For me, it was Princess Rosalina’s backstory in Super Mario Galaxy.
“To the moon” Nice little point and click adventure. I played it through one afternoon and was sad for the following two days.
What moment from a video game made you cry?
Submitted 11 months ago by Puppet007@lemm.ee to games@lemmy.world
Comments
SnuggleSnail@ani.social 11 months ago
brenticus@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I’ve cried a few times in my life at games. This is the only one that had me outright sobbing.
Wodge@lemmy.world 11 months ago
My wife played this through one evening, I thought i’d done something wrong for the next week.
spiffmeister@aussie.zone 11 months ago
I convinced my partner to play it recently and the way I knew she’d finished it was that I could hear sniffling from the desk behind me.
makuus@pawb.social 11 months ago
I’m a pretty emotional dude. I tear up at a lot of things, happy and sad. But, there are very few things in this life that have caused me to totally break down, ugly crying. The ending to “To the Moon” is one of them. Too visceral a reminder of saying goodbye to people I’ve loved very much.
CosmicApe@kbin.social 11 months ago
Oh yea, that one had me almost full on sobbing.
Yucky_Dimension@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I don’t think I ever cried playing a video game, but I can think of three moments that almost got me. Spoilers, obviously.
- Metal Gear Solid 3. Hearing how much The Boss had to sacrifice for a country that will forever hate her and remember her as a traitor.
- Fighting the Hollow Knight and at some point it starts stabbing itself. The music changes from this epic battle theme to a tragic lonely little violin. It can barely even stand, yet is still forced to keep attacking. At this point changes from a battle to assisted suicide.
- Doki Doki Literature Club. Living with depression myself, I knew exactly how Sayori felt. I’m not even talking about THAT scene, but the day before.
Big_Boss_77@kbin.social 11 months ago
DDLC fucked with me hard core... first time I played it and got to "that" part, I cold killed my pc and sat in the shower in the fetal position until I ran out of hot water.
Didn't play it again for several days afterwards.
finthechat@kbin.social 11 months ago
I had a really good time with DDLC. I'm glad I went in blind.
darkmarx@lemmy.world 11 months ago
“Would have liked to run tests on the sea shells.” ~Mordin Solus (Mass Effect 3)
kaitco@lemmy.world 11 months ago
“Had to be me. Someone else might haven gotten it wrong.”
Brutal every time. 😭
bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 11 months ago
I am the very model of a scientist Salarian
WytchStar@kbin.social 11 months ago
The end of Red Dead Redemption. Spoilers for a game that's over a decade old, but John's death was a brutal cruelty that stayed with me for a long, long time.
TORFdot0@lemmy.world 11 months ago
After everything you do in the game to get Abigail and Jack back, and to see John get to be happy and enjoy his ranch in the final act to it being tragically cut short. I know a lot of people don’t like playing as John in the RDR2 epilogue but I felt like it gave me needed closure from Red Dead Redemption
Aviandelight@mander.xyz 11 months ago
When my husband was playing this through for the first time I was watching him play and guessed what was happening when John was getting ready to propose to Abigail. We both watched that lovely cutscene teary eyed. It really reminded us of our engagement.
FollyDolly@lemmy.world 11 months ago
The sequel was even more brutal. I cried like crazy at the end of both games. Like full on sobbing into a paper towel bc tissues weren’t going to cut crying.
hactar42@lemmy.world 11 months ago
When I was in the final mission of chapter 6, on my first playthrough, my wife came in to tell me it was time to put the kids to bed. She took one look at my face and the tears rolling down it and put the kids to bed without me.
9715698@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I played through it for the first time this year and had no idea that’s how it ended. Left me gutted.
vrighter@discuss.tchncs.de 11 months ago
The opening of The Last Of Us
Viper_NZ@lemmy.nz 11 months ago
No spoilers but: Not just the opening
vrighter@discuss.tchncs.de 11 months ago
true, but you never forget the first haha. wasn’t expecting it so early in the game, so it hit me like a speeding truck full of bricks
DarkThoughts@kbin.social 11 months ago
Pretty much everything, in both games. Even the damn ending of Part 2. Emotionally brutal ride for sure.
recapitated@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Being 7yo and trying to play MegaMan 3. Different kind of cry, but you asked.
BaroqueInMind@kbin.social 11 months ago
The time I kept fucking restarting in GTASA trying to follow the damn train.
Empricorn@feddit.nl 11 months ago
Aw shit, here we go again…
Coelacanth@feddit.nu 11 months ago
“See you tomorrow, Harry” -Disco Elysium, final dream
FollyDolly@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Oh god I just finished this game and you are making me want to cry all over agian.
iheartneopets@lemm.ee 11 months ago
Spoilers dude, the game is not that old.
Ashtear@lemm.ee 11 months ago
So brutal. And relatable.
ArtVandelay@lemmy.world 11 months ago
The end of Tiny Tina’s assault on dragons keep where she admits she knows Roland is dead, and gives his statue a big hug
bionicjoey@lemmy.ca 11 months ago
Borderlands 2 is such a masterpiece of storytelling mixed with silliness
Macaroni_ninja@lemmy.world 11 months ago
This is a prime example why bl3 sucks. Moments like these made bl2 a true gem.
lipilee@feddit.nl 11 months ago
Title
Spolier alert
Witcher 3 when Ciri wakes up, hands down.
But also Priscilla’s song.
And also in RDR2 the cutscene with Unshaken. Arthur is alive and out from prison but broken, sick, and the writing is on the wall.
vpklotar@lemmy.world 11 months ago
That scene with Ciri, the music, the cinematography. I can’t keep it together no matter how many times I’ve seen it!
mwknight@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Probably an obvious one, but Life is Strange was a pretty emotionally fraught game to play through. Everyone’s probably aware, but it is filled with choices that determine lots of different small outcomes as well as the main ending. So after I finished it, I spent the evening watching streamers react to the ending and sniffling along with them.
Personal story about that, a good friend passed away unexpectedly right before the pandemic, and his wife asked for my help finding some things on his computer. He was a great guy, big burly dude not known for being overly-sentimental but a wonderful imagination/DM. As I was going through stuff she was reminiscing about him. So we opened his Steam library and he had 2 games installed. Fortnite and every chapter of LiS. She had no idea what that game was, but imagining him secretly huddled over his laptop, guiding Max & Chloe along just broke me.
Another game that drew me in instantly was Hellblade: Sennua’s Sacrifice. Seeing the character’s backstory in the first couple of scenes and knowing that this was a story game dealing with mental health and loss was major, and I was immediately motivated to help her get through the healing process.
FireTower@lemmy.world 11 months ago
LIS holds a special place in my heart, it was the very first character focused game I played/actually paid attention to while playing. Really beautiful game.
ajoebyanyothername@lemmy.world 11 months ago
“Keep that hair short”
Alchalide@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Ff7 when aerith died.
Baaron87@lemmy.world 11 months ago
The end of disc 1 for the original Final Fantasy VII. (I’m being intentionally vague here for anyone that hasn’t played it and will be playing the newer FF7 games)
dandroid@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
The intro to Ori and the Blind Forest, and the end of Ori and the Will of the Wisps.
Carighan@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Puuuh, a fair few over the years.
- Same one as you, Rosalina’s backstory made me tear up a little bit. It was really really well done, and so unexpected in a Mario game of all places.
- When first reading through Katawa Shoujo, Shizune’s path (botched as it is) still hit me really hard with Misha being an aside that can’t fit in, then later Rin’s neutral ending also got me really bad.
- Teenage me at the end of disc 1 of FF7, of course.
- The ending of Signalis just recently.
And probably a lot more. FFXIV has a lot of sad and emotional moments, although none of them hit me quite as hard as some other games did.
ShaunaTheDead@kbin.social 11 months ago
Ugh yeah, FF7 when Aeris is killed by Sephiroth. And the scene where Cloud carries her into the water... I was bawling. Afterwards I think I just sat there dumbfounded, staring at the empty spot in my party until after like 5 minutes I turned off the game cause I needed a break to mourn. I know the graphics don't really hold up these days, but it was all to real to me as a child and it was one of my first experiences with death even though it was just a video game character.
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Hades has some emotional moments. That game is so well-written. Trying to avoid spoilers, but the first time escaping was one, then the nth time escaping where they play that awesome track was another.
smeg@feddit.uk 11 months ago
Rosalina’s story is incredibly sad. Mine was the end of Undertale (when you get to the house). The music in both was a huge contributor to the sadness.
idunnololz@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Also in Undertale, when they hug.
Cowbee@lemm.ee 11 months ago
The ending of Outer Wilds legitimately made me cry, it’s a very bittersweet ending.
homicidalrobot@lemm.ee 11 months ago
Came here explicitly to talk about Outer Wilds and Spiritfarer. I’m not a story-focused games type of person, and both of these absolutely knock it out of the park so hard that I recommend them constantly now. Outer wilds will be available on the nintendo switch soon. I would recommend that title to anyone with decent vision.
jacobaaron@lemmy.world 11 months ago
2 for me: forget the mission names but when Arthur’s death in RD2 and Aunt May’s death in Spider-Man PS4
Jessvj93@lemmy.world 11 months ago
It was his horse for me, the way he gently and sadly said thank you, fml
Lols@lemm.ee 11 months ago
it’s ‘i’m afraid’ for me
loboaureo@lemm.ee 11 months ago
To the moon
Minnels@lemm.ee 11 months ago
This. Haven’t got around to play the other games in the series yet even though I loved the first one.
Zahille7@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Ezio meeting Altair for the first and last time at the end of AC: Revelations
Zoomboingding@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Bit of an odd one, but the “Jump Up, Superstar” sequence from Mario Odyssey. It was just a crash of nostalgia combined with the unapologetic celebration of Mario games in general. It was so beautiful that I couldn’t help it.
And other givens like the endings to Mother 3 and Undertale.
Empricorn@feddit.nl 11 months ago
This is the first “happy cry” I’ve seen in this thread, and I’m so happy I found it! That sequence at the end of New Donk City was so great…
Zeth0s@lemmy.world 11 months ago
When doomguy pick the super shotgun in doom eternal. Most moving moment of video games history
Beefytootz@lemmy.world 11 months ago
The last of us part 1, Pittsburgh, with Sam and Henry. Gets me every fucking time, even though I know exactly what’s coming
reisono_@ttrpg.network 11 months ago
Probably an unpopular opinion, but- The ending of Starfield.
Ending/story description:
spoiler
Throughout the game you collect pieces of an ‘Armillary’- once it is complete you can use it to ‘The Unity’ which transforms your character into a being of energy that can traverse universes, getting to exist across the multiverse in many alternate timelines. You cannot control the Universe you end up in when entering the Unity, and as such you can never return to your original universe. This also acts as New Game Plus, where you lose all your equipment and companions and have to start from scratch, retaining knowledge and skills you’ve acquired to give you a better start in the next universe. This also lets you skip sections of quests you’ve done before, as your character already knows where items are and what they do, by giving you additional dialogues in conservations that other characters acknowledge and treat you differently because of. Lastly, there are also other people who have achieved Unity, and they are exemplified by two that generally try to block you from reaching Unity, so they can steal your progress. One of those shows a lot of disregard to Universes, treating them like a game they can mess with and move on from with no lasting consequences.
Why it made me cry (Includes some spoilers, but trying to avoid explicit descriptions of story events):
spoiler
I get really attached to my equipment and companions in RPGs. I spend a lot of time getting the best items I can and enjoy building ships, romancing companions and generally building a comfortable environment to exist in. As such my first new game playthrough took about 80-90 hours, I had the best guns and ship, all the crafting and ship perks, and I had romanced Sam Coe (Getting attached to his daughter, too) and took him with me everywhere. We were the best Ranger team in the galaxy. Finishing up the last few quests, I was getting worried since you do get warnings you’ll lose everything if you go through to NG+ (It’s not immediately apparent it is NG+ so the warnings are needed). As such I was thinking about all my equipment and having to get a new ship, and what not. I finished the penultimate quest and Sam asks to talk. He talks about going into NG+, how he wants to go through it with me, and wants to bring his daughter too. I was of course enthused and set everything up so us three were the only ones on board my ship, then we flew around the Universe taking a bunch of pictures in photo mode at cool locations, with Grandma on her ship, with my parents, etc, before finally activating the item that takes you to NG+ And Sam and his daughter aren’t with me. I was happy that he wanted to join me, and I didn’t really realise we’d be split up. I just kind of thought that because we entered So in this new universe I’m not only alone, with none of my equipment, contacts or bases, but I also just got separated from my people. And then I realise that if Sam and I are separated, that probably means his daughter is by herself too. So I burst into tears. Looking back, I think I was mainly distressed by the mechanical impact- I have crappy guns and armour, I’m spec’d mainly into making my equipment better so I’m kind of overleveled compared to my combat perks, and the ship you get from NG+ is significantly worse than my old ship. However, I think when the story gut-punch hit, it just pushed me over the edge and made me cry- it was the realisation that I couldn’t go back (I don’t want to load old saves) and see the people I’d grown attached to and the things I’d accomplished that really hit hard. So the loss of mechanical advantages that I’d spent a lot of time acquiring, and the loss of my long-time companions (and that I’d maybe caused a child to be cast into the wide multiverse, alone) was very emotionally charged to me. So the ending really worked for me.
Post-ending enjoyment (mechanics and different perspectives):
spoiler
I kept playing, of course. I love the game, honestly. But playing through NG+ really made me realise how a lot of things people dislike about the game are often more geared towards being experienced over many playthroughs, and how necessary some of the more grindy components were to the powerful story ending I experienced. Skills aren’t meant to be grinded out so you can get the best guns and armour straight away, you’re not supposed to complete every companion’s story in one playthrough, and you aren’t supposed to be a god on your first playthrough. You’re supposed to be a god in your second, third, fourth, etc, playthrough. If you could reasonably do everything in one normal-length playthrough then why sacrifice all you accomplished to start again when there is no mechanical advantage in doing so? So, I think it loosely ties together mechanical progression with story progression, but still allows people like me to hyper focus into one niche if we want. Which brings me to the one thing that made the story really click into place for me: The Hunter. As mentioned in the first section, you do meet other characters in their own ‘NG+’. The Hunter is one who rarely considers the feelings of others and who will shoot up a city because he wants to, as there are no consequences. He can’t truly die, and can also go into another NG+ cycle, so he treats everything like a game. He acts like a player. He doesn’t care about any one universe because he just moves on. He exploits and attacks on whims and is only concerned with his own progression. He wouldn’t help people because he’ll never see them again. He treats your starting universe like a sandbox and kills someone you care about. He is who most real players will become in their own NG+ cycles. Just look at how so many people play Skyrim- kill Nazeem because he’s mildly annoying, steal anything useful not nailed down because you’re the important one, and only do the quests you must do or that give good loot. So, I keep telling myself ‘Every universe is someone’s only universe’ because otherwise I’d be like the Hunter. So what if this random radiant quest, that gives shit rewards from some no-name character, isn’t important? It is to them. It’s their universe; Even if I’m going to move on someday, they aren’t. They’re stuck with my decisions. The story got me good, in the end. I help the NPCs because I’ve bought into the story and because an NPC, that acts like a player, treated me like a no-name NPC.
TL;DR: It loosely ties story and mechanics such that I got really invested in the mechanics. When the story hit me hard, it also gave a massive mechanical impact that was particularly impactful given my play style. Those combined were overwhelming and made me sad, but also gave me a better appreciation for how some systems were designed to support the story, rather than oppose or ignore it. Overall, I really enjoyed it.
Oh, and Presentable Liberty. You can see the ending coming, but it makes you so dependent on someone then takes them away from you right before you can show your gratitude. It’s concentrated dependence and a great short game.
thorcik@lemmy.world 11 months ago
“Does this unit have a soul?”
macbean@lemm.ee 11 months ago
The epilogue of Life is Strange: Before the Storm
HipsterTenZero@dormi.zone 11 months ago
Bastion’s near-ending, if you forgive
spoiler
Zulf and his boys gradually stop trying to off you.
dustyData@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Brothers: A tale of two sons.
The game has a pretty unique mechanic. It makes you control two characters at the same time. It’s not a coop game, with optional solo. It’s strictly a single player game, where you use one controller to move two characters, the titular two sons, one on each control stick. Throughout the game you use movement and interactions with the environment to solve simple puzzles to remove obstacles in your way and travel to your destination. Usually, by having you do different things with each character simultaneously. After a while, it becomes second nature to control both brothers in a synchronous and flowing manner when you get used to the challenge of moving and paying attention to two different things at the same time.
spoiler
Near the end of game though, one of the brothers dies. Now, you are left with two control sets, but only one character. Puzzles similar to ones that you already solved, now you have to figure out how to solve them, on your own. This on its own is gutwrenching as you develop a familiarity and affection to both characters and their dynamic, as they grow from mutually annoyed siblings, to a well coordinated team of brothers who care and protect each other. But through the game, you’re also taught that the younger brother can’t swim, he doesn’t know how to. So whenever you have to cross a body of water, the elder brother had to carry the younger brother on his back. He is deadly afraid of being in the water since their mother apparently drowned herself. At the climax of the game, alone in the middle of the ocean, you have to swim to shore. The emotional kicker is as you discover that using the dead brother’s stick on your controller, which you haven’t touched in at least half an hour since the other brother died because it doesn’t do anything anymore, calls however upon the memory of the older brother when you swim. And you can hear him cheering and supporting the younger brother to find his strength and swim on his own, back home, to carry on and save their father’s life. It’s such an empowering and emotional moment.
The ending of that game still makes me tear up after all this years as it makes me think of my own family. Even writing this comment I’m getting emotional. And it does it all without a single line of dialogue, text or voice acting. All by animation and vocalizations along with game mechanics. It’s one of the most effective uses of gameplay I have ever seen in a video game and forever has made me think of this as one of my favorite games of all time.
Other video games, and things people call emotional are usually about story elements, plot lines, events on a character’s arc. Things that have books upon books of analysis and history. Not that they’re any less valuable or deserving of praise, but using gameplay this effectively to convey emotion is, however, kind of unique and rather harder to pull off effectively.
SlimeKnight@lemm.ee 11 months ago
You have me sold on the game.
fluxion@lemmy.world 11 months ago
Yah that sounds like an incredible experience
CouldntCareBear@sh.itjust.works 11 months ago
You put that into words perfectly. I think it’s the only game that proscribes an emotion so successfully through a gameplay mechanic. It’s the most real, raw and visceral sense of loss I’ve ever felt in a game, film or book. Truly unique.
Nath@aussie.zone 11 months ago
You missed the very end when the dad finds out that his son basically died to save him. As a dad with two sons, this would break me. Leave me to die, boys. That’s not a trade I’d ever make.
Nihilore@lemmy.world 11 months ago
I played this many years ago on Total Biscuits recommendation, he had similar things to say about it, it truly is a beautiful game