I'm back. As I mention at the end of this video, I made a companion piece to this that you can watch right now on Nebula. I typically cut a lot of stuff from scripts that is interesting but doesn't add to the main point of a video, and I rarely do anything with it, but I was able to get this one made because of Nebula. I plan to start posting more things there that don't really fit or typically perform well on my main channel, so if that interests you, consider checking it out. If you don't have Nebula, you can get it and CuriosityStream as a bundle for like $12 a year right now because of the Mother's Day sale: curiositystream.com/razbuten

with the games as a service model, the game NEVER has to end! boy, isn't that great? haha.

Note that "The Ability to Miss Something" is something that Team Cherry expressly talked about in an interview with GMTK for developing Hollow Knight. Their thought is that the world feels much more alive and bigger if you're capable to forge your own journey, even if that makes you experience less of the stuff in the game.

In Undertale's neutral ending, if you spare Flowey, he could tell you how to get a better ending by sparing monsters. It's the perfect balance between the two tropes discussed here. Rolling credits early, or late. It rolls credits after the final boss is beaten, but without music. Those credits feel incomplete. Along with Flowey's comment and the fact that the game places you outside the final boss before you beat him, it keeps you searching for the true ending.

Skyrim was very special in this regard. Unlike my other favorite games ending on highest note, there was no staff roll in Skyrim and it was my choice to wrap up the journey at my cozy home. I felt like Bilbo Baggins returning to Shire after all the adventures for the time to rest, and it was an exceptional experience.

I think there's a really interesting conversation to be had about minecraft's end credits. After all, unless you're a speedrunner or brand new to the game (& who is at this point, with minecraft youtube), the credits rarely mean anything. The game only ends when you don't have time or you burn out.

The problem with your Hollow Knight idea is that Team Cherry’s said that every ending in the game is the canon ending, they are all equally the “real” or “true” ending to the game. Putting a message after defeating The Hollow Knight would ruin that idea, as it’d basically say “this isn’t the actual ending.” Another thought I had while writing this, the Dream No More ending is about rejecting your destiny and doing it your way, it’s about going off the path the game pushes you to take and create your own path. By adding that message after THK it would take away this idea as the game would then be pushing the player towards Dream No More.

My first playthrough of Automata ended after Ending A. A good chunk of time later, maybe half a year, I replayed the entire game and actually continued this time and OH MY GOD this game just. goes. on. and. on. which is great because it's gameplay is exceptional and the story just kept on getting better and more intense up to the very ending of the game.

Love the little comedy elements. "A game starts to feel hollow" with hollow knight playing in the background. "Bloat" while fighting bloat in Isaac.

I personally enjoy games that have an epilogue, but lets you play afterwards.

Too emotional from seeing .5 seconds of The Last Guardian's credits to properly concentrate on the rest of the video

Dark Souls, especially DS1, was so good on the 'not everyone content' for me. It doesn't care if you don't kill the Darkroot Basin hydra, or not return there after you killed it, or return there a third time to finally get to some of the coolest content of the game. Doesn't care if you find Ash Lake. Doesn't care if you never find Laurentius, (or talk to Eingyi while having the egg which is even more obscure), never accessing pyromancies. Doesn't care if you don't find the hoops to jump through for the secret covenants. Made finding all those places and things very special.

Many years ago I came to terms with the fact that I don't have to finish a game to feel happy that I've finished playing it. Saved my sanity many times.

0:43 Imma have to pause you right there. I have the solution. At some point, the player receives a notification alerting them that the Credits option has been unlocked from the Main Menu. Now, you have to never put down the game. I win Mr Razbuten.

The credits should roll every time a character says the name of the game. Example: "What is this... some kind of Elden Ring?" Roll credits.

I've always been a completionist in games, and my motivation in games is driven by just experiencing everything a game has to offer and getting as much out of it as I can. I know most people aren't like that, but I suppose it never occurred to me that there are people who would just stop when the credits roll and not even think of checking for postgame content or at least some side stuff, even if they don't plan on doing all the smaller things. In my mind the credits don't even mean anything (I tend to skip them if there's no unique music track), and I'm typically disappointed when you just get booted back to your last save before the final boss.

I think it’s kinda weird to always associate a credit role with the end of a game. In movies, sure, but all those have are narrative and visuals, whereas most games also have fun gameplay loops to get you to continue past the credits to play endgame content or new game plus. For me, I think it’s when a game’s core gameplay loop starts to feel stale and lacking iteration when I feel okay to drop it. That can be before a credit drop or after.

You are nailing it with "I don't know if the optional content will be worth it". I'm currently playing Hollow Knight (for the first time) and I'm amazed at how every "optional" stuff leads back to the main content. It's the exact opposite of "collect 100 cards". If every game would be like that, I would tend to 100% all of them. But they aren't, so I don't and maybe I'll miss something cool because of it.

I usually never worry about reaching the end credits. As long as a game keeps my interest I'll keep playing it.

I feel like a strict adherence to credits meaning the end of something can be self defeating, I mean do you stop after the first movie or game of a franchise just because there were credits, no. Do you stop at the beginning of Metal Gear Solid because there were credits, no. Whether or not a game has meaningful content after the credits is up for the individual to determine for themselves. In the case of Nier someone could hypothetically think of each ending as the ending of an episode if that made it easier to digest. Telltale games literally have episodes with credits. As for the people that miss out on some of the great post credit or hidden content of some games, that's their prerogative.

I’ve always found it interesting how most visual novels have a credit roll at the end of each route. I think it works well there because there are very few people who go into them without knowing the quirks of the medium, but if they were more mainstream, I can’t even imagine how many people would play a single route and assume they got the true ending.

Me: I play games because i find them fun! Razbuten: I play games becuase i haven't seen the credits yet

I think Nier Automata's ending problem is basically already adressed in game, by virtue of the fact that there's 26 endings, each labelled with a letter of the alphabet. Some of them are jokes, that make the credits roll very quickly, but you're quite likely to encounter one of these 'fake endings' during a normal playthrough. This should clue the player into the idea that it might be worth playing again after beating 2B's side of the story. I think the only missed beat with this approach was not labelling the endings after each playable character's code name, so that when you beat the game the first time as 2B you'll get ending 'B' instead of ending 'A'. Then the second playthrough should have given ending 'S', and the third should give ending 'A'. I think this would have made it more obvious that there's still more to do after beating the game once.

For me, Nier Automata true ending is the weirdest, crazier, most satisfying, intriguing and emotional ending of all times, nothing can compare to it, and I doubt anything can and will hit in the same way without being a direct copy or inspiration... I'll never forget it, and will forever be my #1

I've noticed something odd about myself. I like playing games that don't particularly have a solid "ending" so to speak. it keeps me going but allows me to be like "yeah i can exit out, come back and play, and exit so on and so forth until the world ends". i end up procrastinating on games that do end funny enough

When people talk about how often they have played a game or about how many playthroughts they have gone through, I always feel this is wild Because in my experience, I put in so much effort to get as much as possible out of one playthrough that I couldn't even think about doing it multiple times

I absolutely adore how Razbuten manages to express his opinions without disregarding other's. His style of video making makes you think about all sides of the situation. Absolutely amazing. Keep up the outstanding work.

The one thing that can get me to replay a game immediately is the ability to play through again with all the items I acquired the first time through, which I find to be great. Parasite Eve was the first game I played that allowed me to do that.

Okay, I went from “that honestly sounds like a you problem, buddy” to “he’s got a point”. Great video. Reminded me of the “play conditioning” concept Hbomberguy presented in his Bloodbone video. Part of the responsibility for making a great game should include leading players in how it was intended to be engaged with. I’m always going to be a player who prefers “end game” or “exploration” content, but many games are not best experienced that way and it should be clear through the in game mechanics and elements how the designers INTENDED the game to be played so as to be best enjoyed and thus judged most fairly.

It's interesting hearing your perspective of losing motivation to play a game once the credits roll, for me I just keep playing a game as long as the stuff I'm doing is still fun. I'll beat all the shrines in BotW and collect all the moons in Mario Odyssey because those are fun gameplay activities in and of themselves, even if there isn't a ton of reward for them. The coliseum trials in Hollow Knight though? To me those are just exercises in frustration, so they're left unfinished.

I just started playing breath of the Wild and it's the first game I played, I'm 63. The first time I went through it I was just trying to stay alive. The second time I went through it I was learning more about where I was. I'm now on my third time through it and I actually am beginning to understand what I'm doing 😂😂😂😂😂😂❤️.

Nier Replicant and Automata were quite unique in that aspect. Multiple endings, including joke ending, inciting you to grind to obtain the "true ending". The Replicant Remake has quite the surprise in terms of true ending. There was a point where I didn't mind the grind anymore because of how much I had become attached to the characters.

One of the more interesting games I ever played that had a very interesting use of End credits was the first "Ar Tonelico". One of the reasons why this game is memorable to me is how the game handled "Ending the Game" in a rather unique way. The game has 3 Story Arcs or "Phases". At the end of Phase one your presented with the end credits after the "Final Boss" and afterwards there is an epilogue which leads to two choices. One is "Chose to live a happy life with (said female partner)" or "This doesn't feel right". Now choosing the first option ends the game with a Happy but Incomplete ending and amazingly enough you can just stop playing. But if you chose the latter you begin the Second Phase story arc of the game and continue the story. I found this rather fascinating because it felt like the game was rewarding me with more content to keep searching for the best satisfying ending for the game and it really spoke to me about how the main character wanted to give everyone a happy ending.

Never realized credits have such power over some people, I'm honestly shocked there's comments agreeing with You. They're usually synonymous with game's ending but I don't think they've ever influenced my decision to stop playing or continue. So bizarre, shows how different peoeple really are.

I think the placement of Automata’s credits is actually quite logical - they come after you have completed a story. Route A is a complete story. Route B is the same. C&D are complete stories as well. Ending E is the end of the story. It’s actually the one thing that royally ticked me off with the remakes of the first NieR game - the story felt incomplete after reaching the first ending (also the gameplay was tedious at best, which really didn’t help matters). Ironically enough, for a game about flesh and blood humans, it made the endings in that game feel significantly more artificial.

The most impactful games I've played always hit me when the credits roll. Imagine if all your movies ended with telling you there will be a sequel and no story close or credits

There’s another angle to this I think you missed. If I love a game, I’ll want to continue exploring after the credits roll. Sometimes I’ll neglect exploration, rushing through the story with the assumption that I’ll come back to it later. So playing a game like Breath of the Wild, where the game ENDS ends when you beat the credits, and you can only do more exploring by going back to a prior save state feels really awkward.

This reminds me of something Yahtzee from The Escapists has said. It’s something around the lines of “Japanese games don’t seem to care if the player misses out on the game’s content.” I know this isn’t exactly what you’ve pointed out here, nor are only Japanese games allowing players to miss game content, but I feel that these topics are somewhat in the same boat.

1:26 totally agree, and that's why I try to delay reaching the end credits as much as I possibly can - especially if I'm enjoying the game. In God of War Ragnarok, I tried to do ALL the side quest areas before reaching the end. That gave me an even greater sense of journey (it didn't matter in the end - I still ended up doing 100% on it). I'm currently playing Zelda BOTW, and I have just given myself the goal of reaching at least 100 shrines, plus completing ALL the sidequests in my journal, before heading to the castle. I see the end credits as a full stop on the experience myself, but sometimes I like to be in control of when that happens. And yes, I've only realised that watching this video lol

I'd be super curious to hear your thoughts on The Longing (a game without end credits). I just finished it tonight, and I felt genuinely guilty hitting the "reset" button at the end...

Personally, I'm the exact opposite of you. Not in the sense of being a 100% completionist, but in the sense of *not* even being an any% completionist. I play games that I enjoy, and stop playing when I'm no longer having fun, regardless of whether I'm five minutes or five hundred hours into the game, and regardless of whether I've "finished" it or not. The credits are nice to get to, I suppose, but they're not really that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things.

I think that's what made Kid Icarus uprising so cool for me. spoilers for anyone who might of not touched it, but it has a thing called False Credits. You beat Medusa credits roll and Hades come out and says "yeahhh no."

I feel that there's also some level of discussion to be held regarding the role of credits in deliberately removing you from the immersion of the game to pull you back into real life. This could be less common than I believe it to be, but when playing a game I really enjoy, especially a narratively-driven one, I become DEEPLY entrenched in the world and its stories, and when I finally finish that experience, credits feels like a good way for the game to say "hey, your experience has concluded, it's time to detach yourself and return to the real world". At the be time, however, I think this video places too much of the onus of deciding whether to play more on the credits. Ultimately, if you choose not to continue playing the game and miss out, that was your choice. Yes, it may have been influenced by the placement of the credits, but to insinuate it was the fault of the game's placement of credits seems to be shirking personal responsibility of choice a little.

The interesting thing about this video is that I can totally relate to everything you said about getting your dopamine and how after getting it everything else is pointless, EXCEPT that I get it only via the platinum trophies/100% achievements. Credit rolls mean nothing to me, but getting that notification pop in the corner of the screen is SO satisfying.

Something that affects a player’s perspective on this issue as well would be how many games they play per unit time. As someone who only gets a few games a year at the very most, I always try to squeeze as much out of the games I do own as I can, meaning I’m more than used to playing after the end credits. As for someone like you who gets games more frequently, it makes sense that you would not be as motivated to continue after you’ve finished (what appears to be) the main story, since you want to move onto the next game.

As someone who stops only when is tired of playing, I love games that keep going after the end credits and know I wouldn't like messages that tell "don't stop playing, there's more" because then it would feel more like it's mandatory than something like one wants to do. The joy of playing is that one can play however they want at their own pace, pushing in certain directions, making any other choice feel less valid, would in some ways strip this away.

I think Zelda games played a big part in conditioning me to find such a sense of finality in the ending credits, because their endings are so satisfying. When I first played Breath of the Wild, I wanted to get all of the shrines, but then I accidentally walked into the final boss room when I had only gotten about 105/120, and then after seeing the credits I absolutely could not pick it back up again. When I finally did pick it back up, it was for a whole new playthrough.

Welcome back! I'm glad to know that there's more to see on Nebula. I don't know if there's anything you can submit to developers on the app to add a comments section there, but I would love that if it did. Also, it's still a little bit clunky to navigate, so I still rely on KZfaq to find content and usually only ever open Nebula when a creator like you reminds me to!

This reminds me of my first time playing Monster Hunter 4. After 90+ hours of playtime i beat the very obvious final boss monster, the whole story wraps up and the credits roll. That was the first quarter of the game.

Personally when I played Nier Automata I found the message after the credits to be crystal clear to me essentially telling me I need to play again. (Minor spoilers for the mechanics of route B in Nier Automata) I felt like the hook of playing a new character after starting up again with a completely new hacking mini game got me hooked enough to think "if this is the B route will I play as that other character that I was wondering about in a route C or something?" which was a pretty big driving force for my whole B route playthrough along with the points where the B route would definitely be different from the A route.

Stopping at the credits is related to modern decadence. In the olden days, you got one or maybe two games a year. You played everything you had to death. This is when the designers of these games grew up. Hollow Night's true ending probably inspired by SotN's upside down castle. Everyone that played SotN back in the day knows about the upside down castle. Because you either figured it out in your 5th play-through or some friend told you about it. A lot of game genres have these well known secrets. To get the true ending in a shmup you have to beat it with 1 cc. For character action games, story mode is the tutorial and new game + and harder difficulties are the actual game. Monster Hunter games have like 3 credit scrolls in the middle of the game. Final Fantasy games have the real challenging fights in end game side quests.

Great video! Hope you’re doing good with the new addition and managing everything, Raz.

Honestly, this seems really weird to me. I always play the post game until I'm no longer enjoying the game or have done all meaningful content. Sometimes I google to see if some content has any value, like the one Assassin's Creed I played, I looked up and found all the collectibles were completely meaningless and worthless and I didn't collect any of them and the game was not good, so I hit the credits and powered off not even checking if there was any postgame stuff. But I'll do any meaningful content in a game I enjoy, I can't understand how the credits could make you want to quit if there is still actual game left, I get how it might end your play session though.

I actually really like when games carry on after the credits mainly because I have a bad habit of dropping games right before I feel an ending coming on. I want the option to go back in without feeling like I have to reset everything to before a final boss fight, but this usually leads to me procrastinating on beating the game all together. I loved Breath of the Wild for example but I still haven't beaten it. It'd be too strange to beat Gannon and then jump back in the game and see that nothings changed and he's still there.

From the bottom of my heart, I pity the people who didn't go through ending [E] of NieR: Automata. I cried tears of hope and thankfulness.

The end credit is why I start playing games with a fine brush in my first playthrough. The credits really just have that power to give a finality to games. I find myself reluctant to replay Elden Ring, even though in the first playthrough, I thought of over a dozen builds I want to try out. Fortunately, for Nier: Automata, I found out that it required multiple playthroughs, and I was greeted with the best credit of any videogame ever.

And here I am playing games like Factorio, Civilization, Cities: Skylines. "Wait, your games have endings?"

Raz: "If developers opt to make most content in a title mandatory [...] leading to a lot of bloat." *Shows Binding of Isaac with the Bloat boss* Raz: "Continuing playing a game after completing it always feels so hollow." *Shows footage of Hollow Knight*

This is great but I wish you mention more game that is so afraid of having some of their content missed by its player that it end up being worse for it For example Ubisoft games with their disgusting UI, world map and main quest lock behind side content and or paywall

this might be my favorite video of yours solely bc my experience is so much different. for me im always done when i get bored. sometimes thats before credits (sadly rdr2 AND dragon age: inquis fall into this category, tho i do plan to give them another chance sometime/try to 'finish') while others i continue playing long after credits, whether that be additional content (borderlands 3), or replays (vampire the masquerade: bloodlines.) im also someone that very much enjoys endgame/perfecting a build, so i always have that drive as well! its always fun to see if what i planned can work or not, and how different this build felt VS others, which ties into my love for replayability and all that jazz. i also noticed, specifically when playing with a friend and he pointed it out lmao (bl3 and wonderlands for those curious), how little time i spend with credits. 90% of the time i let them roll for a minute and then im kinda over it, and either back to playing or onto something else. there's a few games here and there where i feel like ive actually taken the time to reflect on my adventure during credits, and its bc i enjoy those credits. whether it be the song choice, how much reflection im doing/realizing how impactful a game has been for me, etc, im not sure why i seem to completely avoid some credits while i cherish my time with others but its something ive absolutely noticed. i also feel the need to bring up fable (maybe because im replaying the remaster currently but anyways.) i remember as a child playing it and skipping the credits till one day i just let the credits play and got the actual ending fighting jack of blades, all because i went to piss probably. it helped me see credits as not just this skippable annoying thing, but an extension of the game, those that worked on it, and how in a way, just experiencing credits is a thank you. ill also say i specifically love credits where there's section dedicated to the team just writing whatever. always love reading those. and pokemon credits specifically have always been very charming and cozy. anywho this was an incredible watch bc its a perspective ive truly never thought about, since games end for me when im just kinda, not vibing anymore. its also why i will never in my life be a trophy hunter cause then id just be playing glorified checklist and thats the anti vibe. edit: i also LOVE your point around 3:07 - 3:15, and think modes like NG+ in souls games, or even TVHM/UVHM in borderlands games (or mayhem mode) are wonderful examples of challenging content that isnt tied to the main core part of the game, but can be absolutely enriching for those that want to dive in more. with the introduction of mayhem in borderlands 3, i find myself not as excited to play thru borderlands 2 as much for example, since i now see it as more of a slog than i previously did. in bl3 i can beat the game once and jump right into endgame with mayhem VS beating normal, TVHM and then UVHM in bl2.

Personally I like games that let you play after the credits as it allows you to finish missions, look at the scenary in a more detailed way but I think that most of the after-credits content should be a bit more lore-y or just for pure overpowerdness to help you get a better grasp on the story in case there is a following game.

I found this very interesting, because it's almost exactly the opposite of how I play games. The end credits are effectively meaningless to me, I play a game as much as a want to (or until it runs out of unique content), and then I stop. And that's it. Like with hollow knight, I finished most of the secret stuff (white palace etc), but I had no interest in godhome, and so, never did it. And I'm happy with that. Now of course, sometimes the end credits come when I'm done and feel satisfied, and that's fine. But if there's more I want to do, the credits simply don't matter. And I think this has happened because so much of my time is/was spent playing roguelikes/lites which never really end anyways, so the only course of action is to play until I am personally satisfied.

My experience with Elden Ring the first time through was similar to how you talked about Hollow Night in this video. I didn't do the Haligtree at all on my first character and left a lot of optional stuff undone because I just wanted to get past the final boss and see the credits roll. For the most part, I'm okay with seeing credits roll and moving to the next game, but with something like Elden Ring I went right back in immediately.

I feel you. I also get the feeling of finality with the credits. So I instead explore and achieve as much as possible before progressing the actual story. I’m the guy to collect 900 pine cones before the boss battle. Optional over mandatory is my gaming style.

I'm honestly blown away by the perspective of credits being the end of the important content to a game. I've always viewed credits as the end of the main story, entirely seperate from the end of gameplay.

Yes, and watching the end credits is way of showing respect for the developers. My brother told me that, and I think the same too.

Usually I find once every 5 or so years a game has a combination of a couple of things that keep me coming back. Most recently is Ori 2. The music and movement made me fall in love with that game

6:45 "...leading to a lot of bloat" while fighting a boss called The Bloat. Nice touch.

this video was such a reality check for me. personally i never look foward to the credits and maybe thats because i dont want the experience to be over yet. personally when it comes to me pursuing a game or dropping it, it rarely stops with the credits. for me its the rush of a steep learning curve, mastering the movement of your character in titanfall, or your car in rocket league or learning the patterns of a boss from dark souls or monster hunter to a point where you can demolish them is so deeply satisfying to me. if a game does not encourage mastering its very core mechanics its likely i will drop the game sooner or later and at some point never touch it again

1- as a story driven player: i reach the end of the story the game is finished. 2- Not everything needs to be spelled out to us. Some communication is done via gameplay options. if we see there are other options to try out we may want to continue playing( different builds, dialogue options, multiple characters) 3-I need games to have an (satisfying) ending, otherwise i feel lost and lose interest and that just one of the reasons i dislike open world games and prefer a carefully crafted gaming experience.

Personally I am a person that always feels a drive to complete as much side-content/post-game content as I can handle after finishing a game. So while it was... hard for me to watch this video during parts of it, when you explained how you feel after hitting end credits, it was a really cool video to watch. It showed me a new perspective definately (even if it is still hard for me to swallow, since whenever I see someone I know play a game I like I feel an obligation to make sure they see the side/bonus-content, asdf) Even still I do think the ability to miss something really cool is special. It adds a lot to the experience if you do do it. Great work as always, Razbuten!

Never heard of you until KZfaq recommended. This is a brilliant analysis, really enjoyed it.

My issue has always been that I hate to leave a game "unfinished". That can mean either credits or 100% achievements/exploration, but not really anywhere in between. So once I see the credits, I pretty much have to decide between being done with the game for good, or resolving to collect every achievement. It's definitely self-enforced, and I have left games in between those two, but it never feels right

I see most games to have 3 endings -main credits (here is where the main plot ends) -post-credits/true ending (extra lore or gameplay that is relevant to the main story but wasn’t crucial to understanding the main story) -100% completion (completing every last challenge the devs have set before the player) And there are those who play past 100% completion but that just means that there is content that has no definitive end (mini-games, games within the main game, obtain unique in-game items (like a custom crafted sword in Skyrim or catching a shiny Pokemon), creating creative pieces, etc)

I remember playing Kid Icarus Upraising, seen the credit roll suddenly stop midway and then real final boss shows up. That reveal made me really exited to continue playing.

Super interesting topic that I never even thought about! Thanks for sharing! For me, I generally only return to games for more content if I absolutely love them. My mindset is, "I wanna play this game again anyway, so why not look for all the content I missed the first time?" Whereas a game that's fun but not particularly memorable or noteworthy to me doesn't give me any desire to go back looking for more. I'm content to just experience the "pre-credits content" and move onto something else

I’ll be honest, I don’t feel like catering to people just interested in getting to the credits and not in finishing the story is the way to go. there’s people that will live or die on the hill of “git gud” and that if someone is unskilled enough they should be barred from the ending. I don’t necessarily believe that, but what I do believe is that the dedication to find secrets and look beyond the credits is something I’m comfortable with them locking things behind. You could say that people don’t have infinite time, but then, that’s an argument against long games in general, and I think that’s not terribly helpful. But I’m honestly fine with having something locked behind curiosity and losing people who just want to add another “game done” to their list.

I really appreciated where the credits are in holowknight due to the fact it show’s how much of the game you’ve completed. My jaw dropped when I saw I had only done 50% in 20 plus hours, and that made me want to find more.

Games are ultimately an art form, and no one approach would be best for every game. I also usually uninstall a game once I hit the end credits, but I also spent like 50 hours in Hades after the credits rolled. What works for most titles, may not work for others.

The way that people tend to talk about NieR Automata confuses me a bit. It's how they say that, "oh, beating the game once isn't enough", that you need to "beat" it multiple times. I understand why they say that, but you aren't technically completing the game more than once. Each ending that you get is more like the end of an episode or chapter, not a game. The biggest counter to this idea would be the second chapter, considering that its mostly the same, just in a different perspective. However, you aren't resetting the game. Rather, you are simply picking right back up where you left in the sense that side quests are still in the same state you left them in by the end of the first chapter, except there are some new ones. And no, I don't think that credits inherently denote an ending. What I mean is that imagine if Mario Galaxy had credits at the end of each level. Does that mean you beat the game? No, not really. Granted that kind of thing never really happens except for in NieR, in which I guess that that's the intent more or less. But that doesn't really change what it is. Not to sound rude, because I don't mean to. My main problem with people saying that you have to play through the whole game several times is that it turns people off who, very reasonably, don't understand by "ending" they mean chapter. Its still a long game, but not 6 games long. It's just one game split up into segments. It's an interesting design choice and I'd have it no other way. But if someone asks, make sure to not scare them off by selling it as though you're replaying the same game over and over, rather that the game has a lot of chapters disguised as endings, assuming that they don't want to go into it 100% blind. Amazing video as always.

I think Razbuten presents a false dichotomie: you ether want to finish every aspekt of a Game, or you just want to reach the End credits. I for one do not fall in those categories. I never hunted down collectibles in any game or such Things. I consider a Game finished when i won every Gameplaychallenge the Game throws at me. So Hard "post-Game" bosses and such.

As a big fan of soulsborne and the older RPG games, I can say that giving a chance to miss (espaccily cool stuff) is crucial for the true feeling of explorational joy. And that is why I love games that are brave enough to give me the chance to really explore. So a big thanks to Hollow Knight, Elden Ring, and other new Game Developments that give me a better reason to play them than just 100 Markes I can check :)

Always love seeing more love for Sifu, which found its way to be one of my favourite games as I managed to struggle through it! I also like how this video touches on time management, which is something I've been struggling with given the never-ending backlog. I kept buying games because I'd want to play them, but only ever considered the monetary cost, not the hidden cost of the time it would take to play. I am very much the kind of player that would want to see everything a game has to offer, but got thoroughly burned out after Elden Ring and I'm starting to come back from that, trying to value my time a little more. I like the way you judge for yourself what does or does not seem worth the time investment, as that's really the only way to keep experiencing all these games. Some random side quest is much less likely to leave a lasting memory than the majority of the main game. That said, I'll absolutely comb through everything Yakuza 0 has in store for me once I get around to that next and the same goes for Xenoblade 3 once that comes out. It all comes down to value judgements and to me, I think these are worth it still :D

Hollow Knight for me was quite interesting. I got about half of the true ending by accident and was confused about all of the extra things I had. I wanted to keep playing out of curiosity but was unsure where to start and had to look it up. This ended up sucking me into the larger community which is awesome and I feel like could be a benefit of games where most of the story is hidden after the credits.

I feel an absolute perfect ending is extremely rare in video games with some exceptions like uncharted 4 (what should I say that was the perfect ending of all time) but what I think a game should end is with the feeling of wanting more instead of half way through losing motivation and playing the game just to see the credits. Like lost legacy though not perfect I was left for wanting more which is good unlike Batman Arkham knight though really amazing games one of the best I feel could have ended a bit early. Most of the games now days became a chore to complete till the end. I feel a shorter but better game is way better than a longer lack luster one.

I'll be honest, I'm a 100 percenter and sometimes I purposefully make sure I don't finish a game without getting everything. Other times I'll get through the story and them try and find everything after; especially if the story is too good to put on hold.

Without giving too many spoilers away, I really love how Outer Wilds plays around with end credits. Totally heartbreaking stuff from Annapurna studios

I remember the first time I actually finished Mario Galaxy 2. My older brother and I used to play it every day when I was 6-7 years old but we never beat the final level. After about 8 years, he left for training, i decided to play the game by myself. 16 year old me cried so much after the credits started rolling with Mario jumping around on the tiny planets and honestly I think those are the only credits I still vividly remember. As much as I want games to just let me continue playing or just send me back to the screen after it ends, I would rather have a bad credit sequence that goes through what i spent nearly 20 hours of my life on than just a "well, it's over chump, get back to ticking off more boxes"

I for one like it when creators make their game with the idea that people are allowed to miss out on things. It makes everyone's experience more unique and more of an adventure we go on. And then we can talk about what we saw, how we experienced the game and what else could be go back to and find. That doesn't happen with more linear games where you play them from beginning to the end and you see the same story everyone else does. I've got over a hundred hours in Hollow Knight, currently working my way up the pantheons and finishing up all the little things for 112% and I'm surprised how many things I'm still learning about this game.

Man, you are my patronus. It's incredible how many things I share with your way of playing games.

three houses is a good example of a game that makes it _very clear_ that you should play the game multiple times after the credits roll, and it lets you know before you’ve even gotten your hands on the game. it does have three houses after all.

This is such a cool take, I’ve always just thought of the end credits as a milestone that just needs to be seen. I didn’t even think the end credits would be seen as the end. I love you videos

Ngl this is so strange to me because it was never a consideration for me mostly because I'm done with the game... when I'm done with the game. Sometimes this means doing sll the postgame in legends arceus, sometimes it means not reaching the credits at all in minecraft, sometimes I finish when I end a games story or sometimes I have no drive to even finish it. Where the credits are placed doesn't matter tbh.

We play games to be a part of a story with the decisions you make in game. It's Entertainment , interactive entertainment. Almost like a choose your own adventure book

I think your idea regarding wether finding out about additional content online is a good or bad thing is a very interesting perspective. For Hollow Knight I always considered a good thing that it kinda forces you to go and seek out the story and secrets of the game by talking to other people who played it.

After a certain point I got tired of playing Hollow Knight and just got the “default” ending from fighting the hollow knight. I knew there was a lot more to experience but I couldn’t fight the radiance and after a while it didn’t seem worth it to get aggravated trying to beat him. In my mind the true ending is sitting at the lake with Quarrel reflecting on our journey. I don’t know if it makes sense, especially since it technically isn’t even an ending, but it’s good enough for me and I’m happy with it. With that being said, when is Silksong coming?

Honestly The credits seem to only matter when I'm just playing a game for the sake of seeing it through and it finally releases me from having to play it. Most games I loved I've played way beyond the credits.

Wow, I've never related to someone about when I'm "done" with a game than Razbuten. I'm basically done with a game when the credits roll or when I've discovered all there is to the game that I'm content with discovering. I like Portal 2's strategy. You play a solid campaign and then beat it, the credits roll and then eludes to more to the universe, i.e. the Multiplayer component. You get the satisfaction of beating the game but can also choose to pursue more in the universe if you want with a friend. Love this video! ❤️

This was a really interesting and eye-opening video. Thank you for the wonderful insights!

I played Breath of the Wild for more than 350 hours before I finish the main quest. In those 350 hours I finished all the divine beasts and shrines, captured all the memories, collected 400 koroks, and many more. When I finished the game I felt so satisfied.