Now, this question is incredibly subjective in the fact that I'm not even quite sure what "heart" means myself. Essentially, what game do you feel has a sense of sincerity and endearingness that it's completely irresistible. It doesn't even need to be particularly fantastic in terms of quality, just lovable overall.
Oh, jeez, probably something made by Nintendo. Their games are generally polished to a shining degree and look like more fun than a barrel full of monkey butlers with silly string. I'd say I found Mario 64 to be one of the most endearing games I ever played. I was pretty young at the time, but I remember crying at the end.
Wonderful 101, for certs. Anything with a dedicated henshin sequence is being genuine as fuck. The villains are over-the-top villainous caricatures of the ones you see in Saturday morning cartoons, the heroes even more so, the levels fun, the combat deep and enjoyable, and running around the environment with a hundred superheroes evokes some sort of childish glee long tamped down by the vindictiveness of life.
I'd like to say The Last of Us. It's not what I would call a 'feel good' title but it had plenty of heart. I think almost all of that comes from Joel, and his connection to Ellie, not really Ellie herself. Ellie could have been replaced with anything or anyone and I would still be moved by Joel's need to protect her.
Oh, wow, I like this one. We need to be able to up vote threads. Actually, that would turn us into reddit, so never mind. Anyway, a lot of my favorite titles have this.
FF7:
I'm not being a fan boy, and I'm not going to prattle on about the usual things. Instead, there's a reason why I feel this game has a lot of heart.
https://youtu.be/9qnyxd7Vq0Q?t=44s
Yes, that's THE scene you. The famous one. But, here's the thing. It wasn't so much about Aerith as it was about the writers mother. Watch that scene again, and really read Cloud's dialogue. You can FEEL the writers heart bleeding during that scene. And that's something most games lack, both before and after this title. Even great titles, like Chrono Trigger. FF7 had a sincerity that most games lack. The central theme of the game is about loss, and grief, and life. We see it again and again with different characters. Most of them have lost something, or someone. The writer is searching himself and expressing his grief through his work. That's what seperates FF7 from FF13. In FF7 the loss is real. And, yet, the writer never loses track of the brighter aspects of life. In the end the characters move on from their grief. This is why FF7 stands out.
Silent Hill 2:
This game really got to me, but the scene with James and his wife clenches it for me.
https://youtu.be/ZEacfO0ztX4?t=1m41s
Oh, man, that scene. There was such a weight in me during that scene, and yet I felt weirdly free at the end. Just like James. That games was so unique, few can match it.
Zelda: Wind Waker
It's not the best Zelda, but if any game had heart, this ones it. Everything from the character designs, to the dialogue, to the facial expressions screamed of passion. It just makes me happy to play windwaker. What a wonderful game.
Oh, god, it's too adorable!
ICO:
Of course this game gets mentioned. Heart? This game IS heart. I love the two protagonists, their great.
I'm sure I'm going to be thinking of other titles when this post is sent (probably three days later while doing something completely unrelated), but for now I'd like to submit to you Bastion. While it's short and quite simple gameplay-wise, it is so lovingly crafted and narrated, so full of charm that it's very easy to get attached to. The colour palet and the design of the baddies give it a warm, comforting atmosphere- which may or may not be deceitful.
I disagree. But my opinion is clouded due to it being the only Zelda game I've ever finished.
OT: I could list quite a few, in all likelihood. Dust: An Elysian Tail, Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons, anything made by Klei, Ori and the Blind Forest, Darkest Dungeon, Freedom Planet, Journey, Final Fantasy IX, Persona 4...
Earthbound (Mother 2) comes to mind, it's light-hearted, whimsical, never takes itself too serious and yet has a way of capturing a part of you and making you feel almost childlike when you play it, you really connect with the silent protagonist Ness because he is you, you are going on this grand adventure, leaving home, and sometimes it's scary, and sometimes you feel homesick, sometimes you make friends, sometimes you play, sometimes you fight and fall down but have to get back up and give it a good try, and sometimes you just gotta smile for the camera and say "Fuzzy Pickles".
I would say Mother 3 also has a lot of heart but it sometimes was a little too overt with it, it beat you over the head with it's emotions deliberately telling you "this is the part where you cry". Earthbound was more subtle, it never felt like it was playing with your emotions, it just opened itself to be experienced the way you want.
Fappy said:
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was a love letter to both Super Mario and classic JRPGs. It's twice as endearing as Paper Mario, imo.
I love this game and often lament that I'll probably never see another game like it. I just can't get into Paper Mario because it feels like a pale imitation of this, like they just didn't know how to get that same level of charm back.
It's not the nicest game in tone but I think Umineko No Naku Koro Ni Chiru might count in a way, it's hard to explain cuz Umineko is layered upon itself so to explain one thing requires knowledge of former facts. The first game was kind of straightforward but they make a point in Chiru that everything is all about perspective, from how each rotation of the board goes to every individual character you could make a case for them being likable or unlikable. For fucks sake, the tagline for the last 4 episodes is "without love, truth cannot be seen" and that corny line has significant impact on everything going on. Or is it a nice game in tone? Probably not but that fuckin' line is thrown around so hard it's suddenly hard to judge...
For example, I fucking despise Erika, I have done since I first laid eyes on her. I think they tried to pull some sympathy cards out in her favour in episode 6 especially but as forgiving as I am, fuck that. She is fucking disgusting in every way, but some people will find her tragic and empathise with her i'm sure. Also are Lambda and Bern truly evil, uncaring witches ready to trade anything for momentary entertainment, or are they desperately running from their pasts and their cruelty just an unfortunate method of staving that off that they've picked up along the way. The game board itself is questionable in content too, murder is grim in general afterall but how acceptable is it within the realms of infinite revivals? Also do Lambda and Bern love or hate each other because I honestly cannot tell. There's being tsundere, then there's Lambda promising Bern that she would love to lock her in a luxurious castle and drop one fist sized diamond in there per day until she gets crushed to death by diamonds eventually. VERY eventually.
I had Bern pegged as the most reasonable of the two but Lambda is the much more reliable one by far, she likes to take the impartial roles every time. There's something fitting about The Witch of Certainty being the more reliable and less crazy of the two of them in hindsight. There's something very charming about The Witch of Miracles and The Witch of Certainty who have the worst affinity between their powers being best buds(?)
I would say it has the most heart of any game I've seen, not because of its cuteness, but because nothing about it (thematically or narratively) feels cheap or forced... Well, except for Zelda herself, obviously. But apart from that the game has an earnesty to it comparable to a Miyazaki movie.
I'd also like to mention Wolfenstein: The New Order. It's rare for me to play a game in which I seriously like every single character in it.
Yeah I think you'll find games don't have hearts I'm afraid... I always found the Final Fantasy games, mainly VII, VIII and X, kind of emotional, to my younger self, which is where the heart is as like you said this is entirely subjective.
What one person calls heart another person calls emo or something else slyly insulting. Obviously I understand what you mean though just thought I'd get that out of the way.
I would say that LISA is full of heart, a sincere happiness and sadness that fills the land, as well as genuine humour. Even if you don't laugh (you will), you can tell that the writer honestly felt this story was worth telling, and I agree.
Darkest Dungeon is a darling of a game, a labour of love from start to finish. I can't recommend this enough.
That's why I love Super Metroid, because it experimented and unfortunately it is seen as niche for it.
It didn't need to have the build up it did. It didn't need to be one big challenging puzzle full of well hidden secrets that test all your skills. It didn't need creepy bosses that surprise you in different ways. It didn't need to be so replayable because of all the secret skills and how you were meant to find secret connections for quick passage. Also the developers didn't really have to stay the final month before release in the studio to make sure it was finished off well, but they did, and what a hell of a game it is for it. The Nintendo masterpiece, just one above Majora's Mask, and both of those games wouldn't be released these days.
Of course heart doesn't explain as much as just a great quality game, which there are many, but I only saw that quality in the 90s and early 2000s.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
