Video games such as The Walking Dead and Red Dead Redemption 2 are meant to be fun, and for the most part, they are. However, every once in a while, developers yank at our heartstrings and give gamers a devastating ending.
Just like any form of entertainment, video games depend on their ending. No matter the medium, a good closure to a story gives a sense of unity, with narrative elements coming together for a proper closure. However, not all game endings are about hope. Some of the most legendary titles in gaming history end with heartbreak and sorrow.
Undoubtedly, these titles leave gamers depressed or hollow, but they also offer a chance to dive into difficult topics and engage in life-questioning conversations. From The Walking Dead to Red Dead Redemption 2, here are five games that left us emotional, distraught, and possibly in tears.
5. The Walking Dead
It’s an agreed fact among the gaming community that Telltale Games’ The Walking Dead: Season 1 features one of the saddest endings we’ve ever seen in a video game.
Taking inspiration from the legendary comic series of the same name, the game brings us to a post-apocalyptic world where humans are on the verge of extinction and must survive amidst a planet of walkers. The story in Season One follows Lee Everett and his efforts to save a young girl named Clementine.
After going through several horrifying experiences, Lee ends up getting bitten by a walker and begins to turn into one of them. This truly left players with a terrible choice of having Clementine kill him or leave him alone.
4. Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077 was a complete disaster at the launch, plagued by various issues, which CD Projekt eventually patched. Even though it’s not a perfect game, we can’t deny that its narrative stands as one of the best we’ve seen in the last decade.
By the end of the game’s story, players form a lovely bond between V and Johnny, which is why the ending hits really bad. Regardless of whatever choice you end up making, the ending will always feel empty, as you’ll never be able to escape the horrors of life in Night City.
3. Lisa: The Painful
Lisa: The Painful is set in a weird dystopian world where most of the women have died. Brad, a tolerant man who is talented in karate and killing, decides to take in a female baby.
He ends up naming her Buddy and raises her to eventually find out that she’s been kidnapped by people who hope to exploit her. He has a chance to end anyone who gets in the way, though at a great cost.
Brad ends up getting injured, and Buddy is angry at him, convinced he ruined any chance of having a future with her. As Brad dies, he requests to be held, which is up to gamers as to whether Buddy does too. After his body is left behind, we’re brought back to Brad only to get to know that he’s been mutated by a drug called “Joy” he was hooked on.
2. Final Fantasy X
Final Fantasy X‘s story follows Tidus and Yuna, a boy who is finding a way home after being teleported to Spira and a girl looking for the Final Aeon to take down the Sin that is a threat to her world.
Throughout their entire journey, they discover that Spira is trapped in a horrifying cycle where Sin is reborn after the Final Aeon is utilized to destroy the preceding one. With the help of their buddies, Tidus and Yuna must put an end to Sin’s cycle of rebirth.
However, that comes at the cost of Tidus’s life, as he is the physical manifestation of Fayth’s soul, which is freed by Yu Yevon’s demise. The game ends with Yuna saying goodbye to Tidus as he fades away.
1. Red Dead Redemption 2
There’s no doubt that Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the best open-world games we’ve seen in the last few decades. While John Martson’s death is avenged in the prequel, the same can’t be said for Red Dead Redemption 2‘s protagonist, Arthur Morgan.
One of the most depressing things while experiencing the game is that players already know that Morgan won’t make it to the end as he’s being crippled by tuberculosis.
Even though exactly how exactly Morgan is going to die comes down to players’ choices, people who opt for the path of brutality witness him dying to his wounds while watching a sunrise after fighting off Micah.
Do you have any other heartbreaking video game endings in mind? Let us know in the comments below!
