History EarnYourHappyEnding / VideoGames

* The ending of ''Franchise/KingdomHearts'' forces [[spoiler:Sora, Riku, and Kairi to get through the series up to near the end of ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsII'' (nearly 3 different video games, and technically a fourth if you count the year that Sora was sleeping and Roxas and Riku were running around) before they can joyously reunite with each other. Then they have to finish off the BigBad before they can return home.]]
** And as if that wasn't enough, Sora and Riku now have to become true Keyblade Masters and earn happy endings for ''every single good guy that's been killed or somehow similarly lost.''

* ''VideoGame/FalloutNewVegas'' is set in a CrapsackWorld where multiple factions battle for dominance, but if you jump through enough hoops and [[TheChessmaster do a lot of careful political planning]], a Good Karma NCR or Independent Vegas ending can bring about a happy ending for just about every faction and individual in the wasteland. Or at least to the ones that deserve them.

* Of all things, ''VideoGame/GodOfWar'' ends with this, in that [[spoiler:it is revealed that deep down, Kratos was driven by hope from PandorasBox. The ending has him travelling through deep within his mind, witnessing the worst that he has done and learning to forgive himself. In one of his rare moments of selflessness, he ends up performing a HeroicSacrifice to release the power of hope back into the world]]... [[HappyEndingOverride At least until]] the [[Videogame/GodOfWarPS4 Norse series]] where Kratos once again gets wrapped up in trouble with gods.

* ''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 necessarily 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:

*** The [[spoiler:Geth/Quarian resolution]] is the best example: it takes a fair amount of prep in this game and the previous one, arranging a good Reputation score, a couple of non-obvious calls and [[spoiler:killing a Destroyer-class Reaper the size of a building ''while on foot'']].

** In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', Phoenix has to take on four seemingly impossible cases, go through all sorts of stress and hardships to win them, suffers the blow of his mentor being murdered, and ultimately has to tackle a case so difficult, it went unsolved for fifteen years. But it all pays off in the end, when all the clients are found innocent, [[spoiler:von Karma is proven to be the guilty party behind the DL-6 Case, and Edgeworth realizes that his father's death was not his fault.]]

* In ''VideoGame/Cyberpunk2077'' unlocking the good endings doesn't take much effort aside from completing a few questlines, but rushing through the main story leaves you with only the {{Downer Ending}}s unlocked by default. There's also the [[GuideDangIt secret ending]] which requires high RelationshipValues with Johnny.

* The ''VideoGame/ArcTheLad'' series tells 4,000 years of struggle, [[PlayerPunch tragedies]], {{Difficulty Spike}}s, no less than [[spoiler: five teams of semi-godly fighters powered by the local gods, and three near or complete collapses of civilization]] before the [[EldritchAbomination Eldritch]] BigBad bites the dust.

** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has this, as, after a long and grueling journey, the characters can finally find peace and move on with their lives.

* ''VideoGame/OdinSphere'': In the bad ending, [[spoiler: [[KillEmAll everybody dies]]]]. In the good ending, [[spoiler: Oswald and Gwendolyn earn their happy ending together, and Cornelius and Velvet survive as Pooka]]. In the best ending, [[spoiler: Cornelius and Velvet become human again]]. The good ending requires the player to [[NoManOfWomanBorn interpret a series of prophecies]] so that each of the five heroes fights during the Apocalypse in the correct order. Unfortunately, to get the best ending the player has to [[OneHundredPercentCompletion see every cutscene possible]]... Including the DownerEnding cutscenes that spring from messing up the correct boss fight order. This means you have to fight through the Apocalypse at least four times total in order get the best ending. ''Leifthrasir'' fixes things immensely both by allowing you to skip scenes you've already seen and allowing you to return to the attic after you've viewed what you needed, making it so that you only need to actually see the bad ending once.

* ''VideoGame/{{Journey}}'', since it's made to resemble TheHerosJourney. After over 1 hour of wonderful adventure, you die struggling to reach the mountain's summit blocked by an intense, extremely cold snowstorm, but get resurrected by six White Robes with a full energy scarf, and upon making it [[AscendToAHigherPlaneOfExistence become a star returning to where you were born]]. [[BookEnds And repeat]].

* Being Russian in ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'' [[RussianGuySuffersMost is really tough]], as the country has been ravaged by the Nazis and the warlords for the past twenty years. But it can overcome the rule of thuggish despots and be reunified by a [[ChummyCommies sincere Soviet democracy with fair elections with Zhukov or Bukharina]], or [[TheRepublic the fragile pluralist democracy of Tomsk or Komi]], or [[TheGoodKingdom the sensible British-style constitutional monarchy of Kemerovo or Vyatka]], or [[{{Cincinnatus}} the civilian government Sverdlovsk hands back to the people]], or even perhaps [[SaintlyChurch try out Men's benevolent free house of God that blends Christian compassion with anarchist and humanitarian principles]]. Whatever path you lead Russia onto, you can emphatically reject the horrific brutality and insanity of the Nazi-dominated world and forge it into a sensible nation.

* ''VideoGame/ZeldaIITheAdventureOfLink'': This is the final game in the "Hero Defeated" timeline, and while the backstory is quite dark, it ends unambiguously happy: Link's descendant has defeated Ganon, his questing throughout Hyrule has sent what remains of Ganon's army into chaos and prevented them from resurrecting him, Hyrule itself is mostly at peace, and Link has overcome the dark side of himself and awoken the original Princess Zelda, who has ben sleeping for centuries.

** Emmet "Doc." Brown is declared legally dead after the events of ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII'', and his assets are seized and auctioned off by the bank in 1986. Edna Strickland starts off as a [[{{Spinster}} bitter]] CrazyCatLady who hates dogs, the Doc's. Einstein in particular, hoards old newspapers, and [[MoralGuardians shouts from her window the moral failings of the townspeople using her megaphone.]] Biff Tannen's personality is very much like that from the end of ''Film/BackToTheFuture.'' As the story progresses with [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong Marty and the Doc. going back in time to fix the timeline,]] [[spoiler: [[TheDon Biff's father becomes the head of a powerful crime syndicate]] that has terrorized the [=McFly=] family for decades. Later, in the past, Edna Strickland marries "the Doc." and uses his genius intellect to create a "perfect" society where [[LongList "hooliganism"]] [[PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad is outlawed]] as well as [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking dogs,]] and [[BigBrotherIsWatching the rules are strictly enforced.]] Later, after Edna unintentionally goes back in time, she destroys the fledgeling Hill Valley by accident, [[RetGone erasing the town from existence.]]]] Once everything [[CloseEnoughTimeline goes back to normal]] [[spoiler: Doc is again married to Clara and returns to the garage sale he's holding in 1986, Edna now loves dogs and has mellowed out considerably, and is now HappilyMarried to Biff's father, a [[ReformedCriminal former rum-runner and speakeasy operator.]]]]

[[spoiler:'''Jim Raynor''': Hell, it's about time.]]

* ''VideoGame/Persona5'' forces poor Joker to get framed for assault purely for doing the right thing, nearly get expelled/arrested/killed thirty more times by various corrupt adults, outwit a traitor, and [[spoiler:punch out the ''Persona'' incarnation of the ''Demiurge'']] to reach his happy ending, where he is finally exonerated and gets to go one one last road trip with his precious friends before returning home. In ''Persona 5 Royal'', your party must also [[spoiler:go up against the counselor Dr. Maruki, and reject his decision to place the entire world into a giant LotusEaterMachine in which everyone lives out what he's analyzed as their "idealized" reality.]]

* ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'': In order to get the [[spoiler:[[GoldenEnding true ending]]]], after the completing the story normally once, "EX Mode" is unlocked and [[spoiler:the Chrysler Building becomes available to visit after the first story events. You must brave the abominations/bosses that lurk in its 70 floors of mitochondrial-evolved hell in order to face the TrueFinalBoss, then and only then is the real ending shown after defeating it.]]

* ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'': In order to get the [[spoiler:[[GoldenEnding true ending]]]], after the completing the story normally once, "EX Mode" is unlocked and [[spoiler:the Chrysler Building becomes available to visit after the first story events. You must brave the abominations/bosses that lurk in its 70 floors of mitochondrial-evolved hell in order to face the TrueFinalBoss, only then is the True Ending obtained after defeating it.]]

* ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'': In order to get the [[spoiler:[[GoldenEnding true ending]]]], after the completing the story normally once, "EX Mode" is unlocked and [[spoiler:the Chrysler Building becomes available to visit after the first story events, you must brave the abominations/bosses that lurk in its 70 floors of mitochondrial-evolved hell in order to face the TrueFinalBoss, only then is the True Ending obtained after defeating it.]]

* ''VideoGame/ParasiteEve'': In order to get the [[spoiler:[[GoldenEnding true ending]]]], after the completing the story normally once, "EX Mode" is unlocked and [[spoiler:the Chrysler Building becomes available to visit after the first story events, she (you) must brave the abominations/bosses that lurk in its 70 floors of mitochondrial-evolved hell in order to face the TrueFinalBoss, only then is the True Ending obtained after defeating it.]]

* In ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesGrimm'', Grimm seems to be a believer in this. A main reason of his hatred for LighterAndSofter Fairy Tales other than being [[TastesLikeDiabetes disgustingly saccarine]] is the fact that he believes that none of the protagonists truly deserve the happy endings since they're all either TooDumbToLive or because he sees them as {{Karma Houdini}}s. He [[{{Grimmification}} Grimmifies]] the stories so that the hypocrisy becomes much more clear or that the characters get a more "proper" ending (which in some cases allows female protagonists who go through plenty of crap like Cinderella or Mulan a chance at brutal revenge).

* IF you want to get the best ending in ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'', you are going to go through hell to reach it. No killing is allowed whatsoever and if you kill even just one mook, you're screwed out of the ending unless you start over/reload your save file. Since you can't kill anyone, every fight becomes a boss fight in itself since you have to figure out a way to get enemies to stop fighting you without resorting to violence. Not only that, you'll also have to befriend several major characters so that they see you as a true friend and also endure some grueling boss fights towards the end of the game. If you preserve in the end, you'll get what is considered to be the ultimate happy ending for everyone.