What's the best and worst finale in a game? - Page 2

Zkribbler · November 15, 2002, 02:19

Worst finale was losing in Balance of Power. The screen suddenly goes dark. The rationale is that you didn't live long enough to even see the mushroom cloud that vaporized you.

Standup · November 20, 2002, 08:47

Arcanum was pretty good if slightly annoying. Basically told you what happened in the rest of the world depending on your actions. Along the lines..."remember that complete stranger you killed 3 scenes in - he was going to save the world but you killed him so thousands died"
Pretty similar to Fallout i think but my memory is getting hazy.

Imran Siddiqui · November 21, 2002, 10:32

Fallout 1 & 2 had amazing finales!

I just bought Arcanum so I'm looking forward to a cool finale for that too

.

bondetamp · November 23, 2002, 19:32

Worst: Half-Life

It might be really good, but I'll never know, because I completely lose interest when I get transported to Xen. I've played the game almost through 5 times or so, and abandoned it somewhere right after entering Xen.

Best: Half Life: Blue Shift.

No super boss, no insanely difficult pussle. Just a heartfelt thank you and good bye.

I hate super-duper end-of-level bosses. I usually try to take them down 4-5 times then abandon the game because I'm too frustrated to play it anymore.

You mileage obviously varies.

The Planescape: Torment ending was very good too. You could basically choose whether you wanted to fight or talk your way to victory, getting the Nameless One's mortality back and letting him die one final time to go to his final destination. (Which was the Abyss. Beggars can't be choosers, it seems.)

Urban Ranger · November 24, 2002, 00:44

Quote:

Originally posted by Mr. President
The last level of WarCraft II is really frenetic and fun, though hard. I must have gotten massacred fifty times before I got the idea to attack with about a hundred dragons.

W00t? Which side are you talking about? Human or Orc?

Urban Ranger · November 24, 2002, 00:47

Quote:

Originally posted by bondetamp
I hate super-duper end-of-level bosses. I usually try to take them down 4-5 times then abandon the game because I'm too frustrated to play it anymore.

Me too. They might be appropriate for arcade shoot-them-up type games, but not for PC games.

DrSpike · November 24, 2002, 08:31

Quote:

Originally posted by bondetamp
I hate super-duper end-of-level bosses. I usually try to take them down 4-5 times then abandon the game because I'm too frustrated to play it anymore.

I dunno......I like to end a game on a super-duper boss. The worst of both worlds in when they attempt a super-duper boss and fail miserably......like in Voyager: Elite Force, which was a playable if short game.

J Bytheway · November 24, 2002, 09:23

What about Quake - the super-duper boss who was about as threatening as a malicious jelly, totally unhurtable with your weapons and very easy to kill. Not a great combination.

The most anti-climatic boss I can think of, however, is the spider at the end of Doom (without episode 4). When I first tried it I just ran up and shot him twice and he was dead. Hoorah. The BFG was a little too powerful.

Doom 2 was much better. You couldn't use the BFG there. That was probably the most fun final battle I've ever fought the first time I succeeded.

Pedrunn · November 24, 2002, 09:32

The finales are important part bu i rather talk about the game story and how do you interact with it.

Still:
Best: Homeworld, Wing Commander

Worst: Diablo 1

The Pioneer · November 25, 2002, 06:15

It's a funny thing but I can't really remember any, although I've played quite a few to the end! The ones I remember are the Civ II and III. Both of them are more or less ok. But you would think that after getting through more than 4000 years you deserved a lot more!

So long...

Qilue · November 27, 2002, 16:35

Bad ending.

Medieval Total War. The gameplay is good, but the end is lame. Just 'You win' and the credits, no hall of fame or anything.

SFC 1. As above, but at least you get a summary of kills.

Diablo 2 (pre X-Pac). "This game will end in 60 seconds" Do I need to say anything else?

Elite. Has no ending, but this game is so good it doesn't need one.

Good ending.

Icewind Dale. The final movie is quite chilling the first time you see it.

To comment on hard final battles, RPGs must have them, otherwise the long quest to reach that point is irrelevant.

DinoDoc · November 27, 2002, 17:21

Quote:

Originally posted by Qilue
Diablo 2 (pre X-Pac). "This game will end in 60 seconds" Do I need to say anything else?

You have to ademit that the final movie was awesome though.

Pedrunn · November 27, 2002, 17:50

Quote:

Originally posted by Sandman
Remember folks, it's the finale, not the end sequence.

What is finale then???

Felch · December 2, 2002, 21:46

Quote:

Originally posted by Qilue
To comment on hard final battles, RPGs must have them, otherwise the long quest to reach that point is irrelevant.

I always wondered why the last battles in RTS games were always so damn hard. If you're winning the war you should be able to start the final battle in a position of dominance. Often they don't even bother having any justification in the plot line for the weakness on the winning side, they just send you out with a bare bones base against an entire map filled with bad guys.

DinoDoc · December 3, 2002, 12:43

Quote:

Originally posted by Felch X
I always wondered why the last battles in RTS games were always so damn hard.

While I agree that your starting forces should be greater for the most part, the reason that you are facing a map filled with bad guys is that you are facing thier last stronghold which is naturally going to be well stocked with men and static defenses for you to have to conquer.

DrSpike · December 3, 2002, 12:50

Besides it's not really a finale without a big battle. I'm sure more would complain if the last mission was "use your 5000 troops to take the evil dictator, 4 henchmen, and his cat, Spot"

loinburger · December 3, 2002, 12:56

Chrono Trigger had some good endings, though I had to play through a coupla times to get all of them (it's damn tough to colo Lavos with Crono).

I like big end bosses in games where they're appropriate (FPS and RPG games, f'rinstance), but for RPG's I really prefer that the means of killing the end boss correspond to the means of getting to the end boss. Fallout II was fantastic, because you could kill Horrigan with your badass minigun skills, or you could get a bit of help in the process by turning the auto-defense systems on him and convincing his bodyguards to help you kill him (i.e. you could be a sneaky bastard if you wanted to). Deus Ex was a bit disappointing in this regard, because you had to be a sneaky bastard in order to win (you couldn't just unload your missile launcher into the enemy, which was a pity if you had a full complement of missile launcher ammo like I did).

Sarxis · December 3, 2002, 18:51

Soul Reaver 2 had a good finale, though being indestructible through the last battles is a little disappointing. Soul Reaver 1 also has a great ending/continuation.

Sandman · December 3, 2002, 19:38

Quote:

What is finale then???

The bit before the end. Usually involves a showdown with the most powerful enemy.

Regarding RPG bosses, I don't like it when the way to win is to simply whittle away at their enormous energy bars. It's better if they have some sort of regeneration system, that ups the tension suitably.

Regarding bosses generally, it's always a disappointment when they have some absurd weakness which you can only exploit because of their stupidity or scenery contrivance.
For example, a boss which can only be killed by picking up his projectiles and throwing them back at him, repeatedly. Or a boss that you have to lure into jumping into a conveniently placed pit.
I feel that I haven't 'really' beaten the boss. I should be able to take him down anywhere, even if he doesn't shoot lasers I can reflect with my shield.

Tuberski · December 3, 2002, 21:26

Planescape:Torment had a lame ending.

ACK!

Thrawn05 · December 3, 2002, 22:43

IDK... I like how I beat Ming up in my Mingapulco mod for Morrowind. That was a great ending.

Felch · December 3, 2002, 23:02

Quote:

Originally posted by DrSpike
Besides it's not really a finale without a big battle. I'm sure more would complain if the last mission was "use your 5000 troops to take the evil dictator, 4 henchmen, and his cat, Spot"

I would personally stalk and congratulate any game developer with the cajones to make an ending like that. It would be inventive to just have a big stomping at the very end.

Maybe the ending could be more of a race against the clock - like overwhelming forcs being brought to bear, but you have to destroy the enemy before they launch their doomsday device. In any event, they should be more creative than just giving you some piss poor band of soldiers to take on a fortress.

Vanguard · December 7, 2002, 19:12

Torment has one of the best endings ever.

Qilue · December 8, 2002, 11:42

Quote:

Originally posted by DinoDoc
You have to ademit that the final movie was awesome though.

It was almost in the same class as IWD, although it screamed x-pac.

General Ludd · December 8, 2002, 12:32

I remember a friend and I played a game feriously, determined to finish it despite it being so incredibly frustrating and annoying. We finally did it, and the ending was just a "You win" and back to the title screen. We both said "THAT'S IT?" and started laughing.

I don't remember the title of the game though.

Best finale? hrm... I don't know, I'm not much a fan of finales really.

Rasbelin · December 8, 2002, 13:39

Well, I would say that my favourite finale is "The Escape from Forth Schmerzen" in MOHAA. It's tricky, needs concentration and you need to know what to do as no mistakes can be done. As I wasted a few seconds, I had to abstain from using the StG 44 as it would have slowed me down while running out from the buliding.

The worst finale? I don't know.

Provost Harrison · December 8, 2002, 18:18

Quote:

Originally posted by J Bytheway
The most anti-climatic boss I can think of, however, is the spider at the end of Doom (without episode 4). When I first tried it I just ran up and shot him twice and he was dead. Hoorah. The BFG was a little too powerful.

Well the Cyberdemon at the end of the second episode is much harder to kill, mainly because you don't have the BFG and it is rocket launcher on rocket launcher and lots of quick manoevring

Quote:

Doom 2 was much better. You couldn't use the BFG there. That was probably the most fun final battle I've ever fought the first time I succeeded.

That's still a bugger for a veteran of the game of myself, especially on ultra-violence, where I find I can still only complete it now and again...

aaglo · December 9, 2002, 08:58

The worst finale for any game is, when the game crashes just before ending. And an earlier savegame won't help

Comrade Tribune · December 9, 2002, 19:57

I loved the bad guy finale in C&C2. You get to shoot down the idiots´space station, then there is the parade and the evil propagandy lady anouncing your victory, and then you start your Tiberium super rocket and depopulate Earth.

Quote:

"The end is the beginning."

Playing the evil C&C guys is always cute.

Skanky Burns · December 9, 2002, 20:24

Quote:

Originally posted by loinburger
Deus Ex was a bit disappointing in this regard, because you had to be a sneaky bastard in order to win (you couldn't just unload your missile launcher into the enemy, which was a pity if you had a full complement of missile launcher ammo like I did).

At least there were targets around on that final mission to unload your missiles onto. Lots of metal spiders, security bots (the ones that aren't on your side), those giant burrick-type things, and on the overkill side of the scale, aliens, human soldiers, nuclear technicians, greasels...

The rocket launcher and the HE attachment were practically made for this level.