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Always Sometimes Monsters’ “Twist” Ending is Unfair

Always Sometimes Monsters’ “Twist” Ending is Unfair

Ready for Always Sometimes Monsters spoilers, people? Because I’ve got something I’ve got to let this out.

Always Sometimes Monsters is unrealistic. I think Vagabond Dog went and screwed us all over, just because they wanted to paint a pessimistic portrait of a world where rocks fall, everyone dies, and we’re all monsters (even accidentally). Now, I know all of you won’t have the exact same experience I did; Always Sometimes Monsters is a very personal game. However, I think it’s safe to say that at least half of the people playing will probably feel as cheated as I did, and I think we all got screwed over because the narrative didn’t match up.

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  • Library of over 500 titles
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This is your last chance to back out, if you don’t want to see spoilers. Though, to be fair, it’s only spoilers for one particular Always Sometimes Monsters tale. Yours could be different. It could be better or worse. All I know is, I have to get this off of my chest.

When I played Always Sometimes Monsters , my heroine Marie tried to do everything right. She kept her best friend, Darkeff, off of drugs, helped him blackmail his girlfriend’s doctor so they could get a second chance and go to rehab. She returned a dog to its owner. She didn’t help convince a man suicide wasn’t the answer, and failed to properly investigate a news story, but did her best in Dubstown. She moved on to Beaton, worked hard in a warehouse, helped rig an election, and got out. Not that it mattered, since the same corrupt corporation was bankrolling both of them, and the “good” candidate went on to work for said company after he lost. Marie really tried to make amends in Salt City, running errands to fix up a car, confessing to her sins, and helping fund a program for kids. She made it to San Verdano, to attend her former love’s wedding.

That’s where it all went downhill. When Marie arrived, she realized the woman Crawford was engaged to was her former best friend, Sam. The same best friend that Marie had to abandon when she got the publisher’s deal to write a book, which she did at Crawford’s insistence. The same friend who, in flashbacks, I had decided to try and back by having Marie not go stargazing initially with Crawford and Sam, and by not being forward and kissing him. The second Marie and Crawford had broken up, Sam swooped in and stole him away, and as Alistair once said, “Swooping is bad.” Less than a year later, they’re getting married. Ouch.

It gets worse. When I made decisions in Always Sometimes Monsters , I tried to do what I would in real life. Sam invited Marie to attend her bachelorette party. I refused, because what the hell, woman?! The wedding day comes, Sam doesn’t show up, and Marie and Crawford get back together. Except I get a bad ending, because apparently shit happened in Vegas, Sam was killed because of gambling debts, Crawford was too griefstricken to move on after he found out, and Marie decided to become an aimless hobo.

Meta Quest 3 128GB - Asgard’s Wrath 2 Bundle
  • 2x the graphic processing power of Quest 2 with the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2
  • Mixed reality blends virtual elements and physical space
  • 4K+ Infinite display
  • 3D audio with enhanced clarity and bass
  • Touch Plus controllers deliver a more intuitive experience
  • Library of over 500 titles
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.

The problem is, that doesn’t make sense from a narrative standpoint. Let’s go over the interactions Vagabond Dog presented between Crawford and Sam over the course of the game. Crawford never showed any interest in Sam, romantically, but flirted with Marie. Even to the point of kissing her, when she showed up when he was waiting to see a comet. The two were living together. When Marie got a deal that would exclude Sam, Crawford encouraged her to take it, in such a way that made it seem like Sam didn’t matter to him and that he didn’t care about her success or failure.

Not to mention the Always Sometimes Monsters timetable. The party where Marie got the publisher’s contract happened a year before she receives an invitation to Crawford and Sam’s wedding. Anyone who’s been in a serious relationship knows that there’s a mourning period, and often a rebound fling. Given Crawford’s former attitude toward Sam, this is likely a rebound relationship. I think Crawford’s mother even corroborates this when she told Marie that her son seemed happier in her relationship with her, than he does in his relationship with Sam. The fact that Crawford didn’t want Marie at the wedding means there were still feelings there, and the fact that Sam was willing to invite Marie without consulting her fiancé calls her motivations into question.

Always Sometimes Monsters’ “Twist” Ending is Unfair

Now, I don’t doubt Crawford’s love for Sam. He probably did care for her. He wouldn’t have proposed if he didn’t. However, I think the bad ending I received in my game was overly dramatic and was written with shock value in mind, and not a realistic outcome. See, Marie discovered that Sam and Crawford were getting married. Sam asked Marie to attend her bachelorette party, and I had my avatar decline. If I were in that position, I just wouldn’t do it. The wedding came, and Sam never showed. Crawford was heartbroken, and I had Marie step up. It should have been a happily ever after.

Except it wasn’t. At the beginning of the game, you see a hitman and his boss in an alley, and a bum halts the two of them to tell them the story of Always Sometimes Monsters . The bum’s identity was revealed and… it was Marie! Sam ran into trouble when gambling in Los Vargas, and was killed by the hitman as a result. Crawford was crushed when he eventually found out and let grief over Sam ruin his life. Marie gave up and became a hobo, because she couldn’t compete with a ghost.

It just seems unrealistic, like Vagabond Dog going out of its way to make what seemed to be a good ending turn bad. Considering how Crawford had interacted with Sam for the years prior to their brief courtship, having him so overcome by grief that he didn’t give his first love a chance again is unrealistic. Crawford and Sam were together for under a year. Marie and Crawford were together since college, and only broke up about a year ago. While I’m sure there would be a period of mourning, Vagabond Dog made a case throughout Always Sometimes Monsters that made the avatar and his or her lover seem like possible soulmates. One of the achievements is even “Star-Crossed Lovers.”

Moreover, it’s out of character for the avatar. If people play Always Sometimes Monsters with the goal of getting to San Verdano, they’re going to do drastic things along the way. They may lie, cheat, steal, deal drugs, get involved with dogfighting, ruin people’s lives, rig elections, and other horrible things. If any main character is willing to do all that, then they aren’t going to abandon their lover the first time the going gets tough. Even if the lover did give in to grief, I can’t see most Always Sometimes Monsters avatars giving up so easily.

I call bullshit on the ending I received in Always Sometimes Monsters . It felt like Vagabond Dog wanted to be edgy and dark, and in doing so created a situation where they really didn’t want the player to win. Any points made in the backstory that suggested the avatar and former lover were possibly a perfect couple who could have gotten a second chance are thrown out in favor of suddenly making a character the former lover showed no attraction to, and even encouraged the avatar to abandon, some kind of pinnacle of perfection. The backstory doesn’t support the “twist” ending. Sloppy storytelling has resulted in an unrealistic game.

Meta Quest 3 128GB - Asgard’s Wrath 2 Bundle
  • 2x the graphic processing power of Quest 2 with the Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2
  • Mixed reality blends virtual elements and physical space
  • 4K+ Infinite display
  • 3D audio with enhanced clarity and bass
  • Touch Plus controllers deliver a more intuitive experience
  • Library of over 500 titles
We earn a commission if you make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
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