Best game endings

jimi_t

As the whole gaming thing moves more and more towards hollywood in terms of production values and, in many cases, even the structure of games, I'm wondering what endings made people feel properly justified in terms of putting in the sheer hours that they did. As it stands, I can only think of three

Final Fantasy series
MGS Series
Halo 1 (for antithesis see Halo 2 )

Mr E

Braid. You don't need CGI to have a fantastic ending.

DirkVoodoo

Jedi knight, for me the entire game captured the cinematic fantasy of the original movies.

Starcraft probably in there too, the usual bittersweet blizzard endings. Throw in Warcraft 3 in the same category actually.

Zelda Ocarina of Time

Mass Effect, great story all round, really picked up pace for a truly cinematic ending.

Worst ending probably goes to Crysis (from recent memory). Cliff hangers arent endings for me, just a cheap way of rolling out a franchise and making a single story span 2 or 3 games. Warhead, being psycho's perspective, will either finish on the same note or maybe we will have a proper ending on the island.

Spunge

yeah mass effect ending was good, really epic feeling.
FF7 was good if i remember right.
half life 1.

i heard the world of warcraft ending is pretty good

corcaigh07

Ico and Shadow of the Colossus were amazing endings.

Sarky

Planescape: Torment. More bitter than sweet, but probably the most emotional ending I've ever experienced.
Thief 1, 2 and 3 are always good. 3 wrapped up the whole thing very nicely indeed.

humanji

There's a few that spring to mind and I'm sure there's loads more.

I think it was Hitman: Contracts where

47 is sitting in his apartment doing a somber monologue with his pistols on the table in front of him. The camera flicks to outside and you hear a gunshot. And just when you think he killed himself, you see tear gas cannisters being fired into the room and the place is surrounded by police. And 47 says, "It appears the Police Chief knows too much. This can't be allowed," triggering the last mission to kill him.

Ok, granted, it's not the actual ending, since there's another level to play, but I'm counting it anyway!

Again, not exactly the end, but a great twist nontheless, in S.T.A.L.K.E.R,

where you find out that you've been chasing yourself throughout the game. And also the various choices at the end that have some very nasty twists to them

Oh and Ultima 8 (I think it was 8) where

the Guardian sends you back to Brittania. You think you've won, only to find that the land is detroyed and dragons flying all over the place.

Pity they f*cked up the sequel.

im...LOST

Final Fantasy X. Awesome.

FreeOSCAR

Final Fantasy X

Mass Effect

Gears of War (I actually liked the story)

Super Mario World

Super Soccer (Damn Nintendo team with that cheating referee)

KOTOR1

And eh....eh....eh...Assassins Creed :pac:



Sarcasm Assassins Creed was stinking ****e

DirkVoodoo

Ahh, forgot KOTOR, good save! Although mass effect's story telling edged it for me.

Also agree with GOW, although it was not really fleshed out and left something up to your imagination, the superb art direction really created a society torn down by an uncompromising alien menace. Hope they focus more on story in the second one rather than the tough talking marines chasing after some McGuffin.

Retr0gamer

For me there are 4 stand out game endings. Already mentioned are Ico and shadow of the Colossus.

Panzer Dragoon Saga:

Real fourth wall breaking stuff. All the talk of bringing the divine visitor to Sestren and thinking it was Edge when all along the divine visitor was the game player. Also watching Azel ride off into the desert searching for Edge was heartbreaking

Suikoden 2: The bad ending to this game is absolutely heartbreaking, both good and bad endings. Watching the intro here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=823C6UWOo6w again is pretty difficult when you know what happens.

There's a few other notable ones:

Final Fantasy X: wonderful stuff, very bitter sweet.

Panzer Dragoon Orta: would onlt make sense to PDS fans unfortunately.

Finding out where Orta came from meant that Azel from Saga finally found how to get over the last hurdle to becoming human. You also found out that tragically she was never able to find Edge again. Lots of symbolism in it as well, you can really read into it

Final Fantasy Tactics:

liked how Ovelia stopped being a patsy and killed Delita before tragically taking her own life.

Dragon Quest VIII: really happy up beat ending that was a brilliant reward for such an amazing game. The banter between Trode and Yangus was always a highlight but in the ending I was laughing my ass off at some of the exchanges.

Silent Hill 2: I got the 'in water ending' and it really was powerful stuff indeed. I felt really weird at the end of it because I had never played a game that had dealt with such mature issues so intelligently. A real masterpiece of storytelling.

Vagrant Story: Nothing much to say except it was really impressive and wrapped up the excellent plot rather nicely.

Einhnader: Trust squaresoft to add a decent plot and twist to a genre that normally doesn't have any plot.

Grandia: Another ending like DQVIII. particularly liked

when the game went into the future and Sue was about to meet Justin and Feena after years apart and a load of little justin and feenas came running off the boat. Really heartwarming stuff

Super Metroid: That fight with Mother Brain was just awesome. Loved how it told it's story in the game without any need for dialogue.

Prince of Persia the Two Thrones: Loved how it brought the whole trilogy full circle. Great boss fight as well. Loved the sands of time ending as well.

The Legend of Zelda Majoras Mask: Ending felt very strange in this game. Link had just saved the world and everyone was going about their daily business having a good time but nobody could thank him because they wouldn't have been able to remember it since it technically never happened. So link just rides off into the sunset. Very strange and lonely ending but it really suited the atmosphere of the game since it was by far the darkest of the zelda games.

Might think of a few more later. Pity developers don't put more effort into their endings, it's nice to get rewarded for putting the effort in.

Retr0gamer

FreeOSCAR wrote: »

Gears of War (I actually liked the story)

It had a story?

FreeOSCAR

Retr0gamer wrote: »

It had a story?

Yeh and the fact that it was so cheesy made it brilliant. How could you not like Cole Train singing in the end credits?

Retr0gamer

FreeOSCAR wrote: »

Yeh and the fact that it was so cheesy made it brilliant. How could you not like Cole Train singing in the end credits?

Good point although I hated the ending song.

johnny_adidas

MGS4 was the best final battle of any game ive ever completed

(edit removed best ending cos it just got a bit long winded)

humanji

Oh shìt, how could I have forgotten: Portal! The dialogue from GlaDOS is hilarious, and then then song for the credits is brilliant.

jimi_t

humanji wrote: »

Oh shìt, how could I have forgotten: Portal! The dialogue from GlaDOS is hilarious, and then then song for the credits is brilliant.

Took 15 posts till someone mentioned it, we're getting better

I thought KOTOR was a serious cop out - the 'twist' is so full of plot holes that I just gave up on it about 90% through.

DEUS Ex wasn't half-bad now that I think of it, also Chrono-Trigger for the SNES (although that just kicked ass on every level imaginable).

Maximilian

Fallout 1/2. Different endings depending on how you played the game. Plus that atmospheric outro in F1 with the music from the Ink Spots...

Kiith

Halo: Its more the last level then the ending, but the drive through the Pillar of Autumn on the Warthog was fantastic the first time i did it (well, first few as i died). Similar with the last level in Halo 3, made more so by the fantastic music playing in the background...although the actual ending wasnt the best.

Half Life 2: I loved the entire last level, as well as the battle with Breen. Seeing the citadel about to collapse, then everything slowing down, and seeing the G-Man walk towards you was brilliant. I just remember thinking that Alex had better not die (which was never going to happen...but still), and wondering what the hell is up with the G-Man. Honourable mention goes to the ending of Episode 2

F.E.A.R: Loved the nuclear explosion, and the final reveal...you know the one i'm talking about The only game in recent memory that genuinly frightened me first time through.

Other honourable mentions go to Call of Duty 4, Ocarina of Time, Max Payne 2 and Mass Effect (if only for the cheese)

But i think my favourite ever was...

Freespace 2: Holding the Shivan fleet back while allowing the surviving civilian transports, i was killed by the exploding sun. Admiral Petrarch then does the narration of the final cutscene, and he tells my pilots (i was the squad leader of the 70th Blue Lions) that i gave my life to save the transports. Cause i'm a ****ing legend :pac:

I loved the freespace 2 one so much....i quoted the entire end scene

Admiral Petrarch wrote:

To the pilots and crew of the 70th Blue Lions, GTD Aquitaine. It is my sad duty to report that your squadron leader never reached the Vega system. According to observers, Alpha 1 remained behind so that others might reach the Vega node. The pilot made this decision even after being advised of the impendng catastrophe. Because of this sacrifice and the sacrifice of thousands of others, we halted the Shivan advance. We sealed off Capella and our people are safe, maybe forever. No one can fathom how or why the Shivans destroyed the Capella star. We lost a place many of us called home, we lost entire squadrons, the Colossus, and most of our fleet. We lost so many friends that we celebrate our victory with grief and mourning. From our odyssey into Hell, we've returned with a gift; the ancient technology to build a portal between Delta Serpentis and Sol. To restore our link to planet Earth. To return home after all these years. This is Admiral Petrarch, signing off.

SeantheMan

Metal Gear Solid i thought was classic

And i loved how it had 2 endings dependin on whether you gave in at the torture or not :eek:

Final Fantasy 10 had to be the biggest bullsh1t ending ever tbh.
I loved the ending of FF9 though

thelordofcheese

Arcturus Mengsk wrote:

Fellow Terrans, I come to you in the wake of recent events to issue a call to reason. Let no human deny the perils of our time. While we battle one another, divided by the petty strife of our common history, the tide of greater conflict is turning against us, threatening to destroy all that we have accomplished. It is time for us as nations and as individuals to set aside our long-standing feuds and unite! The tides of an unwinnable war are upon us, and we must seek refuge on higher ground, lest we be swept away by the flood.
The Confederacy is no more. Whatever semblance of unity and protection it once provided is a phantom, a memory. With our enemies left unchecked, who will you turn to for protection? The devastation brought by the alien invaders is self-evident. We have seen our homes and communities destroyed by the calculated blows of the Protoss. We have seen first-hand our friends and loved ones consumed by the nightmarish Zerg. Unprecedented and unimaginable though they may be, these are the signs of our time.
The time has come, my fellow Terrans, to rally to a new banner. In unity lies strength; already many of the dissident factions have joined us. Out of the many, we shall forge an indivisible whole, capitulating only to a single throne. And from that throne, I shall watch over you!
From this day forward, let no human make war upon any other human. Let no Terran agency conspire against this new beginning. And let no man consort with alien powers. And to all the enemies of humanity, seek not to bar our way, for we shall win through, no matter the cost!

Ahh starcraft, do you ever stop being awesome?

CombatCow

Command & Conquer, Destroying the White House, Big Ben, the Eiffel Tower or the Brandenburg Gate with the Ion Cannon.... Very satisfying...

CC

ShadowHearth

humanji wrote: »

There's a few that spring to mind and I'm sure there's loads more.

I think it was Hitman: Contracts where

47 is sitting in his apartment doing a somber monologue with his pistols on the table in front of him. The camera flicks to outside and you hear a gunshot. And just when you think he killed himself, you see tear gas cannisters being fired into the room and the place is surrounded by police. And 47 says, "It appears the Police Chief knows too much. This can't be allowed," triggering the last mission to kill him.

Ok, granted, it's not the actual ending, since there's another level to play, but I'm counting it anyway!

Again, not exactly the end, but a great twist nontheless, in S.T.A.L.K.E.R,

where you find out that you've been chasing yourself throughout the game. And also the various choices at the end that have some very nasty twists to them

Oh and Ultima 8 (I think it was 8) where

the Guardian sends you back to Brittania. You think you've won, only to find that the land is detroyed and dragons flying all over the place.

Pity they f*cked up the sequel.

i just finished stalker m8, and just got a movie , when he comes in and says: i whant to be rich, then bam his dead.... kind of dissapointed m8. Or something wrong in it?

pwd

some older games:
the bad ending* on the harder levels of theatre:europe

It's a strategy game based on a war in europe between nato and the warsaw pact from the cold war era. As well as commanding troops you can fire nuclear and chemical missiles at enemy cities. at the hardest level the game typically ends in mutual total annihilation and the start of a nuclear winter

starflight 1 & 2 had good twists at the end too.

edit: *bad as in unhappily ever after, not as in poor quality

Conor108

Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater

Legend theme song too

I thought the ending to Another World (SNES) was very well done, emotionally epic (and without dialogue).

Loved that game

Jack Sheehan

Prince of Persia: Sands of Time,

Rewinding Time to stop yourself looking like a dick, Genius.

MooseJam

i'm not reading this thread, no doubt it will be jammed with spoilers

Kevster

Bizarrely, I loved the endings for each character in Street Fighter II: Special Championship Edition on the Mega-Drive. They were short and each consisted of a story about what he character did after becoming champion of the world (by beating M. Bison).

R0ot

1. Portal is top of my list, never laughed so hard after such an amazing game.
2. KOTOR as everyone has already said, ending was fantastic.
3. Homeworld 1/Cataclysm/2
4. C&C Red Alert (1st one obviously, second ones ending was good with Tanya and all but still 1st wins).
5. Uplink (Although the game itself keeps on going, the final end of the storyline regardless of what path you take is really good).

Seifer

Final Fantasy VIII, I nearly cried a little.

FreeOSCAR wrote:

Gears of War (I actually liked the story)

Please tell me you're joking? It's full of plot holes. It's like they re-edited the story a few times but forgot that parts of it would make no sense if they took certain bits out.
"Oh look for no reason my dad has maps of the entire planets core."

"Oh now we're going to get a train. Why?"
"Because we put the bomb that still needs a target on it. And it's speeding towards a broken bridge. Better hurry up"