10 Video Games That Gut Punch You In Act One

For many, the moment Final Fantasy XIV became what it is now to so many is at the end of A Realm Reborn where, major spoilers, you and the scions get royally screwed over by pretty much everyone and you have to go on the run from the cops.

But that's a long time from the game's start, so what keeps people playing through the infamously clunky beginning? Simple: the slaughter at the Waking Sands.

You, the warrior of light, return from your latest adventure to find all of your friends are either dead or captured by the Garlean Empire, who somehow found a way into your secret hideout without anyone inside or out noticing until it was too late. The only one left breathing is the tiny little pixie you picked up as a buddy in a previous quest, who then proceeds to die in your arms.

Your scribe has gotten a lot of his friends into this game, some with more difficulty than others, and it's this scene that got them to pay attention to what the story was actually doing. This is where Final Fantasy XIV becomes the black hole that sucks you in and never lets go that its fans prop it up as being.