- 5 weeks ago
Tired of long cutscenes and complicated plots? Some games offer a way out. This list explores 10 video games that let you skip the story entirely, from making a lucky guess at the start to taking on the final boss in the first hour.
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00:00So here's the thing, playing a game with a rich storyline is definitely great, but with all these
00:04plot twists, developments, and character arcs, well, they can get pretty tiring at times. So,
00:09what if instead, you could skip most of the plot and go straight to the end? Well, that's what
00:14we're here to talk about today. As I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture.com, and these are 10 video
00:18games that let you skip the story entirely. 10. Coin Flip Zero Escape Zero Time Dilemma
00:25Zero Time Dilemma is an action-adventure game in which the player has to guide a group of
00:30kidnapping victims through a maze of death traps and puzzles set up by a mysterious killer dressed
00:35as a plague doctor. This game doesn't so much let you skip the main story, as it basically forces
00:40you to right at the start. The killer's sick death games begin with a simple coin toss. When his
00:46victims awake, he presents them with a challenge. They can choose the result of a coin toss, and if
00:50their guess is correct, the killer will set them free. The scene is purposefully set up in a way
00:55where the proposition seems a little dishonest, to dissuade you from choosing at all. However,
01:00if you do guess correctly, the killer will follow through on his promise and release all of his
01:04kidnapped victims unharmed, prompting the end credits to roll. The interesting thing here is,
01:09though, that the coin toss is rigged. Your first guess will always be right on your first playthrough,
01:14which is why if you don't fall for the false narrative, you're guaranteed to get the best possible
01:18ending in just a few minutes. 9. Destroy Lavos in the Prologue
01:23Chrono Trigger
01:24The secret developer ending in Chrono Trigger is one of the earliest examples of that trope
01:29in video games. Although it is played off as a joke, you can reach the ending by fulfilling the
01:33main objective of the game within the first hour, without having to indulge in any exposition,
01:38character arcs, or plot developments. Lavos, the world-ending parasite that serves as the main
01:43antagonist of the game, is encountered by the player in the first stage. Being the final boss of
01:48the game, you're obviously not supposed to win, but it isn't impossible. By using exploits such as
01:53power grinding or simply by using a cheating device, you can stand a chance against him and
01:57defeat him at the Ocean Palace, without having to beat the game or using the New Game Plus mode.
02:02Defeating Lavos early awards you with the secret developer ending, in which your character is
02:06transported to a literal developer room, seeing Chrono Trigger's various big-name creators
02:11congratulate you one after another. It's a pretty ironic reward, considering that you just ignored
02:15most of the stuff that they worked so hard on and skipped right to the end.
02:198. Destroy the Dark Brotherhood The Elder Scrolls V Skyrim
02:24Aside from becoming the dragonborn and saving the world, Skyrim allows you to join several
02:28factions and slowly climb their ranks to the top. The main questlines for all of these can be pretty
02:33lengthy, but luckily, the Dark Brotherhood story offers you a much simpler and quicker alternative.
02:38Normally, the main questline of the Dark Brotherhood requires you to become their top assassin,
02:43eliminating a wide array of targets to reach the ultimate goal of taking out the Emperor of
02:48Tamriel. However, if killing people in the name of some dark god isn't for you, or if you're simply
02:53just too lazy to go on a nationwide killing spree, you can skip this questline entirely by ratting out
02:58the Dark Brotherhood to the Emperor's personal guard, thereby destroying their faction entirely.
03:03To do this, simply kill Astrid when she tries to recruit you, and speak to the leader of the
03:07Pentius Oculatus in Dragonbridge. After you inform him of the Brotherhood's presence,
03:12he'll send you to their hideout to take them all out. Killing the assassins takes only a fraction of
03:17the time it takes to complete all of their missions, and as a bonus, you get to save a
03:21little of your conscience from assassinating innocent people. Well, mostly innocent.
03:257. Defeat Ganon Early – Legend of Zelda Breath of the Wild
03:29Breath of the Wild is an incredibly expansive open-world game. The game's map is huge and
03:35filled with all sorts of special locations that Link needs to visit on his quest to defeat Ganon.
03:40In order to finish the main narrative, you need to sink in about, I don't know, like 100 hours?
03:44Or, if you're clever and more than a little daring, you can do it in about 30 minutes.
03:48Since the main objective of Breath of the Wild is to defeat Calamity Ganon,
03:51and there's nothing blocking your path to his location, you can technically challenge the
03:55glowing pig head as soon as Link wakes up. The fight will definitely be difficult,
03:59seeing as you don't have any powers, weapons, or allies. And without the help of the divine
04:03beast that you free throughout the course of the game, Ganon will be at full health.
04:07You also need to defeat all four of his avatars that you would normally battle inside the
04:11corrupted divine beasts. However, if you manage to take on this challenge and come out alive,
04:16Ganon will be defeated, Zelda will be rescued, and that will be game over. After all,
04:21killing Ganon and rescuing Zelda is what all Zelda games are really all about.
04:246. Kill Urizen Early
04:26Devil May Cry 5
04:28Devil May Cry 5 offers something very similar to Breath of the Wild. In the game's prologue,
04:33the player needs to take on Urizen, the big, bad, evil guy stuck to an even bigger,
04:37badder throne. The fight is incredibly hard. So hard, in fact, that the developers expect you to
04:43lose. In fact, in fact, your defeat is a crucial point in the story that establishes Nero and Dante's
04:48motivations for the rest of the game. That said, though, this fight isn't scripted,
04:52and you can actually defeat him, although it definitely takes a lot of effort, as he has a
04:56ton of health and his attacks pack a huge punch. But if you're skilled enough to bring him down
05:01without any upgrades or perks, you can unlock a super-secret special ending in which the story is
05:06concluded with a few lines of text and a literal, they lived happily ever after moment. The secret
05:11ending is obviously a joke, but hilariously, you'll still get the well-I'll-be-damned trophy that pops
05:16later when you fight him for real.
05:185. Let the Villagers Kill Gandahar
05:20Two Worlds
05:21In terms of sheer hilarity, the early ending of the action RPG Two Worlds is easily one of the best.
05:27There's nothing quite like seeing the final boss of a game getting brutally pummeled to death
05:31by an angry mob of peasants. Gandahar, the dark wizard who kidnaps the main character's
05:36sister, appears in the starting location of the game, trying to convince you to join his secret
05:41society. Though at this stage he doesn't reveal his true identity, the game does consider his
05:45character to be the actual Gandahar, which means that killing him can trigger the end-game cutscene
05:51where he falls dead in front of the player and the credits begin to roll. Now, this mysterious
05:55stranger is incredibly powerful, which is why you can't beat him alone. To bring Gandahar down,
06:00you'll need to attack him and then run towards the nearest group of villagers. Now, with some careful
06:04positioning, you can bait Gandahar into throwing some of his magic towards you and hitting the
06:09villagers in the area-of-effect splash. This will then trigger them to attack Gandahar, and they will
06:14slowly, very slowly take him down with their bare fists and pickaxes. Even the darkest and strongest
06:20of magic can't stand a chance against the sheer power of an angry mob.
06:244. Kill Father
06:27Fallout 4
06:28The plot of Fallout 4 has you making some tough moral choices to determine the future
06:32of the Commonwealth. This involves taking out rival factions, deciding whether the android
06:36synths should be protected or destroyed, and betraying some of the companions that you picked
06:40up along the way. But don't worry, if this all sounds like something you don't want to bother
06:45with, you can skip the entire second half of the main storyline and avoid the major conflict
06:49between the factions by doing one rather questionable thing. When you finally manage to infiltrate the
06:54Institute, you get to meet your long-lost son Sean, who turns out to be their leader,
06:58now going by the name of Father. Sean will then offer you to join up, which triggers a series of
07:03missions where you act as a double agent for your faction of choice and ultimately calls an all-out
07:07war between all of them. However, if you kill Father Sean right out of the gate whilst on the
07:12side of the Minutemen, you'll be thrown out and the missions will never trigger. After this,
07:16you can immediately proceed to the final showdown with the Institute and reach the end of the
07:19game without having to destroy the other two major factions at all. I mean, sure, yes, you will have
07:24to kill your own son, but what's a little homicide in the face of world peace, right?
07:293. Kill Liberty on Your Way to Denver
07:32Wasteland 3
07:33Wasteland 3 has over six different endings, one of which can be achieved so early it concludes
07:38Wasteland's main storyline before you even get into it. The game's plot revolves around the
07:43Arizona Rangers trying to win the favour of the Patriarch, the ruler of Colorado Springs.
07:48This man wants the Rangers to bring back his three rebellious children, and one of them,
07:52Liberty, can be met as soon as you finish the prologue. Although Liberty is the toughest out
07:56of the three children and is intended to be beaten towards the end of the game, the player can challenge
08:00her to a duel that usually ends up with your squad being squashed by Liberty's robots. That said,
08:05some players have found a way to beat Liberty early on by exploiting the game's hacking mechanic
08:10and disabling her shields and robots. It turns out that killing her right off the bat causes the
08:15game to jump straight to the end, resolving all of the Rangers' issues and giving you
08:18the happy ending. Now that is efficient.
08:222. Use Alex's Escape Pod, Prey
08:25Have you ever watched a horror movie and wondered,
08:27why don't they just leave? Well, sci-fi horror Prey answers this question by giving you the choice
08:32to escape its monster-infested space station very early on, allowing you to ignore all the twists
08:37and moments of tension that this game has to offer. You see, early on in the story,
08:41the player comes across an escape pod belonging to their brother Alex. If you manage to find his
08:45access card and bring it to the pod, Prey will present you with a choice of leaving the space
08:49station or going back to fight the monsters and rescuing the remaining survivors. Choosing the
08:53former will trigger a cutscene in which Alex calls your decision an unexpected disappointment,
08:58in reference to a certain plot twist at the end of the game, after which your character enters the
09:02pod and jets off into space. The secret ending lets you skip most of the game while simultaneously
09:07offering the most logical solution to being stuck on a space station with a bunch of shape-shifting
09:11aliens. Yes, it may be cruel to leave your friends and crewmates behind, but who said you had to play
09:16the hero here?
09:181. Escape to the US
09:20Far Cry 6
09:21Secret endings accessible at the start is something of a tradition in the Far Cry series. Ever since
09:26Far Cry 4 introduced the idea of working with the villain Pagan Min to finish the game in 30 minutes,
09:31each new Far Cry has included something similar. And Far Cry 6 is no different. In fact,
09:36it actually did it in a pretty original way. The secret ending is accessible at any point of the
09:41game and doesn't involve waiting for an uncomfortable amount of time. To trigger,
09:45simply drive any boat outside of the boundaries of the map, which will trigger a special cutscene
09:49where your character, Dani, leaves her war-torn country and moves to the US. Here, Dani will be
09:54shown chilling on a beach and listening to a radio broadcast about the death of their friend Clara
09:58and the subsequent defeat of her revolution against Anton. After that, the credits will roll.
10:03Now, it might seem a little underwhelming, but this faux finale is far more upbeat and
10:07positive than what actually happens in Far Cry 6's proper ending.
10:11Game plots. They're long, convoluted and require way too much time to get through. Am I right? And
10:17you know what? I've even got this intro written out right here, but you can read the title. I'm
10:20going to save you some time because that is the theme of this list. As I'm Jules, this is WhatCulture
10:24.com
10:24and these are 10 more video games that let you skip the story entirely. Let's get on with it.
10:2910. Activate the Netherese Orb – Boulder's Gate 3
10:33Larian's critically acclaimed role-playing game, Boulder's Gate 3, comes with plenty of unique and
10:38secret choices for you to make. And one of them even allows you to skip out on making choices by
10:42letting you finish the game early and omit the entirety of Act 3. You see, in the second act
10:47of the game, your magical, god-seducing companion Gale receives the power to control the unstable
10:52Netherese Orb infused within his body, which at any given moment can turn him into a living nuclear bomb
10:57capable of leveling a city and then some. Well, control is a bit of an overstatement here because
11:03Gale is still doomed to blow up, he just gets to choose when he does it. Across Act 2,
11:08Gale's goddess wants him to sacrifice himself by unleashing his power on the game's antagonist,
11:12the Cult of the Absolute, and if you go with her plan, you can actually reach a secret early
11:17ending. In the scene, Gale activates his orb as soon as he enters the cult's secret lair and gets
11:22rid of the entire gallery of villains with one huge magical explosion. This kills off your entire
11:27squad, but to be honest, it is totally worth it, if only for the terrified and rather confused
11:31faces of the absolutes chosen. 9. Take Joy – We Happy Few
11:36We Happy Few is an action-adventure game about a dystopian society addicted to a euphoria-inducing
11:42hallucinogenic called Joy. In the game, you play as three citizens of the joy-addicted Wellington
11:47Wells who tried to escape the town's brainwashed society, and one of the characters, Arthur Hastings,
11:52works as a censor for the town's local newspaper. Also, depending on your choices, he's the only
11:57character who can end his personal story within minutes. Arthur's campaign begins with him
12:02working his shift at the paper. As he censors unwanted, depressing news, he comes across a
12:07clip of him and his dead brother, Percy, and the player is faced with a choice. You can either let
12:11Arthur remember his dead brother by refusing to take your mandatory dose of joy, therefore prompting
12:16the events of the entire game, or take the pill and fall back into blissful ignorance. The latter choice
12:21will trigger a brief cutscene showing Arthur swallowing the pill and drifting away into his state-mandated
12:26trip. With no more reason for Arthur to escape Wellington Wells, the game will end, and the
12:30credits will roll. That was easy, and to think that some people have to go through hours of
12:33stealth sections and combat to reach this ending.
12:368. You don't really want to skip this part. South Park The Fractured But Whole
12:41South Park Fractured But Whole is the second game made by the show's actual creators Trey Parker and
12:46Matt Stone, and just like regular South Park, the game is full of gags and jokes that poke fun at
12:51virtually everything and anyone, including you, the player. In fact, one of your particularly
12:55infuriating gaming habits can even cause the game to finish itself for you. During the opening
13:00cutscene, in which Cartman narrates his epic superhero backstory, Cartman will stop you and
13:05call you out for interrupting his cool monologue. Of course, you can keep pressing the skip button,
13:09but this will only aggravate your narrator more and more until he finally snaps and decides to give
13:13you exactly what you want by skipping the game all the way to the end credits. The gag is brilliant,
13:18as not only does it catch you by surprise, but it's also absolutely in character for Cartman to do
13:23something so utterly petty. Just think of how many speedrunners' hearts were broken thanks to
13:27Cartman introducing this special little feature.
13:307. The Coward Ending
13:32The Stanley Parable Ultra Deluxe
13:34The Stanley Parable is a unique story-based game in which you play as the titular Stanley
13:39as he's guided through the office building by the voice of the story's narrator. The game thrives on
13:43you thinking outside of the box and constantly challenging your poor, well-intentioned guide,
13:48which is why it includes a plethora of different endings, each made for a different instance of
13:52you refusing or indeed going along with the narrator's story. There's even an ending made
13:56specifically for those who refuse to partake in the story at all called The Coward or Reluctant
14:01Ending. In order to get it, you simply have to lock yourself in Stanley's office, where you begin
14:05your adventure, and then wait for the narrator to take note of your particularly long absence.
14:10After that, he will begin to comment on Stanley's cowardice, going so far as to accuse him of paranoia,
14:15until he finally gives up on Stanley and lets him stay in his office forever. You do get labelled
14:20a coward, but on the other hand, it's kind of worth it to say that you were able to beat
14:23the
14:23game in less than 15 minutes. 6. I Know Where I'm Going
14:27Gone Home Gone Home is a 2013 exploration game in which you play as a young woman trying to figure
14:33out the circumstances behind her family's disappearance after she returns from overseas.
14:38The game doesn't so much as allow you to skip the story, as it unintentionally leaves an open
14:42path straight to the ending. In the game, you're trying to collect clues and evidence that let you
14:46discover new locations in the house and unlock previously inaccessible areas. However, if you
14:51already know what you're doing or have the dumbest streak of luck possible, you can technically leave
14:55all of the clues be and open a secret entrance leading to the final location in the attic as you
15:00enter the home. Because the ending doesn't require you to collect any of the narrative clues,
15:04you can actually trigger it without learning a lick of the story, and then probably feel really
15:08confused when the game suddenly fades to black. To be honest, playing the game like this makes
15:12for a much cheerier tone. There are no dark undertones or creeping suspense, just an oblivious
15:16idiot stumbling into an attic and then falling asleep in front of a notebook.
15:205. The Secret Video Ending The Witness
15:23Seeing as The Witness is an exploration puzzle game, it's a bit hard to speak of a story in its
15:29case.
15:29The game's narrative lies simply in exploring the island and solving its puzzles, with environmental
15:34storytelling doing all of the heavy lifting in each section of the map. However, as it turns out,
15:39even this bare-bones narrative structure is something you can completely skip. Instead of
15:43exploring and traversing the land, you can watch a weird, experimental point-of-view video of the
15:47game's real-life creator that has nothing to do with The Witness at all. In the first level of the
15:52game, there's a hidden puzzle that requires the player to connect the light of the sun with a pillar
15:56next to the entrance gate. The power will surge through the wall, opening a secret entrance to a
16:00mysterious lounge. Shortly after you step inside, the game will play a real-life video showing the
16:05game's creator waking up, doing some coding, presenting his Christmas tree, and then walking
16:09outside as the game fades to black. Wait, what? What is going on? Don't think about it, just don't
16:14think about it, because even if you finish this game normally, it'll still make no sense.
16:184. Stay With The Song Fury
16:20The story of Fury follows its mysterious protagonist, referred to as Ryder, as he tries to break out of
16:26his elaborate prison made out of levitating futuristic islands. You spend the entire game
16:31fighting and killing for Ryder's freedom, only to discover that your character is actually an alien
16:35invader, and the only reason he was trying to escape was to return to his mothership and prepare
16:40an invasion. Luckily, though, there is another, more satisfying ending that lets you skip all of
16:44this murder. One of Ryder's jailers, The Song, offers your character a chance to just give up the
16:49fight. Believing him to be capable of good, she invites him to stay with her inside her peaceful
16:54sanctuary for all of eternity. If this sounds like the plan for you, all you need to do is wait
16:58a
16:59few minutes in front of The Song's arena. This will trigger a cutscene in which Ryder sits down
17:03next to The Song, and she reassures him of his good heart. And then, the credits roll. You can
17:08stop the alien invasion without killing any additional jailers, and as a bonus, you'll spare
17:12yourself the frustration of fighting them. Now that is a win-win.
17:163. Don't Feel Like Saving The World
17:18Super Paper Mario
17:19Have you ever played a game and come across a pointless yes-or-no choice where both options
17:24led to the same outcome anyway? Well, it's an especially common occurrence in the Pokemon
17:28and Zelda games, but not in Super Mario, because here, a no is a no. Super Paper Mario, a ridiculous
17:34Mario RPG set in a scrapbook-ified version of the Mushroom Kingdom, loves toying with ideas
17:39that border on outrageous and outrageously funny. And this includes turning that age-old
17:43cliche of false dilemmas into an actual choice. In the beginning of the game, Mario is approached
17:48by Merlon, who will ask him if he wants to save the world from the evil Count Bleck. The answer
17:53to the question seems obvious, so you expect the choice to be fake. However, if you choose
17:57to answer no, Merlon won't actually correct you into saying yes. Instead, he'll start
18:01panicking and ask you to reconsider. At that point, you can keep refusing him until he finally
18:05concedes and leaves you be, ending your adventure prematurely and dooming the world to total
18:10destruction. This naturally results in an instant game over, but then again, it's nice
18:14to see a game that actually treats your choices seriously, even if they are terrible.
18:182. Kill Ryoji – Persona 3
18:21In Persona 3, you play as a group of supernaturally gifted teenagers trying to stop a mysterious
18:27goddess of death from ending the world. Now, if this all sounds like a bit too much to handle,
18:31don't worry. The game actually offers you an easier solution to your character's mission
18:34than taking on an actual god, and that is just simply backing out of the fight.
18:38When the in-game calendar reaches December 31st, Ryoji, the roommate of the main character,
18:43reveals that he's actually an avatar of Nyx, the god of death. And once he transforms into
18:47his true form, he will allow Nyx to bring about the end of the world. Now at this point,
18:51you're given a choice. You can either kill him before he sets off the apocalypse, or
18:55let him live and face Nyx in all of her glory. Now the former option will actually lead to
18:59a special secret ending in which your characters forget about all of the supernatural stuff
19:03they experienced and get to spend the rest of their school year in peace, but that is
19:06only until Nyx comes back to end the world anyway, because it turns out that killing her
19:10avatar just postponed her arrival. I mean, what did you think? She was just going to let
19:13it be. Come on, dude. Idiot. Idiot. But then again, at least it's one very happy
19:17year at school, so cool, I guess.
19:19And number one, gotta get that Crab Rangoon, Far Cry 4. Now, listen, you knew that Far Cry
19:25was going to be on this list. Everyone knows about this secret ending by now. By the time
19:28that I've finished speaking about this, the footage on screen will have actually shown
19:32you the ending that you can get. So, um, why don't we just wait out this little bit here
19:36together? There's a script in front of me that I should be reading, but, uh, this is the
19:39only way to make this interesting for me after years of talking about Far Cry and the secret
19:41ending. So, how are you? You alright? Cool. Nice shirt, by the way. I enjoyed that. Where'd
19:47you buy that? Really? You got it for that? That is surprisingly cheap. Or expensive. I don't
19:52know. I don't do fashion. Sorry. Anyway, the ending's over now. Hope you're well. Big love
19:55to you. And I'm gone. Bye. Seriously, that's the only way to make it fun after talking about
20:00all of these years. And there we go, my friends. Those were 10 more video games that let you
20:04skip the story entirely. I hope that you enjoyed that and let me know what you thought about
20:07it down in the comment section below. And you can go follow me over on the social medias
20:11over on X and Instagram where it's at RetroJ, but the O is a zero. I hope to see you
20:17over
20:17there. But before I go, I just want to say one thing. Hope you're treating yourself well,
20:20my friend, and reminding yourself that you are a big ledge, so you deserve love, happiness,
20:24and success. We all do as human beings, so treat yourself well. As always, I've been Jules.
20:28You have been awesome. Never forget that, and I'll speak to you soon. Bye.
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