In most games it is usually taken for granted that even if not everything is resolved by the time the story concludes that at the very least the world and characters will generally find themselves in a better position than when it started. While it is not uncommon for games to have bad endings where things are made worse, these are generally treated as what-if scenarios that have little to no bearing on the story in the series going forward.
However, some games take the opposite approach and choose to instead continue from the bad ending. This actually makes a lot of sense from a storytelling perspective; after all, if the previous game ended with everyone living happily ever after then what conflict is there for the future heroes to resolve? Leaving the world on the brink of ruin or having the good guys be placed in a situation of desperation can make for an exciting setting for future entries in the series. In this list, we will be looking at the games that have possible bad endings which are continued in sequels.
6 Legacy of Kain: Blood Omen
After a lengthy quest for vengeance and learning that he was being used as a pawn for higher powers, the protagonist Kain is given a choice between sacrificing himself to save the world, or destroy the world and rule over the ashes as a tyrant. The latter choice is definitely much more in character for Kain. It also frames the story as an epic tragedy about the dangers of wrath.
The game also has a large emphasis on the concept of free will, and what greater act of free will can exist than breaking the wheel of fate by destroying the world? Apparently, the game's developers agree because all future Legacy of Kain games continues on from this ending portraying a world in ruin and crawling with the undead with Kain ruling over it with an iron fist.
5 The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time
While many fans had long speculated that there existed a split in the Zelda timeline stemming from the two time periods in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. A child timeline and an adult timeline. However, when Hyrule Historia was released back in 2011 it revealed that there also existed a third branch in the timeline caused by the hero Link falling in battle during the final fight against Ganon at the end of the game.
This branch of the timeline leads to The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, the Oracle titles, and the first two Zelda games on NES.
4 Warcraft: Orcs and Humans
The original Warcraft featured two campaigns each with its own ending, one for the human victory, and one for an orc victory. At this time the Orcs had not yet been rewritten to be more sympathetic as they would be in later entries, in this first entry they were entirely barbaric. As a result, the Orc victory was considered the "bad" ending as it featured the complete destruction of the human kingdom along with the deaths of untold numbers of innocents.
When it came time for a sequel Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness continued from the Orc campaign ending with humans forced to flee from their homes and forging an alliance with elves and dwarves. This would be a crucial plot point in all future Warcraft media as the never-ending conflict between the Alliance and the Horde would become an iconic part of the series.
3 XCOM: Enemy Unknown
XCOM could often be a brutal and unforgiving series, only a few mistakes could lead players into a downward spiral of failure, ultimately culminating in defeat to the alien invaders. This was true of the series when it began in 1994 and this was carried through to the reboot in 2012.
Was it any wonder that when it was time to create a sequel to said reboot, the developers assumed that the players of the previous entry most likely have been defeated by the invading extraterrestrials. XCOM 2 was set 20 years after the previous game, in a world that has been conquered and occupied by the aliens. It is now up to the player to unite the scattered resistance groups to fight back.
2 Star Control
A classic of PC gaming, the original Star Control put players in control of a conflict for the fate of the galaxy. This conflict was fought between the tyrannical alien Ur-Quan and the many races that they had enslaved pitted against Earth and her allies in the Alliance of Free Stars who are in a desperate struggle for freedom.
The sequel Star Control II had players taking on the role of a starship captain marooned on an alien planet during the war, only to latter escape and discover that earth and the alliance lost and have been enslaved by the Ur-Quan. Now it is up to the player to travel the galaxy and find a way to liberate the enslaved races.
1 Dragon Quest
The first Dragon Quest is without a doubt one of the most influential titles of all time, and is widely credited with creating and codifying the JRPG. One interesting but largely unremarkable (at least at the time) aspect of the game is that it technically has a bad ending. At the very end of the game right before fighting the final boss, the evil Dragon Lord asks the player to instead join him so that the two of you can rule the world together. If the player chooses this option the Dragon Lord laughs manically and the screen fades to black.
The mainline sequels in the series largely treat this scenario as non-canonical with Dragon Quest II continuing on from the good ending. However, in 2016 Square Enix released a game which continued from the bad ending. Dragon Quest Builders takes place in a world shrouded in darkness and where monsters run rampant.