Video games, just like movies and books are forms of entertainment geared towards causing their readers/players/watchers different kinds of emotions. If a person can find a chapter in a book sad, or a certain scene in a movie tear-jerking it makes sense that some parts of video games can be heart-breaking.
There are many games out there that aim to cause their users distress, either through character death or dilemmas through game-play. In this article I’ll be exploring some of the top ten moments in gaming that have left me wanting to throw my console out of the window and crawl into a dark corner.
10. Dragon Age – Morrigan Leaving
I won’t lie, this isn’t exactly a sad scene for many but it had a very big impact on me. Dragon Age was one of my favourite RPGs and brought Bioware into a shining light for me. I got fiercely attached to my character as well as support characters and the romance merely added to this attachment. Although the gameplay wasn’t exactly my sort of style for gaming, the story more than made up for it for me.
There were of course quite a few sad moments during the game, the one that hit close to the heart was Morrigan leaving my party just before the end. To have invested so much into the romance between the warden and Morrigan only to have her leave just before the final battle was nothing short of sad. It wasn’t just the fact she was leaving though, it was the fact that she genuinely didn’t want to go. As soon as the final battle came the next day and my character had to sacrifice himself, I was just numb. Even though the character I had spent hours playing with was dead and the kingdom was safe and happy, I felt hollow that he’d died alone.
We are currently seeking Gaming contributors on WhatCulture. To find out more about the perks of being a Gaming contributor, click here.
31 Comments
No AC moment? Especially Connor’s mom death, or Achilles, or his best friend’s.
To be honest I didn’t include any of AC3 because I didn’t bond with Connor at all. I found his character to be just downright whiney really. I was thinking of including Cristina’s death for AC2 but it got edged out by the rest.
Never got round to playing Batman AC so I didn’t think it would be a good idea to include it.
Or batman ac, pay your respects
Or batman ac pay your respects
I found the end of Arkham City particularly heart wrenching. The death of an icon compounded by the final messages (and the over the credits song) added to the emotion of the moment.
Even the way the dead character was carried out and everyone just stopped and watched tugged at my jaded, cynical old heart strings.
I did watch the scene on YouTube, but I didn’t play the game so thought it would be cheap to include something that I hadn’t experienced.
Don’t post the spoiler as the header, you clown. So we can at least try and avoid reading them. Idiot.
The title of the article sort of gives the impression that there might be spoilers mate.
When I first saw the last one, I miss read it as Argo’s death, and my first thought was ‘NO! BEN AFFLECK!’. I think I might need to go to sleep now.
Also,
Death of Emma Emmerich from MGS2.
Death of John Marston from Read Dead Redemption.
Death of Roman (if he dies) in GTA4.
Death of Eli Vance in Half Life 2 Eps 2.
Death of Carley, Duck, and Lee from Walking Dead
Seeing your 100+ hour savegame get erased by accident (lol).
Emma’s death was rather sad, but when you compare it to the entirety of MGS4 it just doesn’t hit the spot really.
I was surprised to see how many people thought John’s death was sad, I found it to be a rather terrible ending to a rather fun game and wasn’t that sad to see him go really.
As for GTA4? In all honesty I wanted Roman to die so wasn’t that sad when he finally did.
Eli’s death was rather sad, but it was just such a cliché moment. “Oh we’ve launched the rocket, let’s go…hmm what’s that noise…oh nooo…daaaaad” so I couldn’t really connect with it.
As for Walking Dead? Come on mate, it’s a zombie game (though a terrible one) you expect people to die really.
One for me was always the death of Gremio in Suikoden, sad times. Or conceding late on to lose the Champions League final on Football Manager!
Where is Homeworld (the first one)??? And pretty much the whole story including death of hibernated colonist??? IT was heart-wrenching….
To be honest I didn’t really connect with Homeworld that well, even when Karnack had it’s little shenanigan I just sat there thinking “Oh well…”
RDR – John Marstons death for sure.
True, I cryed like a baby
Batman AC death of the Joker?? I was certain it’d be number 1; but not on the list at all?
One of the saddest moments I would say is the death of the Boss in Metal Gear Solid 3, and the entire ending, especially the twist about the Bosses real motives.
Really, you included Soap’s death? If you included that then please tell me you haven’t played Medal of Honor (2010). Sure it wasn’t the best game, but Rabbit’s death at the end was extremely heart-wrenching mainly because he was based on a REAL person that died in REAL life, while Soap is a made up character. Also the lack of words from his squad in the helicopter created a sense that they were extremely upset to the point that they couldn’t say a word. I do understand why you didn’t include Batman Arkham City in this list though.
I haven’t played any of the Medal of Honor games as I stuck to CoD and Battlefield really, so just like with Batman I felt I wouldn’t be able to comment on it properly if I hadn’t played it.
What about halo 4: Cortana’s death.
In brutal legend, lars dies in the first big battle and then ophelia drowns herself in the sea of black tears and then when her heart gets ripped out….all compelling and still a rocking game!
But…but…it’s Brutal Legends!
To The Moon! There’s a difference between “depressing” and “affecting”. I think To The Moon is the latter. I completed it in one sitting, treating it like a compelling graphic novel. The bit that really hit me was the book signing. It didn’t matter that none of it was real – it *felt* real – not only for the dying old man, but also for the player. Even has the plot concerned changing history (rather than forging new memories); for us, the player, it *still* would have been nothing but a fabrication. Is the game a post-modern exploration on the power of fiction, or just a particularly well-written and utterly devastating work of art? In any case, it’s one of the most beautiful gaming experiences I’ve ever had.
Depressing, though? My definition of “depressing” is something that makes me sort of want to stop living. To The Moon, on the other hand, made me want to make the most of my life, and everyone in it. Astounding that a game should have such an impact.
It still saddens me when people jump to Aerith’s death as the most emotional Final Fantasy moment, FF7 itself has at least 5 (more likely more) moments that are much more heart-wrenchig, noy to mention more heart-wrenching than Zach’s death. The one that always sticks out to me being Cid and the way he treats Sheila in the flashback before he eventually gives up his only dream to save her life, even though she tells him to go to space.
Also Final Fantasy 4, when Palom and Porom, two very young children who have endeared themselves to your group, petrify themselves to save you all. Horrifying.
Shera* not Sheila haha, sorry! Realised I mis-spelt Zak there too, perils of typing on an android phone!
People will always jump to Aerith’s because 7 was the more popular one, so you’ll always get people who haven’t played the others claiming it’s the saddest moment in FF history. Both 8 and 9 had extremely sad stories and characters, however Zach’s stuck with me merely because he was alone and the way he lost Angeal.
Yeah, Vivi in FFIX is the character that gets me every time.
I like the bit in Res Evil II where Ada falls to her death and Leon dramatically shouts “ADA!!!” then falls to his knees and pummels the ground in agony. He gets up and looks at the little sample bottle and says “So this is what everyone’s been dying for!” and tosses it away. Pure genius on behalf of CAPCOM!!
This is probably just me, but I always thought that it got a little bit dusty in Ace Combat 5, when the reinforcements finally arrived and fly a missing-man formation over the smoldering wreckage of Chopper.
There are quite a few scenes in the Ace Combat series that were rather sad, but I didn’t think to add them in as they series don’t have as many fans as other more well-known games. Chopper’s death being a particularly sad one.