I'm finding the apologists for the back end of LA Noire pretty insufferable, to be honest. Saying that the final hours of the game aren't a big letdown is a massive disservice to just how expertly crafted the rest of the game is. I really loved LA Noire, but the plot from Vice onward was just bungled. It's obvious that they made cuts to fit the data onto the game media - Cole's affair with Elsa is given almost no poetic justification or meaning, which is not in keeping with the general narrative approach of the game - other, minor characters are given sweeping great opportunities to pontificate on minor plot points, but Cole's decision to cheat on his wife with a woman he's had almost no contact with is represented via a very brief interrogation in the course of an investigation and a glimpsed knock on a door? Pathetic. I'd be fully willing to go along with the twist - it fits and it serves the plot, so I'm onboard - but without any idea of why it happened I had trouble enjoying the rest of the game. And I'm not talking a great long conversation or a love scene - although I think it's a huge missed opportunity for both of these - but even a decent, meaningful look between the two characters as Cole stands in Elsa's doorway would have sufficed - to communicate some longing or loneliness or whatever - but he literally just knocks, door opens, in he goes, fade out. It's useless, and too much of the rest of the plot hinges on that barely-explained encounter.
I had other complaints with the way the final few cases were handled -
Again, it might be symptomatic of sections being removed for storage reasons, but I felt the introduction of Kelso as a playable character was mishandled - alternating between Phelps and Kelso from an earlier point in the game would have made much more sense, and I really get the impression that's what should have happened. For example, in one of the very early narrated case openings reference is made to the rivalry between Kelso and Phelps, but except for flashbacks this rivalry has almost zero relevance until the end of the game, so why include it? It's obvious that we missed out on some stuff.
Finally,
with so much of the game up until that point hinging on solid investigative work and interrogation it rankled me no end that the ending devolved into protracted shootouts with faceless and dubiously explained thugs - Kelso didn't build cases, he just conducted killing sprees - it was weak and generally I felt let down.
The one part of the ending I can't complain much about at all
was the eulogy; it was ironic and evil and carried generally more meaning than anything in the several hours prior. I was happy enough with not all of the bad guys getting their just desserts, although again, I think just why that happened could've been made clearer and more explicit, and generally it felt fitting. Although at the same time, I can't help but think they've passed the torch to Kelso and left some bad guys standing simply so they can do a tech reuse sequel. But hey, I hope I'm wrong.
tl, dr; the game rocks, but for one reason or another the denouement was handled really badly and ultimately did kinda ruin the experience for me. Perhaps I was expecting too much, but the pre-Vice game is comfortably my game of the year; I'm gutted that it all pans out so awkwardly.
