The most depressing game you have ever played

[Kite]

Here's an odd subject!
So, when it came out, I gave Spec Ops: The Line a shot. I was fairly interested in a few of its mechanics and, after seeing some of my favourite reviewers telling me I need to buy, I... well... Bought it I'm not going to say much about it, other than, despite the gameplay parts are a bit generic it's a pretty good game story wise. The game is brutal about the decisions you make and leaves you whimpering in the corner as you start a decline into PTSD or something while it screams "it was your fault!" at you. If you want to know what I'm on about then get the game or Youtube it (I strongly suggest the former as it's not the same experience as it is on video). Such an amazing game, but it can be genuinely depressing if you make certain decisions.

But anyway, what's the most depressing game you've ever played and why? Was it because a character died, or something happened that gave you nightmares? Or was it so horribly bad that you weren't able to smile for a week?

[Friday]

I've played very few depressing games... most have depressing moments but end up being bittersweet, at least to me. Bioshock 2, The Longest Journey series, Dear Esther, the whole Mass Effect series, and To The Moon all fit this bill. Most of the depressing moments hit home hard because these characters are so alive that the tragedy feels real and important.

[MrRazot]

Can't say I found Dear Esther depressing... I found it quite the opposite with the concept that one can receive a second chance or re-birth, no matter what may have happened in the past.


The most depressing game I've ever played...
interestingly enough a flash game
http://www.mofunzone.com/online_games/and_everything_started_to_fall.shtml

[Friday]

I can see that view of Dear Esther, and it's a completely valid way of viewing the story. I saw a different picture, though. Eh. As for And Everything Started to Fall, that was pretty amazing. I love it when these 'simple' games create a nuanced story. Reminds me of Passage in terms of play.

This is also a depressing flash game, and I absolutely LOVE it: http://www.kongregate.com/games/AlexanderOcias/loved

[Kio]

Life, probably, at least I can cheat in a video or board game to make things easier.
Besides that, I remember finding Silent Hill pretty depressing in an atmospheric sense.

[NovaAurora]

While the game as a whole was actually extremely fun and enjoyable, Rogue Galaxy is one of the few games that made me legitimately tear up at points. It has those 20-minute JRPG cutscenes that many people find annoying, but some of them towards the end were so well written and poignant I couldn't help but feel sad. It was like a brief but powerful movie was inserted in between gameplay specifically to convey those emotions that regular cutscenes don't have the time to do.


As for a whole game, even though it stands as one of my favorite games of all time, Fallout 3 was depressing throughout. The atmosphere and aesthetic were constantly draining emotionally, and the hopelessness of the game world is conveyed very well. I was always sad if a companion got killed, since they are perma-dead after all. It felt like an irreplaceable part of my character was gone, leaving me alone again in the bleakness of it all. Especially if that companion was Dogmeat... I admit I'd reload my game if he ever got killed... 

[maggintons]

Dishonored depresses me because even in the good ending there are still people suffering plague

[MrRazot]

Damn I forgot about Fallout 3 when your father died and you sacrifice your life to go into the irradiated chamber to input a code that no one but your father knew, only that it turns out it was the number of the favourite passage from the bible.
That was pretty depressing stuff.

[Nrein]

Can't say the entire game was depressing, but the most depressing part of any game for me was the ending to Half Life 2: Episode 2.

Spoiler for Hidden:

Having played the series from the start, since I was young, I'd of course gotten attached in some way to all the characters. So having Eli get impaled dead and his brains sucked out, kinda hit me a bit hard. And then Alex's voice begging him to be alive while the screen went black, that was just an intense moment for sure.

[WingedZephyr]

Probably Heavy Rain, if you get some of the unhappy endings.

Spoiler for Hidden:

While playing through the game, you watch as Ethan's entire family falls apart while he feels he is at fault, then in the bad endings he offs himself in a number of ways depending on how you play through the game.

Norman's ending where he fails and overdoses is also pretty depressing.

[Friday]

Can't say the entire game was depressing, but the most depressing part of any game for me was the ending to Half Life 2: Episode 2.

Spoiler for Hidden:

Having played the series from the start, since I was young, I'd of course gotten attached in some way to all the characters. So having Eli get impaled dead and his brains sucked out, kinda hit me a bit hard. And then Alex's voice begging him to be alive while the screen went black, that was just an intense moment for sure.

How could I have forgotten this? This is for sure one of the saddest moments, yes. Totally agree. Alyx </3

Not only that, but:

Spoiler for Hidden:

The moment Alyx gets impaled by hunter is also depressing... not being able to help her as she gets killed is just... ugh.

[anoni]

Most depressing game I've ever played is by far, without any shadow of a doubt, Spec Ops: The Line

I am not even going to post in a spoiler why it's depressing, but it makes you wonder... why didn't you just turn back...

[maggintons]

SPOILER


the end of Ac3 in which no matter what Desmond does he has a hollow victory


"Save the world Desmond and then die so i can Take Over MWAHAHAHAHaaa"
or
"survive the apocalypse rebuild and then become the new jesus"


seriously why didn't Desmond's dad sacrifice himself instead?

[Nrein]

Also to add, there's a specific moment in Far Cry 3 that made me rather depressed, playing through the rest of the game.

Spoiler for Hidden:

Vaas's death. I know he's one of the main bad guys, but let's real talk for a moment; he's practically the best bad guy in video game history. Not to mention you really get attached to him in a sort of way. My three friends who I've been living with on and off just got the game, and I spent the last week watching each of them play. Once one of them finally got to the part where you kill Vaas, we all just kinda went quiet. And then I can't say how many times throughout the rest of the game they kept talking about how it'd be better if he were alive, since he's a much better enemy than Hoyt.

I think I'm gonna make a thread about favorite bad guys, now >>

[Darkothebat]

The walking dead games ending  that made me cry