Looking for Sad/Somber games.

The Darkness for sure

Braid.

The story of Braid is both incredibly sad and a complete head fuck, while still maintaining some subtlety.

Very depressing game.

Limbo, and if you have Half-Life 2: Episode 2 on Steam there's a mod called Dear Esther available for download that I thought was amazing and incredibly depressing.

Trying to find games with any personality is rough, so finding ones with a sad tone is going to be super difficult. The only ones I've played on current gen consoles have been Fallout 3 and MGS4. If you want true grim melodrama, you need to get Max Payne and the sequel.

I fully agree with Demon's Souls, especially if you wanna get "deep and shit, man", because that game gets pretty rough.  
 
There are two levels in teh game that don't really have anything that strikes at you (err...2 and 4), but the whole atmosphere of the game and the Maiden Astraea boss fight are two major points in the game where a minimalism that's so incredibly difficult to achieve in games digs its way in. There's so much behind the game's little nuances that it's hard to say in a short post, but since you're looking for that kind of thing I fully recommend playing it at least twice to experience the atmosphere. Also, if you like loot.  
 
My personal favorite "somber/sad" game has to go to Siren/Siren: Blood Curse. Despite the fact that the game is just scary as all fucking fuck, the actual stories that are being told through the eyes of the ten or so people is really enduring. The game's storyline goes to very bizarre places (the director of the first Silent Hill was the creative lead behind this, I think) but the final few sections and the final few characters that have their portions of the story told are incredible, especially in Blood Curse (which is a sort of/kinda remake of Siren for the PS2. I recommend getting Blood Curse ($30 or 40 on PSN, I forget), as it restructures the original Siren into something more coherent, yet still crazy, and more playable (thank whatever God you believe in that Miyako isn't blind in SBC). Again, the atmosphere of dread and hopelessness combined with supernatural horror all equal to a game that's sure to break you somewhere. All in all, BC is better overall, but the original's ending is crazier and much more "sad" 
 
/rant 

(Uh...yeah, I guess...spoiler warnings for anyone who wants to play Drakengard!)
 
You're right, the Space babies never showed up in ending A. But the world did go to shit with the sky turning red 'n shit.
 
But I suppose we're in agreement, then? The fact that members of these organization which are supposed to be more indocrinated than...well, anyone else in the world don't realize what they're doing is just sloppy writing, man. "hey man, breaking the seals is probably a bad idea" is supposed to be common, everyday knowledge in the Drakengard world. It makes Nowe look like he was drooling and staring at Eris' butt during history class.
 
And the game contradicts itself several times on that! KOTS members mention Angelus all the time and the danger of breaking the other seals! That is really, really poorly thought-out on their part. Its inexcusable in my eyes. In the end, the only legitimate motive Nowe seemed to have was getting into Manah's cartoon pussy.
 
Nier had its own fair share of contrivances 
 

@Make_Me_Mad

hippy non-canon bullshit where everything is happy forever for no reason.  This is Cavia we're talking about, we all know there's no such thing as a happy ending in one of these things.

And I do remember Nowe breaking down pretty well over the course of the game!  It's been a while, but there was some definite freaking out once he realized how screwed everything was without the seals.  Manah going crazy didn't help him any, and for a good portion of the endgame he's basically in one long depressive panic attack where he rants about how this could have happened and they did the right thing.  It's pretty swept over in the ending, of course, and all the ridiculous "Yeah, dragons are back and we have a flying castle now" BS they pulled, but he definitely gets his idealism handed to him on a steaming platter.  Saving Manah via magical psychonaut powers was ridiculous, though, I agree.  I think it was just an excuse for Cavia to have you murdering children.

@shinigami420 said:

@Capum15 said:

@zombie2011: Oh fuck, Kat's death was the biggest "Holy Shit!" moment I've had in a game for a while. The others were played out a bit, but her's was just *BAM* dead. Why did she always forget to put on her shields?!As for games, I have no idea.

That is nothing compared to the darkness

Saddest game moment I can remember. Especially considering how well they wrote her character leading up to that.

Vagrant story had sad tones to it at the end....

@Soapy86 said:

Completely agree, and spoilars:

For a moment I thought the game would just jump you back to the very beginning again when you break through at the end. I'm glad it didn't because that would've sent me on a depression spiral.

@Durandir said:

A lot of good sad/somber games have been mentioned (I stand behind Limbo, The Darkness and Brutal Legend myself), but there is one more that kinda fits, but not quite. Psychonauts.

Now hear me out. Yes, the game is a whimsical adventure through colorful landscapes. It is also a game where you rummage around in the minds of people with different psychological diseases. And you see some fucked up and sad stuff in there, even in the minds of the good, sane characters. When I finished that game, and looked back at it, I found it to be a secretly sad and depressing game. Which made it even more brilliant.

I completely get what you are saying here and would have to agree myself. While it has it's fun moments, there was kind of this overarching feeling of dread and sadness when I played it. That said, I loved it.

A lot of good ones are already mentioned but I would like to make a nod to Enslaved. I think there are some genuinely sad moments in that game and the ending definitely didn't leave me feeling too upbeat. The characterization was pretty fantastic as well.

As mentioned by other people a few times the short storys in lost odyssey were excellent and most of them were downers.. 

As mentioned by other people a few times the short storys in lost odyssey were excellent and most of them were downers.. 

Just finished Nier yesterday and I'll vouch for it, what a powerful soundtrack to back up the likable characters. Whatever the form of entertainment may be I like a good cry, I was so disappointed when Cry On got the axe.

@Pie said:

As mentioned by other people a few times the short storys in lost odyssey were excellent and most of them were downers.. 

I stopped reading those pretty early because some of those stories were long as hell. The only one i remember is about the little girl at the inn, and yeah it was a downer for sure. 

I'd say right now Lost Odyessy for me, makes me blubber like a baby.. fuck those stories they have you read...;_;

@Napalm: No after that you go to hell and fight hell nazis

Heavy Rain is pretty depressing, yeah. I also thought Braid was pretty dark, too. The music is very slow and sombre. Limbo is another good choice but it's more sinister than sad, I'd say.

The ending of Grand Theft Auto 4 is fucking brutal. That really messed me up.

Duke Nukem why why why?

All the iterations of Persona 3 have a pretty sad ending -- bawl like a baby every damn time I play through it :/

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. It's a brilliantly melancholic game.