Games with a good *gameplay* ending.

[DalekFlay]

The last three games I played all suffered from "annoy the player endlessly at the end" syndrome. The whole "make it epic" thing which actually ends up meaning endless trash mobs, a 4 hour dungeon or a stupidly difficult end boss.

What games... RPGs or not... really nailed the end for you, gameplay wise?

 

[nomask7]

Hordes of the Underdark. The Frozen Hell is an atmospheric place and I don't recall anything annoying about it. Once you get out, you go straight to the end boss as far as I remember. So, I realised I was losing the melee battle with the Devil, and I'd recall I was even betrayed by some character, so I used the Real Name Of The Devil that I had uncovered, and one-hit killed him. The end.

Gothic 3. Don't recall the details, but there was no dungeon or really any jarring kind of boss fight or any break from the style and open-ended feel of the early and mid game.

Gothic 3 in particular was exceptional in how it structured the game and in eschewing any and all genuine boss fights.

 

[Baron Dupek]

Spec Ops The Line. Don't remember being upset about ending sequence.
Though it will be easy topic answer but seriously - I can't remember any game, for now, that does not annoy me on the end.

Maybe Risen 2 - nothing special at the end, boss fight without HP bloat chief...

Fallout? Visit two place, set device and voila.

 

[Admiral jimbob]

The final level in Devil May Cry 3 is probably the best boss fight in the game.

I really enjoyed the last few missions of Freespace 1. Interestingly, FS2 falls into a lot of the typical endgame pitfalls - every mission becomes either repetitive bombing runs or repetitively fighting off waves of bombers.

The, uh, second-last level of Severance: Blade of Darkness is awesome - in a lot of games, it might feel like a gruelling slog, but Severance is all about the deep combat system and this level focuses on fighting your way through some of the most fun enemies the game has to offer. The secret final level is just kind of annoying, unfortunately.

The last level of Storm of Zehir. After an expansion full of bite-sized adventures (which I didn't mind as much as most), Obsidian pulled out all the stops and threw us a huge, sprawling dungeon that supported multiple approaches up to and including shuffling through the whole thing in disguise, culminating in a great (if a bit overly easy) fight with a couple of pretty interesting bosses at once.

Jedi Outcast's last two levels were great fun. Just all-out lightsaber combat, with allied Jedi to fight alongside and protect if you want. One of those levels that I've played over and over when I can't be bothered playing anything new or strenuous.

Christ, I'm actually looking through my game collection and I can't see any other games where the endgame wasn't a step down in quality. I knew it was bad, but I didn't think it was that bad.

 

[dunno lah]

Super Castlevania IV. One of those games where the ending(last stage) is better than the earlier parts.

 

[laclongquan]

Hammer & Sickle. You got best equipment at second to last mission. You fight through the whole tunnel as the first part, then fight an open-air battle as a second part in contrast. Good shit.

Fallout Tactics. Nough said.

I am sure I can think of others, but these two should be good enough.

 

[Carrion]

Deus Ex. The final area is not the best in the game or anything, but it adds some variety to the typical "linear dungeon with a big bad boss at the end" structure and gives you a bunch of different ways to finish the game. In many ways it's more climactic than an epic non-avoidable boss fight.

Also agreed on Jedi Outcast and Fallout.

 

[sea]

Dishonored's last level is one of its best and it really isn't overly long or anything. No stupid boss fight at the end too, in fact you don't even have to fight the final guy and can just sneak past him.

I seem to recall Batman: Arkham Asylum having a very short endgame that really was just a boss fight and little else, that was refreshing. No pointless wasted time retreading over the same 50 areas to hunt down collectables.

Half-Life 2 has a great endgame due to the interesting gameplay change-up (general lack of combat and simply showing you some impressive visual scenes before the final puzzle and boss fight). Always liked it.

Although The Witcher does suffer from slight HP bloat, I feel it really increases the stakes correctly in a way that doesn't make the endgame feel like a gigantic chore. It's a lengthy endgame compared to some, but for one reason or another it's fitting - maybe seeing the result of all your C&C coming to fruition is what does it for me.

Mask of the Betrayer I also really liked at the end, only spoiled by a really bad boss battle that is almost unwinnable for certain builds. If it wasn't for that boss battle I'd say it ranks among some of the highest for me in recent years as far as endgames go.

Also hate to say it, but Deus Ex: Invisible War. The game itself is not that good but returning to Liberty Island again 40 years later or whatever and seeing all the differences was pretty fun, even if it was broken up into multiple small zones.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Super Metroid. The escape from Zebes is fucking awesome, and lets you employ all your skills and abilities against familiar yet different layouts.

The last third of DoomRL is properly terrifying for almost any build. Though the actual boss is a total pushover.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay. Instead of putting you in a bossfight with some dick in fat armor, they put you on yet another prison level, way different than others.

I have to agree on Deus Ex and Deus Ex: Invisible War, thought IW is set 20 years later, not 40. Also have to agree on Spec Ops: The Line.

Alone in the Dark (2008) had a good ending. Instead of constant fighting, you have to solve some simple puzzles, but it was way better than a big bad boss.

I really enjoyed the ending of original Condemned. While the final boss seemed difficult at start, you had to find a good strategy to kill him. And when I found, I had fun replaying it over and over.

 

[Vibalist]

This thread reminds me of a discussion I had with some people over at the Bioware forums, who swore that *the* only way to create tension and epicness in the final chapters of a game was to have endless waves of enemies crashing in on you. I guess the complete lack of creativity that Bioware exhibit in its storytelling and gameplay design attracts fans that are equally creatively bankrupt. The reason I was reminded of this is because there's so many ways to create tension in games without resorting to endless combat, yet sadly not that many game designers seem to know this.

Meh, just a quick rant. Carry on.

 

[DalekFlay]

Dishonored's last level is one of its best and it really isn't overly long or anything. No stupid boss fight at the end too, in fact you don't even have to fight the final guy and can just sneak past him.

Half-Life 2 has a great endgame due to the interesting gameplay change-up (general lack of combat and simply showing you some impressive visual scenes before the final puzzle and boss fight). Always liked it.

Also hate to say it, but Deus Ex: Invisible War. The game itself is not that good but returning to Liberty Island again 40 years later or whatever and seeing all the differences was pretty fun, even if it was broken up into multiple small zones.

Great choices. I also liked how in Invisible War... spoilerz!... the protagonist of the first game is the "end boss" of the second game, in some situations.

 

[Mrowak]

Way of the Samurai 1 and 2 - each of the bajillion endings (16-30) felt unique and the best, most difficult to get gave you a sense of accomplishment.

 

[deuxhero]

Way of the Samurai 2, sure, but 1 was all "annihilate the government army" regardless of ending.

 

[Menckenstein]

Splinter Cell trilogy.

 

[DalekFlay]

Splinter Cell trilogy.

The first game had that derpy battle toward the end though, where you had to protect the diplomats while swarms of Georgian forces came at you. I could be exaggerating though, haven't finished that game in a while. Every time I want to replay Splinter Cell I go straight for Chaos Theory.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Splinter Cell trilogy.

And a PS2 version of Double Agent.

 

[Menckenstein]

Splinter Cell trilogy.

The first game had that derpy battle toward the end though, where you had to protect the diplomats while swarms of Georgian forces came at you. I could be exaggerating though, haven't finished that game in a while. Every time I want to replay Splinter Cell I go straight for Chaos Theory.

There was a forced fight in the cellar where the dirty bomb was but the actual last bit was sneaking through the courtyard and shooting Nikoladze through a tiny window from the courtyard and then you egress to your osprey.

 

[DalekFlay]

Splinter Cell trilogy.

And a PS2 version of Double Agent.

Does that work on an emulator yet? I keep hearing how the console version was just like Chaos Theory and it makes me so jealous.

 

[zwanzig_zwoelf]

Splinter Cell trilogy.

And a PS2 version of Double Agent.

Does that work on an emulator yet? I keep hearing how the console version was just like Chaos Theory and it makes me so jealous.

I tried it on PCSX2 some time ago and it worked slowly, yet without any noticeable bugs. You'll need a gamepad though.

 

[mondblut]

JA2.

(how happens that "JA2" is a proper answer to any question of the "what game did ... right?" sort?)

 

[Gurkog]

I enjoyed the endings of FO1, 2, and NV. The first time I played FO2 my sniper 1 shot killed Horrigan.

 

[Athelas]

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time took away your time-rewinding dagger near the end, which made the subsequent platforming a lot more challenging. Though I'm not sure if that qualifies as 'fun gameplay'...

PS:T's Fortress of Regrets is pretty cool. The conversations with your prior incarnations, closure for Deionarra and watching your companions die and since you were separated from them, not being able to resurrect them (well, in theory anyway).

 

[sexbad?]

Miasmata has a good quest to reach the ending. Even if you've already cured yourself of the plague, you need to find a map (or know where you're going, if you've already played) to a small island with a boat off in the distance and then swim there. The swimming is simple enough, but the locating of the map is important and forces you to explore the island more if you haven't already.

 

[sexbad?]

Also Vessel. The majority of the game is about solving puzzles in industrial areas full of monsters that have taken over, but the initial premise of the game is that you have to add the finishing touches to a mysterious machine that you're building called The Accelerator. With each factory you enter, you get to play with new mechanics and solve puzzles that are different from what was in the last factory. After you've defeated a final boss sort of monster, though, you go back to the machine and continue working on it, and you have to use all the mechanics you learned about throughout the rest of the campaign. The boss battle is really cool, but the machine is an excellent way to end the game that combines everything you learned in the most complex puzzle it has to offer, and in a nice, much calmer environment.