Poll: What Kind of Videogame Ending do you like the most?

[Slitzkin]

I love the brutaliy honest endings that follow all the major themes within a game. If the ending is consitent with the themes, characters and story and ties everything up with no loose ends I'm a very happy Aussie. The endings to Red Dead Redemption, Metal Gear Solid 3, InFamous 2 and Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions are just a few that really deliver upon the end.

 

[Vausch]

Just something that provides closure to the story at hand.

 

[Radoh]

I'm not too picky about what ending I get, just so long as it leaves me feeling something.

Most recently I rather 'enjoyed' Specs Ops: The Line's ending(s), they all feel very.... right.

 

[Jfswift]

Although I do enjoy the occasional "twist" I tend to prefer longer endings that provide, "closure" such as Fallout:NV explaining the results of all your actions.

 

[BreakfastMan]

The kind of ending I like? One that is well-executed and feels in line with the themes of the game. So basically, a good one. If I said anything else, I would be lying.

 

[SuperSuperSuperGuy]

I depends on the build-up. If you spend the game interacting with the environment and the people in said environment, you're going to want to explore around and see what effects you've had. The Persona games do this well; you get to walk around and check in on all of the Social Links you've completed. If it's a linear, story-based game, the ending should give closure to the story. Depending on the amount of dangling plot threads, the ending should be long, to give closure to as many of them as possible, or short, to give concise endings to fewer of them.

"Episodic" endings can only work if the game was designed to be such. "No real" endings have little to no closure, and can only really work in games that have either no real narrative, like a racing game, or focus more on side-quests, rather than an overarching plot. Twist endings are just copouts, though, unless they're properly foreshadowed and can be predicted with a bit of observation and thinking.

 

[username sucks]

I was going to say the "no real" ending until I read and saw that wasn't what I wanted Either. What I like is when there is just an event and then no explanation,like the original ME3 ending. I like to create my own story as I play a game. I also don't like it when background info on the characters or plot is givin. I like my versions of the story better. I entered "no real' ending on the poll because it's the closest though.

 

[Mr Dizazta]

How about a good ending. How about an ending that actually fits thematically with the game and not an ass grab.

 

[Jingle Fett]

The closest is twist ending, but it's not even really that kind of ending I like. The kind of ending I like is the kind that will make me think about the game and make me sort of just dwell on it. Twist endings often give me that feeling, but I like endings like in Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Majora's Mask, Bioshock, Inception, The Prestige, The Thing (Original) etc. If the ending is able to do that for me, and keep me thinking about it for a while, then for me it was a good ending.

 

[Vault101]

its hard to say..I know what DOESNT make a good ending (ME3 used as an example)

NOT TELLING US ANYTHING/RANDOMNESS

random incomprehensible shit does not make it art....leaving us asking too many questions does not have us walking away in awe...it has us walking away in sadness and frustration..and not the GOOD kind of sadness that wins oscars..the depressing sadness *coughmasseffectcough*

I'm not saying that you can;t have random shit..I actually like random shit if it has some kind of cohenecy, and I'm also not syaing that you can;t leave things open...[b/]but making us care, then slapping us in the face with "no resolution for YOU!" is a dick move[/b]

good exmaples

Spoiler: Black swan..randomness

the ending involvs Nina "dying" at the end of her "perfect" performce..we cant be sure if she "is" actually dying, we can;t be sure of ANYTHING in that movie.

and while her dying is kind of sad, it also fits the overall theme of the movie and ties it all off as an emotional ending...it fits, it makes sense

Spoiler: Portal 2..ambiguity

the portal (and by extension half life) series do kind of keep us in the dark with alot of details...

in the end Chell finally escapses..she walks out into a feild and into an uncertain future...although we dont know what has become of the outside world we know its far enough in the future to be alot of things, we know that chell has escaped and that shes free to do what shes wants...it doesnt give us much..but it gives us what we NEED...that chell is ok and that the future is open....and its enough

I also sont like heroic sacrifice..its cliche and feels too depressing

I love the brutaliy honest endings that follow all the major themes within a game. If the ending is consitent with the themes, characters and story and ties everything up with no loose ends I'm a very happy Aussie. The endings to Red Dead Redemption, Metal Gear Solid 3, InFamous 2 and Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions are just a few that really deliver upon the end.

I actually agree....which is why I hate ME3's ending even more...it doesnt fit

I dont think a sad ending is nessicary to make somthing more "deep"

 

[RedDeadFred]

I liked Borderland 2's ending a lot. It was satisfying and you get to keep playing after.

 

[mjcabooseblu]

But my favorite type isn't up there! Mine is the HSQ overclocker, where your last words before the ending are "wait, is this really about to happen?" and then it happens. Examples: Shooting the moon in Portal 2, the confrontation with Breen in Half-Life 2, the Midnight Riders concert in Left 4 Dead 2...I guess VALVe does that a lot. But I also got that feeling from Gears of War 2, when you use the Lambent Brumak as a giant fucking bomb, and Mass Effect 2, when you fight the giant walking spoiler.

 

[Buizel91]

I have found the Halo endings to be great. Each one at leasts makes you feel you have achieved something, for me anyway.

Red Dead Redemption also had a really good ending possibly one of the best. Gears 3 also ended fairly well, a nice end to Marcus's story, can't wait for the prequels to that trilogy now! =D

 

[Candidus]

If it makes thematic sense, if it's not a narrative breaking hole-ridden sub-fanfiction quality mess (ME3 pre-patch), then I don't really mind.

I was fine with the way that they ended XCOM.

I think my favourite ending type is exampled by Baldur's Gate 2 ToB. A steady, average length, lovingly written epilogue that addresses the fates of you and your companions after the adventure.

 

[The Madman]

XCOM was fine, it's a strategy game, what were people expecting? It's not exactly a narrative driven experience, that there was any sort of dramatic finale at all I thought was a nice touch. As for endings I like the more detailed ones myself generally. If I've invested time and effort getting to know this setting and these characters I want at least some sense of closure over their fates and that of their world.

That aside I also confess, I'm a sucker for a nice happy ending. Nothing too sappy but I like things to turn out alright, especially if it's with characters I genuinely enjoy.

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

I don't really care that much about the different types you described(or I have no preference anyways.) All I care is that the ending works for the game.

Half-Life ends with the GMAN popping out and talking to you a bit before the credits. And that works well for them. Modern Warfare games tend to end similarly, everything gets concluded and you get a few words of encouragement from your buddy or something before they go to credits. It would be silly for them to have a whole 'where are they now' or a keep playing kind of ending.

RPG's tend to end with that kind of ending and it works well for them because they tend to make you more invested in the characters. Though its not entirely necessary, like for example with Vampire Bloodlines. Because the loose ends are pretty much tied up by the end of the game. And that works really well for their format.

That's why ME3s ending was bound to be a failure. They addressed half of the equation though. Me3 was a long continuous game where the players got attached to the characters. It pretty much required a 'what happened to them ending.' But it also failed on another point that the ending didn't fit very well with the rest of the series. The trans-humanism stuff wasn't brought up gradually earlier in the series enough for the ending to make sense. And it didn't really fit with the tone for a lot of peoples games:Commander Shepard does the impossible over and over saving everyone. Completing impossible missions with no deaths. Even in the last game the only people you lose die heroically to save civilization(and are expected to die:Mordin who is old and short lived, Thane who is dying of a disease.) So apart from losing Ash\kaidan in the very first game, there's almost no sacrifice. It's just you winning every time and then suddenly the end shifts the tone very quickly and out of character with the rest of the series for a super paragon player. And that's why people didn't like it, and why a lot of people still have misgivings with their expanded ending DLC.


Whereas the same kind of ending in Deus Ex is a good ending and is well received. Because it does not represent a tonal shift. It fits perfectly into the tone of the game. So it's not really any ending type that's good or bad. It's how the game devs use that ending type and how they design their game to properly fit the ending.

 

[lord Claincy Ffnord]

Hmm, OK changed my mind about what I put in the poll, oh well.
I do like having a good twist that has been subtly hinted at throughout the game be revealed at/near the end. But more important to me is if the ending has an emotional impact (and confusion doesn't count as an emotional impact).

 

[KissmahArceus]

I have found the Halo endings to be great. Each one at leasts makes you feel you have achieved something, for me anyway.

Red Dead Redemption also had a really good ending possibly one of the best. Gears 3 also ended fairly well, a nice end to Marcus's story, can't wait for the prequels to that trilogy now! =D

Aside from Halo 2s ending, I'm a huge fan but that had me perched on the edge of my seat....
"Sir, Finishing this fight" then BLACK. NOTHING.
GODFUCKINDAMMIT

My fave recent endings: Spec Ops,[Prototype 2] (I just enjoyed the Mercer fight even though it could have been WAY better) and MGS 3 (finished it for the first time this year, one of my favourite endings)

 

[Sombra Negra]

i think people didn't like the ending to the new x-com because:

Spoiler

in the original game (from the nineties), the x-com crew had to fly to cydonia on mars to finally defeat the alien menace (which in itself is friggin' awesome, plus they had to use one of their home-made superbitchin' interceptor things to get there), where they had a little chat with this big alien brain thing that explains that humanity was another of the aliens' engineered species, as well as engineering life on mars and god knows how many other planets.

i don't think the new ending really compares to that, even though it's implied by that weird voice that the aliens also created us as well as all those other xeno scumbags. i was really hoping for another 'cydonia or bust' mission at the end, but it was just a souped-up ship raid which was slightly disappointing

on topic: i really like an ending that lets me roam afterwards, in an RPG, so i guess that would be 'exploration'. having people sing my praises after ultimate victory gives me a little warm glow. before i stab them in the face with a daedric claymore. a new game plus is nice too, so i can take on all my old foes with my shiny legendary gear. but in an FPS i prefer something definitive that brings the story to a close. or something sufficiently action-packed so i don't give a damn about unanswered questions (like CoD4's ending; the only thing i wanted to know after that was whether Price and his magnificent moustache survived).