What the deal with AAA games endings? Praise to CDPR

[Redemyr]

What the deal with AAA games endings? Praise to CDPR

HUGE SPOILERS OBVIOUSLY
for AC, MSG, GTA, DA and Witcher series, maybe others...



So anyway, yesterday I finished AC Unity, a game I had bought at release but couldn't play because bugs and stuff...

Besides the glaring omissions of certain elements in the present, the other part that bothered me was the sad and sudden (although kind of predictable) ending it had in regards to Arno's story with Elise...

That was a week or so after having finished MGS5, which had another sad ending for Quiet...

And then I started looking back in my mind for previous games with AAA productions values and it hit me: Most of them had either a full sad ending or at least a bittersweet one, leaning towards the bitter part...

GTAs 4 and 5, most of ACs, the dragon ages, mass effects...

Never played them but from what I hear Last of Us and Red Dead Redemption had sad endings as well...

It's like a trend, all of those games who made us care about characters, invariably had something BAD happen to them towards the end...

It's kind of depressing when good storytelling = sad stories seems to be the norm...

What's wrong with happy endings??? I like them you know, they don't necessarily make a story bad, it just needs to be logical...

That why, I want to give credit to CDPR for delivering a happy ending for W3 (or at least an option for one)

 

[Scholdarr.452]

Praising CDPR for the ending of TW3? Oh Jesus...

 

[RiseOfRose1]

Not all AAA games have sad endings here's a few examples

GTA 5 'Deathwish' ending was great
Until Dawn ending was great if you kept everyone alive
Max Payne 3 was brilliant and that ending was amazing

Sleeping Dogs is in the middle, it's not sad or happy.

---------- Updated at 08:31 PM ----------

Praising CDPR for the ending of TW3? Oh Jesus...

Hey I would, if they add all the main characters back into the world.

 

[cyberpunkforever]

add dead space 3 and mass effect 3 to the worse endings,
maybe aaa games with bad endings are just not finished, me3, w3, because, if the game has great writings, cinematics, cutscenes to explain important thngs, why there is just a slideshow for the ending? the ending/s are very important, s, th only reason i can find is that the game is just not finished

 

[Charcharo]

It is not a problem of it being sad... or good... or bittersweet... or Abbercrombie... or rainbow unicorns.

MGS V 's is in many ways like Witcher 3... maybe EVEN MORE flawed. It is not due to its ending per say though.

Some of the best endings ever were happy. The most iconic ones, that are downright programmed in every culture, man, woman and child.
No Redemyr

It is the events that precede the ending. The actual storyline too, its themes and how they tie up. Those things are what set up great endings. And WItcher 3's act 3 is a major disappointment (as is MGS V's Mission 2). That is where most of the problem is.
I dont know of Unity though. Except that it was a game coded by hairy narwhals

If Act 3 was great AND the game had better writing and characters in a few critical locations... then any logical ending would have been good. Be it happy, Bayaz winning again, or bittersweet. That is how it usually is in stories. And it is so in Witcher 3 as well

 

[Pug.]

Praising CDPR for the ending of TW3? Oh Jesus...

Redemyr isn't talking about narrative complexity, to what degree the game is faithful to Sapkowski's novels, or any of the things which you covered ad nauseam in the magnum opus that was your "Why the main narrative in the last third of the game is a bad hot mess." If you want to discuss whether the ending was good or bad from a design perspective, I suggest that you take it to that thread.

As for what the OP had to say ....

Yeah, I agree that games, television, and movies seem to be obsessed with the whole bitter-sweet thing as of late. I suppose it comes down to whether or not one believes that entertainment is meant to be solely escapist, or whether it is also incumbent upon the artist to engage in social commentary and critique.

Personally, I like the ending which I got in Wild Hunt. Ignoring the problems with the narrative (e.g. Eredin's reduced role within the game, the unexplained nature of the White Frost, the Deus Ex Machina which Ciri pulls at the end, etc.), I appreciate the fact that my Geralt is enjoying a peaceful retirement and that his final send off wasn't marred by some personal tragedy.

If you're looking for another upbeat title, I would recommend the new King's Quest. It's mechanics are relative straight forward, and the puzzles aren't particularly challenging, but the visual presentation is top notch, and its about as carefree as you can get in today's media.

 

[Sarcen]

I'm glad it is a happy ending, I too don't care for sad endings (Bioshock Infinite Burial at Sea ep2 comes to mind, great game, but the ending only detracts from it for me.) and every game that gives me the choice for good or bad I will always choose the good ending no matter how much "better written" the sad one is. I am not saying that sadness in general is bad, but if it ends on that note it just leaves a bad taste. For example vesemirs death is sad, but it still adds to the overall story. People always say it's about the journey not the destination, while it's true, the destination\ending is what will be remembered most and can completely ruin the whole journey to me (if I had had the bad ending in the Witcher 3, I would have not praised it as much because that is what would have stuck with me).

tldr; I too prefer rainbows and sunshine.

 

[Scholdarr.452]

Yeah, I agree that games, television, and movies seem to be obsessed with the whole bitter-sweet thing as of late. I suppose it comes down to whether or not one believes that entertainment is meant to be solely escapist, or whether it is also incumbent upon the artist to engage in social commentary and critique.

That's not at all a current trend. There were always "good" and "bad" and even quite "neutral" endings in entertainment in media. If you want to get good endings all the time you have to stick with comedy. There is a reason why all the rest is traditionally called drama (at least in newer categorizations, just like series for awards: you're either a comedy or a drama).

I'd like to add that many of the best stories have multiple narrative layers and if just the most obvious one seems to be "bad" doesn't mean that the whole ending is bad. The best example for that is here Sapko's pentalogy. It's indeed bittersweet and that's great because it covers the full range of human emotions. It really gets to us and THAT is what great stories are all about, intense emotions. One-dimensional good endings might give you a good feeling (I love my comedies and "feel good movies", too) but they don't stick with you. They lack the power of the drama, they don't use the full potential of human emotions. And often they seem to be quite unrealistic either which of course doesn't fit to a serious story (even without social commentary). That doesn't mean that good ending cannot be good. The problem here is that the "good" ending of TW3 is just badly written so I don't see why should praise CDPR for anything here...

 

[Charcharo]

Some people still dont get that... rainbows and sunshine are great... if well written.
Hence my point.

There is nothing wrong with good endings. IF they are well written. That is the if. The magical word.

@Scholdarr.452
Most comedy I know of generally ends in horrific ways that leave me traumatized forever.

 

[Guest 3842753]

It's often harder to write happy endings that carry the same weight or meaning that can be conveyed by a sadder or more depressing ending.

I remember the ending to the first season of 24 which was shocking and many people were initially upset but then realized that it was a strong, significant and probably 'best' way to end the season.

Another example is the ending to Chinatown which is the only closer that could give meaning to the movie's references to Gittes' character/past as well as the regional resource politics of the time. Sometimes the bad guy just wins.

 

[web-head91]

Praising CDPR for the ending of TW3? Oh Jesus...

you stole words right out of my mouth. XD

---------- Updated at 10:11 PM ----------

. The problem here is that the "good" ending of TW3 is just badly written so I don't see why should praise CDPR for anything here...

agreed, and that's just the tip of the iceberg regarding the storytelling of that game. people, like you and me can see that because we're used to a certain level of quality when it comes story telling, which is why many have found the main narrative of the TW2 better. heck ! even TW1, despite it's problems had a solid conclusion (god i loved the neutral ending, it was so fitting and satifying). while on the other hand regular people, mostly new commers to the franchise are astounded by how "brillant" the story is, because they're used to not having high standards like us or share the same expectations we've had from the third game.

 

[Phinnway]

@Redemyr The problem isn't with AAA games. The problem is with YOU.

Sad or tragic endings are awesome. They are the best. Sad endings make you think about how things went wrong and all the mistakes the characters made that lead to such a horrible outcome. They make you think, "I hope I never do something that stupid in real life! Or I'll end up just like that guy!"

Sad endings are THE BOMB. Happy endings are dumb. All they do is make you smile.

. The problem here is that the "good" ending of TW3 is just badly written so I don't see why should praise CDPR for anything here...

Didn't know this thread was about TW3's writing, but okay...

 

[dragonbird]

I'm glad it is a happy ending, I too don't care for sad endings (Bioshock Infinite Burial at Sea ep2 comes to mind, great game, but the ending only detracts from it for me.)

You managed to play that?
I was really, really excited about the two Burial at Sea expansions, but I just couldn't take the second one. I ended up just watching a Youtube version to see what happened.

Anyway, I don't mind certain kinds of "bad" endings as long as they make sense, that there's a logical progression to get to that point. What annoys me is illogical endings. And Deus Ex Machina endings that suddenly convert a bad ending to a good one.

I don't think I've ever been annoyed by the ending of a video game. Movies and books, yes, but not games. There's plenty of games where the ending wasn't anything special, but they tended not to be heavily story-based anyway.

I even liked the DX:HR ending, which a lot of people criticised.

 

[web-head91]

Anyway, I don't mind certain kinds of "bad" endings as long as they make sense, that there's a logical progression to get to that point. What annoys me is illogical endings. And Deus Ex Machina endings that suddenly convert a bad ending to a good one.

I don't think I've ever been annoyed by the ending of a video game. Movies and books, yes, but not games. There's plenty of games where the ending wasn't anything special, but they tended not to be heavily story-based anyway.

I even liked the DX:HR ending, which a lot of people criticised.

i don't mind tragic endings or happy endings as long as they're well written personally. besides, the idea of contravential endings, like the one for DX:HR, is present within movies and series as well, classics even like the movie "Free Riders" (lots of people were like "WTF was that ?" back then, but at the same time, some thought it had a certain "charm about it")