Highlights
- Tragic love stories in video games can evoke powerful emotions in players, making them appreciate what they have and relate to the darker aspects of life.
- Games like Far Cry 3, God of War, and Dishonored explore dark and tragic love stories, showcasing the impact of extreme violence and loss on the characters.
- From Dragon Age: Origins to Undertale, video games often present challenging choices that can lead to heartbreaking outcomes for romantic relationships, adding depth to the narrative.
Happy endings are great, and a good dramatic story can bring out wonderful, positive feelings. But Romeo and Juliet is still the cornerstone of so many narratives for a reason. There is just something about tragic stories that grips the audience like nothing else.
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Perhaps it is the fact that, in life, things are often much closer to tragedies than fairytales, and people can relate much more to such tales. Or perhaps they can make the audience truly appreciate what they have right now, and that things aren’t as bad as they could be. Whatever the case may be, video games have done a fantastic job at adopting dark and tragic storylines to tug at the heartstrings of players around the world.
8 Far Cry 3
10 Million copies sold.
The love story in Far Cry 3 is a unique perspective on both romance and the typical video game hero. Initially, the protagonist, Jason, is driven by his desire to save his friends, and his girlfriend Liza. However, as he begins his journey to find them, he begins to change, affected by the extreme violence he witnesses on the island.
By the time he actually reaches his friends, they barely recognize him, including his original love interest. How the story ends is up to the players, with one of the options being that Jason is sacrificed by a newfound romantic interest.
7 God of War
Over 25 million copies sold
Kratos just cannot catch a break. From the very first entry in the series, his love life is nothing but terrible tragedy, despair, and hopelessness. His first wife and child are murdered by him of all people, even if he was in a deity-imposed blind rage at the time.
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While the sequels did briefly introduce possibilities for romance, Kratos ends up wiping out the entire Greek pantheon, after which he ends up in Scandinavia. There, he finds a wife, and they bear a child. However, their time together is cut short, leaving him alone to raise their son.
6 Dishonored
All Steam Reviews - Overwhelmingly Positive (57,050)
Dishonored
Interestingly enough, Dishonored begins with the end of Corvo’s relationship, in the form of Empress Jessamine's assassination. However, for the players, the story has only begun, and at the start, it isn’t even clear as to what exactly their relationship is.
As players journey through the bleak world of Dunwall, they begin to discover the passionate feelings and tragic story that the pair shared. Only towards the end of the game do players truly appreciate just how massive of a loss has transpired inCorvo's life at the very start of the game, and what legacy their relationship has left behind.
5 Dragon Age: Origins
More than 3.2 million copies sold
Dragon Age: Origins does not necessarily have to end badly. However, in most cases, the prospects of romantic relationships are grim at best. Depending on the player’s choices, everything can end right then and there for the Grey Warden, ending their life and severing whatever ties they might have had.
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Sometimes, no matter what the players do, things just don’t go as planned. For instance, players might have to let their beloved go in order to save the fate of an entire kingdom. Or their beloved leaves them behind, with next to no chance of finding them again.
4 Dead Space Remake
All Steam Reviews - Very Positive (26,768)
Dead Space (2023)
- Platform(s)
- PS5 , Xbox Series X , Xbox Series S , PC
- Released
- January 27, 2023
- Developer(s)
- EA Motive
- Genre(s)
- Survival Horror
The entire story of the Dead Space series is far from light and breezy, but the fate of Isaac and his wife Nicole is particularly grim and often overshadows everything else happening at the time. The particularly excruciating element is that throughout the game, the hope that Nicole is still alive dangles before the player (and Isaac himself) on a constant basis.
The horrible reveal, that Nicole died before Isaac even arrived on the USG Ishimura, and whatever Isaac heard or saw was only a figment of his imagination powered by the Marker. This reveal devastated many players at the time, and it still stings to this day.
3 Undertale
All Steam reviews - Overwhelmingly Positive (186,309)
Undertale has a few romantic storylines going on, and almost all of them can end horribly depending on the player’s choices. Given how characters comment on each other to the player, some choices can seem monstrous (and they often are).
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Given how Frisk struggles to bond with anyone at the start of the game, Toriel’s warmth and love for them is a ray of sunshine in an otherwise dark underground. And the little hints of a bigger family and the ultimate reveal of her relationship with Asgore become absolutely gut-wrenching if anything happens to them.
2 Mass Effect Legendary Edition
All Steam reviews - Very Positive (36,766)
Mass Effect Legendary Edition
The third installment in the legendary series brings together most of the storylines from the previous games, and the culmination of the romantic plotline is a major part of it. While previous games can end on a somewhat positive note when it comes to Shepard’s love life, the end of the Mass Effect saga is anything but.
In the best-case scenario, Shepard is seen taking a breath amidst the rubble and destruction of London, hinting at their possible survival. In all the other endings, Shepard unambiguously dies, leaving behind the love of their life, and no matter who the partner is, the final goodbye that the two share is nothing short of heartbreaking.
1 The Last of Us
Over 37 million copies sold worldwide
The Last of Us is no stranger to beautiful love stories about people finding what little warmth they can in an otherwise desolate world full of pain and despair. However, the series also loves to drive a stake through the hearts of both the lovers and the players rooting for them.
From Joel’s implied divorce to his loss of Tess, he is truly struggling to keep his heart open. Bill and Frank are also an incredibly interesting couple, who unfortunately also met an untimely end, with Bill left alone to fend against the hordes of infected. And of course, Ellie and Riley’s devastating story can leave no one unmoved.
