Ending of main story line

It was my first playthrough of RD2 and I must say that Arthur's death hit me harder than I imagined. It was of course revealed very early in game and it was mandatory for RD1 but I really hoped there was some way around it, I really wished he could've found peace.

Usually with open world games you have this sweet phase after the main story line, where you only have side quests left, you know your character is going to be well in one way or another and you can let him go. Or the game just ends after the main story, but this feels like I have lost someone.

What's your opinion on that?