Most emotional moments in games? (SPOILERS)

Just for the heads up, this thread will probably have a lot of spoilers. I’m gonna try to go vague on spoilers for anybody that hasn’t played Hotline Miami 2. If you’ve played the game, you’ll probably know what I mean, but I’m going to say some purposefully esoteric shit to keep it out of full spoiler territory.

My pick has to be Richter’s plotline from Hotline Miami 2. One part that makes me cry is when Richard, arguably a god of death, helps Richter escape from his previous entanglement. In these games, Richard doesn’t show up to help. He shows up when someone did some fucked up shit. Richard consistently shows up to help Richter though. He just tells him “run” in that moment and you feel the fucking urgency to get out like nothing else. One of the harder levels I’ve ever played, but holy shit I wanted Richter OUT. I was so frustrated with the game but I just would not stop until Richter had escaped.

Hotline Miami is a series of bad endings, but there are 2 happy conclusions in the sequel, both are direct consequences of Richter and his love for his mother. His ending isn’t even THAT happy. But there’s something about his final conversation with Richard that just made me fucking bawl the every time I played. Richter’s indifference to what Richard is saying. He barely got any time to enjoy what he had been fighting for for years. But when he knew it was over, he was comfortable because he was just vibing with his mom in Hawaii like they had always wanted. He was just happy that he got to spend his last days with the person he loved the most.

His love for his mother can even give Evan, the writer, a happy ending where he picks up the letter instead of the pen. Richter’s plotline manages to poignantly deliver the point of Hotline Miami 2 in one short and digestible bit. Love the people you hold close. Wanting violence only brings violence. The only way forward to true peace is accepting whatever terrible situations you’re in and just going forward.

I could rant about this forever. It was just such an amazing part of the game. What are your favorite emotional moments from games?

Omegamanthethird,

The beginning of The Last of Us.

The end of Final Fantasy X.

The entirety of disc 3 of Final Fantasy VIII.

JakenVeina,

The entire hour-or-so-long finale sequence of Tears of the Kingdom is ASTOUNDINGLY good. It hits ALL emotions: fear, joy, suspense, sorrow, elation. Also, the Dragon Tears Quest throughout the regular game.

The Dream No More ending of Hollow Knight. I felt that in my soul. Largely due to the musical score.

The ending of Outer Wilds made me feel an emotion I really had trouble describing. Bittersweet, maybe? Mixed with awe? Same for the DLC ending, but with a distinctly more sorrowful vibe.

Subnautica had me literally drop my jaw, with the Sunbeam questline, midway-through the game.

Plus more that have already been mentioned.

aio2,
@aio2@beehaw.org avatar

Rosalina’s story in Super Mario Galaxy.

I haven’t played the second version, so idk if it’s there.

ArtZuron,
@ArtZuron@beehaw.org avatar

Not me, but my little sister was bawling at the end of Undertale.

For me, it’s maybe beating Sword Saint Isshin. I think I almost cried in relief, since I’d been hitting my head against that wall for like a week.

I also liked the Dragon Age Inquisition endings, the one DLC with the Qunari and the palace and going threw Elven ruins shattered through space. The song on the mountains when you find the new headquarters was cool too.

OttoVonGoon,

Walking into Erana’s Peace for the first time in Quest for Glory 1 (1989). For a more recent example, walking or driving into safety with a massive load in Death Stranding, as well as most of the rest of the game.

theComposer,

All of The Last of Us (Part I), but especially the prologue, the ending, and the DLC.

The end of Telltale’s The Walking Dead: Season 1.

The end of Life is Strange, but only if you choose Bay.

MiddledAgedGuy,

Super Mario Bros, when I learned the princess was in another castle.

Like at least a few other comments, the Last of Us sticks out. Just, the whole thing.

wifienyabledcat, (edited )
@wifienyabledcat@beehaw.org avatar

When

spoiler>!Niko walks out the window!<

in OneShot

snowbell,
@snowbell@beehaw.org avatar

I got yelled at for saying this on a reddit thread about emotional moments in video games. But I still feel bad for killing Mordin in ME3. I cried. And regret it.

FlashMobOfOne,
@FlashMobOfOne@beehaw.org avatar

Ostagar in Dragon Age: Origins, and then the march to Denerim before the final battle.

Awesome.

sandriver,

Ys VIII had SO many:

As Adol: Climbing down Gens d’Armes to finally meet Dana, Eternia sitting in the distance.

spoilerAdol and Dana having a little heart to heart before the final dungeon, hoping that maybe destiny isn’t real just this one time, and she isn’t fated to die soon.

The scripting in the true final boss, with the dawn breaking over an endless field of water, as the introduction ends and the fight begins.

spoilerFighting through gods and spirits to bring Dana back one last time, to say farewell.

As Dana: White Memory. God. Making peace with Olga, and having her finally open her heart to you as a dear friend, a message from beyond the grave. Watching the last sparks of your civilisation die out in an apocalyptic winter. Valley of Kings, learning that you’re the first person to break a divine apocalyptic cycle, but still bound by fate.

I legitimately couldn’t enjoy video games for two weeks after I finished Ys VIII. I still get really emotional thinking about it.

But it’s nothing compared to FFXI, my favourite game of all time:

Chains of Promathia is incredible from start to finish. Weathering the emotional assault of death beyond death and the decay of the spirit in the Promyvions, this horrible, haunting, gloomy drone in the background; and then immediately being taken to this place of both incredible healing beauty and immediate and poignant, human sorrow.

Witnessing the exact moment where a dear companion begins to waver if he’s on the right path with you, and seeing his doubts culminate in fighting you, to the death if need be. Seeing the guilt, shame and lingering doubt when you win… and forgive him.

Seeing the god of regeneration send a little glimmer over the view of a fallen kingdom, which you’ve probably sat and stared at with strangely passive wraith enemies. The entire Distant Worlds song and cinematic as a whole, closing out a musical and narrative theme that had been developing over three years. Definitely another storyline where I had to sit and just process it for a bit. Took me a year to come around on Aht Urhgan since I did it the day after Promathia.

Seeing the ghost of a city-state wiped out by genocide, brought back into a state of undeath by a god of war and chaos, sacrifice himself to save the heritor of the empire that claimed his city. The music for the fight that follows right after, Ragnarok.

The sadness that makes your heart sink, of wandering the Shadowreign era of Vana’diel, seeing a world ravaged by war, hearing Flowers On The Battlefield add an incredible, keening aura of melancholy everywhere, albeit with little glimmers of peace… broken by the drums of war as battle rages once more.

The end of Adoulin, Forever Today. Closing the book on one of your most personal adventures, alongside some of the most brilliant and heroic characters. The sense of finality mixed with renewal, with musical callbacks to the Theme of Final Fantasy and the Prelude.

Rhapsodies of Vana’diel, especially the ending. Seeing the bravery of an old friend’s daughter sacrifice herself again and again as the cosmos rejects her presence in the past. Building a relationship with a character just as sincere and brilliant as her father. Her final monologue to you: “Master, this is not ‘Farewell.’ It is ‘See you soon.’ Until our paths cross once more, the blessing of Phoenix is yours to wield. And I will be with you, always.”

The beautiful poem being sung as this all happens, leading into the Adventurers’ Chorus of over a hundred actual players from across the world, singing the title music from the first release of the game…

Coelacanth,
@Coelacanth@feddit.nu avatar

The final dream in Disco Elysium. After picking up clues all game about your past, your broken relationship and the reasons you are the way you are, the heart wrenching emotional impact had me reeling. Not mention it’s written and voice-acted beautifully.

Suddenly everything makes sense as Harry gets constantly dressed-down, his futile attempts to cling to the past denied and his insanity laid bare. The letter in the ledger, the little Headless FALN rider figurine, the obsession with Dolores Dei, that awful phonecall on the payphone, everything comes together in a beautiful climax of absolute sadness, ending on that devastating final line:

“This is real darkness. It’s not death, or war, or child molestation. Real darkness has love for a face. The first death is in the heart, Harry.

See you tomorrow”

LoamImprovement,

For me, it was the Precarious World thought, and again after the final cut released with the Communist quest ending.

::: “How not to lose? It is impossible not to. The world is balanced on the edge of a knife. It’s a game of frayed nerves. You’re pushed on by numbers and punitive measures: pain, rejection, and unpaid bills. You can either play or you can crawl under a boat and waste away – turn into salt or a flock of seagulls. Your enemies would love that. Or you can fight. The only way to load the dice is to keep on fighting.” :::

And more succinctly

::: “In the dark times, should the stars also go out?” :::

I’ve been struggling off and on with depression for the better part of my life, and each time I read these it just hits me like a sack of bricks. The recontextualization of the struggle.

Kolanaki, (edited )
@Kolanaki@yiffit.net avatar

I remember the first time I cried because of the events of a video game.

Final Fantasy 7. Aerith’s death scene.

Up to that point, you’re given several romance options between her and Tifa and I basically friend-zoned Tifa and was pursuing Aerith. So when Sephiroth murders her out of nowhere, it was like he really murdered my girlfriend. FWIW, the game came out when I was 12 and I was probably 13 or 14 when I actually got to own a copy and play through the whole thing.

The most latest game, tho, that hits hard is Cyberpunk 2077. The overall main plot is just a mashup of cyberpunk films like Johnny Mnemonic, Strange Days, 6th Day, 5th Element, Dredd, etc; but the side stories with the main characters are where the real beauty lies. Shit had me choked up like every time there was a lengthy bit of dialogue. The reason your character is dying might be goofy, but the way they portray someone who knows they are going to die is pretty fucking good. And the unique thing is that it’s you. Your own character, not some other character you’re just meant to empathize with.

Wijnie,

Finding Ciri in Witcher 3.

hjeremy,

The end of Half Life 2 Episode 2 before HL:Alyx retconned it - that fade to black with Alyx sobbing 😭

  • All
  • Subscribed
  • Moderated
  • Favorites
  • •
  • gaming@beehaw.org
  • fightinggames
  • All magazines
    •