Games usually don't end satisfyingly. Here's a short list of games that, to me, are examples of fantastic endings. In the interest of wanting you, fair reader, to play these wonderful games, spoilers will be kept to the absolute minimum. Read on!
I can't really say much about the ending to this game without spoiling the entire experience, so I'll choose my words carefully. Everything in this game - the characters, monsters, environments, visual distortions, and more - is all just a big lead-up to the spectacularly depressing and scary conclusion. Game story lines are very rarely made with this level of care. If you don't want to play Silent Hill 2, you should at least check out a Let's Play or something. If you care at all about story in games, it's something you need to see.
Metal Gear Solid 2 and 4 may have grandiose story lines of dizzying complexity, Metal Gear Solid 3 is what I feel is Hideo Kojima's most well developed and flowing narrative. It's a slow burning, more classical story about extreme loyalty, to the point where it and love are almost entirely without distinction. The Boss is probably the best character Kojima has ever written, and she gets a beautiful, tragic conclusion to her story at the end of Snake Eater. MGS 3 isn't my favourite entry in the series, but from a story perspective, it's the most memorable for me.
Final Fantasy VIII has four discs and six main characters. You get to know them and care about them by the time its mammoth storyline is over. And, surprisingly, Square actually manages to wrap up their stories quite nicely. In a time before voice acting was commonplace in RPGs, Final Fantasy VIII's final cutscenes play out like some sort of silent film, with nothing but the visuals and music to guide you. It was beautiful in 1999, and it still holds its emotional weight today. Also (spolier!): Zell finally gets to eat hot dogs.
I didn't play nearly as much Diablo as I did Diablo II, probably because I was seven years old when it came out. And it barely even had a story. But that might be why the ending works as well as it does. in the game's final moments, you actually do a feel a brief but intense connection with your character. You will say, "Oh. Fuck." Or maybe just think it.
With a game as text heavy as Professor Layton, one might expect a good ending to come from all that patient reading. I know I did, and the game most certainly delivered on that. A lot of strange things happen in the town of Folsense and beyond, but a strange, surprising last-minute plot twist provides a satisfying cohesion to the chaos. Perhaps most shocking of all: it's quite bittersweet. I didn't shed a tear playing this game, but it was awfully close.
I don't think I need to give a synopsis of this game's storyline on this website, so I won't. But, wow. What a great storyline! Unapologetically Japanese, while still classically dramatic enough to maintain the interest of non-Japanphiles. A murder mystery in the Japanese countryside, Persona 4 goes through tons of twists and turns before it's finally over. And when the murderer is finally revealed, you'll kick yourself, guaranteed. Whether you played this game or lived vicariously through Jeff and Vinny's excellent Endurance Run, I think you'll agree that the ending hours of P4 are great and feel astoundingly "real" for a game that's all about going inside a world in televisions.
A lot of people hated this game's ending. I don't understand why! I thought it was great. We finally get to see the Prince grow up, after an understated but very powerful breaking of his heart, right in the final scene. This is one of my favourite games around, and the ending is certainly a contributing factor to that.
If gaming had a Hollywood, Uncharted 2 would have been produced there. It plays, feels, and is paced like a summer blockbuster, and it ends like one too. But I don't think that's a bad thing at all. It's an amazing, exciting game, and it ends just like you want it to: happily and with resolution, but with the promise of much more to come. After watching it, i didn't want it to end, and I didn't want to leave the characters yet. I wanted more! So, a job well done.
FEAR 2 wasn't my favourite game of 2009, but one of my favourite things about it was its wild, crazy ending sequence. This series has always been at its best during its crazy, trip-out dream sequences, and they really pulled out all the stops for Alma's final vision. When it's all over, you realize your role is something much bigger than you had anticipated. But it's also murky, covered in mystery. A lot of people despised the ending, but I think it's a great, open-ended dropping off point for the FEAR franchise. A cliffhanger, to be certain, but I didn't feel shortchanged at all. Quite the opposite.
A story without words, Flower's ending is simple and inspirational. You can't beat nature, and you can't control it. And even though most of us live in big cities with concrete jungles, it feels good to take back the land for what's always been there.
Was the princess a woman, or was she an atomic bomb? Or was she the duality of beauty and terror that lies within every scientist? It's up to you, and that's what makes Braid's twist ending so good. It's not often that games can have an ending that's open to interpretation but that still works on a base level. That this game pulls that off so well is beyond impressive.
(I can't believe I forgot this game in the first draft of this list! Thanks to amarriner for reminding me.)
