10 Most Replayable Opening Sequences In Video Game History
There's making an entrance, and then there's making history.
Much like first dates, video games only have one chance to make a good impression. Footing the bill for a night out doesn't make up for sneezing in the face of a romantic interest in the first few minutes of meeting them, and similarly, a game that does eventually get good doesn't make up for enduring a plodding, poorly designed opening that seem designed solely to test the patience of players to their limits. There's a lot a game's first moments have to do; not only does the developer have to grab the attention of the player, but they have to explain how to play the experience in a way that's far more interesting than having 'press X to kill things' button prompts popping up every two seconds. Not only that, but the game's story, characters and overall tone all have to be established on top of basic gameplay mechanics - getting everything right is about as easy as brushing your teeth on a roller coaster. And yet several games have managed to create opening sequences that are in some cases their most memorable part; they're iconic microcosms of perfect game design that somehow manage to remain fun even on their 100th playthrough, yet all it took was that first time to make one hell of an impression.