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The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe Edition expands on the original 2013 game with a story that continually broke the fourth wall. The maze of endings and hidden triggers can sometimes be difficult to follow, which is why some storylines are harder to follow than others.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe Edition also includes more than 40 different endings that deconstruct story tropes like plot direction, fate, and the player's existence. The Confusion Ending is one such example, and also boasts some of the most iconic visuals in the entire game.
How To Get the Confusion Ending
On a brand new playthrough, the player needs to lead Stanley through the office until arriving at the two doors. From that point, head through the right door into the Employee Lounge, then enter the door on the left as instructed by the Narrator. However, instead of walking directly ahead, take the elevator to the left by pressing the button and head down. By doing this, the path to the Confusion Ending begins.
At this point, the Narrator appears to lose track of the story despite seemingly being in control. Once a path has been decided, follow it. This will lead into a room that the Narrator claims is a massive spoiler for the story, which can be glimpsed in The Stanley Parable's Freedom ending path.
Regardless of the player's actions, the Narrator will restart the game and advise the player not to get lost. This reset is going to become a recurring theme for this ending path, so it's important for the player to stay focused.
Planned Confusion Ending Resets
This appears to be a fresh playthrough, but once the player arrives at the two-doors room, there will now be six closed doors. When the Narrator opens all six doors, the player can explore in whichever direction they choose, but all the paths lead back into the original room.
This is an instructional element of the story being continuously moved about without the Narrator's control, resulting in him restarting Stanley back to the beginning.
Return to the Two Doors Room, where Stanley and the narrator see all the doors will have vanished. Leave the dead-end room and head back through the office area, which will present a new hallway that takes Stanley into several new corridors.
This will lead to another dead end and backtracking, before ending up in a wooden storage room with no apparent way out. Some humorous dialogue comes from the Narrator before again deciding to reset.
The Stanley Parable Adventure Line™
After restarting, a literal yellow plotline called The Stanley Parable Adventure Line™ is laid out to accompany the player, which guides Stanley further along this story path. The Line™ starts to meander over walls and in big circles but is easy enough to follow.
Certain distractions and interruptions occur, but the story continues no matter what the player chooses. Eventually, Stanley will be brought back to the starting office area, before being led once again to the Monitor Room spoiler. This frustration causes the game to reset for a fourth time.
Stanley starts to follow the Adventure Line™ but The Narrator tells Stanley to ignore the Line™, choosing instead to open a door and go down this new path instead.
Coming to a circular room with two doors, the Narrator eventually opens up the door on the right using obtuse logic, revealing a large board that displays all of The Confusion Ending's steps.
The questionable reality of choices and predestination in gaming are discussed by the narrator, who attempts to break out of the story before a loud alarm buzzer cuts him off and the game restarts.
After this restart, despite what is stated on the schedule board, the Confusion Ending is over and gameplay returns to "normal." Although, players should keep their eyes out for The Adventure Line™ reappearing in random places during subsequent playthroughs.
The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is playable on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
