a Yourlist ranking · the crowd decides the order
From tearful sacrifices to gut-punch twists, these endings are the ones gamers still argue about years later. Vote for the finale that hit you hardest.
What counts: Ranked by lasting emotional impact, narrative craftsmanship, and cultural legacy (how much it's still discussed/debated). All release years and ratings are approximate community consensus, not official scores.
Arthur Morgan, dying of tuberculosis and finally free of Dutch's lies, gets to choose how he leaves the world — watching one last sunrise or dragging himself toward redemption's final act. It's a slow, aching death scene that rewards a 60-hour arc of moral reckoning with genuine
Year Released: 2018Emotional Impact: 10/10Twist/Shock Factor: 6/10Multiple Endings: ✓
added by IJRin 11 rankingsRed Dead Redemption 2
The Last of Us
Joel murders the Fireflies to save Ellie from a cure that would kill her, then lies to her face about it. That final 'Okay' from Ellie, loaded with doubt, is one of gaming's most morally unresolved gut-punches.
Year Released: 2013Emotional Impact: 10/10Twist/Shock Factor: 8/10Multiple Endings: —
added by IJRin 13 rankings
Red Dead Redemption (original)
John Marston finally gets his family back — only to be gunned down by the government agents who blackmailed him into hunting his old gang. Playing as his son Jack for the closing revenge mission turns grief into one of gaming's great emotional gut-checks.
Year Released: 2010Emotional Impact: 9/10Twist/Shock Factor: 9/10Multiple Endings: —
added by IJR
Shadow of the Colossus
Wander, having slain sixteen ancient giants to resurrect Mono, is possessed by the demon Dormin and transformed into a horned monster, cut down by the very heroes he once was. The final shot of a baby (reborn Wander) in the garden is haunting, ambiguous, and endlessly discussed.
Year Released: 2005Emotional Impact: 9/10Twist/Shock Factor: 7/10Multiple Endings: —
added by IJRin 3 rankings
Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
Naked Snake is forced to execute his mentor and mother-figure The Boss atop a flower field, only to learn afterward the mission was a setup and she died a hero in secret. His salute at her grave is one of the most quietly devastating moments in the medium.
Year Released: 2004Emotional Impact: 9/10Twist/Shock Factor: 8/10Multiple Endings: —
added by IJRin 4 rankingsMetal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater
BioShock
The 'Would You Kindly' reveal recontextualizes the entire game as a story about free will and control, turning the player's own obedience into the plot's central horror. Depending on how you treated the Little Sisters, you get either a warm adoptive-father ending or a monstrous o
Year Released: 2007Emotional Impact: 7/10Twist/Shock Factor: 9/10Multiple Endings: ✓
added by IJRin 9 rankings
Portal
GLaDOS's dark comic taunting gives way to an explosive escape, capped by the deadpan musical number 'Still Alive' playing over the credits as she's dragged back together, piece by piece. It redefined how funny and unsettling a boss fight's aftermath could be.
Year Released: 2007Emotional Impact: 6/10Twist/Shock Factor: 5/10Multiple Endings: —
added by IJRin 6 rankings
Beating Lavos unlocks a cascade of alternate endings tied to when and how you finish the game, from a party reunion to a bittersweet time-paradox coda. It turned New Game+ into a storytelling tool rather than a mere difficulty gimmick.
Year Released: 1995Emotional Impact: 7/10Twist/Shock Factor: 6/10Multiple Endings: ✓
added by IJRin 7 rankingsChrono Trigger
Whether you spare every monster for the True Pacifist ending or wipe them all out for the irreversible Genocide route, the game remembers what you did and judges you for it. Few endings make the player's choices feel this permanently consequential.
Year Released: 2015Emotional Impact: 8/10Twist/Shock Factor: 7/10Multiple Endings: ✓
added by IJRin 8 rankingsUndertale
After a white phosphorus massacre he can't take back, Captain Walker's grip on sanity collapses, and the game turns its 'you had no choice' shooter tropes into an accusation aimed at the player. The multiple endings, including one where you simply walk away, ask if you even deser
Year Released: 2012Emotional Impact: 8/10Twist/Shock Factor: 9/10Multiple Endings: ✓
added by IJRin 2 rankingsSpec Ops: The Line
After three narrative playthroughs, Ending E asks you to delete your own save file to help a stranger online finish the fight, sacrificing your progress for someone you'll never meet. It's a wild, tear-jerking meta statement on cooperation baked directly into the credits sequence
Year Released: 2017Emotional Impact: 9/10Twist/Shock Factor: 8/10Multiple Endings: ✓
added by IJRin 2 rankingsNieR: Automata
Depending on subtle player behavior throughout the game, James Sunderland either finds peace, drives into the lake with Mary, or discovers his wife was murdered by his own hand out of guilt-fueled denial. The 'In Water' and 'Leave' endings remain a masterclass in psychological ho
Year Released: 2001Emotional Impact: 8/10Twist/Shock Factor: 7/10Multiple Endings: ✓
added by IJRin 5 rankingsSilent Hill 2
Journey
The wordless climb up the mountain, collapse in the snow, and final rebirth as a streak of light soaring past every traveler you passed along the way is one of gaming's purest emotional crescendos. No dialogue, no exposition — just music, scale, and shared vulnerability.
Year Released: 2012Emotional Impact: 9/10Twist/Shock Factor: 4/10Multiple Endings: —
added by IJRin 5 rankings
After three games of galaxy-spanning choices, the ending funneled players into three color-coded outcomes that felt disconnected from everything they'd built — sparking one of gaming's biggest backlashes and an unprecedented free 'Extended Cut' DLC to address fan outrage. It earn
Year Released: 2012Emotional Impact: 6/10Twist/Shock Factor: 9/10Multiple Endings: ✓
added by IJRMass Effect 3
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Link finally stops the moon from crashing into Termina with seconds to spare, and the Skull Kid, freed from Majora's corruption, is reunited with the very fairies he'd lost long ago. The three-day time loop's resolution ties years of quiet dread into a surprisingly tender close.
Year Released: 2000Emotional Impact: 8/10Twist/Shock Factor: 6/10Multiple Endings: —
added by IJR
God of War (2018)
Kratos and Atreus scatter Faye's ashes atop the mountain, only to discover a mural depicting Kratos's own future death — reframing the entire game as a countdown. The reveal that Atreus is actually Loki lands like a thunderclap in the game's final minutes.
Year Released: 2018Emotional Impact: 8/10Twist/Shock Factor: 7/10Multiple Endings: —
added by IJRin 5 rankings
Ciri's fate — becoming empress, joining the witchers, or dying — hinges on dozens of small choices made hours earlier, and Geralt's own ending ranges from peaceful retirement to a grim, lonely death. Few RPGs make players feel the full weight of a whole game's decisions land in o
Year Released: 2015Emotional Impact: 8/10Twist/Shock Factor: 5/10Multiple Endings: ✓
added by IJRin 9 rankingsThe Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Just as Gordon and Alyx celebrate a hard-won victory, a Hunter impales Eli Vance in front of his daughter, and the G-Man appears to whisk Gordon away — leaving the story on an unresolved cliffhanger that, over a decade later, became one of gaming's most infamous unfinished busine
Year Released: 2007Emotional Impact: 7/10Twist/Shock Factor: 8/10Multiple Endings: —
added by IJRHalf-Life 2: Episode Two
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