Topic: Your Favorite Gaming Moments of 2019

It's common to have threads for people to list their favorite games in any given year (in fact, we have one or two of those already), but what about gaming moments?

Whether it be a specific segment or hard earned victory in a game, to a gaming related announcement that blew your socks off, what are your favorites this year?

I hope this is different enough from the game ranking specific threads that the mods see fit to let it stand, and to get started as an example...

• Experiencing VR for the first time with PSVR - I picked up a PSVR this past spring with Astro Bot & Moss, and looking through that lens for the first time was a magical experience. I've only dug it out a few times since, but it's a totally otherworldly experience every time.
• Getting nostalgic with Final Fantasy X HD - I don't often replay games, but when the HD remaster of FFX, THE game that officially got me into JRPGs as a teen, landed on Switch earlier this year, I knew it was time to revisit it. I was worried whether or not the years had been kind to it, but I was glad to find out I still hold it in as high regards as some of my favorite modern games I played this year such as DQXI, Astral Chain, & God of War.
• Getting Crafty with Nintendo LABO - I picked up the VR kit earlier this year back when I was still really on my VR high, and while I don't revisit it much these days, I still have very fond memories of spending an entire Saturday afternoon constructing the enormous blaster that comes with the base kit. It's not the type of thing I usually do, and I'm generally not very handy, which made my flawless completion of it all the more rewarding.
• The Hero comes to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate - There was a lot of buzz amongst N64 kids about Banjo & Kazooie making it into Smash, but as a big fan of JRPGs (and Dragon Quest especially in recent years), the Hero's announcement had me jumping out of my seat in excitement, and now he's one of my most used fighters in the game.
• Dragon Quest XI... running on Switch - I actually kicked off the year by playing DQXI on PS4, and it remains one of my favorite games of the year (and my second favorite in the series), but when the demo dropped on Switch I just had to try it out to see how it converted, and my jaw hit the floor. I'm sure there are sacrifices behind the scenes that had to be made to get it running, but man I played through the entire demo and was shocked to see that in the moment it looks and feels just like it's PS4 twin, even more impressive considering that it's one of the most aesthetically pleasing games I've played on Sony's system.

1. I've already spoken before about how Metal Gear Solid 4 is the best game I played this year. In a game full of brilliant individual moments picking just one is extremely difficult. However, a particular highlight is surely returning to Shadow Moses Island and controlling Metal Gear Rex in a battle against a Metal Gear Ray controlled by Liquid Ocelot. Kojima, you mad devil.

2. Riding an elephant in Uncharted: The Lost Legacy. Simple and fleeting, yet beautiful.

3. Hitman 2 is full of hilarious assassination methods. I've been playing the Legacy Pack (basically Hitman 2016) and some of my favourites thus far include:

• Pushing Marco Abiatti off the church roof in Sapienza (resulting in him being impaled) while Agent 47 is dressed as a priest.
• In Sapienza driving Silvio Caruso mad by making him think his mother has returned from the grave.
• In Marrakesh, luring General Zaydan into a room and dropping a toilet on him through a hole in the ceiling.
• Electrocuting Jordan Cross with a faulty microphone in Bangkok
  ...and many others.

4. Completing the post-game content in Dragon Quest XI and getting the platinum trophy. It was very satisfying to complete the post-game, which remixed much of the story content from the second half of the game and also added lots of new stuff. Unlike many other Japanese RPGs, where there is usually a lot of busy work and grinding (Final Fantasy X springs to mind), Dragon Quest XI actually has enough content to sustain it right to the true ending.

5. Booting up Kingdom Hearts III for the first time. As the first full-fledged console Kingdom Hearts for over 12 years it was very exciting to play this.

For me it's an easy no. 1, nothing else is even close and that was revisiting my favorite game of all-time, Resident Evil 2, in what should now be considered the standard on how to remake a game for a modern audience. It isn't perfect - the 'B' scenario wasn't nearly as deep as what we got in the original release - but it's damn near. What I really appreciated was the massively improved controls. I hated the tank controls back in the 90s and even moreso now. In the remake I love that you can move and shoot if you're in a desperate situation but it encourages you to create distance then stop and pop. The deliberate pacing is still there, the sense of 'horror' still there, the game looks great and Mr. X was one of the best antagonists of 2019. Aside from an improved B scenario and better enemy variety, not too much to complain about.

Second best gaming moment of the year... Finally getting a good single player Star Wars game again.

A slightly tricky one to call out specific moments but..

The Fenrir boss fight in Hellblade was a pretty epic moment (and not just because it won me the screenshot competition). It is a sensory overload with the voices and the mixture of darkness and hallucinations, coupled with the actual fight itself!

Beating Nightmare King Grimm in Hollow Knight. Another boss fight and one I spent ages on. It's one of those fights where you watch it back and it doesn't seem that tough but it was one where a mistake could cost you and one I almost messed up even at the end of my successful attempt. There are loads of other moments from this amazing game but this battle and completing the aptly named Path of Pain were real accomplishments.

Yakuza Kiwami and MAJIMA EVERYWHERE!

Completing the Banner Saga Trilogy which is a set of games where your little decision really do matter. For instance, you can have one character get killed off almost immediately after meeting him in the first game or end up having him by your side to the bitter end. A must play for RPG/story based fans (I'm surprised not to have seen the games mentioned on here by anyone else).

Good thread. Moments for me include:

• Finishing the Red Dead II story. Epic stuff.
• Finding the right weapons/powers combination in Nioh and handing the later bosses their arses after struggling quite a bit in the early areas.
• What Became of Edith Finch, the swing bit in particular.
• Genichiro Ashina in Sekiro. One of my favourite boss fights of this generation.
• Booting up Shenmue III for the first time, a game I never thought would happen.

Very cool idea for a new topic!

Got to agree with @Gamer83 in submitting the sense of giddy relief I felt whilst playing Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order and realising that, somehow, EA hadn't ruined it.

There are also two specific moments from that game which I won't mention, because spoilers.

Similar to @KratosMD calling out Mass Effect, I'd also highlight playing through the Dragon Age trilogy for the first time. Whilst many specific moments in the second game were near-perfect, particularly since I romanced Anders, it's actually the experience of playing Inquisition that'll stick with me, as my best friend watched and reacted to (most of) my progress via SharePlay.

And speaking of being social (which is a nerve-wracking rarity for me), getting to play Team Sonic Racing, Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris and Star Wars: Battlefront II with @themcnoisy and @KALofKRYPTON has been an absolute blast, as well.

In fact, just being a part of the PushSquare community has made gaming much more enjoyable and far less isolating for me; this goes for the past couple years, but it's always worth a mention.

2019

Such a let down in so many ways.

Pros
3 gaming nights with @KALofKRYPTON and @RogerRoger and a great run out on TSR and Temple of Osirus.
PS3 master list thread
Getting the plat on SC6 (started it in 2018)
Getting the plat in Astrobot (pretty sure this was in January, apologies if it was in 2018 I honestly can't recall)
Making 2 games in Dreams
Death Stranding
The end of year screenshot comp
Tekken 7 (technically from 2017)

Negatives
PS Plus becoming rubbish
Rubbish games most months
Season passes are now in everything
Millions of versions of the same game all at different price points
Nothing happening with regulating in game gambling mechanics
Same games in the charts more or less every week
PS exclusives being ported to PC
Better new games on other systems
Sony being on mute for 9 months
Apex legends

Great idea for a thread! Gaming moments of the year for me were:
Playing mario kart and aces local multiplayer with 3 of my mates after a few beers on my mates switch. Took me back to university days and the endless tekken 2/pro evo 3/golden eye games.
Finishing the story of mario odyssey with my daughter when we were on holiday in greece and watching her grow in confidence so that she plays as mario a bit now and I'm the cap!
Like @kratosMD, I only completed the mass effect trilogy this year (with some but not all the dlc). What an experience! Yes I didn't feel the ending of 3 but that game also has some amazing story arcs and while playing as paragon femahep, I still killed my two fave characters for the good of the galaxy. Cant wait to try dragon age this year.
Seeing the beauty of hdr gaming for the first time playing death stranding on our new tv, utterly gorgeous. The scenery of that game should be used for the Icelandic tourist board.

@themcnoisy We'll always have PushSquare, buddy. The PS3 rankings and the screenshot competition were definite highlights for me, as well. Here's to another great year with the community!