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[buddha0991]

So GAF, I want to know what you all think of when you think of a "Holy crap that was an amazing callback!" moment in gaming.

This is my example, the final boss of Phantasy Star Online 2: Episode 3.

It is two back to back bosses technically, I won't get into the first one.

I am a long time Phantasy Star fan, all the way back to the original Phantasy Star on the Master System. Fans from the beginning who stayed with this series all this time know that Phantasy Star 1, 2 and 3 all got callbacks in the Online and Universe games, but Phantasy Star IV never got one for some weird reason.

So my friends and I are fighting the last boss of the latest game's latest episode. I went into this blind, not knowing at all what was coming, and this is the first time this boss has ever appeared in the game too. So we beat the first phase, which is, well a Dark Falz, the boss thats in almost every single PS game and there are multiple ones in PSO2. I didn't think much of that, but then we went to the second boss, and then this starts playing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R39FuQXuN8M

Wait...Wait...Holy shit, this sounds very familiar...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lj1c2AvcuQo

Then I look at the boss we are fighting's name.

The Profound Darkness.

Yep, I am fighting the grand origin point of all the Dark Falz...23 years after its only appearance in the series, as the final boss of Phantasy Star IV. This is a big deal for me, seeing as I was with this series from the start, in all its ups and downs.

BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE!

So we get to the second phase of the fight, and then, this starts playing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jk52_3hqraE

Again, I am like "Wait a damn minute..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27mQ9m9T518

Oh you sly assholes, you nostalgia bombed me twice.

Oh there is even more to this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gs_R62ZVVsM

This is the third time the PSO2 theme was remixed, it was used for each of the previous final bosses of course.

When you think about it, what ties these 3 songs together is that they are all for the third entry in each game's episode structure.

PSIV (is the 3rd game chronologically in the classic series), PSO Episode 3, PSO2 Episode 3.

Also, each is the final song for each of those series' final boss. PSIV is the climax of the saga of that, PS3 is more of a spinoff. PSO Ep 3 is the last one chronologically for PSO1, PSO Ep 4 takes place before it. and obviously, PSO2 Episode 3 is the last of the PSO2 storyline, PSO2 Episode 4 seems more of a start of an entirely new thing. So thematically, this whole entire callback is amazing as fuck and one I went into blind too. I am glad I got to play this, but I am not happy that SEGA did not release this to the west for every Phantasy Star fan to see.

AND FINALLY, once you finally beat Profound Darkness, you and your 12 man crew chill in a type of area that should be very familiar to PSO Episode 1 fans:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llLgTBXL6LA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VncM07bkn6M

Damn it SEGA.

SO GAF, what is your favorite callback moment?

 

[the mark]

For me definitely Chapter 4 from MGS4l

 

[pantsmith]

Dead Space 2 has you

Spoiler

board the Ishimura (the ship where Dead Space 1 takes place)

and features a ton of throwback nods and jump scares that directly reference the pacing of the first game. Its also neat to see that piece of the universe again, and the logistical nightmare it must be to clean a place like that.

 

[cerulily]

As soon as you enter the orphanage in Shadow Hearts and realize that the director is using the Emigre Document to sacrifice orphans in a cauldron and then have to fight the final boss of Koudelka.

Absolutely incredible reveal.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

The

Spoiler

Ishamura

in Dead Space 2 is so incredibly well-earned.

 

[Glowsquid]

Gradius Gaiden and its 2nd stage that's a spaceship junkyard made of the remains of the bosses from the previous games.

Gradius Gaiden and its stage that is the very first stage of the original Gradius as it's being sucked into a black hole.

Gradius Gaiden and its boss rush that's... well actually, Gradius Gaiden is an example of how to do boss/level hommages right.

 

[I-hate-u]

Does MGSV ending count?

 

[Corpekata]

I love the surprise visit to former areas like the mentioned Ishimura and MGS4. Liked it in Borderlands 2 when you find yourself in Fyrestone again.

 

[balladofwindfishes]

Fighting Red in Gold and Silver.

Sheogorath being an Imperial in Skyrim and referencing the story of Oblivion subtly in dialog. Because Sheogorath is the hero from Oblivion.

 

[Guess Who]

Ace Attorney 3. The final objection, when

Spoiler

it plays the Cornered theme from AA1.

 

[Ashodin]

Wild Arms 3 -> Wild Arms 1.

Statue dude comes to life.

 

[NinjaCoachZ]

Final Fantasy IX's final dungeon has you fight the Four Fiends from the original Final Fantasy. There were a ton of callbacks to previous games in that one, but that's what stuck out to me the most.

 

[BluePigGanon]

 

[EatinOlives]

Fighting Red in Gold and Silver.

Sheogorath being an Imperial in Skyrim and referencing the story of Oblivion subtly in dialog. Because Sheogorath is the hero from Oblivion.

Visiting Kanto in Gold/Silver I think is one of the greatest callbacks.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Oh, and Kanto in Pokémon Gold/Silver.

As a kid, one of my friends told me you could go back to the areas from the old game when you get all eight badges. I assumed he was lying, because claims like that about Pokémon were always lies. I told him to show me, and he said he would, and I denied it until the second he resumed his game in Saffron City.

It was one of those moments that reaffirmed my childhood understanding that, in Pokémon, anything can happen. I was completely dumbstruck. Returning to the entire original game, and seeing how things had changed, was one of the defining experiences of my gaming career.

And then the final battle with Red... Just wow. Shivers even still.

I'll never forget that. I'll be 121 years old with late-stage Alzheimer's and the only way they'll be able to bring me back to cognitive focus is to ask me who runs the gym in Fuschia City.

 

[Beth Cyra]

Ultima Weapon in Final Fantasy VIII actually carries and uses Cloud Strife's Ultima Weapon from FF VII.

 

[Rymuth]

I have a fondness for ME2 when Liara says, "Remember when used to rub Gel on everything."

In Yakuza 5, there is a sidestory

Spoiler

where Kiryu saves a girl with a dog who's being picked on by a gang of thugs. This is explicitly a reference to how Kiryu met his adopted daughter, Haruka from Yakuza 1

 

[Coffee Dog]

Bayonetta tries it's damndest to be an unofficial DMC game, despite not being published by Capcom. Enzo is a minor character from DMC's manual, and it actually implies that Dante's mother was an Umbra Witch.

 

[JimJamJones]

Bioshock Infinite
(Major Spoilers, obviously)

Spoiler

Face literally lit up in joy!

 

[JayEH]

Does MGSV ending count?

for sure.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Bioshock Infinite

Spoiler

This one is also so good, because I think everyone knows it's coming. You're just waiting for this moment and when the screen goes white you just know that this is where you'll end up.

And then you do, and it's beautiful.

Aside from that, BioShock Infinite's ending is just a really great ride.

 

[akidnamededdy]

Bayonetta tries it's damndest to be an unofficial DMC game, despite not being published by Capcom. Enzo is a minor character from DMC's manual, and it actually implies that Dante's mother was an Umbra Witch.

Don't forget Antonio/Tony Redgrave!

One that's a bit played out is how most Mario games have some version of 1-1 in them. Even Super Paper Mario had one.

 

[Human_me]

Halo 1 and Halo 3.

Going back on Installation 04 and re-visiting the control room.
I had chills down my spine when that first happened.

 

[Psychoward]

Bioshock Infinite
(Major Spoilers, obviously)

Spoiler

Face literally lit up in joy!

I don't even remember, was that in the main game or Burial At Sea?

 

[Meohsix]

In assassins creed syndicate when Evie

Spoiler

says Requiescat in pace

It's a cool little call back to the earlier games and Ezio

Spoiler

who said it about 1000 times.

I got a good kick out of that.

 

[buddha0991]

Halo 1 and Halo 3.

Going back on Installation 04 and re-visiting the control room.
I had chills down my spine when that first happened.

This one was a personal favorite of mine as well, WARTHOG RUN MK2. Also when you see Captain Keyes and the Pillar of Autumn in Halo Reach.

 

[aravuus]

Bioshock Infinite
(Major Spoilers, obviously)

Spoiler

Face literally lit up in joy!

Fuck yeah, this was great. My inner cynic tried to say that it's just worthless fan service, but I managed to silence the voice and enjoyed the hell out of that part.

Well, I loved the whole game so eh.

 

[Finale Fireworker]

I don't even remember, was that in the main game or Burial At Sea?

Spoiler

This is how the ending begins. Elizabeth tears to Rapture and you exit through the bathysphere.

I can't imagine ever forgetting this, BioShock fan or not.

 

[Chase17]

Ace Attorney 3. The final objection, when

Spoiler

it plays the Cornered theme from AA1.

First thing that came to mind.

 

[akidnamededdy]

Halo 1 and Halo 3.

Going back on Installation 04 and re-visiting the control room.
I had chills down my spine when that first happened.

Ooooh, one that a lot of people to this day don't realize about Halo 3 is that the ending warthog run takes place on the Silent Cartographer map from the first one.

I'm on mobile so I can't pull up an image link correctly but do a GIS for "halo 3 silent cartographer" and it should be the first result.

 

[Balb]

The Temple of Time part in Wind Waker. Perfectly executed.

 

[bman94]

Wolfenstein: The New Order literally had the first level of Wolfenstein 3D playable as a nightmare.

Green Hill Zone as a full 3D level in Sonic Adventure 2 after completing the game.

 

[Guess Who]

I can't imagine ever forgetting this, BioShock fan or not.

Spoiler dat shit, homie

 

[Reedirect]

Dead Space 2. I don't remember if it made sense story-wise, just that I almost jumped out of my seat in excitement when I

Spoiler

saw the Ishimura

again.

 

[Violence Jack]

Saints Row 4 going back to

Spoiler

Saints Row 2

during Shaundi's rescue mission, and

Spoiler

Saints Row 1

for Ben King's mission.

 

[Shuggananas]

The Temple of Time part in Wind Waker. Perfectly executed.

it was a callback to which game ?
TP's excalibur was much better, good callback to ALTTP

 

[mclem]

Ultima series.

Smith the horse.

For those who don't know:

Ultima 4 (Yes, I know the screenshot is of 5, bear with me) is structured in an interesting way; rather than being about defeating a Grand Evil that threatens the world, instead your objective is to embody eight virtues and then go into the Grand Stygian Abyss (= Big Final Dungeon) and find and retrieve the Codex of Ultimate Wisdom from within it. As you proceed through the final dungeon, you are tested on the precepts and concepts that make up the system of virtues, culminating in a final series of questions and a big final question where you have to piece together all the little bits of information picked up throughout the game.

Smith is a talking horse. In Ultima 4, he was meant to give you a key clue to finding out that Big Final Answer.

Unfortunately, due to an oversight, the programmers failed to program in that conversation tree. Smith was a fun character to encounter, but little more than that.


Wind forward to Ultima 5, and Smith reappears - and this time around, his conversation revolves around him being apologetic for having forgotten to tell the Avatar something important, resulting in the screenshot above (That's the answer to the Big Grand Question, albeit written in the runic script used elsewhere in the game).

Smith was kept on as a running gag - in each game he'd give you a hint for the *previous* game. In his final appearance - Ultima 7 part 2 - he'd appear in the Dream Realm, and give you a hint for the final puzzle in Ultima 7. You'd tell him that's no longer of use, and he'd apologise, and just as he's about to give you a hint for the current game... he'd wake up, and vanish from the dream realm.

In a gloriously circular fashion, Ultima 9 doesn't have Smith in it (all horses have been killed), but does have a message from him, hinting at the secret behind the isle of Pagan from Ultima 8...

...which once again, cannot be correctly triggered.

 

[10k]

MGS4 Ocelot vs Snake. The music.

 

[Manu]

Resident Evil Revelations 2 ending spoilers

Ignore the stupid watermark.

 

[Durock]

Banjo Land in Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts n' Bolts is probably the best I've ever experienced. A gargantuan museum consisting of elements from both Kazooie and Tooie with an amazing orchestrated mesh up of songs perfectly composed by Grant Kirkhope to create an epic feeling of nostalgia.

 

[True Fire]

The greatest of all time will always be Red in Pokemon GSC.

 

[Psychoward]

Spoiler

This is how the ending begins. Elizabeth tears to Rapture and you exit through the bathysphere.

I can't imagine ever forgetting this, BioShock fan or not.

ah, the only part of the ending I remember was

Spoiler

the multiple lighthouses and then multiple Elizabeths killing you. I thought Rapture was solely for Burial at Sea for some reason, and I played 1 and 2 lol

 

[Wichu]

On the topic of Pokémon...

If you somehow make it to the finals of the annual IRL Pokémon Video Game World Championship, you get to hear this song.

Also, to a lesser extent, the

Spoiler

Mewtwo

battle in X/Y is pretty hype.

 

[Dice//]

Kid icarus uprising loves these. One of the secret rooms is eight bit, 3d pit remarks on the nostalgia.

 

[Col WillieSharp]

Is this a callback to Tetris???

 

[Zelias]

On the subject of PSO, PSO Episode 3 (which ended the PSO1 story), featured 'Amplum Umbla' as its final boss. Someone can possibly correct me on the Latin here, but I believe that's a mistranslation of 'Amplam Umbra'... which can be translated from Latin as, yep, 'Profound Darkness'. iirc they also refer to the 'Great Shadow' in the game, which seems likely to be a reference too as that's another potential translation.

So PSO2 was not the first time the series used the PD as the final boss of the 3rd episode.

 

[Chaz Ashley]

When in Mafia II you

Spoiler

get to play the final scene

from the first game as

Spoiler

a regular mission

, but from the

Spoiler

other side so you have to kill the protagonist of the first game.

 

[Squishy3]

Final Fantasy XIV: All of it

 

[pizzacat]

Spoiler

Killing your past selves

in Saints row iv

 

[GrantDaNasty]

In Chrono Cross you travel to a familiar house (Lucca's) in Termina, where you see ghost-like projections of the Chrono Trigger cast.