The Disappointing Final Level - Making Better Endings For Better Games - Extra Credits
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- Опубликовано: 9 июл 2019
- By keeping a consistent tone with the gameplay, tying up all loose plot and character threads, and balancing the emotional payoff with the emotional buildup, games can have amazingly powerful endings that leave us wanting more. We look at some well-done examples like Super Mario Odyssey, Portal, and Silent Hill 2, as well as some weaker examples like the endings of Psychonauts and Assassin's Creed 1.
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What are some other examples of games you've played with well-done--or, very undercooked--endings?
The ending of 'Downwell' is absolutely perfect. It's the best ending to any game I've ever played.
Prey 2017. The ending was fascinating, but badly executed IMO.
When you get to them in less than a minute
Bioshock infinite has the best ending I've ever seen. Not the actual ending to the game, mind you, but Troy Baker playing guitar in the credits was beyond charming
The Dark Souls trilogy in my opinion all had pretty great endings. I liked dark souls 3 ending the most however.
I think I'm paraphrasing Neil Gaiman here, but he's said that when writing a book, write the beginning, write the important middle bits, and write the ending. Then go back, filling it out, making it look like you knew where you were going all along.
While that works quite well for traditional media, one has to remember that player choice means that you can't dictate everything that will happen- even in linear shooters like most Call of Duty story missions you still can't even fully decide what weapons, strategies or even how much ammunition a player has, and this makes it difficult to use conventional storywriting methods in game design.
To play devils advocate here, knowing what your story will do and then elaborating is a great method of storyboarding a game: for games to have the player ‘change’ them, the aforementioned change must have been planned.
In animation fields, they put (or so I’ve read) the best animators on the beginning, ending, and closeups; the most important scenes to get right. Why can’t Game developers use time that way?
Solo Gamebooks figured out both the mechanical and narrative endings back in the 80s. While still giving the illusion of choice.
This is an interesting way to not get lost
“If you build up the hype then you have to deliver in the end”
*The writers of the GoT TV show left the chat*
Addi S. Koon chat not tchat
Pi thank you for your input
George R R Martin now knows exactly how NOT to end his book series thanks to the adaptation going ahead lol
yawn
Red Dead Redemption's final bit. Where you actually get to spend time with your family, and realize that it can't last, and that you can't shoot your way out of it. Brought tears to my eyes when the credits rolled.
made even more brilliant with the games epilogue. where Jack hunts down Edgar and kills him. Making the story into this sort of greek tragedy, the entire game is John on a quest to make up for his past mistakes so he can make a better life and future for his family, only for his mistakes to eventually lead his own son down the same path he took, becoming a murderous outlaw, instead of the promising scholar he was shaping up to be before john's death. really ties the themes of the story together in a brutal tragic way, and that final shot of edgar floating down the river, then smash cutting into the title card is brilliant.
Rdr 2 spoilers!
RDR 2 was also a masterful prequel ending, eerily similar to that of rdr1. Arthur’s last wish was for John to never look back and live his life with the family. However, John went back for revenge, which started the events of rdr1. Another tragedy.
Loved Portal's ending. It's probably the one game where I actually enjoy the credit roll, thanks to that crazy song by Gladdos.
So here we are again
@@omguleehjh7908 this was a triumph. I'm making a note here: Huge success.
"Come up with your ending before you figure out your middle. Seriously. Endings are hard, get yours working up front."
- Emma Coats, former Pixar employee
*Mario:* [beats Bowser up and saves Peach without a scratch]
*Bowser:* _Reality is often disappointing..._
1 hour, no replies?
It's all good. Bowser got to become the head of NOA!
Joke or metaphor ?
Bowser: I am evitable.
so true
The ending(s) of Undertale were pretty good at combining mechanics and plot
Yeah, the endings in that game really blew me away. I remember going through the true pacifist ending and just laughing at how good it was. That feeling in an ending where "Everything comes together," is just unmatched
@SleepyWolf Yeah. Undertale definately made me reflect after hearing megalovania 16 times😂
@SleepyWolf Ik. But if definitely made me self reflect by then.
I think it got a little too drawn out, having to act between every single line of dialogue during the final boss fight after you had already won. But it was still solidly written and resonant.
It was my number 1 example of ending a game right.
Whole game is a cake walk. Final boss require 500 hours of farming and some really specific team composition. #jrgproblems
Speedrunning has taught me, while the "specific team composition" is certenly true, it usually is so powerful, it can negate any grinding needs.
Admittedly, a casual specific team composition, is probably still close to random compared to a speedrun specific team composition.
Wooper is our lord and savior Oof. That brought memories from my octopath playthrough. Phenomenal game, but the final boss feels literally impossible without a specific team/class composition, and even then you'd better hope the RNG likes you.
Granted this kind of makes sense as he is the post-game boss, but he's also kind of the combined mechanical and narrative ending of entire game as well...
Man, i still need to beat him...
The fucking last pirate in Rocket slime 3
There are some games that require only moderate farming/grinding and can be beatable with any team combinations. Chrono Trigger is one such example. Though ones that required more effort like grinding levels (Final Fantasy IV) or skills (FFV) but mostly just adds to the challenges.
Some jrpgs even balance out base the challenge on how long you stay on a certain place in the duration of the main plot, where even ignoring the sidetracks for leveling up, you can take on the boss fairly, like Xenoblade Chronicle.
You did jrgproblems instead of jrpgproblems
I enjoy a hero's journey type ending where all the friends you've made along the way sit and watch the sun or enjoy life together!
I love such endings.
Oh, my god... Fallout 3's ending didn't even get better after the postgame patch. You got to choose the radiation immune follower to do things and have everyone survive, but you STILL got the bad ending for doing so, marked as 'selfish' and 'cowardly' for choosing the most logical route that saved everyone.
Why would it be cowardly for the companion to do it if they would be unhurt
@@commonviewer2488 Because Bethesda only thought of two states for the ending and didn't or couldn't go back and change it with the DLC (probably couldn't, given the limitations on developers for patch deployment on the consoles at the time).
@@commonviewer2488 because the game designers are bullies who call you names unless you jump hoops for their enjoyment?
Or just stupid, i guess. :-/
Yup! That shit made NO sense.
Probably because they couldn't hire Ron Pearlman to record a better ending?
The curtain call ending of Final Fantasy 6 is still my favorite ending in a video game. The game was character centric in a very big, operatic way and giving each character a small moment while their theme played was the perfect send off. Also, ending the game with a massive 3 party dungeon invasion that ends in a boss rush is how you build a memorable final dungeon.
Yes! Great example. There are also nice little callback moments in that Kefka built his tower out of rubble, so bits of previous dungeons from the game (notably the MagiTek lab) show up in there.
If you make a big deal about going out of your way to include side quests with multiple resolution paths, give a throwaway line at the end, at least. This goes triple if you make a big deal about your decisions having an impact on the story.
A lot of the time, you don't need much. Fire Emblem games have epilogues that are just brief summaries of the lives lead by all the units you recruited and didn't let die; something like that for each village you save or family rescued from bandits could have a similar effect. (Or just copy Telltale's approach and draw the player's attention to the future impact of their actions, making small changes--or scripted events that happen to line up--write a clear postscript.)
@@timothymclean I more or less agree. Fallout and Fallout 2 did a fine job of this: just a bunch of different ways each town could go.
"The world is saved, but who cares! We both know that that's not what you came for." I'm going to have that stuck in my head all week now.
You're next adventure's already in sight
You're all set to go!
Which game? Now you got me hooked
What is that game?
@@igorthelight It's just a song.
I loved the ending of Mass Effect 2
Seeing the reapers appearing in deep space made it even better as well as the satisfying feeling you get when you see everyone in your team alive from that suicide mission
And then 3 came. Not even Marauder shields could explain it.
ME2 was so good. Even its final boss, that human form reaper, fit so so well with the narrative up to that point. That entire final section fit so well with all the game was about.
I know that it is an unpopular opinion, but I really liked the ending of Mass Effect 3. The whole game was an exercise in damage limitation from the very start, with beloved characters dying left and right with their planets in flames, while you could not help them. All you could hope for was salvaging something in the end. Choice and heroic victory were not themes in that game, so the ending fit. However, while I find it a proper ending for that game, I can see why it had limitations as an ending of the trilogy, because Mass Effect 1 & 2 had each its own themes which did not really feature in the ending of Mass Effect 3. I think that if you focus on the third game, the ending really works; but if you view the whole trilogy, it is sorely lacking as the game only offers you the Citadel DLC on that regard.
@@meej33 I think the theme that the Reapers are unable to be comprehended, that they cannot be defeated, that they have the initiative and the choice... is present throughout all three games. The games constantly tell you, over and over, that in the overall confrontation, you can not win. And you don't win... the Reapers give up... which is a very different thing.
I used a speedruning glitch to beat psychonauts. You slam some trampoline and warp out of bounds and hit the corner of some loading zone, skipping to the boss. I absolutely don’t regret it.
Yeah, saved you from a lot of wasted time.
I'm still haunted by that shrill voice whining that he isn't a bunny.
Subnautica. Not every game needs to end in a boss fight to be satisfying. :)
Very true. And it would be completely from left field if subnautica, a non-combat game, would have a "final boss" confrontation with a giant "sea monster". That's not the kind of game subnautica is.
Probably makes you think about how we can't survive without the rest of Earth's diverse biosphere.
I loved the ending of Super Mario Galaxy, an epic ending for an epic game
Avery The Cuban-American why do I see you everywhere? 🤔 it’s scary
Definitely the best ending to a Mario game.
Much better than Odyssey's that's hella for sure
Super Mario Galaxy is still my favorite game ever, for 12 years since 2007. The story is very serious for a Mario game, including the ending you mentioned and the beginning that shows the sheer terror in Peach's eyes when Bowser attacks the Mushroom Kingdom again.
I loved Oddissey ending. I mean the one after you complete the darker side
Unpopular opinion: I think the ending of Zelda Botw is disappointing. Calamity Ganon was too easy, and I was hoping for Hyrule Castle to go back to normal. Still a phenomenal game though
A lot of people think that
@@wienerschnitzel1739 Really?
@@TheGreatCooLite yep
Yeah, people think the ending’s pretty lame especially, because it can be way to easy when you actually play the game
I completely agree. Calamity Ganon is a pushover with the 4 divine beasts and 60ish shrines the player is expected to do if they are a normal person. The only thing i remember happening is that you can buy boss photos from that guy in Hateno lab.
I always thought of the ending like Yahtzee Croshaw said in his Epic Mickey review. Build the beginning of the game first, the ending second, and then fill in the gap. That way the rushed bits are not the first thing a player sees, and not the last thing they remember.
Each scenario in Frostpunk, a society-survival colony management game, ended by showing you how your city grew over the game while reflecting on the choices you had to make to survive. In addition, the main scenario had a "boss battle" that was very Cthulhu-like due to its unimaginable scale: The Storm. It put your city to the ultimate stress-test, all the while a powerful soundtrack played on.
I loved it. There was no getting away from your dark actions. All the terrible things you’ve done are bombarded at you, and you can only sit there as it happens.
*Laughs in Multiple endings with Undertale*
ur quite fast.
Ha ha before you by a couple of seconds
Papers please has 20 endings
my man
Jeremiah Roque I see you are a man of culture
Still waiting for you guys to talk about Gothic 1 and 2.
Edit:Let's make Extra Credits play Gothic 1 and 2 on twitch.
You hit me right in the feels
@@julienczulay nobody does a hard rpg, where you don't have your hand holded trough the entire game anymore, and its getting kinda dissappointing.
Best game in the history of RPGs
@@timushpetru1112 Does it have enough of a fanbase outside of Europe to justify covering it? I'm always for Gothic getting the praise it deserves, but I'm not sure even extra credits know about it
@@constantincostantinianu6718 we don't talk about arcania or forsaken gods
Nier Automata's ending is probably the best i've seen in a long time, closest to BG1+2
@Trivium S yea, highly recommended if you enjoy good writing, strategic game play, hugely indepth lore, but dont mind the dated graphics. Not to be confused with baldurs gate dark alliance... they are very poor in comparison...
Unpopular opinion, but I thought Nier Automata’s endings were extremely boring.
The ending of Okami brought me to tears.
Me too.
I love the endings of Undertale, its final bosses and scenes show us the consequences of our choices (the great music make the finales even better)
The plot, caracters and battle mechanics are so good that we even forget the lack of graphics
The ending of Witcher 1 with its credits music literally made me melancholic for like a week
True!
Electronic Arts: Endings? Nah, more like continued "live-service"!
"Continued"
Remember that asinine message from EA during the Mass Effect 3 post credits? Burn in Hell, EA.
In a game with microtransactions, the "end" is really just the opener for the "recurrent user spendings"...
Dragon Age Origins had a pretty good solid ending that was build towards for pretty much the entire game.
That is such a solid ending that it needs no sequels. They only make it less meaningful and satisfying.
I came here to say this. And I did sit through "This Is War" just appreciating everything that had happened. And it's one of the few games where the choices I made leading up to that ending really made a difference.
Yes. I dislike the self sacrifice in ME3 because it's forced on both player and character and loses its impact. In DAO it's a choice so if you choose that it feels vastly more impactful.
The ending of Devil may Cry 5 it's a great exemple of a mechanics ending. I finished the game on Dante Must Die a few days ago, and I can trully say that I mastered the game after that battle
True!
My favourite ending may still be professor layton and the unwound future.
My heart still aches from that ending
don’t make me think about that 😭
it’s so beautiful
Now, that is one that makes you cry, that series of games make you want to explore and do all the puzzles just to get more story.
I cried like a baby with that ending!!
Bryce (hope that's how it's spelled) is an amazing artist. Hats off to them!
Aw, thank you! I'm so happy people like it. :D (I'm the artist)
@@Sketchmatters Those drawings were hilarious! :-)
Really disappointed in the lack of Mass Effect 3's ending discussion. The thumbnail got me excited for you all to address that topic
Probably because the topic has been discussed to death. At least we got a couple of pics of it in the intro.
Thankyou Extra Credits for making me secure in my pronunciation of denouement.
0:15 Those are some pretty adorable Reapers. All of these video game characters look great in your art-style!
True.
its like how the art style of alternate history hub seems meant to set you up for someone being stupid, and Little Jimmy jokes.
I watched Accursed farm's videochat for june, and he mentioned that most endings are very unimpactful because a. They are too short and provide very little closure and b. They forgo the game mechanics and just go for flashy endings trying to be "memorable".
GTA San Andreas has a great ending. It's a narrative ending in which we get to deliver retribution to the biggest antagonist on behalf of yourself, your family And the entire city... Because it's a narrative ending it makes you feel challenged mechanically too but because losing at this stage would undermine the narrative satisfaction those difficulties are made quite easy without you knowing it!
The first part of the mission sees you travelling through Los Santos, your home, still surrounded by rioting. You have high level police vehicles to rely on to literally smash your way into a building, something that changes a usually unchanging game world. Then you have several levels of gunfights.
[this could drain your health badly, but a regular supply of body armour negates SOME of the danger at this point, but does let you die]
At the top you have essentially a boss fight [which is actually pretty easy if you have any gaming experience, by abusing the close quarters and boss routines]. Then you have to escape the building, with enemies, fire , in the dark and a time limit! This further heightens the stress level of the final mission and you've already taken on some challenges by now so the length of mission brings further stress.
And finally you have a stressful car chase keeping up with a vehicle and then trying to destroy it while your own vehicle has a damage meter! All while being chased, shot at and firebombed! And for me this is the smartest bit of stress as often in the game previously this situation calls for a few tries as the fixed route tends to challenge the player with regard to car damage. [But the game is actually sneakily lenient with you, helping you survive to the final scripted moment of the mission.]
All in all a satisfying and teeth clenching finale.
Absolutely agree. It is the perfect full-circle-storytelling in a very literal way.
"See you around. Like a donut, Carl"
"See you around, Officer." - while CJ is making a circle with his hand.
For all I know this should be the most hamfisted, cliche way to end a story, yet it's actually highly melancholic in a way.
The ending of persona 3 made me cry lol a baby
I agree! Persona 4's is very emotionally impacting too... Each time I hear the intro music, I feel tears forming up in my eyes, and it's been two years!
Which ending?
Alexander The Magnifcent
Dude, it left me in PIECES for weeks! 😆😅
@@thomascollins5622 Sure........
i Guess..
Lmao babies are so funny hahaha
Celeste ending (the whole last level where you get the double dash) is an great example for me, very powerful and deep, and rewarding
Octo Expansion had an excellent ending, It really paid off all the mystery that was building up through the game.
Mass Effect 3 was the game that taught me the valuable lesson to never pre-order/pre-purchase/kickstart/etc a game. That policy has saved me so much money over the years!
Despite the bad ending, I still fondly remember the resolutions to the Geth/Quarian and Krogan storylines.
Phoenix Wright: Justice for All has an amazing Ethos ending and I'm surprised that wasn't your go-to example tbh
the miracle never happen
that explians why so much games I remember end with a completely new mechanic never introduced on the main part of the game (commonly quick time events) one examply I recall it's the super sonic gameplay on sonic generations, the gameplay was very diferent of the rest of the game and it felt more like a mini game than a real resolution (even I enjoyed on it's time because I was just a kid who didn't know the design problems that game had)
Kirby is a great example of the throw a new mechanic in for the end thing.
@@placeholder1308 yeah, I was also thinking about some kirby game where the put a new mechanic just for the last (or one of the last) boss battle
"So many games deliver unsatisfying ends"
Nier:Automata walking in with their 4 satisfying endings, 1 amazing meta next level ending, and another 20 or so joke endings for you to explore and have a laugh.
The moment you started talking about the mythos ending my mind went straight to Spec Ops: The Line.
Final season of Game of thrones was really disapointing...
... Oh yeh... we were talking about actual games...
"Klonoa: Door to Phantomile" had an amazing mechanical ending that used almost everything you had learned in a 3 part boss fight gauntlet, followed by an awesome story ending that was super sad yet fairly satisfying. I played the game when I was 8 and it still stays with me.
A very salient episode! Thankyou ❤️
Thank you for mentioning spec ops the line
Let’s all take a moment to remember the travesty that was mass effect 3s ending with the lazy photoshopped picture of someone for tali
Eugene Oliveros
It actually wasn’t that bad
ruclips.net/video/JfCBsSF-x9c/видео.html
I wish you would go into more detail on *how* to write a good ending, rather than just saying that games need better endings.
Great video man. Instant subscription!
This actually inspired me on what angles to look at while reworking the ending to a short story I'm working on. Thank you!
Surprised you didn't use automata as one of the good examples.
Outer Wilds is a great example of what a game’s ending should be like. The mechanical ending was perfectly challenging and the story ending almost made me cry. That game has some deep themes about death and accepting loss which are difficult topics it handles really well.
(at the end) Another thing that tells a game was well designed in an integral way, is the credits sequence [it could be just just names & music, but the "delivery" of those can make the difference between a "chore to see" and a sudden "place of comfort" to reflect about the game].
-> Of couse, unexpected animations and easter eggs are always welcomed.
Fallout NV is just sitting quietly in the background
The first time I fought in the second battle for Hoover Dam I was taken back how well they managed to put in a sense of scale despite so many limitations.
The game also showing the impact of your numerous actions also makes you feel like everything you did has some physical and long lasting effect, even the small things.
Fallout: New Vegas is a great example of a game that can establish a well defined beginning, middle, and end despite being in an open world environment.
Fallout nv has such a beautiful ending and can have so much thing changing with every run
Dead Money's ending also hit me in the feels. The Honest Hearts ending was weird for me though because I played a psychopath that killed everyone so every slide said that someone died XD
Paper Mario TTYD and Super Paper Mario had absolutely awesome endings story-wise. Battle-wise, TTYD succeeded just as well. SPM was a bit on the easy side but still enjoyable.
Nier: Automata Ending E anyone?
Gorgonzola2104 I was looking for this comment lol. That ending stuck with me to this day.
Is that the ending that you had to beat the game 4 other times before hand to get it? Cuz I didn't like Nier enough or have the patience for that. Once was plenty.
Yup
Yes, Yes, So much Yes.
In the moment the feeling not being alone. I am still brought to tears hearing that song, WE can change things.
And when I stepped back, it's a representation of the death of the author, capping off the myriad of philosophical themes was amazing.
@@Sophistry0001 You really should tho
Great work!
Me and my friend were both crying at the end of A Way Out.
I was just thinking about this one! Such a great ending!
Deus Ex Human Revolution: Woah
Deus Ex Mankind Devided: Nah
The one true Deus Ex: WTF, at least I've placed my ending activator buttons in _different_ parts of the final location!
Keep on making amazing educative videos!
On a few ocasions, there videos, espicially those about video games, feel rushed and poorly worked. But i have been a follower since the justinian series and most of their are good, with excellent animation. The extra credits video about the invasion of polland were amazing
@@franciscomm7675 I don't know. It may be that I am a sucker for video essays that I just don't care much about the animation quality (not to say that it doesn't matter matter), I care that they deliver content wise. And these last videos about critical consumption of media is ideal for viewers like me.
So glad Spec Ops: The Line is still getting attention and discussion. I really think it's overlooked in gaming history for its masterful delivery of its story and themes. It does so incredibly subtly, and if you've looked into it, the incredible ways they portray the psychological journey of the main character through things as subtle as voice clips, attack animations, changes to the character model, and a host of other things put it up, in my eyes, with the likes of Bioshock, Silent Hill, and Undertale as an exemplar of the unique properties of video games as an artistic medium.
Yakuza0 came to mind after watching this, great buildup and satisfying ending
I love your content!
great usage of examples, love to see more in other videos. Legend of Grimrock with it's cube boss that fit the tile based mechanics and felt unique and challenging. The masterpiece Bioshock ending is anticlimactic with Fontane being both weak and uninteresting in both gameplay and story.
I still think about Nier: Automata
Man, that game had endings for every letter of the alphabet. So far I've only seen one.
The fish was delicious.
A nice, classic Extra Credits, well done!
Max Gustafsson
No finding important nails and hitting their own thumb really hard this time.
Another game with a great ending and final level is Mark of the Ninja.
You're put through tough challenges with a new skill and all your old abilities which you've learned. There's a huge difficulty spike in one room that combines a majority of the mechanics and enemies you've faced and ultimately leaves you needing to survive.
On the Narrative side, it shows every character you've faced and killed with a beautiful soundtrack, leaving you wondering how long you've been afflicted as you walk down a hall that shows everything you've gone through and has you wondering exactly what you should do for your final choice.
Pure my guy, I think that may be the most invested I've ever been in the fate of every character.
Legacy of Kain had an amazing ending. By far one of my favorite stories in a video game.
Final Fantasy 14: Shadowbringers had one of the best build ups and satisfying endings in any game, let alone an mmorpg.
Well FF X brought me to tears back then (and did not need FF X-2 as a dress-up-game to continue!).
And although I am alone on that opinion, I think the ending of XV is also good, but bittersweet. God I do not want to go to Altissia!
Minecrafts ending seems more like a speedrun challenge than an actual ending.
I got an idea for a video... im not sure how common the mevhanic is though...
Unintentional exploits? I know minecraft console edition has an exploit to farm enderdragon eggs by slaying the dragon and using the built-in Ender realm reset.
I took notes and followed the advice when preparing and running the final session of my 7-year-long running Dark Heresy RPG campaign (Warhammer 40k RPG) this weekend. The players told me after the game how epic and awesome this final session had been. Very satisfying.
Sobble is holding the crying players hand, THIS IS PRECIOUS!!!!!
The noodle is good noodle. Props to art!
For an example of both good and bad, look no further than Mass Effect.
ME2: Take your time to complete side missions and learn your squadmates strengths, and you can achieve the golden ending where everyone lives and the bad guys are defeated. Rush through but play smart, and you can still achieve victory but at a cost, or just dont pay attention and win but you and your squad die. While the final boss itself may be somewhat anticlimactic, the level itself is great with a good emphasis on characters, challenges, and gameplay.
ME3: Just shoot your way through dark blue hued ruins and choose Red, Green or Blue. You want your choices to matter? That's what imagination is for; "lots of speculation for everyone".
i always cry after completing prof. Layton games, even after so many years of replaying the games, the stories keep being well crafted and executed
I really like your game design videos, they’re entertaining and educational!
Midwestern Wasteland except the last one
@@zakback9937 that last one was a mistake. No actual developer worth his salt would take any part of that last video to heart.
@@zakback9937 The last one wasn't really designed at be entertaining, and it's not _really_ supposed to be educational, either. It was supposed to be a call to game developers to try to do the right thing and stop portraying hateful ideologies as equal in value to non-hateful ones.
@@roy4173 No developer would say "Hey, Nazism and terrorism are disgusting. Maybe we _shouldn't_ portray them as equal to non-hateful ideologies." even though that's a perfectly sound decision? Okay, buddy.
Fallout 4. Ethos ending for sure, mechanical at least for some of the endings, and plot for all of them pretty well
3:37 Wow the art here is gorgeous!
The ending to Downwell is one of the best game endings I've ever seen. It's amazing the way it combines literally ALL of the game's mechanics into an explosive finale; and it's even more intense because the player has prepared for this boss fight from the very beginning, so death means starting over completely. If game mechanics in themselves can be art, Downwell and its ending is a shining example.
Another solid video about game design. You should stick with these instead of... you know... other things...
I, even before the controversial video, found their more ideological videos my least favorite.
Theyre political a lot tho, its really nothing new. Although I agree that recent video was iffy at best, they do venture into politics a lot, because many games are at the very least somewhat political
the extra history, extra politics, and extra mythology series are all excellent. one questionable video doesn't change that.
Nice animation!!!😊❤👍
Glad you guys are tovuhing this subject. Some endings out there are so dissapointing
I still haven't beaten that Psychonauts level and it makes me sad because I love that game's story so much
"A lot of final bosses end up as lame shooting galleries..."
͡ ° _ ͡ ° BoTW
Megaman Zero 3 and 4 have one of the bestests endings i've seen in games, specially MMZ4... the music always gets me
Bestesestest
Don't know.
I think that whole mmz4's plot was stupid. But the music is great.
@@GrayFoxHound9 i only said ending though...
I have to say that the first game that came to mind when I heard the closing words of the video was Okami. In a game that hooked me with the first minute of gameplay, and often left me speechless (be it due to humor, awe at the beautiful graphics or plot surprises), the ending still topped it without issue, It was beautiful and emotional, yet challenging even after spending looooots of time playing it. The rolling credits with the lovely song were the cherry on the cake as I got to relax and actually think along the lines of "Wow, I finished this." and reminiscence on the story. All in all masterful work there.
I’d love to see a follow up accompanying video where you power through and commercially animate the best and worst endings, one after the other.
God of war was an amazing game, with a cliffhanger ending. The sequel probably will be called god of war ragnarok
more like god of bore ragnarok
@@hydromancer4916 BOI
@@hydromancer4916 Thor ragnarok more like bore ragnarok
@@hydromancer4916 Gore verbinski more like bore verbinski
Dark Souls 3 ending bosses (the soul of cinder and Gale) both are huge challenges to fight, both close up the story pretty well and they are very well located in the narrative. Gale's arch closing the Dark Soul part of the lore and Soul of Cinder closing the whole fire/dark ages, even with all four endings, you feel the end of it. If you choose to ignore the flame with the eyes you probably goes to the age of the deep seas (we wish it to be bloodborne), with the usurpation of fire you say screw this I'm the captain now, just lighting it you are going with the way shit are and by letting it go you accept the fate of the world. All endings and end bosses are challenging, wrap things up and focus on the main plot. In summary, Dark Souls 3 makes a great example of how to end a game and a game series.
I wish we had to fight someone with more personnality than soul of cinder. But its a good fight. Much fairer than the awful fight against gwyn where the game forces you to parry him to death.
@@Ropewatch I was a pyromancer, so i just burnt him to a crips, witch is kinda ironic seeing what he was doing there before and what i did after.
Hey guys, maybe a heads up at the start which games you might be talking about when specifically discussing endings. I love your videos, but as a working adult I have a considerable backlog of games that I've avoided spoilers for... until this video. I wouldn't have watched if I knew you would give spoilers. You have made at least one games ending less special for me
I feel like The World Ends With You did a great job in this regard. It provided a fun challenge that incorporated the mechanics you’ve mastered till this point, a well executed plot twist, and a resolution to the main character’s arc and the story as a whole.
a lot of the Megami Tensei games and Xenoblade games have pretty good endings. There are exceptions for each though
But there are only two Xenoblade games total unless there were more?
Xenoblade X is a thing, and Xenoblade Torna is basically a small game on its own. There’s also Xenogears and Xenosaga, but those endings are a little more debatable to its quality, only depending on how much external research you go into for them
@@legodawg2001 My mind has been shattered, all I knew about was the Xenoblade game on the Wii which got ported to the New 3ds, how much of the story have I missed out on by not playing those games?
@@empoleonmaster6709 So, they all have elements in common (such as sci-fi-fantasy blending, religious themes, etc), but they aren't directly linked outside of a few references.
Xenogears: technically a Sqauresoft game, but was made by the people who would eventually break off to form Monolith Software. PS1 game, available on PS3 and PSP for download
Xenosaga: 3 part trilogy (with lots of supplementary material). One of the first projects made by Monolith Software. All of them are PS2 games. New story, new characters, definitely the most "Sci-Fi" the series has gotten
Xenoblade 1: You know this one. Released on the Wii and N3DS. The IP created by Monolith after they were bought by Nintendo
Xenoblade X: A "spiritual successor" to Xenoblade 1, mostly in its gameplay. Well known for its mechs and brilliant sci-fi world. Released on the Wii U
Xenoblade 2: Both its own separate story, and a direct sequel to Xenoblade 1. The most anime out of all of them, but its a good one. Switch game
Xenoblade Torna: the prequel to Xenoblade 2 set 500 years before it started. Initially was created as DLC, but it was so big that it also got a standalone release
If you want more of the Xenoblade 1 story, technically the only one you need to play is Xenoblade 2 and Torna. Those tie into XC1 directly. The rest of the games are similar in its themes, and explore them each differently to various success
As much as I loves the first Xenoblade Chronicles, I wasn't sure about the ending. The narrative is astounding and emotional but the mechanics are lackluster. Short said: The boss was too easy, especially as he was told to be be extremely powerful and visually god-like. Even if you went straight to the ending avoiding leveling up. There was one miniboss before and he was more challenging than the final boss.
Endings and final missions that I remember loving a lot are Need For Speed Most Wanted PS2, Rogue Tropper PS2, Ace Combat Zero PS2, Auto Destruct PS1 and Mega Man 8 PS1.
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amazing guest artist!
The final level of the original Driver was crazily difficult, and I'm surprised I actually kept at it long enough to finish it.