Tear Jerker / Far Cry: New Dawn

• While Hope County is arguably beautiful post-Collapse, covered in vibrant flowers and trees and grass, it can be heart-breaking to see how much it's changed since Far Cry 5- especially the structures and places from the original game that have been destroyed.
  • Reading the various notes left by survivors across Hope County can add more to this heartbreak; Many people, especially ones you probably made friends with in the last game, simply left Hope County, having been so affected by the Seeds, the Collapse, and the Highwaymen that they just couldn't stand being there any more. They had fought tooth-and-nail alongside the Deputy to save Hope County from Seed....only for all of it to go up in smoke. Even the ones who tried to rebuild knew that Hope County would never be the same, but they tried anyways, and then the Highwaymen came and burned it all down once more. For a lot of these people, Holland Valley was the only home they'd ever known...but after all this, there's just nothing left worth staying for.
  • Of note is what happened to the entirety of the Whitetail Mountains. It's now a marsh consumed by the Bliss. Remember what the Whitetail Militia promised to do after Eli Palmer's death? Now they can't even fight against the Highwaymen, as none of them show up in this game.
  • Another sad incident of note is the fate of Mary May Fairgrave, the owner of the Spread Eagle Bar in Fall's End: Rather than stay in the bunker she remained outside to help others who couldn't get to a bunker in time or had nowhere to go. By the time the fallout had decreased to safe levels, she was suffering from acute radiation poisoning and on the verge of death, but refused to give in as she tried to rebuild Fall's End. Unfortunately, there just wasn't enough left of her beloved town to rebuild, and upon realizing Fall's End was gone for good, she simply passed away.
  • The Expedition missions you undertake with Roger make it clear that the whole world has been devastated, not just Hope County. The world as we knew it is gone, replaced by an apocalyptic wasteland. Large parts of the world are so irradiated that they're now uninhabitable. It's clear wherever you go that scores of people died in "The Collapse" and the aftermath. The governments of the world have fallen, society as we knew it is no more and now mankind is struggling to survive. The conveniences we've gotten used to are gone, every day is now a struggle no matter where you live. Every story you hear from anyone about their days since The Collapse is one of loss and despair, or forlorn longing for The Before Times. It's no wonder groups like the Highwaymen have sprung up, millions of desperate people clinging to any small part of the world they knew.
• Thomas Rush's death at the hands of the twins. After capturing both him and the Captain Mickey and Lou proceed to shoot him in the head as soon as the Captain is restrained and unable to do anything to stop them. After which they cruelly taunt the player and beat the shit out of them until, in a rage, the Captain breaks free of their binds and attacks the twins before being knocked out the window with a shotgun blast. After the twins leave, thinking that the Captain is finally dead, they slowly regain consciousness and painfully drag their beaten and bloody body back up to retrieve Rush's corpse so that it can be buried back at Prosperity.
• As much as you can hate the Twins for their crimes against Prosperity and the Captain itself, it's hard not to shed a small tear when Lou dies next to Mickey after one last laugh, and Mickey not only just lost her younger sister, but she also realizes that she broke her promise to her mother not to let herself and her sister become like their father. The fact that she just completely loses her will to fight even after everything that happened, speaks legions of how broken she's become. In the end, if you spare her, she doesn't even try to strike back; she just leaves Hope County and travels back west to find her mother.
  Mickey: (To Lou) I was supposed to take care of you. I was supposed to take care of you, and I didn't, and I'm so... (her voice breaks tearfully) fucking sorry I fucked this up, man. I fucked... this... (to the Captain) Y'know, rabbit, you remind me of our Mom. She had hope. She had dreams. She... she just wanted to fuckin' make things better. I should've listened to her, but... Things just got carried away. Do what you gotta do.
• The confrontation between Joseph and Ethan after the son betrays his village to the Highwaymen. Apart from the nightmarish tensity caused by two charismatic but volatile-tempered cult leaders arguing with one another, you really feel sorry for both father and son for having such a strained relationship.
  Joseph: Ethan, what have you done?
  Ethan: I Did What I Had to Do. I freed myself, I freed us all, from you. From your rules. (reaches up to the mystical apple tree to grab one of its apples)
  Joseph: Ethan, don't.
  Ethan: (glares at his father and grabs said apple) I will have what you denied me. You gave it to an OUTSIDER! (advances threateningly on the Captain) But you wouldn't give it to me! I am your flesh and blood!
  Joseph: That was God's will.
  Ethan: You don't KNOW God's will!
  Joseph: I was trying to protect you, son!
• The scene where Joseph Seed tries to comfort his dying son Ethan after the Captain manages to stop him can be very heartbreaking. The fact that the voice acting (and Joseph screaming "NO!" after his son passing away) really helps a lot. You can't help but feel bad for the poor bastard.
  Joseph: Ethan? No...
  Ethan: Father? Father... I'm sorry.
  Joseph: I know...
  Ethan: I'm so scared!
  Joseph: I know, son.
  Ethan: Can... can you forgive me?
  (Cue Joseph nodding his head as "Yes")
  Ethan: Father...
  • After a flashback, Joseph is seen burning down the mystical apple tree, realized that his existence only leads to consequences, puts the blame entirely on himself and begs the Captain to end his own life (depending on the player's choice).
    Joseph: I thought I understood God's plan. I thought he wanted me to build a New Eden... But I am not his shepherd. You are. My soul has become a cancer. I am a monster. And I only spread suffering and death in the name of God. My family is all ashes. Eden is dust. And there is no redemption for this. No atonement. There's only the justice of God's hand. End this vicious cycle. Give me God's justice. Release me.
  • It gets worse if you spare Joseph, in which leads him to lose his mind and he'll have to spend the rest of his existence in exile and misery for all the atrocities that he committed.
    Joseph: RELEASE MEEEEE! RELEEASE MEEEEEE!!!
• While it's a minor thing compared to the rest, the description for "Rusty AR-C" references its disturbingly common use, both in Hope County by Peggies and the resistance groups fighting them, and on a more nationwide scale in mass shootings.
  Everyone and their dog is familiar with these, for a lot of bad reasons.
• The Deputy/Rook becoming The Judge after the events of Far Cry 5's resist ending. After being stuck in Dutch's Bunker for the duration of The Collapse, they've been wracked with guilt and sorrow from their actions during their stay at Hope County, realizing all of their work has been all for naught when all they did is demolished a madman's work in leading to a new world. Worse, they've been brainwashed from being stuck with Joseph Seed's influence during their stay in the bunker and by the events of the game, they're nothing but a former shell of their former self from the guilt they've have within them.
  • Some GFH from Far Cry 5 still thinks that there is still some remnants of The Deputy within them, but given the (implied) psychological torture from Joseph Seed and the guilt of almost annihilating an entire group which believed the forthcoming of the Apocalypse, even if they do retain their sense of self, they'll likely never be the same again.