The Worst Game Endings

[Pop]

So bored I created this topic.

 

CVG had a little piece on the subject (found through Joystiq) and it seemed like a good idea for a topic, seeing how everybody has stories about a time when a good game (since I'm assuming nobody finishes bad games) holds your attention for a time and then drops you like a sack of vegetable soup at the end.

 

KOTOR2 made it on that list too. As of now I'll say that KOTOR2 really was too confusing and incomplete and deserves its place on that list. But I'm holding out for the TSL Restoration Project to make the ending better.

 

Personal l0l @ Shenmue 2.

 

My personal picks would probably be:

 

Half-Life - Xen as a whole was pretty lackluster, really.

 

Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit for you Euros) - Another game that started out utterly captivating and devolved over time, culminating in a convoluted, ****ty mess. What a disappointment.

 

Bloodlines - I was unsatisfied with all three endings. The way they rushed development, I shouldn't have expected much more, but it was good enough going through the game that it deserved better.

 

And before somebody beats me to it

NWN2 - KoS fight was not good. The epilogue had me intrigued enough, and I suppose as an "ending" it wasn't a bad one, but the last half hour of gameplay wasn't very effective. Still, that VO was like nails on a chalkboard.

 

I realize how bad this thread could turn out, but I wanted to lob it to the forum for kicks, so I have.

[Gorth]

Wouldn't it be much easier to have a thread for Well Made endings?

 

Way too many games out there with sloppy/unsatisfactory/unfinished/unpolished/unimaginative/whatever endings...

 

Kotor2... Check!

Nwn2... Check!

Throne of Bhaal... Check!

Unreal II... Check!

Pac-Man... Check!

Pirates!... Check!

Tombraider: Legends... Check!

 

Those who have completed them can probably also add Oblivion, NWN OC, (insert popular franchise here) etc.

Edited January 8, 2007 by Gorth

[Pop]

Sure, it'd be easier (I suppose I could amend the thread to include both, if it needs it) but obviously some games are created less equal than others. ToB had a final fight that was just as formulaic as NWN2's, but it had the same (I thought) generally satisfying epilogue, and I thought giving the choice between being mortal and being a God was well done. KOTOR2, on the other hand, doesn't even make any sense.

[Gorth]

Agreed. I just thought spotting the good ones might be more challenging

[Pop]

Bah. Can't edit the first post, so the title stays the same. Given the awesome power that I have as creator of this thread, I won't consider it off-topic if people want to reminisce about their fave endings as well.

[Tigranes]

I liked FFVII's ending. The hoopla with the Lifestream was difficult to fully unravel but not impossible; i.e. with some thinking and some remembering it was possible to piece it all together, which is satisfying. I liked the story in general, actually.

 

Torment is the other one that I liked. It brought the excellent thematic point that at the very end of the road, the Nameless One must face the consequences (also gave Avellone's answer to the Nature of Man question), the final boss wasn't too flash but offered some nice dialogue options as is PST's wont, and so forth.

 

I thought one game that really disappointed in the end in general and hasn't been mentioned here, is Arcanum. I really loved that game, but once it got tacked on the Endgame Railroad (Xanatos, Vendigroth, The Void) it was really boring, both gameplay and story wise. I did enjoy the twist just because it was so in your face, but really, it was pretty bad. The one positive was in the end boss's explanation about his motivations; it was a classic Destroy All Life motivation, but it was the only time that I've actually felt that it even had a shred of validity.

[Pop]

I haven't played Arcanum in awhile, but the ending was ruined for me when I got sent to that other dimension after the wizard dude's apprentice and then found him and talked to him. For a few seconds it all came together, and I thought "ZOMG THE WIZARD DUDE WAS THE BAD GUY ALL ALONG AND HE SENT ME TO THIS PIT TO DIE!!@" (this was shortly after playing HOTU for the first time). But no, the apprentice really was the inital bad guy, he just happened to not care anymore and was "good" after being imprisoned for so long. Moreover, the real bad guy was conveniently trapped in the other dimension anyway. Poo.

 

As an aside, the epilogues of Arcanum were also pretty weak.

[Gorth]

Good endings. So rare, let's see:

 

Defender of the Crown - In true Cinemaware Style

PS:T - Yeah, sort of nice. Would have been even nicer with more possible end result cinematics?

Forbidden Forest - Riverdance meets 8 bit graphics (the music was awesome though)

Tombraider - While the FMV's might look pretty archaic a decade later, they were impressive back then

 

Sadly a short list for now of those that springs to mind. I might remember more later after watching a few other contributions.

[Pop]

Also, it should be established that for the sake of ease, this thread will feature spoilers optionally. So, uh, enter at your own risk from here on in, k? thx.

[LostStraw]

Half Life 2 -- Instead of an actual ending what I got was the "man in the suit" telling me to buy future sequels. Almost as bad as the ending for Half Life 1.

 

Final Fantasy 9 -- I've never beaten any of the other games in the series and now I don't want to. The ending of #9 made me feel like a Hollywood producer had puked up daisies all over my lap. Boring, predictable and trite.

[Gorgon]

Bloodlines was an awesome game, unfortunately it got worse as you hit the last parts of the game, a testament to running out of time and funds more than anything else, I mean they released it with a fatal bug at the conclusion of one of the missions for heaven's sake. On the other hand the Quai jin conlusion was excellent. I don't think there was anything wrong with the ending(s) they just weren't spectacular, like many segment of the game were.

 

Unreal 2 was never supposed to be a single player game, they just slapped together something willy nilly and didn't even include multiplayer functionality, a complete waste of money.

[Tigranes]

FFIX's ending was really 'hollywoody' because the game went for a lighter tone from VII and VIII, and as a result its melodrama gained a distinctly happy-go-lucky feel. You can tell from the way Zidane is a lot happier than Squall or Cloud, and Dagger could have been plucked straight out of a growing- up Disney channel soap drama.

 

Oh, that, and the final boss was STUPID. Some sort of giant puke comes out of nowhere and says DEUS EX MACHINA FIGHT YOU NOW, prompting Zidane's uber-inspirational speech of defiance in a parody of FFVI's antikefka speech.

[Pop]

The ending to Half-Life 2 was pretty ****ty. The Episode 1 ending was much better (fanboi that I am, I couldn't help but envision a similar ending for a next-gen Fallout 3 " ).

 

Another worst - IWD2, since I never got to it, and not for lack of trying <_<

 

as far as my faves go, it's:

 

Fallout - O'course. I was about 10 when I first played it, so naturally I read a gameguide and found out the ending beforehand, but the Master (I hit Mariposa first, even though I believe you're supposed to do that last) was amazing (dialogue-wise, at least) and the ending still breaks my heart a little whenever I play it. Even though it was never made, the ending to Van Buren seemed pretty awesome, and was one of the main reasons I ventured to attempt it in PnP.

 

Diablo - Hated it at first, but it made more sense over time, and Diablo 2 made it even more dark.

[alanschu]

Defender of the Crown - In true Cinemaware Style

 

You know, it took my about 12 years to finally learn how to joust in that game!

[Tigranes]

the ending to Van Buren seemed pretty awesome

 

What? We know the VB ending?

 

I knew I should have finished reading all those design docs.

[Gorth]

Defender of the Crown - In true Cinemaware Style

 

You know, it took my about 12 years to finally learn how to joust in that game!

 

It only took me 2

[Tale]

Wouldn't it be much easier to have a thread for Well Made endings? 

 

Way too many games out there with sloppy/unsatisfactory/unfinished/unpolished/unimaginative/whatever endings...

 

Kotor2... Check!

Nwn2... Check!

Throne of Bhaal... Check!

Unreal II... Check!

Pac-Man... Check!

Pirates!... Check!

Tombraider: Legends... Check!

 

Those who have completed them can probably also add Oblivion, NWN OC, (insert popular franchise here) etc.

 

YOU SIR ARE DEAD TO ME!

 

Unreal II is one of the game's that actually has caused me to almost cry. The ending was powerful. Along with Suikoden V and FF VI.

 

FF VII and Suikoden II being the two games that actually did make me cry.

[Pop]

the ending to Van Buren seemed pretty awesome

 

What? We know the VB ending?

 

I knew I should have finished reading all those design docs.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Indeed. Basically, the PC tracks evil would-be dictator to a space station outfitted with nuclear ballistics (it's much less ludicrous than I make it sound) and defeats him, but the launch of the missiles onboard is initiated. The PC can then either direct the nukes to hit certain places, or try and stop the launch. Except, he can't stop the launch, and at least 2 of them are guaranteed to launch (random cities if not directed) Conversely, the PC can choose to blow himself up with the station for a 60% chance to prevent the nuclear strikes.

 

I thought it sounded pretty cool I'm itching to get there in PnP. I'm tempted to insert a Jack Bauer character in there to scream "NOOOOOOO!!" when the time is right :D

[alanschu]

Defender of the Crown - In true Cinemaware Style

 

You know, it took my about 12 years to finally learn how to joust in that game!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It only took me 2

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

To be fair, there WAS about a 10 year gap of not playing it

 

 

I'd always either get hit, or hit the horse. I didn't realize I was waaaaaaaaaaaaaay too early on my timing. Once I learned how to do it, it was laughably easy. Made the game a bit too easy too though. But I used to absolutely loathe seeing that jousting loading screen with the dudes playing the horns come on.

 

I also could only successfully raid Saxon Castles. Fighting the two on one battle of the Norman castles was intense!

[Volourn]

Worst - FF8, PST, DW1, FF1

 

Best - TOB, FF7, FF6

[Tale]

I honestly can't say what endings I consider the worst. I've become numbed to endings that don't fit my tastes. Only games I can say for certain I didn't like are the ones that are basically not there. KOTOR 2. Any other game I could try to claim had a bad ending, I'd probably be more voicing my opinion of the overall story. X3 Reunion's ending wasn't "bad" but it made me sad because I wanted it to continue.

 

Games with endings I definitely liked - FF VII, Unreal II, Suikoden II (there were three endings, the ultra bad ending was the best!), Dreamfall

These are just the ones that standout for me.

Edited January 8, 2007 by Tale

[alanschu]

I wonder if I'm in the minority about hating the FFVII ending.

[Pop]

Considering how many people consider it to be the "best game evar" I wouldn't be surprised.

 

My friends go on and on about how I should play it based on the ending. Haven't bitten yet.

[alanschu]

I really enjoyed FF7, but I personally think a lot of the "best game ever" status comes because it wowed people with pretty CG movies.

[213374U]

Half-Life - Xen as a whole was pretty lackluster, really.

Xen was pretty boring, but I thought Nihilanth (telepatically?) taunting you all the way up to the final fight was pretty cool. I liked both that fight and the ending with the G-Man... but to each his own.

 

On the other hand, HL2's ending was like the rest of that game's story: non-existant.

 

 

Indigo Prophecy (Fahrenheit for you Euros) - Another game that started out utterly captivating and devolved over time, culminating in a convoluted, ****ty mess. What a disappointment.

Yeah. Not so much convoluted as it was just lame. I think that's a good example of why writers need to stay clear of hallucinogens during creative processes.

 

 

Bloodlines - I was unsatisfied with all three endings. The way they rushed development, I shouldn't have expected much more, but it was good enough going through the game that it deserved better.

The last third of the game shifted focus from story and social interaction to combat, which caused that last 3rd to be pretty crappy. The endings proper were all awesome though, and 100% in line with what you would expect from the old WoD setting. It's one of my personal favorites.

 

 

Indeed. Basically, the PC tracks evil would-be dictator to a space station outfitted with nuclear ballistics (it's much less ludicrous than I make it sound) and defeats him, but the launch of the missiles onboard is initiated. The PC can then either direct the nukes to hit certain places, or try and stop the launch. Except, he can't stop the launch, and at least 2 of them are guaranteed to launch (random cities if not directed) Conversely, the PC can choose to blow himself up with the station for a 60% chance to prevent the nuclear strikes.

wait what