Summary
It used to be that telling a good story was secondary to gameplay when it came to creating a video game. Over the years, this has changed, and now many gamers don’t just expect games to be fun to play; they want a great story thrown in as well. Lucky forSquare Enix, they’ve been doing this since the early days of gaming.
Square Enix has been around for a long time, has developed a lot of games, and has published even more, producing some of gaming’s most popular franchises in the process. If there’s one thing the company is known for, it’s releasing story-rich games. Of course, every story needs an ending, and these releases have some of thebest video game endingsever.
Octopath Traveleris arguably one of the best JRPGs to come out in recent years. It’s an awesome throwback to the classic RPGs of old, with modern additions that make it a joy to play. Its story is based around eight seemingly unconnected characters, each with their own thoroughly enjoyable story and ending. The game’s unique structure meansOctopath Travelerkind of has eight mini-endings, which was pretty cool.
What many players don’t realize, however, is that the game also has adifficult-to-unlock “good " ending,which is only revealed if the player has met several criteria. This bonus ending does a great job of tying together the plot’s seemingly dangling threads and makes the game’s story much more interesting. Unfortunately, that’s a problem. It’s a great ending, but many fans feel it shouldn’t have been a secret in the first place, because without it, the main game just kind of ends with little to no closure. Not every ending has to be secret, Square Enix.
Life is Strangeis one of the most successful choose-your-own adventure-style games ever made, even giving the likes ofTelltale’s The Walking Deada run for its money.Life is Strangetells the story of Max, a troubled teenager living in small-town America who has an amazing gift - she can jump back in time. It’s a great hook, and the game is one of thebest butterfly effect gamesbecause its story is gripping but not overly complicated.
Life is Strangethrows a lot of decisions at the player, which culminates in an ending where Max (the player) is forced to make a Sophie’s Choice-style decision. They can either save the town of Arcadia Bay by sacrificing their best friend and love interest, Chloe, or let the town be destroyed and save Chloe. It’s a tough decision, and both endings are beautiful in their own way. The writing is stellar, and either ending is likely to make fans cry. The only reason it isn’t higher on the list is that it’s a little annoying that hundreds of smaller decisions all boil down to the same two options in the end.
Final Fantasygames are known for their storytelling, and most of the entries on this list could have easily ended up being games from Square Enix’s most famous franchise. Which one has the best ending is a matter of much debate among fans, with a controversial contender beingFinal Fantasy 15.
While many fans agree that the game’s story is a bit of a mess, especially tonally, most would agree that it at least stuck the landing. After a time jump into a dark future, Noctis is finally ready to sacrifice himself and take down the evil Ardyn. It’s a high-stakes, emotional ending full of heart-wrenchingly beautiful cut scenes. While Noctis dies, we get to see him and Lunafreya united in the afterlife, softening the blow. The only problem is that to get the ending’s full impact, the player needs to do a lot of legwork. Thanks to the unique way the game’s story was told, players need to have watched a prequel movie, read a book, shelled out for the Royal Edition, and played the DLCs (which have non-canon alternate endings) just to grasp what’s going on.
Nier: Automatais, in many ways, a game like no other. It’s got a brilliant combat system, awesome world-building, lovable android characters, and a mind-boggling story. It also has an impressive 26 different endings, some easy to get, and somerequiring an in-depth guide.
Some fans prefer the weirder options - like Ending K’s death by mackerel - while others prefer the emotional upheaval of the core A to D endings. Ending E, however, seems to be the most popular. All players need to do is play through the game three times to unlock ending C. Then play the final boss fight again (making the opposite narrative decision) to unlock endings D and E. In this ending, all the dead characters are restored, and the player gets to fight the game’s developers in a truly bizarre credits-based secret boss battle. It’s a great game, but locking an ending behind so many playthroughs means most fans will only experience it via YouTube.
On the surface,Final Fantasy 9seems like one of the most happy, upbeat entries in the franchise. Take a closer look, though, and the story actually gets pretty dark in parts, asking important questions about the nature of both death and free will. Plus, the main villain’s goal basically boils down to genocide.
When the game first ends, it seems like the heroes have won (yay), but at the cost of Zidane’s life. This is a real gut punch considering how immensely likable the little thief is. Thankfully, the game has one final twist in store that makes itsending one ofFinal Fantasy’sbest. Just as fans watch everyone else get their bitter-sweet happy endings, they see a hooded figure in the crowd. Zidane is alive and well, and has arrived to live his fairy tale happily ever after with Garnet. It’s not a deep ending, but it is a joyous one.
Released in the 1990s,Chrono Triggerhails from the RPG golden age. Over the years, it has become a cult classic and is widely considered by many JRPG aficionados to be one of the best ever made. That’s largely down to its time-traveling plot, which had a total of 15 endings to unlock.
The first of these, the “bad” ending, is easy to unlock - all the player has to do is lose against Lavos. Others aren’t so easy, and it can take multiple playthroughs to see some of them. In a precursor to modern RPGs, some endings had slight variations depending on decisions players made throughout the game. Many fans would argue the first ending is “The Oath”, which sees the gang defeating Lavos, but Frog leaving for one final battle. 20 years later, people are still arguing about whether he survived or not. If people are still debating about a game’s endings 20 years later, it did something right.
Anyone who ever wrote a story at school was probably told by their teacher to never end with “it was all a dream.” The writers at Square Enix clearly weren’t paying attention in class, becauseFinal Fantasy 10’sbig twist boils down to “Tidus was Sin’s dream.” Luckily for them, it paid off.
Final Fantasy 10was responsible for teaching a generation of gamers that victory rarely comes without loss. After battling countless monsters, recruiting all the summons, and finally defeating Sin and Yu Yevon, the story’s main hero, Tidus, simply fades away. His final moments brought a tear to many fan’s eyes, and the ending is the very definition of bittersweet.Final Fantasy 10-2later tried to walk back the twist in that game’s hidden ending, but getting to it was a real pain.
For the first few dozen hours,Dragon Quest 11is like the RPG version of comfort food. It feels familiar; it doesn’t do much new, but it’s also super fun and lighthearted. Then, towards its first ending, things start becoming a little darker, and victory doesn’t look so guaranteed. Sure enough, when the final battle rolls around, the heroes are defeated, and the world is pretty much destroyed. The heroes unite again and ultimately emerge victorious, but sacrifices are made, and the world will never be the same again.
This ending is obviously a bit of a downer, and feels out of place in such an upbeat game. After the credits finish rolling, players are handed back control and thrown into what appears to be a depressing epilogue. Instead, the main hero is sent back in time to fix everything that went wrong. In an amazing twist, there are 50+ hours left of content to unlock, including new locations, dungeons, and quests. Suddenly,Dragon Quest 11’sstory goes from good to one of thebest turn-based RPG storiesever. The game’s “good” ending might feel a little clichéed, but it’s hard-earned. Some people might feel it’s overly happy, but that’s the point. The hero fought through hell, and he deserved to save everyone by the end.
The originalFinal Fantasy 7had a great story, and was arguably one ofthe bestFinal Fantasygames ever made,but its ending is just a little too ambiguous to earn it a spot on this list. Its prequel,Final Fantasy 7: Crisis Core, however, absolutely deserves the top spot for delivering an ending that broke the hearts of countless gamers. Everyone knew Zack was probably going to die, but no one was prepared to watch it happen.
By the end of the game, Zack is an absolute powerhouse, and it feels like nothing can stop him. Nothing except his big puppy dog heart. Zack is a hero through and through, and is determined to get the mako-poisoned Cloud to safety. Just as he’s about to reach that safety and be reunited with his love, Aerith, the entire Shinra army turns up. Players are forced to cut through countless Shinra troopers while dodging helicopter missiles as they watch Zack slowly being worn down. Ultimately, no matter how well fans play in this final battle, it becomes clear that Zack is doomed. As he dies, the DMW starts to glitch, showing him memories of all his loved ones. It’s a tragic ending for one of the franchise’s greatest and most lovable heroes.
