Unfortunately, not every video game ending is perfect. Over the years, plenty of them haven't provided the satisfying feeling that they should. Most of them are acceptable, but there are also some very controversial ones. These endings have left people underwhelmed and, in some cases, angry.
It isn't like everything about them is bad. In fact, if those working on the games had just made a few adjustments to some of them, they could've turned out much better. Here are some of those endings, and suggestions of how they could be fixed.
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Make The Final Boss Battle More Creative
Batman: Arkham Asylum
Action Adventure Systems Released August 25, 2009WHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALArkham Asylum is a very well-paced game that gets almost everything right. The writing, story, combat, stealth, and atmosphere are all fantastic. One misstep comes at the end of the game. The final battle against The Joker falls a bit flat.
Batman’s long-term foe is beefed up with Titan, and the fight against him lacks the creativity of many other fights in the series. If they improved this aspect of the game and provided a better-designed battle, then it would make the conclusion more impactful.
Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain
Let You Play As The Original Big Boss In The Final Mission
Metal Gear Solid 5 The Phantom Pain
Stealth Action-Adventure Shooter Adventure Systems Released September 1, 2015WHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALDeep into Metal Gear Solid 5: Phantom Pain, you suddenly get a mission that has you play the game’s opening level again. During it, you discover that the guy with the bandaged face who leads you around during the said level is Big Boss. This is despite you believing that you’ve been playing as Big Boss this entire time. It turns out you’ve been playing as a Medic who has been led to believe they’re the legendary hero. That twist alone isn’t the issue with all of this.
The problem is the fact that they make you play the first level again, which is basically one big tutorial. It’s fine as an opening mission, but it’s a slow and plodding final one. Perhaps they could’ve had you control the bandaged up Big Boss to at least make the mission different from the original.
Far Cry 5
Let Your Character Win In The Good Ending
Far Cry 5
10.0/10 Released March 27, 2018WHERE TO PLAY
SUBSCRIPTIONFar Cry 5 is all about eliminating the main members of a cult. In the supposed 'good' ending, you take on and defeat the leader, Joseph. However, when you bring him in, a nuclear war begins, and bombs start going off. In the chaos, your car crashes, your friends seemingly die, and Joseph drags you to a bunker before handcuffing you. This 'end of the world' situation was something that Joseph had predicted previously. Now, not only has he been proven right, but he's safe in the bunker while you're at his mercy. Therefore, he has effectively won.
A villain winning isn't automatically a bad thing, but it feels very deflating in Far Cry 5. After all, everything in the game has led to you bringing Joseph down, and you failed. So, the 'good' ending actually feels like a 'bad' one. There should've been an additional conclusion where your effort was rewarded.
Borderlands
A More Dangerous Vault Monster
Borderlands
Action RPG FPS Systems Released October 20, 2009WHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALIn Borderlands, you play as a group of Vault Hunters that are tracking down a special Vault that’s supposed to contain riches. At the end of the game, you reach the said Vault and it’s opened by one of your adversaries. A huge monster wanders out of the Vault, kills the others, and then fights you. You then engage in a pretty underwhelming boss fight before watching the final cutscene.
The idea of a monster being in the Vault instead of anything useful isn’t bad. It could serve as a nice twist. Yet, the fact that you just kill that beast in a pretty easy fight makes the whole thing anti-climactic. Perhaps if the Vault opened earlier in the game and you had to retreat and prepare to fight the beast in a more epic battle, it would’ve felt more satisfying.
Fallout 3
Use Something Other Than Radiation
Fallout 3
Action RPG Systems Released October 28, 2008WHERE TO PLAY
SUBSCRIPTIONAt the end of Fallout 3, someone must manually activate the water purifier, which means entering the radiated control room that will kill the average person instantly. So, you can sacrifice yourself, send someone else, or do nothing and allow the thing to blow up. For some reason, in the base game, you can't send in somebody who is resistant to radiation, despite that seemingly being the best option for everyone. They do make this an option if you have the Broken Steel DLC, though.
That option makes more sense, but it doesn't make the ending good because it takes a lot of the drama out since you don't have to sacrifice anyone. The better option would've been to include a non-radiation-based threat that nobody is safe from. This would mean you would be forced to select someone to be sacrificed.
Halo 2
Let You Finish The Fight
Halo 2
Shooter Systems Released September 4, 2004WHERE TO PLAY
DIGITALHalo 2 has one of Halo's best campaigns, but it also has one of its most controversial endings. Near the end of the game, the main protagonist, Master Chief, jumps on a ship and chases after the main villain, the Prophet of Truth. This is because Truth is heading to Earth to cause many problems. Initially, it seems like this is leading to the game's final confrontation, but it doesn't.
Instead, the Admiral asks Chief what he's doing, and he says "finishing this fight" before the credits roll. So, it's very much a cliffhanger and not a great one. Letting you have a final battle with Truth before the end, even if he escaped alive, would have been a more exciting conclusion and felt more like an ending.
Fable 2
Include A Proper Final Boss Fight
Fable 2
RPG Action Systems Released October 21, 2008WHERE TO PLAY
SUBSCRIPTIONEarly on in Fable 2, a Lord called Lucien wounds you and kills your sister. So, naturally, you want some payback, and that is what your entire adventure leads to. Finally, you get to face Lucien one-on-one. This is where you should be ready to get your revenge and put a beating on the Lord. However, there isn't actually a real fight.
You simply use a special music box that instantly defeats him, then you finish him off with a bullet. It's an anticlimactic final battle that doesn't feel as satisfying as it should. The game could've allowed you to fight him for a bit, or at least made you do something beyond holding a music box.
Mass Effect 3
Have More Varied Endings And Make Your Choices Matter
Mass Effect 3
Action Adventure Systems Released March 6, 2012WHERE TO PLAY
SUBSCRIPTIONThroughout the first three Mass Effect games, you have to deal with the threat of the Reapers. They’re a synthetic force that is attempting to invade the Milky Way Galaxy and eliminate all its most highly advanced races. While dealing with them, you also make a bunch of decisions that impact different characters and species. What they don’t really impact is the ending of the trilogy.
In the conclusion of Mass Effect 3, you get a binary choice in what to do with the Reapers. You can destroy all synthetic creatures, control the Reapers, merge synthetic and organic DNA, or refuse to do anything and die. Some of the options need to be unlocked, but it’s hard not to have at least three of them available. It doesn’t matter much anyway since the main endings don’t even play out that differently. They all result in similar cutscenes. A way to improve the ending would be to add more variation to the scenes and have a lot of the choices you made prior play a role in what conclusion you get.
