Games With No Happy Ending

Traditionally, stories are brought to a satisfying conclusion. George slays The Dragon, Robin Hood defeats the Sheriff of Nottingham, Romulus founds Rome. Throughout history, these stories have at least had a somewhat happy ending, often assumed to be what audiences want. But of course, there has always been the other side of the coin: Hercules dies, and Achillies is killed by an arrow to the heel. Video games have featured both good and bad endings for their stories.

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However, normally, both are options in games with multiple endings. Good and bad endings are often up to player choice, unlocked via challenges, narrative decisions, and so on. However, some games don’t let players get away with a happy ending. Some only allow for bittersweet stories where silver linings permeate tragedy, while others are just downright depressing.

Spoilers Ahead for all the games listed.

10

Dark Souls 3

Can’t Even Die Right

Released

March 24, 2016

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood Violence

The Dark Souls series isn’t known for being very happy to begin with, so most players won’t expect a very cheery atmosphere. Set in the land of endless suffering, Lothric (and the many lands that came before it), players are faced with a horrific world of cannibalistic cults, roaming undead nightmares, and god-eating worms. Embarking on a quest to link the flame and stop an encroaching age of darkness, things are already pretty bleak.

Unlike its successor, Elden Ring, Dark Souls 3’s endings don’t offer much respite. In the final boss fight, players are faced with the player character from the original Dark Souls. Should players link with the flame after that, they will become the same withered husk they just defeated. The other options are to usher in the age of darkness, or to break the cycle of light and dark, implanting themselves as a seemingly tyrannical ruler.

9

Red Dead Redemption 2

I’ve Got A Plan, Arthur

Released

October 26, 2018

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol

It is 1899. The Van Der Linde Gang is on the run. Chased from the town of Blackwater following a botched raid, with their options running thin and their friends being picked off, they’re in a desperate situation. Attempting to save themselves, they run afoul of a wealthy business tycoon who’ll stop at nothing for revenge.

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It seems a shoo-in, then, that the endings of Red Dead Redemption 2 are only varying degrees of depressing, with the player character, Arthur Morgan, being guaranteed to die regardless of which of the four endings are achieved. The epilogue does provide some kind of catharsis in avenging Arthur, but it’s still far from happy, particularly when taking into account the ending of the first Red Dead Redemption, which takes place afterward.

8

Telltale’s The Walking Dead Season 1

You’re Already Tainted

Released

April 24, 2012

ESRB

Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Strong Language

Zombies walk the earth in hordes, roaming the streets and ripping apart anyone unfortunate enough to come across them. Lee, our main character, is thrust into this world after the police car taking him to jail crashes. After meeting a little girl, Clementine, in a nearby treehouse, he must ensure her safety while trying to survive the apocalypse.

No matter the player’s choices in Telltale’s The Walking Dead, Lee dies; only the manner of his death is up to the player, and none of the options are nice. Bitten and infected, players can choose to have Clementine kill him or to let him turn into a zombie.

7

Fallout 4

I’m So Disappointed

Released

November 10, 2015

ESRB

M FOR MATURE: BLOOD AND GORE, INTENSE VIOLENCE, STRONG LANGUAGE, USE OF DRUGS

In Fallout 4, the player takes on the role of the Sole Survivor, a victim of cryogenic experimentation. They battle their way across the wasteland in order to avenge their murdered spouse and rescue their kidnapped son from the villainous Institute, becoming extremely powerful in the process.

Except things are not as they seem. Halfway through the game, players will get access to the Institute, only to find that not only has it been decades since their son was kidnapped—rather than the ten or so years it seemed—but he now leads the Institute. Players are then faced with a choice. The Institute kidnaps and murders at will, purposefully keeping the wasteland in a state of ruin, but any ending in which they’re defeated, their son will definitely die. Either way, the ending will be bittersweet.

6

Dying Light: The Following.

So Much Wasted

Desperate for a cure to the virus ravaging the city of Harran, Dying Light: The Following DLC sees protagonist Kyle Crane journey outside of the city, searching for a promised remedy that seems to be in the hands of a cult-like organization following a figure known as The Mother.

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The ending twist is that The Mother has already turned; the cure only allowed her to remain somewhat sane in the light, while turning into a monster in the dark. She also came to the realization that she had murdered her own children while she was a monster. She offers players two choices: kill her and take the cure with the knowledge they’ll become a monster and spread the virus, or set off a nuke and kill everyone, but save the world.

5

Far Cry 4

You Don’t Text For Help, You Scream For Help

Released

November 18, 2014

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Themes, Strong Language, Use of Drugs

It might seem strange for a series best known for kooky villains and funny NPCs, but Far Cry 4 gets extremely depressing. Ajay Ghale returns to his home country of Kyrat on a mission to carry out his mother’s dying wish. After being apprehended by and later escaping the king of Kyrat, Pagan Min, Ajay joins the Golden Path, a rebel movement started by his late father.

This seems like a recipe for a simple story of liberation and overthrowing a tyrant. However, things are far from that simple. The Golden Path are slowly revealed throughout the game to have just as many, if not more, insidious ideas for the country. One side focuses on religious fundamentalism, the other on militancy in the extreme. To make matters worse, it is revealed that Ajay’s mother wanted to be with her daughter, also Pagan’s daughter, who was murdered by Ajay’s father. The closest thing to a good ending is to just sit at the dinner table at the start of the game, triggering a secret ending that presumably leaves Pagan in charge.

4

Hotline Miami

Do You Like Hurting Other People?

Released

October 23, 2012

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ due to Intense Violence, Blood and Gore, Drug Reference, Strong Language, Crude Humor

Hotline Miami rocked the indie gaming scene in the early 2010s and has been an inspiration to many game developers since. But that doesn’t mean it features a particularly happy story. In an alternate 1990, Miami is a crime-ridden hellhole. Our protagonist, a man known only as Jacket, and later a man known as Biker, are being blackmailed into committing heinous massacres by a mysterious organization that leaves anonymous voicemails with their targets, usually members of the Russian Mob.

The story is relatively straightforward, except for the fact that both Jacket and Biker kill the other, depending on whose perspective the mission takes place in (which is impossible when taking the second game into account). However, players can unlock a secret ending, revealing the organization behind the hits. Regardless of which ending players get, nothing gets better in Miami, and the violence only escalates in the sequel.

3

Spec Ops: The Line

Welcome To Dubai

Released

June 26, 2012

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ Due To Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language

Spec Ops: The Line seems, on the surface, to be a regular military shooter. Players take the role of Captain Martin Walker, who leads his team to Dubai in search of survivors following a colossal sandstorm that swallows the city.

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After discovering that the city is controlled by a rogue US Army unit, The 33rd, Walker and his men intervene, initially trying to save a CIA agent captured by the renegades, escalating into a series of severe war crimes played off as being “for the greater good.” Players are then faced with the realization that the 33rd’s leader, Konrad, is already dead and has been for some time. All the atrocities were committed due to a voice in Walker’s head. Players can choose to let Walker die, be evacuated (and presumably keep his crimes secret), or kill his rescuers, none of which are particularly cheery options.

2

Pathologic

If We Panic, Hundreds Could Die

Systems

Set in an extremely depressing world, a small town gripped by a unique strain of plague, three healers must try to cure the disease before it spreads or kills the entire population. Players can pick any one of the healers for their playthrough and will be able to interact with the unused player characters throughout the story.

Depending on the player character chosen and how many of their patients survive, one of three bleak endings can happen so long as players complete their objectives. Should players pick the Bachelor, the town’s healthy citizens will be evacuated, but the town is ultimately leveled. The Haruspex will destroy the magical and possibly living building known as the Polyhedron. Meanwhile, the Changeling will sacrifice her patients in order to create a cure, preventing the town from being destroyed at the cost of those living in it. Should the player fail in their quest to find a cure, the townsfolk will all die.

1

Cyberpunk 2077

Never Fade Away

Released

December 10, 2020

ESRB

M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Content, Use of Drugs and Alcohol

V, a cyborg mercenary in the dystopian Night City, accidentally infects themselves with a brain-destroying implant following a botched heist. Slowly being rewritten with the imprint of Keanu Reeves’ Johnny Silverhand, a terrorist and rock star, V has to find a cure whilst trying to survive in the dark future.

By the end of Cyberpunk 2077, V has no good options left; in fact, one potential ending is for V to just give up and commit suicide. That’s how bleak things look. The other options for V range from asking the Aldecaldos gang to help them (and getting many of them killed), to going on a suicide mission in which they end up alienating all of their friends. Even the only ending where V survives is bittersweet, as they left behind by their friends after falling into a coma. However, that shouldn’t stop players from trying to get the endings they haven’t seen yet.

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