I love bittersweet endings. That feeling of happiness and sadness rushing in all at once is so satisfying.
2 games in particular have done this perfectly (both feature epilogues as well): Uncharted 4 and RDR 2. (Spoilers for both)
- UC4's epilogue started with us playing Crash and getting a glimpse of Nate and Elena's child. That and the wonderful environment gave me such a happy, warm feeling after all the speculation that someone was going to die in UC4 -- it felt amazing that everyone survived.
Then came the sad part; seeing old,gray-haired Elena and Nate entering to confront Cassie made me tear up. There they were -- the heroes of my childhood -- now old. That plus the cleverly done call backs to the Uncharted series with the album was every so bittersweet. I was happy and tearing up. I still think to this day that this is the best ending for a video game franchise ever......... don't do another Uncharted with Nate again, Naughty Dog.
- RDR 2's ending was more on the sad side. After the tragic death of Arthur -- we got a surprisingly long epilogue with Marston. It was such a joy to soak in the story of him and his family trying to be happy (and succeeding for a while). It was also great to rap up the story with the closure of Micah's subplot.
Of course, although the epilogue ended on a light note -- knowing what happens to John eventually -- still left me with that bittersweet feeling.
Would love to know what other examples of stories that end with mixed feelings for the player. Are there examples that nailed this better than these two?
2 games in particular have done this perfectly (both feature epilogues as well): Uncharted 4 and RDR 2. (Spoilers for both)
- UC4's epilogue started with us playing Crash and getting a glimpse of Nate and Elena's child. That and the wonderful environment gave me such a happy, warm feeling after all the speculation that someone was going to die in UC4 -- it felt amazing that everyone survived.
Then came the sad part; seeing old,gray-haired Elena and Nate entering to confront Cassie made me tear up. There they were -- the heroes of my childhood -- now old. That plus the cleverly done call backs to the Uncharted series with the album was every so bittersweet. I was happy and tearing up. I still think to this day that this is the best ending for a video game franchise ever......... don't do another Uncharted with Nate again, Naughty Dog.
- RDR 2's ending was more on the sad side. After the tragic death of Arthur -- we got a surprisingly long epilogue with Marston. It was such a joy to soak in the story of him and his family trying to be happy (and succeeding for a while). It was also great to rap up the story with the closure of Micah's subplot.
Of course, although the epilogue ended on a light note -- knowing what happens to John eventually -- still left me with that bittersweet feeling.
Would love to know what other examples of stories that end with mixed feelings for the player. Are there examples that nailed this better than these two?
