…when you boot up a game you’ve been looking forward to for months for the first time.

….when you boot up the latest entry in a favourite series and hear a familiar theme playing.

…when you’re fighting a tough boss and you use the very last magic spell/skill you have….and the boss dies’

….and you say “Whew, that was close!”

….when you climb a tall building in Assassin’s Creed and just crouch, gazing out at the vista and thinking “I can climb all of this.”

….climbing up to High Hrothgar in Skyrim

…when One They Fear starts up and you can’t NOT fight that dragon now

….ditto for Watch the Skies

…when you’re walking around and suddenly the music changes, and you’re like “Holy shit, is that from MORROWIND?!”

….just forget about what’s happened to Morrowind by the time Skyrim rolls around, FORGET!

…when you manage to kill an arrogant High Elf mage via Ice Spike to the crotch

….and then you realize what you just did and you laugh your ass off

….when a series you didn’t expect to have awesome music suddenly does.

….when the Spirit of Justice gushes about lyrium in Dragon Age Origins — Awakening

….when Anders kisses Hawke in Dragon Age 2 and you’re like “Okay, I guess my Hawke is bi now….”

….and you tell you’re friend, and she’s like “I know WTF Anders?! Who taught you how to smooch like that?!”

….and you both agree that he’s a pretty good kisser–for a random configuration of ones and zeroes….

….when you spend half an hour defeating a boss using only your sword, Arcane Shield, and an army’s worth of health potions as an Arcane Warrior

…when someone believes you when you tell them you managed to do it

…when you get the opportunity to utter a badass one-liner

….seriously, it never gets old

….when a character you thought you wouldn’t like turns out to be one of your favourites

….when you finally get to give an antagonist a long overdue ass kicking

….”Oh crap, not another tough boss fight–Wait, who is tha–FUCK YEAH, ASTAROTH!”

….I actually said that out loud, my mom was not pleased, it was worth it

…when it took you forever to beat the Fiends in Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne, and then Trumpeter shows up and you beat him on your first try

….when you finally get to the bottom of the Labyrinth of Amala in the same game

…Seriously, that Labyrinth is sadistic

….when an Achievement pops up that you weren’t expecting…

….when you realize the game didn’t give you a break before the final boss fight–and then it turns out the boss is ridiculously easy

…when you figure out that refining the Bahamut card gives you 99 megalixers….

….and suddenly the final boss is laughably easy

….when you pull off a mission using stealth in a non-stealth-based game

….when that character you’ve been chasing since you started playing that dating sim turns up for the final event

….when you’re finally crowned Pokemon Champion

…using Pokemon that you’ve had since the very beginning of the game

….when one of your favourite series FINALLY gets a female protagonist after rebooting the canon so that the previous one didn’t exist

…. even of it would have been better if they’d just kept the old canon

….when you find out one of your favourite characters is going to be in an upcoming game

….and they will be playable

….when, despite the odds, you manage to save all the characters you’ve grown to like over the course of the game

….and even the ones you didn’t like