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[Evilmaus]

So one of my biggest gripes with a lot of storytelling is the need for a happy ending.

Personally, I find tragic endings and sad stories to be a lot more enjoyable. I don't know why, but they always seem to interest me more. I guess when you know a story is going to have a happy ending, it's a lot easier to predict how it's going to happen, as opposed to something that averts your expectations and doesn't end with our hero riding off into the sunset.

One of the main things I hate is when an author can't commit to killing a character, and brings them back to save the day with some kind of deus ex machina.

Now, it's not particularly difficult to find stories with sad endings in films and books, but I feel like it's a lot less common in video games, as one of the primary reasons people play video games is for that triumphant, rewarding feeling of overcoming an obstacle, so happy endings are practically guaranteed across most games.

I'm hoping Gaf can prove me wrong, and recommend some games with interesting stories that don't end with the player ultimately succeeding, and aren't so much about making you feel like some all-powerful plot device.

Also, as we'll primarily be talking about how games end here, please mark spoilers, just in case!

 

[BadWolf]

Nier and Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core.

 

[loaf of bread]

I think The Last of Us is the obvious recent one.

 

[pauljeremiah]

Journey

 

[hank_tree]

Klonoa.

 

[DarkKyo]

FFX is still one of the saddest endings I ever remember experiencing. It was perfect! I pretty much didn't even play FFX-2 because I didn't want the feeling of permanence at the end of FFX ruined.

 

[Sn4ke_911]

MGS3. Best ending ever.

 

[Kid Marin]

Wild Arms 4

 

[Blablurn]

Crisis Core ;_;

 

[PranooY]

Steins;gate. All ending are really sad and heart-wrenching except for the True ending.
MGS3.
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons

 

[Neolith]

Nier.

 

[Chucker]

Mother 3.

There is a bit of hope, but it's mostly sad.

 

[Bloodrage]

Shadow of the Colossus. Was not expecting that at all, but I guess I should have, considering how noticeably worse Wander looks throughout the game.

 

[littlegrasshopper]

Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
Conker's Bad Fur Day
To the Moon
Mother 3
Halo: Reach
The Last of Us
Shadow of the Colossus
Grand Theft Auto IV
The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening
Red Dead Redemption

 

[ClaptoVaughn]

Wolfenstein New Order

Spoiler

is kind of a sad ending, in the sense that it implies your character dies. However, he still accomplished his mission and rescues a bunch of people (his love interest in particular) so it's not THAT sad. More like bittersweet.

 

[Sylverstone14]

Conker's Bad Fur Day ended on quite a sad note.

Spoiler

Despite Conker being king, he was an idiot and forgot to revive Berri with the help of the developers after she was killed.

 

[desmax]

OG Persona 3 ending is pretty sad

 

[LegalEagleMike]

I think The Last of Us is the obvious recent one.

Highly subjective. I would say bittersweet.

 

[Magwik]

inFAMOUS 2 good ending

 

[Cross-Section]

Witcher 3, possibly.

 

[Bronetta]

Dishonored endings are depressing as fuck - The good ending is perhaps the only one that doesn't make you feel like shit.

Soul Sacrifice - The whole game is sad, especially Librom, Sortiara, and Magusar's struggles. The ending just further drives home what a bleak and hopeless world these characters inhabit. This is honestly one of the best lore driven games in recent years.

 

[hwy_61]

The last of us.

Spoiler

Everything is fucked.

 

[Toadthemushroom]

Yoshi's Island probably has one of the most poignant endings of any game produced by Nintendo.

 

[Eggbok]

The Walking Dead: Season 1

Spoiler

The Amazing Spider-Man 2. It was sad because I realized that I wasted my life playing that piece of shit.

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

Silent Hill 2

 

[Evilmaus]

Steins;gate. All ending are really sad and heart-wrenching except for the True ending.
MGS3.

Is that fact that I've seen the Steins;Gate anime (which is fantastic, for anyone who's wondering) going to hinder my experience with the game?

And yeah, MGS3 is right up there as one of my favourite games of all time.

 

[Grisby]

I thought the Darkness ending was bittersweet, what with Jackie laying in Jenny's lap. Just a quick one of the top of my head.

 

[Professor Renegade]

The Last of Us because

Spoiler

Joel is a selfish asshole.

 

[Newtype-001]

Also Dark Souls. Not sure whether to call it sad or depressing.

 

[Crayolan]

Mother 3

Major ending spoilers:

Spoiler

The main protagonist's brother, who is thought to be dead, turns out to actually have been brainwashed by the main villain of the game and now you must fight against him in a 1 on 1 duel. After a very emotional battle, the brother regains his consciousness, but in order to end his ordeal he commits suicide by launching a lethal bolt of lightning at you, knowing that you are wearing the Franklin Badge, which reflects lightning back at the attacker.

 

[super-famicom]

Journey

Journey started off sad

Spoiler

the snow part

but the final sequence and ending were uplifting for me. Limbo was a depressing ending for me. FF X as well.

 

[Ferr986]

Journey

Didn't feel it was a sad ending. On the contrary, I think it's overall a happy ending.

Nier comes first to mind.

 

[Big_Al]

Wolfenstein New Order

Spoiler

is kind of a sad ending, in the sense that it implies your character dies. However, he still accomplished his mission and rescues a bunch of people (his love interest in particular) so it's not THAT sad. More like bittersweet.

Well in regards to the ending

Spoiler

You hear a breath being taken as well, like someone coming up for air, so I'm pretty certain BJ ain't dead

 

[Rymuth]

 

[statham]

To The Moon, Brothers

 

[hwy_61]

The Last of Us because

Spoiler

Joel is a selfish asshole.

We'd all do the same thing probably.

To The Moon, Brothers

Damn shame that never came to console.

 

[mp1990]

That bittersweet ending of Persona 3, and that music at the credits... damn, first time a game ever made me cry
999 as well, all endings except the True one. Boy, that Submarine ending really touched me.

 

[Xenoboy]

Professor Layton and the Lost Future had a sad ending.

Spoiler

The Minister got away, loads of people probably got killed and Claire is no more

I'd say Ace Attorney 3 as well, or at least somewhat.

 

[ZiggyST]

Nier and Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core.

Came to say this.

 

[FatboyTim]

Half-Life 2 Episode 2

Spoiler

...Alyx sobs over her fathers dead body as the game fades to black.

 

[tuffy]

Panzer Dragoon Saga. The ending features a little bit of 4th wall breaking and concludes on a very bittersweet note that matches the tone of the rest of the game.

 

[pizzacat]

OG Persona 3 ending is pretty sad

And then the fucking answer happened



Which I don't mind but whatever.



Also Red Dead Redemption and Mother 3 are some of the only material to ever "get" me.


I felt gotten after those endings and

Spoiler

jack becoming a cowboy like his father didn't want him to just made me feel even sadder since John couldn't even have his son escape his fathers sins. ((((((

 

[LycanXIII]

Red Dead Redemption. The epilogue doesn't count.

 

[vladdamad]

To the Moon is to this day the most depressing game I have ever played. The further you get into the story the more crushing revelations you are exposed to, and the ending is, to me at least, almost unbearable. I'm pretty sure I've repressed most of the game's plot. Despite this, one of the best video game stories I have ever played.

Also, although not nearly as depressing, Spec Ops: The Line ends on quite a tragic note.

 

[Tal Shiar Agent]

Red Dead Redemption.

Spoiler

Not only does John Marston sacrifice his life for the lie of redemption, his son Jack falls down the same well of lawlessness that his father did by killing Edgar Ross.

 

[Evilmaus]

Dishonored endings are depressing as fuck - The good ending is perhaps the only one that doesn't make you feel like shit.

Soul Sacrifice - The whole game is sad, especially Librom, Sortiara, and Magusar's struggles. The ending just further drives home what a bleak and hopeless world these characters inhabit. This is honestly one of the best lore driven games in recent years.

I recently finished Dishonoured!

Spoiler

I liked how Samuel basically called me out for being a monster at the start of the last missions, because of the way I'd handled the rest of the game up until that point, but I feel like it was a little sudden. He didn't seem to mind all the killing before...

Definitely going to have to check out Soul Sacrifice. I adore any kind of narrative where you feel like a small part of something much larger than yourself, rather than having everything directly revolve around your actions.

 

[Bedameister]

Bioshock Infinite and Burial at Sea Ep. 2

 

[MaddenNFL64]

The Witcher 3 "worst" ending.

If you somehow made the choices in the game to get that, I mean, geez you deserved it, but still.

 

[L Thammy]

Fragile Dreams is probably the most depressing goddamn game ever.

Spoiler

The main character spends the entire game exploring the post-apocalyptic world in search of the only person he's ever connected with. They meet. Then she dies a while after, and he's all alone for the rest of his life. The end.

Terranigma's bittersweet, but it's pretty horrible too.

Spoiler

The main character is stuck in an eternal time loop of sorts, where the devil continually revives, creates him, and tries to use him to take over. He rebels and defeats the devil, as he always does in this cycle, but then the whole of the devil's creation ceases to exist shortly after, so he never gets to live out his happy ending after saving the world. The only way to end the cycle is for him to fail, because if he's killed, he dies forever. So that's a dead end too.

Might have misremembered that, but that's the gist of it.

 

[Toadthemushroom]

I feel guilty for not finishing this. The transition from boyhood to adulthood was painful enough, don't even want to imagine how the narrative ends.