Deathloop has proven to be a huge critical success for Arkane Studios and PlayStation 5, serving as one of the PS5's highest-rated console exclusives to date. Deathloop is a game designed with replayability in mind, so while it doesn't take all that long to get to the end of the story, there's still a ton that players can do to spend their time. In fact, there are three different endings that Deathloop players can seek out, and each one is slightly different than the last.
Deathloop has a "real" ending, denoted by the fact that it unlocks the last story-related trophy, but there are two other endings that fans can check out as well. Even after players manage to kill all of Deathloop's Visionaries and complete the game, they can keep going back through all of the stages to see the other possible endings. Those who don't feel like replaying significant chunks of the game may still want to know what happens in Deathloop's endings, however. Anyone curious about what happens in all of the endings can read on, but everyone should be note that there are MAJOR SPOILERS for Deathloop ahead.
To see Deathloop's endings, players need to kill all of the Visionaries in one day and complete the quest called Ending It. The Deathloop quest Ending It will lead them to the choice that they have to make that determines what ending they get. After getting one of the game's endings, players are free to take Colt back through the loop, complete all of the steps of Ending It again, and make different choices to get a different ending if they so desire.
Deathloop Good Ending
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The "real" or "good" ending in Deathloop is the one tied to the trophy for completing the Ending It quest, essentially amounting to beating the game. After killing all of the Visionaries, Colt can confront Julianna in the Loop structure. Upon approaching Julianna, she explains to Colt that he can complete his quest to kill her and end the time loop, or they can choose to live forever in the loop instead.
Julianna hands Colt a dueling pistol and starts counting to three. To get the best ending in Deathloop, players need to shoot Julianna before she finishes her count, or alternatively, shoot her from a distance using Deathloop's sniper rifle or another ranged weapon. When that's done, the only one left alive that's still keeping the loop going is Colt himself, and so players have to commit suicide to properly break the loop.
With all of the Visionaries dead, including Colt and Julianna, Colt then wakes up on the beach again. However, this time he is no longer in the time loop, and is now free to finish living out his life. Julianna shows up and holds Colt at gunpoint briefly, but then decides to spare his life and disappears. And that's the good ending in Deathloop.
Deathloop: What If Colt Doesn't Kill Himself?
Clearly, what happens in the Deathloop good ending is what's meant to happen in the game, but there are two alternate endings that players can unlock as well. Like with the previous ending, Deathloop players need to reach the point where Colt and Julianna are having their confrontation. They need to kill Julianna like normal, though this is where this ending differs from the previous one.
In the second Deathloop ending, players should simply wait for the loop restart. Since Deathloop protagonist Colt doesn't kill himself, the loop resets like normal.
Deathloop: What If Colt Spares Julianna?
The third possible Deathloop ending once again requires players to play the game until they reach the point where they're face to face with Julianna. This time around, players should choose to spare Julianna's life. By refusing to shoot Julianna, she and Colt decide to wreak havoc on Deathloop's Blackreef island together, hunting one another, the Visionaries, and everyone else stuck in the time loop. Essentially, players get the same outcome as the previous ending: the Deathloop time loop resets, and things are back to "normal" for Colt and Julianna.
The two alternate endings in Deathloop may not necessarily count as "endings" to most players as it puts them right back in the beginning of Deathloop's time loop. The whole point of Deathloop is for Colt to break the loop, so opting not to do that basically keeps players from actually seeing the ending. While the other developments can certainly be labeled as "endings," players are going to get an incomplete story, and incomplete trophy list, if they don't kill Julianna and then immediately have Colt kill himself afterwards.
Even if they get the good ending and break the Deathloop time loop, players will still find themselves wrapped back up in it so they can unlock all of the game's trophies and try to get 100% completion. Unlocking all of the Deathloop trophies isn't an impossible task by any stretch of the imagination, but some of them will definitely give players a run for their money. Many will likely just appreciate that they can see the Deathloop good ending without having to start from scratch, especially since the story ends with Colt breaking the time loop.
Deathloop is out now for PC and PS5.