The saddest games you’ll ever play
Sometimes, an emotional scene in a game can take us by surprise. You know how it is: you’re just sat there playing a video game, and then something shocking happens, like a main character meeting a grizzly end. Before you know it there’s a little moisture building up in your eyes. Your lip might even start to quiver. But don’t worry. It’s okay. You’re human, after all.
There are some games, though, that seem to be made just to turn those who play them into blubbering wrecks. Games that are devastating. With that in mind, we’ve assembled a list of some of the saddest games ever made. If you can play through all these without feeling the need to shed a tear, you’re pretty much dead inside.
Spoiler alert: If you haven’t played these games, we may just give the story away. So read at your own peril. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!
1. Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Available on Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch and PC
We’ll openly admit that Ori and the Blind Forest made us shed a tear a two. Ori and the Will of the Wisps hit us harder, however.
Like Ori and the Blind Forest, Ori and the Will of the Wisps lays on the emotional trauma right from the start. It transpires that Ku, Ori’s new bird-friend, can’t fly because she has a wing devoid of feathers. Ori quickly comes up with a solution, but a subsequent trip to the skies ends in catastrophe. What follows is a heart-breaking journey in which Ori does all he can to save his friend. Ultimately, he gives his own life.
Put it this way, if you don’t feel immense sorrow as Ori and the Will of the Wisps comes to its climax, you simply aren’t human. This might actually be the saddest game of all time.
Read our review of Ori and the Will of the Wisps
2. Endling: Extinction is Forever
- Available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch and PC
Putting you in control of the last mother fox on Earth, Endling: Extinction is Forever tasks you with looking after your cubs in a world that is utterly merciless.
As you move from one environment to the next, you need to keep an eye on your cubs, making sure their needs are met. That involves hunting so that you can feed them, and finding shelter when they need to rest. But with hunters and other dangers out in the world, keeping them safe at all times isn’t easy.
As you can imagine, it’s devastating losing one of your cubs in Endling: Extinction is Forever, but the kicker is that even if you do a great job, the mother is destined to die. Needless to say, this is one of those games that really wants to get your tear ducts working, and chances are it will succeed.
Read our review of Endling: Extinction is Forever
3. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
- Available on PS3, PS4, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch and PC
Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons seems to be made with the sole intention of breaking you. Put it this way: the story opens with the revelation that the mother of the titular brothers has died at sea, with the younger brother unable to save her. And things just get worse from there.
With their dad now suffering from an illness that threatens his life, the brothers set out on a journey to get the one thing that can save him: water from the tree of life. But of course, it’s an arduous journey, full of danger. Together they overcome most obstacles in their path, but then they encounter a young girl who appears to be in need. And that’s when disaster strikes again.
It turns out the young girl is actually a hideous spider-like creature and, having seduced the older brother, she wounds him as the duo try to escape. Eventually making it to the tree of life, the younger brother ascends it and retrieves the water, but when he gets to the bottom, his sibling is dead, and even the water can’t bring him back to life. It does at least work on his dad, and the game ends with both the remaining brother and his father visiting the graves of the loved ones they’ve lost.
Read our review of Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons Remake
4. The Last of Us Part II
- Available on PS4 and PS5
We thought The Last of Us was sad, but it’s nothing compared to its sequel.
The Last of Us Part II is just bleak. From start to finish it’s dark and often depressing. You’ll find yourself shouting at its characters, “why did you do that?”, and “why are you doing this?”, because you know it’s only going to lead to more pain. But that’s why it’s so gripping. The biggest gut-punch comes fairly early on, with Joel being brutally beaten to death by newcomer Abby. And then things escalate from there.
By the end of the game, chances are many tears will have been shed, both onscreen and off. And as the credits roll, you’ll be drained. The Last of Us Part II is a brilliant game, no doubt, but it’s also emotionally trying.
Read our review of The Last of Us Part II
5. Silent Hill 2
- Available on PS2, PS3, PS5, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC
When a game opens with the revelation that you’re looking for you dead wife, you know it’s not particularly going to be a happy one.
James Sunderland dearly loved his late wife Mary, so much so that he goes to their “special place”, Silent Hill, after he receives a letter from her saying that she’s waiting for him there. There’s just one (big) problem though: struggling to cope with Mary’s degenerative illness, James killed his bedridden wife years ago. In a town hell-bent on forcing James to take responsibility for his actions, he is punished again and again, until he finally confesses his crime once he is in the midst of despair. In a particularly sombre ending, James decides that it’s all just too much for him and takes a boat out on the lake intending to take his own life. Happy days.
A remake of Silent Hill 2 is now available on PS5 and PC, keeping the haunting story intact but dramatically improving the game’s audio, visuals and gameplay. Be sure to give it a play if you love horror games or stories with emotional impact.
Read our review of the remake of Silent Hill 2
6. Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
- Available on PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC
You have to feel sorry for Gabriel, the protagonist in Mercury Steam’s Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.
With his wife dying amidst mysterious circumstances, Gabriel would do anything to be with her once more. Led to believe that defeating the Lords of Shadow would enable him to rebuild a mask with the power to bring back lost loved ones, he embarks on an epic journey to do so. After completing his task, however, it all becomes clear that Death was pulling his strings all along, forcing him to kill his beloved wife in order to set in motion the events leading to the rise of Lucifer.
Calling upon the power of god, he is able to defeat Lucifer and claim the mask with the power he seeks, but then is met with the harsh reality that its powers are embellished. Only able to see the spirit of his dearest wife and exchange a few words before she passes into the spirit world, Gabriel is overcome with sadness and despair. A broken man, with no purpose or meaning left in his life, he shuns god and becomes a pitiful creature of the night…
7. Nier
- Available on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC
When the titular Nier discovers that his daughter is afflicted with a terminal illness called the Black Scrawl, he embarks upon an arduous journey to seek out a cure. With a cast of flawed characters and a story that is thought-provoking however, Nier’s adventure is one that will stay with you for a long time.
The first time you complete Nier, you witness the harrowing story of a headstrong man that will do anything to save his daughter, accompanied by the troubled inter-gender Kaine, an unfortunate boy named Emil, and a cocky talking book called Weiss. Upon the second playthrough however, the game introduces a new perspective: that of the shade, the creatures that Nier has been mercilessly slaughtering throughout his adventure. These scenes are truly not afraid to tug on the heart strings and make you question everything you have been doing in the game for the past 20 hours or so.
A remaster of the Japanese version of Nier is available on PS4, Xbox One and PC as Nier Replicant, in which you play as a younger protagonist who’s looking after his little sister. Regardless, it’s just as impactful.
8. Telltale’s The Walking Dead: Season One
- Available on PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Switch and PC
Zombie apocalypses are never joyous affairs, what with the impending death and resurrection of your loved ones, and Telltale’s The Walking Dead makes no exception.
Playing as Lee Everett, you begin your harrowing adventure in the back of a police car having been convicted of murder. Encountering the walking dead quickly results in a change of your predicament however, as after the police car crashes you find yourself free in world that is rather hostile.
Meeting a sweet little girl called Clementine, Lee convinces her to travel with him in order to reunite her with her parents, despite knowing that the chances of them still being alive are slim. What follows is a perilous journey filled with the tragic death of loved ones, and ultimately our protagonist Lee, in what will surely be a truly heartbreaking scene for many.
Read our review of The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series
9. Metal Gear Solid 4
- Available on PS3
For a legion of fans, seeing Solid Snake ravaged by rapid age deterioration in Metal Gear Solid 4 is sad enough, but that’s just the start of things.
Dropped into a Middle Eastern warzone, Snake’s mission is to assassinate Liquid Ocelot, who plans to take over an army of nanomachine controlled soldiers. Unfortunately you discover that the FOXDIE virus causing Snake’s accelerated aging will mutate within six months, spreading a deadly variant into the population.
Believing he has nothing left to lose, Snake throws everything he has at the mission, even painstakingly crawling through a microwave tunnel in order to reach his final confrontation with Liquid Ocelot. With his mission completed and the FOXDIE virus soon to mutate, Snake sees no other option but to take his own life. That is until Big Boss turns up and saves the day anyway.
10. Shadow of the Colossus
- Available on PS2, PS3 and PS4
Mono may mean a lot to Wander, but you have to wonder if taking the lives of 16 gargantuan beasts is a fair price to bring her back to life.
Traveling across a mysterious land on horseback, Wander mercilessly tracks down the colossi one by one, slaying the magnificent creatures as he goes. Whilst Wander shows no remorse, you as the player probably will; the colossi’s wails and clear signs of sorrow as their life is extinguished can be quite a distressing experience.
Still, what goes around comes around, and after finally beating the 16th colossus Wander eventually finds himself upon the pointy end of a sword.
11. Spec Ops: The Line
- Available on PS3, Xbox 360, Xbox One and PC
War is hell. That’s the only real message you can gather from Spec Ops: The Line, an emotionally-charged third person shooter by Yager.
After the 33rd Infantry Division stationed in Dubai went off the radar following the worst dust storms in recorded history, Captain Martin Walker and his team are flown in. But they quickly stray from their orders of a reconnaissance mission in order to pursue “insurgents” and find out what happened in the city. They quickly discover that many atrocities had been committed by the 33rd in the name of maintaining order, and under the leadership of Walker, the team continue in hope of finding survivors.
After an incident in which Walker orders the use of white phosphorus on what turns out to be fleeing civilians, the toll of battle is clearly affecting the team’s minds. Eventually it is clear that Walker is in fact insane; broken by the horrors of war and the acts that he has committed.
12. Lost Odyssey
- Available on Xbox 360 and Xbox One
To many people, living forever sounds like a wondrous concept. However a quick sit down and chat with Lost Odyssey’s Kaim may quickly dissuade them from the idea.
An immortal being from a parallel universe, Kaim initially has no memory of his past. Along his journey to protect the world from a malevolent being however, Kaim often finds himself in situations or places that trigger memories that were understandably forgotten. Told in a format similar to visual novel games, these short stories of love and loss that Kaim has had to endure for thousands of years are at times truly heart-breaking, and Nobuo Uematsu’s musical score accentuates them immaculately. Perhaps living forever isn’t so good after all, huh?
