Some Stories Are Almost Impossible to Forget
Most people play video games as a way to escape from reality. But more than just being fun and mindless, some games include incredibly immersive stories and characters, touching on very real topics, such as war, disease, and even cancer. From massive blockbusters to small independent games, these 20 stories have earned reputations for leaving players emotional long after the credits finish rolling. Beware that there are major spoilers ahead; consider yourself warned.
1. Red Dead Redemption 2
Arthur Morgan spends much of Red Dead Redemption 2 believing in Dutch van der Linde and the outlaw family they've built, only to watch that family collapse around him. After learning that he's dying from tuberculosis, Arthur begins reconsidering the violence and selfish decisions that have defined much of his life. His final effort to help John Marston escape gives him a chance to accomplish something worthwhile before his time runs out, and a high-honor playthrough makes his final moments especially difficult to watch.
2. The Walking Dead: Season One
Lee Everett begins The Walking Dead as a convicted man whose future appears to have disappeared, but protecting Clementine gives his life an entirely new purpose. Their relationship develops across the season as Lee teaches her how to survive while trying to preserve as much of her childhood as possible. Once Lee is bitten, Clementine eventually has to face losing the person who became her protector, and their final conversation remains one of gaming's most painful farewells.
3. The Last of Us
The opening of The Last of Us establishes its emotional stakes immediately when Joel's daughter Sarah dies in his arms during the initial outbreak. Years later, Ellie slowly becomes the person who finally allows him to care about someone again, which makes his eventual refusal to lose her understandable even when his actions are morally troubling. The story ends without easy closure, leaving Ellie suspicious of Joel's explanation and the player aware that their relationship now rests on a serious lie.
4. Final Fantasy VII
Few role-playing game deaths have remained as famous as Aerith's fate in Final Fantasy VII. After spending hours traveling with her and learning how important she is to the group, players watch Sephiroth kill her without getting an opportunity to prevent it. Cloud's reaction and the party's immediate grief make the loss particularly effective because the game doesn't treat her as someone who'll simply return later.
5. To the Moon
To the Moon follows doctors Eva Rosalene and Neil Watts as they enter the memories of a dying man named Johnny and attempt to fulfill his wish of traveling to the moon. As they explore his past, they discover how his relationship with his wife, River, was shaped by forgotten childhood events and years of misunderstood behavior. The doctors can technically grant Johnny's final wish, but doing so requires changing his memories, creating an ending that is comforting and upsetting at the same time.
6. Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons
The entire journey in Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons centers on Naia and Naiee searching for a cure that might save their sick father. Players become accustomed to controlling the brothers together, with each sibling handling different parts of the environment and helping the other move forward. When Naia dies before the journey is complete, even the game's controls reflect his absence, forcing Naiee to finish the trip while learning to perform tasks that once required his brother.
7. Life Is Strange
Max Caulfield's ability to rewind time initially seems powerful enough to prevent almost any tragedy in Life Is Strange. The problem is that repeatedly changing events carries consequences, eventually forcing her to choose between Chloe Price and the people of Arcadia Bay. After everything Max has done to keep Chloe alive, deciding whether to sacrifice her closest friend turns the ending into a choice where neither option feels entirely satisfying.
8. The Last of Us Part II
The Last of Us Part II begins its central conflict with Joel's death, leaving Ellie consumed by grief and determined to kill the people responsible. Her pursuit of Abby costs her relationships, physical safety, and much of the future she might have built with Dina. By the end, Ellie finally chooses not to kill Abby, but she returns home to find Dina gone and discovers that her missing fingers prevent her from properly playing the guitar Joel taught her to use.
9. Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII
Anyone familiar with Final Fantasy VII already knows that Zack Fair isn't destined to survive Crisis Core, which makes following his story especially painful. Zack remains determined to protect Cloud and return to Aerith even as Shinra closes in on him and his chances of escape disappear. His final battle ends with Zack mortally wounded and Cloud inheriting the Buster Sword, giving players the full context behind a death that had previously existed mostly in the background.
10. That Dragon, Cancer
That Dragon, Cancer is based on developers Ryan and Amy Green's experience raising their young son Joel after he was diagnosed with cancer. Rather than building toward a conventional victory, the game asks players to experience moments of fear, hope, helplessness, and family life during his illness. Knowing that Joel died at five years old gives the project a personal weight that separates it from fictional tragedies designed solely for dramatic effect.
11. What Remains of Edith Finch
Edith Finch returns to her childhood home hoping to understand why so many members of her family died young. Each section lets you experience another relative's final story, ranging from childhood accidents to deaths involving depression, illness, and dangerous circumstances. The cumulative effect becomes even sadder when the ending reveals that Edith herself has died after recording the family's history for her son, leaving him as one of the last surviving Finches.
12. Spiritfarer
Instead of defeating enemies or saving the world, Spiritfarer asks Stella to care for spirits until they're ready to move on. You cook for them, improve their living spaces, complete personal requests, and gradually learn about the lives they left behind. Eventually every companion has to leave, and knowing that separation is unavoidable doesn't make taking each one to the Everdoor much easier.
13. Final Fantasy X
Tidus enters Final Fantasy X believing that helping Yuna complete her pilgrimage will save Spira from the monster known as Sin. He eventually learns both that Yuna's traditional mission is expected to cost her life and that his own existence is tied to the dream sustaining his version of Zanarkand. The group manages to break Spira's cycle of sacrifice, but Tidus disappears afterward, forcing Yuna to say goodbye just when it seems they've finally earned a future together.
14. Red Dead Redemption
John Marston spends Red Dead Redemption hunting down former members of his gang because federal agents are holding his family and demanding his cooperation. Once he fulfills their demands, John briefly gets the domestic life he wanted with Abigail and Jack, suggesting that his violent past might finally be behind him. The government ultimately betrays him anyway, and John sacrifices himself during a final confrontation so his wife and son have a chance to survive.
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15. A Plague Tale: Requiem
Amicia de Rune spends A Plague Tale: Requiem desperately searching for a way to save her younger brother Hugo from the Macula controlling his body and attracting enormous swarms of rats. Her determination survives one disappointment after another because accepting that Hugo can't be cured would mean accepting the possibility of losing him. When the Macula finally overwhelms him, Hugo asks Amicia to stop it, forcing her to make the decision she's spent two games trying to avoid.
16. Valiant Hearts: The Great War
Valiant Hearts: The Great War follows several ordinary people whose lives become connected during World War I rather than focusing primarily on battlefield heroics. One of its central characters, Emile, is eventually sentenced to death after striking an officer whose reckless orders were getting soldiers killed. His farewell letter to his daughter makes the conclusion especially difficult because his story ends not through a grand victory, but through the consequences of a war that has already taken almost everything from him.
17. NieR: Automata
Androids 2B and 9S spend NieR: Automata fighting on behalf of humanity, only for their understanding of the war to collapse as the story reveals how much they've been kept from knowing. 2B's death devastates 9S, who then becomes increasingly unstable as he discovers additional truths about YoRHa and the conflict that has defined his existence. The later endings offer some hope, but only after the characters have suffered through repeated loss, deception, and destruction.
18. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Naked Snake enters Metal Gear Solid 3 believing that his mentor, The Boss, has defected and must be eliminated. After carrying out the mission himself, he learns that she was actually following secret orders from the United States and knowingly accepted death so her country could avoid a wider conflict. Snake receives public praise while understanding that the woman he killed was loyal all along, an experience that permanently changes his view of the nation he served.
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19. Gears of War 3
Dominic Santiago has already suffered heavily before Gears of War 3 begins, particularly after finding his wife Maria in a devastating condition during the previous game. His grief continues to affect him as the war against humanity's enemies grows increasingly desperate. Surrounded by hostile forces with his friends in danger, Dom drives a truck into an explosive target to save the group, sacrificing himself while Marcus is forced to watch his closest friend die.
20. Shadow of the Colossus
Wander enters the forbidden land in Shadow of the Colossus for one reason: he wants to restore a young woman named Mono to life. He agrees to destroy 16 colossi without fully understanding the consequences, gradually becoming physically altered as the imprisoned entity Dormin grows stronger through his actions. Mono ultimately awakens, but Wander loses his former body and becomes an infant-like creature, leaving his determined attempt to save someone he cared about with a tragic personal cost.
