It’s completely normal to want a relaxing conclusion once you beat another challenging game. Most of the time, you get just that, an ending that tells you everything is all done and well and will stay fine forever. Sometimes, however, you get something that ramps the drama up to eleven, and that’s even better.
On that note, I’ve experienced many a tear-jerker or shocked gasps myself. So, here’s a list of the most dramatic endings ever; just don’t scroll too fast in case you’d rather remain unspoiled on some.
9. The Last Of Us
Okay, this one is an easy pick because since The Last of Us leaves little left to ponder, and because most folks know this one through osmosis. The long and short of it is, after a long and tumultous journey to deliver a cure for the game’s gnarly plague, Joel saves Ellie. He snatches her back from the last area’s lab, preventing scientists from studying her immunity. However, in doing so, he also robs Ellie of her agency. Then he lies to her.
What I like best about this ending is how subdued it is compared to the rest of the game. Sometimes less is more, and the minimalistic approach works great here. Was he right? Was he wrong? I have strong feelings here, and I’m sure you do too, but the game leaves it up to you to decide, and that’s nice.
8. The Walking Dead Season 1
The biggest tear-jerker of the bunch.
Seeing the protagonist you’ve grown to love force his adoptive daughter to shoot him so that he doesn’t turn into a zombie is as dark as it gets. A perfectly sad endpoint to an already incredibly bittersweet journey. It’s got all of the gutwrenching tragedy, plus doubles as the starting point of a new era. With the death of Lee, Clementine begins her journey as the main character for the series.
7. Pretty much every Silent Hill 2 ending
Silent Hill 2 displays the narrative capabilities of video games as a medium like no other, and it manages to stick the landing not in one, but in every single iteration of its multiple endings of its many endings.
A game having different endings often means varying levels of drama, but not Silent Hill 2. Unless you count the joke UFO and “doG” endings, you’ll only find more pain in here. You see, James Sunderland, the main character, is dealing with guilt that goes way beyond what he can bear, and there just is no easy solution to his problem. Pick your pain.
6. Link’s Awakening
Most Zelda games are pretty upbeat and feature naturally cheery endings as well. Not Link’s Awakening, though.
Think about it for a moment and you’ll realize that Link has obliterated a village filled with sentient creatures just so he could escape. And yeah, I know what you might be thinking and the answer is “No, they’re not mere illusions.” These inhabitants were seemingly dreamed up by a magical fish (please bear with me), but the perfect ending proves that they really did exist and feel.
Hell, we even see a dog getting obliterated by a wave of light. And what does Link get out of it? Well, he gets to stay adrift in the ocean. Nice.
5. Elden Ring’s poop ending
Elden Ring features an ending where light basically stops to exist as the world is swallowed by shadows — and that’s not even the most dramatic ending. That honor belongs to the Dung Eater’s “Blessing of despair” ending.
What’s more dramatic than a world deprived of warmth? A world filled with poop, and the air is replaced with what I’m assuming is just… gas. The Dung Eater’s ending seems like a joke, but the visuals really do manage to sell it as the worst doomsday scenario I’ve ever seen in a game. Remember? I warned you about endings that get you misty-eyed, I just didn’t specify why.
4. Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater
The original Metal Gear Solid has two different endings. One is pretty chill. The other one, the one where Snake fails to save Meryl, hits you straight in the heart. Metal Gear Solid 3 only has one ending, one that doesn’t stop at merely preventing players from saving the person Snake loves the most. This ending straight-up forces Snake to kill them.
Big Boss having to kill his mentor has to be up there when it comes to narrowing down one of the most heart-wrenching moments in gaming. And even up until that point, the series is filled moment-to-moment, over-the-top drama.
3. Nier Automata
Most endings on this list excel at pulling at your heartstrings because they bring the game to a close in an emotional manner, but Nier Automata goes beyond that.
Not only does it put the cast through some pretty depressing trials, Automata also asks the players to make the ultimate sacrifice. It urges them to sacrifice their save files so that the game can use their data to help the progress of others. What a beautiful way to both make us feel for the characters and connect to an important part of the story.
2. Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption isn’t here because it features one of the most dramatic endings in the history of video games. It’s here because it features two.
Things are immediately ruthless as Read Dead mercilessly kills off a character we’d witnessed trying to fix his ways throughout the entire game. Most players would’ve been satisfied with that, as anyone who likes a good Western has become accustomed to heartbreak. And yet, that is not the end of the story.
The game then flashes forward a few years and gives us one single mission: deliver a “message” to someone. You’ll ride through the wilderness of Red Dead Redemption again, pondering over memories made, but that’s not even the best part. The best part is, naturally, finally killing the bastard who betrayed your father.
This might very well be the most cathartic moment in video game history.
1. Final Fantasy VIII
Games in the Final Fantasy series never fail to close the curtain in style. Still, there are great endings and then there’s Final Fantasy VIII’s ending. It doesn’t feel like a mere part of a bigger whole — it feels like a full-fledged avant-garde short film that just so happens to be one of the most beautiful experiences of its era.
Sure, you might prefer VI‘s tighter narrative, VII‘s edgier plot, or even X’s hi-res graphics, but you’ll have a hard time denying that VIII showed Squaresoft at the peak of its artistry. Also, bonus points for being the first game in the series to feature an orchestral rendition of the Final Fantasy theme.
