Best Soulsborne Endings, Ranked

From Demon’s Souls to Elden Ring, FromSoftware is among the best companies at drawing up immaculate adventures from start to finish, including their magnificent endings. After all, a story can hardly be memorable if it doesn’t have a strong ending.

Whether it’s the bosses or the cinematics, their way of wrapping up games is remarkable, although some titles stand out over others.

The best Soulsborne endings remain engraved in the players’ psyche for multiple reasons, and this list ranks the best of the best.

10 Demon’s Souls: Evil Ending

The Freedom to Choose

While choosing the ending of a video game isn’t particularly groundbreaking, being able to do so in Demon’s Souls felt special.

Coming from a genre with predetermined conclusions, taking destiny’s reins is a welcome and unexpected change of pace, as nothing in the game tells you beforehand you will make such a big decision.

Accepting the Old One’s power, slaying the Maiden in Black, and being ultimately responsible for Boletaria’s chaos is as disgusting as it is interesting, as it takes on a dark and different plot twist.

It’s neither revolutionary nor profound, but the simple feeling of agency it provides is enough to make the list.

9 Bloodborne: Honoring Wishes

Painful Secrets

Thanks to having the best lore in the entire franchise, Bloodborne‘s endings are among the finest FromSoftware has ever made.

Even if you ignore the fight with Gehrman, The First Hunter, one of the best Soulsborne bosses, Honoring Wishes is a conclusion that leaves you with mixed feelings about the events before you.

After so many obstacles, taking Gehrman’s place as a slave to the Lunar Presence doesn’t feel like an optimal reward, but a punishment.

Fighting with him without consuming the umbilical cords brings you closer to the character as a friend who wanted to save you, but also makes you feel there has to be more to the story than just that.

It’s a great middle ground between the ‘worst’ ending and the secret ending, and it adds a lot of value to Bloodborne as a replayable game.

8 Elden Ring: Lord of Frenzied Flame

May Chaos Take The World!

Most RPG players choose the morally correct paths, resembling what they would do in real life. At least, until you figure out how to get the Lord of Frenzied Flame ending in Elden Ring.

Achieving it requires a strong dedication due to the long and obtuse questline you have to follow, and the requirement to antagonize our dear Melina, who swears to pursue you and give you death.

When you see the world burn in the characteristic frenzied yellow that is etched into your retina, you know you are watching an unforgettable sequence.

However, the most remarkable thing is the final stretch, where Melina herself appears and generates a myriad of questions that, until now, remain unanswered. It’s a perfect mix of spectacle and mystery.

7 Sekiro Shadows Die Twice: Shura

Follow the Iron Code

Speaking of stories where you become the bad guy, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice‘s Shura ending is one of the most impressive.

First, because FromSoftware dared to leave a lot of content behind the decision to follow the Iron Code, penalizing those who obey the rules despite how unfair they are.

Second, because what it reflects on a lore level is simply masterful. Emma and Isshin’s fear, the Sculptor’s Backstory, the Owl’s regret, and the consequences Sekiro faces for letting himself be consumed by hatred are simply superb images.

If you add what happens off-screen, where the Owl is seen carrying Genichiro’s head and the Black Mortal Blade, it’s probably the best bad ending FromSoftware has ever made.

6 Dark Souls: To Link the Fire

Standard and Iconic

After so many years and endings, I know To Link the Fire in Dark Souls isn’t flashy or complex, but there’s an indescribable magic to its essential nature.

Aside from setting the cycle trope that would shape the rest of the trilogy (even FromSoftware’s narratives in general), finally accomplishing the goal everyone has told us to achieve is a great relief.

More memorable, though, is the feeling of emptiness afterward, which resembles the futility of the very act we’re committing. Linking the fire feels like something the Chosen Undead does but also the player, both slaves to a greater force they can’t overcome.

Listening to Nameless Song as the credits roll right after listening to Gwyn, Lord of Cinder is also quite a feat, as both are among the best themes the developer has composed.

5 Dark Souls 3: Usurpation of Fire

Breaking the Cycle

Throughout the game, Dark Souls 3 exudes an extremely clear aura of closure, as everything points toward the conclusion of our journey in the trilogy.

Despite having the difficult task of continuing a worn-out plot line, the Usurpation of Fire ending does a magnificent job of finally breaking the cycle and going in a new direction.

While the rest of the endings maintain the usual trope, this one feels like the series’ genuine conclusion, coupled with the final dialogue with the Painter after defeating Gael in The Ringed City DLC.

Between the music, the cinematography, and the symbolism, it’s a grandiloquent climax to one of the greatest series of our time, and it could hardly have been better.

4 Dark Souls 2: Leave the Throne

The Deepest Ending

The Leave the Throne ending from Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin was going to be first on the list because I genuinely believe it’s the most profound.

In all its boldness and daring, this alternative proposes to overcome the system, going beyond its limitations and granting you a glimpse of freedom among so many stories of predestined and chosen heroes.

However, the cherry on the cake is Aldia’s monologue, which is easily among the most outstanding in the history of video games. The message, the rhythm, the dubbing, and the context are all conducive to making it unforgettable.

I know neither the original work nor this revision is loved in the community, but endings like this are what make Dark Souls 2 a title that at least tries to break away from the shackles binding it.

3 Elden Ring: Age of Stars

A Thousand-Year Voyage

As the result of one of the best questlines in the entire game, achieving the Age of Stars in Elden Ring is an incredible odyssey.

Ranni is an outstanding character with masterful lore and many interesting secrets, so it was inevitable that an ending tied to her would be equally striking.

After turning towers upside down, murdering celestial beings, and getting married, a thousand-year journey alongside a demigoddess in the body of a puppet is a downright incomparable concept.

The image where Ranni takes Marika’s head and shows us a glance at the new era feels like a dream, so there’s no better way to find fulfillment after our time in The Lands Between.

2 Sekiro Shadows Die Twice: Return

A Complex Closure

My choice may be motivated by my eternal desire to see a sequel, but the Return ending of Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice is majestic in every sense of the word.

Only those who choose to endure its obtuse conditions will be worthy of the most positive and distinctive ending of all.

In terms of both lore and emotions, it’s the most appropriate and hopeful conclusion to Sekiro’s first journey, opening up a world of possibilities to imagine before seeing him again.

Even if there’s no sequel, it’s an invaluable reward for fulfilling all the strange requirements necessary to see the special cinematic, which completely maximizes its world’s its world’s fantastic nature.

1 Bloodborne: Childhood’s Beginning

The Ascension to Godhood

I’ve talked about the depth, cinematography, relevance, and fantasy of all these Soulsborne endings, yet only one has all.

Thus, Bloodborne’s Childhood’s Beginning ending is the ultimate representation of a climax for posterity. If I had to choose the best ending in gaming history, this would be one of my first candidates.

Both for the story that precedes it and for what it means on a narrative level, including the visual spectacle and its emotional transcendence, it’s a beautiful ending that stands out even more for how difficult it is to understand.

Flooded with questions about this birth of a new Great One, Bloodborne’s cosmic influence is present in the best possible way, demonstrating why it is one of the finest adaptations of H.P. Lovecraft’s work.

It’s flawless, without the need for sequels or further explanations, which guarantees the title as the best Soulsborne ending.