Spoiler Greatest Endings

[Cfrock]

The Spoiler prefix is there because, obviously, talking about the endings to games is gonna contain spoilers. So be warned people! If possible, I'd ask everyone to clearly state which game(s) they're talking about at the start of their post, so people can more easily avoid reading something they might regret

Anyway, as the title would lead you to believe, this thread is a place for you to tell us which endings to video games you think are the best, the absolute best, and tell us why. An ending can either make or break a game (just look at Halo: Reach and Mass Effect 3 respectively) and there are surely a few which have stuck with you for years. So what are they?

I'll share mine later, I want to see which endings the rest of you liked first

 

[vengenz]

Kingdom Hearts II ending.
Final Fantasy combined with Disney characters, oh my God...
There isn't any part of the game that is not magical.

Spoiler

Sora and Riku opening the door to light, then falling from the sky like meteors into the ocean of Destiny Islands.
Then reuniting with Kairi. Followed by Mickey, Donald, and Goofy. Just such a happy sight!
Really gives that feeling of we have won, were back home, and peace is restored.
+ Utada Hikaru's song "Sanctuary" playing.

 

[Castle]

A good ending to a video game....? :hmm: Yeah, I got nothing.

Okay okay, so it's not a definitive ending, but the ending of Mass Effect 2 is particularly rousing.
So let's just say that's where the whole series ended and leave it at that shall we? Galaxy is saved, great work!

 

[Xinnamin]

Professor Layton games 1, 2, and 3. (and to an extend games 4 and 5 as well but I like the first three endings better, especially Unwound Future omg alkdsfjalkdsja <3)

Spoiler

The Layton games are simple games built around two major things: the puzzle mechanics, and the HOLY ADSFKADJ CANNOT PUT DOWN storylines. *ahem* my keymashing aside, the plots for the Layton games, despite the occasional cliche or contrived-ness they use in their plot twists, are extremely well crafted, and extremely emotional in a way that actually pulls a genuine heartfelt response from the player.

The first game, Curious Village, I felt had a cliche sort of plot twist, BUT in the end it didn't matter. We're not talking about the plot here, just the ending, and for some reason, when at the end of the game Flora looks back on the village she grew up in and is now leaving forever, just her final line: "Goodbye...little village." It was just really touching, and really added this final feeling of growing up, moving on, leaving behind the past. Flora wasn't even present for most of the game, but all of her emotion just poured through in that last line, and it was beautiful.

The second game, Diabolical Box, had a plot twist was sort of contrived, BUT that didn't matter either. The final sword showdown between Layton and Anton was amazing, one of the best cinematics of the series in my opinion, and Anton's story was absolutely heartbreaking. Again, one specific emotional scene stood out to me: when Anton finally accepted his granddaughter Katia, looked up to the sky, and asked his dearly departed Sophia to wait for him a little longer, since he wanted to get to know Katia first. And then Sophia's image smiling down on them just wrapped it up so well, just the happiest ending possible for such a sad story.

The third game however, Unwound Future, was definitely the best in my opinion. It had so much room and potential for tugging at the heartstrings, what with its heavy themes regarding grieving for loved ones, the inevitability of death, fighting a truly unwinnable battle, and what it means to really accept loss. And the game exploited every single loop and turn of the emotional rollercoaster perfectly. Again, a specific scene in the end sticks out, and this scene didn't even need words. Anyone who has played the game would know what scene this was, the one right after Layton and Claire have to part again for the last time, I have never felt so sad at the end of any story I've ever read or played, it was just executed perfectly. Words do not express how much I loved that game.

I'm a huge Layton fangirl, does it show? :$

 

[Zorth]

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare ~ Oh boy was I surprised with this ending. Almost my entire crew is wiped out, The trucks have exploded and I'm laying there half-dead in the middle of the road. Then Zakhaev walks up to us and shoots GAz in his head 5 feet away from me. But thankfully Price was still alive and passed me a pistol so I could finish Zakhaev off for good. :O

Call of duty: Modern Warfare 2 ~ This ending was just as epic as the last one, But less sad and more action packed. It's probably the only video game which caused my heart to race a little at it's end. Just that entire sequence was epic, Looking for Sheperd, Getting stabbed, Crawling my my towards the pistol then getting knocked out and finally pulling a knife out of my own chest as a final way to kill Sheperd. :O

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic ~ This has got to be my favorite game ending of all time. There are two of them actually, the dark version if you give in to the dark side and the light ending (canon) where you stay pure. I just loved how the ending was executed, How Revan saved the galaxy (or took control over it) and the showdown at the Star Forge against Malak & Bastila.

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within ~ Close one to KotOR, also had two endings.I personally loved the secret ending where you had to collect all of the medallions to get the water sword and kill the Dahaka (which turned out to be the canon version). I loved the entire game and finally getting to kill the dark beast that has been hunting be throughout the entire game felt fantastic.

 

[Ventus]

Kingdom Hearts II Final Mix+ - This game had the perfect ending. If you play the game from start to finish, you get to see Sora's growth from his naive self...to his slightly less trusting but still naive self. He makes friends along the way, realizes he didn't fulfill certain promises, etc. He saves his friend once more (it was Sora's heart that opened the Door to Light)...gosh it was just a great ending. Made me tear up, and was a great closing chapter in the series.

 

[Sir Quaffler]

Ocarina of Time. Still my golden standard for how a videogame should end. Being the first Zelda game I played it has a large impact on how I view the series, and the bittersweet way it ends (with you sealing away Ganondorf but still having to go back in time) is still moving to this day.

Skyward Sword. Extremely exhilarating and emotional ending. The entire final fight is the coolest and hardest I've ever seen, with Demise in particular being the single hardest foe I've ever fought. And while throughout the game there were many moments that were tearjerkers or at least very sad, when Impa died I actually broke out into a waterfall of tears.

Chrono Trigger. The fight against Lavos was not only really cool and challenging, on a deeper level you were basically facing the being responsible for the development and eventual demise of the planet. After that, you wind down with a festival to celebrate your success, you have a bittersweet goodbye to your friends from across time, and depending on what state the Epoch is in you either sail across the sky in the Epock to go look for your mom or you float up into the stratosphere on balloons with Marle. Also, the several alternative endings are pretty good too.

Wind Waker. While I may find lots of things to complain about Wind Waker, the ending is not one of them. I think it's superb, with the King finally making peace with his past, letting the old Hyrule finally pass away, and passing on the torch to you and Tetra to go and make a new world for yourselves. Also, that ending song is my favorite song from videogames, period.

Prof. Layton and the Diabolical Box. I haven't actually played the game, but I watched the ending online. Oh man... that's one of the saddest things I've ever seen.

 

[Spirit]

Ah man, good question.. umm. I don't know.

I quite Like WW's ending a lot because of how poignant and melancholy it is and TP's because Gani dies standing up and there is a perfect musical cue when Link smiles when he sees Midna for the first time...

But overall, i really don't know, maybe it doesn't count as an ending but the last section of Super Metroid when you're fighting a very angry Mother Brain who has sprouted legs and a body and the baby Metroid saves you by giving you health and sacrificing itself, of course this all feels better if you play Metroid2: Return of Samus but its still very heart wrenching on its own. =]

 

[Cfrock]

For me there are two that spring to mind immediately. Halo: Reach and Hitman: Blood Money.

Halo: Reach

Spoiler

You've spent the entire game desperately trying to defend the planet Reach from an unstoppable alien horde. As a prequel we already knew that the planet was lost but that serves to heighten the drama of the defense; seeing how bravely humanity fights knowing that it ultimately ends in failure gives the whole game a very sombre tone. As the game moves on the members of your squad, Noble Team, are gradually whittled down, usually via inspiring acts of self-sacrifice, until it is your turn. Noble 6 bravely declines a seat on a ship making its escape from the doomed planet to provide covering fire. Noble 6 dies so that The Pillar of Autumn might live, the ship which carries the Master Chief towards what we know as Halo and humanity's ultimate salvation.

The final scene we see of Reach is the very first scene we saw of Halo: Combat Evolved. In a stroke of genius, Bungie showed us that pivotal moment when we first ever saw Halo, we even hear the first words spoken in that first game by Captain Keyes and the ship's AI, Cortana. "From the beginning, you know the end." And so it was that the very first moment was also the very last. The true beauty of this ending for me though is the message from Bungie which appears on screen as we watch The Pillar of Autumn drift towards its destiny:

To all our fathiful fans-

Thank you for playing Halo: Reach.

Over the past decade, we've shared some of our most memorable experiences together, inside the far reaching expanses of the Halo universe. It's been one hell of a ride. And we couldn't have done it without you.

As we continue marching toward our ultimate goal of World Domination, Bungie remains inspired and fuelled by you, our passionate fan community. So play. Forge. Film.

We'll see you starside.

<3 Bungie​

A whole decade of my life, summed up in a single image. I have known Master Chief and Cortana, Halo and Bungie longer than I have known most of my closest friends. Seeing Bungie's heartfelt farewell was a truly and deeply emotional moment for me. And that is why I love this ending. It is simply perfect.

Hitman: Blood Money

Spoiler

Now let's move on from all that mushy, wet-eyed sentimentality and talk about killing people! Yes! Blood Money actually has a decent story to it, which culminates in Diana, Agent 47's handler and the only person he can conceivably call 'friend', stabbing him with a syringe and poisoning him. We then see 47 taken to a chapel on a remote hillside as the story's villain and a horde of his goons gather for the funeral. As Diana approaches the casket, she places 47's trademark Silverballer pistols in his hands and kisses him. She then mysteriously leaves. The credits roll as we watch 47's funeral. The end.

But not for long! You realise that it is odd for the credits to take place now since this isn't a cut-scene, it is all the in-game engine. Curious, you discover that you can rotate the camera and by wiggling the left-stick 47's health meter pumps up like a beating heart. Could it be?! You wiggle harder until the health bar fills up and then watch in slow-motion as 47 rises from his own casket and you open fire on the gathered 'mourners', ensuring that Agent 47 is the only person who survives his own funeral. I cannot stress enough how incredible that is and how much it fits the cold, intelligent, ruthless and deadly character of Agent 47. He is the master of death and we see that here better than anywhere else. Absolutely fantastic ending to a spectacular game.

 

[Garo]

Because I don't praise this game enough already...

Journey. It's a truly dynamic ending, unlike the endings of other games, perhaps the third in a trilogy of games, that claims to change based on your decision. No, the ending to Journey is one that will change substantially based not on any binary choices you've made or any number on a screen, but rather based on the way you've played the game. Have you played the entire game with the same partner throughout? Your ending is going to mean something very different from the ending of a person who had no companion throughout the game. But even beyond that, setting aside the touching moment of walking into the light with your partner and the elation associated with it or the saddening moment of walking into the light alone - ignoring ALL of that, the ending is still powerful. Walking through the snowstorm, slowing down as the wind chills you to the bone, shortening your scarf and freezing you solid, and ultimately collapsing on the mountain side in crushing defeat... only to awaken again, in one of the most brightly lit areas of the game, as the music crescendos and fills you with a happiness to simply be alive... impossibly powerful.