Sad games

Discussing all the gaming matters not covered in the other forums.

Sad games

Postby Wolf Bird » Tue Aug 12, '14, 11:38 pm

What are games you know of that are sad? And I don't mean games with sad moments or elements, but games that at their end are so tragic they make you feel ready to cry.

For a long time, the saddest game I had played was, by a longshot, Mother 3. The game goes tragic pretty quickly when Lucas's family is torn apart, but concludes with his brother committing suicide and an ambiguous ending about what actually happens when Lucas pulls the final needle. Nothing really makes you feel better about it.

And then The Last of Us came along.

Anybody got a box of tissues?

The game begins with the Cordyceps outbreak. And Joel's daughter Sarah getting shot by a soldier under orders to contain the infection at all costs and dying in her father's arms. The prologue ends with Joel breaking down, cradling her in his arms.

At the end of the Boston chapter, Joel's smuggling partner Tess gets bitten, and then sacrifices herself so Joel and Ellie can escape from soldiers.

Then Sam and Henry. This might be the saddest death scene I've ever seen in a video game. Words do not do it justice for what this makes you feel, so find a youtube video. I won't link one here due to strong language in that cutscene.

And then that ending.

Doom humanity forever, or sacrifice a teenage girl for the possibility of saving humanity?

Joel makes his choice. And you don't feel good about it. Nor do you feel good about the alternative. Nor comfortable with the moral situation and questions at hand.

What are other just plain sad, tragic games you know/have played?
Next Pokemon game(s): Pearl
Last finished Pokémon game: Shield
Other games: Skyrim Special Edition (Switch), Spyro Reignited Trilogy (Switch & PS4), Okami (Switch & PS4)
Other gaming goals: completing a Living Pokedex (minus some event Pokes) and going through at least 1 game per generation

Image
User avatar
Wolf Bird
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 7266
Joined: December 2007
Location: Waltham, Massachusetts
Achievements: 420
Gender: Female

Re: Sad games

Postby S4Blade » Wed Aug 13, '14, 12:41 am

I will go with the obvious here and play the Final Fantasy VII card. It's not an entirely depressing game, but I'm mentioning it due to the tragic loss of a party member half way through the game.

Character deaths had been done before in games, but Square really managed to cut pretty deep with this one. The events leading up to it didn't give anything away, and if you truly didn't know it was coming, then your jaw was literally on the ground when it happened.

This was complimented with a perfect score that still makes me well up inside just thinking of the music that plays during the scene. Then Square heightens the urgency of it all by immediately putting you into a boss fight right after the incident.

I'm not really a fan of Final Fantasy these days, but even I can't deny how heart wrenching it was. Ahhhh the good old days, when Square knew how to make great games.

The other game that comes to mind is Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII on the PSP. This game is a prequel/side story to Final Fantasy VII, and anyone who knew anything about the lore of Final Fantasy VII already knew how the game was going to turn out, but Square did it in a pretty brilliant way, and almost made you feel like the main character was going to pull through.

The final scene of the game has you play as the main character against unwinnable odds during the ending, and while he is eventually overtaken, you can't help but wonder if it's possible for there to be a different outcome.

Well played Square. Please make some more games like these.
Currently Playing: Nothing

Image
Image
User avatar
S4Blade
Esper Apprentice
Esper Apprentice
 
Posts: 764
Joined: August 2013
Achievements: 39

Re: Sad games

Postby Bragatyr » Wed Aug 13, '14, 4:22 am

Breath of Fire 2 is a pretty tragic game. Without going into plot specifics, the amount of sheer tragedy the main character and the supporting cast go through is pretty horrifying. With spoilers on, the main character Ryu's entire family is torn from him by a demon, his village is made to forget him, and he is thrown into the life of an orphan. Nina's sister is forced to sacrifice her life to become a legendary creature in order to transport you to the final battle; Rand's mother is crushed while saving your party, the man who saved your life turns out to be a dragon under the control of an evil church; and the god whom the world has come to worship is revealed to be an ancient demon.

But yeah, it's a pretty depressing game. Has a lot of comedy to smooth things out, but definitely one of the biggest tearjerkers for me.
User avatar
Bragatyr
Sage
Sage
 
Posts: 1311
Joined: May 2011
Achievements: 65

Re: Sad games

Postby Silver_Surfer1 » Wed Aug 13, '14, 5:54 pm

I don't play many sad games. Just not my style. I'd rather stick with some of the fun stuff like Mario games, Mega Man, etc., and some of the older games. Although there is always some sadness to be found even in the "fun" games if you look for it hard enough.
Palm Sunday ~ March 24, 2024


Image

:rose: Happy 26th Anniversary Fringes Of Algo~Founded April 01, 1997 :rose:

Image
Image
Image
User avatar
Silver_Surfer1
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 28828
Joined: March 2007
Location: USA
Achievements: 499
Gender: Female

Re: Sad games

Postby S4Blade » Wed Aug 13, '14, 10:25 pm

Silver_Surfer1 wrote:I don't play many sad games. Just not my style. I'd rather stick with some of the fun stuff like Mario games, Mega Man, etc., and some of the older games. Although there is always some sadness to be found even in the "fun" games if you look for it hard enough.


Most of the "sad" games you are going to play are going to be RPGs that are story driven. This allows sad and emotional events to have more impact on the gamer. I don't really play JRPGs anymore, that's why I don't have any recent examples.
Currently Playing: Nothing

Image
Image
User avatar
S4Blade
Esper Apprentice
Esper Apprentice
 
Posts: 764
Joined: August 2013
Achievements: 39

Re: Sad games

Postby PathfinderCS » Fri Aug 15, '14, 1:15 am

Phantasy Star IV immediately comes to mind for
[Reveal] Spoiler:
Alys' death
, but it's not a sad game overall.

Wolf Bird pretty much said it in regards to Last of Us.

Red Dead Redemption had me in tears in a few scenes...
"I'd say the sky's the limit!" - Spyro
User avatar
PathfinderCS
Agent
Agent
 
Posts: 188
Joined: October 2009
Location: With the stars, sailing the blackness of the universe.
Achievements: 20
Gender: Male

Re: Sad games

Postby Wolf Bird » Fri Aug 15, '14, 1:17 am

PathfinderCS wrote:Red Dead Redemption had me in tears in a few scenes...


I'm going to guess that John Marston's death is one of those scenes, isn't it?
Next Pokemon game(s): Pearl
Last finished Pokémon game: Shield
Other games: Skyrim Special Edition (Switch), Spyro Reignited Trilogy (Switch & PS4), Okami (Switch & PS4)
Other gaming goals: completing a Living Pokedex (minus some event Pokes) and going through at least 1 game per generation

Image
User avatar
Wolf Bird
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 7266
Joined: December 2007
Location: Waltham, Massachusetts
Achievements: 420
Gender: Female

Re: Sad games

Postby PathfinderCS » Fri Aug 15, '14, 1:23 am

Wolf Bird wrote:
PathfinderCS wrote:Red Dead Redemption had me in tears in a few scenes...


I'm going to guess that John Marston's death is one of those scenes, isn't it?


That is pretty much it! It was pulled off perfectly, but still so heartbreaking.
"I'd say the sky's the limit!" - Spyro
User avatar
PathfinderCS
Agent
Agent
 
Posts: 188
Joined: October 2009
Location: With the stars, sailing the blackness of the universe.
Achievements: 20
Gender: Male

Re: Sad games

Postby Wolf Bird » Sat Sep 13, '14, 6:42 am

So tonight I played the prologue of The Last of Us to show it to my brother. I still teared up at the end, despite seeing several times now. That's how powerful the emotion of that scene is.
Next Pokemon game(s): Pearl
Last finished Pokémon game: Shield
Other games: Skyrim Special Edition (Switch), Spyro Reignited Trilogy (Switch & PS4), Okami (Switch & PS4)
Other gaming goals: completing a Living Pokedex (minus some event Pokes) and going through at least 1 game per generation

Image
User avatar
Wolf Bird
Moderator
Moderator
 
Posts: 7266
Joined: December 2007
Location: Waltham, Massachusetts
Achievements: 420
Gender: Female

Re: Sad games

Postby Aeroprism » Sat Sep 13, '14, 4:41 pm

"This game has a sad scene" like FF7'S Aerith Death, FF6's Celes' suicide attempt or PS4's Alys death doesn't make it a sad game, in my opinion. All three of these games were filled with jokes and comic relief overall. Well, maybe not FF7, it stands on a kinda middle ground there, but still. A sad scene doesn't make a sad game, no matter how well it's pulled.

Illusion of Gaia (Super NES) was a sad game. It was about loss, death and sadness and it never strayed from that track. It was a on a limited 16 bits media however so, though it did move me, it hardly made me cry.

Want tears? Lost Odyssey on the Xbox360. This is by far the saddest game story I have ever seen. It has a perfect, emotional music score. The game is a story about an immortal man who was robbed of his memories and who slowly regains them as the game goes. His memories perfectly reflect the terrible world in which this games takes place: war, famine, suffering and death, sacrifice and pain. So many beautiful and interesting characters fall and die during that story, I cried many times but not so much as in the epilogue where I cried like a little girl. No, I don't mean "I felt my eyes well up." I mean "cry like when your first girlfriend dumps you for that dude you hate"

The game is entirely (and masterfully) voiced except for one part: every time the main character remembers something from his life, it comes through "dreams" that you can experience in the form short text stories accompanied by music. I cannot even begin to emphasis on how incredibly well this part has been made: They hired a Japanese poet to write the dreams and pretty much ALL of these made me shed tears. The game is THAT GOOD.

Lost Odyssey is a game that went under the radar for many but it is by far, far one of the very best experience in storytelling I have ever witnessed. I played through it twice and believe me, I will again.
User avatar
Aeroprism
Numan
Numan
 
Posts: 1631
Joined: June 2010
Achievements: 95
Gender: Male

Next

Return to General Gaming

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest