30 Days of Video Games - BONUS: Why Do You Play Games Pg. 142

[Indigo Rush]

Day 30: Favorite Ending

 

Sonic the Hedgehog 2

 

 

Last time, I featured Sonic Adventure 2's ending as my favorite - and while it is still dang good, I think Sonic 2's ending has a bit more nostalgia for me, and it's going to stand the test of time. SA2 is starting to show it's age, but for some reason, Sonic 2 still seems timeless.

 

It signifies the trust being forged in Sonic and Tails' friendship. Tails knew exactly when and where to find him, and caught him in one fell swoop! The main idea in this scene is to show that after their first adventure together, they become more than just partners in this unified resistance against Dr Robotnik - Sonic the loner has now adopted Tails as his little brother, and they're now close allies.

 

And of course, a chiptune rendition of some Japanese pop music doesn't hurt!

And don't get me started on Sonic 06's terrible, deplorable bastardization with Akon in it. As if I needed another reason to hate that game... seriously, [expletive] that game.

 

 

...though I'm not sure if Sonic and Tails had that kind of friendship in mind. O_O

 

 

Anyway, Sonic 2. Great game. One of the best in the franchise, and in the industry. And it had a great ending.

[Gabz Girl]

Well it's the last day (I assume it is?), so let's finish this with Day 30, Favourite Ending!

First up, honourable mentions include; Super Mario Galaxy, The Last of Us, Red Dead Redemption and Dead Space. Now for the greatest, most shocking ending of all...

Bioshock Infinite! I think I may have mentioned this one before but screw it, I'll mention it again!

If there's just one way to describe this ending, it would be this; mind blowing. After Bioshock's rather abrupt ending and even its sequel having just an okay one, Ken Levine went all out with this game's story and ending. I don't want to say too much about it, because it would be spoilers and because this ending is even more amazing if you don't know what happens. But this is an ending that's uber complicated but makes a lot of sense at the same time, especially when you replay the game and notice all the hints and clues throughout. It's all to do with parallel worlds and inter dimensional travelling, and while it can give you a headache at first just thinking about it...it suddenly all makes sense the longer you think about it! If you know what I mean. XP

I heard the DLC Burial at Sea has an amazing ending as well in Episode 2, but I've only played Episode 1 which has an equally mind blowing ending as Infinite. I hope I get to play Episode 2 soon so I can see what all the fuss is about!

[Carbo]

Day 30: Favorite Ending

You've done it. You've finally beaten the evil overlord Giygas. You've banded together with your friends throughout crazy adventures where you took down homogenized cultists, ate suspicious cakes, raided department stores, saved Blues bands from miring debt and fought Kraken monsters. What's next?

You go home.

This is one of the most quaint, relieving moments of the entire game. You and your friends finally part ways, knowing you might meet again some day. On top of that, you get to escort Paula home which leads to a rather touching moment and some interesting possibilities, such as inviting her to your house and introducing her to your family.

You could teleport your way home if you'd want but that kind of robs the game from the sentimental value that is attached. Just like the coffee/tea breaks you encounter in the game, this is a moment to reflect. You get to walk home from Saturn Valley and cross all the areas you've been through in order to make your way back to the start of your journey. The enemies are all gone and there's a sense of relief. After all of those intense stakes you're left to ruminate over how weird and oddly enchanting the adventure was. When we started out, we were fighting weird street bullies. Then things got more serious as weird monsters started to be involved, until the responsibility of saving the world from an almighty evil was placed in our hands. All that is now passed. You've grown.

The name of this series is "Mother". Often throughout the game you have to call your mom in order to cure Ness of his homesickness. When you finally reach home the game ends when you talk with your mother. She wants to know everything about the adventure you just had, and there is all the time in the world to go through the immense experience.

As the game ends a roll call of the entire game's cast, and then the photos that were taken throughout your journey get shown. A distant reminder of all the significant moments, something which shows you how far you've come and how much you've grown.

Earthbound is a story about childhood, maturity and family. It's one of the quintessential games of our time. It's themes are wonderfully explored through it's setting, and it all comes together to a heart rendering climax when the final words echo out during the closing of the credits.

"I miss you."

[Echidna Adventurer CC14]

Favorite ending for the end! Appropriate. Since I already gave props to M&L:BIS's ending when it earned runner-up status for my favorite story, I'll give the spot to something a bit different and more recent:

Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon

This is SUCH a cute ending. They took the D'AWWWWWWWW factor from the original's finale and cranked it up to eleven with only THREE simple moments:

"Luigi, you save-a Mario!" "I did it?" "Way to go! Number ONE!"



"That's my bro!" "Thanks, M-M-Mario."

It's so rare to see interactions between Mario and Luigi with a bit more dialogue and this ending uses them wonderfully. Not only do they portray the brotherly bond shared between the two well but they also serve to give some love to good old Luigi, who spent TWO whole games being spooked, freaked, chilled, and flattened by rogue ghost doors. He's the hero of the hour for once and everyone knows and celebrates it. As for the third moment?

Luigi returns home after a looooooong night to discover that a ghost followed him home! However, THIS ghoul is his buddy Polterpup, who gave him quite the run around when he was a Dark Moon-less rogue. With the Moon back in the sky, the spectral pooch means no harm and the two settle in for a rest in Weege's armchair with the memory of last night's adventure hanging on the wall.

This was such a perfect scene to end on and Polterpup is just adorable. I hope we see him again in the future. (Or in the form of a new DLC Kart? *nudgenudgenudgewinkwink*) Rest well, Luigi. You've earned it.

[jords]

Last day

Sonic unleashed ending.

The bond between Sonic and chip was just great, its like chip was replacing tails as fir Sonic's best friend except that will never happen because sonic and tails are like brothers, can't beat that.

Then your off to fight Dark Gaia and boy did this take awhile.

Trying to weaken the monster but keeps transforming. Then it was time to finish things once we turned into super sonic!

Sonic and chip were really going at it together, chip had all temples formed into a fighting machine. Its pretty badass.

After the final blow, sonic lost his power and fainted and chip caught him. The second time saving him. Chip ended up throwing sonic out of the core just before it was closing, as he said, "you must live sonic, the fans will go nuts if you die again." Lol jks

Then sonic is flying back to the same spot from once he first fell from space. But chip probably sent him there, to remember the first time they met. Sonic looking around and sees chips body laying there and it disappears except the necklace he had. The main theme was playing, the sun was rising, sonic looking into the ocean. Everything was just nice. This was a way to end a Sonic game.

Dang it, I should a choose Luigi mansion dark moon. Oh well, special mention to that game because that ending was just too good. Mario giving thanks to Luigi's and the end with Luigi and the poulterpup

[Spin Attaxx]

My favourite ending...

 

...is perhaps the most heartfelt, satisfying, and best ending in any video game ever.

 

The text just sums it up perfectly:

"And so, having defeated the nefarious

COW, our hero, the COW wins back the heart of the lovely COW."

 

Seriously though, I don't really have one favourite ending, most of them are just "well yep, this is over" in my opinion, but I love Earthworm Jim 2's ending for being so udderly out of the moo to have everyone be revealed as a cow.

 

Be glad I didn't milk that.

[Uraraka]

Aww, I missed the Badge! But I will post this anyway!

 

Favorite ending:

  I love the OoT ending! the mi\usic, the scene, it was always beautiful to me, and I was very sad when Navi flew away!

 

and just for kicks, favorite cast:

 did you need to ask?

  I like Sonic's cast because there is a lot of definite diversity in the characters. I Like the way they interact with eachother and the friendship/ rivalries that are formed throughout the series.  

 

noote: Sorry about the spammy post! thanks for notifying me Kiah!

Edited June 1, 2014 by knucklesgirl

[MamboCat]

Day 30 - The Bestest Ending!

 

As I mentioned previously; please see my entry for "Best gaming moment" to see what I actually consider the best ending (big clue; includes Sanics) but for this I thought I should dig around my head for another great ending.

 

One is the ending to Half Life... or rather, the canonical ending of Half Life. It's creepy as hell, even after the final boss! The infamous G-Man with his unsual speaking patterns, appears and offers Freeman a job! Which as Half Life 2 would suggest, might not be a postdoc position(!) Even though the game ends, we still have a loooot of questions, some of which haven't been answered by the end of Half Life 2.

 

Then there is the ending of Portal 2, which I am sure everyone knows(!) The ending is just perfect; GLaDOS is back in control of the Enrichment Facility, Wheatley has been exiled into spaaaaaaaaaaace, and Chell has been set free; her supposed "reward" tumbling after her! At the time I felt a bit sad at the ending; Caroline supposedly deleted, Wheatley on his own when he seems to express remorse.. but in a way there is no other ending which could be as satisfying.

 

In the non-Valve world there is the ending to Red Dead Redemption, which for me is just a massive tear-jerker, and the ending of Bioshock, which is very abrupt but in some ways satisfying.... if you rescue all the Little Sisters, anyway.

 

But yeah, none have left a mark on me as much as the Sonic 2 ending. It's just incredible, considering its age and the limits of technology at the time.

 

As a final comment I would like to say a big thankies to Discoid for organising this, and a big round of applause to Kiah, for doing the tallying and moderating work for the event, right after 30 Days O'Sonic, no less! You deserve a break, girl!

[Solkia]

Tales of the Abyss again.

 

SPOILERS

 

I really grew to care for Luke and Tear over the course of the game. They hated each other at first, but after Luke is decieved and ends up destroying Akzeruth, he goes under dramatic changes. Luke is dead set on trying to make up for his crimes, and Tear helps him. Slowly they grow closer and closer.

 

Near the end of the game, Luke is dying. He doesn't have long to live. So when you get to the final battle?

 

 

I cried at this ending. This has only happened twice in all the hundreds of video games I've played.

[MegasonicZX]

It started with a sonic answer and I think I'll end it with a sonic answer, I'll go with sonic unleashed's ending. This ending really hit home for me on a lot of levels, it was the first time that you would ever really see sonic extremely weak after a final battle as super sonic and if he had been alone he most likely would've died here but when chip grabbed him and helped him up you feel a bit reassured. After chip says his peace he throws you back up to the worlds surface leaving himself down there to sleep with dark gaia. This made me a bit sad in a couple of ways mostly because the friend that we had been hanging out with throughout the game was now gone and we wouldn't be able to see him for a millennia of years (in which we'd be dead by then anyway) but when sonic starts running to the tune of endless possibilities, it makes you a little less sad and happy that everything turned out well for our heroes but then the second tune starts playing.

 

This was pretty much when my heart started to ache, why did sega have to put this song in, it perfectly encaptures the adventures sonic and chip went on but it sounds so sad that I just feel like crying. That's why this is my favorite ending, the scene and ending credits really just pull it all together in a really unique, saddening, and satisfying way.

[Debug Ring]

I think I'll say Sonic the Hedgehog 2 for Best Ending.

Sonic 2's ending, I think, is beautiful. Sonic defeats Robotnik, runs for his life from the explosions before being consumed by a bright white light... Cut to Tails, in black and white pictures, and we don't know if Sonic has made it out of the Death Egg alive or not. But Tails sets off in his plane to see if he can find Sonic. And of course, we all know he does, leaving with Sonic landing on the wing of the plane and then jumping to the screen with the fist of glory.

It's just great. That part where we don't know if Sonic is alive or not, and Tails setting of to find him nonetheless, it's lovely. And the music is just sooo good for it. I just love this scene.

[Danj86]

Final Day - 30: Favourite Ending

Portal 2

 

A lot of the games I play, tend to have emotional endings and I often find them draining, both physically and mentally. For that reason, I felt like choosing a good ending that did something a little different.

 

The video I linked, doesn't actually show the ending, I've put the actual video link down here.

 

For one thing, this last battle took a direction I could never possibly have imagined. I was standing there for sometime before I impulsively shot at the moon by accident, figuring it would do nothing. Then you get one surprise after another.

GLaDOS could've easily left you to die on the moon, but she didn't. Was that because of the part of her that used to be human? She practically admits this. Then when you think it's going to become some kind of reconciliation between old enemies. Without hesitation or warning, she would delete that part of her.

 

You can actually hear her voice get sinister again, the moment she deleted that memory.

She then states that sometimes the easiest option is the best and trying to kill you is hard, so she'll let you go. Heh, I still remember my original reaction as to seeing what pops up as those elevator doors open. It was something like "Ah, crap!"

 

With GLaDOS being an impulsive liar, I should've known.

But wait, it's not what you think. The turrents aren't gonna kill you...they're actually...singing?

As the army of turrents serenades you, your finally lead outside in what looks like an unassuming field, having just exited what looks like a small shed or shack.

You even get a quick call back to the first Portal as the smouldering mess that used to be the companion cube is sent up after you.

It's pretty rare for a game to end on a joke these days. Most of them seem to be going for the emotional route instead.

 

Or did it? Your treated to one last scene as to what happen to Wheatly. He truly regrets his actions and wished he could take them back. I don't know how they did it, but Portal 2 managed to make me feel sympathy for a character that only five minutes earlier, was trying to kill me.

 

Not many people can do that.

[RustyRick]

Day 30: Most favorite ending?

Well, this one comes to mind

While not one of the most touching or dramatic endings ever, I do like this ending for sad it seems to be implying for a main Mario title, without much if any dialogue, the motions and music absolutely captures the mood perfectly. 

I don't have much to say about this post, except that I hope I fulfilled my parts of the 30 days topic in this one decently enough.

[TheOcelot]

Best Ending

 

 

Batman Arkham City.

 

The Joker's dead. Didn't see that coming, did you? It's a shocking ending.

 

The Joker having been desperate for the cure couldn't help himself and attacks Batman. He sticks a knife in Batman's right shoulder - causing the Dark Knight to drop the tube which contained the cure which smashes, and thus Joker dies. The credits role and the music is hollow, keeps the feeling of shock. Then you get a chilling  'you have one missed call' message from the Joker which he left Batman three hours ago before he died.

 

 

*clears throat*

 

Only you can make this world seem right,

Only you can make the darkness bright.

Only you and you alone can thrill me like you do,

And feel my heart with love for only you.

 

Only you can make this change in me,

For it's true you are my destiny.

When you hold my hand I understand the magic that you do,

You're my dream come true my one and only you.

 

Only you can make this change in me,

For it's true you are my destiny.

When you hold my hand I understand the magic that you do,

You're my dream come true my one and only you.

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5b23MR0p5kA

 

 

It gets me every time. A fitting ending to an excellent game.

[Dr. Homem]

 

I'll spoiler tag this just in case:

 

The ending of Red Dead Redemption is one of the most emotional and profound moments in a game in recent memory.

 

Structurally, the sequences leading up to the ending are fantastic. After finally killing Dutch Van Der Linde, you spend a few missions living normal life. This is one of the smartest moves in the game. The designers give you the sense that the action is over with simple activities like herding sheep and running errands. By the end, you feel as though, this is it, life is normal, yet there still are traces of your former life: riding and taming horses, slow-motion shooting crows, killing the robbers on the train... you feel like a man beyond the action of his life, a man who is finally settling down but who still sees reminders of the past. This section goes back to one of the central themes of the story, that John cannot internally escape his former life, even after settling down.

 

Invariably, John's past catches up to him. He and his family are cornered in a farm by the government troops, and John stays to protect his family one last time. Everything here is shown with the same mechanics as the rest of the game. You open the door slowly, no music, and the game gives you the chance to shoot as many people as you can. It's impossible to avoid death. By giving you the option, the designers pack on the sense of immersion. You're the one fighting one last time, even though you know it's futile. Mentally, you and John are going through the same motions. The scene is built so that when John dies, a part of you dies as well, and John's death is brutal and honest to reflect his gruesome end and add empathy. At this point, you're no longer John because John has died, but you still remain.

 

After this ending, you become Jack and can hunt down the man who killed your father. This revenge ends up being a very bittersweet finale; throughout the whole game, John struggles to tie loose ends so his son won't follow the life of crime. He even dies so that this dream may come true. And then, at the end, Jack becomes exactly what John didn't want him to be: an outlaw and a cold blooded murderer.

 

It's a masterpiece. They truly understood how to use the game and its mechanics to pass emotion and a message. Many messages, in face. Brilliant work.

[KrazyBean]

The Final Countdown: Favourite Ending

 

I'll have to go with The Wonderful 101. It's not touching, thought provoking or unexpected, but is satisfying as all hell. It just made me smile throughout due to its sheer epicness. I'll spoiler it though.

 

After the three phase Jergingha boss battle you have this massive beam clash and The Wonderful 100, Vorken and his sister have to combine the powers of their machines into one massive energy beam known as the "Final Ultimate Legendary Earth Power Super Max Justice Future Miracle Dream Beautiful Galaxy Big Bang Little Bang Sunrise Starlight Infinite Fabulous Totally Final Wonderful Arrow" as a final retaliation to save Earth otherwise they all die, and it results in one of the longest but most epic QTE's ever

 

When you finally win the clash, Jergingha gets destroyed and the rest of the Geathjerk self-destruct in the process. The scene after that is nothing special but it was nice seeing everyone making ends meet and part ways after the ridiculously tough battle they had. The epilogue is also pretty damn cool as it shows that an important character becomes a member of The Wonderful 100.

 

You also play the game during the credits, which is always a plus.

 

Well, yeah, that's that. This was ridiculously fun.

[JezMM]

Pretty sure I mentioned some of these on the fave moment days or something but:

 

The Last of Us

As said, already talked about this.  A perfect end to a perfectly formed story about so much more than just a zombie apocalypse.

 

BioShock

Not a popular opinion, but after all the turmoil you and the player character go through, the awful, terrifying environments - I never expected them to give us a genuinely happy ending, where the hero, and those he saved, earn themselves a normal life.

 

BioShock Infinite: Burial at Sea

I never expected them to be able to make an ending that tied Infinite into the original that I would be comfortable with... but they did it.  Gosh.  My only sadness is the franchise ended with the dark, sad beginnings of the original game.  I wish we could've had a happy epilogue scene with Elizabeth and Booker in Paris, even if it was just a dream.

 

Luigi's Mansion

Such a fun/cute ending, filled with love and with great credits music after too.

 

Super Mario Bros. 2 / Sonic 2 8-bit

These are mostly nostalgia based... y'know, reaching the ending of a video game for the first time was a HUGE deal when you're a kid!  Little did we expect a plot twist for Mario 2 or a sad ending for Sonic 2 as well (though we had already found emeralds so, even if I didn't manage it til I was a teenager and had access to internet guides, we knew that couldn't be the true ending).

 

Sonic Unleashed

Above all else, I just adore that they started the credits rolling as Sonic was still running along.  The credits was great in general for finally breaking the trend of boring "here's a bunch of clips from the FMV cut-scenes" credits style too.  On the HD version anyway.

 

Portal 2

The perfect send-off for the series.  Or... almost.  I actually really disliked the post-credits scene.  I felt it ended on way too much of a downer.  The companion cube there should've been the final shot, the end of the story.  After the credits, it could have gone straight back to main menu, showing Wheatley and the Space Core with the more upbeat music as oppose to the depressing reveal that he's truly sorry and now... stuck in space.  But the turret opera and ascent was perfect and made me so happy, a really magical experience.

 

Banjo-Kazooie

Not just one but two endings!  What a cool little subversion they did here.  The messing up of the ending by extending the credits/breaking the Stop N Swop clips and cutting the Spiral Mountain scene is the only thing that makes me really disappointed in the XBLA port.

 

And last but not least, in a similar vein to Mario 2/Sonic 2 being nostalgic and special for me due to an ending being a rare thing when you were still a kid and new to games:

 

 

To this day, I want to eat this cake.  I imagine the Thank You being made of satisfying chocolate.  C8

[Mr Loopone]

Final Day: Favourite Ending

 

(checks Backloggery on games that I've completed/beaten for a reminder) Since I am rubbish at games, it isn't often that I see an ending to a game and some of the games that I've beaten or completed don't have a proper ending whether doing the last thing triggers the credits (e.g. Mario Kart 7, Mario Tennis Open), if no credits the cast of the game (e.g. Space Harrier), don't even have an ending with just a message saying Congradulations You have Completed the Game/The End or anything along those lines. Some games I have only triggered the bad ending and not the good ending (e.g. Metal Gear Solid) or have a lousey ending (e.g. Dynamite Dux Master System that is the intro in reverse, The Godfather [compared to the movie]) so this one is hard for me to talk about considering my lack of skill.

 

I could choose Sonic 1 since getting the Good Ending made me feel good, I could choose Sly 4 since the ending is more of a downbeat than many endings as in the end of Sly Cooper? I also could choose the Wonder Boy 3 ending however I haven't completed the game and only used it as a reference when people left forums. There is an ending however that made me smile when I've completed the game.

 

Metal Slug 2/Metal Slug X (both have the same ending)

 

What this ending makes it one of my favourite endings is that it rips off Independance Day with the pilot going into the laser beam and when watching it I said exactly the same thing that the pilot said in the movie during the scene. So not only does it reference Hollywood movies but also has a bit of humour regarding the villain as well afterwards. Another reason why I enjoyed this ending is because it is told via in game sprites that not often use this technique (usually it is images, animation or CG rendered footage that are better than in game).

 

So there I have it. I thank Discoid for hosting the 30 Days of Gaming thread, you have done an excellent job regarding the questions and your answers plus finding something for me to talk about since I have problems of thinking of things to say. Also thank Kiah too for helping Discoid on the thread since counting the entries can be a very hard job especially if a thread is popular. I am really sorry that I wasn't at all 30 Days since it was beyond my control and some entries I felt weren't good enough compared to the many brilliant ones however I have tried my best and feel okay about it. Some of these really had to rack my brains and going back memories that can be up to 16 years ago though.

 

MISSION ALL OVER?

[ElectricAngel]

Day 30 - Favourite Ending

 

The final day is neigh, and this question seems to fit perfectly with that idea. Now, many games had fantastic endings and no other game comes to mind when I think of an extremely satisfying ending than

 

 

Sonic Unleashed

 

What can I say? I just really love Unleashed. I've gushed about it in the SD vs HD topic we have for the game and if you read that, you know that I adore the story in this game. And the ending is probably the best part. After engaging in one of the best final bosses in the series, you get one of the best endings to a video game ever. The thing that makes this ending the best in my opinion is how great the atmosphere is in the final cutscene. The world is finally at peace and Sonic starts running alongside Tails, who's driving the Tornado 3. Chip has been put back to sleep until the next time Dark Gaia gets released, and the people of the world can relax. The beautiful sunset and fantastic music by Bowling for Soup makes this scene really satisfying. You saved the world, and now it's time to relax and possibly look for new adventures. 

 

Looking back at what I typed, I can't say this ending does anything special. If anything, it's just a typical ending for most action games. However, I can't help but put it as my favourite. Why? Well, because after that grandiose adventure and what seems like the longest Sonic game ever, it's satisfying to finally see it complete. But I mean that in a good way. The game's length was long for a Sonic game, sure, but to me it's the perfect length for an action/adventure game like this. The ending just neatly ends the story of Unleashed and provides a satisfying feel. A feeling of which I can't describe with words. Nonetheless, Unleashed is definitely up there in my favourite video game endings. 

[Your Vest Friend]

Step up for an encore, Sonic!

 

 

Sonic Generations

 

Is it a big, elaborate ending full of emotional closure and a mighty triumph? Not particularly, but it doesn't need to be. It's a cozy little ending with some nice resolution (as well as a hint as to how classic Sonic eventually grows into modern Sonic) and a feel-good parting shot, with an ending that invokes the retro style of the likes of S3&K with its musical direction, and it benefits from it because of how pleasant it is. It's not a big bang, but it's a sweet showing for the 20th anniversary.

[Sean]

Viewtiful Joe's ending is an intentional cheesefest. You have the mentor-turned-evil twist who also happens to be your girlfriend's long lost father, followed by a giant mecha battle on the surface of the planet looking like it's straight out of a super sentai filming studio. Then you inexplicably do battle with Captain Blue's younger self?? and upon defeat, Blue expresses remorse for his actions, reveals his tragic backstory, and earns Silvia's forgiveness, who reminds him that despite losing sight of what was important, he still followed his dreams. After the audience applauds, the game ends on a sequel hook, promising a trilogy in the horizon.

Describing all of this makes it sound really ridiculous, but somehow it takes all of these elements and produces something genuine and heartfelt. Maybe it is because as much as Viewtiful Joe parodies the material it's based off, at no point is it ever mean-spirited or cynical about it. As I described earlier in the topic, Joe is a hero full of untempered optimism when it comes to his job as a movie superhero, and this manages to show the good in its main villain for the sake of a heartwarming reunion between a father and his daughter - only without the baggage of him dying like in Star Wars, 'cause everyone loves a happy ending.

In fact I think "happy ending" describes the appeal of VJ's ending to a tee. The credits are a celebration of every character you met and defeated on your journey, and it's unapologetic in its cheesy, goodhearted tone. Cynical heroism grounded by reality seems to be all the rage these days, but every once in a while it's just good to see a story that goes back to basics, no matter how much we think of ourselves as too old and mature for this kind of message:

"Everyone loves a hero. Everyone loves you."

[gato]

Day 30: Favorite Ending

 

 

 

Last time I picked Starcraft: Broodwar because of how shocking it was for me at the time, I know for a fact I also mentioned the first Protoss campaign ending because it was a pivotal moment on the franchise that would have several consequences in the (very) long and short term.

 

I think I'll stick with something that has a bit of both.

 

 

 

* I had a pic here, but not sure if SFW so I'll edit it out :U *

Drakengard - Ending E

 

 

 

AKA the most dramatic mini game I've ever seen.

 

I haven't personally played Drakenguard (it's on my list, but RPGs take time and time is not something I have in spades right now) but I can tell you this: It's fucking weird.

 

How weird you ask? The protagonist is a nut who loves to kill and kill and kill and kill... He's also mute and really really loves his sister (who lets say... reciprocates). It gets weirder from that point.

 

How weird?

 

You end up fighting giant babies that would make the Zerg swarm look like... Babies! And then there is their mother... A giant 50 feet tall naked barbie doll whose mode of attack is by singing, and by singing I mean emit random chimes that you have to match by emitting similar waves that clash against hers.

 

Said ending doesn't appear until you beat the game several times, each time unlocking and ending that's worse than the previous one (One way or another you'll wish the protagonists were dead by the time you reach the 4th one) and culminating in this random genre shift from action RPG to rhythm game.

 

 

 

So... Why is this ending so memorable besides how fucked up it sounds? Well...

 

As it turns out, before facing the Mama Grotesquerie she flees the universe you've been playing in until this point and lands in modern day Tokyo... Then you follow her and she starts to sing, which triggers the random and hard as hell mini-game.

 

When you defeat the mother she literally crumbles, disintegrates into nothing but tiny particles of her former self and as your characters watch this you are both unceremoniously killed by 2 heat seeking missiles from Japan's Air Force.

 

...

 

Huh?

 

 

 

 

But wait! There is more!

 

The particles the mother disintegrated into end up infecting the local population turning them into mindless monsters, the infection becomes known as White Chlorination Syndrome and it begins to spread like wildfire in the district, suddenly we have a serious mythical monster problem in our hands and the USA decides to save the day, after many failed attempts the nations decide that the only way to stop the disease is to kill it with a nuke!

 

But said nuke only spreads the disease further and now we have a world scale problem! Humanity discovers "Magic" and begins research on it and in the meantime the world gets worse and worse, the last ditched attempt for survival was to take as many humans as possible, separate their souls from their bodies, make new bodies and use them later to live in them once the Disease dies out. All of this while leaving a few androids and a main organism controlling the souls in question.

 

Shame the replacement bodies begun the gain sentience and started to live on their own and considered most of the original humans savage monsters that should be killed on sight.

 

And then a new disease begun to spread between the replacement bodies that killed them and had no known cure...

 

 

 

 

 

 

But wait! THERE IS MORE!

 

NieR is a pretty messed up realm on it's own!

 

Your character is a father/brother who wants to save your daughter/sister Yonah from succumbing to said mortal disease, along the way you'll meet up your party members and you'll progress in your quest to save Yonah... And then things begin to go to hell from there because as you finish the game (over and over again, because it has 4 endings) you begin to realize the ramifications of your actions (especial mention goes to Kaine, who knew this from the beginning and had to keep screaming to herself that you guys were doing the right thing).

 

Good job killing tbe Shadowlord man! Now you've doomed the Gestalts (the original humans) to go berserk and your humanity (the Replicants) to die due to the black scrawl... Yonah included.

 

Also, alien invasion lol

 

 

 

I know this won't make sense unless you read my spoilers (and by doing so I probably ruined pretty much every twist 2 games had) but Drakengard's E ending is my pick because.

 

1) How fucking weird it is.

 

2) The ramifications of said ending. While it's canonicity in the main universe is near impossible to vouch for (it nullifies the first sequel for reasons I won't spoil, I haven't seen the second one tho) you did end up creating a whole new world in the process and said world has one of my favorite stories.

 

 

 

 

 

Man, just posting this makes me feel messed up. Still an awesome tale tho.

[SuperLink]

I missed Day 29 and I'm too Mario Kart to write a proper post for it, but I will say that my favourite casts are Kid Icarus: Uprising, Ace Attorney and Tales of Vesperia in that order.

 

Day 30 - Favourite Ending Electric Boogaloo

 

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

 

 

How fitting for me to end this 30 Days challenge (which I missed tons of days on oh well) with the ending to my favourite game of all time! And while this may not be the best ending I've experienced on its own merits or for sheer brilliance and satisfaction, it is the one that made the most impact on me, it is the most important to me.

 

Majora's Mask is such a unique and different game, and the credits actually are the same regardless of how much progress you've made in the game. The music is cute, the imagery is (mostly) positive and light hearted contrasting with most of the game's tone, and it's just generally a charming and satisfying credits sequence. It doesn't fill in all the holes, but for those of you who've taken the time to do every side quest and fully explore every ounce of lore Termina has to offer, it compliments what you know, it gives what you know additional meaning. The credits don't change at all, but depending on how much you did in the game the meaning the player gets from the credits is different. You see what's implied to be Anju and Kafei's wedding, but so what? It's only after you've fully experienced their quest that this small implication scene of their wedding means something to you. It's only after you let the postman escape Clock Town that the postman running back to Clock Town actually means something. It's only after racing the Deku Butler a few times that..

 

 

oh no.. OH NO.. I WAS WRONG.. THE CREDITS ARE STILL SAD...

 

 

GOODBYE.

[LATER BUDDY]

Day 30: Favorite Ending

 

Okami

 

 

This was probably the hardest to choose out of all the days we've done. Endings are a pretty big deal to me in story based games, and many of my favorite titles of all time are heavily reliant on story, so naturally the climax is kinda the spotlight. After watching some videos to get refreshed on all my favorite endings, in the end, Okami is probably my favorite. Without going into much detail since I'd hate to spoil it for anyone, it just has a great sense of making you feel like the god you are, tying every character you've met along your journey into the end to help you, and the actual fight feeling like it actually matters that the world is hanging on your success. It's incredibly emotional, not balls-difficult but just hard enough for your first try, long, and awesome. When the credits happen you feel complete, even if you do want to play some more. It's just a great ending, and if not my favorite absolutely, definitely top 3 for sure.

 

Not sure if there's like a bonus day to talk about doing this event, but I just wanted to mention it was actually incredibly fun. I've always skipped out on it every year since it seemed like a lot to keep track of, but in the end it actually just gave me something to look forward to when I came home every day. Taking 10 minutes to think and talk about my history with gaming was really relaxing and fun. I think I missed a week out of here early on when I had to move to a different house and had no internet, so *shrugs*, it was mainly just for the experience haha. Plus the Playstation logo is totally rad enough~

[Covskin]

Silent Hill 2 Dog Ending

 

I mentioned it in the Saddest Moment, and that is The Walking Dead Series 1. I'll try to say something different though.

 

Uh...Grim Fandango.

 

First off, you don't fully see the villain's demise, but you know it's a gruesome. Manny, who's been through four tortuous years, just shakes his head and drops his gun dismissively.

 

The true greatness of the ending comes ater though, at the final train station. You assume its going to be all happy, but there's a bittersweet moment when Manny realises he has to say goodbye to his best friend Glottis. He leaves Glottis in a far better place than where he found him, but still. At least they hug it out.

 

Manny and Meche board the Number Nine for the final leg of their journey, still unsure what the Ninth Underworld truly has in store for the pair of them. And as they leave, a Mariachi band plays us out.

 

And oh god don't remind me that Sal had a ticket for the Number Nine all along and was never able to use it and get his deserved final rest