What are your favorite video game openings?
Video game openings help set the stage for the game itself. What are your favorite video game openings? Could be the title screen, or the first bit in-game before the play starts. Could be that you like the music, or that they have a clever twist, or that they're technically impressive. Bonus points if you can link to a PeerTube or YouTube clip of them to let other people here who haven't yet seen them watch them!
Prey, hands down. It would be a disservice to just watch it just go play the first bit.
Edit: I was talking about Prey from 2017, but based on the comment both may be good to play.
Which Prey?
I assume the immersive sim one. It's genuinely great.
The original one's opening is also great. Every time I hear "Don't fear the reaper" I have to think about it.
This game made me fell so bored in the first few minutes and then BAM! "Don't Fear the Reaper" starts blaring out of the jukebox. Great opening to a mind bending game!
That jukebox scene is about the only bit I still remember. The Prey from 2017 was much more my style and has an amazing opening sequence as well.
Borderlands 1. Fun, over the top, and great song to go with it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GqbgncFCO0M
EDIT: I'd add that the later games in the series also thematically followed the first game's opening:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEXYTKV4YjY
Bioshock sticks out in my memory: https://youtu.be/cMc92ekgJiI
Especially because of how the ending completely recontextualizes it.
::: spoiler (spoiler) Oh shit, I brought down that plane... :::
The opening to the original Final Fantasy VII blew my mind and changed my life when I was kid
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6CORYpK6_W8
The Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver intro is top-notch writing and direction. Everything from the intro cinematic feeds into the feel of the game and builds excitement that never lets up until the game is over.
If this is your first time seeing this masterpiece, I envy you.
I think it's hard for modern audiences to imagine just how hard Amy Hennig and her team knocked it out of the park with that one.
It’s even deeper than this. This was the first time a game disc or cartridge included actual dialogue at this scale like in a movie. Other games like Metal Gear used smart workarounds to seem this way but Soul Reaver changed it all.
There’s a really cool podcast that delved into this. It’s a fascinating listen.
Not to mention all the cut content, like a human priestess worshipping vampires, Turel, the 3rd and final fight against Kain and the realization that Raziel was a useful pawn in the tentacles of Tony Jay
I replayed it via the remaster a couple of months back, and there are so many places that just seem completely optional, like a lot of the shrines and the human citadel.
For some reason they'd reintroduced a cut day/night cycle and it made the bit outside the cathedral completely unplayable as it was pitch black.
Turel at least made it back for Defiance, along with more Elder God stuff.
This intro cinematic goes so hard it’s still not been dethroned and no one has the balls to do it
This was on the original PlayStation. They stretched that system to its limits.
Once in game, no "loading" screens, you could traverse from one end to another without downtime. That was a masterful feat with the PS1
BAAA BAAA BAAA BAAA
Kain is deified, the clans tell tales of him. Few know the truth....
The first quest of Oblivion was pretty cool imo.
Final Fantasy 6 with the amazing music and mode 7 effect.
War. War never changes.
Fallout 1 was absolutely seminal.
And…
L..L…L…look at you, hacker. A pathetic creature of meat and bone.
System Shock 1 and 2 were some of the most incredible experiences in the 90s/early 2000s.
Fallout:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hG3uBgQmTnk
System Shock:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9tKIJUxSyaU
System Shock 2:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h0W6eBzkMM
Most of the Uncharted games but especially Uncharted 2 where he starts out on the train on a snowy mountain. This game forever changed my expectations for video games. I just wish they would re-release then on PC so that I could now easily enjoy them again.
https://youtu.be/dncEvJYIzZg
Still mad that they ported uncharted 4 to pc but not the original trilogy. Why did they think pc players would want to start at the final entry?
Yeeeees I would replay those games on PC in a heartbeat!
The first time I played Uncharted 2 the opening sucked me in so much that I played 6 hours straight, amazing game.
Witcher 2. Amazing production quality. Every shot is perfectly framed. There's a ton of small details, like the archer missing his shot because the ship cracks at the bad time, and Letho briefly holding the arrow in his gaze as it passes by...
Here it is
IIRC that intro wasn't in the game originally, but was added in the Enhanced Edition. Basically every CD Projekt game gets a huge (and free) overhaul a year or two after release that vastly improves them, and this cutscene was one of the things they added.
Homeworld.
Beautiful, moving, elegant.
A story, a tutorial, a punch in the gut
Love it.
My pick as well.
It starts off with such hope, the promise of new beginnings. Then the the initial sense that something is wrong.
Hurry back and the adagio swells as you realize the emensity of the tragedy. Then the desperate attempt to save as much of what's left as you can before fleeing.
I agree, it's a very special game.
What does it for me is the quality of the voice acting. The way I can hear their voice almost but not quite breaking in the sorrow. Superb
Descent 2 Intro, by far...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lT5U4LMiF7M
I used to put Wild Arms and Duke Nukem into my PS1 just to watch the intros. Things were quaint before cell phones.
Wild Arms
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVOFibwVMw0
Duke Nukem
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouIuBwGE8lM
Thank you! I was otherwise occupied, so I didn't have an opportunity to pull up links.
And then the transition to the Wild Arms title screen music. Here's one with that is there, too: https://youtu.be/wg2Lo-6aisY
Demons Souls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnEzkbdTa0I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccZtt7v5Z3c
Final Fantasy VI opening fucking rocks.
Outpost, while a mediocre game had an opening cinematic set to "Mars" from Holst's The Planets which sounded AWESOME on my Roland MT-32/SCC-1 (I don't remember which I had at the time.)
Here is the intro with standard Sound Blaster music, and here is just the music played on a Roland SC-55 which sounds pretty much the same as an SCC-1.
I'm assuming, based on the YouTube channel name ("MT-32 Theater"), that this was rendered with a Roland MT-32:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWCrp31xL3c
Yup, that definitely sounds like an MT-32. I've updated my comment with an SCC-1 version (or close enough).
"now it is time to leave the cradle...
or die in the attempt."
Here is the intro with standard Sound Blaster music, and here is just the music played on a Roland SC-55 which sounds pretty much the same as an SCC-1.
For music, there is nothing better than coin-op SpyHunter.
I'd played it on the Apple II, but I don't think I'd actually seen arcade Spy Hunter until now. The graphics are significantly better.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=93ds1VldZGI
Nier Automata's true opening is placed after 20 hours in the game, but it is truly devastating.
I've never seen better than River City Girls
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G2vCuLGJtEc
As an angsty preteen, I loved Final Fantasy 8's opening cinematic. Because of that game I went to watch the Final Fantasy movie with high hopes, but even my childish brain found that a complete letdown and waste of time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyBensMp_MA
The first bit of Grandia 2 when Ryudo was being a dick to everyone was a fun change of pace.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C2Xx0vJ59RM
Xenoblade Chronicles 1 has an amazing opening, with the Bionis & Mechonis fighting it out. Then freezing in place & cutting to thousands of years into the future, where sudeenly you realize those giant gods in rhe intro are the game world that you're going to be exploring.
::: spoiler Spoilers for XC1 What's even better is how almost every sentence in this intro is proven to be wrong. And the opening foreshadows the real conflict of the game for those watching closely. :::
Xenoblade 1 Opening
Coming from NES and SNES onto my first PC, the idea that you could have an intro movie that had actual actors was jaw dropping
The intro movie to Stonekeep is so cheesy now, but when I was 8, this was the most impressive video game I'd ever seen.
Gothic 1: https://youtu.be/PVal5HLgIys
Not necessarily all the exposition. But especially "Welcome to the colony". This simple scene perfectly shows that you are not the great destined hero but just a wuss who is weaker than everyone else in the beginning.
Omega Boost:
The music, the FMV, it was just silly and oozed attitude. And it was god damn confusing. Some dudes go back in time to get the very first AI and you have to go back in time to stop them. The Pilot of the Omega Boost (I think he was even played by Steve Blum) is such a bad ass and he KNOWS he's hot shit. you get in the mecha and the mechanics all start cheering as you walk off to launch. And then there's the Jamacian mechanic who is like the pilots best friend and they're bantering and you have no idea what the hell they're saying because the damn awesome song is blaring away. It's awesome, it's epic.
Street Fighter x Tekken: yeah an odd one but the opening track and cinematic for the game are awesome.
Colony Wars: Vengeance: It lays out the setting completely. tells you what's going on, why you're fighting, and all the sides involved.
Xenogears:
It's confusing, it's weird, and it's an opening you won't understand until you're well into the game.
Starsiege: It's narrated by a child with a twisted poem to start. It feels like Warhammer 40k with mechs. Honestly Earthsiege/Starsiege/Tribes is one of those universes that really needs to be revisited and fleshed out.
Quake 3 Arena: Again just another opening that hypes you up to play. And the opening Animation with Sarge was pretty jaw dropping at the time. It was a VERY simple arena shooter but man was it a blast to play.
Omega Boost
Street Fighter x Tekken
Colony Wars: Vengeance
Xenogears
Starsiege
Quake 3 Arena
Some ones that I've been impressed with.
Relative to the technical limitations of the time, maybe the title music for Solstice for the NES, a Tim Follins creation. The sound hardware of the time imposed pretty severe limitations on what one could do, and Follins was famous for finding ways around them. I didn't hear this until many years after it was actually done, and it's decent even in absolute terms:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4_gObHt1uZA
The music for the Civilization series has been pretty good. Here's "Baba Yetu" for Civilization IV:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IJiHDmyhE1A
In terms of openings that really do a pretty good job of building a lot of intensity and setting the stage for the rest of the game, I think I'd give credit to some Bethesda games, both of which involve attempts to execute the main character: Skyrim and Fallout: New Vegas:
Video
Skyrim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vsRA5BG3N8E
Fallout: New Vegas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxOiVxTB0KY
The opening of Subnautica is very good; the planetfall sequence that strands you on 4546B. It's relatively short, gets the point across.
I've also got to give some appreciation for Half Life's intro. A bit longer, has a bit of a "TA DAAA" feel to it as they showed off some things the engine could do, but it gets a lot of storytelling done in the background.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pd1edHfTFHA
That's from back when the medkits were still red, before the Red Cross bitched at them.
Blizzard's cinematics always impressed back in the day. SC, D2, War3, and then WoW.
Comite-re! Saluta-re! Coabes-so-atuu re-re!
When I first played Duke Nukem 2, it completely blew my mind! https://youtu.be/_JQpxpR7XCk
I always like Fallout 4 opening, right until you surface from the vault. It have the feeling of dread and it's lengthy enough to make you hate Kellogg and whatever this new entity are.
New Vegas for the polar opposite of it. It's extremely short and sweet, and push you out the gate so quick you will be exploring in just a few minute, yet it doesn't do much to make you hate Benny.
Bioshock is extremely well done, it give you that famous "would you kindly" quote as early as the opening cutscene, set the stage of what Rapture stand for with that famous banner once you enter the lighthouse, and then let you take a glimpse on Rapture, and then immediately give you the "what goes wrong" with the whole city. It's damn great.
Breath of the Wild for just "Link, wake up and fuck off", and then you run out naked(because you missed the chest with clothing) and smell the wild.
Wait, there was a chest with clothes?
Right? I just walk past the two chest and off i go, link is naked all the way to kakariko. I only noticed it when i go back for something. It's inside the shrine of resurrection.
Yeah, a shirt and pants. 2 armor total.
The intro music to Mega Man 2 has always been a personal favorite.
https://youtu.be/ZT9DST_M_g8
Parasite Eve is as mysterious as I could wish for a sci-fi with horror. Also Ultimate Ninja 5 sells pretty well the action of the game, specially as the game itself is more straightforward than the previous game.
Hey, you. You’re finally awake. You were trying to cross the border, right? Walked right into that Imperial ambush, same as us, and that thief over there.
Metaphor Refantazio intro, the one with battle music because it slaps
Also the walking in school in headphones bit in Life is Strange, just after 1st Jefferson class. Nice cosy vibes (poor Max didn't know what she was getting herself into)
https://youtu.be/J406bu7Y6lU
https://youtu.be/22lL-nGsTss
Although I prefer the sequel more, personally, Sonic Riders has my absolute favorite opening. I also think the Sonic Unleashed opening cutscene when you first start the game is amazing as well.
Bet you can't tell I'm a sonic nerd. /s
Gotta say final fantasy 10 opening blitzball scene.
Peeling the celo off the box
I like games that just drop you right into the action