Emotions and gaming

John Marston
The Last of Us

Joel and Ellie

So while browsing Reddit I’ve noticed that one of my favorite games keeps popping up in threads; Red Dead Redemption. And the reason it’s continually remembered and held high is because of the emotions it stirred in people as well as the game play and story. Emotions and gaming, they’ve always been there from the first time you killed Ganon to maybe even the first time you got a high score in Space Invaders. Some games connect to some players and stick with them. So that had me thinking, what other games have touched us over the years? Is it the story that touches you? Do you need to hear the voices of people to get emotional or can text on the screen do it? I imagine it’s different for all of us but we’d love to hear some of your favorite emotion stirring games.

Mass Effect

John Shepard – Mass Effect

So back to some of my favorites which of course includes Red Dead Redemption. Red Dead is by far one of the best open world games in recent years. Even for someone that doesn’t really get into the western lifestyle this game can hook you instantly. The main character is gritty and tough but you still have the freedom to make your own choices, to a point. As always we’ll avoid spoilers but when you get to a certain point, if you enjoy the game, you can’t help but have some sort of reaction emotionally. What makes it an even better experience though is the fact that they don’t leave you hanging there, the story continues. You get to recover some of those emotions you leaked out and make a choice. Another interesting fact is that Rob Wiethoff, the voice for John Marston, began and ended his voice acting career with that character. He has not done another voice acting job since.

How about one of the latest games to hit shelves, The Last of Us? If you’ve played that did you feel any emotions? What about at the end? I certainly did and made some harsh choices and agreed with Joel all the way. But everyone has different reactions to different circumstances. Parents may have a more emotional response to child oriented choices than people that have no children. Or older people may have differing reactions to things than the younger generation.

How about sound tracks? Music has stirred emotions in people for centuries, now combine that with a visual experience and a story driven scenario? Do you still remember songs from certain sections of a specific game and the emotions they brought? Some of our favorites for sound tracks are of Kingdom Hearts, Red Dead Redemption, Nier, several of the Final Fantasy games and the list goes on and on.

Roger Wilco - Sierra Games

Roger Wilco – Space Quest

I’d bet that some of the first games you ever played, the ones that began your love for the hobby, still stir emotions in you. They hold this sentimental value, even if the graphics were outdated, voice acting didn’t exist etc etc. We human beings with our wild imaginations place ourselves in these worlds, we ARE the characters we choose to be. Which is why I think people have such a passion for games, books or anime or any other fantasy driven world. Our minds want that escape even if its momentary, a fantastic journey into worlds our imagination thinks up and yearns for.

My favorites:
Red Dead Redemption – If you haven’t tried it I really encourage you to, it’s very cheap nowadays and a GREAT game with lots of content.
Sierra Games – Kings Quest, Space Quest, very nostalgic for me.
The Last of Us – Great game, very well produced and flows like a movie that you’re the actor in.
Mass Effect Series
X-Com (original) – A struggle to save earth from vastly superior aliens? The fear of going head to head with that superior technology was a THRILL. The remake is good as well however, but the original still surpasses it.
There are many many more, these are just a few off the top of my head as I sit and write this.

In recap, some things to ponder and we would love to hear your opinion either here or on the Facebook Page:

What are your favorite games that stir emotions in you good or bad?

Do you play games with choices as you would in real life or sway from your real life persona?

Favorite song or soundtrack from a game?

Great song from Red Dead:

-Matthew

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