This is one of the most depressing and compelling games ever made. The characters and their writing are so believable and interesting. Every character has strong characterisation, motives, wants, and trauma.

And the arcs of all the characters, including Lee, are so bittersweet. Kenny starts as an optimist with a wife and son, and completes his arc (in my run) with his sacrifice after losing it all. But Lee and Clementine's arcs are the most impactful, I feel.

Clementine misses her parents and desperately needs a parental figure to fill their void. Lee does this for her, and the essentially father-daughter relationship between the two blossom into a strong bond, where both persons need each other and support each other. It is Lee who teaches Clem how to live in this new world, and shows her love, understanding, and compassion as she learns. And in return, Clem is a new start for Lee. A girl who cares not for his past and only has her bountiful love and innocence to give. But this kind spirit will die in this world, and Lee knows it. And so he trains her to deal on her own. He tells her (in my run) the truth. Clem's arc is complete when she kills her kidnapper in (almost) cold blood.

Before the apocalypse, Lee killed a man. And it was on his way to prison that he was cast into this whole mess. In my play through, Lee was a man with a troubled past. And matters were worse for him as the dead, and the living, killed the people he loved time and time again. But despite this misery, the apocalypse gave Lee another chance. And in this chance, Lee learned a new way to live his life, and to forgive himself. His death, at the end of the game, is a little less miserable. He has atoned, and he has raised a beautiful young girl who is ready to take on this new living hell.

I ugly-cried at the end of this game. Its writing is so good that its major beats are so very powerful. I have chills just writing about it. You owe it to yourself to play this fantastic game.