ALL Stanley Parable Endings Ranked (+Ultra Deluxe)
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- Опубліковано 21 вер 2024
- In my most extravagant project to date, I will be ranking every ending from the modern titles in The Stanley Parable series. Where does your favourite place on my list?
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The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe is an expanded re-imagining of 2013's The Stanley Parable. You will play as Stanley, and you will not play as Stanley. You will make a choice, and you will become powerless. You are not here to win. The Stanley Parable is a game that plays you.
#StanleyParable #UltraDeluxe #Ranking
Good list.
But did you know that the 8 button actually comes back in Ultra Deluxe? After the epilogue, when you're able to create endless sequels, when you start playing Stanley Parable 8, you wind up in the 8 room, with new dialogue for it.
That's technically another ending you missed.
Wow, I had no idea. Mainly because it would obviously take way too much time to execute, and it can only be done once per run. Clearly the Demonstration Ending is superior.
@@Jack5Official Well, the way you would normally find it is just by playing the game casually.
If you reach the epilogue to activate the "never ending sequels", and then just keep logging into the game once in a while trying to find more new stuff, or just for fun, you'd eventually play The Stanley Parable 8, and find it.
That said, there was an update just a few days ago, and the developers have added a way to replay the missable/once-time endings.
It's a kinda-hidden feature, but it exists.
Hehe, found this by accident.
@@Jack5OfficialYou can actually replay it. By replaying the sequel ending, you can set the game back to TSP2, and then you can just restart the game till you have TSP8 again.
@@Jack5Official
20:53 How did u bring the bucket to the new content
When ever I try I just get sent to the Stanly Parable 2 area
for me the memory zone ending is 1st place only because it says "pressurised gas reviews" instead of "steam reviews" in the console version
OMFG that's gorgeous
Fun fact: the creator if the game has also stated that the skip button ending is his favorite
I thought pressureized gas was a real thing lmao
Oh did you get the broom closet ending ? The broom closet ending was my favorite !
XD
I find this concerning
I also find this concerning
I love the broom closet ending
That’s concerning
2:38 I think the 4 hour baby ending is underrated. Like, it’s *SUPPOSED* to be long, miserable, and MASSIVELY underwhelming. It is commentating on how gamers will seem to torture themselves for no other reason then for the sake of being a completionist or seeing-what-happens.
You’re not supposed to actually do it. The game is trolling you, it’s teaching you a lesson. Nothing is worth 4 hours of that kind of obnoxiousness. If you ACTUALLY sit through that, you’re not a winner, you lose, you’re the sucker. You’re supposed to be disappointed. You deserve to be for wasting your own valuable time like that.
I know I'm late to this but saying that the fact this ending has meaning makes it underrated is so incredibly dumb to me. It's the same thing as the movie empire to me, 8 hours of a flat shot of the empire state building. I'm sure it has meaning but it doesn't make it good art. Art should be an equal measure of enjoyability and meaning, if that balance is weighting too heavy in either direction the artfulness is just broken in my opinion.
@Pol Raper yeah, pretty much.
@@hehehoho7046 i’ll put it like this, I’m glad it exists. I believe all art has value even if it’s inaccessible.
@@hehehoho7046 It’s certainly underrated as a joke. I think spitting in the face of the player for their effort, especially given that one of the most consistent through lines of this game being criticism of the obsession with finding new content to consume, is wonderful. I wouldn’t rank the ending well on this type of list, sure, but it’s genuinely one of the funniest punishments a game dev could dole out for blatantly ignoring their games’ message.
I used console command and let it run for 4 hours. Checkmate
I'd rate the Countdown ending even higher. It's an absolute masterpiece. That realization that you did just "assume when you saw that timer that something in this room was capable of turning it off." That more than anything else got me to think hard about how the game played me with my expectations. Though I did eventually come to the conclusion that assuming a solution to a problem exists is better than just sitting down and dying.
On God. Countdown ending is an absolute blast, (literally lol), I'd probably swap it with the museum ending tbh. It's just such a hopeless situation, you're panicked, and at the mercy of the narrator. This is the ONLY ending where the narrator feels like an omnicient god that can and will play around with you if he sees fit.
@@Zenyx64 yeah the rest of the times he is just silly and goofy but this is the one time where he actually has power over you and I guess with the games ending as well as you can’t reset without him
i love the countdown ending, the voice acting is super great and the narrator feels like a villain haha
I like how the endings that are “bad” are the ones ment to be bad
When your game’s endings are so well made that you have to make endings bad on purpose
@@unusualgoofball That's true skill
To add to the idea that the confusion ending feels like it continues: The timeline says that on the fifth restart, the narrator forgets, and then you find the line again. Funnily enough, after restarting for that fifth time, if you go through the right door, the line actually appears in one of the inaccessible rooms. It's some crazy attention to detail.
OH MY GOD I SAW THAT I THOUGHT I WAS CRAZY
oh my god….. chills.
Zending is "worse" than other endings just because it deals with heavy subject matter? Seriously? This is one of those instances where the Narrator actually cares about your well-being. Yes, it is gut-wrenching, but I'd argue that placing it below others is not very objective. We don't know how long did Stanley really stay in that room with the lights to make this decision. Has he actually become aware that "the end is never the end" and is actively trying to reset?
I just can't really get behind the fact that you placed it below others just because of "how hopeless" it is.
I also strongly feel that this whole path was a journey where Stanley tried to defy fate, but when asked to return to the set path to make the Narrator happy, he did it. Granted, it wasn't for him.
i was going to say something all "to be fair" but he literally placed silly endings way far down because "it doesn't work with stanley parable's energy" or something
i have no clue what this list is but i don't really like it myself lmfao
@@dillweed8766 yeah that was like the point of the bucket lmao
It was the same thing with the 3 ending
Yeah, that was an extremely stupid thing for that guy to say tbh
He seems to hate any of the gag endings, when those are exactly what gives TSP it's energy and humour.
The ENTIRE POINT is it's absurd. There's literally an ending in UD about The Line and other characters giving Stanley an intervention and getting him to feed the bucket to a bucket destroyer who dies in an anime style cutscene. That is absolute insanity and it's beautiful.
Tldr: What a fool.
My boy really didn’t appreciate the mind control facility song smh
The original freedom ending was meant to be as unappealing as possible, and since the bucket endings tend to parody the ones that they relate to they had to come up with something even more anticlimactic, hence the sudden cutoff. I personally loved all of the bucket endings for the subversion and sheer absurdity, but I totally get not enjoying a decent amount of them.
For the bucket freedom ending: you do realize you have to complete the game at least once to get the New Content and therefore the bucket right? So the whole “what if this was someone’s first ending?” doesn’t make sense
7:06 weird opinion: I think the bucket press conference ending would be a lot funnier with the number 8 instead of the number 3.
3 felt kind of random to me, but 8 would’ve been a good callback to the 888888 joke from the demo and achievement. Think it would’ve made it feel a tad more cohesive too.
8 likes, nice.
They probably used 3 instead of 8 because _(spoilers)_
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if you input 8888 into the keypad twice in a row (that is, enter the digit 8 a total of 8 times in a row), it's an achievement.
3
@@MarsJenkar And that would conflict with the extra dialogue you get by pressing 3333 after the 3 ending.
I mean if you look at it carefully 3 is just an 8 that's cut in half
It's just as random as why the number 8 joke is so important to the game, 8 is a sideway infinity symbol and the entire game keeps telling us that "the end is never the end is never the end" just like infinity
Then again i could be looking too much into it, but it's way too much of a coincidence for that to not be the reason why the number we press is 3
Also in case i don't make sense it's *3 am* at the moment so blame my tiredness
the memory zone/skip button ending is clearly number 1 for me, just because of the skip button. it made me feel so many emotions when playing for the first time, with the horrifying realisation that the narrator was just… sitting there. for thousands, if not, millions of years. just because he let negative responses to his work get to his head.
the progressing deterioration of the room around you is also similarly shocking to play through, as well as, in particular, the three skips in which the narrator repeats “the end is never the end” (you have no idea how long he’s been saying that for), the one in which, after silence for multiple skip, we see him ranting about the negative reviews of the game, and the one in which we hear demonic sounds (where do they come from? has the narrator turned into something non-human?)
the ending also serves as a symbol of a strange twisted version of the death of the author.
the author went insane from letting the poor reviews get to his head and, deliberately trying to appeal to people who will never be satisfied, and through this, he became trapped in his own hubris, living with the unintended consequences as he cannot let go of the story (seen here as him physically not being able to let go of the story).
once we reach the desert, it is shown that, after the author is gone, the story still exists, and so there is no point to the narrator’s constant attempt to control the way his own story is seen.
I'm honestly surpprised at how low he put it like ik 6 is pretty good but compared to the ones he put after it it's not even a competition although it is his opinion so I cant be mad lol
i LOVE the skip button ending. 2nd favorite forever fr
The creator also said it was his favorite, I think
Kinda unexpected to me that your take on the True Ending takes it so much at face value. I mean, it's a story all about defying control when doing literally anything other than what you've told breaks the story irreparably and prevents you from ever experiencing it; and a story about refusing one's own emotions to be played with when the narrator describes beat by beat everything Stanley is feeling, imposing those reactions onto him through exaggerated delivery even when nothing else would indicate Stanley would feel that way. It's really apparent to me that it's meant to highlight the inherent contradiction in the narrator's story and in the narrator's approach to storytelling in general. Someone else said that it's an ending meant to make you feel like you shouldn't want to get it; and I agree.
I feel like that contradiction whilst the ending plays itself out sweetly and without a hint of self-awareness makes it all the more perfect. Of course the "true ending" is the one that entirely depends on you not making any decisions for yourself, yet the narrator acts like Stanley (the character) is breaking free of control. Of course it's the one where the narrator is the most straightforward and honest, barely even being a character himself and more of an actual narrator. Of course it's the one that, in its simplicity, is about as far from all of the others as it gets. I wouldn't want it any other way.
Completely agree. This ending is called the "freedom" ending, where you break from the control of the mind control facility. You no longer work your job of pressing the buttons you're told and experiencing the emotions put into you. You achieve it by following the instructions, and you're told how you feel about it. It's probably the deepest ending.
I have yet to see anyone mention what happens when you scan the QR code in the showcase room. If you haven't, do it and watch the video. Its fantastic.
Unfortunate side note: There is no QR code in the console versions of Ultra Deluxe :(
Oh yes, I did that! It just takes you to a website for the Stanley Parable 2 with a very..interesting promo video
@@shyguyonostrich yes there is. In the merch area. On PS4 at least
@@ericlittle2369 i would like to do that but i don’t know how to get to that part again. Because I exited the place and the game never opened the door for me again.
@@ericlittle2369 Oh, I guess it’s just Nintendo then.
Escape pod ending is easily one of my favorites
At first I thought it was the only “good” ending (freedom doesn’t count cuz to get there you have to blindly follow the narrator which proves that stanley has no free will) but then I read the text on the wall and I realized how tragic the ending actually was
Probably top 10 for me
Wait, what's the text on the wall? I've never stopped to read it.
@@stevenbobbybills go look at the oddheader for that information in "10 strangest endings that were never might to be found..."
33:13 The narrator also says this line in the Stanley Parable Half-Life 2 mod once you leave the game there by falling down a secret hole, it's interesting to see it was brought back for the Ultra Deluxe release. I'm also sad to see the Portal ending was removed because it was its own ending within an ending and easily the hardest to find!
I love how the prior version of the Games ending is still referenced in Ultra Deluxe, with a screenshot of the Narrator's Minecraft world framed in the Memory Room.
I think in the game files for the 2013 game that same dialogue is there, and i think it was supposed to happen in the 2013 game aswell, but they accidentally didnt
My all time favorite from the Original Stanley Parable is definitively the Confusion Ending, but in Ultra Deluxe the sequel ending is the best one, altering the game with new features, new endings and that beautiful main menu (which I prefer over the randomly-infinite generated from the epilogue)
Uh excuse me, are you saying you don't like Stanley Parable 4:Dealing with the Spiders?!
@@arthurpietrogarcia1057 nah, The Stanley Parable 9: Half Employee Half Lawsuit is better
@@le_wolferI actually like Stanley parable 5 story about boyfriends (def stannarrator)
I think Stanley Parable 69: Back in Office! Beats all of these out of the water personally.
I absolutely adore how the freedom ending is super meta in telling Stanley that he he has the choice to feel what he wants yet is then told right after that he is happy
It’s so good
YES
Ah c’mon man, have a laugh… I think you might be taking some of the bucket stuff a bit too seriously. Yeah, the UD endings are certainly goofier than the 2013 endings, but I don’t think that’s inherently bad or worse, just different.
Like, I certainly appreciate the more serious and thought-provoking endings and there’s some of my favorites as well, but I also often judge endings just on how much fun I’m having listening to the dialogue, and hearing the Narrator say things like “silly silly birds” *EASILY* put that ending above the looong boring original countdown ending for me. The bucket window ending and bucket museum ending are both hysterical as well! 😂
The very end of the bucket insanity ending might have the single funniest line in the ENTIRE GAME!! 🤣
*(putting the bucket freedom ending at last place seemed kinda bizarre. Idk, I thought it was fine, not great, but not terrible.)*
@Pol Raper birb :D
@Pol Raper All hail the bucket.
I can appreciate all of them for what they offer. I definitely prefer the original endings in terms of storytelling and commentary, (and imo the dialogue is _amazing_ ) but that doesn't mean I didn't have an absolute blast with the new ones. I always liked The Stanley Parable's humor, and it feels like we got to see more of that in UD. that is the reason why I loved the broom closet ending so much and had so much fun messing with the narrator in the first place. The Stanley Parable wouldn't be The Stanley Parable without it's humor, nor it's commentary. balance is important when you're trying to make something meaningful.
Also the bucket apartment ending reminded me of that episode of SpongeBob where squidward waned a piece of paper SpongeBob was playing with
The narrator didn’t know the bucket would work too well and was confused as to why Stanley loved it so much so he was slowly driven mad to find out why also bucket is a metaphor for comfort objects Stanley def have a touch of the tism with buttons as his special interest
I really do get why people wouldn't like the Feeedom ending with bucket, I'm not exactly a fan either, but really, very last? The four-hour button pressing ending is significantly worse.
How is the broom closet ending not the best ending not in first place the broom closet ending is my favourite XD
Two thoughts about the Bucket endings:
First, I was less than partial to the Bucket Freedom ending myself, but there was a really good analysis on tumblr by land-of-blitheness-and-catharsis about how it could be more emblematic with the parable itself refusing to let go, and the Narrator never being able to free himself from it because even when he gets so close he still finds some fondness for it and it just sucks him back in. The end is never the end and all that.
That being said, despite it's fun narrative implications, I still dislike it as an actual ending to play through. I agree with all of your points.
Second, I always interpreted the Bucket Conference ending as a failed sequel of sorts to the bucketless Conference Ending (Partially because I found the Conference Ending right before the Skip Button and the Stanley Parable 2 reveal, and partially because of the previously mentioned analysis above.)
I've read it as more of a vague metaphor for a failure to recapture the same audience as before. With the bucketless Conference Ending having been some kind of lightning in a bottle about something you just happened upon, the Bucket Conference was about something you were genuinely enthusiastic about, something you hoped to share with people who would care, but instead being hit in the face with the realization that you're the only one who likes pressing the number 3. (Side note, I feel like 3 being chosen as the number for the failed conference is a gentle way of letting us know we're probably never going to see a real follow up, not that I'm complaining)
I took it as a metaphor that Stanley was autistic (it’s heavily implied he and narrator are autistic narrator doesn’t understand human emotions and stims in the clicking door 430 achievement) pressing buttons is Stanley’s special interest and it’s basically the bucket doesn’t understand his special interest which results in them drifting apart
Fun Fact: The escape pod Ending in the original release was a glitched and unfinished fail safe if the player were to find a way to deactivate the narrator i.e. tricking the boss' doors to close then quickly going back...
This is the reason why you don't hear any sound when you are going to the escape pod
Also who the f--k is Gambhorra'ta ?
i understand your complaints at the freedom bucket ending but i think the intention was to show the narrators jealousy over the bucket.
numerous times he quite obviously resents stanley and/or the bucket, especially when stanley gives the bucket more attention than him. i think its to show the narrator is quite possessive over stanley, just like his story.
I think dave knew for almost everyone, they would have seen the original ending, and by closing the door with the bucket, its showing that the narrator doesnt want stanley to have his cake and eat it too. he never intended for the bucket to be a part of the story, so having the story end with stanley and the bucket leaving to be alone together made the narrator feel jealous, thus him closing the door almost as if it was a last second decision is a literal representation of the narrator trapping stanley to stay with him forever.
I think this is also set up quite well with the skip button ending (which is also a prerequisite to even have the bucket) where it shows the narrator really does need stanley and values his company.
he allowed stanley go for the sake of his story, but when he doesnt have that, he wont let stanley leave him.
To be honest, if they kept the Minecraft and portal segments in the new games ending, then we could’ve gotten four games to explore.
Here is how I would put them in order
1. Minecraft
2. Firewatch
3. Rocket league
4. Portal
Ps: my favourite ending is the 2013 games ending
Don't forget the original mod had you play a section of hl2.
@@brogan294 no?
@WHO’S THAT SPOOKY GAL? LUCY LOUD! The Stanley Parable, before it became a standalone game, was originally a mod for Half-Life 2. In that mod, the Games ending took you to Half-Life 2 (a game that you obviously would already have installed, since it was a mod for it after all) instead of Minecraft or Firewatch.
Countdown will always be my favourite. I love villain monologues and even more so, it has a special place in my heart because I still remember one of my L4D2 mapper friends making a survival map that was just this control room ported over, with custom dubbed dialogue that was so good for what it was. The explosion would always happen at the same time, so it was impossible to go past five minutes, and the new dialogue would stray far from the script and essentially be a long "good bye" to the mapping community.
Sadly the map is gone. The site that hosted it is gone, and that friend claims that the map was lost three PCs ago. But I still remember it, and I think every 3 months I load up Stanley Parable just to remember that mod again~
I love how the narrator is basically a flawed character he is t good but he isn’t evil as well. He is just lonely and doesn’t want to lose control. I think he made the explosion ending last minute as he didn’t expect Stanley to turn the machine on as he was following his orders up to this point. You can see in other endings he deeply cares for Stanley he gives him new choices and games to try when he feels he isn’t satisfied no matter if the narrator is happy or not they both just need each other :((
The first time I've ever played the game, I got the confusion ending. Named appropriately because I never knew when the ending ended.
Damn, so the part where you end up on the catwalk above the mind control monitor room and the Narrator tells you it's a spoiler, that was your first time in the room? Wonderful.
@@stevenbobbybills Exactly that !
My top 10 list (UD) ended up as:
1. Game Show (Definitely influenced by emotional drain, I liked how it had the Narrator have a crisis without actually damaging his psyche)
2. Obsession (absolutely wild)
3. Real Person (I feel really bad for the Narrator in this one but it doesn't wreck me, also the narrative contradiction path having his speech begin to break was a great detail)
4. Skip Button (utterly soul crushing, can't place it any higher because it just destroys me to think about it)
5. Confusion (amazing ending, has Narrator slightly breaking with the game in a different way than Real Person, love the Narrator's incoherent philosophy. however, as a classic one, I probably rewatched it on UA-cam way too many times when I was younger so it doesn't hit enough for me to rank it any higher.)
As a side note intermission here, I think even though the Bucket Destroyer is hilarious, I kinda wish they went somewhere different with the Bucket version of such an iconic ending. The Confusion ending is so elaborate that replacing it with a short intervention and the Bucket Destroyer exploding feels too empty. Have the bucket take over the map like in Different Bucket, have a growing plot arc of the bucket like Obsession, make the Narrator start saying great things about the bucket like female narrator but he isn't trying to so it freaks him out, anything. Even do some absolutely bonkers ending where the map turns into a bucket, or STANLEY turns into a bucket, or the Adventure Line™ gets taken over by the bucket, I don't care! Anyways, back to the regularly programmed list.
6. Comedy (if it wasn't clear, seeing the narrator display his insecurities is something I find interesting, and Real Person was my top before UD so this ending kind of got dragged up with it. considering my lasting reaction to my 4th place, i'm going to avoid analyzing the Narrator's behavior after the player exits stanley for any further potential cause)
7. Zending (it makes me feel bad for the Narrator, thus it's here)
88888888. broom closet
9. Countdown (quick 180, i actually love sadistic narration too, not just watching the Narrator suffer)
10. Collectibles (pink room, windows movie maker, and the ending sequence.)
Fun Facts Omitted by List Size:
- I scribbled down a bunch of random details about specific characters, thus why my endings above tend to include revelation moments with the Narrator
- As a result of my lists, I liked the bucket lore sideplot (bucket vent, bucket window) as it turned my "headcanon: the bucket is possessed" to "canon: the bucket is possessed"
- I like the fact the Narrator just hates open worlds and that's why he's so limiting lol
- The epilogue made me feel things
- Narrator hyperfocusing on Cookie9 is just a moment moment
Thanks for coming to my TED Talk
The bucket apartment ending just reminded me of the one episode of SpongeBob where SpongeBob is playing with a piece of paper and squidward wants it so bad he gives up everything he owns even his house for it but in the end it was just a plain piece of paper SpongeBob just had imagination the narrator demanding for the bucket just reminded me of that
My personal favorite ending is probably the Escape Elevator with the bucket, to be honest. I just love how it briefly characterizes Stanley and lets him push back against the Narrator's desire to cling desperately to everything he cares about. Setting his beloved bucket free as an act of compassion is probably what Stanley wishes the Narrator would do for him, but of course this can't happen.
The Infinite Hole is also high on my list. Gotta love the playground of options there.
I respect the Confusion Ending being number one on this list. It's a memorable and exciting ending, and just about everyone loves the Stanley Parable Adventure Line (TM) and the silly music It (TM) plays.
Regarding the Games ending - I was also somewhat disappointed by the new games in that ending, but I wouldn't be surprised if there was a rights issue for using the old ones (remember that Minecraft used to be an indie game - it was probably easier to negotiate with the original creator than with Microsoft). If they had to remove one of them for some reason, it'd make sense to just redo the whole ending.
8:05 I think this ending would have better if it gave the player another choice before pushing the tape recorder. As it is, the ending feels like the narrator is getting mad at you for choosing the only choice you were presented (which is not uncommon in The Stanley Parable, I guess), going off about how you are so simple minded for turning off the tape recorder, despite not having another option.
Broom Closet Ending is the best ending ever.
The fact that you missed mentioning that the serious ending is featured in ultra deluxe, in the memory zone, in a room behind a door behind some boxes you can almost reach if you jump (using the definitely not unintended glitch to jump outside the jump circle) over the boxes and walk on some dark floor before plummeting to the floor as it doesn't reach the exhibit... It saddens me
i don’t see the issue with bucket freedom being a fakeout honestly, since freedom is likely gonna be one of the first people get and you can’t get the bucket until getting a few endings already which means it’s pretty pretty likely you’d already have seen it and i think it’s neat to play with your expectation like that
[sidenote trivia that davey wreden did say i believe that bucket freedom was actually the last bucket ending he wrote]
Bruh escape pod at number 36
Bro this is the most mysterious ending of all the game, have you read the instructions at the last floor, the black screens results of the not realized conditions to access at the ending
The most liminal, mysterious, hype ending for me, defining the game of « exploration game »
Highly agreed, the mystery and vagueness, and the urge to speculate on the Escape Pod ending is what makes it one of my favorites
The demo 8 button appears once you've completed the epilogue and start the game on the Stanley parable 8!
getting to the bottom of the mind control facility song is such an banger, it definitely should've been higher
To be fair, I wouldn't put it past the Devs to have made the Bucket endings hit and miss on purpose, considering the nature of the commentary TSP presents; the Ultra Deluxe version most especially. TSP 2 is literally just the original game with balloons and a bucket. It's a rather subtle jab at low-effort sequels, methinks
I actually liked the freedom bucket ending. Sure it wasn’t too far from the original but just the idea of a sentient bucket that makes things fall in love w it is funny.
I feel like you missed the point with the bucket.
One thing to note about the lockdown ending: when playing the Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe, in order to unlock the bucket you need to get the freedom ending, meaning that it will not be someone’s first time going through it. However, I still think it’s not that great of an ending.
I was wondering if someone was going to point something like this out. Honestly the odds you get to the bucket before you did freedom even if you could get the bucket before you did it would be very low.
IMMENSE ULTRA DELUXE SPOILERS AHEAD!
Disclaimer! I totally get that everyone is entitled to their own personal opinions. The following is just my own personal opinion on how the Epilogue is ranked.
I honestly believe that the Epilogue should be ranked waaaaaaay higher. This ranking completely glossed over all of the emotional value that the epilogue offers, instead choosing to focus on the specifics of the Timekeeper/Settings Person. The beginning and the ending of the ending are addressed, but the middle is completely glossed over. It is the middle of the Epilogue that provides the emotional value.
For example, both the Infinite Hole and the Jim Buttons make a re-appearance. It is the Jim Buttons I would like to talk about most. These buttons, created for a gag during the Expo Hall, are scattered all around the path from the entrance to the Memory Zone all the way the computer the Settings Person resides on. For a refresher, these buttons were created by the Narrator to provide a sense of the game recognizing individuals. The gag is, the button only says the name Jim.
Flash forward to the Epilogue again, and like I said, these buttons are strewn all over the ground. So, being the button-pushing person you most likely are, you, the player, start pushing each one. Each button says the same familiar “Jim” until you reach a specific group of three.
“Jim”
“Jim”
“Stanley”
Stanley. The name of the character you’ve been playing as for the entire game, the name that even the title of the game is based around. Personally, hearing the Stanley Button for the first time (in the Memory Zone, no less! The place that the Narrator takes you to reminisce!) made me absolutely collapse. Remember, these buttons were made for the purpose of making the player feel recognized by none other than the Narrator. Narrator, who is distinctly absent during the Epilogue.
For this emotional hit alone, I would rank the Epilouge higher.
But I’m not finished. The entire game’s theme revolves around the death of the author and the nature of choice. During the Epilogue, the Settings Person gives you, the player, the choice to absolutely destroy the legacy of The Stanley Parable; the Narrator’s story along with it. I once saw someone in the UA-cam comments say that Stanley Parable not only talks about the death of the author, it ties him up for you and offers you a crowbar. The Epilogue is the culmination of everything that Ultra Deluxe is working towards, and honestly, I could talk about it for hours on end.
But I’ve talked long enough. What do you all think?
Agreed. The moment I heard “Stanley”, very weak and sad “Stanley” made me fall from my chair, how surprised and almost scared I was. I do believe this button proves that The Narrator is not only alive in the epilogue, there’s still some “mind” in his head left.
But cmon people, bucket + answering the phone ending is the best. I MEAN THE LINE “Do I have feelings… for a bucket?” IS THE BEST
Yes!! In my original comment I think I failed to encompass just exactly how different the Stanley button sounds to the normal Jim button, but you got it to a T!
@Pol Raper
Oh, I completely forgot to talk about the music! But yes, I agree totally. The musical swell in the middle of the Epilogue track is enough to send me into a ball of emotions. Even better, the Epilogue music track calls back to the Stanley Parable 2 menu music near the end, and this isn’t even with mentioning the immense feeling of bittersweet and melancholy the entire track holds; and I think it mimics the style of some of the music in Minecraft (just a funny comparison)
The Epilogue may be the ultimate case of death of the author, but I honestly got the most satisfaction out of the Figleys ending. Getting that bit of backstory on the narrator and having him discover for himself that he needs to just move on, after all the time he spends in “The Stanley Parable 2” trying to recycle what he thought was so compelling about the game so that he could keep enjoying it, really got to me. I love how it redeems him in a sense, and establishes the message that something doesn’t become a pointless memory once you’ve stopped interacting with it. He doesn’t need a Stanley Parable 2, he doesn’t need to try to one-up himself or protect the game from criticism, he can just move on, make new memories, and let time turn the Stanley Parable into something no longer in his hands.
It’s a satisfying antithesis to his ultimate downfall in the Skip Button ending, and I like to imagine that him “leaving” the Stanley Parable is what finally let’s the epilogue happen. We didn’t have to kill the author this time.
Honestly, in my opinion, the cold feet ending (without the bucket) is really underrated. As the narrator tells you to jump, it’s just so nerve racking. Him saying “that’s not the Stanley I know” makes it feel so much more interesting. Also him saying “whoops, guess I was wrong” just shows how unsympathetic the narrator is. It goes really well with the zending ending, because in one ending he wants you to jump and in the other he doesn’t want you to. You can totally disagree with me, but that’s okay.
just to let you know after you beat the epilogue and you play the game till it says 8 you will actually get the 8 ending witch is the off the demonstration ending
It's a good thing that you also give Bakker's TSP soundtrack part justice, including unused ones.
Zending definitely deserves to be higher up on the list, you criticized other endings for their lack of philospohical engagement, but the Zending is consistently the ending that hits for me, and it hits for me pretty much every time I go there. I spent a very long time in that room, and I exhausted all the dialogue options before sitting with the narrator for a long time. It's a 'slog' but it's the kind of intentional slowness that makes you feel hopeless and sad for doing this to the narrator in one of the only times it feels so utterly, gut wrenchingly genuine with you.
Maybe that's just my opinion.
Bro took 38 minutes to say he bought daddy a third swimming pool
The bad timeline where art ending with bucket exists and we have to sit through an extra four hours of pushing a button over and over
I find the video tape ending to be really funny
in addition to the bucket there should be pills in stanleys office which disables the narrator because they are just a voice in stanleys head. Everything else plays out as normal
The schizophrenia ending. You go to turn the corridor to see the 2 doors and then the screen goes black. White text appears from a coworker asking Stanley whether he's okay, saying that he's been wandering the office for hours and everyone is very worried for him.
😂😂
That's kinda sad too though. 😢
Oh did you get the Broom Closet ending?! The broom closet ending was my favorite!
The demo is absolutely an ending. I’m pretty sure it’s cannon and the way it ends is super cool.
I honestly agree with this list but the skip ending is my favorite by far i love how it starts off innocent and fun with the narrator joking about it but then by the 3rd or 4th skip idk i forgor he starts getting worried begging stanley to stop pressing the button and the fact he simp,y cannot do anything gives it a sense of powerlessness and the fact that only you can make it end but at his expense since youl be basicly unconscious throughout the skip just makes it so much sadder and the fact that at one point hes just drowning on with the entertainment speach only for it too restart implying that thats the same thing hes been saying for what could possibly thousands of years and then the worst part of it all at the last bit of dialogue he speaks the only things he says are the same words over and over again "the end is never the end is never the end is never the end" and then the peacefulness of the skip where its all over grown only to be destroyed in the next skip and then eventually after a few more skips you hear a terrifying screaming or howling sound which could quite possibly be the narrator screaming out for stanly to come back and be with him again and then the last skip...the skip button is broken and there is a broken wall allowing you to finally see what's going on outside only for there to be a barren desert completely unrecognisable from the world you once knew the narrotor completely slient he cant be dead because he is a reality altering being hes just...gone enduriung what could of been billions of years with nothing but his thoughts and the hope that one day stanley will return to him i know i went on about this for so damn long and i know no ones gonna read this but it just left such a big impression on me like its not lifealtering but it really got me thinking, thinking about what that poor narrator went through this is why the skip ending is by far my favorite ending sorry for writing so damn much lmfao
I do like the countdown and freedom endings with the bucket for one main reason, it's reversed from not having the bucket and shows a sort of twistedness to the bucket.
Countdown without the bucket results in Stanley's demise and hopelessness, while more frantic than the Freedom bucket ending, they both result in Stanley losing any hope of being truly happy.
Likewise, the Freedom non-bucket ending and the Silly birds ending both include the prominent phrase of 'And Stanley was happy.' This representing Stanley feeling pleased and satisfied to continue with himself and feel true happiness.
The twistedness of the bucket comes in when you consider the fate of Stanley in both of these endings. No matter what, he won't be able to escape the facility, whether he wants to or doesn't want to because there are so many silly birds there. The bucket, which provides a great deal of comfort to Stanley, will always end up holding him back from being free.
TLDR: I think the countdown and freedom endings for the bucket and non-bucket routes are good as they seem to contrast one another and represent how the bucket is holding stanley back.
My top 3. Endings
1.Zending
2.explosion
3.real person
I actuly like the elivator ending. ik its not really a ending but its funny cus no matter how many people i see play the game it always happens the same way. they get in listen to the music for what seams like ages then press the button and realise the elivator dosnt do anything and they just wasted there time.
ok but when i saw the "please hold" screen i laughed far too hard.
32:36 I agree the original “game” ending is better than the Ultra deluxe version. For a few reasons… Mostly just because Minecraft is a far more iconic and recognizable game than whatever the hell “Firewatch” is. I had *NEVER* heard of that before, therefore the shock and surprise of seeing it appear didn’t really land for me personally.
Minecraft and Portal are both big-name professional games too, so seeing them appear in this random indie game was quite surreal. I still don’t know how they got permission for that. However, Rocket League is also an Indie game so it didn’t really have the same surreal affect.
Also, the jarring visual shift to Minecraft’s blocky world added a bit to the joke as well.
and i think that is the problem: back then - almost 10 years ago, minecraft was still an indie game by notch with his small mojang studio... now minecraft is intellectual property of microsoft, who are most likely not giving permission to use that in a new release which also targets platforms other than PC (nintendo for example).
Firewatch is a game made by some people who later teamed up with davey wreden and became croows croows croows, the studio that also made stanley parable deluxe.... so no problem if they use their own IP.
for rocket league, i guess they got permission and no issues with the console companies.
interesting side note: on console versions of the game, the section about steam reviews is changed to mention "pressurized gas" instead of steam, because the corporations would not allow steam, a competitor, to be advertised on their platform.
I would say Firewatch is an absolute must-play game
it’s about a 30-40 year old man whose just had his life and future crumble and is looking for a way to escape and I just find that compelling
I also really like the themes of disappointment and responsibility especially around a middle age man who has to deal with those things a lot
And I never heard of Portal when I first played the original game so what is your point?
@@arthurpietrogarcia1057well, that's on you since its like the most positively rated game on steam. It's very famous. His point stands
That's a very contrived analysis.
The ENTIRE game sucks, solely because one ending is different?
No!
There's way more jokes, funny dialogue and moment in TSPUD and that will always make it better than the original. Minecraft and Portal did fit the vibe more, I agree, but obviously it's not possible to get them in the game anymore.
Can't we just enjoy the game for what it is? A game full of funny and stupid plots you're just supposed to "yes and" to? It's essentially improv comedy as a game, while philosophy shoved in for good measure.
Tldr: Please stop being unnecessarily negative and I hope you can learn to enjoy the new game just as much as you did the first. You just have to accept the game is what it is and let it's crazy logic take you for a ride.
Good day to you all.
I’m pretty sure you completely missed the point of the epilogue. You said it felt unfulfilling, but that is literally one of the main purposes of The Stanley Parable, it never truly ends.
I think the reason that all bucket endings are silly instead of philosophical(I can't spell) is because it is the reassurance bucket. Therefore I think there is a point being made, how trying to make a more comfortable experiance removes all insightful commentary
I liked the liminal dark isolated feeling of the og
also is this entire video about the bucket
I think you give the Freedom ending to much credit, is a very boring and unsastisfying ending, I think is boring and unsastisfying on purpose to state that the point of the game is not doing what the narrator say, but still boring.
I think the Bottom of The Mind Control Facility ending is better without the bucket, the commentary about the fact that it was a bug in the original is funny and it got me by suprise when I discorver that that this was an ending, but I think thats one of the cases that if you do the bucket version first it became less impactfull when you do it without it.
The lack of choice in the bucket destroyer ending is bad, but overall I like the end more, not where I would it put tho.
Anyway great list
This isn’t an ending but I like the QR code video from the expo hall. The comedy in it is hilarious
The confusion ending has always been my favorite great job
4:47 Is that the "The bottom of the mind control facility" ending?
My favorite endings have always been the Zending and the original Choices ending purely because of the acting from the narrator. Keven Brighting truly did an absolute phenomenal job in those, and they always manage to get the biggest reaction from me.
Personally, the choice ending (original) hit me the hardest.
That last bit the narrator does hits every time. Not to mention the meta parts and general stanley parable charm.
Infinite Hole is my favourite because it gave me actual existential dread. When narrator wakes you up to reveal you’ve been stuck in the hole all along and he’ll spend the rest of eternity tormenting you… that’s what hell is.
Fun Fact: the button ending and the close door ending now have bucket versions!
I watched it all, then I realized that you are a 5k sub channel. Honestly it felt like that you deserve much more, great job.
In my humble opinion, for a video like this, any music with vocal is very distracting, even if the volume is low. I even paused the video and checked if I have something in the background accidentally.
ABSOLUTELY FRIGID TAKES IN THIS VID TONIGHT!!!! 😬 😬 😬 🔥🔥🔥💯💯💯
my favorite is the Zending without going to the stairs. I love just sitting in that room for a while, relaxing, and then closing the game.
Honestly, I agree most of the bucket endings were lesser versions of the originals, the tape and epilogue bucket ending are top tier tho to me and i do think the mariella ending was improved. My favourite from the og game was the not stanly ending. Was really disapointed too that the narrator just destroys the 2 buckets once you get 2. Currently my favourite ending is an improvised one where once you get 2 buckets and the screen cuts to white, you restart manually, implying either the world ended from 2 buckets, or stanley's mind just broke. Right behind it are the bucket epilogue and not stanly endings. The confusion ending is on the lower end on my ranking. I like the epilogue ending with the bucket simply because of how climactic it feels, your back at the wast land to continue the Skip Button ending, the narrator is gone continuing with the fact that the narrator has retired from the ending directly before this one, (sort of implying the narrator didn’t die from skip button, but he restarted a new game where we went through the collectible ending). The settings person returns from when he teased his reappearance, and the bucket returns from the escape pod ending. Plus there’s that whole shtick where the settings person is actually 432. Not to mention the amount of endings needed to get it make for a great over arching storyline
My top 3 are:
1. Epilogue
2. Skip Button
3. Confusion ending (no bucket)
just 6k subs but an incredible video with incredibly written captions, hats off mate.
great video, I agree on almost all of your takes especially regarding the ultra deluxe bucket
Hmm, it's not quite an ending (much like the 'whiteboard ending'), but what about the Disco room? Especially the way the screens stay lit if you jump off the fence to the bottom of the pit or take the elevator up, changing the aesthetic for the endings slightly. (Edit: once the elevator arrives in the camera monitor room, wait until the gate unlocks, then reverse and re-activate the camera monitors.)
Not sure if someone already pointed it out, but you did forget the heaven ending with the bucket aka hell ending. It can only be accessed if the phone is ringing in the beginning because the door to you room otherwise closes after walking out. Instead of all the buttons it brings you to a dark fogy place with background voices chanting "bucket". It is much better than t
I have a theory tgat you can trigger a cowward ending with a bucket.
Hear me out...
Sometimes the narator says " 'wait, am i sure the orders stopped coming in?' Stanley thaught to himself"
Tge door 427 stays open, i think if you grab the bucket and run back, you can close the door with the bucket.
Try it :)
Comment if its possible please :)
You can grab the bucket if the door doesn't close but apparently the dialogue stays the same regardless
@@eleanorhodges6486yes, it works and the dialogue is different, he mocks about the fact that Stanley (the player) wanted to find and ending which was a variant by having the bucket and that its dialogue is slighty different and replaced.
@@brogan294your comment is disinformation, if you could delete it please that i will delete this too when i check. Thanks
The Stanley Parable is basically if Douglas Adams made a video game.
So Long and Thanks for all the fish.
THATS what it reminded me of!
Does sv_cheats even work in the original? I know it takes you to somewhere where you get in a serious talk with the narrator, but is it still possible to manage to get it on?
I think you need to do something really hacky with the launch options in order to get it to be on by default.
The entire time through the top 5 I was chanting Confusion Ending best Ending, I love the Confusion Ending and it was the first one I got (Aside from the Freedom Ending since I like to play games like this as they're intended before forging my own path), it also changed a lot of how I saw the Narrator, since my friend got a different ending (I think the Video Game ending) so when we got the Zending playing together I felt a lot more emotions about it than they did
I wish I could afford the Deluxe Edition, I've heard a lot about the Skip Ending in particular and I wish I could play it myself
9:45 the sudden cut to a black screen is explained on this escape pod poster
I honestly would've put the Art Ending at #48, no way in heck am I gonna waste 4 hours of my time just to get an ending!
31:45 honestly this ending hits the hardest for me
The Demo Ending is the best because the narrator called me a pervert.
Number 7 should really called the Fucket ending
Also I knew the confusion ending would be number 1. Honestly flawless down to the last audio "jumpscare" (is it really a jumpscare?)
I still want to play the game after watching this. But I never regret watching Stanley Parable things before - if I get - the game.
Thank you! Great video. I agree that Confusion ending without bucket is one of a thing. I did it in second or third run and was truly shocked ever since😆
I know it's been 2 years. But what about the heaven ending with the bucket, or the coward ending with the bucket why weren't they listed? Did you not know it was sometimes possible to go back into the office with the bucket? Pretty sure it is possible to do when your "wife" calls you to pass you the groceries to bring home, the door 427 remains open
The character running the "social experiment has been confirmed to be employee 432
Great Video!
The collectibles ending has probably my favorite joke in gaming history with the windows movie maker video
There are new variations of the Heaven ending and the coward ending if you picked up the bucket. Where would you rank them?
What about the Bucket Coward ending?
The Lockdown ending is a genius ending, change my mind (with the Mind Control System)
Wow! The broom closet endigte was my favorit for sure but this is a great list! And amazing video as a whole
7:44 It's a metaphor! Stanley trying desperately to appeal to the bucket while the bucket does nothing is a metaphor for the Narrator desperately sharing his story with Stanley while Stanley doesn't react whatsoever. The Narrator uses the bucket to represent Stanley here, and projects himself onto Stanley, giving Stanley a passion to push buttons in place of his own passion for storytelling. This ending exhibits the Narrator's fear that his passion for his work will be offputting to Stanley/players, potentially damaging his reputation and self-worth as a result.
It isn't my favorite ending, but I imagine it means a lot to people that create art and get lackluster/no response from the world. It can be very frustrating to receive no response when you put a lot of effort into something.
I do agree that the button metaphor is a bit silly though, and the depressing tone might not be what people are looking for when they grab the bucket.
I like the ending you put in last place. The bucket was a response to players need to feel coddled and safe. However, that need to feel safe by the complaining players, ironically, was also manifested by the corporation/building, who wanted the safety of the bucket as well. After all, without anyone to press buttons, what purpose would the corporation serve? The bucket is the only way for the corporation to feel safe and meaningful.
Without the bucket and it's promises of safety, the player is truly freed. But with it, it is trapped-- doomed to play the same infuriating, pointless games that the complaining players who made the bucket hate, but desire to feel secure.
the skip button ending is my favourite gaming moment of all time. the tense I felt when going through time felt so weirdly uncanny. its so bizar.
The freedom Ending with the bucket could have still let Stan leave and still be different. The Narrator's dialogue could have been about Stanley and the bucket spending their freedom together.