Red Dead Redemption's Ending - *Spoilers a-plenty!*

[Proverbial Jon]

For those of you who have completed the main story quests in Red Dead Redeption...

Was anyone else totally put out by the game's ending?

Spoiler

So basically John Marston fulfills his agreement with the government, his old allies are dead and he goes back to living on his ranch, happy with his wife Abigail, son Jack and Uncle... ok not so happy with uncle, but a peaceful life at least. You do a few more missions and you just know Rockstar are going to throw you a curve ball.

Then for no real reason at all (aside from the fact he's just an evil SOB), Edgar Ross turns up with the American army and tries to kill everyone. Abigail and Jack get away, uncle is killed and John essentially sacrifices himself in order to let his family live.

Ok I'm fine with all that storyline wise, a fitting and poetic end to John's life perhaps. But I was expecting a more triumphant ending in terms of gameplay, a mission where his family is threatened by Edgar Ross and he manages to save them (or maybe they die instead?) a massive romp across all of the known map and a heart pounding, blood pumping finale shoot-out. Instead, a character I've grown very attached to, is killed in a cutscene and I never even have to leave home!

Then to rub salt in the wound, I'm relegated to playing as Jack, a character I care very little for. Even then, any chance of avenging John's death is through a very minor stranger mission! I can accept the overall ending but at least give Jack a little bit of a storyline after the death of his father! Jack just felt thrown in as a way of continuing the game after it's conclusion, you even keep all your outfits and even John's horse! I have no desire to play as Jack, I don't like him. I spent the entire game learning about John and becoming attached to him as a typically well rounded Rockstar character. I care not for his delinquent son.

The entire family was inserted briefly at the end and given minor roles and it wasn't enough to actually make me care about them. The missions I did with them were all things I could do (and did) throught the entire game.

Personally I was hoping John and Bonnie got it on, I never cared for Abigail much either.

It all just felt a little anticlimactic and rushed, not at all like Rockstar's usual achievements. So, anyone else feel the same way or was it just me?

 

[Baby Tea]

So, anyone else feel the same way or was it just me?

Might not be just you, but I don't feel that way at all:

Spoiler

This was probably one the best endings to a game I have ever seen, or had the joy of playing. I teared up at the end right when Abigail said 'I love you too', and it got worse when it zoomed out to show her grave. Only one other game ending made me tear up: Mafia. But this? I could cry just thinking about it too much.

The final few missions, where you are fighting to reconnect and rebuild with your family, are my favourite of the whole game. The way John and his wife talked, and joked...it was so real. My wife and I joke like that with each other. And Jack? Sure, you got annoyed with him because he didn't know better...but he was a kid. I sure was that way when I was 15.

The whole story was just so well done. I would say it's hands-down Rockstar's best narrative they have done. Nothing else they have done comes close, in my opinion. I knew they would be attacked again, that's for sure. But there was always hope right until you opened the barn door fully...and the slip into dead-eye was that final act of defiance.

And now you control Jack, and the irony hits you like a ton of bricks: You've been fighting this whole game to get your family back to have a normal life, so that Jack can be a rancher or something, and not have the life John did. And his final desperate stand, meant to give his family time to get away and have that normal life, actually alerted them, brought them back, and put Jack right where John didn't want him in the first place.
It's heartbreaking.
And it's one of the best, if not THE best, ending to a game I've ever seen.
I'm so glad it wasn't spoiled for me, and that I could just experience it.
Bravo, Rockstar. Bravo.
Red Dead Redemption is my GOTY. And it would take something incredible to take that title.

 

[Proverbial Jon]

Might not be just you, but I don't feel that way at all:

Spoiler

This was probably one the best endings to a game I have ever seen, or had the joy of playing. I teared up at the end right when Abigail said 'I love you too', and it got worse when it zoomed out to show her grave. Only one other game ending made me tear up: Mafia. But this? I could cry just thinking about it too much.

The final few missions, where you are fighting to reconnect and rebuild with your family, are my favourite of the whole game. The way John and his wife talked, and joked...it was so real. My wife and I joke like that with each other. And Jack? Sure, you got annoyed with him because he didn't know better...but he was a kid. I sure was that way when I was 15.

The whole story was just so well done. I would say it's hands-down Rockstar's best narrative they have done. Nothing else they have done comes close, in my opinion. I knew they would be attacked again, that's for sure. But there was always hope right until you opened the barn door fully...and the slip into dead-eye was that final act of defiance.

And now you control Jack, and the irony hits you like a ton of bricks: You've been fighting this whole game to get your family back to have a normal life, so that Jack can be a rancher or something, and not have the life John did. And his final desperate stand, meant to give his family time to get away and have that normal life, actually alerted them, brought them back, and put Jack right where John didn't want him in the first place.
It's heartbreaking.
And it's one of the best, if not THE best, ending to a game I've ever seen.
I'm so glad it wasn't spoiled for me, and that I could just experience it.
Bravo, Rockstar. Bravo.
Red Dead Redemption is my GOTY. And it would take something incredible to take that title.

I can see what you're saying here, I really can.

Spoiler

I appreciate a good story and I'm not saying it's a bad ending in a storyline sense, in fact there probably wasn't another way it could have been done that would fit the story. I think perhaps this is one of those rare instances where gameplay and storyline just don't match up. If anything, it just felt a little rushed towards the end. Perhaps if I could have just spent a little more time with the family first, or maybe that was the whole point. You really aren't supossed to see unexpected deaths coming.

 

[mokes310]

Are you kidding me? That ending was absolutely brilliant! I had an inkling that it was coming, but didn't imagine that I would open to see what I did.

 

[Reep]

Anyone know if anything happens to the McFarlanes? If you know, could you point me in the right direction?

 

[Pandalisk]

Anyone know if anything happens to the McFarlanes? If you know, could you point me in the right direction?

As far as we know, Nothing at all, there on there farm, maybe a future DLC will clear it up.

Hmm i liked the Ending but i demand more satisfying Vengence!.

 

[Creator1234]

Anyone know if anything happens to the McFarlanes? If you know, could you point me in the right direction?

Although we are not told i would guess(considerin the health issues at the time) that Mr. Mc died of old age or something and Bonnie is either really old or died from like chlorea or somethin, but i havent got a clue who is looking after the farm now lol

Also can i just ask im not the only person who truly hates Jack am i? and i mean TRULY hate compared to John

 

[Flamezdudes]

I absolutely adored this ending, great ending to this game even though its sad and i completely agree with Baby Tea! An alternative would be for Jack and Abigail to die in some dramatic way and have John get extremely pissed off and suicidal and go after Edgar etc and kill him, he kills Edgar but then immediatly gets killed afterwards.

I would of liked Jack's little side misson against Edgar to of been longer, better and more dramatic. Perhaps with some DLC..

 

[Nmil-ek]

It was utterly fantasatic, I almost thought they would go for a sequel bait cop-out ending this being such a risky new IP but nope. I felt sad for john but that only served to show how much I came to connect with the character it was very effective.

 

[MiracleOfSound]

I thought the manner of John's death was a little too gruesome. No one else in the game had such a brutal, graphic death so why do it to John? It felt like a cheap shock tactic.

I also hated playing as Jack so much that I started the whole game again.

'Yeeehaw... work ya damn nag!' Ugh.

 

[VanityGirl]

It was a sad, yet very good ending. I like the irony of the end as well.

 

[Reep]

Anyone know if anything happens to the McFarlanes? If you know, could you point me in the right direction?

Although we are not told i would guess(considerin the health issues at the time) that Mr. Mc died of old age or something and Bonnie is either really old or died from like chlorea or somethin, but i havent got a clue who is looking after the farm now lol

Also can i just ask im not the only person who truly hates Jack am i? and i mean TRULY hate compared to John

Its only 3 years after John died though so Bonnie might not be an old woman, i checked it out and apparently shes married or something.

 

[Wolfy4226]

So...wait....There's more after you take control of Jack?....O-o..how do I unlock this?

 

[aspher]

I like the ending with John, but thought the revenge angle with Jack could have been handled a bit better. It felt a little rushed and forced. The ending with John had much more of an emotional impact with me, and I didn't get that feeling of justice when Jack killed Ross. You kill him, the credits roll, then the game continues straight after. It just felt off to me.

The thing with Ross killing John's family - it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. He could have killed them long before and John would have been none the wiser. But he let them be because he wasn't after his family; he was after John and his fellow gang members. To hold them until John did their bidding, then turn around and kill them doesn't make a great deal of sense.

 

[tipp6353]

Here is why I though Ross killed John:

His mission was to kill all members of the Dutch Van Der Linde gang, as a way to show the American public that the wild west wasn't around any more, to show that it had moved on from the lawlessness of the frontier. The gang represented the old ways of the west, and with them, the old west died. So, they took the weakest willed of the group (John) and had him do all their dirty work for them, he was nothing more than a useful, expendable tool.

They knew that as long as one member of the gang, reformed or not, was alive, the heart and soul of the old west still lived on. He might not be a threat anymore, but his previous life still represented everything that they sought to get rid of, so the killed him. With the death John Marston, the old west, the wild west, disappeared forever, which was exactly what Ross and the government wanted.

But theres a flaw to that theory, the wild west still lives in his son Jack, so the west really isn't dead yet

 

[aspher]

Here is why I though Ross killed John:

His mission was to kill all members of the Dutch Van Der Linde gang, as a way to show the American public that the wild west wasn't around any more, to show that it had moved on from the lawlessness of the frontier. The gang represented the old ways of the west, and with them, the old west died. So, they took the weakest willed of the group (John) and had him do all their dirty work for them, he was nothing more than a useful, expendable tool.

They knew that as long as one member of the gang, reformed or not, was alive, the heart and soul of the old west still lived on. He might not be a threat anymore, but his previous life still represented everything that they sought to get rid of, so the killed him. With the death John Marston, the old west, the wild west, disappeared forever, which was exactly what Ross and the government wanted.

I agree with this, but the death of Ross at the hands of his son contradicts this because arguably the 'old west' lives on through Jack. Jack, a book reading placid boy, becomes a murderer. He morphs into a version of his father - as shown by his attire - thus continuing it all.

Edit - beaten by tipp6353

 

[tipp6353]

Did you read what happened to Irish in the last paper?

 

[aspher]

Poor old Irish.

Actually, no. I never did like Irish.