You and Your Horse: Weird Attachments in Games

[DustyDrB]

I'm replaying Red Dead Redemption right now. One of the best moments in the game I think is pretty early, when you're first given a lasso and are asked to assist the MacFarlane ranchers to bring in some new horses. At the end of this segment, you encounter a particularly fine steed. If you manage to tame it, then you're allowed to keep it.

John meets a trusted companion​

Now, on my first playthrough, I grew attached to this horse. I named it Thumper and avoided fast-travel altogether because it just felt special. Thumper went to Mexico with me, and then traveled back. Upon re-arriving in America, I decided to stop by Fort Mercer and reminisce. I stopped for a moment, thought about the great battle that happened and the events that forced me to go to Mexico. And then, in that moment...a god damn cougar came and insta-killed Thumper.

Needless to say, I was furious. I equipped a revolver and unloaded on the cougar. And then I went to skin the animal. But in my fury I neglected to be sure that I was in fact skinning the murderous feline and not my fallen steed who laid next to the cougar. I pressed "Y", and then watched in horror as John removed the hide from Thumper and made some asinine comment about the smell. It was like watching Patrick Bateman at work. What is wrong with you, John!? What has this tragedy made you become??

*Hack, Hack* Beating a dead horse? Skinning and chopping is so much better!​

And that, my friends, was one of the most devastating moments in my life as a gamer. There wasn't enough Moonshine in Armadillo that day to drown out the sorrow.

Talking about it helps. So share your stories, or perhaps your theories. What have you become as attached to in games as I was to Thumper? Why do we form these attachments? How do you react when they are lost?

 

[Beautiful End]

Oh, maker, that story made me laugh...and cry...at the same time.

Yeah, I, too, grew attached to my stallion. I though "Whoa, now I can look like a legit badass!", so I took care of him. But then I grew attached to him. One good night, me, being new to the game still, decided to walk around the desert at night. I was hunting birds or something when suddenly, a stupid mountain lion came out of nowhere and started attacking me. In the darkness, I couldn't tell where he was coming from so I couldn't shoot him properly. In my despair, I called for my horse, trying to do a hit-and-run of some sorts. Turns out the lion was stronger and maybe faster because he also insta-killed my horse. Furiously, I started shooting the damn thing left and right but missed for the most part. After unloading all of my guns on the creature, he died. I stood there for the longest time, pondering what to do with my horse's corpse. Should I leave him there, my faithful companion? Should I skin him so I can carry him around with me forever?
...And then a cougar killed me. So I loaded from my last save and everything was back to normal.

Yeah, it kinda killed the whole atmosphere. You know, living in a world where death is insignificant. but whatever, I got my pal back.

Needless to say, another one of those moments occurred with the companion cube in Portal. At first, I felt dumb for carrying around a stupid cube with me. I depended on the thing for everything. But...he was there with me, unlike, let's say, anyone else. When I was asked to sacrifice him, I became hesitant and realized I ended up caring about that cube. I desperately looked around for another way where he wouldn't have to be destroyed, but there was none. And so, he left me.

Also, my dog in Dragon Age. He's a party member so he can't die like Horsey (From RDR above). But whenever someone started attacking my dog, I would drop everything and I'd go help him. I knew the others could take care of themselves and they didn't really care about the dog. After all, he was MY pet. So that left me to look after my pal. And that I did.

 

[Vault101]

I kept that hoarse throughout the whole game...he was special, because I got him with the mcfarlanes...

in dragon agerigins I played as a female city elf....my warden recruitment came from a big shitstrom during my wedding where the local human nobility decided to help themselfs to my charachter and some elven women, anyway my finacee died

in my inventory I ended up with a "wedding ring" it didnt do anything, it was just there, I dont know if I sold it eventually but I held onto it, even though it was clear my charachter wasnt keen on my arraged fiance..it was to remember him I guess

In fallout 3 I sold all the stuff I got from the vault early on...it wasntl untill later I huh "aquired" a new vault101 jumpsuit and a pair of glasses for sentimetal reasons

snip?

oh damn you skinned the hoarse? haha that made me laugh out loud

 

[dekuton]

Skyrim. Bought the first horse i could at whiterun stables i believe. that horse was freakin amazing. Went after a bandit chief in this stronghold and i got off him away from the place. decently far i thought. not so. that horse saw threats and ran in. killed damn near every single bandit by the time i managed to get there. Then it tanked a freakin dragon for me. survived. we killed that dragon together. then i decided. ok. time to see the greybeards for the first time right? riding along that path. then a bleedin snow leapord leaps out and attacks my horse. i get off the horse and to try to kill the thing and the cat killed my horse. the same horse that killed a stronghold full of bandits. the same horse that tanked a dragon for me as i wailed on the dragons side with my axe. got killed by a giant cat.
i turned the game off

 

[Dr. Paine]

The space hamster in Mass Effect 2/3. It's the only thing that I knew, no matter what, would never die on me.

-salutes- May you roam free and happy on whatever new planets you find, little Boo.

I also tend to get attached to my Pokemon- most notably, the team I developed and won Black with: Reinette the Serpiror, Elusive the Leavanny, Mary the Unfezant, Abby the Gothitelle, and Aaron the Houndoom (with special mention going to a Liepard and Herdier who, while vital early on, eventually had to make way for a more rounded team). Those were pretty much the only pokemon I caught until capturing Reshiram. Sure, a lot of battles were tough. But they won out in the end, every single time. Rotations in the team only came after one of them just couldn't keep up, and I spent hours level grinding once I found the perfect replacement, since most of them tended to be caught at lower levels.

I've also gotten fairly attached to my two shiny Pokemon, who have ensured I will never restart Soul Silver or Black (not just because they're shiny, but because they were both fairly useful in my team at various times); the Dratini I eventually got up to Dragonite in SS, as well as the Larvesta I received in Black that finally evolved into Volcorona just two nights ago. I don't have to go through the same process of loss as everyone else so far has, but I do feel really bad when one of my team gets knocked out or has to be boxed. I guess it's just the way you spend so much time training them, making sure they'll be able to hold their own or absolutely steamroll the competition... you can't help but get a little attached.

 

[endtherapture]

I got weirdly attached to Lydia in Skyrim and always reloaded when she died in a tough battle, even if I survived.

 

[Et3rnalLegend64]

I'm kinda sad but not entirely surprised that this thread doesn't have more posts. If you made another "video game crush" thread, then we'll have a hundred people singing the praises of Alyx Vance and Samus.

Personally I don't think I have any such attachments, or at least any with such detailed stories as you guys have. I had a penguin when I still played Maplestory. It was cute and picked up my items for me. That's about it. I wish P4's Izanagi had decent stat growth so I could keep using him throughout the game because he's a badass. I'm not quite at the point where I'm putting notches in my ME3 multiplayer sniper rifles yet. I'm still deciding if I like the Mantis or Javelin better.

 

[Zeema]

I got weirdly attached to Lydia in Skyrim and always reloaded when she died in a tough battle, even if I survived.

Same here, but one time i shot her in the back of the Head and at first i was Sad and then i was like 'Yay my sneaking attempts are 100% easier'

 

[hazabaza1]

I remember keeping Orhpeus for like, 40 hours into Persona 3. Mainly because I thought he might be needed later, but also because he's a fuckin' boss.

 

[Durgiun]

A winning streak in a GTA mission. If some NPC fucks it up for me I will literally kill anything that crosses my field of vision and unleash Hell.

 

[Starik20X6]

You want an entire game like this? Play Animal Crossing. Become friends with everyone, be devastated when they move away and you never see them again.

As for Red Dead, I still remember the feeling of shock loosing my first horse. I always felt bad when my steeds died for me. The worst one though was the one I accidentally killed myself. I was on a bounty hunt, the target was getting away on foot, I was riding towards him on horseback. I drew my rifle, took aim, pulled the trigger... And my horse picked exactly the wrong moment to rear up in front of me. Clean through the back of the poor creature's head.

 

[Zhukov]

[Thumper]

Yeah, I was kind of attached to my horse in RDR as well.

Then, many hours in, when firing a shotgun from horseback I accidentally gave poor Bucky both barrels to the back of the head.

in my inventory I ended up with a "wedding ring" it didnt do anything, it was just there, I dont know if I sold it eventually but I held onto it, even though it was clear my charachter wasnt keen on my arraged fiance..it was to remember him I guess

Yup, I did the same thing. Held onto it for the whole game.

...

OT: As for my own example, in Dragon Age 2 I hung onto the shield that Avaline starts the game with, the one she got from her dead husband. This was especially satisfying because later in the game she actually brings it up in dialogue.

 

[Phasmal]

I got quite attatched to my horse in RDR too. I called him Fat-Butt. I had gotten off of him to do some shooting or something like that and he somehow got hit by a train. I reloaded the game, so it was okay. But I swear it happened in slow-motion. Fatt-Butt... noooooo..

I bought a horse in Skyrim recently, went into a cave to adventure, came back and it was dead. I have no idea what killed it. I was more attatched to the gold I had spent on it than the actual horse though, cause I only had it for five minutes. =(

 

[RJ 17]

I always thought your attachment to your dog in Fable III was a little....unhealthy to say the least. I believe Yahtzee puts it best with "You wake up after a hot night of shagging your dog." Those were my first impressions when my female Hero woke up in her undergarments and a very frisky doggy was found to be under the covers with her.

Then, of course, there's the fact that you can essentially make out with your dog any time you so desire. >.>

As for things that I personally grew attached to that it was hard to let go of: I'd say generic characters in Final Fantasy Tactics. I always tried to keep only the original six generic characters you get at the beginning of the game: 4 squires and 2 chemists. From those six little bastards would grow my army, 4 walking down various "fighter" pathes with 2 taking the path of magic. It's all fun and games until one of them goes and dies on me and I can't revive them in time, as I have a strict "no pussy reloads" policy in that game. That is, I don't reload the game just because a character perma-dies. I mourn their lose and the time I spent training them before moving on and vowing to do better!

 

[Kiardras]

And my horse picked exactly the wrong moment to rear up in front of me. Clean through the back of the poor creature's head.

I did this as well. At first I was devestated, I'd had the horse for so much of the game. But then I saw the funny side and me and my mate laughed our arses off at my incompetant shooting.

 

[JWRosser]

The Stealth suit Mk II in Fallout New Vegas Old World Blues. I loved it. First time it said "you're my best friend forever!" I cracked up. I never wanted to take it off.

I grew weirdly attached to a monster I 'captured' in FFXIII-2. It was a Cactuar called Solomon, and he was with me for ages...until I realised that he wasn't very strong...and essentially had another monster devour him. I felt awful.

My black Moa bird from Guild Wars. They're quite rare...so to get one was pretty cool. Even though I never trained in Beast Mastery, I always have the Tame Animal (or whatever it was called) skill in my build so that he was there. Ahhh Freckles...

 

[Zack Alklazaris]

I remember in Star Wars: Galaxies I had a Dewback that a Jedi gave me called "Wee-bone". (This was back when Jedi meant something). Well I only had my 30 day trial and after that I stopped playing. I gave all my belongings to friends, deleted my character, and left the game not intending to come back. It wasn't until a year later that I could afford to play so I got in game. I was wondering around Tatooine when I saw a player bouncing around on a Dewback named Wee-Bone.

Long story short I told the player the story and he happily gave me the mount for free. Wee-bone and I spent the last 2 years of that game traveling everywhere from Corellia to Dathomir. (Dathomir had some of the strongest NPCs in the game, scary as hell too, but you had to cross them all to get to the "Secret Village".)

I remember when they got rid of the pet handler profession everyone had their pets out and playing with them one last time. It was really sad. Gamers do really get attached to little critters in game. We raised them and train them, they feel like our children.

 

[Dr Jones]

Skyrim. Every single item in my house. I have a serious attachement problem in those games (Bethesda RPG's). I am a huge hoarder. If i get anything just a little bit special, I will keep it and spend hours organizing my items.

 

[Shoggoth2588]

You want an entire game like this? Play Animal Crossing. Become friends with everyone, be devastated when they move away and you never see them again.

The worst part is when someone moves away right after you help them recover from a cold. It's kind of funny to listen to them talk to each other because of how cold and, downright mean they can be to each other but they're always nice to you. Personally, I loved the Owl family who ran the museum in City Folks. I hated that freaking City though.

 

[Dethenger]

Marines in Halo. The best challenges are self-imposed (3-heart Zelda run, for example), so I decided to make the Halo games a little harder by trying to keep as many Marines alive through the mission (provided Marines were present on this level) as I could. After a while, I started doing it because I liked to hear them banter while I kicked ass, and when they died I felt oddly alone.