History DarkerAndEdgier / VideoGamesPToS

* ''VideoGame/{{Police 911}}'' is this to the first two ''VideoGame/LethalEnforcers'' games.

* Past ''Franchise/SpiderMan'' games had massive destruction, but no notable deaths, or saved the dark stuff for alternate timelines. ''VideoGame/SpiderManPS4'' sees realistic terrorist attacks and bioweapons deployed, [[spoiler:which cause [[DeathByAdaptation the respective deaths of Jefferson Davis and Aunt May]]]].

* ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon'': The classic series has a very comical, lighthearted tone, and follows a cute dragon fighting hilarious freaks who mostly run away from him, and you regain health by collecting butterflies. Its spinoffs deviate from this to various degrees:

** ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' actually has Dr. Eggman succeed in taking over the world and the heroes become desperate as a result. Also, the antagonist Infinite is a much darker villain than the previous villains in the franchise.

** ''VideoGame/SonicForces'' actually has Dr. Eggman succeed in taking over the world and the heroes have hit their lowest points in the franchise. Also, the antagonist Infinite is a much darker villain than the previous villains in the franchise.

* ''VideoGame/StreetsOfRage'' isn't a lighthearted series by any means since it involved fighting gangs and beating them with weapons like bats and pipes. The third game takes the edge up a few notches by making the graphics more gritty and realistic, making the soundtrack more subdued, and having the plot involve terrorism by destroying a city with bombs. Should you fail to beat the FinalBoss in time, the bombs go off and, if playing in the Japanese version, you get to see a picture of the aftermath.

* ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'' is this to the first ''VideoGame/Splatoon1''. It plot involves Callie having gone missing and her cousin Marie trying to find her. Simple enough, until it turns out that [[spoiler:Callie has been kidnapped and brainwashed by the BigBad of the previous game]]. But that has nothing on the ''Octo Expansion''; the list starts with "you have a [[ExplosiveLeash bag of cyan ink]] strapped to your back at all times" and goes around the block to "you and Captain Cuttlefish narrowly avoid [[spoiler:getting blended into primordial ooze]]" to "the FinalBoss requires you to save the world from [[spoiler:a giant statue of a human head with a WaveMotionGun designed to wipe out civilization as you know it]]".

* ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon 2}}'' is this to ''VideoGame/{{Splatoon}}''. It plot involves Callie having gone missing months ago and her cousin Marie trying to find her. [[spoiler:Callie has been kidnapped and brainwashed by the BigBad.]] And that's not even touching the ''Octo Expansion''; the list starts with "you have a [[ExplosiveLeash bag of cyan ink]] strapped to your back at all times" and goes around the block to "you and Captain Cuttlefish narrowly avoid [[spoiler: getting blended into primordial ooze]]" to "the FinalBoss requires you to save the world from [[spoiler: a giant statue of a human head with a WaveMotionGun designed to wipe out civilization as you know it]]".

*** ''Dawn of the Dragon'' is this compared to the ''Legend'' trilogy as a whole. [[ArtShiftedSequel It drops the first two games' cartoony art style for a much more realistic and detailed one]], uses far less humor than its prequels, gives much closer attention to the war and devastation caused by the villain, and [[spoiler:one character ''burns to death'' -- yes, offscreen, but still]]. Malefor alone is much darker than most of the Classic villains and is an OmnicidalManiac trying to destroy the world.

* ''VideoGame/SengokuBasara'' is a game series that's known for being ridiculously over-the-top with all its character designs, {{Engrish}}, attacks, plotlines, ham, silly humour, cheese and the tendency to ignore actual history. Everything was turned UpToEleven, and it was awesome in its own way. Then along came ''Sengoku Basara 3'', kicking the previous poster boys out of the way and taking over with new serious plotline. Capcom also decided to be more history-accurate, making them NPC/killing off important characters along the way. Result? Previously "LET'S PARTY!" -characters overrun with angst.

* ''VideoGame/SyphonFilter'' was already rather dark to begin with, but ''Logan's Shadow'' especially [[UpToEleven turns up]] [[TrueArtIsAngsty the angst factor]], with the IPCA shut down, Logan sent on a botched mission by corrupt bureaucrat Robert Cordell, Lian accused of treason by Cordell, and Logan's and Teresa's possible death at the end. Ironically, it has a T rating, as opposed to the M rating of previous games.

** The Adventure Mode for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' has one of the darkest opening sequences in the series history, such that it has drawn comparisons with ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': all of the characters face off against a mysterious entity known as Galeem and its army of Master Hands, only for the hands to suddenly convert into energy bolts and launch out at the heroes, [[KillEmAll wiping out almost the entire playable cast]] [[ApocalypseHow/ClassX4 and every other living being in the entire universe]]. The SoleSurvivor is Kirby, who just barely managed to escape with a Warp Star, but now he finds himself alone in a desolate universe, his trophified friends used as templates to make an army of Puppet Fighters for Galeem to force disembodied spirits into servitude. That alone is dark enough, but it's not even getting into [[spoiler:the second half of the story mode that sees the story and title of BigBad getting hijacked by Galeem's dark counterpart Dharkon, who is quite possibly one of the most terrifying-looking villains that Nintendo has ever created, and [[DownerEnding the two bad endings]] you receive if you defeat Galeem or Dharkon but not the other. The losing Big Bad is violently finished off by the surviving one, who then goes on to destroy the heroes and the rest of the world. Galeem's ending is more of a ShootTheShaggyDog ending where Galeem finishes what he started, this time with not even Kirby able to escape. Dharkon's ending features a shot of Mario silently dropping to the ground (either [[DespairEventHorizon in despair]] or [[TheHeroDies dying]]) all alone as the universe around him decays and falls into eternal darkness.]]

** Playing the first few games of the series, you think that the Soul Calibur is the "good" sword to the evil of Soul Edge, right? Not as of IV -- Calibur is KnightTemplar, just as evil as Edge. Previously-sympathetic characters like Taki become major bitches. Justified as Soul Calibur was made from a purified shard of Soul Edge.

* Within the later ''Franchise/{{Persona}}'' titles, ''VideoGame/{{Persona 5}}'' goes considerably darker than ''Persona 4'' and its spinoffs, with characters receiving visible, bloody injuries, regular use of BodyHorror, the heroes being AntiHero thieves, and antagonists who play entirely on {{Adult Fear}}s. For example, an early game plot point involves one of your potential party members' friends being physically abused by one of her teachers, including implied sexual abuse, to the point she ''leaps to her death off the top of a school building'', in full view of all her friend and other classmates. [[spoiler:The ending is still more optimistic in tone than the decidedly [[BittersweetEnding bittersweet conclusions]] of ''VideoGame/Persona2'' and ''VideoGame/Persona3'', with the protagonist accomplishing his goals and surviving the plot.]]

** While most of the series' games are lighthearted and comical, the fourth installment, ''VideoGame/PuyoPuyoYon'', features a serious storyline, reminiscent of the ''VideoGame/MadouMonogatari'' games (the series which the ''Puyo Puyo'' characters originated from), and a KnightOfCerebus BigBad, Satan [[spoiler:[[DemonicPossesion or rather]], Doppleganger Arle]].

** While most of the series' games are lighthearted and comical, the fourth installment, ''YON'', features a serious storyline, reminiscent of the ''VideoGame/MadouMonogatari'' games (the series which the ''Puyo Puyo'' characters originated from), and a KnightOfCerebus BigBad, Satan [[spoiler:[[DemonicPossesion or rather]], Doppleganger Arle]].
** The seventh is similar, with an apocalyptic plot, which would similarly be used in the eighth. Both of them involved VileVillainSaccharineShow antagonists who threatened the entire world with destruction.
** ''Madou Monogatari'': The PC-98 ports of the original trilogy are easily the darkest games in the whole series, with grim, realistic enemy designs, an illusion of melting faces, terrifying new bosses, a headless (and far crueler) Schezo, Arle’s fingers bleeding after overusing a spell, Arle’s face bleeding, and even fatalities Arle can perform on certain enemies (such as burning a werewolf enemy alive).

** The Adventure Mode for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' has one of the darkest opening sequences in the series history, such that it has drawn comparisons with ''Film/AvengersInfinityWar'': all of the characters face off against a mysterious entity known as Galeem and it's army of Master Hands, only for the hands to suddenly convert into energy bolts and launch out at the heroes, [[KillEmAll wiping out almost the entire playable cast]] [[ApocalypseHow/ClassX4 and every other living being in the entire universe]]. The SoleSurvivor is Kirby, who just barely managed to escape with a Warp Star, but now he finds himself alone in a desolate universe, his friends forced to make a clone army for Galeem, and nothing but disembodied Spirits for company. That alone is dark enough, but it's not even getting into [[spoiler:the second half of the story mode that sees the story and title of BigBad getting hijacked by Galeem's dark counterpart Dharkon, who is quite possibly one of the most terrifying-looking villains that Nintendo has ever created, and [[DownerEnding the two bad endings]] you receive if you defeat Galeem or Dharkon but not the other. The losing Big Bad is violently finished off by the surviving one, who then goes on to destroy the heroes and the rest of the world. Galeem's ending is more of a ShootTheShaggyDog ending where Galeem finishes what he started, this time with not even Kirby able to escape. Dharkon's ending features a shot of Mario silently dropping to the ground (either [[DespairEventHorizon in despair]] or [[TheHeroDies dying]]) all alone as the universe around him decays and falls into eternal darkness.]]

* ''VideoGame/SpyroTheDragon'', when you remember that the original games have a cute dragon fighting hilarious freaks who mostly ran away from him, and you regained health by collecting butterflies, it's difficult to see how it progressed to the level of Grim-Dark in ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfSpyro''. However, Spyro has since moved to ''VideoGame/{{Skylanders}}'', which is on the lighthearted side for the most part, and fully returned to the series' more goofy and whimsical roots with the ''VideoGame/SpyroReignitedTrilogy''.

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