Five Worst Game Endings

Endings are hard.  To wrap up all the plot threads neatly so stories end satisfactorily, or to leave a few hanging just so for future possibilities, and to do it all conveying whatever sense of accomplishment or poignancy needed is a difficult task.  Some games have done it excellently.  But today I'm going to talk about the games that really, really blew the landing.

These are the worst endings I could think of from games I have personally finished.  I am judging based upon the endings themselves, the final scenes.  The endgames, the player's final actions leading up to the ending, are a different matter (and perhaps a list for another day.)  Although obviously the endgame and ending influence each other, it is possible to have a great endgame and horrible ending and vice versa.

Many of these endings are somewhat ameliorated by sequels that provide the answers or hope that the previous games' endings lacked.  And while I'm thankful for that, that shouldn't be an excuse for a poor ending (especially when it can be unknown years until a sequel appears.)

Another commonality is depressing endings.  While I generally prefer happy endings, I'm not opposed to a sad or melancholy ending in principle.  But in these endings, the sadness is unexpected, unlike what has come before, and a poor match for the game.  The end of the game is not the time for a sudden twist in tone.

Honorable Mention:  "SkiFree"--You're eaten by a yeti (or is it an Abominable Snowman?)  What's perpetually annoying is that from somewhere I have a memory of reaching a cheering crowd and NOT getting eaten by a yeti (or Abominable Snowman) at the end.  I know this is impossible, and yet I still hope, only to find my hope dashed every time.

5.  "Winter Rose"--In this otherwise lovely little freeware game, you defeat the dragon bringing winter and...the game ends.  That's it.  No scene of warmth resurgent, no recovering peasants, just an abrupt "You've won the game!" and credit messages.  It's startlingly underwhelming.

4.  "Neverwinter Nights 2"--This ending is legendarily bad, and rightfully so.  Rocks fall, and everybody dies.  (Well, maybe not, but you can't tell from the ending.)  Although unexpectedly dark and short, it could be worse.  Rocks literally do fall and possibly kill your entire party, but at least the enemy is defeated and there's some hope of possible survival.

3.  "Other Worlds"--This is another freeware game, which I found enjoyable and well made.  The ending, however, finds the main character in a seemingly irreversible coma, and makes the entire game feel pointless and depressing.

2.  "Mass Effect 3"--Entire books' worth of essays have probably been written (or, actually, given it's been mostly online, countless electrons have been disturbed) about what's wrong with this ending.  I could (and may) write several posts myself about how the ending choices don't fit with the tone of the established universe.  It's all the worse because, at the end of a trilogy, the stakes are all the higher for story conclusions.  (And the extended cut, while ameliorating some issues, did nothing at all to address others.)

1.  "Dreamfall"--The "ending" to Dreamfall feels like the player made a mistake and got sent to the "Whoops! Bad ending" screen.  Everything has gone wrong for the protagonists.  The villains are triumphing.  There's no closure and little hope.