Yeah. I encountered a bug where one of my characters died from hunger after (SPOILER)dying after that point and left the item to revive them behind. I always wondered what effect that would've had on the game (probably none, as you (SPOILER)need the other character dead to finish the game).

Anyway, I think the point of that ending is that (SPOILER)you have to choose between losing your companion or the artifact. Either choice gets you some different exposition. I always wanted to try beating it on hard mode to see what the ending is like then.

But you like fighting games, right? What did you think of the battle mode?