10 Video Games That Punish You For Caring
2. The Banner Saga III
Stoic's The Banner Saga really puts you through the wringer over the course of its three entires. But it isn't until the third game that you truly feel the weight of the difficult choices you've made thus far.
The biggest punch to the gut is the slow realization there will be no "good" ending or "bad" ending - no reward. Many will be sacrificed and the world will never be the same. You'll have to find a way to carry the weight of your actions.
The games have a robust and well-written cast of companions. Having already lost many along the way, the desperation to keep the ones who remain alive at the end is a stress felt throughout the game. And with a city besieged, food scarce, and a journey into an apocalyptic wasteland while being hounded by one of your former allies gone mad, every choice you make carries the weight of finality.
No other game makes you want to reload old saves to make new choices as badly as the Banner Saga. Unfortunately, that would require you to start the trilogy over again from scratch, as the butterfly effect of your choices carry through the entire series.