Warning: Spoilers Off applies to Moments pages.
- The game starts giving you these very early, as after meeting Erik you can return to Cobblestone, only to realize that you have been transported into a vision of Cobblestone from when you were six years old, which is awful when your own mother is afraid of you and tells you to leave her house because 'her son is six years old' and as far as she's concerned you're a creepy stranger. You get to meet Chalky again, who does recognize you and give you advice on your journey before vanishing in front of your eyes. At this point the illusion fades and reveals that the entire town has been burnt to the ground, for no other reason than the fact the Luminary claimed to be from there... including your mom's house.
- Shortly after this, the Luminary and Erik go to where Chalky guided them to find two letters. One from Chalky, explaining that he remembers speaking to the teenage hero and giving some help and encouragement to him, signing off with "All the love in the world". The other is from his mother, who died in trying to save him and tells him how much it broke her heart to have to leave, but how proud of him she is for what he'll accomplish.
- The entire scene in Dundrasil when Rab reveals that he is the Luminary's grandfather and he shows him his parents' grave. Followed by them performing the ritual to send all of the souls that died in the attack to be at peace at Yggdrasil.Rab: My dear Eleanor... Irwin... I found your boy. He was alive all these years...
- The story of Star-Crossed Lovers Kainoa and Michelle, ending with Michelle being Driven to Suicide so they can be Together in Death and Kai's grandson finally learning the truth.
- The English version actually makes this even more sad with its voice acting. Michelle sounds as if she's genuinely crying and ready to commit suicide so she can be Together in Death. While Kainui's Dull Surprise might make some of the scenes unintentionally funny, by the end, you realize his voice comes off as someone who lived their life severely depressed. What's more, the only thing that kept Kainoa (Kainui's grandfather) from being with Michelle was a baby that he rescued, who later became Kainui's mother, because the village believed that she was half mermaid and that no one else would care for her if Kainoa left.
- The circumstances of how Kainui's mother came into Kainoa's care is no less tragic. Her birth mother was Kainoa's ex-fiancée, who had gotten married with someone else and had her, but he and Kainoa's ex's father ran afoul of a storm of similar caliber that sunk Kainoa's boat that eventful night. Unlike Kainoa, however, who was saved by Michelle, they were not as fortunate and both died to the storm. Hearbroken, she was Driven to Suicide, flinging herself off a cliff with baby in tow to be Together in Death, much to Kainoa's horror, who witnessed the jump. Kainoa tried, but he could only save the baby.
- If you visit Kainui again after Michelle's suicide, he says that if he could live that night over again, he'd never have let go of her hand and allowed her to walk in to the ocean and turn to foam. He also says that after meeting her, he understands how his grandfather felt about her. Later, after Yggdrasil falls, he tells the party that even with everything that's happened, he still can't stop thinking of Michelle. Even worse, there's a lady in the village who likes him, and now it's probably never going to work out, just like the last time.
- Jade telling the Hero that she's spent the last sixteen years blaming herself for dropping his bassinet and them being separated, ignoring the fact she was only a young child at the time and was struggling to keep herself afloat in the river she had fallen into. While trying to flee from monsters.
- Returning to Arboria after the fall of Yggdrasil, when Serena senses Veronica's presence just outside of town. Instead of finding your final party member, you find a flashback to the day the world fell, revealing how she sacrificed her life to save the lives of you and your companions. Her funeral and Serena's Important Haircut ramp it up even more, especially when Serena quietly breaks down in private with the Luminary after being able to get through the entire funeral without shedding a tear. Her English voice talent, Jessica Clark, absolutely delivers a gut punch with her amazing acting here.Serena: If you don't mind... would you please not go anywhere for the time being? I think I'm going to cry...
- Rab's reaction is no less upsetting. He mourns why the good must always die young, no doubt reminded of the deaths of the Hero's birth parents.
- When the hero returns to Hotto, it appears that Miko is the villain of the week, lying about the defeat of Tatsunaga and offering up an innocent woman as sacrifice. However, as it turns out, Tatsunaga is actually her son, who turned into Tatsunaga after slaying it. To make matters worse, once Tatsunaga returns to the village, Miko mentions "That is not a dragon - that is a boy" and offers herself up in the villagers' place. Anti-Villain indeed... she was trying to protect her son.
- What's even worse, is when Tatsunaga is defeated in a Mercy Kill, the spirit of Ryu says to tell his mother what was done... meaning he didn't even know what happened.
- Atsuo gives an Alas, Poor Villain speech in Haiku. This would normally be narm, but he makes it work. He even omits the truth to spare the villagers, who already regret their actions strongly.
- The final moments before going back in time in the postgame are very hard to watch. After learning about the ramifications of messing with time and how only the Luminary will be allowed to go back, the party desperately attempts to keep him from going through with it. Ultimately they concede tearfully and allow him to go back, but not without giving him a heartfelt farewell. It's effectively a sendoff for their Act 2 selves, as once the Luminary goes back in time they'll mostly be their pre-Yggdrasil selves, and damn if it isn't an effective sendoff.
- Additionally, if this timeline still continues on rather than fading (as suggested by the second one still existing after Serenica goes back further in the past), then the Party still will never see Veronica again despite The Luminary's success in saving her, plus they (as well as Amber & Gemma) will now have to cope with his absence. Of course mitigating this blow somewhat is the implications that the timelines merged because the Luminary was the one to shatter the time orb instead of the multiverse theory, supported by the In Spite of a Nail moments and both the group and NPC having subconscious memories of the first timeline.
- One easily-missable but harsh one to remind the Luminary that, despite going back in time to save countless lives, he still couldn't save everybody. Visiting the church in Gallopolis reveals that the priest still got killed by monsters while trying to help people.
- Learning the true history behind Erdwin's Lantern: Erdwin was betrayed and killed by his best friend Morcant, followed by Serenica spending the rest of her life searching for a solution only to fail in her attempt to go back in time and die wallowing in despair, and transformed into the Timekeeper.
- One of the last tasks before facing the True Final Boss is to power Cetacea up. Serena and Veronica realize they have to play that song they've known since childhood to do so. The game throws a curve ball in making the player think it is a duet version of the song Serena plays on her harp throughout the story, only for Veronica to begin playing "Heavenly Flight."
- The villains destroying the barrier and laying siege to Nautica in Act II. It's also tear jerking when you see the protagonist being forced to swim away while watching Nautica get ransacked.
- Finding a scared, starving and amnesiac Erik aboard the group's ship in Act II. He's terrified when the team find him, pleading that he was so hungry that he couldn't resist the food that they were loading, and that he'll work himself to the bone to make it up to them. He's totally oblivious to the fact that they're all delighted to see him. His pitiful whimpering and obvious fear can be hard to take when you know him as the Luminary's street-smart, quick-thinking friend.
- Sylvando, trying to find the humor in the situation as usual, quips that Erik "lost his memory and gained some manners" — and that he wishes Veronica could see that, because "she'd die!". Be very careful what you wish for, Sylv...
- The Switch version allows you to marry (or at least have a romantic connection with) any of the other female party members. Meaning, you can inflict one on Gemma because she'll have to cope with the fact that her childhood crush grew apart from her during his journey. Made more heartwrenching for Gemma since he returns to Cobblestone with his new bride, so she'll also have to watch another woman enjoy the life that could've been hers. Ouch. That said, in her actual dialog she is always happy for the Luminary if he chooses another girl.
- Rab's sidestory involves him being put through The Final Temptation by Grand Master Pang. The first couple of scenes are true, but the birthday party is something that would have happened had Dundrasil not fallen. It hurts Rab to have to break away because of this.
- Seeing Sylvando -the cheeriest character going- in the state of despair as he almost got to at the start of his side story.
- Also, while it's difficult to hear at first due to partially not having a dialogue box, when Dave rescues Sylvando from the beach he panics after he passes-out on him. There's desperation in his voice as he tries to bring his captain and best friend back around, fearing he may have just saw Sylv pass on before him.Dave: Sylv! Syyylv! Fank goodness yer alright! Sylv! Stay wiv me, Sylv! C-Come on...
- Also, while it's difficult to hear at first due to partially not having a dialogue box, when Dave rescues Sylvando from the beach he panics after he passes-out on him. There's desperation in his voice as he tries to bring his captain and best friend back around, fearing he may have just saw Sylv pass on before him.
- Veronica's sacrifice is a huge one in its own right, but it's when you look closer at the flashback cutscene that it becomes even more so. Veronica uses both Zing Stick and Staff of Salvation to revive everybody; the former revives an ally 100% of the time with up to half of their HP, while the latter heals from 130-150HP to one ally. She does this for eight people (the Luminary, Erik, Serena, Sylv, Rab, Jade, Hendrik and King Carnelian). However, her base magical mending is a whopping ZERO throughout the game; it's a miracle she even managed such a huge feat, and it explains why we see Sylv and Erik waking-up in pain in their side stories; they weren't healed properly. It can be assumed the same of the other characters, too.
- One of the NPCs in The Last Bastion is a child who was playing Hide 'n' Seek with his friend when Yggdrasil fell, and feels guilty he couldn't find a single one of them before fleeing the city.
- The reveal that Serenica became the Keeper of Time after failing to change the past to revive Erdwin. We see her collapsing to the ground and dying before her soul becomes the Keeper. Serena and Veronica ask her if she is indeed Serenica, but the Keeper has seemingly forgotten who she is. It isn't until she sees the party fly away on the armoured Cetacea that she finally begins to remember."...ERDWIN...?"
