It has come to light that the upcoming Dead Space Remake could have an alternative ending.

This comes from the game’s recently released trophy list. One of the secret trophies has the name “Reunion.” This comes with this description:

“See the alternative ending on any difficulty mode.”

Without getting too deep into the story, we can discuss the possibilities for this alternate ending based on what we already know about the game from its original 2008 release. Spoilers are unavoidable for what will be discussed below. We also need to place a content warning here for mental health conditions.

If there is anyone Isaac would want to have a reunion with in the Ishimura, it would be Nicole Brennan, a medical specialist who also happens to be Isaac’s girlfriend. Unfortunately, as unlikely as it would be that Isaac himself would survive his trek through the Ishimura, Nicole herself had already passed away before Isaac even got there.

And so, what Isaac interacts with for the entirety of the game was never Nicole herself, but a hallucination in Isaac’s head. That hallucination would prove to be a shadow of Nicole, as Isaac imagines her. At times she acts like the real Nicole, prodding Isaac on and talking like she loves him. In other parts of this game, as well as in the events of Dead Space Extraction, she appears for the purpose of confusing Isaac, and trying to convince him to commit suicide.

This purported reunion achievement is likely not a real one, given the unlikely sequence of events that would make it so that Nicole would still be alive while the threat of the Marker and the Necromorphs loomed around her. It would take a lot of things that Motive Studio would have to rewrite and then retell differently in the game for it to actually be possible.

But then, Motive and EA have already committed that they would not be making any significant changes to the story of Dead Space. While there’s no doubt that Isaac and Nicole deserve to get that happy ending, it sadly isn’t really in the cards.

But if you think about it, the fact that this is unlockable when you finish the game on Hard difficulty is a huge tell that there’s something strange about this alternative ending. It’s likely this will fit the spirit and feeling of the franchise, with some new idea applied to sum it all up.

The Dead Space Remake launches on January 27 next year and will be available on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5 and PC via Steam, Epic Games Store, and the EA app.

Source: GameRant