It’s very rare to see games that cause players to fail significantly instead of just rewriting their mistakes and giving them a second chance. Most of the time, games just want players to achieve a sense of catharsis and satisfaction at all costs. So it’s easy to see why it’s important to skip any significant flaws so that players get the most positive experience possible from a title.
However, gamers don’t care about games that go the extra mile and make sure their titles are strong enough to warrant the inclusion of a glitch state that’s pretty fleshed out, compared to the usual fare. To this end, there are a handful of games that let their heroes fail at the end of the story, which is a pretty rare occurrence.
1 mass effect 2
mass effect 2 it’s a great game with one of the most popular end missions in gaming history. The Suicide Mission has a lot at stake, and the whole team can die if the player doesn’t make certain decisions correctly.
Almost everyone can die on this mission, including Commander Shepard himself. Without them, humanity’s hopes against the Reapers are doomed.
2 cyberpunk 2077
There are several ways that players can lose at the end of cyberpunk 2077. Various bad endings lead to V shooting himself, taking Arasaka’s help and getting screwed in the process, or handing over his body to Johnny.
There’s another way the game just ends, and that’s if players unlock the secret final path. Dying even once during this segment leads to the player being thrown out of the credits, which is a real shame.
3 red dead redemption
red dead redemption is a great game with strong themes, showing how the old facets of the West are being replaced by technology. John Marston is one of those old age fossils and is practically used by the government to do their bidding.
Believing he had ensured the safety of his wife and child, the government comes knocking on Marston’s door and guns him down in cold blood, getting rid of the only loose end once and for all. The worst part is that Abigaile also dies soon after and Jack becomes an outlaw as well, instead of the honest man John wanted him to be.
4 far away 5
far away 5 is a great video game that served as a return to form for the series. However, it also came with its caveats, including an ending that many people didn’t really like all that much.
After defeating all the bosses, Joseph Seed managed to get what he wanted all along and unleashes a nuclear attack that completely destroys the Hope County area. It’s a sour note to end things after all the work the player put into the game.
5 final fantasy 14
final fantasy 14The first attempt at becoming a mainstream title was a poor and seedy affair, with the game technically flawed and lacking in mechanics. Rather than give up on this title, Square Enix decided to purge the world of this game and bring a fresh start.
This led to the release of Final Fantasy 14: A Kingdom Reborn, which ended up having a vastly improved pitch compared to the original. This iteration of final fantasy 14 it is still going strong to this day and is considered by many to be the best modern MMORPG of all time.
6 halo reach
aura is a sci-fi series packed with incredible stories and emotional moments. One of the series’ biggest gut blows comes with the arrival of halo reachin which players control the Noble Six instead of Master Chief.
All the characters introduced in the game are killed in an attempt to save the planet, but the squad ultimately fails to achieve this goal. Watching the Noble Six fight to survive and fight the Covenant in their dying moments only to have the entire planet nearly destroyed just hours later makes for a really tough watch.
7 shadow of the colossus
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shadow of the colossus It is one of the best PlayStation video games of all time. Wander’s story is an intriguing one, and players are left in the dark before being given clues about the whole thing through visual storytelling.
At the end of the game, Wander becomes a corrupted mess and the body through which the evil entity Dormin attempts to re-enter the world it once devastated. He is thwarted in the end, but Wander’s ending is far from happy even though his loved one has come back to life.
8 Prince of Persia (2008)
The restart of the Prince of Persia The series was quite experimental and ended up being quite enjoyable despite its many drawbacks. However, the ending was a huge gut punch, showing just how enamored the Prince had become with Elika.
He decides to unleash Ahriman’s evil only to bring Elika back to life in a rather selfish but understandable decision. It’s a shame that the story of this game never continued, as witnessing the fallout from this action would have been interesting, to say the least.
9 Stanley’s Parable
Stanley’s Parable is one of the most unique indie games ever made, with a charming and charismatic narrator who ends up being an antagonist in his own right. The player may try to deviate from the story he is being channeled into, and the conclusions never really offer him an escape.
Instead, the only real way to beat Stanley’s Parable is to abandon the title and escape the narrator’s instructions. This makes for a pretty fun title, even if players can’t beat the game in the traditional sense.
10 Special Ops: The Line
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Special Ops: The Line is a game that shows the many brutalities of war in a truly disturbing way. Walker’s sanity slowly deteriorates over time as the game progresses and is reflected in everything from his killer grunts to the main menu.
Special Ops: The Line It has many endings, and none of them are especially happy. After all, Walker and his team had essentially gone rogue, and he will always die or be arrested and tried for his crimes at the end of the game.
