The most disappointing endings!

[FamousAdventurer77]

First, I'm glad to see to my thread's gotten some pretty cool feedback.Ã, 

But I'm intrigued by the views on the MI2 ending being disappointing. I mean, it was cool in some ways but frankly disappointing in others. Like it was a nice deviation from the norm, not the typical LucasArts hero ending. But at the same token it did leave you with that "Huh? That was all I got?" feeling.

Still, the disappointment factor of the MI2 ending was NOTHING compared to MI3's ending!! And I haven't played MI4 in ages because it the CDs don't work on my PC, they worked on Macs [interesting.] Eh, well, I stopped using Macs a couple years ago. But even though it wasn't the ending proper; just towards the endgame (shall leave this as a spoiler in case certain readers haven't played all 4 games)

Spoiler

I thought it was a pretty cool plot/entirety twist that it turns out Herman Toothrot was really Grandpa Marley all along! It's soÃ,  those daytime TV shows I don't watch!Ã, 

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But I can't quite remember how it ended. I think it was fairly cool...but kinda need to refresh my memory there.

But hmm, I might wanna see that thread that greatly analyzed the MI2 ending, heh heh.

JBurger: Yes, I know that Clue game you're talking about! The gameplay itself was pretty sweet but I'd never played it all the way to the end, I lost that game the 1st time my hard drive died. Is it on Underdogs? Even though you gave me a heads-up that the ending wasn't too great, still, I'd like to see it, haven't played it in a real long time and all.

[Sheepisher]

Wow.Ã,  Personally, I loved the MI2 ending, and whenever I hear people talk about being disappointed by it, I always wonder if there are two versions of that ending out there ...

I say this because the whole point to the MI2 ending is that Guybrush isn't just a little boy playing pirate games with his brother ... it was all a spell created by LeChuck to keep Guybrush out of his way.Ã,  (This is made pretty clear when, as the Threepwood family walks away, little Chucky's eyes glow spookily red ... and we also see Elaine still waiting for Guybrush to return from the hole on Dinky Island and she literally says "I hope he hasn't fallen under a curse or anything".)

I also enjoyed the gag that the end of our lengthy quest to find Big Whoop was, as the name suggests, a bit of a disappointment (i.e. it turns out to be the name of a carnival - you can see the sign in the background as the family walks away).Ã,  Anyway, I thought it was all highly original - a double whammy of two surprise endings that I didn't see coming, and I wasn't disappointed at all!

[Note: I've just read the link from Sovka about Ron Gilbert's possible meaning behind MI1 and MI2, which adds a whole 'nother level to it ...]

I do have to agree with others that the MI3 ending was a huge letdown, mostly because it wasn't really an ending - it was a tiny cutscene animation followed by credits.Ã,  (All interviews / articles I've read suggest that the production team simply ran out of time and had to release the game with a makeshift ending.)

I think my personal least favourite ending was the ending to "Simon the Sorceror 2", which was a cliffhanger.Ã,  Not that I don't like cliffhangers ... but I'd had such a horrible time playing the game itself, I felt ill at the prospect of having to play through a whole sequel just to conclude the story!

[Adamski]

I've developed a radical new theory about the ending of monkey island 2.

Such a revelation it seemed when I was a fresh-faced 16 year old on the internet! I've not read that post in ages, but it's kind of shocking how terribly 'noobish' I was back then. And that I instantly believed that an unregistered user with the name 'Ron Gilbert' was actually the real guy and not someone having fun... those rose-tinted Ezboard goggles have just vanished into thin air, hehe.

Ahem.

[blueskirt]

I say this because the whole point to the MI2 ending is that Guybrush isn't just a little boy playing pirate games with his brother ... it was all a spell created by LeChuck to keep Guybrush out of his way.Ã,  (This is made pretty clear when, as the Threepwood family walks away, little Chucky's eyes glow spookily red ... and we also see Elaine still waiting for Guybrush to return from the hole on Dinky Island and she literally says "I hope he hasn't fallen under a curse or anything".)

Well, that is the explaination given at the begining of CMI, which wasn't made by Ron Gilbert thus isn't the true meaning of MI2's ending. I think everyone would say the same if it was someone else than George Lucas who made Star Wars Ep3 or if it wasn't J. K. Rowling that wrote the last Harry Potter book, and this, without having a single note or idea on what Lucas or Rowling wanted for their series to end.

But with the internet, the overall sloppiness of Escape from Monkey Island, and the various theories on what is the true secret of Monkey Island, something happened which splitted the people in 2 crowds:

Those who read the articles and threads about the secret of MI, thought all these subtle details and foreshadowing only visible when you search carefully were pure genius, reject the ideas received from CMI and EMI and who are now waiting for Ron to make his own MI3 game to conclude the series,

And those who read the same threads and articles, thought it was a plain dumb "It was just a dream!" ending, didn't like the direction Ron was taking, didn't want the MI universe to end like a big dream, a kid's fantasy or something not real and who may or may not wait for MI5, depending on their opinions of EMI.

Personally, as much I love CMI and hate EMI, I'm more waiting for Ron's MI3 and the true conclusion to the series than another commercial MI game to ruin the series even more than EMI did. Who know, maybe LucasFan will work on that when whatever project he's working on will be over.

As for Simon the Sorcerer 2, I finished the game 2 weeks ago and I kinda agree that it was disappointing. I liked the twist at the end but it kinda happened too fast, the story has no climax whatsoever, it's not like any other similar adventure game where you know you're at the ending puzzles because you're confronting the final boss or the countdown to total destruction was just activated. Instead, you think the final part of the game is just about to begin but in reality you're watching the ending and that was kinda deceiving.

[Scummbuddy]

I say this because the whole point to the MI2 ending is that Guybrush isn't just a little boy playing pirate games with his brother ... it was all a spell created by LeChuck to keep Guybrush out of his way.Ã,  (This is made pretty clear when, as the Threepwood family walks away, little Chucky's eyes glow spookily red ... and we also see Elaine still waiting for Guybrush to return from the hole on Dinky Island and she literally says "I hope he hasn't fallen under a curse or anything".)

Well, that is the explaination given at the begining of CMI, which wasn't made by Ron Gilbert thus isn't the true meaning of MI2's ending. I think everyone would say the same if it was someone else than George Lucas who made Star Wars Ep3 or if it wasn't J. K. Rowling that wrote the last Harry Potter book, and this, without having a single note or idea on what Lucas or Rowling wanted for their series to end.

What are you talking about? That is what happens at the end of MI2. Yes, it is accepted by MI3, but those events DID happen at the end of MI2.

But we do agree on one thing. That we will forever await Ron Gilberts MI3.

[Boney]

Now I just had to play MI2 through... I could've been doing something useful like washing the car, but no, I played MI2... Thanks a lot you guys!!!

(BTW I really like the ending and always has, can't really think of any endings that disappointed me...)

[FamousAdventurer77]

MI2's ending was pretty cool in my opinion: Traditional themes and expected endings/happenings can be great, but sometimes untraditional themes and twists can be even better.

Has anyone played Cirque du Zale? That game was really awesome and had a great twist on tradition...the ending was just a tad disappointing but I think the whole twist on tradition made up for everything.

But Book of Spells' ending was really disappointing! I liked the turn of events and the story, but the ending was so very very disappointing.

I've never played Simon the Sorcerer 2, I must find it somewhere. I really liked the first one. In the game I'm still working on, I want to model the map/travel screen after the one I saw in StS1, only all the locations are present, not showing up as you move along in the game. My game is also going to have both traditional and untraditional approaches to the storyline and gameplay. I'm currently working on making a frame-by-frame AVI for the long intro!

But to stay on topic here, another disappointing ending was from a short AGS original, Gaea Fallen. There are 2 different endings and both were pretty disappointing! Still, it was a real nice game, had that nice genuine early 90's-Sierra middle ages mythological feel to it, especially the music.

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

I've just played through Night of the Hermit.

Most disappointing ending I was ever unfortunate enough to witness on an AGS game. I wasn't too keen on the ending of "He's Gone Historical" much for the same reasons,

Spoiler

in He's Gone Historical the player goes through all that stuff and ends up failing the test. But at least he's had the adventure of his life. Plus, he almost made it, too. In Night of the Hermit Herman just WALKS AWAY???

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but Night of the Hermit is the grand winner for me. I mean,

Spoiler

nothing actually happened! You could have quit the game the minute it started, it would be just as effective. Playing "Godot", Mr. Lazarovich? Didn't work.

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Also, I've noticed that quite a few games like to re-use the Monkey Island ending joke, the one that has the computer saying at you "Now do something productive like... or... or... or..." etc. But they all fail on one small but vital point.

The people who make this joke in AGS games INVARIABLY use regular speech. Which goes away when you click or press a key. So that you HAD to read it through, because the only other way to quit is to abort the whole thing with Alt-X. Gentlemen, this is like removing the punchline to the joke. Plus, it gets annoying.

Even moreso in Night of the Hermit - couldn't quit, couldn't skip those lines so it'd go faster, and COULDN'T ALT-X (it's an old game). All in all - folks, if you want to use this joke, do it properly.

[FamousAdventurer77]

Rui: Indeed! Well, I think the only person who truly could get away with that joke is Ron Gilbert himself, or unless some other creators tried very hard and managed to pull it off with the same calibre.

I just never got....well, anywhere in Night of the Hermit. I talked to everyone I could and gathered an insane amount of inventory items but just had NO IDEA what to do with them all. Like I could get an idea of what the NPCs wanted me to do but had no idea how to execute it.

I'm still working on my LSL-influenced pièce de resistance, On The Prowl. I think I'll be 40 before I ever finish it: though people keep telling me to try making something simpler. I'll try that route first. Well, I'll be posting some backgrounds in the Critic's Lounge when I get a chance when I finish them all. I want to finish all my art, sprites, dialogs, and music before I start screaming for help with scripting. Still debating if there should be hilarious death scenes or not. I'll probably have only one ending for the game instead of 2+/alternates...

...but I can promise it will not be disappointing! The intro and ending will most likely be rather long (by adventure game terms) AVIs.

But I just realized too, one of the other most disappointing endings I've seen...the Castle of Dr. Brain. Though the Dr. Brain series isn't considered an adventure game proper, still, it is in a way because it's another famous VGA game by Sierra and it's tons of puzzles to solve and there some continuity and storyline-- ie, you're trapped in the Castle or in Lost Mind you had to get his brain functioning again. But the ending of CoDB just sucked!! He just shows up in a control room and tells you your score before the credits roll. Booooring.

[DragonRose]

Torin's Passage has the worst ending by far.

The hero's fallen in love, discovered he's supposed to be king, made contact with worlds that haven't been visited in decades, saved his adoptive parents, and cleared the name of the woman who saved his life but was accused of killing him, saved the world...

...then he goes home and NOTHING HAPPENS! Just "Oh, it's great to be home!" and the credits! WHAT THE HECK!

Also, the end of Mask of Eternity sucked (how does he get back to Daventry? Does he even go back?), but since that whole game sucked it's not surprising.

[FamousAdventurer77]

I never played Torin's Passage, but it just didn't look too exciting. Hmm, now i know it isn't!

And I agree wholeheartedly that Mask of Eternity sucked. Maybe it would've been fine as a stand-alone game. But I could only play up to a certain point because, well, there's only so much fighting these stupid critters and trying not to get killed that I really care to do when the game itself is NOTHING like the King's Quest I knew and loved since I was 5. It should've just been marketed as an action game with adventure elements, like Might and Magic.

And I just hate 3D.

I think the only 3D games I've ever liked are MI4, RedJack: Revenge of the Brethren, and Mordy 2. Otherwise give me 2D rendering any day. And I know, KQIX is in 3D but it looked good in the demo. And it's like that whole world being redone...I can't wait til that project's done.

[lo_res_man]

I felt "the winter rose" could have used a bit more work at the end. I don't know, something. I just felt it needed a bit more work. But the same complaint can be made about many AGS games, even the good ones.

edit
3d to me is how you use it. I think Grim used 3d well, but MI4, though rather pretty, didn't use it effectively. This isn't to do with games, but, in general, I dislike cel-shaded 3d. 3d and 2d are completely different arts, one has natural perspective, and the other has to be crafted. I don't think one should try to 'fake' the other

[Sheepisher]

Well, that is the explaination given at the begining of CMI, which wasn't made by Ron Gilbert thus isn't the true meaning of MI2's ending ...

As Scummbuddy pointed out, I was referring only to the evidence that we're actually given by Ron Gilbert himself, at the end of MI2, which does seem to push us towards the "voodoo spell cast by LeChuck" interpretation (again, note little Chuckie's spooky eyes and Elaine's direct remark), which is clearly where the writers of CMI got the idea in the first place.Ã,  I do agree, however, that there is some ambiguity to that ending and that, as others have said, only Ron Gilbert knows for sure!

I just remembered the ending to the recent AGS game "Duty and Beyond", which I was in two minds about ... not because of the twist reveal that ...

Spoiler

... your entire epic mission to other kingdoms was actually part of some huge reality TV game ...

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... but because it turns out there were multiple endings depending on the number of points you earned.Ã,  I'm not against multiple endings per se - I think they give a game great replay value and an extra sense of really being able to affect the outcome of the story - but when it's based on a points system, I feel a little bit like I'm being unfairly punished.

I did absolutely everything that was strictly necessary to complete the game, as well as most of the largely unrelated side-quests that were not necessary, and I still didn't get a full score.Ã,  I personally feel that this is unfair to the player - after all, it can be complex and challenging enough to solve all the necessary puzzles in an adventure game without worrying about puzzles that aren't necessary.Ã,  How is one to tell if something is a genuine puzzle or just a red herring if it's not actually related to the central quest?Ã,  And what player wouldn't skip past a load of unnecessary obstacles if he found a short-cut in his quest?Ã,  Moreover, it was only about a quarter of the way through the game that I actually realised these non-essential side quests existed, but by then it was too late because the game doesn't let you travel backwards to a previously completed section.

Yet, after all my exhaustive efforts (and "Duty and Beyond" is a massive game), I received a "low" ending:

Spoiler

I didn't win the grand prize and the romantic interest spurned my advances.

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... as if to say, "sorry - you didn't try hard enough".Ã,  I felt doubly disappointed - firstly, that I'd have to play all the way through again just to attempt a better ending, and secondly, I was racking my brains to think what stone I could possibly have left unturned!Ã,  Don't get me wrong - I did enjoy the game immensely, but this specific kind of multiple ending feels like an unfair reward for my efforts as a player.

[FamousAdventurer77]

Sheepisher: I missed the same things in Duty and Beyond too at first. Well, here's some spoilers to ensure you'll get the cool ending!

How to win Bess's love:

Spoiler

When you first see Bess in the mansion, use dialogue option #2. When you see hear near the Bakery in London, use the umbrella on her.

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Points:

Did you remember to look at ALL the blue cups you found in every realm? And this one's a doozy, you also have to just LOOK at the open window in the mansion when you're outside by the graves. And LOOK at the treasure chest when you're undersea, remember to look at it BEFORE you fill it!

Rescuing Stan:

Spoiler

That pig standing by the Chief's hut when you first get teleported to the Medieval Realm is Stan. Did you read all the books in the wizard's library? Before you give the man in the pub his harp back after you put the unicorn hair in it, use it on the pig to restore Stan to his true form. Now it should be Stan that you're rescuing from the Lamb St shop instead of the stranger.

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Points I Missed At First:

When you're looking at the books in the study later, it says "Feeding Dolphins In Icy Water". It's a clue. Did you catch the 2nd fish in the underwater realm? When you put all the gems in the holes towards the endgame and you grab the tickets outside, use that fish on the water.

Let me reassure you, the ending is certainly not disappionting once you use these spoilers and gotten all the points! 

[DGMacphee]

The Dig

Agreed. The Dig had the worst payoff for the most amount of effort I've ever put into a game.

[Ali]

The Dig

Agreed. The Dig had the worst payoff for the most amount of effort I've ever put into a game.

Seconded. I mean, thirded. I loved The Dig, and I remember being thrilled by...

Spoiler

...the threat that the main character risked losing his mind in the last stage of the game. When the silly looking alien appeared and Brink was returned to normal I thought that this was me losing my mind, and seeing what I wanted to see. I was very disappointed to realise that it was really the game's ending.

[close]

[blueskirt]

What are you talking about? That is what happens at the end of MI2. Yes, it is accepted by MI3, but those events DID happen at the end of MI2.

But we do agree on one thing. That we will forever await Ron Gilberts MI3.

As Scummbuddy pointed out, I was referring only to the evidence that we're actually given by Ron Gilbert himself, at the end of MI2, which does seem to push us towards the "voodoo spell cast by LeChuck" interpretation (again, note little Chuckie's spooky eyes and Elaine's direct remark), which is clearly where the writers of CMI got the idea in the first place.  I do agree, however, that there is some ambiguity to that ending and that, as others have said, only Ron Gilbert knows for sure!

Yes, now that you refresh my memory, it's true that MI2's ending could involve a curse. But MI2's ending is simply not explaining enough and everyone's interpretation on the ending remain an interpretation amongs any other interpretations until we see Ron's MI3. Surface hints like the glowing eyes and Elaine's closing line seem to foreshadow a curse from LeChuck, subtle hints, like the grog machine, the e-ticket, the tunnels, the constant circus and festivals everywhere and Guybrush's parents waiting so long for their kid to show up again they literally died for waiting too long in the waiting room seem to foreshadow a little Guybrush imagining all this.

Ron's MI3 would surely have involved both, but on what level is what we have no idea about. The curse idea could easily be the meaning of MI2's ending and Big Whoop being something created by LeChuck to trap Guybrush, like they did in CMI.

It could also foreshadow the problems Guybrush would face in Ron's MI3, by this I mean that MI2 ends nicely, just like MI1 ended (or should I say MI3 begins nicely, just like MI2 began), and in MI3, Guybrush is on to another adventure, or bragging at his friends on how he found the treasure of Big Whoop and defeated LeChuck again until he discovers about LeChuck's curse and the curse become the problem to be solved in MI3.

Or it could be the real secret of Monkey Island, as if one twist ending wasn't enough. And this also apply for the child's imagination idea, it could be the explaination for MI2's ending, or the real secret of MI. We know the sequel would involve both, but we don't know what dosage, for each ideas, Ron would have used for MI3. Since the surface hints are more visible than the subtle ones, the hints seems to point toward the curse being the explaination of MI2's ending or a foreshadow of the problems Guybrush would face in MI3, and the child's imagination being the great revelation at the end of the game. But since Ron made no sequel, we can't know for sure.

Ron's MI3 obviously qualified for the old saying that say the most beautiful things often have the worst fates.

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

We can't know for sure, ayuh. IMHO, however, the "it's all a child's dream and LeChuck really is the brother and therefore a regular, normal kid" is pretty much disproven by - as has been pointed out many times over - his eyes glowing, and Elaine's last appearance. And I'm not even talking about character logic or anything like that - I'm talking about narrative. That's the classic "The-bad-guy-just-pulled-one-over-the-good-guy's-head-and-the-good-guy-didn't-even-notice" scenario. You get Guybrush as a kid, you see him behave as a kid, you see the parents, you see the brother, and just when you're going "What the F--- is going on here?!" you see a little hint, in this case Chuckie's eyes, telling you "No, you're not crazy, it's just that I - the bad guy - finally got Guybrush where he wanted, bwahahaha, etc et all".

Of course, it could be this and it could be that and I'm sure there are a million explanations, but we can't forget one very simple thing - the way stories work. It'd have to be a pretty damn unorthodox and advanced and revolutionary plotline to follow up on the "all the pirates stuff was just a dream" ending after that very simple fact - Chuckie's eyes glowed supernaturally, and he chuckled at the player as though he were saying "Ahaha, I win!". It's a classical twist-of-a-twist, that ends up putting things back the way they were (except Guybrush is now in a hell of a mess and he doesn't even know it). And as fun and interesting and -in its own way- revolutionary MI was, especially in game mechanics and puzzle design, the story it's presented so far (MI1 and 2) certainly had nothing that sophisticated in it, nothing that could possibly hint at such a thing coming later.

Mind you, I'm not saying stories have to be predictable in their structure or anything. Especially nowadays, many things are allowed, and experimentation is growing. But 2+2=4, and 2*2 is ALSO 4, and 6-2 is ALSO 4... but in the end, it's a logical equation that follows certain rules. Similarly, there's a way that stories work, and to try and see beyond that can work, sometimes... but not when there's such a clear indicator of a classic scenario. No twist is really possible at this point - Chuckie the kid is a supernatural being. Period. Thus we can assume he's still LeChuck.

It's really fun trying out for alternative meanings, but in the end there's things we can't overlook.

[Tom S. Fox]

Yeah, and when the it-was-just-a-dream-ending was true, Monkey Island 3a would be boring as hell!

But back to the actual topic:
One ending disappointing me is the end of Toonstruck.
Has anybody else finished it?
I don't want to give away the ending now, but man, I didn't really like it.

Oh, and Rui: I have a proper version of this joke in my game, if it will ever get finished.
And Dragonrose: You are absolutely right! I had the same feeling with Torin's Passage!

[Rui 'Trovatore' Pires]

Heh, why not? I'm curious now. I can understand that it may look like a defeat, or a cliffhanger, but paradoxically it didn't feel like either, at least for me...