AGS Game Endings

Started by thewalrus, Fri 17/11/2006 14:45:42

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thewalrus

     Okay, here is a thread that I don't think has ever been done before. You know we all love finishing a game and seeing what happens in the end. Sometimes it ends with a cliff hanger, sometimes a game leaves you scratching your head wondering "that's it?", and somtimes it has that perfectly awesome ending that we all were hoping for.  What is your favorite ending to an AGS game?!?!?

Thewalrus

Goo, goo, ga, joob!!!

"Sitting on a cornflake, waiting for the van to come!"

Phemar

All the characters die and nothing is resolved.

Kweepa

Everyone is run over by a caterpillar.
Still waiting for Purity of the Surf II

m0ds

Stay on-topic please or your replies will be pruned. I'll have to admit, I don't really remember any endings, none that especially stick out - but probably because I've completed very few AGS games.

Nikolas

Play the "Prodigal" for one of the best endings in a game!

Darth Mandarb

There was this one game ...

The earth was destroyed and the main character realized his adventure was just beginning in the universe!

Such a great game.

DoorKnobHandle

Personally, I think the best ending was in 5 days a stranger.

Spoiler
I really thought Trilby died in the fire, and when his shadow suddenly walked up in front of the house and said something like: "Everybody has to day one day", I was sure he died. Logically he didn't die: "running into a field of police officers as a burglar just isn't a smart thing to do". That part really got me. Amazing story!
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joelphilippage

Kings Quest V's ending was very frustraiting. At the very end the wizard come and fixes everything because he remembered a spell that he had forgotten. And Cedric came back to life again.



Mordalles

Quote from: Nikolas on Fri 17/11/2006 21:38:09
Play the "Prodigal" for one of the best endings in a game!

yes, prodigal's ending is brilliant!

"It's a fairy! She's naked! Curse these low-res graphics!" - Duty and Beyond

Radiant

Quote from: joelphilippage on Fri 17/11/2006 22:59:12
Kings Quest V's ending was very frustraiting.
Yes, that was a very anticlimatic deus ex machina.

Good endings. Well, Space Quest I is a classic, and I'm rather fond of that in Quest for Glory III. In AGS games... gee, tricky... Larry Vales had a nicely appropriate ending. Can't think of any others off-hand without making shameless plugs :)

ManicMatt

All I can think of are endings that annoyed me. Yes, they've stuck out the most.

It wouldn't be nice to name AGS games, so I'll mention non-AGS made games.

MI2 ending with the big whoop theme park. Stupid stupid stupid.

Simon 2. Grrrrr.

Kweepa

Quote from: Mordalles on Fri 17/11/2006 23:08:54
Quote from: Nikolas on Fri 17/11/2006 21:38:09
Play the "Prodigal" for one of the best endings in a game!

yes, prodigal's ending is brilliant!

I agree. That is the best game ending (not just AGS game ending) I've seen in ages.
Still waiting for Purity of the Surf II

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires

#12
Surely "RON 5 - Nihilism" had the bestest ending evah!

Ok, seriously now, it's not often I see a really good ending. Average endings are pretty common in AGS as in everything - things get generally tied up, good guys win, bad guys lose, or some twist makes the victory not so absolute (like He's Gone Historical or HiYah).

What makes a REALLY good ending will depend on the game. Prodigal is an example of an overreaching twist, that makes you kinda rethink the whole story, putting things in a new perspective. That's very good. The ending of "Dada - Stagnation in Blue" ALWAYS has an effect on me, no matter how much DG may hate it now. Yahtzee's games are kinda known, among other things, for their grand finales, and indeed 1213's final revelation, much like Prodigal's, makes you re-evaluate everything. And is a great example of how a story doesn't have to end happily, but it does have to be satisfactory (the ending in He's Gone Historical is frankly a bit disappointing, I mean
Spoiler
after all that hard work he still fails?...).
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I'm a die-hard fan of the story and narrative of Black Dahlia (I just hate the gratuitous puzzles that crop up so very frequently). And in my view, that's actually an extraordinary ending, where the good guy wins, doesn't get the girl and goes to jail in the process - but by God, he won, and he knows it. And it IS satisfactory for the player, in a weird sense. The Gabriel Knight endings, apart from the 3rd one, are classical "let's-wrap-it-up-with-an-emotional-moment" stuff. They work very well - this sort of thing isn't all that easy to pull off. It requires good writing, and in this case good acting, if it's to be memorable - considering it's NOT a memorable moment, we've all seen it a few thousand times.

Bottom line - what makes a good ending? Depends heavily and entirely on the game, and you'll never be able to judge the ending without the rest of the game.

...except for cliffhangers. They are always a death sentence.
Reach for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.

Kneel. Now.

Never throw chicken at a Leprechaun.

EagerMind

Quote from: ManicMatt on Fri 17/11/2006 23:36:33MI2 ending with the big whoop theme park. Stupid stupid stupid.

Really? I loved that ending! That's like the only ending of an adventure game that stands out in my mind.

Now, the ending to MI3 ... what a nightmare. Although I thought the whole game was a pretty weak attempt at "explaining" MI2. Too bad we'll never no what Ron Gilbert was really thinking ....

Nikolas

I do have to comment on prodigal a little.

I know that we're not discussing about it, but prodigals' ending was not only superb story wise. The deliverance and performance was perfect as well.

After a full game you have gone through a lot (even with the walkthrough), you are rewarded with a 3 minute FMV and an amazing track never seen in an AGS game (unless I'm mistaken), cause it's an actually single from Shadowplay (unreleased yet but available from their site), which trisk used with their permission!

All of this adds to the game sooo much, cause let's face it, only a story could be in a book, games ARE something more than that. Music, graphics, story, gameply, and prodigal excells in all of these sectors, especially in the ending!

Now, all I have to do is find trisk and ask him for the money he owes me :P

Ali

#15
Prodigal was quite enjoyable, but I don't feel that it really made sense. There's a good chance that I didn't understand it properly but...

Spoiler
...if our brother was luring us to take his place, and all of the people we ran into were just illusions, his puppets, why were they slowing down our progress? Why would our imprisoned brother make us get a chicken dinner for an imaginary man before rescuing him?
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I do agree with Rui that Black Dhalia has one of the most memorable endings of all adventure games. I also agree that GKII's was very poorly handled, but GKIII's ending was much better.

Mordalles

i don't think the people in prodigal were illusions.  :-\ though, i'm not sure now.  ;D played too long ago.

"It's a fairy! She's naked! Curse these low-res graphics!" - Duty and Beyond

Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens

Quoteexcept for cliffhangers. They are always a death sentence.

:(

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires

Wee, what an interesting one-liner, or rather, one smilier. Does that mean you agree and are desolate that there are cliff-hangers? Does that mean you disagree, and if so how come? Does that mean there's something funny about the sentence itself, and if so why?
Reach for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.

Kneel. Now.

Never throw chicken at a Leprechaun.

Mac

I'd guess his game ends on a cliffhanger (I've not played it).

Ali

Quote from: Mordalles on Sat 18/11/2006 17:08:34
i don't think the people in prodigal were illusions.Ã,  :-\ though, i'm not sure now.Ã,  ;D played too long ago.

I'm pretty sure we're told that...

Spoiler
The cult all left for the marvelous dimension a long time ago - passing through the cell one by one, presumably. If those people were real, it probably would have been quicker for our brother to trick one of them into releasing him.
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Mordalles

oh, i completely missed that.  ;D

"It's a fairy! She's naked! Curse these low-res graphics!" - Duty and Beyond

Helm

Dreamweb ends.... perfectly.

AGS games? Don't remember one that really stayed with me.
WINTERKILL

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires

#23
Oh, I forgot. Here's a godawful ending - "it was all a dream". Or it was all a virtual-reality sim, opr something of the sort. Example:

Spoiler
Harvester. Now come on, despite it being blatantly a gore- shock-value, it does manage to pull you into a totally twisted town, where at every turn you discover a more gruesome/shocking/unpleasant/incredible truth, and so on and so forth - in a way that actually makes you wonder just what the f**k is going on here... but you still want to go ahead and get to the bottom of this (I'm not even mentioning the amnesia gambit it uses. It works, anyway.)

And what do you get? It was all a virtual-reality sim done by some cult that had kidnapped you, made to brainwash you into becoming an insensitive serial killer. I mean, come ON! That killed the game for me, totally.
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Another gimmick is the last-minute surprise, used to maximum effect in In Memoriam -

Spoiler
In "In Memoriam" everything about the game is designed to make YOU, the player, feel as though this is all real. The baffling way it mixes truth with fiction adds to this imensely. You get e-mails from "people" who are working with you, in your own e-mail box/program.

Now, the ingenious thing is that the end-game is mostly comprised of you getting e-mails from your colleagues that let you know how it turned out. It sounds dull, but it actually works very well, especially after the last flash game - whoops, sorry, I meant "your final confrontation with the killer".

And a couple of days later you still get one or more e-mails from your "colleagues" thanking you for your help.

And then a FULL WEEL later, you get an e-mail from the serial killer, saying he'll be back and so on. A full week. I find that extremely ingenious, and it's a great way to make the player feel as though he's really living the situation.
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Those that have read the above spoiler probably assume I think In Memoriam could, with some tinkering and fine-tuning, become the next standard in adventure gaming, taking it to new levels of immersion. The assumption is correct.

EDIT - This could become a nice GTD thread...
Reach for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.

Kneel. Now.

Never throw chicken at a Leprechaun.

blueskirt

#24
For the AGS games I'd say the endings of 7 Days a Stranger, 1213, Automation, Mind's Eye, the funny ending and the bad ending of Pleurghburg Dark Ages, the normal ending of GFW and the ending of The House That Ate My Soul.

For the other endings, I'd say, Maniac Mansion's "arrested on talk-show" ending, the endings of The Last Crusade, FOA, Out Of Order and Quest for Glory 2.

MI2 had a great ending too but it is hardly understandable as long we'll never see what Ron Gilbert wanted MI3 to be, or if you've read those articles that analyse in depth MI 1 & 2 and try to explain what Ron was planning. But then again, I've met people who read said articles and prefer to have CMI and EMI instead of Ron's MI3.

I cannot think of any endings that I really disliked. There are endings that marked me, ending that were pretty average, uninteresting which made me say "Meh!", but no endings that made me say "Man, what a dumb ending!"

Helm

BlueSkirt, for dumb ending, check under Broken Sword.
WINTERKILL

Radiant

I thought Ron had nothing to do with MI3/4?

ManicMatt

You wanna read that again Radiant?

blueskirt

Quote from: Radiant on Sun 19/11/2006 20:22:23
I thought Ron had nothing to do with MI3/4?

When I say "Ron's MI3" I mean the one game that was meant to be the true Monkey Island 2 sequel, the Monkey Island 3 we've never seen because Ron lefts LucasArts or was fired or whatever.

Radiant

Oh, I see. Thanks.

(personally I prefer the graphics of MI2, at least. I haven't played MI3 far enough to judge content, since I don't actually have it but played it at a friend's for a while)

Vince Twelve

Rui,

In Memoriam is a great idea.  I've not played it, but making the game seem real by getting emails from the characters and having to play along as the game unfolds in real-time definitely has the potential for fun.

I've always thought that if I knew how, I'd program a game in the form of a web browser.  For example, I'd tweak an existing webbrowser like Firefox to filter out webpages such as GameFAQs or other places where you might find hints or information about the game, but also add new webpages that don't actually exist, but are parts of the game.  The player would use this modified browser to play the game, interacting with characters via email and message boards, "hacking" computers, and doing research.  The idea would be that someone who didn't know that they were using a rigged browser, would think that they were really wrapped up in the middle of some great mystery novel.

I'm going to have to try out In Memoriam to see what they did.

Oh, endings... I liked Spooks.

evenwolf

I just played through Prodigal to see what everyone was talking about.  Really friggin' sweet.  The rendered camera motions added so much to the game play.

Spoiler
The twist was sort of "Mysty" but actually carried through cinematically.  It was also reminiscent of the Calypso endings of the Twisted Metal games.  Again, more cinematic and meaningful.  I like!
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The Ben Jordan endings have also been very satisfying.   It's done well for a series to end and leave the path open ahead.   Especially the witch hunt one & the haunted building one.  3 & 4 maybe?     Yahtzee's also done very well with endings.  Stories in general really.   




"I drink a thousand shipwrecks.'"

Afflict

Quote from: Helm on Sun 19/11/2006 12:10:30
Dreamweb ends.... perfectly.

I have to second that, Dream Web is AWESOME!

Rui 'Trovatore' Pires

Vince, just so you don't end up a bit disappointed, let me warn you - although the premise is great, the actual gameplay will often be playing flash games and searching the web for some information. Sometimes it's good, and it draws you in as you yourself start making connections, and in a few cases it's really tops, but eventually it might well bore you a bit.

I keep hearing about Dreamweb... never played it, any clues about it? Or at least, how does it end, since it seems to be such a popular ending?
Reach for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.

Kneel. Now.

Never throw chicken at a Leprechaun.

Scummbuddy

It ends with directing you to a 404 page.  :=
- Oh great, I'm stuck in colonial times, tentacles are taking over the world, and now the toilets backing up.
- No, I mean it's really STUCK. Like adventure-game stuck.
-Hoagie from DOTT

Dualnames

Quote from: EagerMind on Sat 18/11/2006 06:38:58
Quote from: ManicMatt on Fri 17/11/2006 23:36:33MI2 ending with the big whoop theme park. Stupid stupid stupid.

Really? I loved that ending! That's like the only ending of an adventure game that stands out in my mind.

Now, the ending to MI3 ... what a nightmare. Although I thought the whole game was a pretty weak attempt at "explaining" MI2. Too bad we'll never no what Ron Gilbert was really thinking ....

I agree with that.Mi2 is the game i play over and over again because it's awesome Great Music very humorous and a le Chuck you are afraid of . Plus gathering the map pieces is a great motivation for playing the game. The ending is undescribable.
Worked on Strangeland, Primordia, Hob's Barrow, The Cat Lady, Mage's Initiation, Until I Have You, Downfall, Hunie Pop, and every game in the Wadjet Eye Games catalogue (porting)

Dmitri

Two particular endings I liked were the endings to Permanent Daylight, I liked how you get a silly epilogue of every character. The other ending I like is the end to Chicken Vs Road, "What the *cluck*?!"
Pretzels :B

Wellington

Ten years ago, Computer Gaming World had a really great issue listing the "150 Best Games of All Time." It also included a list of the "Best Endings of All Time," as well as the worst. They had some good choices, but I don't have the issue anymore.

My favorite endings:

Trinity: Shocking. Maybe a bit emotionally manipulative, but in a way that's perfectly fair. See, what happens is this, as far as I can tell:
Spoiler
The good news is, your actions keep humanity safe from nuclear holocaust for over forty years. The bad new is, that's as much time as we get. As the bombs drop, you escape by fleeing to the past... and start the game's events over again. 1984 was a cynical year, I guess.
[close]

A Mind Forever Voyaging:
Spoiler
Suppose you found out that you were just a computer program, and had spent your entire life in a simulated world. Suppose, next, that you managed to save the real world from disaster, in spite of your lack of a body. How could humanity thank you? How could a program be rewarded? Well, you get the Nobel Prize, and then are allowed to return to your fake life, your fake wife, and your fake home. You know it's a lie, but reality isn't the nicest place to be you. Tasty, tasty blue pill.
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