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[Drizzlehell]

Like the title says. Post a videoclip if possible and tag it as a spoiler when appropriate.

Don't be shy about sharing what made you cry about your example either.

Anyway, most recently for me it was this scene from Jedi Fallen Order:

Spoiler

It's a great scene that showcases the strong writing in this game. It's such a simple yet relatable moment that tells you that everyone fucks up sometimes but that doesn't mean everything is lost. It's all about learning from your mistakes, finding strength in your friends, and keeping on going. Then it does the brilliant thing by using Cal's moment of defeat and turning it into a gameplay feature in the form of dual-wielded saber attack, and then immediately throwing you right into a fight scene where you cathartically shred a bunch of storm troopers by using your new ability. Powerful stuff.

It's such a great and simple message that harkens back to the good ol' days of Star Wars, when it was all about telling a great story with a hopeful message that motivated you to be a better person and just kinda made you reflect on things. None of that politically charged bullshit that Disney has been shitting down our throats for the past decade or so. Once again, video games are where Star Wars shines the brightest, just like it did 20 years ago with Knights of the Old Republic while everyone's childhoods were being turned into cinders by the prequels.

It's a really well made, well acted, heartfelt moment that just kinda took me by surprise with its wholesome and universal message. Life is rough as it is, so it's just nice to get that kind of pat on the back from time to time.

 

[rofif]

Tlou2 ending
Death Stranding ending
Last Guardian Ending
edit: also Soma. Its crushing

 

[Represent.]

No game has ever even come close to making me even emotional. I find it hard to believe there are actually people out there who have legit CRIED over a games storybeat.

Medium has a long way to go for the feels to start hitting.

Edit: I will say, this is probably the closest thing to emotional I've felt during a game. Expertly written:

 

[rofif]

No game has ever even come close to making me even emotional. I find it hard to believe there are actually people out there who have legit CRIED over a games storybeat.

Medium has a long way to go for the feels to start hitting.

Edit: I will say, this is probably the closest thing to emotional I've felt during a game. Expertly written:

Dude I bawled my eyes out in the last guardian and tlou2.

 

[Edmund]

Xenosaga 3 and Metal Gear Solid 3's ending stayed with me for a long time. Especially Xenosaga 3's ending.


Why didn't enough people play xenosaga 3? It's such an underrated masterpiece.

Red Dead Redemption 2 and TLOU 2's ending make me emotional too. But not as sad as Xenosaga 3 and MGS 3's endings.

 

[TexMex]

Tlou2 ending
Death Stranding ending
Last Guardian Ending

Immediate answer was never but I forgot Last Guardian.

 

[brian0057]

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword.

 

[Rac3r]

Death Stranding is one of the few games that made me feel something emotionally. That game is art.

 

[semiconscious]

tears? no. moist eyed? there's only ever been one: ico...

Spoiler

 

[VeronicaMaeKawa]

This is why story matters in video game, without it the gameplay became meaningless toy afterwards, what you remember years later are those emotional moments.

Good game mechanic drives the story, good story make it meaningful afterwards, this is why I prefer games with a balance of game mechanic and story, not too overly leaning towards one end.

 

[kyussman]

I've never cried playing a video game but I had a very deep emotional connection to Death Stranding.....and we'll leave it at that,lol.

 

[Soodanim]

I can honestly say that no game has ever come close to making me cry. Stories are a reason to keep playing, nothing more. They just aren't that engaging to me.

 

[UnravelKatharsis]

Dude I bawled my eyes out in the last guardian and tlou2.

Some people just don't have empathy, it's not the medium. My wife doesn't cry for anything. She just doesn't have empathy, Not in that way. Me personally it was It Takes Two. I don't need sadness to make me emotional. Touching or powerful can do it too.

 

[rofif]

Some people just don't have empathy, it's not the medium. My wife doesn't cry for anything. She just doesn't have empathy, Not in that way. Me personally it was It Takes Two. I don't need sadness to make me emotional. Touching or powerful can do it too.

Yeah it’s about empathy. You can clearly divide tlou2 players who liked the game or not and probably connect it to their empathy

 

[lachesis]

Ys VIII, Olga's message to Dana scene left me pretty sad. I think because it creates whole stark contrast with campy storytelling of the game itself.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Some people just don't have empathy, it's not the medium. My wife doesn't cry for anything. She just doesn't have empathy, Not in that way. Me personally it was It Takes Two. I don't need sadness to make me emotional. Touching or powerful can do it too.

While I agree that in most cases it's down to wether you're able to insert yourself into a different perspective and understand and identify with it on an emotional level, I don't think it can be used as an excuse every time. Most people who aren't some kind of sociopaths are capable of identifying with basic human emotions such as sadness and anger brought on by loss and desire for revenge, but if you as a writer put too much on the line to achieve that emotional beat then you will simply alienate a large portion of your audience and they will simply check out of your story. And that's what TLOU2 did. It went too far.

 

[rodrigolfp]

Destiny 2 when I saw I could not turn off aim assist.

 

[Drizzlehell]

Destiny 2 when I saw I could not turn off aim assist.

 

[emivita]

I'm generally not a crybaby at fictional stories, but for me it was impossible not to cry at Valiant Hearts ending. I literally couldn't stop the tears.

 

[Danjin44]

Most recently….prefect send off.

 

[Sleepwalker]

I cried after losing a fifa match worth 20 grand in prize money

 

[sono]

Journey I got emotional

 

[Edgelord79]

Some people just don't have empathy, it's not the medium.

Also if people don’t cry it doesn’t mean they don’t have empathy.

 

[Davesky]

FFVII Remakes Aeriths flashback scene with Elmyra made me tear up a little. Something about it just brought back my entire childhood.

 

[HoodWinked]

sonic mania reveal trailer.

 

[calistan]

Red Dead Redemption 2

People often cite this as an emotional game ending, but for me it illustrates why games just don't have that sort of power. For the previous 60-70 hours, Arthur absolutely annihilated everyone who crossed him, but then at the end he gets killed in the most pathetic way by a character who had zero chance of beating him. It's a cheap trick.

Films, books music - I can be moved to tears by those, but when you're the person in charge, and you play the way you want to play, but then the game takes control out of your hands for the purposes of storytelling, I just find it ridiculous. This is why story-based games will never be considered art.

 

[Danjin44]

Xenosaga 3 and Metal Gear Solid 3's ending stayed with me for a long time. Especially Xenosaga 3's ending.


Why didn't enough people play xenosaga 3? It's such an underrated masterpiece.

Red Dead Redemption 2 and TLOU 2's ending make me emotional too. But not as sad as Xenosaga 3 and MGS 3's endings.

Xenosaga is officially canon to Xenoblade world.

 

[cireza]

Does crying from eye-strain count ?

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Good thread, OP! Sometimes I get very emotional even at the fricking main menu if the original score / music is great.

Anyway, first one is Killzone 3 when the haunting score made by Joris De Man starts playing while you load into the main menu (now I'm getting emotional again knowing that Guerilla are done with the franchise...)


The second one would be Final Fantasy XV

Spoiler: spoiler

when the gang start their road trip by pushing the regalia and Stand By Me starts playing in the background (video is marked with timestamp)

Third one is Final Fantasy XIV just sitting at the login screen after A Realm Reborn dropped and the iconic prelude theme plays in the background.


Fourth one wold be Kingdom Hearts 3 when I first loaded the game and started crying while sit sitting in the main menu and listening to Dearly Beloved.


That's it for now, and damn, that's 3 out of 4 games made by Squeenix.

 

[AmuroChan]

Trails of Cold Steel IV True ending -

Spoiler: Spoiler

when Alisa's father says goodbye

.

 

[JimmyRustler]

I'm generally not a crybaby at fictional stories, but for me it was impossible not to cry at Valiant Hearts ending. I literally couldn't stop the tears.

I think I shed a tear there too.

Aside from that I could only list MGS3 ending. That was pretty powerful.

 

[Fuz]

return to monkey island


Because it crushed and stomped relentlessly a dream lasted for 30 years.

 

[Sub_Level]

FFXIV Endwalker. It was launch week. I was goin through a dungeon with a buncha NPCs and I teared up a little cuz I was finally playing a good FF game, which hadn’t happened to me in the 2 decades since my adolesence. Good game.

 

[Fuz]

The only one I can remember right now that hit me right in the feels (and without any cheap trick, but just good, relatable, honest writing) is

Perfect Tides by Meredith Gran

Perfect Tides is a point and click adventure game about the agony and anticipation of being a teen.

granulac.itch.io

Some people just don't have empathy, it's not the medium.

This is an exceptionally bad take. You can have tons of empathy for your fellow human beings* and zero for pixels.


* Or for cats. Cats are better.

 

[Ogbert]

If you cry at anything in a video game other than the frame rate, then you belong on a register.

 

[kingwingin]

Gears 3

Spoiler

doms suicide

 

[avin]

Oh good. I've found the thread to pick up chicks.

avin

 

[yamaci17]

turned out to be jedi survivor lol got me teary eyed in a certain scene

before that a plague tale requiem

 

[kvltus lvlzvs]

Mgs3s ending. Highlight of the series.

Undertale got me emotional.

I don't really cry, though.

 

[Drizzlehell]

If you cry at anything in a video game other than the frame rate, then you belong on a register.

Sounds to me like you need someone to hug you.

 

[FunkMiller]

 

[UnravelKatharsis]

While I agree that in most cases it's down to wether you're able to insert yourself into a different perspective and understand and identify with it on an emotional level, I don't think it can be used as an excuse every time. Most people who aren't some kind of sociopaths are capable of identifying with basic human emotions such as sadness and anger brought on by loss and desire for revenge, but if you as a writer put too much on the line to achieve that emotional beat then you will simply alienate a large portion of your audience and they will simply check out of your story. And that's what TLOU2 did. It went too far.

My comment was in reference to the poster that said

"No game has ever even come close to making me even emotional. I find it hard to believe there are actually people out there who have legit CRIED over a games storybeat."

It didn't have anything to do specifically with TLOU2. If you can't get emotional over a game and find the notion hard to believe, I question your capacity for empathy.

 

[UnravelKatharsis]

Also if people don’t cry it doesn’t mean they don’t have empathy.

Thanks for clarifying the obvious. The statement I'm referring to:

"No game has ever even come close to making me even emotional. I find it hard to believe there are actually people out there who have legit CRIED over a games storybeat."

Let's not get hung up on the crying aspect of empathy. There's also a complete disbelief in the possibility of the medium even having the potential to elicit an emotional response. I'm just positing that maybe this particular person doesn't feel empathy. I'm not saying that not crying means a person doesn't have empathy.

 

[UnravelKatharsis]

The only one I can remember right now that hit me right in the feels (and without any cheap trick, but just good, relatable, honest writing) is

Perfect Tides by Meredith Gran

Perfect Tides is a point and click adventure game about the agony and anticipation of being a teen.

granulac.itch.io

This is an exceptionally bad take. You can have tons of empathy for your fellow human beings* and zero for pixels.


* Or for cats. Cats are better.

It's a bad take to say some people don't have empathy? My own wife literally doesn't. There is a fundamental misunderstanding of empathy if you think it only applies to humans. Or cats. Empathy is being able to insert yourself into a situation and feel what a person or character is feeling. If you can only do it with humans, you don't get it.

 

[Drizzlehell]

My comment was in reference to the poster that said

"No game has ever even come close to making me even emotional. I find it hard to believe there are actually people out there who have legit CRIED over a games storybeat."

It didn't have anything to do specifically with TLOU2. If you can't get emotional over a game and find the notion hard to believe, I question your capacity for empathy.

I used it as an example, lol. I don't know what you're on about anymore tbh.

 

[UnravelKatharsis]

I used it as an example, lol. I don't know what you're on about anymore tbh.

Clarifying Jesus it's not an attack. I thought you thought I was talking about tlou. Fuck sake.

I wasn't saying YOU. I was saying you as in the dude that made that comment. Do you understand?

 

[Drizzlehell]

Clarifying Jesus it's not an attack. I thought you thought I was talking about tlou. Fuck sake.

Damn son, pipe down a little. Who said anything about any attack? We're just talking, lol.

 

[UnravelKatharsis]

Damn son, pipe down a little. Who said anything about any attack? We're just talking, lol.

Lol I'm trying to talk but you're not able to keep up dad.

 

[Azelover]

Been a while. I think the last one was when

Spoiler

the horse fell off a cliff in Shadow of the Colossus

 

[Edgelord79]

Thanks for clarifying the obvious. The statement I'm referring to:

"No game has ever even come close to making me even emotional. I find it hard to believe there are actually people out there who have legit CRIED over a games storybeat."

Let's not get hung up on the crying aspect of empathy. There's also a complete disbelief in the possibility of the medium even having the potential to elicit an emotional response. I'm just positing that maybe this particular person doesn't feel empathy. I'm not saying that not crying means a person doesn't have empathy.

Fair enough. This wasn’t meant as an attack, but sometimes there is a conflated notion that to feel emotion someone needs to shed tears or shout or something.

Point taken.