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Has a game ever made you feel emotional?

Bluecondor

Member
Division I in the New York City dead-of-winter setting with discarded Christmas decorations everywhere really hit. Just an awesome setting for a game.
 

Impotaku

Member
Sky: children of the light. The most beautiful & relaxing game i have played in over 37 years of gaming it's like been inside a dream the ending was so beautiful it made me ugly cry. All through the game you were gathering winged light but in the eye of eden you have to give it all up to save petrified souls and in doing so you become one yourself, on the other side you meet all the people you saved it's really wholesome.

I'm locking this ending video in spoiler tags in case anyone wants to play the game as the games totally free. I'd have gladly paid full price for this game.
 
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CatLady

Selfishly plays on Xbox Purr-ies X
Ori and the Will of the Wisps - the whole game is filled with feels, but it was so sad when Ku got hurt

Halo Reach - From the opening note of OST to the final to bitter end of the game. You know before you even booted up the game it was not going to be a joyous victory for Noble team and the cracked helmet at the end of Lone Wolf is so, so sad.

Red Dead Redemption 2 - Two emotions. 1) Anger at how annoying and dull the gameplay was and 2) I was really sad when my faithful white Arabian horse died
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
I shed a tear after beating Elden Ring for the first time. It was many things:

1. A game I had waited years for, was coming to an end.

2. A game that was so satisfying to play from beginning to end. It felt like some sorta checkbox was checked inside my mind. It could have seriously been a euphoric or religious moment.

3. It was sad because we will probably wait another 4-5 years before we get another game and I don’t know if it’ll have this much of an impact. Which means anything could happen.

4. I wondered if my kids will ever experience this exact feeling. I had that moment where I stood up and had a personal moment to myself.

It was a very impactful moment. I remember moments from games I played 5, 10, and 20 years ago. Elden Ring felt like a one of a kind experience.
 

mortal

Gold Member
Red Dead Redemption 2, that ride back when this kicks in.


PositiveDeterminedBasil-size_restricted.gif
 

Gavon West

Spread's Cheeks for Intrusive Ads
Never. Not once. That's why I can't see video games reaching the peaks of movies and television shows as far as universal praise and respect. They do a good enough job with story though. The video game platform just isn't catered to tell a truly compelling story to truly pull on heart strings and raise emotional investment the way TV and movies can. Not even to level of music.
 

bender

What time is it?
Shadow of the Colossus

While I think Red Dead Redemption 2 is easily Rockstar's best effort, which probably isn't saying a lot, the actions of the gang towards the last third of the game and the lack of agency of Arthur really left me frustrated. His affliction also seemed abrupt and not well realized after it was introduced beyond the inevitable. It does have some really strong characters though. I really loved the Hamish stranger encounters.
 
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kunonabi

Member
All the time. Super Metroid and Silent Hill 3 probably had the biggest effects on me. Klonoa would be up there and man I was bawling my eyes out after the first major sequence in Fragile Dreams. Hit way harder than I was expecting.
 
RDR. Only the first game, not the second. Man, I was feeling sad and really down for at least a week after the RDR ending.
TLOU
TLOU2
 
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G-Bus

Banned
Last of Us 2 comes to mind for something kind of recent. The violence and how well done it is... Yea.
Joel's
death.. Yeesh.
 

RPS37

Member
The ending of the original Bioshock.
I was harvesting every little sister throughout the game.
Also, Halo 3, Cortana mission when
The Arbiter finally comes to help. I was literally stressing out a ton leading up to that point and it felt amazing to have the cavalry show up at that point.
 

MScarpa

Member
Ya, pissed the fuck off! Finally purchases Elden Ring because people are saying it's greatest thing since sliced bread. I'm 5 hours in. I have no idea what's going on. I've been getting killed repeatedly. I JUST found out i have to go back to my body to recover my "soul stuff" I have no idea where to go, or what to do, I Don't know how to level, upgrade, etc. The story makes no sense so far. Like WTF is this.
😂
 
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Zeroing

Banned
Ya, pissed the fuck off! Finally purchases Elden Ring because people are saying it's greatest thing since sliced bread. I'm 5 hours in. I have no idea what's going on. I've been getting killed repeatedly. I JUST found out i have to go back to my body to recover my "soul stuff" I have no idea where to go, or what to do, I Don't know how to level, upgrade, etc. The story makes no sense so far. Like WTF is this.
😂
So you never played a souls game!!!
 

Naked Lunch

Member
Silent Hill 2 when it first came out.
I played it over a two night span starting my sessions at 1am with no one in the house.
I felt like I lived that game - and the end bits really got to me.

Star Fox 64 played recently. Not really sure what the deal was but I got overly nostalgic for the entire game, music, bosses, ending, everything. I played the expert path where Fox's father pops up to save you - one of the more memorable scenes from gaming.
 

Fredrik

Member
Brothers a tale of two sons - the water crossing

Red Dead Redemption 2 - Arthur saying goodbye to his horse and Arthur at the mountain

Ori and the blind forrest - cave at the start and the ending

Ori and the will of the wisps - ending

And many more
 

rofif

Banned
Ya, pissed the fuck off! Finally purchases Elden Ring because people are saying it's greatest thing since sliced bread. I'm 5 hours in. I have no idea what's going on. I've been getting killed repeatedly. I JUST found out i have to go back to my body to recover my "soul stuff" I have no idea where to go, or what to do, I Don't know how to level, upgrade, etc. The story makes no sense so far. Like WTF is this.
😂
Lol keep playing. Everything will click aside from story. It makes no sense whatsoever lol
 

NahaNago

Member
Mostly just final fantasy games for me starting from 7 skipping 8 and then 9 and 10. 10 was just a rollercoaster of emotions.
 

Chukhopops

Member
The ending of Yakuza Like a Dragon and especially the part at the lockers. It’s a great scene but the incredible voice acting makes it memorable.
 
A small handful have certainly been emotionally effective for me. Will mention them without spoilers, but the people who played these games should know what I'm referring to.

Last of Us - Sarah

Yakuza Kiwami - Final boss fight, especially after all the shit you go through in Yakuza 0. There's a karaoke song called "Tonight" that also drives this shit home.

Yakuza 6 ending - "first steps" sequence

Red Dead Redemption - "ain't no trouble at all, Abigail" followed by John Marston taking that deep sigh before opening the barn doors.

Red Dead Redemption 2 - Three important ones:
- Arthur Morgan's ride to camp while the song "That's The Way It Is" plays in the background
- Arthur Morgan to his horse: "Thank You"
- Almost the entire ending credits sequence (which is like 1/2 hour long!) Especially the John and Abigail wedding sequence because you know what happens in Read Dead Redemption 1.
 

Fuz

Banned
Oh quite a lot.

Recently the trailer for Return to Monkey Island made me go through all the stages of grief.
 

BlackTron

Member
I think the first time I *ever* felt emotional from a game was the ending of Sonic 2. Pretty good ending for a 6-year-old in a 1992 platformer with no dialog.

But the game cemented into my past with the ways it made me felt is Ocarina of Time.
 

Zannegan

Member
Chrono Trigger had me feeling some things. So did Cave Story, even though I'm not sure I ever knew what was going on in that game. There's probably a few more that I can't think of at the moment.

Whatever the big emotion they're trying to evoke, it's got to be earned but also creep up on me. If they go too heavy handed or jump for unearned moments then it starts feeling like emotional manipulation, which takes me right out of the story. At that point I just get mad at the writers for sucking at their jobs. Generally speaking, less is more.
 
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Soma ending was probably the hardest gut punch.

The story in that game was superb in general.

Yeah, and I'd like to see a Half-Life fan that didn't baw his eyes out at the end of Alyx.
 

tommib

Member
I do think I cried at (spoilers):

Joel flashback at the end of TLOU2.
The ending of D when Laura kills her father.
Arthur dying in RDR2.
The ending of Phantasmagoria when she’s leaving the house with a blank face.
The ending of the Last Guardian (crying like a baby, actually).
Demon’s Souls (2009). 5-3 boss. The music, the speech, the realisation that you’re the monster in that particular situation. Heartbreaking stuff. Remake fucked it up.
Silent Hill 2.
Walking Dead Season 1 Last Episode.
 
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tmlDan

Member
LoU 1 when he loses his daughter, it broke me and the ending of 2 with Joel.

if we're just talking emotion (anger, shock, surprise) in general, that could be a ton of games lol
 
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