Why are game endings terrible this gen?

Thread of Fable 2, Fallout 3 Halo 3, Gears of war 2, Uncharted: Drake Fortune, Killzone 2 (it was kind of cool but sucked), Resistance 2, and Bioshock. They all sucked. The worst was by far though was fable 2. That may have been the worst ending ever in a game. It was so disappointing that I immediatly enjoyed the game for most of the time and then said (wow this game sucks) and never played it again. The ending was sooo bad that even indian jones 4 can't even come close. Spoiler:

The last boss is a rock, and you think that lucien is the final boss, but actually you just shoot him and he dies. It is anticlimatic, and horrible.

Bad endings have been littered throughout gaming, but like you say, there have been quite a few this gen. Some being outright anti-climactic. Dunno the reason though.

How about some good ones:

MGS4

Crysis (was alright)

Resistance 2's was a pretty awesome cliffhanger

Half-Life 2 Episode 2

Portal

Two words:

Planned sequels.

Halo started the trend... now everyone wants in on the trilogy pie and games are suffering for it.

Two words:

Planned sequels.

Halo started the trend... now everyone wants in on the trilogy pie and games are suffering for it.

foxhound_fox

the legendary ending to halo 3 was awesome SAGE_OF_FIRE

Like people have said before me, planned sequels; developers take this as an excuse to tell incomplete stories.

IMO, the best ending this generation has been Star Wars The Force Unleashed. The lightside ending was epic and was canonical to the Star Wars movies, heck that entire game was epic. Best story of the generation IMO, with Uncharted in a close second. Super Mario Galaxy's ending was also really awesome, battling Bowser for the fate of the universe along with the epic cutscene that followed.

[QUOTE="SAGE_OF_FIRE"]the legendary ending to halo 3 was awesome JigglyWiggly_

Very true. A lot of big games this gen have horrible endings. Fallout 3, GTAIV, Halo 3, KZ2.

However we have had some great endings like Mass Effect (which ended on a satisfying note yet still left itself open for a sequel) Portal, The World Ends with you.

However we have had some great endings like Mass Effect (which ended on a satisfying note yet still left itself open for a sequel)

SpinoRaptor24

I can't really agree with that - it felt like the game was missing its final chapter (all of Bioware's older games - particularly Neverwinter Nights - would've had the player take out the 'big bad race' at the end). Also, none of the sub-plots or side-quest chains went anywhere (Cerberus, etc.).

So, given the game's short length and unfinished storylines...I'd say that Mass Effect could've been a lot better as a complete game.

Anyway, whatever happened to standalone games being released, with complete endings?
Now developers seem to be announcing things like:

• Mass Effect trilogy
• Assassin's Creed trilogy
• Mirror's Edge trilogy
• Too Human trilogy
• Resistance (trilogy?)
• Crysis trilogy
• Vampyre Story trilogy+
• Professor Layton trilogy+
• Dragon Age: Origins (they added a subtitle later on to show that's they've already planned a sequel/franchise)
• Others...

They're being franchised before the first game is even finished! Bah!

What was wrong with Halo 3's ending? :?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yygn_vlH5a4

Maybe its just because devs dont have any expertise in story telling. There are games with fantastic stories, but they arent comparable to film and literature's best. Which is a shame, because they really could be. I think people outside of traditional videogame development need to be given significant roles when it comes to the story, then they would be better, and so would the endings.

Also, a thread liked this popped up a few weeks ago, and Im STILL surprised noone complained about Prince of Persias ending... I mean, cmon :|

Maybe its just because devs dont have any expertise in story telling. There are games with fantastic stories, but they arent comparable to film and literature's best. Which is a shame, because they really could be. I think people outside of traditional videogame development need to be given significant roles when it comes to the story, then they would be better, and so would the endings.

Also, a thread liked this popped up a few weeks ago, and Im STILL surprised noone complained about Prince of Persias ending... I mean, cmon :|

eveileb-ekam

[QUOTE="SAGE_OF_FIRE"]the legendary ending to halo 3 was awesome JigglyWiggly_

[QUOTE="eveileb-ekam"]

Maybe its just because devs dont have any expertise in story telling. There are games with fantastic stories, but they arent comparable to film and literature's best. Which is a shame, because they really could be. I think people outside of traditional videogame development need to be given significant roles when it comes to the story, then they would be better, and so would the endings.

Also, a thread liked this popped up a few weeks ago, and Im STILL surprised noone complained about Prince of Persias ending... I mean, cmon :|

HoldThePhone

I did say film and literatures best :P I think that games as a whole have the capacity to exceed movies and books and, whilst the games you mentioned are epic, there are only a few. ALL games should be comparable, rather than the often convoluted storylines and messy endings.

What the...? I just finished Bioshock. That ending was pretty bad. Would it have been better if I saved all the little girls instead of taking all their Adam? It was also strange how there was no credits.

What the...? I just finished Bioshock. That ending was pretty bad. Would it have been better if I saved all the little girls instead of taking all their Adam? It was also strange how there was no credits.

tubbyc

[QUOTE="tubbyc"]

What the...? I just finished Bioshock. That ending was pretty bad. Would it have been better if I saved all the little girls instead of taking all their Adam? It was also strange how there was no credits.

naval

I thought so. I'll go through it again at some point anyway. It felt a bit sad not rescuing the little sisters, especially when they cry after you kill their Big Daddies.:cry:

[QUOTE="naval"][QUOTE="tubbyc"]

What the...? I just finished Bioshock. That ending was pretty bad. Would it have been better if I saved all the little girls instead of taking all their Adam? It was also strange how there was no credits.

I thought so. I'll go through it again at some point anyway. It felt a bit sad not rescuing the little sisters, especially when they cry after you kill their Big Daddies.:cry:

What was wrong with Uncharted's ending?

The game with the most satisfying ending for me this gen, was Valkyria Chronicles. The story is completely wrapped up with a strong climax (imagine that) and you actually get to see what happens to all of the characters after the game finishes. A lot of game's obviously try and leave things open for a sequel but they never bother to tie up any of the current plot threads and give a truly satisfying conclusion. The worst culprit for me, was Prince Of Persia [spoiler] You undo everything you've spent the entire game doing, WTF? :| [/spoiler] Silent-Hal

Thank you! PoP generally gets left out of these threads, and I really dont know why. That ending made me want to rip my TV off my wall and hurl it out the window.

The bloody epilogue did nothing, either, except make it abundantly clear that there are going to be sequels.

What was wrong with Uncharted's ending?

KG86

a combination of planned sequals, and Online gaming becoming more central to a game, when they focus on the online too much, they start to neglect the single player, which includes endings

Halo 3 and R2 had good ending, the worst endings were probably RSV 1 and 2 endings

Thread of Fable 2, Fallout 3 Halo 3, Gears of war 2, Uncharted: Drake Fortune, Killzone 2 (it was kind of cool but sucked), Resistance 2, and Bioshock. They all sucked. The worst was by far though was fable 2. That may have been the worst ending ever in a game. It was so disappointing that I immediatly enjoyed the game for most of the time and then said (wow this game sucks) and never played it again. The ending was sooo bad that even indian jones 4 can't even come close. Spoiler:

The last boss is a rock, and you think that lucien is the final boss, but actually you just shoot him and he dies. It is anticlimatic, and horrible.

nhh18

Shadow of the Colossus is the gold standard for endings.HoldThePhone

:? Halo 3's wasn't that bad at all imo. You should replace it with Far Cry 2 or Prince of Persia...

What was wrong with Halo 3's ending? :?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yygn_vlH5a4

bobby_king

Most games have allways had terrible endings, this gen and others. Though there have been way to many cliff hangers this gen.

Geow 2 ending sucked pretty bad,although Star Wars TFU probably has the worst ending ever since I knew what the ending was gonna be after playing the game for 15 min I was like "gee I bet...." then beat the game and BAM was right....

Resident Evil 5 didn't have a good ending. I expected better but other games are probably because of sequel being planned like Bioshock,Mass Effect,Assasins Creed and a few others.

If the topic was changed to "List popular games", I don't think any one would notice.II-FBIsniper-II

I seriously expected more from RE5
Such a big game but with 10 second ending.

MGS4 was just amazing, too amazing, that i wanted more.
So i dont know if i consider it good or bad lol.

Dead Space was baaaad. Just so sudden and your thinking..
all the hard work and horror and staying alive for isaacs girl friend.
But theyre making another game and a movie was released so it makes up for it.

MGS4.

Not only was the the main story boring with way too many cut scenes.. the ending sucked and it has crap multiplayer.

How the hell did it get a 10!