I just completed the game and got the Safe ending. Just looking at some spoiler free ending guides, I see that I can get the true ending in my next playthrough. The question is, should I get the true ending and look up wikipedia and stuff to fill out the story or does every ending give valuable insight?

Or should I intentionally go through and get some of the bad endings then go to the true ending rather than get the true ending now? Any advice or recommendations will be greatly appreciated :)

I don't think there's any crucial info in the other endings. I'd go for the true ending.

You should get the bad endings as well before getting the true ending. It probably sounds very smug to say "It's part of the experience" but... it really is. You won't REALLY learn anything new, but it gives the true ending a lot more weight.

On top of that, you'd be missing some rooms as well if I remember correctly and know less about the characters. I mean, 999's strength is the story. You'd be missing out if you were going for the true ending directly.

No. The way I played that game was to go through once making the choices I thought were right. Then, I looked online and found that I needed to get the safe ending to get the true ending. So I followed the Safe path, then the true ending path. I regret nothing and still feel like I got the full experience. If it had the timeline from Virtue's Last Reward, I would say yes, but in 999, it takes too much time for too little payoff. Enjoy the true ending :)

Yes, get all the endings.

Yes? I mean, that's the appeal of the game, isn't it?

I don't think the Bad Ends themselves help shed light on anything, though the dialogue in each of the puzzle rooms tends to flesh things out about the characters and stories, so you might want to at least try to hit all the rooms (I forget the paths for the Safe End and the True End, so I'm not sure how many you'll miss out on).

Most importantly, it depends on how much you're willing to replay parts of the game you've already done. I was alright with it, but if it sounds like too much of a bother to you, you should probably just go on to the True End.

The axe ending is the best ending so if you got that one first I don't really think there's much reason to continue, considering all the nonsensical gobbledygook that the true ending consists of.

The best thing in the game is the true ending. So yeah.