On Bringing Emotions To Videogames

Thanks to MSNBC for its article discussing the process of bringing emotions to videogames. The article argues: "A game that can evoke complex emotions - longing, despair, empathy - is the holy grail for some in the industry", and highlights projects such as Facade, an "interactive drama" that "uses natural speech recognition and a [high] level of artificial intelligence." Although it's unclear "what... these new games look like", the piece ends on a snappy note, courtesy Deus Ex creator Warren Spector, who proclaims: "Finding ways to broaden range of emotions you can experience and express in games is the future of games as far as I'm concerned... If it turns out I'm wrong, I'm going to open a bookstore."

Don't get it

[fredrikj]

A game that can evoke complex emotions - longing, despair, empathy - is the holy grail for some in the industry

Uh wait, I've played several games that evoke complex emotions, those mentioned included. Maybe I'm the only one who gets affected by the story and music in games like Final Fantasy 6, but, WTF, do people need "FEEL EMPATHY" printed out for them and live orchestral music sampled in 48kHz? Imagination and perception of abstractions, anyone?

Re:Don't get it

[Mukaikubo]

I hear you, man. The beginning island of the World of Ruin is one of the most moving video game sequences, ever.

Re:Don't get it

[dancingmad]

The parent mentions Final Fantasy 6, which defintely evokes emotion (if the printed word can, surely so can an audio/visual experience).

Other recent games of note:

Metroid Prime: Fear :) My heart would thump before I opened a new door in the game, as you never know what could be lurking in the next room. The area in Prime in which pirates start attacking you around the enclosed metroid larva and the lights go out was evoked hysteria, I was afraid of hitting the metroids (some got out because of missed sh

Re:Don't get it

[scabb]

I loved the part in Metroid Prime where you picked up the heat visor and the lights went out and the pirates dropped down, my hair was literally on end. The first time a metroid screeched at me and latched on to my face made me leap several feet too, and I have nightmares about the fission metroids to this day :)

I didn't think Eternal Darkness was too frightening though, nor any survival horror - I made a point of only playing at night too, which is a bit sad :)

The only other game I can think of that moved

Re:Don't get it

[rmarll]

I'd go as far to say most games evoke emotions...

Usually it begins as dismay when the installer crashes.

Followed by confusion when the developers message boards are bursting at the seams with people complaining, the front, and support pages mention nothing. Eventually I find some obscure board that the workaround usually involves using virtual drive software to get around the copy protection.

Followed by anger when what game there is, sucks.

I don't know about empathy..

[Channard]

.. since I didn't, nor do I have long hair and a ferrari, but playing Daikatana pretty much nailed the 'despair' thing.

It's all about the everything.

[Lord Graga]

It's hard to get feelings into games, and it has allways been. But there are still lots of peoples who has succeeded upon it, and companies like Square-Enix (Former Squaresoft) has mastered the concept of creating emotions to fit the games. Many Final Fantasy games had this element to make them unique (so goes for the rest of the SNES rpg's they did).
But it isn't just RPG's, it's every type of game (okay, Pong doesn't get me into a special "pong" mood!), as long as the story is awesome and the gameplay is fine. Games like Max Payne 1 and 2 got me really hooked up (probably because Max Payne 2's ability to shape the skilllevel after the player).

Just my 3 cents (the dollar is low in these days).

What is it I feel now if not emotion?

[Tom7]

Seriously, since when haven't games evoked emotion? When I was 8, Metroid scared the SHIT out of me. Whenever I was off exploring some lava-filled zone with my life bar beeping and that creepy music, I was on the edge of my seat with anxiety until I could make it back to the comfort of Brinstar. Quake 1's actively hostile environment had the same effect on me years later.

Re:What is it I feel now if not emotion?

[aanand]

There's no denying that games can invoke an emotional response from the player, but they're typically limited to a very small set. Games are fantastic at fear, excitement and victory, but there's very little else.

There are exceptions, obviously. The article hypothesises about a failed military mission in which you fail to save your teammates and feel sad for them in your defeat. I'd say Operation Flashpoint achieved this a long time ago, and along with Halo and several other games, managed to create a ve

Re:What is it I feel now if not emotion?

[holizz]

I'm kind of embarassed that I'm 17 and Metroid Prime scares me... I WANT to play it, I'm just scared of it. Usually when I decide to play it I just get scared and run as fast as I can back to the save room.

Re:What is it I feel now if not emotion?

[Tom7]

Haha, really? That game is a cakewalk compared to the original.

KOTOR comes close

[Neoptolemus]

Interactive dramas where it's possible to form deep, friendships with virtual characters?
This is already available to some extent in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. I will not give away any plot, since everyone should play this game. I will say that your relationship with other characters develops through plot, quests, and open-ended conversations. Combine this with the fact that all dialogue (which there is a huge amount of) is set to voice. This game comes as close to virtual friendships from AI characters as I've seen.
Of course you could just focus on fighting, but what you get out depends on how much effort you put in.

Re:KOTOR comes close

[Mawen]

I'm not too much of an RPG fan... but KOTOR is the first RPG I've played all the way thru. (I'm still about 80% through the first Zelda 64, which I think is really cool and immersive but after a few dozen hours of gameplay, all the puzzles bore me as I look up how to do everything in a walkthrough and I just want to watch more of a more linear movie unfold like KOTOR :) )

I'll quickly mention that in both of these games I like the real-time combat, and probably wouldn't have played them without it.

I agree

Sony

[CelticWhisper]

Sony did call the CPU of the PS2 the "Emotion Engine." I wonder if this is what they had in mind?

Nothing New Under the Sun

[superultra]

ICO is, of course, an excellent example and is probably one of the best modern exhibits of emotion in games MSNBC could have used (too bad they robbed it of that by spoiling the rather poignant ending). I like that someone mentioned KOTOR, as that probably consisted of the most cinematic emotional attachment I've ever experienced in a game (and most certainly Episode I & II).

Still, I love how these articles act as if this is something new. Likewise, the creater of Facade and Warren Spector, both of whom should have known better. In fact, as good as Deus Ex and System Shock were, all of Spector's work pales in comparison to what I experienced in Grim Fandango [mobygames.com] (and I'll save you the MSNBC treatment and not give away the ending). Facade sounds remarkably like Space Bar [mobygames.com] to me, only not in space or talking to three headed aliens, but the one-act emotional play is definitely borrowed, even if unknowingly. Of course, as always Planescape: Torment [mobygames.com] gets no love, even though it do created emotional attachments but within the context of a deceptively standard fare RPG.

More recently, interactive fiction [the-underdogs.org] (a fancy phrase for text adventure) has evolved to produce some amazingly emotional games as of late. After finishing the 30 minute Photopia [adamcadre.ac], I sat in a daze for several minutes and then started to (I feel vulnerable here) cry. Easily the most intense emotional experience I've had playing a game, and certainly on the same level, in my opinion, as great literature.

Secondly, I think ICO represents Japan's open acceptance of emotions in games. While I rarely connect with the Japanese emotional experience as I did with ICO, this is most likely due to cultural nuances than my own fault, and there are exceptions. I hesitate to say it as it's a strong statement to use, but playing the fifth level of REZ was about as emotionally religious of an experience I think a video game could ever create. Kingdom Hearts, Final Fantasy, even Metal Gear Solid; all these are representative that while I may not necessarily "get it," the Japanese obviously do not shy away from emotion in games like Americans do. Likewise, Europeans don't seem to have a problem with emotion. The potent Beyond Good & Evil, while I have yet to finish it, is shaping up that way as well, and Prince of Persia (which might as well have been European) attempts something similar, albeit a little less concentrated. I would assert that American gameplay, in either its intentional or non-intentional attempt at open-ended gameplay (from GTA to Battlefield 1942), is generally on a steady course of avoiding emotions, or relying on violence to propogate them. Miyamoto (Mario, Zelda) has made note in multiple interviews of Americans' over-reliance on violence to create emotion. He's right. Of course, this ought not be surprising when American industry leaders like Carmack decry story in video gaming every chance they get.

Finally, as a postscript I'm not entirely sure MSNBC ought to be asking Spector anyway. Oh, yeah, I think he's a gaming god like anyone else, and that moment in System Shock 2 when you walk into the room . . . (oh wait, I'm not MSNBC). But the latest incarnation of Deus Ex was about as emotionally involving as the default Windows XP screensaver. Perhaps he'll redeem himself with Thief III?

Re:Nothing New Under the Sun

[rufo]

Deus Ex: Invisible War wasn't actually a Warren Spector game - it was handled by Harvey Smith, one of the chief guys on DX1. Here's an interview from back in February in which Warren was kind of wondering about some of the choices Harvey had made, but didn't interfere. [gamespy.com] There's also some interesting quotes with regard to the supposed "dumbing down", and selling out, which are all pretty much things people accused Ion Storm of.

I haven't played DX:IW yet (I don't have a GF3 or better card), but from what I hear, maybe he should've stepped in more. (My understanding is that it's overall still a good game - it just doesn't achieve the same level of greatness of the first one, and is rather disappointing in some ways to fans of the original.)

Re:Nothing New Under the Sun

[GameGod0]

Yeah, DX:IW is a great game, but I don't think it's as good as the first game (I've only played the demos of the first game... btw)

Still, I'm absolutely amazed at the ability of this game to play with my emotions.
Honest, kind characters die because of my decisions. You are forced to deal with countless situations where you do not know what the moral choice is. This is absolutely fantastic!
10 years ago, having games tug with your most inner morality and emotions wasn't even imaginable... And I'd put mor

Re:Nothing New Under the Sun

[Ondo]

More recently, interactive fiction (a fancy phrase for text adventure) has evolved to produce some amazingly emotional games as of late.

Not just of late, though perhaps the new ones are better. I've seen Infocom's old Planetfall cited many times in similar discussions as having a very emotional scene.

Re:Nothing New Under the Sun

[superultra]

Point taken.

Also, please excuse my now noticable rendunancy (recently...of late), which is I currently see as obvious repetition.

Re:Nothing New Under the Sun

[Deraj DeZine]

So I played through that Photopia game. It took about an hour for me to go through it. I definitely think I missed something, though...

SPOILER ALERT

So the guy you're with at the beginning (who you can get booted out by) runs a red and hits Alley, right? What else happens? And I'm not sure what the near-drowning or Gabriel have to do with anything. Maybe I should go play it again...

Re:Nothing New Under the Sun

[Lord_Dweomer]

"Secondly, I think ICO represents Japan's open acceptance of emotions in games."

"I would assert that American gameplay, in either its intentional or non-intentional attempt at open-ended gameplay (from GTA to Battlefield 1942), is generally on a steady course of avoiding emotions"

Wow, you just opened up a very interesting can of worms. You see, the Japanese are known for being rather emotionless in their interactions with people. There is a sense of needing to keep your emotions to yourself. Yet their

Would fear count as a complex emotion?

[MMaestro]

Because if it does then we've got plenty of games that demonstrate complex emotions.

Miyamoto and Wind Waker

[Psykechan]

This is similar to the reason that Miyamoto gave on using "toon shading" for Wind Waker. Giving Link the ability to visually emote wonder, pain, anger, frustration, happiness, and resolve really does pull the player into the game.

There was a scene early in the game where Link sets out with the pirates. As he was waving goodbye to his grandmother, I got choked up with tears. I actually felt like I was Link, waving goodbye to my grandmother. This is not only an example of a good video game, it's an example of good storytelling.

Contrast this with a failed example of emotions; In Final Fantasy VII, when Aeris gets killed, I was simply annoyed because I lost my best healer and not because a friend was now gone. There was just little emotional investment in the game.

It's good that developers want to inject more emotion into their games, but they need to do it correctly.

I thought first of Wind Waker

[Syncdata]

Indeed, the scene with a swelling orchestra, and link waving did bring up feelings for the two, just as tetra comically breaking the moment caused me to feel embarrased at the extent of my absorption.
Miyamoto really hit on something with WW, that by simplifying the models color/shading-wise you can manipulate the seperate elements like an eyebrow, or lower jaw more easily.
My favorite moment in WW is right at the start, when Links sister wakes him up in the tower. Link yawns, and then gives his sister a tired stare that makes me feel like I just got out of bed.

Favourite Quote

[Txiasaeia]

'the piece ends on a snappy note, courtesy Deus Ex creator Warren Spector, who proclaims: "Finding ways to broaden range of emotions you can experience and express in games is the future of games as far as I?m concerned...'

You know what, Warren? You're absolutely right! You *are* the future! You want to know what I felt when I played Deus Ex 2? FRUSTRATION THAT THE FRAME RATE DIDN'T GO ABOVE 10! On ANY config!

Different styles of "emotional" involvement

[Funky Ferret]

The article starts by talking about how you'd feel after losing a squad RTS-type thing. That's a world away from Ico or Final Fantasy.

To get you feeling loss and the usual trappings of the "squaddie / buddy" movie, you have to get the player to care about the squaddies. That means giving them personalities not just special skills, and playing it through properly. You'd need make the interfaces much more "real" - stop someone breaking down by talking them round, keep the squad together, have your soldiers have their own friendships and react appropriately when their buddy gets blown away - worse if you just talked them round with a "you'll be okay" speech...

It stops being a standard Dirty-Dozen mission and turns into a tactical game where there's emotional stresses as well as the shooting opposition. The technology's there, but would trigger-happy ruthless-General-wannabes buy it? Do people get into squad games for this, or do they want to pit wits like a proper General, and just shout "It's a war, soldier. And in war, people die!" like you see in testosterone-fuelled films?

Ico works by giving you someone helpless to protect, with real signs of fear and reluctance (body language you can read, stronger than text dialogue), and a character who's isolated and fairly weak but fights on regardless, who you can identify with and be drawn along with. When your own character finds things out about him / herself it draws you in, because he/she reacts and the emotions they display make you empathise with them.

FF is probably quite similar, only with more of an ensemble cast - especially FFX. It's like a film; you see people at their best and worst - that tends to involve you, if you have any natural empathy in the first place.

Other games where I got unexpectedly attached to the characters - The Getaway (which was filmic again, I suppose), and Primal (ditto).

Summarising: I think there are different ways of provoking emotional reaction.
You can draw on film / TV techniques, which players understand and interpret easily into involvement (FF sequence, Max Payne, etc).
You can go the AI route, and try to make characters into fully rounded people to be interested in. (Note: this has already been attempted in "Real Life", the legendary MMORPG)
You can make the character you control draw you in by his/her reactions to the unfolding plot, hooking the player along (the Planescape:Torment, Ico, MGS approaches)

However, it's only the one you can do in real life that isn't there in games yet - and as I said when I started this rant, there's probably not enough demand in most genres.

Thanks for reading.

Re:Different styles of "emotional" involvement

[Anonymous Coward]

To get you feeling loss and the usual trappings of the "squaddie / buddy" movie, you have to get the player to care about the squaddies. That means giving them personalities not just special skills, and playing it through properly. You'd need make the interfaces much more "real" - stop someone breaking down by talking them round, keep the squad together, have your soldiers have their own friendships and react appropriately when their buddy gets blown away - worse if you just talked them round with a "you'll

Anime & Squaresoft

[Deimos_]

Taking a page from squaresoft's book, I'd suggest doing what they've been doing all along and incorporating a richly complex plot line akin to some of the better anime's out there. IMO, square has done a magnificent job of this in their games.

Currently, American movie can only seem to elicit in me the same emotions I get from video games: the baser, simple emotions. I don't know what it is, but the script writers for anime seem to be much better at helping viewers identify with their charecters.

For inst

Square is overhyped

[Anonymous Coward]

The problem with Square's games is that there is no actual game embedded within the product. Unless repetitive "random encounters", a level treadmill - and clicking "next" on a trillion annoying NPC speeches - is your definition of good gameplay.

Final Fantasy beats you over the head with the visuals so hard that you forget the gameplay itself is abysmal. And every single Square game has the exact same storyline: "save the world.. again". Boring!

Any emotions you get from a Square game are not because you'r

Re:Anime & Squaresoft

[Jazu]

Before someone tells you this with lots of obscenities, you're doing standard subculture elitism. Japanese stuff is in fact capable of sucking. Ranma is as bad as any soap opera.

One of the most emotional games

[TheOnlyCoolTim]

In my opinion, is Homeworld. (spoilers follow)

There were just some great moments in that game - when you come back and Kharak is burning, when you realize the Khadesh are the same people as you but you still have to fight them, and the end when you finally reclaim the Homeworld.

Tim

Spoiler Alert?

[Anonymous Coward]

hen you realize the Khadesh are the same people as you but you still have to fight them, and the end when you finally reclaim the Homeworld.

While you're at it: Rosebud is his sled, Darth Vader is his father, and Homer's middle name is "Jay." Thanks.

I agree

[Anonymous Coward]

"There is no emoticon for what I am feeling right now!"

Sincerely,
Comic Book Guy

Porn

[TheRealMindChild]

As much as will all hate (or love) to admit it, the most successful use of such a divice, I predict, will be interactive porn

Re:Porn

[Lord_Dweomer]

I know you were serious, but I think that it will be a softer side of porn that the Japanese have already developed.

The Dating Sim.

I've played one before, and laugh all you want, but it was a damned good experience. Not gameplay wise......the graphics were shit, and the controls weren't much better, but god did I get sucked in. I couldn't choose between a girl in the end because I had an attachment to ALL of them. I'm really shocked that there hasn't been a dating sim made with top of the line graphics.

The Quest for hours is at odds with emotions

[Metex]

Personally I feel that Video games can tap into many emotions present in a gamer as long as there is no goal that is just there to add 100 more hours to the game or in a completly linear story line.

I disliked FFX because they seemed to water the story down from there usual depth. It was way to linear and extreamly predictable. I was 3/4 into the game and remeber someone trying to spoil the ending for me. Auron isnt alive! *sigh* i said I allready know they used a technique called forshadowing which they had a pyrefly go out of him when yuna needed to speak with the dead elders. she continued trying to spoil the ending but 90% of it was allready revealed info. Kinda sad that they sold out an emotional high at the very end by putting way to many hints in the game. And please dont get me started with how Tidus talked in 3rd person throughout most of the FMVs. "I think we all changed that night" BLAH horrible storywriting right there

FF7 on the other hand handled killing off a charecter extreamly well. She is there you think you won then boom out of nowhere a sword is through her belly and she is gone. It took me a good 30 minuets to come to terms with the fact that they killed one of the main charecters and that now i was screwed since she was the strongest.

FF3 however stands out as one of the most enjoyable of them all and alot of emotions coarsing through you as you played. All the charecters had personal flaws which you could relate too. The heartless ninja did care, the honorable knight lied for years to continue someone elses hope. Also any feeling the charecters would supposadly have you shared in it. The excitment of the chace as the Fargo Castle submerges and you run off or the mistrust you have when a truce is called.

Overall what ruins emotional bond in games I have realized is that they try to keep you playing with extra gimics. Get 100% complete and see this new ending that you really want! the Game really isnt over because you need to play it on ultra hard in order to see this minuet change in gameplay! What you want to have a story and not crawl through 5 hours of puzzles to reach a boss that you have no real reason to fight besides some village elder told you he was a meany for stealing the ball in 2nd grade.

These gimics to add hours really sickens me and breaks the illusion of the world.

Foreshadowing in FF7

[Webapprentice]

The death of Aeris was predictable. I noticed she ended up with the best weapon and high stats very early in the game. And going by "Game Formulas" that usually means you are going to lose them as a party member.

Homeworld

[E1v!$]

Sadness. At the end, the story was engaging enough to make me feel sad about all the dead robots I built.

Already Done -- in Games Most Gamers Hate

[TheWanderingHermit]

A game that can evoke complex emotions - longing, despair, empathy - is the holy grail for some in the industry

I thought Myst did a good job of bringing out more complex emotions. Then again, I'm not a gamer because it seems to me most games are about blasting away, collecting objects, or fighting, and I've always wanted something more intellectually stimulating in my entertainment.

I know most gamers hate the Myst series, but I've always liked it because it seemed to be about something more than fightin

Re:Already Done -- in Games Most Gamers Hate

[Artemus Sol]

The Myst Series, arguably the best set of adventure games to date, managed to do something few other games can even claim to have tried, which is to evoke complex emotions through still pictures and text. Being a gamer of every genre, I can say with confidence that besides Final Fantasy's VI-VIII, Riven (Myst II) is one of the best emotion evoking games to date (at least for my humble self). Riven, given the attention and patience deserved, drew the player into a world of mystery and novel fantasy, and let

Holy Grail was discovered long ago.

[Teddy Beartuzzi]

Floyd in Planetfall.

No fancy graphics, no stirring soundtrack needed.

Random, yet somewhat relevant thoughts

[NedR]

I remember reading elsewhere that Warren Spector once said "games are the only medium that can make a person feel guilt for the actions of a fictional character."

This was actually probably one of the emotional strengths of Deus Ex, because after slaughtering a whole bunch of terrorists, you eventually reach a point in the game where you discover you've been duped all along, and they're the "good guys." The next step (and there's the possibility that they've already done this; keep in mind I haven't played Invisible War yet) would be to allow you to choose from the very beginning who to side with, thus making the emotional impact stronger when a player who has actively chosen to fight for UNATCO discovers that the NSF is actually on the side of justice.

The length of games is also an enormous strength, especially with many of the 40+ hour RPGs out there. The longer a person spends with a character, the more empathy a person feels for that character. And when a character is presented as the love interest, and options are given that allow the player to further this subplot, suddenly the romance seems a little more interesting than it would in film. The same thing goes for when characters die, especially if the player could have prevented the death; more time spent with a believable and likeable character leads to a greater impact when that character dies.

Non-Spoilery points about the sequel

[TwitchReflex]

What makes Invisible War so frustrating is that it lacks all that you mentioned. Time-wise, a semi coherent gamer can cut through the game in about 20 hours, or if you're really wanting to know how it all ends up, 15.
Without additional time spent to get to know the characters you are fighting for/against, all they are are waypoints on the plot. A needs B so you can access C. Their names and factions become as forgettable as they are interchangable.
The only real emotional benefit to the game comes in the f

Silent Hill

[Radu Lycan]

IMO the Silent Hill series does have very well-done emotional impact, especially in the 2nd/3rd game.

Fear, love, hate, sadness, terror, greed, emotional/mental breakdown, and in a few cases humor.

It does happen

[green.vervet]

I cried when I played Fallout:Brotherhood of Steel.

Two words..

[scabb]

..Grim Fandango [grimfandango.net]

Definitely the game that I've played the most, and the best at bringing out an emotional response in my book. This was because the characters were actually people who you would connect with, so when they betrayed you, sacrificed themselves or simply couldn't continue the journey anymore, you'd certainly feel something.

Just watching the trailer [grimfandango.net] gives me a buzz. :~

Sometimes it happens without them trying...

[randomizer9]

Tell me I'm not the only one who felt just a little sad the first time one of my Pikmin died...poor lil' fella...-sniff-

Of course I eventually got desensitized to it and would occasionaly go on "let's see how many ways I can kill these little bastards" sprees

Adrenaline (AVP2 spoiler, fair warning)

[Cygnus17]

RPGs aside, as far as action/adventure games go I still get a gigantic rush out of games that can elicit a hearty, sudden "Holy shit!".

The most recent example that comes to mind for me is Aliens vs. Predator 2, specifically in the Marine storyline as you descend into the cargo hold of the Forward Observation Pods -- a few steps behind the Predator. I kept thinking that I would catch up to him, but no: you end up watching him blast his way out of the hold and hijack one of the landers... all the while li

Big Brother is taunting you when you lose a life

[spyrochaete]

How long before games your actual emotions are incorporated into a game? With devices like the PS2's Eyetoy, a game could interpret your facial expression and change the game accordingly:

• Game character's facial expressons reflect yours
• Game gets easier as you get more frustrated
• Game gets harder as you get more frustrated
• NPC love interest consoles you when you are sad
• NPC nemesis taunts you when you are flustered
• Cutesy characters jump all over the screen and scream when you smile (wai wai!)
• Ghosty fig

Max Payne and final fantasy adventure / sad movies

[Allison Geode]

Max Payne had a very great storyline, and a very emotional one. in the beginning of the game, when he comes home, only to find his wife and daughter killed by junkies, and hearing him crying "no no god no," well, I'd never seen ANYTHING in a game that hit me quite the same way. it made me cry, and it made me want to avenge his loss. the other game that really got me emotionally was the Original Seiken Densetsu game (released in US as "final fantasy adventure," and recently remade as "sword of mana"). Fin

Apple sells introduces the iFriend?

[SoopahMan]

I don't think this is a good place for games to go. As an avid gamer, I'm increasingly learning to appreciate the timelessness of games like Quake 3, in which you can shift in or out of the gameworld at any instant. A game with such involved drama goes directly against this.

A game like this is, it seems, an alternate model to what EverQuest could become, should the authors have the ambition - a game complete with virtual friends (the virtual characters are rather lifeless today). This idea, it seems to me

Beyond Good And Evil

[bslinger]

Just have to mention this game in relation to emotional impact in video games: Beyond Good And Evil does a great job of making you empathise with the characters and the world they live in.

I guess it's mostly a result of the fantastic animation, including facial expressions, the music, and the great voice acting.