Line #41 Tearjerker/ThisWarOfMine


1	'''As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked [[Administrivia/SpoilersOff as per policy.]] Administrivia/YouHaveBeenWarned.'''
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3	* The game's premise: WarIsHell, especially for those who are just caught in the crossfire. Sure there are moments of heartwarming, but that aside, the entire game runs on depressing tones.
4	** This all ties into the RealitySubtext of the game as expressed by its TagLine - and given that it's based on the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Sarajevo 1992 - 1996 Siege of Sarajevo]], which lasted ''1,425 days'' (35 days short of four ''years'') and killed nearly 14,000 people (over 5,000 of whom were civilian non-combatants).
5	* Investigating yields some interesting messages:
6	** (Outside the brothel): "It's trash, mostly. Among it lies a fashionable handbag, torn as if someone had ripped it open, not sparing any thought to a damaged zipper, a tiny framed photo of a young man, and a pocket notebook. Whoever tossed these here wasn't their owner."
7	** (Letter inside caved-in classroom): "Mom, it's terrible! A girl I knew was shot today by a man called Sniper! I can't believe I won't see her again. She was such a kind girl, what did she do to this Sniper? They turned off the electricity and the teacher said we would have to stay in school a little longer today. I don't know why. I want to see you and dad already. At least they promised to bring you this letter. Will you come and take me home?"
8	*** The part about the class staying in school longer might not register at first to the player, until you remember your scavenger commenting that the kids had still been inside when it was shelled.
9	** (On Hospital desk): "It's an excerpt from the damage report after one of the shellings:
10	*** General Surgery - 32 patients. 3 killed, 12 wounded.
11	*** Neurology - 13 patients. 0 killed, 2 wounded.
12	*** Children's Ward - 34 patients. 32 killed, 2 wounded.
13	*** Intensive Care - 55 patients. 9 killed, 10 wounded."
14	*** Let that second-last one sink in; of every child patent in the building, ''only two survived '''and they didn't do so unscathed.''''' If there was any hope for a first-time player of this game at least following ImprobableInfantSurvival, this is where it died. No-one is safe.
15	* Getting your survivors killed for whatever reason (during a fight with bandits or the military, depression, or hunger) can result in uncontrollable sobbing from you.
16	* There are moments that can drive a man to desperation, and then to moments of inhumanity. A lack of much needed foodstuffs, for example, can force you to barge into an elderly couple's home (the wife is sick) and stealing supplies while the husband helplessly pleads with you to stop. For one specific occasion that can happen: you hear woman scavenging for food. A soldier 'generously' offers her some in exchange for a 'favor'. She refuses, but the soldier won't take no for an answer and decides to rape her. Having nothing but a lockpick, you may have no choice but to use the event as a distraction in order to get supplies.
17	* The elderly couple at the Quiet House are very lucky that no one has attacked them since they have no weapons, are physically incapable of fighting back, and their home is completely unsafe from a looting raid. This makes for a completely safe, but shameful, scavenging trip if you really need some materials. But if you return to the location after taking all of their food and medicine, you'll find both of them '''lifeless'''.
18	* When [[Creator/TheCynicalBrit Total Biscuit]] did [[http://youtu.be/YNNAdTAM5os?t=27m22s a video of this game]] he spotted someone with a gun and thought they would kill him on sight so he snuck up from behind and clubbed her to death. Then her sister came running down and cried over her corpse. Turns out that person was just on guard for the night in that house, much like some of your own survivors back at your shelter. This is the kind of thing that almost makes you want to quit the game before it auto-saves, out of guilt.
19	-->'''Total Biscuit''': Nice! Alright. Oh- oh, I think I've alerted them. Alright, oh [[CurseCutShort shi- crap.]] ''(Woman he's alerted is sobbing over the body)'' Oh... [[HeelRealization I am a terrible human being.]] [[YouMonster I don't think she was a psychopath at all, I think I just murdered their guard!]] Well, uh... Oh, damn it!
20	* The hospital can be shelled ''again''. It barely managed to function before, and now even more supplies and people have been lost, and the survivors left in their wake are emotionally shattered. The one doctor trying to keep everything together is visibly distraught.
21	* The description of the Brothel mentions that you can get laid for a can of food and that mothers would do 'kinky shit' to feed their kids. If the scavenger visits they can hear customers walk out with comments like 'she knows how to treat a man' as if the woman wasn't trying to do whatever it took to get food.
22	* The story in the journal you can find in the barracks at the Military Outpost is about a very young female sniper who was [[CruelAndUnusualDeath captured, tied up and then strapped with explosives by the soldiers. The author mentioned the fuse was just long enough for her to 'think about her life'.]]
23	** This is actually a letter home to his younger brother who is excited to become a soldier and have adventures just like his big brother. It ends with him telling his brother he found no adventure, only dirt and death. Of course, if you're reading this, you've probably infiltrated the base by killing the guards, so his brother might never get the letter.
24	* If your party is reduced to one survivor, the game is effectively over. The shelter is completely defenseless if they sleep or go out and they'll get nothing if they just stay which means that the supplies will quickly run out (assuming that they haven't been already stolen by someone else). Your last survivor will eventually succumb to their exhaustion, wounds, starvation, and sickness. With no other choice but to spend their last moments lying helplessly in bed... DyingAlone.
25	* The cover art for the PC release of This War Of Mine has a quote in German that pretty much says it all: "Im krieg ist nicht jeder soldat" or "In war, not everyone is a soldier".
26	* The father of the Abandoned Cottage has a simple but tragic story: His two daughters were murdered by the very same looters who had already robbed them on their first encounter and then delivered revenge on every one of them in return. Ashamed of the fact that he failed to protect his daughters and feeling no positivity from killing the looters, he decided that he wanted to disappear without a trace... after realizing that he became a monster.
27	-->'''If you're reading this - Don't look for me.'''
28	* The rumors about the gunman at Sniper Junction are bad enough but you'll get to see how much of a heartless bastard he can prove himself to be when you visit the locale: He's trying to finish off a wounded man behind the fountain ''who needs to get medicine to his crying, baby son''. God forbid what would've happened to both of them if you didn't show up to lend help.
29	* In war, ''nothing is sacred''. Not even the hallowed, consecrated sites of worship. To hammer this fact home, visit St. Mary's Church after it gets sealed off by heavy fighting: You'll find that the location has been shelled by the military and occupied by looters, one of whome brags about how easy it was to kill the priest.
30	* When you go to the Decrepit Squat for the first time, you'll come across a homeless man who will ask you for something to eat. He will die if you don't bring him any kind of food, even if it's raw meat or vegetables. If you revisit the location after you fail to give him some food, you'll find him exactly where he was... except that he's now ''dead from starvation''.
31	* You may face one or two scenarios when visiting the Construction Site. In the ''better'' one, you'll overhear a pair of gunmen who are plotting to trap someone that they've been tracking down for a while. If you can get to the upper area of the site, you'll find an alcove to hide in which just so happens to be at the place where the victim gets hunted down by the gunmen who will then proceed to rob him of his stuff. ''Your character has just witnessed a murder of a defenseless man for his supplies''. The ''worse'' one pits you against the snipers you hear about so often in the game. It's worse because it's extremely difficult to kill them (the two armed ones always move in a pair), and more than likely your scavenger will be the one killed by them.
32	* Emilia's family was murdered by looters. Her neighbors told her that they were with the Vyseni militia and were looking for Grazni informants. The fact that they were killed without being interrogated casts suspicion on their actual allegiance and true motives.
33	* The deserter-occupied Ruined Villa has a few soldiers talking about their hostage. Turns out they're demanding ransom, even though their hostage is dead from starvation/neglect. [[SmitingEvilFeelsGood Killing these assholes should be a priority on every playthrough]].
34	* The two new maps in Update 1.3 have some emotional events. Visiting the Gas Station once has a note for someone about jewelry in a hidden spot, and a dead body on the second floor. Turns out the note was for that man, and upon visiting the Gas Station a second time his friend will give him a proper burial before departing.
35	** There are other notes scattered around the Old Town house, telling a story about a man becoming obsessed with defending the house despite the [[EverythingTryingToKillYou snipers, bandits, and mortar fire]]. He became so insane that he got angry at a family member for asking a bit more water than usual. The house is abandoned by everyone but the insane man, and his sister wrote a letter begging him to change his mind, even including a ticket out. The insane man can still be found wandering the house. Despite the fact that he's openly hostile and will try to kill you, you CANNOT act in self-defense as killing him counts as murder.
36	* Some of the survivors' "happy endings" are still really sad. Take Boris, for instance: The only difference between his "sad" and "good" endings is that in the former, he is haunted by the memory of his girlfriend's and son's fates, while in the latter, he is somewhat comforted by the memory of how courageous and faithful they both were even in the moments of their respective deaths. In either case, he never falls in love or forms any familial relationships again, there is no mention of him ever returning to his home or career, and it's implied that he dies a few years after the war ends.
37	* When your survivors get drunk and stagger around the house singing, some of their lyrics hint at a tortured psyche, damaged by life in a warzone:
38	-->"Somewhere...over...the rainbow...painted black...."
39	* Reading the epilogue of any survivor who died before the end. Hell, reading the bad endings of survivors is worse because of all the atrocities that they needed to do to survive bites them in the end.
40	** Reading the epilogues of those who left the group, only to die horribly. To reiterate: these survivors left your group because they believed that anything was better and they end up dead, tortured or permanently scarred.

Context Tearjerker / ThisWarOfMine