"True" Ends: What makes them "True", and are they by design "Good"?

[K450]

I have been reading VNs and browsing many more that have "True Ends", or those where the plot is solved the "correct" way, at least as intended by the scenario writers (others have begged to differ by way of "best girl", but that's another subject). Usually, how the conflicts are resolved always point towards the antagonist(s) or antagonistic forces being defeated in some way. Sometimes the protagonist might lose his love interest/someone he cared for, or the protagonist might die, or the antagonist might pull off some part of his Xanatos Gambit. However, the outcome is always a net gain in the eyes of the protagonist or someone who is still alive to witness all that happened so far.
 
Now,

My perspective is limited in terms of how many "True Ends" are happy miracles as in Clannad, Kanon, Hoshizora no Memoria, or compromises such as Rewrite or Shinigami no Kiss.

 
But, how many VNs are courageous enough to pull a 1984 and get away with it? What if you don't get Sachi, everyone hates you, and you get lobotomized by your enemy, all while your dreams wither to the sea of entropy, your master Asako breathing a sigh of disappointment in you? Can we really read all of that and say, "This is how it should be. I am satisfied with this ending"? I know I have the capacity to accept such an outcome and say the aforementioned, which is why I prefer Yume's bad end to her good end (though her route in Eternal Heart beats that still). However, can such a "True Bad End" 'work' in the context of the VN subculture, or will it be perceived as an oxymoron by others swiftly warning anyone 'oh btw, terrible ending. 0/10 stay away'?

[Kaguya]

They're "true" when the author says they are, I guess.

A lot of them are not good endings in any way shape or form. Just look up some Utsuges- their very reason is to make you feel bad and often everyone ends up miserable in them, with nothing saved or solved, just some deaths and wasted effort.

[Flutterz]

You should read Saya no Uta. I'm pretty sure one of the endings is generally considered to be the true end, and I wouldn't call it a good end.

[Nosebleed]

They're true ends because they are the most logical and conclusive ending to the plot, or they are what the author picks as the true end.

They usually tie all the lose ends and finish the story in a way that leaves no doubts (hopefully)

Wether they are good or bad however is all up to the reader.

I personally just see each end as its own individual universe and each ending has its own charm, the true end to me is just another end, that's all.

[Christfall]

"True" Ends can vary greatly, but they generally have these 2 purposes.

 

1. Resolve all plot threads and provide a "complete" closure. In other words, leave nothing unanswered. Individual routes cannot do this because they are usually too focused on 1 character.

2. Setup to be continued by a sequel.

 

Only the authors themselves can decide which one is canonical (albeit not common), the rest is up to the reader's interpretation.

 

"True Bad Ends" are flame bait in every genre except maybe horror games or utsuge (depressing game), it can work but is much harder and less appealing to most players. 

[AnimalSoundss]

I'm gonna make this spoiler free as possible, I won't give any details away that you couldn't learn by reading it's basic description. 

 

So, best example i can think of is G-Senjou no Maou. The whole main story before it splits off into a heroine's route is about Maou. Who is he? What is his goal? So, the true route is going for the girl who continues that main story. Each heroine had her own story that branched off, but only one of them continued with the current, main storyline. Some people may not like VNs that are written this way and prefer to be able to complete the main story with whichever heroine they end up choosing, but I personally think it makes each girl more unique and raises the replay value of the game. If the story is always the same, a lot of people wont want to play through for each girl since the story is very similar anyways.

[Clephas]

Best heroine doesn't always match a true heroine... and not every VN with a true ending has a true heroine.  A number of my favorite games have true routes with no specific heroine, simply because it stops being about heroines and more about the story. 

 

True paths are ultimately decided by the writer, even if we would prefer otherwise.  Personally, since VNs with true endings tend to be several levels above those who don't have one (there are notable exceptions, but as a rule of thumb...), I tend to prefer for there to be a true ending. 

 

Frequently VNs will have an unstated 'main heroine' who isn't necessarily the heroine of a true route.  This usually means her route is more involved, her character more developed, and she gets proportionately more screen time and lines than the other heroines.  Luna from Tsukiyorisou is one of these... anyone who plays that game calls Luna the 'true heroine', though it was only stated recently by the company that she is the canon heroine (since the protagonist of Tsukiyorisou is her son with the protagonist).

 

To be blunt, some  true and main heroines are just horrible.  Eustia from Aiyoku no Eustia is an example of a total failure of a true heroine, for instance... but there are also heroines that just make sense as true heroines, like Kagome from Comyu and Suzu from Ayakashibito.  Even if you don't like them personally, it makes perfect sense to consider those two as the true heroines of their individual games.

[Zenophilious]

You should read Saya no Uta. I'm pretty sure one of the endings is generally considered to be the true end, and I wouldn't call it a good end.

I thought almost every end in Saya no Uta was

pretty much a bad end...

at least, according to the plot synopsis I looked at.

[Flutterz]

I thought almost every end in Saya no Uta was

pretty much a bad end...

at least, according to the plot synopsis I looked at.

Yeah, but one of them is considered to be the true end.

[Zenophilious]

Yeah, but one of them is considered to be the true end.

So, they're all bad, but only one is the true bad end?  lol

[Clephas]

In Houkago no Futekikakusha, all but the true ending are bad endings, lol.

[Okami]

True route is the route that reviles  main "secrets" that are not reviled in other routes, otherwise it's not a true route but a main route. Many people seem to mix the two.

[Life]

I think of true routes as a recollection of everything else. In many other routes, there are questions left unanswered or something that just seemed a little off. Everything comes together in the true route and it helps strengthen the story of the other character routes before molding them all together only for it to explode with everything you wanted to know along with the conclusion to the story in the most satisfying way they can.

[Ezeefreak]

By the few VN I read there was some with a true route/end. They reveal the not answered questions and they are really good. In the ways they tell their stories.

 

BUT ...

 

For me they rarely satisfying. You read the VN for a lot of hours, develop connections to the characters/heroines and in the "true" end you will end with none of them. Yeah, mostly you do something really heroic or so, And everything is fine. But not for me or the protagonist. A good example for me is Rewrite. The moon and terra routes were really awesome. And explaned so many stuff

But in the End i was so distanced from the heroines. That makes me sad. And And these "pseudo-happy-end" doesn't satisfy me. If I think about it now i could cry

 

Like the most, thats only my opinion

 

Greetz

[Christfall]

Rewrite's is one of the rare exception though. In most true routes, the protagonist do end up with the main (true) heroine or in some cases, even a harem end.

[Freestyle80]

True ends are their to answer the mysteries of the story imo like Ever17 for example

some VNs are defined by its true route like that but i dont really like this cuz they always force u to read ALL of the routes to unlock this 'true end'

[krill]

you can have true ends that aren't positive for the protag as well look at cross+channel  (i wont go in to the true end even in a spoiler because if you haven't played it i don't want any part of ruining it for anyone its that good, you should read it...why are you still here not reading cross+channel...go...go on read it) while the end was a net gain for the other characters it can be argued it was not a good end for the protag.

[Okami]

Also I forgot to say, but for me a true end/route is just another end/route that reviles more secrets and has potential of being better then the rest but it is not more significant then the rest of the routes, If I hate a true route, or find a true end unsatisfying but I liked others that won't ruin the rest of it for me, I will just see it as one route/end that is bad. Few post above Rewrite was mention, it is one of my favorite VNs, I hated a Terra route and found it to be the worst route in this VN, and that didn't spoil the rest of the VN for me.

[madvanced]

True ends are basically the plot answering routes and more often than not with the heroine the author deemed that the MC was originally meant to be with. It signifies completion and sometimes it's to be used as canon.

[douggle]

True route is the route that reveals  main "secrets" that are not revealed in other routes, otherwise it's not a true route but a main route. Many people seem to mix the two.

This isn't always the case.

[Okami]

This isn't always the case.

 

And how is it not?

[Kaguya]

And how is it not?

Say I make a VN. I then pick a random route with no more info than the others and say "hey, this is the true route. Once I make a sequel, it'll be based on this ending, and I hereby declare it canon".

 

Well, the author said it. He's the one who gets to pick what ending is canon (you can deny it if you want to, but in the end the decision is still his). The true route doesn't need to show any secret or be more important than the other ones, it just tends to be.

[Mephisto]

true ends are true because that's how the story is meant to play out according to the person directing the story. they aren't necessarily "good" since most true ends are pretty dark. 

 

True ends tend to have an actual ending, and an actual plot to follow, while games without a true end tend to just kind of meander off in to "be nice to chicks, get laid". 

[ExiledSaber]

True ends in my book can be quite evil, like in clannad, i never did like Nagisa very much but loved Tomoyo Sakagami and even really liked Kyou Fujibayashi. But the true end was supposed be nagisa so that what yea get.

 

Like FFX no matter what your stuck with yuna.

[Clephas]

The function of a true ending can vary.  Most serve as a big revelation/conclusion to the backstory that lurks behind the other routes, but some are just 'main' endings.

 

An example of a true ending would be Comyu's Kagome.  Her path serves to reveal a lot of shit that has been going on beneath the surface, as well as resolve the problems she never let float to the surface in the other paths, as well as revealing what happened in certain events previous to the story. 

 

An example of a 'main' ending would be Ami from Semiramis no Tenbin.  Ami is undeniably the main heroine of the story, but the overall story doesn't change that much by choosing her.  It does change how things end, but the actual level of detail and depth of her path/ending isn't so much greater than the others as to be overwhelming.   (I chose heroine examples, because true endings without a specific heroine are a different fish altogether)

 

True endings that are irrespective of heroine relationships, such as Tenshi no Hane wo Fumanaide or Vermilion Bind of Blood, really just serve as a full conclusion to the story hinted at in the other paths, rather than as a chance to show off heroine relationships.  In Tenshi, the difference between the heroine paths and the true path is so radically different that there is no way of comparing them in terms of scale.  In Vermilion, the 'Grand Route' pursues the protagonist's own search for redemption and at the same time reveals everything that was lurking behind the facade of the other routes.