We've all heard of the phrase: "It's the journey that matters, not the destination". To me, that doesn't apply, to videogames, I mean.

There are a lot of games I've played that has this massively epic ending that inspires awe. To the point that for all games I play now, I expect a big pay-off for all my efforts. Examples to this are:

God of War 2 - say what you will, it got me excited for a prospect of a third game, even if I have to wait three more years from now to get a PS3 of my own.

Shadow of the Colossus - one of the best endings to a game, EVER.

Metal Gear Solid 3 - the only ending that came close to moving me to tears.

These are just some examples, I'm pretty sure I can come up with more.

Then came Dead Space. Sure, the 8-hour trek from space ship to planet was a suspense-filled one, but the end sequence left me with a big "That it?". Another game like this was FFXII. After spending 110 hours with it, I was expecting at least a great end sequence. There was none. Which was pretty sad considering how great FFX's ending was.

Last but not least, I was a wee bit disappointed with Bioshock's ending. Not really disappointed as in the cases above, I just wished they were a bit longer.

So what are the games with Anticlimactic endings have you played? Bonus question: What are the games with the best end sequences you've played?

Edit: Add the reason why you found them the best/anticlimactic, but put spoilers where needed.

Anti climatic: Fable 2 or COD 4

Fallout 3's end : /

Silent Nights or something. It was a PS2 "horror" game where you played as an astronaught who was trapped on a space station filled with ghosts. It was a puzzler, with no weapons of any kind. REALLY excellent atmosphere (Aaron, WHY are you screaming like a woman?" "CANTTALKRUNNINGFORLIFE") Maybe it was Echo Nights. Not sure.

Anyways......the endings sucked. 8/

Oh, and Devil May Cry 4.

COD 4? That's ridiculous. That's a great ending! Especially for the COD series, which barely focuses on story. And I thought the Fable ending was rather good.

I second you on Dead Space.

I suppose they were trying for some kind of hook for a sequel or cliff hanger ending but...

I really liked Mass Effect's ending sequence. Pretty epic fight and you can make important choices that should effect the next game.

Syntax Error:
Which was pretty sad considering how great FFX's ending was.

Personally I thought it was pretty crap that the game forced you to play through a drawn-out final boss battle that simply couldn't be lost, when the whole thing would have been a lot better as a simple FMV.

I was disappointed by Breakdown's ending for the Original Xbox. It was a huge cliffhanger to what is easily the best story I have ever played in a video game. It was supposed to be a trilogy, but noone bought the first game, so it was never finished.

fix-the-spade:
I second you on Dead Space.

I suppose they were trying for some kind of hook for a sequel or cliff hanger ending but...

It could have worked if it was a necromorph, as it is, It just gave me a slight 'meh', then I made off into the night. BTW, is there a way to skip the "Cutscenes" in Dead Space? You know, the ones with people talking to you behind bullet/laser/fireproof windows?

Half Life. What the hell was that whole Xen sequence about?!

Fallout 3's ending sucked, although I hope the extension via DLC will be better.

A great ending was Star Wars KOTOR, best ending EVER.

Halo 2

/thread

I thought Bioshocks ending (I've only seen the good one) was terrible. Rushed attempt to emotionally engage the player, I would have far preferred an extended gameplay sequence where you visit survivors, or anything to that vague FMV.

FFVIIs ending also felt rushed to me. I wanted a drawn out closure packed with sentimental value. They obviously learned to improve upon that (Final Fantasy 8,9 and 10s endings, 9s particularly was excellent I felt.) but I was very unsatisfied by the end of 7.

I also liked that FFIX ending. So heart warming. And the timing was just awesome.

Syntax Error:
I also liked that FFIX ending. So heart warming. And the timing was just awesome.

Yeah, it was fantastic. At the time I wished it wasn't such a long ending as I'd beaten the final boss at 3 in the morning, but it was well worth staying up till past 5 for.

Mercs 2. I wanted to see the light leave Solano's eyes.

maybe there was something i didn't get, but the end to Path Of The Furon was puzzeling. i just thought from the interrogation by ponsonby in DOH:2 we'd be learning more about the Original Crypto.

Advent Rising. Grrrrrr.

I swear if I ever make it into the game industry, I'm going to pick that game up again, but do it well.

I disagree about the ending of FFXII. While it didn't have the emotional moments that FFX did, it still wrapped up the story nicely and it had some great cinematic parts.

Digital Devil Saga

It practically ended mid-cutscene.

Medal of Honour: Rising Sun
I'M IN A PLANE!! AWESO...awww...

JediMB:

Syntax Error:
Which was pretty sad considering how great FFX's ending was.

Personally I thought it was pretty crap that the game forced you to play through a drawn-out final boss battle that simply couldn't be lost, when the whole thing would have been a lot better as a simple FMV.

You can lose the last fight in FFX. You just have to try really hard. (cast stone on your whole front party will do it).

Wow what is up with the Dead Space hate. Although it may not have been some incredibly deep life altering ending if you have ever watched a sci fi or horror flick the ending was suitable to those standards. Although I am a big fan of the cheesey B movies so it is my own opinion. I didn't have any expectations of an intelligent "keep me up at night pondering it" ending so it didn't disappoint.

Now Fable 2 and Fallout 3 on the other hand were complete garbage. Why bother giving us any sense of a choice when at the end of the day it doesn't matter?

GloatingSwine:

JediMB:

Syntax Error:
Which was pretty sad considering how great FFX's ending was.

Personally I thought it was pretty crap that the game forced you to play through a drawn-out final boss battle that simply couldn't be lost, when the whole thing would have been a lot better as a simple FMV.

You can lose the last fight in FFX. You just have to try really hard. (cast stone on your whole front party will do it).

...

Thank you, that was awesome.

The vast majority of video game endings, I've found, are absolutely terrible, and they feel as if they've just been tacked on as an afterthought, like the developers were nearing completion of the game and thought "shit, we don't have an ending cutscene, better toss one in there."

Games that made me feel this way especially strongly include Giants: Citizen Kabuto, American McGee's Alice, No One Lives Forever 2, and more others than I can even think of.

squid5580:
Wow what is up with the Dead Space hate. Although it may not have been some incredibly deep life altering ending if you have ever watched a sci fi or horror flick the ending was suitable to those standards. Although I am a big fan of the cheesey B movies so it is my own opinion. I didn't have any expectations of an intelligent "keep me up at night pondering it" ending so it didn't disappoint.

For me it's not so much the ending itself, it's the entire final part of the game. Starting midway through Chapter 11, the game loses all atmosphere. Chapter 12 is pathetic. You move a plot item around (forcing the use of the annoyning physics gun) while the game spawns waves of enemies at you in large well-lit areas.

The game turns into Quake 4, basically.

And the final boss was too simple and easy, especially compared to the Zero-G boss fight.

The ending itself was cliche to the extreme, and also makes little sense since you killed the Hive Mind...

I'll also add my vote to Fallout 3. After getting captured by the Enclave, the game is essentially an interactive cutscene to the end. Especially when the last potentially challenging part of the game is cleared for you by a gigantic robot. And then comes the lamest boss in any recent game. And then the lamest ending in recent history.

Seriously, it would be better if after killing Autumn you just got "A winner is YOU!" message and the credits rolled...

For me it has to be No More Heroes, partly because there was so much grinding that to stop me from going at it with an axe I had convinced myself that it was all going to be worth it, that my efforts would pay off, this gave me rather unmeetable expectations.

Also the abysmal decision of Suda 51 to stop you from being able to watch both the "real" ending and fake ending, it made you choose but did not specify that it was one or the other so I of course only got to see the rubbish ending, it then popped up telling me I had to complete it again to unlock the other video, so I went on youtube.
Rubbish ending, I nearly cried and for all the wrong reasons.

I'm a die hard Fable 2 fan, and even I was disappointed with the ending. Kinda felt like I was pick'pocketed...

Lukeje:
Half Life. What the hell was that whole Xen sequence about?!

The worst part was that they seemed to like it so much they decided that railroaded non-sequitur senselessness should be the defining trait of the whole series.

-- Alex

Not a game but the Hellboy movie had such an anticlimactic ending I thought it was the beginning. Or the really dull middle, you know, where everyone just talks. Yeah.

'Ere I recall, Tales of Phantasia heated up near the end moments. Could be poor memory though.

And Golden Sun wins it's own award for being EPIC and FAIL at the same time due to ending completely unexpectedly. I bet you thought you had two more lighthouses to clear too...

Fable 2 is the most disappointing ending for me by far.

Now for my list of more epic endings.

Shadow of the Colossus: Somewhat predictable, but still awesome. Not to mention that the last Colossus was epic.

Okami: Now that was an ending worth watching. Made me tear up, that one did.

Earthbound: Remarkably deep and incredibly disturbing ending for a kid's game.

meatloaf231:
Advent Rising. Grrrrrr.

I strongly disagree. I hold Advent Rising's ending among one of my favorites among all videogames. FFX also had a great ending. And Legend of the Dragoon's was so complete. The Myst games have always had great openings and endings in my opinion as well, especially the endings of Riven and Exile. And Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time had a great ending.

American McGee's Alice DID have a rushed ending though.

Uhg... and what about Star Trek Deep Space Nine: The Fallen. That was terribly anticlimactic. You didn't even get to fight the enemy!

Oh, and Tale of Symphonia. That was so lame how they...

Oh yeah, and Kingdom Hearts 2. That ending was just... uhg. It felt so superfluous.

Oh, and Deadly Tide. It had a good ending aside from the fact that...