Open endings

[October Country]

Just because a game ends with a cliffhanger or open ending doesn't mean that it is fit for a sequel, there are plenty of books and movies that leave the ending in the reader/viewers head without having a continuation of the story. I like the fact that you don't always get the entire story presented but have to do some work for yourself.
As for Assassin's Creed, I thought the ending was absolutely fabulous, ending the game where they did made the story a lot more interesting than I had considered it throughout the game.

 

[tiredinnuendo]

I think every game should end with a super open ending and tons of unanswered questions that make us, the players, think a little bit about the possibilities we've set in motion.

And then, right at the very end, the main character wakes up and it was all a dream.

- J

 

[Rush_Thores]

The real trouble with these endings is what games like assassains creed and resistance 2 did. Assassains creed gave an ending that left you going, wtf, well now im very curious as to what happens next and i'm gonna have to wait like a year to see. Wrong. Because ubisoft montreal made a different game altogether a yearish later, at least doubling the amount of time tose anticipant must wait. Insomniac did the same thing with both resistances. But with res 1, the ending was mundane enough that I was fine waiting two years to see what happened next, cause I didnt care horribly. But with res 2, the ending after the cridits was just holy shit enough to peak my curiousity and desire closure sooner, but nope, we'll get ratchet in a year (Not a horrible thing, assured) and then get closure. It's a dick move.

 

[Aiden Rebirth]

make a poll and they leave me kinda sad, and empty inside.

 

[ViviFFIX]

When I see this thread I think of 1 game and 1 game only ... Prince of Persia ... To avoid spoilers I will go no further but if you have played the new one you will know what I mean when I say "WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"

 

[tiredinnuendo]

When I see this thread I think of 1 game and 1 game only ... Prince of Persia ... To avoid spoilers I will go no further but if you have played the new one you will know what I mean when I say "WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"

That was a little different. That didn't leave any unanswered questions or anything. Not being a "The Good Guys win and everyone is happy," ending doesn't automatically make it an open ending. In fact, I loved the ending to the new PoP game. Didn't really care for the game all that much, but the ending was great, if only for being so unique in this genre.

Likewise, AC also had an ending. Altair's story ended. That's the end. No one bitched because we didn't find out if Fred Savage got over his cold at the end of The Princess Bride.

Halo 2 was an open ending, because it practically ended mid-sentance and didn't finish any stories. This is really popular with "Part 2s" in movies nowadays, see Pirates or the Matrix. AC and PoP aren't open. A shame you didn't like them, but they do complete the stories they were telling.

- J

 

[ViviFFIX]

When I see this thread I think of 1 game and 1 game only ... Prince of Persia ... To avoid spoilers I will go no further but if you have played the new one you will know what I mean when I say "WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!"

That was a little different. That didn't leave any unanswered questions or anything. Not being a "The Good Guys win and everyone is happy," ending doesn't automatically make it an open ending. In fact, I loved the ending to the new PoP game. Didn't really care for the game all that much, but the ending was great, if only for being so unique in this genre.

Likewise, AC also had an ending. Altair's story ended. That's the end. No one bitched because we didn't find out if Fred Savage got over his cold at the end of The Princess Bride.

Halo 2 was an open ending, because it practically ended mid-sentance and didn't finish any stories. This is really popular with "Part 2s" in movies nowadays, see Pirates or the Matrix. AC and PoP aren't open. A shame you didn't like them, but they do complete the stories they were telling.

- J

Oh no, I did like the ending ... Forcing the player to perform an act that ruins everything they worked for was genius (Still trying to avoid spoilers).

It was however an open ending as it leaves you with questions of "What happened to them", "Who is he really", "Was he being honest throughout", "Will he become a corrupted" and it leaves you with a huge number of possibilities.

The way I see an open ending is one that doesn't tie off the ends which this one does not as the whole task that was neatly wrapped up in the story was completely undone in a matter of minutes.

I do see where you're coming from but I would say this was an open ending.

 

[Xerosch]

Thank you for sharing your opinion! I think I need to specify what I aimed at:

With "open ending" I didn't mean the end of a game in which it fitted to not explain everything, the wrapping up of a story is my focus. And the ending in i.e. 'Halo 2' simply screamed "F*ck you!"

 

[tiredinnuendo]

I do see where you're coming from but I would say this was an open ending.

Perhaps we'll simply need to agree to disagree, but I'll try one more time.

Note: This post will contain spoilers for Pirates 2 and the Super Mario Bros movie.

Super Mario Brothers (the movie) is a story about two plumbers drawn into a world that exists parallel to our own and there's some crap about a meteorite piece and merging and evolution and what have you. At the climax of the movie, the story that the film was telling is resolved. Koopa is defeated, the mushroom king is restored, the worry of merging is eradicated.... you get the idea. The good guys win. Then at the end of the movie, you see the plumbers back in their New York apartment. Suddenly, Daisy bursts in, decked out in battle gear and declaring that they have to come with her because, "You'll never believe it!" Mario packs up his gear and nonchalantly replies that he does believe and that they will assist her. Then the movie ends.

This is not an open ending. This is a cliffhanger. The difference is that the story they were telling here ended back in the climax, and now this is just resolution in the form of teaser.

Contrast with Pirates 2. Here we have a film where the bulk of the storyline is about Jack finding the heart of Davey Jones to bargain for his soul and freedom to sail the seas. Secondary plot bout Will and Elizabeth settling their love issues. Side plot about the East India Trading Company. Nothing happens and there are no resolutions. The film ends with Jack dead, the heart stolen by Norrington and turned into the EITC, Will seeing Elizabeth mack on Jack and never saying anything about it, and the final revelation that Barbosa is alive again (and eating apples).

This is an open ending which *also* contains a cliffhanger. In case you missed it, Barbosa is the cliffhanger, but he does not make the ending open. The fact that the story never reached any conclusions made it open.

Prince of Persia finishes the story it tells. Completely. If it were a book, that's where it would end. Yes, there's more that could be told about what happens next, but that's not the same as an open ending.

- J

 

[Xerosch]

People reference Assassins Creed a lot but I felt the game wrapped up Altairs story nice and neatly, it just left Desmond's story open, which I feel fits my criteria for an okay ending.

Agreed. Because it's basically two stories in one, which leads us to believe the same for any possible sequel. Maybe with a different ancestor.

But I do think the ending in AC was ok. At least it left you with the tension of the moment and an "I WANT MOAR" feeling.

Yeah ok, I love realism and history. It's one of my weaknesses.

Yes, that is correct, but I think the simple addition of a scene would have been absolutely sufficient. For example, Desmond could have met someone who says "I need to show you something", they leave the you-know-what and that´s it. Simple, yet not so unbelievably unsatisfying as the "I wonder who...?" "scene"