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"True endings" in games - do you like them?

Nico_D

Member
As much as I play and love RPGs and especially JRPGs, true ending is someting I have never cared for. For me - in many cases - it turns what should be fun and entertaining break from real life into a labour. Collect all the secret reports, do all the side quests, select all the right dialogue choices and so on is pretty impossible without a guide or many playthroughs.

When it is like something Mass Effect 3 did with war assets which makes sense logically and you know from the start you have to do, it's fine. Witcher 3's "good" ending was mostly the same though a bit more secretive. But even there you kind of got the ending how you treated Ciri - as a child to pampered and watched over or as an adult who can take care of herself. Again, connected to the story.

In my opinion, the worst "offender" is the way VNs do it. In most of them you can only get the default ending on your first playthrough and other endings open after that.

For me, when I've seen the story, particularly in VNs, there's little incentive for me to wanting to see it again just to see a different 10 minutes at the end. It's just not fun.

I think the "real ending" should be the default one and all the others optional. True ending is probably the one that's gotten the most effort put into it, gameplay and writing-wise and other, non-real endings can feel a bit throwaways.
 

cormack12

Gold Member
It's OK if done well. Personally I dislike endings where they have about 5 variants, and the only was to see all is to play through the entire game again because of a choice you made in chapter 1 etc. I wouldn't mind if the game had a PONR and then you could replay from there for choice based endings.

Also having to earn the Arkham Knight ending was terrible, there was just too much to complete for that.
 

Nico_D

Member
It's OK if done well. Personally I dislike endings where they have about 5 variants, and the only was to see all is to play through the entire game again because of a choice you made in chapter 1 etc. I wouldn't mind if the game had a PONR and then you could replay from there for choice based endings.

Also having to earn the Arkham Knight ending was terrible, there was just too much to complete for that.

Arkham Knight is a good example. Games should definitely have a checkpoint kind of system after the first playthrough where you could just skip to those moments where a choice is made - instead of sitting there for hrs skipping dialogue and all that.
 

xrnzaaas

Gold Member
Yes, if they dont have bullshit requisites like replaying the game 8 times or collecting all the boring stuff around the world etc.
Yep same here. If it's achievable through normal playthrough then I'm okay with it and I can make an extra effort to unlock that ending. If you're forced to do multiple playthroughs or some other super hard/time consuming stuff then it's a no even if the game is good.
 

Fredrik

Member
Depends how long the game is and if I have to replay the game and do a bunch a boring stuff to get the true ending. 100 hours or whatever on Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and then end up with not everyone there at the end sucked, it’s not like I will ever replay the game to see that, it’s just too long for a replay imo. But the story was whatever anyway so I don’t really care.
Replaying the end segments to see different outcomes in Mass Effect 3 was interesting. And I did replay as much as needed of Gears 5 as well because the ending the devs tricked me to choose was crap.
 
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Banjo64

cumsessed
I like easter egg endings.


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killatopak

Gold Member
Do you feel they are more often executed well or not? What kind og execution is good for you?
Honestly never thought about how much of them had great execution but one example is the og RE2.

Canonically, the right path is Claire A and Leon B. However, I don’t feel short changed about doing Leon A and Claire B because I feel like I still get the same amount of work put into that path.

Another type of true ending is DQ11. Where the true ending is the post game content. You don‘t feel short changed if you just finished act 2 but you feel rewarded completing act 3 because it’s almost an expansion of sort.

If we’re talking about VNs then Muv Luv’s true ending is somewhat similar to the last one but the non-true endings are essential in how you view and feel about the true ending because it lulls you into a false sense of security.
 

ZywyPL

Banned
I don't like the "fake" vs real endings stuff, for me it simply means the game doesn't respect my time as most of the time it requires me to replay the entire game from scratch.

I like what Quantic Dream is doing tho because in their games every single action you take does translate to the future events and different plot, minute by minute, so it makes perfect sense that after hours of gameplay and hundreds of different choices the end result is different for everyone. But at the same time I don't feel you need to replay their games ever again, because they make you feel like you are the director of the game, your walkthrough is your version of the game, of the plot, it's a complete story, that's how you wanted it to go and you don't want to change anything.

The last time I appreciated different ending options was with Fallout Tactics, as all that's needed is to just load the last save right before making that final, crucial decision, which resulted in one of three different, but very interesting outcomes for the world. Also Fallout 1/2 does a great job in that regards, you have the main ending regardless, and then you are shown how your actions in different towns affected them in long-term.
 

Nico_D

Member
Another type of true ending is DQ11. Where the true ending is the post game content. You don‘t feel short changed if you just finished act 2 but you feel rewarded completing act 3 because it’s almost an expansion of sort.

For me what both DQ11 and Bravely Default 2 asked was too much. Particularly the grind BD2 would've required and I don't see grind compelling .

The default ending in both was pretty fine though. They didn't make me feel like I'd miss something by not playing for the real ending.

That said, I think it is a bad move to leave the final final boss for the true ending because basically then the first ending isn't really an ending.

Like in BD2 it would have been possible to finish the save the world plot completely by the default ending and leave
save Gloria
as the true ending. Then you are able to reward both types of players.

.
I like what Quantic Dream is doing tho because in their games every single action you take does translate to the future events and different plot, minute by minute, so it makes perfect sense that after hours of gameplay and hundreds of different choices the end result is different for everyone.

Exactly. There really isn't true ending but just your own ending. You like it or not but that is what you got by doing it what you did and you knew it from the start and probably had a hunch how some choices and checks would play out. For me it was fair.
 
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ShadowNate

Member
If the game's fun and the extra challenge is not some collectathon or an insane difficulty section (that's right, fuck you Hollow Knight), then why not. I'd try for it. Until I get it or I get bored.

It helps if the extended playthrough adds some value to the game (more trivia info, more story, fun unlockables).
 

Sakura

Member
Yeah I do.
Sounds like you just don't like games with poorly done "true endings", like no duh.
You mention a VN where it's just 10 minutes of extra content, but what VN is that? Any decent one I've played will have an entire route, not just 10 extra minutes. Either way, you can just load a save and skip everything you already read, so who cares?
 

Nico_D

Member
Yeah I do.
Sounds like you just don't like games with poorly done "true endings", like no duh.
You mention a VN where it's just 10 minutes of extra content, but what VN is that? Any decent one I've played will have an entire route, not just 10 extra minutes. Either way, you can just load a save and skip everything you already read, so who cares?

In this case, Root Letter. The default ending was fine, but to get the other endings I would have to go through it multiple times. And even with skipping everything, you can't skip showing evidence and choosing destinations. That feels more like going through motions, not playing.

Like you read a book and at the end there's a note how this was just one end and you can email the publisher to get the real ending. Or in movies where there's one version of the ending on even weekdays, another on odd days.

It is just that I think any artist should have guts to put all their energy and creativity to one ending and then do more minor plots or arcs in the true ending. For me most of the default endings feel a bit hasty and duds, like there's something missing. And then it is not complete and if it is not complete, is it an ending at all?
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Not particularly. I would prefer just to have THE ending because if it's a long game (20 hours +), I'm most likely never playing the game again.

I agree with this. If I know the game has multiple endings I feel like I haven't properly beaten the game unless I get the best one, so it becomes an extra "chore" to make sure I get that one.
 

Bankai

Member
Yeah, it's cool.. but only if it doesn't require an absurd amount of grinding.

I really liked the "true ending" of Symphony of the Night, it was awesome with the secrets and everything.

I heard the "true ending" of Neir Automata requires some insane grinding.. which is a no-no for me.
 

Sakura

Member
In this case, Root Letter. The default ending was fine, but to get the other endings I would have to go through it multiple times. And even with skipping everything, you can't skip showing evidence and choosing destinations. That feels more like going through motions, not playing.

Like you read a book and at the end there's a note how this was just one end and you can email the publisher to get the real ending. Or in movies where there's one version of the ending on even weekdays, another on odd days.

It is just that I think any artist should have guts to put all their energy and creativity to one ending and then do more minor plots or arcs in the true ending. For me most of the default endings feel a bit hasty and duds, like there's something missing. And then it is not complete and if it is not complete, is it an ending at all?
Sure but Root Letter is a bad game. There are plenty of VNs with great true routes and true endings. You just don't like ones where it is poorly done, which makes sense, I don't think anybody does.
In a situation like what you are talking about, the true ending is just a means to pad the game length out.
 
Also forgot, if I have to look up information online on how to get a true ending because of something so cryptic, that's bad design in my opinion. I shouldn't have to do that.
 
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Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
I heard the "true ending" of Neir Automata requires some insane grinding.. which is a no-no for me.

Nah. Not close to true.

OG Nier/Replicant and the Drakengards are all grindy to an extent. But Automata's pretty chill and is back-loaded with unique content.
 

FunkMiller

Member
I prefer it when a game has a single ending as it's much more cohesive, and lends itself to better story telling - and I prefer side missions and quests that provide extra colour to that story without being a requirement.
 

Pedro Motta

Member
Loved Sekiro's true ending, reallly makes you believe in a sequel. And it's not the typical Souls ending, a guy sitting down, or looking at a sunset, or going through a portal.
 

DelireMan7

Member
I prefer when we can achieve true ending after the ending (like Arkham Knight).
But it should not be locked behind an absurd amount of challenge/collectible (not like Arkham Knight).
Also it should not be too hidden behind too much weird requirements. I love Valkyrie Profile but the true ending is completely impossible to achieve without a guide due to absurd requirements.

So I like several endings when it's done right.
 

brian0057

Banned
I honestly don't care how many endings any given game has.
I'm a lot more interested in how many path I can take (both physically and narrativelly) me to the end.
And not in a bullshit "oh, you have a billion dialog options" type of options. I'm talking in a "I wonder if this will work... holy shit it works." kind of way.
This is why I absolutely love immersive sims not made by Arkane.
 
I got the bad ending from playing the Witcher 3 for the first time, I did my best without spoiling anything even though I haven't played the previous ones I couldn't get how Siri died, even after returning to the game the colors looked grayish, couldn't resist all that and searched for other endings and it just
kept getting worse for getting more questions than answers , All what I found is some dudes in the forums referring to the novel book without specifying the real ending , I just ended up faking it and self claimed that it was just Geralt making his own conclusion and choosed to believe it .
 

junguler

Banned
i never replayed a game just for triggering a different ending or completing trophies/achievements and don't really care about which ending is considered canon or true ending, if a game famously has multiple endings and there is some value to be gained from watching them i just watch a youtube video and be done with it.
there are some exceptions tho, fallout 4 for example clrearly tells you the game is about to end and your choice is going to matter in the ending so i just made a manual save file there and played the other ending too since there was some gameplay involved and it wasn't just a cinematic.
 

jaysius

Banned
I thought the Witcher 3 was awful for the ending bullshit, I really didn't care about Ciri that much, let her be her own human, didn't baby her and I got the shitty
"I'm dying alone" ending.
.

I don't mind multiple endings when I can save at a point near the end, and then just see them all by doing a simple thing near the end.
 
I thought the Witcher 3 was awful for the ending bullshit, I really didn't care about Ciri that much, let her be her own human, didn't baby her and I got the shitty
"I'm dying alone" ending.
.

I don't mind multiple endings when I can save at a point near the end, and then just see them all by doing a simple thing near the end.
i enjoyed Witcher 3 but yeah the way they handled it sucks. It's deliberately designed in a way that doesn't make it obvious you're making a big decision in the hopes of preventing you from going back and changing your decision. you would need to replay anywhere between 5 and 15 quests to change your ending.
 

jaysius

Banned
i enjoyed Witcher 3 but yeah the way they handled it sucks. It's deliberately designed in a way that doesn't make it obvious you're making a big decision in the hopes of preventing you from going back and changing your decision. you would need to replay anywhere between 5 and 15 quests to change your ending.
Yup and doing something as juvenile as a snowball fight makes the game's ending worse? WTF?
 
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