What a WONDERFUL game! - Got the 'bad?' ending.

First of all, I would like to thank you for making such a WONDERFUL game! I thoroughly enjoyed it from beginning to the end. I played the Wii U version btw.

I absolutely love this genre and this game is perfect in every way that I love in a game! The platforming, the puzzles, the exploration, the mood, graphics, and sound/music..and absolutely love how HUUUUUGE this game is!! Even though it's super huge I still want more! I also love the fact that there is no fighting in this game - a pure metroidvania puzzle-platformer. Perfect.

I just finished the game and I suppose I got the 'bad' ending as I didn't even get to ring the last bell...the cut scene to the 'ending' prevented me. So right now I'm on my quest to complete the map and all the side-quests in hope to get the true ending. I'm really eager to find out where the place is and what exactly is going on!

I really want a sequel and/or more levels....I hear a map editor is in the making?? Hope it comes out on the Wii U also. I would love to play some mods with this game engine!

Thanks again for such a wonderful game!!

-8.bit.fan

ps. will there be a sequel? or a 3DS port?

In case you didn't know...

That is to say, there is really only one ending in the game: the one you got. Completing side quests unlocks extra stuff at the end of the game

There's also a big secret you can find that changes the ending. It really is worth figuring out.

I really want a sequel and/or more levels....I hear a map editor is in the making?? Hope it comes out on the Wii U also. I would love to play some mods with this game engine!

There's probably no editor in the making. Nifflas released a version of the editor he himself used to design the game world, and while supposedly usable it's really not meant for everyone. I made an editor myself in Java which resembles the one for Knytt Stories, but it's still in Alpha and I've stopped working on it long ago. Both editors work, but you'd still have to edit several .ini files by hand.

In short, you shouldn't expect an editor for WiiU, unless Nifflas has some secret plans for it.

Well, that kinda sucks...I was hoping for a 'real' ending....
So, the game doesn't really have an ending per se, as in you never really get to 'finish' the game then, if you never get to ring the last bell. I feel that that's such a wasted opportunity, as I think I'm not the only one while playing that was eagerly looking forward to finding out what the heck exactly is going on in that place....hhmmmm...oh well. Still a fun game while it lasted.

Well, that kinda sucks...I was hoping for a 'real' ending....
So, the game doesn't really have an ending per se, as in you never really get to 'finish' the game then, if you never get to ring the last bell. I feel that that's such a wasted opportunity, as I think I'm not the only one while playing that was eagerly looking forward to finding out what the heck exactly is going on in that place....hhmmmm...oh well. Still a fun game while it lasted.

Knytt Underground deliberately eschews conventional plotting for a more realistic approach to storytelling. The whole game is full of stories that end without any real closure because that's how this would often work in reality. After all, just because you learn interesting things about other people or the world around you doesn't necessarily mean that you'll witness a clear resolution to them. And even if you do end up making a decision that could determine their future, it could often take a long time until it becomes clear whether or not that was the right thing to do.

Also, more often or not, there isn't a clear right or wrong approach to things like there is in most stories. That's why most of the time when you're prompted to select which fairy you want to speak on Mi's behalf, there is no clear right or wrong option.

For these reasons it wouldn't have made sense for ringing the final bell to result in some kind of surprising or exciting ending. After all, it's completely unclear whether there was any point in ringing the bells in the first place. Maybe you really did awaken the gods of order who are now prepared to prevent the Great Artifact from destroying the world. Or maybe neither the bells nor the Great Artifact have any effect on the fate of the world at all. You'll never know because the result is the same in either case: Nothing happens.

Plus, ringing the bells was never the main focus of the story. As Nifflas said in an interview, Knytt Underground is about "trying to understand life and our place in it - and failing completely." The quest to ring the bells is just one small part of it, along with all the other stories you learn about during the game.

 I love the game.

 I've had a lot of time to think about it, and I'm still not sure what I think of the ending.

 I realize that, built into the story, you can't know whether ringing the six bells actually did anything.  But I've always felt like one thing *should* happen: The Believers should think you accomplished something.  In theory, ringing the sixth bell could reasonably lead to some kind of thanks or ceremony from them.

 I agree that the actual ending feels anti-climactic.  You don't even get to perform the *action* of ringing the sixth bell before you are cut off.  It's certainly a deliberate design decision.  And it seems, in part, intended to tell you "There was no need to rush through these bells. You've still got rooms to explore, and stories to uncover, etc."

 So, rather than clap your hands happily, fulfilled by a thoroughly satisfying ending (say, like the thank-you ceremony at the end of the original Star Wars), you get a feeling that maybe you're not quite "done" with the game.

The game mechanics aren't exactly set up to deliver a scene where the Believers come to you, congregate around you, honor you in a ceremony, etc.  And, for some reason, as explained by dialogue in the game, they aren't even especially concerned that you will be successful with your effort.  So there are a couple reasons why the ending I would have preferred to see (maybe after completing all the rooms) wouldn't quite be right.

 I love the game. I've played through it three times. And who knows? Maybe if it had an ending as satisfying as the ending to Uncharted 2, I wouldn't still think of it as a world I can return to and play some more.

 I too wish that there were a sequel or more levels, although I'm not sure that a fan-made levels would do it for me, since I feel like the story-telling has to come from Nifflas himself.  Maybe one day, and will think of some new stories he wants to tell, then crowdsource some of the  puzzle design to others, and we can have the best of all worlds.  I get more stories, you get more puzzles, Nifflas doesn't have to single-handedly do it all himself,  but he does retain creative control, and so on.  :-)