Choice-based games are expected to have multiple endings, depending on what players choose to do in the game. These branching paths rely both on big decisions, such as accepting proposals in romantic dating sims, and on small ones, like which gifts to give to a specific character.
However, there are some seemingly small actions in some choice-based games that actually have huge consequences. Some of these decisions can even lead to bad endings, as shown in the visual novels Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Dream Daddy. Other decisions in games like Fire Emblem: Three Houses and Until Dawn can decide whether specific characters will survive the events of the game.
10 Skipping Dedue's Paralogue In Fire Emblem: Three Houses Automatically Kills Him Off Later On
During Fire Emblem: Three Houses, the player can play through optional Paralogue chapters on the weekends. These Paralogues are sidequests that focus on specific characters, giving them further development and also forcing the player to include those characters in the related battles. However, what many players didn't realize was that playing Dedue's Paralogue in the Azure Moon route was essential for his survival.
If Dedue's Paralogue isn't completed prior to the timeskip, Dedue will die protecting Dimitri. However, if players do finish Dedue's Paralogue before the timeskip, Dedue instead survives after defending Dimitri, thanks to some of his own countrymen saving his life. Many players who choose the Blue Lions now make sure to complete Dedue's Paralogue as soon as they can, just to ensure his survival into the next half of the game.
9 Trying To Decide What Clear Should Do In DRAMAtical Murder Automatically Gives You The Bad Ending
Though DRAMAtical Murder offers the player countless choices, some with bigger consequences than others, it's actually the lack of making a choice that unlocks the good ending on Clear's route. Not making a decision for Clear during a showdown against antagonist Toue and his minions gives Clear the power to defeat them.
However, many players failed to realize this the first time around and instead tried to make a decision for him. Not only does this result in Clear's defeat, but Toue even reprograms him into an obsessive individual who turns Aoba, the main protagonist, into a lifeless doll for his own amusement.
8 Missing The Truth About Hannah And Beth Guarantees Josh's Death In Until Dawn
In the prologue of supernatural mystery-thriller Until Dawn, Josh's sisters Hannah and Beth go missing, and to honor their memory, Josh and his friends return to the site of the tragedy a year later to party. If Sam doesn't find a specific clue late in the game to discover what happened to Hannah and Beth after they vanished, it automatically guarantees Josh's death. He won't be able to get Hannah — who turned into a Wendigo after her disappearance — to recognize him. However, if Sam finds the journal, Josh will recognize Hannah and shout out her name, and she ends up sparing him from harm.
7 Not Completing Cole's Companion Quest In Dragon Age: Inquisition Makes Him Unavailable For The Final Battle
Dragon Age: Inquisition players were surprised to learn that Cole cannot accompany them in the final battle against Corypheus unless his companion quest, Subjected to His Will, was completed first. This is because in his current state, torn between being more human and being more spirit, a powerful mage like Corypheus could easily take control over him as he did to other spirits.
If Cole's personal quest is completed, however, regardless of whether Cole becomes more spirit or more human, he'll be able to join the Inquisitor in the final battle. Many players made sure to finish this particular sidequest because of how useful Cole's rogue abilities are in a fight.
6 Quitting The Café In Hustle Cat Automatically Gives You A Game Over
In the visual novel Hustle Cat, the protagonist learns that part of their contract while working at the café is that they're now cursed to turn into a cat while outside the café. Unfortunately, they don't learn about this until they start actually turning into a cat themselves, since the boss neglected to mention this part earlier and the protagonist didn't read the fine print closely enough.
One of the options available to the player is quitting the café, believing that will break the curse. However, this actually automatically triggers a bad ending where the protagonist, despite storming out of the café and quitting, turns into a cat anyway.
5 Calling Out Kyoko's Lie In Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc Dooms The Rest Of The Class
Considering that most of Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc consists of trials where protagonist Makoto Naegi calls out his classmates' lies and contradictions to solve a series of murders, it may seem logical to do the same to Kyoko during the fifth trial. However, this actually leads to the bad ending of the entire game.
Not only does Kyoko die, but the rest of the surviving characters are permanently trapped in Hope's Peak for the rest of their lives. The right thing to do, in fact, is to let Kyoko's lie slide despite the risk of Makoto being executed in her place. This leads to the true ending, where Makoto is saved at the last second and the game moves forward with the students trying to solve the mystery of the Academy itself.
4 Accepting Talarist's Proposal Means That You'll Automatically Marry Him In Long Live The Queen
During Long Live The Queen, a visual novel by Hanako Games, it's possible to get a proposal (and say yes to it) very early in gameplay. After Talarist, Duke of Sedna, sends the heroine Elodie a necklace, Elodie can choose to wear it when he visits. If she does, whether by choice or due to a lack of Foreign Intelligence stats, Talarist will comment on it when they meet and propose to her then and there. Elodie can either reject the proposal or accept it. If she accepts, she'll automatically marry him by the end of the game.
3 Sleeping With Robert Gives You His Bad Ending In Dream Daddy
In Dream Daddy, on the first date with Robert, one of the romanceable characters, Robert will proposition the player. The player can either say yes or refuse, but saying yes actually automatically unlocks Robert's bad ending.
This choice will lead to the player earning C ranks on all the subsequent dates, on top of Robert treating the player as a casual fling rather than an actual long-term romantic partner.
2 Devoting Two Poems To Natsuki Early In Act Two Of Doki Doki Literature Club Leads To A Disturbing Scene
Natsuki's ending in Doki Doki Literature Club is achieved if the protagonist writes two poems for Natsuki in the first two days of Act 2. The event will occur on the third day of Act 2 where Natsuki starts literally glitching out and crying blood before the screen fades to black. Not only did this ending frighten players who weren't expecting such an event, but the fact that the game restarts after this as if nothing happened unnerved players for a long time.
1 Refusing To Participate In The Holy Grail War In Fate/Stay Night Leads To A Gruesome Ending
In Fate/Stay Night, the player has the choice to refuse to participate in the Holy Grail War. This results in Shirou encountering Ilya and Berserker on the way home from the church. Not only is Shirou torn apart by Berserker, but Ilya curses him so he cannot die or lose consciousness until his head is destroyed. Ilya then takes his head to torture him for an indefinite amount of time.
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