Games of loneliness and contemplative solitude

[J T]

The original Metroid for the NES is one of my favorite games. It's not just the marvelously cold alien landscapes, the deliciously eccentric soundtrack, or the vast explorative gameplay that makes it great, it's how the whole thing comes together in this unique emotional experience. Metroid feels lonely. Quiet. Contemplative. I can get lost in myself in Metroid.

I played Metroid as a rental around the time of its release. An older boy who lived next door came by to visit. He had just spent time working as a fisherman in Alaska. This was the first time I learned that when you live at the top of the world, there are seasons where the sun never sets. He developed bad insomnia. We stayed up late into night playing Metroid. I stayed up even after he left and completed the game in the wee hours of the morning. The mixture of sleep deprivation and everything Metroid was doing to me felt depressing, and meaningful at the same time. I was Samus Aron. Bounty Hunter. But was my mission of eradicating metroids truly altruistic? It's hard to put into words, but the game was all feeling for me. It's one of my favorite gaming memories, though its not particularly joyous or enlightening. It just felt solidly cold and quiet.

What other games do you guys enjoy for their sense of solitude, isolation, and loneliness?

[Exhuminator]

I know you folks get tired of hearing me talk about the King's Field series, but the primary reason I loved those games so much, is because of their immense atmosphere. Said atmosphere is exactly; "loneliness and contemplative solitude". I've never felt more palpable emotions of that type with video games, more so than with the King's Field series. (The fact that they are also amazing dungeon crawlers is just a bonus.)

Another really great one is Shadow of the Colossus. Just exploring that game's forlorn world on horseback is amazing in and of itself.

This type of atmosphere is my favorite in gaming, so I'll have to take some time and come up with more entries a little later. Especially some 2D games.

[J T]

OK Exhum, I think you have finally convinced me that I need to try one of these Kings Field games you rave about.

Shadow of the Colossus is another great recommendation and probably my favorite game of all time, which is why I am kooky enough to write poetry about it.

[marurun]

Legend of Oasis has a soundtrack that is sparse and, despite the population of enemies and such, the game world actually feels sedate as a result of the sparse music.

[Erik_Twice]

Without question, Myst. Those games wouldn't work if you weren't alone.

[Anapan]

Not wanting to go OT, but the ones I heard about that might qualify were indie games that I'm pretty sure JT posted about.
Just wanted to mention that my niece is almost through a Genocide playthrough of Undertale and I find it really cool that because of that, there's almost nobody in all those rooms that would normally be filled. She killed them all.

[strangenova]

Flashback! All the way this game is lonely, even when you bump into the occasional nonhostile npc. The music is quiet most times unless you come across something that's helpful or something that wants you dead. It adds suspense to these encounters, especially in the first few stages where there are hardly any living creatures to speak to. I constantly felt alone and alienated from the world around me.

[Exhuminator]

A few more I thought of:

Especially the beginning of the game before you get your buddy. And every time you're separated from him, like during the caves.


When you're exploring the seafloor and sunken ships, you do it alone. Totally lonely experience, and you come across the remnants of other people's lives all the time, leading to much contemplation.


While not a game I would call "good", this is probably the most atmospheric DS game ever, or at least in the top 3. You're constantly alone, and you are always coming across written memories from now dead people, forcing you to contemplate your situation. You'd be surprised how creepy this game can be, given its platform.

I'll keep thinking of more.

[jmbarnes101]

No one has mentioned Fragile Dreams (Wii) yet? Yes, there are some other characters in it but the whole thing makes you contemplate what is going on and how lonely you are as a 15 year boy in a post-apocalyptic world. It kind of reminds me of Studio Ghibli's Grave of the Fireflies.

[Xeogred]

It's hard to pull off in 2D, but when done well, it can't be topped. Metroid/Super and Flashback are some good calls.

I had a powerful moment last year when I replayed Demon's Souls.

First, there is a "Nexus" in Demon's, which is your hub world. It is a small, enclosed temple. There are no windows. It has an angelic atmosphere to it. Is it heaven, or hell, or neither? You have no idea what or where it is. This Nexus teleports you to locations that may or may not have any direct connection whatsoever. You feel like a mere speck in this infinite world. You're already small.

There is a large section of a level that is a huge bridge for miles. This bridge is stage 1-2 of this level, the entire bridge is basically the stage. As you approach the bridge and start your trek through it, a roaring dragon comes soaring through and smothers it with fire. The dragon never stops ravaging the bridge. Roaring across the skies, killing and burning enemies on the bridge with friendly fire, not caring at all. It wants you dead. So you have to time your desperate sprints to the checkpoint towers for safety. So I cleared out all the enemies at these two towers throughout the bridge, because you can in a gimmicky way kill the dragon, permanently (whereas most respawn after warping to and from levels). Finally after hundreds of arrows and probably 20 some minutes, the dragon died.

And then there was silence.

The dragon was gone. The roaring in the air and the rumbling of the bridge came to a halt. The bridge was decorated by dead bodies everywhere. There is no BGM. No NPC's for days. There was absolute nothingness. I walked around with no life around me in sight. There was nothing to do. I was a lost soul in a giant dead fortress and forgotten city. Suddenly ... I missed the dragon. I felt guilty, terrible, and afraid. It was too quiet and empty. I was completely alone. If this isn't hell, I don't know what is.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s3nckWeT-m0