This is based on opinion. Please don't list it on a work's trope example list.
As expected for a horror game, there are some genuinely sad elements present throughout that further elaborate on why everything went the way they did.
- The puppets themselves, and their backstory. With how many other Mascot Horror stories tend to go, you'd expect they are demons or the souls of children who possessed the bodies of puppets they once loved, or that the corporation who created them were doing twisted evil experiments of some kind. But they're none of those things. They're just sentient, formerly loving puppets who fell into madness because they're basically children who were abandoned and left to rot after their show was cancelled. Combined with them accidentally finding out the horrors of the world by watching television that they weren't mentally ready to deal with or had an adult figure to help them process the more complex elements of the world meant that their minds couldn't take it, and just...broke from it.
- Even worse: Ricky explains that he and the rest of the puppets wanted to know what amazing things the other shows had that My Friendly Neighborhood did not. In other words, they wanted to know why MFN got canceled - possibly to learn how to fix it and make corporations un-cancel the show. Instead, they saw that TV fully accepts "mean" things while rejecting everything the Neighborhood stands for. No wonder some puppets decided that if the world wants "unfriendly" things, then they're gonna be as murderously unfriendly as possible.
- The corporation who abandoned them aren't some secret evil organization hellbent on demonic rituals or mad experiments; they're just typical companies who left them because they weren't making them any money anymore. It's a far more realistic kind of sadness because of how banal it all is.
- Each of the major puppets that you can help vary in how much you feel for them, but two of them stand out:
- Pearl at first seems to be a rampaging bird puppet, but it soon becomes clear that she's actually completely blind, having lost her eyes and glasses for some reason. The poor creature's been stumbling around in darkness for who knows how long, unable to see anything.
- Goblette is revealed to be deeply depressed, having no idea how to process complex emotions in relation to war movies that she's been seeing. Gordon's talk with her ends up being very valuable in helping her learn how to process these complicated feelings.
- Ricky, your primary guide and effective face of the puppets initially comes off as the vaguely helpful but also suspicious advisor character, but it soon becomes clear that even he's much more cynical and saddened than he wants to admit, underneath his colorful cheerful exterior. Out of all the puppets, he's entirely aware of how much the horrors of the outside world have made people not only jaded, but unwilling to confront their problems. His bitterly curt speech as Gordon shuts down the antenna speaks for itself:
Ricky: Gordon, you don't have to do this!
Gordon: I don't want you broadcasting Ricky! You're gonna hurt kids!
Ricky: Hurt them?! Gordon, we want to help them! They need us!
You need us! Gordon: For what?
Ricky: For what? Gordon, look at this city! The buildings are dark and the streets are empty! No one knows how to be a friendly neighbor! It's a city of shuttered-up hearts, and they need someone to let in the light!
Gordon: I don't think that's you, Ricky.
Ricky: ... you know why I think we got cancelled?
Gordon: Why?
Ricky: Because people like darkness more than light.
Gordon: Why would they do that?
Ricky: Maybe it makes them uncomfy because it shows how messed up they are.
Gordon: What are you talking about, Ricky?
Ricky: I'm talking about our show, Gordon! We show them how to be friendly, and
they hate that because they're not friendly. Gordon: I don't think that's the problem, Ricky.
Ricky: Really, are you sure about that, Gordon? Do you really think the city network suits care about anything except their bank account?
Do you really think people won't take any excuse to ignore their own issues? - What's also telling is how much his speech also applies to the puppets as well, given how none of the puppets are able to resolve their own issues until an adult figure like Gordon came along. Ricky is very likely the only one who is aware enough of the situation, and this ends up being a huge reason why he's so desperate to keep the antenna up, and later on for Gordon to help him with returning the show to glory: He wants so badly to help his friends and to help Gordon, but is limited in what he's able to do by himself, and he knows it.
- The chatter of the final boss, the Amalgamuppet. It's hard to hear when it's actively chasing and attacking you and you're shooting it, but the various voices say things like 'I remember the good times.' or 'What happened to me!?' or 'I just want to end it!'. Whatever created that monster, its composite puppets are confused and scared and angry. Some want to kill you, some are lost in delusion, some are horrified at their fate. A tragic beast.
