Sad Endings That Are Good (Potential Spoilers)

[doublenix]

I say that about the ending of Planescape: Torment

Spoiler

Being condemned to fight in an eternal war between the Tanar'ri and the Baatezu and leaving your companions behind after all you went through seems like a pretty sad ending.

Throw in the fact you had apparently done something so terrible a single lifetime of good deeds couldn't redeem you so you became immortal to have more time to redeem yourself. Then it turns out that you lost your memory after your first death and resurrection and have, through various incarnations, done more evil than good. And in fact did immeasurable harm by becoming immortal since every time you should have died someone else died in your place. And your whole goal in the game was to find out why you were immortal and eventually end it.

So essentially the entire game was to correct a well intentioned mistake you didn't even remember, that had just made things worse. And you suffer the exact same fate in the end that you wanted to avoid. So I'd say it was sad. And yet for some reason I found it quite satisfying that he ended the terrible cycle his immortality + amnesia caused.

Edit: Wait, why did I spoiler details of a game that is over a decade old now? Oh well.

Because, believe it or not. Not everyone has actually played the game yet.

Which should be considered a mortal sin.

 

[soren7550]

Someone pointed out to me BioShock 2, which I can't believe that I forgot.

In BioShock 2, you die in every ending, but they are all done well. The good ending is done especially well, and is one of the few times a game has made me cry. Delta dies, but managed to save Eleanor. As an added bonus, you actions throughout the game effect the ending!

 

[soren7550]

This one is up for debate, but I'll throw it in because I personally liked it:

Titanic - Where to begin with this one? The ship sinks, pretty much everyone dies, Jack dies, and it's just so sad overall from the halfway point onward.

 

[Shock and Awe]

Not a video game but the bit right before the ending in Mockingjay(last book in the Hunger Games trilogy) was fucking depressing. It was a great ending and made sense, but damn it was sad. What really made it hit home is that it made me think about how it would be to lose one of my closest friends. Thats what great stories are about, making the audience relate.

 

[mattttherman3]

Book: Where the Red Furn Grows, I actually cried at that book, there are 2 dogs, one dies trying to save its owner, the other of depression because the other dog died.