5 open-world games that prove happy endings don’t exist

Story-based open-world games have never failed to amaze gamers with shocking twists, gripping plots, and curveball endings. Most games usually have happy endings, but not every game developer wants you to smile at the end of a game.

So, here are five open-world games where the happy ending is nowhere to be found.

Hope County feels like the usual open-world chaos playground… until it doesn’t. No matter what choices you make, Joseph Seed (the cult leader) was right all along. The game ends with a nuclear apocalypse tearing the world apart, leaving you powerless to stop it. It’s a gut punch because everything you worked for crumbles instantly.

From the moment V gets tangled up with Johnny Silverhand, you know things won’t end clean.

Sure, there are “different endings,” but none of them let V walk away with a carefree life. Whether you sell out to Arasaka, ride with the Aldecaldos, or rebel with Rogue, someone pays the ultimate price. Even the Phantom Liberty expansion gives V freedom at the cost of everyone believing you’re already dead.

Jin Sakai’s story in Ghost of Tsushima was historical and heroic. However, you’ll realise it towards the end that it’s soaked in tragedy.

By abandoning samurai tradition to defeat the Mongols, he becomes a legend and an outlaw. The final duel against his uncle, Lord Shimura, is crushing. In the ending, you get 2 choices. Either you can kill Shimura or spare him.

Unlike other GTA games, GTA IV has a story that you’ll never see coming when you play it for the first time. Niko Bellic comes to America chasing the dream, but the city only chews him up. No matter which choice you make at the climax, Niko loses someone dear, either his cousin Roman or his love Kate.

The “revenge or deal” decision isn’t empowering; it’s devastating. Liberty City is a place where everyone loses.

RDR 2 is one of the best games of all time. Arthur Morgan’s story has long been one of the most gripping stories in any open-world game. From a loyal outlaw to a man facing his mortality, RDR2 doesn’t sugarcoat things. Whether you play Arthur with High Honor or Low Honor, his fate is sealed after contracting tuberculosis. As you play the game, you’ll see him accept his fate with so many choices, betrayals, and inevitability.

Even when John Marston’s epilogue picks up, the looming tragedy of Arthur’s sacrifice never really leaves you.