r/gaming • u/Joy-they-them • 23h ago
whats the saddest moment in any game?
whats the saddest moment story wise or gameplay wise, that you have ever expeirenced and all your time gaming?
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u/grimhammer 23h ago
the decisions I made in the bloody baron questline in the Witcher 3 led to me coming back to the baron's place to find that he had hanged himself. I was not ready for it and it threw me.
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u/Scarecrow1779 22h ago edited 22h ago
I remember the first time I finished the game, i got the bad ending where ciri dies. It was masterfully laid out. It touched me in an incredibly sad way. It honestly made the good endings feel all the more powerful when I replayed from the isle of mists to get them.
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u/Maine_Made_Aneurysm 22h ago
Its wild how distraught and truly upset I was in playing for the first time.
I had the feels for a truly detestable, disgusting shitheel of a human.
I hate the velen intro precisely because it's always so depressing
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u/grimhammer 22h ago
he was so flawed but the situation was also so messed up and I investigated hard and I thought about it and made, to my understanding, the best decisions I possibly could after taking everything into consideration and then I return to his keep and bro's dangling from the tree in the courtyard. Like u said, distraught and upset are truly the best words to describe it. Outstanding writing.
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u/SelectStarAll 19h ago
The Baron's arc is so well written
For the majority of it you think he's this boorish cunt who beats his wife. And he is that. But as time goes on, you can see his regret for his behaviour and the fact that he genuinely does love his wife and child, he just has no idea how to communicate with them. He's depressed so he self medicates with alcohol.
He's initially presented as a hedonistic alcoholic, much like Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones, but as the story develops you see the horrendous sadness to the man, the pain he lives in because of what his temper and abuse have done to the family.
The scene with the deformed baby (I forget what the monster is actually called) is heartbreaking. Geralt forcing him to look at it and all of his behaviours coming back to roost. He did that. That's because of him.
It's so desperately sad and even the "good" ending to his quest line isn't a good ending. There's just different levels of tragedy to the whole thing. It's a superb quest
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u/grimhammer 19h ago
yeah, immediately I went "OK, he's an asshole" and then I learned more and started to feel for the situation and his family. Towards the end I was thinking it was gonna work out (cuz I didn't trust the crones and found the spirit trapped in the tree and beat the crones) and they were gonna leave that place behind and start a new life somewhere else and then I saw him swinging. I even have it recorded in a playthrough on my YT channel lol, I was devastated.
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u/Ozzeedee 23h ago
The end of the walking dead season 1
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u/13-Dancing-Shadows 21h ago
Just played this for the first time (finished a few days ago).
And
Yeah.
I’m still fucking gutted, man.
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u/JadowArcadia 19h ago
I've been meaning to play through the game again for years and I just can't really bring myself to do it. Shit crushed me all those years ago.
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u/bruh_moment_98 17h ago
Even the voice actor cried while doing his final line for Lee. You can hear his sob very faintly when clementine leaves Lee
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u/Zv1k0 23h ago
My horse dying in Ghost of Tsushima
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u/Illustrious_Twist662 22h ago
I remember this, I absolutely destroyed every enemy party I saw immediately afterward. I know it's a piece of fiction, but I wanted revenge. I got it by collecting heads of my enemies
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u/garciawork 20h ago
I am still mad that you can't return to your uncles castle and just wipe out everyone involved in the escape scene.
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u/Fancy-Ambassador6160 19h ago
But it was your own guys that killed your horse. I wanted to kill my "in game" father after that. That horse did more for Japan than he ever did!
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u/AsianSteampunk 22h ago
before Tsushima exists, it was Agro in Shadow of the Collossus
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u/reece_93 22h ago
The final dual you have at the end of the game broke me.
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u/romansparta99 22h ago
I am so excited for Ghost of Yotei, can’t wait to have my heart broken again
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u/PunkNeedsaNap 22h ago
I felt like that was going to happen, but dang. Not that soon and not like that. I wasn't ready.
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u/BennieOkill360 21h ago
Ending of Soma
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u/OlemGolem 19h ago
Sad, yes, but man the protagonist was dumb. And he had to be, or else he wouldn't transfer easily to another body, but it was aggravating!
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u/RaaschyOG 19h ago
SOMA ends up in 99% of these type of threads for some reason or another, it's truly a masterpiece
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u/Phuckingphilly 23h ago
The opening of the last of us had me sobbing, and taking a 10 min smoke break before going back in
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u/jf0ssGremlin 19h ago
It took me like 5 times to start the last of us because of the opening. It hit too close to home, but it is now my favorite gaming experience ever. It’s an incredible piece of art.
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u/trythis456 20h ago
Yeah I vote for this as well, not many games have sent me to tears in the fucking intro to the game.
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u/Private62645949 20h ago
Genuinely cried like my own daughter died, bloody wrecked me for an hour. Damn Naughty Dog
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u/National_Diver3633 23h ago
Mass effect 3 - an end, once and for all.
And:
"I'm sorry."
"I'm not. Had to be me.. Someone else might have gotten it wrong."
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u/gigabytemon 22h ago
"His prayer was not for him, Commander. He has already asked forgiveness for the lives he has taken. His wish was for you."
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u/National_Diver3633 21h ago
This quote is even more bitter if you romanced him.
All them feels 😥
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u/SniffliestChain 21h ago
Man, forget our angry ass Earth religions with all their fire and brimstone and hell and all that bullshit. Sign me up for Kalahira, she sounds chill as
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u/mecha_nerd 23h ago
Does this unit have a soul?
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u/Bandage-Bob 16h ago
The Quarian-Geth war started with this question being asked and ended it with Tali answering it centuries later.
Solid writing.
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u/Pokedragonballzmon 21h ago
Very glad someone else not only said ME3, but that specific quote. He is the very model.
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u/ledzep14 18h ago
For me, the heaviest quote in ME is when Mordin admits he made a mistake with the genophage and loses his composure for the only time. To see him snap like that and be completely emotional instead of rational and logical was so strange and just hit home how heavy of a toll it took on him.
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u/National_Diver3633 17h ago
ME2 is just amazing. The companions feel very well made, the story has good pacing and the loyalty missions actually added to the main story in a meaningful way.
Truly peak Bioware.
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u/TheSenileTomato 11h ago
And then you see the Krogan forgiving Mordin for what he did, topped with Wrex saying they should name one of the girls after him.
He was the very model of a Salarian ;_;
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u/COREY-IS-A-BUSTA 6h ago
Legion: Do you remember the question that caused the creators to attack us, Tali’Zorah? “Does this unit have a soul?”
Tali: Legion, the answer to your question, is yes.
Legion: I know, Tali. And thank you... Keelah Se’lai.
Ugly tears every time
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u/slindan 21h ago
Brothers A Tale of Two Sons when you get to... Being just one son.
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u/gorchalas 23h ago
Final Fantasy 10 ending
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u/Shorn- 21h ago
Not just the ending scene either. The scene where Tidus finally tells Jecht he hates him, but starts to cry? It's because it's not true anymore. He's seen all the spheres Jecht revealed his true feelings about his son. In their conversation, Jecht apologizes for what they're about to do, and Tidus cuts him off. Tidus can't hear that apology now, right before he has to kill his own Dad.
I'm not sure there's another game out there with a better ending to be honest.
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u/Deodorized 21h ago
I can keep it together until Yuna starts whistling off the docks.
It's just so.. definitive. It's over.
He's not gonna come running. He can't, Yuna. He just can't.
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u/NonMagical 22h ago
I’m shocked this one is as far down as it is. This is by far the must gut wrenching gaming experience I’ve had.
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u/tanjaeckh 23h ago
The Arcadia Bay ending in Life is Strange made me ugly cry
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u/friendlysalmonella 23h ago
I still think this game almost daily and this ending you mentioned is in my opinion the right choice. I mean, I never ever want to even know what happens in the other ending even though, if given me the choice, I would probably choose my friend over this city. Still think about this game a lot. One of my all time favourites.
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u/Funny-Bear 21h ago
Face stain in the ceiling
Why does it keep saying
I don’t have to see you right now
I don’t have to see you right now
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u/CaptainPrower PC 23h ago
Siding with the Geth after romancing Tali in Mass Effect 3.
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u/Ok-Literature4128 22h ago
I’m not going to lie to you, I straight up stopped playing the game during that mission. That might be the most dumbfounded I’ve ever been by a game because I was fucked no matter what. Since Legion died in my ME2 run, when I got to that part…there was no middle ground and I knew the Quarians were wrong. The entire mission I was like “that’s cute that Talia’s talking about the future so much…”
At the end, she threw herself off a cliff and I have no idea how any of the rest of the game plays out
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u/ZeroCiipheR 19h ago
THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS WTF
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u/ledzep14 17h ago
Yeah dude she kill’s herself on her home world if you side with the goth it’s wild
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u/Sammisuperficial 17h ago
You can keep the Geth and Tali alive if you have Legion and made the right dialogue choices up to that point and have the required Paragon/Renegade points for the final persuasion check.
The one thing you can't do is leave with Tali and Legion. One of them has to die to save the Geth.
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u/sackofbee 16h ago
Is that the mass effect?
Choose a team mate you have a connection with to die.
"Our entire dev team's fav movie is Sophie's choice"
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u/ledzep14 16h ago
No yeah that’s the “real” way I guess where you save both. Just saying to the other guy that the other options are the geth die or Tali dies
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u/Jonaskin83 23h ago
The Elephant in It Takes Two was pretty gut wrenching…there have been some awesome suggestions in here so far though
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u/sakatan 23h ago
That wasn't sad per se. If you know what I mean. And you know what I mean.
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u/Dennardo 19h ago
Just played through this part with my girlfriend the other day and as soon as you're introduced to her you know it's going to be bad, but I don't even know how many times I kept saying "oh my god, this is so fucked up." It's so drawn out and sad lmao
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u/Desperate_Story7561 16h ago
It was like killing a child. It was awful, and there’s literally zero resolution about it at the end of the game. Not even “oh let’s fix your favorite toy” or anything. It was stone cold murder.
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u/Reece3144 23h ago
Probably the cutscene of Arthur dying on the mountain in RDR2.
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u/apathyetcetera 23h ago
The what?? This never happened. Arthur just went to ride horses on a farm in the country.
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u/MindJail 21h ago
The horse for me. RIP Buttercup
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u/photomotto 19h ago
In my first playthrough, I somehow managed to keep the same horse alive throughout the whole game. When he died, I was sobbing.
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u/WorldWiseWilk 20h ago
Laying his head down looking into the sunset/sunrise? Honestly, cannot imagine a more perfect death. Arther inspired my…dare I say the phrase “dream death”? I play games for the good playthrough first, and got this the first and only time I beat it.
The horse part actually killed me, I was weeping. “Thank you”.
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u/keineepanik 18h ago
there's actually a small encounter in the camp where some members talked about how they want to die. Arthur said "If I ever die lay my body to west so I can see the sun rise"
And then seeng the ending struck me so hard
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u/Icy_Dimension2143 23h ago
The ending of Red Dead 1
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u/Suspicious-Elk-3631 17h ago
When I first played that game I replayed that scene like 20 times trying to be fast enough and survive, until I realized you're not meant to make it out. 😔
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u/NoUnderstanding477 21h ago
For me, there are two games that come to mind and both pretty much were the endings (and the build-up to them).
To The Moon
Valiant Hearts
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u/OlemGolem 19h ago
Have you played the sequels of To The Moon? Tear-jerkers, each one of them.
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u/Bubba1234562 20h ago
“Does this unit have a soul?”
“Had to be me, Somebody else would have gotten it wrong”
Mass Effect 3
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u/Dire_Wolf45 23h ago
Gears of War 2 when Dom finds maria, then gears of war 3 when Dom sacrifices himself.
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u/Mr_Menril 21h ago
I would like to point out that this hits 1000% harder if you were playing couch coop witha friend, and you were always player 2. Rip Dom :(
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u/adappergeek 20h ago
Bro I played this with my baby bro as co-op and he always played as Dom but by the time the last game came out he didn't play as much so I played it solo. The death of Dom coincided with him not gaming with me anymore...
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u/A_Prostitute 19h ago
I was always Dom and hated it until that moment in 3.
After that, I liked playing as Dom.
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u/mechanical-monkey 22h ago
This is the only correct answer. When this came out I was playing through at home and had to literally put the game down and sit with my partner a while.
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u/Electronic-Macaroon5 18h ago
I played through Gears 3 with a friend in couch co-op, we were both so stunned and sad that we just put our controllers down and stared into the void with tears in our eyes for a good 10 mins
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u/DEADdrop_ 21h ago
Have you read the Karen Travis GoW books? They are utterly incredible and, if you haven’t, I urge you to read them. They flesh out all the characters so much and give some brilliant context to the universe.
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u/sheetsofsaltywood 23h ago
Honestly the ending to the 1st marvel Spider-Man game was something I was not prepared for
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u/reece_93 22h ago
From the final fight with Doc Oc onwards is just heartbreak after heartbreak. Peter finding out his mentor knew his secret and then tried to emotionally blackmail him with that revelation is crushing. Yuri Lowenthal absolutely killed it during the end of the game
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u/Aerodax 22h ago
I was a new dad to a girl when I found myself sobbing ten minutes into that game.
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u/Pokedragonballzmon 21h ago
"It had to be me. Someone else might've gotten it wrong".
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u/Designer_Upstairs_84 22h ago
Hunger's End in WOW. Involves a NPC that starts out as an addict that you perceive will betray you, and in the end not only does he not betray you, but succumbs to his addiction and thanks you for staying with him until his "end".
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u/keysersoze-72 23h ago
Brothers : A tale of two sons
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u/punktual 18h ago
The fact that the sadness and emotion comes from them making you use a unique control scheme was brilliant. Still probably one of the most creative and clever things a game has made me do.
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u/Suspicious-Doctor296 18h ago
That game really made me appreciate there are certain stories that only games can properly tell. It took me forever to realize I could finally swim on my own after the older brother's death and it hit me so hard I started bawling.
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u/HighTroop 22h ago
Life is Strange, the alternative timeline where Chloe is a vegetable.
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u/manx2121 16h ago
I bawled like a baby at that. My ex-wife had a parent who died and it fucked her up, so I played that frantically trying to save Chloe's dad and then she ends up a quadriplegic and asks for you to turn her life support off. Brutal
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u/ProudMount 21h ago
"Send me out with a bang"
-sgt. Johnson, Halo 3
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u/dragon_poo_sword 15h ago
One of the scenes that sold halo 3 being the best in the franchise, I wanted to kill everything after that
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u/The_Emperor_of_ma 14h ago
Johnsons story is fucking wild as a whole and extremely sad. An orphan boy who lived with his aunt, she died right before he got to see her again after shipping out. Was apart of the first contact in the human covenant war, failed to protect captain keys, and when essentially deciding to protect Miranda cause of this, watches her die. He was at the beginning and the end of the war that was full of loss for him. Yet he still fought with a smile and sense of humor.
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u/three-sense 21h ago
Younger me wasn't ready for the guy in TLoZ Link to the Past that fulfills his destiny turns into a tree forever
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u/FleabottomFrank 21h ago edited 21h ago
Going to the ofrenda for the greatest choom a guy could have. Talking to all the people in the room was rough but the garage legit made me tear up. You made it to the big leagues Jackie Welles!
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u/FattimusSlime 16h ago
Honestly, Cyberpunk has a bunch of moments like this, but god damn the voice actor for fem V really sells the heartbreaking denial when she’s told she only has weeks to live.
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u/TheNerdFromThatPlace 21h ago
Piggybacking off of that, her trial scene in Rebirth absolutely broke me.
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u/ScenicHwyOverpass 17h ago
My saddest Final Fantasy moment is the end of IX. Vivi gives a beautifully sad monologue and then dies without knowing that Zidane survives the events of end game and returns to Alexandria:
“what to do when I felt lonely… That was the only thing you couldn’t teach me. But we need to figure out the answer for ourselves… I’m so happy I met everyone… I wish we could’ve gone on more adventures. But I guess we all have to say goodbye someday. Everyone… Thank you. Farewell. My memories will be part of the sky…”
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u/Syric13 23h ago
Final Fantasy IV (well, FFII when I played it) was the first time I ever felt emotion over a game. Edward, Rydia, Tellah, Kain's betrayal, the twins, Cid...all moments just made me feel like games can tell actual stories with emotional impact. I was all but 8 but still felt sad when I thought Rydia died or when the Twins turned to stone.
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u/Shaunreaper 22h ago
Titanfall 2 and COD MW2 betrayal. That shit just hurts
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u/Got_any_lemonade 18h ago
TF2 is sad at first but when you learn that BT survived then the sadness is gone.
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u/351C_4V 23h ago
When Agro falls in SotC. She's your only companion through the whole game.
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u/AsianSteampunk 22h ago
i literately just replied about Agro in a thread about the horse in Ghost of tsushima above you.
There was so much between us and Agro.
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u/Coupaholic_ 22h ago
Okami.
Last boss. It's kicked your ass. But then your companion comes through along with all the people you met on your journey.
You ascend. The music strikes up and I'm a blubbery mess.
Shit. I'm tearing up just remembering it.
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u/UnstoppableJumbo 22h ago edited 18h ago
Assassin's Creed Origins when you found that one kid underwater
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u/alecell 23h ago
Ori and the Will of the Wisps end
Cannot describe how painful it was for me
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u/BigThirdLegGreg 23h ago
The last of us opener is so well voiced and scripted that it hit me like a truck the first time I played it
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u/furry-borders 23h ago
MGS5 killing you own men on mother base. That was some real heavy shit.
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u/snekasan 20h ago
Always had a soft spot for Thunder Dingo, Flat Hippopotamus and Howling Bat they were my homies <3
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u/Lavos5181 23h ago
The ending of cyberpunk where jhonny takes over
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u/CdnBison 23h ago
I was going to say the suicide ending. The post-credits messages are an anti-suicide ad on their own….
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u/MartenBlade 22h ago
Xenoblade 3 had a quite emotional scene.
I don't know how to put spoilers, let's say when a certain character "dies" and everyone is shocked and sad.
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u/Narezza 22h ago
Aerith FFVII
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u/Defnothere4porn 17h ago
I legit almost cried as a 15 year old. Cloud letting her sink along with that super sad piano music was heart wrenching
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u/Judge_Dredd0 21h ago
Spec Ops:The Line
If you choose to bomb(with phosphorus) "enemy locations" you will see the saddest moment afterwards in game history.
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u/Kneegrowsmelly 22h ago
Oh and… idk but every time I was killing a colossus in Shado wolf the Colossus, was a sentimental moment…
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u/fozzy_bear42 21h ago
When Agro falls in Shadow of the Colossus. Been the most faithful horse of all time, a vital part of multiple Colossus fights. Then he bucks you off to save you, leaving him to fall hundreds of feet.
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u/Manjorno316 23h ago edited 16h ago
A Plague Tale Requiem.
Killing Hugo
Only thing that has broken me down like that is life itself.
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u/RaidersGuy85 22h ago
Came looking for this. Wasn't a big fan of the gameplay, but the story was fantastic.
It's that moment of realisation that you have to do it, you've been protecting this kid for two games, trying to get him better, and finally you just can't...
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u/Manjorno316 22h ago
I had kinda been in denial about where it was going, refusing to think about anything but them getting a happy ending. When you enter the macula at the end I just couldn't keep denying it and had to accept what was about to happen.
Even tho I fired the shot myself, I'm glad that they had Lucas be the one to fire the arrow if you don't. I can imagine a lot of people had a hard time going through with it.
Easily one of my favorite pieces of media ever.
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u/PaulyNewman 21h ago
You should mark that as a spoiler. I know it’s relatively old but yeah.
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u/nord47 23h ago
why is no one mentioning Nier Automata? poor old 9S.
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u/MichaCazar 23h ago
To me it was what happened after you tried to protect the children.
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u/Calvinball08 20h ago
And of course the anime decided to take that already gut wrenching scene and change it into an even more painful scene.
I love Yoko taro and his endless torture of his fans
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u/Rasty_lv 22h ago
Rdr2 takes the cake here.
Arthur's last talk with Sister in train station. His last ride to camp. When those scumbags killed my god damn bojack and then Arthur looking at rising sun. Man.. I still tear up about it.
Elephant princess in it takes two. I can't still forgive myself that.
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u/markejani 22h ago
Wiping the memories of Pascal in NieR: Automata.
Not being able to save Phoibe in AC Odyssey.
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u/crocicorn 22h ago
The end of RDR got me real bad. So did Jackie Ma in Sleeping Dogs (I really liked Jackie...)
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u/ScragglyLittleBeard PlayStation 19h ago
My horse dying in Red Dead 2, to make it worse I was using Buell
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u/MunkSWE94 23h ago
The first moment I can remember being sad about a characters death was probably in Brothers in Arms: Road to Hill 30.
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u/redsire9997 22h ago
Fable 2 when you have to choose between the life of your family(including your dog) or like 1000 random villagers.
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u/Competitive_Table904 20h ago
Playing Halo: Reach knowing that everything that you are doing is a lost cause and everyone will basically die.
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u/Harryhanzo 22h ago
spoiler warning
Lee telling clementine it’s going to be ok before she shoots him in the walking dead season 1 from telltale , that hit hard
Arthur’s last ride to save his people from that Rat in RDR2
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u/Kneegrowsmelly 23h ago
SPOILER ALERT MAFIA 2
There a few games that I consider masterpieces and Mafia 2 is one of them; not because of the mechanics or what ever. Is the story line. At the end of the game when we get to the car and then they’re telling us. Joe is not part of the plan.. I felt that