Looking for games that will emotionally destroy me

[Lncr]

Right.. now that I have introduced myself in the newbie section I thought I'd get this burning question off of my mind. What I would really like to know is.. what game would you advise me to play?

I love games that are able to make me shed a tear at the end of the story and in particular I'm desperately looking for games that'll do just that. Undoubtedly my three best examples of such games are: Half-Life series (especially EP2), The Walking Dead and To the Moon. Admittedly, gamplay wise The Walking Dead and To the Moon are not very good games (what do you expect of point-to-click adventures?), but I found the stories of these three games immensely well put together. Combine a good story with very touching music and you've got me crying all day long. Well, with 'crying' I obviously mean crying only in your thoughts whilst having the most neutral facial expression possible and staring blankly at the screen.

I've been searching a lot on the internet as to what games people generally see as very good and emotional, but I'm looking for some definitive answers. Do you have any suggestions?

I recently finished Alan Wake. BioShock and Deus Ex. I found the atmosphere in all three of these games absolutely amazing, but overall they didn't make me very emotionally attached to characters. Thanks in advance!

 

[MFL]

You should try out Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

There might be tears involved.

 

[Maestro]

You should try out Amnesia: The Dark Descent.

There might be tears involved.

There's definitely gonna be shitting of bricks at the very least. Perhaps try Spec Ops: The Line? That one's pretty disturbing.

 

[Stigmata]

I was going to say Amnesia and Spec Ops but that's not original now so I got nothin.

Well, Dota, but that goes without saying from me.

 

[morgs]

Dota on Russian servers, but that goes without saying from me.

Fix'd.

 

[Stigmata]

It's not just the Russian servers. They're everywhere, trying to escape the Hell that is other Riki instalockers.

 

[Tollbooth Willie]

Nier



literally nothing else


no game holds a candle to how depressing it is and if you think you have another answer well you're wrong and also mentally retarded

 

[Wanted Bob]

Hmm... Superbrothers made me feel pretty emotional towards the end. That game also has an amazing soundtrack.

Story-wise I loved The Witcher, I don't know if that's really "emotionally destroying" though. Well worth trying regardless.

 

[Barnz]

Sanitarium.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

In terms of character depth, I'd say the Mass Effect series is worth checking out if you haven't played it. I can't think of anything quite on the level of The Walking Dead, there's a reason it was praised so highly. If you bother to read into the extended universe (books) of some others like Halo and Gears of War, you could appreciate the characters in them too.

 

[Schru]

Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, Dear Esther, Home, Fallout, The Longest Journey, Planescape: Torment; to a lesser extent: Silent Hill 3, Braid, Bastion, Analogue: A Hate Story, Limbo, The Path, Lone Survivor, Mafia, Beyond Good & Evil.

Presumably you did play the Portal games?

 

[Eliv]

You can try Okami

 

[Omnomnick]

Walking Dead Season 1 by Telltale Games.

 

[Tagaziel]

Beyond Good & Evil
Homeworld
Aforementioned Spec Ops: The Line

 

[777Zero]

F.E.A.R. 2

This is the closest thing you can get to HL.

 

[ríomhaire]

Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is by far the best example I can think of from games that I've played. Silent Hill 2 as well. Bastion to a lesser extent and a large part of that is due to the soundtrack. Try Braid and Lone Survivor too.

 

[bobtheskull]

Sanitarium.

Holy crap! I'd forgotten all about that game! That really disturbed me the first time I played it all those years ago... Messed up game...

 

[Zephos]

Dark Souls is adept at evoking many negative emotions available in the human spectrum, sometimes to an extreme extent. It is taxing, brutal, lonely, frustrating and often times rewarding. It's also deeply sad, with a world that communicates anguish without having it shoved in your face with dialogue.

 

[Stormy]

Walking Dead series.

 

[MFL]

So, just putting this out there now, having finished it a scant few hours ago. Bioshock Infinite has given me more reason for pause, far and away, than any other game, probably since the original Half-Life.

 

[trunk_slamchest]

homeworld 1
independance war 2
system shock 2
bioshock infinite
indigo prophecy/fahrenheit
baulders gate 1 + 2

 

[Remus]

So, just putting this out there now, having finished it a scant few hours ago. Bioshock Infinite has given me more reason for pause, far and away, than any other game, probably since the original Half-Life.

Is it really that good? I'm still debating whether to buy it or not.
The only Bioshock game I've actually played was the first one, and I can't say I was too thrilled with the gameplay.
The story from what I've heard is good, and the art direction is lovely, but is the gameplay any good?

 

[MFL]

The gameplay has greatly improved over Bioshock.

I'm actually stuck in a quandary because I want to go back and play this game in more play styles, there was too much available for me to take advantage of in one playthrough, but like a movie I can only watch once every five years, I don't know if I can handle going back through it right now.

 

[Mogi67]

Dark Souls is adept at evoking many negative emotions available in the human spectrum, sometimes to an extreme extent. It is taxing, brutal, lonely, frustrating and often times rewarding. It's also deeply sad, with a world that communicates anguish without having it shoved in your face with dialogue.

Spot on. I also thought Dark Souls was a really powerful game, and not merely because it was difficult.

 

[cjohnson]

+1 for Spec Ops: The Line

 

[Rorschach120]

You want some emotional destruction, bud?

Look no further than Final Fantasy X

 

[bobtheskull]

It's been that long since I played FF X I can't actually remember the emotional level of the story. To me, FF7 had more impact. But I had a lot going on in my life back when I first played it.

 

[Bad^Hat]

Watch the video.

 

[bobtheskull]

Yeah... prob should have done that before commenting, huh?

 

[tabernumse]

One Chance (It's just a flash game but it struck me hard, for some reason.)
Bioshock Infinite

 

[ríomhaire]

You guys realise that the laughing is intentionally bad right? They're forcing themselves to laugh because they're depressed. It's supposed to be forced and fake.

 

[bobtheskull]

You guys realise that the laughing is intentionally bad right? They're forcing themselves to laugh because they're depressed. It's supposed to be forced and fake.

Yeah. I remember now how much the voice acting in that one was dire. And pretty much was from then on. I preferred the older ones where you had to read it. The bad voice acting actually took away from the impact of the story to me.

 

[Bad^Hat]

You guys realise that the laughing is intentionally bad right? They're forcing themselves to laugh because they're depressed. It's supposed to be forced and fake.

I think in any other game it might have come off okay, but what could have been a very touching and human moment is kind of undercut by the fact that they're JRPG characters wearing about 8 ridiculous costumes each. There's some tones you just can't achieve in that kind of setting, with those kind of characters. It's incredibly jarring and comes off really awkward and hammy.

Also Tidus is an annoying, whiny, stupid asshole. Like actually really stupid. Yuna, too. I don't know what it is with Final Fantasy protagonists and being just incredibly ****ing stupid.

 

[BabyHeadCrab]

Sanitarium.

My n*gga

...also, has Little Inferno been mentioned yet?

 

[Omnomnick]

Just go play Bioshock Infinite god damn it. Don't make me post my review a THIRD time.

 

[Unfocused]

I see Spec Ops: The Line mentioned a few times here - from the gameplay I saw it looks like a generic TPP shooter, does it have a great story or something?

 

[Stigmata]

It's a social commentary on violent games, and to a lesser extent violent media and violence in general. I haven't played it but I've seen enough to know it's a good recommendation. Willie ****ing loves it and he don't got time for no shitty games.

 

[cjohnson]

It starts out as a generic cowadoody shooter, but quickly diverts into something a LOT deeper.

 

[AzureNinja99]

Try LIMBO.