Video games that stir your emotions

[Sansha]

Sometimes video game stories, or events, really stir your emotions. You can get attached to characters, or drawn deeply into the story.

Two moments stand out for me.

Playing Fallout3, going through Vault 87 in search of the G.E.C.K, a Super-Mutant Overlord killed my favorite follower, Clover. This was my first playthrough, and upon exiting Vault 101 I took the road heading north and ended up at Paradise Falls. I purchased Clover with the caps I had found and made on the way up. Then, using console commands, removed her slave collar.
Now when the mutant killed her, for a moment I felt like I had lost a true friend, and I went into a violent rage and slaughtered every mutant I could find with a Super-Sledge. It actually took me a while to calm down.

But moreso, Warcraft.
I had purchased Warcraft III in April 2008, and the story sucked me in like a thousand-dollar whore. After completing RoC and the Frozen Throne, I ran out and got World of Warcraft, starting as an Undead.
Two years later, upon killing the Lich King in Icecrown Citadel, a cutscene plays.
It was emotional finally doing the kill as a guild, and that combined with the story coming to a close got me all teared up. It was a weird feeling.

I'm by no means a roleplayer but I find myself glued to characters and stories, perhaps a little bit too much.

Share your experiences, Escapist. What video games have stirred your primal emotions?

 

[Jack_Uzi]

Vampire the masquerade bloodlines: the whole game trough, but in specific the haunted house was REALLY scary.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

Sometimes video game stories, or events, really stir your emotions. You can get attached to characters, or drawn deeply into the story.

Two moments stand out for me.

Playing Fallout3, going through Vault 87 in search of the G.E.C.K, a Super-Mutant Overlord killed my favorite follower, Clover. This was my first playthrough, and upon exiting Vault 101 I took the road heading north and ended up at Paradise Falls. I purchased Clover with the caps I had found and made on the way up. Then, using console commands, removed her slave collar.
Now when the mutant killed her, for a moment I felt like I had lost a true friend, and I went into a violent rage and slaughtered every mutant I could find with a Super-Sledge. It actually took me a while to calm down.

But moreso, Warcraft.
I had purchased Warcraft III in April 2008, and the story sucked me in like a thousand-dollar whore. After completing RoC and the Frozen Throne, I ran out and got World of Warcraft, starting as an Undead.
Two years later, upon killing the Lich King in Icecrown Citadel, a cutscene plays.
It was emotional finally doing the kill as a guild, and that combined with the story coming to a close got me all teared up. It was a weird feeling.

I'm by no means a roleplayer but I find myself glued to characters and stories, perhaps a little bit too much.

Share your experiences, Escapist. What video games have stirred your primal emotions?

Um... I don't know if I'd ever get emotionally tear-jearked by WoW... Can't really see that happening.

Fallout 3 as well.. Rpgs don't really capture emotion for me. I've never really gotten all vengeful unless someone was being a dick to me and I decided to punish them. Also, you might not wanna mention that you modded the game with console commands...

I guess it's the classical Red Dead Redemption for me... The ending... Not spoiling

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

Vampire the masquerade bloodlines: the whole game trough, but in specific the haunted house was REALLY scary.

I still wish I'd gotten that game one day. Looked decent

 

[Slash Dementia]

The only game that really got to me emotionally was Lost Odyssey, and that was only on disc one.
Oh.. and The Bard's Tale. Both game parts involve a death, but I don't want to spoil anything.

 

[PurpleLeafRave]

The Darkness and Lost Odyssey are the two most emotional games I have ever played.

The sadest moments of both:

Spoiler: The Darkness

When you are made to watch your girlfriend die, and you can't do a thing.

Spoiler: Lost Odyssey

When Lirum dies, and her children start crying. It made me think I'm lucky that nothing like that has happened to me.

 

[Mr. Elemenopee]

I mentioned this not too long ago, but only because I have recently played it and finished it. If you've ever played Final Fantasy: Ring of Fates, my heart goes out to the main character Yuri. I mean in the end all he goes through is just wow. The reason I felt so much for this individual character is because I saw him grow up (well... sorta) and take on all the challenges. He didn't quite seek revenge, but just a way to keep on living and surviving.

Spoiler: spoiler

He saw his dad die, technically he saw his sister die and in the end he ends up living in a pretend world where no one has any memory of what happens except for him. He just accepts it and lives there.

That really touched me and had me in a funk for a couple of days. Um... I guess those were some pretty big spoilers in the end. Buuuut. Um, Okay, sorry if you didn't want them. I'm still trying to figure out how to do the spoiler things.

EDIT: Ah-ha! I figured out how to do them!

 

[Jack_Uzi]

Vampire the masquerade bloodlines: the whole game trough, but in specific the haunted house was REALLY scary.

I still wish I'd gotten that game one day. Looked decent

Maybe you'll still find it on steam. But it's hard to be found in stores. You can try some old school or 2nd hand game stores, but it wasn't a very popular game, alas.

 

[Eliam_Dar]

Ok, some of them are:

The Longest Journey
Dreamfall
Starcraft, when Kerrigan...well you know, and if you don't shame on you
FFX
FFVIII
Warcraft III when Arthas did that thing...you know.
Half Life 2, EP 2
Heavenly Sword
Lost Oddysey
Valkyria Chronicles

 

[Draithx]

Most recently: Tsukihime, Arcueid normal ending. The last few scenes were really sad, the good ending made me happy though.

 

[Vrex360]

Mass Effect still makes me very emotional because I grow to empathize with them and even grow to 'love' them. Seriously I actually had a few real emotional moments watching some of the cinematics in those games, like in Mass Effect 1 and the romance between Ashley and Shepard and the moment where Wrex lowers his gun after being talked down by Shepard and there were some great moments in Mass Effect 2 as well like Thane meeting his long lost son or Mordin having to face his old research and nearly crying or Wrex meeting Shepard and them both being happy to see each other and yes even the scene where Shepard gazes at Ashley's picture lovingly before turning around and returning to the mission.

They were all great really.


Also kind of similar, I always get a fuzzy warm happy feeling when I go and replay the original Halo games because of the happy nostalgic memories.

 

[OceanRunner]

Okami and Shenmue for me.

 

[inFAMOUSCowZ]

Metal Gear Solid 4, made me into a cry baby.

 

[albinoterrorist]

MGS 3. Most emotional game all year, every year.

Spoiler

Your mentor defecting to the Soviets, with you being forced to hunt her down and defeat her. Not only does she hold no enmity against you for it, but it later turns out she was ordered to "defect" and lose to you by the government.

Everything Naked Snake goes through, and the way it warps him from a gruff young operative into severe disillusionment against his mother country, eventually snowballing with later events to lead to his defection and transition to nuclear terrorism..

The birth of one of gaming's greatest villains from the ashes of such a hero..

THAT is emotional.

 

[Lord Krunk]

Provoking an actual emotion, eh?

Just name a Bioware game from KoTOR and beyond. There's been one moment in each that's actually got me to feel the game on a deeper emotional level.

Other than that, I guess Bioshock's plot twist did a reasonable job. And Grim Fandango. And The Path.

 

[captaincabbage]

Sometimes video game stories, or events, really stir your emotions. You can get attached to characters, or drawn deeply into the story.

Two moments stand out for me.

Playing Fallout3, going through Vault 87 in search of the G.E.C.K, a Super-Mutant Overlord killed my favorite follower, Clover. This was my first playthrough, and upon exiting Vault 101 I took the road heading north and ended up at Paradise Falls. I purchased Clover with the caps I had found and made on the way up. Then, using console commands, removed her slave collar.
Now when the mutant killed her, for a moment I felt like I had lost a true friend, and I went into a violent rage and slaughtered every mutant I could find with a Super-Sledge. It actually took me a while to calm down.

But moreso, Warcraft.
I had purchased Warcraft III in April 2008, and the story sucked me in like a thousand-dollar whore. After completing RoC and the Frozen Throne, I ran out and got World of Warcraft, starting as an Undead.
Two years later, upon killing the Lich King in Icecrown Citadel, a cutscene plays.
It was emotional finally doing the kill as a guild, and that combined with the story coming to a close got me all teared up. It was a weird feeling.

I'm by no means a roleplayer but I find myself glued to characters and stories, perhaps a little bit too much.

Share your experiences, Escapist. What video games have stirred your primal emotions?

Um... I don't know if I'd ever get emotionally tear-jearked by WoW... Can't really see that happening.

Fallout 3 as well.. Rpgs don't really capture emotion for me. I've never really gotten all vengeful unless someone was being a dick to me and I decided to punish them. Also, you might not wanna mention that you modded the game with console commands...

I guess it's the classical Red Dead Redemption for me... The ending... Not spoiling

I'm gonna go with you on Red Dead. The whole finale was breathtaking and the story is mindblowingly well acted and written.

 

[Legion]

These are all examples of specific moments in games. If a game has a decent story and characters then it will provoke some emotion or another. So pretty much all them do unless they are something like Team Fortress 2 or a game where you are detached such as RTS'.

Mass Effect 2, Tali's Loyalty mission is definitely one, that was very well voice acted.

The ending of Half Life Episode 2 as well as 90% of the Valve fans on here.

Assuming you play it nicely then the ending of the Fallout 3 mission "Trouble on the Home Front" was quite sad, even if it was almost completely copied from the ending of Fallout.

I felt I should have been sad in relation to Dom and Maria in Gears of War 2 but there was something about it that stopped me, probably that some asshole had told me what was going to happen before I even got the game.

The scene involving Atlas' family and the submarine in Bioshock, again due to terrific voice acting.

 

[Celtic_Kerr]

Vampire the masquerade bloodlines: the whole game trough, but in specific the haunted house was REALLY scary.

I still wish I'd gotten that game one day. Looked decent

Maybe you'll still find it on steam. But it's hard to be found in stores. You can try some old school or 2nd hand game stores, but it wasn't a very popular game, alas.

I don't believe in steam really... I go out and buy my games... Meh... I'll find it one day

 

[tlozoot]

Sense of desperation you get when exploring Rapture
Red Dead Redemption - mood of the west
The rousing bits of Halo
Limbo.