Good and Bad Game Endings

[Benji]

Don't forget to mark things with spoiler tags, and note which game(s) you're spoiling.

What games do you think had good and bad endings?

The Good

Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core...

I don't get why people hated this game so much. It was incredibly fun, different, and used the Final Fantasy VII characters in a perfect way. You knew Zack was going to die, you even knew how, but the build to it. Oh man, the build. That Final Fight with the music and the knowledge that no matter how hard you fight that you're going to lose. Even with that knowledge, I fought for a good fifteen minutes before accepting that Zack had to die, then the rest of it, with Cloud and the Buster Sword, and the intro of Final Fantasy VII re-rendered. Oh man, just beautiful. I genuinely cried when Zack died, and his AMV "breaking", showing you memories. By the time the game was finished I wanted Zack to die and for Cloud to be the FF7 protagonist.

inFamous 2 (Good Karma ending)...

The final mission twisting the 'good' companion and the 'renegade' companion (I hate that it's call evil >_< ) as to who was the more moral. Kuo being selfish because she was terrified to die rather than save millions was a great switch on an increasingly used game mechanic. Then Cole's death and Zeke's entire monologue at the end, along with the blink and you'll miss it question mark made of lightning.

Tekken 3 (Xiaoyu and Gon's endings)...

Xiaotu's entire motivation through the game has been to win the tournament so that she can build "Xiao Land", her own theme park. Heihachi stumps up the money since she won and build... Heihachiland! I don't know why, but the ridiculousness of this entire thing makes me laugh almost every time. Add to that, Gon's "Loop" ending, and you've got two of my favourite endings in the best Tekken game.

Uncharted 2...

Despite the shitty boss battle, the actual ending sequence is charming in it's simplicity. Nate and Elena are both hurt, but alive, and they share a random conversation like any other couple after all the mayhem that they've endured (clowns terrify me too, Nate). That and Sully/Chloe's creepy old man moment are a heart warming ending to a chaotic game.

Prince of Persia (Sands of Time)...

"Call me... Kakulukia". Brilliant ending to one of the best games I've ever played. Perfect final line too.

Red Dead Redemption

After spending the entire game trying to ensure that his family is safe, his son doesn't become a criminal like he was, and ensuring a nice quiet life, Marston is gunned down by the very man he helped take down his former posse and promised him that he'd be free. The way you get to enjoy the nice quiet life before the ending sequence, followed by Jack following in his father's footsteps and gunning down the lawman, becoming the very thing his father tried to prevent. Just a terrific ending to a terrific game.

The Bad

Final Fantasy XIII-2...

Oh God, seriously, what the fuck. It's been nearly four weeks and I still can't get over how inane that ending is. "To be continued" is one thing, but to just have you fail and have all of time wiped out, regardless of how many Crystals you collected? Fucking ridiculous. It'd at least be a little forgiveable if they'd have announced the continuation game/DLC already, but nothing. I think we can officially cast Final Fantasy XIII as the worst series of Final Fantasy games ever. Shame, because the universe it has is actually quite interesting.

Dragon Age 2...

Not bad, persay, more underwhelming. After everything that happened, The Champion just disappears, The Seekers just accept Varric's story, and that's it. Nothing else. Not even any acknowledgement of how your actions changed Kirkwall in the text way that Origins did.

LA Noire

Anyone with a basic knowledge of the genre and time period could see almost the entire plot laid out before them well in advance. Let down ending to a let down game.

Super Mario Bros.

"Thank you Mario! Your quest is over. We present you a new quest. Push button B to select a world."

... you may as well have said you were in another castle again, you bitch.

[Liam]

I never finished LA Noire, as it bored me. What happened?

[deli]

I never finished LA Noire, as it bored me. What happened?

Phelps dies by drowning

Also, after playing it yet again. Red Dead Redemption's ending is the best in video games ever. There, I said it.

[thatshortguy]

Also, after playing it yet again. Red Dead Redemption's ending is the best in video games ever. There, I said it.

The crazy thing? I can only see two games coming up that could have just an impactful ending as RDR. One is Journey, coming next week. The other? Max Payne 3. I am psyched to see how that one unfolds.

[jrhodes]

I could never decide if the ending to Persona 3 was great or awful.

Days after beating the big, bad evil "You" fall asleep on the lap of Aegis (a female robot) and never wake up. You'd completely given all your life energy to beating Nyx and saving the world.

It was certainly unconventional.

[Your Mom]

I hated the ending of Red Dead Redemption. I kind of felt robbed.

[thatshortguy]

I hated the ending of Red Dead Redemption. I kind of felt robbed.

Ba-dum-tsh.

Seriously, though...

The more I thought about it, the more that the section with Jack became necessary. To have such a noble finish as John's firefight skews the point of the game's focus on morality balanced against survivalism. You needed to experience Jack's thirst for revenge, then the act of gunning Ross down. That way you're in the mindset of Jack, who just betrayed John's goals, but at the same time showed that he had the capability to survive in such a harsh time.

[Guest mr. potato head]

EWR's ending is quite awesome, especially for how unexpected it is.

[Your Mom]

I hated the ending of Red Dead Redemption. I kind of felt robbed.

Ba-dum-tsh.

Seriously, though...

The more I thought about it, the more that the section with Jack became necessary. To have such a noble finish as John's firefight skews the point of the game's focus on morality balanced against survivalism. You needed to experience Jack's thirst for revenge, then the act of gunning Ross down. That way you're in the mindset of Jack, who just betrayed John's goals, but at the same time showed that he had the capability to survive in such a harsh time.

Not saying it was a bad ending exactly. But my parental instincts were kicking in big time in that game wanting to keep my family safe. Kind of felt like I failed. And while sure it made for a poignant scene it still just made me feel sad and like all that shit I had just done meant nothing.

[METALMAN]

I didn't like the ending to RDR because it was the end. >_>

[thatshortguy]

Not saying it was a bad ending exactly. But my parental instincts were kicking in big time in that game wanting to keep my family safe. Kind of felt like I failed. And while sure it made for a poignant scene it still just made me feel sad and like all that shit I had just done meant nothing.

I get where you're coming from with that. Never play WWE '12's Road to Wrestlemania modes. You'll go mad by the end of the first story.

[Robsturgh]

I could never decide if the ending to Persona 3 was great or awful.

Days after beating the big, bad evil "You" fall asleep on the lap of Aegis (a female robot) and never wake up. You'd completely given all your life energy to beating Nyx and saving the world.

It was certainly unconventional.

Loved the ending, one of my favourites ever. But I'm really weird.

[RPS]

Fallout 3. I actually thought that there was a mistake. I couldn't believe that's how the game ended. Such a horrible, horrible ending.

[Your Mom]

Oh yeah I didnt play it but I watched it being played. The ending for Rage sucked too. Seemed like there should have been more

[ChrisSteeleAteMyHamster]

Metal Gear Solid 4. Loved it. I went into it thiniking that it would be better if...

Snake had given everything and died, plus lots more sacrifice stuff.

but ultimately I was overjoyed when...

It was handled with much more of a happier ending for all involved.

The Heavy Rain ending I got was pleasing as it was generally happy and offered much cheeriness for the future.

Monkey Island 2's Big Whoop was epic.

[OctoberRaven]

I could never decide if the ending to Persona 3 was great or awful.

Days after beating the big, bad evil "You" fall asleep on the lap of Aegis (a female robot) and never wake up. You'd completely given all your life energy to beating Nyx and saving the world.

It was certainly unconventional.

I liked it. And it's better than the ending to the second chapter of Persona 3...

Where Aegis becomes a real girl a la Pinnochio

Still the good ending to the main game was awesome, and a good way to end one of the best stories in video games ever (topped only by Persona 4).

[Skummy]

Monkey Island 2's Big Whoop was epic.

I remember hating the plot twist in Big Whoop at the time - now I just kind of want to know what came next. Curse Of Monkey Island pretty much completely ret-conned it, while Ron Gilbert has long said that he had plans for a "true" Monkey Island 3 that would have continued from there, and while I think Curse is near-perfect, I'd love to know what was supposed to happen...