If the game only allows you to win (giving you a happy ending), that's also "fixed", by that logic. In most games, winning is the only option (or just never completing the game, I guess). In games with karma or another similar system, you have a good amount of freedom and are sometimes able to "lose", depending on the game and its story. But it really depends on your definition of "win."
For example, in Catherine, you can choose to "lose" by not ending up with either girl. But maybe you hated both girls so much that you view it as a win.
I don't like it when people say a game is pointless just because of a sad ending. There are games with tragic endings that were fantastic due to the engaging store and gameplay. It doesn't have to be happy to be good.
Yeah, but I still don't understand. If you play a GAME you can either win or lose (or maybe somewhere in between). You'd think there would be different endings based on how you play. Sure, there should be tragic endings, if you play a certain way or make the wrong choices/moves. What I mean is is that a GAME should have a few different endings, designed by developers like a sort of digitized "Choose You Own Adventure Book", allowing different endings depending on what you do in the game....otherwise it feels like an exercise in futility....like a fixed football game where the winner's picked before the opening kickoff. It makes no sense to me.
Now, granted, in some story worlds, things are so gloomy that a "bunnies & rainbows-happy happy" ending would be ludicrous but that said, you should still be able to actually accomplish something by the end, otherwise you did all that stuff for nothing (even if the playing & the journey was fun).
Granted, the guy in the Red Blood Redemption game.... despite being the protagonist/hero guy, probably had it coming after all that wanton killing & blowing-up stuff and certainly his death was karmic & a "heroic sacrifice to save his family but even that is meaningless because they die a few years later anyway! Here, a bittersweet ending becomes a "shoot the shaggy dog". I'll gladly accept his self-sacrifice to save his family but to have it be meaningless anyway....DAMN!
If you're designing a game with a set storyline, it only makes sense to write it like a "Choose Your Own Adventure" book. It's a game....winning or losing should be your options, not just losing. Otherwise, it's not a GAME.
Granted, the guy in the Red Blood Redemption game.... despite being the protagonist/hero guy, probably had it coming after all that wanton killing & blowing-up stuff and certainly his death was karmic & a "heroic sacrifice to save his family but even that is meaningless because they die a few years later anyway! Here, a bittersweet ending becomes a "shoot the shaggy dog". I'll gladly accept his self-sacrifice to save his family but to have it be meaningless anyway....DAMN!
Actually, his son survives, and you play as him should you wish to keep playing the game after finishing the story.
That said, why should always making the right choices lead to a happy ending? There are plenty of movies and books and other media where a likeable and capable character's story ends badly for him/her, despite said character making the best possible decisions. Why should games, particularly those that are trying to have a serious storyline, be any different?
Getting back to Red Dead Redemption.
The basic story goes that the protagonist, John Marston, is a former bandit now turned rancher, when the government take his family hostage and say he must hunt down his old gang buddies for them. Basically, his former gang was one of the worst in the state, and by taking them down, the government can claim that they're "bringing civilisation and order to the west". However, the government can't make such a claim unless they take down the entire gang, now can they? Hence why they soon come for John, at which point, what exactly is he supposed to do? Even if he can successfully fight off the soldiers and FBI agents, it would mean going back to being an outlaw, which I'm sure would be fine if it were just him, but he doesn't want that life for his family, especially his son. That's made very clear earlier in the game. Since the government has no beef with his family, only John himself, the only way to ensure a chance of an honest life for his family and son in particular is to simply go out in a blaze of glory.
The government can say they finally destroyed the Williamson Gang, the biggest symbol of lawlessness in the region. Dying in a gunfight with FBI agents and soldiers leaves no evidence to suggest any previous dealings between the government and Marston and, most importantly, his family can go on running their cattle ranch in peace.
On that note, I have to ask, why would you want to water down that story just because it's a video game, rather than a film or book or TV series or whatever else? As an avid gamer myself, I can safely report that it would do absolutely nothing to improve the gameplay.
If you want another example of excellent yet dark video game story, I recommend you check out Spec Ops: The Line. You don't have to play it, just watch this Let's Play (http://lparchive.org/Spec-Ops-The-Line/). Games can do a hell of a lot more than simple "fun" (for want of a better term). There's absolutely nothing wrong with exploring what exactly that can be.
I also notice that a lot of these "Interactive Stories" seem to have a point about human nature or commentary on the world. For example, there was a war game (can't remember the name) that came out that pretty much had the message of "War is not fun or glorious, it's pure hell & a horrible thing". Others seem to be about confronting one's darker side (sort of a computer game equivalent of the movie 'Funny Games').
If you want something that'd be a good example of a serious game that's...not exactly consistently sad (depends on the choices you make, of course), I'd suggest Katawa Shoujo. Just to let ya know, its got some NSFW content, as its an eroge visual novel, but it is a very, VERY far cry away from your typical "find girl, fuck girl, repeat" game that's in the same genre. The writers of the game did a fantastic job, and there are some parts that really will tug your heartstrings.
I refer, of course, to Hanako's good ending, and most of her route, in fact. There's a reason Hanako's been on my desktop wallpaper for some two years.
Tis totally free, and very good. Probably a bit of a plug, but if you want a game with a good story with a good point behind it that's not like Spec Ops, then I highly recommend it.
I went into mourning after I finished Red Dead Redemption. I'm not even kidding, I was depressed for days.
I started crying as soon as Uncle was killed and kept going until John opened the barn doors and went into Dead Eye mode before being shot dead by the FBI, and kept sniffling quietly up until the scene where Abigail and Jack bury him and "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" plays, at which point I started sobbing almost hysterically. I know it's just a video game, but damn it, I spent more than 30 hours playing as this character.
I went into mourning after I finished Red Dead Redemption. I'm not even kidding, I was depressed for days.
I started crying as soon as Uncle was killed and kept going until John opened the barn doors and went into Dead Eye mode before being shot dead by the FBI, and kept sniffling quietly up until the scene where Abigail and Jack bury him and "Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie" plays, at which point I started sobbing almost hysterically. I know it's just a video game, but damn it, I spent more than 30 hours playing as this character.
Did actually finish the game? I mean after John's death you still have the final quest as Jack to kill the FBI agent behind John's death. Doesn't make the ending any happier since at that point it is a pointless death and simply means that Jack has taken up the same life as his father had, which was something John struggled to prevent.
I consider games to be stories just like books and movies. I don't mind "bad" endings, even in a linear game, any more than I am against sad endings in movies or books.
Generally though, I prefer happier endings, but a well made story with a sad ending is better than poorly done with a happy one.