Sometimes Being Good Doesn't Pay Off
Video games usually teach us that making the right choices will reap some sort of reward—even if it’s just a moral victory. But that’s a heck of a lot better than doing the right thing for literally no payoff. You can spend hours saving people, showing mercy, and fighting for a better world, only to discover that your good intentions have actually made everything worse. What's even more disturbing is that these 20 endings leave you wondering whether doing the right thing was worth it at all.
1. Shadow of the Colossus
Wander spends the entire game defeating enormous creatures because he thinks their deaths will bring Mono back to life. What does all that hard work do instead? It allows Dormin to use Wander's body as a vessel, forcing Lord Emon to seal him away. Mono then awakens to find that the person who saved her has been transformed into a horned infant, so that’s nice.
2. NieR: Automata
Ending E offers you the chance to help strangers overcome the game's notoriously difficult ending. Accepting that responsibility, however, requires voluntarily deleting your save data. It's an unusually personal sacrifice—your generosity benefits someone you'll probably never meet; meanwhile, you’ll lose everything you've accomplished.
Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
3. Persona 3
Stopping the Fall sounds like the obvious responsibility for a group of teenagers trying to stop humanity's destruction. Unfortunately, you actually need to become the Great Seal that prevents Nyx from reaching humanity, sacrificing your life in the process. Oh, sure, you manage to honor your promise, but you’ll still die shortly afterward.
4. Final Fantasy X
Tidus joins Yuna on her pilgrimage, hoping to end Spira's suffering, eventually helping her defeat Sin without relying on the traditional Final Summoning. It’s a little convoluted, but it all makes sense, trust us. Come to find out that their success comes with an unfortunate discovery: Tidus only exists as part of a dream. Once that image is shattered, he disappears, leaving Yuna to celebrate a future that he won't get to share.
5. inFamous 2
Cole faces an impossible decision when the RFI offers humanity a chance to survive a plague. You can’t exactly turn it down, though you might wish you did. Activating it saves humans but kills Conduits worldwide, including Cole himself and several people he loves. Choosing the heroic ending means sacrificing an entire population of superpowered individuals, making his greatest act of heroism all the more complicated.
6. SOMA
Simon spends much of SOMA helping Catherine prepare the ARK, which seems straightforward enough until you realize what exactly that means for you. Successfully launching it allows digital versions of them to experience a peaceful existence, but the original Simon is basically stranded. It’s never fun to see him crash out after realizing that he hasn't personally escaped.
7. Hollow Knight
Defeating the Hollow Knight sure looks like the heroic solution to Hallownest's devastating Infection. The thing is, without acquiring the Void Heart, the Knight merely absorbs the Infection and becomes the new vessel for it. Congratulations—you've relieved the kingdom's immediate suffering, but your reward is indefinite confinement.
8. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
During the Whispering Hillock quest, Geralt can release a mysterious spirit that promises to rescue kids threatened by the Crones. Who knew that keeping that promise came at a horrifying cost? The freed entity just attacks the nearby village, and Anna's situation becomes pretty tragic.
9. A Plague Tale: Requiem
Amicia spends the story protecting Hugo from people determined to exploit him, but when the infection overwhelms him, Hugo asks her to end his life rather than allow the plague to continue destroying everything around them. Following his wishes saves countless lives, but Amicia must live with the unbearable knowledge that she took out the guy she fought so hard to protect.
10. Life is Strange
What would you do to save your best friend? Just ask Max and her trusty pal, Chloe (jury’s out on the trusty part). discovers that her attempts to save Chloe have helped create a disastrous situation threatening Arcadia Bay. Choosing to protect the town, however, means going back to the bathroom where Chloe was originally murdered and allowing that to unfold. It's a harsh conclusion.
11. The Last of Us Part II
The whole point of this game is basically to hunt down Abby, but once you do, it’s all sort of a bust depending on who you ask. Ellie ultimately decides to spare her enemy, but then returns to an empty farmhouse where Dina and JJ have already left. Her missing fingers also keep her from playing Joel's guitar properly. It’s just upsetting all around.
12. BioShock Infinite
Booker spends much of the game trying to rescue Elizabeth from Columbia and the people controlling her existence. Their journey then reveals that preventing Comstock's rise means eliminating Booker at the baptism where their identities diverge. Elizabeth and her alternate counterparts drown him before he can make that choice, turning the effort to save her into his own apparent erasure.
13. Mass Effect 3
Hooray! Shepard can destroy the Reapers, finally ending the threat that has devastated civilization for generations. Hold your horses, though. The Crucible's destructive energy also eliminates synthetic life, including EDI and the geth, regardless of whether you helped them achieve peace. After hours of proving that organics and synthetics can coexist, you're forced to unravel that whole narrative.
Alex from Calgary, Canada on Wikimedia
14. Dragon Age: Origins
The Grey Warden's mission is to defeat the Archdemon and prevent the Fifth Blight from consuming Ferelden. Refusing Morrigan's ritual means that whoever delivers the fatal blow must sacrifice their life to destroy the creature. If your Warden completes that duty, their heroic adventure ends with a funeral.
15. Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty
Helping Songbird escape the NUSA seems like the right choice, but during the King of Wands ending, V sends her toward freedom and must also kill Solomon Reed when he refuses to stand aside. So, yeah, Songbird receives her chance at survival, but V sacrifices a cure and loses another person who believed he was doing his duty.
16. OneShot
In this one, you guide Niko through a dying world with the understanding that restoring its sun should save everyone living there—or so you thought. At the original ending's final choice, returning the sun means Niko can't go home, while breaking it allows the child to escape at the world's expense.
17. Oxenfree II: Lost Signals
Riley and co. work to stop the disturbances threatening Camena and the people within them, and that seems noble enough…until you realize that sealing the portal means leaving someone trapped on the other side. Even after preventing further disaster, you need to choose whose freedom is worth surrendering.
18. Final Fantasy XV
Noctis spends years preparing to reclaim his kingdom and confront Ardyn. His responsibilities as king will eventually bring peace, so what’s the issue? Well, the prophecy actually requires him to sacrifice his life to eliminate Ardyn and the Starscourge altogether. His friends survive, and the world finally sees daylight again, but their victory arrives at a high price.
19. Undertale
Completing the True Pacifist Route means refusing to kill anyone, befriending old enemies, and freeing the monsters from the Underground. Yet saving Asriel doesn't restore the child he once was, and he eventually returns to his existence as Flowey. Everyone else gets the happy ending they've wanted, though, so that’s nice.
CERO, Nintendo, 8-4, Ltd, Temmie Chang and Toby Fox on Wikimedia
20. The Walking Dead: Season One
Oh, poor, poor Lee. But his step-fatherly decision to search for Clementine leads to a walker bite, leaving him with very little time before the infection takes hold. Although Clem survives, his final moments force the youngster to either shoot him or leave him behind, ensuring that his devotion comes at a heartbreaking price.
Nipan Chawcharernpon on Pexels
