Have you ever cried when playing a video game? If so, which one(s)?

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inpurpleshadows Nov 5, 2023 @ 5:05pm

Video games are a very diverse media form. With so many different genres and experiences, there's always something for everyone. However, there are certain games which don't aim to be fun, rather their main purpose is to tell an emotional story while also posing complex and taboo themes. I only discovered these types of games very recently, starting this summer, but I've begun to take a liking into them. My main question for you is obvious; what games have you cried while playing and why? If you would recommend I play any of the games you mentioned, feel free to send me a link to their Steam store pages.

For me, two games that I cried at were Telltale's The Walking Dead and Life is Strange, both of which I finished about a few months ago and ended up becoming two of my favorite video games of all time. First of all, Telltale's The Walking Dead was a downright masterpiece. This game had an emotionally harsh story, realistic characters and morally-challenging choices. The characters in particular were well-written and went through a lot of character development, Lee and Clementine especially. The relationship between the two hooked me for the entire playthrough and I never put the controller down for hours. And who could forget that ending, so emotional. I won't spoil the story here but you seriously need to play this game to believe it.

As I mentioned before, Life is Strange is another game that made me cry, only this time I wasn't expecting it. My expectations for LiS was that it was going to be a fairly small scale coming-of-age story compared to other narratively-driven experiences. By the end of episode 3, I realized that this wasn't any average video game, it was an experience. Just like Telltale's TWD, LiS has a well-written story and believable, developed characters. It also allows the player to make choices that can lead to significant changes in the story, whether it would be small lines of dialogue or relationships with other characters. Speaking of which, the main duo, Max and Chloe are especially memorable and make me think hard about the decisions I made. By the last two episodes that coming-of-age story completely changes into one of the most depressing narratives video games have to offer and just like Telltale's TWD, I could never forget that ending which I also won't spoil. LiS isn't perfect as there are some flaws such as some cringeworthy dialogue and poorly aged lip-sync, but the overall package as a whole is amazing. All in all, both Telltale's The Walking Dead and Life is Strange are amazing games and offer some of the best stories in gaming.

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Showing 1-15 of 32 comments

mai72 Nov 5, 2023 @ 5:09pm

The Last of Us I shed a tear.

1. When Joel's daughter died in his arms.
2. When Ellie told Joel that everyone had left her except for Joel.
3. When Joel comes into the restaurant that is on fire, and grabs Ellie. You can't hear what is being said, but its obviously traumatic for Ellie.

Grimmz Nov 5, 2023 @ 5:11pm

i cried when i rebooted my gamecube while playing eternal darkness.

the game was saying its deleting my saves, so i quickly reseted in panic, and later realized the game was just trolling me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RSXcajQnasc

2:18

Last edited by Grimmz; Nov 5, 2023 @ 5:14pm

↑↑↓↓←→←→BASelect Nov 5, 2023 @ 5:11pm

No.

Grumb Nov 5, 2023 @ 5:15pm

The end of Outer Wilds comes to mind. Crono’s resurrection from Chrono Trigger gets to me emotionally but I’m not sure it made me cry

Jazz Nov 5, 2023 @ 5:19pm

I remember crying when Grovyle sacrificed himself for the player and their friend in Pokemon Mystery Dungeon.

https://youtu.be/8aTOaRB_XX4

Just hearing the theme makes me tear up haha

Last edited by Jazz; Nov 5, 2023 @ 5:21pm

Rio Nov 5, 2023 @ 5:25pm

To the moon

Ysosrscat Nov 5, 2023 @ 5:53pm

No, that would be cringe.

AustrAlien2010 Nov 5, 2023 @ 5:54pm

Two Brothers reaches Artax levels of sadness, and is a real tearjerker.

Last edited by AustrAlien2010; Nov 5, 2023 @ 6:19pm

B l u e b e r r y P o p t a r t Nov 5, 2023 @ 11:15pm

Originally posted by ⛧:
To the moon

Oh man the feels.

Polverrati Nov 5, 2023 @ 11:43pm

Mass Effect 3 when Mordin sacrificed himself to cure the Krogans and the ending of Digimon Story: Hackers Memory.

Those are pretty much it.

#10

Jars Oct 13, 2024 @ 8:40am

Cyberpunk 2077 when Jackie Welles dies, I just started sobbing. I don't know why that hit me so hard but, man, that was the first time I remember have such a strong emotional reaction to a video game.

Last edited by Jars; Oct 13, 2024 @ 8:41am

#11

L1qu1dator Oct 13, 2024 @ 8:47am

Never did.

Originally posted by Jars:
Cyberpunk 2077 when Jackie Welles dies, I just started sobbing. I don't know why that hit me so hard but, man, that was the first time I remember have such a strong emotional reaction to a video game.

Though this was close.

#12

Daenoxiis Oct 13, 2024 @ 9:09am

Fallout 3, when it first game out.

Fallout 3 was the first 3-D Fallout game.

Though it's quite dated for graphics now for the time it came out there was a considerable amount of detail to it.

Was listening to the radio, wandering through the Wasteland during the daytime, and just, started crying.

My ex looks over at me from her computer chair in the room and concerningingly asked:

"Are you crying??"

I said: "Yeah..."

She asked: "Why are you crying?"

And I said:

"Because THIS is how I have seen the world around me, for my entire life..."

#13