Feel-BAD games?

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kibbler

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  • #1
    In the vein of this other thread, sometimes you just want a downer of a time to get the tears going, a release from the oppressive daily accumulation of tragic geo-politics and pointless death and bad news each small enough to not open the floodgates but in totality a weight on the soul. Or maybe you weren't out looking for it, and a game punches you right in the gutfeels when you least expect it - a rare pleasure in it's own way. The Old Yeller, Marley and Me, Grave of the Fireflies of games.

    Hit me with your list. I'll start with what I've got (perhaps spoilers). I'm PC-only so would especially like to see console-exclusives.

    The Last of Us 1 and 2 - Never personally played them but I've watched playthroughs and know the plot
    Bioshock Infinite - Not really a downer? More thoughts and feels while credits rolled
    The Evil Within 2 - Was surprised by this one, played it as a new parent so it got a feels multiplier
    God of War - Also got a feels multiplier by being a parent, and also just an all-around good game with a simple, strong story setup
    Assassin's Creed Black Flag - Big waterworks, and sailing the ship with your daughter while credits rolled was huge feels (not a downer though)
    Little Nightmares - Mean twist, felt bad man
    Spec Ops The Line - No explanation needed I think
    SOMA - Oof
    RE Village - Most of the game is very silly but the card at the very end hits like a truck, although IMO unearned by the goofy game that came before it.
    The father's story is now done.
     
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    swiftdraw

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  • #3
    Spiritfarer had me staring at a wall for a bit.

    A Plague Tale 2: Requiem definitely has its ‘feels bad man’ moments.

    This War of Mine is pretty much based around the brutality of war on the civil population and what is done in the name of survival.

    Little Misfortune. It’s pretty obvious what is going on, but still a bit of a gut punch by the end.
     
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    Diabolical

    Diabolical

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  • #11
    Dan Homerick said:
    Highly recommend What Remains of Edith Finch.
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    ShaggyMoose said:
    YMMV. After the first 30 minutes, I was bored as hell and the gameplay was practically non-existent.
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    Wow, you went into a walking simulator with incredibly mild puzzle solving expecting… what?

    Honest question. Was it a case of trying it after being recommended it by others with out checking it out first? Or just a misunderstanding of what the game was going for? It’s effectively a first person visual novel that you really do need to be in the right mindset to get into. There isn’t enough gameplay there to stand on its own, and if you aren’t a fan of visual novels or slow exposition? You’re going to not have a good time.

    But I’m with Dan on this one. A really good game that works very well in this context.
    Firewatch also comes to mind. And, trust me on this: Doki Doki Literature Club.
     
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    ShaggyMoose

    ShaggyMoose

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  • #19
    Diabolical said:
    Wow, you went into a walking simulator with incredibly mild puzzle solving expecting… what?

    Honest question. Was it a case of trying it after being recommended it by others with out checking it out first? Or just a misunderstanding of what the game was going for? It’s effectively a first person visual novel that you really do need to be in the right mindset to get into. There isn’t enough gameplay there to stand on its own, and if you aren’t a fan of visual novels or slow exposition? You’re going to not have a good time.
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    Well, I thoroughly enjoyed SOMA, which was essentially the same thing plus sci-fi horror. This time, I just didn't give a flying fuck about any of the inhabitants or their problems and the world wasn't interesting to explore. Could be a mindset problem, could be it was just dull.
     
    ShaggyMoose

    ShaggyMoose

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  • #23
    Diabolical said:
    Similar gameplay concepts, sure. But you couldn’t be more different in terms of story telling between SOMA and What Remains. Oh well, if you didn’t like it, you didn’t like it.
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    Yeah, wasn't meaning to crap on your post or the game. Obviously it was critically acclaimed which is most of the reason I gave it a try. Just happens that I bounced off it hard.
     
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    krimhorn

    krimhorn

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  • #25
    kibbler said:
    Putting Plague’s Tale Requiem on my list (how is the first one? should I slash do I need to play it to appreciate the sequel?)
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    You really should. It's excellent as well and the second game picks up 6 months after the first game's ending. They give you a little bit of backstory in Requiem but mostly they assume that you know the characters and have the gist of the backstory going in.
     
    Evan E

    Evan E

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  • #26
    kibbler said:
    Putting Plague’s Tale Requiem on my list (how is the first one? should I slash do I need to play it to appreciate the sequel?)
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    I'm currently playing through Requiem. I absolutely loved Innocence, the first one, except for a battle at the very end that I don't think got playtested and caused me to rage quit, then look up a video the next day and discover I'd repeatedly gotten about three seconds from the end of it. The rest of it I thought was fantastic, and the whole game was my sleeper hit of the year.

    I...kind of hate Requiem. I loved the stealth in Innocence, but in this one I'm dying over and over and over. I'm having problems discerning paths to go and where my goal is, it's pretty clear that the game nudges opponents toward you even though they shouldn't have any idea you're there, I've had people spot me even though their backs were toward me, and I've died multiple times to rats that jumped over the rat/non-rat border even though I was like three feet from said clearly delineated border. Visuals are still astounding, writing continues to be remarkably good, but I'm finding the moment-to-moment gameplay incredibly frustrating; I've come this close to just giving up on it more than once.

    So, by that measure, if you liked Requiem, either you'll like Innocence even more, or you'll find it a snoozefest.
     
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    chalex

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  • #27
    I watched the entire playthrough of these games recently on YouTube (since they are more story/movie-like) and they were definitely pretty depressing:

    LA Noire (16hrs long?)
    Max Payne 3 (similarly long)

    You can watch them like a really long movie.

    I am looking to do the same for The Last of Us 1 and 2 as I was interested in the story but was not that interested in doing the combat myself. I played the first one and the combat was too hard for me but the plot was a real downer and I watched a few scenes from the second one and it was also a downer.

    Similarly, the metro series have pretty downer plot-lines. Not sure if they have "happy" endings. You can either play on easy or watch a playthrough.
     
    grommit!

    grommit!

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  • #32
    kibbler said:
    Or maybe you weren't out looking for it, and a game punches you right in the gutfeels when you least expect it
    Click to expand...

    Assassin's Creed Origins - when you realize
    that Bayek and Aya's relationship isn't going to make it

    Gotham Knights - how all of the bat-family are grieving, but especially in the scene where
    Batgirl looks at the heroic statue of her deceased father and you realize that's how she sees him

    Life is Strange: Before the Storm - the post-credits scene :cry:
     
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    nquinnell

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  • #33
    If I may, for me, its the cumulative gloom and doom of some games.

    Now, I've put in an ungodly amount of time into Fallout 76, and Fallout 4. The games are great. But good gods, I find myself getting really depressed by the postapocalyptic environment, and that every task you do doesn't really make things better. There's so little joy in the quest results that my cynicism and dark outlook just get hit left and right.
     
    Diabolical

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  • #38
    orionquest said:
    You want something soul crushing try Frostpunk. Hopeless and complete despair will leave you emotionally drained and empty.
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    That’s why I haven’t played it yet. I own it, and it mechanically seems right up my alley, but every time I feel like I want to play that kind of game I’e just finished a run of The Darkest Dungeon (a game that EMBODIES this topic!), and I almost desperately need to play something with a lighter, brighter tone.
     
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    orionquest

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  • #39
    Diabolical said:
    That’s why I haven’t played it yet. I own it, and it mechanically seems right up my alley, but every time I feel like I want to play that kind of game I’e just finished a run of The Darkest Dungeon (a game that EMBODIES this topic!), and I almost desperately need to play something with a lighter, brighter tone.
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    Yeah I got it free from Epic store.
    Mechanically the game is well produced from the graphics , down to how things work, UI etc.
    But yeah it's totally brutally depressing.
     
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    GloatingSwine

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  • #40
    Diabolical said:
    Really? Okay, didn’t see that coming. Like Frostpunk, but in space?

    Or are we talking mechanics instead of setting/narrative?
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    Both in different ways.

    The narrative is a nested series of downers, the mechanics are a pressure engine of constantly trying to get enough alloys to continually repair your rickety spaceship and keep a couple of thousand doomed souls fed and breathing as the universe conspires to make them ever grumpier.
     
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