Top 10 Worst Secret Endings In Video Games
#10: Unkindled Ending
“Dark Souls III” (2016) FromSoftware’s conclusion to the tough-as-nails “Dark Souls” trilogy comes packed with 4 endings. But only one makes us wish for a do-over. Players must go through the same events as the game’s second ending, meaning you must get the Eyes of the Firekeeper and give them to her before facing the final boss. After the fight, summon the Firekeeper and watch your ending cutscene. To turn the scene into the Unkindled Ending, all you have to do…is kill her. It’s not like there are many allies in the game, so why anyone would want to kill the Firekeeper is beyond us. You don’t even get an achievement for doing this, so it’s pretty confusing as to why it exists at all.
#9: No Escape
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“Pikmin” (2001) The GameCube’s “Pikmin” is one of the most adorable survival games ever created. It follows Captain Olimar after he crashlands on a strange planet and must ally with cute, little flower creatures to find his ship’s missing parts. While he only has thirty in-game days (and thirty missing parts to find), the game isn’t too difficult if you spend your time wisely. And it’s likely many of us ended up with one of two decent endings. However, if you find less than 25 missing parts in the 30 days, you receive this alternate conclusion. Olimar attempts to leave only for his ship to explode. The Pikmin will carry him to their Onion, which transforms him into a human-Pikmin hybrid. Poor little fella.
#8: Who Wants to Be a Mechanic?
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“Metal Saga” (2006) This RPG features a handful of different endings. But by far the worst one comes mere minutes into the game. It opens on a conversation between your character and their mother, Nina. Nina will ask you if you want to be a hunter or mechanic while trashing the hunter lifestyle. This isn’t some kind of class type choice, however, as you’re supposed to pick hunter to begin your journey. But if you pick mechanic, you’ll get a cutscene about how you disappointed your father and sister. And that’s followed by a text-only epilogue that details the adventure you would have had if you chose hunter. It will also tell you that you lived one of the most boring lives ever imagined. No need for insults.
#7: Zombie Sophie
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“The House of the Dead” (1997) You might not expect an arcade game to feature a secret ending, but this classic included one that was pretty tough to get. If you scored over 62,000 points, you’d get a happy ending where your fiance Sophie was revealed to be alive and well. Under 62,000 points, and you’d simply get a “The End” title card. However, if you scored under 62,000 and the total ended in a zero, you’d get a secret ending where Sophie is revealed to be a zombie. Managing to get your score to those exact requirements wasn’t easy, so many players likely got this ending by accident. Still, it seems a bit harsh of a note to end on.
#6: Complete Failure
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“Harvest Moon” (1997) The original “Harvest Moon” is the grandfather to farm simulation games like “Stardew Valley.” It follows the player who inherits a decrepit farm and must improve it over three in-game years. How well you do leads to one of twenty different endings. And with it literally being called the “Complete Failure” ending, it’s pretty obvious that it’s the worst. The only way to get this ending is to do nothing except sleep for three years. No crops and no livestock leads to your parents kicking you off the farm and your dog howling after you as you run away. Hey, you brought this on yourself.
#5: The Gathering
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“Kingdom Hearts II” (2006) Fans were understandably ecstatic to see the “Final Fantasy”/Disney crossover continue. Although, the developers didn’t exactly make the sequel’s secret ending worthwhile. In the original game, “The Gathering” can only be found in the Standard or Proud difficulties. In Standard, you have to complete Jiminy Cricket’s journal, a codex of all things in the game. In Proud, the hardest difficulty, you just have to beat the game. But all you get is a cutscene of three armored warriors in a wasteland with some cryptic text. Turns out, it’s just a tease for the PSP prequel, “Birth by Sleep.” And what’s worse is that this scene is also just in the PSP game, making it entirely not worth the trouble.
#4: Everyone Dies
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“Mass Effect 2” (2010) We’re not here to judge anyone’s decisions in “Mass Effect.” But if you got this outcome, you kind of deserve it. Getting this ending requires you to forgo certain things in the game, like upgrading the Normandy or picking up any optional crew members. Once the Normandy’s crew is kidnapped, you then have to do at least four side quests before rescuing them. During the climactic Suicide Mission, you’ll have to actively choose poorly-suited crew members for each challenge. This will cause the mission to go sideways, getting you and your entire crew killed in the process. The only one left alive is Joker. This ending loses extra points because if you get it, you can’t carry your save over to “Mass Effect 3.”
#3: Death by Lan Di
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“Shenmue” (1999) This tale of martial arts and revenge has garnered a passionate cult following over the years. It follows a young man named Ryo out to avenge the death of his father by the hands of Lan Di. However, if you want, you can just forget about the revenge. The game begins on November 29th, 1986. And if you decide to stay in Yokosuka instead of progressing to the next area until April 15th, 1987, you get the game’s secret and very bad ending. Lan Di will return to demand the phoenix mirror and Ryo will dramatically declare he’ll avenge his father right before he’s killed by the same man using the same move. You don’t even have an option to defend yourself.
#2: Opening the Power Cell Door
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“Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy” (2001) The first “Jak and Daxter” took a page out of past 3D platformers. Collecting every power cell in the game would get you 100% completion and unlock the giant door teased at the end of the game. However, Naughty Dog seemingly forgot to include anything that would make anyone want to do this. If you collect all 100 power cells and return to the door, a cutscene will play of the heroes opening it and revealing a bright light…and that’s it. What is actually behind it wouldn’t be revealed until the second game. To have your players go through all this trouble only to then further tease them is pretty rude.
#1: Meticulous Murder
“Way of the Samurai 3” (2009) Acquire’s action RPG places a lot of emphasis on player choice, which can lead to one of twenty-two different endings. And we’d recommend going for any of the twenty-one over its secret ending. This conclusion requires you to kill every single NPC in the game, but it isn’t as simple as just killing everyone you come across. Since certain characters are only introduced through others, you have to kill everyone in a very specific order. This can be tedious to say the least. And what do you get for your troubles? Scrolling text over a still image. No awesome unlockable weapon, no hidden mode, not even a cutscene. Just some guy speaking of your legend. Lame.
