Poll: What type of game ending is best?

[Vlane]

My favorite ending to a game ever is the ending to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. You beat the bad guys, and destroy their weapon of mass destruction, and you find out why The Boss betrayed the U.S. It was very satisfying.

Definately miles better than MGS4's ending I'll tell you that. I really didn't like MGS4's ending, Snake and Otacon ride off into the sunset...

Truly, truly lame. I think Snake should have died a heroes death myself, sacrificing himself to kill Liquid and save the world.

I was actually disappointed because Snake doesn't kill himself in MGS4. It would have been better that way, but Snake likes to be a weapon of mass destruction...

I like sad, good endings like in Drakengard. They drag you more into the game.

 

[SomeBritishDude]

I like good endings. Doesn't matter if there happy, sad, niether or both. As long as I like the ending its fine.

 

[Sirisaxman]

One that leads logically from the story. If its a happy game, then a happy end. A horror though, should not have a happy ending. One thing all games must have in common is give the player a sense of accomplishment with the ending; the player's actions during the game (regardless of if the game is linear or not) should have some significant effect in the game world. Even if the game has just one possible end, it should give closure to the events in the story, and have an impact on the game world.

This. It really depends on the genre of the game, different endings fit different games better.

 

[Brodden]

I don't need a game to tie up all the loose ends, I don't need a game to forcefully have it open for the expansion pack or the next installment or whatever. I just want the ending to fit, it could be a twist or whatever, as long as it fit.

 

[gigastrike]

I usually like an ending to be determined by my actions, but what really matters to me is whether it's epic or not. Mass Effect's was very well done, for example.

 

[PureChaos]

i quite like it when not all the questions are answered or something happens that is completely unexpected

 

[ProfessorLayton]

I like endings that end in a cliffhanger. Half-Life 2: Episode 2 had the best ending to any game I have ever played.

Definitely not like Call of Duty's though. All the CoD games have the worst endings ever.

 

[Trace2010]

Bittersweet...always the best.

 

[pirate_wezza]

pretty much any metal gear solid game ending. nothing like a 90 minute end sequence!

 

[Silver]

Many people have already said this, and for good reason, but the ending should be connected to your play. What you did should have a visible effect, and you should feel you actually accomplished or at least changed something.

 

[Tyrant55]

This thread might as well have *SPOILER* in the title.

I loved Resistance 2's ending for some odd reason. Sure, Hale gets his brains blown out and I liked him. But it's the shock of that actually being how the game ended that got me. Nobody saves him, nobody complains, the big soldier guy just blew his brains out... Then the credits roll.

 

[Sewblon]

I like to have a choice because that is the only thing that makes me finish story driven games with frustrating gameplay like silent hill 4. I usually hope for a semi-bad ending though because for me the interesting character is the villian since he is usually the only character who can properly expound on the story and give it context.

 

[wewontdie11]

Totally depends on the style of game as far as I'm concerned. The type of protagonist (i.e. warm and likeable or a bit of a dick), the genre of game and if the plot of the game has been a major force in the game. Out of the options given I suppose I like having a choice the most, but still something that will just wrap up a game nicely and tie off all the lose ends.

 

[Jumplion]

My favorite ending to a game ever is the ending to Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. You beat the bad guys, and destroy their weapon of mass destruction, and you find out why The Boss betrayed the U.S. It was very satisfying.

Definately miles better than MGS4's ending I'll tell you that. I really didn't like MGS4's ending, Snake and Otacon ride off into the sunset...

Truly, truly lame. I think Snake should have died a heroes death myself, sacrificing himself to kill Liquid and save the world.

Never the less, I was tearing up at the end of MGS4 and probably would have cried up like a baby if I had played MGS3, which reminds me I have to get the damn collecters eddition (all the MGSs made in one package) any idea if they're still selling those?

Anyway, it sortof depends on the game. If there are planning to have a sequel to the game, you have to make the ending open enough to warrent a sequel and make sure it doesn't leave on a too big cliff (hanger).
I just like whatever ending the game gives me, ASLONG as it fits what my expectations would be such as the fate of the entire human population rests in your hands, I'm not going to be happy with a 1 minute "You win!" sequence with you just saying "we're going home!" after the epic space battle. I need a leveraged(?) ending than that!

 

[EzraPound]

Any ending that is a well-fitting ending is a good ending.

 

[Arcticflame]

A well fitting one.

However, I'm sick of these endings which try to avoid appearing cliche'd and want to be deep and meaningful, so they kill of their lead characters at the end.

The same thing happens in books, films and T.V. It's like script writers just want to have their shows be remembered, so they decide to whack a tragedy onto the end of it and hope it'll go down as a "shocking.. moving.. ending".

I'm not saying that every time this happens in a video game it's bad, there are endings where the lead characters death, or similar tragedy is the right choice, but there are 10x more where it's just a cop out to avoid having a good plot.

I'm sick of it. It's not deep and meaningful, it's cheap and tacky.

 

[Dommyboy]

Multiple endings based on your choices are always winners for me, unless they are really crappy endings.

 

[Valukar]

I prefer games with several possible endings, and you usually don't get one that you'd expect. Unfortunately I've never played a game like that. Go figure.