That "first play" feel

[Sebenko]

So, after ripping off/wrestling with the plastic wrapping, opening the box and giving it a big sniff (do it- Morrowind smells like compost and old leaf litter, and the really old first copies smell like libraries. You can tell a lot about a game from the box), you plop the disk in the drive of your system of choice and begin playing.

A lot of games feel different the first time you play them.
Morrowind, the awe of a massive world, just waiting to be explored (Spent my first few hours exploring all the silt strider areas).
S.T.A.L.K.E.R., the shiver of arriving in a place which is both real, and so very very not.
Or Divinity II, a sense of confusion as I tried to make sense of everything going on.

So, share your experiences of the first time playing a game, good or bad.
Did it feel good to be in a new world? Did you get immersed almost immediately? Or did you feel confused at the new interface or game mechanics?

 

[wooty]

I loved the first 30 mins of Bioshock, that feeling of unease, weirdness and my brain telling me "screw that, im not getting out of this bathesphere" was a great feeling

 

[SharPhoe]

I think I know that feeling you're describing. I've had it happen when not only with playing a new game, but watching someone else play something new as well. I still remember years ago when I saw my neighbor playing Starfox 64 for the first time. Just looking at the screen and listening to what was going on... everything looked and sounded so sharp, so distinct, like nothing I'd ever heard before. It's a shame that that sensation goes away the more acquainted you get with the game, it's really quite something.

 

[SnootyEnglishman]

I love the feeling i get when encountering a game that has just been shown to me...i sometimes feel overwhelmed by it's goodness and setting or i just pass out from the high of the smell coming from the freshly made box cover.

 

[Saul B]

I love finding everything out for myself for the first time, so I never use guides until I'm a bit more settled in.

 

[Tommy T.]

I bought Mass Effect for PC just before I was going to go on a holiday. The first plan was to buy it after the holiday but since I happened to see it in a local store, I bought it. Well of course I was thrilled to play it so I popped it straight in and installed it just to see that it would crash straight after the splash screen -_-

Struggled with it for some time and when I got it to work it was already so late that I didn't have time to play it. Then waiting a week or so to play it again... Well it was even more sweet than expected because of that

Oh and the way to solve that problem was to run it as admin through the right-click menu on the shortcut. Yup. God damn Vista and it's weird shit...

Opening a DVD case, getting that new game smell and reading throught the manual while it's installing, ahhh... Just because of that pirating games feels wrong.

 

[ma55ter_fett]

The begining of halo combat evolved, thoughts in my mind were something like

I need a gun, need a gun, need a gun, need a gun, need a gun

Hey a pistol! Thanks captain!... what no bullets?

need bullets, need bullets, need bullets, need...

Hey bullets!

I now know my place in this world... behind a gun. This also goes double for the begining of half-life 2 but with a hefty dose of "I don't know whats going on... I need a gun."

But yea, that first play feeling is a big deal for any game, prehaps thats main reason people seem to not like bioshock 2 that much, they have already experianced that "steping out of the biosphere" moment.

 

[rockingnic]

My problems of games that focus on the replayability of the story/campaign is that once you beat the story once, the story loses it's "first time" feel, like not knowing what happens (which it the primary reason I will never pay more than $10 for Heavy Rain, seriously). Halo: CE was one of the first games I've played on a regular basis and always enjoyed the campaign. The Halo series was also some of the few games, even up to today, that I play the campaign more than once or twice.

 

[AWAR]

Yeah i know what you mean. Opening daemon tools, mounting that iso..uuuhh what a great feeling .

Seriously now, my first play-through of Morrowind was an amazing experience that i never felt again.

 

[projjalc]

Fallout 3. Bought it on steam, so the ripping-off-plastic moment was substituted by waiting-all-night-for-it-to-finish-downloading. But when it was finally ready (dawn), hot damn that was an engrossing opening sequence. Like candy to my bleary, bloodshot eyes. Not to mention the feeling of awe when stepping out of the vault into the capital wasteland itself.

(Followed by a dazed "whuh?" due to the sudden "Welcome to Level 2!" screen.)

 

[Cerrax]

I have yet to start up a game and within the first few seconds fear for my character's life. Ninja Gaiden 2 came very close (you get jumped by ninjas as soon as the game begins with nothing but a small line of text at the bottom of screen running you through the basic controls). As already mentioned, Bioshock also came close. The whole bathysphere thing was freaky as hell. Uncharted 2 failed miserably, though I appreciate the effort. Steel Battalion did a really good job of making you feel like a civilian dropped into a massive war vehicle and discovering all the controls for yourself. Learning how to operate the machine was half the fun of that game!

 

[Lord Beautiful]

My first time playing Morrowind (right around its release date on a kickass computer, no less) gave me that feeling of pure, unbridled intimidation and an uneasy sensation of insignificance in its vast world.

On my first play through Mass Effect, I felt this intense sense of immersion. It was unforgettable.

In my first time playing Devil May Cry, I remember feeling excitement and dread at every step of the way through the game.

 

[Trifixion]

Fatal Frame. First time I played it, I decided "what the heck, I'll try immersing myself in the atmosphere." So I played it at night. Alone in the (very old, very "settling noise-infested") house. With the lights out. While it was raining outside.

...it worked maybe a little too well...

 

[reg42]

Morrowind. When I first started I couldn't really comprehend this massive world which I was looking at, because of this I didn't really play it much.

My first impression of Mass Effect 2 was that it was insanely awesome. Just like my impression now.

 

[Cosplay Horatio]

First time playing Silent Hill 2 with my friends and the lights were off. The game that really impressed me the first time I played it was Gears of War. It started off with the gameplay then seemed to elevate from the beginning of the 2nd and 3rd levels with the story.

 

[aegios187]

Picked up Planetside Day 1, didn't play the beta but the guild I was in moved over to play it as its next game, after playing around in the sim for some early cert points, consulted in vent, joined up in one of our outfit's squad drop podding into a 3 way all out Brawl at one of the bases, it was intense with all the air and ground combat going on all around combined with the vent chatter. There seriously had to be 2-300 people fighting around the base at the towers and out in the surronding area. Really boosted the immersion factor.

 

[Distorted Stu]

I loved the first 30 mins of Bioshock, that feeling of unease, weirdness and my brain telling me "screw that, im not getting out of this bathesphere" was a great feeling

This definatly lol

Also, Condemed did a good job on my first play through. The first 2hours I stopped drinking water incase of piss-cannon-terror moments. That game knew how to throw things in unexpectedly!

 

[Redem]

A second playthrough always feel like its half the time you invested on the first playthrough

and its usually a good way to detect scrappy level as they remain painful regardless of how experience you get

 

[The Unskilled78]

The first time I played Metroid Prime 2 (My first FPS) It was just so...beautiful.
Soul Caliber 2 for the 'cube. It just felt so....right.

That first mission in the jungle, hunting a brute pack on Halo 3: just the music, the visuals. My thought was "So that is why it's a worldwide phenomona."

Andrew Ryans introductory speech on Bioshock, + the rape/murder of the underling by the spider splicer. Perfect.