Name games with sad endings - Possibly spoilers

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Metalix Knightmare

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You bunch of wussies. Do you know what all those games you mentioned have in common? You still have the sense that you did good things. Your character's journey has ended, but the world is a better place through their sacrifice. You want a game with a sad ending? One where things would actually be better if your main character just never even bothered? Try freaking Nier!

In his attempts to reunite with his daughter, Nier has essentially doomed the human species to extinction, and in order to save Kaine's life, he sacrifices his own life so thoroughly that he's been wiped out entirely from existance to the degree that it completely wipes out your own save, and no one remembers him! God DAMN it Cavia!

Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go play Return to Dreamland. Nier always puts me in a dark place mentally.
 

Right Hook

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The first Diablo, you shove that shard that contains him into your head to prevent him from infecting others, after all that work you have to fight against the constant corruption of your soul as he immediately tries to seize hold of you.
 

Metalix Knightmare

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malestrithe said:
Nier has a sad ending. Actually, bittersweet.
Bittersweet? BITTERSWEET!? Did you not get all of the endings or something!? Any of the endings are pretty bleak, and the last one renders everything you've done almost entirely meaningless!
 

malestrithe

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Metalix Knightmare said:
malestrithe said:
Nier has a sad ending. Actually, bittersweet.
Bittersweet? BITTERSWEET!? Did you not get all of the endings or something!?
Well aware of the 4 endings, guy.

Main character gets what he wants, but loses everyone and everything else important to him is the definition of bittersweet.
 

BehattedWanderer

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Infamous 2. Holy crap, man. It pulled emotional heart strings I didn't know I had. It was so sad, it invented emotions for me to have. I'm getting a lump in my throat just thinking about it.
 

McShizzle

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The ending of Full Throttle was kinda sad, Ben and Maureen were just never meant to be.
 

Aric Flowers

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ME3 Control Ending. That DAMN sad piano playing over Shepard falling to the ground while he's trying to get his hands on the levers. This one seemed more touching than the others because it's all willpower and fitting for my renegade. Well fitting from the options we were given.
 

Davey Woo

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The Critic said:
Sad Endings? I don't think it gets much sadder than the end to Red Dead Redemption....

John Marston ends up getting killed for his past, even though he's done his best to redeem himself and to settle down and start anew. He manages to save the lives of his son and wife, but Abigail dies a couple years after he does, and Jack does what his father most certainly did NOT want him to do: follow in his footsteps.

It's really sad. from just the hopelessness of John's last playable sequence to the sadness of seeing his grave, and then seeing his wife's grave right next to it. But perhaps the saddest thing is going through the game's final quest, leading Jack to finally avenging his father, and just finding out about Edgar Ross (John's killer), and then finally killing him. Even as he falls in the duel, the victory seems hollow, and you don't really feel like you've won, just like you've led Jack to becoming what his father desperately wanted him to avoid: an outlaw, just like dear old dad, back in the day.
Not only have you managed to ninja me with my suggestion, you also described exactly, no really EXACTLY, why I found the ending so sad. I was almost brought to tears at the ending for this game, and it's the only game that's ever happened with.
 

Elamdri

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pilouuuu said:
OK, there has been a lot of talking about endings recently thanks to Bioware. What do you think about sad endings? As much as I believe in having an artistic vision I think that games are not movies and the whole point is that you can get a different ending according to your performance in the game.

I hope that after this turmoil developers will pay more attention to game endings. In the past I could understand developers not expecting anyone to reach the ending, but nowadays games are so easy that they have to make good and multiple endings!

What's your opinion on the matter? Do you remember many games with sad endings? Another World was pretty bittersweet if I remember correctly.

P.S.: captcha: dog's breakfast. Maybe that's what endings are in games nowadays.
Are we talking about games where the ending is sad because you didn't perform 100% in the game and so you got a "Bad" ending like Heavy Rain, or are we talking about a game where the only ending is a sad ending.

Some other people mentioned it, but I think Red Dead Redemption is the winner in this category.
 

The Madman

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The Longest Journey and Dramfall: The Longest Journey both have quite... melancholy endings. I have to say the ending for Longest Journey in particular left me in a bit of a funk for days, and finding out what happened later in Dreamfall didn't much help either especially consider that game also left me a bit down.

That's why it's so important this series is finished, with characters that good they deserve at least one happy ending. Please.
 

MMSouthpawVIII

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kman123 said:
I might as well pull my Darkness example out again. I slather all over this as much as Yahtzee does with Silent Hill 2/Prince of Persia.

In the end you kill the bad guy, but the Darkness consumes you and you basically go to hell. You've lost your one true love, and get to spend a few moments with her in some sort of purgatory before you're swallowed up into hell. It's dark man.
"Am I dreaming?"
This is always my go to answer anytime anything about sad games is brought up
 

immortalfrieza

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EVERY Fatal Frame game, the entire series is just one downer ending after another.

Each game in the series has 3 endings, a really really depressing ending, a bittersweet ending, and a happy ending, the latter two you get because you beat the game on a higher difficulty. What makes this the saddest series for me is the fact that the saddest ending is always the canon one, usually when games that multiple endings have direct sequels they usually follow either the middle or best endings, not the Fatal Frame series. If you've never played the series, pick it up, it's easily my favorite horror game ever.

Shadow Hearts gets a mention too, because like Fatal Frame it has two endings which determine whether a party dies or not. It's sequel, Shadow Hearts Covenant follows the bad ending, which is so sad that I found myself completely unable to continue playing the game after I realized that, the only time that's ever happened.
 

The Great Purtabo

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kman123 said:
I might as well pull my Darkness example out again. I slather all over this as much as Yahtzee does with Silent Hill 2/Prince of Persia.

In the end you kill the bad guy, but the Darkness consumes you and you basically go to hell. You've lost your one true love, and get to spend a few moments with her in some sort of purgatory before you're swallowed up into hell. It's dark man.
that is a sequel grab man, don't worry, that'll be resolved... IN 3 YEARSSSSSSS :(
 

TakeyB0y2

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Oh god... Mother 3 has to be the most depressing game I've ever played. And I'm not just talking the ending either, the WHOLE GAME is a major tearjerker.

Also, Persona 3. I actually cried during the ending. Ugh, but right when I selected the "Close your eyes" option at the end of the game, the phone rang. Killed the mood. First time playing through the game too, pissed me off so much. Doesn't help that it was an Indian man referring to himself with a Caucasian name trying to get me to fall for the scam where they tell you your computer has a virus and you have to download something from a website.

Mass Effect 3's ending made me cry too, though they were probably just tears of frustration...
 

BishopofAges

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Because I have to be 'that old guy' I'll say SoulBlazer (SNES) had a sad ending, if you read between the lines. Being the almighty power's lacky and saving the world, getting the girl and then being recalled back to the Master, never get the 'happily ever after' you wanted.

Shadow of the Colossus' ending was pretty sad too.
When the ultimate evil inside you is pushed back/destroyed (didn't seem obvious) you're left as a baby in your beloved's arms, so much for a wedding, you just got her ass a job after the Rez

Parasite Eve (ps1) the final battle was waged and won
...but the city is still destroyed and covered in bio-waste with the residents left to pick up the pieces.
Then there's that whole sequal thing that was a mess...

Bioshock's good ending was kind of sad in the end even though it was pretty awesome, I ain't spoiling that one.
 

Kimarous

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Mortal Kombat 2011, anyone? Shao Kahn is finally defeated, but 95% of the heroes are dead (and apparently now hell-thralls), a new darkness is already on the rise, and Raiden's actions have completely alienated him from Earth's fighters, both living and deceased. Furthermore, despite his efforts to avert Armageddon in the long term, he generally made things worse.