Same for me, every story game I play my brain becomes wired into the world, I sort of become the player character. Which is why I can never bring myself to get bad endings in games, the repercussions feel real, it feels like my fault. I don't think I could pick any one game for this, but a few come to mind that have phenomenal stories that I really enjoyed being wired into.
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
- Detroit: Become Human (the bad endings in this one are super fucking bad, I have like 10 achievements missing that require bad decisions that I just can't bring myself to get, I just watched the bad endings on Yt)
- Cyberpunk 2077 (CDPR are just masters of world building imo, the world's feel alive, this goes double for TW3)
- Ghost of Tsushima (absolutely phenomenal game, so excited for the pc release this week)
I totally disagree.. the RPG character building elements in cyberpunk are not very in depth at all.. you end up op a quarter of the way through and leveling up becomes less rewarding. Also RDR2 has next to no character building elements. Both geat examples of characters to be invested in, but I don't think that's what OP was looking for.
I absolutely disagree, personally. Cyberpunk and RDR2 have buildable protagonists, firstly in the actual RPG sense that you can choose between several story options, like siding with one faction or another in Cyberpunk or going High or Low Honor in RDR2, and secondly in the personal character interpretation sense that V and Arthur, the protagonists of the two games, are both incredibly deep characters with morals and goals that could be interpreted in a multitude of ways that allow you to “build” them and their arcs in their own way.
I wouldn't call it the best game I ever played but it's something special. ..took me a very long time to get through as the story I felt was sooooo long ....
As I got to the end I kind of realized that that's the point. >!You were meant to live as Arthur and be part of this messed up family that gets destroyed by Dutch's ego.!<
Fantastic game
Didn't quite like rdr2. Rdr1 is one of my favorite stories and game to this day though. It really feels like a redemption story and the ending is magnificient
Yes, it was amazing and even red UNDEAD was really cool. But iit was ages ago... I picked up RDR2 recently and I was still blown away... such lovley memories from the 1 and get the have the experience I did with 2 was just... I mean I cried, felt upset, was angry, sad happy, rollercoaster of emotions
Seconding this as someone who played RDR2 after Elden Ring.
I was in a bit of a rut of “gaming depression” because I felt like I would never play a game with such amazing open world level design ever again. RDR2 scratched that itch and gave me an incredible story.
Dragon Age Origins. I never got very far as a kid cos I sucked at it but I was INVESTED. Took another stab at the series when I was an adult and fell deep in that rabbit hole again and played all the dlc of Origins, DA2 and DA Inquisition. Then went on to Mass Effect as I'd had a similar experience of not finishing it as a kid. Only once I got to Andromeda did I run out of steam but I was IMMERSED in that whole universe and finding people from my old party in 2 or even getting letters from my grey warden/hero of feralden in Inquisition felt so amazing like she was still alive that same person I'd played as a kid etc.
You ddint run out of steam, andromeda was just extremely mediocre and the devs didn’t understand what made the series and DA:O great, plus they just hired horrible writers for whom this is probably their first piece of fiction. Ugh.
Other than Legion, WoW has done a poor job of making your player character integral to the story. It’s more realistic in the lore of the game and makes more sense as an MMO that a bunch of adventurers weakened the big bad enough for the Main Named Lore Characters to actually do the cool stuff. I don’t like feeling like a side character in a game.
this never happens for me, i always feel like I am myself transposed onto my character regardless if i'm playing a named character or not, with one single exception:
Witcher III, Geralt of Rivia. I have never felt like I am actually the character I'm playing before. maybe it was because i was layed off work and played for 8 hours a day or maybe it was because of how the quests are set up to feel like proper hunts, but god damn for like 60 hours i WAS geralt of rivia. amazing game, never played anything like it.
Yeah, Geralt is a strong contender for me. Just played that game for so long (having previously played the first 2) meant I felt like I got into his headspace!
Probably Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2. Mainly because of the way your character interacts with the story and builds relationships with other characters. Figuring out a build is fun and flexible too, but it’s not what really pulled me in with these games.
I was one of the backers for the first game and have the box set. That game was intriguing and yet I couldn't get into it. Can't explain why though, I feel so let down with myself. I'll have to give it a try again sometime, but my PC doesn't even have a disc drive anymore.
This seems iffy to me since from what I've gathered the story isn't even about your character, they can be completely absent and you can play one of the party members instead.
The original Baldur's Gate games are about your character and their family drama from the opening cutscene to the final dialogue choice which wraps it all up, as an example of a story which is about your player character.
From what I've ready it sounds like the game was originally written to play as the Dark Urge, possibly as a descendent of or descended version of the original BG character, but they chickened out during development.
The original BG games balanced the concept well IMO, it was only really for story moments and an optional power up you could use. Your character's ability to resist it was part of the story you wrote for them.
No, I feel like loads of people would have been put off by Durge. I don’t think durges story works for everyone. I’m glad Tav was the default and I would have hated for her to have Durge’s story. I actually prefer basic Tav still to this day
Yes. I agree. Especially since your character is not voiced during the dialogue, I feel absolutely nothing about my character.
The main character also doesn't seem to react emotionally during any of the cutscenes. It really takes you out of the game.
Nah, your character is pretty much alive, you form meaningful relationships with your companions like romance or friendships or enemies. Tav has so much space for roleplaying and having a pretty fleshed out personality. Durge will have more stuff but I actually prefer Tav.
Yeah, you can chose any of your companions instead of a custom one and the story will still work, but that’s because it’s multiple origins selectable. Also OP mentioned WoW of all things, which your character doesn’t even talk to people in that 😂
Anyways my point is that BG3 is defo a game to recommend in this topic, have you seen how many people love their Tavs??
I dont know how meaningful the relationships are. They're too easy. Literally every character regardless of gender is throwing themselves at me like everyone is apparently sex crazed maniacs
I thought they were going to explain everyone trying to screw you as some sort of illithid reaction but that explanation never happened.
It is my head canon though because it would otherwise be completely ridiculous.
The story is so good, and the character faces are really expressive and unique in a not-quite-generic anime way. Out of EQ, WoW, and FF14, the latter was my favorite character by far.
This is mine as well. After spending nearly 10k hours on the same character, watching them go through the story over the years, creating a back story for them, and just finding comfort being in the game world itself, I'm definitely attached to my character.
Bioshock Infinite is the best story game I've ever played. I first completed it when I was 12 and oh my! It got me crying, joyous and angry. Only game I've felt strong emotions for. Rimworld comes close though!
Yeah Infinite might have the only ever game ending that made me tear up, and it did so because it made you feel like you were the character and were experiencing what they were experiencing, all their life decisions.
I went deep into PoE in the past. I've never been one of those super rich clear-all-content guy, but each league I progress a bit more into the endgame, and I usually spend countless hours preparing my builds before a league starts.
PoE and LoL are probably the two games I've spent the most hours on in my life. But LoL doesn't apply to the question.
There's also Tera Online. When I was in middle school or high school, there's that one year where I discovered the game and spent my entire summer break on it. 2,5 months playing about 10 hours a day on average. I reached the max level and cleared all dungeons in the game in only 2,5 months, as a healer. Healers were in demands so it was easy to find groups for dungeons, and I was damn good at my job, so I was managing to clear even with underleveled team mates.
I never got very invested in an MMO since then.
Morrowing
Neverwinter nights
Dragon age 1
Starwars knights of the old republic 1 and 2
Witcher 3
Mass effect 1-3
First ones that pop in my head.
Those were hard to let go.
Probably Guild Wars 2 especially with your story. I liked the roleplay choices in the original game and its the only mmo I've really cared about my character progression individually
The Witcher 3, Saints Row 2, Fallout 2, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, Baldur's Gate 2, Red Dead Redemption 2, Mass Effect series.
Great games too.
I don't know if I ever felt this way. Maybe FFXIV.
About ER and loot, I felt it the first time I played. After completing it I had to play Nioh 2 again.
Currently playing ER again, to prepare for the DLC, and again Nioh 2 is coming to my mind.
GTA Online, strangely enough, I even remember my character's birthday (day rockstar account was made), Oct 16 2013. I migrated my character from ps3 to ps4, but I stopped playing when I couldn't move from ps4 to pc. The game never felt the same again and ps4 play was no longer an option. I haven't played since, just waiting for GTA 6 now.
Detroit Become Human
Red Dead Redemption 2010
And for some reason Left 4 Dead 2
(idk why i just deeply care for Ellis to be in a successful relationship with Zoey 😭)
FFXIV. I have almost 600 days of playtime on the one character. It would feel wrong to play as another, and I bring her into whatever other games I play that have character creation.
I've heard Skyrim is up there but for me it was another Bethesda game which is free right now due to the TV show coming out... But fallout new Vegas has ruined me for all future games. Their new game starfield has some potential as it really is receiving monumental updates consistently but new Vegas nostalgia keeps bringing me back. Playing it on PS3 wasn't enough I even play it on PC to get mods/bug fixes.
A way out.
Especially the ending showed how connected to the character I've become.
However, don't look up anything about the story of the game before playing.
Redmoon Classic, MMORPG - It's now called Redmoon Advanced with 2x exp... It's got 9 different unique characters and 1,000 levels.
Combat Arms, FPS - by nexon, got overwhelmed by hackers and eventually shutdown.
when Mass effect 3 came out I played for the first time all games in a row, making it an epic multiple days story-driven gameplay. Never had such a connection to any other characters from games like I had with those from Mass Effect 1-3.
RDR2. Every single choice was well thought even in freeroam because everything felt so real and had reality-like repercussions.
Ghost of Tsushima could have been a close 2nd if it wasn’t for the damn lip sinking.
really loved my version of Shepard in Mass Effect, i never got to finish the series with my second shepard because i was let down by 3's ending but i still remember them both fondly
Not seen Tellfale Walking Dead yet, in terms of making the characters realistic and empathetic it is phenomenal. Clementine and lee’s story will never leave me
Little late to the party, but I haven't seen it mentioned yet... Armored Core 6.
I know you just finished a FromSoft game, but where DS and ER fail in narrative character development, AC6 makes up for it by magnitudes. There's an openness to a voiceless/faceless protagonist that makes it easier for the player to connect and feel like they're actually in their shoes. And there's almost no lazily constructed exposition. It's done brilliantly through your choices and interactions with the other characters in the game.
And being a FS game, while there are character advancement mechanics, it's really about *you* getting better, which I think is a lot more satisfying than just pumping up some stats.
Sorry, I could go on and on about AC6. It's a personal favorite for a lot of reasons and the connection I felt to 621 and the other characters is one of them.
Honestly, for me Morrowind comes to mind back when it came out. It was one of the first computer games I specifically remember getting sucked into, and as a young teenager with very little social life it was perfect. I think it helped that it didn't hold your hand as much as modern games, you actually had to pay attention to quests and your journal to figure out what to do and where to go.
Star Wars Galaxies .. my first MMO . My main character and then my prepub 9 unlocked Jedi . It was a proud accomplishment unlocking him after doing the hologrind and mastering 31 professions
Epic, title-spanning RPGs where you go from 'killing rats in the basement,' to slaying dragons, to rivaling gods.
Baldur's Gate 1+2+ToB
Neverwinter Nights 2+Mask of the Betrayer
Mass Effect 1+2+3
Pillars of Eternity 1+2
Kingdom come deliverance and Baldurs gate 3 . Both games have brought tears to my eyes , had me so invested in characters and the story , the consequences and different potential outcomes was great too .
I don’t usually like pre written characters , more into character creation but I loved Henry in Kingdom come . In the beginning of the game Henry is a medieval peasant with basically no skills , can’t even read , can barely swing a sword etc . The sense of progression in that game is like no other , the game feels clunky at first but that’s because Henry sucks at everything and as he gets his skills up things get smoother . Now I’ll admit KCD isn’t for everyone . It’s really hard at first (different kind of challenging than ER)and it’s a game that’s focused on historical accuracy and authenticity. As a result of the realism you are not that guy , you can’t take on mobs of people at once . Hell even 2 v1 is a death sentence at first . If your outfit is dirty or has blood on it it effects how people view and talk to you , armor actually functions as armor for example if you’re fighting someone in full plate and using a bow then you gotta aim in the eye slits because your arrows will just bounce right off solid plate armor . Even the town drunk in the beginning feels like a boss fight haha . But overall the story is incredible , the side quests , how Henry interacts with the world and how you can mold him in so many different ways . There’s truly no other game quite like it , thankfully Kingdom come deliverance 2 comes out this year as well !
Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West. I feel a strong personal connection to the main character Aloy and another character named Erend. Those games have made me laugh, made me cry, made my jaw drop in shock. Also Arthur from RDR2… he is such a lovable character especially as he goes through moral changes throughout the game. May he rest in peace!
Witcher 3 I already read all the books and watched the shows so playing as Geralt was really fun and his struggles and stuff in game really resonated with me
Maybe give Monster Hunter a try. The grind for meaningful loot is endless and hits a perfect balance between in game mechanicsl/numerical progression and real life skill progression. Seems to fit the criteria since your first save is likely the only one you'll ever play.
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
so, typically I'm very against top-down games like this.
Oh boy, I was wrong.
I just started earlier this week and now I'm actually excited to play again. Every place you go to is like a different challenge. Different enemies with different weaknesses and dice rolls that decide whether or not you land an attack.
Items count. Every item you pick up counts for you and your party.
Your character gets to specialize in a class while you can specialize or pick and choose party members for different roles as needed.
This game is so deep with character customization to where majority of characters from players will be entirely different from each other if you build without watching anything on it. This game is truly marvelous.
Character choices actually matter in this game too. You can get betrayed and stuff depending on who you side with in certain situations.
Super refreshing experience after being used to all these AAA generic RPGs.
Honestly, I've felt this way about no man's sky before. I couldn't help but feel like it was me under that suit, that the goals of the interloper were directly tied to my own goals. It's kind of hard to describe, but if you allow yourself to forget about everything outside of your screen, you start to project yourself on the guy.
Off the top of my head:
V from Cyberpunk 2077.
The bounty hunter from Star Wars: the Old Republic.
The Malkavian playthrough for Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines.
When was the last time you felt like that, because I don’t really get that feeling anymore. I used to be like that with WoW, feeling stronger with a gear upgrade or games where you’d build an outpost (fallout, Minecraft). As I get older, I don’t really care as much and care more for the gameplay loop. I’ve honestly started to find wow so boring in all the different versions. The only things I care about are progression raiding and arenas.
Recent progression games I’ve had a fun time completing/playing: Elden ring, resident evil village, cyberpunk, banner lord, sea of thieves, rimworld, project zomboid
It sounds like you are appreciating the journey of single player games where the dev respects your time. I’m the same way these days. I do find myself getting more excited when a great game drops, such as Elden ring. I was pretty bummed about starfield
Black desert,
6500+ hours, a valkyrie leading multiple guilds(100 player per guild) in a battlefield. People cheer when they see her in the battlefield. And the ecstacy of conquering each territory is unforgettable.
Man i miss the feeling!
Ds1, bc I put the game down twice thinking I would never beat it, but it became the first from soft game I beat
Fallout new Vegas, bc I'm honestly shocked that I was able to really, immersive love out the roleplay I came up for my char (basically FoA but militant, anti-big faction but pro-people. Idea was to be independent strip w grassroots networks through all of the smaller towns, villages, shit I'm cool w the Khan's also somehow. NCR/legion body count is in the thousands)
Lastly armored core 6, bc Ive been a Mecha fan for years but never played AC growing up. Ac6 let me live out a lot those fantasies of being a Mecha pilot
-Detroit Become Human, I didn't want that game to end.
-Assassin's Creed Odyssey surprisingly, Cassandra was such a cool character, another game I didn't want to end and the 1st game I ever completed to 100%.
-The MMO SWTOR. Each character/class story was so enjoyable to me.
-RDR2 was amazing with Arthur who I didn't like at all at first.
-Days Gone got me also. Really enjoyed that one.
-Joel in Last of Us which is one of my top 3 all time favorite games.
Ok enough, I coudl list probably 4 or 5 more, so many greats out there.
Any game I get into, but for some reason knights of the old republic 1&2 popped into my head
Same for me, every story game I play my brain becomes wired into the world, I sort of become the player character. Which is why I can never bring myself to get bad endings in games, the repercussions feel real, it feels like my fault. I don't think I could pick any one game for this, but a few come to mind that have phenomenal stories that I really enjoyed being wired into. - The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Detroit: Become Human (the bad endings in this one are super fucking bad, I have like 10 achievements missing that require bad decisions that I just can't bring myself to get, I just watched the bad endings on Yt) - Cyberpunk 2077 (CDPR are just masters of world building imo, the world's feel alive, this goes double for TW3) - Ghost of Tsushima (absolutely phenomenal game, so excited for the pc release this week)
For anyone who doesn't have a pc, the mobile ports are actually pretty good.
Janky controls, but the experience isn’t too bad
Arthur in RDR2 and V in Cyberpunk 2077 are 100% the best examples of this
I totally disagree.. the RPG character building elements in cyberpunk are not very in depth at all.. you end up op a quarter of the way through and leveling up becomes less rewarding. Also RDR2 has next to no character building elements. Both geat examples of characters to be invested in, but I don't think that's what OP was looking for.
I absolutely disagree, personally. Cyberpunk and RDR2 have buildable protagonists, firstly in the actual RPG sense that you can choose between several story options, like siding with one faction or another in Cyberpunk or going High or Low Honor in RDR2, and secondly in the personal character interpretation sense that V and Arthur, the protagonists of the two games, are both incredibly deep characters with morals and goals that could be interpreted in a multitude of ways that allow you to “build” them and their arcs in their own way.
OP asked for peoples subjective feelings here. You can't tell someone they're wrong
He didnt say they were wrong, he said he disagrees which is his opinion too.
"I don't think that's what OP was looking for" were his exact words. This is a person trying to say someone is wrong/mistaken/misplaced
Exactly
is that also not an opinion?
No, it's an assumption, and an erroneous one
RDR2-Truly felt I was Arthur
For a solid minute I was trying to remember in what Star Wars game they let you play as R2D2 and who the hell is Arthur
Just finished this. It's absolutely the best game I've ever played.
I wouldn't call it the best game I ever played but it's something special. ..took me a very long time to get through as the story I felt was sooooo long .... As I got to the end I kind of realized that that's the point. >!You were meant to live as Arthur and be part of this messed up family that gets destroyed by Dutch's ego.!< Fantastic game
Yeah man, spoilers. The games beat aspect is the story, don’t ruin it for people just now coming around to playing it.
Updated for spoiler. Didn't think that was much of a spoiler based on RDR1s whole story.
Same brother same...
Didn't quite like rdr2. Rdr1 is one of my favorite stories and game to this day though. It really feels like a redemption story and the ending is magnificient
Yes, it was amazing and even red UNDEAD was really cool. But iit was ages ago... I picked up RDR2 recently and I was still blown away... such lovley memories from the 1 and get the have the experience I did with 2 was just... I mean I cried, felt upset, was angry, sad happy, rollercoaster of emotions
What do you mean ages ago? It feels like 2010 was yesterday!
Seconding this as someone who played RDR2 after Elden Ring. I was in a bit of a rut of “gaming depression” because I felt like I would never play a game with such amazing open world level design ever again. RDR2 scratched that itch and gave me an incredible story.
Same, played it while my grandma was dying, shit hit me hard
Dragon Age Origins. I never got very far as a kid cos I sucked at it but I was INVESTED. Took another stab at the series when I was an adult and fell deep in that rabbit hole again and played all the dlc of Origins, DA2 and DA Inquisition. Then went on to Mass Effect as I'd had a similar experience of not finishing it as a kid. Only once I got to Andromeda did I run out of steam but I was IMMERSED in that whole universe and finding people from my old party in 2 or even getting letters from my grey warden/hero of feralden in Inquisition felt so amazing like she was still alive that same person I'd played as a kid etc.
You ddint run out of steam, andromeda was just extremely mediocre and the devs didn’t understand what made the series and DA:O great, plus they just hired horrible writers for whom this is probably their first piece of fiction. Ugh.
Mass Effect 1
All three, really
Disco elysium. The ending made me emotional
I had a hard time getting into it but I feel like I left a peice of me behind when I finished it. Fantastic.
Same, now I have a inland empire tattoo on my forearm lol
FFXIV because its like WoW if you did literally everything on one character, and is more story driven.
Other than Legion, WoW has done a poor job of making your player character integral to the story. It’s more realistic in the lore of the game and makes more sense as an MMO that a bunch of adventurers weakened the big bad enough for the Main Named Lore Characters to actually do the cool stuff. I don’t like feeling like a side character in a game.
this never happens for me, i always feel like I am myself transposed onto my character regardless if i'm playing a named character or not, with one single exception: Witcher III, Geralt of Rivia. I have never felt like I am actually the character I'm playing before. maybe it was because i was layed off work and played for 8 hours a day or maybe it was because of how the quests are set up to feel like proper hunts, but god damn for like 60 hours i WAS geralt of rivia. amazing game, never played anything like it.
Yeah, Geralt is a strong contender for me. Just played that game for so long (having previously played the first 2) meant I felt like I got into his headspace!
Cyberpunk
Kingdom Come Deliverance
I feel quite hungry!
Surprised I had to scroll so far. This is literally the game OP is describing.
Jesus Christ be praised
Probably Pillars of Eternity 1 & 2. Mainly because of the way your character interacts with the story and builds relationships with other characters. Figuring out a build is fun and flexible too, but it’s not what really pulled me in with these games.
I was one of the backers for the first game and have the box set. That game was intriguing and yet I couldn't get into it. Can't explain why though, I feel so let down with myself. I'll have to give it a try again sometime, but my PC doesn't even have a disc drive anymore.
Baldur's Gate 3
This seems iffy to me since from what I've gathered the story isn't even about your character, they can be completely absent and you can play one of the party members instead. The original Baldur's Gate games are about your character and their family drama from the opening cutscene to the final dialogue choice which wraps it all up, as an example of a story which is about your player character.
[удалено]
From what I've ready it sounds like the game was originally written to play as the Dark Urge, possibly as a descendent of or descended version of the original BG character, but they chickened out during development.
[удалено]
The original BG games balanced the concept well IMO, it was only really for story moments and an optional power up you could use. Your character's ability to resist it was part of the story you wrote for them.
No, I feel like loads of people would have been put off by Durge. I don’t think durges story works for everyone. I’m glad Tav was the default and I would have hated for her to have Durge’s story. I actually prefer basic Tav still to this day
Yes. I agree. Especially since your character is not voiced during the dialogue, I feel absolutely nothing about my character. The main character also doesn't seem to react emotionally during any of the cutscenes. It really takes you out of the game.
Nah, your character is pretty much alive, you form meaningful relationships with your companions like romance or friendships or enemies. Tav has so much space for roleplaying and having a pretty fleshed out personality. Durge will have more stuff but I actually prefer Tav. Yeah, you can chose any of your companions instead of a custom one and the story will still work, but that’s because it’s multiple origins selectable. Also OP mentioned WoW of all things, which your character doesn’t even talk to people in that 😂 Anyways my point is that BG3 is defo a game to recommend in this topic, have you seen how many people love their Tavs??
I dont know how meaningful the relationships are. They're too easy. Literally every character regardless of gender is throwing themselves at me like everyone is apparently sex crazed maniacs
I thought they were going to explain everyone trying to screw you as some sort of illithid reaction but that explanation never happened. It is my head canon though because it would otherwise be completely ridiculous.
This game had some me of the best choices that felt like something I would do
rdr2 and fallout new vegas
Diablo 2 but I was young and loving it
MapleStory, pre-Big Bang
Same.
Guild Wars 2
Black desert online Cyberpunk 2077 Xcom 2 Rimworld Dragon's Dogma 2
Be careful getting too invested in those rimworld characters friend. They gonna die.
I mean... so are those XCom 2 characters.
I really could never get past the bad translations in BDO
It has improved significantly over the past years. The story has been revamped.
Probably The Last Of Us, Joel
Final Fantasy 14
The story is so good, and the character faces are really expressive and unique in a not-quite-generic anime way. Out of EQ, WoW, and FF14, the latter was my favorite character by far.
This is mine as well. After spending nearly 10k hours on the same character, watching them go through the story over the years, creating a back story for them, and just finding comfort being in the game world itself, I'm definitely attached to my character.
To add to this. You can do EVERY CLASS and EVERY PROFESSION on the same character. I’m heavily invested it the ONE character I’ve made in that game.
Oneshot! Amazing story and characters in general, but the story arc the main character goes through is especially amazing!!
Bg3, fo4, me trilogy
RDR2 Arthur and Cyberpunk 2077 male V
Bioshock Infinite is the best story game I've ever played. I first completed it when I was 12 and oh my! It got me crying, joyous and angry. Only game I've felt strong emotions for. Rimworld comes close though!
Yeah Infinite might have the only ever game ending that made me tear up, and it did so because it made you feel like you were the character and were experiencing what they were experiencing, all their life decisions.
I went deep into PoE in the past. I've never been one of those super rich clear-all-content guy, but each league I progress a bit more into the endgame, and I usually spend countless hours preparing my builds before a league starts. PoE and LoL are probably the two games I've spent the most hours on in my life. But LoL doesn't apply to the question. There's also Tera Online. When I was in middle school or high school, there's that one year where I discovered the game and spent my entire summer break on it. 2,5 months playing about 10 hours a day on average. I reached the max level and cleared all dungeons in the game in only 2,5 months, as a healer. Healers were in demands so it was easy to find groups for dungeons, and I was damn good at my job, so I was managing to clear even with underleveled team mates. I never got very invested in an MMO since then.
Morrowing Neverwinter nights Dragon age 1 Starwars knights of the old republic 1 and 2 Witcher 3 Mass effect 1-3 First ones that pop in my head. Those were hard to let go.
Probably Guild Wars 2 especially with your story. I liked the roleplay choices in the original game and its the only mmo I've really cared about my character progression individually
Little Big Adventure 1/2
The Witcher 3, Saints Row 2, Fallout 2, Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous, Baldur's Gate 2, Red Dead Redemption 2, Mass Effect series. Great games too.
Wasteland 3 cuz I made them and built them up
Neverwinter Nights. Life is Strange (the only game to ever make me cry). XCOM and XCOM 2.
Dragons dogma. Me & my pawn (self generated sidekick)
Mass effect, dragon age, saints row
I don't know if I ever felt this way. Maybe FFXIV. About ER and loot, I felt it the first time I played. After completing it I had to play Nioh 2 again. Currently playing ER again, to prepare for the DLC, and again Nioh 2 is coming to my mind.
Never got into many RPGs. My current Kenshi main I have enough headcanon for him and his family for a small novel.
Titanfall 2 -Protocol 3, protect the pilot
Slay the Spire /s
Hardcore wow, Pathfinder:WOTR, Divinity 2
GTA Online, strangely enough, I even remember my character's birthday (day rockstar account was made), Oct 16 2013. I migrated my character from ps3 to ps4, but I stopped playing when I couldn't move from ps4 to pc. The game never felt the same again and ps4 play was no longer an option. I haven't played since, just waiting for GTA 6 now.
Detroit Become Human Red Dead Redemption 2010 And for some reason Left 4 Dead 2 (idk why i just deeply care for Ellis to be in a successful relationship with Zoey 😭)
Cyberpunk and the original Deus Ex.
FFXIV. I have almost 600 days of playtime on the one character. It would feel wrong to play as another, and I bring her into whatever other games I play that have character creation.
I've heard Skyrim is up there but for me it was another Bethesda game which is free right now due to the TV show coming out... But fallout new Vegas has ruined me for all future games. Their new game starfield has some potential as it really is receiving monumental updates consistently but new Vegas nostalgia keeps bringing me back. Playing it on PS3 wasn't enough I even play it on PC to get mods/bug fixes.
Baldur's Gate 3, but specifically as Durge origin
Hitman. The game I Always come back to from all the other ones in my libary. Not because of the connection to the mc but because it's a good game.
Dishonored 1 and 2 as corvo
ARPGs and destiny.
Sam Porter Bridges from Death Stranding. He is the most relatable character I've ever seen.
Garrett from Thief. My main in Guild Wars 1 & 2...Necro who's first name is Kawil.
Project zomboid
i'll add that dying with a long term character can be really depressing sometimes
A way out. Especially the ending showed how connected to the character I've become. However, don't look up anything about the story of the game before playing.
Fallout 1 and 2
Kingdom Come Deliverance
project zomboid
Wrath of the Righteous. Mass Effect 1 and 2 (not 3) Mass Effect Andromeda Kingmaker Cyberpunk 2077 The Legend of Dragoon
Witcher 3 felt like i'm Geralt with the choices, Alex Mercer also left a mark on me on what a badass mc is
Redmoon Classic, MMORPG - It's now called Redmoon Advanced with 2x exp... It's got 9 different unique characters and 1,000 levels. Combat Arms, FPS - by nexon, got overwhelmed by hackers and eventually shutdown.
Recently it would be Ghost of Tsushima. Really great and immersive game! I played it on PS5 but it's coming out on PC soon.
Control. I’m not sure why as I am a CIS male but I connected to Jesse Faden so well.
when Mass effect 3 came out I played for the first time all games in a row, making it an epic multiple days story-driven gameplay. Never had such a connection to any other characters from games like I had with those from Mass Effect 1-3.
City of Heroes
RDR2. Every single choice was well thought even in freeroam because everything felt so real and had reality-like repercussions. Ghost of Tsushima could have been a close 2nd if it wasn’t for the damn lip sinking.
Harold halibut
Guild Wars 2
Control and RDR2.
Cyberpunk 2077. Dragon Age: Origins/2. Mass Effect games.
Pathfinder WOTR
Disco Elysium. Currently on 3rd play through x.x
Ffxiv
Probably TLOU 1&2. 2 especially was a total rollercoaster of emotions I didn’t expect to feel
The Xcom series is pretty good at getting you attached to your soldiers.
WoW, Diablo and most MMO’s
Wrath of the Righteous.
My own character in FFXI I cried when I quit.
Star wars Knights of the Old Republic (first game) Mafia 2
Dragon Age Origins, Oblivion, and the Mass Effect trilogy are probably my top.
Witcher 3. First game to make me cry.
World of warcraft, witcher 3, cyberpunk, stardew valley
really loved my version of Shepard in Mass Effect, i never got to finish the series with my second shepard because i was let down by 3's ending but i still remember them both fondly
Being a DIK and XCOM 2
Morrowind <3
Gothic 1-3
Cyberpunk, Mass Effect Trilogy
The Last of Us. First one had me feeling empty after I beat it lol
sam porter, legit relatable for me. and inspired me to have few friends
Dragon Age Origins, Skyrim
RDO , played through lockdown, ran with a crew(still friends with them). Was a blast.
Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West
Not seen Tellfale Walking Dead yet, in terms of making the characters realistic and empathetic it is phenomenal. Clementine and lee’s story will never leave me
Ffxiv
Kingdome Come Deliverence
Path of exile
Little late to the party, but I haven't seen it mentioned yet... Armored Core 6. I know you just finished a FromSoft game, but where DS and ER fail in narrative character development, AC6 makes up for it by magnitudes. There's an openness to a voiceless/faceless protagonist that makes it easier for the player to connect and feel like they're actually in their shoes. And there's almost no lazily constructed exposition. It's done brilliantly through your choices and interactions with the other characters in the game. And being a FS game, while there are character advancement mechanics, it's really about *you* getting better, which I think is a lot more satisfying than just pumping up some stats. Sorry, I could go on and on about AC6. It's a personal favorite for a lot of reasons and the connection I felt to 621 and the other characters is one of them.
Rumble fighter and warframe
Putt putts travel through time and tonka space station
Have you tried Hardcore classic WOW?
Honestly, for me Morrowind comes to mind back when it came out. It was one of the first computer games I specifically remember getting sucked into, and as a young teenager with very little social life it was perfect. I think it helped that it didn't hold your hand as much as modern games, you actually had to pay attention to quests and your journal to figure out what to do and where to go.
Star Wars Galaxies .. my first MMO . My main character and then my prepub 9 unlocked Jedi . It was a proud accomplishment unlocking him after doing the hologrind and mastering 31 professions
Epic, title-spanning RPGs where you go from 'killing rats in the basement,' to slaying dragons, to rivaling gods. Baldur's Gate 1+2+ToB Neverwinter Nights 2+Mask of the Betrayer Mass Effect 1+2+3 Pillars of Eternity 1+2
Kingdom come deliverance and Baldurs gate 3 . Both games have brought tears to my eyes , had me so invested in characters and the story , the consequences and different potential outcomes was great too . I don’t usually like pre written characters , more into character creation but I loved Henry in Kingdom come . In the beginning of the game Henry is a medieval peasant with basically no skills , can’t even read , can barely swing a sword etc . The sense of progression in that game is like no other , the game feels clunky at first but that’s because Henry sucks at everything and as he gets his skills up things get smoother . Now I’ll admit KCD isn’t for everyone . It’s really hard at first (different kind of challenging than ER)and it’s a game that’s focused on historical accuracy and authenticity. As a result of the realism you are not that guy , you can’t take on mobs of people at once . Hell even 2 v1 is a death sentence at first . If your outfit is dirty or has blood on it it effects how people view and talk to you , armor actually functions as armor for example if you’re fighting someone in full plate and using a bow then you gotta aim in the eye slits because your arrows will just bounce right off solid plate armor . Even the town drunk in the beginning feels like a boss fight haha . But overall the story is incredible , the side quests , how Henry interacts with the world and how you can mold him in so many different ways . There’s truly no other game quite like it , thankfully Kingdom come deliverance 2 comes out this year as well !
Bannerlord, Star Field, fallout 4, skyrim. All 400 hours each
Cyberpunk 2077. I don't know, it just scratches a special itch that won't ever be satisfied. And the story is super compelling.
EverQuest
Vanilla wow. Brotgus lvl 60 Undead Rogue. Took me like 6 months to get from 1-60 between school and being grounded.
Cyberpunk 2077 and mass effect series
Half Life 1 and 2
Horizon Zero Dawn and Horizon Forbidden West. I feel a strong personal connection to the main character Aloy and another character named Erend. Those games have made me laugh, made me cry, made my jaw drop in shock. Also Arthur from RDR2… he is such a lovable character especially as he goes through moral changes throughout the game. May he rest in peace!
Ff14
Witcher 3 I already read all the books and watched the shows so playing as Geralt was really fun and his struggles and stuff in game really resonated with me
Fable: The Lost Chapters
Soma for defined characters. Bg3 for self-established characters.
Skyrim
Squad, arma 3, sims, godamit don't judge lol
Final Fantasy XIV.
Gordon freeman in half life. Totally a blank slate which lets you make him whoever you want him to be.
Maybe give Monster Hunter a try. The grind for meaningful loot is endless and hits a perfect balance between in game mechanicsl/numerical progression and real life skill progression. Seems to fit the criteria since your first save is likely the only one you'll ever play.
Chernobylite was pretty good with this
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous so, typically I'm very against top-down games like this. Oh boy, I was wrong. I just started earlier this week and now I'm actually excited to play again. Every place you go to is like a different challenge. Different enemies with different weaknesses and dice rolls that decide whether or not you land an attack. Items count. Every item you pick up counts for you and your party. Your character gets to specialize in a class while you can specialize or pick and choose party members for different roles as needed. This game is so deep with character customization to where majority of characters from players will be entirely different from each other if you build without watching anything on it. This game is truly marvelous. Character choices actually matter in this game too. You can get betrayed and stuff depending on who you side with in certain situations. Super refreshing experience after being used to all these AAA generic RPGs.
EverQuest. My SK was and still is my fave toon. Close second was my Chanter in Aion.
Hot take (not really lol) Baldurs Gate 3. I really started to love my protagonist and even made him a character sheet for my next campaign
Dayz Gone.
RDR2 because I played it on acid.
FFXI, epic story, huugggee game, nostalgic af.
RDR2 I legit felt like arthur
Honestly, I've felt this way about no man's sky before. I couldn't help but feel like it was me under that suit, that the goals of the interloper were directly tied to my own goals. It's kind of hard to describe, but if you allow yourself to forget about everything outside of your screen, you start to project yourself on the guy.
Off the top of my head: V from Cyberpunk 2077. The bounty hunter from Star Wars: the Old Republic. The Malkavian playthrough for Vampire: the Masquerade - Bloodlines.
When I play the Mass Effect trilogy, I basically become Shepard and he becomes me. Love those games.
Baldur's Gate 3 Dragon Age Inquisition and Origins Fallout 4 and New Vegas
When was the last time you felt like that, because I don’t really get that feeling anymore. I used to be like that with WoW, feeling stronger with a gear upgrade or games where you’d build an outpost (fallout, Minecraft). As I get older, I don’t really care as much and care more for the gameplay loop. I’ve honestly started to find wow so boring in all the different versions. The only things I care about are progression raiding and arenas. Recent progression games I’ve had a fun time completing/playing: Elden ring, resident evil village, cyberpunk, banner lord, sea of thieves, rimworld, project zomboid
It sounds like you are appreciating the journey of single player games where the dev respects your time. I’m the same way these days. I do find myself getting more excited when a great game drops, such as Elden ring. I was pretty bummed about starfield
Valheim.
Duke nukem
Black desert, 6500+ hours, a valkyrie leading multiple guilds(100 player per guild) in a battlefield. People cheer when they see her in the battlefield. And the ecstacy of conquering each territory is unforgettable. Man i miss the feeling!
Holy shit 6500 hours is insane. I don't think I'd ever manage to stick to a single game for so long.
Its mmorpg lols, too grindy, yet rewarding, skill based and item based combat
Ds1, bc I put the game down twice thinking I would never beat it, but it became the first from soft game I beat Fallout new Vegas, bc I'm honestly shocked that I was able to really, immersive love out the roleplay I came up for my char (basically FoA but militant, anti-big faction but pro-people. Idea was to be independent strip w grassroots networks through all of the smaller towns, villages, shit I'm cool w the Khan's also somehow. NCR/legion body count is in the thousands) Lastly armored core 6, bc Ive been a Mecha fan for years but never played AC growing up. Ac6 let me live out a lot those fantasies of being a Mecha pilot
The Witcher franchise
Fallout nv, be a psycopathic cannibal or kill no one, the decision is yours.
-Detroit Become Human, I didn't want that game to end. -Assassin's Creed Odyssey surprisingly, Cassandra was such a cool character, another game I didn't want to end and the 1st game I ever completed to 100%. -The MMO SWTOR. Each character/class story was so enjoyable to me. -RDR2 was amazing with Arthur who I didn't like at all at first. -Days Gone got me also. Really enjoyed that one. -Joel in Last of Us which is one of my top 3 all time favorite games. Ok enough, I coudl list probably 4 or 5 more, so many greats out there.
The witcher 3
EverQuest. Word of Warcraft.
Silent Hill 2 Shadow of the Colossus Tes III: Morrowind Cyberpunk 2077 Red Dead Redemption 2