I don't think I've ever emotionally connected with a game more than Disco Elysium. It had a profound effect on me, that game can truly do sadness

A game that's not mentioned here yet: Outer Wilds.

You know how your high school English teacher tries to get through your brain about what "sublime" means and why the Romantic Era writers cared about it so much? The meaning of the word never really clicked for me until I played this game. It is pure, distilled sublime. It presents nature as this simultaneously jaw-droppingly beautiful and existentially scary entity that I've never seen any other game come close to replicating. For anyone who hasn't played it yet, I heavily recommend it.

Note: don't confuse Outer Wilds with Outer Worlds. They sound similar, but they could not be farther apart

The original Life is Strange was it for me back when I first played it. I have to admit, I was feeling a bit down at the time, so the soundtrack, the atmosphere, and the emotions in the game really resonated with me. I'm actually a bit hesitant to play it again because I don't want to lose the special memories from my first time through the game.

The Witcher 3. Sometimes there were no good choices to make and one had to choose the better of two bad outcomes. Sometimes the obvious good choice led to bad things happening to a village. That game was a rollercoaster of emotions.

I also second This War of Mine.

Mass Effect " ... someone else might have gotten it wrong ..."

There are just so many.

• SpiritFarer
• Lost Words: Beyond The Page
• All Persona games (recently Persona 4)
• Mass Effect
• Nier Automata
• Final Fantasy 7
• The Last Of Us

I'm probably missing more but that's just a few that I have a strong connection with and make my heart soar.

SOMA gets me pretty good. To the Moon, too.

A Short Hike

A lot of it is because of where I was in life when I played it, but playing this game felt like an oasis in a very turbulent time for me.
I had just graduated university in the middle of a pandemic, feeling lonely and scared of the transition to a new career. I ended up feeling surprisingly emotional the whole time I played it.

Shadow of the colossus has to be up there as one of the most memorable video game experiences I’ve had. Jaw dropping and thought provoking at the same time. I’m not sure what kind of wizardry and blood magic was involved in making this game run on playstation 2.

• Citizen Sleeper
• Suikoden II
• Journey
• Papers, Please
• Darkest Dungeon (if only through the Narrator lines)
• Undertale
• Celeste
• Gris
• The Lion's Song
• Final Fantasy Tactics
• Silent Hill 2
• Ace Attorney
• Orwell
• What Remains of Edith Finch
• Tacoma
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• SOMA
• The Red Strings Club
• Unpacking

I’m surprised I haven’t seen anyone mention Ghost of Tsushima. What an incredible emotional journey. I saw the ending coming from a mile a way but that didn’t matter in the least. The voice acting is unbelievably good. The way the game design, writing, and acting all fit perfectly together is not something I’ve seen matched in any other game. It’s a wonderful piece of art. My partner was watching me play when I started the game for the first time because the beginning grabbed her attention and she ended up watching me play basically the whole game. We both had wet eyeballs at the end. But it didn’t just give me sad feels, I’ve never played a game quite so just overall beautiful? Visually, again, the game design itself is beautiful, serene. And that’s just the main story, there are such good small stories told in tiny side quests that I still haven’t forgotten from my first play through. On top of all of that you get feel like a badass slicing up fools. I can’t say enough good stuff about that game.

The Last of Us first play through, hands down.

Breath of the Wild first ten hours after release, close second place.

I’m told Outer Wilds will be number one when I get to it.

• Spiritfarer
• Forgotten Anne
• Honkai Impact 3rd (believe it or not)
• The Last Campfire

This War of Mine, Quantum Break and #1 by far: Kingdom Come: Deliverance.

Some excellent games mentioned so far, so I'm gonna go with "Night in the Woods". It's this crystal-clear reflection on what it's like to grow up now, what it's like to live in America--good and bad. It's gut-wrenching and funny and beautiful.

Final fantasy 14 The main story quests were amazing. Especially loved the shadowbringers storyline.

just in case, if you liked papers please you may love "the return of the obra dinn". really good game from the same guy.

Omori and the To The Moon series both hit pretty hard for me. Some others that were up there are Undertale, ESC, Secret Little Haven and Night in the Woods. OneShot, though, felt personal in a way no other game has.

Journey.

I don't think it works quite as well nowadays with much fewer people playing it but it was an incredible experience when it first came out. I still play it whenever I need to calm down or just having a bad day. It's truly a special game to me.

Kinda surprised it hasn't been mentioned yet but Undertale definitely did that for me

Ok so I'm a huge Final Fantasy fanboi, but for some reason when I first finished Nier;Automata with all the main endings, I just couldn't help but tear up. For the first time in a long while I felt and thought, yep, that was a masterpiece.

If I can play a game for the first time again, I'd choose Nier;Automata.

Pentiment. Just it.

Final Fantasy X

God Eater 2

VA-11 Hall-A

Trials of Mana

Haven't seen Before Your Eyes mentioned yet. It's not a long game, but it's got a good story reliving the main character's life through their eyes. Also, you control it by blinking! As soon as you blink, there will be a time skip.

I'm playing Ratchet and Clank: A Rift Apart and it's doing a good job of making me feel ways about stuff.

I really loved Cyberpunk 2077 for this, too.

Rocket League also makes me feel emotions. Mostly anger.

And just to add something probably not as well known, Lil Gator Game. For a game specifically for children, I did not expect the heavy hitting emotional story it provided.

MyHouse.wad, a Doom 2 map about friendship and loss that really hits hard and awesome. Read the initial post, read the supplemental material on the Google Drive, if you feel like it and then play it.

Super Mario Galaxy also hit me but more for the joy and amazement at the innovative levels and gameplay. One of the few games I played with my wife to 100 % completion.

Telltale's The Walking Dead. I have never had a gaming experience like it before or since. It drew me in and hit me in the feels over and over

While maybe not exactly what you mean, Tunic.

It made me feel all kinds of things. Mostly it was the mind blowing "aha" moments when I learned something fundamental about the game that had been there all along, I just hadn't pieced it together, yet.

It's such a unique game that I seriously doubt could ever be done again.

The Xenoblade Chronicles trilogy have had immense moments of emotional ups and downs. Few games just make me sit there to contemplate what just occurred to its story, conflicts, or characters; XBC games have many moments sprinkled through its entire playtime that do that.

Thomas Was Alone.

How great writing works

I really cared for these literal blocks on screen.

• Eliza. If you are a software engineer working on product there's no game that will come as close as being relatable than this. It's just perfect. Is very short and there's barely any interactivity. The "scifi" layer than runs the main plot is good, as it's extremely believable and well done, but its nothing groundbreaking that has been talked about in other places. But the characters, good lord, the way they speak and experiences they tell... I swear that I have met carbon copies of some of them. Probably the best description of burnout and long days I have ever seen. If you don't work with software this is just a short, flawed VN. But if you do, I highly recommend it.

• Disco Elysium. IMHO the best writing in any game, and by a fucking mile (planescape was good as well but found DE much better). The phone call was ridiculously relatable and there were several other emotional moments that hit hard as well. The silliness was too much at first but it grew on me as it made the rest of the game much more palatable without becoming dark satire.

• Mass Effect. Okay it isnt as well written as the other two above but still manages to pull emotional strings with the characters. Specially Thane and Mordin.

To The Moon

Spiritfarer gave me a small existential crisis at the end. Edith Finch was heartbreaking but hopeful. House of Fata Morgana was achingly beautiful storytelling.

I've never been more moved that I was during the final cutscene of the Mass Effect trilogy. The first time through, anyway. When the nameplate(s) went up on the wall of fallen crewmates, my soul overwhelmed my fucking body, emitted a bunch of involuntary sad noises, and then cried until credits rolled.

I was absolutely blown away by the bittersweet culmination of everything, and the musical score helped to rip the emotions right out of me.

As far as good feelings go, I get a lot of positive things out of Stardew Valley. It provides me with a steady drip of seratonin, and the music and visuals bring me back to the changing of many seasons throughout my childhood, growing up out in the country on land that used to be a functional apple orchard.