Most moving games of all time?

edited in Questions and Answers
Everyone has some games that left a mark on them. At least everyone here, I think. I'm curious what were some games that has moved you?

Mine - I'm not gonna start jabbering about them cos it'll just go on for ever, but these are very close to my heart:

Nier
Flower
Journey
Braid
To The Moon
Shadow Of the Colossus
MGS4
Portal 1
Kerrigan's story in Starcraft 1
Final Fantasy VI (not VII)

Discuss :) Maybe :) It's clear to me that these were all storytellers - and by golly I love those.

Comments

  • Shadow of the colossus is at the top of my "games I desperately need to play" list

    A few of mine are:
    Final fantasy X
    Tomb raider the last revelation
    MGS4
    Dreamfall the longest journey
    Final fantasy IX
  • I remember my eyes watering up while playing these:

    Braid
    Breath of Fire IV
    Final Fantasy VIII
    To The Moon

    Those are the only ones I remember off-hand. I tend to get emotional pretty easily though, especially when there's a great soundtrack. :)

    @Tuism: I really, really want to play Journey! Wonder if I could gatecrash your place sometime. :P
  • In a semi organized order:

    Brütal Legend
    Portal 2
    Deus Ex
    World of Goo
    Digital A Love Story
    Witcher 2
    Final Fantasy VIII

    Special mentions:

    Psychonaughts (great story)
    Aquaria (still need to finish)
  • edited
    @Elyaradine I actually wouldn't mind that, we can make a time :) It IS an awesome experience :) Also, To The Moon is awesome, I really love how they put that concept and story into a JRPG frame... They could have overdone it in so many ways, but it was nice like that :)

    It's so interesting to see different people have different takes on the same topic - I for example cannot even understand how a Tomb Raider could be "moving", but I'm of course seeing this through tinted glasses (that new upcoming Tomb Raider I believe would change my perception of this :P)

    Oooh, just reminded me of one more really good moving title:

    Indigo Prophecy (Farenheit in US)
    And of course Kara, but she's not a game (yet)
  • edited
    Here's a list of games that I can recall that managed to create an emotional experience for me. Most of the time I find myself playing games as games. As sets of rules that I'm always aware of. But occasionally I forget about the rules, or just find myself caring more about other things.

    Myth the Fallen Lords
    Starcontrol 2
    Digital: A Love Story
    Cannon Fodder
    Bastion
    Journey
    Abe's Odysee
    Magicka (I'm still pondering the ending, I guess this is a weird choice, but I'm a huge Terry Pratchett fan and the writers of Magicka clearly were as well. They wrote possibly my favorite time-travel arc in any fiction I've encountered)
    Darwinia
    Half Life
    Oni
    Braid

    Also Randy Balmer's Municipal Abortionist (though the emotion here was sort of nausia and disgust - which was the point of the work)

    I must play Shadow of the Collosus and Flower still (I need a PS3, I only got to play Journey due to the kindness of a friend).
  • Here it goes:

    Braid
    Limbo
    Deus Ex: Human Revolution
    The Stanley Parable. (really awesome half-life 2 mod, take 10 minutes out og your dat and just play it :D) http://www.moddb.com/mods/the-stanley-parable/downloads

    @BlackShipsFilltheSky is that the "Oni" game from Bungie?
  • Mmm! I guess it does depend on what you imply by "moving", but I'll go with this...

    Deus ex ... (best story ever maybe, and the only game have I've finished 5 times)
    Knights of the Old Republic ... (got very attached to the characters + plot!)
    Baldur's Gate 1 + 2 ... (same as above)
    Amnesia: the dark descent ... (scared me silly, loved it!)
    Grand theft Auto IV ... (the "choice" at the end was superb writing, and just great characters overall)
    Dark Souls ... (I've not been so immersed ib and exhilarated by any game in a very long time...)

    ...and special mention:
    Dota + Stacraft 2 [mutiplayer] ... (the predominent emotion being "anger" :) )
    Nuke Nukem 3D ... (odd one I know, but I have fond memories of having my finger on the windows key in case my mom walked in :P )


    I really wish I could add Bastion, Braid and Limbo to this list, but I can't. Bastion had wonderful storytelling but it didn't really move me, Braid looked and sounded beautiful but I felt it a bit contrived and forced, and Limbo was to me a very ordinary game with extraordinary polish and style.

    Still, each unto their own eh?
    Thanked by 1Treemanboo
  • edited
    OMW Jdog, thanks for reminding me bout the Nukem!!

    -Dune 2
    -Command & Conquer (I still listen to the epic soundtrack)
    -Portal 2
    -Duke Nukem 3D (Your ass, your face.. what's the difference?!)
    -Starcraft 2
    -Deus Ex
    -Super Mario Bros
    -Red Alert 3 (Bear launchers, gotta love that)
    -Civilization
    -Counterstrike (Ok mass death is perhaps not moving but I really loved playing this multiplayer)
    -Dungeon Keeper (Possibly most epic game ever which hasn't been redone)
    -Medal of Honor
    -Half Life

    ..sure I've left some out.
  • I'm so glad Star Control 2 has already been mentioned. I have been one with the pootworm, sampled *special sauce*, fallen for a Syreen, refused to sleep with a Vux and lamented the loss of the Androsynth.

    Seriously though, that Vux was insane. Jesus.

    Kor-Ah FTW.
  • edited
    @Treemanboo Yes, Oni was from Bungie. And so was Myth the Fallen Lords that was top of my list (Bungie used to be soooo cool, and some gamers still like them I guess).

    I suspect Starcraft 2 informed/ruined my taste in music for a lifetime (has anyone witnessed the ridiculous crap I record when no one stops me). (http://www.blackshipsfillthesky.com/SuperSmashLanderSuicidePartyBro/Super_Smash_Lander_Suicide_Party,_Bro(Question_Mark).zip)

    I've never felt terror, and loss like I did in Starcraft 2. I've never been so glad to sacrifice myself to save the galaxy.

    Starcontrol 2 makes me a *happy camper*!
  • I agree with most of the games above, here are ones which I think are also very moving.

    - The Mass Effect series (Think the Kaiden vs Ashley decision and Mordin Solus dying in the last game. I could talk for a very long time about the strength of Bioware's narrative.)

    - Red Dead Redemption (The ending is very brave and excellently done.)

    - The Assassin's Creed (AC) games ( Wait! Before you light your torches, let me explain. I am pretty sure there is some excellent writer working on Assassin's Creed games that keeps getting locked in a closet when they write the endings. The start of AC 2 with Ezio's family dying is excellent, as is the side mission about his lover in AC Brotherhood. However, they keep ruining these awesome moments with the worst Dues Ex Machina known to gaming.)

    - The Walking Dead Episodes! (Seriously. Go play them. Episode 2 and 3 are particularly devastating.)
  • Planescape: Torment is single-handedly responsible for unrealistically bloating my standards of a "good game story" for all time. I saw heaven, and was blinded by its glory.

    Dragon Wars in the 80s was also a pretty awesome experience.
  • edited
    Ridiculous pipe dream idea:

    Produce a super cool animation/demo of a Starcontrol 2 style game which promises to be the (unofficial) Starcontrol 2 sequel we never got.

    Kickstarter it.

    Seriously. I'm still upset about Starcontrol 3. Except for Daktaklakpak. They were cool.
  • I'd be repeating reasons for awesome for games already listed:
    Deus Ex (1)
    Portal 1 & 2
    Mass Effect
    Bastion
    Dune 2 (omg nostalgia when this was mentioned)

    Favourites not mentioned:

    Beyond Good and Evil - Fell in love with all the characters, story is awesome, everything just looks beautiful, the game is super fun and the world feels so expansive even though it isn't actually that large (not by modern sandbox standards I don't think)

    Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri - enjoyed all the different technologies and how each had it's own story and such, not to mention the game was super fun to play

    Little Big Adventure 2 - omg mind blown at about 12 when I played this :p tried playing it again recently, controls are so counter-intuitive for my modern wasd + mouse conditioned mind

    Action Half-life - same kind of argument as @Tachyon 's for Counterstrike, so many good multi-player memories with that game (diving hand-cannon to the face was my speciality)
  • @raxter I'm still really keen to get my hands on Alpha Centauri, it seems to be a pretty interesting take on his Civ-style games, more narrative-driven.
  • Some of mine :
    - The Longest Journey
    - Baldur's Gate 2
    - Final Fantasy 8
    - Prince of Persia Sands of Time
  • Dune 2 (omg nostalgia when this was mentioned)
    ^^This :)
  • Dune 2 blew my freaking mind. I remember when I first saw it.

    I was really young. My parent's went out to dinner at a friend of theirs' place. I was reluctant to go (read: obstinate and difficult). To entertain me they sent me to play on the family computer. On which was Dune 2. I hadn't wanted to go, but then I didn't want to leave.

    It was a year before we had a computer powerful enough to run it. By then none of the magic had been lost.
  • It was a year before we had a computer powerful enough to run it.
    Ahhhh yes, back in the day when memory had to be optimised and hard drives had to be cleared of non-essential (read: important programs that daddy needed) software to make room for the WRATH of the HARKONNEN!!
  • In no particular order
    Mission impossible(loved the mission with laser room)
    Hitman 2 Silent Assasin
    The thing
    Gran Turismo 2
    The King of fighters
    Tekken
    Smackdown 2 know your role
    Silent Hill 2(never finished and still scared out my mind)
    Die hard(yipeekayye)
    Mortal Kombat 4(hey!)
    And many others I can't think of now
    But most moving game?
    Pokemon Yellow(gotta catch 'em all).
  • Let's see if I can get this right in Chronological order:

    Ant Attack (Played on an old Spectrum)
    Battle Toads vs Double Dragon (SNES)
    Excite Bike (SNES)
    Sonic (Sega Master System)
    Earth Worm Jim (Sega Master System)
    4D Boxing (PC 286)
    Stunts (PC 286)
    Heretic (PC)
    Duke Nukem 3D (PC)
    Grand Theft Auto 1 (PC 486)
    Carmageddon 1 (PC)
    Command and Conquer Red Alert (PC)
    Abe's Odyssey (PC)
    Starcraft 1 (PC)
    Half Life (PC)
    Abe's Odyssey (PC)

    The list can go on and on... :)
  • BTW, there is a multiplayer version of dune 2 out... Dune legacy. (worth checking it out. too lazy to google it for everyone.)
  • How could I forget the sega games?
    Alex Kidd in miracle world(:) rock paper scissors)
    Sonic the hedgehog(the first1)
    Earthworm Jim
    Tiny toons
  • Toribash. I have been playing this game for about five years now and I still suck at it. However it's just so much fun! This game is as close as I have ever come to my perfect game.
  • Aaah guys :panda: such nostalgia.

    Wing Commander
    Ultima 8: Pagan
    Syndicate (original)
    Jagged Alliance
    Heretic
    Command and Conquer (@Tachyon, I hear you ;))
    Final Fantasy VIII
    Resident Evil 3: Nemesis
    Arcanum: of Steamworks and Magick Obscura
    Elder Scrolls (all of them)


    All moved/influenced me in one way or another to quite a degree.
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