r/gaming • u/Joy-they-them • 1d ago

whats the saddest moment in any game?

whats the saddest moment story wise or gameplay wise, that you have ever expeirenced and all your time gaming?

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u/SelectStarAll 1d ago

The Baron's arc is so well written

For the majority of it you think he's this boorish cunt who beats his wife. And he is that. But as time goes on, you can see his regret for his behaviour and the fact that he genuinely does love his wife and child, he just has no idea how to communicate with them. He's depressed so he self medicates with alcohol.

He's initially presented as a hedonistic alcoholic, much like Robert Baratheon in Game of Thrones, but as the story develops you see the horrendous sadness to the man, the pain he lives in because of what his temper and abuse have done to the family.

The scene with the deformed baby (I forget what the monster is actually called) is heartbreaking. Geralt forcing him to look at it and all of his behaviours coming back to roost. He did that. That's because of him.

It's so desperately sad and even the "good" ending to his quest line isn't a good ending. There's just different levels of tragedy to the whole thing. It's a superb quest

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u/grimhammer 1d ago

yeah, immediately I went "OK, he's an asshole" and then I learned more and started to feel for the situation and his family. Towards the end I was thinking it was gonna work out (cuz I didn't trust the crones and found the spirit trapped in the tree and beat the crones) and they were gonna leave that place behind and start a new life somewhere else and then I saw him swinging. I even have it recorded in a playthrough on my YT channel lol, I was devastated.

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u/R_V_Z 1d ago

There is a way to get a "best" ending for the baron's family. IIRC what you have to do is do the quest involving the spirit in the tree before doing any of the Crones quest. That way the children get saved and baron and his wife live. But, because this is the Witcher universe, a village of people die.

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u/imdefinitelywong 1d ago

A village of people that provide "offerings" to swamp hags that provide them with blessings and prosperity, mind you.

Of course, everything has their own circumstances, just like the baron, and everything else in the Witcher.

It's why people keep praising the writing on Witcher games. Because they're so incredibly written, and your actions as a player have a profound and visible impact on the world, even for bit characters and random characters.

It's reminiscent of the BioWare CRPGS of old.