I have to take exception with 'multiple endings generally just being a couple of slightly different cutscenes'. Certainly the example of Mass Effect trilogy ending is poignant in doing just that, I've never been so angry or disappointed in this hobby than mass effect 3's ending lol. But there are a myriad great games with multiple endings that can dramatically change how a game ends based on various choices, sometimes made very early in the game. Anyone suggesting it's just a few altered cutscenes hasn't played very many RPGs, which are well known for taking advantage of player choices and consequences with the endings of some of the best.
- Chrono Trigger, a classic jRPG with almost 20 endings. Because of the games time travel themes each ending can be radically different.
- Cyberpunk 2077, while yes most of them are chosen near the end of the game, many of them have triggers based on choices made earlier in the game. Who did you romance? Who survived to the end? Did you befriend Johnny? There are bitter sweet endings filled with hope and endings so troublesome that they leave a bad taste in your mouth for days. The game has so many endings that it was almost infamous for the amount of people who replayed the end just to get a better one. Personally I had a pretty bad ending, with a bittersweet epilogue that almost had me tearing up. But I stuck with it... and made better choices in my second playthrough lol.
- Alpha Protocol and Detroit: Become Human, two fairly niche games that were poorly received but are actually really good games (the former isn't available digitally anymore). Both have a wide number of endings that are influenced by decisions you make throughout the games, some of them very early on.
- Vampire the Requiem: Bloodlines, this game has so many endings, and endings within endings that I've played it through with each clan and then multiple more times and not seen all the endings, let alone endings introduced via patches & restored content years later by fans of the game.
- Witcher 3, while there are three main endings, there are over a dozen variations on how the game ends based on choices you make throughout the game.
- Fallout: New Vegas, one of my favorite games of all time this game is all about choices and consequences. How it all plays out can be radically different depending on the choices you make throughout the game. The game uses a 'slideshow' ending, but that's mostly because it has so many variables that doing full cutscenes or epilogues would have taken ages lol.
This comment was edited on Feb 29, 2024, 12:26.