Crapsack World/Video Games: Difference between revisions

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** Made a ''little'' better in later games, particularly ''Order of Ecclesia'', where the [[Hub Level]] is a small, well-kept village (well, well-kept once you save the villagers). Still, being attacked by Dracula and his monstrous hordes every few decades earns the world a few points in the "crapsack" column.

* ''[[Legacy of Kain]]'', a series of fantasy games where time traveling Vampire lord Kain clashes with his soul-eating undead son Raziel across the ages. The world of Nosgoth the series takes place in is host to massive web of [[Ancient Conspiracy|ancient conspiracies]], and over the course of the series experiences poverty, political warfare, extra-dimensional invaders, vampire empires, and due to the way the forces of nature are governed during it all the very ecosystem is slowly getting worse. It gets so bad that in ''Soul Reaver'', which takes place the furthest down the timeline, the humans of the world are confined to one city up in the mountains, the vampires are scattered and going hungry, and the world has become a desert wasteland.

* The ''[[Resistance]]'' games appear to be built purely on this concept. Over the course of the game, every single thing you attempt ends up either failing or blowing up in your face. On top of that, at the end of the second game {{spoiler|[[Nice Job Breaking It Hero|you singlehandedly manage to bring about the end of the world that the entire goal of the games was to prevent]]}}. i.e., [[The Bad Guy Wins]]. It appears to be a [[Foregone Conclusion]] that mankind will be annihilated in the third installment.

* The ''[[Resistance]]'' games appear to be built purely on this concept. Over the course of the game, every single thing you attempt ends up either failing or blowing up in your face. On top of that, at the end of the second game {{spoiler|[[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|you singlehandedly manage to bring about the end of the world that the entire goal of the games was to prevent]]}}. i.e., [[The Bad Guy Wins]]. It appears to be a [[Foregone Conclusion]] that mankind will be annihilated in the third installment.

* The ''[[Oddworld]]'' is also a [[World Half Empty]]. The first three games center on industrial excesses taken to such an absurd degree that no-one bats an eye at a meat packing plant planning to make their slave laborers into their next product line, while ''Stranger's Wrath'' takes place in more of a [[Crapsack World]] of a Western, where the townsfolk are so exaggeratedly helpless and cowardly they're ''literally'' chickens.

* Combine-controlled Earth in ''[[Half-Life]] 2''. The environment and infrastructure are in such an extreme state of disrepair after just a decade or two of Combine rule that it threatens the human race's very existence.

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* The world of ''[[Sands of Destruction]]'' doesn't look that bad at first -- there's some intense [[Fantastic Racism]], but nothing too alarming. Then you start seeing what the world is ''actually'' like as you play. Plagues of natural disasters and hostile creatures. Humans who are literal or virtual slaves to Ferals -- beastmen who rule the world, and have so much political and physical power that they can literally get away with ''eating'' human children over trivial slights. The fact that the world appears to be headed for an inevitable decay into an uninhabitable desert. And that's just some of the ''first'' things you see or hear about. It's not too surprising that the ''heroes'' are the ones who said "screw it" and [[Omnicidal Maniac|want to destroy the world]] because whatever comes next will ''have'' to be better -- even if what's next is nothing at all.

* '''Any''' setting in ''[[The Suffering]].'' It's bad enough that Carnate Island had seen just about every sort of crime and punishment in history ''before'' its infestation by the Malefactors; it's even worse when the city the PC hopes to escape to is a fetid den of urban decay and misery that promptly suffers a Malefactor infestation of its own.

* Holy crap, does the world in ''[[Blaz Blue]]'' suck. After being ravaged by a being called the Black Beast, it then became governed by a totalitarian institution known as the Library. This totalitarianism resulted in the Ikaruga Civil War which, of course, left many, many people either dead or oppressed. Furthermore, the government imposes restrictions on anyone who uses a magic known as Armagus will be killed. To put things in perspective, when a man who kills every man and woman within a government institution is seen as the main [[Anti Hero]], you know things are screwed up. There's also a angelic woman who's kind to everyone and possibly the only good soul out there in that world and to be taken seriously. Guess what? [[Token Good Teammate|She's siding that totalitarian institution now (albeit only to save someone and she's been broken quite a bit)]]. Aside of that there's also a hammy hero of justice who really swore to uphold justice. There's only one problem though: He's your [[Joke Character]]. That's right, the world made it so that if you ever try to be overly positive and unbroken, you'll not be taken seriously. Of course, there's another catch: The totalitarianism is rumored to be controlled by a [[Complete Monster]] [[Troll]]. And God help you if you got a vagina in your body while living in this world. That monster troll will have his delight in [[Break the Cutie|breaking you physically and mentally]] [[For the Evulz|for his own amusement.]] Have fun.

* Holy crap, does the world in ''[[Blaz Blue]]'' suck. After being ravaged by a being called the Black Beast, it then became governed by a totalitarian institution known as the Library. This totalitarianism resulted in the Ikaruga Civil War which, of course, left many, many people either dead or oppressed. Furthermore, the government imposes restrictions on anyone who uses a magic known as Armagus will be killed. To put things in perspective, when a man who kills every man and woman within a government institution is seen as the main [[Anti-Hero]], you know things are screwed up. There's also a angelic woman who's kind to everyone and possibly the only good soul out there in that world and to be taken seriously. Guess what? [[Token Good Teammate|She's siding that totalitarian institution now (albeit only to save someone and she's been broken quite a bit)]]. Aside of that there's also a hammy hero of justice who really swore to uphold justice. There's only one problem though: He's your [[Joke Character]]. That's right, the world made it so that if you ever try to be overly positive and unbroken, you'll not be taken seriously. Of course, there's another catch: The totalitarianism is rumored to be controlled by a [[Complete Monster]] [[Troll]]. And God help you if you got a vagina in your body while living in this world. That monster troll will have his delight in [[Break the Cutie|breaking you physically and mentally]] [[For the Evulz|for his own amusement.]] Have fun.

** And here's more for the crapsackism. So if you remove that totalitarian institution, everything will be all fine and dandy, right? WRONG. You still have to deal with the fact that the world is ravaged, and the Black Beast left poisonous fumes in the world that linger in high concentrations even 100 years afer its death. Also, said totalitarian institute? It is actually a case of [[Well Intentioned Extremist|Well Intentioned Extremism]], and if they disappeared, random people would be able to start picking up dangerous [[Artifact of Doom|Artifacts Of Doom]], enabling seeds of further war and chaos to spread in this world that is already teetering on the edge of destruction. So it's either totalitarianism, or a world in utter chaos. Yeah. Hang in there, bro.

** And here's more for the crapsackism. So if you remove that totalitarian institution, everything will be all fine and dandy, right? WRONG. You still have to deal with the fact that the world is ravaged, and the Black Beast left poisonous fumes in the world that linger in high concentrations even 100 years afer its death. Also, said totalitarian institute? It is actually a case of [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|Well Intentioned Extremism]], and if they disappeared, random people would be able to start picking up dangerous [[Artifact of Doom|Artifacts Of Doom]], enabling seeds of further war and chaos to spread in this world that is already teetering on the edge of destruction. So it's either totalitarianism, or a world in utter chaos. Yeah. Hang in there, bro.

** But if said [[Complete Monster]] [[Troll]] is defeated, things will at least make it to a [[World Half Full]] status, right? Well, they might and, frankly speaking, that is probably your best bet here, but considering the fact that said Monster Troll is [[Evil Genius|highly cunning,]] [[Crazy Prepared|intelligent,]] [[Game Breaker|powerful to extreme]] ([[SNK Boss|it also seeps to gameplay]]), and frankly speaking, [[The Battle Didn't Count|unfair levels]], ''and'' [[Sliding Scale of Villain Effectiveness|is approaching Infinite levels of effectiveness]], [[Karma Houdini|no known weak spots for Karmic Hammer to hit]], making his opposition look inefficient even when "[[Xanatos Gambit|beating]]" him <ref>Can we say [[Villain Sue]] yet?</ref>, not to mention the fact that [[Big Bad Duumvirate|he's accompanied with a taciturn, but equally monstrous]] [[Mad Scientist]] whose powers are ''also'' off the scale... [[Running Gag|Good luck]] [[Rule of Three|with that, mate]].

** Exacerbating the matters is the fact that the cast, aside from the [[Big Bad Duumvirate]], is quite disorganized. Here's a rundown on why: <ref>The aforementioned [[Anti Hero]] shuns company, though winds up tolerating a clearly [[Cloudcuckoolander|mentally underdeveloped]] [[Catgirl]]. The aforementioned angelic doctor is on the wrong side of the tracks, all for the sake of an amorphous [[Eldritch Abomination|aberration]] who she once knew, and said abberation, when human, was instead a glory-hound, self-serving, fame-seeking man with gigantic inferiority complex and constantly rejected her help and support (and he's not showing any signs of fixing that ego of his after what happened to him), and while she still cared on other people that do cared about her, a love from a hammy ninja of justice goes unrequited as said ninja of justice got designated into the role of [[Joke Character]] and [[Butt Monkey]] (though with some... things, he's working on that), while attempting to defend his country rather than saving her (granted, he's not aware). There's a werewolf butler who serves a vampire, but he's only as modest in attitude as she allows, and she is too haughty for good's sake ([[Character Development|she's working on that]]). The son of one of the major villains has a mechanical custodian who's actually his sister, who he was forced to service on his own due to daddy's abandonment of them, aaand he's got a knack on killing you with a polite smile on his face in case you're holding some information that he wants ([[Character Development|he's working on that]], thanks to said angelic doctor and hammy ninja of justice). The iron knight patrolling the land is quite aloof and easily driven to violence under the wrong circumstances, and his idea of 'justice' would be "This world is corrupt, I'm gonna cleanse EVERYTHING there, innocent or not!"... and does NOT trust humans at all. And then there's the [[Magical Girl]] who harbors three personalities, two of which are literally childish while the third is sealed away 99% of the time. Under the NOL banner, we have a determined, if psychotic, young man with ''severe'' brother-complex with the [[Anti Hero]] ([[Character Development|he's working on that]]), a warm young lady who goes cold when she's on the battlefield ([[Dark Secret|don't ever ask why that is]]); and said psychotic young man just plain HATE HER for no reason; and another young lady dedicated to upholding justice ([[Knight Templar|most]] [[Brainwashed and Crazy|vigorously]]). There's a resistance movement, which are also no better than the totalitarian institute in general practice, its three members of note include a [[Mad Scientist]] whose nuclear arsenal vastly outweigh her temperament and is so hell bent in exacting vengeance on that [[Complete Monster]] [[Troll]] with her own hands; so much that nuclear arsenal is a viable option for her, and she would neglect on the pleas of help from that angelic doctor, who was once her student, thereby setting her off to the wrong road in the first place when she could've prevented that; a well-mannered and capable scientist/cyborg who is loyal to the aforementioned to a fault, programmed to do so and he's not fixing it for the moment, and a ([[Obfuscating Stupidity|normally]]) ditzy agent playing under the resistance banner while also paying lip service to NOL, but cares for the young lady with a [[Dark Secret]] to the point she's willing to betray ''just about anybody'' in the name of keeping her safe. Aside of that, there's also an actually wise badass cat who may actually be the candidate for goodness and unity, only to mostly fail to unite and be cryptic, not to mention having a grudge to said [[Complete Monster]] [[Troll]] for killing his human wife... which may be that dark, mysterious magician under the Troll's employment, who doesn't speak. EVER. Not to mention that if you walk somewhere wrong, you may meet up some robotic girl with tons of swords ready to cut you down, and if that [[Anti Hero]] was nearby... God help you if you get between them because [[Yandere|she'll get so jealous even on sight alone, and kill you for getting in between them]].</ref> TL;DR, rather than realizing the threat and working for a better future, everyone else is minding their own business. [[Overly Long Gag|Here's to unity, chap.]]

** Exacerbating the matters is the fact that the cast, aside from the [[Big Bad Duumvirate]], is quite disorganized. Here's a rundown on why: <ref>The aforementioned [[Anti-Hero]] shuns company, though winds up tolerating a clearly [[Cloudcuckoolander|mentally underdeveloped]] [[Catgirl]]. The aforementioned angelic doctor is on the wrong side of the tracks, all for the sake of an amorphous [[Eldritch Abomination|aberration]] who she once knew, and said abberation, when human, was instead a glory-hound, self-serving, fame-seeking man with gigantic inferiority complex and constantly rejected her help and support (and he's not showing any signs of fixing that ego of his after what happened to him), and while she still cared on other people that do cared about her, a love from a hammy ninja of justice goes unrequited as said ninja of justice got designated into the role of [[Joke Character]] and [[Butt Monkey]] (though with some... things, he's working on that), while attempting to defend his country rather than saving her (granted, he's not aware). There's a werewolf butler who serves a vampire, but he's only as modest in attitude as she allows, and she is too haughty for good's sake ([[Character Development|she's working on that]]). The son of one of the major villains has a mechanical custodian who's actually his sister, who he was forced to service on his own due to daddy's abandonment of them, aaand he's got a knack on killing you with a polite smile on his face in case you're holding some information that he wants ([[Character Development|he's working on that]], thanks to said angelic doctor and hammy ninja of justice). The iron knight patrolling the land is quite aloof and easily driven to violence under the wrong circumstances, and his idea of 'justice' would be "This world is corrupt, I'm gonna cleanse EVERYTHING there, innocent or not!"... and does NOT trust humans at all. And then there's the [[Magical Girl]] who harbors three personalities, two of which are literally childish while the third is sealed away 99% of the time. Under the NOL banner, we have a determined, if psychotic, young man with ''severe'' brother-complex with the [[Anti-Hero]] ([[Character Development|he's working on that]]), a warm young lady who goes cold when she's on the battlefield ([[Dark Secret|don't ever ask why that is]]); and said psychotic young man just plain HATE HER for no reason; and another young lady dedicated to upholding justice ([[Knight Templar|most]] [[Brainwashed and Crazy|vigorously]]). There's a resistance movement, which are also no better than the totalitarian institute in general practice, its three members of note include a [[Mad Scientist]] whose nuclear arsenal vastly outweigh her temperament and is so hell bent in exacting vengeance on that [[Complete Monster]] [[Troll]] with her own hands; so much that nuclear arsenal is a viable option for her, and she would neglect on the pleas of help from that angelic doctor, who was once her student, thereby setting her off to the wrong road in the first place when she could've prevented that; a well-mannered and capable scientist/cyborg who is loyal to the aforementioned to a fault, programmed to do so and he's not fixing it for the moment, and a ([[Obfuscating Stupidity|normally]]) ditzy agent playing under the resistance banner while also paying lip service to NOL, but cares for the young lady with a [[Dark Secret]] to the point she's willing to betray ''just about anybody'' in the name of keeping her safe. Aside of that, there's also an actually wise badass cat who may actually be the candidate for goodness and unity, only to mostly fail to unite and be cryptic, not to mention having a grudge to said [[Complete Monster]] [[Troll]] for killing his human wife... which may be that dark, mysterious magician under the Troll's employment, who doesn't speak. EVER. Not to mention that if you walk somewhere wrong, you may meet up some robotic girl with tons of swords ready to cut you down, and if that [[Anti-Hero]] was nearby... God help you if you get between them because [[Yandere|she'll get so jealous even on sight alone, and kill you for getting in between them]].</ref> TL;DR, rather than realizing the threat and working for a better future, everyone else is minding their own business. [[Overly Long Gag|Here's to unity, chap.]]

** With all these you may think that perhaps there will be some good God to handle divine punishment if that [[Complete Monster]] gets too out of hand... wait, said 'God' is 'dead' by the [[Complete Monster]]. And there's this term 'World Antibody', which may be our last bet in place of the dysfunctional cast... except said 'Antibody' is that brother-complex-suffering psychopath, and even if he's working on it, who's designed as the world's enemy by that term? Your resident [[Anti Hero]], not the [[Complete Monster]]. Yes, just to rub the salt to the wounds, the world ''hates you'' and would prefer to keep the [[Complete Monster]] to exist rather than designating it as an enemy so he could be stopped. [[Sarcasm Mode|What a wonderful world,]] [[Department of Redundancy Department|fellas]].

** With all these you may think that perhaps there will be some good God to handle divine punishment if that [[Complete Monster]] gets too out of hand... wait, said 'God' is 'dead' by the [[Complete Monster]]. And there's this term 'World Antibody', which may be our last bet in place of the dysfunctional cast... except said 'Antibody' is that brother-complex-suffering psychopath, and even if he's working on it, who's designed as the world's enemy by that term? Your resident [[Anti-Hero]], not the [[Complete Monster]]. Yes, just to rub the salt to the wounds, the world ''hates you'' and would prefer to keep the [[Complete Monster]] to exist rather than designating it as an enemy so he could be stopped. [[Sarcasm Mode|What a wonderful world,]] [[Department of Redundancy Department|fellas]].

*** It's even worse since this implies that the [[Anti Hero]] might actually become a greater threat to the world than the [[Complete Monster]]. And he very well might be, since he possesses a horrific power within him that nobody, not even the [[Complete Monster]], can control.

*** It's even worse since this implies that the [[Anti-Hero]] might actually become a greater threat to the world than the [[Complete Monster]]. And he very well might be, since he possesses a horrific power within him that nobody, not even the [[Complete Monster]], can control.

* Implied through the emails in ''[[Assassin's Creed]]''. {{spoiler|Africa's population has been decimated by a plague, massive number of illegal immigrants are crossing the U.S.-Mexican border...into Mexico, and hurricane season no longer exists, since hurricanes happen all throughout the year thanks to climate change.}}

** {{spoiler|And one continent doesn't exist anymore.}}

** [[Arson Murder and Jaywalking|And the entire movie industry]] was killed by [[Digital Piracy Is Evil|online piracy.]]

** [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|And the entire movie industry]] was killed by [[Digital Piracy Is Evil|online piracy.]]

** Lampshaded by Dr. Warren in the first game. He said that there's no difference between the time of the Third Crusade and the time of the future, that people were just as violent and destructive than as now. And the second game reveals that the time of the Renaissance was even worse than both of them together.

* ''[[Deus Ex (Video Game)|Deus Ex]]'' A devastating plague is storming throughout the world, a good deal of food seems to be limited to [[Future Food Is Artificial|processed artificial food]], and not to mention the all the secret cabals running about in the background. The world could also be considered [[A World Half Full]] however, depending on what ending you choose.

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* Another parody example that actually has a story of why the world is that way is the PC game ''Pyst'', which is supposedly what the world of ''[[Myst]]'' ended up looking like after millions of tourists wandered through it.

* The ''[[Postal]]'' series. In ''Postal 2'' at least, every townsperson is a jerk, the cops are mean, and the town of "Paradise" is portrayed as very corrupt and broken beneath the surface. All this is played up for humor, and also makes your [[Heroic Sociopath]] the most sympathetic character by comparison.

* The world at the start of ''[[Breath of Fire I (Video Game)|Breath of Fire I]]'' is practically under the control of [[The Empire|the Dark Dragons]], with most of the towns being screwed over by them either [[For the Evulz]] (Gant, Prima), [[For Science]] (Gust) or for particular [[Revenge]] (Tantar/Tuntar, Carmen). Those who can don't even try to stand up to them, as anyone who did ended up either dead (or close to, like Wyndia's king) or captured (Tantar's chief, Ox and Mogu's tribe).

* The world at the start of ''[[Breath of Fire I (Video Game)|Breath of Fire I]]'' is practically under the control of [[The Empire|the Dark Dragons]], with most of the towns being screwed over by them either [[For the Evulz]] (Gant, Prima), [[For Science!]] (Gust) or for particular [[Revenge]] (Tantar/Tuntar, Carmen). Those who can don't even try to stand up to them, as anyone who did ended up either dead (or close to, like Wyndia's king) or captured (Tantar's chief, Ox and Mogu's tribe).

* The world of ''[[Breath of Fire II (Video Game)|Breath of Fire II]]'' looks funny and slapstick, right? Except for the cheap circus with the freak show, the children crying from hunger in Whale Cove {{spoiler|after you personally take away the family's source of income}}, the face-huggers, the witch's tower filled with beautiful men turned to stone, and the whole {{spoiler|men being seduced to evil and turning into monsters, in service of a dark god you thought was really Saint Eva}} thing.

* ''[[Breath of Fire IV (Video Game)|Breath of Fire IV]]'' opens in a world which has gone through 4 centuries of world war, with fears of a fifth breaking up soon. Most of the East Continent's towns are in varying levels of ruins and poverty, with the less fortunates being victim of the [[Fantastic Nuke]] owned by the Western Empire, which has left ''entire patches of them'' contaminated and unusable until they are cleansed, which in the best scenario can take up to several years.

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** How bad is it? Okay, there's this [[Humanoid Abomination|guy]]. He is borderline sociopathic, and [[I Am a Humanitarian|eats people]] to [[Brain Food|absorb their knowledge]], [[Kill and Replace|assume their form]], and [[Lovecraftian Superpower|fashion claws, blades, and tentacles out of biomass]]. That man is the hero. He's not a [[Villain Protagonist]], either. He is the actual ''[[The Hero|hero]]''.

*** And now, not only does Manhattan host Alex Mercer, it also has James Heller to contend with, who is willing to whatever it takes to destroy Alex. In other words, two [[Cannibalism Superpower|psychopathic mutants]] sharing [[I'm a Humanitarian|an unending hunger for flesh]] are now rampaging in a war-ravaged city. To further accentuate the degeneration of the situation in New York City, fresh and potent strains of the Blacklight virus are emerging, creating whole new abominations to wreak havoc on the hapless survivors. [[Oh Crap|There is no way this will end well.]]

* ''[[Thief]]'' and its main setting, the City. The gods appear to be jerks, the major religion is perfectly within their rights to [[Knight Templar|torture suspected criminals]] ''and they're not the bad guys'', the ones opposing them are [[Cult|terrorist hippie demon worshippers]] and ''they're not the bad guys either'', [[Wretched Hive|the entire City is riddled with corruption from the top levels down]], [[Zombie Apocalypse|the dead won't stay buried]], and at one point homeless, prostitutes and purse snatchers were arrested, [[And I Must Scream|killed to be turned into cyborg slaves]] and sold to the wealthy, and ''nobody'' with any power cared enough to notice. [[Anti Hero|The main character]], an amoral burglar, has to be [[Black and Grey Morality|dragged kicking and screaming]] into doing anything about it, and all he does is save the place from [[The End of the World As We Know It|complete annihilation]]; it remains as corrupt as ever.

* ''[[Thief]]'' and its main setting, the City. The gods appear to be jerks, the major religion is perfectly within their rights to [[Knight Templar|torture suspected criminals]] ''and they're not the bad guys'', the ones opposing them are [[Cult|terrorist hippie demon worshippers]] and ''they're not the bad guys either'', [[Wretched Hive|the entire City is riddled with corruption from the top levels down]], [[Zombie Apocalypse|the dead won't stay buried]], and at one point homeless, prostitutes and purse snatchers were arrested, [[And I Must Scream|killed to be turned into cyborg slaves]] and sold to the wealthy, and ''nobody'' with any power cared enough to notice. [[Anti-Hero|The main character]], an amoral burglar, has to be [[Black and Grey Morality|dragged kicking and screaming]] into doing anything about it, and all he does is save the place from [[The End of the World As We Know It|complete annihilation]]; it remains as corrupt as ever.

* ''[[Baroque (Video Game)|Baroque]]'' starts--and ends--in a barren wasteland, the world having been destroyed some time ago in a massive cataclysm known as The Blaze. Which is somehow [[Nice Job Breaking It Hero|your fault]]. And [[Laser Guided Amnesia|you don't remember anything about it]].

* ''[[Baroque (Video Game)|Baroque]]'' starts--and ends--in a barren wasteland, the world having been destroyed some time ago in a massive cataclysm known as The Blaze. Which is somehow [[Nice Job Breaking It, Hero|your fault]]. And [[Laser-Guided Amnesia|you don't remember anything about it]].

* In ''[[Dungeon Keeper]]'', the world is a lush, idyllic place full of happy people who live peaceful and fulfilling lives. Disgusting.

* ''[[Dwarf Fortress]]''. The motto of the game is "losing is fun". Unfortunately that means the average dwarf will die of any combination of being torn apart by monsters, starvation, terminal depression, being set on fire, or a variety of other methods. Furthermore, the magnitude of enemy attacks increases as your fortress wealth does. Small fortresses have to deal with the occasional kobold thief, whereas a gorgeous obsidian citadel will likely have to close itself off from the world due to hundred-goblin sieges. In other words, ''the better your fortress, the more crapsack the world.'' Of course, this is ignoring any potential player decisions to build a "flood the world with lava" mechanism in the spirit of Boatmurdered. Finally, there's the world's current state of [[Devil but No God]] (unless you count [[Video Game Cruelty Potential|the player]] as a god, which makes things no better); demons are clearly visible, actively claiming lordship over nations and generally turning the nations the rule into warmongering empires, while the gods respond to prayers with only silence.

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* The planet Pandora in ''[[Borderlands (Video Game)|Borderlands]]''. Although it was originally colonized in the hopes of turning it into a lucrative, prosperous mining settlement, it was found to be an almost completely barren and borderline uninhabitable wasteland - and that was before the spring cycle began seven Earth years later and the local wildlife woke up from hibernation. Then, of course, there are the several thousand murderous bandits who prey on the few remaining locals, the extreme scarcity of food, water, electricity and medical supplies, and the near-complete lack of anything resembling functioning infrastructure or an effective government. Death is so common that never once do you see an NPC express grief, even when close friends or relatives are killed.

* ''[[Dragon Age]]: Origins'' takes place in one. The opening cutscene introduces you to a world where Heaven has been destroyed, the world is threatened by a near-unstoppable army of monsters, and the only people who could possibly stop them are nearly extinct and are forgotten and ignored by the world at large, to the point that it might be too late to save the world. It gets worse. Let's see... there's the [[Knight Templar|Knight Templars]] who go around killing anyone who shows magical ability and didn't submit to be stolen from their family and allow themselves to be turned into a soulless husk or subjected to an oppressive training regimen that possibly ends with their death -- and <s> might actually be</s> justified in doing so (mages are the ones who blew up heaven and created the Blight, ''and'' their very existence attracts Demons to the world); the fact that elves only exist as virtual or literal slaves to humanity or exiled tribes in the wilderness; the dwarves have been waging a losing war against aforementioned army of monsters for generations and only have two remaining cities; the fact that government and nobility seem to be corrupt and laden with treachery almost by nature... well, from here, let's just mention that the developers specifically mentioned ''[[A Song of Ice and Fire]]'' as inspiration and leave it be, shall we?

** ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' [[Darker and Edgier|is even]] worse in this regard. As the game goes on the player sees the Chantry completely collapse as the mages get tired of the oppression they suffer under the templars and rise up, [[He Who Fights Monsters|becoming just as bad as the templars feared]]. [[Grey and Gray Morality|Both sides are filled with fanatics who believe]] [[Well Intentioned Extremist|that their way is the only way and anyone who stands in their way deserves no mercy.]] Compromise eventually becomes totally impossible as the actual reasonable people are killed off one by one by accident or to spark the war. What's even worse is that it's implied that the resulting [[Civil War]] is not only horrifying, but completely [[Failure Is the Only Option|inevitable]], with nearly a thousand years of history of bloodshed and oppression (from both sides) coming to a head, only being accelerated at the very end.

** ''[[Dragon Age II]]'' [[Darker and Edgier|is even]] worse in this regard. As the game goes on the player sees the Chantry completely collapse as the mages get tired of the oppression they suffer under the templars and rise up, [[He Who Fights Monsters|becoming just as bad as the templars feared]]. [[Grey and Gray Morality|Both sides are filled with fanatics who believe]] [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|that their way is the only way and anyone who stands in their way deserves no mercy.]] Compromise eventually becomes totally impossible as the actual reasonable people are killed off one by one by accident or to spark the war. What's even worse is that it's implied that the resulting [[Civil War]] is not only horrifying, but completely [[Failure Is the Only Option|inevitable]], with nearly a thousand years of history of bloodshed and oppression (from both sides) coming to a head, only being accelerated at the very end.

* ''[[Pokémon Mystery Dungeon]]: [[Darker and Edgier|Explorers of Time/Darkness]]'' gives you [[Bad Future|the future]]. A future where [[The Night That Never Ends|infinite night]] rules.

** Better yet, [[Crap Saccharine World|Treasure Town]] is a fine place to live in, if you don't mind a crime rating BIGGER THAN Detroit, a [[Cloudcuckoolander]] guild master, time traveling saints from Hell, your daily dose of [[Nightmare Fuel]], and an exploration team that actually [[Kick the Dog|STEALS FROM CHILDREN]]. What's fine about Treasure Town again?

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*** [[It Got Worse|And then the Dragons led by Alduin the World-Eater show up...]]

* [[No More Heroes|Santa Destroy]], as shown through Travis' map of the place. The Beach is full of toxic chemicals, there is an old weapons testing ground filled with killer scorpions, the people are actually ashamed to live in the town and all to happy to leave, the job employers send you tips for work at the assassination centre disguised as an advertising agency, and the fast food places are garbage. That's not even getting into the Ranked Assassins....

* [[Geneforge]]. Ah, Geneforge. Very much a [[Grey and Gray Morality|grey and gray]] world, but that doesn't stop everyone from trying to kill one another. The Awakened are easily the nicest faction in the first two games: they can be ruthless killers when they need to be, but are at least fighting for a world in which creations and humans can get along as equals. Guess what happens to them? By the third game, the two main sides are the Shapers and rebels. The former have an extreme case of [[Fantastic Racism|fantastic racism]] regarding their creations, keeping all Serviles permanently enslaved and attempting to exterminate several entire sentient species. The latter are full of violent maniacs drunk on power who tend toward a lot of [[A God Am I|a god am I]], and dabble in racism as well. The nicest characters with any real pull on either side tend to be [[Sliding Scale of Anti Heroes|Type iii anti heroes]] and [[Well Intentioned Extremist|well intentioned extremists]].

* [[Geneforge]]. Ah, Geneforge. Very much a [[Grey and Gray Morality|grey and gray]] world, but that doesn't stop everyone from trying to kill one another. The Awakened are easily the nicest faction in the first two games: they can be ruthless killers when they need to be, but are at least fighting for a world in which creations and humans can get along as equals. Guess what happens to them? By the third game, the two main sides are the Shapers and rebels. The former have an extreme case of [[Fantastic Racism|fantastic racism]] regarding their creations, keeping all Serviles permanently enslaved and attempting to exterminate several entire sentient species. The latter are full of violent maniacs drunk on power who tend toward a lot of [[A God Am I|a god am I]], and dabble in racism as well. The nicest characters with any real pull on either side tend to be [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Type iii anti heroes]] and [[Well-Intentioned Extremist|well intentioned extremists]].

* [[Monday Night Combat]] takes place in one of these, though you couldn't tell by looking at it. Underneath the cartoony art style hide Presidents for Life, food dispensed from tubes, a life expectancy of 28, and ''[[Arson Murder and Jaywalking|churros]]''.

* [[Monday Night Combat]] takes place in one of these, though you couldn't tell by looking at it. Underneath the cartoony art style hide Presidents for Life, food dispensed from tubes, a life expectancy of 28, and ''[[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|churros]]''.

* ''[[The World Ends With You (Video Game)|The World Ends With You]]'' has this for the afterlife. You can have a normal life and then die, and what's waiting for you after death? A seven-day game run by the Composer. You do tasks, but you're hunted down by Noise, things that can erase your existence, Reapers, that can erase your existence... and if you make it to the end, you can either choose erasure or reaper-- not many people win the ultimate prize {{spoiler|being reborn}} The game is also fixed. Good luck!

* ''[[Psychic Force]]'' has a world constantly ravaged in a war between Psychiccer and humans, creating an endless strife. However, what makes it crapsack is that the world will go out of its way to NOT give anyone with sympathetic qualities a happy ending. Happy endings goes to [[Complete Monster]], anyone else receive [[Downer Ending|Downer]] or [[Bittersweet Ending]]

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* In ''[[Ultima V]]'' Britannia becomes this, which is saying a lot since this is the land that went through being terrorized by not one, but two evil sorcerers and their demon/computer/whatever creation. True, the monsters that once roamed the countryside are now mostly gone, appearing mostly at night or in the wilderness, but the new regime of Lord Blackthorn has taken a bit of a hardline on Britannia's philosophy of the Eight Laws of Virtue, making charity mandatory, punishing most infractions of justice with death, and even forcing dishonored people to commit suicide! Then there are the Shadowlords {{spoiler|the entities who corrupted Blackthorn to begin with}} whose presence is enough to turn an entire city violent and sadistic.

* Earth becomes this in ''[[Darksiders]]'' after suffering through a premature Apocalypse in the beginning of the game. Humanity itself has died off. The world is littered with the ruins of civilization. Sandworms patrol entire deserts created from human ashes. All while the forces of Heaven and Hell wage their meaningless war for supremacy.

* Termina, from [[The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask]]. Most of the characters are in despair all thanks to the eponymous mask, as well as the moon slowly falling. Majora does so many malicious things to almost everyone in Termina. And for what? [[For the Evulz]]. Thankfully, [[~~Videogame~~ Caring Potential|you as Link have the opportunity to save it from this trope.]]

* Termina, from [[The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask]]. Most of the characters are in despair all thanks to the eponymous mask, as well as the moon slowly falling. Majora does so many malicious things to almost everyone in Termina. And for what? [[For the Evulz]]. Thankfully, [[Video Game Caring Potential|you as Link have the opportunity to save it from this trope.]]

** But, as fitting for a game that resonates doom and despair in every way, it's not possible to save everybody in a single 3 day cycle.

* Unless [[Never Trust a Trailer|the trailers are lying]], the world of ''[[Final Fantasy Type-0 (Video Game)|Final Fantasy Type-0]]'' is ''not'' going to be a particularly nice place to live, as it depicts a world caught up in a full-on, no-holds-barred global conflict against the [[The Empire|Empire of Milites]], with plenty of death and suffering all over the place. In fact, it can all be summed up in this quote:

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* In the game [[Epic Mickey]], the Wasteland that the story takes place has a very depressing appearance when we first see it. It use to be beautiful until Mickey Mouse created the Shadow Blot and spilled thinner onto the world, causing the beautiful features to be swept away. There are pools of thinner (acid like chemical) surrounding certain areas and many areas are teaming with blot minions. Depending on the decisions the player makes, the Wasteland's depressing features can be minimal or dramatic. While it is true that for many structures, the player can use paint to make them look less gloomy, the sad features still exist beneath the paint.

* ''[[Doom]] II'': "Now you are the only Human left on the face of the planet. Cannibal mutations, carnivorous aliens, and evil spirits are your only neighbors…"

* If you're a human in the ''[[God of War (Video Game)|God of War]]'' series, you have two choices; [[Lawful Evil]] [[God Is Evil|gods]] who view you as little more than a plaything or possession, and are only good in that they represent stability, or a [[Chaotic Evil]] demigod who's a [[Sliding Scale of Anti Heroes|Type V]] Anti-Hero at best and might kill you for no other reason than he's having a bad day, which is often.

* If you're a human in the ''[[God of War (Video Game)|God of War]]'' series, you have two choices; [[Lawful Evil]] [[God Is Evil|gods]] who view you as little more than a plaything or possession, and are only good in that they represent stability, or a [[Chaotic Evil]] demigod who's a [[Sliding Scale of Anti-Heroes|Type V]] Anti-Hero at best and might kill you for no other reason than he's having a bad day, which is often.

* ''[[Escape Velocity|EV Nova]]'' to some extent, though it never quite loses a hopeful tone. [[The Federation]] is a police state thanks to the elected government having been suborned by one of its [[State Sec|intelligence agencies]], and has the Vell-os ([[Telepathic Spacemen|a psychic offshoot of humanity]]) enslaved to it. The Auroran Empire is a [[The Alliance|loose confederation]] of [[Proud Warrior Race Guy|warrior houses]] that [[Enemy Civil War|fight among themselves]] as often as they fight the Federation. The Polaris are xenophobic isolationists with a [[Higher Tech Species|higher tech base]] that lets them blow away anyone to looks at them cross-eyed. Then there's all the [[Space Pirates]] floating around. On the other hand, there are a great many people trying to make things better. [[La Résistance|The Rebellion]] against the Federation, for instance, which seeks to destroy the Bureau and restore democracy to the Federation's government.