Best and Worst Game Endings

[Malcador]

I liked the ending to Max Payne 2, the DOA one is the good as Max's life sucks slightly less. Deus Ex's Tong ending was the best, out of all the three the Illuminati one sucks, you end up as a high ranking pawn it seemed.

 

I agree with LadyCrimson about the ending to Borderlands, friend and I played it co-op and we just said "Uhm..so about that vault?" then saw the satellite and the Claptrap ninja.

[Rosbjerg]

For me Freespace 2 is kind of an contestant for both titles.. It was awesome because of the stress (emotional or self preserving) at the end and it sucked because it just kinda stopped in medias res, giving you no explanation or reason.

[Malcador]

That was a surprisingly well written game, as much as I'd like to know what the hell happened to Bosch, and the Shivans it was nice they left the player in the dark, good representation of 'need to know'.

[Rosbjerg]

That was a surprisingly well written game, as much as I'd like to know what the hell happened to Bosch, and the Shivans it was nice they left the player in the dark, good representation of 'need to know'.

 

True, but because the game was so great you really were left with a "what? this is it!?" feeling (even though it was a long game) - which is why I think it both sucked and was amazing (more great than bad though).

[Tale]

Best:

Xenogears

Fei defeats the ancient weapon, then goes off to save the woman he loves from being sucked into another dimension. While he's at it, he makes peace with an old friend that had turned enemy. Daww.

 

 

Warcraft 3: The Frozen Throne

Arthas further gives into the Lich King and joins with him. The ending is particularly poignant in that it gives you so many reminders on just how much of an utter bastard he is.

 

 

Warcraft 3 Orc campaign

No, old friend, you have freed us all! *tears*

 

 

Metal Gear Solid 3

 

Suikoden II, both the happiest and saddest ending. Saddest:

Your best friend, now turned enemy, forces you into a fight to the death. You have lost both your sister and best friend to the war.

Happiest:

If you never attack Jowy, the best friend, he gives up forcing you to fight him. Then go off and find that your sister had only faked her death. You all run away together.

 

 

Metal Gear Solid 2. I'm a big thematic guy. MGS2's ending is both good and bad. But I think there's enough good to put it on this list. The good part can be summed up thus.

Revolver Ocelot: "There's no such thing as luck, telekinesis, or magic!" *proceeds to fail to kill someone because of a 1 in 12,000 medical condition, has a bunch of missles swerve out of the path of their target, and is possessed by a ghost (until MGS4)*

 

 

Worst

Can't think of any off the top of my head. I could tell you a book with a bad ending. The Ghost King. Nobody seems to have made a game ending nearly that awful. Usually bad game endings are just unremarkable, so I don't bother remembering them.

 

Metal Gear Solid 4, I guess. It really seemed to be trying too hard.

Edited November 16, 2010 by Tale

[pmp10]

Best:

Betrayal at Krondor

Worst:

Divinity 2

[Raithe]

I'm up there with Planescape Torment as one of the best..

 

Hm, the various Wing Commanders actually had quite good endings..especially some of the early "variations" depending on how you managed..

 

Privateer 2 had a mixture of best and worst together.. I could never quite decide..

 

And how can no-one have mentioned the sheer fun of ending Alpha Protocol and heading off into the sunset on a boat with Scarlet at your side and the amusing conversation?

 

A lot of the Star Wars games seem to have it both ways..the Dark Side endings tend to be gloriously cinematic...and the Light Sight endings can be quite..fizzly.

 

Mafia 2 was quite a let down. There was no real emotional investment and it felt like it was just left for a future DLC to wrap up the story...

 

No-One Lives Forever - the wrap up to that was exceptionally satisfying..

[entrerix]

man i cant believe I forgot about super metroid. one of the best end sequences ever.

 

interesting that so many people agree on planescape torment (and metal gear solid 3 has gotten quite a few votes as well

 

i thought I'd mention a weird one: Mass Effect 2, one of the best game beginnings ever (except you cant skip it on later playthroughs...), but a totally average-at-best ending.

 

also, a few people mentioned the cell shaded PoP ending, I liked that ending quite a bit as well, but felt it was in some ways similar to the end of shadow of colossus, which had, imo, a superior ending (as well as being superior overall game, though PoP was pretty damn good too)

[mkreku]

interesting that so many people agree on planescape torment

Interesting is not the word I would have chosen. On this forum you can bet your ass that people will bring up Planescape: Torment no matter what. Best graphics? Torment. Best music? Torment. Best protagonist? Torment. Best physics? Torment, of course. Best first person shooter? Torment.

 

It's actually the opposite of interesting. It's tiresome.

[Cantousent]

Yeah, but in the case of perfect endings, they're right.

 

PS:T is my favorite game, but I don't think it's perfect. For one thing, the writing would be as good with 1/3 less. In fact, the writing would be better with 1/3 less. ...But it's still an awesome game and probably why a bunch of us starting hanging around this joint.

 

Not the game ending, but the end of Floyd in Planetfall was awesome. Poor bastard robot.

[Orogun01]

Metal Gear Solid 4, I guess. It really seemed to be trying too hard.

Would have been better without the epilogue.

 

I just remembered that I enjoyed the Parasite Eve 2 ending's.

[Calax]

With some re-working, a small amount, the epilogue for MGS4 would have worked. If they'd left out the "must tie up every single plot thread" from it and just left it as the moment between the characters, it would have been much better.

[Purkake]

Umm, Mask of the Betrayer, Max Payne 2, Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth(genre appropriate).