Top 10 Ambiguous Video Game Endings
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VOICE OVER: Ashley Bowman
WRITTEN BY: Nathan Sharp
Script written by Nathan Sharp
Can somebody explain to us what exactly happened in these endings? Time to hit those wikis! Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we're counting down our picks for the top ten ambiguous video game endings.
To have your ideas turned into a WatchMojo or MojoPlays video, head over to http://WatchMojo.comsuggest and get to it!
Can somebody explain to us what exactly happened in these endings? Time to hit those wikis! Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we're counting down our picks for the top ten ambiguous video game endings.
To have your ideas turned into a WatchMojo or MojoPlays video, head over to http://WatchMojo.comsuggest and get to it!
Top 10 Ambiguous Video Game Endings
We’re still talking about these endings. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top ten ambiguous video game endings.
For this list, we’ll be discussing our favourite ambiguous video game endings and asking what they mean along the way. For the purposes of this list, we’ll be counting ambiguous endings such as those which leave the themes, fates of characters, or story outcomes up to the interpretation of the audience. Cheap cliffhanger endings meant to set up a sequel will not be included, as cliffhangers and intentional ambiguity are entirely different things. As we’ll be discussing the endings to various video game, a rather obvious spoiler alert is in effect!
“Arkham Knight” is serving as developer Rocksteady Studios’ final “Batman” game, so unless someone else picks up the reins, this is what we were left with, for better or worse. One of the final scenes of the game sees Batman and Alfred entering Wayne Manor, only for it to explode seconds later. However, the true ending (upon reaching 100%) sees two criminals abusing a family before a Batman-shaped shadow appears on a nearby rooftop, wherein it expands and explodes into the bat logo before attacking the criminals. So, what is this? Is it a new, darker entity resembling Batman? Is it Bruce Wayne? If so, what is this new power? Gah, damn you, Rocksteady!
OK, this ending has been answered due to the release of the sequel, but it was ambiguous at the time! After B.J. repeatedly stabs Deathshead, he pulls out a grenade, which subsequently kills him and fatally wounds Blazkowicz. After seeing the Resistance members board the helicopter and deciding that he was done for anyway, B.J. orders the nuclear cannon to be shot. OK, so he’s definitely dead. We mean, if he doesn’t die from his injuries, the nuke is sure to take him out. Except for the fact that we hear an approaching helicopter after the credits. Does this hint at his rescue and survival? Hint: yes it does.
Hell, forget the ending. This entire game is ambiguous! The story ends with the player entering the crevice, whereupon the screen brightens and the credits roll. During the credits, a shooting star…uh, shoots from the crevice you just entered and lands at the game’s starting point. It is at this point you are given the option to begin a new game. So, did you ascend and go into the metaphorical light at the end of the game? Is the shooting star a symbol of your rebirth? It seems fitting with the game’s metaphorical themes regarding life and death, but it is entirely up to interpretation.
“The Wolf Among Us” is often considered to be one of Telltale’s best games, mostly due to its stellar story. In the game’s epilogue, the player character, Bigby, meets Nerissa, who explains to him the events of the game. However, after she tells him that he’s not a bad person, Bigby realizes that Faith said the exact same thing earlier in the game, forcing him to question who Nerissa really is. Did Faith and Nerissa swap places? Was Faith always just a “glamoured” Nerissa? We suppose we’ll find out in Season 2!
After rescuing Ellie from the Fireflies, Joel falsely claims that she wasn’t the first immune human that they found and that all their other experiments have failed. After Ellie suffers a bout of survivor’s guilt, she asks Joel if his story is true, to which he sticks to his lie and claims that it is. Does she actually believe him? If not, how will she react to the fact that he both lied to her and sacrificed the potential fate of humanity for her survival? Was she asking Joel to lie to her so that she would feel better about her guilt? There’s so many possibilities!
“Like Journey,” the entirety of “Limbo” is intentionally ambiguous, so it’s no surprise that its ending is, as well. After completing the final puzzle, the playable boy character is thrown back into the forest, whereupon he finally comes upon his sister. Roll credits. Does their reunion indicate that they will reach an afterlife together? Is the sister alive and the boy a ghost? Did the boy accidentally kill his sister? If so, has he now found peace? What makes this ending so ambiguous is that players are given next to zero textual support to back up their interpretations. We’re simply left to our imaginations.
“Life Is Strange” has two endings, depending on your choices. The “sacrifice Chloe” ending is pretty cut and dry: you let Chloe die, Jefferson and Nathan are arrested, and the town is all hunky dory. However, the game gets real ambiguous if you decide to sacrifice the town. To allow Chloe to live, Max sacrifices the entire town of Arcadia Bay, and the ending shows them both driving through the resulting destruction. So, like, is everyone from the town dead? If so, how does that choice affect Max? How does it affect her relationship with Chloe? And where are the two going? If only they had the budget to expand upon this ending…
The “Final Fantasy” series is certainly no stranger to ambiguous endings, and the timeless “Final Fantasy VII” is no exception. Due to the approaching Meteor being too close to the surface of Midgar, Holy’s attempts to block it are not successful. Instead, the Lifestream rises from the planet and destroys Meteor. Five hundred years later, Red XIII looks out at the ruined planet. Sooo, has all of humanity been wiped out? What happened to all the characters? While the sequels managed to clear up any ambiguity, we were left with those tantalizing questions for years. It was a fantastic ending, and one which left us full of emptiness.
Like most of FromSoftware’s games, “Bloodborne” is an exercise in ambiguity, and its three equally confusing endings provide little closure. In one, the Hunter is killed in the dream and awakes in Yharnam. So, WAS it a dream? Or is this some form of the afterlife? In another, the Hunter is now in Gehrman’s wheelchair, indicating that the Hunter has taken Gehrman’s place. But perhaps the most ambiguous ending is the one which sees the Hunter turned into a squid-like creature which the Doll nurtures. It’s implied that the Hunter has been reborn as a Great One, but what does that mean? What happens now? We really don’t know.
“Inside” follows in the same vein of “Journey” and “Limbo,” but it’s perhaps even more vague than those two. The original ending sees The Huddle escaping containment, rolling down a hill, and stopping on a sunny coastline. The end. OK, that’s pretty damn ambiguous, but surely the secret ending will clear things up, right? Nope! In that one, the player unplugs a bank of computers which forces him into a zombie-like stance. The end. HUH!? That was even worse! You can find a ton of theories online regarding the meaning of this game and its endings, so take your pick. The fact is, no one knows, and all we can do is speculate.
We’re still talking about these endings. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the top ten ambiguous video game endings.
For this list, we’ll be discussing our favourite ambiguous video game endings and asking what they mean along the way. For the purposes of this list, we’ll be counting ambiguous endings such as those which leave the themes, fates of characters, or story outcomes up to the interpretation of the audience. Cheap cliffhanger endings meant to set up a sequel will not be included, as cliffhangers and intentional ambiguity are entirely different things. As we’ll be discussing the endings to various video game, a rather obvious spoiler alert is in effect!
#10: “Batman: Arkham Knight” (2015)
“Arkham Knight” is serving as developer Rocksteady Studios’ final “Batman” game, so unless someone else picks up the reins, this is what we were left with, for better or worse. One of the final scenes of the game sees Batman and Alfred entering Wayne Manor, only for it to explode seconds later. However, the true ending (upon reaching 100%) sees two criminals abusing a family before a Batman-shaped shadow appears on a nearby rooftop, wherein it expands and explodes into the bat logo before attacking the criminals. So, what is this? Is it a new, darker entity resembling Batman? Is it Bruce Wayne? If so, what is this new power? Gah, damn you, Rocksteady!
#9: “Wolfenstein: The New Order” (2014)
OK, this ending has been answered due to the release of the sequel, but it was ambiguous at the time! After B.J. repeatedly stabs Deathshead, he pulls out a grenade, which subsequently kills him and fatally wounds Blazkowicz. After seeing the Resistance members board the helicopter and deciding that he was done for anyway, B.J. orders the nuclear cannon to be shot. OK, so he’s definitely dead. We mean, if he doesn’t die from his injuries, the nuke is sure to take him out. Except for the fact that we hear an approaching helicopter after the credits. Does this hint at his rescue and survival? Hint: yes it does.
#8: “Journey” (2012)
Hell, forget the ending. This entire game is ambiguous! The story ends with the player entering the crevice, whereupon the screen brightens and the credits roll. During the credits, a shooting star…uh, shoots from the crevice you just entered and lands at the game’s starting point. It is at this point you are given the option to begin a new game. So, did you ascend and go into the metaphorical light at the end of the game? Is the shooting star a symbol of your rebirth? It seems fitting with the game’s metaphorical themes regarding life and death, but it is entirely up to interpretation.
#7: “The Wolf Among Us” (2014)
“The Wolf Among Us” is often considered to be one of Telltale’s best games, mostly due to its stellar story. In the game’s epilogue, the player character, Bigby, meets Nerissa, who explains to him the events of the game. However, after she tells him that he’s not a bad person, Bigby realizes that Faith said the exact same thing earlier in the game, forcing him to question who Nerissa really is. Did Faith and Nerissa swap places? Was Faith always just a “glamoured” Nerissa? We suppose we’ll find out in Season 2!
#6: “The Last of Us” (2013)
After rescuing Ellie from the Fireflies, Joel falsely claims that she wasn’t the first immune human that they found and that all their other experiments have failed. After Ellie suffers a bout of survivor’s guilt, she asks Joel if his story is true, to which he sticks to his lie and claims that it is. Does she actually believe him? If not, how will she react to the fact that he both lied to her and sacrificed the potential fate of humanity for her survival? Was she asking Joel to lie to her so that she would feel better about her guilt? There’s so many possibilities!
#5: “Limbo” (2010)
“Like Journey,” the entirety of “Limbo” is intentionally ambiguous, so it’s no surprise that its ending is, as well. After completing the final puzzle, the playable boy character is thrown back into the forest, whereupon he finally comes upon his sister. Roll credits. Does their reunion indicate that they will reach an afterlife together? Is the sister alive and the boy a ghost? Did the boy accidentally kill his sister? If so, has he now found peace? What makes this ending so ambiguous is that players are given next to zero textual support to back up their interpretations. We’re simply left to our imaginations.
#4: “Life Is Strange” (2015)
“Life Is Strange” has two endings, depending on your choices. The “sacrifice Chloe” ending is pretty cut and dry: you let Chloe die, Jefferson and Nathan are arrested, and the town is all hunky dory. However, the game gets real ambiguous if you decide to sacrifice the town. To allow Chloe to live, Max sacrifices the entire town of Arcadia Bay, and the ending shows them both driving through the resulting destruction. So, like, is everyone from the town dead? If so, how does that choice affect Max? How does it affect her relationship with Chloe? And where are the two going? If only they had the budget to expand upon this ending…
#3: “Final Fantasy VII” (1997)
The “Final Fantasy” series is certainly no stranger to ambiguous endings, and the timeless “Final Fantasy VII” is no exception. Due to the approaching Meteor being too close to the surface of Midgar, Holy’s attempts to block it are not successful. Instead, the Lifestream rises from the planet and destroys Meteor. Five hundred years later, Red XIII looks out at the ruined planet. Sooo, has all of humanity been wiped out? What happened to all the characters? While the sequels managed to clear up any ambiguity, we were left with those tantalizing questions for years. It was a fantastic ending, and one which left us full of emptiness.
#2: “Bloodborne” (2015)
Like most of FromSoftware’s games, “Bloodborne” is an exercise in ambiguity, and its three equally confusing endings provide little closure. In one, the Hunter is killed in the dream and awakes in Yharnam. So, WAS it a dream? Or is this some form of the afterlife? In another, the Hunter is now in Gehrman’s wheelchair, indicating that the Hunter has taken Gehrman’s place. But perhaps the most ambiguous ending is the one which sees the Hunter turned into a squid-like creature which the Doll nurtures. It’s implied that the Hunter has been reborn as a Great One, but what does that mean? What happens now? We really don’t know.
#1: “Inside” (2016)
“Inside” follows in the same vein of “Journey” and “Limbo,” but it’s perhaps even more vague than those two. The original ending sees The Huddle escaping containment, rolling down a hill, and stopping on a sunny coastline. The end. OK, that’s pretty damn ambiguous, but surely the secret ending will clear things up, right? Nope! In that one, the player unplugs a bank of computers which forces him into a zombie-like stance. The end. HUH!? That was even worse! You can find a ton of theories online regarding the meaning of this game and its endings, so take your pick. The fact is, no one knows, and all we can do is speculate.
