(Spoilers) The new ending is severely lacking in terms of cinematic direction, editing, and delivery. Example included.

[Orikon25]

To say that the new ending - The Tower - is controversial at the moment would be an understatement.

But I think people are misattributing why it feels the way it does. I've compared it to the other endings, and in the new one something definitely feels off.

Each of the 3 original endings was designed - in terms of music, editing and cinematic delivery - to have a distinct tone, atmosphere, and to have a targeted emotional impact. Whether it's the horror elements of The Devil or the warm, hopeful feeling of The Star. There's a buildup to the final credits, and when they roll it feels deserved.

For comparison, let's take a look at The Devil and The Tower. In both endings, V stays at a clinic/rehab for an extended period.
In the Devil, the entire clinic sequence is designed like a horror movie. V is getting nightmares, hearing Johnny's voices, the soundtrack is ominous, and there's an excellent montage of V being treated like a lab rat. The point is, everything is framed and designed to impact the player in a specific way, and deliver specific impressions.

In The Tower... no such effort is made, almost nowhere. You spend 10 minutes awkwardly pacing around the clinic room as you talk to people on the phone, and then transition into a Delamain ride that is just used to dump exposition. You visit Viktor, get harrased by two dudes, and meet Misty. Only at the very end, when Misty and V hug, do we get a brief glimpse of what I'm talking about.

It's like the Cinematic Team lacked direction on how to frame/present the rest of the ending. For me, this results in the ending feeling like some side quest rather than a conclusion to a 30-40 hour story. It lacked that emotional oomph that the other 3 deliver through their cinematic direction, which they maintain across their entire duration, not just the last 30 seconds like in The Tower.

Not to mention that there's no buildup to the ending or "finale" like in the other 3 where you first have to assault Arasaka Tower and get to Mikoshi. That's somewhat understandable because you're just going to a hospital, but it still contributes to the ending feeling flat, underwhelming, rushed and - as I said - like playing a side mission.

Anybody else got this impression? Do you agree/disagree? Thoughts?

 

[0248991]

Hey,
I agree the ending is shorter and may feel less worked out, but maybe it was the artistical vision of it.

In the two endings you mentioned V does something big and so the consequences and emotional impact may be great.

In the new ending V ends up being "nobody" - one among millions, lost in crowd.
I really liked how (s)he walks away and disappears in the crowd in the end.

Hovewer, I agree - how the ending feels emotionally and how worked out it is are two separate things.

 

[AlienSpaceBats]

I agree, though I could write an essay on why I dislike The Tower so much (like someone else on these forums said; it's not what happens in the ending, it's how CDPR handled it). But the ending as a whole just breaks logic, ruins characters and common sense all in service of being edgy whilst taking away any meaningful decision making on the player's part. They should let you quit NC, let you take the job at Langley, instead we get emotionally manipulative debasement of a character we've been RPing for 100+ hours.

The entire premise of V returning to NC hours after waking from a (two year?) coma is so stupid, if only from a medical standpoint. We do get a tiny acknowledgement of V being so weak they can't walk to the window though. So the NUSA is fine for this new asset to just waltz back to (a very dangerous) Night City severely weakened by loss of implants, muscular atrophy etc. without escort? Why do I even want to return to NC? (I don't!)

Not to mention how awful the player model looks (and moves) from the Misty hug onward. What walk cycle is that? Yeugh.

 

[Orikon25]

Not to mention how awful the player model looks (and moves) from the Misty hug onward. What walk cycle is that? Yeugh.

Yeah, that final animation is awful, I noticed it right away. And the lighting in broad daylight doesn't help either.

It's easy to dismiss these criticisms as negativity or nit-picking, however I have nothing but praise for the other 3 endings.

So the NUSA is fine for this new asset to just waltz back to (a very dangerous) Night City severely weakened by loss of implants, muscular atrophy etc. without escort? Why do I even want to return to NC? (I don't!)

Also funny how there's a whole deal about V not knowing where the facility is located. He conveniently tells characters that he's not heading to Langley (so that we can have forced drama later on) and he's even put to sleep during the AV ride. But then when you wake up from a coma, apparently nobody cares and V just casually transitions into a Delamain ride.

maybe it was the artistical vision of it

In the two endings you mentioned V does something big and so the consequences and emotional impact may be great

True, but that's still no way to end your game or make the player feel like they're watching the story's conclusion.

You can still execute the bleak and disappointing atmosphere if you have the proper cinematic direction. Just like the executed the horror in The Devil, the hopefulness of The Star, and the anticipation in The Sun. That's my point -- The Tower makes no effort to establish any kind of tone or atmosphere, which contributes to it feeling flat.

Hell, the only way for you to get any closure on characters is to call them during the clinic, but if you do that you're stuck pacing in the room for almost 10 minutes in total silence, with nothing to do. That's just flat out bad design. Compare it to the calls during your clinic stay in The Devil.