Summary
The idea that a video game can make players grow emotionally attached to the characters involved in its story is incredible on its own. They have an uncanny ability to punch fans in the gut with a story so overwhelmingly depressing and meaningful that gamers can’t help but wipe a tear from their eye. Still, they enjoy the journey every step of the way. While some games have their share of depressing aspects, others genuinely get more and more upsetting the longer one thinks about them.
Given how many games include a wealth of stories for players to get lost in, it takes something truly special in terms of narrative design to get players hooked on a story to the point where tears are freely flowing down their cheeks. These games are emotional rollercoasters and make for poignant, melancholic experiences that fans will remember long after finishing these amazing titles.
Beware of spoilers.
Updated on June 25, 2025, by Mehrdad Khayyat:It’s indeed difficult to tell a story that gives players enough reasons to immerse themselves in its world and sympathize with the characters, but video games have somewhat made it easy by letting the players have an active role in the story.
That being said, playing a role is not enough to make the story immersive. It does take a lot of effort to design a narrative that could captive the player in the opening of the game and keep them engaged with it emotionally till the last seconds.
Persona 3 Reloadis a game that fans loved to get their hands on, allowing a lot of people to finally check out the game that cemented the modernPersonaformula fans love. The fact thatPersona 3’sstory was already established before Atlus improved the formula means that the pacing in this game is all over the place, but defeating the major Shadows helps the plot move forward in new and interesting directions.
Persona 3 Reloaddeals with the concepts of death and moving on, with these themes personified in the game’s heartbreaking ending. After pushing himself to the limit and sealing Nyx’s destructive power with his own life force, the protagonist stays on borrowed time as he strives to fulfill the promise he made and meet his friends one last time before passing away.
The Witcher 3: Wild Huntisone of the greatest RPGsever made, featuring strong writing across the board in both the main questline and the various sidequests that players would love to mess around with. When players reunite with Ciri, the game barrels through several narrative threads before moving to the ending.
Based on what players do, Ciri can either become a Witcher, assume the role of an Empress, or succumb to the White Frost. The first one is the only “happy” ending and feels too good to be true. The Empress ending is a sobering conclusion that hammers in just how important Ciri’s role as a member of the royal family really is. However, the saddest ending is the one where Ciri dies, with Geralt taking care of loose ends by killing the surviving Crone before seemingly losing his life to the monsters closing in.
Most people are both saddened and relieved to hear thatCrisis Coreis not canon for the retelling ofFinal Fantasy 7. The member of SOLDIER inherited the Buster Sword from Angeal and sacrificed his life in the end to ensure that Cloud survived at all costs. It’s an emotional ending that will make many people cry after spending a lot of time with this boisterous personality.
Watching Cloud beg Zack to stay alive is heartbreaking and makes it easy to believe why his mind was fractured at this point. Instead of accepting Zack’s death, Cloud deludes himself into thinking that he’d taken Zack’s place all along, removing this man from his memory altogether and refusing to accept that a good friend sacrificed his life to save him.
When it was released back in 2014,Valiant Heartswas a small game published by Ubisoft without a big marketing campaign, but the game truly delivered one of the most impactful stories about World War 1 by depicting strong relationships between multiple characters.
Emile, the main protagonist ofValiant Hearts, still remains one of the most beloved characters in video games, and his unfortunate fate in the game after he went through will not be forgotten so easily.
Valiant Heartsdepicts a story within the chaotic moments of World War 1 from characters that accidentally run into each other but make strong relationships and help each other at any cost to stop the war machine and reunite with their families again.
Don’t Nod has made a name for itself in the video game industry with a bevy of engaging titles, butit’sLife is Strangethat has become one of their most popular IPs to date. The game’s emotional narrative and endearing characters were a huge hit with players who resonated with the game’s compelling story.
The story of Max as she uses her time-travelling powers to save her hometown from being obliterated by a mysterious disaster is a riveting one. The game’s episodic narrative ends in an emotional climax where players must either make the ultimate sacrifice and let Chloe die or let this natural disaster destroy the town of Arcadia.
Final Fantasy 15is a game that many fans are fans of despite its troubled development cycle. The game’s story may be fragmented, but players who were invested in the multimedia storytelling of this game were more than invested in a story that was rife with sad moments every step of the way.
The ending of this game is bound to make people shed a tear, with players forming an unbreakable bond with Noctis' comrades along the way. Despite its problems,Final Fantasy 15’semotional narrativeis bound to hit a note with players who were glad to see the series make a triumphant return after staying dormant for the longest time.
Telling a beautiful story about a mother’s endless love for her children,Endling: Extinction Is Foreverdelivers a heartfelt narrative full of emotional twists that leave players with difficult decisions to make, altering the ending of the game.
On one side, there is a mother fox who tries to save her cubs from hunters and an evolving fire that has forced her out of the forest, while on the other hand, players witness the story of a young girl who tries to help the mother fox, but also deals with a deadly disease. The bond between humans and animals results in some big dilemmas for the player.
Before Your Eyesis one of those stories that will surely make its players think about it over and over after finishing the story. It’s a game about afterlife, where the protagonist is questioned about what they did with their life, which was an opportuinity for them.
The game uses an innovative gameplay mechanic to move forward in the story, but in the end, players shouldn’t expect challenges or difficulties when playing the game, as the gameplay is just at the service of the story to make it even more impactful.
The originalBioShock Infinitecould’ve been a contender for one of thesaddest video gamesaround as well. However, its post-credits scene provides a glimmer of hope for players who might be feeling melancholic after this epic adventure. However,BioShock Infinite: Burial at Seapulls no punches when it comes to evoking a sense of sadness and hopelessness in the player.
After Booker’s death, the player takes control of Elizabeth as she roams the haunting halls of Rapture. Unfortunately, all her efforts are for naught as she’s beaten to death near the end of the DLC, right before Jack makes his fated appearance in the city. It’s a sad way to end a DLC that boastedsome excellent narrative chops.
Hidetaka Miyazaki is an expert when it comes to crafting a bleak setting where players need to fight against overwhelming odds to grasp a sliver of hope. However, in the case ofBloodborne, all three endings end up saddening the player no matter what… which is par on the course with a FromSoftware game.
Submitting to Gerhmanmeans that the player will be released from the night of the Hunt, but this is easily the most unsatisfying ending of the lot. The other two endings involve the player either taking Gerhman’s spot in the Hunter’s Dream or becoming an Old One. Regardless of the outcome, the lore and journey that players undertake through the world are going to be so morose that both these endings just feel like one of the many emotional punches in the gut thatBloodborneis especially fond of giving.
