We've all been there. You pour 10-20 hours into a game, master the mechanics, approach the final conflict... and end up with a giant WTF expression on your face. It's happened to the best of us. So why does it seem that an amazing game doesn't always mean it will have an amazing ending? Adam Sessler decided to use this week's Soapbox to discuss what he thinks developers should do to make sure their final act is as meaningful and epic as the rest of their game, and why he gets frustrated when the experience of finishing a game seems to ruin or contradict his experience up until that point. What do you think?
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pajamasam92
I was surprised by how good the story was for Battlefield: Bad Company 2 (and how good of a game it was as a whole). It should be noted that it was a very good story coming out of the overdone modern warfare fps genre. The ending was very intense and you really felt that since of urgency that Adam is talking about. It does a good job of using the snow ball effect of Halo where things slowly get better and better (or worse) as you dive deeper into the story. The climax of the game was amazing and left and everlasting impression in my head and is now my standard to compare stories and game play for the mw fps genre. I am currently playing the Mass Effect 2 demo and can't wait to buy it and spend hours playing because of the story. It's good to know that they didn't skimp out on the ending.
Vancoor
Fable II had the worst ending of a game ever. A "boss" who dies in one shot, and and almost no narrative in the end either.
marvel_zombi
Worst ending for me would probably be a tie between Assassin's Creed and
Bioshock. Mainly because I loved both games which made the crap endings even more disappointing. Best ending ever would definitely be Half-Life 2
or Metal Gear Solid 4
ArrenKae
Maybe he's referencing a different work/s but The Brothers Karamazov's ending seemed to be about how untrustworthy legal systems are and how popular context, rumor, and reputation inform the public's deciions.
Most games I can think of had alright or disappointing endings. Planescape: Torment and Deus Ex are probably the two most satisfying endings I've encountered.
yakuzi
While I agree that cinematically the ending of God of War 3 was not quite as grand as the opening, I thought that in terms of narrative and emotional impact it was one of the best endings to a game I've ever seen. It left me in awe of the series, and I was able to sit through the credits without losing the feeling of being blown away. That was my little God of War 3 plug.
yakuzi
While I agree that cinematically the ending of God of War 3 was not quite as grand as the opening, I thought that in terms of narrative and emotional impact it was one of the best endings to a game I've ever seen. It left me in awe of the series, and I was able to sit through the credits without losing the feeling of being blown away. That was my little God of War 3 plug.
Darknesscomes16
Discussions like this bring me back to when I was a kid in the 90's and i first beat Super Metroid on the SNES. The concept of using everything you gained throughout the course of the game at the final boss wasnt implemented here. Mother brain was more of an interactive story element than a final boss battle. To me Ridley always felt like the true final boss of the game, simply because he is introduced in the beginning of the story and to beat him everything you learned leading up to him must be used. Though old and fragile I still pop in my old Super Metroid cartridge from time to time when I need some Nostalgia.
TheSuperSofa
I just felt like I had to say this...
I loved Bordelands, but once I got to the ending I did not play the game again because the ending just left me angry at the game. I really felt like they thought of that ending day before due date at 5:45 P.M. and they had to leave.
Geminel
While the actual boss fight was a little lack luster in Assassin's Creed 2 (fist fight with the pope though!) The last cinematic in the "Gods" chamber was epic. It was all in one unexpected, thought provoking, and did an amazing job setting up for a third installment of the series. I'm sort of surprised Adam didn't mention that one. *shrug*
ctlee93
W8, who else finds themselves watchin the vid in the background nd not actually listin to adam????
Shadow_Brother
Deadly Premonition.Best.Ending.Ever.
HE1RO
I wish that video game makers could take a take a page from the ending episode of Samurai Champloo and use that as a template. Instead of sayning, "good job, u reached the end, now do the game over because there is another ending exactly like this, but, we know u want that trophy/achievement" or " finally beat that boss and fixed the world, wait, wut is that... WTF! A super boss who has no ties to the main story destroys everything... AGAIN..." >.<</safety_wrapper&g t;
sonicvssilver22
i think final fantasy x and x-2 had pretty good endings in my opinion. FFX left us with a cliffhanger and FFX-2 finally answered all the questions left from the first game,unlike most final fantasy games, which always left us wanting more even though there wasn't a chance square enix would make a sequal like they did with FFX
iStab
Indeed! I've found that if and when novel versions of video games are published, they often tell the story better than their digital counterparts (e.g. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed), and the ratio of video games to books on my shelves is about several dozen to one. Thankfully, there are few games (i.e. Mass Effect 2) that have a massively robust and modular story, rich background, and deeply engaging characters. I'd certainly like to see more of these types of games, but, like trying to make an MMORPG, I think that game studios are too afraid of developing games like ME2.
Chupacabras_X
STAR WARS- KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC IMHO had one of the most satisfying endings in the history of gaming.
When you consider the magnificence of the game, it's story, the twists, and everything else that went into the game, and then consider the fact that this was the consumate Star Wars experience that was missing in the Prequel Trilogy that it delivered.
Obviously, there were two distinct endings, depending on whether you fell to the dark side of the Force, or if you return to the Jedi Order. But when you reached the end, if you won the love of Bastila and defeated Dark Malak and such........
It completely delivered the Star Wars experience in a way we all dreamed of.
Dorby5826
I loved the game Bioshock, but I was a little let down by its ending.
Dorby5826
I loved the game Bioshock, but I was a little let down by its ending.
Dead_Lilac
Loved Red Dead's ending. It's a western. You gotta go out in a "Blaze of Glory", just like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
BTW: Does anyone know where I can buy some Jordans, or perhaps some UGG boots? I also need an Ed Hardy bikini.
RST79
I honestly have to say that the ending of Borderlands ruined the game for me. I had so much fun playing the game that (Spoiler Alert) when the vault turned out to be a prison for a big mob instead of the ultimate goodie bag it was hyped up to be, my disappointment was overwhelming. It was a long game, and to end it by killing a monster and giving you a bunch of money (which most people had enough of anyways at that point) without much story was a huge let down.
ColonelCampbell
KOTOR 1 had a great storyline and ending (hell the whole game was pretty damn good).
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