Endings: How Many is Enough?

[Vegeluxia]

In games like Clock Tower: The Struggle Within, there are 13 different endings, but the vast majority of them don't solve anything or have only slight variations. In other games (Ib, for example) there are multiple endings, but they are very different and there are a lot less of them.

The Clock Tower example seems excessive, IMO, since there is little to no variation in the endings. The Ib variation is much better, but it just doesn’t seem like it has quite enough endings considering the length of the game.

Basically I’m wondering, how many endings do you personally consider too many/few in a game that features them, and kind of ending variation do you usually like to see?

[clua]

In games like Clock Tower: The Struggle Within, there are 13 different endings, but the vast majority of them don't solve anything or have only slight variations. In other games (Ib, for example) there are multiple endings, but they are very different and there are a lot less of them.

The Clock Tower example seems excessive, IMO, since there is little to no variation in the endings. The Ib variation is much better, but it just doesn’t seem like it has quite enough endings considering the length of the game.

Basically I’m wondering, how many endings do you personally consider too many/few in a game that features them, and kind of ending variation do you usually like to see?

OHH I played that Clock Tower, It scared me a lot, even with the crap graphics ahaha.
But I remember those endings, most of them were trigger deaths. In VN I think endings are more story driven and less abrupt.

In Clock Tower you could die with a pot smashed on your head :Y(And that was an ending)

I think less endings are better, I mean you can work them more if they are less.

[Gambit74]

I like to see at least four different endings, but that's just me. Personally, I think there can never be too much as long as they all serve a meaningful purpose (Moral of the story, outcomes based on actions, consequences because of actions etc). I don't count death ends though, since they're more like a Game Over when you compare them to real Bad Ends.

[Vegeluxia]

OHH I played that Clock Tower, It scared me a lot, even with the crap graphics ahaha.
But I remember those endings, most of them were trigger deaths. In VN I think endings are more story driven and less abrupt.

...I think less endings are better, I mean you can work them more if they are less.

Makes sense. C: I feel like maybe you could make them a bit more "powerful" if there were only a few endings compared to a whole bundle.

In Clock Tower you could die with a pot smashed on your head :Y(And that was an ending)

A friend and I played 8 hours straight because we were lacking a proper memory card and couldn't save. In the end, we just wound up geting sliced in half. We were pretty upset about it. :'D

[Crocosquirrel]

A large number of possible endings aren't necessarily a bad idea, as long as they're all different in a significant way. Academy Daze will have fourteen or so in the full version, and every one is different, including not one but two points in which the MC can be killed (which would technically make sixteen. The end results are still the same, though.)

[Vegeluxia]

I like to see at least four different endings, but that's just me. Personally, I think there can never be too much as long as they all serve a meaningful purpose (Moral of the story, outcomes based on actions, consequences because of actions etc). I don't count death ends though, since they're more like a Game Over when you compare them to real Bad Ends.

Four is usually the least I like to see as well. Any less sort of seems like too little. Unless the character dies in some fabulous/important/plot driven way, I wouldn’t count it as ending either, just a game over.

A large number of possible endings aren't necessarily a bad idea, as long as they're all different in a significant way.

IMO, the difference in endings is super important, otherwise it isn’t fun getting the other ones. I guess it also depends on the actual significance of them too though. Trying to get a lot of different, but insignificant endings would get a bit boring compared to getting a couple of different, but important ones. Totally just my opinion though.

[Blane Doyle]

I actually liked the 13 endings in CT:SW. Then again, I am a fan of bad endings though so that might explain why. XD

Personally, I think 1 ending is enough for some games (kinetic novels only have one ending after all, as do more traditional games) while 4 may not be. For some games 4 may actually be too many while others can have 20 different ones and be perfectly fine. I think it all depends on how the creator goes about it, how they tie into the game, so on. In your example the game, to me, is ok... but the endings could have been a lot better and made more sense.

Take another game with multiple endings, more than Clock Tower. Corpse Party. You have 5 chapters and at least 3-4 endings for each chapter. In total, the game technically has 27 endings. 27.
But they don't feel like too much, to me. Each ending makes sense in a way. Some are classic game overs, some are triggered by one mistake at the beginning of the chapter over an hour ago, others involve making a series of decisions and going along with them. Some are very similar to others, while some are completely different, and others are just one ending gotten in multiple ways. And if you like horror games or horror VNs then you would LOVE them. They're fun to get, not exceeding difficult, and some even unlock bonus content.

Another game I can bring up is Yume Miru Kusuri. You have a total of 7 endings, two for each character being one good and one bad, and a generic bad alone ending. Simple, short, and the formula works in my opinion. The endings themselves vary in quality for person to person, but for a game where you are supposed to stay with a girl's route it is standard fare. (You could also substitute something like RE:Alistair++ in this position)

You have other cases like 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors. The game has a total of 6 endings. However, I do find mild issue with this one. 3 (Axe, Submarine, Knife) of the endings are more like... alternate "what ifs" and are great in their own right. One of the endings (Safe) unlocks the 5th ending (True) and these two are the only necessary ones to finish the game as you cannot get the final ending without playing through the 4th one beforehand. Then there is one more ending. Coffin. The Coffin ending is the True ending just... cut off. Ended part way through. And you can completely overlook it unless you want 100% completion. In my opinion, as much as I love the game, the Coffin ending is a bit much. It works well when you get the first story, but it could have been implemented in a better way than "nope, you went the right way but you can't finish yet".
To me, this is a case of one ending too many or an ending that could have been reworked.
Or troll ending?
(Either way, I love the game)

.. so, uh, yeah. The ending number is ok no matter what it is as long as you implement it well I guess.

[Vegeluxia]

I actually liked the 13 endings in CT:SW. Then again, I am a fan of bad endings though so that might explain why. XD

Personally, I think 1 ending is enough for some games (kinetic novels only have one ending after all, as do more traditional games) while 4 may not be. For some games 4 may actually be too many while others can have 20 different ones and be perfectly fine. I think it all depends on how the creator goes about it, how they tie into the game, so on. In your example the game, to me, is ok... but the endings could have been a lot better and made more sense.

Take another game with multiple endings, more than Clock Tower. Corpse Party. You have 5 chapters and at least 3-4 endings for each chapter. In total, the game technically has 27 endings. 27.
But they don't feel like too much, to me. Each ending makes sense in a way. Some are classic game overs, some are triggered by one mistake at the beginning of the chapter over an hour ago, others involve making a series of decisions and going along with them. Some are very similar to others, while some are completely different, and others are just one ending gotten in multiple ways. And if you like horror games or horror VNs then you would LOVE them. They're fun to get, not exceeding difficult, and some even unlock bonus content.

Another game I can bring up is Yume Miru Kusuri. You have a total of 7 endings, two for each character being one good and one bad, and a generic bad alone ending. Simple, short, and the formula works in my opinion. The endings themselves vary in quality for person to person, but for a game where you are supposed to stay with a girl's route it is standard fare. (You could also substitute something like RE:Alistair++ in this position)

You have other cases like 9 Hours 9 Persons 9 Doors. The game has a total of 6 endings. However, I do find mild issue with this one. 3 (Axe, Submarine, Knife) of the endings are more like... alternate "what ifs" and are great in their own right. One of the endings (Safe) unlocks the 5th ending (True) and these two are the only necessary ones to finish the game as you cannot get the final ending without playing through the 4th one beforehand. Then there is one more ending. Coffin. The Coffin ending is the True ending just... cut off. Ended part way through. And you can completely overlook it unless you want 100% completion. In my opinion, as much as I love the game, the Coffin ending is a bit much. It works well when you get the first story, but it could have been implemented in a better way than "nope, you went the right way but you can't finish yet".
To me, this is a case of one ending too many or an ending that could have been reworked.
Or troll ending?
(Either way, I love the game)

.. so, uh, yeah. The ending number is ok no matter what it is as long as you implement it well I guess.

Eeeee, super informative post~ Yay! C:

From what I can remember right now about The Struggle Within, 3 of the endings just involved you getting stabbed by Stephanie, just in different parts of the house. Bad endings can be really interesting sometimes, but I just thought that was annoying. I like to think that the endings in the 1st game (the PS1 game, not the SNES one) handled endings the best. I think there were four for each character you played as, and there was quite a bit of difference between them. To get the better endings you have to pick up something way back in the first chapter-- which is super easy to miss if you’re too busy freaking out about the Scissorman and rushing through the game. XD

Every dating sim type game I’ve played has had the good/bad type ending formula for each character plus a good/bad ending path where you don’t get with anybody. For that type of game, that seems like the perfect amount of endings, though at some point I think I’d love to see a dating sim that had a few endings worthy of Cheaters. *bricked* That’ll teach me to be indecisive.

I really don’t like when there are too many endings that don’t really solve anything. Makes me feel like I’ve been playing and playing and working towards absolutely nothing, you know? :’D

I will be checking out Corpse Party! I love horror games~<3 It’s actually the type of game I’m making now.

[Cue-san]

, Uh well.. XD
2 endings are enough. As long as it is played for a very long time like 10-20 hours.
and 5 endings for 2-5 hours of play, It also depends on how many characters you'd like to put on depending on their characteristics in the story.

(Haha ! That's for me ;D, But you see, the more endings, the more greater the game ! Good Luck ~~ :3)

[Androol]

I'm tempted to answer 42, I am pretty sur you know why.
I don't realy think the number of ending is the issue, more the meaning. Are they bad ending to make the game harder and force you to play it more than once to finish it? Bad ending to implie that your decision where moraly wrong in the eyes of the autor and punish you? Bad ending due to a logicl chain of event or a failed investigation leading you to a dead end in a mystery scenario? Alternate good ending due to your choice or your % of succes?
If the game is good enought to make me play it again and again, it can have as many ending the autor had the patience to wright.

[Taleweaver]

The number of endings should make sense in relation to the structure of the story you're telling.

Romance VN? Good/Neutral/Bad endings for each character; maybe one catch-all "you don't romance anyone" bad ending and one special "harem ending".

Mystery/horror VN? Depends. If other people are involved (besides the MC), good/bad endings for each of those, one "best ending" that fully explains/resolves the horror and several bad endings reflecting how far you've managed to get through the game before dying.

Drama VN? Anything goes as long as it suits the dramatic structure.

ADRIFT, my longest game so far, had quite a few endings:

1 to 3 were bad endings where the MC died for several different reasons.
4, 7, 10 and 13 were sad endings, one for each supporting character.
5, 8, 11 and 14 were normal (half-bad) endings, one for each supporting character.
6, 9, 12 and 15 were good endings, one for each supporting character.
16 was the Harem Ending, which also explained all that had happened, though you could piece that together yourself in all the other endings.

The important thing is that these endings were distinct. One wasn't supposed to feel like any other. You need to do that, or your player may feel cheated.

[Anna]

This is just sort of related, but... do you really count every bad ending where you die (even if it's halfway through your story) to your total endings when you release your VN? Doesn't it feel wrong or misleading to announce those as an ending because, well... you just die?

In that case my current project has over 5 O_o...

[Taleweaver]

This is just sort of related, but... do you really count every bad ending where you die (even if it's halfway through your story) to your total endings when you release your VN? Doesn't it feel wrong or misleading to announce those as an ending because, well... you just die?

In that case my current project has over 5 O_o...

If the death is a valid end to the story - sure it's an ending.

[Vegeluxia]

I'm tempted to answer 42, I am pretty sur you know why.
I don't realy think the number of ending is the issue, more the meaning. Are they bad ending to make the game harder and force you to play it more than once to finish it? Bad ending to implie that your decision where moraly wrong in the eyes of the autor and punish you? Bad ending due to a logicl chain of event or a failed investigation leading you to a dead end in a mystery scenario? Alternate good ending due to your choice or your % of succes?
If the game is good enought to make me play it again and again, it can have as many ending the autor had the patience to wright.

42 would just be way too much for me to play, no matter how good the game was. If most of the endings were too similar, I'd probably lose interest somewhere along the line. If all 42 endings were distinct from each other, I'd probably lose track of what was going on. That would be a lot of different things to try and remember, even if they were somehow important to the plot.

The important thing is that these endings were distinct. One wasn't supposed to feel like any other. You need to do that, or your player may feel cheated

Agreed. When two different endings are too similar, I don’t feel very satisfied after getting them. I think it can get annoying if it happens too frequently, and I wouldn't want to annoy anybody like that with a game of mine.

This is just sort of related, but... do you really count every bad ending where you die (even if it's halfway through your story) to your total endings when you release your VN? Doesn't it feel wrong or misleading to announce those as an ending because, well... you just die?

In that case my current project has over 5 O_o...

Unless the character dies in some fabulous/important/plot driven way, I wouldn’t count it as ending either, just a game over.

[Endorphin]

42 would just be way too much for me to play, no matter how good the game was. If most of the endings were too similar, I'd probably lose interest somewhere along the line. If all 42 endings were distinct from each other, I'd probably lose track of what was going on. That would be a lot of different things to try and remember, even if they were somehow important to the plot.

I guess >this< was meant, hun.

Endings, huh?
Gotta admit, too many are a little intimidating at first, but I don't mind if they are good.
I see a problem in these dating game endings.
When you have the 'friendship' ending with a guy (e.g.), you're not really friends with them - it's just failed romance.
It's more like a shorter, incomplete, undesirable ending.
It would be interesting if you were actually friends - caring for each other, making fun of each other sometimes and still loving the other one even though you wouldn't want to be romantically involved with them. Maybe the protagonist and the love interest tried out the dating stuff but decided to be friends - which is something you can benefit from too.
An ending gotta be satisfying, no matter whether it's a "bad", "neutral" or "good" one.

- R.