History EarnYourHappyEnding / VideoGames

** ''VideoGame/TalesOfXillia2'' has this be the case for Elle in what is considered the Golden Ending. The party has gone through multiple fractured dimensions, [[ForWantOfANail had their hearts broken several times because of the circumstances in those dimensions]], [[spoiler: learned that Elle is from a fractured dimension and Ludger is her father]], had to lose party members to balance the world again and Ludger also had to [[spoiler: kill his dear, older brother]] to make it to the BigBad. Then Ludger decides to [[spoiler: sacrifice himself as the millionth crystal, so that Elle can continue to live. Even if she is not the 'real' Prime Elle, who hasn't been born yet, even if she considers herself a fake, Ludger loves her like his family and wants her to continue to live]]. The final scene depicts a TimeSkip and [[spoiler: Elle is now a teenager, you see how Jude has won the Howe Prize, the two worlds are at peace thanks to Gaius and Rowen's work, Leia is a successful reporter and even Rollo has found love and lies peacefully next to Elle with his offspring]].

** After years of being lost in time, [[TomatoInTheMirror learning that he's become a sentient bundle of magical energy with false memories]], seemingly [[HeroicSacrifice sacrificing his chance to go back to his own time to help Sol]] and suffering much to try and convince I-no out of her FaceHeelTurn, Axl Low the plucky time-travelling Englishman hits the KarmicJackpot. [[CanonCharacterAllAlong As it turns out]], I-no is actually an older BrokenBird version of Megumi, Axl's LostLenore from ''Missing Link'' and she herself realizes that Axl is her own disappeared boyfriend William from her timeline. Rather than use her powers to try and save herself, [[PetTheDog she switches her place as an]] [[TimeTraveler Axis of Time]] with Megumi, finally allowing the young couple to be reunited properly.
** After living a conflicted and tormented life as an assassin, Venom [[WhatAreYouInTheDark redeems himself by taking the more moral option when presented with a]] SadisticChoice, and ends up living a new life with Zato's help as a baker along with his RobotBuddy Robo-Ky.

* ''VideoGame/GuiltyGear'': In the ending of ''-STRIVE-'', the Anti-Hero Sol Badguy is stripped of his divine seed, the Flame of Corruption. Though he's still a Gear by the time -STRIVE-'s story ends, his strength was drastically reduced as a result, but he still retains his fighting ability. He fakes his own death with the help of Ky and the US Government, opens up a machine parts shop and lives there with Aria - his quest for revenge and his centuries of torment finally settled.

* ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'':

* In ''VideoGame/{{Guacamelee}}'', if you manage to beat the various {{Brutal Bonus Level}}s scattered throughout the game prior to defeating the final boss, [[spoiler:Juan is rewarded with [[DistressedDamsel El Presidente's Daughter]] surviving Calaca's ritual and the two go on to live happily ever after.]] In [[Videogame/Guacamelee2 the sequel]], doing the same thing ensures that [[spoiler:Juan manages to make his way back to his family in (presumably) a matter of days rather than years, thus managing to be there with them as they grow up]].

* ''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 Batarian 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]].

** Depending on the player's choices, [[spoiler:the Krogan cure the genophage and start to get along with the Turians, 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.]] 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'']].

** ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' continues the tradition, as getting the GoldenEnding for your party members takes a good deal of work and sacrifice. [[spoiler:For the Dark Urge PlayerCharacter, they must reject Bhaal and choose to become an AntiAntichrist, dying in the process (but they get better). Lae'zel ensures her RightfulKingReturns (after going ToHellAndBack) and helps lead her people through a CivilWar to a better future. Shadowheart has to cross the MoralEventHorizon and perform a TargetedHumanSacrifice of [[SelfMadeOrphan her own parents]], freeing her from her curse and giving her the opportunity to make her ReligionOfEvil slightly less so or be accepted in a new religion that's more in-line with her personality. Astarion manages to hold onto what little humanity he has left, in exchange for continuing to never enjoy the sunlight again. Wyll manages to free himself of his DealWithTheDevil and lead the titular city into a new era, at the cost of his father's life. Karlach manages to cheat death, at the cost of becoming a mind flayer (which grows on her rather quickly). Halsin manages to free his childhood friend and achieve his life's work of saving the Shadow-Cursed Lands from their titular curse.]]

* ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime''. It gets pretty dark before it gets better.
** The same could be said about ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaMajorasMask''. Yeah, you could breeze through the game, but that's not the Hero of Time's style.

** Depending on the player's choices, [[spoiler:the Krogan cure the genophage and start to get along with the Turians, 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.]]
*** 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'']].

* ''VideoGame/AmericanMcGeesAlice'' has this, because Alice has to [[spoiler:battle the Red Queen and kill her in her [[EldritchAbomination true form]] so she can regain her sanity.]]

* ''VideoGame/ArTonelicoMelodyOfElemia'' does this in two ways: the game has multiple endings, in some of which you can [[spoiler:redeem the BigBad instead of killing it off;]] Also, in the visual novel-like adventure within the "soulsphere" of Lady Shurelia, [[spoiler:which plays like a MagicalGirl TV show, you get a surprising BittersweetEnding, unless you go back again- then you find out that it was actually due to tampering by the Big Bad itself, and you get the chance to earn a happy ending instead.]]

* In ''VideoGame/BackToTheFutureTheGame'', this is the end result:
** 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/BackToTheFuture1.'' 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"]] [[PoliticalOvercorrectness 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.]]]]
* The ''Franchise/BaldursGate'' series leans heavily towards this, though the vagaries of being a somewhat open-ended RPG with a great deal of choice as to the nature of the protagonist keep it from being blatant. That said, the player does go to hell. Twice. Among other things.

* Arguably subverted in ''VideoGame/TheBardsTale''. [[spoiler:The best ending for [[{{Antihero}} The Bard]] is to side with the Demon Queen and kill the HeroAntagonist leader of the Druids, upon which you and Caleigh end with a HappilyEverAfter over a ruined world and to the utter disgust of the Narrator, whereas the good ending for ''everyone else in the world'' has the Bard side with the Druids and kill the demonic princess, but then he ends up in the exact same position he was in at the beginning (completely broke and having to con people for a living).]]

* After all the crap Earth has endured throughout the ''VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianSeries'', the campaigns of ''[[VideoGame/CommandAndConquerTiberianTwilight Tiberium Twilight]]'' actually merge into a unified ending that is this trope. And it's not earned easily. First, while not spoiling anything, tiberium has "evolved" into a new form that's not responding well to the traditional methods of control, which forces an EnemyMine situation between the two main factions. The campaign revolves around this reluctant alliance. [[spoiler:In the end, it works. The new system keeps tiberium under control and actually turns it into an abundant energy source, so people don't have to fight over energy. Meanwhile, the infamous Kane and his Brotherhood of Nod leave the world for parts unknown, meaning Earth no longer has to live in fear of him. Oh, and TheHeroDies. And Earth's still a mess. But at least humanity can look around, declare the worst is over, and actually get started cleaning up.]]
** Also the Scrin invasion has been retconned away.

* In ''VideoGame/DarkSoulsII'', the pervasive, crushing despair that's a lynchpin of the series finally ends when you beat all three [=DLCs=]. [[spoiler:The memory of King Vendrick imbues all three old crowns with an enchantment of a true ruler; as long as your wear one of the three crowns, you can't hollow. It's certainly not the perfect solution, but the player character has succeeded at what they, and every protagonist of every souls game has sought out; ''a cure for the curse of undeath''.]]
** [[spoiler: This becomes a SubvertedTrope when you start a New Game Plus. The crowns lose the function unless you redo all the actions to empower them again.]]

** In ''VideoGame/Drakengard3'''s ending D, they FINALLY pull off a positive BolivianArmyEnding, with the Grotesqueries destroyed before they really start to wreak havoc, at the cost of the lives of the main character and [[spoiler:the time-traveler who made it possible, but she has at least nine sisters who are willing to deal with any more {{Diabolus Ex Machina}}s in the future.]]

* ''VideoGame/FableIII'' handles this... interestingly. In the game's third act you become the King or Queen, and you're now on a one-year timer [[spoiler:before an EldritchAbomination conquers your kingdom.]] The game expects you to have to make some tough decisions -- [[HonorBeforeReason do you keep all your promises to your subjects only to watch them die in the coming war]], [[WellIntentionedExtremist or do you oppress your people in order to raise money for an army to save your country?]] Or do you TakeAThirdOption, making all the "right" decisions and paying for the army out of your own pocket, thereby proving to your brother that you're the leader he never could be? Well...
** ...as it turns out, [[MoneyForNothing it's super easy to raise enough money over the course of your adventures, provided you're willing to invest heavily in real estate]] (which most players want to do anyway, because it's tough to make ''any'' money in the game unless you buy up property like crazy) and putz around with sidequests for a little while as your coffers automatically fill to bursting. Earning the happy ending is therefore not the Herculean challenge that the game makes it out to be.

** The effort put into this becomes kind of pointless when the series is infamous for making the worst possible endings canon...

* Being Russian in ''VideoGame/TheNewOrderLastDaysOfEurope'' is [[RussianGuySuffersMost 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.

* The ''VideoGame/ShadowHearts'' trilogy pretty much DEMANDS this in all three games, playing through normally, with no, or few, side trips, nets you the bad end. in fact [[spoiler: the first games Bad End is established as canon in the second]]. However, if you put the effort in, you can and WILL Earn your Happy Ending. The second game[[spoiler:'s Good End even implies that the main character, Yuri, gets transported back in time to just shortly before the events of the first game, memories intact, meaning it's quite possible he went through those events again, and that canonically, he got his HappyEnding]].
** [[spoiler: Actually, this is canon. In Shadow Hearts 2, which doesn't happen if Shadow Hearts 1 has a good ending, Bacon performs the Emigre Manuscript's ceremony to raise the dead. In Shadow Hearts 3, upon seeing the Emigre Manuscript's ceremony performed, Roger comments that he's never seen it done before. Since, in Shadow Hearts 2, he does it ''himself''... it means that the only way this makes sense is that Shadow Hearts 2 never had to happen. Yuri got his happy ending in the end.]]

** ''VideoGame/DevilSurvivor'' is a bit evil with this: there's an event on Day 3 involving Haru. If you don't do it, you ''cannot'' get any ending except for [[spoiler: [[DownerEnding Yuzu]]'s]] because it disables the [[spoiler:Belial]] fight on Day 6, thus screwing up the War of Bel, and ''making the Laplace email predict something completely different''. Not to mention, of course, that you have to fight at least one friend regardless of your ending.
*** The game also qualifies story-wise. The only way to win is to fight. ScrewThisImOuttaHere is [[spoiler: a quick way to wreck the world, even if you can fix the mess in ''Overclocked'']]. On the other hand, if you do [[spoiler: seize the Tower of Babel]], you can make a difference and save the world.

** The RPG games get a heavy dose of this.
*** ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'': Where do we begin? The game kicks off with Count Bleck declaring he'll end all worlds by summoning the Chaos Heart and the Void, forcing Mario to go on an unbelievable adventure (does it get much weirder than going into space, a glimpse of the world consumed by the void, and '''''the afterlife?''''') as he allies with Peach, puts aside his differences through a teeth-clenched teamwork with Bowser, and reunites with Luigi after fighting him in his brainwashed persona, twice. Then, we find out that Bleck ''and'' Tippi (the Pixl that guides you along the way) through the backstory texts are nothing more than tragic figures who fell in love with each other (as Blumiere and Timpani respectively) but their separation and Timpani's transformation into a Pixl resulting in Blumiere's descent to villainy and becoming Bleck. But then, after the heroes defeat Bleck in an epic battle, Dimentio seizes the Chaos Heart ''and'' Luigi, going OneWingedAngel with his FusionDance with them, resulting in a dramatic FinalBattle that ends in Dimentio's defeat (and freeing Luigi without killing him), but not before nearly getting the last laugh by leaving a shadow of his power to continue controlling the Chaos Heart (enough to destroy all worlds). While Timpani's and Blumiere's sacrifice is certainly tragic, they not only get back together after ''how many years apart'' but undo '''everything''' that was destroyed (or nearly destroyed) by the Void. The Post-Game has basically almost ''everyone'' getting their happy ending, prime examples being O'Chunks and Nastasia (two of Bleck's henchpeople) happily living in Flipside and Flopside respectively, Mimi (another one of Bleck's henchwomen) now being the new owner of Merlee's Mansion — this time changing it for the better, Francis being able to create Tiptron as a ReplacementGoldfish for Tippi (and ''willing'' to sell it to the heroes for 999 coins), King Croacus fully recovering from seemingly wilting after his defeat from the heroes, and Luvbi's somehow miraculous revival after she sacrifices herself to revert back to a Pure Heart.

** ''VideoGame/BaldursGateIII'' continues the tradition, as getting the GoldenEnding for your party members takes a good deal of work and sacrifice. [[spoiler:For the Dark Urge PlayerCharacter, they must reject Bhaal and choose to become an AntiAntichrist, dying in the process (but they get better). Lae'zel ensures her RightfulKingReturns (after going ToHellAndBack) and helps lead her people through a CivilWar to a better future. Shadowheart has to cross the MoralEventHorizon and perform a TargetedHumanSacrifice of [[SelfMadeOrphan her own parents]], freeing her from her curse and giving her the opportunity to make her ReligionOfEvil slightly less so. Astarion manages to hold onto what little humanity he has left, in exchange for continuing to never enjoy the sunlight again. Wyll manages to free himself of his DealWithTheDevil and lead the titular city into a new era, at the cost of his father's life. Karlach manages to cheat death, at the cost of becoming a mind flayer (which grows on her rather quickly). Halsin manages to free his childhood friend and achieve his life's work of saving the Shadow-Cursed Lands from their titular curse.]]

** 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"]] [[PoliticalOvercorrectness 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.]]]]

** In ''VisualNovel/PhoenixWrightAceAttorney'', Phoenix has a very difficult first year as a lawyer. His first case he gets thrown a bone by the killer being a hilariously BadLiar, but then he has to solve his own mentor's murder by a blackmailer who has the justice system in his back pocket, gets verbally abused and prosecuted for murder by his old childhood friend, has to defend said friend against Manfred von Karma, who's the very definition of AmoralAttorney, and finally has to solve a LockedRoomMystery that went cold 15 years ago. Oh, and Manfred tasers him while he's trying to collect crucial evidence. He still manages to pull through, bring 5 separate killers to justice, and give Edgeworth the peace of mind he'd been lacking for a decade and a half. The bonus case adds having to deal with an absolute ''marathon'' of a case, a client who is desperately trying to plead guilty, and a true culprit who's [[spoiler: a [[DirtyCop corrupt police chief]] and as such extremely hard to bring to justice. He still manages to win, free Lana from [[spoiler: Gant's blackmail]], and reconcile her with her little sister.

** The hero in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestV'' went to a lot of crap during his life. He saw his father dying next to him, was enslaved for 10 years, after he get married, became a father and finds out he is the king of a land, [[spoiler: he and his wife were turned to stone for 5 years, then, he is finally reunited with his thought to be dead mother, only to see her die a few minutes later. Let's just say that he deserved to save the world and rule his land with his wife and children.]]

*** ''VideoGame/SuperPaperMario'': Where do we begin? The game kicks off with Count Bleck declaring he'll end all worlds by summoning the Chaos Heart and the Void, forcing Mario to go on an unbelievable adventure (does it get much weirder than going into space, a glimpse of the world consumed by the void, and '''''the afterlife?''''') as he allies with Peach, puts aside his differences through a teeth-clenched teamwork with Bowser, and reunites with Luigi after fighting him in his brainwashed persona, twice. Then, we find out that Bleck ''and'' Tippi (the Pixl that guides you along the way) through the backstory texts are nothing more than tragic figures who fell in love with each other (as Blumiere and Timpani respectively) but their separation and Timpani's transformation into a Pixl resulting in Blumiere's descent to villainy and becoming Bleck. But then, after the heroes defeat Bleck in an epic battle, Dimentio seizes the Chaos Heart ''and'' Luigi, going OneWingedAngel with his FusionDance with them, resulting in a dramatic FinalBattle that ends in Dimentio's defeat, but not before nearly getting the last laugh by leaving a shadow of his power to continue controlling the Chaos Heart (enough to destroy all worlds). While Timpani's and Blumiere's sacrifice is certainly tragic, they not only get back together after ''how many years apart'' but undo '''everything''' that was destroyed (or nearly destroyed) by the Void. The Post-Game has basically almost ''everyone'' getting their happy ending, prime examples being O'Chunks and Nastasia (two of Bleck's henchpeople) happily living in Flipside and Flopside respectively, Mimi (another one of Bleck's henchwomen) now being the new owner of Merlee's Mansion — this time changing it for the better, Francis being able to create Tiptron as a ReplacementGoldfish for Tippi (and ''willing'' to sell it to the heroes for 999 coins), King Croacus fully recovering from seemingly wilting after his defeat from the heroes, and Luvbi's somehow miraculous revival after she sacrifices herself to revert back to a Pure Heart.

[[folder: ''Final Fantasy'']]

[[folder: ''The Legend of Zelda'']]

[[folder: ''Mass Effect'']]

[[folder: ''Neverwinter Nights'']]

* A wonderful example of Earning your Happy ending would be in ''VideoGame/BreathOfFireDragonQuarter''. The game is so ridiculously hard that it can easily take restarting the game more than once to actually beat it. The ending, however, is well worth it.

* In ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'', [[spoiler:AZ]] created a machine to resurrect his Pokémon, then turned it into a weapon to punish the world for said Pokémon's death in the first place, which, combined with finding out the souls of numerous Pokémon were sacrificed to bring her back, caused the Pokémon to abandon him. What's more, the machine granted ''him'' immortality, and now he's forced to WalkTheEarth trying to redeem himself. After the player character saves the day, [[spoiler:AZ]] challenges him to a battle, finally earning his redemption by learning what a trainer truly was. [[spoiler:AZ's Floette reappears to reunite with AZ, bringing AZ to his knees in jubilation.]]

** In ''VideoGame/KingdomHeartsIII'', [[spoiler:Roxas, Xion, and Lea, and Ven, Aqua, and Terra are all FINALLY reunited with their friends after being lied to, manipulated, played against eachother by Xehanort, and even dying or being sealed away.]]

[[spoiler:([[BeAt looks in awe at the miracle before him]], then smiles)]]\\

** Slaying Neo Exdeath in ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyV'' restores the broken Crystals and returns all lands erased by the Void to the world, without any scratches.
** ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' has Kefka Palazzo's final defeat and his subsequent death, as, although magic ceases to exist, the player characters can finally find peace and move on with their lives.

* The united ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOracleGames Oracle]]'' games (''Oracle of Ages'' and ''Oracle of Seasons'') have this if you complete them both on the same system. Link goes through all kinds of craziness to save the worlds of Holodrum and Labrynna from what turns out to be Ganon's psycho foster mothers, who try to sacrifice Princess Zelda to resurrect Ganon only for it to go horribly wrong. But defeating both games together leads to the eponymous Oracles living happily in the service of their goddesses, and peace is restored to Holodrum, Labrynna, ''and'' Hyrule. Link even finally gets a kiss from his princess!