The end of Tales of Vesperia.

It was insanely sad, because the game ended. Worst time of any game, ever. I played New Game (twice), but it just wasn't the same, since I knew the game had to end again at some point . . .

A certain person's death in Chrono Trigger

Way too many to mention in my books but I'll try to list them in point form :P

Now for the sad:

- The ending of MGS3 and MGS4 had me totally locked into what was going on. A little teary eyed maybe? pfft who am I kidding, it had me sniffling lol

- Heavy Rains ending.. need I say more without spoiling it?!

And now for a bit of happy :D

- GOW 3. As I was tearing through all the gods I would constantly burst out "ohs" and "yeaahhhsss"

- Uncharted 2. It's pretty obvious why.

- Mass Effect 1 & 2. Both games did an amazing job keeping you on the edge of your seat waiting for the next cinematic moment to happen.

- MAG. Completing my first 256 player match with a good K/D ratio made me feel absolutely great.

Now there's obviously more happy/sad gaming moments that I have experienced but I figured I would just elaborate on the current generation of games instead of going over the past 17 years :P

MGS3: The Salute....

MGS4: Old Snake

The people that played the games know what I'm talking about.

Mass Effect 1: Virmire. You know what I'm talking about if you played it.

Valkyria Chronicles: It was mentioned before but what happens with Isara.

Mass Effect 2: The intro. Thanks a lot Joker.

Lost Odyssey: Aformentioned Bedroom scene.

Dragon Age Origins: Human Noble Origin and City Elf Origins.

Final Fantasy X: Tidus fades away in Yuna's arms.

Suikoden V: What happens to Arshtat and her king...

Gears of War 2: Dom's reunion with his wife

Baten Kaitos Origins: The ending and realizing who Sagi and Milly were....

Ahhh you youngsters, Can't believe no ona has mentioned FF7 Aerith's death, everyonce in a while I listen to the game soundtrack, also ff6 opera, But nothing compared to my excitement when I first popped Ocarina of time on my N64 for the First time, I spent all thanksgiving day playing it, ahhh good times.

I can't believe I left out the FFVI opera scene. Fail on my part. I didn't find Aerith's death too emotional. I had already figured it out from the FFVII commercials. Nei's death in Phantasy Star 2 was more emotional for me as I didn't see it coming.

Hmm.  The following titles have all provoked what I would call "a strong emotional response" due to elements of great pacing and character or mood plus some memorable moments or levels:

1 - Ico

2 - Shadow of the Colossus

3 - Flower

4 - Cloud

5 - Silent Hill 2

6 - System Shock 1 & 2

7 - Uncharted 2

8 - Valkyria Chronicles

9 - Portal (awesome, awesome use of mood and tone and pacing and cake)

10 - Half Life 2 plus Episodes

11 - Vampire Masquerade : Bloodlines

12 - Siren Blood Curse

13 - Call of Cthulhu Dark Corners of the Earth

14 - Amnesia Dark Descent

15 - Thief 3

16 - Halo CE (the good version on PC - I keed I keed)

Some more recent examples without going back to the days of stuff like Westwood's excellent Blade Runner title.

I like some of the moments/cutscenes in stuff like Final Fantasy / MGS etc but I find I just can't quite connect with their more erratic tone and nature and approach.  RPGs in general I always seem to find a mismatch between gameplay style and narrative.  It's hard to put my finger on why as they're often loaded with 'big moments' in cutscenes, but they never quite work for me.

Well I was quite shocked actually when I first witnessed Aeriths death. At the age I was then, I never saw something like that in a videogame before (excluding the brutal stuff in MGS) but with so much damn emotion. I dropped the controller and wondered wtf just happened. Plus the thought of putting exp into her for what? lol

Layton and the Unwound Future ending, no spoilers