Ghost of Yotei is nearly here and will chronicle the story of Atsu, a vengeful woman taking down those who wronged her. It’s hardly an unfamiliar story as this is a tried and true formula, but one that is always exciting and can be told in unique ways. The revenge genre is one that is filled with great stories across all mediums and is a foundational piece of the samurai genre itself. With that said, if you’re really itching to get into the spirit ahead of Ghost of Yotei, there are a ton of great games out there to get you feeling all vengeful.
Videos by ComicBook.com
I’ve rounded up a list of five great games about characters on revenge quests. These aren’t necessarily the five greatest games in the genre, but some of the most prominent examples. Assuming you’re playing these to get ready for Ghost of Yotei, all but one of these games are available on PS5 in some capacity, but a handful of them are also available on Xbox and PC as well.
5) God of War 3
God of War 3 concludes Kratos’ revenge saga as he scales Mount Olympus to slay the gods. It’s a game filled with epic battles and no shortage of blood shed, taking full advantage of the power of the PS3 to bring Kratos’ rage to life. From the jump, God of War 3 is immediately exciting as you battle Poseidon on the shoulders of the titan known as Gaia. The battle ends with Kratos furiously smashing Poseidon’s head in before dropping his body off of a cliff, leading to Greece being completely flooded.
These incredible, bombastic set pieces continue throughout God of War 3 showing Kratos’ unquenchable blood lust that ultimately brings the destruction of Greece itself following a climactic and cataclysmic battle with Zeus, the father of Kratos. It’s an incredibly strong revenge story told across three games, but the third game in particular ties it all together quite nicely and eventually sets the stage for the rebooted God of War series on PS4 and PS5.
4) Fallout: New Vegas
Fallout: New Vegas, like any Fallout game, gets the player invested by making things personal, but eventually expands into something that is much bigger than any individual person. You fill the shoes of a courier in a post-apocalyptic version of Nevada and are tasked with delivering a platinum poker chip. Unfortunately, this gets intercepted by a silver-tongued mobster known as Benny who shoots you in the head and leaves you for dead. Thankfully, a local doctor nurses you back to health and you begin a search for Benny so you can recover the chip and kill him.
However, killing Benny is only half the battle. It’s a pretty fun storyline, but the game is far from over once you get your revenge. Benny is a pawn in a much larger game that unravels quite rapidly once you track him down. You quickly begin to learn about all of the political forces waging war across the Mojave and find yourself at the center of it all, pulling a bunch of strings to bring some kind of resolution to the chaos.
3) Max Payne
NYPD officer Max Payne joins the DEA after finding his wife and newborn baby killed by drug addicts. Vowing to tear down the people who are responsible for his family’s deaths, Max also loses himself in his own vices such a reliance on painkillers. However, he ends up in the middle of a grand conspiracy that sees him framed for murder and sends him on the run.
Ultimately, Max Payne is a tale of addiction, obsession, and revenge. His story continues across multiple games, ultimately showing how unfulfilling his life is due to his pursuit of revenge. Ultimately, he ends up finding the peace he really longs for at the end of the third game by finding some redemption when he saves some of those around him.
2) Red Dead Redemption
Red Dead Redemption is a game about revenge that somehow only got better after its release. Red Dead Redemption 2, a prequel to the first game, shows us how John Marston ended up in his precarious situation. After being left for dead by his gang, he helps Arthur Morgan go against them and eventually finds peace with his family. However, he eventually catches wind of the location of Micah Bell, the man largely responsible for the gang’s unraveling and Morgan’s death.
Marston saddles up for some good ol’ fashioned revenge and kills Bell, which eventually leads the government to Marston’s home where he’s coerced into taking down the rest of the Van der Linde gang, inciting the events of the first game. Once John has done their dirty work, the government kills him to tie up loose ends, which motivates his son, Jack, to avenge his father by killing the government agent responsible for John’s death.
Both games show the cycle of violence and revenge, showing that these characters are probably fated to keep this going for generations to come. It’s a pretty remarkable story and one that feels truly cathartic if you’ve played both games.
1) The Last of Us Part II
The Last of Us Part II is easily the most controversial revenge story in gaming. The game perfectly highlights what can happen to someone when they become obsessed with revenge. Ellie’s obsession with catching Abby, the woman who murdered Joel for killing her father, eventually causes her to lose everyone else she holds dear to them being either caught in the crossfire or getting pushed away in her quest for vengeance. It’s a prime example of how an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind and that getting even doesn’t fill the void of a lost loved one.
However, the controversy comes less from these messages and more so how The Last of Us Part 2 ends. After losing almost everybody she cares about, Ellie finally finds Abby and brutally beats her. She dunks Abby’s head under water and is moments away from killing her, but ultimately decides to let her go. Ellie comes to the conclusion that this won’t give her peace, it won’t fix anything, and it will likely only create a worse situation. She realizes that Abby and Lev mirror Joel and herself, prompting her to break the cycle of violence or else Lev will become just like them.
For many people this was extremely unfulfilling and even sparked some to suggest Naughty Dog should’ve given players a choice to kill or spare Abby. Given Joel’s death was already extremely upsetting, some vocal fans felt that Abby’s death would’ve been a satisfying conclusion. This has been the subject of many online arguments and discussions for years now. Whether you like it or not, there aren’t many other games that have generated so many passionate conversations about a topic as weight as revenge and violence.
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Virgin Films -
Image Courtesy of Netflix -
A Nintendo 64 console over a collage of game box art from the system's library.
