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General Zelda Satisfying Endings

Simple thread; which Zelda game, for you, has the most satisfying ending and why?
Was it becuase it tied up loose ends?
Left questions unanswered?
Was ambiguous?

conversely which one had the least satisfying ending and how would you rectify it?
 

JuicieJ

SHOW ME YA MOVES!
Joined
Jan 10, 2011
Location
On the midnight Spirit Train going anywhere
Hmmm... I guess it's gonna have to be a threeway tie between Majora's Mask, Spirit Tracks, and Skyward Sword. Each one of these games' ending sequences has superb presentation and fantastic boss fights to send themselves off with a huge bang.

And, just as a bonus, I'll let you all know this: the music in the final phase of the Malladus fight gives me goosebumps every time and quite often brings me to tears from the sheer impact of it all. In fact, Imma go play through that right now!
 

DarkestLink

Darkest of all Dark Links
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
Ocarina of Time and Wind Waker. Both endings wrapped just about everything up and had a satisfying conclusion to a great adventure. MM did a cop out and gave everyone a happy ending they shouldn't have had. TP didn't feel finished...it felt too open...and SS should have added more...like what became of Zelda and Link? When was the royal family established? Did the others stay in the sky or come down as well?

For 2D games...aLttP and OoX are the only ones that come to mind. LA has Link ready to drown in the ocean and shows no care towards its characters dying, PH doesn't explain the whole relationship with Linebeck and the dream dimension well (Not to mention...why the hell is he just leaving? Not gonna say high to Link?) and ST left a few things unexplained. How did it work out for Link and Zelda? Did they become a couple? Stay friends? Or did society pull them away from each other due to status? And did the Lokomo ever come back or did the stay dead? What about the Lokomo Sword? The others I don't remember much.
 

Lord Carlisle

He Who Shall Not be Named
Joined
Sep 9, 2012
Location
Florida
I agree with JuicieJ, minus the Spirit Tracks. Skyward Sword had a somewhat bittersweet, very graceful ending. The kind that would be befitting to finish off the series, if that day ever came. But Majora's Mask had a great ending with the final words of wisdom from the HMS and the results of the sidequests during the credits. I was so surprised and joyed when I saw the Postman returning to the town he was finally able to flee.
 

Justac00lguy

BooBoo
Joined
Jul 1, 2012
Gender
Shewhale
Hmm I'll have to go with my favorite Zelda installment Twilight Princess ...

Spoilers Ahead
I really loved the whole game so I guess just the sheer enjoyment makes me biased towards the ending however I also feel TP had one of the stronger narratives than other Zelda games so with all that building up to an the end made for a very enjoyable ending.

The final battle with Ganondorf was a long and grueling clash and it had some epic cut scenes in between in which we saw Midna seemingly die at the hands of her sacrificing herself to save both Link and Princess Zelda. After the initial defeat of Ganondorf we see him stumbling helplessly with the Master Sword thrusted into his abdomen, it was quite a gruesome site for a Zelda game but it followed in suit with the general tone of the game as a whole. I'm always fascinated by the words of wisdom that Ganondorf has to say in the few Zelda games where he does speak and for me, he again made some great quotes...
[ilquote=Ganondorf] Do not think this ends here...The history of light and shadow will be written in blood![/ilquote]

Then of course we see the Triforce of Power leave his body and then the notable scene in which Zant snaps his neck, this was a symbolism in my opinion of Zant basically breaking the bond between the two and in a way getting revenge.

The next scene I really loved, we see the four Light Spirits appear in the distance in what looks to be Midna who we thought previously was dead. Link then shows his true feelings towards the character as he frantically runs up to her in desperation to be reunited and check if she's ok. We now get to see Midna in her true form which was a really nice addition at the end as she'd been cursed as a downgraded Imp, so knowing theat she was ok and she had her initial form returned was very satisfying in my opinion.

I think this scene was made greater due to the fact that this was the end of a great set of events that the two had I'm endured on their quest, as both played their part. We had seen Minda, who was previously a bit if a jerk, yet throughout the struggles and the sacrifices they had become somewhat of a band between the two and seeing them reunited at the end was amazing. Then of course Minda says [ilquote=Midna] What? Say something! Am I so beautiful that you've no words left?[/ilquote] and Link just smiles which was just a perfect ending followed by one of the best credits combined with one of the best pieces of music to grace a Zelda game.
[video=youtube;1LpUpCXQp-s]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LpUpCXQp-s[/video]

More Spoilers
Of course this wasn't essentially "the end" as after a section of the credits it zones in on the mirror chamber atop Arbiter's Grounds where Midna is set to leave. Now when I first played the game I was loving the fact that we got to see more of the ending however I didn't know we where going to experience one of the biggest shocks in a Zelda game to date. It was quite saddening to see Midna not be able to truly say goodbye to Link as she simply stumbled upon her words, maybe she couldn't properly say goodbye for just the amount of this g's they had went through as it would have been too hard. Then of course she shatters the mirror thus breaking the only *known* connection between the two worlds.

This was kinda bittersweet in my opinion, I really did love the whole ending and the credits however it was ad time one of my favourite characters, essentially, announce her departure from the series, it wasn't just that she was leaving Link but kinda like she was leaving the series as a whole. Now even though I was initially saddened to an extent I think it was kinda good that Nintendo chose this ending. In reality things aren't all happy, even at the end... It was more believeable that we were experiencing a loss, most endings in Zelda tend to be so cliché with everything being happy, while this big loss just seemed like a more realistic theme at the end of the day.

So all in all my favourite Zelda game and favorite plot based Zelda game was topped off, in my opinion, with the most eventful and satisfying ending and one I'll remember for a long time.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Aug 29, 2012
Wind Waker/Twilight Princess/ Ocarina of Time split. Wind waker is just plain awesome. To me still the best storyline in any Zelda game from start to finish. Twilight Princess for that beautiful explanation given by cool guy. And ocarina of time because I love the bitter sweetness of Link having to live his entire childhood knowing he has the maturity of a teenager. Sucks but that's the cost of saving the world I guess ;-/
 

ihateghirahim

The Fierce Deity
Joined
Jan 16, 2013
Location
Inside the Moon
MM had the best ending; especially when you completed all sidequests. We see all the sidequests and characters meet happy endings. We even get to see Anju and Kafei's wedding. Termina is saved, and Majora get's obliterated. The Skullkid becomes a good-guy again, and he goes with the fairies to the awesome carnival we hear about but never see. The Happy Mask Salesman gets his mask and proves he is some sort of demented creature from an inter-upper-parallel dimension. Link gets on Epona and rides off to find Navi (I'll never forgive Nintendo for not finishing that story). Every end is tied up, and it all flows so well you forget that, due to the time travel and multiple redoes of certain events, none of this makes the slightest bit of sense.
 

SpiritGerudo

Flamey-o, Hotman!
Joined
Aug 29, 2011
Location
Halfway There
I'd say Majora's Mask or Ocarina of Time had the most satisfactory ending. Can't decide. Most endings in Zelda are bittersweet and a lot of stuff is left hanging. In OoT and MM, the endings were mostly happy. Since the two games involved the people of the world so much (especially MM), there were big celebrations that made me feel like I had done something in the world. In Ocarina of Time, the people who suffered because of you are seen rejoicing, so there was that atonement factor. In Majora's Mask, you get to see the effect you had on the world and the people, and it was especially sweet if you got all the masks.
Speaking of that . . . JuicieJ, I think you're memory's faulty; Krazy4Krash is right. There's a scene for each mask in the game and you don't see it unless you get the mask.
 

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