The Very Saddest games...

[Tomara]

Final Fantasy IV was much worse.

Code:

One character managed to dive down, embracing a bomb, hoping to block the exit with big falling rocks, towards a lake of lava and still manages to survive. And then there were those who were swallowed by a big whirlpool, those were petrified... Over half of the cast 'killed' themselves to protect the others and pretty much all of them manage to survive/get resurrected.

[GrimReality]

I really don't have the time to read the whole thread, but I KNOW this game hasn't been mentioned, as I am the only one who ever brings it up.
Cosmic fantasy 2

Code:

You go off to defeat the Evil bad guy(I forget his name) and when you come back the girl you spent the better part of the game saving has died! I was completely shocked and quite saddened.

[Dice]

Breath of Fire II

Code:

Rand's mum was always a sad scenerio.  She treats him like ass, but dies (by being crushed) and says I love you.

Furthermore, while everyone is in crystals at the end getting obliterated was also something I found pretty dark and depressing

[Marshmallow]

Vincent's side story in FFVII is nothing but tragedy.

Code:

It was probably Hojo, as, if I recall correctly, Gast was killed by Hojo, who also mortally wounded Ifalna at the same time.

[Eusis]

I replayed it a bit less than 2 years ago, Marsh's right.

[MeshGearFox]

Are there any RPGs where the main characters lose in the end?

[Eusis]

There's none that I can think of. There's ones where you have a bad ending, certainly, but there's always some good ending in addition. Well... there's NWN2.

Code:

It was said in another thread here that the ending was more or less 'rocks fall, everyone dies', but I need to see it for myself, and apparently the expansion will continue from that anyway.

[Urban Sketch]

GrimReality's post reminded me of Breath of Fire IV.

Code:

After spending most of the game trying to find Nina's sister, you finally find her only to find out she's been basically mutated, and she asks Cray to kill her, in one damn sad scene.

[Dice]

GrimReality's post reminded me of Breath of Fire IV.

Code:

After spending most of the game trying to find Nina's sister, you finally find her only to find out she's been basically mutated, and she asks Cray to kill her, in one damn sad scene.

oooh, I love the song they play during that scene; Capcom's nod to classical composer Maurice Ravel.

[Tomara]

Are there any RPGs where the main characters lose in the end?

Well, Lufia 2, kinda... Main-characters die and evil returns 100 years later.

Half of the Breath of Fire games have multiple endings and there is always a 'bad' ending among them.

[Urban Sketch]

It's not part of the ending. It's just a scene towards the end of the game.

[Tomara]

I wasn't talking about that scene. Before the final boss, Ryu is given several options. The ending depends on the choices he makes. If you get the bad ending, all the other characters will die during the battle and the world will be destroyed.

[Urban Sketch]

The first time I fought that boss, I started to skip through his dialogue and chose to join him by accident. Whoops.

[MeshGearFox]

Oh hey, games where you lose at the end. Phantasy Star 2!

[Eusis]

Oh hey, games where you lose at the end. Phantasy Star 2!

They just kinda leave that open really. Still though, win or lose you just caused the downfall of civilization!