Nothing can quite disrupt an otherwise amazing gaming experience more than a bad ending – a pitfall that even otherwise celebrated games like Batman: Arkham Asylum and Mass Effect 3 can fall into. Many games often take hours to complete, and the more a player feels invested in the story, the greater the letdown is when they finally get to the end, only to be exposed to a conclusion that ruins the entire narrative. While a terrible ending can never take away from the fun memories people have while playing, it can leave a bad taste in the mouth of even the biggest franchise fan.
Whether it's an ending that retconned an entire franchise or a climax that just doesn't have the emotional impact players were expecting, perfecting the landing can be tough to do, especially when the stakes are high. However, that's no excuse for a bad ending, especially if it's bad enough to ruin the entire story of the game.
10 The Outlast Trials
The Outlast Trials feels more like a mission-based game because of the setup, but there is a story if players pay attention to each of the game's levels and cinematics. Upon completing Program X, players are shown an end cut scene of their character in what looks like a hotel room. This would indicate that this was the goal all along, and the macabre tests players have been put through have actually been training them to be sent out into the real world to be some sort of MK-Ultra assassin.
Except, according to the gameplay, this doesn't make much sense unless Murkoff's missions will entail running around, solving puzzles, and throwing bricks at sadistic enemies. Perhaps if the missions included hand-to-hand combat or firearms training, this would all make a bit more sense, but the best thing the test subjects will be able to do in the real world is to hide in a dark corner. There's also a theory that the ending is just a false ending, and it's all a dream, considering players can go back into the facility to play other missions, but that isn't exactly satisfying either.
9 Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons Of Liberty
In retrospect, the Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty ending wasn't so bad once players learn more details in future games. Unfortunately, for players at the time, the ending saw the new MGS character Raiden suffer through an extended cut scene filled with random dialogue set behind real-life footage of New York City.
While this would receive more context via subsequent Metal Gear entries, at the time, it left many players confused. Upon completing the final mission, players speak to Solid Snake, who launches into an almost 10-minute-long monologue about simulations, the recreation of Shadow Moses, and quips about reality and life. While it all seemed very deep at the time, players wouldn't be alone in feeling completely confused and left wondering if the rest of the story they just played through actually ever happened.
8 Mass Effect 3
If there was ever a franchise-ending final chapter to a game, it might be the original endings in Mass Effect 3. While there are three outcomes available, the original execution of those endings saw what many considered as lazy character swaps instead of impactful outcomes based on the player's decisions in all three games. For a game that focused on player choice impacting the future, this was a huge letdown to most in the community.
In addition to none of the player choices actually impacting the story, it felt like the game's developers, BioWare, tried to wrap up the story in the trilogy too quickly, creating a host of plot holes regardless of which ending players received. While some of these plot holes would later be addressed in extended cuts via DLC, including a "perfect ending" in Mass Effect 3 that players can get that sees Shepard surviving, for most, the original final chapter left fans of the franchise underwhelmed after investing so much time in the previous games.
7 Super Mario Bros. 2
Super Mario Bros. 2 was pretty strange for its time, changing up the popular mechanics that made the Mario franchise so popular, instead opting for mechanics from another popular Japanese side scroller, Doki Doki Panic. But it seems that this strange choice by Nintendo may have never existed in the first place, as the entire game was actually a dream by Mario.
The game follows the usual suspects in Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Princess Toadstool, as they go on an adventure in a strange new world they all saw in shared dreams. Events proceed, and the crew realizes it wasn't a dream at all and the protagonist of the game, Wart, is actually very real.
Unfortunately, players who finished the game were shown an image of Mario waking up from a deep sleep and then going back to sleep again, completely unraveling the game's story and showing players that it was simply a dream within a dream, which felt like a cop-out and made all the game's events feel unimportant.
6 Far Cry 3
Not all of Far Cry 3's endings result in an effort in futility, but one of them does. Far Cry 3 follows the story of Jason Brody on vacation with his friends in Thailand. Eventually, they find themselves on a pirate-occupied island, and chaos ensues, where the majority of the game is spent trying to rescue Jason's girlfriend and friends.
However, at the end of the game, players are given the choice to either save their friends or join the lead pirate, Citra. While joining Citra will result in a pretty risqué scene, it also results in a giant knife in Jason's chest and all his friends dying, making the prior actions in the title feel completely pointless.
5 No Man's Sky
If there was ever an ending that made a player go into an existential crisis, it's the ending for the space epic No Man's Sky. Typically, video games follow some sort of structure for the plot, leading to a satisfying end. Upon beating No Man's Sky, the player is sent hurtling backward to view the explored galaxy, only to be transported to a new galaxy to start the journey over again. To say it was underwhelming upon first discovery would be an understatement, as there really is no end in the game.
For some, this never-ending exploration might be exactly what they are looking for in their space games, especially considering that frequent updates may prevent a No Man's Sky sequel from occurring. However, for many, upon realizing that this is the end goal, it felt pretty underwhelming after spending hours grinding different resources and visiting new planets. It may even lead some to ponder why they even played the game in the first place.
4 Batman: Arkham Asylum
The fact that players play a cat-and-mouse game with the cerebral Joker through the entirety of Batman: Arkham Asylum, only for him to transform into some pumped-up Bane or Killer Croc knockoff, is disappointing at best and story-ruining at worst. There are so many other, better characters that could have been used for an all-out physical final showdown, but the Joker certainly isn't one of them. While there have been some iterations of a buff Joker in the comics, including one version where he packs on muscle mass to impress Batgirl, it bears no connection to what the player has been doing for the entire game and is a serious letdown as the final boss fight.
3 Life Is Strange
Players who like their games to finish on a high note might want to pass up Life is Strange. While the game itself is one of the most highly-touted episodic video games ever made, the title has pretty depressing endings regardless of what the player chooses.
Life is Strange follows the story of Maxine "Max" Caulfield, who gains a special ability to rewind time. Along with her childhood friend, Chloe Price, they navigate the trials and tribulations of their dark town and the events surrounding it. While some could look at the ending as a cautionary tale that fate can't be changed or that great power isn't always positive, it leaves the player feeling like they made the wrong decisions regardless of how they played.
In one ending, Max sacrifices Chloe to die, and in the other ending, the town they live in, Arcadia Bay, is destroyed by a giant storm. Perhaps the ending would feel a bit more justified if Max used their powers for selfish means, but throughout the story, the character uses the ability to save people, which makes the ending feel all that much more unfair. The sad ending, however, hasn't prevented people from enjoying the title, as indicated by Life is Strange getting remastered with updated graphics in 2022.
2 Fallout 3
Fallout 3 had the right idea for its numerous variable endings that players could experience upon finishing the epic campaign; the problem was that they were all pretty bad. While there are much better endings than others depending on the player's choices, all of them are a relatively short, under-a-minute slideshow that largely tells players the Wasteland didn't change, and players wander alone until they die.
For a decision-based game where every choice feels like it should have an impactful outcome, this condensed ending was not what many players wanted. Bethesda would refine this formula in its follow-up, Fallout 4, and Obsidian Entertainment did the same in its spin-off, Fallout: New Vegas, which saw more elaborate endings based on player choice, though the visual style remained the same for that entry.
1 Fable 2
The original Fable was an amazing game for its time, with a morality system and a divergent storyline mechanic that lets the player decide whether they want to be good or evil. Fable 2 follows that up with what feels like a similar setup, only to severely let the player down at the very end of the game by delivering one of the most underwhelming endings in gaming history.
Leading up to the final act of Fable 2, players are told that they can save up gold, as it may impact the conclusion of the playthrough. However, regardless of how much wealth players accumulate or the good deeds they spend time on, the build-up ends with a rather drawn-out cut scene, where Theresa narrates one of three endings. To say it was a let-down would be an understatement, as it made players feel like the decisions and time investment they made in the game didn't matter at all. It also completely lacked the gravitas the moment deserved, putting Fable 2 among the pantheon of story-ruining game ending alongside the likes of Mass Effect 3 and Batman: Arkham Asylum.