Favorite weird "what if" scenarios in video games

[DarkDestr0yer61]

I can think of two off of the top of my head, and they are both from Dragonball Z games.

My second-favorite is from Tenkaichi 3 in which Frieza goes to attack the Earth only to be confronted by Spike the Devilman from Dragonball.

And my favorite its from Budokai 1 in which Cell attempts to absorb 18 but Krillin jumps in his way making Cell a lot weaker. This results in Cell having a fight against Yamcha and barely beats him. Only for him to get Kikoho-ed into dust by Tenshinhan.

Edited January 25, 2018 by DarkDestr0yer61

[NPR]

I really like all the what if scenarios in Emily is Away. I won't spoil it for anyone, but it is the kind of game that makes you want to replay it to change what happens. Man, I was not expecting what it did.

[Ronnie]

I consider multiple endings to be what if scenarios. A lot of JRPGs have these true endings. They kinda rub me the wrong way when the developers want you to replay the whole game (albeit with some helpful shortcuts in NG+) just to see a different cutscene before end credits. I just pull out Youtube and search 'em up.

[Rapier]

Drakengard Ending E. The protagonists are fighting an eldritch abomination that looks like a giant pregnant woman, then they suddenly get teleported from their fantasy not-Europe to Tokyo and a rhythm game boss fight against said eldritch giant pregnant woman ensues.

Nier Automata has plenty of them. In fact, endings from F to Z are all joke endings that happen when you do something absurd, such as self destructing in the middle of YoRHa base, going in a different direction when the plot demands you urgently head somewhere... and getting food poisoned by eating Mackerel.

Another weird scenario is Gero's What If story in Supersonic Warriors. Seeing Gero, of all people, getting owned repeatedly by the most unexpected fighters, such as Krillin, was funny on its own way.

It was also kind of funny seeing Hercule fight the Z Warriors head on on Xenoverse after he got boosted. Seeing him stand atop a fainted SSJ2 Gohan was really unexpected as a joke when I first played through XV.

Other than that, the only other example I can think of is on Budokai 2, when Super Buu, Cell and Freeza are all locked on the Time Chamber with Gotenks and Piccolo. It is possible for Super Buu to go absorbing both villains, remarking how he wants to absorb Cell because he liked his head. I don't really remember right now, but I think Buu can also absorb Yamcha and Tien (if not on Budokai 2, then on 3), and his reaction to this is priceless.

Edited January 25, 2018 by Rapier

[BrightBow]

As far as weird "what if"s go, it doesn't get much weirder then Krillin in Supersonic Warriors defeating Super Saiyan Vegeta, learning the Kaioken and the Spirit Bomb, and then killing Cell and Majin Buu. As well as an alternate timeline version of the cyborg twins who stole Trunk's timemachine.

It's strange how back then Arc System was really going crazy with these character stories but in the more recent Extreme Butoden the character stories never actually deviate from the original plot. And those ones are literally called "What If"s.

Xenoverse is kind of a strange case. Those visions show interesting scenarios like Ginyu stealing Vegeta's body... but then these events don't actually happen and things play out like normal. But there are at least some exceptions like the Mr. Satan example above or the Nappa Force in the DLC.

 

 

 

Edited January 25, 2018 by BrightBow

[Zapp Branniglenn]

Radiant Historia is a gold mine of what if endings. Most of them are bad, since failure means the world will end, but there's always nuance in what can happen to some of the characters, and you'll experience plenty of them since the game is explicitly about time travel and figuring out the right path forward.

[Interdimensional Observer]

7 hours ago, Glennstavos said:

Radiant Historia is a gold mine of what if endings. Most of them are bad, since failure means the world will end, but there's always nuance in what can happen to some of the characters, and you'll experience plenty of them since the game is explicitly about time travel and figuring out the right path forward.

I love the bad endings in that game!

Spoiler

You have the utterly comedic, as in the Mimel death causing Marco of all the playable characters in the game killing everyone else.

The cool, in Stocke becoming an assassin for Diaz.

The creepy, in Aht trapping Stocke in a pocket dimension to keep him safe. (This is why you shouldn't spoil children.)

The bold, in Eruca's noble stand amid the burning flames of Granorg as a rebel princess (I forget the details here).

The realistic-ish and dull-ish, in Raul taking command of the anti-Alistel force in Alternate History instead of Rasche.

The sort of unexpected, but serious and emotional at the same time, with a hint of humor in Stocke's chat with the Twins afterwards- the RayniexStocke ending.

The random, in the interracial romance and guy who wants to write a biography of Viola endings.

The "What the hell?! You OBVIOUSLY must have known it was bad and chose it on purpose!" accepting power from mad Hugo ending.

The serious, in the bad ending that isn't actually a bad ending with a ruined node, but rather something you must avert and that then gets overwritten. By which I mean the ending on Alternate History where Rasche dies during the attack on Granorg with Viola. This is followed with you going back in time to warn Viola, and thus saving Rasche, but Kiel and others still die and you don't get the chance to change that (well until the ending). If I remember this right.

 

This reminds me of Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross.

Spoiler

One of the alternate endings in that game become multidimensional canon in Cross. The one where the lizard people instead of humanity comes to rule the planet. That more or less is where Dinopolis and the Dragons were pulled from.

 

[Tamanoir]

Speaking of Chrono Trigger, and Chrono Cross, Radical Dreamer. Sme endings are... really freaking wierd. Mainly based on giving a diifferent identity to Magil.
There's the cliché romantic ending (I'm sure it's a parody, but that was honnestly atrocious...), and ones where Magil is an intergalactic space officer, or something like that, and he and the villain fights on Robot suits...
It has been a while since I last played through this game, but they could end up really really strange.

Root Letter also have extremely weird alternate endings, that range from horror (2 different ones) to X-Files. Everything up to that point is actually rather down to earth, and it totally changes just for the ending.
The fact the ending is based solely on your past answers to old letters makes it even weirder.

[DragonFlames]

The "bad" ending of Nights of Azure 2 (the only one I got so far) is pretty heart rending, in my opinion.

Aluche, the protagonist and a half-demon, manages to defeat Malvasia, the Moon Queen, in an awesome final battle, only to then be absorbed by her, leading to her friend Ruenheid using a device that destroys her half-demon heart and the Moon Queen along with it. The Eternal Night may have been prevented, but the trio of friends this game's story was mostly about (Aluche, Liliana and Ruenheid) has been torn asunder. You even hear one of the supporting cast crying during the scene where the night ends.

It's a fitting ending for that type of story, all things considered.

Also the three (four if you count that one joke ending) different endings in Tales of Xillia 2 that hit you in the feels and then kick you while you're down. 

In one ending, you kill your friends to save your brother's life and the world ends. In another, your brother dies and you sacrifice your future daughter from another timeline, and in the third, your brother also dies and you sacrifice yourself so that your future daughter from another timeline can live a happy life. The joke ending, meanwhile, has a cast of characters from past games waltz up to the final boss and dispatch him, thus creating a mock happy ending where no one has to die (except your brother).