A Tearful RPG Memory
Jenova Chen, the designer linked with indie favorites such as Flower and Journey, has pointed to Final Fantasy 10 as one of the games that helped push him toward making games himself. The reason was not a system, a boss fight, or a clever menu. It was emotion.
Chen has said that he cried over Final Fantasy 10, and it is easy to understand why that moment stayed with him. The game follows Tidus and Yuna through a story built around sacrifice, love, and a repeating apocalyptic threat. For many players, its ending remains one of the great heartbreaks in the Final Fantasy series.
Why The Ending Stayed With Him
Final Fantasy has never been shy about big feelings. Across the series, players have met tragic heroes, painful goodbyes, and scenes designed to linger after the console is switched off. Even in that company, Final Fantasy 10 has a special reputation as a tearjerker, with Japanese gamers also rating it highly among gaming's most emotional endings.
For Chen, the important part was not simply that the game made him sad. It was that the feeling followed him beyond the screen. He remembered waking up one day, going to wash his face, and finding himself thinking about a character from the game. That small, ordinary moment showed how deeply the story had settled in his mind.
The Film Connection
Chen compared this kind of creative spark to the stories behind some filmmakers. He brought up Peter Jackson, describing how Jackson was taken by his father to see King Kong when he was young. The sight of the huge ape climbing the Empire State Building became a shocking, unforgettable image.
That comparison says a lot about how Chen thinks about games. A powerful scene can become more than entertainment. It can become a personal reference point, the kind of memory that makes someone wonder how an artwork was able to reach them so strongly.
Silence After The Story
Chen also connected the idea to something discussed in film school. In his view, an average film may end with people leaving the theater while chatting and smiling. A truly powerful one can leave the audience quiet, still turning it over in their heads.
That was how Final Fantasy 10 affected him. The emotional weight did not vanish when the game ended. It created the kind of silence that made him feel games could carry the same force as memorable cinema, and that feeling became part of why he wanted to work in the medium.
Z-retro's view is that this story is a useful reminder of why older games still matter: their technology ages, but a sincere emotional moment can keep speaking to players and creators for years.
