10 Recent Video Game Openings NOBODY Saw Coming

When it comes to gaming, developers have to fine tune graphics, gameplay, tone, music, and countless other factors to ensure they deliver the best product possible. On top of everything else, they need to make sure their work leaves an impression right from the beginning.

However, this is easier said than done. Complex plots and intricate mechanics can take time to digest, which can be alienating. Alternatively, you can be dumped into the action with little to no explanation, leaving you confused and frustrated.

With that said, a couple of recent gems found the perfect way to set things up. Several entries on this list immediately intrigued players with a narrative hook, an accessible relationship, or a stirring conflict. A core mechanic can be introduced early on that's so innovative and fun, players can't wait to play around with it.

However, certain titles go to the other extreme, killing off a likeable character or compelling you to go toe-to-toe with a screen-filling adversary before the opening credits finish. 

Each game on this list took a different approach, but they all managed to grab your undivided attention instantly.

In Bayonetta, Cereza saved the universe by defeating a malevolent god. In the sequel, the gun-toting Umbra Witch averted reality's destruction once more after vanquishing an even greater deity. As such, it was a wonder how Bayonetta 3 was going to up to stakes.

But within the first few seconds, this instalment proved Cereza would face a threat unlike any other. After booting up the game, a Cereza from a parallel universe is confronted with a cosmic entity called Singularity. Despite giving her all, the mysterious adversary effortlessly slays the sassy sorceress. Worst still, Singularity reveals he's absorbed entire dimensions, turning him into the most powerful being in the multiverse.

The scene then cuts to the canonical Cereza, who's shopping Manhattan when the city is suddenly engulfed in a gargantuan flood. While millions drown, Cereza is forced to fight one of Singularity's lackeys, who's the size of a skyscraper.

Just to make this bout more sensational, a new power awakens within our enchanting heroine, allowing her to take control of any demon she summons. Through dancing and questionable gyrating, Cereza activates her pet kaiju, Gomorrah, who wails on the boss in a Godzilla-styled showdown.

Players were blown away by this opening, not just by how over-the-top it was but because they know Cereza's adventure was only to get more grandiose.