Dramatic Video Game Moments.......You DID took seriously?

[OneCatch]

From way back when, Ocarina of Time. The bit when you first wake up in the future world, where Hyrule Town has been devastated and is full of zombies. I was pretty small at the time, and I think it was probably the first game I'd played where your achievements up to that point are thoroughly and very unfairly subverted.

More recently, even in the same vein, that bit from Spec Ops: The Line. Even going into it knowingly and fairly cynically, it still hits hard.

 

[Trunkage]

Recently, finding the Giant Blacksmith in Dark Souls 3, Ocelot and his dad and how Aldrich got his name.

The ending of Brothers: Take of Two Sons and Braid, and the good ending of Last Light

All the ME3 and Spec Ops comments. Also I found the ending of Poison Ivy's Storyline in AK affecting too.

 

[Vigormortis]

Dramatic moments in a video game that I took seriously? Uh..do you have a few hours to read what I type? I've been playing video games since the 80s, so I have a LOT of 'moments' I can mention.

I mean, unless we're operating under the woefully narrow-minded idea that video games can't be serious. I hope we're not.

But anyway, I 'spose I can contribute at least one such 'moment' that hit me 'in the feels'.

Spoiler: I would say spoilers ahead, but the game is 9 years old. You've had your time.

He was like the father figure within the series mythos. He functioned as an anchor of stability for Alyx, Gordon, and the Resistance. His death was a gut punch. I was actually slack-jawed when it happened.

It hurts me that Valve STILL hasn't continued the story. The bastards...

Um, no?

I think this thread is kind of redundant, as not being able to take something seriously is the exception rather than the rule. It would be easier for me to say "these are all the dramatic moments I can't take seriously," and then by default, establish that every other moment is one that I did. Not that that stops people from posting such moments, but for me, it's far too much time, and far too many games. Just assume that every game I speak of glowingly in terms of plot is one I took seriously unless it was obviously not serious, and therefore enjoyable for different reasons.

Exactly this. And it pains me to see people still unironically saying video games, as a medium, just aren't "that serious". It's like Ebert reaching out from his grave to be ignorantly and condescendingly dismissive all over again.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Not sure if this count-

In Undertale when you're about to face Asgore, you're in his house and you start reading the origin of his family (Torial and Asrial) and this tune is playing-

I never once get so emotionally caught in a game to the point of shedding a tear but dammit this music is so emotional!! Also yes I lost it at the pacific ending with the "hug"!

I mean seriously (heh) none of the characters are real and are just codes but yet here I am, taking the story serious enough to be moved by some line of text and a tune playing!

 

[gyrobot_v1legacy]

Mw1 the final scene...your entire squad gone and Price has to watch as everyone fought alongside with die every time. Three Total Squad Kills. And you are tf141. Best of the Best yet still everyone you know dies.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

I take a lot of dramatic moments in games seriously. I just tend to get super immersed.

On my mind recently is the big climax of OxenFree. Holy shit that was fucking intense and I loved the hell out of it

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

"Joey" from To The Moon. Turns out that...

Spoiler

The old man, Johnny, whose memories you rummage around in the story had a brother as a child. The brother died when their mother accidentally backed over him on the driveway. Not being able to cope with it, she took to calling Johnny Joey instead, and treated him as if he was his brother.

That was the first time I can remember a game almost making me cry for story reasons.

Then there's of course the usual suspects like The Last of Us, Mass Effect 2, the Souls series (Lady Astraea most of all) and so on. Honestly there's too much to list.

God of War 3's ending. People differ on this, but to me it's a rare case of a bitter ending: after all his revenge and wreaking havoc on Olympus and the world in search of his petty vengeance, Kratos finally gives up. He doesn't feel victorious or relieved. The only thing he realizes is that he's rid himself of the one last thing that gave him purpose, and ruined the world as a consequence. That now his existence is hollow and without meaning. One thing that sells it is TC Carson's performance: he doesn't inject a hint of regret or sadness into Kratos, because he is past them. The only thing left is hate and disappointment, for himself and for the world. And as a final seal that hate turns inward.

There's a little sidequest at the beginning of Bloodborne that legitimately left me shocked and horrified. In Yharnam you can occasionally find windows through which you can talk to the few sane people left. One of these is a little girl, who is missing her parents. She tells you that her mother wears a red brooch by which she can be identified, and gives you a music box which she tells will remind her father of his family, as his memory is a bit wonky on hunts.

Spoiler: Only...

It turns out that her father is the second boss of the game, Father Gascoigne, who has gone mad with bloodlust on the hunt. On the arena you can find a corpse that holds a red brooch. Gascoigne's wife came looking for him, but forgot the music box at home, and ended up getting killed by her husband. And that's not the worst of it. After killing Gascoigne and arriving at Oedon chapel, you can tell the little girl to find safety there. She never makes it to safety. From her house you can trace a path she might have taken, at the end of which waits a giant pig. When you kill the pig after telling the girl of the chapel, the pig drops an ornament item: a red ribbon, which says

"Red ribbon that messengers are oddly fond of.

The thick, pungent red was drawn from the organs of some unfortunate Victim.

A strange choice indeed, but perhaps for the messengers wearing this accessory constitutes a form of mourning"

The image of a little girl, having lost her parents after the father brutally killed the mother, trying to find safety alone in a city of terrors, only to end up eaten alive, was something that hit me really hard. I might have a particular aversion to little girls getting harmed, and Bloodborne made me almost queasy without even showing anything.

 

[Mestraal]

Everyone's Gone to the Rapture. The end of Wendy's story, when you hear the desperation in her voice when she sees the planes. Also, the teenage girl's story.

Oh god, definitely this. Wendy was the best part of that game hands down. I even have her theme 'All of my Birds' on my playlist.

OT: Nier, all of its endings. Flawed little gem that.
Same with Life is Strange; tonally inconsistent, tries too hard to be HELLA HIP YO and yet still hit the right notes enough.
Burial at Sea Part 2's end got me; the credits song pushed me over the edge. Beautiful cover.

That's a heavily shortened list; sometimes I think I might be a bit over-invested emotionally in some games.

 

[BrawlMan]

Several...

<spoiler=Asura's Wrath, Episode 12 - Gods of Death> Skip to 9:48.


This game is like playing a high quality anime TV show, and all of it's moments are heart gripping. Not only do i care about the main characters, I also care about what the villains are up to. You get this game for dirt cheap now, so it's worth it.


I've said before, and I said it again, most of the classic DMC games knew how to strike a balance between humor and seriousness; and DMC 3 knows how to do it. It does it the best out in the series. The DmC Reboot failed in every aspect in terms of story, writing, dialougem character development, and most importantly, gameplay.


<spoiler=Streets of Rage Endings>







These brawlers may not have much story, but I still care more for what happens those games, than I do for most AAA games with "cinematic" stories. The good endings make me feel like I accomplished something and the bad endings feels like "Oh my God, what have I done?/I screwed up!". The first time I got the bad ending in SOR1, I felt like shit at the age of 4.




Confusion and sadness. One you know that the Killer 7 never existed, and Garcian Smith (Emir Parkriner) was just a man with split personalities, it's all heartbreaking. When he learns the truth, you can't but feel bad for the assassin. I actually teared up a bit; the music set the mood perfectly.




<spoiler=No More Heroes 2 - Alice Twilight> Skip to 1:44.


I will never forget you, Alice.