Gaming

The end of Portal 2, when the enrichment center barfs out your old companion cube. Such a charming way to end the story, and I couldn't help but smile. Especially in contrast to the intense turret opera immediately preceding it, it just feels oddly wholesome.

When that music kicks in when you start a game of We Love Katamari or Katamari Damacy

It will always bring me joy

It brings me back to a simpler time of being a kid during summer and picking the game up for the first time with a former friend.

Though that former friend is no longer here, those memories of that summer will be with me hopefully forever.

I had lost those memories (and many many others) a few years back when I had a traumatic brain injury, and last summer when my AC was broken and I caught myself humming a some I didn't remember. And after a bit of working on the song it clicked what it was from. I listened too a few songs from it and booted it up on my old PS2. And that intro music while sitting in front of my TV on the floor, brought me to happy tears as those memories of that summer started to flood back.

About 8 or so hours into Tears of The Kingdom I discovered the depths completely on accident by riding one of the dragons into it. First time in a long time I felt a complete sense of awe while playing a video game.

As a cat family, Stray had me and my wife smiling from start to finish. So many "yep, that's a cat thing" moments.

In Control, the Hotel Ashtray maze:

Finally beating the asylum demon on my very first playthrough of dark souls.

Then i immediately realized i only just beat the tutorial.

Right at the beginning of Nier Automata when it shifts into a bullet hell game for a bit and the already amazing soundtrack changes styles to match I just knew I was in for an amazing experience.

Playing Portal 2 with a guy I found on Steam.

Think its gotta be THAT moment towards the end of Disco Elysium (if you know, you know, I don't wanna spoil it for folk who haven't experienced it for themselves yet), it made me cry but it was a happy cry so I think it counts

Anytime I instakill myself in Noita with my own spell combos i think "Yeah, I could have seen that coming" and smile.

The "Invaders Must Die" fight in Hi-Fi Rush had me beaming ear to ear. By that point in the game I was so in tune (intended) with the mechanics I just chewed through the fight, headbanging the whole time. One of my all time favourite gaming moments.

Recently, Hi-Fi Rush made me smile (and laugh) more than once :)

Red Dead Redemption - the first ride into Mexico, during the nighttime, when the music came on

2 of my favorite from Titanfall 2 are when:

1: During the home/neighborhood factory when you realize this is building the boss arena.

2: Using the time travel device to fight your way out of the facility in two different timelines.

Playing Mario Odyssey.

The segment right at the end where you

Bastion, near the end; can’t remember the names, but when you’re carrying the man that betrayed you, while being shot at by his former clan; and eventually they stop, in awe of your commitment.

One of the soldiers finally opens fire again, and the one next to him throws him to the ground.

The first sight of Botw/genshin's open world, Gaur plains and gormott from Xenoblade 1 and 2.

The indescribable joy of feeling the wind on your face as the world opens before you

Maybe it is nostalgia, but Prince of Persia: Sands of Time ending. That whole soundtrack was a banger too.

Any Dark Brotherhood quests in the Elder Scrolls.

Not so much a smile, more of a 'WTF?! 🤣😂🤣😂'.

THAT quest in Kingdom Come Deliverance with the Priest.

Hollow Knight, final phase of the fight with Radiance -> you ascend dodging the lasers to deliver the final blow as your shadowkin gather to witness your victory over Radiance.

Borderlands still tends to make me crack up. dem bandits are funny when they die

I was trying out the Portal RTX upgrade and found a QR code while messing with a radio. When I scanned it, it gave me a txt file "black mesa". And I genuinely cackled physically. Wasn't expecting something so silly, let alone a functioning QR code, to make me laugh like that.

My first time playing no mans sky and finding out you get to fly around the solar system. I love how infinite the game is even if its a little repetitive

The first time I beat the Cairo Station level in Halo 2, way back in 2005. The ending cutscene to that level is one of the best ever made, and was absolutely incredible to experience for the first time.

A bunch of moments in Mario Odyssey come to mind, especially the ending sequence

Many absurd deaths in Spelunky 2. As a game, it has a tendency to kill you in ways that are very over the top, and unfair. It used to frustrate me, but I've evolved past that, and now I just smile.

I’m sure there are plenty but the ones that stick with me are :

The ending of Disco Elysium, and the friends you made along the way of a murder investigation. The writing is so good that it set a very high bar for future games.

Potential spoilers for Forgotten City

Finding out how and why the loop in Forgotten City is happening (the whole objective of the game is finding out why you’re stuck in a loop).

Similar to Groundhog Day, you start to get familiar with everyone’s routines and get to know them better each time the loop resets.

And then realising

The mission where the janitor gives you his Walkman in Control, where you're in that weird room killing heaps of enemies. Couldn't stop smiling and appreciating the scene with the great music.

Metal Gear Solid PS1. Wipeout, also on the PS1, especially when the music kicked in.

Outer wilds spoilers!

For a smaller indie game: The Big Con (recently added to Gamepass) made me smile almost the whole playthrough. It's a puzzle-adventure-like game with a cute style and the goofiest humor that resonated so well with my own, I couldn't help but laugh the whole time. :D

Frog detective - basically all the time.

Mass Effect 2, Grunt's loyalty mission on Tuchanka. Always, always take the renegade interrupt to headbutt Uvenk and cut off his rant.

When in Rome...

The ending of God of War: Ragnarok. Although I have some problems with the "mechanics" of the story (how they handled the prophecy is a bit silly) the emotional and thematic core of the story is A+. I got a bit teary eyed at multiple points in the game, and I almost cried at the ending. Kratos got the finale he deserved.

Ending E in Nier Replicant.

Btw, is there a spoiler tag here?

When you start the fight on the dam wall in BL2 after Roland is captured & the music starts. That was the borderlands moment for me that got me sucked into that universe