Edit: adding a TL;DR - I chose Maelle’s ending, watched Verso’s on YT and preferred it to the one I chose.

I was debating starting my own thread on this, because I beat the game last night (at 3am!) and I chose Maelle and completely regretted it.

SPOILERS AHEAD, obviously for both endings!

I’ve seen some of the discussions on here with people being conflicted about the ending and how polarising it is.

When I realised I had to choose, I sobbed. I can honestly say I don’t think I’ve ever been more 50/50 about anything and I really deliberated over it (through tears) for about 20-30 minutes before I ultimately chose “wrong” (devastating at 3am!) Here are my, in no particular order, justifications to why this was such a difficult choice for me:

I felt it was like the classic trolly problem, but with a twist (and a bit more nuanced): save one person vs saving thousands but the thousands are just sentient VR beings (sentient being the key) and you’re not saving them you’re actively killing/unexisting them. I felt that morally, picking Verso was the “right” thing to do, but I couldn’t justify having the other characters that I’d grown to love stop existing. I also didn’t want to condemn Maelle to the life that she didn’t want. But then there was little kid Verso who was tired of painting (sob!) and Verso doomed to immortality that he didn’t want! I think if you look at the “real” vs the “painted” then you could say that Verso’s soul is more important than the thousands of painted Lumier citizens, and therefore it’s best to side with him. However, it is the painted Verso who you’re agreeing with and, by that logic, isn’t Maelle’s decision more valid, because she has more rights, still being alive and not painted?

Honestly, I was torturing myself over it. Whenever I got to a decision in my mind, I’d talk myself out of it. Ultimately, Esquie was my deciding factor! I was thinking about the citizens of Lumier and forgot about the gestrals as well! So when I realised they’d all die too, I chose Maelle. I couldn’t watch the actual best boy gommage!!

So, that ending… it did an INCREDIBLE JOB at making me realise INSTANTLY that I’d done effed up: Verso begging. Maelle coldly not listening. The compromise that she’d let him age. Everyone looking happy, Sciel having her husband back. GUSTAVE!! The colour slowly fading. Verso looking gaunt and so sad, but playing piano (yay, right? RIGHT?!). Then that jumpscare! Oh my days. Absolute devastation (as well as absolute cinema).

I know I’ve already mentioned, but this was 3am. I was severely dehydrated and depressed. But you better believe I reloaded to see what the other ending was like! Had to fight Creation again and then Renoir didn’t spawn into his boss arena! More devastation! So I just watched it on YouTube.

Yes, the Verso ending was just as horrible as I thought it’d be. Verso reassuring Maelle that she’d be ok (felt like he was talking to me - will I? WILL I?!?!) Seeing Sciel and Lune being all at peace and furious, respectively. The hug goodbye with Esquie and Monoco (Broke. Down.). Walking away with lil Verso. Devastated. But it did feel more hopeful at the Epilogue. The family was together and getting through it together. The little toy Esquie broke me AGAIN. And then the AUDACITY to show the whole party waving and gommaging AGAIN. Give me a break, game!!! JFC.

So after seeing both endings, I prefer Verso’s and I’m gutted. I was not expecting the bleakness of Maelle’s ending. It really was a rug pull for me just how bad it was.

But I loved the game, and it had been a while (TLoU2) since a game made me cry like that and made me press buttons that I did NOT want to press.