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[jbarrios]

There are so many things that a game has to get right in the first hour or two of a game.

• Teach the player how to play
• Hook the player's interest
• Show how the main character behaves before the "Call to Action"
• Get to the action quickly
• Give exposition about the world

What are some games that have done this well?

[ThemsAllTook]

A Monster's Expedition had a particularly memorable way of doing this. After the first few puzzles show the basic mechanics, a situation is set up with impeccable timing where you end up taking an action you expect to do one thing to solve the current puzzle, but when the action is taken, it ends up revealing another mechanic which makes a dramatic change in how you perceive the game world. The game knows this is a big moment, and the revealed mechanic causes a bit of gameplay downtime, and it choses that moment to do a title drop.

(Explaining in deliberately vague terms because it's worth experiencing for yourself)

[Guert]

Megaman X is still my go-to. Recently, Doom 2016 did a pretty awesome job. These are the examples I give designers. 

[s0]

Final Fantasy 7 (the original, haven't played the remake) is my go to example of a strong intro, not least because it sticks out in a genre that is kinda notorious for slow and overlong intros. It throws you more or less straight into the action, does "show don't tell" pretty effectively and uses the player's natural curiosity to string them along rather than starting with some contextless exposition dump. There's also combat right from the start which is nice as well.

[jbarrios]

A Monster's Expedition had a particularly memorable way of doing this. After the first few puzzles show the basic mechanics, a situation is set up with impeccable timing where you end up taking an action you expect to do one thing to solve the current puzzle, but when the action is taken, it ends up revealing another mechanic which makes a dramatic change in how you perceive the game world. The game knows this is a big moment, and the revealed mechanic causes a bit of gameplay downtime, and it choses that moment to do a title drop.

I watched a let's play for it.  Wow!  That is an excellent sequence!

Megaman X is still my go-to. Recently, Doom 2016 did a pretty awesome job.

Megaman X is a masterclass on how to start a game.  I like Capcom's habit of showing the final boss on the first level.  They did it with Devil May Cry 5 as well.  I love how Doom just starts with virtually no cut-scene.

Final Fantasy 7 (the original, haven't played the remake) is my go to example of a strong intro, not least because it sticks out in a genre that is kinda notorious for slow and overlong intros.

FF7's intro is fantastic.  I love how the cut-scene literally zooms out as if to say "Here is the interesting game world" then zooms into the main characters doing an action set piece as if to say "These are the people you need to care about".

It's also a great example of a story that has an Act 1 that isn't boring.

[Guert]

I would argue that Resident Evil 4 is pretty solid too. I must have replayed the village part at least a dozen times just for fun 

[jbarrios]

I would argue that Resident Evil 4 is pretty solid too. I must have replayed the village part at least a dozen times just for fun  Smiley

The "Bingo" line is forever burned in my brain

[HouseInMotion]

I think Pathologic 2's intro is wonderful. Sets the mood for the whole game and gives some very memorable visuals.

[looloopaa]

If you have ever heard of the game "Lost Odyssey", which is a JRPG for the xbox360, it has a pretty striking intro. The who first chunk of that game is pretty engaging in terms of its story and character development and includes a handful of emotional gut-punches that caught me by surprise but were not unappreciated.

But I digress. It does some really interesting things with the camera during the first set of battles that leave a really strong impression, but I wish they did past that intro section.