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Sad Games for Emo Kids
Tarranon
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
Not everything can have a happy ending, but sometimes a work will be so soul wrenching that you feel like you need to hug at least 10 kittens before you can stand to get out from under your blanket, where you keep the good pillow that absorbs your tears in just the right way.
I can think of a few such works in other mediums, for example those expertly referenced above, but when it comes to games I'm drawing something of a blank. I can think of *sad* moments in games. I'm sure everyone can. But I can't think of a 'sad game' in the same way I think of 'sad movies' or 'sad books'. Things that evoke despair and angst, from start to finish, and usually end poorly as well.
Maybe I can't think of any because they are hard to do. When you're playing a game usually you have to be DOING STUFF to stay interested, and usually that stuff makes you feel pretty cool. It's hard to feel cool and depressed at the same time.
A sort of adventure game seems like an obvious decision, but it also strikes me as too easy. You're not really playing to the medium's strengths(immersion, interactivity), instead leaning more towards a visual narrative with some interactive elements. Not that I have anything in particular against adventure games, I rather like them, but I would like to see a sad game that is more along the gamey side of things, if it is possible.
Enough rambling, the point of this thread is for people to bring up what they would consider to be, on the level, sad games. I would be very interested in seeing the suggestions. And if people want to talk about what they would like to see in such games, that is also cool. I want to say that it's a seriously untapped niche in videogames.
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the saddest game
obligatory mention #2: MGS3
obligatory mention #3: Link's Awakening
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edit: as to MGS3, yeah, that's more of a sad moment than a sad game, but nothing else has made me sob so mightily.
Shadow of the Colossus though, that I definitely agree with, I can't believe I didn't remember it.
spoilers obviously
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i know that, silly as the game was as a whole, the end of MGS3 was interesting in that
Like you just pointed out, one of the medium's biggest strengths is immersion and how far they can put you into the head of your character. I don't think that makes it better or worse than books/movies/etc, but I think it's different, and it's why I'd like to see more of it.
I had that last thing in mind when I was making the thread, but at the very least it's got to be the former. I considered, but didn't really have something like MGS3 in mind since for most of the game it's pretty typical, if grim, stuff, and the very sad part only comes at the end. So basically the tone should be consistently more towards melancholic than otherwise, since that is the more rare thing as far as I know. If we're just talking about sad endings or sad scenes I can rattle off plenty.
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It took me a bit of time to do.
It also took me a bit of time for that one part in MGS1, but that was because I didn't realize that I was in control there.
And even then, most of that's just in the introduction
This is a really good topic, I'm surprised it hasn't been done more often
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire,
And I was a total badass throughout, unflinching in my desire to save my kid, none of those choices got me down
You play the Batman and your parents are dead.
It's probably the saddest thing ever, all the time, anywhere.
Geez, I had to stop playing that just after
I'll go back to it again some day when I have the drive, but from what I've heard it's such a downer to play.
I mean laughing scene, we make fun of it all we want to (I do too), but it's actually a perfect example of the feelings present, well, all the damn time in that game
Also, question: How sad is FFXIII? I'm avoiding the thread because, well, spoilerz, but how sad is it
Nothing really tops that moment in the sadness stakes. The ending is a distant second.
LoL: failboattootoot
Beat me to both games. At least Persona 3 has plenty of heartwarming moments to lighten it up, but Demon's Souls is just depressing and melancholy at almost all times times.
Of course, this may be partly down to the Psych choices I made...
The majority of the game is as happy as anything, but the endgame?
That's another matter entirely.
And having finished it, yes on Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, though the ending varies.
I think it's pretty depressing, under the cheery surface, but they haven't really gone into it properly yet. I'm hoping it'll get worse. Tragic is more interesting to me.
Also, really surprised no one has mentioned Silent Hill 2 yet. That game is beyond depressing.
If we're going that way then we might as well chuck in Silent Hill 2. Even the soundtrack's wholly depressing.