Set in pre-World War I Russian Empire (modern Ukraine), Sadness was to follow the player character Maria Lengyel, a Victorian era aristocrat of Polish-Hungarian descent who has to protect her son Alexander after their train to Lviv derails in the countryside.[2] Alexander, who is struck blind by the accident, begins to exhibit strange behavior that progressively worsens.[11] The game's scenarios and enemies, such as those based on the werewolf and the likho, are inspired by Slavic mythology.[3] In order to "make the player feel that he is participating in events [and] not merely playing a game," the game was planned to feature a branching storyline, influenced by the player's actions[1] and concluding with one out of ten possible endings.[11]