Completing the story isn’t enough in video games. If you don’t unlock the true ending by completing an arbitrary set of requirements, then what’s even the point? Okay, I’m kidding — unlocking true endings is one of the great pleasures of video games, and if you love a game, it gives you a chance to spend even more time with it. There’s just something so satisfying about discovering a secret for yourself.
But some games take the true ending a little too far. That’s what we’re exploring today — the chores, challenges, and guide-requiring ridiculous requirements of many modern true endings. Some of these are secret true endings — and some are seriously just the actual ending of a game. We’re going to talk about all of the most annoying tasks we were forced to do. And we absolutely did them, because… you have to see the true ending! Even if it’s just a confusing 30-second stinger.
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Batman: Arkham Knight
Batman: Arkham Knight is a polarizing end to the Arkham series. I’m one of those people that absolutely loves it — but there’s something almost everyone can agree on. Collecting the hundreds and hundreds of collectibles to unlock the bonus true ending is a pretty bitter pill to swallow. We grit our teeth, jumping into the batmobile, and carefully combed the huge grounds of Gotham City to complete everything in the game.
To see the true fate of Batman and learn what his “Knightfall Protocol” is, you’ll have to earn 100% completion. That means you have to defeat every villain — and the only way to defeat Riddler? You have to find and solve every puzzle in the game. This is an open-world action game that’s multiple times bigger than Arkham City. Finding everything is going to take quadruple as much time as just playing through the story! But we all did it anyway. And the secret ending turns out to just be perplexing.
Jet Force Gemini
Here’s the only game on our list where unlocking the normal, standard ending is a massive chore that must of us probably gave up on. As a kid, I loved Jet Force Gemini on N64 — running around blasting ant aliens into bloody chunks was awesome in the 90s. The game was great! Up until you need to fight the final boss.
To unlock the final boss and the ending, you’ll need to save every single villager in the game. These little guys aren’t exactly easy to find — and some of them can be killed by enemies before you even realize they’re there! It’s one of the biggest dick-moves in gaming, and developer Rare just continued to pull the same trick over and over. Diddy Kong Racing and Donkey Kong 64 both have absurd ending requirements where you basically have to 100% the games. Just for the normal ending! Why?!
Remember the most aggravatingly hard endings to earn on the next page.
