Endings

[SilentSeas]

I'm writing this post having just finished Assassin's Creed IV and finding that I enjoyed not only the game in general, but the conclusion to the story itself as well. However, over the last generation of gaming, I've been finding that this feeling of satisfaction has become rarer after years of feeling ripped off by awful or predictable endings.

 

It seems that writers and developers are becoming more and more willing to take the easy way out by throwing in plot twists that make little sense and god awful cliffhangers for a cheap excuse to make a sequel, or failing that, killing off the protagonist for "shock value."

 

Only that has been done so many times now (I'm looking at you R*) it's tough to trigger the desired emotions or response. Killing off the protagonist doesn't make me appreciate them more, if anything it's harder for me to become attached to them when I can see that they're going to be killed from a mile off.

 

That's not to say that games in which these events occur are terrible games, only that a terrible ending can really take the shine off of the experience. I can't be the only that feels this way, can I?

 

Now that I've finished having a moan, I'd love to hear your points of view on the matter. Are there any truly memorable endings that have stuck with you, whether good or bad? Do you often find yourself satisfied with conclusions or sold short thanks to a poor ending?

[Vanto]

I thought I was the only who noticed that. In the last 5-7 years, endings are different to older games. Now, instead of one happy ending, there are multiple endings or sometimes dies a main character or even the protagonist. I don't think that they really shine off the experience, though.

Edited February 1, 2014 by Vanto

[Creed Bratton]

AC IV ending was very enjoyable. But I think my most favorite ending is from Mafia.

 

Obviously, if people are going to describe endings to games they should use spoiler tags.

Edited February 1, 2014 by The Yokel

[Secura]

Whilst the ending to ACIV: BF might have been nice, the story itself wasn't all that interesting (despite the fact that Ubisoft focused a little more on the Assassin's and the Templars this time around, which was admittedly nice) and in the end it doesn't end well for the Kenways at all. Edward is killed by home invaders, his only son Haythem joins the Templars (an organisation that Edward spent the last fifteen years of his life fighting) and then his son is killed by his own grandson.

 

His grandson watches his mother die, has his father try to kill him twice, has to then kill his father, watch everything he's ever loved be torn apart as the Native Americans undergo a "mass cleansing" the likes of which the world had never known of before, his friend George Washington orders his village burned, multiple times, his mentor dies painfully from tuberculosis and Connor dies alone, realising at long last the thing that the player knew from the start, he will never see the world be a shining beacon of hope, and coming to terms with the fact that his grandfather's, father's and his fighting was all for naught.

 

Well, not all for naught as Desmond used their family to y'know find one f*ckin' amulet. What a waste of storytelling potential, and the Kenway saga is just plain depressing. The only thing that changes Black Flag was that they ended the story there, and didn't bother to show Edward when he gets home from the theatre and is massacred by thieves.

Edited February 1, 2014 by Secura

[SilentSeas]

Oh, I'm not for one second trying to claim that ACIV had the greatest of stories, or that everything had worked out for the best for the Kenways in the end. (I read Assassin's Creed: Forsaken, so was well aware of how Edward had come to meet his end long before playing Black Flag.) The fat that they knew when to stop and didn't bother show Edward's eventual fate is one of the reasons why I enjoyed the ending. Ubi could have easily gone there, but instead decided against following the trend of trying to make an impact with the use of unneeded negativity.

 

While upbeat or happy endings are by no means original themselves, I find that they're a hell of a lot more satisfying than a pointless cliffhanger or pointlessly killing off the protagonist for the sake of "shock value."

[Aintgottime2bleed]

Dead island 2, its so cheesy/cheap that its very funny, on Dead island 1 you escape with chopper but guess what, chopper crashes not far away on other zombie infected island. There starts Dead island 2, ending of dead island 2 is you escape by boat guess what ? the boat hits shore again then 'door' of boat opens and black screen game over. I wonder what happens next lol.

[CatDog96]

The original mario bros had the best and most unique ending of any game ever.

[Boxman108]

Loved the ending of Zelda: Skyward Sword(as well as the rest of the game) but really it was nothing terribly new for the series. I remember enjoying the ending of Prince of Persai '08 but the DLC kind of ruined it. Nier has four different good endings. Deadly Premonition's story is good all around.

 

The ending of Killer is Dead is very abrupt, and was very confusing at first. I understand it now but still not sure I like how it was done exactly. I much prefer the endings of earlier Suda titles, particularly Killer7 and NMH.

[DeafMetal]

I feel the same way. Feels like they've run out of creativity for the most part. It's always "someone close to or the protagonist dies unexpectedly." Or, "here's us being lazy c*nts" like they did with Mass Effect 3/Assassins Creed 3. Come to think of it, they did BOTH of those things, ME3 being the biggest offender.

 

What's wrong with a happy ending? Sad endings have become the cliche they were meant to fight against. Their shock value has been worned out to the point where it becomes annoying. If you're gonna do one, do it right.

 

My favorite endings, in no particular order except for MGS4:

Mafia

 

This is an example of a tragic ending done right. It was so unexpected but it hits you as something that absolutely would happen. It's also not really as sad as, say, Red Dead Redemption's ending, because of how much the protag's lived up to that point. We lose a certain connection with him because of the years that have gone by in the narrative. It doesn't strike you as "that was sad." It strikes you more as a reminder that the protagonist was a criminal, a mafioso, and that's the kind of life they live. They live and die by the sword. It was profound more than it was "sad" or "tragic."

 

 

Red Dead Redemption

 

This is another example of a tragic ending done right. I didn't expect the government to come back. I expected SOMETHING to happen, but that was not on my list. You get to see his life gradually return to normal and he and his family finally being together in a happy, nurturing setting, with their drunk creepy uncle. It was basically the setup to a happy ending, and BOOM! Government comes to tie up loose ends. I love the ending because John died for a reason. He didn't die unexpectedly, it was his choice -- it was his redemption. He was sacrificing his life for his family's well-being. He went out on his terms.

 

And ofc, the real ending was pure spaghetti western. f*cking awesome. One of the best games ever made, if not the best game ever made.

 

 

Vice City

 

A happy ending. It was basically a twist on Scarface's ending. The setup was just ripe for a cheesy "protag dies" ending, but they went all-out on a satisfying ending to a satisfying game. I loved the way Tommy and Ken walk into the sunset with "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship." Also thought the the Lance thing was awesome. He was f*cking fishy as hell since he was introduced, but at the same time he was your partner in crime.

 

 

Metal Gear Solid 4

 

This ending. O-M-G. This ending. It was f*cking brilliant. It, the tanker fight, was a beautiful swan song to all of the previous metal gears and at the same time, an absolutely epic conclusion to that game. It was both Solid Snake and Big Boss' fight with their rivals: Solid Snake vs Liquid Snake (like the fight in mgs1) and Big Boss vs Ocelot (literally ocelot fighting what is basically an appropriately-aged clone of Big Boss).

 

The scene prior to that in the microwave was f*cking tense too. My f*cking finger hurt and it was physically rewarding to end the sequence; it made us feel what Snake was feeling. The main character npcs' ending was awesome too: a happy ending for them that did not feel cheesy. And the last sequence of the ending was a great way to say goodbye to the series' real protagonist: Big Boss. He was basically MGS' Darth Vader.

 

Best ending ever. Long as f*ck too -- as long as some movies -- but f*ck it was satisfying as f*ck.

 

[Shane_Dbns]

^Mgs 4 had a great ending.

 

I liked max payne 3's ending.

After all the suffering, you'd think max would just give up and die but he didn't. I loved how he got the classic action movie ending, which featured him walking into the sunset. It felt like I won at the end, which a game should make you feel when you complete it.

 

[Vercetti42]

Hitman: Absolution had a bad ending IMO. It literally went Saints Row style. The story of the game sucked anyways to be honest.

 

 

OK, now we reach the final stage. We kill Travis and that woman who is his assistant. (Forget her name). And then the 47 fired a 'less-lethal' shot and the ending scene wasn't exactly dramatic either. It left an awkward feeling in my mouth. Can't describe it but the ending really did suck.

 

 

I liked SA's ending, especially the mission. Although I consider SA to have the worst story in a GTA game, the ending was decent enough, especially compared to the other parts of the game.

Edited February 2, 2014 by AceKingston

[Dr. John]

AC 4 had a good ending because we didn't have plotholes like we had in Desmond's playthrough. Let me list out all the problems in the endings of the previous titles:

 

 

 

1) AC 1 sure was the beginning of the series but putting some weird images made by blood in the end was something freaky to me.

 

2) AC 2 was ok. Escaping hideout was obvious but Ezio's ending in the Vault was something were pointless. End of the world? How does that factor in this Templar vs Assassins Universe?

 

3) AC B literally brought many users in war with the writers. Why the f*ck did they had to kill Lucy? I do know that in the next title they give proof that Lucy was a Templar but still...she was somebody nice. Ubisoft didn't need to make her a bitch.

 

4) AC R might have made all the Ezio fanboys angry. I mean, why should Ezio retire after dedicating his life to the Assassin's cause for like 2 decades? Desmond's ending was fine but his dad's sudden appearance was very unrealistic.

 

5) AC 3, the most infamous title for its ending. F*CK YOU, UBISOFT! Desmond was a very good protagonist. And what the hell did you guys do with Connor after he finished up with all the Templar hunt?! This game crossed the height of absurdity.

 

 

 

Edward's story was very cool but sad in the end. He and his grandson were the same, they were very naive. Connor thought freedom could be aquired without any dispute among people and Edward, well, he only thought of money and ignored the problems he had created to his friends and his family.

 

As for the Present life's plot, well, it was - meh. I cannot really relate myself with that part of story as Desmond is gone now...

[Secura]

Since we're on the topic of endings in general, I have to ask what you guys think about the endings of a game that vary depending on just how much effort you put in? Suicide Mission on ME2 gave me a massive amount of satisfaction, if only because failure was an ever-present possibility and it ended perfectly solely due to my efforts and endeavours.

[RedBull FM]

AC Blackflag is going to probably going to be continued to the next game. BTW the ending was abit boring.

[LiangHuBBB]

agreed

[HaythamKenway]

I completely agree with you, 02fishera. Downer endings are so tiring. When they are done right, they can make the game (RDR, Mafia), but mostly they just feel like cheap cop-outs (AC III, ME 3, L.A. Noire, Fallout 3 before Broken Steel).

 

Of course the Kenway saga was, overall, tragic. Even AC IV was pretty much a tragic story, despite its happy ending. Edward's greedy pursuit of riches and fame leaves the world around him in ruin and the endgame isn't much more than him trying to fix the mistakes he made throughout the game. Most of his friends at the end of the game are dead too, as their outlaw lifestyle and dreams of independence led to nothing but them fighting amongst themselves and getting crushed by empires of the world. But, like it's been already said in this thread, AC IV knew when to end. It was better to end the game on high note, than to beat us over the head with Edward's demise. I'm really happy that Ubisoft learned that tragic doesn't automatically mean satisfying.

 

You don't have to kill off the protag or an important supporting character to make the ending tragic either and tragic ending doesn't have to be hopeless. A great example of this is TLaD. The Alderney chapter just wiped itself out in a civil war, Jim's dead because of Johnny's greed and a love of his life is a hopeless junkie. But it might have been a reason for Johnny to start anew. Johnny wanted to cut his ties, start a new life and that was really an uplifting message. Now, V p*ssed all over it (and I don't mind it that much, in the end, but that's another story), but it was there in 2009 and still is now.

 

Other examples of dark, but not downer, endings are Saints Row 2's epilogue mission ending and Saints Row: The Third's "Kill Killbane" ending. Both games end with the Boss taking over the city, but it's not exactly "sunshine, puppies and rainbows" type of ending either.

Edited February 2, 2014 by SFPD officer