9 Video Games That Played With Your Emotions

There are 3 stages brought on by Final Fantasy games:

1. Denial - refusal to believe that any of these fantasies are "final", as they're now up to part 15.

2. Bargaining - you can have all my gil, just let me reach the next destination without facing another random battle with a Flan.

3. Despair - Aeris isn't coming back, is she?

Final Fantasy VII was the blockbuster baby of the Final Fantasy series. With an enticing movie-like trailer, it was clear this entry was intent on creating a cinematic, more dramatic, experience for the player. And nothing is more dramatic than the death of a main character.

Aeris was set up as the potential love interest for Cloud, your impossibly-haired playable hero. But she was no more than a sacrificial lamb halfway through, as you stared in adolescent shock when Sephiroth cuts her down in cold blood.

Permanent deaths in video games, especially in the FF series, were not rare. But few delivered such an emotional impact on the player as the tragic passing of Aeris did.