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Arthur Morgan wearing a hat in Red Dead Redemption
Image via Rockstar Games

The saddest moments in gaming history

Gaming moments that you can never forget.

Gaming is an activity that has brought joy to millions of people across the globe. As satisfying as it is to blow up enemies and tear through mobs in action games, there are also quieter, slow moments in story-based games. Not all of these moments are happy or have a positive resolution since many of these games have bittersweet endings that might leave you feeling sad.

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While there are sad moments throughout the history of gaming, these are some of the more popular entries where players have most probably shed a tear or two for their favorite characters. This list will contain spoilers for the games mentioned, so be forewarned if you haven’t played these games and plan to do so.

Dark Souls

An image of Knight Artorias getting ready to battle you in his arena in Dark Souls Remastered.
A fallen knight’s last stand. Image via FromSoftware

We could list a whole number of tragic characters in the Dark Souls series, but perhaps none of them are as iconic or beloved as Knight Artorias was. The legendary Artorias the Abysswalker was one of the four famed knights of Gwyn, the Lord of Sunlight. He was known for his deeds of heroism alongside his loyal companion, Sif. The pair were inseparable until disaster struck.

During a campaign into the abyss to save Princess Dusk of Oolacile, Artorias runs into Manus, Father of the Abyss. After failing to defeat him and losing his left arm (his sword arm) in the process, Artorias knew his end was near. In a last attempt of heroism, he protects Sif, who is still a wolf pup at this time, with his Cleansing Greatshield before being taken by the Abyss himself.

When you go into the past to fight Artorias, you recognize him as a shell of the man he once was, completely corrupted by the abyss. The fight to stop him is a sad one since you are putting the greatest hero of Lordran out of his misery.

While this story is sad, what is even sadder is that the present-day Sif will end up recognizing you, letting loose a sad howl before he reluctantly fights you to the death. Hope is truly hard to come by in the Dark Souls series.

Final Fantasy VII

An image of Cloud holding Aerith's corpse while performing the last rites for her in Final Fantasy VII.
Sleep well, sweet princess. Image via Square Enix

Final Fantasy VII brought players equal amounts of joy and, eventually, sadness. This is because the game’s story was uplifting and had a positive end for most of the party members. The one that truly suffered the most was Aerith, and her tale was tragic from the get-go. The path that the storyline of Final Fantasy VII takes to get to Aerith’s eventual death is quite cruel to the character.

Since the beginning, Aerith Gainsborough had been an innocent child that misfortune seemingly was drawn to. As a child, her parents were tortured and killed at the hands of the Shinra Corporation. When she was left to suffer and wander the slums alone, Aerith was adopted by Elmyra and was given a second chance at life.

That didn’t last too long, however, since the plot leads her to an untimely death at the hands of the main antagonist, Sephiroth. Aerith was stabbed through the back by Sephiroth and died a painful death. We stand with other players in saying that Aerith definitely didn’t deserve the life she got.

Related: Can you play Final Fantasy VII Remake on the Steam Deck?

Persona 3

An image of the main protagonist dying in the arms of Aigis sitting on a bench in Persona 3.
There’s no escaping this fate. Image via Atlus

Persona 3 is most definitely the darkest entry of the three modern Persona games. While Persona 4 focuses on the themes of friendship and camaraderie, and Persona 5 deals with growing up in a corrupted world where the elite abuse their power, Persona 3 follows different themes. The game revolves around human mortality and how easy it is to slip into a depressive spiral.

The game is littered with sad moments and deaths but none hits as hard as the death of the main protagonist, either male or female, at the end of the game. The protagonist successfully stops Nyx, the Goddess of Death from purging the world. But the battle, and the decision made in the aftermath, leave the protagonist so drained that they die on the day they graduate.

The saddest moment in the series is watching the protagonist slowly pass away in the arms of Aigis as they claim that they’re sleepy and just want to close their eyes for a while, only to never wake up again.

Related: Persona 3 devs accidentally leak remake, new Persona 5 game

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky

An image of Riolu and Eevee on a stone path with clouds in the background saying farewell in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Sky.
This part hurt to watch. Image via The Pokémon Company

For the most part, Pokémon games don’t really have plotlines that are too dark, maybe with the exception of Pokémon Black/White and the original Pokémon Red/Blue/Yellow. The Pokémon Mystery Dungeon side-series, however, are a different story. The third sequel titled Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky brings a bittersweet end to the sequel trilogy.

In the story, your player character turns into a Pokémon for an unknown reason. You meet your partner Pokémon and develop a strong bond while unraveling the mysteries of this land. The plot goes into full gear towards the end when you have to solve a planetary catastrophe alongside your Pokémon partner.

Towards the end, three Pokémon including you, your partner, and Grovyle enter the Hidden Land. After a soul-crushing series of events and Grovyle’s heroic sacrifice, only one makes it out alive, and that’s not you. The restoration of the Time Gears makes it so that you are erased from existence after a tearful goodbye with your friends and partner.

A lot of tears were shed by players everywhere after that sad ending and especially watching the partner Pokémon’s sadness on the beach where you meet them.

Red Dead Redemption

An image of John Marston dying to gunfire with a barn in the background in Red Dead Redemption.
An unlikely hero dies a heroic death. Image via Rockstar Games

Rockstar Games has never shied away from creating sad or bittersweet endings to its games. While their Grand Theft Auto series of games generally have a somewhat positive conclusion, the same can’t be said about their Red Dead Redemption series. Both the games in the series revolve around tragic protagonists that meet their untimely end way too soon.

John Marston, the last true cowboy and outlaw in a dying breed of men, tries to do what’s best for himself and his family in a world that is rapidly changing with technology. The last surviving member of the iconic Van Der Linde gang is used by the government and then is betrayed by them. After saving his family, John makes a last stand against Edgar Ross and his men.

His death is poetic but is also one of the saddest deaths in a Rockstar game. Watching John fight to his last breath while protecting his family is one of the most painful scenes to get through in the game.

Red Dead Redemption 2

An image of Arthur Morgan dying on the ground in Red Dead Redemption 2.
Arthur meets an untimely end whether good or bad. Image via Rockstar Games

If John Marston’s death didn’t hit hard enough, Arthur Morgan’s definitely takes the cake. Red Dead Redemption 2 focuses on the Van Der Linde family at their peak, with Arthur as the lead protagonist. Taking place in 1899, the game focuses on a conflicted Arthur as he robs and pillages the lands with his leader and mentor Dutch Van Der Linde.

After a series of betrayals by Micah and the slow turning of Dutch against Arthur, he is forced to fight most of his battles alone. In addition to that, Arthur was a ticking time bomb himself, dying a slow death from Tuberculosis, making it painful to watch this once proud man slowly descend into the jaws of death.

The final scene is a real tear-jerker as Arthur makes a last stand, saving John and his family while battling Micah to his last breath. Watching Arthur’s loyal horse stand by him to its death is a heartwrenching scene the likes of which are hard to come by. The Red Dead Redemption games are a must-play series for everyone that enjoys a realistic story.

The Last of Us

An image of Joel mourning the death of his daughter Sarah in The Last of Us.
This one hurt a lot. Image via Naughty Dog

The Last of Us is notorious for having several tearjerker scenes in its post-apocalyptic zombie wasteland. The series is a harrowing tale of survival and a testament to the power of humans when they are pushed into a corner. While most of the deaths hit quite hard, the one that we feel was totally undeserved was the death of Sarah Miller.

Joel Miller’s daughter dies an unwarranted death at the hands of infected soldiers. While Joel tried his best to save both of them, Sarah succumbed to her injuries eventually. The moment is one of the most painful in the series and was executed to perfection with a brutal but realistic depiction of human emotions. Joel lost his daughter and we all shed a collective tear for her.

Joel’s life beyond this point isn’t that much greater since he dies in The Last of Us 2. His death is painful to watch and besides Sarah’s death, it is the most traumatic death in the series.

Related: The Last of Us Part 1 ending, explained

Undertale

An image of Sans closing his eyes in the midst of battle against the player character in Undertale.
The trickster in action before his eventual death. Image via Toby Fox

For an indie game with a limited budget, Toby Fox created a miracle. Undertale is one of the most well-written, seemingly light-hearted games with a dark undertone that is slowly revealed as the story progresses. Depending on the path you choose, you can either play as a pacifist who completes the game without killing anyone or go on a genocide run, slaughtering everyone you come by.

The choices you make throughout the game will greatly affect the game state and the way the characters perceive you going forward. It is tough to pick the saddest moment from here because both routes, as well as a neutral run, are littered with some of the most painful moments to play through, even if your character orchestrates most of them.

If we had to pick two moments that stand out, it would be the tragic tale of Papyrus and Sans in the genocide run. Watching the light-hearted, comical Papyrus die slowly at your hands while claiming that you can still be good is heartbreaking. His brother Sans is the end boss of this run and killing him makes him lose all hope in you and humanity as he dies next to Papyrus.


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Author
Image of Anish Nair
Anish Nair
Freelance gaming writer for Dot Esports. An avid gamer of 25 years with a soft spot for RPGs and strategy games. Esports writer for 2 years and a watcher for 12 years. Aspiring author. Dad to a host of animals. Usually found trying to climb ranks in Dota 2, plundering the seas in Sea of Thieves, hunting large monsters in Monster Hunter World, or mining rare minerals in Deep Rock Galactic.