Terrible Game Endings (obvious spoilers)

By Jonathan Stark · August 2, 2010

I'd like to start this out with Metal Gear Solid 4. If you haven't played it, don't read on. Unless you don't care. And you probably shouldn't care because...

God. Fucking. Dammit.

SEE! Big Boss talk to Solid Snake for the first time since Snake KILLED HIS ASS. What do they talk about? They reiterate the entire plot! In case you somehow missed it while you WERE PLAYING THE GODDAMN GAME. SEE! Twenty minutes of two old men in the park talking about things you already know!

SEE! Revolver Ocelot make the big reveal that he was never possessed by Liquid at all! He was just PRETENDING. SEE! The revelation that one of the most stupid plot devices in video game history is, in fact, a stupid plot device! But it's all part of the Patriots plot! Ooooo....

SEE! Meryl, one of the strongest female personas in the game, admit that all she's ever wanted out of life is marriage! SEE! Her amazingly intelligent choice to marry a man who has spent the game LITERALLY SHITTING HIMSELF. SEE! Johnny awkwardly propose in between killing endlessly spawning guys!

SEE! A black man talk to his monkey!

SEE! Sunny finally makes eggs!

That ending sucks.

Comments 15

blood-omen Aug 2, 2010

yes i saw.....your post that is....

EmP Staff Aug 3, 2010

Grandia has the worst endgame of all time.

It's so bad I'm not even going to talk about it in case I start to leak manly tears of ultimate regret and fury.

overdrive Staff Aug 3, 2010

I always was partial to the NES' Karnov. After beating the dragon that's the final boss, you get...a black screen with something like "Congratulations You Won" your only reward.

And yeah...Grandia was pretty lame. I remember a lot of happy people crying tears of joy and stuff, but I've managed to block most of it out of my head.

joseph_valencia Aug 3, 2010

"Chrono Cross" is the least satisfying game ending I've ever seen. SEE! Pseudo-philosphical babble coupled with footage of some Japanese chick wandering around Tokyo while wearing a wig.

zippdementia Blogger Aug 3, 2010

Amen, Joseph.

bluberry Aug 3, 2010

MGS2's was pretty awful as well. after three hours of awesome mindfuck, Snake and Raiden talk about their feelings for fifteen minutes. barf.

also I was playing this dumb kiddy sega genesis game and right as I rescued the princess, a cow fell on her. what the fuck was up with that?

joseph_valencia Aug 3, 2010

If you figure out how to beat the SNES/Sega game "The Lion King," you get to see Simba roar on top of a cliff while a MIDI-fied version of Hans Zimmer's "King of Pride Rock" plays in the background. Then there's credits.

WilltheGreat Aug 3, 2010

Crysis.

The ending was basically "Hey guys, let's go make the sequel!" Then again if you're playing an FPS for its story you're doin it wrong.

JANUS2 Aug 3, 2010

Shenmue II's ending was pretty unsatisfying. Not because it was bad, but because I knew the story would never be finished.

zippdementia Blogger Aug 3, 2010

Dude, Bluberry.... there is no cow level.

EmP Staff Aug 3, 2010

also I was playing this dumb kiddy sega genesis game and right as I rescued the princess, a cow fell on her. what the fuck was up with that?

Dead to me.

dementedhut Aug 3, 2010

I hate every game that just gives you a Game Over screen after beating the final boss. Thank you for assing it during the final moments of development.

Also, I dislik Crackdown 1's ending. For the entire game, it feels like an upbeat crime game, then they just shoehorn this crappy ending where they explain that the Agency is corrupt in under 2 minutes.

True Aug 3, 2010

One of the worst I've ever seen was in Alien 3. All you got was one screen with Sydney (I think that was her name anyway) standing there with a gun, next to her a caption reading "It Is Done".

Lame.

Another ending that annoyed me was that of Shining Force III. Not so much the design or writing, just that I know it didn't end there, and I was forever doomed to wonder what happened.

zippdementia Blogger Aug 4, 2010

Some of the responses bring up an interesting point. Do "game over" endings and endings like that of Lion King really count as "bad endings?" Or are they what's to be expected from games that are, after all, supposed to be simple.

On the one hand, it is disappointing to get to the ass-hard ending of Contra only to have it say "congraturations!" and then start you back at level 1. But on the other hand, I don't recall being particularly interested in endings back then. The point was to beat the game for the glory it bought.

But still, I remember loving Startropics simply because it HAD an actual ending... so maybe the desire was always there.

Can't say I was disappointed in the Lion King, though. Saw that one coming three levels away.

joseph_valencia Aug 4, 2010

Good example of an ending for a simple game: Mega Man 4. Nothing much really happens, but you can tell Mega Man is having some seriously deep thoughts on top of that train. Then there's the freeze shot of him jumping off to meet Roll and Rush. It's like: "That's his sled, man."