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Games about despair?

Grimwulf

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Requesting. Genre doesn't matter really, I'm just in for a good story.

But I gotta make one thing clear: I'm not necessarily looking for grimdark. People use this word when talking about anything these days, but grimdark doesn't always feature despair. Take Warhammer 40k, the father of grimdark - do you feel desperate when playing Warhammer? I certainly don't.

Here goes my personal list of such games, starting from the best and descending all the way down to Mass Effect 3. The only criteria is THE STORY and the feeling of DESPAIR in it:

0. The Impossible Game. Just kiddin' :)

1. I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream. No comments there, the essence of despair all the way. "Good" ending isn't true ending. Not much of a game tho, more like a very short and sometimes buggy quest.

2. Disciples 2. Well, maybe not all of campaings. Playing humans you feel like constantly being betrayed, deceived and fucked around, living a false hope. But the dwarves, for example, swallow it from mission 1:"This is fucking Ragnarock. The world will die, we all will die, and there is no hope, no fucking good ending. But hey, let's do one final battle at least!". Or my favorite Undead - Mortiss doesn't give a fuck about anything. She WILL resurrect her husband, she WILL kill anything standing on her path, be it a man, an animal or a fucking forest. You look at all those dead lands that she leaves behind and have dat feeling, you know. She was once a beautiful woman in love and now she is desperate Godess of the dead. And her ending is the best ending in whole Disciples 2.

3. Demon/Dark Souls series..? I played them all and this is more like a collection of short and quick stories about despair. You have to really puzzle up the pieces to make those stories clear and actually making sense. But players usually don't give a flying fuck about lore and setting and just play it for multiplayer. A pity really.

4. Game of Thrones (the RPG one, not the fucking strategy-like abomination). Ok, so I guess it wouldn't be anything special if you never read the book. The main characters of the game were never mentioned in the book, but you meet a lot of familiar characters along the way. And you KNOW from the start that things will fuck up pretty fast and - mainly - IT WON"T END GOOD, coz it's George f-ng Martin. And the game doesn't disappoint, of course. Best story among recent RPGs.
And not a single "good" ending. It may not feel like game about despair from the start, but at one point you come to realize, that no matter what you do, you can't possibly find a solution to the whole situation at hand. And you never will.

5. The Suffering, mainly the first one. You may get out of prison in the end, but you'll never be free from your demons. If you attempt to play it "the good way", try to atone for your sins and other bullshit, you'll never dig the charm of the game. It is supposed to be played as fucked up as you possibly can. Backstab people, do not listen to dead wife, let your inner beast outside and discover what you REALLY did in the past. The game is more about insanity than anything else, but being desperate about things that cannot be undone - events that happend before the game starts - it's all a big part of insanity. The second game continues the story nicely, but it lacks the thee charismatic "ghosts" that follow Torque in the first part.

6 and below. Dragon Age: Origins, Mass Effect 3, any-generic-rpg-about-EVIL-bullshit. They can all be compared to Hollywood blockbusters: you see how the world is in danger, you see how GREAT EVAL WANT TO DESTROY/RULE things, and there is a lot of DRAMA being hyped around that shit, BUT you know from the start and for certain: you will be the fucking Hero who's gonna save the world in the end. Do you doubt that shit or feel desperate at least ONCE during gameplay? NOT. AT. ALL. So while the end of the world theme is somewhere close, those Hollywood-hero-type games are not exactly what I'm starving for.

1293812938. Horror games. Even in "Call of Chtulhu" the player doesn't feel desperate. He may be tense or freaked the fuck out, but never desperate. He just doesn't have the time for desperation.

Rock bottom. Any post-apocalyptic game. Fallout, Wasteland, any zombie-survival - that's not the case. In those games the WORST already happend, (long)before the game starts. You don't feel desperate, in some cases you actually feel hope. In other cases - just live your daily routine survival, not a big deal. Wha? "I Have No Mouth And I Must Scream" is post-apocalyptic too? I double dare you to play it first and comment later. That's a whole different thing.

Hope I didn't forget anything. So, what are your suggestions?
 

Eyeball

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Anvil of Dawn. Fantasyland has been invaded by a sorcerous warlord and his army and they've pretty much fucked everything up but good. Your Heroic Quest is really a last-ditch effort to thwart the warlord and NOBODY in the game shows even the slightest bit of optimism or confidence that you have any chance of being successful. The land itself is barren and ravaged by war and its inhabitants either mutated by black magic or dead and impaled on spikes. The few survivors you meet are generally either in the process of dying horribly or sitting around waiting to die horribly. And those are the lucky ones - the unlucky ones were mutated and turned into insane piles of bubbling, living flesh or bloodthirsty blood elementals hellbent on slaughtering you and you feel equal revulsion and pity for them as you kill them.

AOD is an atmosphere masterclass and I heartily recommend it to atmospherefags.
 

Grimwulf

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Anvil of Dawn. Fantasyland has been invaded by a sorcerous warlord and his army and they've pretty much fucked everything up but good. Your Heroic Quest is really a last-ditch effort to thwart the warlord and NOBODY in the game shows even the slightest bit of optimism or confidence that you have any chance of being successful. The land itself is barren and ravaged by war and its inhabitants either mutated by black magic or dead and impaled on spikes. The few survivors you meet are generally either in the process of dying horribly or sitting around waiting to die horribly. And those are the lucky ones - the unlucky ones were mutated and turned into insane piles of bubbling, living flesh or bloodthirsty blood elementals hellbent on slaughtering you and you feel equal revulsion and pity for them as you kill them.

AOD is an atmosphere masterclass and I heartily recommend it to atmospherefags.
And it looks nice too. How the hell did I miss it? Thanks in advance, I'm gonna get it right naw.
 
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Dreamweb: If you liked I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream then I can heartily recommend this. UI might take you some time to get used to but I didn't find it as bad as people often say, honestly. It's Freeware too.

Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter: JRPG with nice tactical battles and a rather depressing storyline. Despair comes from the storyline (MC lives in a run-down underground societey, goal of the game is trying to reach the surface, but who knows what you'll really find there) and gameplay (healing is scarce and you are on a time limit. Once that limit has been reached it's game over). This gives the game a nice feeling of "I have no idea if the end goal is even worth achieving and even if it were, I would die soon after anyway".

King's Field series (probably Shadow Tower as well, but I've never played those)
 

ghostdog

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Oblivion : the player certainly feels despair while playing it.... Sorry, obligatory :troll:

Silent Hill 1 definitely : IMO it's the best game when it comes to psychological horror, and certainly the atmosphere is full of despair
Silent Hill 2 : While less scary than SH1, better storytelling and certainly with a lot of despair.
Azrael's Tear : This game has such a delightfully dark/decadent/desperate atmosphere.
BioForge : You wake up as a cyborg imprisoned in a cell in a space station devastated by some incident. Who are you and what the hell happened ? The feeling of abandonment is there.
Dreamweb : A protagonist descending into madness goes on a killing spree hoping to save the world, but he may very well be delusional.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem : Delightfully dark atmosphere and certainly has its doses of despair.
Clock Tower : 2D survival horror adventure where you have to solve the mystery of the Tower while hiding from the maniac that hunts you. Non-linearity and multiple endings.
Kara no Shoujo : Visual Novel with very good, but dark and depressing story. The feeling of desperation, from a point on, never leaves the game.
Pathologic : Mindfuck of a game where you have to survive a plague-ridden nightmarish town.
Realms of the Haunting : Survival Horror with Doom style combat ( <3 ). Very nice dark atmosphere, not sure about despair though.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. : The world is so bleak and immersive you can't help but feel despair.
Sanitarium : Not sure if despair is the right word, but this horror adventure sure is especially atmospheric.
Shadow Hearts : Aside from some annoying jap tropes and the shitty translation, this jrpg was surprisingly dark, both in story and visuals.
Shadow Of The Colossus : The barren land and the colossi you must kill give the game if not a feeling of despair, certainly a feeling of sadness and desolation.
Shadow Tower and Shadow Tower Abyss : The precursors to the souls games and even more dark. Nuff said.
Vagrant Story : Excellent jRPG with nice atmosphere. Kinda reminds me of the souls games, so there you have it.
Shadow of the Comet : IMO the best Lovecraftian-themed game. Fantastic atmosphere and as everything descends into darkness, you certainly get a feeling of despair.
 

Explorerbc

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Maybe Spec Ops: The Line ? It may look like a dudebro cover shooter at first glance but it is basically Apocalypse Now: The Game inspired by Heart of Darkness.

Your squad gets into deeper shit all the time, not knowing who they can trust, getting betrayed, questioning their morals and fighting each other and your main character descends slowly into madness until he is a total wreck. Near the end it feels like all hope and reason is lost. 4 endings, none of them good.
 

Grimwulf

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Maybe Ravenloft: Strahd's Possession? Haven't played it myself, but there was a nice let's play of it here. Being trapped in the demiplane of dread, from which only a few have ever escaped? People doomed to their fates, really gloomy looking atmosphere. Oldfags help me out here.
I started to play it several times, but never actually finished it to the end. It has a nice gothic feel to it fo sure, but what's so desperate about it? My memory fails to remember the plot in details.

Dreamweb: If you liked I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream then I can heartily recommend this. UI might take you some time to get used to but I didn't find it as bad as people often say, honestly. It's Freeware too.

Breath of Fire Dragon Quarter: JRPG with nice tactical battles and a rather depressing storyline. Despair comes from the storyline (MC lives in a run-down underground societey, goal of the game is trying to reach the surface, but who knows what you'll really find there) and gameplay (healing is scarce and you are on a time limit. Once that limit has been reached it's game over). This gives the game a nice feeling of "I have no idea if the end goal is even worth achieving and even if it were, I would die soon after anyway".

King's Field series (probably Shadow Tower as well, but I've never played those)
I'll put the first two on my list, thanks. Never heard of them before. As for King's Field, my fingers are not nimble enough to play PS1 game on a laptop. I tried it with Kagero and failed miserably.

What about the Ice Pick Lodge games? Pathologic, the Void, etc.
Pathologic has been on my list for far too long. For some unknown reason I just can't start playing the damn game, although people tend to talk good things about it. Never heard of the Void tho. *updated my journal*

Oblivion : the player certainly feels despair while playing it.... Sorry, obligatory :troll:

Silent Hill 1 definitely : IMO it's the best game when it comes to psychological horror, and certainly the atmosphere is full of despair
Silent Hill 2 : While less scary than SH1, better storytelling and certainly with a lot of despair.
Azrael's Tear : This game has such a delightfully dark/decadent/desperate atmosphere.
BioForge : You wake up as a cyborg imprisoned in a cell in a space station devastated by some incident. Who are you and what the hell happened ? The feeling of abandonment is there.
Dreamweb : A protagonist descending into madness goes on a killing spree hoping to save the world, but he may very well be delusional.
Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem : Delightfully dark atmosphere and certainly has its doses of despair.
Clock Tower : 2D survival horror adventure where you have to solve the mystery of the Tower while hiding from the maniac that hunts you. Non-linearity and multiple endings.
Kara no Shoujo : Visual Novel with very good, but dark and depressing story. The feeling of desperation, from a point on, never leaves the game.
Pathologic : Mindfuck of a game where you have to survive a plague-ridden nightmarish town.
Realms of the Haunting : Survival Horror with Doom style combat ( <3 ). Very nice dark atmosphere, not sure about despair though.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. : The world is so bleak and immersive you can't help but feel despair.
Sanitarium : Not sure if despair is the right word, but this horror adventure sure is especially atmospheric.
Shadow Hearts : Aside from some annoying jap tropes and the shitty translation, this jrpg was surprisingly dark, both in story and visuals.
Shadow Of The Colossus : The barren land and the colossi you must kill give the game if not a feeling of despair, certainly a feeling of sadness and desolation.
Shadow Tower and Shadow Tower Abyss : The precursors to the souls games and even more dark. Nuff said.
Vagrant Story : Excellent jRPG with nice atmosphere. Kinda reminds me of the souls games, so there you have it.
Shadow of the Comet : IMO the best Lovecraftian-themed game. Fantastic atmosphere and as everything descends into darkness, you certainly get a feeling of despair.

U R simply awesome, sir. I wish I had that kind of memory. First Silent Hills were great. I would name the first one the scariest horror I ever played, but Clock Tower actually managed to scare more shit out of me. Well, I was younger back then. I played most of the games from your list and enjoyed them too. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was nice post-apocalyptic experience, but you are a Stalker there - a scavenger guy who came to Chernobyl volunteerly, just for loot. Vagrant Story is simply awesome, featuring engaging chars&story, atmosphere, battle system and replayability. But come on, FF VII has actually more despair in it than VS. Sanitarium starts very nice and awesome and I didn't include in on my list just because of joke of an endgame. Neva forget those mutilated children tho. Since you are a PS1 guy, I'm surprised you didn't mention Nightmare Creatures. Came to my mind when I looked at your list. Thanks! *updated my journal*

Maybe Spec Ops: The Line ? It may look like a dudebro cover shooter at first glance but it is basically Apocalypse Now: The Game inspired by Heart of Darkness.

Your squad gets into deeper shit all the time, not knowing who they can trust, getting betrayed, questioning their morals and fighting each other and your main character descends slowly into madness until he is a total wreck. Near the end it feels like all hope and reason is lost. 4 endings, none of them good.
Now that's... Unexpected at least. Gotta pay them AAA games more attention.
 

sqeecoo

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I second Pathologic, it's possibly my favorite game and oh yes it's about despair.
 

Melan

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Sunset Over Imdahl is a free RPGMaker game about a dying boy sent back in time to find the source of the plague ravaging his besieged hometown. Well, more of an interactive story with a few simple puzzles and arcade elements than a proper gamey game, but the art and the accompanying use of Vivaldi's Four Seasons are neat, and it doesn't take too long to finish. Also, it is bleak.
 

Explorerbc

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Another game I remembered is I Am Alive. It is post-apoc but not much time has passed since the event, so you get to witness the fall of civilization and struggle for survival. The whole game has a grey colorless filter and takes place in a ruined city obscured by dust clouds. You have to be careful with your resources : If you meet two bandits and spend your last two bullets on them, you will have nothing in the next encounter. Also for example, you may have to let a sick guy die because you can't give him your last bottle of water, or not rescue a girl from the bandits to conserve ammo. Your character is looking for his wife and daughter who lived in that city. Felt pretty despair-y to me when I played it.
 

Norfleet

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If you meet two bandits and spend your last two bullets on them, you will have nothing in the next encounter.
The last time time I played a game where I was told this, I hoarded all my bullets and got really good at knifing. Well before I got to the next stage of the game, I had maxed out on bullets and concluded that bullets were not, in fact, really that scarce.
 

ghostdog

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U R simply awesome, sir. I wish I had that kind of memory. First Silent Hills were great. I would name the first one the scariest horror I ever played, but Clock Tower actually managed to scare more shit out of me. Well, I was younger back then. I played most of the games from your list and enjoyed them too. S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was nice post-apocalyptic experience, but you are a Stalker there - a scavenger guy who came to Chernobyl volunteerly, just for loot. Vagrant Story is simply awesome, featuring engaging chars&story, atmosphere, battle system and replayability. But come on, FF VII has actually more despair in it than VS. Sanitarium starts very nice and awesome and I didn't include in on my list just because of joke of an endgame. Neva forget those mutilated children tho. Since you are a PS1 guy, I'm surprised you didn't mention Nightmare Creatures. Came to my mind when I looked at your list. Thanks! *updated my journal*

Slow day at work and I've been making a list of all the games I've played, so I just did a quick run down the list :P

While I've heard of it, I have completely ignored Nightmare Creatures for some reason. I'll keep it in mind.

I see you are looking for the main character to be involved in despair story-wise, my suggestions were more for the overall feel of the game. And now that I think of it I should add Ecstatica to the list, although this isn't about the protagonist really and it has some doses of weird humor.
 

Higher Animal

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Depression Quest

:troll:
high+jump.jpg
 

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