what makes a "bad" ending?

[Vault101]

and I dont just mean a "downer" ending, where its all sad

what I mean is an ending that is "bad" for some reason or another, an ending you feel just isnt good enough, or does somthign wrong. Reason is I've often heard people talking about the dissapointing/bad ending to a game/movie/book or whatever...so to be more specific

what exact "things" or elements make an ending dissapointing..or just plain "bad" and mabye use an example AND maybe an example of a good ending[/B]

for me....

1. lack of resolution, I think is a big one, of ocarse then again and cliff hanger can add an element of excitment/interest..like with the assasins creed series which thrives on thease...so its a hard one

2. twists/plot reolutions that MAKE NO SENSE (or its too obvious)..a twist can be awsome if done right...but if everything is predictable, and the solution to everything is pulled from the writers ass then yeah, its disapointing (or you know..deus ex machina)

3. no climax OR an ending that seems to come out of nowhere...again this might be a hard one, but if somthing feels like "it just ends"

of coarse all of thease things can depend enitely on the work in question, anyway this is my example of a GOOD ending, from portal 2

[spoiler/] I think portal 2 has a great ending..not only because of the awsome climax..but also because it balances both resolution AND somthing of the unknown

in the end chell is relasted from apature...out into (what we think) is the outside world..it looks very peaceful...finally chell is free, and GlaDOS is right where she belongs..testing to her hearts content

sure, we dont know where chell is going to go from here, or what GlaDOS might do next..thats left up to our imaginations...we can imagine that chell now has the opertunity to go off and be happy (rather than stuck in a hellish test chamber..provided the "outside" is real) its not too sad, not overly happy but it aloows room for optimism and interpretation [/spoiler]

so yeah whats your example (also do you think an ending thats too sad can ruin the story?)

I also suggest using spoiler tags, I know its a thread about endings but it might save some people from scrolling down and accidently have somthing spoilered [/B]

 

[Phlakes]

Read Dead Redemption, of course. Although I think it actually would've been better without the final final part. That's still good, but maybe a bit unnecessary, just like you talk about with balancing resolution and unknown. Ending it at the earlier part would have the perfect balance.

 

[Jake0fTrades]

Good guys lose, bad guys win. Worst ending. Bam.

 

[Valagetti]

A bad ending for me is pretty much summed up with shit all happening at the end, no resolution etc. Kane and Lynch are great at that, along with film, American Psycho. I would like a nice insane plot twist like Metal gear Solid or Fight Club.

 

[Jedoro]

1) If it's a standalone story or the end of a series, there has to be some resolution at the end.

2) If it's the beginning or middle of a series, it has to set up the next chapter, even if only slightly.

If it doesn't meet the appropriate condition of the two, I think it's a bad ending.

 

[Valagetti]

Read Dead Redemption, of course. Although I think it actually would've been better without the final final part. That's still good, but maybe a bit unnecessary, just like you talk about with balancing resolution and unknown. Ending it at the earlier part would have the perfect balance.

Well what about the final final final part, where he turns into a zombie and can still actually die, I like that ending, the protag turns into a zombie!

sorry about the double post.

 

[Vault101]

A bad ending for me is pretty much summed up with shit all happening at the end, no resolution etc. Kane and Lynch are great at that, along with film, American Psycho. I would like a nice insane plot twist like Metal gear Solid or Fight Club.

its interesting you mention American psycho..because thats the first thing that came to my mind when I thourght of somthing that "just ends"

then, I thourght mabye that was the point of the film...the main charachter is almost trapped in his shallow life...even going on an insane rampage and confessing doesnt change anything, he still ends up where he beagn..surrounded by the same shallow people (though his receptionist is onto him at least)

 

[Koroviev]

Well, in an RPG, the "bad end" is usually the one that fails to tie up even the main plot satisfactorily and generally leaves the protagonist in a not-so-great position.

 

[Valagetti]

A bad ending for me is pretty much summed up with shit all happening at the end, no resolution etc. Kane and Lynch are great at that, along with film, American Psycho. I would like a nice insane plot twist like Metal gear Solid or Fight Club.

its interesting you mention American psycho..because thats the first thing that came to my mind when I thourght of somthing that "just ends"

then, I thourght mabye that was the point of the film...the main charachter is almost trapped in his shallow life...even going on an insane rampage and confessing doesnt change anything, he still ends up where he beagn..surrounded by the same shallow people (though his receptionist is onto him at least)

On top that, the film confused me, I thought all the murders were in his head. Because Jared Lento was in London, then he wasn't, then he was, then I dunno, well it only took me 30 seconds to figure out that hes Batman, so hes not a murderer?

 

[BreakfastMan]

Well, if you walk away unsatisfied at how it all turned out in the end is the best sign of a terrible ending, I think. All the games that I think have unsatisfying endings (vanilla KOTOR 2 and Neverwinter Nights 2: MotB pop to mind) had very unsatisfying endings. I don't really have much more than that. Bad endings are hard to quantify. Basically "I'll know it when I see it".

 

[citrusfr00t]

No climax, like the End of Fable II. The lack of a final boss fight ruined the game for me

 

[redmoretrout]

A good ending leaves an impression. It doesn't matter if it is happy/sad what really matters is the mark it leaves when you are finished. The best ending to anything in recent memory is the comic Ex Machina. And, that is all I will say beacause I do not want to ruin anything.

Oh, and since I gave an example of a great ending, I will also give a bad one. Sopranos, it was a great show, but had a terrible ending. Nothing is solved or revealed, it leaves no emotional impact, and really makes no statement about any character or overall theme of the show.

 

[TKretts3]

I actually prefer it when the issue of the story isn't resolved. It makes it more realistic, it's a welcome change from conventional endings, and to put it in a Brechtian view point: It encourages the viewer to continue the fight in the real world.

 

[Jacco]

No climax, like the End of Fable II. The lack of a final boss fight ruined the game for me

Or Fable 3 where you spend the whole game starting a war and then just get handed the keys without so much as a bad word.


OT: Modern Warfare 3. Where you fight this epic war, thousands of people die, Russians gas Europe back into the stone age, and then you get sent on a mission to rescue the president OF YOUR ENEMY COUNTRY to end the war without any repercussions whatsoever to the agressors.

 

[Vault101]

A good ending leaves an impression. It doesn't matter if it is happy/sad what really matters is the mark it leaves when you are finished. The best ending to anything in recent memory is the comic Ex Machina. And, that is all I will say beacause I do not want to ruin anything.

Oh, and since I gave an example of a great ending, I will also give a bad one. Sopranos, it was a great show, but had a terrible ending. Nothing is solved or revealed, it leaves no emotional impact, and really makes no statement about any character or overall theme of the show.

thats an interesting way of putting it

red dead definetly left an impact...(though Im a little put off ever plyaing it again as it was too depressing)

 

[Vault101]

I actually prefer it when the issue of the story isn't resolved. It makes it more realistic, it's a welcome change from conventional endings, and to put it in a Brechtian view point: It encourages the viewer to continue the fight in the real world.

I think you can pull that off in a way..without frustrating the veiwer too much

 

[StormShaun]

Frankly I hate ending that make the bad guys win, it just makes you feel so depressed.

And endings that don't resolve everything (No sequel), it makes it feel that you just lost a big part of the movie/game/book.

These are the endings I hate the most, sure I hate others but these ones want me to punch the director in the face.