My thoughts on the ending of GTA IV

[Spadge]

Hey community !

 

First of all, yeah I know, I'm late to the party, secondly, I know what you're thinking, why is this topic in the General Chat, aka. "The GTA Series" ? Well I want, not only discuss the ending of the game, but also draw parallels between the GTA series in general, this is important to me and that's why I posted it here (whatever, it got moved). Finally, this may contain some spoilers, so those who haven't finished GTA IV's storyline at this point should probably close this thread.

What ending did you prefer by the way ? I browsed the forums a bit and haven't found a subject like that yet. I saw many people asking what ending players have chosen : deal or revenge, I rather want to adress myself to those who already have played or seen and considerated both endings.

 

Personally, I'm split on the subject. The first choice would be to kill one of the antagonists, Dimitri, rather than going to the deal. This guy is not to be trusted, what following events will prove again. As a character with history, our protagonist might aswell choose a more noble motivation than money to make his decision, considering Kate's advice aswell, sticking to his principles and get revenge.

The second choice would be to accept the job, and run the errant for the mafia boss, do a favor for your cousin, getting the money but finding yourself betrayed again by Dimitri, having to fight your way out of the trouble.

These factors you have to consider, will generate consequences. Consequences that, possibly weren't expected and maybe undesired, but possibly well known, all depending from if you had access to an external source (internet) or not, influencing your choices even further. Because, depending on the choice you will make, like we all now know, one of the supporting characters will die. This will have an impact on the rest of the story and on the reach of the ending aswell.

I don't know what ending I prefer. Kate is less of a tragic loss, in comparison to Roman and I kinda wished for an happy ending, since I really identified myself with Niko, peronally I chose revenge, I didn't trust Dimitri at all, I wanted to see him dead, I didn't need the money, I had enough to spend it on, I was actually driving around for about 10 minutes, considering what choice to make, then all the text messages, I did a lot of U-turns ! Afterwards, I'm happy to have chosen revenge, it would have been heartbreaking for me if Roman would have died. GTA IV was my first HD generation game, so it's dark and especially tragic tone really surpised me. I mean in GTA 3 we had a very dark tone to the universe, but your character was fitting into this atmosphere, himself being completely ruthless, hell, even nuts maybe. I couldn't care less if Maria died, the game is even ending on a very humorous, auto-derisional and cynical note.

GTA IV, being extremely satirical still maintains a warm and tragic tone, simply because the characters care for each other. Making the ending even more touching if you choose option two. You loose Roman, the cousin you build your life up with in the land of opporunity. It really adds a tragic tone to Niko's character, drawing death on everyone he loves. In both endings however, you keep your friends close, and your relation with them helps you over this heartbreaking ending.

 

So yeah, there's this classic GTA "zero to hero" theme in this game, but also a brand new tragic dimension. I really appreciate it, even though the game itself is very antithetical, the tragedy of a victim of the war, living in a world of satirical radio commercials and hilarious TV spots. You still feel the gap between "this is a game, have fun" and the serious story which is (optionally) told. Because yeah, nobody forces you to play the story, you can also shoot trucks and mow down pedestrians at will 24/7 !

 

I'm really eager to know your thoughts and opinions about the game, tell me what ending you've prefered, and why.

Edited November 10, 2014 by Spadge007

[American Viking]

After multiple playthroughs of the game I do prefer the "Revenge" story arc because I feel it is the canon ending and I feel if given the choice, Niko would rather lose Kate than Roman and because when it came to trusting Dimitri again, I figured you fool me once shame on you, fool me twice...

By that point in the game, strictly from a gameplay standpoint, Niko didn't actually need another $250,000 anyway since the game offers little to nothing to spend it on. The money and Roman's nagging were very little incentive to pass on the opportunity to kill Dimitri. If I had written the game, I would have ended it after Niko killed Darko. I feel there was no reason for Roman or Kate to die other than to give Niko another heartache.

Edited November 10, 2014 by American Alpha

[NinjaHenrike]

Lol It was a "easy" choice,Kate doesn't accept hot coffe so i choose her TO DIE

Edited November 12, 2014 by NinjaHenrike

[donnits]

Roman should have died in Revenge ending and Kate in the Deal, that way it would be a tougher choice...

 

From a grand finale mindset, Deal ending with Roman dying is so much better, with the mission "A Revenger's Tragedy" being much more epic than it's counterpart.

 

From a gameplay and overall story mindset, Revenge is the easy choice, though.

Edited November 12, 2014 by thekillerdonuts

[matajuegos01]

deal could be the wisest choice for niko, since he in his confrontation with darko realized that killing him wouldn't make him feel better, so he outright drops the idea of getting revenge with anyone, so it would make sense to make a deal with dimitri, not to side with him, but to make money and then part ways, forgetting what he did to him and to his cousin, the fact that a conversation between jacob and niko after roman's death explicitly says that niko wouldn't have chased dimitri anymore, but he killed his cousin so he had to pay now reinforces my theory.

[MrVance]

At first i always picked revenge since i didn`t want Roman would get killed and the money is really completely useless in this game so i couldn`t care for those 25000$...but after awhile i grew so much hate for that prick Roman that i picked the deal just because of this. And you kill Dimitri anyway.

Geez, Roman is such an asshole. Not only because of his constant phone calls but because of his character. He has his good sides, he is caring and emotional on one hand but on another he is one of the bigest morons of GTA series. Dumb, naive, weak, pussy, a gambler..he is just the kind of guy to be perfect for bullying him.

He f*cks up all the hard earned cash for gambling and what`s worse he is a terrible gambler, he loses all the time, he is acting like a douchebag, he is a f*cking pedophile in the closet (implied when he said about having sex with college girls), addicted to internet porn and one lousy incompetent fool.

Niko brought him alot of troubles as well but Roman is a grade A idiot.

I felt like the deal ending would be the best for his wife and his newborn baby since that way he couldn`t gamble all the money his family would need.

[Maxxeine]

The Deal ending felt like it gave more closure to Niko's story, but I honestly preferred Revenge. Choosing between Kate or Roman is one of the things that really makes you say "what do I choose, greed, or vengeance?" That part where you mentioned you kept doing U-turns also proves that this game has many difficult choices in store for you. The choice between Kate or Roman is proof of this. As a matter of fact, when I first played the mission "That Special Someone" I literally just stood there for at least three minutes thinking to myself about whether Darko deserved to die, or not. The choice was even more difficult, when Roman is there trying to prevent Niko from letting his revenge getting the better of him, when Darko tells Niko how much he was compensated for to kill his squad, it really is my favorite moment in the entire GTA universe because of that alone.

 

All in all; Vengeance > Greed

[PDOjohnny]

You know I had that too, and I'm happy to see I'm not the only one playing GTA IV after six years since it released. When I'm saying I had that too, I mean that I too was driving to one option (revenge), but I was at some points driving slow, also looking at Roman's messeges, then stopped at the side of the road and did for and against table, just as it was a real life decision. Finally chose revenge, and was happy to know that paid in Kate's life and not Roman's.

It's also for me the first time I play an HD game, and first time a GTA I play got a sad end. I was really feeling that, the moments after Kate was shot, I was a bit shocked, and even felt a little as if it happens in real life.

The game is so good, the sad stripes in the game ending adds so much, these happiness with pain mix, that variety of emotions...

[LeeH1989]

I think revenge is the cannon ending, it was the first choice i picked it just felt right, what niko would do. Also packie in gtav says he lost contact with Niko so if it was roman who died and not kate it wouldnt make sense for packie to not stay in touch with niko if he was dating his sister.

 

So i think kate dying is cannon thats why packie moves away from liberty city having lost most of his family. Gerry may well of been killed in prison and his mam passing way after losing kate, or gerry might not have survived the lost and damned prison storming mission, may well of caused a riot. Packie leaving LC at end of the ballads credits seals it for me i think.

 

Revenge is cannon i believe.

Edited November 21, 2014 by LeeH1989

[Sibbs]

I have to,admit when I played gta iv the ending actually made me cry...

I just felt so sorry for niko :,(

Both endings I could live without Kate

But losing roman makes the game go from f*cked up to f*cked up

Also who am I going to go bowling with after deal

I f*cking love this story r*

[Nick1020]

Sorry for the bump but the story in general made me kinda feel sorry for Niko. It just felt that the characters were given greater than the ones in five, even minor characters. Anyway I chose revenge. The story made me hate Dimitry better than it made me hate that FiB guy and billionaire who were practically dicks.

[ImSmaher.]

Sorry for the bump but the story in general made me kinda feel sorry for Niko. It just felt that the characters were given greater than the ones in five, even minor characters. Anyway I chose revenge. The story made me hate Dimitry better than it made me hate that FiB guy and billionaire who were practically dicks.

I'd rather have Kate die then my cousin Roman. For some reason, I never had a great connection with kate.

[J_Marston]

My only real gripe with the revenge ending is Packie's absense. It would make so much more sense for him and Little Jacob to accompany Niko than Roman. Besides that, all perfect.

[RASPY]

My morals wouldn't allow me to go for anything else but revenge - though I did play the game multiple times, choosing different options for any choices Niko had to make in the game, and ultimately going for the deal just to see what would happen. I completed IV many times and destroyed Dimitri with a plethora of bullets. I shotgunned him in the face. I repeatedly shot him with the combat pistol - my weapon of choice. I stomped on him and set him on fire. Damn, I even aimed sent rockets to his dead body.

 

Anyway, I felt Roman to be a bigger loss and I think Kate died at the right time. It was at a stage when it was seeming to get serious and felt like it was going somewhere with her. So, it felt right to go for revenge as Niko finally found someone he wanted to connect with, or could connect with - and there's nothing more annoying than when things end prematurely. But knowing she didn't give it up made everything ok as she didn't really offer anything outside the story. Kate was drier than a stale biscuit but Kiki wasn't a bad substitute.

 

I felt it to be a great story. I felt connected to Niko and his companions, and IV will always have a special place in my heart. The characters, the dark city streets and windy roads are all missed in V - for me anyway.

[cryptorelic]

I actually never picked anything else but revenge, i just can't accept the other way as this would be against everything i learned in this world.

 

I have no idea what happens when i go for the money, i was completing IV like seven times but never gone that road.

 

It was a simple and good story, and at some point i was surprised how things turned out, i never really expected it nor saw it coming.

[PhillBellic]

I only ever picked Deal once. Every time after that I chose Revenge.

[thatstupidbug]

i'm really the only one that hates those kind of choises? It doesn't make me say "woah, tough choise, what will niko do?", but rather "BULLSH*T, I wasted 30 hours on this game, i want my f****g BEST reward!"

 

I always follows Rockstar's idea that "what niko do is up to the player, but there's a path for a better rewards in-game, for sure". So I always goes for that path, the ones that brings me to the better ending. Revenge, revenge, always Revenge.

[Raiden1018]

tl;dr

 

And give me back my f*cking profile pic

[Zello]

I pick deal all the time.

Niko's visit to LC changed him he wasn't the same person he was at the end when he first came off the boat.

Also the deal ending mission is just more intense and emotional, the storm, the helicopter chase, and that final showdown with Dimitri on happiness island what an ending.

[TheCzar]

At the time of my first playthrough, I chose the revenge option, and I was glad I did, at that time. Dimitri was a snake, completely dishonest, merciless, an evil man. I really did detest him by the end of the game, especially for making me kill Mikhail [Faustin], who although wasn't perfect, was much more of an honest man, in my opinion than Dimitri. The randm encounter with Faustin's wife is also a depressing part of the game for me, I felt quite immense guilt for killing Mikhail.

 

With regard to the decision between Roman and Kate, at the time of my first playthrough, and all others following that, I let Kate die. The money wasn't an incentive to me, as you really have nowhere to spend it, and Roman was probably my favourite character in the game, apart from Niko, of course.

 

However, if there were actually interesting ways to spend the money, such as buying properties, cars, businesses and there felt like an actual need for that extra $, perhaps I would have allowed Roman to die.

As one of the forum posters stated, Roman is a weak man, a man who complicated Niko's life a great deal, lied to him many times, put him into very hard situations many times, gambled money which Niko scraped together in times of strife and adversity, really, he showed a lack of integrity and competence throughout.

Conversly, Kate was a pure soul, I respected her, as Niko clearly did also. She certaintly didn't deserve to die, she didn't ever put Niko in life-threatening situations in which his life was at risk, unlike Roman.

Thinking about it as I type, it's a real conundrum, an impossible choice really. At this moment, I'm unsure as to who I'd pick to die, although I think I would still choose Roman to survive, because Mallorie, a character who I also liked a lot, is in love with Roman, and by the end of the game it seems she wouldn't be able to cope without him, and myself and Niko alike, always put others first.

[PhillBellic]

At the time of my first playthrough, I chose the revenge option, and I was glad I did, at that time. Dimitri was a snake, completely dishonest, merciless, an evil man. I really did detest him by the end of the game, especially for making me kill Mikhail [Faustin], who although wasn't perfect, was much more of an honest man, in my opinion than Dimitri. The randm encounter with Faustin's wife is also a depressing part of the game for me, I felt quite immense guilt for killing Mikhail.

 

With regard to the decision between Roman and Kate, at the time of my first playthrough, and all others following that, I let Kate die. The money wasn't an incentive to me, as you really have nowhere to spend it, and Roman was probably my favourite character in the game, apart from Niko, of course.

 

However, if there were actually interesting ways to spend the money, such as buying properties, cars, businesses and there felt like an actual need for that extra $, perhaps I would have allowed Roman to die.

As one of the forum posters stated, Roman is a weak man, a man who complicated Niko's life a great deal, lied to him many times, put him into very hard situations many times, gambled money which Niko scraped together in times of strife and adversity, really, he showed a lack of integrity and competence throughout.

Conversly, Kate was a pure soul, I respected her, as Niko clearly did also. She certaintly didn't deserve to die, she didn't ever put Niko in life-threatening situations in which his life was at risk, unlike Roman.

Thinking about it as I type, it's a real conundrum, an impossible choice really. At this moment, I'm unsure as to who I'd pick to die, although I think I would still choose Roman to survive, because Mallorie, a character who I also liked a lot, is in love with Roman, and by the end of the game it seems she wouldn't be able to cope without him, and myself and Niko alike, always put others first.

True, in a way Kate did not deserve to die. I could say that she was the most morally upstanding person in the game.

[TheCzar]

 

At the time of my first playthrough, I chose the revenge option, and I was glad I did, at that time. Dimitri was a snake, completely dishonest, merciless, an evil man. I really did detest him by the end of the game, especially for making me kill Mikhail [Faustin], who although wasn't perfect, was much more of an honest man, in my opinion than Dimitri. The randm encounter with Faustin's wife is also a depressing part of the game for me, I felt quite immense guilt for killing Mikhail.

 

With regard to the decision between Roman and Kate, at the time of my first playthrough, and all others following that, I let Kate die. The money wasn't an incentive to me, as you really have nowhere to spend it, and Roman was probably my favourite character in the game, apart from Niko, of course.

 

However, if there were actually interesting ways to spend the money, such as buying properties, cars, businesses and there felt like an actual need for that extra $, perhaps I would have allowed Roman to die.

As one of the forum posters stated, Roman is a weak man, a man who complicated Niko's life a great deal, lied to him many times, put him into very hard situations many times, gambled money which Niko scraped together in times of strife and adversity, really, he showed a lack of integrity and competence throughout.

Conversly, Kate was a pure soul, I respected her, as Niko clearly did also. She certaintly didn't deserve to die, she didn't ever put Niko in life-threatening situations in which his life was at risk, unlike Roman.

Thinking about it as I type, it's a real conundrum, an impossible choice really. At this moment, I'm unsure as to who I'd pick to die, although I think I would still choose Roman to survive, because Mallorie, a character who I also liked a lot, is in love with Roman, and by the end of the game it seems she wouldn't be able to cope without him, and myself and Niko alike, always put others first.

True, in a way Kate did not deserve to die. I could say that she was the most morally upstanding person in the game.

 

She definitely is.

In GTA, especially, it's a rare thing for a woman to be portrayed postively. I think everyone respected her, Niko, her family, especially Packie who although ridicules her, secretly (at least I think, admires her).

I've actually just started a new playthrough of IV, I'm trying to play taking each mission at a time, but I'm already thinking about whether I should do the deal, and let Kate live for once.

Dilemma.