Have you ever cried while playing a game?

[icycalm]

I mean as a result of playing a game, not just simply while playing one.

This is a rather important question for me at the moment, so I would really appreciate it if everyone gave me an answer, either positive or negative. If positive, I would also like to know the specific game(s).

As for me, I've never come anywhere close enough to crying because of a game, and just in case people start imagining that I am some sort of a heartless bastard, I am going to mention that I have cried while watching movies, though not recently. I remember for example crying (and getting really scared) while watching those anti-christ movies when I was like 9 or so, and again at the end of Schindler's List when I was 17. Since then... I can't remember specific movies, but I do think I might have cried a couple more times. Perhaps at the end of Titanic or something (lol).

With games, though, never.

[zinger]

Metal Black, Stage 3 (Area 26-10) brought goosebumps and tears to my eyes. GG Aleste II, the ruin stage, also. I can't remember crying because of movies or music in very very long time, but the music / design / art direction of these two games really moved me. Positive experience, definetly.

[Dale]

I did while playing Sonic2 once because it's very very nostalgic to me. It immediately brings back memories of hanging out at my grandmothers house with my cousin and all the stuff I did with people on my mom's side of the family when I was little.

Edit: I played the game at my grandmothers before I owned it on my own hence the connection.

I almost cried when "The Boss" died in MGS3.

[Flying Omelette]

I don't think I've ever cried while playing a game. The two closest moments to that emotion that I've come to that I can think of are...

...when a certain character "dies" in Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits, I had knots in my stomach.

...when I was a really little kid, I was scared of Donkey Kong in the arcade game. It didn't keep me from playing it, though. (I may have mentioned that here before, unless it was at NESforums, but I apologize if I'm repeating myself.)

There have been other games that made me feel sad in some parts, like the endings of Link's Awakening and Secret of Mana. I thought the ending of Mega Man 3 was kind of touching when I first saw it. But I still don't think I've come close to crying.

Also, when I got to the final phase of the final boss of Castlevania 3, my hands were trembling so badly, I had to pause the game and calm down to finish it. The same thing happened again when I got to the end of the Astral Plane in Might & Magic, but I might have kept going even with the trembling hands since that's an RPG that doesn't require dexterity.

[Jedah]

I once cried to Gran Prix Legends. After months of practising I had managed to position 3rd ( a place on the podium ) and there was only a single lap left in a 14-lap race. This was the first time I could possibly imagine to finish in the first three. My engine broke halfway to the finish line and I retired. I was so angry that tears of frustration slipped from my eyes. GPL is not for the weak...

[icycalm]

I did while playing Sonic2 once because it's very very nostalgic to me. It immediately brings back memories of hanging out at my grandmothers house with my cousin and all the stuff I did with people on my mom's side of the family when I was little.

Edit: I played the game at my grandmothers before I owned it on my own hence the connection.

This doesn't count. You cried because of nostalgic feelings connected with the game, not because of the game itself. It could just as easily have been any other game.

I don't think I've ever cried while playing a game.

This is somewhat surprising. Being of the fair sex, I would have figured you'd be the most likely person in this forum to have done so.[/sexism]

[Harlequin]

Harlequin

[Fredrick2003]

Honestly some parts of Rule of Rose got to me a little bit...

Maybe it was just the way the credits were done.

[Dale]

I consider games art as well as entertainment. If people can cry while watching movies then what's wrong with crying at a game? You have a higher level of connection with a game then any movie can achieve.

Games garner strong emotional connections with even the most casual gamers. think about the anger when losing or the joy of winning. How many times have you cussed at a movie, or said thank you to a movie when an object appeared? Movies could never make you feel like a winner or loser(in a direct sense).

I think people who want to look at games as just a simple hobby are what tears this form of entertainment down so much.

Movies and novels are great but they can't compare to interaction(even if you were to compare a badly written game to a well written movie).

[Fredrick2003]

I agree with everything you said.

I hate to be a "games are art fag"... But I think they can be...

[Flying Omelette]

This is somewhat surprising. Being of the fair sex, I would have figured you'd be the most likely person in this forum to have done so.[/sexism]

The funny thing is I'm not even sure if I've ever cried at a movie. I'm not remembering any specific incidents at the moment.

[MAXCHAIN]

I cannot recall ever having cried at a videogame, and I most certainly have cried from watching a movie.

[Dale]

I think the lack of people having cried over a game has to do with how in general a story for a game generally comes 2nd. It could also have to do with the types of games the people on this forum generally like(I'm guessing a lot of people here aren't into really story heavy game, but I could be wrong).

[Macaw]

Never cried from a game, although these are a couple of games I remember as having the biggest emotional impact:

Gaia Gensouki/Illusion of Time: Impossible to convey this game in words. Even if you are playing the poorly translated English version its still a very touching game. One of the best examples of a Japanese soap-opera style RPG done right.

Tamashii no Mon: PC98 game based on Dante's Divine Comedy. The ending of the game is absolutely breathtaking. Most developers would run away at the mere though of trying to convey the last 2 parts of the comedy in a game, but Koei did it, and did it well (despite borrowing heavily from the illustrations of Gustave Dore)

Mind-blowingly bizzare soundtrack combined with purely visuals (no text) during the 'Paradiso' segment in particular was one of the most incredible game experiences I've ever had. Incredibly hypnotic, the first time I saw it I was left staring at the 'made by Koei' end screen for about 15 minutes before I actually turned the game off.

[Flying Omelette]

The thought's just occurred to me that there is something disturbingly arresting about the ending theme of Terranigma/Tenchi Souzou. I've never even played that game and yet hearing that song makes me feel like I'm going to cry.

[Macaw]

Its a spectacular piece of music indeed.

Tenchi Souzo has a very, very complex plot. For the most part however it is about the morals and behavior of humans in general, as well as the Earth itself (Kinda like Actraiser, just without the biblical references)

Gaia Gensouki is kinda the opposite, completely focused on a specific set of characters and their emotions.

[Molloy]

I like to think of most games as much more like sports than cinema/theatre. Sport can be beautiful and emotive too. Is sport art? Does asking if somethings art mean anything etc? I'm so bored of this whole topic.

I've never cried at a movie or playing a game. That said I've often screamed blue bloody murder at a game, or jumped up and down for sheer joy at completing some particularly fucking hard bit, which I can't say I've ever done while at the cinema.

[icycalm]

I consider games art as well as entertainment.

I agree with everything you said.

I hate to be a "games are art fag"... But I think they can be...

I like to think of most games as much more like sports than cinema/theatre. Sport can be beautiful and emotive too. Is sport art? Does asking if somethings art mean anything etc? I'm so bored of this whole topic.

The above posts are off-topic. I believe I mentioned this topic is important to me, so please do not derail it. If you want to talk about the "games are art" faggotry you can start a new thread, after first having read this.

[Flying Omelette]

I just want to clarify that just because I've never personally cried during a game that it doesn't mean I don't feel it's possible to have that emotional reaction to them or that I would think such a reaction from anyone else is off-putting or abnormal. My emotions might just more easily manifest in other ways (knots in stomach, trembling hands). My better half has remarked in the past that I don't even really get scared while watching horror movies.

But when something makes me sad or touches me emotionally, my normal reaction (it seems) is to ponder it for a really long time rather than to cry.

[Volke]

The last time I shed a tear, was when I finished Treasure Hunter G; the story wasn't something great but it has that type of ending when you need say good bye to all your party members and the protagonist go back to his silly and boring life in his cliched rural hometown. I don't know why I found that situations kinda sad.

[raphael]

Well, that's a good question.

I quiet easily cry watching movies. I cried once or twice reading books. But I think it never happened to me while playing a videogame.
Some games gave me sad emotions but never to the point of sheding tears.

The closest may have been on story driven games such as japanese RPGs or survival horror. I actualy remember a secondary character whose small tragic story's impact on the other's moved me. This was in Project Zero 2 Akai Chou.

I don't really know wether I can cry in front of a video game or if it's impossible.

My guess is it's a matter of identification.
Identification not being videogame's strongest point, I'm not surprised by my apparent incapacity to cry in front of videogames so far.
I suppose this could be fixed by an appropriate gamedesign... but i'm not sure it would make an interesting game.

[raphael]

I should add that finishing a long game, can be moving when it was a great experience.
Some end credits music can be pretty touching when you gave a lot off love to the game.

Well it's just the sadness of saying goodbye to characters or even with the period of your life that ends then. So it may not be the most relevant exemple.

[lock]

I've cried with FF7 in a couple of scenes. I don't remember any other game I've cried with, though.

[Sheik_et_Chouette]

I haven't cried from either games or movies. I shed a tear or two during the musical Spring Awakening, which I saw a few days ago.

The closest I've come to crying in a video game is in Final Fantasy VI, when I didn't feed Cid enough fish, he died, and Celes tried to commit suicide while her opera theme played.

[Fei_Yen_Kn]

Plenty.

Towards the end of Chrono Cross...
During Snake Eater's epilogue...
After Gitaroo Man's "battle" with Kira...
For the death of Grey Fox...
For nearly half of Suikoden 3...
Ah, Final Fantasy Tactics, at least once...

In my defense, 1997 - 2003 were hard times, and prescription drugs had a lot to answer for.