Geography 101: What is the best opening level in gaming?
Hard not to mention multiple choices, I can't pick just one.
Breath of the Wild, Great Plateau: You know it. I know it. Not much more needs to be said.
Resident Evil 4, Village: What's great about the opening sequence of Resident Evil 4 is how much it works from an atmospheric subversive perspective. The idea of slowly entering a village and realizing how fucked up the situation is is amazing, and it's a prime example of how Resident Evil's focus on gameplay and over-the-top scenarios can lead to amazing story concepts. I played this game much later than most people but I can only imagine how this was to play in 2005.
Halo: Combat Evolved: What I love about answering Halo is that I can be referring to either the tutorial level (the ship) or the first real level (landing on the Halo ring) and both would be a correct answer. Both missions are insanely iconic and just so fucking well done. The first one is a great example of fantastic scripted sequences back to back, the second level is an example of exploration done right.
Sonic the Hedgehog, Green Hill Zone: I mean, come on. It's one of the best platforming levels of all time. It eats 1-1 for breakfast and spits it out.
The Great Ace Attorney 2: Resolve, 2-1: Feels weird including this, but I'll do it anyways. This is just such an amazing case, in a series where the first case is either a mildly amusing tutorial or a completely boring mind numbing tutorial.
Half-Life: A lot has been said about this opening. I won't say much more, but even as a guy who doesn't really like slow story based openings in games, this is one of my favorite sequences ever. It does get a little slow on replays, but still awesome.
Nier: Automata: Legitimately one of the best parts of the game. The opening to Automata is so good its hard to get used to the opening hours after it. This is the game at its most raw with the best sequencing of events, actual challenge in the combat, the second best use of the schmup gameplay in the entire game (second only to the ending), and the same great music you come to expect in the rest of the game. It's a story-based linear action tutorial, all killer, no filler, and it's awesome. It even has a little character arc between 9S and 2B that's resolved just within those 2-3 hours.
And of course, my favorite and the most badass opening quote in all of gaming:
(don't know why the audio is kind of off in the video, oh well)