chunesHave you ever cried because of a video game?
A few times.
Most notably, when playing Outer Wilds. I was playing it during the pandemic and had lost two friends, my grandfather and my cat within the span of around 3 months. I was struggling with depression and I got to one specific spot in the game and the revelation caused me to just sit there and cry for like 10 minutes, I was so emotionally shut down at the time that the tears felt like a life preserver. I had to stop playing for a bit, but it definitely helped me process my grief.
I also cried during a couple of quests in FFXIV. The post-Shadowbringers content especially, not because it was sad, just very poignant. And again in the last area of Endwalker, where Masayoshi Soken’s incredible composition combined with some very emotional content just got to me (especially the Endwalk, jfc).
I think I cried a bit at the end of Journey just because it was a powerful experience, but I had an amazing partner in that game who stayed with me through the whole thing.
I was just about to mention exactly these two games!
Outer Wilds’ ending was, to me, a beautiful meditation on confronting loss, the ending of things, and coming to peace with it.
Shadowbringers was along a similar theme. It was interesting emphasizing with Emet, and yet still realizing he’s wrong (“cool motive, still interdimensional genocide”). It was a combination of feeling unbearably sad for him, and yet thankful for stopping him. Also, seeing Ardbert during the camera pan in the Crystarium at the end.
Endwalker’s final walk had to have been designed in a lab to generate waterworks. What an experience.
My reaction to both The Dying Gasp and Seat of Sacrifice fights was “Can’t I feel good about winning just once?” and then speaking to Seto at the end was full on waterworks.