Post your favorite locations/areas/levels, mostly from RPGs but other games are also ok.
My top pick is undisputed: Ash Lake from Dark Souls 1. Through a stroke of pure dumb luck, I managed to find it completely on my own (I accidentally hit the chest behind the first illusory wall, and my weapon was long enough to hit the second illusory wall behind the chest). After that, a long descent through awkward platforming and a surreal environment populated by weird enemies, not knowing wtf this is all leading up to (a boss fight with a tree demon at the bottom floor and a tree-themed spear, I was assuming).
And then it happened. You walk out of the roots of a giant tree into the least expected place: the ashen shores of an otherworldly ocean, immeasurably tall archtrees in the distance, and the most unique and transcendent piece of music in the game. This was the second time in my life when playing a video game made me have a profound aesthetic, if not religious, experience, feeling transported into a higher dimension, a world of pure beauty and meaning. (The first time happened many years ago while playing Soul Reaver). Finding the path to an actual, live dragon that unfurls its wings and silently offers to join its covenant was the cherry on top of this peyote cake.
Other favorites: the Hive and Fortress of Regrets from PS:T, Kain's palace and the Sarafan tomb (and the Silenced Cathedral) in LoK: Soul Reaver, the entire first part of VTM: Bloodlines (a slightly-dreamlike atmosphere that captures the essence of urban mystery, what could be hiding behind these seemingly-ordinary streets and buildings), the part of Deus Ex where you work for UNATCO and have no idea how this story is gonna go and then get imprisoned in the secret part of those same headquarters, etc. etc. etc.
My top pick is undisputed: Ash Lake from Dark Souls 1. Through a stroke of pure dumb luck, I managed to find it completely on my own (I accidentally hit the chest behind the first illusory wall, and my weapon was long enough to hit the second illusory wall behind the chest). After that, a long descent through awkward platforming and a surreal environment populated by weird enemies, not knowing wtf this is all leading up to (a boss fight with a tree demon at the bottom floor and a tree-themed spear, I was assuming).
And then it happened. You walk out of the roots of a giant tree into the least expected place: the ashen shores of an otherworldly ocean, immeasurably tall archtrees in the distance, and the most unique and transcendent piece of music in the game. This was the second time in my life when playing a video game made me have a profound aesthetic, if not religious, experience, feeling transported into a higher dimension, a world of pure beauty and meaning. (The first time happened many years ago while playing Soul Reaver). Finding the path to an actual, live dragon that unfurls its wings and silently offers to join its covenant was the cherry on top of this peyote cake.
Other favorites: the Hive and Fortress of Regrets from PS:T, Kain's palace and the Sarafan tomb (and the Silenced Cathedral) in LoK: Soul Reaver, the entire first part of VTM: Bloodlines (a slightly-dreamlike atmosphere that captures the essence of urban mystery, what could be hiding behind these seemingly-ordinary streets and buildings), the part of Deus Ex where you work for UNATCO and have no idea how this story is gonna go and then get imprisoned in the secret part of those same headquarters, etc. etc. etc.
