"And they actually didn't live happily ever after"?

[Jang]

I have this bad habit about thinking about pointless stuff, and today the topic that crossed my mind was sad endings in movies. They are rare, but they are possible to make without the movie turning into a sack of crap, and they can leave quite an impact which a happy ending for the same story most likely couldn't have.

But then I came to think about gaming... It's actually nearly impossible to make a sad ending for a game because of the interactivity part of it. The player will quite simply be left with a feeling that it was impossible for him to beat the situation his avatar was faced with, and if that is the case, then what's the point of him playing anyway?

The only way I see an ending can be sad without running the experience for the player is when there are multiple endings, and even there, you usually have the opportunity for a happy ending. Personally whenever I play a such game I take the good ending as the "real" ending, and anything else is labeled with "The possibility of "what if X happened instead of Y"" (granted this might just be me, but the point still stands).

So I sat down and tried to think of a game with a sad ending, and when I came up with nothing I tried to think of the possibility of a game with a sad ending.

The absolute closets I have come was "Cane and Lynch: dead men", but again, we are faced with the option of two endings, and while I wouldn't call either super happy, then I would still argue that one of them is significantly happier than the other.

Any thoughts on this? Ideas? Anything???

 

[Cowabungaa]

Master Chief pretty much got the short end of the stick at the end of Halo 3. And if you screw STALKER up, you don't really end up smiling either. Those are the examples I can think of.

As why we don't see it often, well after finishing something we usually like to have a sense of accomplishment. That's pretty hard (but not impossible) to get with a "you loose" type of ending.

 

[armaina]

Play Yume Nikki, the ending is very.... different.

That aside, I'm finding most games with any sort of negative ending is usually a game that has multiple endings, and the 'bad' one is just one of many you can get. I think though, if there wasn't some sort of positive ending, people wouldn't be motivated to play the game again, or they may not even be motivated to play the game at all once word of the 'Bad End' got out. At least with movies your're just watching stories unfold. With games you have to work towards the end for a longer amount of time than a movie could be.

 

[Amethyst Wind]

Any of the Final Fantasys. How are the heroes supposed to re-adjust to normal life after what they've been through? Everything would seem so pointless and mundane. I'd be willing to bet that Zell'd hang himself.

 

[Radeonx]

Master Chief pretty much got the short end of the stick at the end of Halo 3. And if you screw STALKER up, you don't really end up smiling either. Those are the examples I can think of.

As why we don't see it often, well after finishing something we usually like to have a sense of accomplishment. That's pretty hard (but not impossible) to get with a "you loose" type of ending.

Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2 both did a good job with that.
They had multiple endings, however.

 

[Thyunda]

Games are meant to have endings that let you put your controller to one side and smile all satisfied-like to yourself. I just feel robbed when I get a sad ending.

 

[BlumiereBleck]

Drama is a necessity of all key story lines. Hence why Super Paper Mario takes that route and wins Best Gaming Story Ever.

 

[apelsz]

MOTHER 3. You end it by [Spoiler: Super sad stuff] killing your brother and destroying the world with no alternate endings [/Spoiler]

It really stings, but you still feel accomplished at the ending, because you beat the game.

 

[Aerodynamic]

The good ending for inFamous sucked for Cole big time. The bad ending not as much but you still made the city into a possibly uninhabitable and unrepairable wasteland.

And if you are talking movies as well Lord of War wasn't to happy either.

 

[Delock]

Yeah they can. Here are a few:
Silent Hill 2 (I think it's the best ending that you get it)
Metal Gear Solid (especially 3 and 4, neither of which have alternate endings)
Final Fantasy X (see above)
Bioshock (argueable with the good ending. Even though things turn out right, the game ends with a sort of sad ending.
The newest Prince of Persia (And you have to cause it to end like this. It's sort of heartbreaking as you go through doing the worst thing possible to beat the game)
Half Life 2: Ep2
Heavy Rain (Only 1 ending will make you not feel sad.)

Spoiler

God of War 3 (and it does something similar to PoP above)

Take your pick

 

[MattRooney06]

the ending to metroid on the gameboy colour, nintendo 64 and the snes was baisicly a block of text that read somthing like


well done......you have saved the galexy, but beware as it may not stay safe


fuck you thats what i say

 

[Stormz]

I've never beaten it but I've read about it. Doesn't Drakenguard for the ps2 have all sad endings? I don't think one ending ended happily in that game.

 

[The Madman]

Both The Longest Journey and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey have sad endings.

Indeed, the ending of Dreamfall is so sudden and brutal many people felt rightfully betrayed. I mean this was a game, you can't end it like that, it's cheating! Right?

Planescape: Torment also had a very sad ending, although that kinda depends on how you looked at and what your actions were leading up to it. Ultimately though there was one final ending that nothing you did could avoid, the only thing that could change was everything leading up to that moment and how, ultimately, the Nameless One faced it!

Oh, and not really sad so much as just *awesome betrayal* but if you sided with the Kuei-Jin in Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines... lets just say they 'technically' keep their end of the bargain, but ultimately come out on top in the end.

 

[Yoshemo]

Silent Hill 2 and 3[Spoiler: ] Silent Hill 2 kinda sucks for James.. The best ending is that your dead wife is still dead, and you go home. And Silent Hill 3.. Heather's dad is dead, shes alone in an abandoned town with an old man with a broken leg, and she still has to live her life with no parents [/Spoiler]

 

[Riobux]

Kane And Lynch, personally, wins in terms of "didn't live happily ever after" just because you get two endings and either way it's a bad ending.

Spoiler

Either you leave Lynch to burn and your daughter hates you, or Lynch gets shot and your daughter possibly killed

 

[aegios187]

FEAR 2 is definitely not a happily ever after.....oh God, the horror... *shudders*

 

[Georgie_Leech]

I actually have a perfect example of a sad ending that was still satisfying.

For those who don't know, Lufia II was an awesome RPG that didn't pretty much everything right: gameplay, characters, and story were all done excellently.

Spoiler: And the ending was incredibly powerful; major spoliers throughout

You see, the main character, Maxim, falls in love with one of the other characters, Selan, and they have a terrific relationship. They even get married and have a kid. But during the final part of the game... Aw, heck, this will take way to long to type out. Here.

Part one of 3.

For all it's a "good" ending, it's still a sad one. Also, the only ending, so there is no way to get a happier result.

 

[R1CK_D0M]

If you play heavy rain wrong, it can be the most depressing thing you'll experience in a long time.

Also, that wii dead space game where in the last level your forced to lop off your own arm. Haven't actually played it, so I'm not sure how it actually ends tho.

 

[Tasachan]

Silent Hill games usually have a sad ending. How are those people going to function in the real world after going through that?

 

[Meggiepants]

Well, Fallout 3 might have a kind of upbeat ending if you do it right, but without the DLC...

Spoiler

Your dad still dies and when I played it through the first time without the DLC, it sure seems to indicate that you die saving everyone else.

Not to mention, you know, it's still a wasteland out there and well... war never changes.