacks like Counterstrike, D-Dust. That is iconic, memorable level, rats, you know, Aztec, all those good ones back in the day.

One that I really like is the Metal Gear Solid Tanker incident level. It's where you start in the Metal Gear Solid game, and you are Snake, and you're going through this tanker. And my favorite part of the tanker is when you walk through this guy's given a speech, and there's just hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of Marines or Navy guys or whatever they are all in a row. And if you alert them, if you accidentally, like one catches you, all of them go. like hundreds of them at once all turn and look at you and then it's like snake snake snake you know so I thought that was I thought that was super unique and it was an awesome level design that that definitely stuck with me what else you got ace all right I want to go back to Assassin's Creed with Assassin's Creed 2 fighting the Pope underneath the

16 chapel that was I'll never forget that fighting the Pope can be memorable for sure can Devil May Cry 3 The very opening within Inside Dante's devil hunting shop What was that? I've never played that I hear it's really good Dude it's great

You'd probably love it And then I'm going to go back to Liza P again with the Malam district Which is the Rotted Town run by the Black Rabbit Brotherhood Oh I remember that one Yeah you walk in there and just like Oh

This place is terrible Yeah It's not run very well Let's just say Black Rabbit Brotherhood needs Some lessons on civil Engineering, civil I don't know, what do you call it?

Manors. Just management. Civil management, there you go. No, you get management's in the DLC, bro. Right. All right, for me, an older one, the Death Star Tunnel Run and X-Wing Alliance. These are the old X-wing tie fighter type games. This is everything you ever wanted for a Death Star run

in a video game. It is tight quarters. You're in the Millennium Falcon. You have to go fast. You're trying not to crash into things. You, you blow up the reactor and then you got to get the heck out of there too. It was just an incredible level. It literally is the best representation of the movies in a video game that I've ever seen. The tension there is awesome. Conpecki Plaza from Cyberpunk, this is the hotel where you pull off the heist for the chip that kind of sets the game into motion. That heist in general is just an amazing. what an amazing

yeah dude freaking Jackie yeah you're a monster if you didn't send him back to his family by the way all of you what the heck anyone who didn't send him back

to his family you're a monster I don't want I don't want you monster where did you send him oh no Ryan no he went back to his family

okay good I'm trying to get into this we'll get into this later God of War 3 the Kronos level where you're climbing up the Titan Kronos that's so good

Oh my gosh. Yeah. Is insane. There is the all-timer. This is probably one that everybody thinks about. Halo 3, the Wart Hog Run at the end of the game to escape. That is an all-timer. And then more recently, because this one really stands out to me, guys, the collapsing star level in split fiction.

That's a good one. That's a good one. I'll remember that level for a really long time, dude. Yeah, I can't even do the sound, dude. But that and the visuals behind it were incredible, dude. It helps because it was just so pretty. It was such a beautiful kind of representation. And the sound, dude.

I wish that sound. My brain can kind of hear it, but I can't. Yeah, oh, man. And then finally, because I'd be remiss, the labyrinth level and Remnant 2 is really, really neat. With all the quirks and the things shifting around and going on. And then, of course, the boss fight at the end of that one. All right, listen, we want to hear what levels or zones stand out to you. Leave a comment on this episode.

We see all the comments. Everybody else sees them. we want to know what you all think out there is one of the most memorable levels or zones of all time so let us know about it come join our Discord server you can chat about it there

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