Game with the biggest emotional impact?

GlimpseDart said:

Well, in that case - I have to mention Alien Isolation, because there's no other game out there that comes close in terms of provoking fear in me.

It's the only game I've ever played where I had to take breaks literally every 20-30 minutes or so. It was that intense.

I only completed it out of sheer stubborn principle, because I couldn't accept being too afraid

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I couldn't even finish it :lol:

*SPOILERS*
I spent the entire game shitting myself because of only ONE Alien, and when I arrived on the second ship, completely infested with aliens and facehuggers, everywhere, I just said fuck that. I couldn't.

It's like you said, an intense game (well if you play it right: in the dark with headset).

I tried it with the VR mod. I don't recommend that unless you have a resuscitation team standing by.

I don't know if you're serious or not, but yeah. That game could kill in VR.

And even if your heart holds up, you still could hurt yourself badly.
I only played it in… "Regular Reality", and I was really jumpy!

I'm serious alright, and I didn't last very long. My heart was pounding hard. I'm fairly sure the experience could do someone a serious disservice.

First season of Walking Dead, Clem has to decide what to do with Lee after he is infected, pretty sad scene.

As for pure joy, probably after i beat S&O for the first time in the first Dark Souls hehe

Maybe it will come as a surprise to you, but the last game that impacted me emotionally is LOTRO, the Wildermore region. There are so many dead and dying. Even if they're just pixels, it did affect me. Some really nasty baddies there (no problem for a screaming hobbit warden, of course)

a pibbur who thinks he also was emotionally affected by PS:T, especially after finishing it, since he could never play it for the first time again.

Ripper said:

I tried it with the VR mod. I don't recommend that unless you have a resuscitation team standing by.

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Since I've obviously got some experience in resuscitation, I ought to be able to handle that aspect myself.

a pibbur who of course hasto buy a VR kit, which he has not yet considered (those headsets look ugly).

GlimpseDart said:

Ok, so what game have you played - that had the biggest emotional impact on you?

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Valkyria Chronicles 4.

I still feel the emotional strike that was unexpected. Not to mention that otherwise I feel basically nothing about ones and zeros in videogames, but the storywriters lured me into characters and then stabbed me in the heart. Note that I used the original voiceover with subs. I have no idea if that could be possible with once again ridiculous dubs.
Watching the intro after completing the game (means *all* sidequests and all achievements not just fastrun the main story), I get even more emotional.

While I can nitpick a few things in VC4 that could have been less clunky (and are clunky because mushrooms generally ruined videogames design), no other game managed to bring me to tears. As such it deserved 10/10 from me.

EDIT:
Seeing some people talk about shockers and suspense…
I remember jumping off my chair a few times while playing Clive Barker's Undying.
Other games that tried jumpscares on me were pretty much junk with hammering my speakers and hurting my ears. Undying does it silently and when it does, ouch.
But that's kinda reflex after tension, not really on emotions side.

EDIT2:
Forgot another example, Tomb Raider reboot. Every time Lara dies it's shown on screen and I feel the pain myself. Because I couldn't believe it's happening to me, I tried to let Lara die by all possible means. And devs knew it, all the time you find new animated cutscenes of her horrible death!

And another, Icarus landing system in DX:HR (not in MD). Every time I'm falling off the building my gut squeezes as if it was me.

Still, the biggest impact stays with VC4.

NWN-Modules:
The Aielund saga
A Dance with Rogues, Part One & Part Two

RPGMaker:
Forever Home
The Great Gaias

J-RPG:
Valkyria Chronicles 1

I'm going a bit old school with this one.

The original x-com always left me nervous and dreading what moves the aliens were making in the shadows. That music really put you in the scene and the sheer unpredictability of what will occur on the battlefield. Then you hear the screams as civies start going down when you end your turn. Great stuff. Later game you are defending your bases in every sense of the word. You feel ownership because you placed everything yourself and everything that gets damaged makes you respect the game and the aliens even more.

King's Quest III also had a big impact. Playing a boy facing up against a wizard who would appear at random in a cloud of smoke while you are trying to prepare spells in secret to defeat him. You are always sneaking around hoping he will not catch you with ingredients or you will be blasted. Everytime he appeared with a musical cue you are going 'oh shit!' I also remember the clock counting down and you are trying to get back to the wizards house before he discovers you are gone. It was compelling stuff. Not to mention actually making the spells itself which left me nervous to get the wording exactly right or its game over. And that blasted cat! He would hang around on the stairs and trip you up but you got your own back.

Star Control II had a different sort of impact on me. It really put me in the world and the soundtrack was so dance and upbeat and somehow worked altogether. I found it compelling and uplifting and the game always makes me smile thinking about it. Such great dialogue and your actions were really impactful on events. It left me feeling like a participant in that world.

So many to choose from but not much modern. I'm not impacted by cinematic games I guess.

a pibbur said:

a pibbur who of course have to buy a VR kit, which he has not yet considered (those headsets look ugly).

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They are ugly, and clunky. They're not ready yet, IMO. I just saw a very good deal, and let curiosity get the better of me. Still a flawed experience, but you can definitely see the potential.

What is quite remarkable, is how much more viscerally one reacts to things coming for you. Even the giant spiders in Skyrim are quite intense.

Some moments in Mass Effect 2 made me feel ashamed of myself for decisions I made. This War of Mine, such a simple game, left me very thoughtful about war and how quickly even modern countries crumble.

I'd say Final Fantasy 7. Still remember buying it back in the 90's and seeing the death of Aeris. So don't laugh at me it was damn sad. Even when cloud tried to resurrect her. Nowadays not much as I'm to jaded.

Edit: Legend of the Dragoon is a close second

a pibbur said:

Since I've obviously got some experience in resuscitation, I ought to be able to handle that aspect myself.

a pibbur who of course hasto buy a VR kit, which he has not yet considered (those headsets look ugly).

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I recommend skipping a generation or two. I don't necessarily agree that they're ugly (and I don't know why anyone would care - as you won't be looking at yourself from the outside) - but they're definitely not as comfortable as they need to be.

They've yet to solve a few key issues - and it's not clear they can truly manage it.

Biggest problem is locomotion and the motion sickness.

However, I recently discovered that you can actually adapt and train yourself to deal with the sickness.

I played Alyx - and it didn't take more than a couple of days of forcing myself to play 30+ minutes until my brain adapted.

I don't know if that's true for everyone - but I think most people can learn to overcome that issue.

The biggest problem with VR, though, isn't so much the tech as it's the lack of meaningful quality games that can compare with the better non-VR games.

Alyx was a pretty game for sure - but it's vastly (and I do mean vastly) overrated.

It's a very simplistic shooter that does absolutely nothing interesting - apart from being particularly well adapted for the VR platform. It's the Avatar of VR games.

Until we see something truly meaty that's as well executed and adapted for the platform, I can't recommend spending that much money on a kit - regardless of whether or not they perfect the tech.

GlimpseDart said:

I recommend skipping a generation or two. I don't necessarily agree that they're ugly (and I don't know why anyone would care - as you won't be looking at yourself from the outside) - but they're definitely not as comfortable as they need to be.
…

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I admit it's not an entirely rational view. In fact, I may actually disagree with myself on this issue.

a pibbur who remembers at least one time he made a foolish decision. Back in '74.

Best emotional impact for me in a video game?
These two are the greatest of the greats in my book:
1. The Last Guardian (PS4)
Play the game, and you will see what I mean.

2. Silent Hill 2
The final revelation in the story, where everything fits together perfectly.

While TLG is emotional in the heart-wrenching variety, SH2 shows what emotional might really feel down in the guts.

Honorable mentions:
- The Longest Journey (a wonderful fairy tale for the modern audience with a beautiful closure)
- Fallout 1 (that ending, omg that ending!)
- Gabriel Knight 3 (the final plot twist defines "emotional epic" for me)
- The Lost Odyssey (X360) (the cast, the plot, the optional short stories... no one does melodrama better than the Japanese)

Lost Odyssey did have some real good short stories!

BioShock Infinite did hit me all right - enough that I immediately went back to the last battle and recorded the whole ending. The story had some "blah" after the half way point (come on, you didn't realize you couldn't haul tons of machinery around?) but what an ending!

Oblivion: Shivering Isles had that "butterfly" room which really freaked my mind. I did NOT understand what I was seeing at all for the first couple of seconds. There's "surprised" and then there's "so surprised you can't even parse what your eyes are telling you." That's the only game that's ever hit that level for me.

Finding Blackreach in Skyrim - just awesome. I felt like I had gone back in time and was somehow playing Vault of the Drow as a computer game.

And yeah, Witcher 3 for sure. The ending was great! The mighty end battle was done, but where was Ciri? Did she survive? The devs toyed with me for about a century before finally revealing that, yes, she made it. (And then I managed to get killed by a fool griffin.) The ending for Blood & Wine was great, too, even though I got the "bad" ending.

duerer said:

2. Silent Hill 2
The final revelation in the story, where everything fits together perfectly.

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Yeah, I remember after James watch the VHS, the rain start dripping of the ceiling and the city becomes even weirder than before, but as a player you don't give a crap anymore, you're like James…
All the monsters don't scare you anymore because you feel like you are the true monster.

That final sprint to the conclusion is a psychological masterpiece.

duerer said:

Honorable mentions:
- The Longest Journey (a wonderful fairy tale for the modern audience with a beautiful closure)

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Dreamfall for me. Made me profoundly sad after I finished it. And happy.

Arhu said:

Dreamfall for me. Made me profoundly sad after I finished it. And happy.

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I played TLJ about a month ago and was quite underwhelmed for a supposed classic. I thought the owner of the guesthouse was much more interesting character than the lead, but she only makes 2 or 3 appearances. I kept wanting April to solve peoples demands with sex, but she wasn't having it . I have Dreamfall ready to go, so I hope I find it better (although I don't really expect any sex).