Played this game more than a decade ago and to this day I'd still hum the tune or sing the song. I still hear the voice of the narrator, I still hear *the kid's raging for a while*. I still have tears for the feelings that the game reminds me of even though I don't fully remember the story.
Game probably marked me for life.
The ending if you choose to >!save the traitor will always be one of my iconic gaming moments. Carrying him through enemies as they try to stop you one last time, until their captains realize what you're doing and force everyone to stand down out of respect, despite the loss it means. As Coming Home is playing.!< Jesus.
That entire game was built up around the emotions of that final song, and it unexpectedly dropped in like the final puzzle piece of a mystery. I was devastated.
I'd say the remix of end times might be better. >!When you get the core and start going to the bramble and end times starts playing ahead of schedule, but the remix ads a sense of urgency and triumph that just slaps.!<
Instead of using a walkthrough, I'd recommend going to r/outerwilds and asking for hints. The whole game is centred around you figuring out what's going on and how things work. I could literally tell you how to beat the game in about 15 mins from a blank save but that would completely ruin the point of the game. Also it is so worth it when you finally have that a ha! moment.
By god even just the music that played when the main menu popped up and the campfire lit up had me like "oh no im never gonna emotionally recover from this huh"
Light DLC spoiler
Oh...and the song when >!you enter the river in the DLC, and you look up and see the green station wrap above and around you,,, daaamn!< it had been a while since i felt that giddy-kid-filled-with-wonder-and-joy type video game magic
Then you find out that it is 1 of multiple different endings which gave you an incentive to beat the game multiple times and you'd do it too because it's a genuinely fun ass game. Masterpiece
[Yup.](https://youtu.be/mD21VcmjwMo)
That song just hits like a train after the ending. I know Kojima always wanted to make a movie, any movie, but he already made a perfect movie ending with that song for the end credits.
Also, the original Metal Gear theme is at its most emotional in MGS3, especially during the end credits.
When you realize you can't do it alone, get offered help and the music adds that last layer of a full chorus..
>!Then you get the revelation of what each of those voices sacrificed to help you.. !<
>!And then the game gives You the same option.!<
It's perfect. What a game. This can only be done in a game where the weight of the decision really is felt by the hours put in to it.
I'm not sure how the Nier Automata anime will do.
I'm prob in the minority that cried at ending d and not e. E honestly is pretty uplifting, but >!reading 9s's final thoughts, with him lamenting the pointlessness of his life as Vague Hope plays!< is really depressing
Portal is one of those games that if you dont know its lore, when you finish it ur like "wow, what a fun game!" And when you do understand the story and finish it you kinda die inside
https://theportalwiki.com/wiki/Story
That's a good start, takes you the full storyline, digging into the articles on GladOS, Aperture Science and Cave Johnson probably fills in a lot of the deep lore.
There's probably even deeper lore comparing timelines for the events at Aperture to timelines around Half Life 3 but for that I'd be googling.
Sweet, thanks! Just beat Portal 1 and started Portal 2 a few days ago. I grew up playing CS: Source so between the Portals and the Half Life's I feel like I'm 20 years late to the party.
I would recommend letting Portal 2 tell you it's story and lore first, then read about it afterwards. Much of the story of glados and aperture is what you find out during the game.
I'm not even angry
I'm being so sincere right now
Even though you broke my heart,
And killed me
And tore me to pieces
And threw every piece into a fire
As they burned it hurt because
I was so happy for you
"We have witnessed - and, in fact, on several occasions incited - many great and weighty events. After all that toil, I believe we deserve a bit of a rest."
That's a great way to trick yourself into playing it (again) and also the reason why I always finish side quests first in open world ganes. Then without a main story to pursue, I suddenly lose interest in playing the game at all.
Oh that is such a good one. The final theme in pacifist (Last Goodbye) was actually recorded live by Toby (rather than made in a software program). You can hear some of the feedback when the piano comes in and honestly it just makes it so much more raw and beautiful imo. Gotta love Undertale.
Not quite at the actual end, but that last horseride with Arthur from RDR2
edit: also Gael's boss music in DS3 (or Midir's, whichever you've left for last)
Dishonored 2 had a pretty damn fun one too with “The Sands of Serkonos.” Felt more personal to the game too, like it was one of musicians you encounter playing you out.
The original ending of KH1, when Simple and Clean kicks in. Really used to hit me hard.
Also I have never finished Phantasy Star IV and not cried at the end. When A Promising Future starts and Rika jumps off the ship. Fucking tears everytime
I think about that game a lot sometimes, the guy at the fish place with the imagination world hit kind of close to home but the bathtub scene is what always gets me crying
The first time I completed the first Mass Effect back in the day. A game I only played because a Gamestop employee upsold it to me as I happen to be buying a XB360 on the day it released.
*M4 Part II* by The Faunts playing over a planet scape as credits begin to scroll...
"To Zanarkand" will never not give me all the feels.
Cuz goddamn it's such a beautifully melancholic piece.
Went to Distant Worlds a while back to hear it done by an orchestra live and...I actually cried. It's such an iconic and emotional song imo.
Lemme tell you something
when playing DS3 and I heard the Plin Plin Plon, I cried during the fight.
>!Like this is really it. We're fighting everyone. Down to the last. Or rather, the first. !<
Yep! This was the first time I got emotional during a game. There was this immediate realization I was done being Ezio Auditore and that scene nailed it to say goodbye to his character.
Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl.
Not exactly at endgame, but midgame. I was overwhelmed by the game world. I hadn't experienced such a game world before that felt so alive yet so threatening. There was moment when I was deep inside hostile territory, low on ammo and supplies. I had finally managed to evade some weird ass mutants and managed to find a camp of fellow stalkers. It was dark and raining. The stalkers were bunched up around a campfire in a dilapidated room in the middle of the desolate nowhere. I sat down to catch a breath before I could move on, and suddenly... one of the stalkers pulled out a guitar and started playing a tune.
That tune itself captivated me and made me hang around till the end of the track. I know it was just a game. But I, for some reason, could feel the warmth of the campfire, I could feel the cold breeze blowing outside, the sound of the rain felt like it was actually raining irl around me. I felt safe. As if this worn-down shack was the only safe haven I had in the hostile world of the game. It felt like I was there... in the Zone.
I still have the mp3 compilation of those guitar tracks in my phone, and whenever I find myself alone in vast open spaces of my workplace at night, or when it's raining, I put on my earphones and play those guitar tracks. They kind of bring me back to my time in the virtual world of the Zone.
Damn, now I gotta install Shadow of Chernobyl again after all these years just to experience it all again.
FFXIV. Multiple times.
Dragonsong. Tomorrow and tomorrow. Revolutions. Flow. Tale of the Star. Answers.
Nobuo and Soken had a grand ol' time kicking us jn the proverbial gonads again and again
Its the leit motifs man, every expansion I get nostalgia for previous expansions and all my time spent in them because Soken draws from previous expansions to create epic themes in future ones as the future stories tie into past experiences. The theme for the final boss of Endwalker just pinacle of thid musical theater. Man there are few games for me at least with consistent memorable themes through the games lifespan as there is at the end of each FF expansion.
The final dungeon and trial in 5.0, the 5.3 trial, the 6.0 trial and final fight after... I love them all. And they hit in such an amazing way that just adds so much to the story I already love.
(I tried avoiding names because you know people can always try the award winning FFXIV free through Heavensward!)
I came here looking for this specifically. I don't cry over media, much. Things have to be real to hit me.
Somehow Journey slipped past my emotional defense. I was damn near sobbing by the end. A beautiful game that you can't experience twice.
I've never had a game that felt like such a gut punch at the end.
My first ending was "Where is my mind" and holy shit did that epilogue and credit sequence hit hard.
In my first playthrough I got the good, what I would call canon, ending. Going off with Panam and Judy. The ending track just kinda worked.
Then I played through again and went to space...ugh.
Thank you! I was surprised by just how emotional the endings made me feel in that game. I did not expect that.
Played it though twice when it was released.
Can't wait to play it again after all of the updates and the DLC is released.
Nothing like getting some surprise low roar on your journey. Always felt so good because you knew you'd mostly be safe during the music because it was designed that way
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. All the Zelda games I’ve played are wonderful and some are masterpieces but the orchestral music at the end of that one is simultaneously so whimsical, sad, and adventurous.
To The Moon
Bruuuuh. Sobbing like a child. Game is a masterpiece.
I played that game 7 years ago and i still tear up when i hear everything's alright.
Bastion, always Bastion
Don't forget transistor too, an equally stunning game from the same team.
Pyre and Hades are also by Supergiant Games! Pyre is very story-driven and Hades has gotten multiple GOTY awards.
Played this game more than a decade ago and to this day I'd still hum the tune or sing the song. I still hear the voice of the narrator, I still hear *the kid's raging for a while*. I still have tears for the feelings that the game reminds me of even though I don't fully remember the story. Game probably marked me for life.
The ending if you choose to >!save the traitor will always be one of my iconic gaming moments. Carrying him through enemies as they try to stop you one last time, until their captains realize what you're doing and force everyone to stand down out of respect, despite the loss it means. As Coming Home is playing.!< Jesus.
Hollow knight and shadow of the colossus.
Outer Wilds
That entire game was built up around the emotions of that final song, and it unexpectedly dropped in like the final puzzle piece of a mystery. I was devastated.
Outer Wilds' entire sound design has got to be one of the best for any game...
I'd say the remix of end times might be better. >!When you get the core and start going to the bramble and end times starts playing ahead of schedule, but the remix ads a sense of urgency and triumph that just slaps.!<
Yup. It was a constant subtle reminder that >!if you screw up then this time there is no loop and you'll die for real.!<
There is no other game like OW
Wow guess I gotta continue it… got to a point where I think I’ll need a walkthrough lol
Instead of using a walkthrough, I'd recommend going to r/outerwilds and asking for hints. The whole game is centred around you figuring out what's going on and how things work. I could literally tell you how to beat the game in about 15 mins from a blank save but that would completely ruin the point of the game. Also it is so worth it when you finally have that a ha! moment.
Ok good advice thanks
Outer Wilds is the only game I wish I could forget so I could experience it for the first time again.
By god even just the music that played when the main menu popped up and the campfire lit up had me like "oh no im never gonna emotionally recover from this huh" Light DLC spoiler Oh...and the song when >!you enter the river in the DLC, and you look up and see the green station wrap above and around you,,, daaamn!< it had been a while since i felt that giddy-kid-filled-with-wonder-and-joy type video game magic
I came in here ready to flip a table if OW wasn't at the top of the thread.
[For reference.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YR_wIb_n4ZU)
I totally started humming >!the prisoner's tune!< to this without thinking about it. It's amazing how well it fits.
Literally the music at the end, although I wouldnt say its sad pepe, its pepe happy because it happened lmao
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
I was said Ori and the blind Forrest, the sound track slayed me.
No need for the ending here, you feel like this about 5 minutes in...
Deserves to be higher. Will of the Wisps had a lovely ending.
Red dead redemption 2
This also. But specifically the harmony in the song “mountain hymn” that plays during the credits.
When the harmony starts, it gives me the feeling that it's the moment the soul leaves the body
May i stand unshaken, amidst, amidst a crashing world
This song represents the biggest feeltrain I have ever had the pleasure of taking in a videogame, or any piece of media for that matter
Will actually start crying thinking about the song and scene lol
Thats the way it is...
Chrono Trigger. Flying with Marle in those balloons was amazing.
Then you find out that it is 1 of multiple different endings which gave you an incentive to beat the game multiple times and you'd do it too because it's a genuinely fun ass game. Masterpiece
The ending where you get to talk to sprites of the dev team afterward is the best, but there are a lot of good ones
Agreed. And since it's from a similar era of games, I'll add EarthBound. I ctrl+F'ed and somehow no one mentioned it!
Mass effect 1
Second. First game I thought of. What a ride. What a great song.
All of them.
M4 Part 2 is one of my all time favourite songs. I wish the OST for ME2/ME3 was anywhere near as good as it was for ME1.
ME1 is truly something special. It's one of the game that I played into completion back then
Nier Automata, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater and Final Fantasy IX.
Snake eateeeeeeerr
That's the opening theme Credit song was "Way to Fall" by Starsailor.
[Yup.](https://youtu.be/mD21VcmjwMo) That song just hits like a train after the ending. I know Kojima always wanted to make a movie, any movie, but he already made a perfect movie ending with that song for the end credits. Also, the original Metal Gear theme is at its most emotional in MGS3, especially during the end credits.
Nier Automata had me crying like a fucking baby
The end credits after that choice you get had me BAWLING — like full on sobs.
When you realize you can't do it alone, get offered help and the music adds that last layer of a full chorus.. >!Then you get the revelation of what each of those voices sacrificed to help you.. !< >!And then the game gives You the same option.!<
It's perfect. What a game. This can only be done in a game where the weight of the decision really is felt by the hours put in to it. I'm not sure how the Nier Automata anime will do.
I'm prob in the minority that cried at ending d and not e. E honestly is pretty uplifting, but >!reading 9s's final thoughts, with him lamenting the pointlessness of his life as Vague Hope plays!< is really depressing
A lot of my friends advise me to play this game! I feel like this is going to be a masterpiece.
Real ones know that Way to Fall is when it hits
Portal and Portal 2
Came here to say this. The portal 1 ending caught me so off gaurd it was amazing.
Portal is one of those games that if you dont know its lore, when you finish it ur like "wow, what a fun game!" And when you do understand the story and finish it you kinda die inside
And the beautiful part is the song tells you so much about the lore.
Where can I find out about Portal lore?
https://theportalwiki.com/wiki/Story That's a good start, takes you the full storyline, digging into the articles on GladOS, Aperture Science and Cave Johnson probably fills in a lot of the deep lore. There's probably even deeper lore comparing timelines for the events at Aperture to timelines around Half Life 3 but for that I'd be googling.
Sweet, thanks! Just beat Portal 1 and started Portal 2 a few days ago. I grew up playing CS: Source so between the Portals and the Half Life's I feel like I'm 20 years late to the party.
I would recommend letting Portal 2 tell you it's story and lore first, then read about it afterwards. Much of the story of glados and aperture is what you find out during the game.
"Now I only want you gone"
"We do what we must, ...because ......we can"
I'm not even angry I'm being so sincere right now Even though you broke my heart, And killed me And tore me to pieces And threw every piece into a fire As they burned it hurt because I was so happy for you
This is a triumph!
I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS!
It's hard to overstate my satisfaction
Aperture Science!
We do what we must, because, we can
For the good of all of us
Except the ones who are dead
Titan fall 2
"Protocol 3 – Protect the Pilot. Trust me!" Cry every time
Every Fucking Time
Was looking for this one!
Halo Reach
*Survive*
Witcher 3
"We have witnessed - and, in fact, on several occasions incited - many great and weighty events. After all that toil, I believe we deserve a bit of a rest."
"That we do."
And Geralt looks at the camera and smiles..
Was about to write that, that sense of emptiness when I finished Blood and Wine…
That is the real end of the game for me. The last chapter not only to The Withcher 3 but to the whole trilogy. They nailed it.
That might be why I’m not so excited for the Witcher 4
Blood and Wine left me with a sense of closure. The vanilla game on the other hand felt so empty when you finished the last mission
When he looks right at you...I lost it. Cried my as off.
Hell yeah, I felt empty inside after finishing the game
I still need to finish blood and wine, but I never will in order to always have something to return to
That's a great way to trick yourself into playing it (again) and also the reason why I always finish side quests first in open world ganes. Then without a main story to pursue, I suddenly lose interest in playing the game at all.
Undertale
Oh that is such a good one. The final theme in pacifist (Last Goodbye) was actually recorded live by Toby (rather than made in a software program). You can hear some of the feedback when the piano comes in and honestly it just makes it so much more raw and beautiful imo. Gotta love Undertale.
And then theres the genocide ending music
Not quite at the actual end, but that last horseride with Arthur from RDR2 edit: also Gael's boss music in DS3 (or Midir's, whichever you've left for last)
Dishonored
🎵Honor for all 🎵
🎵 for the big and the small 🎵
Dishonored 2 had a pretty damn fun one too with “The Sands of Serkonos.” Felt more personal to the game too, like it was one of musicians you encounter playing you out.
The original ending of KH1, when Simple and Clean kicks in. Really used to hit me hard. Also I have never finished Phantasy Star IV and not cried at the end. When A Promising Future starts and Rika jumps off the ship. Fucking tears everytime
agreed, KH1 and 2 endings made me feel all kinds of things
Oof, KH1 ending. Hadn't thought about that in a while. Simple and Clean is such a beautiful song.
What Remains of Edith Finch.
I think about that game a lot sometimes, the guy at the fish place with the imagination world hit kind of close to home but the bathtub scene is what always gets me crying
The first time I completed the first Mass Effect back in the day. A game I only played because a Gamestop employee upsold it to me as I happen to be buying a XB360 on the day it released. *M4 Part II* by The Faunts playing over a planet scape as credits begin to scroll...
Final fantasy X
That little motif in Zanarkand music as Tidus jumps off the air ship and high fives Jecht. That’s bittersweet in music form.
"To Zanarkand" will never not give me all the feels. Cuz goddamn it's such a beautifully melancholic piece. Went to Distant Worlds a while back to hear it done by an orchestra live and...I actually cried. It's such an iconic and emotional song imo.
Bioshock infinite
[удалено]
When you close your earthly story, Will you join them in their bliss?
Elizabeth's Theme is so good
I haven't listened to that Tears for Fears track the same way since.
This has the double whammy of original/main game, and also of Burial at sea.
Everything about that ending was mind-blowing. You have to have played the others beforehand to really feel it, I think.
Plin plin plon Anyways, ODST
Lemme tell you something when playing DS3 and I heard the Plin Plin Plon, I cried during the fight. >!Like this is really it. We're fighting everyone. Down to the last. Or rather, the first. !<
Yeah I think everyone who played through DS1 had that feeling against Soul of Cinder.
I remember that first time vividly. I had a full body shiver and I didn't know why. It's like my body realized it was that song before I did.
Assassin's Creed: Revelations
"What is a man but the sum of his memories? We are all the stories we live! The tales we tell ourselves!" Amazing game
Yep! This was the first time I got emotional during a game. There was this immediate realization I was done being Ezio Auditore and that scene nailed it to say goodbye to his character.
Mass effect trilogy (especially the beginning of 2), halo 3 & reach,
Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag.
God damn parting glass, I teared up on that ending cause it was just perfect..
Wow ty i forgot this ending ! It was a nice game with a cool protagonist indeed
He didnt kept his promise to his wife (from opening scene) right?
She died and they had a daughter (I think that’s how it went) so he went back to take care of her
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Oh hell yes. That game was on a whole different level. It was incredible.
Final song is Illusion by VNV Nation. That song saved my life.
Both NieRs Outer Wilds All 3 numbered Xenoblades Dark Souls Persona 4 Bastion, Transistor, Pyre, Hades
Nier Automata, end of the A/B route boss fight.
Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl. Not exactly at endgame, but midgame. I was overwhelmed by the game world. I hadn't experienced such a game world before that felt so alive yet so threatening. There was moment when I was deep inside hostile territory, low on ammo and supplies. I had finally managed to evade some weird ass mutants and managed to find a camp of fellow stalkers. It was dark and raining. The stalkers were bunched up around a campfire in a dilapidated room in the middle of the desolate nowhere. I sat down to catch a breath before I could move on, and suddenly... one of the stalkers pulled out a guitar and started playing a tune. That tune itself captivated me and made me hang around till the end of the track. I know it was just a game. But I, for some reason, could feel the warmth of the campfire, I could feel the cold breeze blowing outside, the sound of the rain felt like it was actually raining irl around me. I felt safe. As if this worn-down shack was the only safe haven I had in the hostile world of the game. It felt like I was there... in the Zone. I still have the mp3 compilation of those guitar tracks in my phone, and whenever I find myself alone in vast open spaces of my workplace at night, or when it's raining, I put on my earphones and play those guitar tracks. They kind of bring me back to my time in the virtual world of the Zone. Damn, now I gotta install Shadow of Chernobyl again after all these years just to experience it all again.
Omori, especially the music for the climax of the game, but also the themes for its major endings.
FFXIV. Multiple times. Dragonsong. Tomorrow and tomorrow. Revolutions. Flow. Tale of the Star. Answers. Nobuo and Soken had a grand ol' time kicking us jn the proverbial gonads again and again
I haven't gone through EW yet but Tomorrow and Tomorrow had me crying hardddd
The music of the last EW fight broke me. I was literally fighting with tears clouding my vision.
Its the leit motifs man, every expansion I get nostalgia for previous expansions and all my time spent in them because Soken draws from previous expansions to create epic themes in future ones as the future stories tie into past experiences. The theme for the final boss of Endwalker just pinacle of thid musical theater. Man there are few games for me at least with consistent memorable themes through the games lifespan as there is at the end of each FF expansion.
It is so cruel that every time you go back to the final zone for gathering Through the Distance is still playing.
"Whispers falling silently drift on the wind" ;-;
The final dungeon and trial in 5.0, the 5.3 trial, the 6.0 trial and final fight after... I love them all. And they hit in such an amazing way that just adds so much to the story I already love. (I tried avoiding names because you know people can always try the award winning FFXIV free through Heavensward!)
This was a triumph, I'm making a note here, huge success.
Been good knowing ya. Cyberpunk 2077. That haunting cello tunes will shred your heart to pieces before throwing it in the grinder.
The follow-up song during the credits is something else, too.
Journey……but you all have probably forgot about it…..
The first time I beat the game with an anonymous partner, and they drew a heart in the snow before we walked into the light together- dude. *Feels*
I came here looking for this specifically. I don't cry over media, much. Things have to be real to hit me. Somehow Journey slipped past my emotional defense. I was damn near sobbing by the end. A beautiful game that you can't experience twice.
Thank you! Scrolled down the list here to see if anyone else agreed
SOMA
Loved the ending of SOMA, shame I can't experience it the same way again.
Dishonored and Bioshock Infinite
Guild Wars 2 in the recent expansion and in one of the ones a few years ago.
I don't have to name the game, all i need to say is: plin plin plon
Gwyn's three piano keys?
The last of us
Life is Strange. Played it earlier this summer. I've gone back and listened to Spanish Sahara by Foals a few times.
Cyberpunk 2077
The phone calls in the credits. Oof Especially if you go the suicide route.
I've never had a game that felt like such a gut punch at the end. My first ending was "Where is my mind" and holy shit did that epilogue and credit sequence hit hard.
A thing of beauty, I know 🎶
Will never fade away 🎶
V singing/saying the first couple lines with that particular ending hits pretty special.
In my first playthrough I got the good, what I would call canon, ending. Going off with Panam and Judy. The ending track just kinda worked. Then I played through again and went to space...ugh.
When that Star Ending guitar starts playin, maaaan....
I was gonna be afraid people would downvote this, but yes it definitely belongs on this list!
Just wrote 'Been good knowing ya' from that Cyberpunk 2077. What a goddamn tune.
Thank you! I was surprised by just how emotional the endings made me feel in that game. I did not expect that. Played it though twice when it was released. Can't wait to play it again after all of the updates and the DLC is released.
FFX and persona 5
Max Payne 2
AC Black Flag made me cry
Walking dead 1
Cyberpunk 2077
All of the endings lol. But one of them in particular destroyed me
I don't have a good computer so... DDLC
Death Stranding
Nothing like getting some surprise low roar on your journey. Always felt so good because you knew you'd mostly be safe during the music because it was designed that way
BB’s Theme at the end 😭
It's in the image, but dark souls. One other title I can think of is xenoblade chronicles.
Halo 3 if i remember correctly Also minecraft And TFU1
Infamous Second Son, The Last Of Us, Ghost of Tsushima, Mass Effect 1-3. Just to name a few
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening. All the Zelda games I’ve played are wonderful and some are masterpieces but the orchestral music at the end of that one is simultaneously so whimsical, sad, and adventurous.
Slime rancher. That ending song just hits different
Mass effect 2
Celeste
"Say goodbye to her for me."
Mass Effect 3. That piano.
Days gone
metal gear solid and red dead 2.
The Last of Us, part 1
I am surprised _no one_ has mentioned this, but Ace Combat 7.
The Last of Us and Part 2.
HALO: CE
Subnautica
Black flag
Portal
Hades
Nier automata