Introduction

Different video games offer various conclusion to the player’s experience through their narratives. There are typically two main types of endings - a “good” ending where the protagonist is successful in their goals, and a “bad” ending where they fail. Beyond these, some games incorporate additional conclusions known as “true endings”, “secret endings”, or “alternate endings” that can be unlocked by meeting special requirements or choices within the game.

The inclusion of alternate endings serves to add replay value and motivate players to try new strategies or paths to discover alternative scenarios. However, there is debate around how these impact a player’s first experience of a game’s narrative and conclusion. When implemented thoughtfully, alternate endings can enhance replayability while maintaining the integrity of the core story. But if done poorly, they risk undermining or invalidating a player’s initial experience.

Mass Effect Trilogy

The Mass Effect trilogy is renowned for the impact player choices have on the unfolding narrative across its three games. Small decisions, such as which squad members survive certain missions, can lead to major consequences down the line.

This is most evident in the conclusions to Mass Effect 3, where the state of the galaxy and fates of characters are determined by cumulative actions from the entire series. Different squad members may live or die based on previous choices. Whole alien races may have been wiped out or saved due to past decisions. The variation in potential endings added tremendous replay value to explore alternative outcomes.

Total War: Warhammer Trilogy

The conclusion of each game in the Total War: Warhammer trilogy depends greatly on the faction the player controls during their campaign. With over a dozen distinct sides to choose from across races like Humans, Dwarves, Vampire Counts, and Lizardmen, there are over 200 unique endings presented depending on victories and defeats.

While the overall narrative arcs remain similar, seeing the story conclude from the perspective of each individual faction offers new layers of context and strategy to replay. This massive amount of potential endings incentivizes players to experiment with different military leaders and armies throughout the Old World.

Chrono Trigger

A secret ending in Chrono Trigger subverts player expectations in a delightful way. By progressing far enough into New Game+ and talking to an optional non-player character, the party is suddenly transported to the actual development studio behind the game.

Here they interact with computers, paperwork, and even the game’s creators themselves in a humorous deconstruction of the fourth wall. It was an unexpected twist that demonstrated both the ambition and charm of Chrono Trigger’s time travelling mechanics within mechanics.

Endings that invalidate the player experience

Detroit: Become Human

A revelation in one of Detroit: Become Human’s endings undermines core themes of the narrative by exposing that a pivotal android character was never truly sentient or self-aware.

This contradicts choices players made to develop that character’s experiences and defies their understanding of plot developments up to that point. It ruins emotional investment and leaves players questioning what impact any of their decisions genuinely carried throughout the story.

Far Cry 5

The conclusion of Far Cry 5 departs jarringly from the gameplay loop that preceded it. No matter how much progress the player makes resisting the authoritarian regime, the true ending reveals their efforts were ultimately meaningless as an apocalyptic event destroys everything.

It invalidates any feeling of agency or choice in shaping the game’s world, a serious letdown after dozens of hours overcoming outposts and liberating regions. The lack of connection between gameplay and conclusion diminishes replay motivation.

Games where alternate endings are unnecessary

Limbo

In the puzzle-platformer Limbo, the player controls a boy on a dark journey through a hazardous landscape to find his missing sister. The atmosphere and perilous obstacles maintain suspense towards that singular goal throughout.

As there are no major narrative choices or interaction systems that could branching the story, additional endings serve no purpose other than distracting from the taut, focused experience. Limbo’s bleak conclusion fits cohesively as the natural resolution to the boy’s harrowing quest.

Children of a Dead Earth

This hardcore sci-fi simulation depicts realistic space combat at immense scales with advanced orbital mechanics and physics. Concepts like efficient thrust vectors and asteroid resource harvesting carry immense complexity for players to understand.

Given the overwhelming scientific grounding and learning curve, multiple endings would undermine the game’s commitment to military realities over narrative. There is no need to fabricate more results when victory derives solely from players comprehending real orbital war tactics. One unified conclusion reinforces the experience as an educational endeavour.

Endings that leave more questions than answers

Dark Souls Trilogy

FromSoftware’s Dark Souls games are renowned for their minimal yet profound storytelling told entirely through item descriptions, subtle environmental details, and occasional cryptic characters. Even defeating the main bosses does not clearly resolve many plot threads.

While confusion and ambiguity are intentional features that fuel lore debates, the lack of clear resolutions can frustrate players seeking definitive answers. However, the nebulous nature of conclusions also adds intrigue for peeling back more layers of mystery with each new playthrough. It encourages reevaluation of the intertwining timelines and perspectives.

Pathologic 2

The nightmarish settlement of Pathologic 2 is in the throes of an unexplained plague outbreak. As one of three playable characters with different skills and viewpoints, the player undertakes survival in this strange dying town.

Though multiple narratives can intersect, no single conclusion alleviates all pressing questions around the motives of shadowy forces or the true nature of the epidemic. Ambiguity mirrors the atmosphere of state control and inaccurate information. Still, some definite closure on larger mysteries would improve the sense of having impacted meaningful change over the catastrophic events.

Unusual structural approaches to endings

Role-playing gamebook styles

A subset of story-driven games emulates the choose-your-own-adventure formats of gamebooks popularized in the 1980s. Titles like Fabled Lands and 80 Days presented branching linear narratives through repeated short-term decisions rather than open-ended gameplay.

Similar video game adaptations like Analogue: A Hate Story use minimal interaction besides clicking through paragraphs and occasional choice-nodes to weave branching narratives. These structure conclusions around fulfilling certain checkpoints or criteria along multiple potential paths.

Fighting Fantasy inspirations

The Fighting Fantasy book series pioneered the integration of stats-based combat puzzles into live-action roleplaying stories. Various video games have drawn influence, with the Way of the Tiger adaptation featuring martial arts battles that influence branching Story Paths.

The conclusions are unlocked through overcoming obstacles according to the player character’s developed abilities. It bridges the gaps between roleplaying, strategy and narrative-driven experiences seamlessly for a unique type of dynamically unfolding ending.

Conclusion

When implemented carefully and tied meaningfully to player choices, alternate endings can both reward replay value and lend weight to the implications of different in-game decisions. But games must avoid invalidating or undercutting a player’s intrinsic experience simply for the sake of artificial variation.

The structural approach to multiple conclusions should suit each title’s specific systems and thematic intentions. Whether through branching narratives, lore discoveries, or consequences of strategic wins, alternate endings can deepen engagement when they explore plausible new scenarios without compromising established boundaries. With thoughtful execution, they become a net positive for any game aiming to blur the lines between player impact and developed storytelling.