The '2012 Favourite ___' threads continue and this time I want to know what your favourite moment was in a game that came out this year. By moment, I don't mean a few seconds of gameplay but a single experience. That could be: beating a boss after several attempts, finally unlocking some impossible achievement, setting a high score, producing an amazing comeback in a competitive match or, in my case, reacting to events in a game's narrative.
If you are going to post about a plot point in a game then please make sure you include a spoiler warning.
The Walking Dead: Episode 2
SPOILERSI could probably fill out this whole category with moments from The Walking Dead (currently poised to be my #1 GotY) but I'm going to pick the one that impacted me the most. What's so special about the game is that Telltale has done an exemplary job at creating characters that are worth caring about and that player has some emotional investment in. The moment in the series which encapsulates this for me is in Episode 2: Starved For Help. Specifically, it's the scene where you have a fight with Danny St. John and he ends up getting his foot caught in a bear trap and falls on to a hay bail. Lee grabs a pitchfork and then you are given the choice to impale him or spare him. I chose to kill him. I was caught in the moment, he had cut up my friend and tried to eat him. He was also taunting me, saying I couldn't go through with it. Well, I showed him. And then it all goes wrong. You see that Clementine was watching all along, her reaction a mixture of disgust and shock. Instantly my heart sank. I was a monster. I just killed a man for no good reason and the person I cared about most was there to witness it. I can't describe how much I felt like a piece of shit at that point. A complete and utter shit.
It stuck with me for the rest of the series, too. In every future decision there was a voice in the back of my head saying 'what if Clementine were here to see this?'. That's what makes The Walking Dead such an amazing experience. I can't recall another game where one, ultimately unimportant decision can have such a lasting impact on the choices I make. Killing the St. John brother doesn't do anything to change the world or the direction of the plot but it does, in that moment, effect how Clementine sees you, which to me was the most important thing of all.
Super Hexagon
After countless attempts I finally beat (i.e. got to 60 secs) Hexagonest mode. I had memorized every possible pattern but still I kept making stupid mistakes. My pointer was either one pixel too far either side or I had misjudged how much time I had to move or it was some other basic error. Then, everything came together. When I'm doing well at Super Hexagon, or any similar game, I find that I've phased out. I'm not really paying attention to the pointer, how the screen is rotating, the timer, my button presses or anything else. On a good run I'm in the zone and everything just kind of flows. That's what happened when I beat Hexagonest for the first time and it was one of my best gaming moments this year.I've got some more moments to add but it's quite late now and I'm really tired. I'd love to read what your favourite 2012 gaming moments were so please tell me about them.
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