10 Most Heartbreaking Video Game Moments Of The Decade (So Far)

Video game stories have come a long way over the past decade. While ten years ago it didn't really matter what a game's narrative was - as long as we had an excuse to do some cool stuff and have fun - the industry has since developed into a medium known for some of the most powerful stories in all of fiction.

Rather than simply trying to copy the structure of movies or TV, the industry has finally figured out its own way to tell stories through both gameplay as well as cut-scenes, proving that the uniquely interactive medium of video games can make for some extremely resonant moments when they're directly put in the hands of players.

Also it helps that games are more diverse now than they've ever been, with the popularity of story-driven releases coming from developers like Quantic Dream and Telltale Games encouraging other studios to improve their narrative chops.

This, along with technology that has only increased the potency of an actor's performance, has meant that more games than ever have been able to turn its players into blubbering emotional messes, with the industry being all the better for it.

For as derided as Mass Effect 3's story was, the game was still home to some of the most powerful moments in the entire trilogy.

But by far the most effective one came after you defeated a Reaper late in the title, as lifelong enemies the Quarians and the A.I. Geth were about to wage war in the skies above you.

Commander Shepard's Geth companion Legion informs him that using the Reaper's code would allow him to give the rest of his kind the same intelligence he has, which would hopefully stop the fighting.

His idea works, but Legion has to sacrifice himself in order to complete the process.

It all happens so fast, and there's only time for a brief goodbye, but it's the suddenness of the character's death that makes the scene so devastating.