What was your first emotional moment in gaming?  I am not talking about jump scares or connection with a character, I mean the first time you could actually FEEL the extent of the events of the game's world.

For me it was Legend of Zelda OoT.  I remeber how cheery Hyrul was as I ran around meeting new people and collecting the three stones to prevent a madman from bringing ruin to the land.  I pulled the Master Sword from the pedestal ready to defend the realm...but that was not what happend.  In fact, the opposite was what I got.  I was hurled through time 7 years into the future.

As I left the temple of time, Castle Town was in ruins.  I felt so alone and feeling of disparity swam over me.  I was angry and sad at the same time.  My 10 year old brain couldn't handle it.  As I continued, the reality of the situation got even stronger.  Former allies were missing or dead and what used to be reality was nothing more than a memory.

I felt a true feeling of hopelessness, and it was downright depressing.  All of this however was the reason it felt so good to overcome all odds, and end the grip Ganon had on the land.

What about you all...what was your first truly emotional moment in gaming?

Final Fantasy VI. The moment when Kefka creates the World of Ruin. I vividly remember being despondent watching the world crack and people fall through. Knowing that I had done everything right, but still wasn't able to save the world was heart wrenching for my pre-teen self.

This, you nailed it :P

When some camper ruined my killstreak in CoD

When the battery of my Pokemon Gold cartridge died and I lost all my Pokemon. I cried like a baby that day.

Speaking about tech problems, when I first buy Majora's Mask, I was happy as fuck and then I realized it needed an Expansion Pack. Fuck, it took me one week to find one, I was totally devastated. Yours is a lot worse though.

I still miss my Meganium.

Yeah, Final Fantasy VI was a complete revelation for me, as well. The opera scene, in particular, made me feel like I was doing more than watching sprites on a screen. The character of Celes was conflicted, vulnerable, and thus all the more brave to continue onward. I think FF VI marked the first time I was emotionally invested in a game to that degree.

Final Fantasy Tactics had several emotional sequences that made me grit my teeth at the injustice. It was so honestly ahead of its time in that regard, as it ran straight forward into complex political and social issues related to class and wealth. I won't spoil, but there were deaths that were just so unfair and wrong that I just had to sit and absorb them for awhile.

ICO grabbed my heart from the beginning and shook it to pieces. I didn't even know a game had that potential before ICO came along. That's why it's cited as such an inspiration to many people in the industry now. When it came time to fight the Queen, I wanted to kill her like no other game villain before.

Most recently, Valkyria Chronicles. Bloody hell. After a certain event, I was so in shock that I stopped playing and didn't even want to look at my PS3 for two days. It hit me very hard.

The Opera House scene is one of my favorite scenes in gaming history.  I have a save file right at that point in the game on my PS3 that I will ocassionally go back into just to replay it again.

Final fantasy 7...... tears I tell you, tears.