It's interesting for me to read this thread because, admittedly, I am writing a VN where the endings are split between 'good' and 'bad'. But for me, the 'bad' endings are just as powerful as the 'good' endings. The only thing is that much of the mystery is left unsolved, while 'good' endings explain a great deal, if not everything.
'Bad' endings are simply consequences of certain actions (or certain lack of action, sometimes) that I think do a good job of reflecting the author's message and intentions. In other words, I think it's okay to say they're 'bad', to some extent. Not for the sake of making crappy endings, but really to reflect an intention with ramifications.
For example, in Katawa Shoujo,
sleeping with Misha is a bad ending on the Shizune route. It's obvious that the writer means to say that in complicated, emotionally tangled three-way situations, you shouldn't make it worse - you need to draw the line and stick to it. And that's pretty fair, I think. Though on a really personal note, Shizune's route was the most boring and I couldn't wait for it to end even when I got the good ending... ~_~
And in Hotel Dusk and Last Window, instant bad endings occur if you select dialogue options that are too wishy-washy or too aggressive. It's a sound plea for balance.
Some of the best combination of 'good', 'bad' and 'true' endings, I've seen in X-Note and Area-X. Players have actually stated that some of their favourite endings are the supposed 'bad' endings!
Admittedly, Anon's 'bad' ending in X-Note is friggin' epic.
I actually sent a note to the creators, asking if they considered any one of the endings the 'right' ending, so to speak, since each of the endings were so detailedand often very tragic
. The creators responded as thus (I am quoting word for word):And I think that's a pretty good attitude to have if you want to create as many strong endings as possible to one strong beginning.The game has many possibilities, and none of them is "canon", meaning no ending is more true than the others.
A creative selection of endings can be explored via the VN medium, so I think it has a lot of potential. I agree with a lot of what has been said in this thread, and also add my hope that no one feels limited by such labels, but rather uses them as a springboard to seriously flex some creative muscle and expand their story's possibilities.