Mass Effect 2’s opening death was my first contact with the series
The first time I met Mass Effect’s Shepard, I watched him die.
MTG’s Dramatic Entrance card explains one of Avatar’s best season 1 moments
In season 1 of Avatar: The Last Airbender, few moments land harder than the reveal that the ancient, mad king of Omashu is, in fact, Aang’s childhood friend Bumi. He’s…
Video game openings used to say more with less
When I think of my favorite opening scenes in video games, plenty of blockbuster moments come to mind: Uncharted 2’s unforgettable train sequence, Resident Evil 4’s tense village shootout, and,…
Red Dead Redemption 2’s snowy tutorial is the most important part of the story
Red Dead Redemption 2's snowy tutorial in Colter puts a unique spin on teaching. It's got all the usual things you'd expect from an opening segment — explainers for how…
Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s Great Plateau reinvented the series
It’s the opposite of a dramatic entrance, really. The lore has been laid out as if inherited from books of legend; Link is just a normal boy, and his world…
Satoshi Kon’s Paprika opens with a mind-bending credits montage
Several American filmmakers have also borrowed liberally from Kon’s boldly surreal visual language, including Darren Aronofsky, whose Requiem for a Dream and Black Swan mimic Perfect Blue to a concerning…