Most emotionally impactful game(s) you've played

[inpurpleshadows]

In recent years video games have become increasingly complex in narrative. Both indie and triple-A developers have created games that tell stories that are on par, if not, even greater than those in film. These kinds of games aim to get players engaged in the narrative by branching the storyline into multiple outcomes, tackling complex issues and presenting emotional themes. I'm sure every gamer has played at least one of these games that hit close to home. I wanted to know what games had a huge impact on you on both an emotional and personal level. It doesn't just have to be story-heavy games. You can mention any game from any genre that connected with you, or you connected with. I'll start.

The Last of Us: This game is a downright masterpiece. The story, characters and world felt so real and yet so depressing. I only did one playthrough (cuz it was depressing) of this game at the age of 14 and it's the first piece of media I ever cried at. I decided to play TLOU after I got tired of bland FPS and COD clones, so to play a game that was on the same cinematic level as movies was incredible. Even years after my first and only playthrough I still remember every vowel of dialogue from Joel and Ellie at the end of the game. Easily one of the best games I've ever played.

Telltale's The Walking Dead: I played The Walking Dead for the first time last summer... and it was absolutely amazing. TWD is a game that is near flawless from start to finish. The story is very well-written, the characters are down-to-earth and your choices have a genuine impact on the narrative. I especially found the relationship between Lee and Clementine to be believable and realistic. I won't spoil it for those who haven't played it, but damn that ending hit right in the feels. One of my favorite games of all time.

Life is Strange: This game takes a page from Telltale's book and innovates on it in an interesting way. Life is Strange is a coming-of-age story with elements of time travel, or at least that what it seems. This game, the last two episodes especially was devestating. Despite the incorporation of sci-fi, LiS still felt like a realistic game as the characters, particularly Max and Chloe are interesting and go through a lot of development. It's not perfect by any means as the dialogue is terrible and some aspects of the writing are kinda mid. Despite its flaws, Life is Strange had a huge personal impact on me and I'd consider it one of my favorite games.

[Mighty Alien Dwarf]

Originally posted by Worldzworstgamer:

OP liked Life is Strange eh?

I heard how good it was and had to put it down after playing it less than an hour. It was beyond terrible. Sorry but to heck with try hard emo garbage.

The first time I played the game, I bounced back even faster, but then I gave it another shot and experienced a story of a friendship that hit way too close to home and an incredible narrative that balanced a mystery theme and a social commentary in a wonderful maner. Never got any emo vibes from it, but to each their own.

Other than that, To the Moon. The story presented through Johnny's memories and exploration of his subconsciousness kept me hooked all the way, and the conclusion completely wrecked me.

[skOsH♥]

I'd have to vote for rdr2 also

They really did the ending well. If you've ever suffered loss it should hit you somewhere in the feels, lest you have no feels

Especially if you've lost someone close to you due to any illness or cancer. The way they captured that emotion and put it on Arthur when he's talking to that sister or nun at the train station...that's exactly what someone who's hiding grief and pain looks like

[Electric Cupcake]

Originally posted by osricen:

Metal Gear Solid (1, 2, 3, 4, and Peace Walker)

Not the two originals?

[StickyPawz]

SOMA had me thinking about the story for a long time.

[JonasIV]

mass effect 3, especially the friendship scenes with garrus and the very end where you meet all your former companions/say farewell before doing the final charge, and finally the last few moments with david anderson, one of the few games that always makes me tear up

but its only if you play the previous 2 games fully and its kinda unfair for other games to compare

[Crystal Sharrd]

I still cry over the ending of Kingdom Hearts Union x. Perhaps the saddest ending in a video game.

[Nightlight]

Off the top of my head:

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon (the Explorers games).

The Legend of Heroes. I've only played the "Trails in the Sky" trilogy and the "Crossbell" duology, but both of them have good emotional moments. I'd say the "Trails in the Sky" trilogy is the more emotional one for me, personally.

Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age. This game has some hard hitting emotional moments for me. There are some well done moments that come across as so genuine that I honestly wouldn't be surprised if someone on the dev team was going through something. It's not even just the big moments, there are some small ones that carry a lot of emotion in them, as well.

Warning: late game spoilers. It's just a shame the game's final act ruins some of the emotional moments, including a very big one. It's no wonder there are people who say you should ignore the final bit of the game and stop playing after the first credit roll.

The Cruel King and the Great Hero. I'm not going to pretend it's an emotional masterpiece, but this game surprised me with how far it was willing to go with it's concept. It managed to hit me in the feels far harder than I thought it would.

To the Moon. A common one to pick for these types of lists, but there's a reason for that.

Odin Sphere.

Super Paper Mario. Far tamer than the other games I listed, but it has it's moments.

(I excluded Visual Novels from my list to avoid them making it too long.)

[V3LTA]

For me it would be days gone,
What remains of edith flinch.

[The Maddog]

Mass Effect has a pure gut punch mission. Wont say what it is for people who have not played but my goodness, did it upset and anger me. I dont rage but I wanted to punch my monitor at that one....so well played Mass effect Devs.

Frost punk got me as well. Few others have as well.

So I'm not totally dead inside as much as I thought.

none of it compares to that one scene in Toy Story 3 though.

I was a grown ass man taking my kids to the cinema damit. I wasn't supposed to get something in my eye.

[SethTeeDeez]

I'm happy to see Chrono Trigger made anybody's list on here.

Hands down, Legend of Dragoon. A game that IMHO blew FF7 out of the water for the time.