Spoiler warning, naturally. I’ve mostly gone with images that don’t 100% spoil the ending; therefore, if you see a game that you don’t want spoiled, please just scroll down and skip that section.
Open-world games can be challenging to make because of how open-ended they are. They are a thrilling escape into expansive realms where players embark on epic journeys, forge alliances, and conquer adversaries. But those who make them must take on the difficult task of finding innovative ways to weave complex storylines into these games.
In the exhilarating adventures they create, developers and writers often include moments of heart-wrenching sorrow that leave a lasting impact on players. These decisions aren’t just crudely written plot twists or moments of shock value. They are tragic conclusions to the entire storyline, and usually include the death of a character that the player has grown to love. In open-world games especially, these creative choices serve as a reminder of the power of storytelling in gaming. They encourage players to keep exploring virtual worlds to discover their wonders, even if those moments leave them feeling bittersweet.
Honorable Mentions
These open-world games also have powerful and sad endings.
- Days Gone
- Death Stranding 2 – Only missed out as the ending is bittersweet rather than 100% sad.
- Fallout: New Vegas
- Nier Automata
7
Ghost of Tsushima
Heroism At A Cost
Ghost of Tsushima tells a samurai story that touches upon themes of honor, tradition, and sacrifice. When his home falls to Mongol forces, Jin Sakai becomes a ghost who terrorizes the unwanted forces, all in the hope of returning Tsushima Island to Japan. Although he starts as an honorable warrior, Jin’s adherence to the samurai code is constantly challenged, and the gameplay rewards players who engage in underhanded tactics while the story condemns them for going down this route. Depending on your actions, Jin can gradually lose his humanity, or at least his culture’s perception of humanity.
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Regardless of whether you stick to the samurai code or become a ronin who stealth-kills everything that moves, Ghost of Tsushima‘s ending will still be tragic, as sacrifice will need to be made. Both routes end with Jin being deemed a threat by the Shogun, causing Shimura to be sent to kill him. This battle will give Jin (and players) one last chance to either commit or entirely abandon the samurai code, and neither decision feels great.
6
Firewatch
A Solitary Reflection
A masterclass in narrative-driven gameplay, Firewatch draws players into the breathtaking scenery of the Wyoming wilderness. Players step into the boots of Henry, a fire lookout who is sucked into a web of mystery and intrigue. Throughout the game, he tries to find the truth with the help of his supervisor, Delilah. The world is beautiful, if somewhat empty, and the orange-red color scheme feels just right.
Throughout the game, Henry experiences mysterious occurrences, thought to be a sinister conspiracy or a threat. Towards the end of the game, though, he learns that they are actually the result of a tragic climbing accident that resulted in the death of a young boy. The moment that he finds the boy’s body, a somber score fills the cave that he’s trapped in. Players are prompted to press a button to step over the body to progress in the story. It is impossible not to share the horror and pity that Henry feels.
Firewatch’s ending is a poignant exploration of loneliness, regret, and the human capacity for connection. It’s a powerful reminder of the importance of human connection in the face of adversity.
5
Shadow of the Colossus
A Lonely Journey’s End
Team Ico’s cult classic, Shadow of the Colossus, is a hauntingly beautiful tale of love and sacrifice. Players assume the role of Wander, a young man on a quest to resurrect Mono, a maiden who was sacrificed because others believed her to be under a curse. They are thrust into a desolate world inhabited only by towering colossi, all of which Wander must defeat to save Mono.
As the game goes on, and as Wander defeats all the colossi one by one, the player cannot help but wonder about the morality of killing these beasts. Some of them are aggressive and attack on sight, but others are quite docile and will attack only after being provoked. They are just roaming their domain until their peace is disturbed by a vengeful Wander.
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Wander himself is slowly corrupted by an ancient entity as he kills each beast. By the end of the game, the entity fully takes him over. The other warriors stop him right when he is about to reach Mono, and one of them stabs Wander through the heart. Despite his corruption and his injuries, he still stumbles towards Mono before falling to his death, showing that there is still a part of Wander inside him. The climactic confrontation reminds the player of the sacrifices some make in the name of love, and the toll that obsession can take on the human soul.
4
Cyberpunk 2077
No Such Thing As A Great Ending, But There Are Two Particularly Bad Ones
Similar to CD Projekt Red’s The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077 includes a few endings, none of which are easy to define as “good” or “bad.” However, while The Witcher 3 at least gives Geralt and Ciri the chance to conclude their current chapters on a hopeful note, V’s future is considerably bleaker. The most uplifting conclusion still ends with the protagonist only having a few more months to live, although he at least gets to spend them with people who actually care about him. There are a few more endings that are also somewhat positive, but none of them are clean wins or come without high cost. More importantly, most of them challenge V’s identity, asking what they have had to do to reach this point.
If we were talking solely about the saddest endings in the game, it would come down to two. Firstly, V can take the easy way out and end his life, a tragic and unfulfilling ending that makes so much of what V had previously done feel pointless. Secondly, and arguably sadder, the Devil ending reduces V to a shell of himself as he desperately sells his soul to Arasaka in an attempt to save his own life. This means actively betraying everyone and aligning yourself with the evil corporation, which is the worst thing you can do in any cyberpunk story.
3
Red Dead Redemption 2
The Price of Redemption
After the tragic last stand in Red Dead Redemption, players expected nothing short of a masterpiece from Rockstar in the 2018 sequel with Arthur Morgan as a new protagonist. An overwhelming majority of players agree that the second game held its own, featuring melancholic and heartbreaking moments throughout the story.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is a sprawling epic that immerses players in the dying days of the Wild West. Arthur grapples with his past sins and strives for redemption in a world that’s rapidly changing. It is frustrating and saddening to see Arthur plead with Dutch over how to lead their group. Arthur was on the fence about how to deal with Dutch for most of the game, but his diagnosis of tuberculosis towards the end of the story makes him confront his mortality, and he starts to disobey his father figure.
When Arthur realizes what is going to happen, he bids goodbye to Abigail and Sadie, and then John. Both of these scenes are contenders for the most emotional moments in the whole franchise. This sets up the game’s climax as a gut-wrenching showdown, even though fans know what’s coming. Whether Arthur chooses to embrace redemption or succumb to the sins of his past, he eventually dies in all endings, leaving a lingering sense of melancholy that’s hard to shake.
2
Fallout
Post-Nuclear Tragedy
The Fallout series is famous for its emotional character arcs, so it comes as no surprise that the original is no different. In Fallout’s ending, the sadness comes from the realization that in the ‘good’ ending, the protagonist, the Vault Dweller, is forced to leave their home in Vault 13 forever.
Although the Vault Dweller has saved the day by returning his home Vault’s water supply to normal and thwarting the Master’s plan to transform all remaining humans into mutants, he returns home to find his dreams shattered. The Overseer, who was the one giving him the missions in the first place, now believes that the tales of his tasks and accomplishments will encourage the other survivors to abandon the Vault and endanger everyone else’s lives. It is a solemn ending, as the Vault Dweller is exiled into the wasteland and the player is left wondering whether the Overseer made the right choice after all. This is one of the more depressing moments that a Fallout game has had without relying on emotional character deaths.
1
Red Dead Redemption
The Last Stand
In Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar created one of the most tragic stories in gaming and broke free from its stereotype in the gaming industry as a company that focuses on needless humor and gratuitous violence. Players follow John Marston, a former outlaw seeking redemption for his past crimes in the dying days of the Wild West, and protecting his family so that they may live a happy life together. As the game reaches its climax, Marston’s efforts to leave his outlaw life behind are brutally cut short. In one of the most famous finales in gaming, he sacrifices himself to ensure the safety of his family, facing down a barrage of gunfire in a dramatic last stand.
John Marston’s death is a lot more impactful than Arthur Morgan’s because he died for his family. In some ways, John’s death is a lot more tragic because of Arthur’s in Red Dead Redemption 2 — people have sacrificed a lot for John and his family, but John is massacred anyway. His son Jack is then also shown to be on the same path of revenge, which means that everyone died in vain. Marston’s death serves as a harsh reminder of the realities of the Old West, where violence and lawlessness often have tragic consequences.
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