Tear Jerker / Assassin's Creed: Mirage

Mirage is noticeably much, much more somber in tone than many of the other entries in the series. The game as a whole tells the story of a tragedy that, as the next chronological game in the series shows, only gets worse after the credits roll.

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• Basim's situation at the start. He has to make a living as a street thief to get by after his father was unjustly taken advantage of, leaving him mostly alone in the world with only a few others at his side. Making things worse, he has been plagued his entire life by the Jinni, and frequently wakes up from vivid nightmares.
• Following the unsuccessful heist on the Winter Palace that left the Caliph dead, Basim makes a run for his and Dervis's hideout, only to be met with a horrific, grisly sight; every single child in the hideout has been killed in cold blood by the Caliph's soldiers. Basim can't handle the grief and snaps at Nehal before having to make a run for it. As he runs away, he even says how it should have been him that died.
  • In the game's ending, Basim's trip through his psyche includes a sight of the children tied up and dead. He's never forgotten what happened, and it still haunts him.
• Some of the members of the Order of Ancients are surprisingly sympathetic this time around, and it makes their inevitable deaths unfortunate to witness.
  • Fazil's experiments on people using Isu tech would leave them driven insane once they glimpsed the forgotten civilization. Even so, Fazil genuinely believed that he was doing this for the sake of advancing the world's knowledge. It's hard not to feel a little sorry for him as he realizes just what's happening as he dies.
    Fazil: It... It is not how I remember it... Behind the doors, it looked... Brighter...
  • Ning, however, is the most sympathetic target this time around. She was sold into slavery as a child before having to claw her way into her current standing as a wealthy collector and merchant, a process that has understandably left her jaded and reluctant to trust anyone but herself. In the end, she dies firmly believing that she was always meant to live and die alone.
    Ning: In the end, we are absolutely, simply, truly alone.
• Beshi's death at the hands of Wasif. While Basim and Ali are close by, the amount of soldiers means they're helpless to do anything as he is slowly impaled through the chest by Wasif's sword, bleeding out in agony.
• Roshan and Basim's relationship completely falls apart when it's revealed that Roshan knew of Basim's relation to the Isu and was trying to prevent him from learning about it. While her motivation is understandable, as she's trying to prevent Basim from going down a dark path, Basim sees it as her trying to control him in the same way as the Order of Ancients would.
• The assault on Alamut. Alamut is a fortress of incredible importance in the universe of Assassin's Creed, and seeing it not only flooded with enemies, but also filled with fire and dead Hidden Ones is bound to sting. The fact that this scene is underscored by a Dark Reprise of Ezio's Family only makes it worse.
• Basim and Roshan's fight. Roshan, still determined to keep Basim from going down a potential path of darkness, is willing to fight Basim to the death. Throughout the fight, the two exchange words of betrayal and anger, culminating in Roshan being beaten into submission. Her final words before Basim enters the Isu temple are particularly hard to listen to.
  Roshan: I do not want to lose you to what you may find in there... You do not have to look to the past to know who you are, who you can be. You can choose, Basim! Put your faith in me!
  • The worst part? She was absolutely right. Learning of his past only made Basim fall into a long, painful, obsession for revenge that fully consumed him.
• The ending. Easily, it is one of the bleakest in the series.
  • Nehal is revealed to have been a hallucination the entire time. She was never real; she was merely a representation of Basim's memories as Loki, like the Jinni. Once Basim realizes this, he sounds on the verge of tears as he comes to terms with how, once he accepts her as his memories, he will never see her again. While it is somewhat helped by Nehal affirming that Basim will never truly be alone, it still hurts to see him lose his closest friend.
  • Basim fully merging with his memories of Loki. While this does mean that he has finally come to terms with who he is, and he is no longer plagued by the visions he has had, this also has the knock-on effect of completely upending who Basim is. Once Basim steps out of the cave, we aren't looking at Basim anymore. Not entirely, at least. We're looking at Loki.
  • Roshan leaving the Brotherhood. In the fallout of Basim finally learning of what was beneath Alamut, Roshan firmly believes that he will go down a path of darkness and leaves the Hidden Ones after they have accepted Basim back without batting an eye. She doesn't even look Basim in the eyes as she drops her Hidden Blade and leaves, broken, beaten, and betrayed.
  Rayhan: Wada'an, Roshan bint-La'Ahad. It was an honor.
  • In the final moments of the game, Basim holds his arm up for Enkidu to perch upon... Only for Enkidu to suddenly swipe across Basim's face with a talon. Hauntingly, Basim's response to this isn't one of pain, nor is it one of anger or sorrow. He just stands there and gives a broken smile.