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Has anybody found themselves getting far TOO emotionally attached to a game's story?

C

chechi

Member
Sometimes ... after finishing a really good story I get this feeling of emptiness - but thats not exclusively to games, even more often with books and extremely rarely a movie manages to do the same. But no, never tears...

PS: Just realized in a game it doesnt have to be the story at all, I had the same after finishing Mario Odyssey: Knowing that its gonna take a while until something new comes along, which can amaze me as much as Mario did... So I bought a PSVR, it helps :)
 
ZAMtendo

ZAMtendo

Obliterating everything that's not your friend
To The Moon on PC. To the point that I still listen to it’s music and watch playtroughs months after finishing the game.
 
StarErik

StarErik

Neo Member
I just can’t get emotional about a game’s story. I don’t know why. Can’t take it as seriously as films for example. :/
 
AudioEppa

AudioEppa

Member
dcb2821 said:
The Last of Us, Telltale The Walking Dead (Lee), Horizon Zero Dawn....are a few that come to mind
Click to expand...


As I felt that same way about TWD season 1, It was even more with season 2. Going from playing the protector to playing the person you were protecting was completely shocking, yet. Very welcoming change of pace.

Thinking about it’s the same with TLOU, except there’s took place all in one game.
 
autoduelist

autoduelist

Member
Not even close. Literature can make me 'feel', the only time I've even close to that with a game is The Last of Us. I can't think of anything else that even remotely registered. Oh! One other - I really felt 'wrong' killing the peaceful creatures of Shadows of Colossus. I'd say those are the only two times I've felt anything 'emotional' from a game. Usually I'm just annoyed at having to click through / listen to all the dialog.
 
theHFIC

theHFIC

Member
Plumbers Don't Wear Ties on 3DO when I realized that people were paid to actually make and publish that title.
 
BANGS

BANGS

Banned
Shenmue. I'm obsessed an afraid...

Other than that the only example I can think of is Life is Strange. I don't know what it is... I don't really like the story or characters much at all, but I'm hooked. I can't help but feel like there's so much more going on behind the scenes and even though things keep repeatedly falling flat, I need to know more...
 
Q

qa_engineer

Member
When I finished up the Witcher 3 and there was nothing left to do, and no one to speak to I was bummed out. Never been bummed out over a game before. Books, movies, music all elicit 'the feels' quite often but games haven't really done that to me (on that level) before.
 
LordOfChaos

LordOfChaos

Member
At the end of Burial at Sea episode 2, seeing the Irrational Games logo fade in from black for the last time, and Courtnee Drapers slow singing, that was pretty damn emotional for me, what a way for them to go.


There's not going to be a second season to tales from the borderlands?!?! That's upsetting too, the end was such a setup for one!
 
Rellik

Rellik

Member
autoduelist said:
Not even close. Literature can make me 'feel', the only time I've even close to that with a game is The Last of Us. I can't think of anything else that even remotely registered. Oh! One other - I really felt 'wrong' killing the peaceful creatures of Shadows of Colossus. I'd say those are the only two times I've felt anything 'emotional' from a game. Usually I'm just annoyed at having to click through / listen to all the dialog.
Click to expand...

Sounds like you're more of a gameplay kinda person and don't care for story too much in games, which is fine.
 
PaulBizkit

PaulBizkit

Member
Life Is Strange because I played that game one episode each day during my second week of work holiday. I chose to
save arcadia
and those ending scenes were tremendous.

That and The Walking Dead Season 1, but I knew season 2 was coming so it didn't really hit me that hard.
 
Nikodemos

Nikodemos

Member
Monster Girl Quest, ironically.

By the latter part of Act 3 I really hated Ilias and wanted to mash her smug face into pulp.
 
H

Horsemama1956

Member
Umm not really. I was sad I had to return TMNT NES to Blockbuster and when Chrono Trigger came out really didn't want the game to end. Can't say I find video game stories compelling enough to care. I'm mostly in it for fun or a challenge.
 
T

Tijmen

Member
Probably the first two Paper Mario games. The looks, the humor, the battles, ... I tend to love it all a bit too much.
 
A

anglis84

Neo Member
For me it was FF IX. It was 2001 and I was 17 years old. For years all I played were sports games and platformers. I had tried so hard to get into Final Fantasy but at the time I just didn't have the attention span. I tried FF IX and only played it for a hour.

Then a couple months later, a friend asked if I wanted to try D&D with him for the first time. neither of us were expecting anything. We got hooked. Ended up playing hardcore and I guess it opened my mind so I attemped FF IX again.

Man. FFIX changed how I played games fora whole decade. I bought and played just about every ps1 JRPG you could find. I skipped 2 days of school my senior year to play FFIX from 7 pm at night to 6 am in the morning and jumping in bed when I heard my dads alarm go off. I told him I was sick. He would leave and around noon I would wake up and start again. It still took me a month to beat it because of all the side quests. I was so attached to the theme of this game, when I beat it, I felt empty for a good month. I now replay the game every year and a half or so. No nostalgia here. I still love it. As a matter of fact, I prefer SNES and PS1 rpgs to all the new ones.
 
N

Narasaki

Member
It's virtually imposible that a game can have a feeling as deep as good book or movie because it is still a very infant medium. Also doesn't help that the mayority of game developers have the sensibility of a man-child.

But there are a few glimmers of hope... eric chahi was one of the first in exploring dark and melancholic feelings in a "cinematic" way without having characters fucking feed you with lame exposition. Then there is Fumito Ueda with his subtle moments of sadness and loneliness and now there is the unnerving experiences of Arnt Jensen. Miyazaki is also on the good path, he just really needs to be set free to explore anything he wants without worrying about the predictable expectations of his fans
 
H

Holy Order Sol

Member
Narasaki said:
It's virtually imposible that a game can have a feeling as deep as good book or movie because it is still a very infant medium. Also doesn't help that the mayority of game developers have the sensibility of a man-child.

But there are a few glimmers of hope... eric chahi was one of the first in exploring dark and melancholic feelings in a "cinematic" way without having characters fucking feed you with lame exposition. Then there is Fumito Ueda with his subtle moments of sadness and loneliness and now there is the unnerving experiences of Arnt Jensen. Miyazaki is also on the good path, he just really needs to be set free to explore anything he wants without worrying about the predictable expectations of his fans
Click to expand...

ah yes tell everyone again how games must keep sucking the dick that pisses on them
 
ReBurn

ReBurn

Gold Member
Narasaki said:
It's virtually imposible that a game can have a feeling as deep as good book or movie because it is still a very infant medium. Also doesn't help that the mayority of game developers have the sensibility of a man-child.

But there are a few glimmers of hope... eric chahi was one of the first in exploring dark and melancholic feelings in a "cinematic" way without having characters fucking feed you with lame exposition. Then there is Fumito Ueda with his subtle moments of sadness and loneliness and now there is the unnerving experiences of Arnt Jensen. Miyazaki is also on the good path, he just really needs to be set free to explore anything he wants without worrying about the predictable expectations of his fans
Click to expand...

lol so pretentious. the stories in video games are no different than the stories anywhere else. technology has accelerated the effectiveness of the medium to the point where experiences in games can be just as engrossing as books and movies.
 
WaterAstro

WaterAstro

Member
Well, I wasn't too attached to Mass Effect, but I was extremely frustrated with ME3's shit ending of shitting on all the effort and time I spent on the game.

If anyone is going to make a trilogy, don't fucking mess up the ending!
 
zenspider

zenspider

Member
I'd say Chrono Trigger, in that as soon as Chrono Cross started messing with my head Canon I popped the disc out.

FFVIII resonated with me in a very personal way and it probably bolsters my opinion of the game more than I can defend it objectively. This can apply to FFXV but to a far lesser extent.

I am so thankful for the wayXenoblade Chronicles X told it's story and framed it's central mission and your character, that I am having trouble getting into XC2, and feel like it's pandering to a fanbase I cannot get with.

There are some games - Inside is the only one that comes to mind - that when people either don't get it or say they do only to undermine it, really annoys me, and I know it shouldn't. Conversely when people prop up stories like The Last of Us as a genuinely compelling story and not just good for a video game, it gets on my nerves far more than it should, and I don't really have the right to be so bothered.
 
B

basefree

Member
The Last Guardian affected me so much. There wasn't even any real dialogue between the boy and the animal apart from a few sentences in a language you don't understand, but just the interactions and the journey - it creates that bond and really brings you into the world. I know people got frustrated with the AI, but for me it added to the realism; no untrained animal would just naturally do everything you tell it to on command.
 
goldenpp72

goldenpp72

Member
I rarely get too invested in the story when the game intends for me to oddly, it's when the game doesn't focus on it that it can manage to catch me off guard :p
 
F

FlibbertiGibbet

Member
The Last of Us is as compelling as the best films I've seen or books I've read.

It goes hard with its themes and sees its story through in such an organic way so not to betray its characters' motivations.

All of this is accomplished while twisting the genre's tropes and turning videogaming conventions on their head.

The winter sequence that pulls the rug out from the player after spending over 10 hours "upgrading" Joel's abilities. The showdown with David and how wonderfully that resolves. The many moments of honesty and the slow burn build of the central relationship.

And what a beautiful, honest ending it achieves. That final shot, that harsh and brutal cut to black, and the trembling chords of that achingly sad song that pull on the credits.

It's the high-water mark of gaming narrative that I fear will never be matched.

It's just simply that good.
 
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