My favorite games are Omori, Disco Elysium and Outer Wilds. I cried for hours at the end of those games, and I think the common point in them is high-quality emotional writing and stellar OST (music really affect me) and my attachment to the characters.
I also found that my taste in movies was similar (Hana-bi by Takeshi Kitano is my favorite movie)
I’ve been trying to find something similar, so has anybody any recommendation?
I’d like to add that I basically hated Nier Automata (way too pretentious imo) and Before your Eyes (I wasn’t a fan of the game concept, and found the story pretty weak), and really loved the horror aspects of Omori.
I also heard about To the moon, but games talking about disease are hard for me to enjoy
Baldurs Gate 3.
I’d recommend “in stars and time”. It is a turn-based RPG with loveable characters. I think it is best played blind so I’m hesitant to tell you more, but if you like games like undertale then I think you would like it.
THAT WAS IT!!! it was WONDERFUL, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! if anyone reads this and recognizes themselves in the games i enjoyed, I would tell them to play this first if they haven’t!
Haha. Glad you enjoyed it. Really great game that I think deserves more attention.
Life is Strange made me cry. It has a good soundtrack too.
To the Moon was great. It’s made with RPG Maker and it shows, but it hits hard.
Haven’t seen Spiritfarer mentioned, worth checking out.
I’m not super familiar with the examples you gave but I’m gonna say anything from Supergiant Games: Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, Hades. Fantastic music always, I would say the storytelling is done best in Transistor and Hades.
The Witcher 3 has some really emotional scenes, and an immersive soundtrack.
I’m trying to get into it, played 15 hours already but I struggle to get attached to the world or characters.
Cyberpunk 2077 and edgerunners had way more of an impact on me, with The Witcher’s strong points
I know it has a bit of an intense fan base, but Undertale would definitely fit here.
Bastion has a good story and great OST. There’s a pretty heavy moment toward the end of the game.
🎵I’m coming home, sweet home🎵
Transistor too, from the same studio.
Telltale’s The Walking Dead games. Made me cry more than when my dog died.
A thousand times, this!
Playing the walking dead games made me finally realize what the zombie genre is really all about. Zombie apocalypses are really a metaphor for the experience of life, In the end death takes everyone, in a zombie apocalypse it’s just accelerated. But death is a reality we all face, there’s no escaping it, there’s no running from it, there’s no outsmarting it; eventually you slip up or maybe you’re careful and responsible the whole way through, it actually doesn’t matter, you’ll still die in the end. What does matter are the choices you make along the way, the people’s lives that you touch, the world you can either leave better than you found it, or worse.
Mass effect and dragon age series from bioware are excellent, they’re a little involved but the story telling is incredible in both. While it has aged and may be depending on a love for star wars, their knights of the old republic series was also excellent.
They’re really damn good at making a story that’s worth being part of, often one of my first recommendations aside from the last of us, outer wilds, and a couple of others I’ve seen here already.
Took me over a year to recover from Outer Wilds. Can’t explain it…
I am into emotional storytelling as well, I think what gets you involved most are well drawn characters.
I would recommend planescape torment for an epic adventure full of stories, characters and heartbreak.
Really good stories/characters are few and far between in computer games but “The longest journey” comes to mind and even the first Witcher game.
Unavowed comes to mind as well as a rather affecting story.
And a couple of dozen books, but that’s not what you asked for…
Could you recommend books either way? It might interest me
I always loved the Song of Ice and Fire books by George Martin, be aware that the series is not finished, though. I am a big fan of Stephen King as well, he writes great characters. It, Shawshank Redemption, The Dark Tower… Thuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom is very emotional, I could not even finish it. Deadhouse Gates by Stephen Erikson. The Liveship Traders by Robin Hobb just to name a few…
Final Fantasy X still holds my personal ugly-cry record. To this day, I can’t hear some of the music from it without tearing up. It’s one of those games that has emotional react videos on YouTube.
Shadow of the Colossus manages to be emotional with very little explicit story. A lot of it has to do with its use of dynamic music in an orchestral soundtrack.
Persona 3 just had a remake, and that’s part of a series that can really gets its hooks into you. A big part of it is the parasocial gameplay, but even if you’re not the type to get into that, the story is still very moving. Persona series composer Shoji Meguro recently said the ending theme in this game was his magnum opus.
Huge RPGs kinda scare me… But Ive heard a lot about Persona 3 that might get me to play it
Persona 3 is one of the “shorter” ones in the contemporary Persona series at a mere 60 hours. Persona 5 Royal is a beast, though. Hard to get through that one in under 100 hours without rushing.
Several games I’d have recommended have already been said, so I’ll chuck in a nod for Thomas Was Alone, incredibly moving despite the only ‘characters’ being a range of shapes.
Absolutely! You are going to feel some very big feelings about these little squares and rectangles.
I too love emotional games. Here are my personal favourites. Some of these have been recommended by others but idc:
What Remains of Edith Finch - as Edith Finch, you go back to the house you grew up in and explore your family’s history. The Finch family have had much misfortune, and many did not grow old. As you explore the house room by room, you see that person’s last moments. I cannot recommend this game enough. It’s only 2 hours long and best enjoyed in a single sitting.
Life is Strange - you (Max) have recently returned to the town you grew up in for a prestigious art programme at the Blackwell Academy. One day, you discover you have suddenly gained the ability to rewind time. In this game, you explore your powers and reunite with your old childhood friend, Chloe. Don’t worry too much about the superpower thing, it’s without any Marvel BS.
Detroit: Become Human - in this game, you explore a world where robots are servants to humans from the POV of three robots. There are three stories that you follow that do meet each-other at some points. Not all stories are equally exciting, but two of the three are pretty great imo. It really makes you think about what it means to be human.
Kentucky Route Zero - this is an odd duck that you may enjoy as well. You start as Conway, an old man driving for an antiques shop doing his last delivery, as the shop will close down soon. As you try to find your way, a gas station attendant gives you cryptic directions to Highway Zero. As Conway and several other characters, you explore the surrealist world beneath Kentucky. It’s a game filled with mystery, grief, loss, and being lost. This game is more like a strange dream rather than a videogame, and is therefore best played in the later hours of the day.
I hope there are some interesting picks here for you. Enjoy!
+1 for Life is Strange and Detroit Become Human. Both are on my favoeutie games list.
Also check out The Beginners Guide.
Kentucky route zero seems very nice!