The 20 Greatest Video Game Cutscenes of All Time
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00:00 Welcome to Mojo Plays and today we're counting down the cinematics across video games that
00:11 stand out as phenomenal, either due to their impact, their grand reveals or how incredible
00:17 the acting is.
00:18 Prepare for spoilers!
00:21 Mile High Club - Bayonetta 2
00:47 Just in case you needed a reminder that this gunslinging witch happens to be absurdly strong,
00:51 here's a full demonstration.
00:53 When a jet plane comes soaring towards her, Bayonetta does the logical thing and kicks
00:58 it back into the sky, while wearing heels.
01:08 What follows is your typical barrage of sexiness and gunplay, but there's no getting over
01:12 the initial WTF moment where Bayonetta showed that she doesn't skip leg day.
01:17 You'd think we'd be used to her antics by now, but apparently not.
01:28 The End of Big Boss - Metal Gear Solid 4 - Guns of the Patriots
01:41 Leave it to Kojima to wrap up every single Metal Gear story beat in a 20 minute cutscene.
01:46 That also happens to be beautifully acted and delivers a bittersweet conclusion for
01:50 Snake that hits so much harder than it should.
01:53 Following the reveal that his clone daddy Big Boss is alive, father and son discuss
01:57 the nature of the Patriots, Fox die, their fallen comrades and practically everything
02:02 else.
02:03 However, it's Big Boss' actions here that truly cement this scene as phenomenal.
02:16 Not only does he get to salute the boss' grave again, but makes peace with Snake, enjoying
02:21 one final smoke before passing on, even imparting some fatherly wisdom along the way.
02:32 The Greatest Responsibility - Spider-Man - Peter Parker is no stranger to grief, but this was
02:47 something else.
02:48 In order to save the citizens of New York from the Devil's Breath virus, he has to
02:52 hand over the antidote, but in doing so dooms an ailing Aunt May to her death.
03:01 It's in these final moments that May reveals she's known that Peter has been Spider-Man
03:05 all along, expressing her pride and love for him as she fades away.
03:09 Even though he's beyond tempted to save someone so precious to him, Peter instead makes the
03:13 hardest choice, the responsible one, despite the cost being monumental.
03:26 Enter Armstrong - Metal Gear Rising Revengeance.
03:36 On paper, this shouldn't work.
03:39 A random senator is revealed to be the big bad of Raiden's solo outing, only to suddenly
03:44 bulk out, beat the cyborg swordsman senseless, all the while talking about how he played
03:48 football back in college.
03:56 It shouldn't work, and yet it does, and it's all thanks to Armstrong's endless
04:01 capacity for entertainment.
04:03 Every speech, every out of the box action, every punch delivered, it's so insane it
04:08 loops all the way around to being incredible.
04:11 He's got our vote.
04:18 Also, nanomachines.
04:20 Vader Strikes Back - Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order.
04:33 Whatever misgivings gamers might have had towards the Dark Lord of the Sith was instantly
04:37 snuffed out with this chilling reveal.
04:40 Upon besting the second sister, Kal and Cere do their best to try and bring the vengeful
04:44 former padawan back to the light, only for a familiar sound to creep into earshot.
04:52 Triller's petrified state paired with Vader's iconic breathing ratchets up the tension tenfold,
05:01 culminating when the Sith Lord cuts her down for her failure.
05:11 And just like that, we all learn to fear Vader again.
05:14 Brother vs Brother - Devil May Cry 5.
05:26 Reunited and it feels so good.
05:29 Well, for the fans anyway.
05:31 For Dante and Vergil, it's another chance to bust out their devil triggers and get to
05:35 brawling.
05:36 The cutscene right before the smoking, sexy and stylish showdown against Vergil is a brilliant
05:40 depiction of the Sons of Sparda and their violently complex relationship.
05:47 Dante's devil may care attitude, Vergil's unwillingness to abandon his path to power,
05:53 the silent acknowledgement that fighting to the death is the only brotherly bond the two
05:56 have left.
05:57 It's just fantastic.
06:06 The Killing Joke - Batman Arkham City
06:18 The endless game of life and death between Batman and the Joker is a staple and constant
06:23 in media.
06:24 You can imagine everyone's shock when they killed off the clown prince of crime at the
06:28 end of Arkham City.
06:29 Unable to resist the chance to pull a fast and painful gag on Batman, the Joker lashes
06:33 out with a knife, but in doing so, causes the one vial of antidote that could cure his
06:38 deathly affliction to fall to the ground and break.
06:44 Seeing the funny side, Joker succumbs as you would expect, by sharing a final laugh with
06:49 his mortal enemy right up until he perishes.
06:51 It's a perfect snapshot of what made Kevin Conroy's Batman and Mark Hamill's Joker
06:56 such a tour de force.
07:02 A True Patriot - Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater
07:17 This might just be Kojima's masterpiece.
07:19 A plot twist that recontextualises everything we thought we knew, all the while saturating
07:25 it in sorrow.
07:26 After killing his mentor, Snake, aka Big Boss, is informed that she never actually betrayed
07:31 the United States.
07:33 That she willingly orchestrated her own demise as a means to complete her final mission,
07:38 disgracing herself in the eyes of everyone that would never know her sacrifice.
07:42 Everyone except for Snake.
07:49 With tearful narration and the now immortalised image of Snake saluting at the Boss' grave,
07:54 we're given the mother of all sombre conclusions.
08:04 Astarion Breaks The Cycle - Baldur's Gate 3
08:13 As you might expect, how Astarion's personal arc concludes is down to the actions and choices
08:18 of the player.
08:19 Does he sacrifice his brethren and become the vampire ascendant?
08:23 Or should he push away the prospect of power and instead face his trauma?
08:27 While both have their merits, there's so much to love about witnessing the pale elf
08:31 choose the latter.
08:38 Neil Newbond's towering performance as he weeps over the dead body of the man who caused
08:42 him so much misery is breathtaking on every level.
08:46 The whole encounter may be a painful ordeal, but seeing Astarion take the first step towards
08:51 bettering himself resonates oh so deeply.
08:58 Elena Discoveres The Truth - Uncharted 4 - A Thief's End
09:10 He escaped a crumbling tower, outran and outgunned a truck dead set on ending his life.
09:15 And yet, for all of that, the most vicious challenge that Nathan Drake experiences in
09:20 his swan song of an adventure is walking into his hotel room to find his wife waiting for
09:25 him and she is not happy.
09:31 This is where the bubble bursts for Nate.
09:33 In his desperation to reclaim the glory days, he was willing to lie to the person who loves
09:38 him the most and now has to face the consequences.
09:42 It's a hard reality check for all parties involved, including us.
09:46 And that's what's so brilliant about it.
09:53 The Power of Friendship - Final Fantasy XVI
10:05 The final bout against Ultima was going to have to be something really spectacular in
10:10 order to reach the heights of previous boss battles.
10:12 It did not disappoint.
10:15 Following the harrowing death of his brother, Clive resolves to finally lay waste to the
10:19 monster responsible.
10:27 What follows is unfiltered hype as he channels each of the icons, which in turn echo the
10:32 voices of his loved ones, supporting him as he continues to thrash Ultima every step of
10:37 the way.
10:38 This is what happens when you let Yoshi be cook.
10:48 Isshin Awakened - Sekiro - Shadows Die Twice
11:00 Should you somehow make it through the absolute gauntlet that is this game, your final challenge
11:05 awaits you with sword in hand.
11:08 And he is not going down easily.
11:10 Due to the power of the Black Mortal Blade, Genichiro's dream of protecting the Ashina
11:15 clan is made manifest by summoning his deceased grandfather to defeat Wolf once and for all.
11:21 The Isshin that emerges from his grandchild's fallen body is that of the Sword Saint in
11:25 his prime.
11:33 Even when compared to actual monsters such as the Demon of Hatred and the Divine Dragon,
11:37 Isshin's aura is one of absolute authority, and just like that, every player knew they
11:43 were about to get demolished.
11:51 The Definition of Insanity - Far Cry 3
11:59 This goes to show that even with minimal screen time, a great character with great dialogue
12:04 backed by a great performance can eclipse all others.
12:07 Case and point, Voss.
12:09 Unhinged yet wholly captivating, what was only meant to be a throwaway henchman swiftly
12:14 rose up to become one of the faces of modern video game villainy.
12:18 And nowhere was he more terrifying than when giving this monologue.
12:28 It perfectly summarises everything we love and fear about Voss.
12:32 His sadistic tendencies, his twisted charisma, how he's a victim of the same madness he's
12:37 preaching against.
12:38 He says so much but so little, and entranced an entire generation with this violent soliloquy.
12:50 Herald of Darkness - Alan Wake 2
13:03 Sam Lake is an absolute mad lad.
13:06 Not only did he put a musical in the middle of his game, he made it integral to the narrative,
13:11 intrinsically wove it into the gameplay, choreographed the whole thing in live action, and created
13:17 a banger of a metal track in one fell swoop.
13:29 Trapped inside an endless loop which just so happens to take the form of a late night
13:32 chat show, Alan Wake is forced to take part in one hell of a performance, singing about
13:38 the tragedies of his past while busting a move.
13:40 It's a hundred shades of bizarre, beautiful and brilliant.
13:45 Voss making a great argument that the old gods of Asgard should be in everything.
14:00 Welcome to Rapture - Bioshock
14:02 A world of progress, the city of tomorrow.
14:10 The reveal of the undersea metropolis of Rapture is as mesmerising as it is unsettling.
14:15 Meant to serve as a beacon to pioneers who want to escape the confines of morality and
14:20 government, Andrew Ryan's dream is laid bare for us to witness as we slowly glide towards
14:25 it.
14:33 Paired with Ryan's hypnotic narration, we're almost compelled to believe in his promises,
14:38 only to be greeted to a waking nightmare forged from the worst of what humanity has to offer.
14:51 The death of Arthur Morgan - Red Dead Redemption 2
15:02 There's no happy ending for outlaws at the turn of the century, even for a magnificent
15:07 bastard like Arthur.
15:08 After exposing Micah for the rat he is, the Van der Linde gang fractures and erupts, leading
15:13 to Arthur trying to bring down the traitor himself.
15:16 Sadly, Arthur's tuberculosis proves to be too much for him to overcome.
15:21 While Micah and Dutch slink away into the shadows, Arthur is greeted by the morning
15:25 sun as life slips away from him.
15:34 It's a heart-wrenching yet tranquil ending, fittingly bestowed to someone with such a
15:38 violent past, but who also bore a noble soul.
15:42 Pair that with the music, and you've got video game storytelling at its most devastatingly
15:47 poignant.
15:57 The Final Colossus - Shadow of the Colossus
16:09 Every encounter with these larger-than-life sentinels has been epic in scope, but this
16:14 is something else entirely.
16:16 Even if you ignore all the foreboding and uncertainty surrounding Wanda's quest to
16:20 slay these beings so a duplicitous deity could maybe bring back his beloved, Malice's introduction
16:26 is all kinds of intimidating.
16:35 The storm weather, the Colossus's sheer scale, how the light and shadow and rain all
16:40 help to create the image of a creature you really, really, REALLY do not want to be messing
16:46 with.
16:47 We'd even go as far as to say that the presentation surrounding the 16th Colossi is borderline
16:51 majestic.
16:52 If not for the unholy fireballs it summons a moment later to snipe us from across the
16:57 plateau.
17:01 Oh Captain, My Captain - Mass Effect 3
17:13 He may not have been part of the crew, but Anderson was a vital figure in Shepard's
17:18 life.
17:19 As a captain, a mentor and a father figure, he remained the moral compass all throughout
17:23 the trilogy.
17:24 So, as you can imagine, to witness both he and Shepard struggle as their wounds take
17:28 their toll makes for a difficult watch.
17:35 Before finally succumbing, Anderson says he's proud of Shepard and all they've accomplished.
17:40 Keith David is incredible here, making Anderson's final words ones of strength, compassion and
17:46 familial love.
17:48 And damn if it doesn't hurt each and every time we see it.
17:57 Kratos Tells a Story - God of War Ragnarok
18:06 While we were tempted to choose Kratos reclaiming the Blades of Chaos, and trust us, everything
18:12 about that scene is amazing, we went with something a little more subdued, where we
18:17 get to see Kratos doing something we never expected, telling his son a bedtime story.
18:23 On the eve of battle, Kratos tries to comfort Atreus by telling him the tale of the old
18:27 man who cut wood for his village, and how the eventual strain led him to beg for death.
18:39 Christopher Judge's performance is just extraordinary, showing us a vulnerability the likes of which
18:44 we have never seen from Kratos.
18:47 Fear and fatherhood all roll together, giving us a true glimpse into just how much of a
18:51 changed man the former God of War has truly become.
19:06 The Last of Us A single conversation, that's all this is,
19:20 and yet it encompasses everything that makes The Last of Us such an exceptional piece of
19:24 art.
19:25 After finally finding a moment's peace, Ellie confronts Joel over the fate of his daughter,
19:29 Sarah, leading to a bitter back and forth between the two.
19:33 The exchange is raw, hostile, and layered with all manner of grief on both sides.
19:38 It's a turning point in Joel and Ellie's relationship, one that would pave the way
19:41 for an inseparable bond, but here, it's a visceral war of words that showcases both
19:47 at their lowest points.
19:56 Troy Baker and Ashley Johnson pour their hearts and souls into this, and it really shows,
20:02 crystallising how even amidst a post-apocalypse filled with fungus zombies, it's the human
20:07 elements that hit the hardest.
20:16 Which cutscene do you think showcases the best the medium has to offer?
20:19 Let us know in the comments!
20:35 Thanks for watching!
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