Gaming

Think its gotta be THAT moment towards the end of Disco Elysium (if you know, you know, I don't wanna spoil it for folk who haven't experienced it for themselves yet), it made me cry but it was a happy cry so I think it counts

Playing Portal 2 with a guy I found on Steam.

When that music kicks in when you start a game of We Love Katamari or Katamari Damacy

It will always bring me joy

It brings me back to a simpler time of being a kid during summer and picking the game up for the first time with a former friend.

Though that former friend is no longer here, those memories of that summer will be with me hopefully forever.

I had lost those memories (and many many others) a few years back when I had a traumatic brain injury, and last summer when my AC was broken and I caught myself humming a some I didn't remember. And after a bit of working on the song it clicked what it was from. I listened too a few songs from it and booted it up on my old PS2. And that intro music while sitting in front of my TV on the floor, brought me to happy tears as those memories of that summer started to flood back.

Mass Effect 2, Grunt's loyalty mission on Tuchanka. Always, always take the renegade interrupt to headbutt Uvenk and cut off his rant.

When in Rome...

Maybe it is nostalgia, but Prince of Persia: Sands of Time ending. That whole soundtrack was a banger too.

Any Dark Brotherhood quests in the Elder Scrolls.

About 8 or so hours into Tears of The Kingdom I discovered the depths completely on accident by riding one of the dragons into it. First time in a long time I felt a complete sense of awe while playing a video game.

Right at the beginning of Nier Automata when it shifts into a bullet hell game for a bit and the already amazing soundtrack changes styles to match I just knew I was in for an amazing experience.

Finally beating the asylum demon on my very first playthrough of dark souls.

Then i immediately realized i only just beat the tutorial.

Metal Gear Solid PS1. Wipeout, also on the PS1, especially when the music kicked in.

The first time I figured I could drown my sims. The accelerating horror and delight. Still a very important outlet of frustration for me to this day.

Metal Gear Solid 3, the ladder scene with the awesome soundtrack.

In Control, the Hotel Ashtray maze:

As a cat family, Stray had me and my wife smiling from start to finish. So many "yep, that's a cat thing" moments.

The first thing that comes to mind was my first play through of Yakuza 0. Majima spends so much time winning stuffed animals for a little girl that lost her dad. Part way through the quest line she starts calling him dad and it made him so happy. It warms the heart and I could not stop smiling.

Recently, Hi-Fi Rush made me smile (and laugh) more than once :)

Red Dead Redemption - the first ride into Mexico, during the nighttime, when the music came on

There were two in Control for me, both involving killer music: the ashtray maze and the altered movie camera. Absolutely grinning the entire time for both of those!

A bunch of moments in Mario Odyssey come to mind, especially the ending sequence

Walking out of The Embrace in Horizon Zero Dawn and seeing this enormous beautiful landscape in front of you.

I don't particularly like the game, but the final mission in Mass Effect: Andromeda was wonderful and made me smile. It was gorgeous, great music, and gave me an adrenaline rush.

The end of Portal 2, when the enrichment center barfs out your old companion cube. Such a charming way to end the story, and I couldn't help but smile. Especially in contrast to the intense turret opera immediately preceding it, it just feels oddly wholesome.

I’m sure there are plenty but the ones that stick with me are :

The ending of Disco Elysium, and the friends you made along the way of a murder investigation. The writing is so good that it set a very high bar for future games.

Potential spoilers for Forgotten City

Finding out how and why the loop in Forgotten City is happening (the whole objective of the game is finding out why you’re stuck in a loop).

Similar to Groundhog Day, you start to get familiar with everyone’s routines and get to know them better each time the loop resets.

And then realising

Animal crossin as a whole. I've tried multiple entries and the games are not quite my cup of tea in the long run. And yet I enjoy the start of a new game or coming back to a save. No pressure, no worries just some cuteness overload.

Outer wilds spoilers!

Anytime I instakill myself in Noita with my own spell combos i think "Yeah, I could have seen that coming" and smile.

Borderlands still tends to make me crack up. dem bandits are funny when they die

My coworker and I were working together and he was playing BOTW on some downtime. He ended up getting caught between a bunch of enemies and saved, then died, again and again and again. He decided he was gonna win the fight no matter what, and we ended up taking turns to see who could win the fight first.

It was a good moment, as we shared in that struggle together, dying time and time again to try and come out on top in camaraderie.

2 of my favorite from Titanfall 2 are when:

1: During the home/neighborhood factory when you realize this is building the boss arena.

2: Using the time travel device to fight your way out of the facility in two different timelines.

Ending E in Nier Replicant.

Btw, is there a spoiler tag here?