As a medium of entertainment, video games have always been put under scrutiny for not offering the emotional journey that say, a movie offers. Being a gaming site, and being iLL, we detest that, as we feel games can equally give you the jilts and the shivers that movies do. To prove our point, we did some asking around on our Twitter pages, and got some inputs from our polar editorial staff.
Here are some responses that we received on our Official Twitter page, and our editor Sahil’s Twitter page.
@Illgaming @theillitist oh haha. Yes, the first time I played #Dota2 I truly did weep. It was a moving moment. Happy, manly tears ok?
— Nikhil Jois (@suar4sure) June 2, 2014
Sure, Dota 2 has made a lot of us cry (read: rage), but that’s a different dimension from what we’re talking about.
@Illgaming The last of us!!:'( — Varun Bajaj (@VarunBajaj22) June 2, 2014
The Last of Us was great. We’re pretty sure he’s not the only one who shed tears while playing this game. Own up guys!
@Illgaming yea, because it was called Far Cry and made by Crytek using CryEngine.
— Chirantan Raut (@ChirantanRaut) June 2, 2014
iLLGaming’s Associate Editor Chirantan Raut swears that nothing ever made him cry but that doesn’t stop him from using some cringe inducing puns.
Heavy Rain makes it to the list, obviously. Some other hopefuls, Red Dead Redemption and Persona 3 are mentioned too. So is Metal Gear Solid 4.
@theillitist MGS4 Shadow Moses level was very emotional. Didn’t cry though.
— lokesh (@sunnychl) June 1, 2014
@theillitist Heavy rain…… — Standby for Ad1tya (@Ad1tyaS) June 1, 2014
@theillitist not cry but almost teary eyed when Marston reunited with his family(RDR) and was depressed after Persona 3 ending — Varun Raj「ワルン」 (@blurr_warun) June 1, 2014
SPEAKING TO OUR EDITORIAL STAFF
When the same question was asked to our editorial staff, we got the following replies:
Tathagata Ray: @over_rayted
There’s something so very raw and natural about Red Dead Redemption that you cannot take away, the way it makes the Western Frontier a reality, and John Marston you, defines the potent of the title. What struck me as a 25 year old gamer was definitely John Marston’s death at the hands of the Government officials he was helping throughout the game. The sly political strategy to topple the most feared Western gang was instrumentalised by fooling John Marston, and the amount of vengeance that I hold ever since that day is inexplicable, my cheeks were burning and eyes teary as they took away the soul from me, RDR was over.
The Last Of Us‘ haunting post apocalyptic world rests on decaying human civilisation and its weak attempts to safeguard human relations. Caught in this crossfire are two survivors and defeated souls, Ellie and Joel, who traverse from dangers and dying companions, to meet their ends. What made me emotional in TLOU is not the death of Sarah, but the scene inside the cottage when Ellie confronts Joel that she’s lost people too. The Last Of Us Behind the Scenes Movie: Grounded shows how naturally Ashley Johnson fitted herself in that scenario and left every one, including the director Neil Druckmann and co-actor Troy Baker, lost for words.
Ansh Patel: @lightnarcissus
I am a pretty skeptical, pessimist person and while that nature is attributed to a lot of things, one of them was The Longest Journey. Adventure games were always close to my heart as a kid but when I played that game, I was completely immersed in its rich world and the extremely well-written mind of the protagonist April. As the emotional stakes got stacked near the end, I was reasonably tensed but nothing could have prepared me for its ending — possibly one of the most, brilliant anti-climatic ending that a game has pulled off successfully for a deeper, greater effect. Considering everything April had sacrificed in her adventure, the fact that it was all for nothing and that her meaning and purpose was still a mystery to her was heart-breaking for both her and me. Happy endings can bring tears as can shocking deaths, but simple realisation that all you’ve worked for is meaningless is a heart-breaking discovery all of us will eventually make and something which adds a lot of meaning to the game’s title — The Longest Journey.
Chirantan Raut: @ChirantanRaut
Games can make you cry in three ways, out of sadness by deeply involving you in the story, out of frustration by being hard to beat or buggy and out of the elation of victory. While I have yet to experience actual tears (My eyes were only watery due to the strain of staring at the monitor or hours), I would say I’ve experienced the latter two states. Some games have frustrated me to the point of rage quitting and abandoning them forever and most of them are platformers that require split second responses and extreme precision like VVVVVV, You Have to Win the Game, Rush Bros among others. But mostly I’ve been crying tears of joy at completion of a game or for a hard fought victory in a race or RTS battle. I’ve had many such moments in the Total War series, Age of Empires Series and Need for Speed series. It is these moments a gamer cherishes more than any “‘Achievement’.
