Best Ending Ever?

I beat Shadow of the Colossus the other day. That final Colossus was a pain in my ass!!! I kept getting thrown off and having to climb up again (which was a long process), but ultimately it was a satisfying battle. What followed was one of the most rewarding endings I have seen in a long, long time. Maybe even ever.

About 95% of the games out there have really disappointing, lackluster endings that leave you wanting more after devoting a large amount of time to beating said game. SotC’s ending certainly does not disappoint for feel lackluster in any way. It wholly satisfies. First, it has got to the longest ending I have ever seen. There is nothing worse than reaching the end of the game, watching a 10 second cinematic and then seeing the credits roll. No, this ending must have been a good 15 minutes long, complete with additional playable sections (which unfortunately are mostly cosmetic since you cannot change the outcome, but cool just the same) and continues even after the credits roll. Why don’t more developers devote time to a game’s ending? They almost always seem tacked on, as if they were an afterthought. Halo 2? C’mon now, that game was incomplete. No way the developers intended that game to end so abruptly. They just ran out of time. Ninja Gaiden Black? After how freakin’ hard the game was, I wanted something a little more rewarding. I am sitting here trying to think of other game endings which were good and I’m having a hard time remembering any. Do you know why? Because they all sucked!!! I can clearly remember Ico’s ending, a game I beat 5 years ago. Why? Because it was awesome!!! Yet, I just finished beating Far Cry Instincts not too long ago and can’t really remember its ending. Something about jumping into a helicopter. Big f’ing deal.

So, come on developers. Don’t get lazy, plan ahead, and take a look at Ico and SotC as examples. A game’s ending matters!!! Reward the player for seeing a game to the end. Unfortunately, I think things will get worse before they improve. With the popularity of on-line play, developers are devoting huge amounts of time to that aspect of a game. Single player games - while in no danger of going the way of the dodo yet - will begin to decline, both in quantity and quality. I don’t think gaming will ever become completely multiplayer (man, that would suck), but I do think that as more and more people get into on-line gaming and developers continue to focus on that aspect, we’re going to get more poorly implemented or tacked on single-player campaigns, and unfortunately, more poorly conceived, short, boring game endings.