Moments in games that make you sad

[Esau of Isaac]

I don't see why Aerith dying was sad. I find it really hard to feel pity for a character that unlikable (I blame her engaging personality which has as much charisma as a cardboard box).

However, the FF universe is littered with good immersive moments. Galuf's passing in V, Sazh losing Dajh to crystal in XIII (I'm going to go ahead and say that the end of Chapter 8 may be one of the best FF scenes of all time) and Vivi going berserk after finding out that his lifespan is finite in IX are the big ones that spring to mind. I think that it's because these characters are actually likable rather than the completely redundant Aerith.

I believe we had this conversation in another topic, but a lot of it came down to being a tragic end of what could have been a redeeming relationship for Cloud. She wasn't an incredibly colored character, either, but she had her fair share of characterization.

[BrightBow]

Path of Radiance tends to get me with a few scenes.

One of these scenes would be in chapter 8 when Mist shows up at the end of the battle.

It's so painful seeing her pushed so far that she actually prefers death over survival.

Another would be the battle conversation between Mist vs Black Knight. Especially in Mist's case.

She does such a good job hiding her feelings all the time, that I never really internalized that Mist was in the same situation as Ike in regards to the Black Knight. The realization kinda hit me like a brick.

This also applies to Titania, who also once lost her composure at the subject of the Black Knight. It shows how hard they push themselves for the sake of the group.

[Aizenberg]

1st gen

last chapter

fire emblem 4

Edited February 10, 2013 by Aizenberg

[riariadne]

as much charisma as a cardboard box

You could probably argue some cardboard boxes are more charismatic because Metal Gear exists, as pathetic as that sounds

First thing I thought of was

[spoiler=mgs3]killing The Boss. Even though you knew it was coming 95% of the game.

[Knight]

Yeah, MGS3

Killing the Boss

Also in MGS2

EE's death and Otacon's monologue

And other games too, in Batman: Arkham City

Joker, believe it or not

And Fire Emblem 4

Sigurd's party's massacre

I guess Halo 4's ending is pretty sad too, but these are the big ones.

[Just call me AL]

[spoiler=Skyward Sword related]I know someone brought up Fi's farewell earlier. And I have to agree. It was inevitable, but the scene itself just goes to show that inevitability has no jurisdiction over the impact the scene holds. It also makes the Master Sword retrieval scenes in later games kinda heartwarming in a sense, even though the Link pulling out the sword in at least two of the cases may not be a reincarnation of the Hero of the Skies.

There's also the scene where Zelda puts herself literally to sleep. She knows it has to be done. But you still can't help but get into the "there has to be another way" mentality. Believe me when I say it's VERY hard to imagine that the player's face isn't mirroring the look on Link's face in that scene.

There's also MGS4's ending.

Edited February 10, 2013 by Little Al

[riariadne]

There's also MGS4's ending.

Yeah this was actually sadder for me but not the first thing I thought of

[Keiya]

Prolly the saddest scene for me is in Crisis Core.

All of the ending starting from the time that Zack fights an entire squard/group/batallion of the Shinra army. The thing that really got me was that over the course of the game, I really got attached to Zack and liked his attitude, and the game really twists the knife further by letting you fight that scene out, even though you know how it's gonna end up. The music that plays during the scene, "The Price of Freedom", really doesn't help:

Every other character's reaction to his death (Aerith feeling/sensing his death, the Turks desperately looking for him, and Cloud's reaction at the realization that his friend/mentor/hero is dead because of him) just further strengthens the impact of the ending.

The runner-ups:

Final Fantasy Type-0

The entire ending. Cinque crying about not wanting to die, and then everyone joins in, but in the end, they all try to comfort her, and try to accept their fate. Afterwards, they talk about what would have happened if they continued to live, and in a peaceful world. Machina and Rem come in later to see all of Class Zero huddled up together, holding hands in death, as a flag made from their weapons and their capes raises defiantly and blows in the wind. Really, really, powerful and emotional.

Probably the most heart-wrenching part is when Trey says, "thinking about things is free", referring to thinking about what they would do if the lived, never mind the fact that they were going to die soon because they absorbed the Phantoma. It's the one thing that brought them comfort as they confronted their fate.

See here for yourself: http://www.dailymoti...es#.URi6saVEGSo

Suikoden V

Go ahead, try playing a new game after finishing the game once. See how painful the first 5 or so hours of the game are with the realization of what will happen to all the characters involved in the opening acts of Suikoden V.

Suikoden II's ending, but that was already mentioned.

Edited February 11, 2013 by Keiya

[S_Cero]

One thing that I find sad is Akinari's social link + bonus scene in Persona 3. It just depressing the whole way through and I even teared up the first time I saw the bonus scene.

[Jaybee]

[spoiler=Tales of the Abyss]

Tear's little incident with the miasma, and then all the shit with Luke and Van at the end of the game =(

[Gone2Ground]

Oh god Awakening, why?

S-Support Lucina with Avatar. That bonus dialogue. Cry some more.

As far as other games go, Spec Ops: The Line. ALL OF IT. From the opening showing you what happened to Dubai, to a few gutter-punch character deaths, to the White Phosphorus attack, and finally the ending, which shows that all of the above could have been avoided and has the best dialogue ever.

Of all time.

[Raven]

[spoiler=CoD: Modern Warfare 2]Ghost and Roach being betrayed and killed by Shepherd. Didn't see that coming. I really liked Ghost, too.