I'd nominate two games, both extremely Old Skool: The Fool's Errand, a mostly static game that rewards you with a nice little animated finale, and Trinity, one of the old Infocom text adventures.
(Incidentally, you can download The Fool's Errand and a couple of other games free at www.fools-errand.com. Well worth the time if you like puzzle games, own a Mac, or both.)
"I do have a degree in electrical engineering... from almost 20 years ago. Punchcard systems were just becoming obsolete, we had rotary phones in the dorms, and a modem was still a gizmo the size of a shoebox into which you squooshed the phone receiver itself. In short, we lived like animals.
The instant obsolesence is why I became a writer. The rate of punctuation in a sentence doesn't double every 18 friggin' months, and you never have some 22-year-old looming over your shoulder, shaking his head, saying "dude... you're still using adverbs...?"
Oh man, Trinity. Talk about a love/hate relationship with a game although I will agree that the ending was really cool even if it did take my roommate and I seemingly forever to finish that game. Stupid lemming. As an aside, that was part of one of the best/worst birthday gifts I ever got. Someone gave me several infocom games including Trinity, Leather Goddesses of Phobos, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and at least one more whose title has escaped me. I can't even begin to guess how much time I wasted on those games.
I also really loved the ending to Planescape:Torment. It was a great way to end the story. I also have to give props to Bioware for integrating artifacts from that game into Baldur's Gate II and Throne of Bhaal, whose ending was also really satisfying.
Tim
"Verhoeven's _Starship Troopers_: Based on the back cover of the book by Robert Heinlein."
I've always kinda liked the ending style (seen most recently by me in Suikoden III) where they tell you what each character is doing after the game ends (even if it is just one line).
Final Fantasy X's ending was really nice, too. Best ever? I dunno.
I don't know if it counts as an ending, but the credits at the end of SD: Shut Your Mouth were rather enjoyable.
I also liked FFIX, if only because its nice sometimes to see the guy and the girl get together. Plus, I'm a sucker for the way Dagger started beating on Zidane's chest when he reveals himself at the end.
I'm Mr. Mister. Watch your back, felons! When I get pissed, you get mist!
Originally posted by Shem the Penman(Incidentally, you can download The Fool's Errand and a couple of other games free at www.fools-errand.com. Well worth the time if you like puzzle games, own a Mac, or both.)
OMG!
I am proud to say I actually solved "3 in Three" way back when. (I think I gave up on "Fool's Errand" but maybe I'll try it again, now!)
I really dug the ending to the Fallout games because they were slightly different depending on what happened to the different towns you visited during the game.
Dunno if you could count it as the ending of the game...but I loved the end cinematics for the Human and Orc campaigns on Warcraft 3...the Undead scoure ending was okay but lackluster (if Archimonde is a big, bad ass demon, why doesn't he just stomp Dalaran into the ground rather than making a Voodoo sandcastle?) and the Night Elf campaign left way too many questions open (so they could be wrapped up in the Frozen Throne I guess).
I liked the ending of Conker's Bad Fur Day - where Conker was able to escape from the deadly final boss because the programmers accidently left a bug in the game. "What the hell do they pay these guys for anyway?"
Originally posted by bash91I also really loved the ending to Planescape:Torment. It was a great way to end the story.I also have to give props to Bioware for integrating artifacts from that game into Baldur's Gate II and Throne of Bhaal, whose ending was also really satisfying.
Tim
I second the Planescape love...it's a tragic, yet fitting end for the main character. My first thought was, "wait, I do all these good deeds during the game, and I get sent to the lower planes?!" Then I thought about it, and realized how fitting it was, as it was the evil that The Nameless One did in life that caused all the problems in the first place.
(edited by shockdown on 20.7.03 1642) Power flows to the one who knows how -- desire alone is not enough.
Grand Theft Auto 3.When the guy kills Maria during the credits.What a twist.oh and Tony Hawk.Well you don't get much of an ending but you get a new level and Video. U gotta love Pro Bails
U flush one down it swirls around, 999 springs to flush down -Homer Simpson
At the risk of sounding like a snob, I didn't care much for game endings, or at least didn't pay much attention to them. The satisfaction of beating the game was enough for me (oh lord, I sound like a The More You Know ad).
Over 1750 posts and still never a Wiener of the Day! But I'm not bitter!
... Best ending? Hmmm. Star Control 2 (PC, 3DO) was great. So was Dragon Force (Saturn). But then again, those two games were among the ten best games of All Time, imo.
Can't think of too many others, though.
"Or F*ckin' Bevacqua, who couldn't hit water if he fell out of a F*ckin' boat." -- Tommy Lasorda (for Guru Zim!)
I'ma have to go with Earthbound for the SNES. Fully interactive ending. You can go anywhere you'd been before and see how it's changed since you beat it, thusly, it's length is indefinite.
Ewww is that Kane? I don't even wanna know, I gave up on watching wrestling, still waiting for Vince to be under control by some kinda law or something. I must admit though, I still like to play Smackdown SYM sometimes and for the record, I never take Vince's side.
Anyway, I like the endings from the Tekken and FF series and the some of the Twisted Metal ones were cool. To pick one game in particular, I dunno. How I see it, a game with a good ending makes you wanna save your progress near the end so you can watch it again and again.
The only games that made me feel that way was Shenmue I & II for the DC. Those are the only games that I felt were worth all the time spent and was willing to wait forever for the next one. Only to find out that...I can't, it's too painful to say it. Alls I can say is Damn You Bill!!
"NOW YOU GET YOUR WHININ ASS OUTTA HERE!!" Sid Vicious after slapping Bret Hart
Twisted Metal Black, Outlaws. It was perfect in a sad way. He saved finally saved his sanity by being careful and not killing the woman and kid. When he gets his wish, he was too conservative with his shots, and the gang member was still alive and shot him right in the head...eerie
Well, here are the results of the cross posted GOTY poll. The poll was put on four different message boards to try to get a varied opinion on games, since one board might have biases, and the other might not.