I actually don't mind them if they fit. If the game is going well then all of the sudden holy crap bad ending, then I get a little annoyed.
Are unhappy endings bad ?
- Thread starter krazykidd
- Start date
Recommended Videos
Some of the best endings I know are unhappy ones. However, I don't think there need to be more of them, I'm content with those special few I've experienced.
Shadow Hearts - the 'real' ending was pretty damn sad. There was the possibility of getting a 'good' ending, but it's not the one they continued on in the sequel.
Shadow Hearts: Covenant - Two different endings and both of them are sad, but damn they're good.
Legend of Legaia - An entire race, meant to help people, end up being completely erased from existence because man got greedy. Even in the wake of their apocalypse, they sacrificed themselves to save humanity.
The Darkness - The ending leaves some room for speculation, but admit it, just like the rest of the story, it wasn't exactly a happy-happy joy-joy trip.
Shadow Hearts - the 'real' ending was pretty damn sad. There was the possibility of getting a 'good' ending, but it's not the one they continued on in the sequel.
Shadow Hearts: Covenant - Two different endings and both of them are sad, but damn they're good.
Legend of Legaia - An entire race, meant to help people, end up being completely erased from existence because man got greedy. Even in the wake of their apocalypse, they sacrificed themselves to save humanity.
The Darkness - The ending leaves some room for speculation, but admit it, just like the rest of the story, it wasn't exactly a happy-happy joy-joy trip.
Of course not. Bittersweet endings generally leave more of an impact than happy endings.
Saved the world, got the girl, everyone lives happily ever after is... fine, I guess. It works. But when the girl dies, or the world isn't much better off, or something happens, we find outselves remembering the story much better.
True art is angsty, after all. A "powerful" ending is most often one that makes you feel more sad than happy.
That said, it can be implemented badly, just like any other storytelling trope. You find yourself not caring, or there's no closure, or it feels like a cop out. "Rocks fall, everybody dies" is incredibly frustrating to the audience, much more so than any sort of "weak" ending that everyone expects.
This is the problem with straight out downer endings. It is extremely hard not to make them feel inconclusive or lacking closure. We know what happened, the hero lost. The world was destroyed. Bad guy won. But it takes a very, very skilled writer, a lot of luck, or a specific type of story/game to not make it feel like a bunch of bullshit.
Saved the world, got the girl, everyone lives happily ever after is... fine, I guess. It works. But when the girl dies, or the world isn't much better off, or something happens, we find outselves remembering the story much better.
True art is angsty, after all. A "powerful" ending is most often one that makes you feel more sad than happy.
That said, it can be implemented badly, just like any other storytelling trope. You find yourself not caring, or there's no closure, or it feels like a cop out. "Rocks fall, everybody dies" is incredibly frustrating to the audience, much more so than any sort of "weak" ending that everyone expects.
This is the problem with straight out downer endings. It is extremely hard not to make them feel inconclusive or lacking closure. We know what happened, the hero lost. The world was destroyed. Bad guy won. But it takes a very, very skilled writer, a lot of luck, or a specific type of story/game to not make it feel like a bunch of bullshit.
Are you kidding me? A lot of games (and movies and books, for that matter) I like have a bad ending in some way.
Games like MGS3, Shadow of the Colossus, Final Fantasy X, Red Dead Redemption, Demon's Souls or Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (yes, I liked frogface).
A bittersweet mix of accomplishment and loss makes for a powerful ending. Those kinds of games stick with you more than the standard 'guy-saves-the-world-gets-the-girl' ending.
Games like MGS3, Shadow of the Colossus, Final Fantasy X, Red Dead Redemption, Demon's Souls or Assassin's Creed Brotherhood (yes, I liked frogface).
A bittersweet mix of accomplishment and loss makes for a powerful ending. Those kinds of games stick with you more than the standard 'guy-saves-the-world-gets-the-girl' ending.
Kingdom Hearts is all I have to say. Now without getting into too much detail, Sora finds what he has been fighting tooth and nail for, finally gets it, and then loses it not 5 minutes after. And he didn't even get everything that he was fighting for, only like 60%
Halo Reach qualifies for a bittersweet ending at best:
Just because a story ends in tragedy doesn't mean it's bad. Sure it's not exactly uplifting, but it often leads us to ponder deeper questions about the human psyche and how we deal with adversity.
Reach is glassed, millions die and the player character is killed, but a glimmer of hope remains as Cortana uses the data from the "latchkey discovery" to take the Pillar of Autumn to Installation 04, events that would eventually lead to victory.
No HOWEVER they need to be done right and "feel" right
take the original fallout 3 ending, basically you die in the end if you were good, which is a complete slap in the face, you could refuse but then three-dog chews you out and it dosnt make the ending any less depressing in a game thats pretty much depressing from start to finish
I cant think of any Videogame examples but the ending to inglorious basterds is kind of sad as *SPOILER* they all die in the end, but it dosnt feel wrong because you feel thats how things were going to play out in the end,
somtimes a happy ending just dosnt quite fit the hwole thing, like Requiem for a dream
take the original fallout 3 ending, basically you die in the end if you were good, which is a complete slap in the face, you could refuse but then three-dog chews you out and it dosnt make the ending any less depressing in a game thats pretty much depressing from start to finish
I cant think of any Videogame examples but the ending to inglorious basterds is kind of sad as *SPOILER* they all die in the end, but it dosnt feel wrong because you feel thats how things were going to play out in the end,
somtimes a happy ending just dosnt quite fit the hwole thing, like Requiem for a dream
I really enjoy bittersweet endings.
Shadow Hearts: Covenant and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West come to mind.
Shadow Hearts: Covenant and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West come to mind.
Not always, I mean I laughed at the end of Final Fantasy X when Tidus is disappearing and Yuna runs to hug him and falls through him.
(RDR SPOILERS IMMINENT. I didn't provide a spoiler box because I assume that by now, everyone who cares has played RDR.)
No, of course not. The most important thing that an ending can achieve is to encourage an emotional response, or to provide a sense of poignancy. Hell, imagine the ending of, say, Red Dead Redemption if Marston won outright. There'd be no closure to the story. The whole 'redemption' aspect of the story would just not matter. Marston would ride off into the sunset and the whole emotional content of the plot would mean fuck all.
No, of course not. The most important thing that an ending can achieve is to encourage an emotional response, or to provide a sense of poignancy. Hell, imagine the ending of, say, Red Dead Redemption if Marston won outright. There'd be no closure to the story. The whole 'redemption' aspect of the story would just not matter. Marston would ride off into the sunset and the whole emotional content of the plot would mean fuck all.
Doesn't make a game (or really any media) bad simply because it has a depressing ending.
It adds a bit of realism to things rather than ending everything on a perfectly happy note, which can be done well sometimes, but often times will just come off as cliched or even boring.
The same goes with bad endings though. Done well, it presents realism.
Done wrong, it can present pointless nihilism.
It adds a bit of realism to things rather than ending everything on a perfectly happy note, which can be done well sometimes, but often times will just come off as cliched or even boring.
The same goes with bad endings though. Done well, it presents realism.
Done wrong, it can present pointless nihilism.
Sad endings are as good as "happy" ones as long as they can create strong emotional response from player / reader / audience. Everyone subconsciously evaluates a game / book / movie as soon as it ends and great ending (in terms of quality) helps a lot.
We don't have to go far for an outstanding example: Syberia 2. Very emotional, sad ending and one of the best I've ever seen.
Both Oblivion and Fallout have sad endings. Hell, all 3 endings of Deus Ex are particularly disturbing and far from "happy".
We don't have to go far for an outstanding example: Syberia 2. Very emotional, sad ending and one of the best I've ever seen.
Both Oblivion and Fallout have sad endings. Hell, all 3 endings of Deus Ex are particularly disturbing and far from "happy".
As long as there is closure and it is a satisfying conclusion, then it's fine.
If it's out of fucking nowhere, a huge tone shift, and almost brings no closure, then it's terrible (see Neverwinter Nights 2).
If it's out of fucking nowhere, a huge tone shift, and almost brings no closure, then it's terrible (see Neverwinter Nights 2).
It depends on how unhappy it is and for what reasons. Unhappy endings need to be done well to be satisfying - because that's something you have to keep, the satisfaction of finishing the game. Winning is very satisfying, but other things can be as well.
I don't mind them as long as it dosn't take away the over all effort or experience. For anybody who has finished an old-ish game called Divine Divinity 2: Ego Draconis will know. It wipes out all effort you put in, and for somebody who is a bit of a completeist about things its even more of a kick in the teeth.
Also the ending to Mutant Chronicles was and "O ffs" moment.
Also the ending to Mutant Chronicles was and "O ffs" moment.