RPGs With Unexpected Branching Endings

Games like Mass Effect, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and Baldur’s Gate 3 are all massive role-playing games known for their extensive dialogue and player choice. This allows players to feel like they’re truly shaping the story and potentially reaching different conclusions based on their decisions.

It’s common for role-playing games to offer choices in dialogue that lead to different endings or branching storylines. You might be surprised to discover which RPGs also feature multiple endings, sometimes revealed very late in the game. We won’t reveal any major plot details, but be aware that these games have more than one possible conclusion.

Final Fantasy 6

An Ending For All

Let’s look at Final Fantasy 6 as a classic example of a turn-based game with limited choices. Players can choose the order in which they complete certain events, but the game doesn’t offer many significant decisions. The main difference in the endings depends on how many characters you save and add to your team during the second half of the game.

Collecting all party members unlocks special, individual endings for each character. If you don’t find everyone, those missing characters won’t appear in the final ending sequence, which is quite long if you’ve gathered the whole team. Branching endings are rare in the Final Fantasy series, making Final Fantasy 6 stand out.

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

Fact Or Fiction?

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a recent turn-based game where you can choose who your character romances, though the options are limited. These romantic choices don’t change the main storyline; the most important decision comes after the final battle.

In Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, two characters who are normally allies will become rivals, forcing players to pick a side. The debate over which ending is the ‘true’ one has sparked lively discussion among fans, which is great for the community. If Sandfall Interactive decides to continue the story directly, they’ll need to officially decide which ending becomes part of the canon.

Parasite Eve

To The Chrysler Building!

The game Parasite Eve blends turn-based strategy with action elements. It culminates in a dramatic, explosive ending where detective Aya Brea appears to save New York City. After finishing the game, players can start a new game with their previously earned equipment and access a new optional area: the Chrysler Building.

The tower has 77 floors, and each one is different, with random layouts and monsters, making it a challenging climb with few places to rest. Reaching the top floor allows players to battle a boss, unlocking a new, story-rich ending and significantly expanding the game’s plot.

Nier: Automata

The ABCs Of Endings

Nier: Automata is an action role-playing game known for its multiple endings – a total of 26, labeled A through Z. The first five endings (A to E) form a core loop that players experience repeatedly. Throughout the game, players can unlock additional, often humorous or heartbreaking, endings based on their actions and choices. Interestingly, dying isn’t always a simple ‘Game Over’; sometimes it triggers unique story events.

Honestly, the game could throw you a curveball and give you an ending that makes you start everything over! Or, maybe they’ll let you accidentally kill off important characters at the wrong time. Nier: Automata is already a pretty long game, but if you’re a completionist like me and want to see everything, these kinds of things will definitely keep you playing for a while.

Chrono Trigger

When To Defeat Lavos

Chrono Trigger is a role-playing game where you battle enemies in turns and travel through time. The story revolves around stopping a massive alien called Lavos. While the game features time travel, players might not immediately realize they can use it to change events and finish the game sooner. This becomes more obvious after completing the game once, as you can carry over your progress to a new game plus.

As you progress, new areas will open up, letting you fight Lavos at various times. When you challenge Lavos affects the game’s ending significantly. Some paths are more difficult than others, based on the characters you bring to the fight – there’s even a challenging route where Crono must battle Lavos by himself.

Undertale

Passive, Killer, Or In The Middle

Undertale is a unique game that mixes turn-based combat with action. Your choices during battles significantly impact the story, and achieving the best endings requires either showing mercy to every enemy or defeating them all.

While completing the game without fighting is considered the main ending, players who choose to spare some enemies but fight others will unlock neutral endings. These aren’t as fulfilling story-wise, but they can be quite amusing. Similar to the Silent Hill games, Undertale also includes a unique ‘dog ending’ as one of its possibilities.

Shin Megami Tensei 4

Make Your Own Path In The Apocalypse

In the turn-based RPG Shin Megami Tensei 4, players make dialogue choices that align with Neutral, Lawful, or Chaotic alignments. However, the game doesn’t explicitly signal which choices will lead to different endings, although some actions are more indicative than others.

Players’ decisions and actions throughout the game, especially near the end, will determine their alignment – whether they follow a Neutral, Lawful, or Chaotic path. This alignment will decide which faction – angels, demons, or humans – they ultimately support. Achieving the Neutral ending is particularly difficult.

Forspoken

Should I Stay Or Should I Go Now?

Forspoken is an action role-playing game where a woman named Frey is transported to a magical world, similar to the premise of anime like Inuyasha or The Devil is a Part-Timer.

Okay, so this game isn’t super branching in terms of choices – mostly you’re just figuring out if you want to help people and do their quests. Eventually, you get to a point where you decide if you want to stay in the game’s world or head back to reality. It’s not exactly that simple, but the game gives you enough hints along the way so you’ll have a pretty good idea of what you’re getting into.

Final Fantasy 10-2

From All Angles

Final Fantasy X-2 is a role-playing game where players take turns in battle, and it continues the story from Final Fantasy X. A key part of the game revolves around finding out what happened to a character named Tidus, and one of the possible endings specifically addresses whether he’s still alive.

The game lets you choose to support one of three groups: the Youth League, the New Yevon Party, or the Machine Faction. Achieving 100% completion requires doing optional tasks and replaying parts of the game to unlock everything, which can take a while. However, the game’s Job system helps keep the experience engaging.

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2026-01-30 08:35