Do you like multiple endings?

I'm not a fan personally, having to find or do one tiny little thing just so I don't muck up my ending was never endearing to me.

Actually kinda put off Silent Hill a tad cause of it...though I did finish RE1 with the best endings somehow so you never know.

Do you like em?

Ultimately, yeah. Gives me another reason (even if it's just in name) for replayaing games I'm invested in.

Not really, no. Especially since I don't replay games anymore.

Dephends on implementation.

Games like Fallout 1 and Princess Maker handled it well. Others like Mass Effect 3 and Aria of Sorrow handled it poorly.

Depends on implementation, but more often than not, no, not a fan.

Not really. The vast majority of games are really bad at presenting choices and the payoff is almost never as good as a more focused story

I like them.

They have to be considerably distinct from each other.

And not the destroy the world or save the world kind of crap that really doesn't have any impact on anything.

I think Undertale might have done this semi-well as much as I hate that meme game..

Depends on the game and the requirements to get the other endings but I don't mind them at all. If the game is fun, then I'm down with doing another gameplay to see the other ending.

Depends on the game, but usually I do like it

Nier is an example of doing it right. Generally, it's bull mess.

I'm not a fan of them, it means there's no clear direction for the game or story, it's whatever it eventually ends up being that you see instead of what the ending actually is.

I like well done ones, makes it feel like my choices and decisions matter in games.

I do not like them. Just thinking about creating a save point you have to go back to just to see a different ending gives agita. Seems archaic to me.

I usually stick to my playthrough... if I need to see a second ending I use youtube.

Not really.

Dog ending in Silent Hill 2 :).

Not in games that are long like The Witcher 3. 100 hours is too long to go through a game again just for a different ending.

40 hours, sure.

Long story short....they're fine with me. Just not in every situation.

When done well? Absolutely. However, it does bother me somewhat when I have to play through a huge portion of the game for a relatively small difference in the ending.

One of the best multi-endings I can think of is the original KOTOR's. It doesn't wipe clean everything you've done thus far, but you very clearly have a logical choice, either way, to end the game on your own terms with a conclusion worthy of your journey.

Don't stop playing Silent Hill because of it. SH and SH2 did multiple endings right. SH3, not so much.

Yes I do

Red ending is the best ending!

I like how multiple endings are handled in visual novels, because their stories usually branch out in completely different directions based on the choices made, and so the endings often turn out completely different, because of choices made earlier in the game having unforeseen consequences.

But in most other video games that do multiple endings (like RPGs or action-adventures), the endings usually just feel like minor variations of the same endings rather than completely different endings, or when endings are substantially different it often comes down to simplistic end-game choices.

Sure, depends how well they are done, it needs to be something well implemented throughout the game and not just an additional image or something small at the end, I'm not replaying a game just for that.

Yes, in the way that I like choices and their consequences.

Depends on the game but generally I find they add replay value and encourage you to play differently.

Yeah I had that for Metro 2033: oh, I had to do one more nice thing to that person I missed to get the alternate ending? Well, screw you !!!!

And then it turns out Metro: Last Light just ignores that ending anyway, hahahahaha

But I do really like the alternate endings for say "Life is Strange"... It works in games where you want your decisions to have impact.

It doesn't work for games trying to tell a linear story. And sometimes a linear story is better.

I liked the way it was handled in the Witcher 3. Not so much the very ending though but the ending of quests and going about it differently a second time around. Things could totally go differently and made it seem like a different quest altogether. Still it didn't hold my attention enough to actually finish my second play through.

No

Can someone tell me a good implementation of multiple endings? I can't think of any, they're usually terrible. In my experience, having different endings only serves to undermine the themes and damage the emotional impact of the story.

When it comes to having different endings, I'm fine with how Dragon Age handles it. The ending is the same for everyone, but minor variations in character relationships and faction status help make it feel personal.

not really cause it always boils down to it being a good or bad endings anyway...& I will always want the good ending..not bad ending. :P

Sure, like in FarCry 4 I do or Walking Dead. Games with more than 2-3 endings, I just watch different outcomes on youtube.

It is a staple of the Visual Novel genre, but it is also hard to replicate in other genres while keeping quality. Most non-Visual Novel games treat multiple endings as "You did all the good stuff" versus "You did all the bad stuff". It usually equates to very little differences between playthroughs and the overall impact on story. It is hard to expect the developers to make the same game have 2-3+ unique playthroughs. On the other hand it is hard to keep the average gamers focus that long after a first or second playthrough.

It also depends if you can include experiences like The Legend Of Zelda: Oracle Of Ages/Oracle Of Seasons. It was essentially two halves to create a whole with two separate stories that intertwined.

I personally like multiple endings/unique playthroughs on Visual Novels, but I prefer one set story for longer non-Visual Novel games.

No, hate that shit

Yeah i love it.

Mass Effect 2

Mass Effect 2 has one ending. The choices you make can change some minor things at the climax, but it still ends the same way.

Depends on game, a Fable style ending or a Deus Ex HR ending, basically where you make your choices end game rather than push it in some direction throughout game bugs me, something like Indigo Prophecy, or a Telltale game, where choices have consequences that change the outcome, I like those.

I like choices.

If it's just the ending? Not really.

I do like the idea of multiple story branches, especially if the ending can be totally different. I haven''t played a ton of games that do this. Bioware games, Witcher, and Heavy Rain come to mind. Obviously Telltale too, but they don't really count as their stories just sort of "progress" the same way, the options are mostly in the characters. (i.e. one will trust you, another will hate you, you might have to choose which lives or dies, etc). It's cool how it can come together at the end, but considering their games are 100% story it feels sort of artificial rather than dynamic in how it happens. You're always basically choosing a or b.

really don't care. i want a long ending that is satisfying, that's all. 30sec cut scene is the kind of endings i don't like.

@naughtyottsel:

Witcher 2 I know was really dynamic in how some of the quests would become available. Some of the quest lines completely changed depending on how you approached things - and it was cool how it happened dynamically. I admit I didn't even really know as I was playing the game, I just read about them afterwards. There a quest line I wanted to do, but it wasn't available because I didn't "stealth" one of the other quests, I was caught stealing or something... so instead of giving me missions that NPC wanted nothing to do with me LOL. No idea how that effected the ending(if it did at all), but I know it changed some of the cutscenes and stories.

I assume Witcher 3 is the same, I haven't started that one yet.

It's about execution. If it's well executed......then why wouldn't I like it.....?

Agreed. I like the way multiple endings are implemented in visual novels... But in other genres, not so much.

Not really. At most, I prefer a standard ending, but with an unlockable "true" ending.

I don't know, I'm ignorant of them. I just play the game the way I want and get what I earn. A game with multiple endings is effectively one with one to me, because I willfully attempt to remain ignorant of them. Then I can go back and make different choices the second time around.

KoToR was a game I was glad had different endings. I suppose I like them, yes.