10 Alternate Video Game Endings That DRASTICALLY Change The Story
There's something seriously wrong with Yennefer.
As anyone who's ever put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) knows, endings are an absolute nightmare to write.
Whether a college student frantically scribbling a conclusion to an essay 20 minutes before deadline, or a world-famous author spending over thirteen years working out how to finish his epic fantasy series (hint: not like this), creating the perfect ending is a fraught experience. The history of pop culture is filled with works that wiped out their audience's goodwill with an ill-considered finale, and video games are no exception.
Given the importance placed upon a game's final scenes, it's only natural that the gaming landscape is littered with scrapped endings.
There are many reasons an ending may go unused in a video game. Sometimes, time catches up with developers and forces them to slice that original vision into something more manageable. Other times, a story may evolve to the point where the original ending no longer makes sense.
And sometimes, writers just come up with something that gives everyone the ick. Case in point...
10. Bhaal's Breeder (Baldur's Gate 3)
The above lovely-looking creature is a Gnoll from Baldur's Gate 3, and in one of the game's unused endings you end up fornicating with one while roofied up from a Dark God's curse.
If that's enough ick for you, feel free to skip ahead to the next entry. If you're looking for context...
[Spoilers for Baldur's Gate 3 follow].
In Larian's 2023 masterpiece, the character creator offers the option to give yourself the "Dark Urge". After dozens of hours of RPG adventuring, you eventually learn that said urge - which constantly compels you to kill everyone around you - is due to your character having been sired by Bhaal, God of Murder.
As reported by The Gamer, dataminers discovered an unused ending in BG3 wherein the player succumbs to their father's curse once and for all, but with a horrifying twist. Rather than being compelled to murder in the name of their father, the Dark Urge instead forces them to breed with all manner of creatures - Displacer Beasts, Wargs and Carrion-Crawlers are all name-checked - in order to create an army to serve their omnicidal dad.
It's a horrifying end for a character you'll have poured dozens of hours into, and you can see why the developers felt it crossed several lines from "Dark Fantasy" to "Oh My God, We're Going To Be Put On A Watchlist".