

Maybe an outside one here, but when Dragon Age: Origins was still new, I was much younger and hadn’t had a serious girlfriend yet. And in general, I got quite a bit more attached to characters in games, including the romantic interests especially.
Spoilers ahead if you haven’t beaten the game
spoiler
At the end of the game, my character died and I had romanced the character Leliana. The end screen shows a somber note about Leliana being heartbroken and wandering the world missing the character.
Something about that really struck something in me and made me extremely sad. I think it’s probably the only time I’ve ever really cried because of a video game.
I can’t actually find a reference to this ending online. The wiki isn’t 100% complete. Otherwise, I would have linked the blurb here.
Now a days I struggle to connect with characters in games. They will never be as real as my friends or my partner, so it’s hard to form such an emotional connection as I did when I was a teenager.
I think you’ve got a bit of a strawman going here
Those who complain about the environmental impacts of AI almost invariably complain about flights and beef as well