The ending of a video game is one of the most important aspects of the end product. Gamers who’ve played through a 20-hour long game need some much-needed closure in order to be satisfied with the overall experience, and a good ending helps in providing this. This is perhaps why games with multiple endings are such a huge gamble. While — for the most part — these games have fairly defined paths that lead towards the best ending possible, sometimes that is simply not the case. Some games require a fairly intricate path that’s totally not obvious at all in order to get the best ending possible, which is incredibly frustrating to say the very least.
And then, there are those games that contain an extremely ludicrous and unimaginable ending hidden somewhere in the game that can simply make the player go insane upon finding it. These endings might not be canon to the main game, but one can’t say that they’ve truly finished these games until they’ve managed to uncover these ridiculous endings that can completely flip the script. Here are 15 of the craziest secret endings in video games you probably had no idea about.
15 Finish Far Cry In 15 Minutes (Far Cry 4)
The fourth iteration of the Far Cry series was met with generally positive reviews. One reason for this appraisal was the antagonist of the game, Pagan Min. The character received unanimous praise for his personality, unpredictability, and an ability to capture the player’s attention whenever he was on the screen. As it turns out, one can shorten their play time by a lot if they simply follow this madman’s instructions.
At the start of the game, Pagan Min invites your character, Ajay Ghale, into his fortress where he treats you to some Crab Rangoon. After some scenes, he politely asks you to stay seated while he takes care of some business. If you decide to wait for just around 15 minutes, Pagan Min will actually come back, help you spread your mother’s ashes where she wished, and let you join him in his quest for dominance. And… that’s it. Game over. Congratulations.
14 Meryl Dies If You Fail The Torture Scene (Metal Gear Solid)
First of all, let us just say that if you willingly decided to give up during the torture scene in the first Metal Gear Solid game, you deserve to get this incredibly depressing ending sequence. Anyway, during the torture scene, if you get somewhat curious and see what would happen if you decided to submit, be prepared to get hit with all the feels.
You see, by giving Meryl up and escaping this excruciating pain, Snake has pretty much doomed her to a horrible fate. He’ll witness her lifeless body, and — to David Hayter’s credit — provide a heart-wrenching monologue about his weakness and how it cost someone quite close to him. The entire sequence can make you feel so guilty that you’d want to replay the torture mini-game again just so that you can get the canon ending.
13 Regis Gets ANGRY AF If You Take Too Long (Who Wants To Be A Millionaire)
Regis Philbin decided to provide his voice for a free game of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, which was given with a General Mills cereal box as a CD. You’d expect things to be pretty laid back when you decide to play this game, but as it turns out the game isn’t willing to take any of your crap.
No matter what, if you happen to take an extended amount of time anywhere in the game, Regis will straight up increase his sass level all the way to the stratosphere. If you don’t put in your name, he’ll name you Kathie Lee. If you happen to take time answering the fastest finger question, choosing an option at the player selection screen, or anything else of the sort, Regis will simply flip the script and quit the game in rage. Jeez.
12 Shoot The Overseer In The Back (Fallout)
The original Fallout is one of the greatest isometric RPGs ever made (its sequel is just as good, if not better). The unique setting and atmosphere of the game were unlike anything else released at that time, and the post-apocalyptic setting of the game is still one of the biggest draws in gaming right now.
At the end of this game, when the overseer thanks you for your service but exiles you nevertheless, one of two things can happen. You can either let him walk away… or — if you have the Bloody Mess perk, a low reputation, or any one of the Berserker and/or Childkiller traits — you will promptly shoot him in the back, causing him to die in a brilliant explosion of pure gore.
11 Choose To Live The Boring Life Of A Mechanic (Metal Saga)
When someone decides to play a JRPG, they would normally expect to play as a teenager who wishes to become something glorious by fighting an absolute crapload of monsters over and over and over again until the game is over. In Metal Saga, you control a boy who wishes to be a ‘Hunter’… that is, unless you decide to change his fate with a simple choice of dialogue.
For some reason, instead of not letting you do this like most games at that time, Metal Saga actually had a whole cutscene, mentioning all the acts that the player wouldn’t accomplish since he choose to become a boring mechanic instead of an awesome hunter. Kudos to the developers for at least trying something different.
10 Leave Claire To DIE (Shadow Complex)
Shadow Complex is a great 2.5D platformer with shooting mechanics that was released through the Xbox Live Arcade. The game received a number of positive reviews, and at a mere $15 is considered to be an absolute bargain at the time of release. The game starts off when protagonist Jason Fleming’s girlfriend Claire is taken away in a helicopter, triggering the events that lead to the unfolding of the game’s story.
Of course, if running after a relatively new girlfriend isn’t something you’re particularly fond of, then you can simply go all the way back to your jeep and drive off, leaving Claire to her grizzly fate. Jason will ever remark that “there’s plenty of fish in the sea,” which is both hilarious and downright cold.
9 Kill Both Men At The End Of The Game (Singularity)
Singularity was a great breath of fresh air from the regular drove of FPS games that were flooding the market. Featuring a pretty neat time-travelling mechanic, Singularity managed to tell a pretty enthralling story that spanned multiple timelines. At the end of the game, you’re given the choice to shoot either the bad guy who took over the world or the good guy who made the device that provided you with these powers (I know, tough choice indeed).
However, there’s also a third option where you shoot both people. In this particular ending, the world pretty much falls into chaos due to your rather inexplicable actions. After a while, it turns out that your character rises in power to become a powerful dictator with ‘god-like’ powers.
8 An Alternate Ending With Time Travel And Monster Babies (Drakengard)
Here’s a confusing fact: Nier Automata is based on one of the many endings of the original Nier, which is itself based off of the fifth ending of Drakengard. This particular ending is the focus of the entry, and what we’re about to tell you is downright insane.
For some reason, the game wasn’t content with simply being an elaborate Dynasty Warriors clone. In one of the endings, you end up fighting a bunch of monster babies that appear from the sky. After a while, their supposed ‘Mother’ comes in to join the fray. Finally, after dealing with all this nonsense, the Mother boss opens up a portal which sends you to modern-day Tokyo. This perplexing sequence ends with you and your dragon impaled on a building after being shot down by fighter jets.
Speaking of disturbing endings…
7 An Ending That Will Scar You For Life (The Suffering)
The fifth ending of Drakengard might be a bit disturbing, but it’s got nothing on the evil ending of The Suffering. You control Torque, an inmate on death row who’s family died under suspicious circumstances. Depending on the choices you make in-game, you can receive the good ending, neutral ending, or — unfortunately — an evil ending that will scar you for life.
In this ending, it turns out that Torque beat his wife to death, drowned his youngest son and threw his eldest son out of the window. If that wasn’t bad enough, when the coast guard arrives to rescue him, he turns into a grotesque creature (that you use throughout the game) and chucks a crate at the boat. Finally, Torque runs into the woods of the island he was trapped in.
6 Solve A Puzzle To Uncover The Game’s Secret (Hotline Miami)
Hotline Miami is a great game with challenging gameplay that emphasizes quick reactions and calculated thinking in order to pass all the levels of the game. In each level, there are puzzle pieces you can find. By getting all of these, you can access the secret ending of the game that uncovers (or thickens, based on your viewpoint) the mystery of the game.
It turns out that the events of the game were mainly controlled by two unsuspecting janitors, who manipulated people into killing Russian Gangsters while repeatedly saying that ‘failure was not an option.’ The ending is a neat little way to gain more insight into the happenings of the game if one wishes to do so.
5 Stay With The Song On Her Island For Eternity (Furi)
This particular ending is a great way to teach you to never leave your controller idle in a game, no matter how safe it might seem. Furi is a boss-rush action game that is equal parts challenging and addictive. Each boss is a tough cookie to crack, and all of them antagonize you in one way or the other… until you reach The Song, who offers you to stay with her on the island you’re on.
If you decide that you’ve had enough of fighting bosses, you can take her up on this request by staying idle for a while until the ending triggers. If you’re playing for the first time, then it’s highly recommended that you save this ending for later since you have to start all the way from the beginning, which will certainly end up being a very frustrating experience indeed.
4 Die At The Hands Of The Man Who Killed Your Father (Shenmue)
Shenmue was perhaps one of the most unique games released for its time, and is arguably the catalyst for the ever-increasing presence of quick-time events in video games. The original ending is just a way to lead off into Shenmue II, but if for some reason you aren’t willing to play the sequel then you can always just end Ryo’s story prematurely by getting killed at the hands of Lan Di, the man who also killed his father at the start of the game.
In order to achieve this grim ending, you need to wait in the game till April 15th, 1987. To add insult to injury, Lan Di kills Ryo in almost the exact same way he killed his father. Suffice to say, it’s not recommended that you go down this route if you want the optimal Shenmue experience.
3 Meet The Developers Of The Game (Chrono Trigger)
Chrono Trigger is certainly one of the greatest JRPGs of all time, and arguably one of the best video games of all time. The time-travelling adventures of Crono and his crew have left their mark in the minds of dedicated gamers who’ve played the game multiple times, achieving every single ending that the game has to offer in the process.
One such ending, that can be achieved by defeating Lavos at the very start of the game (when the fair occurs), is the ‘developer ending,’ which exists solely as a treat for the hardcore fans of the series. In this ending, you get teleported to a place where the developers have taken on the moniker of the various sprites in the game. It’s a nice — albeit a slight odd — touch.
2 More Questions Than Answers (Inside)
Inside was one of the best games of 2016. Playdead’s atmospheric successor to Limbo received universal praise from fans and critics alike and for good reason. While the ending of this game might be just the right combination of odd and scary, there’s another secret ending that — for the ones who achieve it — might be just a tad bit better.
The steps to unlock this ending are quite obscure, but if done right, you’ll bear witness to perhaps one of the most meta endings of all time. The fan theories about this ending are numerous (the one about the boy being a zombie that you control seems to be the most prominent one), and to add fuel to this fire Playdead hasn’t revealed anything about this matter.
1 The Events Of The Game Were Perpetrated By A Dog (Silent Hill 2)
Silent Hill 2 is an absolute masterpiece. The story of James Sunderland unfolds almost perfectly, synchronizing with the various aspects and elements of the game to create a title that has managed to acquire a legendary status in the gaming community. However, one of the endings of the game can completely shatter this illusion with a single scene.
After getting the three normal endings in the game, the player can find a ‘Dog Key’ in a doghouse present in the game. This can be used on the observation room in the Lakeview Hotel, which will lead to a scene where you’ll confront a dog that was apparently behind the events of the game. Soon, the credits begin rolling as a goofy music track comprising of dog barks and growls starts playing. What a way to end a horror game.
