Basically what the title says. I’ve only played two games like this so far (Silent Hill 2 and OMORI) and am looking for more.
Could be games, ROM hacks, mods of existing games, etc.
EDIT: So many great suggestions! Getting a bit overwhelmed by how many there are, so I’m going to need to find a way to put this in some kind of list with an order to play the games in. By all means, keep 'em coming, though!
I beat Outer Wilds right after my first kid was born and it absolutely tore me to pieces.
Outer Wilds is a masterpiece.
This, entirely. It’s just one of those games that I can’t get past. Truly a solid recommendation
Came to say Outer Wilds. That end moved me.
I don’t think I stopped thinking about that game for a solid three months after I beat it.
100%. Even in the general ‘middle’, every now and then, a few simple lines of text would just punch me right in the gut
Removed it since it could be seen as a spoiler
Ahhh and the music too
BTW I would mark that as a spoiler, I know I wouldn’t want to know even that there’s something worth mentioning like this there
deleted by creator
Edit - deleted, because explaining why it is a spoiler is a spoiler, and apparently the spoiler tags don’t work on a lot of lemmy apps ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Fair enough. Also spoiler tag didn’t work lol
Oh god haha that’s even worse. It works for me but I just checked a different lemmy app and it doesn’t work there, I guess it’s not implemented everywhere yet. Thanks for the heads up
Ctrl-F Outer Wilds
Ah yes, thank you for beating me to it. It’s been years since I first played and I still think about it almost every day.
Every time a 95% shot misses in XCOM (or X-Com), I cry.
Hahaha indeed. This game truly taught me picard’s words.
Spiritfarer. I loved it on switch, but it’s also on steam.
“Spiritfarer® is a cozy management game about dying. As ferrymaster to the deceased, build a boat to explore the world, care for your spirit friends, and release them into the afterlife.”
Spiritfarer is such a gem, one of the spirits you send to the afterlife really broke me. It’s also available on Netflix Games so if you have a tablet and a Netflix sub you can try it from there.
The light you showed me was more than a beacon. It was a guide. Only I was too blind to see it. My shades were too opaque.
It does such a good job of making you get attached to the characters. I cried for more than a couple of them. They don’t all end the same way too, and some are really heartbreaking.
Never heard of it. I’ll have to check it out! I also hear To The Moon is really good, but I haven’t finished it.
I’ll look into it. Thanks!
I’d have to say Nier Automata, as well as the recent remaster of the game that came before it, Nier Replicant (ver 1.22…). Both are soul-crushing, which is helped by their amazing soundtracks. I definitely recommend them if you’re looking for something to make you cry.
Started Automata already. Been meaning to finish it.
NieR: Automata is also definetely my favourite tip. Especially if you want to cry.
Just as a hint: you need to play until you get ending c or d to experience the full story (and by that I mean, you are literally missing half the story otherwise). You don’t need to do anything special, just keep playing.
Also after you get one you can easily do the other and then get the “true” ending.
Yeah, I’ve been hearing some incredible things about Automata from multiple people.
Nier Replicant is a magnitude more soul crushing. You’d at least get a glimmer of hope at the end of Automata, but not with Replicant!
They’re both amazing!
I may be a bit late to the party but The last of us 1&2 had a pretty emotional impact on me. The game is pretty brutal, in every meaning, but the overall experience and story telling is hard to top.
I highly recommend to not get spoiled and play it in order of release!
This War of Mine.
That game is the embodyment of “there are no right or wrong actions, just consequences” and it makes you feel terrible regardless.
Hijacking to mention also Valiant Hearts
For some shorter experiences I haven’t seen mentioned when skimming through a few comments here, I definitely recommend trying Transistor. It was one of the strongest emotional experience I’ve ever had in a game. I’ve managed to play it in a single sitting, but it is around 6 hours long. Supergiant games make such a uniquely perfect audiovisual experiences, that every game from them is a treat, but Transistor is the strongest emotional experience I’ve played from them.
Another one would be two-hours long walking simulator with amazing environmental storytelling - What Remains of Edit Finch. You can play it in a single sitting, and it’s gorgeous and really well done.
You should also play Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice . It’s also around 8 hours long, and you definitely want to play it with headphones, it’s such a strong emotional experience. The audio and game design is so well done, and the game has stuck with me for such a long time. It’s one of the few games where just seeing the trailer again tears me up and gives me chills. And after you play it, I recommend watching the documentary about how they tried to protray the mental illness of the main character through game design - it’s such masterfully done that I didn’t even realize most of what they are doing, but it has stuck with me and it worked wonders to make the experience even better.
And for some even more unique game design - Before Your Eyes. What makes this experience so strong is the whole premise of looking over your life and memories after you’ve died, with the main mechanic of how to advance time being by blinking - physically blinking, because the game can work with your camera. That makes for a pretty strong metaphor that makes it even more emotional experience.
And just to mention some games others have mentioned, to add to their recommendations - Outer Wilds, Ori and the Blind Forest, Life is Strange, Planet of Lana, all are really good games!
I completely forgot about What Remains Of Edith Finch, but yeah. It’s pretty good
Another vote for Edith Finch, the ending made me bawl like a baby. Great storytelling, each level doesn’t overstay it’s welcome, its funny and emotional throughout, but the ending really hit me in the feels.
+1 for transistor. It’s such a strangely compelling, bizarre and emotional story.
Transistor missed the mark for me. I preferred Bastion. Hades is obviously great. I never tried Pyre.
Disco Elysium made me cry after a short conversation with a random man on the street. I haven’t played much of it yet, so I can’t speak to the majority of the content, but what I have played of it evokes more emotion than any game I’ve ever played before.
Been hearing a lot about this game. Apparently it has some of the best writing of any game?
Yeah, it definitely does. It feels like playing a Dostoevsky novel.
It has. However, don’t buy it. You can easily find it in fitgirl etc. Reason being, the devs won’t see a cent as they were kicked out of the studio that published the game. There’s lots of articles regarding this drama anywhere.
Good to know. Shame that happened.
Two things that readily come to mind:
- The whole To The Moon series hits really hard. Note that if it sounds interesting to you to see the perspective of doctors meddling with people’s memories before they die (so they die on a happier memory, basically), don’t watch anything major about this. Giving too much away ruins the impact.
- If you are fine with the low-ish production values, the old-ish VN Katawa Shoujo works really well. Instead of showing ordinary people in extraordinary situations, it shows extraordinary people in completely ordinary situations. But as a result of how our memories of our teenage years distort with age, this works really well on adults. In particular for me, Rin’s route was really good and made me cry a lot.
The thread is quite large at this point, so sorry if it’s been recommended already. GRIS is definitely a very emotional game. It’s quite short, probably on sale quite often, visually stunning, and very sad.
Ori and the Blind Forest would be my recommendation. Prologue starts strong and the rest of the game doesn’t let it down.
Okami is pretty good too, if you’re into the traditional Japanese art aesthetic
Probably gonna get hate for it but I’m a man in my 40’s and some of the Genshin Impact story lines have left me in tears.
Red Dead Redemption has an emotional ending.
I heard good things, but open world games intimidate me due to the length.
It’s long, but in a good way. The content isn’t drawn out and repetitive. You want to play it that long. Mostly mentioning rdr2 here which is much better.
There are a million things that you can do in the game, but you don’t have to do any of them. You can stick to the story if you want. It’s probably still a very long game though, even if you only engage in the story.
you kinda want to dive into that one yeah, although it is a great “on-rails” experience
… and now I know the only compass that I need …
Plague Tale (Both games are solid, but 2 was sooooo good)
Titanfall 2… Goodness that ending had my kiddo misty eyed. As for me, there was dust in my hand room or my allergies were acting up.
Titanfall 2 has a campaign?
Oh yes and it plays extremely smooth. Absolutely fantastic game, that doesn’t get nearly enough credit.
Honestly one of the best FPS campaigns ever.
