# The 31 Best Video Game Endings of All Time

> Some of these finales are quiet goodbyes; others are last-minute twists that rewrite everything you just played. A few still split players years after the credits rolled.

*By YPB Team · Published November 8, 2026 · https://youpick.best/ranking/the-31-best-video-game-endings-of-all-time*

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## Current results (no votes yet)

1. **Red Dead Redemption** — score 1000/1000
   Rockstar's 2010 western ends with John Marston gunned down by government agents at his ranch, followed by an epilogue in which his son Jack hunts down Edgar Ross.
2. **The Last of Us** — score 940/1000
   Naughty Dog's 2013 game ends with Joel killing Fireflies at a hospital to stop Ellie's fatal surgery, then lying to her about what happened.
3. **Braid** — score 863/1000
   Jonathan Blow's 2008 puzzle platformer ends with a level played in reverse that recasts the princess as fleeing from the hero, Tim.
4. **Call of Duty: Black Ops** — score 833/1000
   Treyarch's 2010 shooter ends with the reveal that Viktor Reznov was a projection of Alex Mason's brainwashing; it topped a 2012 Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition poll of best endings.
5. **God of War** — score 611/1000
   Santa Monica Studio's 2018 game ends with the reveal that Kratos' late wife Faye was a giant and that the giants knew Atreus as Loki.
6. **Batman: Arkham City** — score 611/1000
   Rocksteady's 2011 game ends with the Joker dying of his illness and Batman carrying his body out of Arkham City.
7. **Half-Life 2: Episode Two** — score 559/1000
   Valve's 2007 episode ends on a cliffhanger in which a Combine Advisor kills Eli Vance in front of Alyx and Gordon Freeman.
8. **Spec Ops: The Line** — score 558/1000
   Yager's 2012 shooter ends with Captain Walker learning that Colonel Konrad has long been dead, followed by an epilogue with several possible outcomes.
9. **The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time** — score 558/1000
   Nintendo's 1998 adventure ends with Ganon sealed away and Princess Zelda sending Link back in time to his childhood.
10. **Mass Effect 2** — score 500/1000
   BioWare's 2010 RPG ends with the Suicide Mission, where squad members live or die depending on the player's preparation and choices.
11. **BioShock Infinite** — score 500/1000
   Irrational Games' 2013 shooter ends with the revelation that Booker DeWitt and Comstock are the same man, and Booker drowned at his baptism.
12. **Journey** — score 500/1000
   Thatgamecompany's 2012 game ends with a climb through snow to the mountain summit, after which the traveler's light streaks back across the landscape.
13. **Grand Theft Auto IV** — score 500/1000
   Rockstar's 2008 crime story ends on a choice between a deal and revenge, which decides whether Niko Bellic's cousin Roman or his girlfriend Kate is killed.
14. **Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater** — score 500/1000
   Konami's 2004 Cold War stealth game ends with Snake forced to kill his mentor The Boss, later learning she died carrying out a secret mission.
15. **Outer Wilds** — score 500/1000
   Mobius Digital's 2019 exploration game ends with the player entering the Eye of the Universe, where the universe ends and a new one begins.
16. **Life Is Strange** — score 433/1000
   Dontnod's 2015 episodic game ends with Max Caulfield choosing between saving her friend Chloe and saving the town of Arcadia Bay.
17. **Final Fantasy X** — score 433/1000
   Square's 2001 RPG ends with Sin defeated and Tidus fading away, since he exists only as a dream of the fayth.
18. **Uncharted 4: A Thief's End** — score 433/1000
   Naughty Dog's 2016 game ends with an epilogue in which Nathan Drake's daughter Cassie learns her parents' story years later.
19. **Undertale** — score 357/1000
   Toby Fox's 2015 RPG has several endings, with its True Pacifist route reached only by sparing every monster.
20. **Silent Hill 2** — score 357/1000
   Konami's 2001 horror game has multiple endings, built around James Sunderland's realization that he killed his ill wife Mary.
21. **Portal 2** — score 357/1000
   Valve's 2011 puzzle game ends with Chell firing a portal onto the Moon to defeat Wheatley, after which GLaDOS sets her free and sings the credits song "Want You Gone".
22. **Chrono Trigger** — score 357/1000
   Square's 1995 time-travel RPG has more than a dozen endings, determined by when and how the party defeats Lavos.
23. **The Walking Dead** — score 269/1000
   Telltale's 2012 episodic game ends with a bitten Lee Everett asking Clementine either to shoot him or leave him behind.
24. **Inside** — score 269/1000
   Playdead's 2016 puzzle platformer ends with the boy absorbed into the Huddle, a mass of bodies that breaks out of a lab and comes to rest on a shore.
25. **Red Dead Redemption 2** — score 269/1000
   Rockstar's 2018 prequel ends with the death of Arthur Morgan, shaped by the player's honor and choices, before a long epilogue playing as John Marston.
26. **Halo: Reach** — score 167/1000
   Bungie's 2010 prequel ends with Noble Six's playable last stand against the Covenant as the planet Reach falls.
27. **Portal** — score 167/1000
   Valve's 2007 puzzle game ends with the destruction of the AI GLaDOS and the credits song "Still Alive" by Jonathan Coulton.
28. **NieR: Automata** — score 167/1000
   PlatinumGames' 2017 RPG has 26 lettered endings; in Ending E, players can delete their save data to help other players.
29. **Final Fantasy VII** — score 167/1000
   Square's 1997 RPG ends with Holy and the Lifestream stopping Meteor, followed by an epilogue set 500 years later.
30. **The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt** — score 167/1000
   CD Projekt Red's 2015 RPG has multiple endings decided by Ciri's fate: she becomes Empress, becomes a witcher or is lost, depending on Geralt's choices.
31. **Shadow of the Colossus** — score 0/1000
   Team Ico's 2005 game ends with Wander possessed by Dormin after the sixteenth colossus falls, and reborn as a horned infant.

Tags: games, endings, storytelling, plot twists