I just played a game that truly got a emotional reaction.

[dyre]

I thought it was a nice concept, but didn't develop the characters enough for me to feel for them. They were just archetypes to me (the scientist, the innocent child, etc)

I had much more of an emotional response to some scenes in Planescape: Torment. Mostly from the dialogue/text, not the sprites

 

[Liudeius]

I didn't find it emotional at all. Without ever knowing the characters I have no attachment to them. Most of the reason that I found it to be a poor game was because the plot was so stupid. They CURED CANCER! But oh wait, they never tested it on anyone (yet they know that they cured it) so they don't find out until too late that it kills people, and how it is even a problem that it kills people is a mystery too, there are plenty such things, just none with a completely unscientific spreading ability.
THE REASON we haven't cured cancer is because what kills cancer cells kills the rest of the body too, you would have to be absurdly stupid to not test on anything other than cancer cells. (If you happen to be so dumb though, I would advise you take arsenic in the event that you get cancer, it kills the cells quite well.)
Another reason I suppose would be that there is no conflict for me. Although anyone who would put their family before all life known to exist is a horrible person anyway.

 

[dtthelegend]

this is almost a carbon copy of
everyday the same dream...

http://www.molleindustria.org/everydaythesamedream/everydaythesamedream.html

...good anyways

 

[Bocaj2000]

I didn't find it emotional at all. Without ever knowing the characters I have no attachment to them. Most of the reason that I found it to be a poor game was because the plot was so stupid. They CURED CANCER! But oh wait, they never tested it on anyone (yet they know that they cured it) so they don't find out until too late that it kills people, and how it is even a problem that it kills people is a mystery too, there are plenty such things, just none with a completely unscientific spreading ability.
THE REASON we haven't cured cancer is because what kills cancer cells kills the rest of the body too, you would have to be absurdly stupid to not test on anything other than cancer cells. (If you happen to be so dumb though, I would advise you take arsenic in the event that you get cancer, it kills the cells quite well.)
Another reason I suppose would be that there is no conflict for me. Although anyone who would put their family before all life known to exist is a horrible person anyway.

You didn't like the game because of the plot. And you don't like the plot because it displayed exactly what would happen. And you also believe that anyone who values family over strangers is a horrible person.

Are you twelve?

EDIT: That came out wrong. My point is that you should not patronize the people who enjoyed the game. Patronizing makes you look immature.

 

[Bocaj2000]

dub post

 

[gigastar]

Eh, played it when it came out. Discovered bullet hell [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BulletHell] games after completing once.

 

[Trolldor]

Emotional?

*snore*

 

[subject_87]

I've played it in the past, and no joke I was close to tears.

Okay, maybe not quite that, but I agree that it did have genuine emotional impact, but I can see that it's not for everyone.

 

[Freechoice]

I wanted to be cute and went to work 6/7 times. Played with my daughter on the 6th day. Got boned on the last day.

 

[zehydra]

The biggest part emotionally for me

Spoiler

Was when I came back and the wife was in the bathtub full of blood

But I saved my daughter's life.

 

[GiantRaven]

That would have worked a lot better without the Brand New track. The way they suddenly chop it off to return to the main piece of music is considerably jarring considering the nature of the game.

 

[Willem]

I thought that this was a pretentious piece of bullshit. It had a few good ideas going on, but overall it was bad. First thing, the premise was the most unoriginal thing I have ever fucking heard. Cancer research goes horribly wrong and everyone dies, jesus stepdancing christ. The gameplay is basically choosing between paths A, B and C every once in a while, and that's it.
But the worst thing about it was when it was trying to be dramatic. Every dramatic scene was so filled with clichés and stupid writing it was imposiible for me to take this seriously. For example my wife killed herself in front of our kid, fucking seriously. Also there was a hilarious scene with a guy jumping from a rooftop. I thought dying alone with the guilt of murdering everyone in the world was kinda fresh and interesting, but at that point it was all moot.

PS. Being able to play the game only once is pretentious dick move. To probably misquote Yahtzee:
"A game developer who sacrifices gameplay to make an artistic statement must be so far up his own ass he can taste the top of his own head."

 

[emeraldrafael]

I saw this before on onecuponecoffee. it was... alright.

 

[Liudeius]

I didn't find it emotional at all. Without ever knowing the characters I have no attachment to them. Most of the reason that I found it to be a poor game was because the plot was so stupid. They CURED CANCER! But oh wait, they never tested it on anyone (yet they know that they cured it) so they don't find out until too late that it kills people, and how it is even a problem that it kills people is a mystery too, there are plenty such things, just none with a completely unscientific spreading ability.
THE REASON we haven't cured cancer is because what kills cancer cells kills the rest of the body too, you would have to be absurdly stupid to not test on anything other than cancer cells. (If you happen to be so dumb though, I would advise you take arsenic in the event that you get cancer, it kills the cells quite well.)
Another reason I suppose would be that there is no conflict for me. Although anyone who would put their family before all life known to exist is a horrible person anyway.

You didn't like the game because of the plot. And you don't like the plot because it displayed exactly what would happen. And you also believe that anyone who values family over strangers is a horrible person.

Are you twelve?

EDIT: That came out wrong. My point is that you should not patronize the people who enjoyed the game. Patronizing makes you look immature.

I wasn't calling people who played the game and enjoyed it stupid, I was calling the fictional scientists (and the designer) stupid. You are the one making this personal.

The plot was not exactly what would happen. Any real laboratory would have tested it on many animals, then extended multi-year tests on humans, then finally announce to the public that they had cured cancer (they might announce it sooner after the successful animal studies, but they would note that the true breakthrough was still years away). Also they would have no reason to turn it into an airborne cure, it isn't as if they are trying to weaponize it. That airborne cure would also not get out, it would still be contained in a lab, and it would almost certainly not be able to spread so effectively.
As I said, the simple fact that the "cure" kills any cells other than cancer cells means it would never even be announced (much less weaponized). There are millions of things that "cure" cancer if we aren't even going to check whether or not they kill the person first.

So you mean you would prefer to spend five days with your family and let the entire world, including your family, die over working on a cure and saving not only your family (perhaps minus one or two), but also what could be all the life that ever has existed and ever will in the universe?
(Anyway, you do end up spending time with your family while you are saving the world.)

 

[Liudeius]

Holy shit, That game was based on a true story. [http://www.cracked.com/article_18503_how-biotech-company-almost-killed-world-with-booze.html?wa_user1=3&wa_user2=Weird+World&wa_user3=article&wa_user4=flashback]

Are you sure that's real? It's on a site that mostly sets itself up as a joke (it has been a website since 1958 supposedly) and, although I mostly skimmed it, I noticed a few flaws in the article. The team was European, but the EPA, a US agency, was the one that was supposedly supervising them. Also the bacterium, they claimed, existed primarily in the gut lining of mammals, but was conveniently named planticola and they later said that it was in all plants.

Nevermind, I did some searching and I found a few more sites that are perhaps a bit more reputable which agreed.

 

[Bocaj2000]

I didn't find it emotional at all. Without ever knowing the characters I have no attachment to them. Most of the reason that I found it to be a poor game was because the plot was so stupid. They CURED CANCER! But oh wait, they never tested it on anyone (yet they know that they cured it) so they don't find out until too late that it kills people, and how it is even a problem that it kills people is a mystery too, there are plenty such things, just none with a completely unscientific spreading ability.
THE REASON we haven't cured cancer is because what kills cancer cells kills the rest of the body too, you would have to be absurdly stupid to not test on anything other than cancer cells. (If you happen to be so dumb though, I would advise you take arsenic in the event that you get cancer, it kills the cells quite well.)
Another reason I suppose would be that there is no conflict for me. Although anyone who would put their family before all life known to exist is a horrible person anyway.

You didn't like the game because of the plot. And you don't like the plot because it displayed exactly what would happen. And you also believe that anyone who values family over strangers is a horrible person.

Are you twelve?

EDIT: That came out wrong. My point is that you should not patronize the people who enjoyed the game. Patronizing makes you look immature.

I wasn't calling people who played the game and enjoyed it stupid, I was calling the fictional scientists (and the designer) stupid. You are the one making this personal.

The plot was not exactly what would happen. Any real laboratory would have tested it on many animals, then extended multi-year tests on humans, then finally announce to the public that they had cured cancer (they might announce it sooner after the successful animal studies, but they would note that the true breakthrough was still years away). Also they would have no reason to turn it into an airborne cure, it isn't as if they are trying to weaponize it. That airborne cure would also not get out, it would still be contained in a lab, and it would almost certainly not be able to spread so effectively.
As I said, the simple fact that the "cure" kills any cells other than cancer cells means it would never even be announced (much less weaponized). There are millions of things that "cure" cancer if we aren't even going to check whether or not they kill the person first.

So you mean you would prefer to spend five days with your family and let the entire world, including your family, die over working on a cure and saving not only your family (perhaps minus one or two), but also what could be all the life that ever has existed and ever will in the universe?
(Anyway, you do end up spending time with your family while you are saving the world.)

First of all, your original post was very condescending. Reread it. If you disagree, that's your opinion; I'm just giving you mine. This a discussion and not personal. I do not intend to make it personal.

As far as the plot goes, it's just a game. Is it right to hate Virtua Fighter for not being a realistic depiction of a fight? It's not realistic. If that broke your immersion, I'm sorry; if you don't think that the moral choice is that hard of a choice, I'm sorry. I doubt that the designer was thinking practically. He was posing a "what if" and no more.

Also, this is how I played:

(this is more for me than for the sake of discussion) In the game, I went to the lab everyday without breaks until *spoiler* my wife committed suicide. At that point, I broke down (being an RPG, I played the role of the character) I spent the morning with my son in the park the day he died. On the day I died, I spent it in the park and passed while looking at the landscape, much like how I would prefer given the situation. I only had one chance. My interpretation was that my one chance to be a good father (given the situation). If the wife died from the disease, it would be different; I would strive harder to find the cure. However, it was suicide; that has a different emotional impact.

 

[Liudeius]

First of all, your original post was very condescending. Reread it. If you disagree, that's your opinion; I'm just giving you mine. This a discussion and not personal. I do not intend to make it personal.

As far as the plot goes, it's just a game. Is it right to hate Virtua Fighter for not being a realistic depiction of a fight? It's not realistic. If that broke your immersion, I'm sorry; if you don't think that the moral choice is that hard of a choice, I'm sorry. I doubt that the designer was thinking practically. He was posing a "what if" and no more.

Also, this is how I played:

(this is more for me than for the sake of discussion) In the game, I went to the lab everyday without breaks until *spoiler* my wife committed suicide. At that point, I broke down (being an RPG, I played the role of the character) I spent the morning with my son in the park the day he died. On the day I died, I spent it in the park and passed while looking at the landscape, much like how I would prefer given the situation. I only had one chance. My interpretation was that my one chance to be a good father (given the situation). If the wife died from the disease, it would be different; I would strive harder to find the cure. However, it was suicide; that has a different emotional impact.

Well you did start calling me a twelve year-old.
It was meant to be insulting, but only too the game. If you read it without having an immediate reaction to defend the game, you should not find it directly insulting to yourself.
Though I can see that if you personally thought it was a great game, you might find it insulting. If no one could insult games that they dislike though, we wouldn't have reviewers now would we. My insulting of the game, while slightly vulgar, was much more constructive than your average fanboy.

It didn't set itself up as a fantastical situation, it was set up as realistic. Even if it had been in a sci-fi future, this is the type of storyline that has nerds yelling at the horrible writing while accepting the big furry aliens and hyperdrives. Too often writers will ignore logic because they can think of no better way to force the story to end how they want. I'm sure you've seen it in movies, the main character could easily (and obviously) avoid the unfortunate ending, but doesn't just so someone can die and be mourned. This guy may not be a professional writer, but that doesn't mean he/she is allowed to take such easy ways out.

*spoiler*
Really? The wife committed suicide? I thought she just died from the disease and they wanted you to know. Most people bled excessively, I figured the blood just went out the door so you would check it out.
Also, I'm quite sure that was a daughter, it had a dress and long hair.
You still spend time with your daughter while you save the world though, and, since it's a game, it is assumed that you can win it. If you died either way I think it would have been more emotional, having wasted your last hours in vain.
Would you really choose a few more hours with your family after a few years with them when you and you alone can save the entire world and all of the other families facing similar situations (and all life on Earth in general)? After all, saving the world means your child can grow up and you can spend decades with her/him. If you assume you can't save the world, perhaps a choice between family and going crazy on the streets would be valid, but since we know they programed saving the world into the game, it removes any negative return from choosing to cure the disease.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Wait....What? If you try to play a second time, it won't let you? 0_o But...but I want to see what would have happened if I had said "screw the world, I'm sticking with my family".

....Still, great little flash game.