Coffee Talk #178: Your Favorite Videogame Endings

One of the disadvantages of being Ted (as mentioned in Coffee Talk #173) is that he doesn’t get to see many game endings. While not all games have huge payoff endings, some are so good that they make all the annoyances of a game dissolve as you’re enveloped by a wave of climactic bliss. Look at the clip of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, for example. The end is emotionally charged and cleverly uses a gameplay mechanic as a storytelling device. It’s just brilliant, brilliant stuff.

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, the chances of Snooki hooking up with John McCain, if Bud Selig should move the all-star game away from Arizona, or the ridiculous contracts going to above average NBA players, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

One of the disadvantages of being Ted (as mentioned in Coffee Talk #173) is that he doesn’t get to see many game endings. While not all games have huge payoff endings, some are so good that they make all the annoyances of a game dissolve as you’re enveloped by a wave of climactic bliss. Look at the clip of Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII, for example. The end is emotionally charged and cleverly uses a gameplay mechanic as a storytelling device. It’s just brilliant, brilliant stuff.

What are some of your favorite game endings? Why did they move you? The comments in today’s Coffee Talk could be a good way to encourage each other to beat games that we haven’t finished. Maybe we just need to see the light at the end of the tunnel, the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, or the slinky girl wrapped in satin sheets on a water bed. Kindly share some of your favorite game endings today!

Author: RPadTV

https://rpad.tv

27 thoughts on “Coffee Talk #178: Your Favorite Videogame Endings”

  1. Every MGS ending. Always epic and fulfilling. Plus extra tidbits like "no sir, nobody knows about you…….Mr President". Good stuff.

  2. Most recently SCC got me so excited by the ending that I immediately started a new game so I could see the alternative ending. All time favorite would have to FFVII (yes I know it is cliche) but I have yet to finish a game that was as amazing as that. Also what SG said.

  3. blast you smartguy, i was going to say MGS. God War was pretty kool. Just when you think you're done getting revenge someone always puts you back down. I love revenge stories, they're always great!

    @chance of Snooki hooking w/McCain

    .2% chance.. now hooking up with her daughter maybe 20% they seemed to get along pretty good in that interview.

    @Bud Selig movie All Star game

    He shouldn't. you can't control what happens with a government or state. They may get picketed or whatever but what about the people that work for the diamondbacks and the businesses around the area counting on the game. Some of them may not support the law but have no choice because the senate passed it.

    @NBA average stars making too much $$$$$

    it happens when there is a need to fill a roster spot and you're getting outbid for average talent. i don't agree with it but it's part of sports and it's been happening in the MLB for years now.

  4. As I was telling RROD the other day, I liked GTA IV's ending(s). They were pretty poignant and did well in keeping with the tone of the game. Unfortunately, getting to the ending can be somewhat of a chore since a lot of the missions to get to the end of the game seem irrelevant to the story.

    The ending for FF VII also comes to mind as a memorable ending.

    -M

  5. I also need to mention this:

    WARNING! Anyone who is planning on buying the new Xbox 360 (slim?) be warned that the system is NOT HD-ready right out of the box. Yes, that's right; if you thought Sony was bad for not including an HDMI cable with their PS3's, just wait until you take a gander at what is in the new Xbox 360 package. The new system comes with ONLY a composite connection. If you are using component or VGA cables to connect your old 360 to a TV, you are screwed since the connection ports on the new 360 are different from the older ones, meaning you will have to buy a new cable that fits the new one. If you have an HDMI cable, you can use that as well, of course. I didn't have one handy and had to order an HDMI cable through this site's Amazon links.

    (Shameless Rpad.tv advertising plug):

    $10 for a 6ft. long HDMI cable is a much better deal than the $70 ones at Best Buy.

    Damn, Microsoft, talk about taking two steps forward and one step back. Would throwing in a frickn' component cable really break your bank?

    -M

  6. @MLB

    Keep it there. If you have a problem then fold the whole league since it is a federal law as well. Hypocrites.

  7. @Iceman

    I am glad you had a gripe about MS and the new "S" line. I am angry with my PS3 Slim. I applaud Sony for sticking with the same A/V cable since the PS1 used the same Component cable up until I got a TV with HDMI.

    I used to take my PS3 Fat everywhere. I packed only an extra Power cord and left the one behind my entertainment center plugged in and left the HDMI cable. One friends house we just use and extra HDMI he has plugged in and at my other friends house I left my Component cable there plugged into his tv for when I come over. The power cord to the Fat was just any old standard PC power cord (I probably own 30 or more of them). The problem is the power cord for the PS3 Slim isn't standard so I have to take it with me now which means moving my entertainment center. I got used to that but my new problem is I left the damned cord at a friends house and now I can't play my PS3 until I go back over there and get it.

  8. inFAMOUS – I loved the ending great twist and good setup for the next

    Bioshock – not so much the ending but the great plot twist near the end.

    Resistance 2 – did not expect it. Never finished the first so I don't know if it was good.

    God of War 3 – He died….but wait where'd the body go?

  9. @ tokz

    In thrilling fashion, the most incredible thing happened as if foretelling the future of video game endings for years to come. It seemed to know what every gamer for the next few decades would and wouldn't want in their video game endings. The choice it made was the perfect example that set the tone for video game endings ever since.

    Immediately after you beat the last boss, the screen went black and said "Congratulations".

  10. @n8r

    hahaha, that's probably why i don't remember it. It's was just like Contra!

  11. @ Tokz

    It was either Double Dragon or Contra where you even had to reset the console to get it off of the "Congratulations" screen.

    I will truly give Double Dragon credit for one of my favorite game openings ever though, especially for the time.

    You pressed start, it showed some chick in a seemingly skimpy 80's dress (by 8-bit standards, she seemed hot too). She's just standing in the street minding her own business, when from the right side of the screen comes a rather buff dude in a sleeveless jean jacket with 2 members of his posse. He walks right up to the girl, hesitates for like half a second, doesn't say anything, and then punches her in the gut to the sound of her yelp. He then slings her over his shoulder and goes back to wherever he came from with her and both of his posse members.

    Once they leave the screen, Jimmy and Billy then come out of the garage that this brutal, caveman-like display of power happened in front of, and proceed to kick the ass of everyone on their block.

  12. I loved the ending of Legend of Zelda. Not really because it was spectacular, but just because it took so long to beat and I was glad to finally beat it.

    I loved the ending to Mirror's Edge. That was an amazing game all the way through. I just hope they can keep it all up for the second one.

  13. @n8r

    i hated those games, where you wanted to re-play it again after you finished it, just to see how long it would take you to do it, now that you knew what to do but couldn't because you had to get up and press reset.

  14. I love the ending of the first Mass Effect. The smirk on Shepard's face as he/she limps towards Anderson would always make me want to start over and do it all over again. I get very similar feelings at the end of the second one when you see the fleet of Reapers coming through dark space towards the Milky Way. I also really love both the good and evil endings of KotOR. I'm still saddened that the 2nd game wasn't as good as the first.

    My love affair with Bioware games aside though, I love the ending of God of War II despite the fact it's an obvious cliffhanger. There's just this massive adrenalin charge I get seeing Kratos riding the Titans up the side of Mount Olympus. I also love the ending of FFX when Tidus starts to fade away after the final battle.

  15. @Raymond Padilla

    Haha.

    @Iceman

    I didn't know the new Xbox doesn't come with HDMI. Sony got bashed for it, and rightfully so, but I see MS will get another get out of jail free card.

    @Nightshade

    How long did you press "O" in the end of GOWIII?

    @Topic

    What Smartguy said in comment #1.

  16. @RROD – 3 1/2 minutes for me. My fiance was timing it after I mentioned that I didn't think it would end.

    @best endings –

    Uncharted 2 – Drake saying that clowns were his number one fear. Classic.

    ME and ME2 – for all the reasons that Nightshade said above

    Read Dead Redemption – Balls! Rockstar has balls the size of the west to pull what they pulled… and I loved every second of it.

    @infamous – I beat good side first, then went evil convinced that the ending would change and Cole would be the beast in a classic paradox twist… that's still my prediction… but was disappointed that the bad ending was really no different short of the small scene at the end showing his domination of empire city. Can't wait for the 2nd one.

  17. Oh and I tried the Cheesecake pancakes at IHOP finally. They weren't bad, but they would have tasted better cold. Cheesecake just isn't hot food.

    @topic

    Three games stand out and I can't figure out which is my favorite. Tales of Symphonia has a underdog beating the impossible odds with idealism and unwavering resolve. The end of it brings an epic battle, plot twists with subtle foretelling, and gorgeous anime cutscenes. Can't go wrong with great anime cutscenes.

    Mass Effect has a very great story and builds up character development very well. The ending has massive space battles, low gravity gun fights (love Lift for this section of the game), and an undead super soldier. Definitely Bioware's best action ending yet.

    And I'm not going to give the name of this game because it is easy to guess. (Knowing me) Plot twists aside, the end of this game involves fighting two factions at the same time, rigging a reactor to blow, and racing to the last hope of surviving the blast as the reactor goes critical. This ending was so good, they and to try and redo it for the third game.

    (Also, I'm a sucker for D&D "you have won the battle, but not the war" endings.)

  18. @ Sandrock

    The 2 factions could be the end of Jedi from the Empire's point of view. The Ewoks and the Rebellion.

  19. @RROD: Much longer then necessary to get the job done. But sometimes you've just gotta blow off a little stream, dig?

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