I liked the ending. But turns out there's a lot of lore out there in the DLC and side media. It was a nice cap to the game, however, so that side stuff is optional if you wanna dig more into the universe.

As for emotional?

- The MGS 3 salute.

- I loved the original Mass Effect 3 ending, so the last few hours of that.

- Asura's Wrath, the DLC ending still sticks with me. Well lived, indeed.

Most enjoyable part of the game was an optional dungeon accessible only by using the flying car after playing the main game. It wouldn't surprise me if some folks hated the platforming but I found them really fun!

In a game that is largely unfocused with notoriously bad development issues, FFXV sure managed to win me over despite it all, and most of the reason can be condensed down to the theme of brotherhood between the 4 characters, and the last 2 hours. The world and story they crafted had so much potential, if only it all came together and didn't go through development hell. The fact the campfire scene hits as hard as it does despite the myriad of problems the game has its narrative, is a testament to how much potential there was. Didn't stop me from sinking in 80 hours, though.

In terms of other games, I think despite my unfavorable opinion on Nier Automata (recycled assets galore and tragically poor combat by Platinum standards, to name a couple), the ending hits hard. Even if most of it comes off as sophomoric nihilistic philosophy 101, I think the story beats hit where they need to, and they get there by the end.

The mission "Red Dead Redemption" from RDR2 is a more recent example. I won't spoil it here, but man that thing stuck with me. "Unshaken" is a great track.

It's strange as I played this game recently and even wrote a BLOG about it and I was very confused about the story most of the time, even after I watched the Kingsglaive movie and read some stuff online. I guess I'm too practical at times because all throughout the campfire scene I was just thinking "how is this happening that we are here and why is no one addressing it?" I've had different games actually affect me in different ways but this was a pretty big wiff for me personally. The character building is bizarre and disjointed even after you do their individual DLC's. I did the one for Prompto thinking it would really flesh out the incredibly important backstory the main campaign just completely sidesteps..and I guess they say a bit more but also not really. Not to mention that insane boss fight.

I can agree there was definitely a ton of potential here that got lost amidst all the development hell.

@humanity: 100% agree. My problem with the game is that it could seem to decide what it wanted to be about.

1. Initially, it seems like it's going to be a more personal story of the group of guys growing up and taking on responsibility. Literally Final Fantasy as Stand by Me.

2. Then it seems to morph into a traditional "beat the evil Empire" story.

3. Then the point in the Imperial City hints at an almost survival horror Final Fantasy-meets-Resident Evil sort of thing.

4. Then the last few chapters move into this post-apocalyptic mode with Noctis as a messiah figure.

The thing is that any one of those things could have been pretty good if they had just committed to it. Personally, I wish they had spent a lot more time in the "World of Ruin" at the end of the game, since that looked really cool and it would have been neat to explore the same world overrun by demons.

But nope. Instead, everyone just accepts that Noctis is back after however many years with absolutely no complaint. Then they have a cook out and fight Ifrit for some reason. Then the game ends.

When i think of emotional endings i think of Braid.
Listen, i know it's not that wild of a twist, and it's not a sad or emotional thing, but i guess i was in the right headspace at the right time and i was so blown away by it.

Also Marston's death at the end of RDR1 is one of the nastiest and saddest deaths in video games, i haven't played the sequel.

i just finished this game. i didn't think i would but i really really liked it.

the whole thing is more than the sum of it's parts: driving around, exploring the land, helping people, and listening to the small conversations between the 4 guys. none of it is super compelling but when the end came i felt nostalgic and sad. i was surprised how much i cared about those guys; what a great game.

i played on xbox game pass for pc so i had all the dlc. i only finished half of the episodes so at least i have the other 2 to look forward to.

ps. i loved the little title card reveal/change after completion!