History EarnYourHappyEnding / VideoGames

* After the huge DownerEnding that is ''FinalFantasyXIII2'' and after near century of suffering, ''VideoGame/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'' finally lets the hcaracters gain their ultimate happy ending. Serah is revived, and the gang are departing to the final utopia where they no longer have to fight anything anymore.

* After the huge DownerEnding that is ''FinalFantasyXIII2'' and after near century of suffering, ''VideoGames/LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'' finally lets the hcaracters gain their ultimate happy ending. Serah is revived, and the gang are departing to the final utopia where they no longer have to fight anything anymore.

* After the huge DownerEnding that is ''FinalFantasyXIII2'' and after near century of suffering, ''LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'' finally lets the hcaracters gain their ultimate happy ending. Serah is revived, and the gang are departing to the final utopia where they no longer have to fight anything anymore.

5 After the huge DownerEnding that is ''FinalFantasyXIII2'' and after near century of suffering, ''LightningReturnsFinalFantasyXIII'' finally let the hcaracters gain their ultimate happy ending. Serah is revived, and the gang are departing to a final utopia where they no longer have to fight anything anymore.

5 After the huge DownerEnding that is ''FinalFantasyXIII2'' and after near century of suffering, ''LightninyReturnFinalFantasyXIII'' finally let the hcaracters gain their ultimate happy ending. Serah is revived, and the gang are departing to a final utopia where they no longer have to fight anything anymore.

* In ''GhostTrick'', Sissel is murdered, watches people he grows to care about die (some multiple times), and goes through it all without his memories. As the game progresses, he ends up [[spoiler:trapped on a sinking submarine with two characters he's bonded with, forced to face the reality that there's ''no way to save them at all'', as far as he knows. All while it looks like he'll vanish and never find out his past.]] By the end of the game, he manages to save ''everybody'' (including [[spoiler:the guy who was the villain for most of the game]]), regains his memories, and lives out a happy life with his friends in a new timeline. This also applies to Missile, who [[spoiler:in the first timeline was shot and learned that his two owners were also killed, and while he got ghostly powers, he lacked the ability to save them. The only one who ''could'' help him refused to do so, forcing him to go back in time and spend ten years working on an elaborate gambit to save his mistresses.]] In the rest of the game, he dies twice to save Kamila, and willingly stays dead to continue to do so. He ends up living in the better timeline with Sissel, while [[spoiler:his alternate-timeline self passes on, happy with the knowledge that he ultimately succeeded.]]

* ''PlanescapeTorment'' has you [[GuideDangIt jump through numerous hoops]] to get the best ending, but it's oh so worth it. [[spoiler:Having faced down your previous incarnations and being forced to watch as [[BigBad the Transcendent One]] (aka your own mortality made sentient) butchers your party one by one, you finally confront it and convince it to give up its hopeless plan to be independent from you and rejoin with you, ending your immortality. After this, you restore your friends, bid one final farewell to them, and finally, ''finally'' die and begin your penance for the crimes of the First Incarnation. Yes, it seems bittersweet, but the Nameless One still has the knowledge that his friends are all alive, in some cases (Dak'kon, Morte) absolved of their guilt/servitude, and can leave their adventures with him better people who will likely go far. Besides, TNO now has all the power and knowledge of ''all'' his incarnations, so it's not like he'll be defenseless in the battlefields of the Blood War.]]

*** [[spoiler:Destroy is the only option in which Shepard can survive with a high Effective Military Strength.]]

* VideoGame/Guacamelee definately counts for this. There are two endings - The normal results in [[spoiler: the DamselInDistress dying]], but to avoid this, you have to collect 5 {{MacGuffin}}s, which are hidden behind the most difficult optional parts of the game.

* VideoGame/Guacamelee definately counts for this. There are two endings - The normal results in [[spoiler: the DamselInDistress dying]], but to avoid this, you have to collect 5 MacGuffin, which are hidden behind the most difficult optional parts of the game.

*** [[spoiler:Synthesis has Shepard sacrifice themselves to convert all life to organic/synthetic hybrids, possessing the strengths of both and the weaknesses of neither. This causes the Reapers to end their cycles and assist the galaxy in rebuilding and growing.]]

* If you choose the Freedom Ending in ''ShinMegamiTenseiNocturne'', you more or less fulfill this trope. [[spoiler: You see your teacher end the world, [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman deal with no longer being fully human]], see your best friends being tortured and responding to that by [[EvilMakeover twisting themselves into cruel and monstrous parodies of their character flaws]], see said teacher - the only one who still somehow remained sympathetic - murdered before your eyes, perhaps almost [[TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt destroy time and all worlds]], and finish by striking down the master of the Vortex dimension in the name of freedom.]] In the end, despite everything, you end up with your friends again, your teacher's got a positive outlook on life, and even the World's Most Epic Widow's Peak gets to go around still being The World's Most Epic Widow's Peak. Believe me, though; you have to ''[[NintendoHard earn it]]''. [[spoiler: Though the [[GodIsEvil true enemy]] is still out there]].
** The original ''Franchise/ShinMegamiTensei'' also qualifies with its neutral ending. If you go with law, you side with the forces heaven, [[MoralEventHorizon who got INTENTIONALLY got Japan nuked at the start of the game, a later destroy Tokyo with a flood, so you know they're bad]], and [[FromBadToWorse they kill most of humanity in the law ending]]. Go with chaos, you ally with the forces of hell, who want to turn the world into a [[CrapSackWorld place of chaos and anarchy]]. Neutral ending, you defeat them all there's no doomsday. Staying the on the neutral path, however, is much more difficult then staying on law or chaos, plus you have to fight the final bosses for each side (so I've heard). [[spoiler:[[SubvertedTrope Only for]] the Law faction to take control in between ShinMegamiTenseiI and ShinMegamiTenseiII. Even assassinating the original hero with the heroine no where to be seen]].

* This is one of the reasons why the [[RedshirtArmy Imperial Guard]] ending from DawnOfWar Soulstorm became so popular, the other reason being [[BadassNormal Vance Stubbs]], the IG Governor General [[EnsembleDarkhorse becoming perhaps the only sympathetic character]] in the whole expansion, according to the narrator, after the war Stubbs managed to rebuild Kaurava into a prosperous imperial hub, truely a happy ending in the Warhammer40000 franchise is an extreme rarity.

** ''ADanceWithRogues''.
** The Bastard of Kosigan (at least as far as it has been translated into English) has more of a DownerEnding.

** That and [[spoiler:Fall from Grace is going to [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming search for you in the Lower Plains]] ]]

* ''MegaManZero 4'' finally featured the human side of the RobotWar's story (showing the humans' perspective of the [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots Reploids]], which border on FantasticRacism). However, over the course of the game, the humans and Reploids finally learn to put aside their differences, creating true peace that lasted for almost two centuries. Tragically subverted, since the ones who fought so hard and so long for this peace [[HeroicSacrifice gave their lives in the process]] just so the war could finally end.

** That and [[spoiler:Fall from Grace is going to [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming search for you in the Lower Plains]]

** That and [[spoiler:Fall from Grace is going to [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming search for you in the Lower Plains

** That and [[spoiler:Fall from Grace is going to [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming search for you in the Lower Plains]]

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': within about the first 15 minutes, the first Reapers ever are detected in human space, [[CurbStompBattle effortlessly overrun all defense lines]], and forcing a general retreat of all human forces and civilians out of the cities. The situation looks just the same for the Turians and the Bataarian species has become virtually extinct, pretty much removing all major military forces from the picture. The rest of the game deals with finding a way to destroy the Reapers, hopefully while there is still at least someone left alive. However, that last point is [[{{Precursors}} not neccessarily very high on the priority list]].
** The final battle and ending of the series turn out much better should Shepard have put enough work into uniting the galaxy and gathering forces; failing to do so leads to [[spoiler:[[CurbStompBattle your gathered forces being annihilated by the Reapers]], [[KilledOffForReal your accompanying squadmates being killed by Harbinger]], and [[DownerEnding the Crucible causing heavy damage throughout the galaxy]]]]. Doing enough work prevents [[spoiler:damage to the galaxy when the Crucible activates, save for the Mass Relays]], and each option provides its own benefits for having put in the effort:
*** [[spoiler:Destroy is the only option in which Shepard can survive with a high Effective Military Strength.]]
*** [[spoiler:Control has Shepard take over the Reapers, using them to rebuild and protect the galaxy.]]
*** [[spoiler:Synthesis has Shepard sacrifice themselves to convert all life to organic/synthetic hybrids, possessing the strengths of both and the weaknesses of neither. This causes the Reapers to end their cycles and assist the galaxy in rebuilding and growing.]]
** Depending on the player's choices, [[spoiler:the Krogan cure the genophage, the Quarians regain their homeworld, the Geth gain true sentience, and the Rachni are given the chance to redeem themselves in the eyes of the galaxy by fighting against the Reapers.]]

* ''PlanescapeTorment'' has you [[GuideDangIt jump through numerous hoops]] to get the best ending, but it's oh so worth it. [[spoiler:Having faced down your previous incarnations and being forced to watch as [[BigBad the Transcendent One]] (aka your own mortality made sentient) butchers your party one by one, you finally confront it and convince it to give up its hopeless plan to be independent from you and rejoin with you, ending your immortality. After this, you restore your friends, bid one final farewell to them, and finally, ''finally'' die and begin your penance for the crimes of the First Incarnation. Yes, it seems bittersweet, but the Nameless One still has the knowledge that his friends are all alive, in some cases (Dak'kon, Morte) absolved of their guilt/servitude, and can leave their adventures with him better people who will likely go far. Besides, TNO now has all the power and knowledge of ''all'' his incarnations, so it's not like he'll be defenseless in the battlefields of the Blood War.]]
** That and [[spoiler:Fall from Grace is going to [[CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming search for you in the Lower Plains]] ]]

** Not necessarily a completely happy ending, but the hopeful future that looms at the end is definitely heartwarming.

* The newest incarnation of the ''SpyroTheDragon'' series by {{Sierra}} ended its trilogy based on this trope. [[spoiler:The world literally cracks apart after the Dark Master has seemingly won and accomplished destroying the world. But Spyro uses his powers to save the world at the last moment with Cynder at his side. All their friends are okay and Ignitus, thought dead, is now the new Chronicler. The bittersweet part is that Spyro and Cynder are apparently dead... until its revealed they miraculously survived and after all the crap they've gone through, they've earned the happy ending they both deserved after all those scenes of angst. Oh, and apparently Cynder loves Spyro so they're more then likely in love now. Only took the end of the world for the relationship to become canon.]]
* ''{{Persona 4}}'' features a literal incarnation of this trope, as most players will unexpectedly receive a bad ending after picking the wrong choices of dialogue in two different scenes. Achieving the good ending is such a GuideDangIt that beating the game actually makes you feel like you accomplished something. All of this is doubly true for the True Ending since the game ''actively tries to steer you away from it during the "ending sequence."'' Nobody said reaching out to the truth was ''easy''.

* This is more or less how the CelestialBureaucracy in ''GrimFandango'' works: Upon arrival at the Land of the Dead, each soul has to take a four-year-journey through the land to reach the Land of Eternal Rest, and how saintly they were in life determines how comfortably they can get there. The saintliest souls are eligible for a ticket on the Number 9 express train that shoots through the Land of the Dead in four minutes, while the biggest schmucks and sinners may have to just walk the whole trip, or even get sent in by parcel post.

* ''VideoGame/{{Ico}}''. Ico has to lose everything first. There's a superb essay about it [[http://www.etc.cmu.edu/etcpress/node/269 here]].

* Much like ''SilentHill'', ''FatalFrame'' has the protagonists going through hell, ''almost literally'', to get to the end, but it's really up to the player to do what's necessary to unlock the Good Endings. The requirement this time is to play the games in higher difficulties.

* The good ending for the PS3 game ''HeavyRain'' has this, at least for Ethan. It starts out with one of his sons died in a car accident and then the other was kidnapped. If Ethan survives, the epilogue will end with a high note as Ethan starts to move on.

** The same could be said about ''TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask''. Yeah, you could breeze through the game, but that's not the Hero of Time's style.

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'': within about the first 15 minutes, the first Reapers ever are detected in human space, [[CurbStompBattle effortlessly overrun all defense lines]], and forcing a general retreat of all human forces and civilians out of the cities. The situation looks just the same for the Turians and the Bataarian species has become virtually extinct, pretty much removing all major military forces from the picture. The rest of the game deals with finding a way to destroy the reapers, hopefully while there is still at least someone left alive. However, that last point is [[{{Precursors}} not neccessarily very high on the priority list]].
** The Extended Cut endings, especially the [[spoiler:Control]] and [[spoiler:Synthesis]] endings, definitely play this trope straight.[[spoiler: In the Control ending, Shepard effectively merges with the Reaper collective consciousness and takes control of every single one of them. In Synthesis ending, Shepard's essence is absorbed and transmitted across the entire galaxy, making all organics partly synthetic and vice versa.]] In both cases, the galaxy enters into a new GoldenAge.
*** The [[spoiler:high-EMS Destroy]] ending counts too. While it may not bring in an age of prosperity like the above two, it ''is'' the only ending in which [[spoiler:Shepard lives and is reunited with his/her LoveInterest and TrueCompanions, which, after [[CosmicPlaything everything]] [[TheCassandra they've]] [[TheChainsOfCommanding been]] [[BreakTheBadass through]], is extremely gratifying]].