Nobody ever shed a tear over a video-game character's death.

[MurderousToaster]

At the end of GTAIV I chose to kill Dimitri because otherwise Roman would die, and for some retarded reason they expect you to care about Kate. Personally I didn't see anything likeable about her besides her looks and all she did was make sarky comments about the fact you were a sociopathic killer until Pegorino AK-47s her face in. Then you have to do a whole mission about payback but what am I paying back? Most of the support characters were more likeable than Kate, hell, even the people you meet on the 'net were more likeable, but they expected you to care, even cry.
I didn't.

 

[SpeakingDemon]

Long forgotten, I'm sure, but they're re-releasing it so I don't feel like a total caveman for bringing it up.

::Ahem:: Chrono Trigger::


***SPOILER ALERT! WAAAAAY OLD VIDEO GAME SPOILER ALERT!***
The moment that Chrono stands up to Lavos, only to be vaporized was one of the most jarring in any video game I have ever played. The subsequent quest to save him from his fate and his eventual ressurection provoked equally powerful emotions. It's one of the only times I have ever seen a game emphasize the long-term grief that the death of a character can cause.
***********************************************************

Not to take the game too seriously, mind you. But I love it without qualification, and can't think of a more poignant moment in video games.

 

[drkotaku]

Bioshock made me cry. However that was only because I realised there would never be another game with a plot this gripping for another 3-4 years -_-;;

{Edit}
Haunting Ground did because it was so crushingly depressing.....
but this is reeeeeeeeeeally bugging me there was one worse than that and I can't for the life of me remember what it was.

 

[Scorched_Cascade]

Ajay and killian (command and conquer 3)

Spoiler

when he testifes against her

made me sad the first time i saw it
Timesplitters 3 when you fix the timeline so your robot buddy never existed
Timesplitters 2 death of Corporal Heart
Final Fantasy X story line in general- lovers when one knows that they are going to die
Call of duty 4 ending didnt make me cry but made me very very sad

In my oh so humble opinion this guy is spouting rubbish but then he's a crtic what else is new?

 

[Avida]

Ajay and killian (command and conquer 3)

Spoiler

when he testifes against her

I dont mean to sound mean but... seriously?! :s

 

[PersianLlama]

End of Metal Gear Solid 4.

Spoiler

Especially when you thought snake died, and then when Big Boss died.
Edit: Naomi's death made me sad, but I didn't shed a tear.

Also all the other Metal Gear Solid's, but MGS4 most of all.

And when

Spoiler

Eli died and Alyx's reaction (as said above)

In Half-Life.

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

I've never cried, but there are a few moments that really affected me, particularly in Half-Life and Mass Effect.

Spoiler

Eli's death and Alyx's reaction, this was the closest I've ever gotten to crying over a video game. The next one would be on Virmire (I think) where you have to choose which of your human teammates lives and which one dies.

The Mass Effect one really got me, I didn't expect it and it REALLY made me want to make Saren pay. Though the character I chose seemed like they'd resent me the least for it, they were also my less favorite of the two.

 

[cainx10a]

Some might say that FF VII:Crisis Core was an unnecessary addition to the series, but Zack's death almost did make me shed a few tears. Metal Gear Solid (Otacon's sister death, Sniper Wolf's death, and quite a lot of characters from 1 - 3).

 

[dooner11]

Am I the only one on The Escapist who has played Lost Odyssey?

 

[PedroSteckecilo]

Am I the only one on The Escapist who has played Lost Odyssey?

Man do not even get STARTED with Lost Odyssey, that game is a damn SOB FEST it almost not worth listing. The entire thing is like an experiment in making you cry.

 

[Thirtysomething]

Games haven't yet reached the level of narrative sophistication for me for them to elicit actual physical tears.

Off-topic, one thing that did make me cry was certain points during the 5-series long HBO show, 6 Feet Under. I defy anyone to watch that all the way through and not shed a tear at some point.

Sorry, but all the games I ever played so far fall drastically short in storytelling and character development when compared to their bigger brothers, such as 6feet. They certainly have the potential to, but they need to mature a LOT first. Gaming is still very much in its infancy as a storytelling medium, in my opinion.

 

[SecretTacoNinja]

I saw (heard really) the flashback of (Bioshock Spoiler)

Spoiler

Jack's mother getting killed in Bioshock

I don't recall.

Huh?

Spoiler

You know when you're in the Eve strip club and there's that back room and a woman is shouting something like "No please! I didn't know Fontaine was behind it! Ryan... I love you... NOOO!"
Yeah? That was Jack's mother. I'm a Bioshock nerd. ^_^

 

[MattyboyJ]

Grandia 2 just after you leave the frustrating moon level you loose one of the strongest characters and get back the annoying little prince with the bad voice acting.

 

[AceDiamond]

MGS3 definetely:

Spoiler

Finding out from EVA the entire story of why The Boss did what she did and realizing that she essentially allowed herself to be used and sacrificed like a pawn in chess just to make sure the world would be safe from nuclear war is one of the most heartwrenching moments in gaming for me, made more impactful by the fact that using the 1st Person QTE at the gravesite and seeing Big Boss, who didn't even get too broken up over losing his eye, tearing up at the end.

 

[LadyZephyr]

The end of Okami, twice actually. Once for when Issun left Amaterasu and another when Issun got everyone to pull a "clap your hands for Tinkerbell" moment to revive Ammy's powers. I had to pause the game in the middle of the final boss battle and cry for a few minutes before I could finish. I hear a lot of gamers didn't like Issun, but I had a lot of begrudged affection for him, so the last two hours killed me in the best way.

 

[Dapper Ninja]

There are two, and only two, moments I have ever cried because of something in a video game (Never cried for anything from any other form of entertainment):
The end of the first Kingdom Hearts. Sora having to be seperated from his friends so soon after he had reunited with them while he could do nothing but watch made me really sad.

Angeal dying in Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core. It wasn't really his death itself that made me cry, but more of seeing how sad Zack was because of it.

 

[Doug]

I've never actually cried over a game character...but I'll admit I've come close, once or twice.

But that said, I've never cried at a movie - frankly, this could be more an indiment about the poor movie quality lately, but still, even good, powerful movies, like Forest Gump or Shawshank Redeemion or Hotel Randa, have never made me cry.

IF what the movie critics are on about is emotional attachment/investment in characters, yes, I have felt attached to many video game characters. Quite a few movie characters too.

EDIT: Hell, even Team Fortress 2's characters I feel some affection for - but thats Valve's excellent characterisation's, I think.

 

[Wyatt]

i dont know about flat out crying, the only game i ever actualy cryed over was FF7, but i have more than once gotten attached to my game avitars, much much more so than pretty much any movie i ever seen.

as an example , years ago i started playing Ever Quest, when i first started playing i ran across a group of people that liked to 'roll play' i thought they were raging nut jobs. it was just a game after all, i was much more interested in killing spiderlings than pretending i was a barbarian warrior to everyone around me ........ fast forward a few years, im now a level 70 beast lord with a full back story and a roll playing personality that i found it hard to not 'become' when i loged in. i WAS a 8' tall cat whose mission in life was to see the universe and battle the Gods so i could return to my home and train the cubs to further our cause and make the tabbys as a race a more powerful part of the history and lore of Norrath.

the closest ive ever come to that with a movie was wanting to be a Jedi when i was like 7 and the first star wars came out, and that only lasted a few months at most, i STILL miss my tabby toon even years after i quit the game

 

[Simski]

Some games fail horrible at trying to make you feel sad when a companion dies.
One of those being Fable.
Even though I like playing good, I always consider killing Whisper at the end of the arena for being such a kill stealing *****.

Also about

Spoiler: Half-Life 2

I was way to enthralled by the blood and gore during Eli's death to not enjoy the scene.
Sure I like Eli, he's a lovable guy indeed.
However, the advisor's way of killing him was too much of an attention grabber for me.