Dark Souls 3: Every Game Ends, Ranked

Dark Souls 3 is the final chapter in FromSoftware's hyper-challenging open-world action-RPG with a vague, if not downright baffling, story. Because of this, finding the ending can be a bit tricky. After all, if you don't know what's going on, how do you know where to go or what to do? Well, we're here to help (sort of).

Really, what we're here to do is judge the endings and rank them based solely on our personal opinion of how interesting they are. There are four endings in total, with two being nearly identical. Think you can stop praising the sun long enough to read four posts? Cool.

Spoiler alert

Updated October 25, 2024 by Alfredo Robelo: Not all of FromSoftware's games have multiple endings, but the ones that do have the most twisty stories. The Ring of Fire and its DLC have come and gone, and while FromSoftware's latest masterpiece had some interesting endings, the award for the most cryptic will always go to Dark Souls 3, so we came back to this article and polished it up to today's standards.

4

Links the flame

Clinging to the past

This is considered the standard ending, where you complete the primary quest. You defeat the Soul of Cinder, sacrifice your soul to link the first flame, and keep the age of fire burning. Accomplishing this is no small feat, and yet it's literally the least you can do in terms of beating the game, so it comes last for us.

Also, and maybe we're reading into this more than it deserves, the rejuvenated flames somehow feel less grand than they should. Some fans have speculated that this means that the linking no longer has the same effect as it did before and that the fire time collapses no matter what you do. If so, and it's a very FromSoftware thing to imply, so cool… love it for us, but until that's confirmed, this ending still comes in fourth.

3

End the flame

The Everpresent Age Of Dark Ending

This is considered the true endgame, where you give the Fire Guardian a set of eyes and summon her to handle the flame. You still have to face the Soul of Cinder, but your companion handles what comes next. After the fight is over (hopefully in your favor), the Fire Warden takes the flame in his hands and lets it go out.

And that's it. The screen fades to black as the flame dies. Some fans have theorized that the Fire Keeper was dooming the age of fire with false visions, while others have hopefully held on to the Fire Keeper's assurances that a new “little flame” will burst into life in the darkness. Given that this is Dark Souls we're talking about, the less happy possibility is infinitely more likely.

2

Unkindled (Ending The Flame Variation)

The flame is all yours

This ending is almost exactly the same as the last one, where you equip the Fire Warden with the eyes and summon her for the final battle, with one notable difference. Instead of passively watching the fire warden kill the flame, you stab her in the back and interact with her as you would any corpse. Hilariously, the narrator condemns you, saying, “Ashes seek embers,” suggesting that you are not worthy—or even capable—of wielding the mighty flame.

There is no achievement attached to this ending.

It is extremely rare for Dark Souls to consume some effort to guide your path, so the fact that the game is literally calling you means FromSoftware can't believe you fumbled your bag so hard at the final choice. Sure, it's too late for you to go back and fix it, but that just makes the verbal burning even more fun. 10/10.

1

The usurpation of fire

The hard one to get

This is it: the last possible ending, and the hardest to achieve. If you spend the entire game as one of the Hollowed, going out of your way to be the worst kind of person and also following a painstaking list of easily missed tasks, then you can replace the Soul of Cinder after you defeat him. This ending sees you claim the power of the first flame for yourself. Doing so imbues you with great power and gives you an arm of dutiful, worshiping dens.

You may be locked out of this ending due to your actions in the game, so plan your gameplay accordingly.

Becoming Lord of Hollows is by far the darkest ending. While you're technically still continuing the age of fire by channeling the first flame, you're not exactly implying that you're doing the realm of London any favors. That said, its complexity is compelling (if not frustrating), and it carries the coolest name of them all, making this the best ending in all of Dark Souls 3.