Ending

[Urfarah]

So, just finished the game and was wondering if there are other endings to be unlocked in NG+ or anything. It was a solid ending to a good game but, damn, that was really sad and kinda sudden.

Is it possible to save Joanna or, at least, punch that smug smirk out of Master's face?

And I thought the game was going somewhere with Doctor Bog, the "traitors" and the aliens but that whole plot felt like it was suddenly scrapped and everything becomes "STOP EVE" even though it's not really clear why she needs to be stopped (besides the "bwahahaha I'm the last boss!" style of dialogue)

[Recupel]

The story is written in the perspective of Joanna, and at some point she just gave everything to save Yuna, not caring about anything else.
And well, Joanna's perspective came to an abrupt end.
All the other actors are still around for content that might be explored in future projects.

[Urfarah]

So, no saving Joanna then at least not this Joanna. Her possibly being another clone kinda leaves things open . I hope the game does well and eventually we get to explore other characters' perspectives.

[Swag Sea]

I don't get why Joanna had to sacrifice herself to save Yuna. Didn't it show her body falling and a parachute deploying before she flew up? And the impact of her body... I didn't think they'd actually show that; maybe just show the aftermath like in *insert other game.* And why were there people cheering at the end? There's an explosion in the sky, and they don't know what it's from.

[Shiroi Ren]

Originally posted by Swag Sea:

I don't get why Joanna had to sacrifice herself to save Yuna. Didn't it show her body falling and a parachute deploying before she flew up? And the impact of her body... I didn't think they'd actually show that; maybe just show the aftermath like in *insert other game.* And why were there people cheering at the end? There's an explosion in the sky, and they don't know what it's from.

Explosions kill people... If they are close enough.

[Recupel]

The way I see it, and don't take it as a confirmation, but people on the ground just had a very general idea of what was happening, they probably just assumed the explosion killed Eve. It's not like they could see Yuna drop down with Eve either.

[TemmieNeko]

JOanna is in a coma, and hasn't woken up. her body is frail, and she's dying. seems liek a medically indiced coma to save her life.
she cant even use a metal unit, so don't worry about the character we control. those are all clones.
as far as the ending is concerned, it leaves the possibility open for a sequel or maybe some post game DLC

[x-calibar]

Anyone tried beating all the hardcore, time machine objectives? And then equipping all those items to beat the game? Seems like an incredible waste of time if the Time MAchine's ability to challenge your destiny, alters absolutely nothing in the story. (Just completed one of them so far, hoped to see something new.)

Some of the reward items do seem like they could change the ending. Super heal potion, remote suit usage, bike mode, mystery gun and heat engine thing.

Also that whole run away from Hana hardcore mode? Could it be a hint? What happens if you just dodge in the actual Hana battle instead of fighting back? Never tried losing there or just hanging around to see if there is a timer or something.

Oh, and I wonder how many secret bosses there are? I ran into a random golem boss I had never seen before during my multiple replays of the forest level. Wonder if there are more of those in the other stages? And if beating them does anything?

[TemmieNeko]

Originally posted by x-calibar:

Anyone tried beating all the hardcore, time machine objectives? And then equipping all those items to beat the game? Seems like an incredible waste of time if the Time MAchine's ability to challenge your destiny, alters absolutely nothing in the story. (Just completed one of them so far, hoped to see something new.)

Some of the reward items do seem like they could change the ending. Super heal potion, remote suit usage, bike mode, mystery gun and heat engine thing.

Also that whole run away from Hana hardcore mode? Could it be a hint? What happens if you just dodge in the actual Hana battle instead of fighting back? Never tried losing there or just hanging around to see if there is a timer or something.

Oh, and I wonder how many secret bosses there are? I ran into a random golem boss I had never seen before during my multiple replays of the forest level. Wonder if there are more of those in the other stages? And if beating them does anything?

i didnt attack her for a solif minte and nothign changed, he just repeated her attack patterns

[x-calibar]

Thanks for checking Temmie!

[x-calibar]

Finished all the challenge mode challenges, and nothing changed in the ending when I brought all the reward items to the final battle. I even used the legendary life potion the second time through and nothing changed... (Now I have to replay the challenge to get ANOTHER potion.) Only things I hadn't tried are finding 100% of the posters to unlock that last skin and New Game+.

I think I'll give up for now though. It just seems too likely that an alternate ending does not exist yet. I haven't found any discussion on a secret ending, despite the "time machine challenges" rewarding you with items that seem obviously important if you were to "challenge your destiny". For instance that Life potion has the same heal amount as all the other super potions. Except the description is different.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2397304537
It doesn't have that bit about being for machines.

Anyway... I checked the store page, and there is still one more content update coming in 2021 maybe? Maybe an alternate ending will come then. Either that or the time machine stuff is just a giant tease. Either way, I'm burnt out looking lol.
If anyone finds anything, please update this thread

[Exolden]

Or how doctor clown face just leaves and we never see him again. Never explained how hana wasnt mind controlled either.

[roddy]

Originally posted by x-calibar:

Finished all the challenge mode challenges, and nothing changed in the ending when I brought all the reward items to the final battle. I even used the legendary life potion the second time through and nothing changed... (Now I have to replay the challenge to get ANOTHER potion.) Only things I hadn't tried are finding 100% of the posters to unlock that last skin and New Game+.

I think I'll give up for now though. It just seems too likely that an alternate ending does not exist yet. I haven't found any discussion on a secret ending, despite the "time machine challenges" rewarding you with items that seem obviously important if you were to "challenge your destiny". For instance that Life potion has the same heal amount as all the other super potions. Except the description is different.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2397304537
It doesn't have that bit about being for machines.

Anyway... I checked the store page, and there is still one more content update coming in 2021 maybe? Maybe an alternate ending will come then. Either that or the time machine stuff is just a giant tease. Either way, I'm burnt out looking lol.
If anyone finds anything, please update this thread :sergeySomeday:

Thank you for taking one for the team. Exactly what I was looking for.

[TERRANATOR]

Hey there, just finished the game here.´

I loved the gameplay and how the story was going, but I feel the same as Urfarah, and in my opinion it just... ruined? the game. At least for me.

I loved the story completely until the end and was so excited to play complete it 100% or at least play NG+, but an ending like this... idk, it ruined the game. Also, I went to Yuna's room, and after I saw that "Protect that smile" I immediately uninstalled it. It's ok, if Yuna died and so on, literally killing everyone just like this? What happened with the aliens? What happened with "Master"?

Thanks x-calibar for sharing that because I was about to play it again in Challenge to see if something changed

idk... if this game gets another ending, I might replay it, but... I'm not feeling like playing this game anymore.

[Recupel]

Hey hey, thanks for the feedback.
We are obviously not ready to disclose any plan for the future of the Metal Unit story, but there's one thing I want to point out quickly just in case there was some confusion about the ending (or maybe we're just mixing up names) :
It is never implied that Yuna or Hana died. Joanna sacrifices herself to try to save Yuna, we see Yuna go down with a parachute, and then she's not mentioned again.

Also don't worry about Challenge Mode, it is really just meant as a Challenge Mode, and not an extension to the story.

For anything else, we welcome all speculations.
It is true that there's a lot left unanswered, but as I always point out, this story uses the point of view of Joanna, and there's things she wont know about.

[karasmorrigu]

It may be worth pointing out that Dr. Bog (Mr. Smug) did say she'd wake up again to clean up whatever mess was left behind. We see Johanna wake up in a new clone body and it's mentioned that she retained her memories this time... so it boils down to a question posed in SRW 30. If someone is killed, but a perfect clone could be created, would you treat that clone the same, as if it were the same person as before? That being said I think a post-game would have been preferable to a NG+ in this case. At least the cutscenes are skippable.