There are many games that acknowledge the player at the end of the game. Some games do this by saying "thank you for playing" in the credits (e.g. many Nintendo games)--I wouldn't count these for this list, since credits are not "in game." Others might do it in the last level (e.g. in Super Mario World, the final stretch of the final secret level, Funky, uses coins to spell out "You are a super player!!"). Other games pop up a message after completing the last level (e.g. in Days Gone, upon completing the final story mission, a message pops up telling the player about the various end-game activities left to do in the open world and thanking the player, signed by the dev team).
The first time Abby died on the QTE at the end of the minecart sequence was because she was mashing the A button when the game said to mash the X button. You can tell because as soon as she fails the QTE, she instantly selects Continue: Yes, which is a prompt that can only be selected by a press of the A button, and she was still mashing at that point.
@jeff Look what the millenials are doing! They put emoji in a video deck while you weren't looking! I trust your discretion in handling this matter, Jeff.
A fantastic list by the community. Glad to see Nier, Divinity, Persona, and Yakuza in the top 10, with Pyre, Nioh, and Prey finding places in the top 20. Also good to see Doki Doki and Danganronpa getting solid recognition. Even the tragically flawed Gravity Rush 2 is not forgotten, peeking in at the very bottom, right where it (sadly) belongs.
Savage's comments