Review the worst game scenarios in video games

Hey now, we love a good plot twist

in a video game story, but, man,

sometimes plot twists just
don’t turn out too great.

Here are 10 of the worst
plot twists in video games.

Starting off with number 10,

back when “Stranger of
Paradise: Final Fantasy Origin”

was first announced, Square
Enix tried to make a big deal

about the main character
Jack’s mysterious identity,

the identity that literally
everyone immediately guessed.

He’s actually Jack Garland,

the bad guy from the
original “Final Fantasy.”

Wow, what a twist.

We could easily dedicate this entry

just to that brainless
twist all on its own,

but that’s just really the starting point

of the goofy stuff this game introduces.

It’s not just that your guy
is destined to be a bad guy,

it’s also that he’s actually an agent

sent from a different
dimension to control Chaos

or something in Cornelia.

There’s actually a super high-tech species

that secretly controls the
war between light and chaos

that often comes up in the
“Final Fantasy” Series,

and it seems to imply that these goofs

are actually responsible for the plots

of multiple “Final Fantasy
games, not just the first one.

It’s weird enough that
they’re taking a simple

and charming game like OG “Final Fantasy”

and adding in all this mid-2000s
edgy nonsense on top of it,

but then they’re also vaguely
gonna imply that this stuff

also connects to the other
retro games in the series.

I don’t know, man.

Here at Gameranx, like, it just
did not land for a lot of us

and we like “Final Fantasy,”
but the entire ending sequence

is where things get really dumb.

You somehow manage to break
into, like, another world

and they spout a bunch
of techno babble at you

and then Chaos appears,

which is like a digital recreation
of darkness or something.

I don’t know, but the whole
thing goes off the rails.

We’re not super smart, but
Garland’s entire mission

up to this point is to tear down

the alien’s false civilization,

but now he’s just talking with them

and comes up with a scheme to trick people

into being warriors of light or something.

That’s what the ending
kind of boils down to.

The goofy guy in armor that you fought

in the very first “Final Fantasy” game

is actually a master manipulator

and everything the players
did in the original game

was just a big trick by
this laughing dumbass.

It’s so stupid that it almost

comes back around to being amazing,

so that’s why I’m putting it
on the top of this list here.

Like, Square Enix is no stranger to weird,

ridiculously terrible plot points

that are actually kind
of good, and I mean,

this one is at least entertaining,

even if for the wrong reasons.

Next, over at number nine,

let’s talk “Call of Duty: Ghosts.”

This takes a hard turn from
the amusingly dumb stuff

from number 10 to just infuriating.

Now, many “Call of Duty”
games have twists in them

and they’ll well, like, a
lot of them aren’t great.

They’re usually at least serviceable

to keep you invested in what’s happening.

The big twist at the end
of the “Ghosts,” though,

mostly just made players want to throw

their controllers out a window.

Here’s what happens.

At the end of the game,
you fight the bad guy,

this guy called Gabriel Rorke.

He’s on the front of this train,

so you do what all “Call of Duty” guys do:

you bust into their car in slow motion

and get into a hand-to-hand
fight with this guy

and the train crashes and
you do the customary crawl

to get to the gun first sequence.

You grab the gun, you shoot him.

That’s about as dead as it gets, right?

You literally shoot
him square in the chest

and leave him the drown.

You make it to the beach,
the bad guys are defeated,

and then the screen fades to black.

That’s the end, right? Right?

Now, in any rational world,

that would be the end of it, okay ending,

but for some reason
they decided to throw in

a pointless twist ending here

where Rorke somehow is still alive

and manages to overpower
both of you single-handedly.

This is with a bullet in his chest.

I guess the real twist is
that this guy is actually,

like, a superhero or something.

What makes it even worse is

that it’s never really
gonna get followed up on.

“Ghosts” ended up being
a sales disappointment

for Activision, so they
never made a follow up.

So that’s just how the story ends.

Now, next over at number eight,

let’s start some fights here.

“Heavy Rain,” it’s story is less of a plot

and more of like a bunch
of stuff that happens,

but the main mystery revolves
around the true identity

of the mysterious, of
course, Origami Killer.

There are a ton of suspects.

Even the main character,
Ethan, might be a suspect

because of his mysterious blackouts.

Like, there was an opportunity

to make a satisfying reveal here,

but instead of going with
something that makes sense,

they decided to go in
a different direction.

Something that makes a lot less sense,

’cause one of the characters
you play as in the game

is this private investigator
guy named Scott Shelby.

He’s trying to solve the case

and he goes to some ridiculous lengths

to try and hunt down this killer.

There’s literally, like,
a John Woo shootout.

This guy is serious.

Like, this is one character
you’d assume isn’t the killer

because it wouldn’t make any sense.

The game literally lets you
read your character’s thoughts.

So if he was the killer,
you should know, right?

This guy’s whole thing is

that he’s trying to find the killer.

Why would he be doing all this otherwise?

Also, he seems like a
pretty cool character,

but it turns out he’s the Origami Killer.

Now, it doesn’t make any sense.

I guess the guy he was
hunting was just a copycat,

but why would he go to such insane lengths

to catch a fake when nobody’s watching?

I mean, like, you’re, you
the player are watching,

but, like, and even, like,
he puts himself at risk.

You can literally get shot multiple times

during the mansion sequence, so it’s wild.

The only way this game is
able to make this twist work

in any way is that it’s
just ’cause it lies to you.

It shows you scenes
that you did previously

play out differently, and they
have Shelby investigate stuff

that he, as the killer, would already know

and there’s no explanation given.

It’s an all-around absurd twist

that introduces way more
plot holes than it resolves.

Apparently the decision
to make Shelby the killer

came late in development,

so it makes sense why it
feels like it this way.

It’s a shame too because, otherwise,

“Heavy Rain” is pretty cool.

There’s a lot of really memorable moments

and some good storytelling in there,

but the whole Shelby Origami Killer thing

just didn’t really work out for us.

Next up at number seven,
let’s get even more spicy.

Let’s talk about “Batman: Arkham Knight,”

a video game that we absolutely love,

but there’s a couple of
things that bother us

and it’s the twist, of course, here.

You knew we were gonna say it.

What makes the twist of
“Arkham Knight” so lame

is just how obvious it was.

The first trailers introduced
this mysterious new enemy

called the Arkham Knight,

and all the pre-release
developer interviews

made it a big deal about
this completely new character

in their words.

That is, you know, “Believe
us, it’s totally new.

We swear.”

A lot of things about him
seemed kind of similar

to the character of the Red Hood,

but when confronted about it,

Rocksteady swore up and down

that Arkham Knight wasn’t the Red Hood.

Sure, like, he’s got guns,
kind of a red color scheme,

and kind of a helmet type thing similarly,

but he’s a different,
totally new character.

Fast forward to the game’s release

and at the end of the
game, oh, what’s this?

You can finally confront
the Arkham Knight,

and it’s Red Hood, AKA
Jason Todd, obviously, yeah.

They barely even tried to hide his voice.

If you’re a Batman fan,

you probably called this
one almost immediately.

It’s easily one of the most
obvious twists of all time.

The funny thing is that I think this twist

actually distracted people
from the even bigger

and better twist, the return
of Mark Hamill’s Joker.

The Red Hood thing was
pretty disappointing,

because, like, the game was
literally named after this guy.

People were expecting some
new spin on Batman lore,

some cool shocking twist that’ll
change everything we knew,

and it was just something

that we had ultimately seen before.

It’s ultimately a weak
point in what we think

is still a really good game.

Next, over at number
six, let’s talk “Haze.”

This completely forgettable
2008 PlayStation era shooter

should have been a lot better.

You know, I mean, it was
made by Free Radical,

the guys who made the awesome
“TimeSplitters” games,

but this one ended up
being a big disappointment.

Right from the start, the story was, like,

a big load of nothing.

You start off as a
mercenary who gets pumped

with this special stuff called Nectar

that made the world seem
bright and colorful,

way better than it actually was.

It seemed like it was kind of
some ill-conceived critique

of modern military shooters,

like, there was something smart there,

but it ultimately never
really made too much sense.

The guys you’re a part of,
the Mantel Corporation,

are obviously bad guys and
the Rebels you’re fighting,

these guys called the Promise Hand,

are actually the good guys.

So you switch sides about
halfway through the game

but that’s not the twist,

because it’s literally just the plot.

Anyone with a working brain

would know the direction
things were going,

but it’s the end of the game

where they throw a real doozy at you.

After you beat the game,
the leader of the Rebels

states his own plans for the Nectar

and plans to use it to control people,

but in a more effective
way than the other guys.

Oh no, the bad guys who
turn out to be good guys

are actually the bad guys.

Really makes you think, doesn’t it?

No. Here, it really doesn’t.

Kind of just makes your character

look like a total clown
who will follow orders

from literally anyone.

It’s one of those kind of more edgy,

“actually, everyone’s
bad” types of endings

that sometimes land and sometimes don’t,

and here they really didn’t.

Next, over at number five,
let’s talk “Bionic Commando”.

This one is infamous because
all you have to do is say it

and then you wanna laugh.

Your wife is the arm.

Your wife is the Bionic
Commando guy’s arm.

Yes, that’s the twist.

Part of the plot of this
rebooted “Bionic Commando” game

from 2009 was that the main guy, Spencer,

was looking for information
on his wife and, oh boy,

I mean, at the end of the game you got it.

For some reason, the
only way the government

was able to get the robot arms to work

is by implanting human
souls into them or whatever.

So it turns out that
Spencer’s titular bionic arm

is actually also his wife.

It’s literally just as dumb as it sounds

and basically serves no purpose

other than for there to be a
twist here, for twists sake.

Seriously, the first time
we saw this, we all laughed.

It’s incredibly dumb.

Yeah, the game is kind of tongue in cheek,

but like, I, this part kind of felt like

it was meant to be taken seriously.

I don’t know. I love it
for what it is though.

I will always bring it up
anytime I talk about video games

and people hate me for it.

Now, next, over at number
four, we had to mention it,

even though we may not feel as strongly,

but “Mass Effect 3.”

Honestly, up until the ending,

“Mass Effect 3” was going pretty well.

I mean, you might not have
liked how certain plots resolved

or how certain characters
were written or written out,

but things were very
dramatic and it felt like

all of your choices made a difference

in how things played out.

The main goal of the game was to build

this thing called The Crucible,

which was meant to be some kind of weapon

to stop the Reapers.

That’s sort of what it is,
but, like, let’s get into it

and it is messy.

At the end of the game, you
pacify the Illlusive Man

and enter the Crucible to find

whatever this thing is supposed to be.

Often called the Star
Child, derisively, by fans,

this thing is supposed to
be some kind of super AI

that’s entirely responsible
for the Reapers.

Now, what follows is
basically the architect scene

from “The Matrix Reloaded,”
but to some people it’s worse,

because this isn’t a movie

where everything plays out the same.

It’s a game where the
whole point of the thing

is that your choices
are supposed to matter,

but then this AI kid comes
around and tells you,

“Nope, sorry, actually all the
stuff you did was pointless.”

And you basically pick three
colors for your ending,

which all, for most people,
were a lot less satisfying

because you lose a lot of that agency.

So for a lot of people,

it wasn’t just that it was disappointing,

it’s that it kind of
just comes out of nowhere

and tries to make sense
and try and build on things

that didn’t really need to be done.

Me personally, I’ve played
many great video games

that ended up having
endings that were wet farts.

I actually didn’t think “Mass
Effect 3” was the worst ever,

but BioWare did eventually
end up acknowledging things

and it was, like, a whole big thing,

but I’m glad we’re past it now.

“Mass Effect” is still an awesome series,

worth playing if you never have,

and it’s still worth
seeing through to the end.

Now, over at number three,
let’s have a little fun.

“Final Fantasy VIII”

It made some kind of sense here.

I mean, you play as these
special forces teenagers

taking on an evil sorcerers
who’s taken over a country.

You know, pretty simple stuff.

Along the way, you meet various characters

at different points and
locations in the story.

It’s a JRPG with JRPG story stuff.

But then, near the end of disc one,

the game drops an insane bombshell on you.

Everyone in your party is
somehow from the same orphanage.

They just don’t remember it.

That’s some seriously
soap opera-level stuff,

like, with the writing.

Everyone’s secretly connected.

Even Seifer, the rival character,

and the evil sorceress were there.

All of the “Final
Fantasy” babies were there

in the orphanage.

The revelation on its own is ridiculous,

but how you find out is somewhat worse.

One character, Irvine, actually
remembers what happened.

He just decided to never
mention it to anyone.

You’d think the bizarre coincidence

that everyone in the party used
to know each other as babies

would come up, but I
guess it’s no big deal.

Oh yeah, and the reason why
everyone else has amnesia

is because of the guardian forces you use.

Now you think that would come up again

and be some serious defect your leaders

should probably tell you about,

but no, don’t worry about it.

We just made that up to explain
this silly amnesia reveal.

The twist alone is bad enough,
but to add insult to injury,

this whole sequence goes on for a while.

It’s something that if you
played it when you were young,

maybe it wasn’t really that big of a deal,

but once you’re older
and you think about it

and nostalgia wears
off, what the hell, man?

Now over at number two,
let’s talk “Star Ocean 3.”

As far as plot twists go,
this one definitely goes big.

For most of the game, the
story to “Star Ocean 3”

is typical “Star Ocean” stuff.

You play as a ridiculously
named sci-fi dude

who spends most of his time running around

a traditional fantasy world.

It’s all pretty typical JRPG stuff

until you get to the big twist.

Near the end of the game,
they drop a lot on you.

There’s some kind of 4D dimension

where hyper-advanced
beings are coming from,

who may be responsible for the creation

of the game’s universe.

That’s certainly something,
but as far as JRPG twists,

it hits about a four out of
10 on the craziness scale.

God-like beings being the
bad guys are pretty common

for this genre, but the real twist

is when you actually go to 4D space.

That’s when it’s revealed
that the universe

the game takes place in is actually,

and I’m dead serious here,

an MMORPG called “The Eternal Sphere.”

The entire universe in the
game is set in a video game.

So basically, everything that’s
happened up to this point

is just a simulation.

None of it matters because it’s all fake,

created for the amusement
of these God-like aliens.

That’s a hell of a twist to drop on you

at the end of the game.

It’s bad enough that
everything you thought was real

in the world of “Star
Ocean 3” was actually fake,

it’s that it retroactively
makes everything

in the previous two games fake as well.

It’s a completely insane twist
to throw into the third game

in the franchise, but
it’s so weird and goofy

that, at this point, it’s
hard not to laugh about it,

and you know what, it’s
definitely high on this list,

but you gotta give them props
for doing something crazy.

There’s a lot of ambition there.

Now, down to number one,
let’s talk “The 3rd Birthday.”

Where do we even start with this one?

I mean, “The 3rd Birthday.”
is absolutely despised

by fans of “Parasite Eve,”

and if you manage to get to the end of it,

then you’ll understand why.

The entire game, it seems
like, the main character, Aya,

is a different person.

In the original “Parasite
Eve,” she’s tough and capable,

but in this game she’s,
like, a total pushover,

a wet noodle.

The reason for her personality change

is eventually explained, but
it didn’t make anyone happy.

The thing is, the plot
of “The 3rd Birthday”

is already an insane, time-bending
mess that’s nonsensical

even before the big
twist, but it gets worse.

The whole ending sequence has
to be seen to be believed.

Aya gets shot up, and somehow,
Eve’s soul goes into her body

and then Aya dies for real,

and also she’s erased from
history for some reason.

Everything that happened in
the game before didn’t happen.

So now Aya is, like, a 12-year-old
girl in an adult’s body

and then you marry this
dude for some reason,

but actually you don’t.

It’s all, like, so incredibly
bad in a way that transcends

everything else on this
list, if you ask us.

You seriously have to
see it to believe it.

Even if you have no
attachment to the series

or Aya as a character,

or really know anything that’s going on,

it’s still gonna make you mad

because it’s all so self serious and lame

while also trying to tug
at your heartstrings,

but it didn’t work at all for us.

“The 3rd Birthday” is basically
worst plot twists, the game.

You could seriously just list 10 twists

from this game alone for a list.

A lot of the twists are bad,

but the worst by far was the ending.

What was that even supposed to be?

Anyway, we’ve ranted enough.

Those are 10 ridiculous
plot twists in video games.

Some ridiculously awful,
some ridiculously absurd,

some ridiculously wacky.

Chances are you got your own examples

from playing games over the years,

so let us know in the
comments what you think.

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But regardless, thank you
very much for watching,

and we’ll see you guys next time.