Best Video Game Moments is a series about memorable moments and mechanics in video games.
Spoiler alert: This post may contain spoilers for the video games it references.The Murder …For Fahrenheit
Year: 2005
Lucas Kane stands over a dead body in Fahrenheit’s gripping opening scene.
Known as The Indigo Prophecy in North America, Fahrenheit was developed by the auteurs at Quantic Dream. Whilst overall a disappointing experience that replays very poorly, Fahrenheit’s superb opening chapter (“The Murder”) made for a brilliant magazine demo disc back in the day.
It begins with the protagonist (Lucas Kane) waking up in a diner bathroom near a dead body. A tense episode follows where Kane must clean himself up and escape before being seen. Players can solve this scene in different ways, with Kane’s mood reacting to over a dozen interactive decisions hidden in the level.
The rest of Fahrenheit never lived up to the multifaceted gameplay promised, but the illusion in this first chapter was powerful for sure.
Going berserk …For Panzer Dragoon Orta
Year: 2002
Berserk attacks vary between each dragon form.
Panzer Dragoon Orta always gets featured if a CelJaded list is being written. (It’s a rule.)
Berserks are monstrous special attacks which turn the dragon invincible and enemies into slag. The screen inverts colours as the lasers fly and it looks awesome.
“RAAAAARRRRGGGHHH!”
Persudertron …For Syndicate
Year: 1993
Building a wall of human shields in Syndicate never gets old.
This isometric squad shooter by Bullfrog affords its black-suited agents many cunning tools, yet none are more devious than the Persuadertron. Zapping civilians with this gadget turns them into loyal sheep who will follow your agents around while happily taking bullets for them.
The Persuadertron gets stronger as it continues to persuade more victims, so a vile tactic in later missions is to persuade entire hordes of innocent civilians and security guards to be ablative armour for your squad.
Be an individual. Join the masses!
The Clicker …For Blazing Dragons
Year: 1996
The Clicker finally saves the day in Blazing Dragons.
Blazing Dragons is a 32-bit point and click adventure by Crystal Dynamics. Its draconic protagonist is an inventor called Flicker who carries his first invention (the “Clicker”) around with him at all times.
What does the Clicker do? Well, it makes a loud clicking noise. And that’s it. Players carry this useless contraption for the entire game, and using it around NPCs will prompt many annoyed remarks and desperate pleas to stop!
The Clicker is useless…until it isn’t. In fact, it’s during the very final scene when a distinctive clicking sound is needed to fool a wizard into pulling the wrong lever and thus destroying his robot dragon threatening the kingdom. As you do.
So Flicker saves the day with his very first invention, proving he was destined to be a hero all along.
Neow’s Lament …For Slay the Spire
Year: 2017
Jump start any run of Slay the Spire with this fun starting relic.
This starting bonus in Slay the Spire is not a competitive favourite, but it’s a marvellous piece of game design nonetheless.
Some roguelike games have dull openings where players go through some repetitive motions. The first few sectors in FTL: Faster Than Light, for instance, can be quite repetitive until players find some new weapons and encounter the more interesting later events.
Neow’s Lament offers a way around this niggle in Slay the Spire by letting players automatically win their first three fights. This relic can also slay a lucrative elite enemy (or two if players are super lucky) in a single attack, which always feels great.
Players can miss out on powerful bonuses by choosing this relic, but storming into a fresh run guns blazing is sometimes all you need for a good time.
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