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The Sinking City 2 ending explained
Quick answer: there is only one ending. Optional investigations, difficulty and evidence choices do not create a good, bad or secret finale. New Game Plus is a separate mode, not a second ending.
How many endings are there?
One. Unlike the first game (which had three endings), The Sinking City 2 has a single definitive conclusion. Your investigation choices, optional evidence and playstyle do not change the story's outcome — multiple reviewers confirm actions have no impact on how the plot resolves. There is no "good ending" to miss.
This also means the first game's endings don't matter here: the sequel is a standalone story with a new protagonist and city, so no save import or canon choice carries over.
What happens at the end?
After defeating Slither Prime, Calvin walks with Faye to the altar and enters the dream world with her — where the truth surfaces: Calvin was the one who originally died. When Yog-Sothoth attacked Faye at the start of the story, Calvin stepped in front of the attack. His love for Faye is exactly what Yog-Sothoth used to drive its plan and force its way into their world.
Faye gets her soul back and the two are briefly, genuinely reunited. It doesn't last: Calvin begins turning gray as the entity corrupts him, and by the final scene Faye has turned gray too. Both are now permanently under Yog-Sothoth's control — they share a kiss, smiling, as the entity appears in its true form and Arkham is destroyed around them.
It's a bleak but deliberately Lovecraftian ending: the "victory" was the entity's plan all along, and the love story that drove the game was the mechanism of the disaster.
Looking for New Game Plus?
This page covers the campaign's conclusion only. For the unlock condition, Ex Oblivione evidence, carryover wording, and what remains unconfirmed, use the separate source-checked New Game Plus guide.