10 Video Games That Gut Punch You In Act One

The undisputed king of the act one gut punch, by a wide margin, is Dragon Quest XI: Echoes Of An Elusive Age.

Dragon Quest is known for being the comfort food of JRPGs: nowhere near as unhealthy as, say, McDonald's, but nothing too subversive or mind-blowing either. With each new instalment you know the gameplay will be refined, and the more problematic elements of the past will be addressed (one could write a thesis paper on the subtle, progressive subversions of harmful stereotypes that is Sylvando alone) but the classic JRPG elements will remain intact.

And then DQ11 ends Act 1 with the bad guy winning.

Act 1 of DQ11 is LONG, with even the most impatient player racking up 20 hours by the time they get the Luminary and his merry band of weirdos to Yggdrasil The World Tree, to retrieve the ultimate sword of light. Only for antagonist Jasper to attack the team and absolutely wipe the floor with them, paving the way for his master, The Dark Lord Mordegon - who had been possessing the body of the seemingly mad King Carnelian for the past 20 years. It was all part of a long game leading up to claiming the sword of light for himself, corrupting it, and bringing the world tree down on the planet, interrupting the cycle of life and death and bringing about the apocalypse for good measure.

Oh, but before any of that, just to add insult to injury, he takes away The Luminary's chosen one powers and then destroys them, leaving the heroes with literally zero means of opposing him. The World Tree falls to earth, killing untold amounts of people in the impact, with more to die after as the newly ascended Mordegon unleashes his horde on the world.

This game doesn't just end act 1 with a gut punch, it ends it with about 5 consecutive gut punches that leave you writhing on the ground in the fetal position. And all the game has to say to you after is "Did you think this would be easy? Get back up."