History Main / LastSecondEndingChoice

* ''VideoGame/{{Shardlight}}'' has an almost literal example, as it is pretty much the only moral choice in the game and once you make it you have about two minutes of dialogue before the credits roll. [[spoiler:When [[BigBad Tiberius]] and [[BloodKnight Danton]] get into a sword fight, they are evenly matched. Once a break in the fighting happens, you choose kill either Tiberius, Danton, or [[TakeTheThirdOption both]]. [[GoldenEnding Killing both is the best ending, as]] [[KillAndReplace Amy takes on the Tiberius persona]] [[GoldenEnding and ensures that the vaccine will be spread without anymore bloodshed]]]].

** In ''Ean's Quest'', Ean may either stay in the Land of Man and explore the world with Rye (which is pretty much a NoEnding, as this allows the player to just roam through the setting indefinitely), or return to the land of Elves.

** {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''[[VideoGame/InfamousSecondSon inFAMOUS: Second Son]]'', where your karma actually limits what the final choice you make is. You have to be Good to take the good choice, and same for evil.

* In ''VideoGame/SpecOpsTheLine'', the ending you get is entirely dependent on the actions you take after [[spoiler:"Konrad" (Walker's hallucinatory object of blame) pulls a gun on you and counts to five]] rather than any of the choices beforehand. However, the endings are based on whether ''you'' think [[spoiler:Walker is redeemable after all he's done]] rather than the developers' choice. Thus, the previous choices aren't there for karma points so much as for providing context for your final decision.
** And in an aversion of KarmaMeter, [[spoiler:most of the previous "choices" in the game are [[SadisticChoice anything but]], [[MortonsFork resulting in equally awful consequences no matter how the player acts]]. You don't even get [[IDidWhatIHadToDo the comfort]] of choosing the LesserOfTwoEvils -- whatever you do, [[ApocalypseHow Dubai gets royally fucked up]] and ''[[NiceJobBreakingItHero it's all]] '''[[YouBastard your fault]]'''''. "WarIsHell" may actually be an {{understatement}}.]]

* Similarly, the ''Aftermath'' storyline of ''VideoGame/MortalKombat11'' has the player having to choose between [[spoiler:Fire God Liu Kang and Shang Tsung]] for the final battle. The game itself even shows it at "Choose Your Final Destiny". [[spoiler:In Liu Kang's ending, he erases Shang Tsung from existence, and uses the hourglass' power to travel to the past [[SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong to train the Great Kung Lao to prepare him for the coming challenges]]. In Shang Tsung's ending, he kills Liu Kang, and goes on to conquer the realms one after another, even making Fujin and Raiden into his minions]].

* The ending of ''World of Light'' in ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'' is determined at the end of the game, with the player choosing to fight Galeem, [[spoiler: Dharkon]], or both. The last is significantly harder, as the player must complete a MarathonLevel and a BossRush first, [[spoiler:but is the GoldenEnding]].

** ''VideoGame/BaldursGateII'' has the Trials in the final dungeon, where taking even a single selfish choice instantly makes you NeutralEvil. This has no effect on your reputation (or ending).

** ''VideoGame/DeusExHumanRevolution'' ends with the player being presented with four buttons, each of which leads directly to a different ending. Though the practical effects of pressing each button is always the same, the following narration will have a different tone depending on the player's KarmaMeter rating up to that point.

* The ''Franchise/MassEffect'' series uses this in each game of the trilogy, where the ending is primarily determined by a major choice near the end. Other factors in each game influence dialogue and exact events, but still focus on the two or three final options. In the first game, [[spoiler: do you save or kill the Council?]]. In the second, do you [[spoiler: destroy the Collector Base, or spare it as the Illusive Man wants you to?]] [[spoiler:In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', your Effective Military Strength determines what choices you have in the ending. A low EMS will give you one choice, which depends on whether or not you destroyed the Collector Base in the last game. Moderate EMS will give you two choices, Destroy and Control, while high EMS gives you three (Destroy, Control, and Synthesis). The Extended Cut adds a fourth, Refusal.]]

** ''VideoGame/TheNamelessMod'' also falls into this trope, but introduces more complexity. It essentially splits into two distinct storylines right at the beginning, but the choice on which of your current storyline's endings you get is determined at the very end. Thus, your choice in the beginning isn't invalidated at all. However, there's also a chance to TakeAThirdOption toward the end.

* Endings C and D of ''VideoGame/NierAutomata'' are, like above, acquired at the very end of the third playthrough, when [[spoiler:A2 and 9S fight each other.]] Which ending you get is determined by which character you pick to play as for that final battle.

** The fangame ''VideoGame/HOME2013'' is a subverted example. While the choice there is still in the final chapter, it's a bit before the third-to-last battle and it only branches off in the final battle itself. [[spoiler:In the glitched part of Zone 0, there is an Elsen asking you whether or not you are guilty of any sins. Admitting your sins will net you the good ending, whereas concealing your guilt will lead to the bad ending.]] A fitting verdict for those who [[spoiler:deny their sins]].

* ''Film/TheMatrixReloaded'' has this forced onto Neo [[spoiler:and his predecessors]] as a SadisticChoice by the Architect -- [[spoiler:Ending A where he, as his predecessors have also done, goes into the Source of the Matrix to give back the code allowing him unique powers in the Matrix and choosing 23 couples to repopulate Zion, or Ending B where he goes back to the Matrix and every human in Zion and the Matrix is killed.]] However, what the Architect doesn't realize is that [[spoiler:the choice was tampered with by the Oracle. Because she gave him a person to love, she gave Neo a reason to choose Ending B which no other One had, continuing the fight and eventually making peace between the humans and machines.]]

* In ''VideoGame/CodeOfPrincess'', the player has to choose whether to destroy the Empyrean Stone or not. If you choose to destroy it, Distille is destroyed for good, but all magic and monsters disappear from the world. If you choose not to destroy it, the world remains as it is, but Distille will return 1,000 years later.

* In ''Videogame/{{Chrome}}'', after the protagonist's personal vendetta is resolved, the protagonist receives multiple distress calls, from two [[MegaCorp intergalactic mega corps]], one of which the slain BigBad works with, and the last one is from the colonists who want to be independent. You can join either one of the mega corps, or aiding the colonist's freedom.