What is your 'deepest' gaming moment?

[The Rascal King]

The White Phosphorus scene from Spec Ops: The Line. I'm glad everyone has been mentioning it. I had to turn the game off and contemplate not just the way I play violent videogames, but how horrific modern warfare really is. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you craft a story with meaning.

Two scenes from Saints Row 2 get me:

Spoiler: Eulogy

Spoiler: Red Asphalt

 

[SpaceBat]

Katawa Shoujo in its entirety. I know that sounds like a cop-out, but I've never been so emotionally affected by a game before, and I probably never will be again. It truly was an amazing experience.

This very same, I cried myself as I collapsed in the airport, chasing the person I loved. I screamed at my computer; "GET UP! Get up RIGHT NOW!"

..Okay, I was rather sleepy during that stage, so I might've been slightly more confused about reality and games..

But still. Emotional investment is something I rarely have, I had it a lot during Katawa Shoujo.

I've never cried at any movie I've ever seen. I've watched hundreds, if not thousands of movies in my life. Despite that, Katawa Shoujo made me weep like a baby. That's all anyone needs to know about whether the game is worth playing or not!

I had played nearly all paths and I found the quality of writing to be a little underwhelming. Most of them were pretty good (Shizune being the exception), but not even Lilly's or Hanako's path could really pull on my heart strings effectively. I was just expecting a bit more.

I had left Rin's path for last, because I found her to be the most interesting and found out she was written by the lead writer. I thought judging from the rest of the game that her path should provide for some decent drama as well, but nothing more than that. Then I actually played it.

Oh. My. God.

 

[Breaker deGodot]

I had played nearly all paths and I found the quality of writing to be a little underwhelming. Most of them were pretty good (Shizune being the exception), but not even Lilly's or Hanako's path could really pull on my heart strings effectively. I was just expecting a bit more.

I had left Rin's path for last, because I found her to be the most interesting and found out she was written by the lead writer. I thought judging from the rest of the game that her path should provide for some decent drama as well, but nothing more than that. Then I actually played it.

Oh. My. God.

That's interesting. In my experience I've found that people who like Rin's path usually enjoy Shizune's path almost as much, even if it takes a few playthoughs to realize it. I, personally, am a Lilly fan (which you can probably glean from my avatar), but even I had to reevaluate my opinion on Shizune's route after playing it a second time. It may be low on "romance" per se, and it's certainly an aquired taste, but it's probably the most emotionally subtle and realistic of the 5. Just my opinion, of course.

 

[SpaceBat]

That's interesting. In my experience I've found that people who like Rin's path usually enjoy Shizune's path almost as much, even if it takes a few playthoughs to realize it. I, personally, am a Lilly fan (which you can probably glean from my avatar), but even I had to reevaluate my opinion on Shizune's route after playing it a second time. It may be low on "romance" per se, and it's certainly an aquired taste, but it's probably the most emotionally subtle and realistic of the 5. Just my opinion, of course.

Well, I have only played every path once, so I can neither confirm or deny your theory's accuracy on myself. I may be too harsh on Shizune and I didn't mean to say that her path was a bad one. I noticed the subtlety (realism however is somewhat debatable) and there aren't really many significant flaws I could just list from the top of my head.

My personal problem with Shizune's route has always been the feeling that the path had a lot of potential, but ultimately failed to live up to it due to a significant amount of tiny problems within the storytelling that together lessened the emotional impact her path gave me. And I didn't even mind the odd lack of choices in her route. I have a personal problem with blatant unused potential in storytelling (I have gaming (mainly RPGs) to thank for that), hence why I list hers below most of the cast.


I very much enjoyed Lilly's path as you have and found her route to have quite the lasting effect and she's easily my second favorite character in the game. However, One of the biggest reasons why Rin's path specifically had such an incredibly powerful effect on me was not just because it had really wonderful writing in general, not because I could see a bit of my former self in her, but I found it to be the only path that perfectly used the general player's state of mind towards the story and especially towards Rin herself (One of those being the inability to understand for example)to improve the character, writing and drama itself.

Her past, her actions, her behavior, her relationship with the main character, the (some of them soul-shattering) endings and even most of the conversations you have with her. All of these have that certain subtle brilliance to them that together molded into a (In my opinion) perfect character and storyline. I can see how her story is not for everyone, but it hit bullseye with me.

 

[Weealzabob]

snip

While I was doing the actual boss fight, running around and fighting I felt the exact same way.

Spoiler

The Boss had been belittling Snake throughout the game, treating your fights like a mere annoyance, and looking at Snake like he's a child. But the brutally grounded and deliberate way that the fight, and The Boss ended, to me it just felt hollow. Then the reveal came, which filled the hollowness with regret, anger and upset, and that perspective you mentioned.

For me it's one of the most affecting moments in any form of media.

 

[kannibus]

Despite the shame I will accumulate by saying so, I usually get this way when I'm playing shooters like Modern Warfare.


When I'm yelling out "Go, GO!", "Bogies on the HUD!", "Loading!" and the classic "There's too many of 'em." The game's doing its job properly.

 

[afroebob]

Well, based on your description you have mixed up the words 'deep' and 'intense' so I guess I'll give you both.

Deep: In Mass Effect 3 it's a 3 way tie between when Mordin died for the Krogan, when Legion sacraficed himself for the Geth or when Thane died from his wounds when fighting Ki Lang. Say what you want about Mass Effect 3, but its probably my favorite in the series.

Intense: That is tough for me, but the time I felt like I was most in the action was in Fallout 3 when you first meet the Brotherhood of Steel. When I was fighting through the school and killed the Behemoth I didn't even feel like I was playing a game, the controller just seemed to slip away. For a while, I was the Lone Wonderer and it was amazing.

 

[lord canti]

For me it would be the end of MGS3. You sit there watching the scene after you ruthlessly beat your mentor, your mother figure, and in a way your lover. After telling her story to you, she hands you the patriot and you stand there pointing it at her. Only to realize that you actually have to pull the trigger. I sat there for minutes because i grew to have nothing but respect for the boss. Then the whole segment after that bravo Kojima bravo.

Yea, the first time is a real "Oh my god...what have I done..." moment when you realize just what The Boss's true mission and goals were. That's what sinced her as my favorite woman in video game dom. It doesn't even come across as cartoonishly noble (though it is) when it's presented.

The boss is also my favorite woman character and one of my favorites in general. I remember sitting in silence during eves message at the end.

 

[Slayer_2]

Gears of War 2, strangely enough. When Dom found Maria I almost cried, so touching.

 

[Therumancer]

Hrmmm, well numerous games have gotten me at one time or another for a bit, but very few have caused a deep degree of association.

I guess I could say that when I was younger the "Ultima" games, especially 6 and 7 (as a whole) did it to some extent. The fact that the hero is in some ways supposed to be you (well if you found a mystical portal in your back yard or whatever), and a lot of it involves striving to be the hero the people need, with the entire series being based around the concept of virtue to one extent or another. I got into it for a while.

One bit I still remember was in Ultima 7 Part II, where your basically visiting one of the other 3 lands (there were 4) from the first Ultima game, the continents having been seperated. This one was "The Lands Of Danger and Despair" where Shamino was king, Shamino having been a big player/companion since like Ultima 4, though he was present in the other games. After you cross a certain swamp and find out what happened to his kingdom in his absence while he was in Brittania, and that there was nothing you could do about it... well that got me a bit at the time, since there really wasn't anyone specific to smite with virtuous vengeance. The fact that Dupre also dies (which really wasn't nessicary IMO) kind of made Ultima 7 pt. II stick in my mind for a while, since these were just the kinds of things that didn't happen in most of the games I played, especially when I was supposed to be some kind of universe-saving super Paladin that always won. Of course then Ultima 8 and Ascension kind of blew chips after the highs and lows of the "7" Saga as Richard Garriot became obssessed with turning everything into a real time action game, and wouldn't even let me have companions anymore (kicking along with Iolo and company was half the fun), not to mention the fact that his dog must have died or something because he decided to make everything unrelentingly grim (at least in 8) and didn't even do it very well, kind of missing the point that half the fun of that kind of stuff is to purge the darkness. If the game wasn't crud enough about the time I started having to use Necromacy to survive as a major plot point was when I started to think Richard was losing it.... still I hope his return to game design will see some stuff similar to his earlier work but with new technology, ushering in a new era of RPG gaming.

 

[JagermanXcell]

Persona 3, the final battle with Nyx felt so real as if I truly had everyone's life in my hands all that weight on my shoulders, man it still gives me goosebumps. And then the ending... first video game to ever make me cry. Man what an experience.

Wish I could say the same for Persona 4, I'm still currently trying to get to the end of the game. Looking forward to see if it'll have the same impact as P3.

Almost forgot, No More Heroes' Rank 6 and 2 boss battles. SO. MUCH. SUBTEXT.

 

[manic_depressive13]

My deepest moment in gaming is when I was playing WoW and it struck me "Why the fuck am I even here?" Then I cut my wrists.

 

[Bernzz]

I've played more now.

I, uh...

That scene at The Gate.

Fucking wow.

I'm not sure if you can even avoid that scene either. I'm eager to replay to see if I can.

Well, my friend has played through thrice so far, first on the default difficulty level, then again on Suicide Mission and FUBAR. He doesn't think there's a way past that part. I doubt you can sneak past, and the game doesn't really give you enough ammo to fight past. It'd be amazing if you could avoid that, though.

 

[Auron225]

Kingdom Hearts 2: Battle of 1,000 heartless

Damn that was awesome. I spent the whole time thinking "HOLY CRAP! I'M ACTUALLY KILLING HUNDREDS OF THEM!!"

 

[RustlessPotato]

Gears of War 2, strangely enough. When Dom found Maria I almost cried, so touching.

Exactly. I think the voice actor did a terrific job. I even felt bad during Gears of War 3 where that scene where something happens to someone kinda sad . But those scenes kind of make me sad that Gears of War didn't have more scenes like that. When I saw the trailer for the first game I really hoped that it would be a sad game. Kinda like Band of Brothers. I don't know what to think about the new installment, hopefully that game will have a bit serious tone to it.

 

[Galaxialconda]

Journey, the more I played the more I lost track of the controller and just became the character. Fearing for my life with those dragons over head and really happy when I made it to the end, along with melancholy when the credits ended.

 

[Slayer_2]

Gears of War 2, strangely enough. When Dom found Maria I almost cried, so touching.

Exactly. I think the voice actor did a terrific job. I even felt bad during Gears of War 3 where that scene where something happens to someone kinda sad . But those scenes kind of make me sad that Gears of War didn't have more scenes like that. When I saw the trailer for the first game I really hoped that it would be a sad game. Kinda like Band of Brothers. I don't know what to think about the new installment, hopefully that game will have a bit serious tone to it.

Gears of War has a really good story, especially if you read the books, shame the gameplay obscures that from some people. A game can be fun over the top and still yank heart strings.

 

[RustlessPotato]

Gears of War 2, strangely enough. When Dom found Maria I almost cried, so touching.

Exactly. I think the voice actor did a terrific job. I even felt bad during Gears of War 3 where that scene where something happens to someone kinda sad . But those scenes kind of make me sad that Gears of War didn't have more scenes like that. When I saw the trailer for the first game I really hoped that it would be a sad game. Kinda like Band of Brothers. I don't know what to think about the new installment, hopefully that game will have a bit serious tone to it.

Gears of War has a really good story, especially if you read the books, shame the gameplay obscures that from some people. A game can be fun over the top and still yank heart strings.

Oh yes, I'm not denying that. Even if it has a "fratboy" kind of feel to it, I still love the games. My brother and I played all the games together co-op and he was don. When he has that thing that happens to him in Gears of War 3 we were both silent for a minute. The problem I had with the game is that most of the story is given through the collectibles. I kinda wish they'd incorporate those background stories into the game more.

 

[Slayer_2]

Oh yes, I'm not denying that. Even if it has a "fratboy" kind of feel to it, I still love the games. My brother and I played all the games together co-op and he was don. When he has that thing that happens to him in Gears of War 3 we were both silent for a minute. The problem I had with the game is that most of the story is given through the collectibles. I kinda wish they'd incorporate those background stories into the game more.

I didn't mean to suggest that you were, just contemplating on the shame of it. I really want to get Gears 3, but I'll need to get an Xbox before then. Damn the no PC version.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney.

I'm not kidding, I was F*** Yeah'ing and Hell No'ing the entire time. It's probably the most player/character synchronicity I've ever experienced in a game.