Should We Judge a Game Based on Its Ending?

GamerFitNation: Picture yourself playing a game that you’ve thoroughly enjoyed up until now – a game you believe has the potential to become your new all-time favorite. You’re so anxious to see its ending you stay up until 5 a.m. finishing it. When you finally beat the last boss and see the ending, you realize that it’s one of the worst endings to a game you’ve ever experienced.

[ApolloTheBoss]

The ending defines the entire game (Story driven games anyway.) When you invest so many hours into a videogame, only to be severely disappointed in the end, it will scar you for life.

[NeXXXuS]

Mass Effect 3, we're looking at you.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Sure, why not? If we can say an entire game is good because of the story (regardless of gameplay flaws. I've seen it happen countless times), then it is just as fair to mark down a game if the conclusion to the story isn't up to par.

[whamlollypop7]

Focus on the journey not the destination, most endings don't live up to the game.

[WildArmed]

I agree.
Actually, sometimes I don't finish the game because of it.

I've had Valkriya Chronicles for a few years now, and i ABSOLUTELY love the game. I have all the DLC and i've played it all. What haven't I done? beat the game lol

I just get caught up in trying to best my last score, or best Hard EX mode. I love the game, I want to finish it one day. But whenever I load it up, I end up replaying old missions. This is obviously an extreme case, most games I've finished haha

It's easy to get disappointed at the end, since it leaves a 'sour taste'. The journey is what made the game special though, it's the journey that made getting here (the end) enjoyable. Even if the end wasn't, at least you have the other 50 hours or so of great memories.

[whamlollypop7]

Valkyria Chronicles ends fine, the last level is challenging and you get a nice happy ending.

[Anon1974]

No different than movies of TV shows. Not all are going to stick the landing, nor should they expect to. Battlestar Galactica was a fantastic tv series and yet I hardly remember the finale. It didn't somehow instantly diminish the hours of enjoyment I'd received up until that point.

I've been playing games for over 30 years now. Game are all the better when they can deliver a satisfying conclusion, but it doesn't ruin a game for me if it doesn't. It's not like the hours leading up to that point where I had a blast were suddenly rendered meaningless because the game's end didn't deliver to my expectations.

[BitbyDeath]

Well you're not meant to base a book by it's cover so where else do you turn too?

[sjaakiejj]

The other 99% of the book?

[Tatsuya]

In the case of mass effect 3, since you posted a picture for this article.

Ending is crap as hell. Why? All those choices we made in the universe that consists of mass effect 1 & 2, all those spent hours meant nothing. It is already fated by Bioware, that you get this stupid colourful endings as a thank you for spending all your hours in trying so hard to save a world that is already going to perish.

I don't expect a happy ending for my commander. Just an ending that he deserves for all those good and hard moments in his life.

[Sovereign59]

Should we judge a game based upon its ending? Honestly, it depends on the game. In the case of Mass Effect 3, I say yes.
If you were to jump into Mass Effect 3 without having played the previous two games in the trilogy, I'll bet it would be for you a thoroughly enjoyable experience from start to finish, although you probably would still have a few small complaints about the ending. Overall, I think you would walk away heavily satisfied with the time you spent in the game.
If you're someone like myself that had been exploring and saving the galaxy as your unique Commander Shepard alongside a diverse crew of companions since way back in 2007, when you get to that ending... it's probably gonna hit you like a headbutt from a Krogan.
When you put countless hours into multiple playthroughs with a number of different characters you've created over the course of three games, the ending is definitely important. Dare I say it, it's the MOST important part of the game. There are certainly some games where "it's the journey, not the destination" holds truth. Mass Effect 3 is not one of them. It's not that the journey wasn't good, because it definitely was good, it was GREAT, but from the first game on we knew what was at stake, what we would be fighting for and against for the rest of the trilogy. Our Shepards would be fighting for the lives of every living being in the galaxy, and in honor of those whom had fought the same enemy before during each cycle for millions and millions of years. Every event comprising the first 99.9 percent of the trilogy... they had to mean something... they had to hold significance when the credits began to roll. But they didn't. The events taking place during the last 10-15 minutes of Mass Effect 3 were so disappointing. So... not foreshadowed. It should be clear to anyone that has witnessed those minutes even just once that Bioware threw the endings together last minute and in a hurry.
I keep rambling on but what I guess I'm trying to say is...
If you spend as much time as myself and many many many others have immersing yourself in a franchise that has spanned multiple games connected by one incredible storyline, when it draws to a close... if it's a disappointing ending riddled with plotholes, and inconsistency, I believe it's perfectly reasonable to judge the game based upon this.

[Agent_hitman]

Gamers already judged the game by it's ending. Remember Mass effect 3?. Too many hates, too many 12 year old kiddos bashing Bioware and EA a year ago.

[Dan_scruggs]

If one were to judge a game base solely on its ending then Bioshock Infinite is the only truly good game to come out in years. FarCry 3, Gears of War 3, God of War 3, Assassins Creed 3, Dead Space 3, Heavy Rain, DMC and many many more all have universally terrible endings. Everyone seems to focus on Mass Effect 3 however if a games ending truly puts a game into context then all these games are on equal terrible footing. My personal opinion is that some are far worse than Mass Effect but trashing the ending of ME3 practically became an internet meme.

[ufo8mycat]

If the game is heavy on story and the ending is crap, it can really dampen a games story, even if the gameplay and the story were amazing until the ending.

If the ME3 ending was BRILLIANT, I would of played the games all over again 1,2,3, but the ending being what it was, I have had no desire what so ever to touch the games again.

Depending on the game, a bad ending can really have a big impact on the overall game or series, even if the story up to that point was awesome. Ending is very very important.

[tigertron]

The ending is a reflection on the game as a whole, especially when compared to the previous two games. It felt rushed and under developed. EA was written all over it.

[KingOfArcadia]

No.

[Thatlalala]

Your right. But the disappointment fans have (me included) overshadow the great moments of ME3. Sacrifce of Mordin, bromance with Garrus, Grunt being a badass, stopping the Geth/Quarian war...you could go on. I just mean in reality the game is so effin epic that the ending just didnt live up to what came before.