What's the consensus on gaming cliffhangers?

[pulse2]

By that, I'm using the likes of Halo 2 as an example, I personally didn't much mind the ending because it prepared my for the third game, but there were quite a number of people who hated the ending for some reason or another. Is it because of the plot itself or is it because they simply hated cliff hangers. While closure is nice (The Uncharted series does this rather well), its not always possible if the story arch is massive and of course some gamers may feel cheated because its like they are only getting a portion of a full game.

So tell me escapists, how do you feel about cliffhangers that are obvious signs of a sequel in the works in your games, does it bug you? Would you prefer closure? Or do you think it gets you pumped for the sequel?

 

[thebobmaster_v1legacy]

When a sequel is confirmed, I am all for them. It's when the series ends on a cliffhanger because the game didn't get a sequel that it bugs me. *glares at Syphon Filter* Fuck that series, man.

 

[CrimsonBlaze]

I don't like cliffhangers because it often implies, "Don't worry, we totally have a sequel in the works and we will be releasing it shortly." Unless it is the first part of a trilogy of games that will be released, regardless of sales or popularity, then I'm all for it. If it's just a cheap trick to get players to forfeit another $60 bucks for a game that is the F'n same, then don't bother because chances are the fan boys will buy anything with the popular franchises name on it.

 

[Banzu]

When a sequel is confirmed, I am all for them. It's when the series ends on a cliffhanger because the game didn't get a sequel that it bugs me. *glares at Syphon Filter* Fuck that series, man.

Exactly, the game XIII could not have been more obvious with the cliffhanger and was never made!

 

[Banzu]

When a sequel is confirmed, I am all for them. It's when the series ends on a cliffhanger because the game didn't get a sequel that it bugs me. *glares at Syphon Filter* Fuck that series, man.

Exactly, the game XIII could not have been more obvious with the cliffhanger and was never made!

 

[Banzu]

When a sequel is confirmed, I am all for them. It's when the series ends on a cliffhanger because the game didn't get a sequel that it bugs me. *glares at Syphon Filter* Fuck that series, man.

Exactly, the game XIII could not have been more obvious with the cliffhanger and was never made!

 

[Banzu]

=/ Made me agree to the forum rules and put in the text image twice and didn't tell me it was posted, you can tell i'm new to this ha!

Anyhoo, thinking of general cliffhangers, I love them. I think they are great and do get me pumped for the next one, but I do get really annoyed when the game is not made or is taking forever to come out. Damn you Kingdom Hearts make the third one already!

 

[Braedan]

I think they can be done good and done bad.

Halo 2 for example was 6 FUCKING HOURS LONG.
So yes, I was missing half the game.

In the good section I would have to say Half Life 2: ep 2. The delay has made me really not give a shit though.

 

[the spud]

It depends on how it is done. If you give at least some closure, while leaving room open for a sequel, then I feel fine. But if you are just going to stop right in the middle of the game and call it a day, then yes I get pissed off.

 

[Blueruler182]

I love cliffhangers. I'm on of those people who enjoys the hype for anything, mostly because the more I think something's gonna be awesome the more I fear it's going to be terrible. If you get me hyped for it right away that's more time for me to fear for it, more time for me to research it, and more time for me to screach with girlish glee whenever a little thing pops up that reminds me it's coming.

Right now knowing the Avengers coming out next year is making me smile every couple hours. It's something along those lines.

 

[TheFinalFantasyWolf]

It depends on how it is done. If you give at least some closure, while leaving room open for a sequel, then I feel fine. But if you are just going to stop right in the middle of the game and call it a day, then yes I get pissed off.

Exactly! As long as there is a clear ending , but with just a slight twist end to prepare for a sequel, then I love it.

 

[Iron Lightning]

The same as the cliffhangers in any other medium: a cheap plot device to promote a sequel to both publishers and players.

 

[ShogunSam-R-I]

When done well, they can be awesome. My favorite to this day is still God of War II. In that cliffhanger, they promised more than just another game in the works. They promised everyone playing that a great war was coming along with a colossal (hmm,hmm) bloodbath.

 

[Weaver]

It's complete bullshit really.

I didn't spend $40-60 on a game, invest myself in it's story for 10-40 hours to have it go "LOL BUY THE SEQUEL!" at the end. Companies that do that can go straight to hell as far as I'm concerned.

You can, of course leave a story hook for a sequel but don't just end the story Pirates of the Caribbean 2 style.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

I normally hate cliffhangers in gaming because it usually implies making the same game ut with tiny little differences and we still have to hand over more money just to hear the end of a story that could possibly fit onto one disk or even two, oh hey what happened to multiple disks like FFVII sure it was quite a few disks but at least the whole story was released in one go instead of stretching the story as far as you can throw it just to charge the fans extra money and claim you never heard of multiple disks because those have existed and can still work in today's society of gaming.

 

[xdom125x]

I could have sworn that people were pissed off by the Halo 2 cliffhanger because it left the game feeling incomplete. It left it feeling like somebody cut out the biggest part of the game just to get another 60 bucks from it's fans.

Anyway, back on point. I am pretty sure most people are okay with cliffhangers in general as long as the sequel that will resolve the loose threads is a sure thing.

 

[CannibalCorpses]

I find the story to be mostly irrelevant in games so they can finish on any cliffhanger they want.

 

[EPolleys]

Not particularly big on cliffhangers, the ending in Dreamfall was particularly devastating, it left me with so many questions and I felt really depressed I suppose that was the point though.
That was the only game I can recall where I actually gave a damn about the characters, it's all fine as long as funcom follows through on Dreamfall Chapters.
As far as the ending in Halo 2, I didn't mind that at all, although it could have done with a legendary ending.