vid games that most messed you up

[Lizzieborden]

My inquisitiveness knows no bounds.
So...I was wondering which vid games most messed up fellow bloodites.
"Messed up" is understood broadly (saddened, shocked, bewildered) at any age, but the defining criterion here is that it left a lasting impression on ya.
For me: Soma; Alice : the Madness Returns; RDR 2; The Last of Us (this one prolly takes the prize..that opening scene when Joel's daughter dies is seared into my soul )

[Daedalus]

It's not that common for games to get an emotional reaction out of me, but let's go for three that I think might fit the bill for what you're asking:

1) Bioshock Infinite's opener. Not the water part, but the part where you first step out of the churchyard. They put a ridiculous amount of effort into that segment, and it shows. It provides a great sensation of being in a living (and very nice) place. The game is very much the picture of style over substance, though, but it was a special moment.

2) Mass Effect 3's ending. People give this a lot of hate, some of which is justified, but if one assumes that you've played through the first and second games quite meticulously, as I did, then it is a very emotional closure to a very grand and exciting adventure. I won't provide spoilers, but suffice it to say that it's very sad to have to say goodbye to characters that you've spent very many hours with, since the game comes to a close.

3) Planescape Torment. Much to my shame, I have only finished it once, and it was fairly recent as I got to it late in life, but the game was so damn good that I'm unsure as to whether I'd want to play it again in order to preserve the impact of it. I can comfortably say it has the strongest ending of any game I've played, so it definitely left a lasting impression.

[Lizzieborden]

Have not yet played mass effect 3 or Planet Torment.
But the way you describe them places tham on my to do ASAP list, so Thx for sharing this!
Also...
Natasha told me she cried when she played Mass effect 3. I avoided the game cus of our painful break up...but now that I am over it (sorta) I should delve into it as soon as my busy summer gigs are over and i am back in Montreal.

Merci, Seigneur qui Reve

[Daedalus]

I'm not that familiar with your video game tastes, aside from older shooters and Alice, but do be warned that Mass Effect is very long and I'd recommend playing all three. I think it would be overwhelming to drop into the series later, as the games follow directly on from one another (and you are the same central character), and it'd be very disorienting to start with the third game.

Planescape Torment is very old and the opposite of what "RPG" games have become these days. In that respect it's kind of on the other side of the spectrum from Mass Effect. I strongly recommend it if you're into good writing and storytelling, and have the patience for an older game. It is notably clunky and shows its age, but if you kind of like that to a point, like I do, then that's good, too.

Both games (franchise for Mass Effect: 1,2 and 3, avoid everything thereafter) are terrific and well worth diving into if one has many hours to spare. Planescape Torment is viewed with sincerity by many people as having the best writing ever seen in a video game to this day. I cannot really recommend Bioshock Infinite as I simply think it wasn't very good outside of a few stunning set pieces. The highs of Infinite are extremely high, but most of the game is filler and not particularly interesting or sensible.

[Lizzieborden]

I cannot really recommend Bioshock Infinite as I simply think it wasn't very good outside of a few stunning set pieces.

This is what Dead reckoner also said in one of our chats...and I agree it was a sad sequel to bioshock 1 and 2.
About mass effect: never got around to 1, or 2 let alone 3....and my time is limited at least until October, Soit'll have to wait (and Thx for the advice !).
For now, with my time kinda tight, i am trying mindless shooters like borderlands 2, and add ons on Nblood.
Nat is into lust from beyond these days

[Lizzieborden]

oh ....and Nat is 1/2 way through death wish.

[Umnir]

Propably Deus Ex influenced me the most. When I played the game it just sucked me in. It was the masterpiece of atmospheric storytelling. It had perfect balance of exploration and linear storytelling with fantastic writing, atmospheric music and interesting gameplay.

[Daedalus]

I don't know if I'd say Deus Ex messes one up, but it certainly is magnificent in all ways and up there among my absolute favourites.

[Umnir]

True - perhaps a bit bad example.

Games that messed me up when I was younger: Postal and Shadow Man. Both were very dark and grim. I don’t really remember either that fondly but they were definitely bit too dark for my undeveloped mind.

[Dead Reckoner]

I found Bioshock Infinite very disappointing, especially considering how good the first two were. Didn't care for its world, the gameplay which felt like a failed last-minute merger of Bioshock and CoD, or the convoluted plot.

Mass Effect is a stellar trilogy. I didn't get to play ME3 until after the ending was amended via an update, but I didn't find it as memorable as the first two games. The first game had a great story and worldbuilding, like it could have been the start of a new space opera franchise to compete with the likes of Star Wars and Star Trek. By the second game, it began feeling more generic, but the gameplay was improved on - better combat, less copypaste "dungeons". Its strength was the focus on character development, and the risk of losing those characters in the "suicide mission" at the end made it feel distressing.

For a game that I remember for being particularly gruesome, Dead Space 2 is up there with the part where the player has to perform eye self-surgery.

[Umnir]

I didn’t really ”feel” dead space 2 but I really liked the first one!

[Dead Reckoner]

Same here, Dead Space 2 was less memorable than the original to me, but I'll have to give it a replay. Either on console or with a controller on PC because the controls feel awkward with mouse and keyboard. What about DS3? It got a lot of hate but I thought it was good, besides a few ridiculous insertions like microtransactions in a singleplayer game. The snowbound second chapter was nicely reminiscent of The Thing.

Looks like the spiritual sequel will be returning to its horror-centered roots.

[Lizzieborden]

The snowbound second chapter was nicely reminiscent of The Thing.

The Thing flick (the original) was traumatizing. I love how Death Wish pays it hommage.

[patho]

Max Payne 1&2

When you're waking up, the world is a blur. What was clear in a dream, suddenly makes no sense. No surreal rescues. No easy, magic way out. But you are awake.

There are no choices. Nothing but a straight line. The illusion comes afterwards, when you ask "why me?" and "what if?". When you look back and see the branches, like a pruned bonsai tree, or forked lightning. If you had done something differently, it wouldn't be you, it would be someone else looking back, asking a different set of questions.

Alan Wake
Silent Hill 2

Spec Ops: The Line

It takes a strong man to deny what's in front of him. And if the truth is undeniable, you create your own. The truth, Walker, is that you're here because you wanted to feel like something you're not: A hero. I'm here because you can't accept what you've done. It broke you. You needed someone to blame, so you cast it on me: a dead man.

[Lizzieborden]

Another game that messed me up is Condemned. Especially the mannequin sequence. I think Bioshock did an hommage to that sequence with the scuptures by that deranged arteeeest.
Dr who weeping angels sorta stuff...