Games have transformed from relatively simple times where all players needed was a solid gameplay loop and replayability to succeed. With the advancements in technology and the leaps that the gaming industry has taken in such a short while, it goes without saying that most players now want the very best from their games and what they have to offer.
As a result, games that have a linear narrative don't tend to take off unless the core gameplay loop or technical advancements are in a class of their own. Story-heavy titles need to give players a sense of control over how these tales play out, and adding multiple endings is a great way to factor in player choice. However, some games use really random moments to govern the ending a player will get, and the best of the bunch are mentioned below.
8 Having A Snowball Fight With Ciri (The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt)
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt takes a rather unique approach when it comes to the game's ending. After finding Ciri, there are several interactions with her that dictate what kind of ending a player will get.
Too many negative interactions will lead to Ciri succumbing to the White Frost. One such sequence involves a snowball fight that Geralt can either partake in or not, with the latter leading to Ciri being chastised and the ending turning into a potentially negative one!
7 Adding A Bit Of Lethality To A Playthrough (Dishonored)
Dishonored is one of the greatest immersive sims ever made. It's also notorious for having one of the most frustrating good endings to obtain, with players having to be a downright saint if they wish to stay in the good graces of everyone in the game.
This wouldn't have been that hard if Dishonored actually gave engaging non-lethal options for the player to mess about with in the first place! As it stands, the game has simply way too many cool abilities that players need to ignore, since the vast majority of them lead to an enemy's demise. If a player just dabbles in the act of killing to have fun, they're severely punished and might even miss out on the best ending.
6 Staying In A Broom Closet For Too Long (The Stanley Parable)
The Stanley Parable has a host of endings that players can achieve by doing a bunch of actions that range from fairly obvious to well-hidden. The Broom Closet ending is one of these conclusions that is easily one of the most hilarious endings that players can achieve in the game, mainly because achieving it is so much fun!
Players simply need to head to a broom closet and stick around there over and over again, until the Narrator himself gets positively exhausted by the player's lack of urgency. After enough warnings across multiple playthroughs, the Narrator will simply get fed up and board up the broom closet.
5 Choosing Miranda As A Biotics Expert (Mass Effect 2)
The Suicide Mission is one of the most memorable ending missions in any video game ever. Mass Effect 2 is lauded for its role-playing brilliance, with each and every decision contributing to an ending where things will either go swimmingly or horribly wrong, depending on the player's actions.
However, there's one part of the mission that doesn't make any sense. After sustaining heavy fire, the player is tasked with choosing someone who will create a Biotic barrier to shield characters from this hail of gunfire. Most people would assume that Miranda is a safe choice here since she's an expert in Biotics, but choosing her will actually lead to a squadmate's death, which makes no sense!
4 Killing Lavos At A Particular Point In The Game (Chrono Trigger)
Chrono Trigger is one of the first titles to mess around with both the concept of a New Game+ mode as well as multiple endings. The most unique part of this game is the fact that its main boss, Lavos, can be fought at just about any point in the game.
In fact, the simple decision of facing off against Lavos can potentially change the game's ending, based on the moment in the story where players choose to do so. This leads to the player going through one of twelve possible endings, which is a staggering number of conclusions given the era in which the game was released.
3 Not Listening To Kyoko (Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc)
Danganronpa is an excellent murder-mystery title in which players need to engage in Class Trials to fish out suspects. One particularly riveting case comes when Makoto follows a chain of events to seemingly find out that Kyoko is a potential killer, only for this smart student to caution him against putting her on the pedestal.
This leads to a choice that Makoto can make — either have everyone's suspicious be pointed at Kyoko, or take the hit and trust her plan. The latter leads to the game progressing as usual, while selling Makoto out leads to the player getting a bad ending that comes out of nowhere!
2 Sending Jackie's Body To Vik (Cyberpunk 2077)
While this doesn't change the core ending of the game per se, the Arasaka ending gets a rather neat inclusion with this decision. After Jackie's death, players can choose to either send the body to his family, keep it in the car, or send it to Vik, the local Ripperdoc.
The latter decision leads to the body being intercepted by Arasaka and placed in the Soulkiller program. This actually lets V speak with Jackie's construct, which is way more satisfying than just taking to a programmed version of him while entering cyberspace near the end.
1 Failing To Provide Proper Evidence (Phoenix Wright: Justice For All)
The Phoenix Wright series features some of the best detective gameplay that genuinely helps players feel incredibly smart. The second game is considered by many to be the weakest of the lot, but still has many neat ideas of its own.
For starters, Phoenix Wright: Justice For All has a bad ending that is incredibly fleshed out and is pretty saddening to boot. If players fail to bring up Shelly de Killer's involvement in the crime, it will lead to Matt Engarde being declared guilty and Maya never coming back.