8 Video Games That Forced You To Battle Loved Ones

Despite what its near hour-long cutscenes and often absolutely barmy settings might say to the casual observer, the true tale of Metal Gear Solid as a whole is that of loss and it's not a river that runs deep for just one protagonist either.

Between Naked and Solid Snake the pair have had to say goodbye to multiple friends, companions, allies, siblings, and even possessive creepy arms of brothers (because Hideo Kojima) across their time, but no experience was as emotionally devastating as Big Boss's final confrontation with The Boss in Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.

To give context to the fight, The Boss had seemingly betrayed The West to defect to the Russians during the Cold War, and as Naked Snake's mentor and mother figure was already a gut punch like no other, however, come the close of the game, The Boss was now challenging Snake to a fight to the death, now with the added context that she was actually a double agent the entire time but would die fighting Snake to preserve the ruse for the greater good.

Again, it's complex because of Mr. Kojima's absolute love of narratives resembling a ball of yarn, but trust me, this makes the aforementioned gut punch feel like a light tickle by comparison.

What makes the fight even more emotionally devastating is that once The Boss is defeated, the game forces the player to pull the trigger and finish her for good. There is no option to spare her, no way to escape this scenario, and instead, all they can do is murder their mentor and take their teachings onward into a cold and unfair world.