Anybody else cry when they found out their princess was in another castle?
In World of Warcraft, there’s a new quest for the Blood Elf characters where, in the course of completing a previous quest, you find a necklace. If you accept the new quest, you’re told to go to an NPC who can tell you what the necklace is all about. The NPC recognizes it as having belonged to Sylvanas Windrunner, who used to be a blood elf but was turned into a banshee by the main baddy in Warcraft III and is now the ruler of the free-willed undead. When you return the necklace to her in the Undead city, you learn that her now long-dead sister gave her the jewelry when they were both still alive. Sylvanas alternates between sadness and undead coldness in the course of her dialogue with you, then begins singing the most haunting song I’ve heard in this game. At the end she drops to her knees like she’s overcome with emotion, then quickly stands back up, all regal ice again. It’s just an incredible quest reward, better than some of the permanent items you get at quests of the level in question.
When you’re familiar with the game’s backstory, the losses that both the blood elves and the undead have suffered, especially if you’ve been immersed in the blood elf questlines and zone atmosphere, it can really affect you. I didn’t actually tears-run-down-my-face cry, but I did get teary the first few times I completed this quest (on different characters).
No?
After we see a host of characters celebrating, the scene shifts and we see a small group who’ve lost their friends (the one I remember specifically was the little Kokiri who had a crush on Saria and who knew he would never see her again) sitting sadly. I thought it was really poignant.
As for me, I do tend to get a bit teary after completing long, involved RPGs, probably as a bit of catharsis after working so hard to get there. The ending doesn’t even have to be particularly sad, just a) touching in some way, or b) (melo)dramatic enough.
Pretty much all the Zelda games I’ve played (Ocarina of Time, Majora’s Mask, and The Wind Waker) got to me, at least a little bit.
Also, the end of Tales of Symphonia, since it felt like saying goodbye to friends.
Hmm…Ogre Battle 64 also, I guess, and the end of Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance (probably catharsis because I found the games to be pretty frickin’ hard)!
I suppose I sound completely lame now…
The ending of Rule of Rose. It’s not a terribly famous game, and the gameplay sucks. However, the storyline is absolutely brilliant. The end of the game is cruel and horrible though.
In order to protect her beloved dog from being killed, the main character (who has endured so much that she’s starting to lose it) chains her dog to a post in a shed and locks him in for all eternity. The worst part is when the dog tries to follow her out of the shed and gets yanked back by the chain, and IT’S SHOWN FROM THE DOG’S POINT OF VIEW!!!
I’m getting misty just thinking about it. It’s a great game, but I don’t think I can stomach that again.
I cry each and every time some 12-year-old screams “PWNT NOOB!” into my headset.
From the Breath of Fire series:
First- The end of the Aman & Cerl chapter. I went through it in one go, so I’d spent the past four hours watching their characters develop. I liked 'em better than some of the main characters.
Second- Nina in the castle basement, Mina afterwards, your mother’s interlude… really, the whole game after you set out for GrandChurch, if it weren’t suddenly so much harder than before, would be constantly creepy & depressing.
Fourth- When I realized, 20 hours in, that I actually was at the end, and there never will be a point where a regular battle lasts more than 1 round, or where a boss is a threat without your thinking “well, I’d better save all my items for later, I might run into something worse.” No, I didn’t spend a single battle trying to level.
Lufia II: Rise of the Sinistrals- I liked Selan since the first game. Since II was a prequel, I’d been expecting the ending for a few years, since the start of the first one. Didn’t mean I wasn’t bawling at it.
Final Fantasy 6-
All sturmhauke said, excluding Cyan’s family, because I never liked him.
Planetfall. Floyd.
RR
Toward the end of FFX. The series of fights against the aeons was rather sad. No actual tears, but it did get to me a bit.
Pancor Jackhammer (I just finished up another game last week). I didn’t know Myron was strong enough to handle one of those guns…I think he has an unaugmented Strength of 3, though I guess with Power Armor he could use a Jackhammer. I usually just let him keep his dinky little needler and cartridges. Let’s face it, he’s not an accurate shot with ANYTHING, and he’s not a combat character.
And in my Advanced Power Armor, with a couple of Dermal Enhancements, I’m not gonna notice a few shotgun shells in the back. I only let Cassidy or Skynet have burst weapons. Sulik is way too triggerhappy, and Vic is just a pain. Marcus seems to be a better shot with a Turbo Laser than with miniguns.
I cried at the end of both Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Ico.
I agree with many of mentions of the Final Fantasy series… I don’t think I actually cried, but there’s definitely some moving moments. Some that weren’t mentioned:
FF2/4:
-Fighting Edge’s parents
-Palom & Porom’s sacrifice
-Tellah’s sacrifice
FF3/6
-Shadow… he’s got like half a dozen special one-chance-only cut scenes that really expand his character, and if you don’t see them he “goes down with the ship” on Kefka’s Tower at the very end.
FF7
-The ending, finding out that the whole thing was moot… of course, that was based on what was apparently a mis-interpretation of exactly what happened.
You do realize Cid doesn’t have to die, right?
Blaster Master, the game based on your username made me cry a few times, but not of tears. Rather, rage filled me like a bowl of kool-ade.
Damn you giant crab boss!
I came in to mention Floyd (may he rest in peace).
And what a coincidence, this thread also reminded me of Planetfall (my post).
Old school. +1
In a more current game, some of the chopper levels in Midnight Club 3 make me weep in frustration, but I don’t think that’s what the thread is supposed to be about. 
Same here… I was 10, and I remember sitting on my bedroom floor crying with the gameboy in my hands.
I suppose it’s obvious what’s going to happen at the end, but they made it way worse by showing various people on the island phasing out of existence. It’s made worse by the fact that some of the characters talk about what they’re going to do when all the demons have been defeated.
I don’t really have any sad moments I can think of, but I just had to reply to give you a high-five for this one. My kind of mission, my kind of gamer. 
Damn, and here I was shaking my geezer (36-year-old) head about how these kids could possibly get so emotionally invested into a console video game… And you had to go bring up ol’ Infocom Floyd from my past! sniff
The ending of Earthbound always gets me teary-eyed. I love walking around and visiting all the places of the world you just saved, and the credits sequence with the photo album. The best part is that the ending is completely happy, with no ham-handed tragedy thrown in for some easy drama. It’s the type of thing I’d like to see more of, considering that with most video games (and fiction in general…) it seems the only emotion is sadness.
I think OOT has been the only game I’ve cried at the ending of. (Or cried at ever.)
1.The sense of Acomplisment. This can not be stressed enough. You’ve just completed a game that you spent a LONG time with.
2.The Reuinion type wrap up durring the credits. I’m slightly halfway through with Twilight Princess, and I hope to god that TP has a reunion type close.
3.The Music. I could not imagine what Zelda would be like if it did not allow you to ‘play’ with music. (OOT, WW, and to a lesser degree Links Awakining) I could not imagaine what Zelda would be like if it did not have music. I could not imagine what Zelda would be like, if it had different music. The ‘something good’ chime is up there with the Law and Order “Doink Doink”.
4.The Legacy. This could be seen as a cop out, but it needs to be listed. Some part of you KNOWS that you will ‘save’ Hyrule. You know how it is “supposed” to play out. Having this goal ahead of you, and reaching it must figure in. Yes, this relates to Reason number 1, but for those who have played Zelda before OOT, the ending is magnified, and this is why.
Bite your tongue, sir! Cyan was awesome!
Wha…? (looks up in gamefaqs.com) Well I’ll be damned. I played my SNES cartridge so many times it broke, but I never knew that. Do you get to take him off the island with you?
Actually, maybe I did save him once. I can’t remember. I believe I am officially entering middle age.