8 Games That Secretly Changed When You Played Them Twice

For years, games have offered reasons to replay them beyond simple enjoyment, like different endings, branching storylines, or letting you start a new game with your previous progress. These are usually just extra features, allowing you to experience the game in new ways or get more out of something you’ve already played. But some games go a little further, offering something truly special.

Many games hide extra content that only becomes available after you’ve completed them. This isn’t just about different endings or bonus bosses; it’s about things you can only discover on a second playthrough by actively looking for changes or hidden paths. These additions could be small, like a new cutscene, or significant, like a whole new way to finish the game. You wouldn’t be able to find them on your first attempt unless you consulted a guide or watched someone else play.

Spoilers ahead!

8. Illbleed

Reclaiming Fear

The classic Dreamcast horror game, Illbleed, has two different endings. Which one you see depends on whether you manage to save all your companions throughout the game’s scary attractions. If you rescue all three friends, plus Jorg during the Killerman stage, you’ll get the good ending – everyone wins prize money and enjoys their lives, though Eriko decides to go back to the park to uncover the full story. However, if you fail to save even one friend, you’ll get the bad ending, where Eriko mourns their loss.

If you replay the game, you can unlock a hidden path by letting all your characters, including Jorg, perish. If everyone dies, the final challenge changes: instead of the usual boss, you’ll face the park’s owner, Michael Reynolds – Eriko’s long-lost father.

Defeating this boss reveals a hidden ending. In it, Eriko faces her father and finally feels fear again, something she’d lost a long time ago. Surprisingly, her friends are still alive – we even see Kevin with her! It’s a bit unclear how they survived, though.

7. Digimon Survive

You Don’t Have The Stats On The First Go

Your initial experience with Digimon Survive will result in one of four different endings, depending on the choices you make throughout the game – specifically, how you balance your karma and a key decision at the very end. Be prepared for loss, though: no matter what you do, Ryo will die in chapter three, as it’s impossible to build a strong enough relationship with him to save him. And if Ryo is gone, you won’t be able to save another teammate, Shuuji, who dies in chapter five. So, even a successful playthrough will have some sad moments.

When you begin a New Game Plus, your relationships with your teammates are already established, just like they were at the end of your previous playthrough. Because of this, you can actually max out your relationship with Ryo before a key decision in chapter three. The game doesn’t explain this, so you’ll need to figure it out based on what carries over from your previous save.

If you manage to save Ryo on a second playthrough, he’ll return the favor and help save Shuuji. As long as your other companions have strong enough bonds with you to survive, you can reach the end of the game with everyone alive. This achievement unlocks the true ending, which is the best outcome for all characters, both human and Digimon.

6. Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem

Technically Three Times

Eternal Darkness features three different story paths, decided by the relic Pious obtains early in the game and which Ancient being he chooses to work with. While the dialogue with these Ancients – Chattur’gha, Xel’lotath, and Ulyaoth – will vary slightly, and the types of monsters you fight will shift to reflect their influence, most of the gameplay remains consistent across all paths.

So, I finished the game, and it’s cool you can start over and choose a different Ancient for Pious to work with. But honestly, the only thing that carries over from my first playthrough is any monster autopsy reports I took the time to do with Max. It’s a bit disappointing, because the story basically plays out the same way even on my second run.

After completing three cycles, the story takes a surprising turn. Once you’ve defeated the three Ancients, a special scene reveals that Mantorok, the fourth Ancient, manipulated time. He merged your three previous runs, causing the other Ancients to destroy each other at the same time, leaving Mantorok as the only ruler of reality. It’s a subtle but clever twist.

5. The Hundred Line -Last Defense Academy-

You Don’t Need To Get All 100 Endings, But…

Kotaro Uchikoshi, known for the Zero Escape series, often uses branching timelines in his games. Usually, players have to experience every possible outcome before reaching the true ending. However, his new game, The Hundred Line, created with Kazutaka Kodaka of Danganronpa, doesn’t require this – you’re not locked into seeing all options before finding the conclusion.

Once you complete the initial hundred-day period, Takumi restarts the game, unlocking the ability to make choices that lead to different storylines. While there are many unusual paths you can take, there’s also a main story route that leads to the intended ending, though it’s not necessarily a cheerful one.

There’s a hidden path to a happier ending that’s unlocked by completing the game multiple times on different storylines. Doing so gives Takumi information he wouldn’t normally have, allowing him to overcome obstacles and ensure everyone in the Special Defense Unit returns home safely.

4. Wandersong

Don’t Try To Take Shortcuts

In Wandersong, you play as a Bard who travels the world, helping people with their troubles. By doing so, you learn special songs that let you enter the Spirit World. In a climactic finale, everyone you’ve assisted comes together in song to prevent the world from ending.

Here’s a neat trick: the Overseer Songs don’t require you to meet any specific conditions. If you replay the game and remember the tunes, you can immediately access the Spirit World in each chapter, bypassing the main story. However, if you do that, you won’t have built any relationships with other characters, and the ending will be rather lonely – the world will just fade away. Oops!

While it’s technically possible to achieve this on your first time playing, it only works if you’ve already learned the Overseer Songs by watching someone else play or reading a guide. Honestly, though, I can’t imagine buying a game just to skip most of it.

3. Undertale

What Was Ruined Cannot Be Un-Ruined

Undertale has several different endings that feel quite separate from each other. You can achieve a peaceful ending by sparing all monsters, various neutral endings by killing some, or the notorious Genocide ending by killing absolutely everyone.

There’s a unique situation that happens after completing a Genocide run. Once you finish it, the character Chara will prevent you from starting a new game, showing only a black screen. If you wait long enough, Chara will offer to reset the game, but only if you agree to give them your soul.

If you complete the True Pacifist ending a second time, you’ll unlock the “Soulless Pacifist” ending. This ending has unsettling details: if you stay with Toriel, your character’s eyes glow red, and if you leave, a photo of your monster friends will appear with their faces scratched out. Essentially, by previously giving Chara your SOUL, you’ve allowed them to easily harm everyone you befriended.

2. NieR Replicant

Gone, But Not Forgotten

The original NieR perfected the idea of revealing more of the story with each playthrough. When you first finish the game, you defeat the Shadowlord and reunite with Yonah. But reloading that completed save doesn’t start a new game entirely – it picks up about halfway through. This time, you experience the story from a different perspective, hearing the pain of the enemies you defeat and unlocking an additional cutscene at the end.

If you replay the game, you’ll unlock a challenging bonus boss fight against a corrupted Kaine. You can then decide whether to defeat her or try to save her, but choosing to save her means permanently deleting your game save. Originally, that was the end of the game, but the updated version adds some extra content after that choice.

Start a new game, and play as usual until you reach the fight with Hook in the Aerie. At that point, Nier will vanish, and you’ll begin a completely new part of the story as Kaine. Successfully completing this new scenario will actually bring back your previously deleted save file.

1. Silent Hill f

The Best Ending Is Reserved For The Committed

I’ve heard from a few players who finished Silent Hill f but were let down by the ending they received. It turns out the game has four different endings – and even a secret UFO ending – but most players only see one on their initial playthrough. The game doesn’t make it very clear that there’s more to unlock after the first ending.

Playing the game again reveals small differences in conversations and battles, but the biggest change is at the end. Instead of Hinako simply defeating her fox form, you decide who wins, and that choice unlocks a different ending.

Playing the game again will lead to a different story where both versions of Hinako finally make peace, defeat the evil spirit controlling her doll, and end things on good terms with Kotoyuki. While it might seem frustrating to unlock the best ending with a third playthrough, it’s actually faster and easier because your progress carries over – and this quick progression reflects Hinako’s own growth as a character.

2025-11-10 22:11