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Most games and films are fairly cheesy nowadays, with the usual happy ending when the square-jawed protagonist defeats the main baddie, gets the girl and walks off into the sunset accompanied by the words “And they lived happily ever after”.
But what if more games were to have more depressing or sadder endings?
I personally would still prefer to have the happier endings, as when you pay out lots of hard earned cash for a game, you don’t really want a sad ending, but there are some that do have sad elements.
It has already happened to a certain extent, the best example being Max Payne. Having had his family murdered by some drug-crazed maniacs, Max goes on a one-man killing spree, extracting his revenge on the scum of the streets. However, although you may have defeated all of the villains, there was never to be a happy ending, as there was no bringing back his dead family and the authorities caught up with Max and at the end of the game he is led away having perpetrated mass-murder.
Sure, he cleans up the verruca off the foot of society with graceful gunfire showdowns and makes the town a safer place to live, but the ending is not a happy one.
The Secret of Mana is a nomination for the best ever RPG, with its epic storyline, characters, magic, weapons, rousing orchestral music and three player gameplay, but that too ends on a slight downer, with the little spirit/elf person sacrificing their life so that others may live.
When I first played through Secret of Mana: I didn’t just play it, I lived it.
The characters were fantastic, each having their own deeply emotional backgrounds. As the quest unfolds, they overcome their fears, fight with their emotions and win the day as a strongly bonded team, overcoming huge odds.
I defy anyone to play through Mana, totally immerse yourself in the story, and not shed a small tear at the end sequence, the credits, and when the final screen comes up with that little elf ghost sitting in the trees watching the moon as his hair rustles in the soft breeze. The world had been saved, but the ending was not 100% happy.
The Silent Hill & Resident Evil series could also be put into the ‘not a happy ending’ category. Though you defeat the many hideous monsters, the characters still don’t actually end up happy. In Resident Evil for example, you may have defeated a few shuffling zombies, but you know that the zombie disease is spreading out of control and affecting whole towns and cities. Will a Resident Evil game in the future actually have the proper ending of the human race or the complete eradication of the zombie virus? (Probably not, as they want to milk the franchise as much as possible, so ending the series would stop their meal ticket.)
The idea of the sad ending also happens in many films as well.
Se7en is one of the best examples of the “downer” ending, with the wife of Detective Mills having her head gift wrapped in a box and sent out via the postal service. When the studio executives saw the test version of the film they wanted David Fincher to have a dogs head in the box instead as it might have given the film a too depressing an ending, but myself and many other Se7en fans love that final sequence. Would the film have been as good if it had been a dogs head in the box? No is the answer.
The Empire Strikes Back is regarded as the best of the original trilogy by critics and fans alike, yet it ends on many downers. Han Solo is frozen in carbonite and taken away by Boba Fett, Luke Skywalker loses on of his hands in the lightsaber fight with Vader and Luke learns that his father is in fact the evil, black garb wearing heavy breather himself, Darth Vader.
How bad an ending is that! One of the coolest on-screen characters, Han Solo being frozen and loads of terrible stuff happening to everyone’s favourite intergalactic farmboy.
I wouldn’t have thought that the ending to Star Wars: Episode III will be that happy either really. The Jedi all but extinct and Darth Vader being a badass whilst eradicating the rebels and ruling the galaxy.
So what about game endings? Could we see more unhappy game endings in the future I wonder? Or where the villains win?
What about in a Super Mario game where the portly plumber doesn’t actually rescue the Princess but actually gets defeated by the fire breathing Bowser and eaten as a BBQ meal.
Or in one of the many Shenmue sequels, where Ryo goes through his epic journey to avenge his father’s killer through Hong Kong, Japan and many other locations. However, as he is approaching the heinous villain, Lan Di for the final confrontation, a QTE (quick time event) starts. If you fail to press the buttons correctly in the QTE, Ryo gets run over by his own forklift truck.
Or in a Zelda game where the midget dwarf Link gets defeated by Ganon (come on, we all know that the diminutive elf doesn’t really stand a cat in hells chance of really beating the mighty Ganon does he!)
Or a Star Wars game, in which the Empire defeats all those troublesome rebels.
I know we wont see any of those endings in games, but it would be interesting to leave a game series ending on a cliff hanger, with the outcome being revealed in the next game. Like a character in Resident Evil being near to death and infected with the zombie virus, will they live or not, we will find out in the next game......
But what if more games were to have more depressing or sadder endings?
I personally would still prefer to have the happier endings, as when you pay out lots of hard earned cash for a game, you don’t really want a sad ending, but there are some that do have sad elements.
It has already happened to a certain extent, the best example being Max Payne. Having had his family murdered by some drug-crazed maniacs, Max goes on a one-man killing spree, extracting his revenge on the scum of the streets. However, although you may have defeated all of the villains, there was never to be a happy ending, as there was no bringing back his dead family and the authorities caught up with Max and at the end of the game he is led away having perpetrated mass-murder.
Sure, he cleans up the verruca off the foot of society with graceful gunfire showdowns and makes the town a safer place to live, but the ending is not a happy one.
The Secret of Mana is a nomination for the best ever RPG, with its epic storyline, characters, magic, weapons, rousing orchestral music and three player gameplay, but that too ends on a slight downer, with the little spirit/elf person sacrificing their life so that others may live.
When I first played through Secret of Mana: I didn’t just play it, I lived it.
The characters were fantastic, each having their own deeply emotional backgrounds. As the quest unfolds, they overcome their fears, fight with their emotions and win the day as a strongly bonded team, overcoming huge odds.
I defy anyone to play through Mana, totally immerse yourself in the story, and not shed a small tear at the end sequence, the credits, and when the final screen comes up with that little elf ghost sitting in the trees watching the moon as his hair rustles in the soft breeze. The world had been saved, but the ending was not 100% happy.
The Silent Hill & Resident Evil series could also be put into the ‘not a happy ending’ category. Though you defeat the many hideous monsters, the characters still don’t actually end up happy. In Resident Evil for example, you may have defeated a few shuffling zombies, but you know that the zombie disease is spreading out of control and affecting whole towns and cities. Will a Resident Evil game in the future actually have the proper ending of the human race or the complete eradication of the zombie virus? (Probably not, as they want to milk the franchise as much as possible, so ending the series would stop their meal ticket.)
The idea of the sad ending also happens in many films as well.
Se7en is one of the best examples of the “downer” ending, with the wife of Detective Mills having her head gift wrapped in a box and sent out via the postal service. When the studio executives saw the test version of the film they wanted David Fincher to have a dogs head in the box instead as it might have given the film a too depressing an ending, but myself and many other Se7en fans love that final sequence. Would the film have been as good if it had been a dogs head in the box? No is the answer.
The Empire Strikes Back is regarded as the best of the original trilogy by critics and fans alike, yet it ends on many downers. Han Solo is frozen in carbonite and taken away by Boba Fett, Luke Skywalker loses on of his hands in the lightsaber fight with Vader and Luke learns that his father is in fact the evil, black garb wearing heavy breather himself, Darth Vader.
How bad an ending is that! One of the coolest on-screen characters, Han Solo being frozen and loads of terrible stuff happening to everyone’s favourite intergalactic farmboy.
I wouldn’t have thought that the ending to Star Wars: Episode III will be that happy either really. The Jedi all but extinct and Darth Vader being a badass whilst eradicating the rebels and ruling the galaxy.
So what about game endings? Could we see more unhappy game endings in the future I wonder? Or where the villains win?
What about in a Super Mario game where the portly plumber doesn’t actually rescue the Princess but actually gets defeated by the fire breathing Bowser and eaten as a BBQ meal.
Or in one of the many Shenmue sequels, where Ryo goes through his epic journey to avenge his father’s killer through Hong Kong, Japan and many other locations. However, as he is approaching the heinous villain, Lan Di for the final confrontation, a QTE (quick time event) starts. If you fail to press the buttons correctly in the QTE, Ryo gets run over by his own forklift truck.
Or in a Zelda game where the midget dwarf Link gets defeated by Ganon (come on, we all know that the diminutive elf doesn’t really stand a cat in hells chance of really beating the mighty Ganon does he!)
Or a Star Wars game, in which the Empire defeats all those troublesome rebels.
I know we wont see any of those endings in games, but it would be interesting to leave a game series ending on a cliff hanger, with the outcome being revealed in the next game. Like a character in Resident Evil being near to death and infected with the zombie virus, will they live or not, we will find out in the next game......
How about alternative endings, some good some bad?
With Happy Endings you get closure - a feeling that you've put the world to rights. But I do like Not So Happy Endings: Max Payne & Headhunter spring to mind. Saving the world is good, but after the 20th time it becomes a little predictable and repetitive.
I think it would be good if every adventure game had a Happy Ending and a Not So Happy Ending depending on how well you play the final stages of the game.
I think it would be good if every adventure game had a Happy Ending and a Not So Happy Ending depending on how well you play the final stages of the game.
Most games and films are fairly cheesy nowadays, with the usual happy ending when the square-jawed protagonist defeats the main baddie, gets the girl and walks off into the sunset accompanied by the words “And they lived happily ever after”.
But what if more games were to have more depressing or sadder endings?
I personally would still prefer to have the happier endings, as when you pay out lots of hard earned cash for a game, you don’t really want a sad ending, but there are some that do have sad elements.
It has already happened to a certain extent, the best example being Max Payne. Having had his family murdered by some drug-crazed maniacs, Max goes on a one-man killing spree, extracting his revenge on the scum of the streets. However, although you may have defeated all of the villains, there was never to be a happy ending, as there was no bringing back his dead family and the authorities caught up with Max and at the end of the game he is led away having perpetrated mass-murder.
Sure, he cleans up the verruca off the foot of society with graceful gunfire showdowns and makes the town a safer place to live, but the ending is not a happy one.
The Secret of Mana is a nomination for the best ever RPG, with its epic storyline, characters, magic, weapons, rousing orchestral music and three player gameplay, but that too ends on a slight downer, with the little spirit/elf person sacrificing their life so that others may live.
When I first played through Secret of Mana: I didn’t just play it, I lived it.
The characters were fantastic, each having their own deeply emotional backgrounds. As the quest unfolds, they overcome their fears, fight with their emotions and win the day as a strongly bonded team, overcoming huge odds.
I defy anyone to play through Mana, totally immerse yourself in the story, and not shed a small tear at the end sequence, the credits, and when the final screen comes up with that little elf ghost sitting in the trees watching the moon as his hair rustles in the soft breeze. The world had been saved, but the ending was not 100% happy.
The Silent Hill & Resident Evil series could also be put into the ‘not a happy ending’ category. Though you defeat the many hideous monsters, the characters still don’t actually end up happy. In Resident Evil for example, you may have defeated a few shuffling zombies, but you know that the zombie disease is spreading out of control and affecting whole towns and cities. Will a Resident Evil game in the future actually have the proper ending of the human race or the complete eradication of the zombie virus? (Probably not, as they want to milk the franchise as much as possible, so ending the series would stop their meal ticket.)
The idea of the sad ending also happens in many films as well.
Se7en is one of the best examples of the “downer” ending, with the wife of Detective Mills having her head gift wrapped in a box and sent out via the postal service. When the studio executives saw the test version of the film they wanted David Fincher to have a dogs head in the box instead as it might have given the film a too depressing an ending, but myself and many other Se7en fans love that final sequence. Would the film have been as good if it had been a dogs head in the box? No is the answer.
The Empire Strikes Back is regarded as the best of the original trilogy by critics and fans alike, yet it ends on many downers. Han Solo is frozen in carbonite and taken away by Boba Fett, Luke Skywalker loses on of his hands in the lightsaber fight with Vader and Luke learns that his father is in fact the evil, black garb wearing heavy breather himself, Darth Vader.
How bad an ending is that! One of the coolest on-screen characters, Han Solo being frozen and loads of terrible stuff happening to everyone’s favourite intergalactic farmboy.
I wouldn’t have thought that the ending to Star Wars: Episode III will be that happy either really. The Jedi all but extinct and Darth Vader being a badass whilst eradicating the rebels and ruling the galaxy.
So what about game endings? Could we see more unhappy game endings in the future I wonder? Or where the villains win?
What about in a Super Mario game where the portly plumber doesn’t actually rescue the Princess but actually gets defeated by the fire breathing Bowser and eaten as a BBQ meal.
Or in one of the many Shenmue sequels, where Ryo goes through his epic journey to avenge his father’s killer through Hong Kong, Japan and many other locations. However, as he is approaching the heinous villain, Lan Di for the final confrontation, a QTE (quick time event) starts. If you fail to press the buttons correctly in the QTE, Ryo gets run over by his own forklift truck.
Or in a Zelda game where the midget dwarf Link gets defeated by Ganon (come on, we all know that the diminutive elf doesn’t really stand a cat in hells chance of really beating the mighty Ganon does he!)
Or a Star Wars game, in which the Empire defeats all those troublesome rebels.
I know we wont see any of those endings in games, but it would be interesting to leave a game series ending on a cliff hanger, with the outcome being revealed in the next game. Like a character in Resident Evil being near to death and infected with the zombie virus, will they live or not, we will find out in the next game......
But what if more games were to have more depressing or sadder endings?
I personally would still prefer to have the happier endings, as when you pay out lots of hard earned cash for a game, you don’t really want a sad ending, but there are some that do have sad elements.
It has already happened to a certain extent, the best example being Max Payne. Having had his family murdered by some drug-crazed maniacs, Max goes on a one-man killing spree, extracting his revenge on the scum of the streets. However, although you may have defeated all of the villains, there was never to be a happy ending, as there was no bringing back his dead family and the authorities caught up with Max and at the end of the game he is led away having perpetrated mass-murder.
Sure, he cleans up the verruca off the foot of society with graceful gunfire showdowns and makes the town a safer place to live, but the ending is not a happy one.
The Secret of Mana is a nomination for the best ever RPG, with its epic storyline, characters, magic, weapons, rousing orchestral music and three player gameplay, but that too ends on a slight downer, with the little spirit/elf person sacrificing their life so that others may live.
When I first played through Secret of Mana: I didn’t just play it, I lived it.
The characters were fantastic, each having their own deeply emotional backgrounds. As the quest unfolds, they overcome their fears, fight with their emotions and win the day as a strongly bonded team, overcoming huge odds.
I defy anyone to play through Mana, totally immerse yourself in the story, and not shed a small tear at the end sequence, the credits, and when the final screen comes up with that little elf ghost sitting in the trees watching the moon as his hair rustles in the soft breeze. The world had been saved, but the ending was not 100% happy.
The Silent Hill & Resident Evil series could also be put into the ‘not a happy ending’ category. Though you defeat the many hideous monsters, the characters still don’t actually end up happy. In Resident Evil for example, you may have defeated a few shuffling zombies, but you know that the zombie disease is spreading out of control and affecting whole towns and cities. Will a Resident Evil game in the future actually have the proper ending of the human race or the complete eradication of the zombie virus? (Probably not, as they want to milk the franchise as much as possible, so ending the series would stop their meal ticket.)
The idea of the sad ending also happens in many films as well.
Se7en is one of the best examples of the “downer” ending, with the wife of Detective Mills having her head gift wrapped in a box and sent out via the postal service. When the studio executives saw the test version of the film they wanted David Fincher to have a dogs head in the box instead as it might have given the film a too depressing an ending, but myself and many other Se7en fans love that final sequence. Would the film have been as good if it had been a dogs head in the box? No is the answer.
The Empire Strikes Back is regarded as the best of the original trilogy by critics and fans alike, yet it ends on many downers. Han Solo is frozen in carbonite and taken away by Boba Fett, Luke Skywalker loses on of his hands in the lightsaber fight with Vader and Luke learns that his father is in fact the evil, black garb wearing heavy breather himself, Darth Vader.
How bad an ending is that! One of the coolest on-screen characters, Han Solo being frozen and loads of terrible stuff happening to everyone’s favourite intergalactic farmboy.
I wouldn’t have thought that the ending to Star Wars: Episode III will be that happy either really. The Jedi all but extinct and Darth Vader being a badass whilst eradicating the rebels and ruling the galaxy.
So what about game endings? Could we see more unhappy game endings in the future I wonder? Or where the villains win?
What about in a Super Mario game where the portly plumber doesn’t actually rescue the Princess but actually gets defeated by the fire breathing Bowser and eaten as a BBQ meal.
Or in one of the many Shenmue sequels, where Ryo goes through his epic journey to avenge his father’s killer through Hong Kong, Japan and many other locations. However, as he is approaching the heinous villain, Lan Di for the final confrontation, a QTE (quick time event) starts. If you fail to press the buttons correctly in the QTE, Ryo gets run over by his own forklift truck.
Or in a Zelda game where the midget dwarf Link gets defeated by Ganon (come on, we all know that the diminutive elf doesn’t really stand a cat in hells chance of really beating the mighty Ganon does he!)
Or a Star Wars game, in which the Empire defeats all those troublesome rebels.
I know we wont see any of those endings in games, but it would be interesting to leave a game series ending on a cliff hanger, with the outcome being revealed in the next game. Like a character in Resident Evil being near to death and infected with the zombie virus, will they live or not, we will find out in the next game......