Did the ending feel quite rushed to you?

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I like to think that ciri lives anyway and what you say to her have impact only on her choice.
1) She return to you and became a Witcher.
2) She return to became an empress.
3) She survive but doesn't return. Geralt dies thinking that Ciri was dead.

That's what I believe as well excluding that last part of Geralt dying... Doubtful he does. Probably just feels like shit, sits a bit being sad then notices the monsters, goes to super rage and kills them, back to being sad. Probably turning into a grumpier person + drunkard or so.
Can't take it seriously either that he would let drowners and simple ghouls kill him, that's just lousy no matter the circumstances :p
 
Finished the game yesterday, spent the day trying to wrap my head around the whole White Frost thing, came to the forums cause *surely*, there had to be an explanation for this mess. Guess not and thanks OP for managing to put into words what I had in mind.

Seriously, I've played this game for more than 100 hours and I enjoyed every second of it... Except for the last quest! Everything in between the fight with Eredin (too easy, but that's another story) and Ciri in the tower makes zero fucking sense.

I had a "good" ending after all was done which I enjoyed a lot so the game was not ruined so to say but still, it's a shame given how good everything else was...
 
I also just finished the game. And feel quite sad. My ending was obviously the empress one...
I find this ending is the most logical and right. The girl has grown up, got the feeling of responsibility due to her numerous quests and adventures, left her punks friends behind and returned to her rich and loving fatther to work in his business. That's how it often happens in real life and it is the most real ending to my opinion. Of course she could stay with her punks gang and do graffiti on walls, but that would mean that she drew no conclusions from her adventures, and simply was stupid and irresponsible, which was not the case as we could understand that from the in game events. The girl grew up and doesn't need to run away from her destiny and is finally ready to face it fully, by becoming the empress and that's her fate. An empress with such superpowers than she posses is certainly a person specially chosen by the fate. And for her, I think the story just begins. She now understands and accepts her fate. While Geralt's story has obliviously ended in the grand scheme of things.
If you take into consideration that Ciri's decision to return to her father was partially Geralts decision, then it would perfectly fit his nature. What is the nature of a witcher? Kill monsters, be them humans or some magical creatures, and save humans. By letting Ciri to become empress he does exactly that. Ciri is idealist, and thus with conjuction of magical powers and political powers she becomes the most powerful weapon against monsters one could imagine. Thus, Geralt grants the world this weapon and he again fulfills his fate of a monster slayer. Indirectly. Ciri' fate is the same but on a larger scale.

This is my explanation of the Ciri ending and how I see this. Although I do not understand why did it have to be made in a SUCH a sad manner. Ciri doesn't die, nor loses her superpowers, but moves into a palace and continue her fate on a new, luxurious level. It could've been less sad, I think... But probably it was so due to her understanding that a big part of her life, the childhood with snow balls and funny things like bomb fishing, horse stealing that she wanted so badly... never happened, and now, it is certainly, will never happen. And that is sad, the sheer understanding of it. But there is a whole life ahead of her like I said earlier.

Actually, I think it may be that, Ciri story is a story of growing up, and saying goodbuy to your teen-age period of life, of becoming a mature responsible person, leaving your childhood unsatisfied wishes behind. Not every person completes that trial in real life...

I did not understand what happened in the last battle. Why did Ciri had to go to the tower with the elf and wtf they were doing there...

I also completely agree that the game should have been over at the Kaer Morhen Battle, Probably the last fight and the fight at Kaer Morhen were initially supposed to be two different options you can choose between. Like, fight in Kaer Morhen or take the fight to Scellige. And in the final stage of developpment they merged the two options into one to save on time. I would really not mind waiting another 6+ months and have the final game that is all from the beginning to the end on the level of the Baron quest.
 
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As much as I loved this game, most of these are sadly true. The ending feels rushed once again, though not as badly as in TW2.
 
I never played the first version of TW2? How was it?

It's not that the EE changed it that much. As far as I remember, there were two big quests in Act III added with the EE (one for each path) and some 'static' cutscenes at the very end with Dandelion's narration (TW3-style basically)...and maybe some new assets for the witch hunt in Loc Muinne.

Anyway, I do hope they will add some more explanations (post - battle at Kaer Morhen) with the expansions. I'm hoping for 'half new story / half Enhanced Edition' - style expansion packs.
 
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Upon initial impressions, yes, but after reflection, not particularly. It;'s just I didn't have any side quests to distract me.
 
After reading all these comments, i came to the conclusion that, by all means, you can NEVER satisfy some players.

I didn't feel the ending rushed at all. Actually i expected to reach the finish line with the Battle at Kaer Morhen and i was quite surprised that it went on in another Act.
It's not that a "Starchild" appears on the End out of nowhere to eradicate the whole Plot or something.
An example for an rushed Ending could also be named with Dragon Age Inqisition. THAT's a rushed Ending .. with a weak Story but that's a matter of taste i guess.

The whole game you get more and more hints what's expected of Ciri and what she's capable of. So it's not that surprising that she's trying to fullfill her destiny, maybe even filled by Avallac'hs pressure.
She dreamed of this very ending and as mentioned over and over again, she's no little girl anymore that needs protecting, that she's making her own decisions and even takes up responsibility.
She always wanted to protect other people. That's even the reason she wants to become a witcher. To protect others, not only from monsters. So it's no surprise she wants to take on the White Frost (if for good or not, what do i know).

I feel if (and i highly doubt it) there will be an EE, they could totally screw it up.
I think it's a perfect ending. Even 3 of it. Adult endings. Without chewing every piece of plot and spit it in the dumb little players mouth so he understands every little crumb.
Of course we all want more conclusion, want all more interactions with our favorite characters, but that's not how it works.
For example Eredin. What did you expect? Between the whole fighting thing "Alright, lets have some Vodka, lets chat" ?
They see Humans as inferior, not worthy of such gestures, even Geralt.
 
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The ending is definitely rushed. We arrive at Skellige, we hear something about a civil war and potential war with Nilfgaard being imminent and nothing ever happens with that. The "civil war" is just one scene, the war with Nilfgaard is not a war at all. The entire final mission is a rushed collection of sequences that should have been separate missions that build up towards the fight with Eredin. Instead it was just one big, confusing and very abrupt mission that lead to fight with Eredin. There should have been at least another 10 hours of missions to resolve the civil war, the war with Nilfgaard and some of the other Eredin's top guys, before finally launching the mission against Eredin himself, strategically using the allies at your disposal similar to how it was done in the battle at Kaer Morhen.
 
The ending is definitely rushed. We arrive at Skellige, we hear something about a civil war and potential war with Nilfgaard being imminent and nothing ever happens with that. The "civil war" is just one scene, the war with Nilfgaard is not a war at all. The entire final mission is a rushed collection of sequences that should have been separate missions that build up towards the fight with Eredin. Instead it was just one big, confusing and very abrupt mission that lead to fight with Eredin. There should have been at least another 10 hours of missions to resolve the civil war, the war with Nilfgaard and some of the other Eredin's top guys, before finally launching the mission against Eredin himself, strategically using the allies at your disposal similar to how it was done in the battle at Kaer Morhen.

Nothing should be resolved, the world doesn't stop when we finish the game. That's what a good ending does, a mix of closure and desire to see what only the characters will experience.
 
[For the Record NOT bashing the game here, its easily my favorite game in a LONG time. And the Writing and Ending is all done Beautifully and I would only change one thing.]
That being said I couldn't have been more disappointing with the short slide ending for Geralt, I understand and accept that the main story is about Ciri so the main ending will be about her naturally. But seriously portraying Geralts story ending like a side characters with the narrated slide felt like a kick in the nuts after SOO many hours playing as Geralt. He deserves a cut scene ending, even if it is just a clip of retired Geralt relaxing with the woman he loves(Yen All Day). Wouldn't even need Dialogue could still have narration over it.
 
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[For the Record NOT bashing the game here, its easily my favorite game in a LONG time. And the Writing and Ending is all done Beautifully and I would only change one thing.]
That being said I couldn't have been more disappointing with the short slide ending for Geralt, I understand and accept that the main story is about Ciri so the main ending will be about her naturally. But seriously portraying Geralts story ending like a side characters with the narrated slide felt like a kick in the nuts after SOO many hours playing as Geralt. He deserves a cut scene ending, even if it is just a clip of retired Geralt relaxing with the woman he loves(Yen All Day). Wouldn't even need Dialogue could still have narration over it.

I've said this before, but given the narrator is Not-Dandelion/Dandelion (never tire of this joke), it didn't make sense that he would omit so many people, especially himself, from the slide show. Not to mention, the ending feels more like the ending for a standalone game rather than a trilogy. It just didn't do it justice, didn't close enough loops, and felt a bit rushed and undeserving for the end of Geralt's entire story, at least in games.
 
Nothing should be resolved, the world doesn't stop when we finish the game. That's what a good ending does, a mix of closure and desire to see what only the characters will experience.

...except that such closures were not given, at least not satisfactorily. War with Nilfgaard concluded in one slide; Skellige affairs concluded in one slide. One can't blame people for desiring more on these important matters.

But regardless, my biggest issue is the lack of closure for Geralt. We have been playing as him for three games now, and he gets one slide. This is extremely underwhelming to say the least.

The entire Act 3 is definitely rushed. After Kaer Mohen, I was expecting that the long-time mysterious Wild Hunts would finally start to take the central stage, explain their desires, show complicated character depth and present us with gray choices, all of which the series is known for. But sadly no. Other than a brief interaction with Ge'els, which is a missed opportunity, we got to kill Mr. Pure Evil Imlerith, Mr. Pure Evil Caranthir and Mr. Pure Evil Eredin. In the end I found myself caring much more about Bloody Baron than Eredin. The Wild Hunts are some of the most single-dimensional, blandest antagonists I've ever seen in any video game, and I'm surprised I see them in a Witcher game. Just think of Jacques de Aldersberg and Letho, both much better villains than Eredin.
 
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No, now that I finished my 2nd playthrough. After a thorough understanding of the story and the epilogues, the end was not rushed at all. I used to feel that after my first playthrough. However, as I was paying more attention to the details, dialogues, and even the small things in the main quest I was immersed further.
 
The slides showing the impact of your decisions felt a bit cheap after so many hours you've put into the game, though they are fine for showing some of the less important results of choices you've made, but not for what happens to Geralt.

It's the ending of a great trilogy and Geralt's story, it's just insufficient. It would be something to focus on by CDPR if they're doing a large future update or hopefully an Enhanced Edition.
 
Well for those who missed Ciri becoming a Witcher then sorry this ending explained what happened to Geralt and Yen. Better load that Tower save before the ending.
 
What bums us right now is, CDPR Staff have repeatedly stated that "they have no plans for an 'enhanced edition' of the game" as of this time.
Even if there is an enhanced edition, what bonus content will they add into the game?

We can only just hope and pray. So yes, the ending left a bittersweet after taste within me. What really nails me the coffin is the non-existence of interaction with other main characters especially Yen and Triss after the battle.

Well, people who just play the game till the end without being engaged with the content wouldn't care. But I share the same opinion with other forumer; This isn't how Witcher 3 is supposed to end.

Now there are more questions looming in the head rather than answers after the epilogue lol
 
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Um, are we going to that same path with Mass Effect 3 now? In my opinion the three endings, only two I actually saw are adequate. There's no reason to add an Extended Cut for the game finale.
 
Even if there is an enhanced edition, what bonus content will they add into the game?
How about this:

1. Honoring choices from TW2, which get properly transferred with no BS like explanation of Henselt's death or cameo murder of Sile (they'd better not included her at all, but they can fix it in EE).

2. Fix the last part of the game (starting with battle of Kaer Morhen) to make sense (see the neighboring thread).

3. Fix politics to make it believable, grey up evil characters (give them dialogues and proper motivations, especially Eredin), more ambiguous 'lesser evil' choices, uncensor the game. (see neighboring threads)

4. Fix the plot forcing Yen on us too obviously (we should make a conscious choice ourselves, not by shoving her at us at every opportunity). Fix abrupt end of Triss' content. Give us the third option (Sile would be an easiest character to make such an option, if Geralt goes great lengths in reviving her back to life).
 
[For the Record NOT bashing the game here, its easily my favorite game in a LONG time. And the Writing and Ending is all done Beautifully and I would only change one thing.]
That being said I couldn't have been more disappointing with the short slide ending for Geralt, I understand and accept that the main story is about Ciri so the main ending will be about her naturally. But seriously portraying Geralts story ending like a side characters with the narrated slide felt like a kick in the nuts after SOO many hours playing as Geralt. He deserves a cut scene ending, even if it is just a clip of retired Geralt relaxing with the woman he loves(Yen All Day). Wouldn't even need Dialogue could still have narration over it.
My thoughts exactly. At least a cut scene or some sort of interaction similar to what you have w/ Ciri before the final credits roll.. not asking for much :p
 
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