Not sure if it quite captures what you're saying, but I'd put Dwarf Fortress up as an extreme example. I guess it's not first person, so that takes a bit out of the metaphor.

I built guard squads over decades, and an elite vampire squad, all decked out in glittering steel. Watching the captain die to an animated finger of a fallen comrade was one of the most vivid video game memories i have. I still have some vitriol for that pink 'Ñ' as well. In retrospect, it's kinda odd, being ticked off at a letter. But that letter represented the forces of darkness that slowly overcame and destroyed what i'd worked for weeks to build.