It's pretty cool seeing so many fondly remember the golden age of FF. I didn't grow up with FF or JRPGs at all outside of Pokémon and the Mario RPGs. I still fondly reflect on the games I did grow up on, but I do get the sense at times that I missed out on something special. 

The laou 1 & 2. They evoked everything from Hapiness to depression to anger to pite to hate. Red dead redemption evoked the same. The souls series is s a surprising one, you can go from feeling like you're on a power trip to feeling volulnerable to feeling euphoric really fast, they teach you a lot in show to handle more negative emotions like anger and have seriously given me a cooler head, on that tried to persevere instead of giving up. Lots of games induce anxiety in me, Rouge likes for example whe you're on a good run and things are starting to dwindle, properly tuned racing games whe you're fighting for first after a long race nearing the end etc.. Flower and Death Stranding brought me into very zen like states of calmness with slight euphoria. I stopped feeling nostalgia in the last few years or at least strongly nostalgic, kinda jaded in that way but I'm thankful for it as it prevents me from chasing games that would waste my time when there is new stuff to be played.

When it comes to sheer joy, actual tears of joy, that would be Astrobot Rescue Mission. That was pure magic playing it for the first time.

@LegitHyperbole Dunno if adrenaline is an emotion... but online racing does bring that in spades. As well as joy, anger, shame (when accidentally ruining someone else's race) and when matchmaking fails horribly, boredom.

Death stranding was indeed very zen, very relaxing to play and keep playing. Nowadays Puzzling places fills that spot, very relaxing with a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction of discovering new places.

Bioshock Infinite: The game really made me care about Elizabeth, so that several story beats in the final hours of the game were devastating.

Hellblade: As someone who has experienced significant struggles with mental health, Senua's story really spoke to me, and her raw humanity and courage were deeply touching.

Xenoblade 3: One of the only games to make me tear up. Those who've played it will know the part.

Subspace Emissary is the best Single Player experience on a fighting game that I ever experienced. Agreed.

I would say The Walking Dead Season 1 from Telltale. This game is amazing. Too bad in Season 2 they tried to make the player cry every 5 minutes, but it become way too annoying. So yeah, Season 1 was much better.

Advanced V.G. has quite a sad story mode, since...

Crisis Core Final Fantasy VII.

I knew every step forward I took playing Zack will lead to the ending. The worst part is that as you're playing him you see how cool and awesome his character is and you just don't want the game to reach the ending.

T_T

I have played it indeed. I enjoyed it, but it never came close to what the movies are for me. In truth I never thought anything would ever come close to what the movies are for me, but the 2021 game proved me wrong.

Yeah I play or used to play mostly Nintendo, but even I payed SotC. Played it a lot. Loved that game. Many Zelda games do it for me as well Sometimes just simple moments.

The entire Sigmund Corp. Trilogy:

To the Moon

Finding Paradise

Impostor Factory

All these three stories managed to touch my heart in ways that very few games, movies or books have managed to. They usually go very cheap on Steam (especially the first two) and they are very short (3-4 hours tops each) so I recommend everyone to play them.

The music is top notch too:

Cyberpunk 2077 + Phantom Liberty. Damn you, CDPR. The level of emotional depth and breadth is unparalleled and borderline traumatizing.