10 Terrifying True Endings In Video Games

"It's not the destination, it's the journey."

Creating a good video game ending is no easy feat, which is why these words ring true for every developer.

A good video game ending needs to wrap everything up in a satisfying bow and make the player feel like they played a part in it. As such, it can often go really poorly.

(Here's looking at you, Mass Effect 3.)

Still, one ingenious way of crafting a great final moment and adding to a game's replayability is to include multiple endings.

Seeing your actions impacting the game's narrative, leading to various endings ranging from good to bad to terrible, is a commonly used trope in the gaming sphere. But it does often leave titles missing out on nice official conclusions. However, that's where "true endings" step in, to allow developers to have their cake and eat it too.

Sometimes these special endings are canonized in sequels, and other times it's the dev's comments outside the game that make them official. Still, the following canon conclusions have something in common: they all have terrifying ramifications.

Game's don't always end well, and these ones went out of the way to make their worst ending options the official climax.

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This article will contain spoilers for each entry.

The Legacy of Kain series is about as gothic as video games come. It's setting, Nosgoth, is full of vampires, violence, horror, and unpleasantness, and come the end of the first game, you can opt to fix this or make it even worse. Sadly, those who chose the former were unpleasantly surprised when booting up the sequel.

You play as the titular Kain in Blood Omen, an antihero vampire who seeks revenge on those who murdered him. After finishing the game, players are given the option to pick between the "damn the world" and "heal the world" endings.

The "damn" ending causes the Pillars of Nosgoth to collapse, turning it into a wasteland ruled over by the now fully villainous Kain. Whereas the other shows Kain sacrificing himself to restore the world and eradicate vampires.

Of course, the game's sequel, Soul Reaver, had to exist in a world with vamps roaming about. Thus, no matter what option you chose in Blood Omen, Kain will damn Nosgoth and become its brutal leader come the sequel.

Kain went on to be the main antagonist of the next two games, proving that picking the bad ending has consequences and that selecting the good one is sometimes futile.