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What's the most emotional moment you've ever experienced in a video game?

Filben

Member
Ending of TWD Season 1 and RDR2 and Ori and the Whil o Wisps. In both cases the music was so impeccable. Increased the impact tremendously.
 
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Man there quite a few, the first one would have to be the microwave scene in MGS4. It wouldn't hit right now but back then that hit me hard.

Journey was a game that visually struck a response from me, especially gliding through the sand as the sun sets in the background. The shimmering and glow of the sand as the sun hits it looked amazing.

RDR and RDR2 are the last two recent ones I can think of. Going back home in RDR with the song playing in the background as you ride was damn near perfect. RDR2 ending is the best I ever played hands down.
 
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nkarafo

Member
Revisiting old WoW after 15+ years through my own private server at home, walking around the whole world completely alone as an admin, remembering the ridiculous time spent in PVE vanilla while the Teldrassid music themes were playing in the background...
 
TLoU had so many emotional scenes. The dialogie in the ranch, Sarah‘s you know what in the beginning, the scene where ellie smashed you know who‘s face to bits with a machete. TLoU2 was emotional at so many points, but I cried like a baby for a few minutes straight after the joel in one scene.

Then I had my moments with Nier, MGS3, and recently it was God of War Ragnarok the scene where the dog died although that was probably just because we adopted a dog this year.
 
Nothing really sad about the game, but i was having hard times in my life and my only escape was playing video games. At the time i was playing Legend of Legaia ( which is a forgotten gem), after i beat it i just got a huge rush of emotion because the game helped me get through alot.
 

damidu

Member
ending of tlou depressed me for a while.
admittedly teared up at a line at the end of ragnarok as well.
rdr, last guardian, disco elysium, ori follows.
 
I think more than any other medium, video games have the power to make us feel stuff. Instead of being passive observers (like TV and movies), games give us the ability to connect with the on-screen characters since a lot of the time the characters personify us.
sadly the writing is not improving at the same pace as visual candy. And increasingly made even worse by bloated collectathon content thinning any good content. I woud probably love RDR2 and AC:V, both have stories that could be awesome if not buried under a gajillion things to do tasks and so I am permanently annoyed since everything I do, mostly getting from a to b, takes forever. Open worlds are a mistake.

Touching moments where:
Last of Us intro level. Introduces its characters in a great short way lets me experience the first moments of the panic and bam. I can't be bothered to finish the game though. Played a couple of hours, but I just don't like its gameplay for some reason and still wait for the motivation to launch it again.
Life is Strange; the wheel chair episode.
Psychonauts; Vodellos screaming kids and fire memory. barely there but in contrast to the otherwise rather happy tune it surprised me.
What remains of Edith Finch; fish cutting scene
 

Black_Stride

do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
Page-13.jpg
 

begotten

Member
Picking some I haven't seen mentioned yet somehow;

Mary's letter in Silent Hill 2
Anju & Kafei side quest in Majora's Mask
Vivi's letter in FFIX
The opening of Ni no Kuni 1
The experience of Braid
 
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Near the end of The Last Gaurdian where Trico is being attacked by the other chimaera like creatures and has his tail torn off really upset me.
Had lost one of my dogs just a few weeks before that and it hit me like a crashing wave over the shores. I cried everything I had bottled up the day my dog passed away. Felt like shit the whole weekend and never touched the game again. I loved the game but I don't think I can play it again.
 
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GladiusFrog

Member
Monster Rancher
220px-Monster_Rancher_1_%28game_box_cover_art%29.jpg


The death and funeral for my first monster actually brought me to tears. Wasn't expecting perma-death to happen to my little virtual pet as a 10yo kid.
 
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GC_DALBEN

Member
RDR (1 and 2!!!! )
TLOU (TLOU is a masterpiece, IMO TLOU2 ruined some characters IMO)
ME (A few moments during the series)
RETURNAL (at the end of the game, feeling what happened and figuring out what the was all about was something else)
 

WoJ

Member
"Had to be me. Someone else might have gotten it wrong."

Also, the ending of FFX. Played this as a sophomore in college and my roommate, who never played RPGs watched me play the whole game, to him it was like a TV series. We were both holding back tears. One day I'll play FFX-2, but it will always be a fan created sequel because the ending of FFX was perfect and didn't need a sequel to ruin it.
 

mdkirby

Member
hmm probably ff8 and death stranding. Death stranding was probably also aided by its very timely release and contextually relevant time I played it (mid lockdown during the pandemic). The music also had an enormous impact with death stranding
 
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Madflavor

Member
FFVII is one of my favorite games of all time. The 90s and the PS1 were a huge part of my childhood, so when the remake of FFVII Remake came out, I was hooked from the start. But then I entered the Shinra building and this music played:



I had to stop playing the game, and just sit back and listen. I actually became overwhelmed by the music because my mind was flooding with nostalgia. I can't explain it, but something about this song feels like the type of music from the PS1 days. It made me think of Parasite Eve, FFVII, Tekken 3, etc. Of all the famous sad moments from cinematic games like RDR2, TLOU, The Witcher 3, great games all, this was the one that fucked me up the most. Just something about this music triggered memories of my childhood, and how I miss those days. Back then, innovation and creativity in games were really starting to take off. While they were still limited in their technology, the developers breathed life into these worlds with their creative writing, characters, and music, to give them their own unique identity.
 

NeoIkaruGAF

Gold Member
Klonoa 1 is a heart-wrenching game. Those two scenes (you know which ones if you played the game) still hit hard.

Just the other day, the final
labyrinth
section in Pentiment broke me.
 

RJMacready73

Simps for Amouranth
I'm pretty sure you're thinking of Dom's death when so depressed over his wife's death, he sacrifices himself so the team makes it out. I like that one too, it's a pretty emotional mission.


My most intensely emotional mission though is the same one I always answer to this question;
Lone Wolf - Halo Reach

no its from the first one i think, its where one of the team thinks his wife is alive or something only to find out shes been dead all along, cant remember exactly how it all plays out just i remember thinking at the time this was pretty emotional for a dudebro game about shooting shit lol
 

Interfectum

Member
To the Moon: Music + End
TLoU2: The final flashback with Joel and Ellie
Valiant Hearts: The ending
 
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bootaski

Member
Planescape: Torment - Encountering Deionarra's ghost in the Mortuary for the first time and being moved by her theme music. Dhall telling you about your cursed immortality, amnesia and restless spirit.
 
FFVII is one of my favorite games of all time. The 90s and the PS1 were a huge part of my childhood, so when the remake of FFVII Remake came out, I was hooked from the start. But then I entered the Shinra building and this music played:



I had to stop playing the game, and just sit back and listen. I actually became overwhelmed by the music because my mind was flooding with nostalgia. I can't explain it, but something about this song feels like the type of music from the PS1 days. It made me think of Parasite Eve, FFVII, Tekken 3, etc. Of all the famous sad moments from cinematic games like RDR2, TLOU, The Witcher 3, great games all, this was the one that fucked me up the most. Just something about this music triggered memories of my childhood, and how I miss those days. Back then, innovation and creativity in games were really starting to take off. While they were still limited in their technology, the developers breathed life into these worlds with their creative writing, characters, and music, to give them their own unique identity.

Imagine trying to explain the impact of FFVII to somebody too young to have been there. It’s pointless. The memory of that impact will die with our generation.
 
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Trumpets

Member
Disc 4 of Shenmue 2. After an intense chapter in Kowloon culminating in a rooftop battle against the game's final boss, you find yourself in rural china and meet a girl while travelling to a distant mountain village. You just walk through the countryside together and talk about stuff, it's amazing.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
I know this thread's been done before, but this one's been pretty cool, lots of variety in suggestions.
 

Mitsurux

Member
Its been awhile, but I seem to remember the last parts of Final Fantasy 15 hitting me (unexpectedly) pretty hard.. last camp with the boys etc.
 

MiguelItUp

Member
Telltale's The Walking Dead
, when Clementine is forced to kill Lee.
Red Dead Redemption
, the ride home and Marston's inevitable death.
Red Dead Redemption 2
, Arthur's last ride + his talk with the nun about death.
 

yamaci17

Member
portal 2 ending made me super emotional. still does, to this day. the damm music.

same for death stranding. got teary eyed , no lie
 

BootsLoader

Banned
FFX ending.
Ocarina of time, leaving master sword and Navi behind in the temple of time.
Death Stranding: Escorting BB to his last mission. (Damn I cried like a small bitch).
 

cireza

Banned
Phantasy Star IV comes to mind. By far the one that had the strongest impact. Kid me had a hard time understanding what was happening.

ps4_alys_1.jpg

Phantasy Star IV had cut-scenes never seen on base 16 bits console by the way, so the story was extremely well conveyed.
 
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