Short game endings

[Pulsar_t]

Have game endings always been this short? Prototype, Bioshock, Fallout 3, Red Faction, all Tom Clancy-branded and Ubisoft's games, KOTOR2, WiC, Stranglehold (strange coming from a John Woo game!) plus countless others all have endings which are usually less than a minute in length and encoded to a BINK file which is put there as an afterthought. They actually spend more time and effort amping you for the game than polishing their endings. Perhaps I've been spoilt by Hideo Kojima and the "FMV generation" but most endings feel rushed and rubbish to me. Of course not all short endings are crap Portal's developers did it just right for instance. Ironically the credits are usually much much longer than the ending itself.

Do you expect grand finales from supposedly epic games or are you not into cinematics all that much?

[jp1]

How about Ghostbusters for a short ending.

I loved the ending of Grandia II. I wish there were more interactive endings.

[Ack]

I enjoy longer endings, as they tend to feel more like a reward for getting through a game. Especially if I've gotten really into the storyline, I want some kind of exposition at the end. It really lets me down when that doesn't happen.

[Pingfa]

In epic adventure games that take up time and effort, I expect a treat for my effort.
As great as KOTOR 2 is, the ending was very underwhelming - and the same no matter what dialogue option you choose! That wasn't nice.

With more lighthearted games that focus purely on gameplay - such as Mario 64 - nobody is really interested in the story so they don't much care for the conclusion. I liked the ending for Mario 64. The cake was a nice gesture.

I also find that I prefer epic endings for games I don't like much - as a reward for my troubles and beating a game I don't find particularly interesting. With tedious games like Prototype - which I felt was a very poor game - I would expect a good ending for having played through such a game.

[onemanfilmcrew]

Speaking of short game endings, sometimes you just need a short and sweet one. The best example of this is Karnov
:white text on a black background:

Congratulations!!!!

The End

[millerjm2]

Super C is pretty bad I remember being particularly disappointed even for a NES game.

[Reverend]

It really depends on the game. Epic games that are treated as both a moving/engaging story as well as a video game should get a rather theatrical ending. Apparently, that's where Muramasa: The Demon Blade is lacking. Other games that were never too serious to begin with, don't need to be tied up in a grand, or even logical way. Mario games tend to be like this. You get a kiss or a thank you and then the credits roll.

[Dylan]

Really, unless the story is heavily involved throughout the whole game (RPGs, Metal Gear) the quickness of its resolution doesn't bother me too much (within reason).

Mario games tend to be like this. You get a kiss or a thank you and then the credits roll.

Or the entire galaxy implodes resulting in a big bang recreating the universe.

[Hobie-wan]

For me the issue with Fallout 3 (no expansion) was the downer ending after the epic charge to the memorial. Yes always having happy endings gets old, but it was just building so much to end that way. Plus it was pretty annoying if you had a certain NPC with you who would have been just fine.

[Reverend]

Mario games tend to be like this. You get a kiss or a thank you and then the credits roll.

Or the entire galaxy implodes resulting in a big bang recreating the universe.

You got me there.