This guide does not claim an ending count or route requirement until each outcome has been reproduced in the current game build.
What counts as a verified ending
An ending is added only after the outcome, preceding decision state, game build, and any associated achievement have been recorded together. Store copy, trailers, and community theories can suggest possibilities, but they do not prove an ending route.
Until that evidence exists, the archive labels the count and requirements as pending rather than filling the page with speculative solutions.
A final scene is not automatically a distinct ending. Credits, a return to menu, a post-credit change, an achievement, a unique final image, or a persistent save-state flag can help distinguish an outcome from a temporary failure screen or a branch that later rejoins the same conclusion.
Likewise, different dialogue immediately before the same final state may be a variation rather than a separate ending. The archive records the observable outcome first, then compares route conditions and persistent consequences before assigning a count.
Route log template
- Game version and platform
- Last irreversible choice or inventory state
- Outcome title or distinguishing final scene
- Achievement or save-state evidence
- A second reproduction when the trigger is ambiguous
- Checkpoint used to test an alternate decision
- Post-credit, menu, or save-file state after the outcome
- Differences that are cosmetic, dialogue-only, or persistent
Isolate an ending branch
Start from the latest checkpoint that exists before the suspected branch. Record inventory, completed scenes, dialogue choices, optional encounters, and any visible state flags. Change one decision, play through to the outcome, and compare the ending scene, credits, achievement response, and resulting save state with the baseline run.
If several earlier decisions may interact, use a small matrix rather than replaying arbitrary combinations. Hold every known variable constant, change one candidate, and mark the result. A branch requirement becomes credible when the same input difference produces the same outcome difference from a reproducible checkpoint.
Do not infer morality, canon status, or developer intent from the ease of a route. The guide describes the conditions and observable result. Interpretation belongs on a separately labeled lore page so a player looking for mechanics does not receive theory as instruction.
Use the endings guide without losing discovery
The first layer should answer only whether the player is near a meaningful branch and whether a checkpoint is advisable. The second layer may identify the decision category or required state without naming the outcome. The final layer can show the exact choice and result after an explicit spoiler action.
Route names and thumbnail text can spoil as effectively as body copy, so outcome labels should not appear in navigation, search snippets, image alt text, or structured metadata before the reader opts in. Neutral labels such as Outcome A and Outcome B are preferable until the official wording can be shown safely.
After each verified route is added, the page should state the tested build and platform. If an update changes a requirement, keep the old sequence under its version rather than overwriting it. Players on archived or delayed builds may still need the earlier route, and the difference is useful release evidence.
When two outcomes appear identical, compare more than the final image. Check the dialogue immediately before the transition, credits, post-credit scene, menu state, unlocked achievement, save timestamp, and any ability to continue. If none of those change after a controlled branch test, record the variation without inflating the ending count. This prevents cosmetic differences from becoming misleading completion targets.