Worst Game Finale? : Othor Games

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 11:13 am

Disagree about about the world-building in New Vegas and Fallout 3, though. FO3 may have more of a history concerning the pre-war era, but NV feels like a real place. Each of the various settlements has a reason for being there, have means of sustaining themselves. In FO3, it's a mystery how any of these places get by; there's no production of anything anywhere (like, say, FOOD). Quests in each of the locations is usually something wacky and unrelated to the place (like ridding Canterbury Commons of a pair of superhero wannabes, or finding a lost android in Rivet City), as opposed to NV's that involve helping solve people's general problem or doing more down-to-earth tasks (like doing some 'corporate espionage' for the Crimson Caravans, or tracking down some lost scouts for the Brotherhood). And then there's Little Lamplight...ugh.

There's a huge difference between being a believable setting and being an interesting world to explore. New Vegas had many more "major" locations, and they were all a good deal more believable than Megaton or Rivet City. However, the locations in-between them, the places that didn't involve quests, were horrifically boring. It probably helped that Fallout 3 didn't have many quests, so many of the interesting locations were just there for you to discover on your own. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, New Vegas should have had a linear environment. It would have been such a better game if we didn't have to deal with Obsidian's half-assed open world.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:25 pm

There's a huge difference between being a believable setting and being an interesting world to explore. New Vegas had many more "major" locations, and they were all a good deal more believable than Megaton or Rivet City. However, the locations in-between them, the places that didn't involve quests, were horrifically boring. It probably helped that Fallout 3 didn't have many quests, so many of the interesting locations were just there for you to discover on your own. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, New Vegas should have had a linear environment. It would have been such a better game if we didn't have to deal with Obsidian's half-assed open world.

Eh, to each his own. New Vegas may have had a smaller map, but I didn't find its open world to really detract from the experience in any way. Nor did I find the minor locations between the major ones "horrifically boring," since they came across more as general, non-intrusive landmarks. It helps that there are a lot of quest-related locations (Goodsprings, Primm, Nipton, Novac, the NCR outpost, Freeside, the Strip, Camp McCarren, Camp Searchlight, Camp Forlorn Hope, Vault 22, the quarry, Hidden Valley, Jacobstown, Cottonwood Cove, the Fort, etc.), and they're pretty evenly distributed.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 3:28 am

Thankfully, I tend to forget about games with bad endings, so I'm gonna list 2 that I played recently that had bad endings IMO.

Dragon Age II

Golden Sun: Dark Dawn

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 2:01 am

Metal Gear Solid 2, hands down. The last leg of the game can easily be completed in 20 minutes, but if you watch all of the cutscenes, it lasts for about 3 hours. And all throughout, it ~~waxes~~ rants faux-philosophical BS, completely discards previous things that were mentioned earlier (and which also involved overlong cutscenes), doesn't explain anything, and then has the gall to portray itself as a happy ending despite how absolutely dismal everything is.

After that, Metal Gear Solid 4. At first, it's quite good. Near every loose end is tied up, every hole covered, every thread tied. There's a real sense of closure, equal parts happiness and tragedy, and the whole thing is very poetic, a fine and fitting way to end a series once and for all, the credits start rolling...oh wait, it's a fake-out, there's more. And now another it's another hour-long monologue that uses a lot of words to say little, explains things that didn't need to be explained, and otherwise ruins much of the drama. [censored] Christ, Kojima, you just can't leave well enough alone.

This. I'm glad somebody said it. When I first played through the end of MGS2, I was like, "hhmm, that was pretty cool I guess."

Then, after playing it a second time through, I was more like, "hhmm, that really blows."

What was Mr. Kojima even going for? It seemed like he tried to create some huge conspiracy theory sort of deal, but really he just screwed the awesome Canon that was the Metal Gear series. WTF!?!?

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:43 pm

Eh, to each his own. New Vegas may have had a smaller map, but I didn't find its open world to really detract from the experience in any way. Nor did I find the minor locations between the major ones "horrifically boring," since they came across more as general, non-intrusive landmarks. It helps that there are a lot of quest-related locations (Goodsprings, Primm, Nipton, Novac, the NCR outpost, Freeside, the Strip, Camp McCarren, Camp Searchlight, Camp Forlorn Hope, Vault 22, the quarry, Hidden Valley, Jacobstown, Cottonwood Cove, the Fort, etc.), and they're pretty evenly distributed.

Remember what I said though, I play Bethesda games for the exploration. The mistake I made was thinking that I could play New Vegas like a Bethesda game, i.e. explore and do quests later. Had Obsidian made a linear world, I wouldn't have attempted to explore the majority of the map before doing the quests like I did. I got to about 80% of the map explored before I realized it wouldn't get any better. I then did the quests, and enjoyed them, but it would have been nice to have known the open world was worthless beforehand so I could focus on the quests more.

I actually counted (due to working on a mod), and approximately half of the http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/New_vegas_map that have markers (95/188) aren't quest related. The point I'm trying to get at is that in Fallout 3, these non-major quest related areas were actually fun to explore, even if they didn't make a bunch of sense. In New Vegas many of these areas didn't even have interiors, and if they did, they weren't very big and only had a bunch of useless loot (and skill books).

But like you said, to each his own. I just hope that if Obsidian make another Fallout game in the future, they don't make it open world. And if they do, at least I learned the hard way not to explore it.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:32 am

This. I'm glad somebody said it. When I first played through the end of MGS2, I was like, "hhmm, that was pretty cool I guess."

Then, after playing it a second time through, I was more like, "hhmm, that really blows."

What was Mr. Kojima even going for? It seemed like he tried to create some huge conspiracy theory sort of deal, but really he just screwed the awesome Canon that was the Metal Gear series. WTF!?!?

He was trying to kill the series, then and there. He didn't want to do Metal Gear Solid 2, so he set about doing everything he could to piss off the player base, withholding many truths (like how you play as Raiden, not Snake, for most of the game), and then going on an unending spiel about the foolishness of the player to trust everything outside (and unknown) forces tell them, and blah blah blah. In about the most unsubtle way possible.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 9:27 am

Most recently The Force Unleashed 2. Play for like five hours then it's over? What the hell?

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:47 am

Killzone 3. :cold:

Spoiler

Where the hell did that nuke come from? And how did he survive the nuke..?

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:11 pm

That's pretty much been the case with all of Bethesda's games, they have some well-written backstory in all the various in-game documents, and often poorly written stories for quests and such. And I think the reason is very clear; Bethesda has actual writers write the texts, but the designers write the quests.

Disagree about about the world-building in New Vegas and Fallout 3, though. FO3 may have more of a history concerning the pre-war era, but NV feels like a real place. Each of the various settlements has a reason for being there, have means of sustaining themselves. In FO3, it's a mystery how any of these places get by; there's no production of anything anywhere (like, say, FOOD). Quests in each of the locations is usually something wacky and unrelated to the place (like ridding Canterbury Commons of a pair of superhero wannabes, or finding a lost android in Rivet City), as opposed to NV's that involve helping solve people's general problem or doing more down-to-earth tasks (like doing some 'corporate espionage' for the Crimson Caravans, or tracking down some lost scouts for the Brotherhood). And then there's Little Lamplight...ugh.

Yeah, FO:NV was a more coherent & believable world.

But I'm with Antibody...... I don't mind much that there's no way Arefu can really survive, or that no world would have let Nuka Cola get away with the stuff they did..... it's fun wandering into those random sewerways & bunkers, and finding teddy bear & garden gnome dioramas, or the remains of the dead guy who tried to jump his motorcycle over a car, or.... well, you get the idea. All sorts of interesting places to find.

Like I said, 99% of the places with any detail to them in FO:NV had to do with the questlines somehow. It was so disappointing going into the other random buildings, and finding a lobby and two collapsed hallways. No notes, no terminals, no funny or interesting arrangements of clutter..... :shrug:

...but this is all off-topic from the thread, so.

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On topic: Yeah, the KotoR 2 finale was pretty meh, as well.

Can't think of any more right now. Most finales are just "ok". Not too many manage to make it to either "amazing" or "terrible".

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 10:37 pm

Arrival... it's only DLC, but if I drank beer I would need about a dozen.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 10:45 am

Haven on the PS2. Never heard of it? Because it was AWFUL. No, the game itself wasn't that bad. It was ridiculously hard at times and it wore on my patience, but it wasn't that bad. The ending is what I consider to be the worst video game ending (besides those really early games that just had "THE END" or, even worse "GAME OVER" in lieu of a real ending, those don't count.)

First, you need to know how a brief backstory to realize the mood of the game. You play as Haven, a white guy with red dreadlocks, yeah, go figure, but he's a big loser and no one in his planet really likes him. He and the rest of his planet are slaves to an alien Overlord who has given them a disease that, if they do not obtain these pink spheres, will kill them. Haven has this love interest who is kind of his girlfriend and kind of not. Anyway, most of the game revolves around summoning this legendary hero to kill the Overlord and free your people.

So eventually you summon the hero and he goes to fight the Overlord on a small asteroid-like planet in the middle of space with nothing on it. The Overlord wins and the hero gets chained to a rock and killed. Then, your girlfriend betrays you and sides with the Overlord. Eventually, you fight the Overlord yourself (in a QTE sequence, of course) in the final battle of the game. You lose. You get chained to a rock beside the legendary hero, your disease slowly killing you from lack of pink spheres on that planet, and the Overlord rides off in his spaceship with your girl. Roll credits.

No alternate endings. No sequels. No joke. The end. What the hell.

Supposedly, they planned to make THREE Haven games that had one overarching story, but no one bought Haven 1 so no more were ever made. What a travesty.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 8:32 pm

Deus Ex: Helios Ending.

So much disapoint.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 9:38 am

Fable 2 and Fable 3 svcked and fable 1 was better because you really fight a boss. Not just pressing button like fable 2 and fighting a friend of yours at the end of fable 3.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 12:02 pm

Haven on the PS2. Never heard of it? Because it was AWFUL. No, the game itself wasn't that bad. It was ridiculously hard at times and it wore on my patience, but it wasn't that bad. The ending is what I consider to be the worst video game ending (besides those really early games that just had "THE END" or, even worse "GAME OVER" in lieu of a real ending, those don't count.)

First, you need to know how a brief backstory to realize the mood of the game. You play as Haven, a white guy with red dreadlocks, yeah, go figure, but he's a big loser and no one in his planet really likes him. He and the rest of his planet are slaves to an alien Overlord who has given them a disease that, if they do not obtain these pink spheres, will kill them. Haven has this love interest who is kind of his girlfriend and kind of not. Anyway, most of the game revolves around summoning this legendary hero to kill the Overlord and free your people.

So eventually you summon the hero and he goes to fight the Overlord on a small asteroid-like planet in the middle of space with nothing on it. The Overlord wins and the hero gets chained to a rock and killed. Then, your girlfriend betrays you and sides with the Overlord. Eventually, you fight the Overlord yourself (in a QTE sequence, of course) in the final battle of the game. You lose. You get chained to a rock beside the legendary hero, your disease slowly killing you from lack of pink spheres on that planet, and the Overlord rides off in his spaceship with your girl. Roll credits.

No alternate endings. No sequels. No joke. The end. What the hell.

Supposedly, they planned to make THREE Haven games that had one overarching story, but no one bought Haven 1 so no more were ever made. What a travesty.

Wow. Even for games for which the ending was supposed to be depressing as a hook for a sequel or expansion, that's depressing.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:21 am

He was trying to kill the series, then and there. He didn't want to do Metal Gear Solid 2, so he set about doing everything he could to piss off the player base, withholding many truths (like how you play as Raiden, not Snake, for most of the game), and then going on an unending spiel about the foolishness of the player to trust everything outside (and unknown) forces tell them, and blah blah blah. In about the most unsubtle way possible.

Really? He seemed to have tried really hard in MGS3 then, as it was pretty great. MGS4 wasn't as great as Snake Eater, but it gave the much needed closure for the crap that was pulled in 2.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:36 am

There's a huge difference between being a believable setting and being an interesting world to explore. New Vegas had many more "major" locations, and they were all a good deal more believable than Megaton or Rivet City. However, the locations in-between them, the places that didn't involve quests, were horrifically boring. It probably helped that Fallout 3 didn't have many quests, so many of the interesting locations were just there for you to discover on your own. I've said it before, and I'll say it again, New Vegas should have had a linear environment. It would have been such a better game if we didn't have to deal with Obsidian's half-assed open world.

NV was ok, I feel it should have been divided more, my issue is how little of the legion you see, I think it would be better if legion had one half, ncr had the other, the middle is no mans land and the strip, also the strip needed more everything, npcs, activities, quests, big buildings, I dont know how others felt,m but I think the strip felt far too small, especially considering this was spposedly a hub, an amazng economy, with ncr and natives drawn in.
Vegas was dissapointing in that regaurd.

I think Obsidian shoudl do a DA/ME style game, where the world is divided into small sections, it can give the illusion of feeling big (ME1 did that imo) but not have any of the issues like bland places and parts just feeling wrong like NV did.

Better luck next time Obsidian.
I hope they get another chance, their writing and atmosphere are better, and those 2 alone make a great game, look at bioshock for an example.

Went off topic sorry.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:44 pm

Really? He seemed to have tried really hard in MGS3 then, as it was pretty great. MGS4 wasn't as great as Snake Eater, but it gave the much needed closure for the crap that was pulled in 2.

Nah, all signs seemed to indicate he had fun with MGS3, if only because he got to do a few things he wanted with it (like set it during the Cold War, have the whole thing play out like a James Bond film), and not entirely have to continue the previous games' story.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 12:25 pm

Kane and Lynch 2....

The ending is great, it means you finally get to stop playing the piece of [censored].

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:16 pm

Doom 3. The artifact was way overpowered, the cyberdemon was too weak, and you could just run around the pit without taking any damage the whole time, what a letdown.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 5:38 am

Really? He seemed to have tried really hard in MGS3 then, as it was pretty great. MGS4 wasn't as great as Snake Eater, but it gave the much needed closure for the crap that was pulled in 2.

Yeah, I was a bit underwhelmed by the Strip. For a place that they make sound really cool in the beginning, it sure felt drab to me. Barely anyone actually on the strip and the only really interesting character in there was Mr.House. Eh, what you gonna do?

oops. That was meant as a response to Ratslayer's comment. Don't know what happened. Oh well.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 1:49 am

Half-Life 2

The ending got me a little upset, I mean the game was getting good and the Tower's Core just blew and the G-man comes and tells you to sit back and wait for HL2:EP1...anyway in the mean TIME---this is where I get off.

» Fri Feb 18, 2011 11:46 pm

I recently played Divinity 2 (the basic version, not the new release with the impossible-to-find expansion included).

That ending was annoying. They clearly intended for the "Flames of Vengeance" expansion to be the actual finish of the game. :/

Ending of regular Div2:

Spoiler

You finally get to the fight the plot's been leading you to since the beginning, beat the final fight..... and discover that you've been operating on false information, and you just handed ultimate victory to the Big Bad. You're stuck in a crystal prison and get to watch as the revitalized evil forces lay waste to the world. All thanks to you.

Yay?

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Ha! I opened this thread with the intent to post the same thing - Divinity 2, original recipe had one of the biggest WTF endings ever.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 3:10 am

Half-Life - Creator of the http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/XenSyndrome

Borderlands - "Perfected" the Xen Syndrome.

» Sat Feb 19, 2011 7:19 am

Enslaved Odyssey to the West. Good game, terrible ending.