The most serious games?

Hey, I was just wondering what you guys think are the most serious games around, what I mean is games that cover really deep emotional grounds, I think Hevy rain is a great example, but I'm just sick of games at the moment that are just for fun, and I'm looking for more of an experience, I don't really mind the genre, I just want to play something with real substance, and a high level of emotional impact. This may all sound a bit drab but I'm just looking to try something else :)

@Ethan_Raiden said:

I'm just sick of games at the moment that are just for fun,

Yea, fuck games that try to be fun! Where are the games that are painful to get through? That's what I want in a video game!

• Heavy Rain
• Catherine (until it becomes absolutely ridiculous)
• Persona 3 FES (though not 100% serious all the time, its overarching storyline is relatively depressing)
• Many SMT games, really

Indigo Prophecy

Half Life 2 Episode 2

Silent hill 2 if you ignore the crazy endings. 
 
Bioshock/ Bioshock 2 have some really interesting and thought provoking stories.

If your looking for quick games that deal with serious issues, you should check out Molleindustria. I would recommend Phone Story, Every Day The Same Dream, Oiligarchy, and McDonald's Videogame. If you're looking for discomforting stuff, I would recommend Operation: PedoPriest. Yick. It's nasty just typing the title.

Ha, nobody's said Serious Sam.

painful and depressing? Pathologic, The Void, Nier, Persona 2: Innocent Sin, really most SMT games aside from Persona 4,

I take Mario Kart very seriously. Not that handheld shit, that's for kids.

@jewunit said:

I would recommend Operation: PedoPriest.

WTF? I think what he's looking for is a high level of immersion...which is rare. I have the same problem, mere distraction is not enough anymore. And a title with pedo-anything in it just sounds effed up.

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream.

This Molleindustria stuff is great, I reckon I'll check out some SMT games and I'm really interested in I have no mouth and I must scream. I'd love to play Sient Hill 2 I recognise how amazing it is, I just cant play scary games :P

Dreamfall: The Longest Journey. My favorite video game story ever.

@Video_Game_King: 
 
That's what I'm looking for a game thats painful and possibly distressing to get through, I know it's weird :P

From the top of my head: Silent Hill 2, Prince of Persia 2008 (someone else mentioned these already though) and Velvet Assassin.

Persona 3, LA Noire, Saints Row: The Third.

@KillyDarko said:

From the top of my head: Silent Hill 2, Prince of Persia 2008 (someone else mentioned these already though) and Velvet Assassin.

Well, you won't have to worry about having fun while playing Velvet Assassin, that's for sure. I am a Velvet Assassin apologist, though, and the game does deal with some rather macabre and felonious subject material. You just have to get past the 'game' part.

@plaintomato said:

@jewunit said:

I would recommend Operation: PedoPriest.

WTF? I think what he's looking for is a high level of immersion...which is rare. I have the same problem, mere distraction is not enough anymore. And a title with pedo-anything in it just sounds effed up.

He asked for something disturbing in a follow-up post and I can think of little more disturbing than that game. You manage your priests so that they do not get caught "with their pants down", so to speak. It has a point amidst the awful theme though. Do not allow priests that count such heinous acts to merely be skirted off to a different congregation. They must be made accountable for their actions the same as any other member of society.

Planescape:Torment?

If you've got an iOS device, Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery. I know that sounds odd, but I was really depressed when I saw where that game was going. A great game that made me quite sad.

well silent hill 1-3 is more or less what you are looking for but then again they are old.

Saints Row Th- *Gets shot*

NieR deals with some pretty serious territory, especially on the New Game Plus.

Haha I don't think Duke Nukem is the kind of distress I quite want to go with :P

@DonutFever said:

Saints Row: The Third.

Wait a minute...

• Alan Wake
• Bioshock
• The Darkness
• Dead Space
• Dreamfall: The Longest Journey
• Fahrenheit
• Half-Life 2
• Kane & Lynch: Dead Men
• Mass Effect
• Metal Gear Solid Franchise
• Silent Hill 2

If I can add to this, I will.

It's interesting to see that even though a lot of these games are old they're still really popular, says a lot about writing good stories in games, I think I'm gonna jump into persona 3 (due to ease of access) wish I could play the dead space and alan wake, just never done good with horrow games, think I'll need to replay half life 2 again aswell.

@Ethan_Raiden: Dead Space isn't actually that great, not sure why I added it. Alan Wake is really good, but it starts to run out of steam. Silent Hill 2 is absolutely fantastic though, people say Bioshock has the best atmosphere, but it has nothing on this.

If I were to recommend one right now, I'd probably say Fahrenheit. That game blew me away.

Saints Row The Third.

EDIT: Seems like people have already said this.

In that case...Saints Row 2.

Limbo is pretty damn serious, Braid too. They don't naturally come to mind but thinking about it, those games were pretty serious, possibly even grim.

@jewunit said:

@plaintomato said:

@jewunit said:

I would recommend Operation: PedoPriest.

WTF? I think what he's looking for is a high level of immersion...which is rare. I have the same problem, mere distraction is not enough anymore. And a title with pedo-anything in it just sounds effed up.

He asked for something disturbing in a follow-up post and I can think of little more disturbing than that game. You manage your priests so that they do not get caught "with their pants down", so to speak. It has a point amidst the awful theme though. Do not allow priests that count such heinous acts to merely be skirted off to a different congregation. They must be made accountable for their actions the same as any other member of society.

Yeah, I guess your right about...looks like both he...and Game Informer, have taken an interest in I Have No Mouth & Must Scream. Well then, let's not forget about Oregon Trail - a game about how, as a consequence of your own choices, you lose all of your family and friends (who depend on you for leadership and to save them) to slow and painful deaths, one at a painful time, before succumbing yourself to a cold and lonely death far from any hope of salvation.

@Animasta said:

painful and depressing? Pathologic, The Void, Nier, Persona 2: Innocent Sin, really most SMT games aside from Persona 4,

Pathologic is probably the best choice for games that get you away from the "fun" of modern games, it's brilliant. The Void as well, but it's a bit dense if you cant figure out the mechanics. Metro 2033, Stalker (chernobyl, pripyat, clear skies) and Cryostasis: The Sleep of Reason also are not bad choices, and play reasonably well.

Persona 3 is a good one, even though it has it's goofy moments.