If there are three acts in DQXI, It feels like you're near the end of the story at the end of each of them only to... not be.
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Games you thought you were about to beat and then HOLY SHIT THERE'S HOW MUCH MORE!?
- Thread starter PeakPointMatrix
- Start date
If there are three acts in DQXI, It feels like you're near the end of the story at the end of each of them only to... not be.
Definitely Pokemon Gold/Silver for me. I bought Silver in Japanese when it released because the English versions were so far off, even though I understand absolutely zero Japanese. So imagine my surprise, disbelief, and sheer joy discovering Kanto after the Elite 4
I felt that way when playing through ME: Andromeda. By that point in the later sections of the game I just wanted it to end, and I would sometimes just sigh irritably when something new popped up for the main story or another lengthy conversation happened with (mostly) uninteresting dialogue.
The Kanto region in Pokémon Gold blew my mind as a kid. Also Persona 5's last Palace took me by surprise (in a good way).
The Witcher 3. I was blown away after completing the initial main quest line(looking for ciri) that was much more to come. Also, horizon zero Dawn comes to mind too. Alien isolation felt like it was ending a few times. Looking at steam play time I was shocked at how long the game was. Horror games should never be that long.
Okami.
I wasn't sure I was about to finish the game, but I was confident I was at least getting close. Nope.
I've never finished it...
I wasn't sure I was about to finish the game, but I was confident I was at least getting close. Nope.
I've never finished it...
For me, Okami (which I played on the Wii) took the cake and ran away with it. Here I was, thinking I'm in the final stage of things and about to wrap it up (after many hours invested in the game), only to find out that I was maybe at the half point.
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Tales of Heart DS. At one point I legit thought I was reaching the end...turned out I haven't got the middle point and haven't even seen the real baddies yet. It will always remembered by me as the game that never ends. Now I usually check the play time of a game before I play it, so things like that probably won't happen to me ever again.
Pokemon Gold/Silver. That feeling when you realise you can play Kanto after finishing the main game. Perfection.
Pokemon Gold/Silver back in the day for sure.
Maybe not the best example but Spider-Man (2002) threw me off when I was younger because the Green Goblin player character you could unlock had entirely different dialogue for the entire story across all missions, not just from Goblin himself but how other characters interacted with him.
Maybe not the best example but Spider-Man (2002) threw me off when I was younger because the Green Goblin player character you could unlock had entirely different dialogue for the entire story across all missions, not just from Goblin himself but how other characters interacted with him.
This literally just happened to me in RDR2. I stayed up late thinking I'm close to beating it might as well keep going!.... turns out there's (much) more? Dunno if i am happy or scard lol
Kid Icarus Uprising in the best possible way. Not only is it an amazing amount of additional game, but I also love the second half so much more for its ambition and story direction.
That game deserves so much more credit than its given.
That game deserves so much more credit than its given.
As a kid I thought I was at the final boss when I was about to face Agahnim. When I beat him and he pulled me into the Dark World my mind was blown.
A few years later I had the same experience playing Resident Evil 2 when you took the elevator down into the underground base.
A few years later I had the same experience playing Resident Evil 2 when you took the elevator down into the underground base.
Not strictly in the spirit of the OP but all my obvious ones have had good shoutouts....I just want to say on a sidenote recently Spider-Man I did beat and whilst a excellent experience, it was padded out of its ass with too many of the same fights / objectives to get to 100%
Almost to the point where I was like 'jesus, END already'.
Almost to the point where I was like 'jesus, END already'.
I think Okami unofficially won. And I'll vote for it too! that game just doesn't end.
(not sure why the quotes are being reduced to just "Okami" - is this a feature of 2.0?)
I believe it was Tales of Destiny. Spoilers ahead, but its very old game so you had your chance to play it. Someone stole a crystal so you had to retrieve it because otherwise earth would be destroyed ( or something like that). I defeated the bad guy, got the crystal back, got my thanks from the king, went back to my home, went to bed, closed my eyes, screen went black. I thought thats it, here comes the ending credits. Instead I got a message "Wake Up! Crystal has been stolen again!". MTHRFCKRWTFISTHIS!? That was the shittest way to make the game longer.
I feel like most legit "fake ending" twists in games I've played I've either been straight-up spoiled on or have just become aware enough of how games/game stories work that I know when a fake ending is happening. Yeah, credits are rolling, but there are still a bunch of things unresolved and I have a bunch of progression left to go in the games' systems, so clearly you're bullshitting me.
Though the real way that the Trails series pulls this is that outside of Sky 3 it's basically four 100+ hour games split into pairs of 50+ hour games, so the "you think you're done and you're not" point is when you beat the first game in a pair and realize that you'll never get any closure on the story until the next one. CS1 makes it pretty obvious that the story isn't close to done well before its cliffanger ending, I suppose, but Sky 1 would almost work well as a stand-alone game until the last ten minutes at which point it rips your fucking heart out and holds it hostage in Sky 2's late game.
Yeah, CS2 has not one but *two* sizable "epilogue" chapters after where most game stories would end. The first's big problem is that if you've only played the officially localized games then you don't know who the fuck the people involved are, the second is a great "where are they/will they be now" bit at first but then tacks on a big-ass dungeon that would have been better off as an optional post-game thing rather than something you feel obligated to do in order to be "done."
Though the real way that the Trails series pulls this is that outside of Sky 3 it's basically four 100+ hour games split into pairs of 50+ hour games, so the "you think you're done and you're not" point is when you beat the first game in a pair and realize that you'll never get any closure on the story until the next one. CS1 makes it pretty obvious that the story isn't close to done well before its cliffanger ending, I suppose, but Sky 1 would almost work well as a stand-alone game until the last ten minutes at which point it rips your fucking heart out and holds it hostage in Sky 2's late game.
The House in Fata Morgana, I thought I was nearing the conclusion, but I was about a third of the way through (and it was glorious).
Also Dragon Quest VIII looked like it was wrapping it up at the midway point, but it really didn't want to end anytime soon, the first playthrough I ended up clocking around 140 hours or so.
Also Dragon Quest VIII looked like it was wrapping it up at the midway point, but it really didn't want to end anytime soon, the first playthrough I ended up clocking around 140 hours or so.
Just recently Smash Ultimate with World of Light. I didn´t follow the Spoilers-Thread and got surprised.
Also, Mario 3D Land and 3D World - though one could call that post-game content, no?
Also, Mario 3D Land and 3D World - though one could call that post-game content, no?
Sonic 3 & Knuckles (All Emeralds): Blew my mind the first time I played the Doomsday level.
Super Mario World: Star World....... yeah.
It's always the Space moments that get you.
Super Mario World: Star World....... yeah.
It's always the Space moments that get you.
Kanto in Pokemon Gold. Had no idea as a kid so it blowed my mind. Nowadays its hard to stay in the dark with the internet and all.
Okami and Kid Icarus Uprising both astonished me in this regard. Okami feels like three games in one, it's insane
Took 11 posts. This is one of the games that would not end. Every time I got to a point where I thought it was close? Nope! Here's the next part! At least it was enjoyable unlike Persona 5 where the game wears out its welcome and you're just playing to finish the story.
Symphony of the Night's inverted castle was mind-blowing. Imagine being a kid and beating Richter, thinking that was a disappointing ending and then shelving the game for months before deciding to replay it and then you randomly find some new stuff. Discover the rings, get the holy glasses, wonder what is going to happen when you destroy the orb above his head...
And then Alucard auto runs and teleports to the inverted castle. I was in complete shock for the first hour.. like holy fuck what is going on?! It was one of the greatest moments in gaming to me pre-gamefaqs era.
And then Alucard auto runs and teleports to the inverted castle. I was in complete shock for the first hour.. like holy fuck what is going on?! It was one of the greatest moments in gaming to me pre-gamefaqs era.
NieR Automata.
Some blessed fucker somewhere went into that thing completely and utterly blind. Can't even imagine
Some blessed fucker somewhere went into that thing completely and utterly blind. Can't even imagine
Surprised to see one single mention of The Witcher 3. It's like the embodiment of this concept.
You get to finding your missing ward, Ciri, thinking the climax must be around the corner, then there's all this gathering allies for the "final" battle of Kaer Morhen, all this after so many hours of hand-crafted content.
By that point you must typically feel sure that the end must be in sight. It turns out that you are barely past half of the game.
It then starts a whole new roundabout of crossing enemies, gathering allies and preparing for another final showdown.
And the funny thing is: that's without even taking the two massive add-ons into account.
You get to finding your missing ward, Ciri, thinking the climax must be around the corner, then there's all this gathering allies for the "final" battle of Kaer Morhen, all this after so many hours of hand-crafted content.
By that point you must typically feel sure that the end must be in sight. It turns out that you are barely past half of the game.
It then starts a whole new roundabout of crossing enemies, gathering allies and preparing for another final showdown.
And the funny thing is: that's without even taking the two massive add-ons into account.
Forever and always the most joyous surprise I ever encountered in vidya