Nostalgia Thread - Best (And Worst) Endings

[Black]

"You know what I'm referring to, specifically."

Do I? I don't. Please explain.

I meant PS:T listed as one of the worst endings. What's the deal with that?

I can't speak for Volourn, but...

After remembering your own name from the Good Incarnation, you become whole again. All your life's memories are restored. And you can't forget when you die now.

So why couldn't I just enjoy a good immortality, and go back to Sigil? Even if I were an evil character, I must do the altruistic thing by going to the Blood War and meet my just fate. That sucks.

As I see it, you don't go there willingly.

 

[Lumpy]

The initial design document shows that turning away and not facing death was an option. Apparently MCA found it didn't fit with the rest of the game, which I agree.
In any case, the whole idea is that TTO won't let you leave peacefully, so you have to fight him. But if you do, you become mortal again. So you don't really have a choice.

 

[MasPingon]

SPOILER ALERT

The Nameless One signed the pact with Tanari in his first incarnation, there was no other way to go

 

[Lumpy]

Not really. He was going in the blood war for some great crimes he committed, not for signing a pact. That was the whole point of immortality - the original incarnation believed that nothing short of millennia would be enough to repent for his crimes.

 

[MasPingon]

Nice interpretation, maybe even better. I was reading P:T book short after I finished the game so I just took it from there

 

[Heresiarch]

The Nameless One signed the pact with BAATEZU. Tanari would rather just tear up the paper and rape your soul instead of negotiate.

IIRC, TTO did make deals with the devils, one of the price is to fight in the blood war. The two Cornugons in the Smoldering Corpse said something like "Hey buddy, remember us? When are going down to help us fight?" when they see the TTO.

 

[Binary]

Oh gosh another interesting Codex topic derailed into a PS:T discussion

 

[MasPingon]

Oh gosh another interesting Codex topic derailed into a PS:T discussion

I'm sorry we are not as old school as you, Binary. Hey, give us some of those old school bad endings, they were so much more interesting and shit

 

[Binary]

Oh gosh another interesting Codex topic derailed into a PS:T discussion

I'm sorry we are not as old school as you, Binary. Hey, give us some of those old school bad endings, they were so much more interesting and shit

$Random_80s_game: You just got a message saying how you defeated the $Monster_Type $Monster_Name and then get booted back to the $Operating_System

 

[Wyrmlord]

You know, I have this crazy idea about what The Nameless One's crimes were.

In the public sensorium, a sensory stone tells of a soldier on a flying ship. The ship was bombarding a nation. The soldier speaks to his superior, telling him that what they were doing was wrong. His superior tells him that the enemy deserved it for they did to their own nation. The soldier tells him that the women and children could not have been directly responsible for decisions of the state.

Then, through tears, his superior tells him that regret over this could drive a man mad. He tells him that they must feel that it was only people getting killed, not women and children.

This matches with certain other things. You are told that the Good Incarnation's regret was so strong that it was "enough to build a whole fortress". It's the kind of regret one could have only from murdering as many people as the captain of the ship did. And considering that he told you he was a cartographer, it may well be a half truth. What would a man on a ship generally do, but chart courses, and areas? And when you're doing it on a flying ship, it helps you to see the relief features.

 

[Badgermaster]

True, although that part wasn't as interesting to me as Wander becoming the demon after the last colossus, the demon using him the whole time. And the ambiguity of the demon or god or whatever - whether he is evil or supressed for different reasons. Ah well, in any case, I love Ueda's games. Both are examples of great storytelling with almost no dialogue.

Agreed.

 

[Volourn]

"Oh gosh another interesting Codex topic derailed into a PS:T discussion"

Eh? It sure beats the usual of threads coming down to bashing or praising BIO. L0L

 

[Ghoulem]

At least they have some comic relief.

 

[Azrael the cat]

You know, I have this crazy idea about what The Nameless One's crimes were.

In the public sensorium, a sensory stone tells of a soldier on a flying ship. The ship was bombarding a nation. The soldier speaks to his superior, telling him that what they were doing was wrong. His superior tells him that the enemy deserved it for they did to their own nation. The soldier tells him that the women and children could not have been directly responsible for decisions of the state.

Then, through tears, his superior tells him that regret over this could drive a man mad. He tells him that they must feel that it was only people getting killed, not women and children.

This matches with certain other things. You are told that the Good Incarnation's regret was so strong that it was "enough to build a whole fortress". It's the kind of regret one could have only from murdering as many people as the captain of the ship did. And considering that he told you he was a cartographer, it may well be a half truth. What would a man on a ship generally do, but chart courses, and areas? And when you're doing it on a flying ship, it helps you to see the relief features.

I thought it might have been connected to what he did to Ignus (amongst many other things). It is pretty clear that the first incarnation, back before he became good, 'created' ignus, or tortured him into becoming what he was. You specifically ask the other incarnations about it at the end, and they don't know who ignus was - it was before their time. Ignus says that TNO was his master, and it is heavily implied that the good incarnation at the height of his evildom was the all-poweful wizard that ignus was apprentice to.

 

[Gragt]

The Nameless One's crime is worse than that of the flying ship captain since the Planes have been slowly dying because of it. That's all that we know about it.

Also The Nameless One could not return to Sigil and enjoy life, even after he recovered his memories and kept them. First, as mentioned, The Transcendant One would never let him in peace and would chase him forever, even planning to imprison him for eternity. But more than that is the fact that the separation from The Transcendant One truly broke him and it gets worse over time, death or not. The idea is that The Transcendant One on the other hand would prosper from it (you see it in different symbols in the game, the most obvious being the Rune of Torment with one half of perfect steel and the other of rusty iron) but even himself is suffering from it though he does not want to admit it.

It's not even about his original crime, it is about himself: The Nameless One must confront The Transcendant One. It's the key for him to be whole again and truly end the torment even after recovering his name.

If you ask me, the question of who the Nameless One is (or was) and the exact nature of his crime is more important than the answer.

As for endings, a game not mentioned is Outcast, with a very beautiful and even touching ending. Sad but beautiful. And I have to say that the ending of F.E.A.R. still give me the creeps when I think of it (original game, not the expansions that are not even part of the Monolith storyline).

Oh and Diablo had a nice one, with your character taking the demon unto himself to contain it, or rather try to as it is later revealed that it was Diablo's design all along to acquire a stronger host. The only crappy thing about it is that the cinematics for the wizard and rogue are the same as the warrior: they have the same bodies and only the head changes.

As for JE, I admit I was kinda surprised with the twist though expecting some Bioware twist, this seemed one of the most likely. I do not have a lot of experience with other Asian movies or books that used that device before so it wasn't that obvious to me.

 

[Zomg]

I really would have liked an "escape" ending from PS:T. TNO could have subjugated TTO somehow, like crippling him permanently and imprisoning him in the fortress. I'm pretty much for anything that widens the roleplaying scope of a game, even at some cost to canned narratives like the admittedly moving "correct" ending.

 

[Texas Red]

I'd like for an ending where TTO imprisons TNO for eternity of complete loneliness and madness in a little room-prison. Much worser fate than the Blood Wars.

 

[Fudus]

I've never completed PST, so is there any difference if you merge with the TTO instead of killing him? Or do you get the same ending movie no matter what?

 

[JarlFrank]

You get the same ending but you'll be able to resurrect your companions first and have a short talk with each of them. Which means it's way better, actually. Oh, and it's much more satisfying than just to kill him.

 

[Texas Red]

You get the same ending but you'll be able to resurrect your companions first and have a short talk with each of them. Which means it's way better, actually. Oh, and it's much more satisfying than just to kill him.

There's a little movie based on you choice before the ending one.

 

[Lumpy]

Alternatively, you can resurrect them yourself before the fight.

 

[JarlFrank]

Alternatively, you can resurrect them yourself before the fight.

But not all of them.

 

[Wyrmlord]

Alternatively, you can resurrect them yourself before the fight.

But not all of them.

Not true at all.

In the room with the Ignus fight, there is an object lying around on the floor. I only noticed it in my third playthrough. It's somewhat inconspicuous. I thought it was strange, because I didn't recall dropping an object.

It's a Sounding Stone, and it is a magical recording of the Practical Incarnation's messages. He tells that the clockworks in the Fortress were a means of releasing the Greater Shadows. The Transcendental One has no clue that those shadows are roaming around free, and if you tell him this, he goes away to check. This gives you ample time to ressurect all your companions.

Man, it's crazy when I discover things like this. It just goes to show that there still might be things that I have not seen in Torment.

 

[Jasede]

You just blew my mind.

 

[JarlFrank]

That is... awesome. I need to play Torment a second time, although it will never be as enjoyable as the first. I really want to forget all about this game just to experience it again.