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How Do You Properly End A Game?
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How Do You Properly End A Game?
MrRaverX Tue Jan 08, 2013 5:06 pm
NOTE: This article contains spoilers for some games that are given as examples, so read at your own risk!
There are many things that developers must take care of, in order for
their games to succeed in this increasingly difficult-to-please market:
they must ensure the story is engaging, the characters believable, the
gameplay fun enough for a second (or third, or forth…) comeback, if it
features a multi-player portion, then it mustn’t feel tacked-on, or
poorly implemented, since it might be the only reason for people to get
back into the respective game (if they’re bored with the ‘SP’ part, of
course), and many more.
What I have noticed, is that towards the end of this incredibly long
generation of gaming (which is, in my opinion, a good thing), gamers are
more and more focused on the one aspect that haunts every game out
there (well, at least the ones with a story): the ending. Let’s
be honest here: there have always been endings that made gamers throw
their controllers or keyboards out the window: from never finding out
what is in that damn vault (the first ‘Borderlands’), to seeing
John Marston get killed by the scumbags of the government after doing
all their dirty work, and finally settling in with his family (‘Red Dead
Redemption’), or to see Cole Phelps drown in a sewer after keeping the
streets of Los Angeles safe from all the criminals and murderers (‘L.A.
Noire’).
This problem is even further amplified by all that ruckus the fans
have made over the ending of ‘Mass Effect 3′. On that note, I would have
to agree. A franchise that puts such a big emphasis on choices
throughout its iterations to just end with three damn, very similar,
outcomes, is a middle finger to all the hours invested in the games.
Don’t think you’re up to it? No problem at all! Just don’t go promising
fans the moon if you’re not ready to deliver it.
It seems the endings became such an important business, that even Ken
Levine (the creative director of ‘Bioshock: Infinite’) stated months
before the release of the game that it would feature a
‘never-before-seen in video games‘ ending.
between what a player deserves for their devotion, and what the main
character deserves for their actions. In most cases it’s the same thing,
but not always.
If the gamer has invested hundreds of hours in an, let’s say RPG,
then they should be rewarded with an ending showing all their good/bad
deeds, and how the whole world changed based on his/her actions. For
example, if you have invested hundreds of hours into the whole ‘Mass
Effect’ trilogy, falling in love with, let’s say Liara, you saved the
Rachni, you cured the Genophage, everyone survived, excluding the ones
who died because the developers wanted to (all in all, you were a major
Paragon), then you should be rewarded with an ending in which Shepard
survives, retires to a warm planet living with the partner he/she chose,
gets visited by Garrus, Joker, dr. Chakwas, and others, and the whole
Galaxy is a better place because of him/her.
Of course this can’t be the case with every genre out there, but it
seems that more and more games are becoming more flexible on how the
player approaches the story (and thus, its ending). The best example
anyone can give right now regarding this statement is ‘Call of Duty:
Black Ops II’. After so many entries in which the single-player
campaigns were as straightforward as they could get, in ‘BLOPS II’ you
can actually choose the fates of others, among other things, and in the
end, the conclusion of the story.
What I’m trying to say, is that players should be rewarded for investing hours upon hours of their lives with, at least,
a fitting end to their own tales. You just flew through the game
without caring about anything or anyone? Fine, here’s the “default”
ending, but for everyone else, here’s the ending you deserve.
Another thing that needs to be sorted out regarding the ending, is the event prior to it, the ‘end-fight’ if you want.
Many developers these days choose to end a game with a “bang”. That
wouldn’t be a bad thing, of course, but in doing so, they limit the
players’ actions so much, it gets redundant. What am I talking about?
I’ll tell you: quick-time-events, or gameplay sequences which can be
passed with one’s eyes closed (like the one in ‘Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare 2′). I understand the need to create an “ultimate” cinematic
experience, but believe me when I tell you, it’s better to keep the core
gameplay intact, while adding a few QTE here and there for a more visually stunning experience, not the other way around.
This problem is even further amplified by all that ruckus the fans
have made over the ending of ‘Mass Effect 3′. On that note, I would have
to agree. A franchise that puts such a big emphasis on choices
throughout its iterations to just end with three damn, very similar,
outcomes, is a middle finger to all the hours invested in the games.
Don’t think you’re up to it? No problem at all! Just don’t go promising
fans the moon if you’re not ready to deliver it.
It seems the endings became such an important business, that even Ken
Levine (the creative director of ‘Bioshock: Infinite’) stated months
before the release of the game that it would feature a
‘never-before-seen in video games‘ ending.
between what a player deserves for their devotion, and what the main
character deserves for their actions. In most cases it’s the same thing,
but not always.
If the gamer has invested hundreds of hours in an, let’s say RPG,
then they should be rewarded with an ending showing all their good/bad
deeds, and how the whole world changed based on his/her actions. For
example, if you have invested hundreds of hours into the whole ‘Mass
Effect’ trilogy, falling in love with, let’s say Liara, you saved the
Rachni, you cured the Genophage, everyone survived, excluding the ones
who died because the developers wanted to (all in all, you were a major
Paragon), then you should be rewarded with an ending in which Shepard
survives, retires to a warm planet living with the partner he/she chose,
gets visited by Garrus, Joker, dr. Chakwas, and others, and the whole
Galaxy is a better place because of him/her.
Of course this can’t be the case with every genre out there, but it
seems that more and more games are becoming more flexible on how the
player approaches the story (and thus, its ending). The best example
anyone can give right now regarding this statement is ‘Call of Duty:
Black Ops II’. After so many entries in which the single-player
campaigns were as straightforward as they could get, in ‘BLOPS II’ you
can actually choose the fates of others, among other things, and in the
end, the conclusion of the story.
What I’m trying to say, is that players should be rewarded for investing hours upon hours of their lives with, at least,
a fitting end to their own tales. You just flew through the game
without caring about anything or anyone? Fine, here’s the “default”
ending, but for everyone else, here’s the ending you deserve.
Another thing that needs to be sorted out regarding the ending, is the event prior to it, the ‘end-fight’ if you want.
Many developers these days choose to end a game with a “bang”. That
wouldn’t be a bad thing, of course, but in doing so, they limit the
players’ actions so much, it gets redundant. What am I talking about?
I’ll tell you: quick-time-events, or gameplay sequences which can be
passed with one’s eyes closed (like the one in ‘Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare 2′). I understand the need to create an “ultimate” cinematic
experience, but believe me when I tell you, it’s better to keep the core
gameplay intact, while adding a few QTE here and there for a more visually stunning experience, not the other way around.
In the end, some might say that the journey is more important than
the ending, but I think for the game to feature a complete package, it
needs to “nail” both aspects.
So what’s your opinion on this? Is the journey more important than the ending, or they should both be taken care of on equal level? Let me know in the comments below!
There are many things that developers must take care of, in order for
their games to succeed in this increasingly difficult-to-please market:
they must ensure the story is engaging, the characters believable, the
gameplay fun enough for a second (or third, or forth…) comeback, if it
features a multi-player portion, then it mustn’t feel tacked-on, or
poorly implemented, since it might be the only reason for people to get
back into the respective game (if they’re bored with the ‘SP’ part, of
course), and many more.
What I have noticed, is that towards the end of this incredibly long
generation of gaming (which is, in my opinion, a good thing), gamers are
more and more focused on the one aspect that haunts every game out
there (well, at least the ones with a story): the ending. Let’s
be honest here: there have always been endings that made gamers throw
their controllers or keyboards out the window: from never finding out
what is in that damn vault (the first ‘Borderlands’), to seeing
John Marston get killed by the scumbags of the government after doing
all their dirty work, and finally settling in with his family (‘Red Dead
Redemption’), or to see Cole Phelps drown in a sewer after keeping the
streets of Los Angeles safe from all the criminals and murderers (‘L.A.
Noire’).
This problem is even further amplified by all that ruckus the fans
have made over the ending of ‘Mass Effect 3′. On that note, I would have
to agree. A franchise that puts such a big emphasis on choices
throughout its iterations to just end with three damn, very similar,
outcomes, is a middle finger to all the hours invested in the games.
Don’t think you’re up to it? No problem at all! Just don’t go promising
fans the moon if you’re not ready to deliver it.
It seems the endings became such an important business, that even Ken
Levine (the creative director of ‘Bioshock: Infinite’) stated months
before the release of the game that it would feature a
‘never-before-seen in video games‘ ending.
So how do you properly end a game?I think there is a very thin line that needs to be walked
between what a player deserves for their devotion, and what the main
character deserves for their actions. In most cases it’s the same thing,
but not always.
If the gamer has invested hundreds of hours in an, let’s say RPG,
then they should be rewarded with an ending showing all their good/bad
deeds, and how the whole world changed based on his/her actions. For
example, if you have invested hundreds of hours into the whole ‘Mass
Effect’ trilogy, falling in love with, let’s say Liara, you saved the
Rachni, you cured the Genophage, everyone survived, excluding the ones
who died because the developers wanted to (all in all, you were a major
Paragon), then you should be rewarded with an ending in which Shepard
survives, retires to a warm planet living with the partner he/she chose,
gets visited by Garrus, Joker, dr. Chakwas, and others, and the whole
Galaxy is a better place because of him/her.
Of course this can’t be the case with every genre out there, but it
seems that more and more games are becoming more flexible on how the
player approaches the story (and thus, its ending). The best example
anyone can give right now regarding this statement is ‘Call of Duty:
Black Ops II’. After so many entries in which the single-player
campaigns were as straightforward as they could get, in ‘BLOPS II’ you
can actually choose the fates of others, among other things, and in the
end, the conclusion of the story.
What I’m trying to say, is that players should be rewarded for investing hours upon hours of their lives with, at least,
a fitting end to their own tales. You just flew through the game
without caring about anything or anyone? Fine, here’s the “default”
ending, but for everyone else, here’s the ending you deserve.
Another thing that needs to be sorted out regarding the ending, is the event prior to it, the ‘end-fight’ if you want.
Many developers these days choose to end a game with a “bang”. That
wouldn’t be a bad thing, of course, but in doing so, they limit the
players’ actions so much, it gets redundant. What am I talking about?
I’ll tell you: quick-time-events, or gameplay sequences which can be
passed with one’s eyes closed (like the one in ‘Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare 2′). I understand the need to create an “ultimate” cinematic
experience, but believe me when I tell you, it’s better to keep the core
gameplay intact, while adding a few QTE here and there for a more visually stunning experience, not the other way around.
This problem is even further amplified by all that ruckus the fans
have made over the ending of ‘Mass Effect 3′. On that note, I would have
to agree. A franchise that puts such a big emphasis on choices
throughout its iterations to just end with three damn, very similar,
outcomes, is a middle finger to all the hours invested in the games.
Don’t think you’re up to it? No problem at all! Just don’t go promising
fans the moon if you’re not ready to deliver it.
It seems the endings became such an important business, that even Ken
Levine (the creative director of ‘Bioshock: Infinite’) stated months
before the release of the game that it would feature a
‘never-before-seen in video games‘ ending.
So how do you properly end a game?I think there is a very thin line that needs to be walked
between what a player deserves for their devotion, and what the main
character deserves for their actions. In most cases it’s the same thing,
but not always.
If the gamer has invested hundreds of hours in an, let’s say RPG,
then they should be rewarded with an ending showing all their good/bad
deeds, and how the whole world changed based on his/her actions. For
example, if you have invested hundreds of hours into the whole ‘Mass
Effect’ trilogy, falling in love with, let’s say Liara, you saved the
Rachni, you cured the Genophage, everyone survived, excluding the ones
who died because the developers wanted to (all in all, you were a major
Paragon), then you should be rewarded with an ending in which Shepard
survives, retires to a warm planet living with the partner he/she chose,
gets visited by Garrus, Joker, dr. Chakwas, and others, and the whole
Galaxy is a better place because of him/her.
Of course this can’t be the case with every genre out there, but it
seems that more and more games are becoming more flexible on how the
player approaches the story (and thus, its ending). The best example
anyone can give right now regarding this statement is ‘Call of Duty:
Black Ops II’. After so many entries in which the single-player
campaigns were as straightforward as they could get, in ‘BLOPS II’ you
can actually choose the fates of others, among other things, and in the
end, the conclusion of the story.
What I’m trying to say, is that players should be rewarded for investing hours upon hours of their lives with, at least,
a fitting end to their own tales. You just flew through the game
without caring about anything or anyone? Fine, here’s the “default”
ending, but for everyone else, here’s the ending you deserve.
Another thing that needs to be sorted out regarding the ending, is the event prior to it, the ‘end-fight’ if you want.
Many developers these days choose to end a game with a “bang”. That
wouldn’t be a bad thing, of course, but in doing so, they limit the
players’ actions so much, it gets redundant. What am I talking about?
I’ll tell you: quick-time-events, or gameplay sequences which can be
passed with one’s eyes closed (like the one in ‘Call of Duty: Modern
Warfare 2′). I understand the need to create an “ultimate” cinematic
experience, but believe me when I tell you, it’s better to keep the core
gameplay intact, while adding a few QTE here and there for a more visually stunning experience, not the other way around.
In the end, some might say that the journey is more important than
the ending, but I think for the game to feature a complete package, it
needs to “nail” both aspects.
So what’s your opinion on this? Is the journey more important than the ending, or they should both be taken care of on equal level? Let me know in the comments below!
MrRaverX- Founder
-
Honor : 2567 -
Re: How Do You Properly End A Game?
MrScrewedx Tue Jan 08, 2013 5:28 pm
(Don't worry no spoilers here)
Everything about Mass Effect 3's ending was brilliant, just I'm not sure why the diversity wasn't there, and my only answer for that would be, if the endings are similar you can build a new story/plot in the sequel and not have the ME3 ending so diverse that you have to pretty much make multiple games, which is the most logical explanation, Biowares only downfall was promising something that wasn't there, and then insulting fans with the "Extended Cut", and all that did was fill in a few plot holes in the cut scenes, it was barely needed.BUT MY MAIN FUCKING PROBLEM IS THAT PEOPLE ARE STILL BITCHING ABOUT IT, ON YOUTUBE COMMENT SECTIONS, BIOWARE FORUMS EVERYWHERE,
Even to the point where this girl makes an epic Mass Effect tribute song, and it turns into fan boy warfare in the fucking comments over the ending controversy, complete bullshit, everyone should put the topic to rest.
Ok, I'm done talking about ME3's ending.
Even to the point where this girl makes an epic Mass Effect tribute song, and it turns into fan boy warfare in the fucking comments over the ending controversy, complete bullshit, everyone should put the topic to rest.
Ok, I'm done talking about ME3's ending.
MrScrewedx- First General
-
Honor : 1523 -
Re: How Do You Properly End A Game?
Guest Tue Jan 08, 2013 9:45 pm
Daniel, its mostly about the controversy around the ending, not the ending itself.
I thought that the end to RDR was perfect, and summed up what would've happen in real life, and the end to Alan Wake was confusing, but still, was perfect. With all the new games coming out this year, half of them don't know how to end a game.
I thought that the end to RDR was perfect, and summed up what would've happen in real life, and the end to Alan Wake was confusing, but still, was perfect. With all the new games coming out this year, half of them don't know how to end a game.
Guest- Guest
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