What games have altered your concept of "beginning"?

I think about how Minecraft put you in the middle of an unknown landscape with a simple task and open palette. The result has been tremendous. What other games have played with the idea of "beginning" in a way that was innovative, inspired or memorable?

Journey

Pre-post edit: I guess I've taken "beginning" in the sense of "the first minutes of the game", not "the setting at the very start of the game", which is maybe what you meant? In that case I'd suggest Stalker.

Half-Life did a pretty good job at the time, with the "let's have the player actually take part in the intro, and actually act out the scientist they're supposed to be playing". Ditto with HL2 and the Portals, though it was not as unexpected by then.

Fallout 3 did fairly well at getting across lots of background information and tutorials fairly well with its growing-up sequence, and allowed some potential choices pretty early on, though it is incredibly dull to replay. And then when you've left the vault and first see the outside world... that's a pretty good beginning too.

It's probably not that inspired, but I liked that the start of Telltale's Back to the Future adventure game allowed you to make Marty follow the movie's script and then get meta when something went 'wrong', even though it had no effect on the game. And while the first playable scene in Spec Ops: The Line (a short on-rails helicopter defence that takes place mid-way through the story) was nothing special, the way the game dealt with it when you reached that point chronologically made it more memorable in hindsight.

How Demon's Souls begins made me fall in love with the game. I like Bayonetta's intro too just for the amazing spectacle.

I love the opening of Mass Effect 2. Rather than open with some boring tutorial mission, the game comes out swinging with an amazing opening sequence. The only real problem was that they spoiled Shepard's death by talking about it in their pre-release media tour and even included it in trailers. God of War III was similarly memorable with the game opening with a bombastic sequence climbing Mt. Olympus atop the Titans and fighting Poseidon, then dialing it back for the tutorial area after the sequence was over.

You know, this is kind of off topic, but I really wish story driven games would separate their tutorial from the actual campaign. Make it a separate menu option or a pre-game out of context sequence (like Metal Gear Rising) and allow the story to open on its own terms. In contrast to Mass Effect 2, the opening to Mass Effect 3 was incredibly lame because they turned what should have been a major event (the Reapers arriving on Earth) into a standard ass tutorial.

Metal Saga has one of the most amazing openings of any game, as you can actually end the game before the very first conversation is even over. Rather than go out on an adventure like your father, you stay home to be a mechanic like your mother, and the game tells you about the various adventures you don't go on while you lead the most boring life in existence.

I can't think of one, but when the song Closing Time came out, my perception of "beginning" was shattered. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end"? Like, heavy.

i didnt have an answer until someone reminded he of how remarkable the beginning of Bayonetta was.

Probably Half-Life 2. It's probably the first time I played a game that forced me to simply absorb the world before I was able to have any agency in it. I'd likely be saying Half-Life 1 instead had I played it first, since it's basically the same trick, but I still think it was done perfectly in HL2.

@hailinel: that game looks cool. ahah Awesome beginning!

Personally I say inFamous 2. Starting the game by fighting a huge boss at full power was great!

Lufia and Lufia II - The beginning of Lufia I starts off with the ending of Lufia II. That means that, if you played the first Lufia, you already know how Lufia II would end. And yet that "spoiler" didn't ruin the game at all, but it actually made Lufia II even more interesting, giving it an ominous feeling throughout the whole story, knowing how it will end for the characters.

A Blurred Line - The story starts off with a terrorist attack, and then it flashes back to the past, where you begin playing as the man who would eventually become the terrorist shown at the start. It shows the story of what eventually led him down towards that dark path. However, the third and final part of the trilogy never released, so it never reached back to that point.

Wow, that's a very unique opening-ending combo...

I think most of the top choices have been mentioned. I'll add Chronicles of Riddick. The dream sequence/tutorial was one of the first instances of a really epic opening scene also teaching you how to play. Also Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite both had amazing openings as did The Last of Us. All three of those games manages to conclude in a way that tied directly back into the opening.

I remember the Call of Duty 4 beginning being quite a standout. It isn't a cool and obscure beginning to mention, but having (who you assume is) the protagonist die literally right at the beginning was a shocker. The first-person view made it hit home a bit harder, too.

@shagge: The message to that was heavy. And to follow-up with a song called "Secret Smile"? The mystery of it all was mind-blowing.