5 Unforgettable Game Endings That Will Surely Leave You In Tears

The final sections of a game are a culmination of its story, building up and delivering on big climaxes or emotional conclusions. Titles with strong endings tend to stick with you far after the credits roll, leaving a memorable impact that will have players contemplating every event they experienced. In many ways, the end of a game can turn it from great into iconic, helping it stand out as a game that players will recommend to each other earnestly.

Game endings can be controversial too, sometimes making or breaking a series or experience by the way it handles its story, characters, or other parts. Games like Last of Us 2 are infamous for their endings, which take big risks that contrast what players had been doing for most of their playthrough. In their own way, these kinds of endings are memorable too, but games that connect with their audience more tend to craft their finales with a level of care most titles don’t reach.

5. Red Dead Redemption

The story of Red Dead Redemption is a Wild West tale of perseverance, as your actions as John Marston to track down former member of the gang he was a part of defines your journey. The conclusion of this adventure should feel triumphant, but the harsh nature of this world prevents you from having John reunite with his wife and son after his arduous task. From the moment John gets back home, you have to fend off federal agents who betray him, helping John’s family escape while he inevitably dies in the ensuing firefight.

While you do get revenge on Edgar Ross, John’s killer, as his son in an epilogue, the shot of John filled with bullet wounds facing down a federal army is an iconic scene in gaming. The reason why this moment hits so hard is how deep of a character John Marston is, through his interactions and code of honor you construct through your actions throughout the game. The fact that you can personally try to take down as many of Edgar’s men as possible before dying adds to the immersive feel of John’s death, and its tragedy.

4. Nier: Automata (Ending E)

There are multiple endings to NieR: Automata, with five main conclusions and 21 hidden finales, not even counting the DLC ending too. Some endings are reached almost as Easter Eggs through ignoring objectives or other actions, but Ending E is something special. This is considered by many players to be the “true”ending of the game, where your previous actions all come into focus and defy the tragic conclusions of the past endings in stunning fashion.

Endings A-D are affairs with terrible outcomes for 2B, A2, and 9S, but Ending E is a culmination of their will and the player’s to prevent tragedy from constantly repeating itself. In an almost meta conclusion, you have to battle the game’s credits, signifying the android’s battle against the gods of NieR: Automata in some way. The emotional payoff of this ending is grueling, but supported by other players who have reached the same ending, with the option for you to also aid others by deleting your save data when it’s done.

3. Telltale’s The Walking Dead (Season 1)

At their peak, Telltale were masters of narrative storytelling, with their The Walking Dead title still perhaps representing their best work. This game’s first Season of story features hair-splitting decision making that determines the narrative’s direction, making each outcome feel like a direct consequence of your actions. This gives more weight to the tale itself, especially when you have two likeable main characters in Lee and Clementine. Despite your best efforts, The frustration and sadness from Lee’s inevitable fate makes this ending hit much harder than some other games can muster.

Throughout the game, Lee is basically Clementine’s father figure, with the actions you take trying to ensure both characters make it out alive and manage to find some measure of happiness together. However, this is not to be, as the end of the first Season will always conclude with Lee being bit by a zombie. The cruel irony of this game is that Clementine has to be the one to either shoot Lee or let him turn, perfectly capturing the themes of The Walking Dead‘s original comics and TV show.

2. Halo: Reach

Sacrifice is the driving theme of Halo: Reach, and many of the Halo games in general. However, before Halo: Campaign Evolved re-invents the original title, the Reach spin-off dared to create an experience centered around a custom character rather than the Master Chief. From the moment you begin the game’s campaign, your custom armor shows an immediate personal investment in the events of the story, where your Noble 6 character works with a trained team of advanced SPARTAN soldiers.

Halo: Reach‘s story revolves around the desperate final stand of the planet Reach against the alien Covenant, in a losing battle that slowly takes everyone you know. Each character on your squad has stunning final stands, and eventually, so do you. The “Lone Wolf” mission in this game is infamous for being a playable death sequence for your character, as they try to eliminate as many Covenant as possible after ensuring humanity’s last hope could escape.

Cracks showing in your helmet from first-person and haunting music play a final swan song to someone who would never see the Covenant’s defeat, but lay the groundwork for humanity’s victory later. The resolute image of Noble 6’s helmet lying on a devastated Reach’s surface is one that many Halo fans remember well, even years after the game’s release.

1. Silent Hill 2 (Leave Ending)

Like NieR: Automata, Silent Hill 2 has multiple endings, with three of them acting as main conclusions to the game’s psychological story. This ending is determined by your response to protagonist James’ secret — that his guilt for causing his wife’s death caused the manifestations of horror he’s faced throughout the entire game. Other endings like “In Water” and “Maria” deal with this truth differently, with the first suggesting James commits suicide while the latter sees James repeating the cycle that brought him to Silent Hill in the first place.

While these endings are also emotional roller coasters, “Leave” is perhaps the one with the most closure. This ending sees James finally confront his feelings about his wife, including the guilt and resentment that led to the outcome that plagued his psyche so much. In many ways, this ending serves as a way of James coming to terms with what he did, even if he doesn’t truly forgive himself. It at least allows him to leave Silent Hill with Laura, another victim of the location.

The final letter from James’ wife Maria is Silent Hill 2‘s most defining moment, and made even more haunting with imagery of James slowly walking beyond the borders of Silent Hill. Few games lament the complex emotions of its characters so intimately, easily making this title one of the most memorable ever made from its ending alone.

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