Please don't post about US Politics. If you need to do this, try [email protected]
1) Be nice and; have fun
Doxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them
2) All posts must end with a '?'
This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?
3) No spam
Please do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.
4) NSFW is okay, within reason
Just remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either [email protected] or [email protected].
NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].
5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions.
If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email [email protected]. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.
Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.
Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
The Witcher 3. Sometimes there were no good choices to make and one had to choose the better of two bad outcomes. Sometimes the obvious good choice led to bad things happening to a village. That game was a rollercoaster of emotions.
I also second This War of Mine.
I fell into a week long depression after finishing the game for the first time. For me the Witcher 3 is the best story you'll find in a game, period.
Journey.
I don't think it works quite as well nowadays with much fewer people playing it but it was an incredible experience when it first came out. I still play it whenever I need to calm down or just having a bad day. It's truly a special game to me.
The original Life is Strange was it for me back when I first played it. I have to admit, I was feeling a bit down at the time, so the soundtrack, the atmosphere, and the emotions in the game really resonated with me. I'm actually a bit hesitant to play it again because I don't want to lose the special memories from my first time through the game.
The original Life is Strange is a masterpiece and I wish I could reexperience it anew. I played it twice to see how choices mattered and it's not quite the same the second time around.
The other Life is Strange games are also really great, but sadly they can't quite match the original.
A game that's not mentioned here yet: Outer Wilds.
You know how your high school English teacher tries to get through your brain about what "sublime" means and why the Romantic Era writers cared about it so much? The meaning of the word never really clicked for me until I played this game. It is pure, distilled sublime. It presents nature as this simultaneously jaw-droppingly beautiful and existentially scary entity that I've never seen any other game come close to replicating. For anyone who hasn't played it yet, I heavily recommend it.
Note: don't confuse Outer Wilds with Outer Worlds. They sound similar, but they could not be farther apart
Yeah what an unbelievable game. The music really hit the feels button for some reason. I still need to play the DLC!
I highly recommend the DLC! The best thing I can say about it is that it's more Outer Wilds, with the same level of world-building, puzzle-solving, and emotional impact.
To the Moon. Omg. All of the feels. Def recommend, but keep some tissues with you!
To the moon is cheating. That game's ending belongs in an oscar winning movie.
A Short Hike
A lot of it is because of where I was in life when I played it, but playing this game felt like an oasis in a very turbulent time for me.
I had just graduated university in the middle of a pandemic, feeling lonely and scared of the transition to a new career. I ended up feeling surprisingly emotional the whole time I played it.
That game is really nice. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I don't think I've ever emotionally connected with a game more than Disco Elysium. It had a profound effect on me, that game can truly do sadness
Ok so I'm a huge Final Fantasy fanboi, but for some reason when I first finished Nier;Automata with all the main endings, I just couldn't help but tear up. For the first time in a long while I felt and thought, yep, that was a masterpiece.
If I can play a game for the first time again, I'd choose Nier;Automata.
Final Fantasy X
God Eater 2
VA-11 Hall-A
Trials of Mana
I still think I'll never play a game that will make me feel like One Shot did. Especially the post game. It really pulls you into the story personally.
Overall I think the life is strange series is okay but in 2 there's a scene where you have the option to come out to your dad and it just felt so authentic. Like I remember having to pause the game and walk around a little.
Ori and the Blind Forest hit me hard practically before the game had even begun, even more so than Firewatch though it and This War of Mine are definitely up there. Mass Effect (1–3) had a lot of emotional moments for me.
The only game I just couldn’t finish for emotional reasons though is That Dragon Cancer. It hit me harder than This War of Mine, probably because it was a lot closer to home.
The Last of Us first play through, hands down.
Breath of the Wild first ten hours after release, close second place.
I’m told Outer Wilds will be number one when I get to it.
just in case, if you liked papers please you may love "the return of the obra dinn". really good game from the same guy.
Spiritfarer gave me a small existential crisis at the end. Edith Finch was heartbreaking but hopeful. House of Fata Morgana was achingly beautiful storytelling.
There are just so many.
I'm probably missing more but that's just a few that I have a strong connection with and make my heart soar.
Final fantasy 14 The main story quests were amazing. Especially loved the shadowbringers storyline.
SOMA gets me pretty good. To the Moon, too.
To The Moon
While maybe not exactly what you mean, Tunic.
It made me feel all kinds of things. Mostly it was the mind blowing "aha" moments when I learned something fundamental about the game that had been there all along, I just hadn't pieced it together, yet.
It's such a unique game that I seriously doubt could ever be done again.
If you enjoy games like that, where the game challenges you to figure out the fundamental rules that were there all along, then I highly recommend Outer Wilds.
I actually mentioned Outer Wilds in another comment here, and while it does have its emotional moments, I think it also does really well with respecting a player's intelligence and rewarding curiosity
Oh shit I forgot about heavy rain.
That game was a trip.
“That Dragon, Cancer” made me stop halfway through, not because I was stuck on a puzzle, but because I was crying so hard I couldn’t see the screen.
“Papa y Yo” made me understand how it feels to be the child of an alcoholic parent, on a really visceral level.
“Everybody’s Gone to the Rapture” is emotional in the fullest sense of the word—it made me feel a full range of emotions over the course of its characters.
Oh, and you’re right about ”Gone Home”. People say it’s not really a horror game but I was absolutely terrified going up to the attic at the end, because I thought I knew what I would find there. Thankfully I was wrong.
Shadow of the Colossus
Mother 3. Not just the sunflowers, but Porky’s end. “I don’t know…”
Some excellent games mentioned so far, so I'm gonna go with "Night in the Woods". It's this crystal-clear reflection on what it's like to grow up now, what it's like to live in America--good and bad. It's gut-wrenching and funny and beautiful.
I've never been more moved that I was during the final cutscene of the Mass Effect trilogy. The first time through, anyway. When the nameplate(s) went up on the wall of fallen crewmates, my soul overwhelmed my fucking body, made a bunch of involuntary sad noises, and cried until credits.
I was absolutely blown away by the bittersweet culmination of everything, and the musical score helped to rip the emotions right out of me.
As far aa good feels go, I get a lot of positive things out of Stardew Valley. It provides me with a steady drip of seratonin, and the music and visuals bring me back to the changing of many seasons throughout my childhood, growing up on what used to be an apple orchard.
Lots of good answers in this thread but I haven't seen anyone mention this one yet:
Spec Ops: The Line
Got me right in the feels. That scene, obviously, but I can remember plenty more moments too even though I only played it once when it was new and never since. No spoilers here but if you can put up with the (I think deliberately) generic third-person shooter mechanics it's worth your time. Also note the strangely muted tone in the Zero Punctuation review because I think it got him in the feels too. It's a fine game but it was a great experience.
Kinda surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet but Undertale definitely did that for me
I’m surprised I haven’t seen anyone mention Ghost of Tsushima. What an incredible emotional journey. I saw the ending coming from a mile a way but that didn’t matter in the least. The voice acting is unbelievably good. The way the game design, writing, and acting all fit perfectly together is not something I’ve seen matched in any other game. It’s a wonderful piece of art. My partner was watching me play when I started the game for the first time because the beginning grabbed her attention and she ended up watching me play basically the whole game. We both had wet eyeballs at the end. But it didn’t just give me sad feels, I’ve never played a game quite so just overall beautiful? Visually, again, the game design itself is beautiful, serene. And that’s just the main story, there are such good small stories told in tiny side quests that I still haven’t forgotten from my first play through. On top of all of that you get feel like a badass slicing up fools. I can’t say enough good stuff about that game.
Dragon Quest 11. Once with a mermaid side story, once with the main bit.
The Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy have had immense moments of emotional ups and downs. Few games just make me sit there to contemplate what just occurred to its story, conflicts, or characters; XBC games have many moments sprinkled through its entire playtime that do that.
Thomas Was Alone.
How great writing works
I really cared for these literal blocks on screen.
Haven't seen Before Your Eyes mentioned yet. It's not a long game, but it's got a good story reliving the main character's life through their eyes. Also, you control it by blinking! As soon as you blink, there will be a time skip.
