Touching and emotional game moments

I got thinking about this while I was listening to snippets of the Earthbound soundtrack and decided to post this question. Simply put...what are some of the most touching and/or emotional game moments that you've seen?

And it's only fair I put down some of mine. And one of them, of course is Alys' death in PSIV. I think that one belongs on just about every PS fan's list of emotional game moments (probably along with Nei's death, but I didn't mention that as I haven't beaten PSII). But I have a lot outside of that and I'll mention three. One is the end of Okami, in which Amaterasu has her powers sucked out of her and then returned by the prayers of all the people's she's helped is one of the most touching for me. Part of it is the music, and part of it is because of some of the things Issun said before he and Amaterasu parted ways before the final area, and he is the one who gets the people to give Amaterasu some help when she needs it.

Another is the end of Shadow of the Colossus. And I'm talking about the part where the credits are rolling, a beautiful soundtrack is playing that sounds like it should be in a movie, and you see the corpse of each slain colossus. That game has a way of making you feel guilty about killing each colossus but still making you want to go and take down the next. They individual colossi are absolutely amazing works of art and I really do feel a little twinge of guilt killing them and seeing them dead over the ending credits. Yet I've beaten this game at least 20 times and felt a little guilty every time for it. I have a hard time describing this one, but it's there.

The last one, and possibly most touching to me, is the brief sequence before Ness enters Magicant in Earthbound. I really do love this sequence, and I can't pinpoint a precise reason. One of them, though, has to be the Earth's melody...this is after the whole thing has been recorded, and it plays over the entire sequence. I think I've said before that I consider the Earth's melody one of the best bits of game music ever written; it goes well when Ness sees himself as a baby, getting a name from his parents and his PSI powers first manifesting. Within the context of the game, this is a powerful moment. Definitely one of those that you have to play through yourself to get. Really, I could probably do a very long post about moments like this just in Earthbound, because there are so many of them for me; Earthbound has probably touched me on an emotional level more than any other game.

What are some moments like this for all of you?

Poor Alys...

For an Okami moment, I'd say that scene with the priestess. I can't recall how to spell her name offhand, but I was sad when it turned out that she had been dead and replaced by the fox the whole time.

One scene that I know a lot of people find moving is Aeris in Final Fantasy 7, but I never saw the impact of that. I don't know, maybe it was because I had it spoiled for me on the internet long before I played the game.

Alys' death will always be the most touching moment in all of gaming history to me. Aeris in FF7 isnt as touching because you kinda saw it coming from about the halfway point of Disc 1. Another moment that is real emotional for me is in Tales of Destiny when Leon tells Rutee that he is her brother and the truth about their father and mother, then moments later he is killed, leaving Rutee to question alot of things, making it extemely emotional in the process. The remake of the game did this scene good.

I'd love to say that Alys' death moved me. But my game crapped out on me before that could happen.

Major Spoilers in my post. Be warned!

Uhm... what else?
Lunar: Silver Star Story complete: This was one of the sweetest victories that I've ever seen. Of course, it's sweeter in context, but hopefully you'll get my gist. Lunar pulled off one the the best "Happily Ever After" endings without being the least bit cheesy. (Okay, maybe a little.)

This moved me too. This is from Chrono Trigger for the psX. Seeing Chrono and Marle getting married is one of the sweetest things that I've ever seen in a video game, and the animation and music that was added in the psX version made it just perfect! I also love how this version seemed things up with Chrono Cross at the end. Nice!

This scene contains uber spoilers for Chrono Cross. Watch it from 8:10 onwards, it's really emotional then. Square almost made me cry. T_T

Spoiler time for Skies of Arcadia: "His name was...Jack."
An even better scene. Drachma's story just moved me. The vids will explain it much better than me, take a look!

I know that I can think of more, but not right now.

Emotional moment from Fallout 3- not sad, but more of a "Holy crap, I have to do something!" moment.

In the prologue/tutorial, your character has to escape Vault 101. This is... slightly hampered by the fact that the Vault's security staff is trying to kill you. Near the end of your escape, you overhear your childhood friend Amata being interrogated by Wally Mack, one of the security guards. Wally bullied both you and Amata during your childhood (during the 10-year-old and 16-year-old segments of the tutorial). The general tone of his questioning, along with his behavior in the past, implies that he's also going to rape Amata with the full approval, and possibly under orders of, Amata's father.

You show up at the beginning of the interrogation. With a baseball bat.

Combat lasted four seconds, which went as follows: Sean critical strikes and sneak attacks Officer Mack. Officer Mack's head has been crippled. Sean strikes Officer Mack. Officer Mack drops dead. Sean gains 10 XP.

In phantasy star II when Nei died I found that emotional because she is my favourite PSII character. Also because PSII is a harder game and requires more leveling up to pass certain areas I spent more time with Nei this allowed me to grow attached to her and her skills.

I know most people found the death of Alys more emotional but I didn't find it as hard as that of Nei probably because Alys died quite early into PSIV. None the less I miss both characters.

I believe the only reason people are saddened when Alys died was because I believe that once you begin playing the game you take on the role of Chaz, not just as the person holding the controller, but as the person inside the game itself. We've learned to love and miss Alys because we also shared the same bond that Chaz did with her. Its as if she raised us herself and died for us as well.

Thoul wrote:

For an Okami moment, I'd say that scene with the priestess. I can't recall how to spell her name offhand, but I was sad when it turned out that she had been dead and replaced by the fox the whole time.

The priestess is Rao. And yeah, I can see that one too. Though, I have to admit, the first time I played through Okami, that was more of a "Wait, what?! HOLY CRAP!" moment for me than a sad moment. It became sad after I later discovered Rao's corpse in the tunnel near that temple in the Ryoshima Coast. That was definitely one of the bigger surprises for me in Okami.

Ugh, you guys really make me want to play Okami! I'm looking for the PS2 version, but I guess that I'll settle for the Wii version if I can't find the PS2 version for a decent price. $40 is too hefty a price for an old PS2 game.

[face=Times New Roman]My gaming experience is quite limited compared to everyone else’s, but the most poignant scenes I have encountered, in no particular order, are:

*SPOILER ALERT*

1. Nei’s death in PSII

2. The ending to PSII (the social commentary and the enduring courage of the characters in the face of overwhelming odds)

3. Alys’s final goodbyes to her friends as she lies dying in PSIV

4. Lemon’s sacrifice to bring Zeon down in the final battle of Shining Force II

5. Edward D. Morrison giving his life to save the child and the protagonists in Tales of Phantasia. The narrative underscores the ramifications of his death in altering the course of history. The sense of loss is heightened by the provisions he made before his death – leaving his spellbook for Arche and the key to his library with his friend Runegloom. The personal tragedy becomes apparent when the characters visit his widow and see their two young children running around, commenting on what a good father Edward was...[/face]