Games have been transformed from relatively simple times when players only needed a solid gameplay loop and replayability to succeed. With the advancements in technology and the leaps the gaming industry has made in such a short space of time, it goes without saying that most players now want the very best from their games and what they have to offer.
As a result, games with a linear story don’t tend to take off unless the core gameplay loop or technical advancement is in a league of its own. Story-heavy titles should give players a sense of control over how these stories play out, and adding multiple endings is a great way to account for player choice. However, some games use really random moments to determine a player’s end, and the best of the bunch are listed below.
8 Having a snowball fight with Ciri (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt takes a rather unique approach when it comes to the end of the game. After she finds Ciri, there are several interactions with her that determine what kind of ending a player will get.
Too many negative interactions will cause Ciri to succumb to the White Frost. One such sequence involves a snowball fight that Geralt can participate in or not, with the latter leading to Ciri being punished and the ending turning into a potentially negative!
7 Adding a little lethality to a playthrough (Dishonored)
dishonored is one of the greatest immersive sims ever created. It’s also notorious for having one of the most frustrating good endings to obtain, requiring players to be an outright saint if they want to stay in the favor of everyone in the game.
This wouldn’t have been so hard if dishonored actually gave the player compelling non-lethal options to mess with! As it stands, the game just has way too many cool skills that players should ignore as the vast majority of them lead to an enemy’s downfall. If a player engages in killing just for fun, they will be severely punished and might even miss the best ending.
6 Staying too long in a broom closet (The Stanley Parable)
The Parable of Stanley has a myriad of endings that players can achieve by performing a number of actions that range from fairly obvious to well-hidden. The Broom Closet ending is one of these conclusions that is easily one of the most hilarious endings players can achieve in the game, mainly because it’s so much fun reaching it!
Players just have to go to a broom closet and hang out there over and over, until the narrator himself is completely exhausted by the player’s lack of urgency. After enough warnings over multiple playthroughs, the narrator will just get tired of it and close the broom closet.
5 Choosing Miranda as a Biotics Expert (Mass Effect 2)
The Suicide Mission is one of the most memorable final missions ever in a video game. Mass Effect 2 is praised for its brilliant role-playing, where every decision contributes to an ending where things either go swimmingly or horribly wrong, depending on the player’s actions.
However, there is one part of the mission that makes no sense. After dealing heavy fire, the player must choose someone who will create a biotic barrier to protect characters from this hail of gunfire. Most people would assume Miranda is a safe bet here as she is an expert in biotics, but choosing her will actually lead to the death of a squad member, which makes no sense!
4 Kill Lavos at some point in the game (Chrono Trigger)
Chrono trigger is one of the first titles to mess around with both the concept of a New Game+ mode and multiple endings. The most unique thing about this game is the fact that the main boss, Lavos, can be fought at almost any point in the game.
In fact, the simple decision to take on Lavos could potentially change the game’s ending, based on when players choose to do so in the story. This leads the player to go through one of twelve possible endings, which is a staggering number of conclusions considering the era in which the game was released.
3 Don’t listen to Kyoko (Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc)
danganronpa is an excellent murder mystery title in which players must engage in Class Trials to track down suspects. A particularly compelling case comes when Makoto follows a series of events to seemingly find out that Kyoko is a potential killer, only for this clever student to warn him not to put her on the pedestal.
This leads to a choice Makoto can make: either let everyone’s suspicions point to Kyoko, or go ahead and rely on her plan. The latter leads to the game proceeding as usual, while selling Makoto leads to the player getting a bad ending that comes out of nowhere!
2 Sending Jackie’s Body to Vik (Cyberpunk 2077)
While this doesn’t change the core ending of the game per se, the Arasaka ending gets a rather neat addition to this decision. After Jackie’s death, players can choose to send the body to his family, keep it in the car, or send it to Vik, the local Ripperdoc.
The final decision leads to the body being intercepted by Arasaka and placed in the Soulkiller program. This actually lets V talk to Jackie’s construct, which is much more satisfying than just going into a programmed version of him as he enters cyberspace towards the end.
1 Not Providing Good Evidence (Phoenix Wright: Justice For All)
The Phoenix Wright series features some of the best detective gameplay that really helps players feel incredibly smart. The second game is considered by many to be the weakest of them all, but still has a lot of fun ideas of its own.
For starters, Phoenix Wright: Justice for all has a bad ending that is incredibly worked out and quite sad to boot. Failure to bring up Shelly the Killer’s involvement in the crime will result in Matt Engarde being found guilty and Maya never coming back.
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