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Video Games - Why don't they end properly anymore?
I'll agree with Dharma Bum's statement. The ending wasn't bad, just unexpected and a little depressing. Plus given the size of the company, there may not be a resolution.
I'm sure we also don't need to rehash the ending troubles with KoTOR 2. That ending is more aggravating since you'd think that being a (generally) well-received Star Wars product that they couldn't wait to release another one and rake in more cash.
The worst part? KOTOR 2's uncut ending is damn good, while still leading into a possible final chapter. It's hell waiting for that restoration project to get finished.
korodullin on
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
There's a restoration project? I'm going to need to get the PC version then. I loved KotoR 2 to bits, but that ending was just about the worst thing ever. It made me sad to hear about all of the stuff that got cut out.
Why are you acting all butt-hurt about it? I didn't know, and I was trying to be considerate, sheesh. No good deed goes unpunished, eh? Being an asshole about it doesn't make feel sorry about it, though.
Um, if you think the name of the game is a spoiler, double spoiler asshole.
The fact that Mass Effect is a trilogy is common knowledge. At least on this board.
I guess it's a good thing he didn't actually spoil anything then.
At the end of Mass Effect you beat the last boss? Holy shit!
No one's saying anyone did. I didn't play it for the story and plot. Nevertheless, it was there, and why throw in a stupid plot twist at the end if they aren't going to expand on it?
And you fucking know that fighting against the Agency "bosses" would have been awesome.
No one's saying anyone did. I didn't play it for the story and plot. Nevertheless, it was there, and why throw in a stupid plot twist at the end if they aren't going to expand on it?
And you fucking know that fighting against the Agency "bosses" would have been awesome.
I remember this. When I saw the twist, the first thing I did was march toward the Agency Tower, expecting some sequence to kick in. .
Anymore? When did games on a whole have decent endings?
You'll have to go back to the 16-bit era.
Jurrasic Park for the SNES - EPIC ending, totally worth the lack of save of password feature in the game.
EPIC
Okay, so one game had an epic ending. It wasn't a mark of the times tho. I think the biggest problem with games today and their endings is that so much money and effort and advertising is about the story and the experience, so we expect something better. Most of my favorite video games only have a story to serve the purpose of explaining why anything matters.
Mario for instance. This thing stole the princess. Stop him.
Done, thats it.
I disagree. For example, there were tons of adventure games for the PC that had excellent endings. Companies back then didn't know if they could make enough money to make another game let alone a sequel. Perhaps this is the reason there were sequels. They made games as though it were their last.
'Trilogy' is probably the most common word used this generation, and I don't think video game writers are skilled enough to make a story that ends properly but can lead into another game. Only example I can think of:
Mass Effect. You kill both of the antagonists, but there is still a huge war being waged and you know it isn't over.
EDIT: As said above, it's also a great business move. People are less likely to buy the next game down the line if there is a proper ending.
Thanks. You could have at least mentioned it was a Mass Effect spoiler.
MinionOfCthulhu on
0
LegacyStuck Somewhere In CyberspaceThe Grid(Seattle)Registered User, ClubPAregular
edited February 2008
Man. They just got done bitching about that. Thanks.
Legacy on
Can we get the chemicals in. 'Cause anything's better than this.
Anymore? When did games on a whole have decent endings?
You'll have to go back to the 16-bit era.
Jurrasic Park for the SNES - EPIC ending, totally worth the lack of save of password feature in the game.
EPIC
Okay, so one game had an epic ending. It wasn't a mark of the times tho. I think the biggest problem with games today and their endings is that so much money and effort and advertising is about the story and the experience, so we expect something better. Most of my favorite video games only have a story to serve the purpose of explaining why anything matters.
Mario for instance. This thing stole the princess. Stop him.
Done, thats it.
I disagree. For example, there were tons of adventure games for the PC that had excellent endings. Companies back then didn't know if they could make enough money to make another game let alone a sequel. Perhaps this is the reason there were sequels. They made games as though it were their last.
It's just that over the past 15+ years of gaming for me, I don't feel a decline in endings at all. It's possible that
I don't pay enough attention, or that my gaming tastes just changed so much so often, butI can't remember a time when I played for the story. Ever.
Improvolone on
Voice actor for hire. My time is free if your project is!
Anymore? When did games on a whole have decent endings?
You'll have to go back to the 16-bit era.
Jurrasic Park for the SNES - EPIC ending, totally worth the lack of save of password feature in the game.
EPIC
Okay, so one game had an epic ending. It wasn't a mark of the times tho. I think the biggest problem with games today and their endings is that so much money and effort and advertising is about the story and the experience, so we expect something better. Most of my favorite video games only have a story to serve the purpose of explaining why anything matters.
Mario for instance. This thing stole the princess. Stop him.
Done, thats it.
I disagree. For example, there were tons of adventure games for the PC that had excellent endings. Companies back then didn't know if they could make enough money to make another game let alone a sequel. Perhaps this is the reason there were sequels. They made games as though it were their last.
It's just that over the past 15+ years of gaming for me, I don't feel a decline in endings at all. It's possible that
I don't pay enough attention, or that my gaming tastes just changed so much so often, butI can't remember a time when I played for the story. Ever.
There hasn't been a decline. The majority of games back in the day ended with a picture and some text. Most of the time the text basically said "Congratulations, you beat the bad guy and everyone lived happily ever after." Endings today have certainly improved in that regard. The only thing that's changed is some games are designed with an ongoing storyline that carries over multiple games. In the past, games that were successful and got a sequel did so without the intention of there being one.
This argument seems to simply be derivative of "New stuff sucks, old stuff is always better." As always with these kind of arguments, people only remember the very best of the old stuff while ignoring all the crap and choose to compare it to the very worst of the new. Then they extrapolate to say all old stuff was this good and all new stuff is this bad.
Rakai on
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]XBL: Rakayn | PS3: Rakayn | Steam ID
I was extremely unhappy with the ending of AC, but I realized later that nothing would have lived up to my expectations. About halfway through the game, I thought I knew what the last "level" would be: either yearning to escape, or certainly during the Templar attack, Desmond would let loose in the real world. I thought at one point they even said he would start assimilating the abilities of his predecessor, bolstering my assumptions.
I figured the highlight here would be when Desmond flips up his hoodie, essentially becoming Altair. (Otherwise what was the point of wearing it?) Then he would smash one of those huge windows, revealing the modern cityscape outside. He'd scale the building, dive down into a dumpster and then run off. Ooh maybe one last assassination of the doctor for good measure. I don't know why but I was absolutely convinced all this would happen. The sudden nature of the actual ending threw me for a loop and I hated the game for a couple weeks afterward. I've come to accept it a little, but the sequel better rock.
Sonic 3+ Knuckles had an ending deserving of the decription epic.
Games having bad endings isnt really an idea I subscribe to. Games can and have had good endings since ever. I think you are painting the whole media format with the brush of a few bad games.
Creed had a decent ending anyways.
I think what the OP is really getting to is the fact that games (like a lot of movies these days) are being made with a sequel in mind. Usually that trilogy bullshit you get thrown around. I'd blame LoTR or Pirates of the Carribean before I'd blame anything else. If you want to point the finger at a game for bringing back this craze, I'd go for Halo 2.
No no no. You blame the Matrix. Not the first movie mind you, that ended just fine, it's the fact that the other two movies both ended horribly and the beginning of the third was rough because of the shitty ending to the second. Plus even combined, they both weren't as good as the first. Pirates did the same thing, first was great, cliffhanger at the end of 2 was meh, but not as bad as the Matrix. Third had another cliffhanger.
Sonic 3+ Knuckles had an ending deserving of the decription epic.
Games having bad endings isnt really an idea I subscribe to. Games can and have had good endings since ever. I think you are painting the whole media format with the brush of a few bad games.
Creed had a decent ending anyways.
I think what the OP is really getting to is the fact that games (like a lot of movies these days) are being made with a sequel in mind. Usually that trilogy bullshit you get thrown around. I'd blame LoTR or Pirates of the Carribean before I'd blame anything else. If you want to point the finger at a game for bringing back this craze, I'd go for Halo 2.
No no no. You blame the Matrix. Not the first movie mind you, that ended just fine, it's the fact that the other two movies both ended horribly and the beginning of the third was rough because of the shitty ending to the second. Plus even combined, they both weren't as good as the first. Pirates did the same thing, first was great, cliffhanger at the end of 2 was meh, but not as bad as the Matrix. Third had another cliffhanger.
The third's cliffhanger was no worse than the ending of the first one. It doesn't even necessarily mean that there's going to be a sequel, it's just implying that the Pirates are going to continue questing for treasure.
Sonic 3+ Knuckles had an ending deserving of the decription epic.
Games having bad endings isnt really an idea I subscribe to. Games can and have had good endings since ever. I think you are painting the whole media format with the brush of a few bad games.
Creed had a decent ending anyways.
I think what the OP is really getting to is the fact that games (like a lot of movies these days) are being made with a sequel in mind. Usually that trilogy bullshit you get thrown around. I'd blame LoTR or Pirates of the Carribean before I'd blame anything else. If you want to point the finger at a game for bringing back this craze, I'd go for Halo 2.
No no no. You blame the Matrix. Not the first movie mind you, that ended just fine, it's the fact that the other two movies both ended horribly and the beginning of the third was rough because of the shitty ending to the second. Plus even combined, they both weren't as good as the first. Pirates did the same thing, first was great, cliffhanger at the end of 2 was meh, but not as bad as the Matrix. Third had another cliffhanger.
The third's cliffhanger was no worse than the ending of the first one. It doesn't even necessarily mean that there's going to be a sequel, it's just implying that the Pirates are going to continue questing for treasure.
Actually there's going to be 2 more Pirates movies at least. The next one has to do with Jack trying to use the compass and map to find......it was either the City of Gold or the Fountain of Youth. No clue what the other one will be about.
Sonic 3+ Knuckles had an ending deserving of the decription epic.
Games having bad endings isnt really an idea I subscribe to. Games can and have had good endings since ever. I think you are painting the whole media format with the brush of a few bad games.
Creed had a decent ending anyways.
I think what the OP is really getting to is the fact that games (like a lot of movies these days) are being made with a sequel in mind. Usually that trilogy bullshit you get thrown around. I'd blame LoTR or Pirates of the Carribean before I'd blame anything else. If you want to point the finger at a game for bringing back this craze, I'd go for Halo 2.
No no no. You blame the Matrix. Not the first movie mind you, that ended just fine, it's the fact that the other two movies both ended horribly and the beginning of the third was rough because of the shitty ending to the second. Plus even combined, they both weren't as good as the first. Pirates did the same thing, first was great, cliffhanger at the end of 2 was meh, but not as bad as the Matrix. Third had another cliffhanger.
The third's cliffhanger was no worse than the ending of the first one. It doesn't even necessarily mean that there's going to be a sequel, it's just implying that the Pirates are going to continue questing for treasure.
Actually there's going to be 2 more Pirates movies at least. The next one has to do with Jack trying to use the compass and map to find......it was either the City of Gold or the Fountain of Youth. No clue what the other one will be about.
That's irrelevant to my point, which is just that despite setting up for a sequel, PotC3 resolve its own plot.
I'll agree with Dharma Bum's statement. The ending wasn't bad, just unexpected and a little depressing. Plus given the size of the company, there may not be a resolution.
I'm sure we also don't need to rehash the ending troubles with KoTOR 2. That ending is more aggravating since you'd think that being a (generally) well-received Star Wars product that they couldn't wait to release another one and rake in more cash.
The worst part? KOTOR 2's uncut ending is damn good, while still leading into a possible final chapter. It's hell waiting for that restoration project to get finished.
Yeah. I've read about the cut contents. I'm probably going to buy a PC version just to play the fan mod. But if/when they finally make the third game, it would take a major miracle for LucasArts to include any reference to the cut material. I can only imagine how disastrous it would be to try and tie them together storywise. So I try not to think about it.
Anymore? When did games on a whole have decent endings?
You'll have to go back to the 16-bit era.
Jurrasic Park for the SNES - EPIC ending, totally worth the lack of save of password feature in the game.
EPIC
Okay, so one game had an epic ending. It wasn't a mark of the times tho. I think the biggest problem with games today and their endings is that so much money and effort and advertising is about the story and the experience, so we expect something better. Most of my favorite video games only have a story to serve the purpose of explaining why anything matters.
Mario for instance. This thing stole the princess. Stop him.
Done, thats it.
I disagree. For example, there were tons of adventure games for the PC that had excellent endings. Companies back then didn't know if they could make enough money to make another game let alone a sequel. Perhaps this is the reason there were sequels. They made games as though it were their last.
It's just that over the past 15+ years of gaming for me, I don't feel a decline in endings at all. It's possible that
I don't pay enough attention, or that my gaming tastes just changed so much so often, butI can't remember a time when I played for the story. Ever.
There hasn't been a decline. The majority of games back in the day ended with a picture and some text. Most of the time the text basically said "Congratulations, you beat the bad guy and everyone lived happily ever after." Endings today have certainly improved in that regard. The only thing that's changed is some games are designed with an ongoing storyline that carries over multiple games. In the past, games that were successful and got a sequel did so without the intention of there being one.
This argument seems to simply be derivative of "New stuff sucks, old stuff is always better." As always with these kind of arguments, people only remember the very best of the old stuff while ignoring all the crap and choose to compare it to the very worst of the new. Then they extrapolate to say all old stuff was this good and all new stuff is this bad.
That wasn't my arguement. A text ending saying: "Congratulations, you won." is finishing properly. The game is set up, you don't have to buy the next game to complete the story arc. If the game finished saying "Well done, you beat the bad boss, but oh no, you've been kidnapped now! Get ready to fight!" and then ended...that would be a situation where I would consider it not finished "properly".
Someone asked why the ending to Ratchett and Clank was shit:
The game is littered with awesome CGI sequences throughout, yet when you get to the last boss it's a case of him reading off a few lines to you, you getting sucked in to an alternate dimension/world thingy, fighting him again then escaping. Then there's a short, poor sequence where they tied up the plot by getting Clank to essentially say "You did well Ratchett" and then have him kidnapped.
That's it. That is all. After the journey the game puts you on, it's an incredibly crap way to end it.
Women are severely underrepresented in the genre of excessive violence. Women's equal rights to give and receive headshots should be respected. Especially when wearing high heels.
There's a porn joke in here, somewhere, but I haven't had my coffee yet.
I loved Call of Duty 4's ending.
The whole war comes down to three bullets. Screw up the shots, you die. You're still the hero, I guess, but you're dead, so congratulations.
This is ignoring, of course,
the airplane mission after the credits. Really just a bonus more than a part of the storyline.
Also, Freespace 2.
You don't actually have to survive the last mission, just keep on fighting until the Shivans destroy the system. You get a slightly different cinematic depending on if you get out alive or fight to the death.
The story itself is still unresolved - lots of mysteries that will probably never get answered - but at least the second war was tied up nicely.
fuck you KOTOR 2, god dammit I want more retcon on Revan
I was a bit disappointed too about the lack of stuff here, warrant it can't tell how you played the first game if at all, but still...need to find out what happened
I agree that the Forced Trilogy only makes me groan more and more as I get older; God of War 2 made me literally :roll: over and over. But that's not something specific to this gen, and I think that plenty of games still strike a very good balance. I think a key component of one's satisfaction with an ending is the pacing of the endgame, and I really can't think of a game that's done it better than the last 4-5 hours of Mass Effect in the past several years. Huge, steady, unrelenting buildup, immensely satisfying conclusion and while it still leaves the door open for future sequels you don't go away feeling cheated.
It's hard for me to compare because I was born in 1980, but I suspect that despite the huge cliffhanger ending of Empire Strikes Back, moviegoers and fans didn't really feel like they were cockblocked at the end because there was still a really satisfying conclusion and a big flashy end segment. Something like that.
CoD4's endgame and denouement was also surprisingly good, but the whole single-player campaign had such a Short And Sweet philosophy that it felt kind of like an '80s action movie in that regard, so the end and the Mile High Club were both perfect.
I really enjoyed Assassin's Creed's ending. I finished it before the Wikipedia article on it was finalized, so I was sitting there in front of the TV with my roommate in front of his computer. I had him google everything I spotted.
And, on the note of possible AC sequels:
One of the hints on the floor is for a Japanese island, Yonaguni. What's more awesome than being an Arab hitman during the Crusades? BEING A NINJA HITMAN IN ANCIENT JAPAN.
Also, Scarab, I thought The Lost World as a movie was more entertaining than it was as a book. The book gave us that prick Levine, Malcolm and Harding trying to outdo each other with emotional inaccessibility, dino fodder Eddie, and AGAIN WITH TWO KIDS. The only decent characters were Thorne and Dodgson. Just about every new character in the movie is more interesting. Plus, all the book's action scenes were outclassed by the movie's. Yes, even when I'm grudgingly including the raptor gymnastics.
I really enjoyed Assassin's Creed's ending. I finished it before the Wikipedia article on it was finalized, so I was sitting there in front of the TV with my roommate in front of his computer. I had him google everything I spotted.
And, on the note of possible AC sequels:
One of the hints on the floor is for a Japanese island, Yonaguni. What's more awesome than being an Arab hitman during the Crusades? BEING A NINJA HITMAN IN ANCIENT JAPAN.
Also, Scarab, I thought The Lost World as a movie was more entertaining than it was as a book. The book gave us that prick Levine, Malcolm and Harding trying to outdo each other with emotional inaccessibility, dino fodder Eddie, and AGAIN WITH TWO KIDS. The only decent characters were Thorne and Dodgson. Just about every new character in the movie is more interesting. Plus, all the book's action scenes were outclassed by the movie's. Yes, even when I'm grudgingly including the raptor gymnastics.
Not to mention the 2nd book contradicted the 1st book, especially with respect to the Raptors and their behavior.
Mona Sax is dead and Max dreams of his dead wife, but it's okay. The fury in his head driving him seems to be over and done with. But then the credits promise a sequel. A sequel? There's no reason for Max Payne to keep on fighting with all the womenfolk dead.
Unless he gets a desk job for the entire third game, I don't see the series continuing.
Maybe Alan Wake hires detective Payne to solve a mystery ... :P
If you beat the game on the hardest difficulty, Mona lives.
Yeah, but that's the shitty ending. I was so disappointed when I got to the alternate ending and got... that.
I love the original ending. It's very bittersweet and happy and sad both at the same time. For Max, I thought it was a very, very fitting conclusion to the story and I don't really see where else they could take it for a sequel. And there hasn't been one, for which I am pretty grateful.
Adding to that, there aren't any mobsters left in New York or Jersey after the two games - ol' Max must have killed a thousand goons by the credits of the second game.
I really enjoyed Assassin's Creed's ending. I finished it before the Wikipedia article on it was finalized, so I was sitting there in front of the TV with my roommate in front of his computer. I had him google everything I spotted.
And, on the note of possible AC sequels:
One of the hints on the floor is for a Japanese island, Yonaguni. What's more awesome than being an Arab hitman during the Crusades? BEING A NINJA HITMAN IN ANCIENT JAPAN.
Also, Scarab, I thought The Lost World as a movie was more entertaining than it was as a book. The book gave us that prick Levine, Malcolm and Harding trying to outdo each other with emotional inaccessibility, dino fodder Eddie, and AGAIN WITH TWO KIDS. The only decent characters were Thorne and Dodgson. Just about every new character in the movie is more interesting. Plus, all the book's action scenes were outclassed by the movie's. Yes, even when I'm grudgingly including the raptor gymnastics.
Not to mention the 2nd book contradicted the 1st book, especially with respect to the Raptors and their behavior.
I'm on the boat that hated Assassin's Creed ending ---- it was particularly upsetting to me because
I finished the last mission, cut to Desmond. I hadn't yet found the pen that you can pick up and use to access, uh, something. I had heard that stuff happened after the credits.... and when I saw Desmond slide the pen up his sleeve, VERY SIMILARLY TO ALTAIR'S HIDDEN BLADE, I was like, "Oh SHIT.", being sure that someone was going to come back into the room and Desmond would assassinate them with the pen.
Alas ---- there was just a bunch of walking around and accessing computers. And reading the stuff on the walls. I was totally, totally let down.
If you beat the game on the hardest difficulty, Mona lives.
Yeah, but that's the shitty ending. I was so disappointed when I got to the alternate ending and got... that.
I love the original ending. It's very bittersweet and happy and sad both at the same time. For Max, I thought it was a very, very fitting conclusion to the story and I don't really see where else they could take it for a sequel. And there hasn't been one, for which I am pretty grateful.
Totally, 100 percent agree. The original ending is worlds more downtempo and fitting, and since the game's narrative is essentially set up as a series of flashbacks it makes looking back at the game that much more emotionally powerful. Not to mention that the alternative ending completely changes the meaning of that last line.
Mona Sax is dead and Max dreams of his dead wife, but it's okay. The fury in his head driving him seems to be over and done with. But then the credits promise a sequel. A sequel? There's no reason for Max Payne to keep on fighting with all the womenfolk dead.
Unless he gets a desk job for the entire third game, I don't see the series continuing.
Maybe Alan Wake hires detective Payne to solve a mystery ... :P
Slightly possible Max Payne 3 spoiler:
I was in a bunch of Max Payne 2 mod communities. There was a lot of speculation about the sequel, and I can only remember bits and pieces of this, but I remember one topic on the official forum that got locked and deleted. It was a huge post that the third game would be called "The Death of Max Payne," and would be about how Max's shooting sprees created an army of people in crime families and the government who swore revenge on him. The game would center on Payne's mad dash from New York to Hong Kong, while he questions what he has to live for and contemplates turning himself in or committing suicide.
It sounded viable to me, and I was really suspicious of how fast that topic went up and down. It must have been alive for all of thirty seconds. But then Alan Wake was announced and we were all, "that's great, but dang."
Posts
The worst part? KOTOR 2's uncut ending is damn good, while still leading into a possible final chapter. It's hell waiting for that restoration project to get finished.
- The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (2017, colorized)
I guess it's a good thing he didn't actually spoil anything then.
At the end of Mass Effect you beat the last boss? Holy shit!
http://www.audioentropy.com/
I totally played Crackdown for the story and plot.
I remember this. When I saw the twist, the first thing I did was march toward the Agency Tower, expecting some sequence to kick in.
I disagree. For example, there were tons of adventure games for the PC that had excellent endings. Companies back then didn't know if they could make enough money to make another game let alone a sequel. Perhaps this is the reason there were sequels. They made games as though it were their last.
Thanks. You could have at least mentioned it was a Mass Effect spoiler.
You're welcome though.
I don't pay enough attention, or that my gaming tastes just changed so much so often, butI can't remember a time when I played for the story. Ever.
I remember the NES one being given shittier reviews because the SNES version had 3D bits in, but the Gameboy version got a good review I think?
How long is this game, I remember playing the SNES version for an hour and getting quite far, but never did play through the NES/GB versions.
There hasn't been a decline. The majority of games back in the day ended with a picture and some text. Most of the time the text basically said "Congratulations, you beat the bad guy and everyone lived happily ever after." Endings today have certainly improved in that regard. The only thing that's changed is some games are designed with an ongoing storyline that carries over multiple games. In the past, games that were successful and got a sequel did so without the intention of there being one.
This argument seems to simply be derivative of "New stuff sucks, old stuff is always better." As always with these kind of arguments, people only remember the very best of the old stuff while ignoring all the crap and choose to compare it to the very worst of the new. Then they extrapolate to say all old stuff was this good and all new stuff is this bad.
I figured the highlight here would be when Desmond flips up his hoodie, essentially becoming Altair. (Otherwise what was the point of wearing it?) Then he would smash one of those huge windows, revealing the modern cityscape outside. He'd scale the building, dive down into a dumpster and then run off. Ooh maybe one last assassination of the doctor for good measure. I don't know why but I was absolutely convinced all this would happen. The sudden nature of the actual ending threw me for a loop and I hated the game for a couple weeks afterward. I've come to accept it a little, but the sequel better rock.
No no no. You blame the Matrix. Not the first movie mind you, that ended just fine, it's the fact that the other two movies both ended horribly and the beginning of the third was rough because of the shitty ending to the second. Plus even combined, they both weren't as good as the first. Pirates did the same thing, first was great, cliffhanger at the end of 2 was meh, but not as bad as the Matrix. Third had another cliffhanger.
http://www.audioentropy.com/
Actually there's going to be 2 more Pirates movies at least. The next one has to do with Jack trying to use the compass and map to find......it was either the City of Gold or the Fountain of Youth. No clue what the other one will be about.
That's irrelevant to my point, which is just that despite setting up for a sequel, PotC3 resolve its own plot.
http://www.audioentropy.com/
Digital Devil Saga 2 goes on to resolve everything perfectly.
I haven't even played God of War 2, but I'd bet money it basically just drew out the story long enough to make people anticipate a third game.
Do not engage the Watermelons.
That wasn't my arguement. A text ending saying: "Congratulations, you won." is finishing properly. The game is set up, you don't have to buy the next game to complete the story arc. If the game finished saying "Well done, you beat the bad boss, but oh no, you've been kidnapped now! Get ready to fight!" and then ended...that would be a situation where I would consider it not finished "properly".
Someone asked why the ending to Ratchett and Clank was shit:
That's it. That is all. After the journey the game puts you on, it's an incredibly crap way to end it.
PSN: SirGrinchX
Oculus Rift: Sir_Grinch
There's a porn joke in here, somewhere, but I haven't had my coffee yet.
I loved Call of Duty 4's ending.
This is ignoring, of course,
Also, Freespace 2.
The story itself is still unresolved - lots of mysteries that will probably never get answered - but at least the second war was tied up nicely.
You're watching the credits then BAM what the fuck is this oh god bang bang bang oh shit!
I both laughed and applauded at the end of that. Pure awesome.
I agree that the Forced Trilogy only makes me groan more and more as I get older; God of War 2 made me literally :roll: over and over. But that's not something specific to this gen, and I think that plenty of games still strike a very good balance. I think a key component of one's satisfaction with an ending is the pacing of the endgame, and I really can't think of a game that's done it better than the last 4-5 hours of Mass Effect in the past several years. Huge, steady, unrelenting buildup, immensely satisfying conclusion and while it still leaves the door open for future sequels you don't go away feeling cheated.
It's hard for me to compare because I was born in 1980, but I suspect that despite the huge cliffhanger ending of Empire Strikes Back, moviegoers and fans didn't really feel like they were cockblocked at the end because there was still a really satisfying conclusion and a big flashy end segment. Something like that.
CoD4's endgame and denouement was also surprisingly good, but the whole single-player campaign had such a Short And Sweet philosophy that it felt kind of like an '80s action movie in that regard, so the end and the Mile High Club were both perfect.
And, on the note of possible AC sequels:
Also, Scarab, I thought The Lost World as a movie was more entertaining than it was as a book. The book gave us that prick Levine, Malcolm and Harding trying to outdo each other with emotional inaccessibility, dino fodder Eddie, and AGAIN WITH TWO KIDS. The only decent characters were Thorne and Dodgson. Just about every new character in the movie is more interesting. Plus, all the book's action scenes were outclassed by the movie's. Yes, even when I'm grudgingly including the raptor gymnastics.
Not to mention the 2nd book contradicted the 1st book, especially with respect to the Raptors and their behavior.
Unless he gets a desk job for the entire third game, I don't see the series continuing.
Maybe Alan Wake hires detective Payne to solve a mystery ... :P
Max Payne 2 alternate ending spoiler:
Yeah, but that's the shitty ending. I was so disappointed when I got to the alternate ending and got... that.
I love the original ending. It's very bittersweet and happy and sad both at the same time. For Max, I thought it was a very, very fitting conclusion to the story and I don't really see where else they could take it for a sequel. And there hasn't been one, for which I am pretty grateful.
I'm on the boat that hated Assassin's Creed ending ---- it was particularly upsetting to me because
Alas ---- there was just a bunch of walking around and accessing computers. And reading the stuff on the walls. I was totally, totally let down.
Totally, 100 percent agree. The original ending is worlds more downtempo and fitting, and since the game's narrative is essentially set up as a series of flashbacks it makes looking back at the game that much more emotionally powerful. Not to mention that the alternative ending completely changes the meaning of that last line.
Man, do I love Max Payne 2.
Slightly possible Max Payne 3 spoiler:
It sounded viable to me, and I was really suspicious of how fast that topic went up and down. It must have been alive for all of thirty seconds. But then Alan Wake was announced and we were all, "that's great, but dang."