We all play a lot of video games that have been praised for their gameplay, creative story, graphics, etc.

I'm looking for good video games that are also meaningful. The Last of Us is an example - it deals with deep themes like sacrifice, fate, loyalty, human nature, and the human situation. Deus Ex is also viable - it makes us question the morality of human modification, and how far we can go before we cross a line.

Minecraft isn't a very good example - in it, you run around, chop trees, build houses, and kill monsters. Creative and fun, but not meaningful and moral. Actually, see the quote below

What are some suggestions?

EDIT:
A quote: "The question is flawed, it's a lot like asking what the most meaningful book is a lot of different books are meaningful in different ways. Your example of minecraft being not meaningful already shows the limitation of what you consider meaning. Minecraft is very meaningful as an outlet of self expression and self exploration." -abyssion1337

Thoughtful and insightful. Interesting...

10 years ago*

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Bioshock

10 years ago
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Half life, It doesnt matter which one you choose this game is simply a fu*king masterpiece!! Revolutionizing shooters, has a great and emotional story... I honestly think its my favorite game of all time! Hate Valve for not giving us HL3 yet but i have faith.
this is all simply a opinion^^^

10 years ago
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In my opinion the series isn't that meaningful. It's plot, while being well-organized and thought-out, is straightforward to comprehend and doesn't have a lot of themes attached to it. Sure, in the plot people die, events happen, and revolution blinks, but the only questions I think it may ask pertain to the corruption of leadership (as in Wallace Breen), human freedom, and the modification of nature. And even that's a stretch.

10 years ago
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It had a lot of meaningful themes for me, over the course of the game like you mention corruption of leadership, Human Freedom, Modification of freedom. It also simply feels special i'm my heart as I fell in love with the Story. The mystery of The Government man is still completely unexplained, Curiosity as in What are the Overseers and what other planets there are. The Death at the end of it all was incredible emotional for me for unexplained reasons.. mainly because I guess I had grown to like the character in the game on a emotional level... I invested so much of myself into the game that when Episode 2 came to a close I had trouble playing games again as they all felt kind off lifeless and pointless. I haven't however played TLOU so I guess that could still take my top spot.

Ive never felt this way with a game since then although some have come close Walking dead for example

10 years ago
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Most of the cRPG players will tell you - Planescape: Torment. One of the greatest game with extraordinary characters and story.

10 years ago
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^ Not just the main story, but the game is full of moments, lots of them very minor and some with no impact on the gameplay at all, that still make you stop and think.

Knights of the Old Republic 2 also deserves a mention as a game that takes the black and white morality of its source material and stretches the hell out of it. Not really surprising given that it was developed by some of the same people who worked on Torment...

10 years ago
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I have never played any of the D&D games. I've been tempted to pick up the current GOG sale with Neverwinter Nights, Baldur's Gates, Planescape: Torment and others. My backlog is crazy, but maybe I'll just have to pick this pack up.

10 years ago
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Please do so right now. If you do, I will buy another copy of the entire pack and gift it. I don't care how big your backlog is, these games at least deserve to be on it.

10 years ago
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I just bought the entire pack. As I've said, I've never played any of them, but it seemed too good to pass up. I remember reading about the Baldur's Gate games back in PC Gamer magazine many years ago. Now I'll have to find a time to play them.

10 years ago
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You're good people, and my extra pack has already found a new home to a lucky GOG.com forum poster.

10 years ago
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I only now realize I should have been stocking copies of Torment while it's on sale on GOG.com. :-P Unfortunately I only managed to get one copy before my monthly budget was depleted.

To whoever redeems it, with all my love, WBZA-PMKT-FM7B-PNF6. If you do redeem it, please do play it.

10 years ago
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Thanks Nudiustertian! I redeemed it. My friend has been recommending me to play it. I'll definitely do play it.

10 years ago
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mass effect trilogy OFC

also brothers a tale of two sons is deep

10 years ago
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Why OFC?
The meaning has vanished after Part 1.

10 years ago
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pretty much.

10 years ago
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First titles that came through my mind:
Walking Dead and Little Inferno

10 years ago
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+1 TellTale's Walking Dead, obviously

10 years ago
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"You know nothing, Jon Snow !"
But in this case I'll have to agree with you. The Walking Dead is great.

10 years ago
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The Walking Dead (the Telltale one)

Explores the lengths people will go to survive, or to give up when they feel all hope is lost.

10 years ago
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+1

10 years ago
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Metal Gear Solid 3, about loyalty.

10 years ago
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Metal gear solid 3, here's why

10 years ago
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i didn't wanted to make that shot, mate. i didn't wanted to.

10 years ago
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10 years ago
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Front Mission 3 (PSX)

10 years ago
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spec ops the line one of the best stories in gaming history

10 years ago
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10 years ago
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Those feels

10 years ago
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As lauded Bioshock and Half-Life might be, I just realised that I haven't played a single really meaningful game, (apart from Passage maybe: clicky) that actually spoke to me. Yes, they were very thoughtful games, but they did very little to try to be meaningful, because their ideas were far too abstract to relate to me.
If anything, Bioshock 2 was much more meaningful to me than any of those. It really made me question what love was, and to love people more. And even then, it wasn't as meaningful as some other films or books I might have consumed.
What I find often is that developers treat gameplay and story separately, and there's a horrible dissonance. Developers start with, "well, it's a shooter" or "let's make a RTS", with no thought about how pans out story-wise.

10 years ago
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I took a look at Passage, and it does seem meaningful. Apparently the author created the game as a response to his ponderings about life and death. The game itself can be interpreted many ways, but is meant to represent the pattern of life.

10 years ago
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10 years ago
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Personally: Bastion did it for me, don't know why.
Mass Effect on a whole (all 3 games) are just an epic journey,which I still recall fondly.
The Walking Dead, due to stuff and stuff (won't spoil)
Remember Me; due to similar reasons as Deus Ex; just regarding memories.

In case you haven't noticed yet, I love these types of games :D

Edit:
Also Brothers - a Tale of Two Sons

10 years ago
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All the BioShock games I guess. They focus around how different political believes can be catastrophic when they are taken to the extreme and how too much ambition can/will lead to one's downfall... or something like that. I usually try to enjoy games rather than search for deeper meanings in them. :P

10 years ago
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The question is flawed, it's a lot like asking what the most meaningful book is a lot of different books are meaningful in different ways. Your example of minecraft being not meaningful already shows the limitation of what you consider meaning. Minecraft is very meaningful as an outlet of self expression and self exploration.

10 years ago
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now there's a smart post.a rare sight here props to you mr.

10 years ago
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Interesting. Are you saying that the outlet of expression (and how you use it) can reveal a little about yourself?

10 years ago
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That's exactly what I'm saying.

10 years ago
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Personal Opinion, but I disagree. That's like saying a paintbrush and canvas is meaningful, or similar.
Although, of course, this depends on the definition of "meaningful". Maybe it means "designed with purpose", in which case practically everything artificial becomes meaningful.
Which is now really annoying, because how do we define this word now?

10 years ago
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Except Meaningful has a definition. To the right person that paintbrush and canvas is very meaningful. That's the problem with using the word meaningful and by trying to exclude things from it. I think what OP was really asking for was cerebral or intellectual games.

10 years ago
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I'm not sure how appropriate the word "intellectual" might be. I'm seeing a lot of Bastion below, which wasn't very intellectual, but managed to be meaningful and honest, at least to some.
The problem with words is, does it mean what I meant it to mean, or what you think it to mean. The paintbrush of a skilled artisan can mean little in the hands of a fool, and likewise a factory produced cheapo can mean the world to a painter.

10 years ago
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You don't need to be a master painter to get something meaningful out of a paintbrush.

10 years ago
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I was thinking more of the paintbrush itself. I thought we were arguing about whether Minecraft was meaningful in itself to be called a meaningful game, or whether it required some sort of meaningful input.

10 years ago
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The most gameplay-intensive games are at the top, the less gameplay-intensive ones are at the bottom.

Spec Ops: The Line
Metal Gear Solid series
Bastion
Aquaria
A lot of JRPG's
To the Moon
Journey
Flower
Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery
The Plan
A lot of VN's, see xKomachi's thread for some recommendations

I tried to include mostly games that I think you'd find meaningful. Minecraft can be a very meaningful game, you just have to approach it differently.

10 years ago
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There are a lot of visual novels that deal with morality,but more in a way of lightly lollygagging around it rather than outright 'what would you do'(though those exist too). Narcissu,Katawa Shoujo and Swan Song are good examples.

10 years ago
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Heavy Rain. It makes you question your morality the entire time, i have played a lot of games, and this was the only one which truly made me think for an hour before a decision at the end of the game [SPOILER] which was poisoning myslef, and save my son for sure, but
could only spend some hours with him before i died, or not poisoning myself, but then miss the last clue to discover where my son was, so he could die if i chose the wrong place to go...[SPOILER].
Unfortunatly, only for PS3.

10 years ago
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All Bioshock games made me think about the world, politics, love, etc. Other than that Deus Ex (what makes us human) and Half Life. Spec Ops has a great ending, but there's not much to think about it other than when you make your last decision (because that is pretty much the only decision you make in the game anyway). Same with Walking Dead Season 1 - episode 2 had this really good theme, but other episodes were kind of shallow.

10 years ago
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I think you missed the whole point of Spec Ops.

10 years ago
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FLAPPY BIRDS!

10 years ago
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Totally.

10 years ago
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Minesweeper!

10 years ago
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10 years ago
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Braid

10 years ago
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Deus Ex (original and Human Revolution) really got me thinking about the future and possibility of human augmentations. Technology is advancing faster and faster and it's only a matter of time before we reach the point similar to that in Deus Ex.

STALKER: Shadow Of Chernobyl got me very interested in the Chernobyl disaster to the point of seeking documentaries about it and doing further reading on the topic.

Both games (and topics) are really quite fascinating.

10 years ago
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yes

10 years ago
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Super Meat Boy. Made me think a lot about dying. Dying again and again...

10 years ago
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Definetly Braid.

10 years ago
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Closed 10 years ago by michaelyfan.