8 Secret Video Game Endings You (Probably) Never Unlocked

Silent Hill 2’s Dog Ending

Secret Video Game Endings You (Probably) Never Unlocked

[Obvious spoilers are obvious. Read on past this super old entry at your own risk. There are a couple of games from this generation, although each are at least a couple of years old.]

When a series is already known for goofy endings involving alien abductions, it takes a lot for something to successfully raise the ante. And yet that’s exactly what Silent Hill 2’s secret dog ending does. After making their way through the monster-filled hellscape of Silent Hill, unlocking all three normal endings and discovering an observatory key in a dog house, players come face to face with the true ring leader of all of the insanity: A dog wearing a headset and pulling a series of levers. They’re then treated to a charming, bark filled song to let the insanity of the moment set in.

The ending comes completely out of left field and is all the more impactful due to how much players have to go through to get it.

Metal Gear Solid V’s True Ending

Secret Video Game Endings You (Probably) Never Unlocked

Over 100 hours. To get the real ending of Metal Gear Solid V, players have to play over 100 hours, unlocking two-hour endings while also taking on several missions multiple times at increased difficulties and with more restrictive conditions for completion. In this regard, players can’t be blamed for opting to look the ending up online instead.

To be fair though, all of the extra work isn’t for nothing as doing so provides some much needed resolution to several characters’ story arcs and ties up many of the series’ loose ends in a way befitting of Hideo Kojima’s directorial style. It also provides a bit of meta-commentary on the player’s role in the story, allowing the players to leave with a sense of truly being their own version of the Big Boss.

Chrono Trigger’s Developer Ending

Secret Video Game Endings You (Probably) Never Unlocked

One of the earliest examples of a game with multiple endings, Chrono Trigger offers players 13 possible conclusions based on how they approach the game. These range from the normal, happy ending of the game to one where the title’s protagonist, Chrono, is killed, leaving the rest of the party to venture on without him and save the day.

One of the more memorable endings, however, comes to those willing to take on an exceptionally difficult challenge in new game plus mode. After gaining their first two party members, players can attempt to take on the final boss with the duo, albeit severely under-equipped and with the odds stacked against them. Should they succeed though, they’ll be welcomed into the developer’s room, meeting digitized versions of the game’s development team who are eager to chat, play tricks on you and even invite you to join the “dream team.”

Fable 2’s Anticlimactic Ending

Secret Video Game Endings You (Probably) Never Unlocked

While many feel Fable 2 to be the best entry in the series, there has been plenty of criticism levied against its final confrontation. After enduring innumerable challenges and braving an untold number of dangers and enemies, players finally come face to face with the game’s antagonist, Lord Lucien. Draining him of his magical powers, they then have the option to deliver a single, finishing blow to him as revenge for the death of their sister, their dog and countless other lives he has taken, sans any climactic final boss fight or confrontation.

If players are willing to wait long enough though, there is an ending with even less payoff. Should Lucien be allowed to live and monologue for more than a minute, the hero’s companion Reaver will deliver the finishing blow himself, robbing players of the revenge they’ve sought throughout the entire game.

Firewatch’s Left to Burn Ending

Secret Video Game Endings You (Probably) Never Unlocked

For all of its serene landscapes and atmospheric qualities, Firewatch is also privy to a grizzly and tragic ending should players choose to meet its requirements. After uncovering the truth of strange events within the park and coming to terms with his own demons, the game’s protagonist Henry has the option to leave the forest behind and return to his sick wife at home via helicopter. This becomes an infinitely more logical decision once players learn the park and its forest are being devoured by a wild fire, spelling imminent danger and death for any who remain for too long.

For players willing to meet a fiery end though, it is possible to simply wait in front of the helicopter until it leaves Henry behind to perish, leaving him to turn to ash along with any chance he had of redemption. Granted it undercuts every decision the player makes up to that point though, so most players probably didn’t seek out this option or even think to subject themselves to the guilt of making it.

Mass Effect 2’s Shepard Dies Ending

Secret Video Game Endings You (Probably) Never Unlocked

Mass Effect 2 is touted as one of the best RPGs if not games of all time, and for good reason. The game took everything people loved about the first title and refined it to near perfection. Not only that, but the ending sequence held real and tangible consequences. Anyone, and we mean anyone could perish.

This includes an absolute worst case scenario ending where most everyone, including the hero (aka you) Shepard, can end up dead by the end. Doing so requires the player to make the worst possible decision every chance you can, ignoring or deriding their party members at every turn before tackling a life or death situation with the tact of a horror movie teenager. Considering this means flushing roughly 40 hours of gameplay down the toilet for such an outcome, most people understandably went for the more traditional and meaningful endings, leaving this ending for YouTube and those with a total disregard for the game’s characters.

Far Cry 4’s 15 Minute Playthrough Ending

Secret Video Game Endings You (Probably) Never Unlocked

As with many of the other endings on this list, good things come to those who wait. At the beginning of Far Cry 4, the player is asked by the antagonist Pagan Min to wait in a room before they can be taken to spread their mother’s ashes. Normally this is meant to be where the player strays from his control, sets out on their own and sparks the events of the rest of the game.

However, should the player sit tight, Min does in fact return and take you to spread the ashes, allowing you to complete the game without shedding a single drop of blood. Min even comments on this in his final line, saying “maybe now we can finally shoot some god damn guns.”

Any of The Stanley Parable’s Alternate Endings

Secret Video Game Endings You (Probably) Never Unlocked

The Stanley Parable is a game that revels in toying with the player’s expectations, using the medium’s inherent need to guide players for a slew of gags at the player’s expense. As such, it’s not surprising that so many of the game’s alternate endings are elaborate, convoluted and otherwise just plain strange in how they’re earned. Some require players to press a button for several hours straight, others require them to hunt down innocuous computer monitors and doorways, and others still hinge on the player differentiating between different lighting shades the game takes on randomly.

To that end, it would be no surprise if you haven’t seen any number of the game’s alternate endings. Funny as they can be, it’s a hell of a lot easier to look them up on YouTube and, considering the game’s sense of humor, was also probably part of its meta commentary and humor.

Know of any other great secret endings that most people never got around to? Post them in the comments below!