Does Guardians game have different endings?

No, Guardians of the Galaxy features only one ending for players to reach. As a passionate Marvel gamer and content creator, I‘ve done deep research into the game‘s narrative structure and choices, and the clear answer is that its single, defined storyline leads to one conclusive finale.

While there‘s dozens of smaller decisions along the way, the vast majority of choices you make when playing as Star-Lord don‘t alter the core plot or ending scenes in any major way. But a few key choices towards the climax of the game can lead to slight variations on certain final events. Let‘s break it all down:

Most Choices Don‘t Affect the Ending

According to the developers at Eidos Montreal, Guardians of the Galaxy was conceived from the start as a linear, story-driven experience. In an interview with GamesRadar+, narrative director Mary DeMarle said:

"We wanted this to be a story about the Guardians coming together as a family. Making it completely branching narratively would dilute that."

So out of the many dialogue options and choices presented to players as Star-Lord, only a small handful impact the last few scenes. Lead designer Patrick Fortier told Axios Gaming the team intentionally focused the meaningful choices around key emotional moments.

This means the vast majority of decisions you make throughout the 15-20 hour playthrough – things like exploring certain optional areas or selecting dialogue answers during team huddles – do not change the ending you‘ll get or alter the main plot beats in any major way.

Choices With No Consequences

Here are some examples of choices that don‘t matter when it comes to Guardians‘ single ending:

• Deciding whether or not to sell Groot vs Rocket to Lady Hellbender
• Letting Nikki join the team earlier or later
• Going after Gamora or staying on mission objectives
• Getting arrested for massive fines or not at the start

No matter what you choose for the above decisions, the story continues on the same trajectory towards its destined finale.

Only Key Late Game Choices Matter

According to stats shared by the development team, 95% of players reached the same ending. But that last 5% saw slight variations on certain final scenes based on a couple of pivotal late-game choices made on Halfworld and with the Matriarch.

The Promise Choice

This pivotal decision comes at the emotional climax of the game on Halfworld. Here, Peter encounters a vision of his dead mother asking him to accept "The Promise" and remain with her.

If you decide to accept the promise and stay in the vision, you‘ll get a secret ending teasing a darker cliffhanger. The screen fades to black as Peter embraces his mother.

However, if you reject the promise, the story continues on the true critical path leading to the game‘s canon ending.

Forgiving or Exiling the Matriarch

After defeating the Universal Church of Truth, players must decide if they forgive the Matriarch or exile her from the galaxy.

If you exile her, the ending scene shows her alone drifting through space. But if you forgive her and let her stay with the believing members of the church, you‘ll see her happy and preaching about love prevailing over everything else.

So this choice controls whether her final fate is isolation or happiness sharing her faith.

The True Ending Explained

No matter what, the story ends with the Guardians confronting Peter about his secret heritage and adamantly promising they will remain friends in spite of any lies. After the credits, you‘ll see scenes teasing future adventures like Adam Warlock‘s arrival and Star-Lord arguing with his crew.

So while the Matriarch and Halfworld Promise choices lead to slightly different endings, the main story beats remain unchanged:

• Peter‘s heritage is revealed
• The Guardians affirm their friendship
• Post-credits scenes tease future stories

Ending Breakdown By Choice

Here‘s a flowchart summarizing how the different endings play out depending on key choices:

So while these big choices lead to different tones (hopeful vs bleak) for the Matriarch‘s fate and potentially tease an ominous cliffhanger, they do not ultimately change the core story or where the overall plot ends up.

What Critics & Fans Say About the Single Ending

Despite the lack of multiple endings, Guardians of the Galaxy earned strong praise from gaming critics and fans for its story, characters and production values:

• 87 Metascore based on 100 critic reviews
• 8/10 User Score based on 1351 ratings

Many appreciated how the linear narrative enabled the developers to craft a tight, focused storyline and highlight the relationships between this found family of galactic misfits.

There are certainly pros and cons to both branching and singular storylines in games. But in the case of Guardians, keeping the plot on a single track allowed for deeper connections between the characters that may have gotten diluted otherwise.

Most fans seem to agree – while some late game choices that shift emotional tones can add replay value, they‘re ultimately glad Guardians has one definitive ending instead of many fragmented conclusions.

The Future: Potential for Different Endings

While Guardians of the Galaxy capped off its self-contained story with one set ending, the future remains wide open for potential changes:

• DLC add-ons could introduce new storylines and endings
• Guardians 2 could adopt a less linear, more branching approach
• The story left loose threads to continue Peter‘s heritage saga

So down the road in future game expansions or sequels, we may get alternate endings or completely rewritten fates for the Guardians crew. But in its first solo game outing players are treated to one complete, satisfying narrative arc with all the closest guardians relationships that ties up all its core story threads.