most visceral gaming moment+thoughts on emotions in general

[geozeldadude]

i had a really bad video gaming experience yesterday, although it ended up being kind of a revelation so i guess that's kind of a good thing, maybe.

now, i've had plenty of video gaming experiences over the years, ranging from being excited about an upcoming release, feeling great about beating a game (among the more noteworthy was beating FE10 with meg as my #1 haha) or getting a really great score, being really wowed by the quality of a game (e.g. metroid prime), being frustrated (majora's mask), or being bored (last section of wind waker and all of super paper mario) or disappointed in a game.

but in terms of gut-busting visceral reactions, nothing compares to what i felt last night when i finished the first ending of metroid: other M. the point of this post isn't to debate about the pros and cons of the game; the point is that although i enjoyed parts of the game, when i finished the last battle and as the credits rolled the sense of anger and disappointment i felt was beyond anything i've experienced in a very long time. i can't think of the last time i felt so angry about anything, let alone a game. as i went to bed (which was late, b/c i had stayed up to finish it) and even throughout today i've still felt this nagging "hurt", for lack of a better word.

it's easy for me to pinpoint why i felt this way: i'm absolutely all for series trying out new things, but for a series to go so wrong in so many ways (in my POV, of course) at once was just so painful. again, the point of this post isn't to debate this particular game, but to talk about the fact that it was really surprising to me that i felt so emotional about it. i seriously can't think of the last time i was so emotional about a game; it must have been when i was in grade school. in a way it was kind of a good thing to find out that my interest in video games is still so strong, and also to find out how much i really love nintendo and the metroid series, which i hadn't truly realized (although i really wish there had been some other, less painful way to find this out).

it also kind of made me wonder if my reaction is indicating that my love of video games is maybe too strong, and that i'm getting to be too much of a fanboy. in the grand scheme of things, does a bad entry in one of my all-time favorite series really matter?

so anyway, just throwing this out there to see what other people have to say. maybe other people's comments will help ease the pain.

[arion]

I can't say you are to blame it can be hard to see a franchise you have followed for a long time suddenly turn into pile of crap.

For example i was really excited for Tes:Oblivion but the longer i played it the more i started to hate it. Gone was the excitement of exploring, combat felt too much like i was playing a action adventure game, the npc's really should not have been voiced, lockpicking and persuasion should not be a mini game. And overall it was just too simple. Yet when the tes series are mentioned this pile of crap is what most people refer to.

[Jamisonia]

The most emotional experience I ever felt in a video game was in Majora's Mask when I reunited the couple to get the couple's mask. The fact that they decided to sit there and wait for dawn together knowing their certain doom came with it, but as long as they were together for their last few moments it didn't matter. More than anyone else in that game, I wanted to yell hey, I know this song that can take up back in time 3 days and we can fix this mess!

[Gamerforlife]

This is a problem with any long running series. The Metroids, the Final Fantasies, the Resident Evils, etc, etc. Eventually, they all change in some way to keep themselves relevant. Sometimes those changes can turn off some fans though. Sometimes it may be better to see a series you love just die before it metamorphosises into something you no longer recognize, but that will never happen with any the of the big blockbuster, money maker franchises that have been around for what seems like forever. At some point it stops being about the quality or the artistic integrity and just becomes about how can we milk this franchise somemore and keep cashing in. I got it! We'll make Resident Evil 5 a co-op game and toss its history into the garbage

Just to use an example

[Zerodash]

If you are talking about emotional reaction to game quality, then I need to mention my experience with the Saturn version of Mortal Kombat II. After the excellent SF Alpha port on the Saturn, I expected the MKII one to be near arcade-perfect. Some idiot kid at Babbages also told me it was 100% arcade perfect. The disappointment I felt seeing just how bad a port it was still stings to this day.

In terms of an overall emotional reaction to content in a game, I recently had a certain wild west themed game ending bring me to actual tears.

Both experiences pale in comparison to the two Dual Shock controllers I destroyed out of God Hand induced rage. What a feakin' difficult game...

[Scooter]

Any Simpson's related game in the Genesis era was enough to bring you to tears. Then came Krusty's Super Fun House and proved the curse was not absolute. The good news, for the OP, is that you care and don't just play games for distraction and destruction. There are so many non-gamers that just don't know what they are missing, there are some fantastic stories told exceptionally well in the world of video games. But then, most people can't appreciate a well made movie or a well written book either.

I can still distinctly remember at least three amazing, mind blowing moments in my history of playing games:

-the first appearance of the T-Rex in Tomb Raider, and then the appearance of the SECOND T-Rex in Tomb Raider II
-one particularly spooky moment in Silent Hill when a phone started ringing in a classroom of the bad world (a phone you have already tried and which was dead) and when you answer it, it is your daughter asking where you are and why you haven't found her yet.
-exiting the castle for the first time in Ico and seeing all that sunlight, wind and the cliff's edge beyond that strange fountain/windmill thingie. It was such a shock to step out into the light after traversing so many dark passageways with so many restrictions. When the character steps out into the light, it almost feels like doing it yourself and having to shield your eyes from the glare.

For me and on the downer side similar to the OP's original statement: Tomb Raider: Angle of Darkness. 'nuff said.

[Specineff]

Klonoa's ending had me wondering if I had done something wrong. After all that traveling through that fantasy world and defeating the bad guy, there's no real happy ending? It was a bit of a gut punch. Dammit, Namco. You were supposed to give us a "They lived happily ever after" ending, not a rhetorical one.

As a counter to that, the ending to Super Ghouls and Ghosts is particularly satyisfing to me, the music emphasizing the end of the hard and frustrating journey, and being reminded of all I went through (twice) to deliver some righteous ownage to the bosses once their patterns were figured out. (I know it's not about the endings only, but it's my take on the topic)

[J T]

Klonoa's ending had me wondering if I had done something wrong. After all that traveling through that fantasy world and defeating the bad guy, there's no real happy ending? It was a bit of a gut punch. Dammit, Namco. You were supposed to give us a "They lived happily ever after" ending, not a rhetorical one.

It is strange that such a cute game had a weird bittersweet ending instead of something happy. I kind of like the ending though.

[SirJoshuaTimothy]

When the bridge collapsed and Agro fell in Shadow of the Colossus, I was devastated. The interesting thing was that I didn't realize how attached to him I had become until that moment.

[Croooow!]

For me the ending of Earthbound applies the most. The nice quiet ending where you could revisit every place in the game provided excellent closure to the game as you could end it when you were ready. Looking through the photo book was the icing on the cake in terms of reflecting back on the game that had so much damn charm for me.