The greatest FMV / CGI scenes in a game ever!

[Gemini-Phoenix]

If you could single out a handful of cut scenes (CGI / FMV Etc...) from games, what would they be?

What scenes stick in your mind? What would you class as being the greatest cut scene / game intro / end scene ever?


For me, back when Resident Evil II was released, the intro blew me away. It still does to some extent.


Then you have the beginning of Metal Gear Solid II: Sons Of Liberty - Where Snake bungee jumps from the bridge onto the ship...


Final Fantasy? Where do I start??? Final Fantasy VIII is full of great cinematics. Final Fantasy IX has a few greats too, but Final Fantasy VII has got to have the one which I think sticks in every gamer's mind - The end of the first disc where Cloud lowers Aerith into the Mako pool where she sinks deep into the planet... <Wipes away yet another tear>

I also like what Square did with the older titles when they rereleased them on PSone - I especially like the opening scene for Final Fantasy VI, and part of me wishes it had been there all along!


And my all time favourite (I rate this higher than the afore mentioned Cloud / Aerith scene) is the intro to Legacy Of Kain: Soul Reaver!

This won a number of awards I believe (Was in an EMMY?)for best cinematics from a game. And quite rightly so too! :-P


Another series which astounds me with it's intro's is the Oddworld series. I also believe the first two games (Abe's Oddysee and Abe's Exoddus) both won awards for their visuals too.

[Ed Oscuro]

Hmm, I remember being impressed by the Sarge minigun movie for Quake III...way back when.

Many of the scenes where you're moving about the house - especially the foyer - in The 7th Guest are incredible, and eerily beautiful. Love 'em much.

There's some good semi-CGI sequences for talking heads in the Fallout games. Man, The Master has to be the nastiest looking boss in the history of (western) gaming. Fo' real.

[njiska]

The opening video for DOA2 Ultimate. Talk about powerful. I mean it's one of the most beautiful things i've ever seen.

The intro cinematic for RE: Outbreak is also good. Hell it's the only thing good about that peice of crap.

[davepesc]

Without a doubt, some of the scenes in Xenosaga were the best I've seen.

I actually felt the tension during the final scene. It was exciting.

[drewbrim]

Loved FF7's with that "weapon" closing in on the city, very cool.

[The Plucky Little Ninja]

The opening to Stranger's Wrath is a good one, but the greatest CG cutscene of all time...

The opening to Final Fantasy VIII. I'm still blown away when I watch it. It's like a kick ass preview to the greatest movie ever made... and I don't even like the game all that much. I actually pop that game into the Playstation every once and awhile simply to watch the opening cutscene. It's just that frickin' great.

[Sylentwulf]

As mentioned, FF7 and FF8 have some GREAT cinematics.
Overall, I think FF8 gets best overall. From the dance sequence, space scene, and that AMAZING battle cinema in the middle, it just wins hand down.
Get the "eyes on me" cgi remix someone made on the internet, and you're good to go.

Other than that, the MGS games have good story sections, and RE1/0 on the gamecube look great.

[lucavi]

Loved FF7's with that "weapon" closing in on the city, very cool.

i always liked when cloud gets the bike in the shinra building. the music helps a lot too. i remember i saved right before that and would rewatch it once in awhile just cause i like dit.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

The opening to Final Fantasy VIII. I'm still blown away when I watch it. It's like a kick ass preview to the greatest movie ever made... and I don't even like the game all that much. I actually pop that game into the Playstation every once and awhile simply to watch the opening cutscene. It's just that frickin' great.

I know how you feel! I do exactly the same to some games every now and again, especially Soul Reaver!

Mind you, I have just had a great idea! - I can link my PS2 to my PC and actually record the sequence as a .WMV / .AVI file and watch it anytime I want!

<Pops off to find game and PlayStation...>

[PDorr3]

MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR KLONOA ON PSX





The ending FMV where klonoa and huepow must say goodbye. The sequence is scripted very well, and was one of the few times I truly shed a tear from a videogame.

Check out my fansite for klonoa!

www.klonoasite.cjb.net

[MegaDrive20XX]

I agree with Resident Evil 2's intro...still awesome to this day...I love how RE Outbreak tries to re-create that moment.

Another favorite of mine is the opening intro to Final Fantasy Tactics on PSX...that was a nice intro...

[Sothy]

Resident Evil 2

Fallout series

Sid Meyers Alpha Centauri

[AlexKidd]

I liked most of the cutscenes in Ninja Gaiden for xbox. Each one was kind of a reward for killing some of those crazy bosses. Most Final Fantasy and Resident Evil games also had memorable ones.

[Gemini-Phoenix]

And for the third time this evening i'm going to play the Broken Sword card - The Broken Sword series has some nice cut scenes, and pieces the story together quite nicely!

Parasite Eve II also has a few all time greats - Especially THAT shower scene! How i'd love to see a director's cut of THAT! (Whadda ya mean she's not real???)

Oh, and then what happens straight after is also memorable too! (I almost went poopy the first time I played it!)


I must admit - Sometimes I think Squaresoft put more effort into their cut scenes than they did some of their games!

[DTJAAAAMJSLM]

The opening cinemas to Soul Edge and Final Fantasy VIII are my two picks.

[GobopopRevisited]

I really liked the ending for Oddworld Stranger's Wrath. The Billy Hatcher intro is pretty okay too.

I also used to watch the Diablo II cinematics constantly... Those are some of my favorites too.

[The_4th_Survivor]

There are so many to choose from as of late, so I'll go with the following for now:


Resident Evil (GameCube) - The intro sequence to this game not only rekindled my interest in the entire RE series, but was the main reason why I ended up buying my GameCube in the first place! Capcom did an extraordinary job in re-making the original Resident Evil. If this game isn't considered beautiful in terms of graphics, I don't know what is.


Onimusha Warlords / Genma Onimusha (PS2 / XBox) - The opening intro sequence just screams quality. From the silky smooth animation to the realistic texturing, it's hard to believe that this was a game from 2000/2001. Those artists at Capcom paid a great homage to the Japanese culture with this piece.



Soul Calibur II (GameCube / Playstation 2 / XBox) -
Namco broke all traditional 'weapon based' fighting game rules when they released the original "Soul Calibur" exclusively on the Sega Dreamcast. A few years later, they ended up outdoing themselves once again by releasing the inevitable sequel "Soul Calibur II" on all three major consoles, each with their own exclusive characters. For the opening intro sequence, they decided to render it completely, instead of using the in-game sprite models. I'm sure glad they did. Just watching that intro makes any fighting game enthusiast proud that they're about to play one of the best weapon based, 3D fighting games around.


I'm all tapped out for now, but once I think of some more games with cool intros or endings, I'll post them here.

[TEND]

Final Fantasy 7 and 8.
But what nobody has mentioned which I really enjoyed is the intro to Chrono Cross. I really thought it was awesome, and I watch it every now and than.

[Lemmy Kilmister]

I liked the updated CG intro to Gradius 3 & 4. Nothing better then seeing Vic Viper blowing up shit on a 128 bit system.

OH! As long as I'm talking about Vic Viper here, the intro to Zone of the Enders 2 is simply awesome!

[Haoie]

A lot of choice picks have been already noted, so I'll do something that nobody will mention.

Which is of course, the opening for Vampire Hunter D. I expect many to have never seen it, but it's really quite good. Unfortunate the real game isn't nearly as entertaining.

[pixelsnpolygons]

Night Trap. :-P

[pragmatic insanester]

i enjoyed the hunk & co. massacre in re-2. same with the introduction of re-3 (the raccoon police getting pulverized).

the intro to ehrgeiz is pretty cool. i especially liked the police getting bulldozed by lee chuwen, and the perspective of the people shooting sasuke, with their bullet gauges depleting and having no effect on the descending ninja.

the intro to ghost in the shell alone is worth purchasing the game. the music really weaves into the animation and gets your mood ready.

lastly, the ff6 anathology introduction. seeing all those scenes recreated in 3d detail is nice. i only wish it had gotten as much attention as chrono trigger (which had about twice as many cutscenes).

[drummy]

The intro to Onimusha 3. I heard it took them a year to make. Literally. It it possibly the most beautiful animation I have seen in a game ever.

[hydr0x]

The opening cinemas to Soul Edge and Final Fantasy VIII are my two picks.

heh, guess i'm not the only one who loves the Soul Edge / Soul Blade intro, damn, that song is awesome

[starchildskiss78]

Working Designs has some of the best cut scenes/intros that I've seen (Lunar, Lunar 2, Silhouette Mirage....that intro made me feel the money I spent on the game was worth it even if the rest of it was crap!)

[syzygy]

Is there links to where one could download and view some of these intros?

[Nature Boy]

I'd vote Final Fantasy 7. When it came out a cutscene felt like a bonus that you had earned, and they just blew me away.

Nowadays I could live without the cutscenes. Or at least shorter ones - I want to play games consarnit, not watch movies!

[UnInformer]

Yes, the Final Fantasy games have some great ones. Not enough love shown for IX here, which, IMO, had the best FMVs of the series. The one where the two eidolons are fighting (wasn't it Bahamut vs. Alexander?) over the castle is a favorite, and there was the fight between the airships and the dragons and the ending...quite possibly my favorite ending ever. :(

Klonoa: Door to Phantomile I had almost forgotten about until sombody mentioned it. Very well done, indeed.

Lunar 2 Etenal Blue, Althena Spring. Comedy=great. Lucia bathing scene=great. Combining the two=piriceless. Both games of the series have great animated scenes tword the ends.

Shadow Hearts opener-bloody mess, and a pretty damn cool one at that.

[blissfulnoise]

No one has mentioned Tekken yet???

The CG scenes from the Tekken series have always been on the cutting edge as far as production values go. Tekken 5's opening boasts one of the coolest CG sequences to date.

[DragonMaster Sam]

Lunar did have some of the greatest FMV/CGI clips.. And although it looked sorta corny, I think Snatcher had some good cutscenes as well.

[pragmatic insanester]

soulblade had one of the best meshes of music and animation in its intro. i even download the complete song (the version you hear has been shortened) from time to time.

[Zilla]

I'll throw my vote in for the playstation FF games. All the CG in those games were good. Hands down the best CG stuff I have ever seen is done by Blizzard. Starcraft, Warcraft 3, and the World of Warcraft intro are awesome. Warcraft 3 has CG's I wish they turned into a movie. Me and my buddies watch those every once in a while cause they are so kick ass. When Thrall and Grom are fighting Mannaroth and Grom kills him and stands in the flames...f'ing awesome. I'm gonna go watch that stuff now.

[DDCecil]

My favorite is definetely Wild Arms' intro. I really like the FF6 Anthology opening, too.

[Blanka789]

I personally like Revenge of the Ninja's ending. Magic Knight Rayearth had a lot of good ones. Also, the motorcycle scene with Nozomi in Shenmue was great!