Why is it so ******* hard to make a decent ending?

[Grivahri]

So I just finished Far Cry 3 which have been overall a great experience. I loved the freedom of both the environment and the gameplay and I thought the story and the characters were really good. The ending, however, was quite disappointing. Maybe some of you think that the ending in a game like this doesn't matter. That the fun came from the gameplay and the setting. This is true in a way. However, I believe that in this case the great gameplay makes the story good and interesting, if that makes sense. And when the story focuses so hard on saving your friends, the changing personality of Jason, the contrast between two worlds, and even the back story of the characters you would think that you would get an ending longer than two minutes.

Now I'm not going to say that the ending was bad (it was) since that is not the point of the thread. The thing that annoys me the most is that it just ends. We get to do a moral choice or in another words either choose the bad ending or the good ending. Then the game ends in two minutes. Where's the explanation (spoilers) why the Rakyat suddenly turned crazy. Why did they kidnap your friends and why did they not leave before? Why can't they take it easy and discuss the death of Hoyt and how they benefit from that. Why don't we get to see what happens after/if they leave the island (in the paragon ending) and why is Dennis never there in half a minute?. What's the point of focusing so much on the characters if you don't even get to see what happens if you save them. To me the only noticeable difference between the good and the bad ending is that you bite the dust, and get laid whereas in the other citra dies and you survive. Can we at least see Jason throwing his guns away/burning them before he walks on the boat that takes them away? Or telling his friends to leave without him because he can't go back after all that's happened. Also what happened to the hint that Jason was going crazy and how did he kill all those soldiers during the quick time fight with Hoyt?

Then I remembered Assassins Creed. And how the story slowly built up the the launching of the satellite and the end of the world. The intriguing mystery of subject 16 and "the truth" and the importance of Desmond. Then in the end of AC3 the templars didn't matter at all more or less as that story arc was concluded (or dropped) very poorly, the god people were surprisingly uninteresting and just as Far Cry 3 it just ended. We don't know what happened, we just know that the world didn't end.

The there are other examples like the game-that-must-not-be-named and LA Noire (in a way).

It seems that recently the games with exciting stories have short, disappointing endings with no closure. It seems that The developers nowadays justs decides to drop the story when it's reaching its end. Maybe they don't like to wrap up the games to a fitting conclusion. Maybe they think its poetic or intelligent to leave the players with questions. Or maybe they just got over their head, to many plot points, to many villains, and they decided to just end it right there. Now this doesn't apply to Far Cry as much as it applies to many other games were the ending just feels confusing and different from the story. Why do the developers keep doing this?

 

[ShinyCharizard]

Probably a combination of being rushed for time and that most devs aren't good at writing well paced stories.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Honestly, I felt like the story, as a whole, was the weakest part of FarCry 3 by a huge margin. I spent most of the game trying to ignore the story, and instead pretending that I was playing an FPS Jagged Alliance game.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

Maybe that's because people think that Happy Endings aren't good anymore, but they don't really know how to make any other kind of ending?
Perfect ending for me is Persona 4 Golden. In added Epilogue main hero comes back to Inaba sees how town and his friends have changed and simply chills with them. I mean, it's so simple and yet so freaking good.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Well most recently the ending of the new DMC was really good. The entire story and character elements in the game overall were surprisingly awesome actually. Especially the final boss fight which I found to be the most enjoyable boss fight in quite some time.

The ending to Persona 4 was incredible, I don't have the Vita version but the original wraps up nicely. It also made me cry three times in the space of like 10 minutes.

Oh and the True Ending to Corpse Party is so freaking good. Text message beeps have never been more emotionally moving.

Thinking about it, I haven't played many of the new AAA releases like FC3, Halo 4 and the like because League of Legends has taken over entirely. Also I have to agree with ZP about the weapons in Halo 4 being these ridiculous colourful plastic kids guns. They may have ruined the game entirely with that.

Really making all these story focused games co-op absolutely ruins them for me. I am physically unable to enjoy the story or characters when i'm trying to speak over my friend's dubstep.

Also does Borderlands 2 have a good ending? I have to assume it's better than Borderlands 1's ending but that's a given. No spoilers if you can help it, a single yay or nay will do.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Really making all these story focused games co-op absolutely ruins them for me. I am physically unable to enjoy the story or characters when i'm trying to speak over my friend's dubstep.

Also does Borderlands 2 have a good ending? I have to assume it's better than Borderlands 1's ending but that's a given. No spoilers if you can help it, a single yay or nay will do.

curious, what story driven game are you playing that requires co op? and couldn't you ask your friend to fuck off with the music? (idk about you, but me and my friends are open about shit, if someone is doing something, we are going to tell them straight up to stop or get out.)

borderlands 2 story was a bajillion times better, although i can't quite say how GOOD that makes it overall in the grand scheme of things..i would say it depends on if you enjoy handsome jack (the main villain, not a spoiler) and the other main characters throughout the game, if you do, then you'll probably definitely enjoy it.

(I played the game 95% single player, occasionally on multi just to get some better loot at a few points, but it's perfectly playable by yourself.)

you seem to enjoy jrpg's, so i'm assuming you tolerate jrpg characters pretty well (as do i), so you probably won't get annoyed really by clap trap or a couple other characters that seem to be "annoying" to other fans.

OT: Partially because so many dev's go "oh noez, can't make a happy ending, need to be edgy and cool man!" or devs/pub's purposely want to leave the game open ended with the story/characters for sequels.

 

[TreuloseTomate]

TWD has a good ending.

 

[The Madman]

The problem with most games in particular is that the gameplay and scenario often come first, and the story later. The writers, if they even have any as quite a few developers prefer to just use regular staff for these things, then have to craft the story around the existing game which makes it understandably difficult to create anything more than a bare-bones plot and even harder to give it a satisfying resolution.

That's often the case. Not always though, sometimes they just don't know how to end things or they're written themselves into a corner, which happens quite often in movies and books as well. Satisfying endings are hard, especially if it's not a professional writer doing it but instead Steve from marketing, who had this totally badass idea for a story and got approval from the high ups to do it!

 

[Diablo2000]

I was going to make a thread about the Far Cry 3 ending, but you beat me to it, so gg...

About the ending though, it's not entirely bad, the double cross part I saw a million miles away.
The good end was bad, but wrap up the game for release, the bad one in the other hand...

Spoiler

You have sex with Citra after killing your friends with were innocents in all this by the way, them she wants to get pregnant from you and she kills you...

First of all, lady, one night of sex =/= baby, wouldn't make more sense if you are actually 100% sure before you kill the guy you want to get pregnant with?
And if you manage getting pregnant doesn't mean the kid will grow up with the same natural talent for guns that Jason had, and if he does, still doesn't mean we will want to lead you stupid tribe.
Citra plan is full of flaws that a 5 years old could see.

Would be much better if it show that Jason ruling the island and becaming the same type of madman that Vaas and Hoyt were..

The good end would be better if:

Spoiler

Ended like Halo Reach were you end up in a fight you can't possibly win, just to buy enough time to your friends escape the island, thus giving Jason Brody his final redeeming act.
That would be a good ending in my opinion

 

[OpticalJunction]

If it's any consolation the same problem afflicts a lot of books and tv shows. IMO a good ending has to be planned out from the very start.

 

[Full]

If it's any consolation the same problem afflicts a lot of books and tv shows. IMO a good ending has to be planned out from the very start.

That's what I think (at least part of) the problem may be. It feels like a lot of time like they don't plan endings out from the start, and the have to fit them in at the rear end of development. You can change the ending while writing the story, but not drastically.

 

[The_Lost_King]

If it's any consolation the same problem afflicts a lot of books and tv shows. IMO a good ending has to be planned out from the very start.

Christopher Poalini had planned the ending of the Inheritance series from the start(Eragon goes away forever) and it was still stupid. Maybe it is because he was floundering for a reason why. Seriously the ending was horrible.

 

[Rawne1980]

Endings have never been much good.

Back when I was a lad all we got was "congratulations" in big letters .... that's it.

Almost as bad as Big Rigs "You're Winner".

 

[Toastie058]

A combination of talent, dead lines, and an obsession with sequels/trilogies/etc.
That said, I would wager talent usually isn't the issue.

 

[The Wykydtron]

Really making all these story focused games co-op absolutely ruins them for me. I am physically unable to enjoy the story or characters when i'm trying to speak over my friend's dubstep.

Also does Borderlands 2 have a good ending? I have to assume it's better than Borderlands 1's ending but that's a given. No spoilers if you can help it, a single yay or nay will do.

curious, what story driven game are you playing that requires co op? and couldn't you ask your friend to fuck off with the music? (idk about you, but me and my friends are open about shit, if someone is doing something, we are going to tell them straight up to stop or get out.)

borderlands 2 story was a bajillion times better, although i can't quite say how GOOD that makes it overall in the grand scheme of things..i would say it depends on if you enjoy handsome jack (the main villain, not a spoiler) and the other main characters throughout the game, if you do, then you'll probably definitely enjoy it.

(I played the game 95% single player, occasionally on multi just to get some better loot at a few points, but it's perfectly playable by yourself.)

you seem to enjoy jrpg's, so i'm assuming you tolerate jrpg characters pretty well (as do i), so you probably won't get annoyed really by clap trap or a couple other characters that seem to be "annoying" to other fans.

OT: Partially because so many dev's go "oh noez, can't make a happy ending, need to be edgy and cool man!" or devs/pub's purposely want to leave the game open ended with the story/characters for sequels.

Hell it doesn't need to be exactly "story driven" but when it comes to proper singleplayer story modes I would rather sit through it alone instead of going with friends at least the first time. Case in point Halo 4. It's the same singleplayer but you can have friends in at the same time for some reason.

It's not their fault really, I just get annoyed when i'm trying to focus on a story and speak to people at the same time. Same sort of thing when I can only play music when I solo queue in LoL and I HAVE to shut off all other audio other than game sound and Skype chat when I go with my friends. It gets downright confusing when I have two audio sources blaring at once.

Oh and I do tell my friend to fuck off with the music. It doesn't help. Even when I really get properly pissed at the full half hour of WUBWUBWUBWUB and outright shout at him he doesn't give a fuck.

Yeah Claptrap was annoying? Apparently? Really? Have you no tolerance and/or appreciation of humour? I guess years of anime have blinded me to what other people think is conventionally annoying or weird.

I have a love of anime anyway exactly because it can be so different and weird. Weird = interesting and anime can be completely batshit crazy on a regular basis so good anime is far more interesting than most other things in my opinion.

Oh and i'm calling the Mechromancer as the best character to use for a solo run. Deathtrap becomes this absolute laser firing BEAST later on, can tank ALL the damage and kill an entire encounter on his own. He can also trigger your Second Wind when you have no line of sight on that one hit enemy who has just pissed off behind a wall. Any other character would have died right there.

BEST. ROBOT. EVER!

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

Really making all these story focused games co-op absolutely ruins them for me. I am physically unable to enjoy the story or characters when i'm trying to speak over my friend's dubstep.

Also does Borderlands 2 have a good ending? I have to assume it's better than Borderlands 1's ending but that's a given. No spoilers if you can help it, a single yay or nay will do.

curious, what story driven game are you playing that requires co op? and couldn't you ask your friend to fuck off with the music? (idk about you, but me and my friends are open about shit, if someone is doing something, we are going to tell them straight up to stop or get out.)

borderlands 2 story was a bajillion times better, although i can't quite say how GOOD that makes it overall in the grand scheme of things..i would say it depends on if you enjoy handsome jack (the main villain, not a spoiler) and the other main characters throughout the game, if you do, then you'll probably definitely enjoy it.

(I played the game 95% single player, occasionally on multi just to get some better loot at a few points, but it's perfectly playable by yourself.)

you seem to enjoy jrpg's, so i'm assuming you tolerate jrpg characters pretty well (as do i), so you probably won't get annoyed really by clap trap or a couple other characters that seem to be "annoying" to other fans.

OT: Partially because so many dev's go "oh noez, can't make a happy ending, need to be edgy and cool man!" or devs/pub's purposely want to leave the game open ended with the story/characters for sequels.

Hell it doesn't need to be exactly "story driven" but when it comes to proper singleplayer story modes I would rather sit through it alone instead of going with friends at least the first time. Case in point Halo 4. It's the same singleplayer but you can have friends in at the same time for some reason.

It's not their fault really, I just get annoyed when i'm trying to focus on a story and speak to people at the same time. Same sort of thing when I can only play music when I solo queue in LoL and I HAVE to shut off all other audio other than game sound and Skype chat when I go with my friends. It gets downright confusing when I have two audio sources blaring at once.

Oh and I do tell my friend to fuck off with the music. It doesn't help. Even when I really get properly pissed at the full half hour of WUBWUBWUBWUB and outright shout at him he doesn't give a fuck.

Yeah Claptrap was annoying? Apparently? Really? Have you no tolerance and/or appreciation of humour? I guess years of anime have blinded me to what other people think is conventionally annoying or weird.

I have a love of anime anyway exactly because it can be so different and weird. Weird = interesting and anime can be completely batshit crazy on a regular basis so good anime is far more interesting than most other things in my opinion.

Oh and i'm calling the Mechromancer as the best character to use for a solo run. Deathtrap becomes this absolute laser firing BEAST later on, can tank ALL the damage and kill an entire encounter on his own. He can also trigger your Second Wind when you have no line of sight on that one hit enemy who has just pissed off behind a wall. Any other character would have died right there.

BEST. ROBOT. EVER!

oh gotcha, yeah for a first run i definitely prefer pure immersion for the game, after that i can usually chill and have fun with friends playing along.

While i'm somewhat of a newbie, i LOVE anime myself, and claptrap doesn't bug me in the slightest (nor do the other characters, in fact i love most anime/jrpg characters) i was just saying because the majority of people get highly annoyed by claptrap/other characters for their "oddness". so was just preparing you in case.

I don't have mechromancer, but i would concur on your opinion, there is probably some other way to break the other characters but straight forward power seems to be mechromancers best bet.

 

[Grivahri]

I was going to make a thread about the Far Cry 3 ending, but you beat me to it, so gg...

About the ending though, it's not entirely bad, the double cross part I saw a million miles away.
The good end was bad, but wrap up the game for release, the bad one in the other hand...

Spoiler

You have sex with Citra after killing your friends with were innocents in all this by the way, them she wants to get pregnant from you and she kills you...

First of all, lady, one night of sex =/= baby, wouldn't make more sense if you are actually 100% sure before you kill the guy you want to get pregnant with?
And if you manage getting pregnant doesn't mean the kid will grow up with the same natural talent for guns that Jason had, and if he does, still doesn't mean we will want to lead you stupid tribe.
Citra plan is full of flaws that a 5 years old could see.

Would be much better if it show that Jason ruling the island and becaming the same type of madman that Vaas and Hoyt were..

The good end would be better if:

Spoiler

Ended like Halo Reach were you end up in a fight you can't possibly win, just to buy enough time to your friends escape the island, thus giving Jason Brody his final redeeming act.
That would be a good ending in my opinion

Those endings that you suggested are actually pretty good. They make a lot of sense when we look back at the Vaas story arc and the hints that Jason was going crazy/losing his mind. Also it's stupid that they would let Jason just leave after Citra died. And what happened to the "definition of insanity" that was brought up a couple of times by Vaas. That seemed important and something that would deepen the character of Vaas. Instead they just killed him off in the middle of the game. He should have been alive to the point when you realized that the Rakyat was just as crazy and they didn't want to save your friends in the end.

 

[dmv]

As much as I'm disappointed with the game, the ending to DmC was damn good. Assassin's Creed really didn't have a cohesive story going along, the ending just kind of hilighted that. As for games with more closure, the general theme for AAA titles is "leave something for a sequel, we'll make one if it does well".

 

[Abomination]

The "best endings" were done by Black Isle back in the day. I remember every single ending for their RPGs (Baldur's Gate series, Planescape: Torment, and Fallout 1&2) being incredibly satisfying. It was because they wouldn't just END the game, they would have an epilogue where you got to see what effects your choices had and how interesting characters or communities adapted after the completion of your primary task.

It is easy to make a good ending, just write an epilogue. Don't just END the story, explain how it ends for everyone.

 

[BrotherRool]

I could name a lot of games with very good endings and even a fair list of games that are practically saved by their ending.

The best part of AC2's story was the end, the best part of MGS 3 was the end by far, the best part of MGS 2 was the end, the best part of Planescape Torment was the end (although the beginning was also almost equally as awesome), the best part of Mass Effect 2 (main story wise and gameplay wise) was the end.

Devil May Cry 3 ended well, Valkyria Chronicles ended well, Final Fantasy X ended well.


I reckon 1. An ending is more focused on. The game that must not be gamed has an effin' awful beginning. No-one cares, because the end is more important than the beginning. 2. Large portions of people playing a game won't reach the end, more so in the past, but here is the best place to put resources. 3. The ending is meant to give closure to the whole story 4. The ending is much more likely to be disturbed by time constraints and changes of plan, if you have to change a level in the middle it's the end that will probably suffer.


So I would say that there's a slight reason why the end might be worse than any other section of story, and combining that with it's increased importance and visibility, it's easier to notice and remember that a game ends badly than the fact the middle part of Planescape Torment was really boring