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Games that had the biggest emotional impact on you?

S

-Stranger-

Junior Member
I'll list 3 games myself

1. Persona 4

- Once i finally reached the true ending after around 120 hours of playtime.
I felt really sad that the game was coming to an end and that i had to say goodbye to the characters as stupid as it sounds they felt like friends. =P

2. Journey

- That final level was so epic when it finally reached it's conclusion, slowly wandering towards a mysterious light with my unknown companion. Lets just say got a bit teary =P

3. The Walking Dead

- This game is incredible, in the way it makes you confront real moral questions to you're own personality.
The ending made me tear up as i really cared for the main character and Clementine at that point. (she reminded me of my daughter)
 
Emotional impact...I'm not so sure. But I thought the Mark of Kri's ending was very satisfying. It was the most true-to-form ending I've ever experienced. It left me feeling clean.

Yeah, I said that.
 
Silent Hill: SM, a real emotional ending. Specially since I also was going through psychological therapy at the time.

And since fear an anguish are emotions too, SH2, Amnesia and Z:U.
 
There isn't a ton of interactivity, but Actual Sunlight hit really hard. I actually almost had to stop playing. Felt like I was living through the worst parts of my depression again.
 
Mother 3.

Spec Ops

Btw I could swear there was a similar thread in the last couple of weeks, and a lot of people mentioned To the Moon. All I know its an indie game, with graphics similar to FF/CT on the snes.

Is it that good?
 
Red Dead's ending was pretty emotional I thought.
The Last of Us is the obvious choice, I'd probably also go with Bioshock Infinite somewhat for another pick from this years games.

Also MGS4, I know it's all fan service throughout but the feels during the ending and generally throughout. MGS3 also, what a freaking great arc with Snake and The Boss.
 
Bioshock gave me a real system shock when its twist came around. I'll probably never feel it again since I traverse the Internet daily now.

Dark Souls gave me emotions of terror whenever my guy was alive because I always dreaded getting invaded.
 
Mass Effect 2: I fell in love with my avatar (Jack) - she reminds me of a more violent version of an ex-girlfriend.

FFVII: Aeris. Nuff said.

Shadowman: The psyche ward level with background sounds of babies laughing, then crying, then screaming. Looped.

Darsiders 2: The arbitrary LFD-alike level on earth with the gun (Rage is an emotion, right?).
 
The Hermit said:
Mother 3.

Spec Ops

Btw I could swear there was a similar thread in the last couple of weeks, and a lot of people mentioned To the Moon. All I know its an indie game, with graphics similar to FF/CT on the snes.

Is it that good?
Click to expand...

The writing and music are top notch, imo its THAT good!
 
Plenty. BioShock changed the way I think dramatically. Not many works in any medium have done that, but BioShock is one of them to literately fundamentally change who I am. For me, I still hold it to be one of the most important works I've come across, that would be for me.

As far as emotionally impacting me, BioShock Infinite did it, and The Last of Us did this even more. TLOU in particular has some of the most harrowing scenes I've ever seen, movie or otherwise. Journey also moved me, and Shadow of the Colossus is still one of the most affecting pieces of work ever. In short, a lot of games have made quite the emotional impact on me.
 
-Stranger- said:
I'll list 3 games myself

1. Persona 4

- Once i finally reached the true ending after around 120 hours of playtime.
I felt really sad that the game was coming to an end and that i had to say goodbye to the characters as stupid as it sounds they felt like friends. =P

2. Journey

- That final level was so epic when it finally reached it's conclusion, slowly wandering towards a mysterious light with my unknown companion. Lets just say got a bit teary =P

3. The Walking Dead

- This game is incredible, in the way it makes you confront real moral questions to you're own personality.
The ending made me tear up as i really cared for the main character and Clementine at that point. (she reminded me of my daughter)
Click to expand...

This is definitely my list this gen. I'd add Last of Us and Red Dead Redemption to that list.

Prior to this gen, the three games that did this for me were Sands of Time, Final Fantasy X and Phantasy Star IV
 
The Hermit said:
Mother 3.

Spec Ops

Btw I could swear there was a similar thread in the last couple of weeks, and a lot of people mentioned To the Moon. All I know its an indie game, with graphics similar to FF/CT on the snes.

Is it that good?
Click to expand...

It was the most bittersweet game I've ever played, so as far as emotional impact goes; yes, it is that good.
 
Pokémon Red, I remember being heartbroken when my little brother accidentaly deleted my save. Those pokemon were like pets to me. :(
 
Nier and Mother 3:

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The Walking Dead

Ending made me cry so hard tears were rolling down my face. No piece of fiction has gotten me to actually cry, maybe get watery eyes, but this absolutely destroyed me.

"I'll miss you."

"Me too."

Silent Hill Shattered Memories

The ending(s). Jesus fuck. The intro is chilling.
 
Donkey Kong Country.

I had an obsession with animals as a kid and when this came out during the 2nd grade I made a silent vow to be able to move like Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong.

Soul Calibur 2.

I had to learn the style of martial arts Kilik used and I had to learn the routine he performs in the exhibition theater. It took years to find out what it actually was but eventually I found the school that taught it and it changed the course of my life since. I later discovered that the attack where he vaults up the staff is based in reality. I then discovered that move is part of Monkey Staff within Chinese Wushu.

My love of running around like an ape or monkey was combined with my love northern Wushu staff. I was then able to practice Monkey Staff. Life will be complete when I feel like I've taken my ability as far as it can go.

The first Donkey Kong Country and Soul Calibur 2 made me feel like I was missing a skill in real life. How ever silly or stupid it seemed at the time, I swear the person I was in my past life was screaming out to me to mimic the characters within the game.
 
To The Moon - The music complements the emotional scenes so well that I keep imagining them as a movie when I think about this game. And the ending, wow.

The Walking Dead - Amazing characterization through and through for the most part. And the situation the game puts you through, oh man....My personal GOTY, and I doubt season 2 will manage to reach the same height.

MGS3 - the revelation in the end comes out of nowhere for me (thankfully)...so yeah.

Mass Effect 3 - not the ending of course. The characters and conflicts resolution plus the excellent Citadel DLC that act as a closure, so good.
 
MGS4: The return to Shadow Moses when The Best is Yet to Come starts playing.

Mass Effect 3: "Had to be me. Someone else might of gotten it wrong."
 
It's so cliché at this point, but The Last Of Us is the only game to make me actually cry because of what I was seeing. No other game has ever topped it emotionally. I don't know if anything ever will.


EDIT:

FUCK. I take that back. MGS4 left me an emotional wreck at the end with
Snake and Big Boss at the cemetary.
 
Papo & Yo http://store.steampowered.com/app/227080/

It was the first game to make me cry. Minority Media is really trying to elevate the medium by crafting some interesting worlds while dealing with real-life issues. Despite it's whimsical appearance, Papo & Yo was a poignant story about the creator Vander's childhood and his relationship with an alcoholic father. While I can't directly relate, the allegory really struck a chord. Their next game, Silent Enemy, is tackling bullying.
 
Crusader Kings II, when my Duke Ramón, who had taken the crown of Aragon and conquered half Spain, died after 70 years of ruling and playing him...
 
Final Fantasy XI: Chains of Promathia

It took me until 2011 to finally finish the CoP storyline, and I lost it during the Distant Worlds scene, because I was reminded of all the people I used to play with in 2005-2007 and hadn't spoken to since.

Good thing I was able to get back in contact with a few of them when the ARR betas started up.
 
Bioshock and Bioshock Infinite have some tight stories and some of the most real, interesting characters and relationships of any game I've ever played. Both of them were powerful for me.

Chrono Cross and Chrono Trigger also have a few scenes that made me get teary-eyed a bit.

But there's obviously more emotions than just sadness, even if it's the one we remember most profoundly.

Xenoblade and Pikmin make me feel small.

Resident Evil makes scared, stressed, and worried.

Metroid makes me feel incredibly alone.

Donkey Kong Country Returns makes me feel powerful, like a Gorilla rampaging through a Jungle.

Mario just makes me happy.

The range of emotions is clearly greater than any other medium has ever managed to achieve for me. I love it.
 
Red Dead Redemption really left me feeling blue.
Opening that barn door, realizing it was the end of the line. Revenge felt like hollow anger more than anything.

Journey- ethereal, really. Stumbling through the snow, I was letting tears hit the controller.

The Walking Dead- I just can't...
 
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