The Best Video Game Ending

[Nihlus2]

Final Fantasy IX. Such a beautiful fairytale-like ending.

Must agree on that one. Touching ending with a lot of things said with nothing but actions and music, no words at all needed in that ending.

...But a more recent favorite would be Mass Effect 2:

Spoiler

You have just finished a thrilling mission, you have prepared for ages and made sure everyone made it through, (No one left behind!), taking down the Collectors and a possible New Vanguard of Destruction (The Human Reaper) - faltering the reapers' plans of returning (or at least stalling them a bit). That feeling alone of actually making it through, completing the mission they said would be impossible with everyone making it out gives a sense of actual victory, especially since it can go so badly that your main character does not make it through.
But as you sit comfortably back into your seat, feeling the nostalgic tunes of the ME1 ending soundtrack... it suddenly changes. Que to the choir of impending doom as the Reaper Fleet awakens...
Yeah... that gave a dreadening feeling of "....We're screwed". Bioware sure knows how to leave you on quite the cliffhanger wanting to know what happens next... At least in my oppinion.

 

[jmroutson1988]

The Darkness. Just something about it that makes you feel good.

 

[Dr. wonderful]

This dosen't make me sad, it make feel good. Mac did it, he made it to the top of the world and then did it again. Now it was time to step down and let some other kid go for his dreams.

That, is the best ending.

 

[let's rock]

non-cannon Secret ending to the Deus Ex series. Or bioshock bad ending, why do subs sent to investagate plane crashes carry nukes?

EDIT: If the credits count, portal. I have that song on my ipod.

 

[FanboyInDisguise]

Okami: being able to see all the characters you've touched throughout the game coupled to amazing music = instant tear up.

Shadow of the Colossus: Seeing the full extent of the sacrifices made by Wander culminating in him "dying" is powerful stuff. And the tease of Ico at the end is awesome.

Fatal Frame 2, Normal Ending: Having survived the hellish village Miyu escapes from, she is eternally scarred by the events. Poetry.

Mobile Suit Gundam: Zeonic Front: The war is lost, but rather than surrenduring you and your comrades rally to save a stranded squad in the desert. Even your mechanics and medical team stay behind to help you...it may just be a picture and text but it still gets to me after all these years...

 

[YourEvilClone]

Probably Portal 2 or Oblivion or Shadow of the Colossus. Portal 2 hap the best gameplay, story, characters, and ending ever. Oblivion was just as good too. And Shadow of the Colossus left you with "OH WTF"....in a good way.

 

[Herbsk]

The end of the Jumi route in Legend of Mana...in fact the end of most of the routes in Legend of Mana

Thanks for remindimg me of this one - I'll have to play that game again now

 

[5mj7R7yf4Dwr3gdZyyu9PeGNwYjlNrjzuh3iTXQG]

Hands down, Outlaws. [http://youtu.be/tdzsmz7t6bU]

A game way before its time.

238U.

 

[the_honey_badger]

The MGS4 ending; nice to look back at the other Metal Gears.

 

[Vandenberg1]

Metal Gear Solid 4 ending almost brought me to tears.... THAT WAS BEST ENDING EVER...

 

[TheProfesser]

The end of Silent Hill 2

 

[SereneMidnight]

Tales of Vesperia.

 

[Phishfood]

The ending to mafia was stunning. Totally stuck in my head.

 

[CupboardNinja]

Portal 2 hands down. That ending was fantastic.

 

[Breaker deGodot]

Mother 3, hands down.

 

[Draitheryn]

By far Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2. Was a to be continued ending, but I shat bricks nonetheless

 

[DrStupid87]

I loved the ending to Twilight Princess and of course the Ocarina of Time. After all the shit you went through to make the world right and to kill that massive cnut, it was one hell of a satisfying though bittersweet endings (because Link still didn't get any).

 

[DarkRyter]

My favorite endings are the "culmination" endings. Where they show the player the full result of his actions.

In particular, Majora's Mask and New Vegas really appealed to me.

With Majora's Mask, you see the townspeople are safe, the Romani Ranch is alien free, the swamp and the monkey's okay, snowhead is relatively snowfree, the indigo go's can play their concert, the music box family's alright, and Anju and Kafei get married. And it was all because you didn't give up.

New Vegas was a bit more personal. Having this gigantic hero complex, I strove to get the best endings possible for the most factions possible. I succeeded, though some sadly slip through the cracks of my free New Vegas. It was a bittersweet ending, but immensely satisfying.

 

[imnot]

What, no mention of Halo: Reach's ending yet?

Even Yahtzee liked it, which is saying something, considering his usual thoughts on Halo.

Halo Reach, there I said it.
I also agree.
Alan Wake was pretty nifty too.

 

[Thundero13]

Plants vs. Zombies, yeah
You team up with the zombies to make a music video