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It’s hard to say goodbye, but sometimes, it’s for the best. Some of the more memorable and touching stories we’ve witnessed in games throughout the years have been the ones that ended tragically, or culminated in a bittersweet conclusion — there’s a reason Shakespeare’s most-loved plays are Hamlet and Romeo & Juliet, after all! We’re just suckers for an unhappy ending.
But not all of the games on this list of best endings are tragic. Some are heartwarming, some are fitting for the characters we’ve come to know and love, and some are just straight-up beautiful. We’ve narrowed it down to Switch games only (including Nintendo Switch Online games), because there are a lot of brilliant endings out there in games, but even then, we found it hard to narrow down — so make sure to head to the comments to suggest your own.
Whether sad or happy, or somewhere in between, every game on this list has one thing in common: They make saying goodbye special.
(And in case it’s not obvious: SPOILER WARNING!)
Publisher: Playdead / Developer: Playdead
If someone offered you a million dollars to predict Inside’s ending after 15 minutes of playing the game, you would not get a single cent. Even several hours in, we doubt anyone could guess how the story ends for the scrappy little protagonist. And we can’t decide if the ending, where the miserable Cronenbergian experiment ends up beached on a lonely shore, is a good one or a bad one. But does it have to be so black-and-white? It’s certainly thought-provoking, and that’s what counts.
Publisher: Square Enix / Developer: PlatinumGames
On the surface, NieR: Automata is a game loved for its flashy and powerful combat, serene yet desolate world and a simultaneously chaotic and classical soundtrack. However, the percentage of players who don’t jump back in after their first credit roll are truly missing out on something special.
The struggle that 2B and her comrades endure against all odds is inspiring yet heartbreaking, and once you reach the true end, we can’t guarantee you’ll be the same person you were when you first picked up that controller.
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Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: Nintendo
The end of Link’s Awakening is one of those bittersweet endings, in which Marin, Koholint, and the world Link had come to know all dissolve away like dreams in the dawn light.
This could have been a happy place for him, but instead he is trapped in this eternal need to solve the problems of the people, and everything in the game — from the surreal inclusion of Super Mario characters to the gigantic egg on top of the world — builds up to the ending as possibly the only time we’re okay with a “it was all a dream” reveal.
Publisher: Nintendo / Developer: HAL Laboratory
When you were a kid, there’s a chance you had a feeling of invincibility. A moment where you wanted to run away from home, where you felt you could eat whatever you want or you could roam through the woods and nothing could hurt you.
EarthBound in a somewhat magical way lets you reconnect with those feelings, but then abruptly shakes you awake at the very end. This is no horror game, but if you did have nightmares after finishing that final fight (or while being stuck on it for days on end) we absolutely wouldn’t blame you.
Formerly of Official Nintendo Magazine, GameSpot, and Xbox UK, you can now find Kate’s writing all over the internet. She moved to Canada a few years ago, but gets tea imported from England, because she has good priorities.
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