Five Moments In Video Games That Can Make Grown Men Cry
Companion Cube from Portal
This one is still a little bit hard for me to talk about, and if you have not played Portal (hey, 1983 called and wants YOU back) then you should probably stop reading now so I don’t ruin it for you.
Rather than talk about this, I would like to write an open letter to MY companion cube from Portal, and atleast try to explain myself:
Hey Buddy.
I know I’m sorry won’t heal your burns, but I really am sorry. More than you will ever know. I lay awake at night, remembering how you tumbled into that flamey pit of destruction, and my mind makes me watch it over and over again. Listen, I was up against a wall. You need to understand it from MY standpoint, I was a rat in a maze, and I was grasping at anything I could, convinced it was cheese! I know you and I had a special bond, and I see now that what I did was the human version of a dog lifting a leg and pissing on that sacred bond, and if I could do it over again, I would toss myself in that pit as oppose to living with the pain I felt inside me since the moment I lost you.
I REALLY am sorry.
Sincerely,
Remy Carreiro
I still haven’t forgiven myself…
Though the game had far lighter tone than some of the others on this list, there are many gamers, myself included, who were impacted by the loss of that inexplicably adorable cube. Valve may have made the heart break a LITTLE easier to take with a minor cameo from a dear old friend in Portal 2, BUT, I will not confirm or deny this claim.
And while this game was filled with more laughs than tears, for Valve to use the companion cube as a means to teach us about the incinerator was just wrong. Wrong and sort of brilliant, in a mustache twirling kind of way.
John Marston in Red Dead Redemption
Please, if you have not finished this game yet, walk away now.
There are very few characters in popular video games that I have felt as strong a connection to as John Marston in Red Dead Redemption. My John was a somewhat passive man who liked to hunt and play poker, but just wanted to get his past behind him. But God forbid you accused him of cheating, because he would shoot your hat off your head, shoot the gun out your hand, and then shoot you dead in the street, leaving himself just enough time to go finish playing his hand.
That was the beauty of Red Dead. Though we all played the same game, none of us really played the same game at all.
Some people played like bandits, shooting and robbing everyone. Some people played just main missions, focused on nothing but finishing the game. But some realized just how expansive and beautiful a game it was, so they took their time exploring every nuance the old west had to offer. Simply put, there is no other game that offers a world this fully realized, and no other character you have ever played that is quite as badass as John Marston.
From Texas to Mexico, by the end of the game you think you have seen John through the worst his life has had to offer, but no.
After about fifty hours with this character whom you have bonded with to an almost immeasurable level, you get to the scene where, no matter HOW GOOD you are at your deadeye, you WILL die. And the way the scene plays out, you almost feel like you could beat them. You think that MAYBE there is a way if you just make sure to shoot the sheriff first, and you reload it and try it again, and then it hits you: this is how the story plays out.
And once you take a second to recollect, the ending makes perfect sense. But if you were a fool like me, you watched John die TWICE, and that REALLY sucked.
And if there is such a thing, this is a “man’s game”, through and through. John’s execution was a truly emotional moment for most gamers.
The sad part about the game is, he never actually walks off into the sunset, happily ever after.
And by the time you actually reach that moment, John had come so far and overcame so much. He had reunited with his family, and you were ready to move on to brighter pastures, and bam, dead, shot like forty times.
I just sat there, staring at my screen, silently. And they same games are a shallow form of entertainment with little in the way of storytelling. Whoever says that, make them play this.
And the worst thing to stomach for most people about the death of John was that were immediately cast to play as his whiny-ass son.
A character who had very few redeeming qualities in the first place.
It was like a double punishment.
And I realize the “redemption” comes when the son finds the Sheriff and kills him, avenging his dad and earning his rightful place as a manly cowboy. But still, John was irreplacable.
A pale, herp-derp imitation of his Father.
The only way I will ever forgive Rockstar is if they are smart enough to make the sequel a PREQUEL, and let me play as John Marston when he was a badass in a bandit gang. Rockstar, please, make this happen?
Also, I feel the need to say that I am deliberately leaving the Aeris moment from Final Fantasy 7 off the list. Though the moment was quite sad at the time, it has been talked to death by now. And honestly, the scene has no longevity, unlike the others on this list. I replay part 7 now and I can see just how emotionally manipulative her death truly was. I mean, killing her in a church? Tone it down a little, guys.
Also: What kind of coward stabs a woman in the back at a church?
Plus, there is atleast one devastating moment from every Final Fantasy game. I would say finding out you were dead the whole time in Final Fantasy X was a more emotional moment then the death of Aeris. Tidus may have been a “bro”, but it was still a more genuine moment. Bring on the trolls.
Honorable Mentions:
Killing your boss in Metal Gear Solid 3. Though the series was full of moments like this, the idea of the battle of the sexes epitomized propelled the authenticity of this scene, as did their final exchange. The scene was also visually breathtaking at the time.
Dom’s life in general, as encapsulated by the Gears of War trilogy. Especially when he found his zombified wife in part 2, though. Poor guy never caught a break.
in Prey, when your girlfriend gets abducted by aliens and then turned into some mutant alien hybrid that begs you to kill her. This scene got to me before The Darkness did.
No honey, the mutant growth protruding from your lower half doesn’t make you look fat.
The “Sad Ending” to Heavy Rain. But Jesus guys, lighten up a little. Watch the Muppet Show or something. Killing yourself at your dead son’s grave SHOULD be at the top of the list, but Silent Hill 2 did something similar before Heavy Rain did, and without ten hours of quicktime events.
And lastly, Duke Nukem Forever. That whole game made me cry because of how God-awful it was, beginning to end.
And now, to lighten the mood after that downer of a list, the illustrious DOG ENDING from Silent Hill 2. This may be the single greatest ending to any game ever, so be forewarned.
httpv://youtu.be/GUDcSeUvkOw
I better ending theme, I have never heard.
Two moments from Mass Effect 3:
(SPOILERS)
— Thane’s death after his Kai Leng battle
— Mordin’s death (especially so if he sings)
@Patrick
-SPOILERS-
You nailed it. I just couldn’t bring my renegade Femshep to shoot Mordin during my second playthrough because my paragon playthrough had Mordin singing right before his end.
-SPOILER-
At the end of castle 1-4, that stupid toadstool tells Mario, “Thank you but our princess is in another castle!”
What the hell?!? Total heartbreak! Never did track that stupid princess down. After that, I stuck with my 2600 and ignored the NES.
If you want sad, play the fantastic little indie game “To the Moon”.
An indie Adventure RPG, about two doctors traversing through the memories of a dying man to fulfill his last wish.
It has a great story, but it’s just sad through and through. There are tear-jerking moments all the way through, but then you get to the final revelation, and you look back on everything that you know and realise it’s all 10x as sad what you originally thought.
It will make you cry.
You do know that Agro lives right? It’s a powerful moment when the horse does the sacrifice, but he’s a true stud and limps back in the epilogue.
Darkness Spoiler:
I agree with the Darkness choice, but i think that the ending, if Jackie chooses the suicide option, is even more emotionally intense, with Jackie resting his head on his girls lap while they are both enjoying the moment sitting on a park bench.
The dialogue, the music… i cried 🙁
A few from my playing experiences…
>>>>>SPOILERS<<<<<
– Eli Vance dies in HL2:E2
– Aries in FFVII
– Anyone dying in any Mass Effect game except Kaiden
Metal Gear Solid 3 At the end when EVA is talking about the sacrifice the Boss had made for her country, dying a traitor in the eyes of America. She loved her country so much and the salute of Big Boss brought a patriotic tear to my eye.
Mass Effect 3 is just too new for me to be ruining it for people in here, plus, so many people have different versions of how the story plays out, so to say one thing happened, when it may not for another person, is not fair. I tried to mostly go for games that were a little bit older. @ Shiwggles, I HATE when death scenes are DEUS EX’ed by the creators. I think it lessens the impact of the scene that came before, so I just ignore that part, or the impact of the prior seen is all but lost on me.
I’m on of the trolls for FF7. You said the scene didn’t have longevity? We’re in 2012 and we’re still talking about it. Her death came out of no where. Countless people spent hours grinding and leveling her up for her to be killed off before disc one ended. To say Tidus had a more emotional ending is insane comparing it to Aeries. Aeris’ death will always be the #1 most emotional moment in video games and it’ll be talked about until we’re all old and using walkers.
Putting down Legion really got me in ME3 as well. Stupid Quarians. But yeah, part of the genius of FF7 was that killing off an essential party member simply was not done. The disbelief persists in gaming communities to this day. And you still get items for her for the rest of the game. I remember finding her ultimate weapon in-game and feeling sad all over again because I really felt like I’d been cheated by that prick Sephiroth. It’s pretty amazing that a game can evoke these kinds of emotional responses.
Oh fuck the companion cube. :/
Also: As much as MGS4 was a titanic, sluggish, practically unplayable, gibbering, insane glob of rambling nonsense… The final fight between Snake and Ocelot was amazing… Resorting to just cracking their heads together before grabbing a syringe of plot-contrivance steroids and //Injecting it into eachother//… :'(
Also, apparently none of you fuckers have ever played Suikoden.
<3 Gremio.
My closest moment to any of these was in Neverwinter Nights. You spend the whole first game dealing with the betrayal of Aribeth and striking her down ends her conspiracy against the city and it feels so right to do.
Then she reappears in the third chapter of the second expansion pack. You find her tortured soul in hell sealed in a cave of ice and actually have the option to redeem her soul back to a paladin class. I had been a badass Blackguard the whole time, and finding her made me swear off the evil powers I had obtained and play through the rest of the game as a repentant monk, accompanied by Aribeth.
Sad I know, but it had a lot of significance for me.
*****SPOILERS*****
Gears of War 2 when Dom finally finds Maria.
@ Mike, honestly, when I played that moment, it FLOORED me, but I was also 12 years old at the time, and what I meant by longevity is not that we do not REMEMBER it, but when you play it now it just does not hold up as well. She was destined to die from the start of the game, and if you play it now, you can see how they manipulated you TOWARDS that moment, and like Trashcanman says, they CONTINUED to manipulate you emotionally regarding her character long after she died, as well. I just felt the “Holy crap, I am dead” revelation of FFX is just written better, but it is only my opinion, and as these pieces have proven, my opinion can be pretty asinine.
@ Kev, YOU CAN F*CK THE COMPANION CUBE? Is it a mod or something? I would SO do that, send me a link of you have one. And I did like the MG4 end battle a lot, but fell asleep after the first three hours of it. And regarding Suikoden, 109 extra playable characters for your party in every game, and there have been, what, five games or something? And you want me to handpick ONE moment out of that for this list? Sorry man, I don’t have 375 hours of spare time.
@RBourne, have never played, NEVERWINTER sadly, but have heard many amazing things.
Oh no! Must not read this article! I just bought The Darkness, I’m starting it tonight. Can’t wait to see this!
Nanako. Persona 4.
I’m guessing Shadow of Colossus has multiple endings. Because when I watched my friend beat it, the horse didn’t die.
@Joe, Sh*t, sorry man, hope I didn’t ruin it.
@Lostlink, that entire game could be its own list, agreed.
@ Steve, the horse comes back in the epilogue, but I had already wept so I still counted it.
You’re dead the whole time in FF X?! Damn. lol Way to ruin it, Remy lol jk.
@Lost Link Believe me, if I didn’t have a walkthrough of P4 telling me exactly how to avoid the bad ending of the game, I would’ve ended it that way out of grief for Nanako. Say, you think she’ll appear in a future Persona as a persona-user?
@Remy Sorry to be “that nerdy guy” but I must point out to you that Tidus wasn’t actually dead, because he didn’t really exist. Him, Jecht, and the Zanarkand they were from were just a dreamworld constructed by the combined will of the Faythe, and Jecht somehow gained some semblence of being a real person when he left made contact with the previous Sin and left Zanarkand. Same thing happened to Tidus, and after Sin was permanently destroyed, for some reason Tidus’ life depended on the continued dream of the Faythe, and since Yuna sent them on they couldn’t dream anymore so he disappeared. I’m sure you’ll point out that the Faythe could’ve stopped dreaming to get rid of the current Sin (Jecht), but Yu Yevon would’ve still been out there so it wouldn’t’ve worked. If you think about it, Tidus and Jecht weren’t really people, they were instruments of the Faythe’s will and desire to wipe out Sin, and once their purpose was complete, their existence was no longer necessary. And that is why Tidus’ disappearance at the end of FFX was much sadder than simply being “dead” the whole time.
Red Dead Redemption was sad, but it also freaked me out in a way that that no other game has ever managed to accomplish. The part right before the ending when you suddenly go from missions about revenge and killing gang leaders to missions about living at home with your family is one of the most incredible things I’ve ever seen in a game, because you’re sitting there the whole time going “This is just too ominous. If this is the happy ending, why is the game still going? Something is going to happen. WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN?!”
No other game had delivered that cinematic calm before the final storm so well, and, of course, by the time they do come calling, it all makes sense, and you’ve seen the signs, and you’ve felt the vibe, but you just don’t wanna believe it because, as you stated here, the bond you’ve spent so long building with this character is about to come to an end. An incredible ending made possible by an excellent build.
@ Remy – Fine, I’ll bite.
“YOU CAN F*CK THE COMPANION CUBE? Is it a mod or something? I would SO do that, send me a link of you have one.”
Oh, bugger off.
The cube does not belong on this list. It wasn’t sad, it wasn’t meaningful – It was a joke. And it was a joke in one room, in one game that was more to do with a sadistic overlord abusing her torture subject du jour than it was of any meaningful connection with a painted storage box.
Anything beyond that one room, and that one gag – including the nod in Portal 2 – is nothing more than fanwank dragging out a singular moment (belittling the original game by turning it into a meme, thanks for that) and a hollow attempt at recreating that same fanwank.
“And I did like the MG4 end battle a lot, but fell asleep after the first three hours of it.”
MGS4 was a pile of steaming wank, granted. But I really do believe that the final homoerotic relationship between Snake and Ocelot is the emotional highpoint of the series – and yes, that means I do think it tops Naked Snake’s final moments with Big Boss.
The final cumulation of their lives, the acknowledgement that dispute all they’ve done, they’ve only done it in order to get to this moment – the knowledge that they need each other to live and that this point will mark the end of it, so they’re gonna make it last and be as poignant as possible was just amazing.
It’s the same relationship we keep coming back to with Batman and Joker, they’re nothing without each other, and in that ending Snake and Ocelot knew it, and knew it was going to end.
“And regarding Suikoden, 109 extra playable characters for your party in every game, and there have been, what, five games or something? And you want me to handpick ONE moment out of that for this list? Sorry man, I don’t have 375 hours of spare time.”
I highlighted the first game specifically (otherwise I would have specified a sequel – Hell the secret ending to Suikoken 2 – Where you can let your best friend damn near kill you protesting that you’d never raise a hand against him, could also go here) and I also specified a character: Gremio. So thanks for pointing out the rest of the games, but it really wasn’t needed.
For those not in the know Gremio is practically your character’s nanny – he did infact, raise you, as your father was never home.
He is by your side in almost every adventure, and practically sleeps outside your door. He blames himself for everything that happens to you and constantly gets in the way of any action that will but you at risk. Initially he’s a whiny pain in the ass because of all this… But then you enter Scarleticia Castle – where a flesh-eating pollen is being created as a weapon of mass destruction to quell the rebels.
Gremio shoves you out of a room about to be flooded with the stuff and locks the door behind you, preventing the pollen from being released, but trapping himself inside.
The next few minutes involve Gremio talking to you through a closed door, telling you to be brave, and how proud he is of you and so forth – while also describing his slow loss of vision and weakness as the pollen eats him alive. His annoying actions become clear as you realise how much he loves you, evidently to the point that he will give his life for you. When the door opens, all that is left of him is his cloak and his axe.
And again – By this point you’ve invested a hell of a lot of time into the game, and are unprepared for a main character death (Suikoden came out before FF7 – We hadn’t experienced Aeris yet) Its impact is lesser now but not by much, I’d argue.
Anyway – There’s my more in depth, reasoned arguments for my comments. In short there are far more potent and emotional sequences that deserve to be on this list than another dance routine over a played out, misrepresented meme involving a lump of plastic.
Listen Kev, I appreciate you taking the time to comment, if you wanna hate on the “cube”, that is fine and legit. I even agree with your points about Suikoden for the most part, BUT, for you to come here and tell me the cube doesn’t belong on the list I wrote is just hilarious to me. I wrote the list, dude. If I wanted to put the end of Mario, I have the right, seeing as to how I am the one researching and writing the list, as well as the one working for Unreality. You telling me what belongs on MY list is a lot like me going into your apt. and telling you to move your futon. It just makes no sense. Now if you want to DISAGREE with what I have on the list, cool. No worries, but to tell me something doesn’t belong, well, that indicates to me your level of self importance just might be a little over inflated. You are an Unreality reader, correct? So when Paul was looking for writers, why did you not try out? Obviously, by your tone, you know everything…..
Every Professor Layton game:
[SPOILERS!!!]
Curious Village: Finding out how much Flora’s father loved her, and to what lengths he went through so as to provide to try and provide her with a caring intelligent guardian.
Pandora’s box: Finding out how much love Anton had for Sophia, how he truly regretted her leaving, and wished he never was in line to rule the town. But also finding out why Sophia left, because she was pregnant, and that she, just before she died, in turn gave a message to Anton telling him how much she loved him, how she would always love him. And so even though he has lost his one true soul mate, his love lives on through his granddaughter.
Lost Future: Finding out that Celeste really is Claire, and that Layton has to go through the agony of losing her once again so as to restore the timeline. She walks down an an alley, and fades away into the past, as all Hershel can do is take off his hat and quietly sob over losing his first and most likely true love all over again.
Seriously, the Professor Layton games would make anyone cry, they are some of the most touching pieces of drama I have ever seen…and they’re made even better with all the puzzles in between.
@ Remy: I’m gonna sound really nasty in parts of this comment. Grab a cup of coffee, and be calm before you respond. I appreciate your opinion, I really do, but I want your informed opinion, not your “OMG YOU’RE SO WRONG!” initial, emotional response.
To quote you:
“Now if you want to DISAGREE with what I have on the list, cool.!”
I disagree that the companion cube belongs on the list.
“for you to come here and tell me the cube doesn’t belong on the list I wrote is just hilarious to me. I wrote the list, dude. ”
So which is it? Can you cope with me disagreeing with your list or not?
C’mon dude – Man up and take the critique.This is the real world, people will disagree with opinions you have. You have stated why you think the meme belongs on your list, I have stated my opinions to the contrary.
Clearly you are invested in a running gag. That’s your deal.
I personally took exception to your rather casual and hand-wavy disregard for my, admittedly, informal and jocular initial comment. That itself prompted me to make the longer explanatory rebuttal.
And I appreciate your comment about Suikoden.
To be honest if we’re gonna turn this into a “I’ve cried more over video games than you” contest then we’ll be here for years – I’ve not even brought up Seth from Illusion of Time/Gaia or the poisoned village from Lagoon (I may be the only person on this planet who was moved by anything in Lagoon beyond a desire to get their money back) but that’s the point of this list, right? To spark conversation over what emotional experiences games have given us.
I love Portal, which is why I hate the Companion Cube – and the Cake for that matter.
Both are now mearly memes that strip the worth of the game down to their bare bones and trivialise their effect. It’s the equivilant of people saying that they love Dawn of the Dead because a zombie gets his head cut off, or saying that they love Robocop because ED-209 turns a dude into red paste – It trivialises the overall artefact, reducing it down to a single moment that is not part of the overall impact of the game or film.
If you are committed to your belief that a joke within the first quarter of a 4-hour subgame is worthy of being put on a list exploring the greatest emotional highpoints in gaming, that’s your thing. My thing is that is is that the cube is, as it is now, in popular culture, an overworked joke that has cheapened the effect of the game it is in.
Tell me why I am wrong – What do you see that I don’t? Why does the cube belong on your list? Clearly I am not convinced by the article you have written, can you address the points about the cube that I have made?
And seriously, don’t go waving your E-wang in my face with the “I write for Unreality” line. That one line did more damage to my respect for you than anything else you have written.
What you wrote was YOUR work, YOUR opinion, and I want to read more of that. It’s rare that an Unreality article prompts me to comment in the first place, your article was good enough to do that, be proud. But prompting comments means prompting critique. I disagree with you, and I want to learn more in the hope that we can both learn of other opinions.
What you wrote, with the “I write for Unreality” line gives me the impression that you think that “I’m writing for a website ergo my opinion trumps yours”, which I’m sure you don’t mean – You’re trying to protect something that you’ve put a lot of work into, which I appreciate, but you’ve gotta be ready for backlash.
Hell – Read any forum on, say, The Spoony One’s site, or Rob Bricken’s occasional list. Those people put up with far worse deconstructions of their work than the arguments I’ve put to you.
For the record – I run a leisure learning course at my local college where I, and the others in my group (I refuse to call myself a lecturer – I’m a guide) discuss the development of Video games as an art form (building on my Uni course in Film, and my dissertation, and a talk I gave as BCUR, on how Video Games and Film are linked in their development as art forms, and what we can learn from this) I have an interest in this topic because pulling deep emotional response from the audience is one of the things that marks out a great film, as it also does a great game – But it also marks out an individual’s experience of both the film and the game. So I might not have a position on this website, but to dismiss me offhand as easily as you tired to do is a little arrogant.
Take a deep breath, think and respond.
Thankyou.
Truthfully, Kev. You are right. I have been pulling triple duty lately in my personal life (moving, new job) and been under a crapload of stress, and I feel like I sorta projected that onto you when I read your comment. Truth be told, the cube WASN’T as emotional moment for most as it was for me, so to respond the way I did was rather asinine, as I do see that now. My argument was as childlike as I have sounded in recent memory, BUT, that being said, I won’t delete it to make myself “look better”, I will just sit and accept that fact that everyone has bad days, and everyone acts like an ass now and then. In that case I acted like an ass ( and sounded far more pompous than my broken self would like to ever sound), AND, even the way you approached the issue was classy, so for me to attack you had no grounds. Again, I recognize that. I also think, to some degree, people who comment don’t always realize the impact they have, so sometimes being defensive feels natural, when it is anything but. So all that being said, I do apologize, and did not mean to undermine your opinion. Also worth noting, that class you teach sounds quite awesome, so huge props for that as well. I tip my hat, wave a white flag, and admit I am wrong. And as I am sure you know, it is VERY hard to a writer to ever admit that, so thank you for bringing it out in me, and pardon my anything but civil tone earlier.
Apology accepted.
Good man.
@Alaric
That would be very cool. Persona 5 ftw?
In the first call of juarez during the loading cut scene when Reverend Ray describes his youngest brother’s death
You obviously haven’t played Heavy Rain. Go give it a shot and then come back and add it in. That game plays on all of your emotions at back-to-back.
ff legends 2 original game boy one of your main party members dies. so sad…. stabbed by bush ninjas. even fight odin the guy who lets u save your game kill him and you cant save anymore at will strange concept strange game.
Red Dead Redemption did something no other VG could do…actually create a vested interest in a character and story line…from the graphics to the music, the game drew you in to it’s own world…you feel fear during a cougar attack, foreboding while riding through Tall Trees due to bears, or just explore…RDR has set a precedent…good luck…this video game sold records for Jose Gonzalez!…
Jake Wylde
The Jake Wylde Show
Got it all wrong guys. The most tormenting moment of video game history was the time you turned on Pokemon Blue to find it no longer saved.
I was very upset at the way it ends for John Marsten, I tried so hard to make him the good guy, if I had known it would end like this I would have made him the most ruthless killer in the game. What’s the point in a morality system if it all ends the same. The only satisfaction I got out of the end was taking Jack killing the first agent after he tells me where Ross retired at. At finding his home and he’s not there I killed his wife, slowly. Upon finding his brother I killed him too. After killing agent Ross, I felt the game could have gone further. Because I wanted to kill agent Ross’ entire %$##%^ family.
#1 rule for games from Rockstar now is kill every one.
Good list… but..
*Major Spoilers*
Agro doesn’t even die xD I mean, it is super sad when you think he dies, but he comes back eventually.
I wonder if the topic write knew this, and didn’t want to spoil it? (Even though he mentioned this would have spoilers) or just forgot? :p
Good post though, all very good picks.
good list. man developers just love depressing us don’t they