Most emotional moments in games? (possible spoilers)

[Darth Onasi]

Terranigma - The hero who literally restores the world finds he has to turn against his home village, his family and friends because he and they are all creations of an evil force; a dark alternate of a city destroyed in the "real" world. Eventually he must also fight this evil force knowing he will cease to exist if it dies.
I maintain Final Fantasy X ripped this off wholesale, by the way..

Crisis Core - If you've played FFVII, you know what's coming, but if you've played CC, you know it's more of an impact than you could ever expect.

Suikoden V - The flashback where Arshtat unwittingly kills her husband while reveling in the power of her True Rune. The way it's executed hits hard, because the death spell is virtually instant, but there's that split second when she realises just what the hell she's done, looking into his doomed face.

[Ford Prefect]

*snip God of War stuff*

Wow, that's fucked up.

It's awful, yeah. The inevitable failure against the horde of Kratos Clones trying to kill his family in GoW was pretty clever, and Kratos killing The Last Spartan in God of War II (by accident), and then listening to him choke on his own blood as he tells Kratos that he believes that Kratos will save Sparta was a kick in the guts as well (this was also a surprisingly effective death, given The Last Spartan didn't even have a name).

One game that I thought did this well was one mission in Warcraft 3, where you must demolish buildings to get to the people inside, who have been infected with a virus that will turn them into undead minions. in the brief period after you have destroyed their home and before they transform, they mill around helplessly, and die extremely easily. While the best strategy was to kill them before they transformed, it felt so heartless to just cut them down.

Man, that was a well designed mission. Arthas character arc meant something to me then.

[Mr Bean]

Fuck how could I forget Planescape Torment? Who cares if it was reams of text? What can change the nature of a man? still fucking sends chills down my spine.

[TheKwas]

Another one I thought of is the Meryl and Wolf bits from Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes.

Meryl is bait
The Death of Wolf Part 1
The Death of Wolf Part 2

[Lusankya]

Two points in Ico:

The first when the Queen starts retracting the bridge, with Yorda on one side and you're on the other. Up until that point, my mission had been "to escape with Yorda". The moment the Queen started taking Yorda away, I realised that what I wanted was to be "with Yorda". The most compelling part about this was that it wasn't a gameplay thing. It wasn't just a plot point that the writers had put in there - I, the player, wanted to be with Yorda. The game also goes back into gameplay graphics while you jump over, and while I assume that Ico moves automatically, I don't know, because even on the replay I feel compelled to use the controller to run and jump.

The second is when I find Yorda again after I go back into the castle to get her back. The Queen's turned Yorda into stone, and the souls of all of the other boys with horns are clustered around her, and I just panicked and tried my hardest to beat them away. Then I spent 10 minutes just standing there calling to her and trying to get her to hold my hand. I felt exactly like a little boy who couldn't understand why my friend wasn't moving.


I also get teary-eyed in Samurai Warriors 2, every time I play as one of Mitsunari's friends. Each of them has an awful moment when they get told that Mitsunari's been defeated, and then suddenly their world collapses. Of course, that could just be because I'm a rabid Mitsunari fangirl, however.

[TheKwas]

I wasn't 'emotional', but the part where Kane shot my commanding officier through the head right in front of my face really took me by surprise in the original C&C. Took me a few minutes to gather my bearings and mental digest the fact that I just saw a man killed infront of my eyes. like that I was also 10 or something at the time.

[Adrian Laguna]

Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
The part where you fight through Arsenal Gear alongside Solid Snake. Seriously, fighting with Snake was probably one of the coolest things a video game has let me do. Playing as Raiden was totally worth it for just that.

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Any scene with Snake and The Boss, the fights with The End and The Fury, Snake talking to Eva about The Boss*, the part toward the end where Eva reveals the truth, the very last scene with Snake at the cemetery.

*"She was like a mother, and my master. [...] For ten years, we lived and died together. You couldn't possibly understand."


Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
The whole game was pretty emotional, it had happy moments, sad moments, and "holy shit" moments. Some of them are pure gold from the sheer hilarity: any time Korgan or Minsc opened their mouth, some of Edwin shenanigans, and the more sociopathic responses available to the PC. Any time Irenicus is on screen is special, the man shows up and suddenly he is the centre of attention. After a while you can't help but pity and admire him even as you hate his guts with a burning passion. I also very much liked the part of the Cult of the Unseeing Eye quest where you retrieve the half of the doom staff guarded by the Fallen God and his pseudo immortal followers.

EDIT - Jon Irenicus being badass.

Throne of Baal tried to be emotional, and it succeeded after a fashion, but is just wasn't as good as Shadows of Amn. The fun in Throne is in running around with high level powers pwning like nobody's business.

Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies
The entire game, but especially everything from the final fight with Yellow Squadron to the last cut-scene. I want to mention in particular, because I've never seen anyone else praise it, the speech you get in the hangar before assaulting Megalith. It really was inspiring, "Let us take back our shattered skies." Then the mission opens up with Rex Tremendae followed by Agnus Dei, that was awesome. Just listening to AC4's soundtrack makes me emotional.

Ace Combat 5: Unsung War
The third mission really gives you a feeling of the shock, horror, and chaos inherent in a sudden surprise attack. The radio is just filled with voices, some panicked, some angry, some calmly taking control of the situation. There are screams for help, frenzied damage report, cool crisp orders, and the occasional emotional outburst. The very best moment is when you hear from one of the warships, "Cruise missiles detected, begin Phalanx fire." Which is immediately followed up by terrified voice screaming, "NO! YOU'RE FIRING ON THE DOCKS!"

Project Aces is really good about remembering that bullets, missiles, and shot down aircraft need to land somewhere.

Then of course there's the last couple of missions in the game. I really got all chocked-up seeing all the people coming together like that, and the last battle with your wingmates was also pretty inspiring.

Tachyon: The Fringe
Both ending scenes are pretty emotional, but the real punch is if the first time you see the GalSpan ending is after you've played with the Bora. It's so sad seeing the big impersonal corporation crushing the intrepid colonists and getting away with it. I got this melancholy feeling, not because I had played a major part in making it happen, but rather because of an odd aura of inevitability about the whole thing, as if the Bora ending was just a dream.

Crimson Skies
Most of the times you shoot down an ace it's totally sweet. They usually have some pithy remark on the way down followed by Zachary's witty comeback. The best one is of course the last one, it's also a nice revenge ending, with our interpid air pirate dryly saying, "When you get to Hell, tell them Nathan Zachary sent you." That felt so good.

Star Fox 64
You get such a great feeling of accomplishment at the end. If you went to Venom through the hard route, there's also the bittersweet tinge from seeing James McCloud lead Fox out of Andross' lair, "Fox, you've grown so strong."

[weemadando]

Arcanum had some crazy moments.

The reaction of Virgil when he finds out that his entire religion is founded on a lie perpetuated by the one who they consider their god.

Another Virgil moment with him and his brothers grave as you finally get him to tell his story.

Watching the half-orcs get massacred (as happened in my game) after I convinced them to rise up in revolt against the factory owners and then getting cut down by the men with the automatic weapons before I could intervene.

And the most emotional moment in that game?

Half-Ogre Island. I've said it once, I'll say it again - I defy you to hold back as a person, let alone as your PC from commiting a goddamn GENOCIDE on the twisted gnomish fuckers who perpetuated that goddamn horror show.

[wautd]

The cake is a lie.

Seriously, I honestly tought I already finished the game when they told you to put the portal gun in the incinerator just around the corner. Was I in for a suprise.

[Losonti Tokash]

While Breakdown hardly boasted Shakespearian writing or plot, it did have one scene in particular that's just a kick in the balls. Which would be the fight with Solus.

You've spent the entire game up to this point growing in power (as you'd expect) and are the only person able to penetrate the T'lan shields save a small unit of Marines. Along the way you've seen virtually every main character killed. The commander of those Marines actually keeps calling for your help over the radio, sounding more and more desperate until you finally arrive and everyone is dead. So you finally get to Solus intending to wreak no small amount of revenge.

Alex, the character who saved your ass in the first place while you were drugged, has already had the shit beaten out of her and is essentially lying in a heap off to the side. The last time you ran into Solus he lifted you by the throat and casually tossed you aside. You're ready to use your newfound powers to kick his ass...when he grabs your punch without even looking and shoves you backward.

Eventually, though, you prevail and knock him down. But he just gets right back up and proceeds to absolutely kick the shit out of you. While you're lying helpless on the ground, Alex tries to defend you. Once again she's absolutely destroyed and is kicked right into you where she imparts her last words before dying. Meanwhile Solus is slowly advancing toward you, when suddenly a huge missile emblazoned with "GAME OVER" crashes through the ceiling and Solus has just enough time to look surprised before its nuclear warhead initiates.

[Guardsman Bass]

Wind Waker: I'll third the "Ganon and the King" part. There was just something powerful about the King touching the triforce, and wishing for hope for the children, and for his lost kingdom to finally pass on. For that matter, there were a couple of moments in that game, like when Ganon is sitting by the bedside of sleeping Zelda/Tetra, and you see him read her thoughts, then turn to Link and say "Your Gods destroyed you!"

Tales of the Abyss: One particularly potent scene is when the main character, after being deceived by his most-trusted master, inadvertently kills thousands of people. He's in total denial, crying out "It's not my fault!" and you see the utterly disgusted reactions of his travelling companions. In particular, my favorite is that of the character Jade Curtiss, who says "I'm not going to stay here and listen to this mad raving."

[Schuyler Colfax]

Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance

-When you find out that Greil killed his wife.
-When Greil dies.
-When 'you' (fans of Fire Emblem, you know what I'm talking about) kill the Black Knight.

[PainRack]

The more "recent" emotional moments would be Halo 2, when John Spartan abandon Cortana and she says don't make a girl promises you can't keep.

I haven't played Halo 3 yet, but I expect the portion where the sarge finally bite it to be just as emotional.

[2000AD]

Trying to think of some that haven't been mentioned by others...

Command and Conquer series:
Killian's execution, specifically AJ going from completely confident to completely out of his depth.

"Yes, power shifts more quickly than some people think."

"KANE LIVES!"

Hitman: Codename 47:
OK, this may be weird and make some people back out of the room slowly, but the first time you piano wire somebody. The first time you do it it made me feel like this was something new, that this wasn't just another game where stealth meant "sneaky until you have to start shooting", it really got me into the game.

Football Manager [insert number/year]:
The first time you take a team all the way from the lower leagues to winning the Champion's League, that sense of satisfaction you get is massive. For a game that is primarily text based it does a damn good job of manipulating you're emotions IMO. The suspense of penalty shoot outs, that 'oh shit' when you read that you're star player has broken his leg, the dread when you get the 'vote of confidence' from the chairman.
Or maybe it's just me really liking the game.

[Molyneux]

The more "recent" emotional moments would be Halo 2, when John Spartan abandon Cortana and she says don't make a girl promises you can't keep.

I haven't played Halo 3 yet, but I expect the portion where the sarge finally bite it to be just as emotional.

What? You have got to be shitting me.
They kill off Sergeant Johnson in Halo 3?!

[RogueIce]

The more "recent" emotional moments would be Halo 2, when John Spartan abandon Cortana and she says don't make a girl promises you can't keep.

I haven't played Halo 3 yet, but I expect the portion where the sarge finally bite it to be just as emotional.

What? You have got to be shitting me.
They kill off Sergeant Johnson in Halo 3?!

Yes. They also kill off the female Commander (daughter of the first Captain). That was sad. I liked both of them a lot.

I'll have to agree with PainRack, too. That was a pretty emotional moment for me. I got used to having her around. I really missed her when she got left behind.

[Ghost Rider]

A few.

Torment's true reveal. When you find out the truth about yourself, the dick you were and the shit you've done...the whole chat with everyone at the ending is simply awesome.

Wing Commander 3, when Hobbes goes "Is that you, old friend?". I had satisfaction when all the rest bite the big one, but that one still saddens me. That kitty cat had more personality then most the WC cast.

Tales of Abyss has a couple. While Luke breaking down was good, I enjoyed the whole spiel where the party goes "Where the hell did your backbone go?", but for me the best parts were when Ashe makes his final stand, and the ending. And before some yabbering babbon goes "It was ASHE at the end!!!". Fuck off fanboy . If one cannot grasp story, foreshadowing and plot development, then you're dumber then my fucking 9 year old cat.

Final Fantasy X: When they reveal the truth, and the sheer waste all of their pointless ritual has been. The characters sold it decently, but it's the sheer weight of loss that sells it more then anything else.

[Guardsman Bass]

I also loved the part in Tales of the Abyss where you see Asch, after being defeated by Luke, agreeing to hold off Van's soldiers, and you see him say to them, boldly, "I am Asch - no, I am Luke fon Fabre!"

Although to be fair, a lot of that game had a pretty good feel to it. I really felt for Luke, even with his early stupidity and arrogance - he basically gets the entire foundation of his life and meaning as a person pulled out from under him, and he spends much of the game making up for his mistakes.

[Ghost Rider]

I also loved the part in Tales of the Abyss where you see Asch, after being defeated by Luke, agreeing to hold off Van's soldiers, and you see him say to them, boldly, "I am Asch - no, I am Luke fon Fabre!"

Although to be fair, a lot of that game had a pretty good feel to it. I really felt for Luke, even with his early stupidity and arrogance - he basically gets the entire foundation of his life and meaning as a person pulled out from under him, and he spends much of the game making up for his mistakes.

Not only that, Luke is one of the few characters who is an unrepentent ass, because his parents coddle him, and literally everyone just simply agrees with him. You see why he's an ass and hell...why anyone would be similar to him given how much they just let him be whatever he wants to be. He actually is a noble, versus so many other games where for some reason the molly coddled child is this completely altrustic person who always does what is best for everyone. This why I never cared for Natalia. She wasn't bad, but she was literally Archetypical fairy tale princess of the holy light goodness. She's not bad, but her character has little development after it's revealed she's a good person. I still find it funny that Asche had more development then her.

I felt for Luke because at the middle and onwards he does try to do the right thing. What I still found funny about him losing confidence is some transitions made sense, but after a while I was "C'mon, just be a man and tell Jade to shut it.".

Still at the end, what I enjoyed is that you truly and honestly understand Vann, but that doesn't make him any less despicable or agreeable.

Also, the love interest wasn't a dumb broad. Naive, yes. Mindlessly dumb, no.

[Crazedwraith]

Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Any scene with Snake and The Boss, the fights with The End and The Fury, Snake talking to Eva about The Boss*, the part toward the end where Eva reveals the truth, the very last scene with Snake at the cemetery.

*"She was like a mother, and my master. [...] For ten years, we lived and died together. You couldn't possibly understand."

I found most of the stuf where EVA's just talks about The Boss, painfully over done. But the last scene between them. After the Boss fight is gutting, Especailly since there's a minute section of game play, where the player has to fire the coup de grace that kills the Boss.

[Darth Onasi]

Wing Commander 3, when Hobbes goes "Is that you, old friend?". I had satisfaction when all the rest bite the big one, but that one still saddens me. That kitty cat had more personality then most the WC cast.

I really hated what they did to him, he spends the entirety of WC2 proving that despite appearances he's a decent, loyal person.
Then WC3 comes along and it's "oops! Sorry, Hobbes was a traitorous bastard after all."

[Guardsman Bass]

I felt for Luke because at the middle and onwards he does try to do the right thing. What I still found funny about him losing confidence is some transitions made sense, but after a while I was "C'mon, just be a man and tell Jade to shut it.".

Really? I don't remember Jade really being a dick for a long while after Luke made his serious effort at repentance and reform. He still liked to rib him, but he does that to everyone. I agree with you on the "Tear" point, too.

Starcraft

: I'm not sure exactly how to classify it, but I felt something when I first saw Zeratul's encounter with the hybrid and Duran-as-Xel'Naga-agent.

[Darth Raptor]

Going after the little girl possessed by the Eye of Valmar in Grandia 2. Her tragic innocence, the stark necessity of destroying her and the surreal landscape of her warped mind all make for the most emotionally powerful example I can come up with.

[TithonusSyndrome]

I'm going to mostly second a lot of mentions here, like Tassadar's sacrifice in StarCraft and Floyd's in Jet Force Gemini, but I'm surprised nobody has mentioned two of the bigger titles with good scenes in them - namely Link reuniting with Zelda at the end of Ocarina of Time, after a montage of well-liked characters rolls by no less, and the Master Chief settling into cryo-sleep at the end of Halo 3 and Cortana bidding her farewell.

[Molyneux]

After having seen Bioshock for the first time last night, I have to add the Little Sisters to the list. They're seriously creepy the first time you see them, and I couldn't help my heart giving a little twinge when you see them crying over a fallen Big Daddy.

The "No, no, NO!" when you pick them up made me cringe - but it was a great thing to see the ADAM fading from them when you save one.