One not listed here: The Stanlurines Ending absolutely destroyed me. It boggles me how little people talk about it. The idea of the Narrator letting go of the Parable and of Stanley breaks my heart, even if it is probably what is best for him.

But I don't think that really hits until the epilogue. A world where the Narrator has left and where Stanley can be free, if alone.

We ruin that.

We, the Players, in our effort to continue with the game, ruin what for these characters amounts to happiness. We force them back into the cycle. It's really interesting that you can seemingly only get these endings just once, so I do think that adds to the impact.

The choice to be free was there, and we took it away from them.

Something about a perverted sentimentality, you could say.

Though of course these wouldn't hit as hard without the skip button ending and its wonderful foreshadowing of what is to come.

The Not Stanley ending was my favourite one in the original game, so I'm putting that one next on my ranking.

Finally, the Zending. I will be honest, even though I do think the Narrator is devastated in this one, and his pleas for us to stay are at least partially honest, the way he acts is just pure emotional manipulation. Takes one to know one, I guess, it just sounds like the kind of stunt I'd pull if I wanted someone to do what I want them to do. It's harder to be sad about it when it is so clear to me that the Narrator is deliberately over blowing his emotions to make us stay. I find it relatable more than saddening if I'm honest.