History DarkerAndEdgier / VideoGamesIToO

** ''VideoGame/MetroidFusion'', compared to the previous games. ''VideoGame/SuperMetroid'' was darker than the previous series, but this game is almost a SurvivalHorror game in tone. Samus is on a run of her life should she encounter the SA-X, who possesses her upgrades and Ice Beam. And the Nightmare is one of the most horrifying bosses in a UsefulNotes/GameBoyAdvance game. [[spoiler: Even the formerly benevolently portrayed Federation is shown to have shady goals that force Samus to turn on them, which she realizes will make her viewed as an enemy.]]

** ''VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptunia'' was a fun light-hearted UsefulNotes/ConsoleWars game filled with a fun cast and a happy game overall. The [[VideoGame/HyperdimensionNeptuniaMk2 second game]] starts off with the four goddesses on the receiving end of a curb stomp, piracy monsters are rampant, and in one of the endings [[spoiler: murdering fellow goddesses to power up the sword, only to find out that Nepgear was being controlled by the BigBad]].

** The original ''VideoGame/MetalGear'' is a light, fun action game that uses some cool elements borrowed from movies, and its major twist (that Big Boss was the commander of Outer Heaven) is played almost like a joke. Its sequel ''VideoGame/MetalGear2'' had a significantly more morally ambiguous and interesting plot, with Big Boss's goals being sympathetic and many of his men having good reasons to follow him, and some genuinely sad death scenes. Then the sequel to that, ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'', is much more mature again, with Snake getting a much more nuanced personality and visibly struggling with the morality of what he is doing, and the game overall having a much moodier tone (going from a multicoloured palette with bright anime aesthetics to shades of blue-grey, and replacing the campy proto-UsefulNotes/{{Synthwave}} soundtrack with brooding 90s cinematic music and a OneWomanWail).

* ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'': When compared to ''VideoGame/BravelyDefault'', the producer's other major series. Primrose's route in particular includes murder, prostitution, slavery, and sexual abuse. The game also features much more profanity than its sister series. Some of this is route-dependent; for example, Tressa's story is considerably more light-hearted than some of the others.

** ''Metal Slug 5'', at least in comparison to the other games in the series. Series BigBad Morden and his [[TheDragon Dragon]] Allen O'Neal, as well as the Rebel Army, are not in the game, and instead, you fight a different group of enemies ranging from veiled terrorists to armed mecha. As a result, the game lacks some of the humor found in the other games (though part of this comes from the game being a rushed ObviousBeta with a lot of DummiedOut content.) However, most of the enemies in the game are all edits of Rebel soldier sprites. The game also features a [[AutobotsRockOut heavy metal soundtrack]].

* ''VideoGame/JaggedAlliance'': The first two games (the original and Deadly Games) were a pretty straight AffectionateParody of 80s action flicks, featuring a RagTagBunchOfMisfits with colorful personalities being hired to fight a ruthless CardCarryingVillain. The games had some elements of DeconstructiveParody, mostly involving personality clashes that could turn violent and even lethal and that AnyoneCanDie, and sometimes the comedy could be fairly dark, but by and large the tone was more of a fun action-packed romp than anything else. ''2'' was significantly darker; the villain was still hammily, cartoonishly evil, but this time the game didn't hesitate to showcase exactly what a CrapsackWorld she had created, and didn't hesitate to put forced child labor, torture, conscription, and [=WMDs=] front-and-center. ''3'' went darker still, introducing multiple villain factions, the leaders of which are far less cartoonish and more competent. The villains also don't hesitate to display corpses of killed civilians and mustard gas refugee camps. On top of this, the game also introduces some pretty hard moral choices with no clear-cut "right" answer.

* ''VideoGame/JaggedAlliance'': The first two games were a pretty straight AffectionateParody of 80s action flicks, featuring a RagTagBunchOfMisfits with colorful personalities being hired to fight a ruthless CardCarryingVillain. The games had some elements of DeconstructiveParody, mostly involving personality clashes that could turn violent and even lethal, and sometimes the comedy could be fairly dark, but by and large the tone was more of a fun action-packed romp than anything else. ''2'' was significantly darker; the villain was still hammily, cartoonishly evil, but this time the game didn't hesitate to showcase exactly what a CrapsackWorld she had created, and didn't hesitate to put forced child labor, torture, conscription, and [=WMDs=] front-and-center. ''3'' went darker still, introducing multiple villain factions, the leaders of which are far less cartoonish and more competent. The villains also don't hesitate to display corpses of killed civilians and mustard gas refugee camps. On top of this, the game also introduces some pretty hard moral choices with no clear-cut "right" answer.

** There's also ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand''. Notably, the designs of the Beast Pack are [[NonStandardCharacterDesign more photorealistic]] than anything we've ever seen before, and King Dedede's [[OncePerGame usual]] DemonicPossession is taken much more seriously here, witnessing him go insane and devolve into a mindless, bloodthirsty predator. [[spoiler:And then there's [[EldritchAbomination Fecto Forgo]], who stands out as one of the most terrifying and dangerous villains in the entire series; not only is their chimera form downright ''horrific,'' but they are said to have killed many when they entered the New World. Most of the music associated with them is usually dark and terrifying, such as "Eternal Echo of the Thrilling Tour-our-our", which is a distorted remix of the announcer's voice from "The Dream Discoveries Tour", which is heavily suggesting that Fecto Forgo was trapped in the Eternal Capsule for so long that they started hearing it [[MadnessMantra in their dreams]].]] Because of these factors, it's a miracle the game got a Fear warning.

* ''VideoGame/{{Omori}}'' is this trope in comparison to Omocat's previous works -- more specifically, her webcomics, like ''Pretty Boy'' and her old ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZelda'' fan comics. While her old work is far more reliant on lighthearted humor, ''Omori'' has themes of suicide, death, depression, anxiety, and self-isolation. As the game progresses, the tone gets gradually worse and worse. And that's not even mentioning the [[spoiler:Hikkikomori Route]].

* ''VideoGame/JumpStartAdventures4thGradeHauntedIsland'', compared to all the other ''VideoGame/JumpStart'' games. The premise of the previous games were either a day in the life of a wacky classroom, minor adventures with an AlphabetSoupCans twist, or preventing TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt but with plenty of humour. ''4th grade''? Your classmates were [[BalefulPolymorph turned into monsters]] by an evil substitute teacher, and you must walk around a DefangedHorrors SurvivalHorror island to turn them back, all while being stalked by the evil teacher and her ghostly minion out to scare you.

** ''VideoGame/MafiaIII''. While ''Mafia II'' was already quite dark, ''Mafia III'' seems to have made things '''UpToEleven'''. [[spoiler: Lincoln's adoptive family is betrayed and murdered in front of him]], the place is extremely racist and hostile, executions are excessively brutal, there's a lot of mass murder and disturbing content, and the antagonists are even more despicable than before. Interestingly, Mafia III has much more muted colours in pictures. Heck, one of the game's DLC stories, titled "Sign of the Times", doubles with BloodierAndGorier.

** After being SavedFromDevelopmentHell, the long-awaited ''VideoGame/MetroidDread'', [[MeaningfulName true to its name]], apparently aims to be the darkest entry of the franchise yet, cranking the SurvivalHorror theme ''Fusion'' had UpToEleven. Not only has Samus learned the [[TheDreaded X Parasites]] may yet still live on the planet ZDR, but the Galactic Federation had dispatched a unit of [[MechaMooks E.M.M.I.s]] to investigate, who by the time Samus gets there herself, [[AIIsACrapshoot have mysteriously gone rogue]]. Not only are these corrupted E.M.M.I.s incredibly hostile, but they are {{Nigh Invulnerab|ility}}le and the second they encounter or dectect Samus, [[ImplacableMan they will hound her across the complex relentlessly and will not stop until they catch her and brutally kill her]], [[OneHitKill and in one hit]], no less. Thus, Samus cannot face them head on and actually has to rely on stealth and hiding for fear of one catching and pursuing her, having to upgrade significantly in order to stand a chance of facing them. Not only that, the gloomy, mechanical environment of Planet ZDR is rife in dimly-lit abandoned labs and complexes which are home to a whole new slew of alien nasties that invoke an unsettling, dirty atmosphere more characteristic of ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' than even the ''Metroid Prime Trilogy'' had at its darkest moments.

** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', in addition to being BloodierAndGorier than any other game in the franchise '''''combined''''', has all the bleakness and brutality seen in the previous games being both cranked UpToEleven (no [[{{Pun}} pun]] intended), thanks to the storyline reaching its DarkestHour here. To make it clear, the story reaches entirely different levels when it comes to the tone by featuring a truly evil OmnicidalManiac ControlFreak [[MadGod Mad Goddess]] who's the GreaterScopeVillain of the franchise and plans to destroy the entire universe by causing a TimeCrash as the BigBad, numerous main characters getting bluntly killed off, starting with [[TearJerker the devastatingly tragic death of Sonya Blade]] in "Chapter 1", and going all the way to the third act where the whole story culminates with an EverybodyDiesEnding, and a BittersweetEnding that's more on the bitter side, almost to the point of being a DownerEnding.

** ''Star Force 2'' contains one of the darkest plotlines in the series. The Apollo Flames "second quest" involves an alternate universe AfterTheEnd scenario where every human has been [[KillEmAll killed off]] thanks to the Precursor To Ruin.

** ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'', in addition to being BloodierAndGorier than any other game in the franchise '''''combined''''', has all the bleakness and brutality seen in the previous games being both cranked UpToEleven (no [[{{Pun}} pun]] intended), thanks to the storyline reaching its DarkestHour here. To make it clear, the story reaches entirely different levels when it comes to the tone by featuring a truly evil OmnicidalManiac ControlFreak [[MadGod Mad Goddess]] who's the GreaterScopeVillain of the franchise and plans to destroy the entire universe by causing a TimeCrash as the BigBad, numerous main characters getting bluntly killed off, starting with [[TearJerker the devastatingly tragic death of Sonya Blade]] in "Chapter 1", and going all the way to the third act where the whole story culminates with a KillEmAll scenario, and a BittersweetEnding that's more on the bitter side, almost to the point of being a DownerEnding.

* ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'': The entire series has a sort of history of being considered one of Sierra's darker, more serious titles (despite many attempts to advertise it as a whimsical and humorous 'cartoon' series filled with slapstick comedy). The Two Guys from Andromeda went onto make ''Space Quest'' because they considered ''King's Quest'' to be too somber and medieval for their tastes and wanted to do something light and silly. Each additional game after King's Quest 1 has been accused of being darker than the last with perhaps the exception of ''King's Quest 8'' (although it has some dark elements as well, but is usually overshadowed by its silly cartoon-style animation). ''King's Quest 3'' got accused of being dark and satanic, ''King's Quest 4'' was accused of being dark because of its examination of Graham's mortality, ''King's Quest 5'' because of [[AdultFear family kidnapping]], and some satanic imagery in the villain's castle, and its more realistic artwork. It was ''King's Quest 6'' that saw the biggest accusation of being 'overly dark and most ominous' of the entire series at the time of its release and was acknowledged by Roberta Williams in her interview with Donald Trivette. Some see ''King's Quest 8: Mask of Eternity'' as going even darker than ''King's Quest 6'', taking the series the series in a direction that embarrassed some of the Creator/{{Sierra}}'s designers[[note]]Ironically considering her own game had been accused of being overly dark and ominous some years before, and yet both games include whimsical bee-like characters (pollinating wisps fill in the roll in ''King's Quest 8'').[[/note]]. Among them were [[VideoGame/GabrielKnight Jane Jensen]], who wrote:

* ''VideoGame/OctopathTraveler'': When compared to ''Bravely Default'', the producer's other major series. Primrose's route in particular includes murder, prostitution, slavery, and sexual abuse. The game also features much more profanity than its sister series. Some of this is route-dependent; for example, Tressa's story is considerably more light-hearted than some of the others.

** Rather than an adorable ''Manga/AstroBoy''-esque android, the [[FanNickname Blue Bomber]] of ''VideoGame/MegaManX'' is a morally conflicted hero. Similarly, the comical Dr. Wily was succeeded by Sigma, a ruthless (and seemingly indestructible) robot bent on the total annihilation of the human race. It was still done rather well, CapcomSequelStagnation aside. Still, apparently Creator/{{Capcom}} knew when enough was enough, as a later series in the franchise, ''VideoGame/MegaManLegends'', significantly dials down the angst with less hard-edged artwork, a more reasonable difficulty level, and a comical cast of characters.

[[/fodler]]

* Within the Medieval II Total War expansion, the Teutonic Campaign deals with the fact that the Teutonic Knights are a bunch of bloodthirsty zealots who see their enemies as less than humans and are merely HidingBehindReligion to justify their actions. The Kingdom of Lithuania faces the brutal choice of choosing to abandon their traditional religion or be exterminated by the Teutonic Knights, and Poland is left horrified at what the Teutonic Knights have done, given that they asked them to deal with the pagans in the region in the first place, and they decide to go to war to atone for the crimes they allowed the Order to commit.