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.
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
Outer Wilds is a masterpiece.
This, entirely. It’s just one of those games that I can’t get past. Truly a solid recommendation
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.
To The Moon, was such a good story. The music from that game still floats around my head to this day.
I can’t recommend this enough. Such a gem of a game.
I’ve played a bit of it, but haven’t gotten around to finishing it yet.
It’s a slow start but then gets to a point where I just HAD to finish it
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.
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.
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.
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!
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.
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 …
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
Chrono Trigger. A timeless game that will make you laugh and cry and experience all that in between. The sequel Chrono Cross is also great but the original is just unrivalled.
Chrono Trigger is my favorite game of all time.
Here is a list of games I think are timeless (pun kinda intended): https://lemmy.sdf.org/comment/1552760
What really dude? I am playing it for the first time ever and I have read it is a masterpiece, but I didn’t know it peaked on emotional stuff as well.
Make sure you do all the sidequests.
LARA!
Play it all the way through and you’ll see. It’s part of the reason why it’s so highly regarded.
Life is Strange
Life is Strange: Before the Storm
I was going through a really rough time when I played both of those games. There was something in Before the Storm that I know was coming but I cried anyways, multiple times. I’ve never been that invested in a game before and I don’t know if I’ll ever be again.
LiS is exactly what I came to suggest. I cried from every one of the LiS games and so recommend them all, but the original is hands down the best in pretty much every way.
LiS1 and before the storm were excellent, but my partner and I found LiS2 laughable and LiS3 downright cringy. :c
That’s some high praise. “Ever” is a very long time.
Yes I went into that game knowing only that choices matter and nothing else. It was a huge eye opener to mental health. I’m very tempted to get a tattoo of the spiral because I want to make it resemble when I made a choice to stay alive. I am in a much better place now and that game has really helped me.
I love BTS. There’s something liberating about playing carefree rebel Chloe that I never managed to tap into when I was playing Max.
Also in LiS you can undo most choices. In BTS you can’t
Same here. LiS games are my goto for moods. It’s an interesting feeling when a song comes on from the games, that elicits an emotion so well.
I’ve had a few times hearing a song from the games and either stopping and listening, getting a little teary eyed, or just getting goosebumps.
UNDERTALE goes without saying, but I’ll say it anyway.
Haven’t played it. Only thing I know about it is that it’s rich with memes.
Firewatch made my heart hurt. Twice.
It was such an amazing game, ruined by a rushed ending that just completely skipped over many of the events that had happened in the story. It makes me so mad because it could easily have been a 10/10.
I still very much recommend it tho
It’s 10/10 either way for me. I played that game at the right time in my life I think because things were changing for me and it made me release a lot of emotion I had been holding on to. Fuck it sucks trying to be stoic.
It’s definitely one of those games that the strength is in the journey, not the destination.
I started playing it right during a divorce and did not keep going. Noped out in the first 10 minutes. I should revisit it now that I’m in a better place.
Came here to say this
Every time a 95% shot misses in XCOM (or X-Com), I cry.
Hahaha indeed. This game truly taught me picard’s words.
Mass Effect trilogy made me pretty emotional at times.
For real.
Your reward for playing the first two correctly is that #3 will wreck you at least three times.
The ending still kind of sucks, but it’s the journey that makes it worth while.
100%. A great emotional experience.
“getting over it” but you’ll cry for different reasons
Lol played it already.
I cried at the ending of Outer Wields. Its was very beautiful. You need to search the story for yourself and complete little puzzle. At the end when you get the full story its just beautiful and scary.
Outer Wilds is my favorite game ever. Man what I would love to experience it all for the first time again. The ending definitely made me cry as well.
Outer Wilds makes you think about the nature of existence itself.
What a beautiful game.
Outer Wilds and Undertale are the only two games where I happened to coincidentally quit playing them right at a part where the narrative made sense. I died in outer wilds and I got stuck on the Sans fight in Undertale. I can’t go into details without spoilers.
Oh that sounds like me with SUPERHOT. Got to the point in the game where it tells you to stop playing, so I did. Never went back to it.
I died in outer wilds
Who didn’t, lol
Did you get a screen saying YOU DIED? 🤔
Not on my normal playthrough, but I did try every possible ending at least once. My comment was rather intended as a joke, because dying in various hilarious ways is sort of part of the game.
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!
