10 Games With Cruel Twist Endings

Highlights

• Some video games have plot twists that completely change the context of the story, making the endings shocking and divisive for players.
• Games like Bioshock Infinite and The Last of Us have plot twists that alter the fates of the protagonists and their worlds, leaving players both captivated and confused.
• The endings of games like Heavy Rain and Braid reveal unexpected truths about the main characters, challenging players’ perceptions and adding depth to the overall experience.

Many video games tend to have fairly straightforward plots, with the real drama coming in during the gameplay. There is a set beginning, middle, and end that are all connected and all tell a coherent story. Some games, though, take a different direction. These games include plot twists, with some being cruel and completely unexpected.

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These plot twists will often change the entire context of the game players have been working through. Players will find themselves shocked by how these games end, which can either make them more fun to play or it can make them more confusing.

10 Bioshock Infinite

Booker Becomes Comstock

The overarching villain in Bioshock Infinite is The Founders, and the leader of the group is none other than Zachary Hale Comstock. The ending of this game is confusing, with Booker becoming Comstock through a baptism in one reality while he retains the name Booker in another. For Comstock to die, Booker must die, and so he drowns at the hands of Elizabeth, the very NPC players will spend the game trying to save.

Bioshock Infinite had a cruel twist that divided players as it changed the context of the game’s storyline, and made players say goodbye to their protagonist in a seemingly ill-fated way.

9 The Last Of Us

Joel Destroys The Chance For A Cure To Save Ellie

In The Last of Us, players control a hardened post-apocalypse survivor, Joel, as he smuggles a girl who is immune to the virus that has ravished the world, Ellie. They must fight their way to find the mysterious base of the rebel group the Fireflies, who want to harness Ellie’s immunity to create a cure to save the world. When they arrive at St. Mary’s Hospital, the twist in the ending occurs: to cure the virus, Ellie must die. Joel saves her, but to make matters worse, he lies about what happened to Ellie.

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The Last of Us is an iconic game with an iconic ending, where Joel has effectively doomed any chance of humanity returning to what it was before the outbreak. Consequences emerge in the sequel, The Last of Us Part 2, much to the divide of fans.

8 Heavy Rain

The Origami Killer Is The Detective

The ending in Heavy Rain is one of the most divisive in gaming history. The game convinces players that the identity of the Origami Killer responsible for killing Shaun is Ethan, Shaun’s own father. The killer is actually Scott Shelby, a playable character and the man investigating the murders throughout the game.

He has been investigating the murders solely to destroy evidence and mislead other authorities. The cruel twist in Heavy Rain is not widely loved, but it certainly changed the game.

7 Red Dead Redemption

John Marston’s Happily Ever After Is Ruined

Players control John Marston across the Wild West in Red Dead Redemption, and they lead him through a grueling journey. The payoff seems to be there as the journey ends, with John reuniting with his wife and child on their ranch.

Unfortunately, the tranquility doesn’t last, as John is killed in front of Beecher’s Hope by soldiers while trying to protect his family. Red Dead Redemption has a truly tragic ending as this character that players fight for is locked into a miserable destiny.

6 Undertale

LV and EXP Are Not What You Think

Undertale has two bars players should keep track of: LV and EXP. These seem to stand for the very typical video game measures, Level, and Experience Points. These actually stand for Level of Violence and Execution Points.

Players who have spent the entire game killing the monsters are in for a nasty surprise at this point, as they will be locked into the genocide-ending boss battle. Undertale subverts player expectations at the end of the game, punishing players for doing what they would usually do.

5 Braid

Tim Is The Monster The Princess Tries To Escape

Braid sets itself up as a charming game in which the protagonist, Tim, is trying to save the princess from an unspecified and vague monster. Players go through the whole game with this in mind, thinking they’re doing the right and just thing.

At the end of the game, it is revealed that Tim is the monster the princess has been trying to escape, meaning he is an evil character. Braid is a deceptively charming platformer with a cruel twist ending that changes everything.

4 Dead Space

Nicole Is Dead

In Dead Space, players control Isaac Clarke, part of a group sent to a mining vessel called Ishimura. One of the crew members of the vessel is Isaac’s girlfriend, Nicole, who is seen by players early on in the game. At the end of the game, players find the Marker, the source of the chaos in the game’s story.

The revelation is that the Marker is also Nicole’s source, as she killed herself before the game started. The cruelty of this twist in Dead Space is that it was hiding in plain sight, as the first letters of each chapter spell out Nicole Is Dead.

3 Silent Hill 2

James killed Mary

Silent Hill 2 is a creepy and horrifying game by any standards, but the cruel ending twist makes everything more heartbreaking. James, the protagonist, spends the whole game searching for his wife, Mary, despite the fact that Mary is dead. Late in the game, it’s revealed that James killed Mary, and the letter that drew James to Silent Hill is simply a blank sheet of paper.

Everything that happens to James in Silent Hill 2 is a manifestation of his guilt, making the game even scarier, and adding far more psychological elements to each chapter and every ending, with a layered reading of James that many fans may not have expected.

2 Omori

Sunny Killed Mari

In Omori, players control Sunny and his alter-ego Omori. Sunny is a shut-in who spends most of the day in a fantasy world named Headspace, but he is followed by a ghostly figure. At the end of the game, it is revealed that the ghost is the representation of his sister Mari, and Sunny accidentally killed her and framed it to look like a suicide.

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Omori seems like a charming game on the surface as players explore Headspace, but the ending makes it an extremely dark indie game.

1 The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter

The Player Controlled Character Is Not Real

The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter makes players control Paul Prospero, a detective who can apparently communicate with the dead. As players go through the game, they discover secrets in the game and uncover mysteries, including cults and family curses. The game’s biggest secret is only revealed at the end.

Paul Prospero is a figment of Ethan’s imagination, as Ethan dies in a house fire. The Vanishing Of Ethan Carter is creepy and unsettling, but this twist at the end is truly cruel as none of the work players have done matters.

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