10 Video Games You Weren’t Expecting To Make You Cry

5. Silent Hill: Shattered Memories

Silent Hill is known for being a terrifying series but one under-appreciated aspect of Konami's survival horror games is their ability to provoke deep thoughts and emotions - while exploring the foggy streets of Silent Hill, players are also inadvertently exploring the fragile psyche of the game's characters. Shattered Memories is a reboot of sorts for the series, reimagining the events of the first game in an alternate universe setting. The title refers to protagonist Harry Mason and his inability to correctly recall the events that led to his arrival in Silent Hill. Interestingly, the story is told via two different means - players explore Silent Hill on foot and also shift to the present day where Harry is in a therapy session. It's a unique way of fleshing out a character and creating an uneasy impression of them - Shattered Memories really nails this aspect. The sob story reveals itself very late on, as it turns out that Mason has actually been dead for eighteen years; the person in therapy is actually his now adult daughter Cheryl, who is receiving treatment as she is unable to let go of the memory of her father. It's a shocking turn of events and, like the best plot twists, paints question marks over every significant event in the game. Depending on the player's actions, more revelations are shown about Harry's life before the car crash too, adding to the emotional drama of the ending scenes. Players might have expected Silent Hill to scare them to tears, but to discover a genuinely sad story about a grieving daughter and the literal shattered memories of her father is truly awesome.