Multi What are some games you've played that you consider particularly Profound or "special" in other ways?

[GwJumpman]

Talking about games that make you feel a certain way when you think back about them, ones that have meanings or events that even now you can't help but mull over from time to time, games that have taught you or made you think certain ways about reality that have stuck with you, or anything else.

For example, and this is potentially a low-hanging pick or maybe a little juvenile, but there was a game called Omori that came out some time ago that I went into blind on a whim that

Spoiler: OMORI SPOILERS

goes into topics like suicide, hiding from the world, trusting others, overcoming grief, and also succumbing to grief. It was a very depressing game that even now when I think about the story and listen to the music, it brings me right back to how it felt to play the game for the first time and each development. I don't think that there was necessarily a lesson to be learned from Omori in an "ought" sense, but moreso I feel like it's depicting artistic renditions of real paths you can mentally go when suffering with grief. Because of how brutal the twists are and how close you are to Sunny (yet so far) the things that I encountered felt so real just like any real person would be able to connect with honest depictions of grief.

This is obviously a super messy stream-of-consciousness thought of the game but that's sort of what I'm talking about. Some games just stick with you for a bit and make you keep thinking about them for years and years afterward.

Other games like that for me are Alan Wake 2 and Link's Awakening. Chrono Trigger, which I recently played, will probably be one of these for me as well.

 

[Quagmire]

Last of Us Pt 2 , oh boy that game made me feel so many things, especially at the end. I ended up

Spoiler: Spoilers TLoUpt2

I even ended up liking Abby a lot more than Ellie

 

[VashTheStampede]

I could do a whole massive essay about films that have given me the exact same vibe you talk about here, but I can think of a couple games:

Immortality is a big one. I can't talk much about it without getting into MASSIVE spoiler territory, but it's an incredibly haunting game when you delve into its secrets.

Link's Awakening is definitely one for me as well. The weird sense of melancholy I felt when completing it for the first time was something I had never experienced from a video game before. I wonder if it's subconsciously why I tend to have a problem finishing games a lot of the time, and end up dropping them right before the very end.

Spec Ops: The Line was one of the wildest experiences I've ever had for a game I went in basically completely blind on. Anyone who has played through it knows what I'm talking about.

Red Dead Redemption 2. One scene in particular hit me hard. There's not a ton of music in the game, it's very much like Breath of the Wild where it's minimalist with music, just there almost in the back of your mind to emphasize the current situation. But there's one scene where you're just traveling on your horse through the countryside after some Shit Went Down thats set to a full on SONG with lyrics and shit and the game really makes you consider and reckon with what has just transpired. So fucking good.

Might pop in with more later.

 

[TD]

So I just finished Final Fantasy VI for the umpteenth time and anyone who knows me at all should not be surprised that this game checks that box for me too.

If you've played it - you know the wide array of real life topics it covers... like, there's an absurdly large amount of them and all of the characters have their own deep-rooted struggles and demons.

I played it for the first time when I was 8, young, impressionable - the game stuck with me and there's lots of relatable things and life lessons there.

I've probably played it a couple dozen times since.

I won't get into specifics on the chance people haven't played it.

 

[Joseph Snapple]

This is admittedly just an incredibly small moment in a very large game but the text of Morgott's Remembrance kind of broke me in the moment as I read it for the first time.

 

[VashTheStampede]

So I just finished Final Fantasy VI for the umpteenth time and anyone who knows me at all should not be surprised that this game checks that box for me too.

If you've played it - you know the wide array of real life topics it covers... like, there's an absurdly large amount of them and all of the characters have their own deep-rooted struggles and demons.

I played it for the first time when I was 8, young, impressionable - the game stuck with me and there's lots of relatable things and life lessons there.

I've probably played it a couple dozen times since.

I won't get into specifics on the chance people haven't played it.

"Gotta wait for Shadow!" was a big moment for young me. Is that when I first was beset by anxiety? Mayyyyybe

 

[Quagmire]

Red Dead Redemption 2. One scene in particular hit me hard. There's not a ton of music in the game, it's very much like Breath of the Wild where it's minimalist with music, just there almost in the back of your mind to emphasize the current situation. But there's one scene where you're just traveling on your horse through the countryside after some Shit Went Down thats set to a full on SONG with lyrics and shit and the game really makes you consider and reckon with what has just transpired. So fucking good.

There are multiple in that game for me that hit hard and at least one in the original too

 

[Fire Queen]

undertale/deltarune gets a lot of press as a game in this vein but it deserves it. undertale especially changed the way i think about video games

the missing: j.j. macfield and the island of memories is one of those ones where i can't say anything without spoiling what makes it special, but it's definitely special.

if we're expanding the list to just plain games that made me cry, well... mother 3 of course, but also okami. the legend of zelda: the wind waker is still my favorite zelda to this day. i haven't played totk and don't plan to anytime soon. the entire splatoon series might not strike people as profound (particularly the first two) but the third entry and its DLC really vault it into next-level territory. the lore? the lore. the lore (not to mention how it's delivered) is so good, man.

i think a couple decades down the road corporations are going to go back to being so protective of their IP that we will look back on super smash bros. ultimate as something that was only ever possible for a brief, wonderful stretch of time

special shouts out to games that were made with teams of just a few (maybe even just a couple) people. cave story and to the moon come to mind. donut county too.

out-of-nowhere pick: cubivore. there will never be another game like it.

 

[Andy]

For different reasons - Call of Duty 4. That was my first real online gaming experience. I was at school at the time and just playing it with all my friends was different to anything I’d done before.

 

[Smacktard]

Maybe I'm the odd one out here, but I haven't really gleaned any insights or new philosophies or ways of thinking about the world from video games. The only things I've taken from them (other than fun and enjoyable experiences) would be about game design, and what a game could/couldn't be.

Story-heavy games are going to be the focus for OP question, but most of the jRPGs I've played are about The Power of Friendship or Love Conquers All or The Church is Actually Bad or something lame. Granted I haven't played supposed heavy-hitters like To the Moon, Edith Finch, or Omori.

I guess one exception would be Okami. It was my first experience with non-western storytelling, and the way the game unfolded felt very foreign and confusing at first. It opened me up to non-standard (from a western perspective) forms of storytelling and characterizations.

FQ mentioned Cubivore, and I remember being pleasantly surprised at the writing in the game. It was very funny and charming, and reminded me of the mindset I had when I was in my 20's ("BREED BREED HAVE SEX"). I don't think that quite counts for OP question but the silly writing about low-poly animals controlled by their instincts was surprisingly relatable.

 

[Tommy Boy]

No video game has come even close to what I felt with Red Dead Redemption 2. Not just the story, but absolutely everything about the game down to the gritty details. It is by far, the most powerful experience I've ever had playing any video game in my life. I have not been able to play it a second time because the first time was so insanely perfect and will never be the same as the first time. There are other games that impacted me on some levels, but RDR2 is unmatched in every single category.

Fuck Thomas Downes.

 

[Jon]

I can't get into details now because of time constraints, but FF7, Persona and the AC series all emit some emotional response from me for various reasons.

 

[MC74]

I can't get into details now because of time constraints, but FF7, Persona and the AC series all emit some emotional response from me for various reasons.

I'll even add Final Fantasy X to that list. That game got me when I was young.

 

[Fire Queen]

few years back i watched a friend play FFX (one of her fav childhood games and for me the first ever FF game id either completed myself or watched someone else play) and it was great. tidus laugh scene is goated

 

[MC74]

few years back i watched a friend play FFX (one of her fav childhood games and for me the first ever FF game id either completed myself or watched someone else play) and it was great. tidus laugh scene is goated

I'm not ashamed to say I teared up towards the end. It was a very touching story.

 

[Fire Queen]

oh yeah it was

Spoiler: ffx lategame spoilers

yuna's final sphere message that got me

. just a very heartfelt game about how grief and loss is a natural part of life that should be embraced and not feared

 

[Andy]

The latter stages of Telltale’s walking dead game too

 

[VashTheStampede]

The Power of Friendship or Love Conquers All or The Church is Actually Bad

 

[Raine]

Final Fantasy X is amazing. Every single one of your characters is a member of an immensely broken, completely dysfunctional family. All of the theming, and some of the subject matter - like Tidus's abusive, alcoholic father that one day just fucks off because he can - hits really hard. It's also just something you can take at face value and not have to really worry about too much, if that's more your speed, which is also nice.

In a similar vein, of course, I have to point out NieR as always. Fuck off Teenage Nier, Papa Nier is the only true Nier. It's absolutely one of those games where you must go in with zero expectations to get the best and fullest results, which... understandably at this point is quite hard to do. And you do have to do every single "playthrough," which does include grinding. But it's worth it goddammit. One of the most powerful experiences I've had in gaming, bar none, and I love it for it.

Persona 3 and Shadow Hearts + Shadow Hearts: Covenant are both really good experiences too, and left a lasting impression. I don't know that I would necessarily consider them "profound," necessarily, but... yeah.

The original Kingdom Hearts is one of the most unique one-off experiences in gaming. It just, uh, works? Or worked, I suppose. There was definite room for improvement, which nothing in the series even attempted to do, but there was a very real magic and charm and novelty to the "Final Fantasy x Disney" fever dream. The hype was real. ...Never play or acknowledge anything that comes after that first game and you'll be happier for it. Trust me.

I'm obligated to at least mention the complete mindfucking that Zero Escape did to me? 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors and Virtue's Last Reward both. We pretend the last part of the trilogy doesn't exist; the trauma and disappointment is too great.

The end-ish parts of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty might be profound? Or just, y'know, the completely unhinged ravings of a madman. It's honestly really hard to tell, but if you sit there and think about it long enough it gets pretty screwy.

I very much enjoyed Phantom Brave's characterizations, if not the complete narrative. Like, again, probably better to just go into something like that blind - but it hits in a kind of fucked up way, that I really appreciated.

 

[Tommy Boy]

[...] Kingdom Hearts [...]

...Never play or acknowledge anything that comes after that first game and you'll be happier for it. Trust me.

I second this motion.

 

[Andy]

I actually played KH3 first because I believe it was the only one available on Xbox at the time (or maybe game pass) and then did 1 and 2. Enjoyed all of them but probably helps I didn’t have all the anticipation of waiting for a sequel.

 

[aiat_gamer]

The Remains of Edith Finch. I never had such contradicting feelings in game. Enjoyment of how different gameplay elements were, and the intense sadness of the entire game. The fact that you "play " until the death of each character is pretty heart wrenching. Two were very sad, a suicide and a death of a baby...

 

[TD]

Never play or acknowledge anything that comes after that first game and you'll be happier for it. Trust me.

I second this motion.

Enjoyed all of them but probably helps I didn’t have all the anticipation of waiting for a sequel.

I binged the whole damn bundle (like 10 games or whatever the fuck) in 2023 and I enjoyed it for reasons thank you very much.

Except KH3. Way way too many cutscenes.

but I have weird fucking taste in games so make of this what you will