Surprisingly Emotional Story Moments [ SPOILERS ]

[GRIDBUG]

Not sure if there's already a thread for this (of if this is the right place to start one) but I wanted to share this with the SWTOR community, both the player base and the devs as well. Like the title says, class story moments that made you actually feel something and that continue to resonate for some time after.

 

I've got two in particular.

 

The first one is the Smuggler. It's the resolution of the Trick Or Treat mission on Hoth, specifically the moment you realize that the cloaking generator you've been seeking is actually...

 

"A Force-sensitive Kitonak, Trick was enslaved by Shai Tenna, a leader of the White Maw pirates during the Cold War between the Galactic Republic and the resurgent Sith Empire. During his time in slavery, Trick was bashed in the skull and became brain-damaged and could only connect with the Force when he feared for his life. To this end, the White Maw pirates began to torture him in order to abuse his power to cloak their ship in the Force as they moved through space."

 

The reveal, the dialogue between his caregiver and the creature himself, and finding out that he's been routinely tortured by his captors in order to create the cloaking effect hit me like a ton of bricks. It's a bit rare to get that much depth and pathos in a video game, and this was a defining moment for both me as a player and my character. Yes, I choked up a little, and no, I'm not ashamed to admit it.

 

The second moment was during the Trooper mission in which you're faced with the option to either save or sacrifice Ava Jaxo. I literally sat there for several minutes trying to work out in my head and my heart what the best decision was to make, and ultimately I decided to sacrifice her in order to save the rest. I immediately regretted it, but decided to honor the decision in order to see how the rest of my Trooper's arc played out.

 

I'll never forget those moments, and I'm both impressed and grateful that Bioware made the decision to go there when they could just as easily have over-simplified things. It's the little touches that make the difference, and these were moments that I'll never forget.

 

And that's my story.

 

[Vicentegrev]

On the second account I disagree. In another thread I opined how obvious a choice it was to spare a whole unit versus Jaxo. I feel Saving Sergeant Jaxo was there for selfish or corrupt officers or those that were pursuing her psuedo-romance option.

 

in your first account though I have to agree, it was heart wrenching.

 

to submit my own two albeit from a different interpretation of 'emotional': the first is in the Agent's Act Two finale on Quesh. Your character has suffered from a mind control and brainwashing and numerous times were you a prisoner in your own body until finally you've overcome it and you have your first real moment with the perpetrators before they've realized you've broken the mind control. Its a crossroads moment where you must choose to put your emotions behind you or take your revenge. One of my favorite video game quotes of all time is in my signature below from when my Agent decided enough was enough and that these people would pay for being party to what they had done to her.

 

the second moment was the Act 1 finale for the Bounty Hunter. The target is a Jedi master on the bridge of the ship in which you've just landed. As soon as you board its a roaring romping rampage as you slaughter all the ships defenders between you and your target. On your way there you find your rival, your antagonist, the one person who has done the most to cause you to fail going sofar as to murder the surrogate family of your companion and friend. He has been captured and is at your mercy but tries to appeal to your sense of honor by requesting that you free him for a fair fight, a gentleperson's duel. Your companion wishes him dead for what he'd done to her family but doesn't want to see his blood shed, instead hoping you'll leave him there in his cell to await the coming sabotage and explosion. My hunter had another idea, opening the cell to grant this man his fair fight only to see my hunter draw her pistol and with a sneer shoot him in his chest because some people deserve exactly what happens to them.

 

Once on the bridge the Jedi and his padawan try to dissuade you, the mind trick you, until finally the Jedi realizes there is nothing left but to fight. Outmatched they fall, and weeping the padawan clutches her dead master. She is overcome with agony and pain and lost until my hunter again drew her pistol and silenced the cries. The hunter's partner is shocked, but silenced by a sharp word. Together they sabotage the ship and flee, triumphant.

 

after finishing that mission I felt so pumped, literally my heart was surging in my chest as I came down from a brutal, bloody adrenaline high. I felt powerful, I felt dangerous, and later returning to be crowned the winner of the Great Hunt I felt victorious. It was amazing

[DomiSotto]

OMG, so many! This game has tons of awesome stuff! Off the top of my head:

 

In Smuggler’s story: Miel’s death. Really cut me up. Seeing that woman scrubbing the floors on her hands and knees. Oh how the mighty have fallen…

 

In Trooper’s story: when I shot the Imperial who murdered civilians on Elara’s bidding. A bonding moment with Aric when we were chasing Vik: “That’s BS, Sir!” that one banter made me love Aric.

 

In Consular’s story: “Zenith, show yourself!” scene; Speaking to the people of free Balmorra. Zenith’s exclamation: “Still love saying that!” about Balmorra being free, him shooting that datapad & telling the Con he’s staying. Iresso’s love letter about the old holovid that made him join the army.

 

In Warrior’s story: Taking Vette’s collar off. On Taris – destroying the Republic super droid & then scavenging it; fighting your ‘other’ side; killing Barras

 

In Inquisitor’s story: Zash’ big reveal and her subsequent co-habitation with Khem; freeing the ghosts in the conclusion

 

In any story: Confronting Uglo.

[CrutchCricket]

On the second account I disagree. In another thread I opined how obvious a choice it was to spare a whole unit versus Jaxo. I feel Saving Sergeant Jaxo was there for selfish or corrupt officers or those that were pursuing her psuedo-romance option.

You may disagree that it was a hard decision for you but writing off saving Jaxo as only for the selfish or corrupt is hardly fair. The dilemma doesn't just resolve to one vs many. It's specifically designed to also incorporate the idea of faceless masses vs a close emotional connection that also happens to be begging for her life. Are you absolutely certain you could do it? Sacrifice a close friend, a loved one, maybe even a family member for strangers you've never met? Don't answer, I'm not calling you out on it, I'm just saying there's a lot more than math and utilitarianism going on here. Obviously if you never developed that connection even at a superficial NPC level then this doesn't apply. But if you did make the connection it is neither selfish nor corrupt to take it into consideration.

 

And yeah Tarro Blood was a goon who deserved to be put down. He had no honor.

 

Other moments: Kira's arc in the Knight story. All of it.

The reveal of her past and confrontation of it, standing by her in front of the Council, helping her break free of the Emperor's control, having her do the same to you later, the culmination of the romance. The moment of peril before attacking the Emperor (especially since I didn't know at that point that companions can't die.) Even the "Robes" email had such a simple yet heartfelt appeal, it was not overly mushy or romantic but it definitely struck a cord.

 

After breaking free of the Emperor's control and turning on the overseer when he tries to make you torture her I kept thinking of the good ending from Force Unleashed specifically when Kota tells Juno "Amidst all his dark thoughts I sensed one beacon of light, one thing that gave me hope... it was you". I wish there was a way we could've expressed that here.

 

 

Nadia's romance was also surprisingly emotional. A bit abrupt, but pleasantly so.

 

Powerful moments: The Agent Ending

where you take the Black Codex for yourself, erase your identity, free yourself from the shackles of the Sith and become a living myth. Good God was that amazing. It's everything I would want in that type of a story. I was reeling and giddy for days afterwards.

 

Edited November 17, 2014 by CrutchCricket

[Gwena]

How Nadia joined your crew was really sad to me.

 

My heart just went out to the poor sweet girl who had lost her dear, loving father in such a terrible way. I just wanted to give her a hug (and maybe sign her up for therapy, lol).

 

I think it is funny how one person's, "this is such a powerful story!" moment is another person's "ugh" moment when it comes to NPC's in stories. If you love the NPC involved, it has the intended effect and makes the story all the more powerful and emotional. But if you don't like the NPC, it makes for a "meh" moment at best and a "ugh, really?" moment at worst.

 

For example, Kira rubbed me the wrong way so I found myself rolling my eyes and getting annoyed at her horning in on the story. I didn't mind her at first, but by the end of act 1 I wanted to dump her on Tython just so she'd stop being shoved at me in cutscenes. Yet, many people adore Kira and so her importance enhances the story greatly for them.

Edited November 18, 2014 by Gwena

[CloudCastle]

My most emotional moments (that I can recall now anyway, ha ha) were:

 

Agent: I pretty much spent the entire story on the edge of my seat, rushing to the next destination to see what would happen next. But I particularly loved:

 

1. Walking into Ardun Kothe's office and then walking back out changed and terrified. I never saw it coming and was completely floored.

 

2. The moment when Watcher X told me, "The Republic was only using what the Empire had already put in your mind." My jaw dropped open and I think I even let out a nice, meaty, "Nooooo!" at my screen.

 

3. When Vector showed me his real, non-joiner eyes. I don't think I've seen a companion cut scene that quite moved me like that one did. Even more heart-wrenching was when I played around with conversation choices and discovered that you can act frightened and annoyed instead of happy and amazed. Vector calls after you and the way he says, "Agent, stop!" just broke my heart.

 

Warrior: My favorite parts of this story were acting like a bada** and corrupting, err, I mean, "liberating" Jedi to the Dark side.

 

1. I especially loved breaking Master Timmns on Belsavis. The scene went something like this:

 

Timmns: "Ok, lets put Dark Ekkage back in her cell."

 

Warrior: "Uh, no. She needs to die."

 

Timmns: "You are going to kill her?!"

 

Warrior: "I'm not going to kill her, you are."

 

[Various manipulative blackmail ensues, culminating in Master Timmns killing Darth Ekkage in cold blood.]

 

Timmns: "I feel less than I was."

 

I felt like a true Sith at that moment and it was awesome.

 

Trooper: Accidentally letting the senator get blown up by a terrorist bomb. Oops. I felt bad about that and Garza was furious!

 

Inquisitor:

 

1. End of Chap 2 moment when you lose control and even Thanaton acts shocked, saying, "You fool! What have you done? You can't control that much power!"

 

Me thinking, "Oh yes I c-....oh, no I can't." [world implodes.]

 

2. Killing the Voss that helped you and then taking his soul as another ghost for your collection. I think it is one of the more evil choices in the game and a truly nasty betrayal. I was horrified, but I didn't escape out of it because I do think it's what my super DS sorceress would have done.

 

Bounty Hunter: Going to that triumphant party and finding all your new friends have been massacred. That tore me up.

 

Jedi: End of Chap 2 cut scene was pretty awesome, and the thrill I felt at sneaking through the space station after I "came to" was fun.

 

Smuggler: Pretty much every hilarious line that made me laugh out loud.

 

Consular: Guessing on who the traitor was on my ship early on and then feeling vindicated when I got it right.

 

And so many more, but I'll stop now.

Edited November 18, 2014 by CloudCastle

[Morrolan]

Agree about the smuggler on Hoth and the Jaxo decision. I would add to that the Bounty Hunter end of Act 2 moment where your compatriots are slaughtered by the jedi. It elevated the whole bounty hunter story for me and made that jedi my most hated character in the game who I couldn't wait to kill.

 

Another one too is my final decision in the Agent story to retain the black codex and go independent. That was a real **** yeah moment.

[Yezzan]

I must agree that I had to contemplate whether to save Jaxo or Kill her off. It wasn't exactly an emotional moment for me, per se but it did give me pause.

 

I approached it from a rational point of view. What would I do if I was personally put in that position? The choice became clear, I had to save as many people as I could. In any event, there was no good decision since someone had to die. It boiled down to choosing the lesser of two evils based on your vantage point.

 

Counselor: I kind of understand the grief that Yuon Par et al felt at leaving Parkanas to a terrible fate. To know that they survied at his expense was a heavy burden. The obvious choice was to free Parkanas of Morrhage's influence and redeem him to the light side.

 

Bounty Hunter: I haven't finished this story yet but the idea that a Jedi Master would conspire with the Supreme Chancelor to frame someone is unthinkable. That idiot mandalorian got what he deserved, he killed himself in the end.

 

Jedi Knight: Tol Braga's defeat at the emperor's hand was a wake up call. He was broken and he lost all hope. The things that he believed him, that made him who he was became void. In his eyes evil had triumphed and it was the death of hope. The atrocities he committed was not due to the emperor's influence but because he really believed the light side, the Jedi dogma; all that he was, failed him. I felt it was my duty to guide him back to the light. Seeing the quintessentail Jedi begged me to end his life was touching.

[Darth_Advent]

I really love animals, so for me it was laying it on a little thick in the Imperial story for Corellia when Merkel begs for the survival of her warren while the game plays sappy music with the right end of the piano and soft violins.

 

The entire conclusion of the Inquisitor story from Thanaton's defeat to the final speech issued by the player character accomplished that feat of making me feel as if I'd come a long distance and achieved great things after coming from nothing. It was the most a single class narrative came to feeling like a single player game's wrap-up for me.

 

However the agent storyline had the most pull with me because of how I determined my operative's personality. He's a patriot who grew up admiring and idolizing the great Sith heroes of the past. Being commended and chosen as Darth Jadus' favorite intelligence asset in Act 1 was pretty much his boyhood dream come true. However, when faced with the reality that his Lord intended to bring incomprehensible havoc in the Empire during a time when it should be consolidating and conserving, he made the painful and terrifying choice to try and beat Jadus at his own mind games.

 

The dialog option afterwards where the character pinches the bridge of his nose and says, "I don't ever want to have to do anything like that again..." couldn't have been more perfect.

 

It was also something of a sting when he chose to surrender the black codex to the dark council and received the cold shoulder from the Minister of Intelligence (formerly Keeper). Wasn't it his duty? Didn't he prove what Darth Jadus had been talking about in Act 1 with more constructive methods in freeing himself from the brainwahing? That the principles that make the Sith great can be used to free and empower even those not touched by the Force. Now the Empire will have a new intelligence agency where the Sith and Imperial subjects serve together. He did well, yes?

 

I'm just pleasantly surprised by how the personality I chose to gave my agent overlaps so well with the class' writing. The agent's unique personal fear in the Oricon story even matches up well: "Every day I lie and manipulate. Every day I risk losing sight of my purpose... of forgetting why I even do this!"

[ThirdDementor]

Vette's final mission and aftermath, plus last conversation.

 

 

So Vette finds her mother's location, only to discover her mother died a few days earlier due to exhaustion, worked to death by her greedy Hutt owner. Vette's sister Tivva suggests they go and kill the Hutt, and this is where the Warrior shines. I also found this a lot more touching as a dark side Warrior. Easy for a lightside to pick the lightside option, but for a ruthless killing machine to show such depth when it comes to his/her "little sister" Vette - that, above all else, signifies the unlikely yet powerful bond that forms between them.

 

Warrior: "You're not cut out for that sort of thing, Vette. You will die a little inside."

Vette: "And this from a Lord of the Sith. You're right, of course."

Tivva: "This is our mother we're talking about, Ce'na! Our mother!"

Vette: "Let it go. There's been enough pain in this family."

 

Aftermath conversation:

 

Vette: "Hey. You saved my life. You know that, don't you? I don't mean literally. Okay maybe I would have died in that Hutt's bolt hole. But either way, I wouldn't have come back the same girl."

Warrior: "I can be the dark force of revenge. You just be Vette."

 

Ahh, the feels.

 

And the last conversation:

 

Vette: "Just so you know, I'm here for the long term. Through apprentices trying to kill you and all the rest of the crazy, I'll be here."

Warrior: "It is good to have you by my side, Vette. It always has been."

Vette: "You too, oh sweetest of Sith Lords. You too."

 

 

 

[fdbgjfdhjgkjdhsg]

When you have to choose between letting Jaxo die or freeing the prisoners in the Trooper storyline.

[Exosasa]

When you kill Overseer Harkun. That felt so good. Something about the sound and look of the lightning made it feel uber powahful.