Are unhappy endings bad ?
- Thread starter krazykidd
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an ending has to be satisfying; that hardly means happy, but its just harder to make a sad ending not make you fill cheated.
red dead redemption was depressing as hell, but as im sure everyone everywhere has pointed out, it was also a good/great ending, because it had closure, made sense, and was relevant to the theme of the game. ultimately every story is supposed to evoke some kind of feeling from the reader/watcher/player, and sadness is very much a feeling. if a story has evoked actual emotion from you, there is something about the human brain that makes you like it no matter if that emotion is happy, angry, or sad.
but sad endings are just inherently harder to do and riskier. with a happy ending, even if its stupid you can at least enjoy everything preceding the ending, but a bad unhappy ending leaves you feeling like the whole story was pointless and amounted to nothing.
red dead redemption was depressing as hell, but as im sure everyone everywhere has pointed out, it was also a good/great ending, because it had closure, made sense, and was relevant to the theme of the game. ultimately every story is supposed to evoke some kind of feeling from the reader/watcher/player, and sadness is very much a feeling. if a story has evoked actual emotion from you, there is something about the human brain that makes you like it no matter if that emotion is happy, angry, or sad.
but sad endings are just inherently harder to do and riskier. with a happy ending, even if its stupid you can at least enjoy everything preceding the ending, but a bad unhappy ending leaves you feeling like the whole story was pointless and amounted to nothing.
The problem with sad/unhappy endings in video games is in the very core of the gaming paradigm. You goal is to overcome obstacles, or in other words, WIN! If we take a simple (fairly) linear game with one start and one ending, making that ending be a defeat for the player is a dick move. You won. You had to win. The other alternative was the Game Over screen. So people aren't willing to accept their victory to be simply a defeat. Why bother in the first place then? Also, it's not fun or in any way fulfilling to work your arse off and beat the final boss only to have him kick your arse in a cutscene or with a 1-hit-KO spell he just pulled out of his arse.
That's the basic problem. There are ways around this so that not every ending has to be sunshine and rainbows. First of all, there's the Bitersweet ending, where the victory comes at a price. Maybe a bunch of characters died. Maybe stopping this threat only leads to a bigger one. Things like that.
Next, there are multiple endings. The basic form is where you make a choice somewhere along the line and it determines which ending you get. Better yet, the ending might depend on your performance in the game. Took too long to beat the last boss? Half your party dies. Took even longer? Half the world is destroyed. Things like that.
Just flat out going "Hah! You lose!" is a dick move, but there are ways to end games on a sad or melancholy note without screwing the player over are possible. As the medium starts exploring storytelling methods unique to it more, we'll get a better idea of what can be done with it.
That's the basic problem. There are ways around this so that not every ending has to be sunshine and rainbows. First of all, there's the Bitersweet ending, where the victory comes at a price. Maybe a bunch of characters died. Maybe stopping this threat only leads to a bigger one. Things like that.
Next, there are multiple endings. The basic form is where you make a choice somewhere along the line and it determines which ending you get. Better yet, the ending might depend on your performance in the game. Took too long to beat the last boss? Half your party dies. Took even longer? Half the world is destroyed. Things like that.
Just flat out going "Hah! You lose!" is a dick move, but there are ways to end games on a sad or melancholy note without screwing the player over are possible. As the medium starts exploring storytelling methods unique to it more, we'll get a better idea of what can be done with it.
I personally enjoy unhappy endings, even in games. However, I can easily see how a lot of gamers would be disappointed by an unhappy ending. I mean, you spend hours moving toward a certain goal, only to completely fail at the end in a way that isn't even a reflection of your skill? I does kind of go against the purpose of gaming; imagine going up to the prize booth with your handful of skeeball tickets and having the prize clerk punch you in the face...
a happy or sad ending can go either way
it's not what happens thats important
it's how it's all put together
the exact same ending in two different games will have two completely different effects on the player
it's not what happens thats important
it's how it's all put together
the exact same ending in two different games will have two completely different effects on the player