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Most Ridiculous Requirements to Get the 'True Ending'
- Thread starter osnameless
- Start date
Persona 4's kind of an odd case.
I can't imagine too many people were tripped up going from the bad endings to the "good" ending. The game is very blatant that you screwed up, especially in the Vita version where it tells you that the branching paths are coming. I imagine what trips people up is getting the true ending on the final day, because it's not immediately apparent that there is a true ending there in the original PS4 version.
Persona 1 is definitely worse, however. Being able to overwrite your saved game by accident and lock you out of the ending permanently unless you restart is... ugh.
Everyone saying X-2 is on point. Was absolutely ridiculous. The true ending required 100% completion, which wouldn't be so mad if the requirements were realistic. Except they're just not. You had such insanity as having to leave the sphere cameras on for like 5mins with nothing happening, just so a cutscene would trigger that would then unlock a later side quests. You miss the scene and you miss an entire quest chain line, and even worse you'd have more cutscenes between them which unlocked in equally stupid and ridiculous ways. If you even miss one of them, you don't complete the questline. Who in the world would know that stuff? Furthermore the secret ending wasn't much better, seeing very specific scenes and then whistling at a specific time just to get it, lol.
I remember completing the game a few times without a guide trying to get 100% since I didn't have much else to play at the time. I got really damn close, I want to say either 97 or 98%, but I just gave up. It was really tiring how one tiny thing could screw over entire questlines like that, and I couldn't be bothered step by stepping it with a guide. Later down the line I did end up youtubing the ending, and it wasn't really worth it anyway.
I remember completing the game a few times without a guide trying to get 100% since I didn't have much else to play at the time. I got really damn close, I want to say either 97 or 98%, but I just gave up. It was really tiring how one tiny thing could screw over entire questlines like that, and I couldn't be bothered step by stepping it with a guide. Later down the line I did end up youtubing the ending, and it wasn't really worth it anyway.
Eh, honestly the Neutral route is usually just a combination of Chaos and Law routes. In IV for instance you just end up doing a bunch of mandatory sidequests and then beat both ending dungeons and bosses. Nothing major imo. The games that lock more substantial content behind a "true ending" path are usually either the releases like Nocturne Maniax or SJ: Redux, or telegraph the fakeout routes really hard (Apocalypse does this).
To be fair... It was a pretty rad guide. At least, I think it was the guide, but it might've just been an artbook. Basically full page spreads for every job with character art and descriptions of the abilities that job could learn. I love stuff like that.
Yeah, that was in the guide. I bought it. I always buy the strategy guide for mainline FF games. It's a tradition for me.
All classic Sonic the Hedgehog games. Finding secret elements in a platformer? That's reasonable. Kinda cool actually. Having to beat dumb ass minigames that have nothing to do with the platforming and largely can't be easily rebeaten? That's shitty. At least Mania's were fun.
I'm going to echo everyone else saying FFX-2.
I didn't complete the game until the remastered version because I didn't turn around at the beginning of the game and talked to the Moogle behind Yuna.
A Moogle. That was hidden behind crates. That if you didn't read a guide or was just one of those people that ran in the opposite direction of where the game is leading you, you didn't know was there.
0.01%. Nah. Hard pass.
I didn't complete the game until the remastered version because I didn't turn around at the beginning of the game and talked to the Moogle behind Yuna.
A Moogle. That was hidden behind crates. That if you didn't read a guide or was just one of those people that ran in the opposite direction of where the game is leading you, you didn't know was there.
0.01%. Nah. Hard pass.
Detroit Become Human had this moment kinda in the middle where if you didn't notice a small object you wouldn't get a small bit of info about another character, and then at the end of the game you're supposed to know this info and if you don't, you cannot 'win', you literally just lose.
Connor didn't know the name of the son of the detective, and thus, Connor died, and so did my enthusiasm for playing.
I've never gotten a guide myself. It was a gift, along with the guide. It's actually the last guide I've ever owned. They were already kind of dead at that point with GameFAQs around. These days, I don't use guides at all, as a way to recapture that blind discovery when I first started gaming as a child.
As a follow up question, does anyone else feel that this "true ending" bullshit shows a complete lack of respect for the player's time?
Reading this thread, so glad I dropped Arkham Knight and Persona 4 when I did. I just hit a point where I did not feel the time invested was worth it.
Reading this thread, so glad I dropped Arkham Knight and Persona 4 when I did. I just hit a point where I did not feel the time invested was worth it.
Like a lot of people have mentioned, FFX-2 was the first game that came to mind. It's absolutely batshit.
(On a positive to not getting the best ending, I still think the standard ending is the best ending for Yuna's character and the themes of the game, but the FMV of the good ending is stunning and tugs at the ol' heartstrings.)
I'm having flashbacks just reading this, lawd. I think my highest was 90% something, but I still managed to mess a few things up, even with a guide.
I'd forgotten about SMTIV! That's definitely another one. I was aiming for a neutral ending with referencing a guide, and still managed to mess it up somehow. Argh.
(On a positive to not getting the best ending, I still think the standard ending is the best ending for Yuna's character and the themes of the game, but the FMV of the good ending is stunning and tugs at the ol' heartstrings.)
I'm having flashbacks just reading this, lawd. I think my highest was 90% something, but I still managed to mess a few things up, even with a guide.
I'd forgotten about SMTIV! That's definitely another one. I was aiming for a neutral ending with referencing a guide, and still managed to mess it up somehow. Argh.
If you're into the whole lore aspect of the souls games it's wasn't that hard to miss. The 2nd floor of the Lecture building has a message that says "Three third cords" and Mergo's Wet Nurse drops a "third umbilical cord". Finding the other two is trickier and you can lock yourself out of the ending if you didn't finish Arianna's questline and killed false Iosefka early. Then you have to make sure to actually use them, I was half expecting you to have to give them to someone, but unlike Firekeeper souls in DS1 there's nothing in the text to support it.
And I don't even think that's the most cryptic thing in the game, that probably goes to having to hold the "Make Contact" gesture in front of the brain for over 30 seconds to get a rune.
This is almost certain, since similar bullshit was in FF XII to obtain the Zodiac Spear (best weapon in the original game). There must have been some kind of meddling from higher-ups at Square Enix to include this kind of game design.
My first thought when I saw the thread title. Thank god for YouTube
Drakengard
And then the ending is just the game trolling you.
And then that ending is the one that takes us to Nier.
Yoko Taro is a fucking madman.
And then the ending is just the game trolling you.
And then that ending is the one that takes us to Nier.
Yoko Taro is a fucking madman.
Yeah I got the normal ending first time around, read a post mentioning the final boss on a forum like a year later and was like "this doesnt sound familiar at all" and googled it.
Then I decided to start a new playthrough in Golden.
But yeah it's really dumb, the game literally goes into full ending mode of saying your goodbyes to all the characters around town before you're ready to leave.
It really depends on the game and how they handle it.
I think Persona 4 did the endings well. It's a murder mystery and so to get the best ending you need to
1 - Don't be evil.
2 - Figure out who the murderer is.
3 - Realize that there still are some loose threads and keep investigating even though the game is telling you that you've already won.
And in the case of the Vita version, doing the Vita-specific side quest + all the true ending stuff will get you a fun story-only epilogue that wasn't in the original game.
All of that makes sense in the context of the game and isn't too difficult. The only part I'd say wasn't handled the best was that the dialogue responses for that first step aren't as clear as they could be and if you mess up, you have to go through a chunk of unskippable cutcenes (although in the Vita version, they added a fast-forward function so it isn't as bad). On the other hand, games that require 100% completion AND have stuff that you can miss (thus preventing ever getting 100% without restarting) are a pain.
Proud Mode is more fun anyways, and KH2 is no better since some of those minigames are ass.
There were way too many trophies. Yes there was good content, but there's such a thing as too much. Finding riddles is fun, but trophies should have been reduced to the amount required for Catwoman's story to end and that's it. The Riddler's beaten at that point so there's no real reason to collect trophies and riddles after that.
Yuuuuuuuup
At least two of the gold cards are the same for each level: one is time limit, and then the standard level missions require certain amount of gems. The rest is exploration, and probably just another run through a level. The boss ones though? Those can go right to hell.
Dodonpachi, to see the real ending you need to beat the seven level that its only available in the second loop,to play the second loop you need to:
Type B: 300 hits
Type C: 330 hits
- Loses at most 2 fighters (lives).
- Depending on the fighter used, have a maximum hit count of at least the following:
Type B: 300 hits
Type C: 330 hits
- Score at least 50 million points at the end of the area 6.
- Collect all 13 bees in four of the six areas.
SMTIV is a big-time offender if you want the neutral ending. Doing all the shitty side-quests is just one of the reasons why.
Jeez, I came in going to post Bubble Bobble and needing to get the crystal ball to enter the doorway in level 99, but some of the shit posted makes that look like child's play.
This reminds me I need to start playing FFX-2 again. I remember I stopped playing after two hours when I realized I simply had to use a very detailed guide at all times to see the true ending. I felt sad on that day, because I had just finished playing FFX for the first time few days prior to this and I was absolutely in love with the story. Hell, I even loved every damn second of the intro video to FFX-2 and I was so excited about it.
Jet Force Gemini's Tribals come to mind immediately, although I liked that game a lot and they hid a lot of them in new areas that were only available to you after Mizar's Palace
CTRL + F'd for "Cross Edge." Never played that game, but had a friend who played it when we roomed together, and man, did he have unkind things to say about what it demanded of the player to get the golden ending.
Every time I see a thread like this, it makes me more happy after collecting all riddler trophies in Arkham Knight..
Best moment ever... goosebumps hehe. Took me like 3 weeks after work/school.
Best moment ever... goosebumps hehe. Took me like 3 weeks after work/school.
I guess I'm one of the weird ones who liked the tediousness of X-2 lol. I also liked the normal ending better though.
A lot of NES-era games could also qualify for this. Tower of Druaga, Mighty Bomb Jack, and Solomon's Key come to mind.
...Guys. You don't need 100% to see the true ending of X-2. The big reunion scene between Yuna and Tidus, which you only need about >80% to see? That was the true ending. Getting 100% just unlocks one small, inconsequential scene afterward in Zanarkand that doesn't change or reveal anything of note. It's not really worth obtaining for most players. It's more like a neat extra for the dedicated fans. It's nothing more than a tiny extension to the true ending, where nothing happens.
You want some hundred-percent-ending bullshit in X-2, look no further than the Creature Creator (in the Int/HD versions), which has its own ending. If you want to get THAT, you'll have to capture every single creature in the game, raise its level until its story is complete, and release it. Easier said than freaking done. Several monsters can only be captured during a single chapter, in a single location, using a single pod type. Others are part of a quest chain that spans the entire length of the game. Others can only be captured after you've captured/leveled/released other creatures. Still others will unlock a whole new tournament in the Monster Arena, where the airship will blow up [!!] if you lose. A few can only be captured on New Game+. At least one can never be found again if you release him. One other unlocks an unbelievably tough superboss fight. (Et cetera. I had to make a gigantic spreadsheet to keep track of it all.) Once you've finally completed it 100%, then you can access a very short ending (it DOES actually end the entire playthrough right then and there, so watch out) where Shinra basically just says "thank you". That's it. The only useful thing about that ending is that you can view it anytime in subsequent playthroughs, so you basically unlock an on-demand New Game Plus.
Anyway...yeah. THAT's the 100% ending y'all should be complaining about. Reuniting Yuna and Tidus is easy peasy. Completing the Spiran Pokedex, now that's the real(ly ridiculous) deal.
Screenshots of the CC ending for those curious (it's basically a knock-off of FFX's opening, but with various mobs standing in):
You want some hundred-percent-ending bullshit in X-2, look no further than the Creature Creator (in the Int/HD versions), which has its own ending. If you want to get THAT, you'll have to capture every single creature in the game, raise its level until its story is complete, and release it. Easier said than freaking done. Several monsters can only be captured during a single chapter, in a single location, using a single pod type. Others are part of a quest chain that spans the entire length of the game. Others can only be captured after you've captured/leveled/released other creatures. Still others will unlock a whole new tournament in the Monster Arena, where the airship will blow up [!!] if you lose. A few can only be captured on New Game+. At least one can never be found again if you release him. One other unlocks an unbelievably tough superboss fight. (Et cetera. I had to make a gigantic spreadsheet to keep track of it all.) Once you've finally completed it 100%, then you can access a very short ending (it DOES actually end the entire playthrough right then and there, so watch out) where Shinra basically just says "thank you". That's it. The only useful thing about that ending is that you can view it anytime in subsequent playthroughs, so you basically unlock an on-demand New Game Plus.
Anyway...yeah. THAT's the 100% ending y'all should be complaining about. Reuniting Yuna and Tidus is easy peasy. Completing the Spiran Pokedex, now that's the real(ly ridiculous) deal.
Screenshots of the CC ending for those curious (it's basically a knock-off of FFX's opening, but with various mobs standing in):
Eternal Darkness had a secret ending you could only see after beating the game three times by selecting a different Rune from one of the ancients. You basically trigger a cutscene about Mantarok that lasts less than 30 seconds...
Drakengard certainly deserves mention.
The Suikoden games also warrant mentioning. To get the best endings in any of them, you must recruit all 108 party members, and often hit a few other key requirements. This isn't bad in the earlier, shorter ones, but can get tricky in others. In Suikoden 5, which is a very lengthy game that features a large number of obscure or permanently missable characters, this can be VERY difficult.
The Growlanser games can also have difficult requirements for true ends. I'm not an expert on all the specifics, but you have to make a lot of difficult choices and complete the games' battles flawlessly to get the best endings.
Just reaching the penultimate ending is a complex task involving unlocking hidden chapters by taking characters to story events before you recruited them, and then realizing that logical path, trying to save the hero's sister, just leads to more suffering and no new ending, Instead you have to murder a child and break the sanity if the world. That gets you the "almost sveryone dies horribly" ending.
To get the resl ending... Find the secret conditions to unlock the hidden weapon chests located in every stage and get ALL the weapons. This lets you fight a boss that is one of the hardest rhythm games of all time, with even a single mistake being fatal. Succeed, and you are rewarded with the final ending, which is pretty much the narrative equivalent of a kick in the teeth.
To get the resl ending... Find the secret conditions to unlock the hidden weapon chests located in every stage and get ALL the weapons. This lets you fight a boss that is one of the hardest rhythm games of all time, with even a single mistake being fatal. Succeed, and you are rewarded with the final ending, which is pretty much the narrative equivalent of a kick in the teeth.
The Suikoden games also warrant mentioning. To get the best endings in any of them, you must recruit all 108 party members, and often hit a few other key requirements. This isn't bad in the earlier, shorter ones, but can get tricky in others. In Suikoden 5, which is a very lengthy game that features a large number of obscure or permanently missable characters, this can be VERY difficult.
The Growlanser games can also have difficult requirements for true ends. I'm not an expert on all the specifics, but you have to make a lot of difficult choices and complete the games' battles flawlessly to get the best endings.
VP's good ending is actually easy to get but it's impossible to know without reading a guide or stumbling on it by accident.
This.
It's totally this.
The requirement is literally impossible.
I always thought the true true true ending of ffx-2 is
Yuna and tidus chilling in Zanarkand... And he disappears at the end.
That's the thing, I don't tend to replay long games very often and I don't use a guide so I missed out on the good ending. It's honestly my least favourite thing about VP1. :(
