Just for the heads up, this thread will probably have a lot of spoilers. I'm gonna try to go vague on spoilers for anybody that hasn't played Hotline Miami 2. If you've played the game, you'll probably know what I mean, but I'm going to say some purposefully esoteric shit to keep it out of full spoiler territory.
My pick has to be Richter's plotline from Hotline Miami 2. One part that makes me cry is when Richard, arguably a god of death, helps Richter escape from his previous entanglement. In these games, Richard doesn't show up to help. He shows up when someone did some fucked up shit. Richard consistently shows up to help Richter though. He just tells him "run" in that moment and you feel the fucking urgency to get out like nothing else. One of the harder levels I've ever played, but holy shit I wanted Richter OUT. I was so frustrated with the game but I just would not stop until Richter had escaped.
Hotline Miami is a series of bad endings, but there are 2 happy conclusions in the sequel, both are direct consequences of Richter and his love for his mother. His ending isn't even THAT happy. But there's something about his final conversation with Richard that just made me fucking bawl the every time I played. Richter's indifference to what Richard is saying. He barely got any time to enjoy what he had been fighting for for years. But when he knew it was over, he was comfortable because he was just vibing with his mom in Hawaii like they had always wanted. He was just happy that he got to spend his last days with the person he loved the most.
His love for his mother can even give Evan, the writer, a happy ending where he picks up the letter instead of the pen. Richter's plotline manages to poignantly deliver the point of Hotline Miami 2 in one short and digestible bit. Love the people you hold close. Wanting violence only brings violence. The only way forward to true peace is accepting whatever terrible situations you're in and just going forward.
I could rant about this forever. It was just such an amazing part of the game. What are your favorite emotional moments from games?
The final dream in Disco Elysium. After picking up clues all game about your past, your broken relationship and the reasons you are the way you are, the heart wrenching emotional impact had me reeling. Not mention it's written and voice-acted beautifully.
Suddenly everything makes sense as Harry gets constantly dressed-down, his futile attempts to cling to the past denied and his insanity laid bare. The letter in the ledger, the little Headless FALN rider figurine, the obsession with Dolores Dei, that awful phonecall on the payphone, everything comes together in a beautiful climax of absolute sadness, ending on that devastating final line:
"This is real darkness. It's not death, or war, or child molestation. Real darkness has love for a face. The first death is in the heart, Harry.
See you tomorrow"
For me, it was the Precarious World thought, and again after the final cut released with the Communist quest ending.
::: "How not to lose? It is impossible not to. The world is balanced on the edge of a knife. It’s a game of frayed nerves. You’re pushed on by numbers and punitive measures: pain, rejection, and unpaid bills. You can either play or you can crawl under a boat and waste away -- turn into salt or a flock of seagulls. Your enemies would love that. Or you can fight. The only way to load the dice is to keep on fighting." :::
And more succinctly
::: "In the dark times, should the stars also go out?" :::
I've been struggling off and on with depression for the better part of my life, and each time I read these it just hits me like a sack of bricks. The recontextualization of the struggle.