Really there are only 3 types of endings,

1.happy
Yay we defeated (main EVIL) let's all have pie.

2.Sad
Oh no I or my friends are dead this wasn't worth it...

3.Cliffhanger
I donno Halo 2, you think of one.
(this can actually be many different things)

Although some do it quite better than others...
I just recently beat COD4 that felt like a justified ending. I think that another thing that drives your thoughts for a good ending is that sometimes you like a game a lot, so when it ends you are unhappy about it.

Brockyman:
Anti climatic: Fable 2 or COD 4

Of the many words that can be used to describe COD4's ending, anticlimactic certainty isn't one of them. Unless you want to try to make the case that it is because the game has so many climaxes, but even then it's not like the ending was dull.

I'm gonna go with Dreamfall. Mostly because it doesn't really have an ending. Rather, there's a series of cliffhangers with only one or two plot points actually resolved. God knows when/if the conclusion will be released.

Oblivion last boss

While he's still sitting on his chair, I shot him with an arrow in the head while in stealth, which hit him with X8 damage. Then I hit him with another to the chest.

*Boss dies*
Me: WHAT?!

Quake 4 and Halo 1 for being cliffhangers. I really liked the ending to God of War 1.

The ending of Gears of War 2 made me so mad. What a crappy boss.

harhol:
Digital Devil Saga

It practically ended mid-cutscene.

Play DDS2, the games basically link together seemlessly. I personally view them as one game, since that's basically what it is.

Anyway, the forced cliffhanger at the end of Too Human got my goat, why couldn't they just make the game a 30 hour dungeon crawling epic? I really hate all this trilogy bullshit nowadays.

Final Fantasy VIII had a very good ending, I was really happy and proud of what I had accomplished after watching that (made me teary eyed) and the after-credits skit was hilarious.

Varchld:
Fallout 3's end : /

It was so lacklustre that I don't even strive to finish the main quest anymore.

Hmmm, no one mentioned Soul Reaver yet?

Seeing all the DDS comments here, I think I really need to go out of my way and hunt for them.

fish food carl:
Autumn isn't a boss. I'll admit that the ending was a bit of a slap, but the rest of the game makes up for the discrepancy.

That actually makes it even worse, since the game basically has no boss, and a poor ending on top of that.

Yes, the rest of the game makes up for it and I loved the game, but as far as Anticlimactic endings and end sequences go, FO3 rates high.

Anyone play Haven: Call of the King?
The ending was pretty bad.
I didn't see it coming at all, I assumed there was loads of game left, but no slightly epic quick time boss fight and then even when you win it you get the equivalent of "YOU FAIL."
I'm guessing there might have been a good ending if you collected all of the whatever the hell those things were but frankly, fuck that shit...
Especially as I was promised the game would be an open-ended storyline with multiple paths and endings, instead I got a linear game with a potentially good but underdeveloped storyline.

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.

I completely agree.
No one told me I had auto-life, I was surprised when I was brought back to life.
The game seemed a little short, despite the fact I put about 50 hours into it >.< It was still a good game, though.

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

Just in case someone doesn't want to know.

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.

Agreed on all counts.

I have do disagree with the other posters about Dead Space. I kinda likes what they did at the end. Not as epic as the games listed above (except that turd known as Fable 2) but still a good one in my book.

the original zelda for the NES...

hard to beat that

In response to the title of the thread: Yeah, that's what SHE said...

But yeah, if any game I've played is anticlimactic, it'd have to be Assassin's Creed. In fact, it wasn't climactic, or even anticlimactic. There WAS no climax or anticlimax, no ending, no solution. Just...if you've played it you'll understand.

KOTOR 2 with it's non end

Karnov for the NES: "Game Over, Thank you for playing"; on a black screen. I almost quit gaming after that one.

I agree that Fable 2's ending was kinda bad, but i thought the whole Utopia sequence was cool and the DLC looks promising when the get the bugs worked out.

I thought fallout 3's ending was also pretty bad, and the fact that you can't keep playing after is just... well it makes me mad

And what else would you expect for an ending of Dead Space?

I couldn't believe Fable 2's ending...
I mean at first i thought it was a daring move to do away with the boss fight all together but i didn't realise what i was supposed to be doing so i just pushed the shoot button expecting something to happen, and it ended the game for me.

Alot of things in that game ruined it for me, the ending is high on the list.

Fable 2 is what it took for me to lose faith in Lionhead...

Do we have a clone in our midst? (referring to above poster)

Elurindel:
In response to the title of the thread: Yeah, that's what SHE said...

When I thought of the thread name, there were no "dirty" thoughts going through my head... Why did you have to bring it up?

I wish I could check out Fable 2 and see how unfulfilling the ending really is (can't cuz I don't have any of the current-gen consoles).

The ending of Prince of Persia is depressingly anticlimactic, although my housemate opined that they may be setting up for a sequel, in which case Ubisoft may squeak by with a pass on that one.

CmdrGoob:

I think the implication was that the Xen was under Combine control, and the Xen alien was a Combine leader, at least on Xen. You wacked the war leader and therefore stalled the Combine offensive that was coming through from Xen. But the Combine hadn't placed their entire hopes on the life of one specific entity - they were ultimately successful in their invasion anyway.

Interesting, have never looked at it in that way. Hadn't actually thought of the Xen aliens being under the control of the Combine. Could explain the nature of the Combine, they must be one of those races that travels between dimensions, either taking over or destroying whatever other forms of life they find. Anyway, not to turn this topic into an analysis of Half-Life...

I liked the good ending to Bioshock as well, though again it was just a little short for my liking. If Bioshock 2 is indeed a sequel, I wonder if it is the good ending they are choosing to follow on from. Granted a short trailer showing a woman standing on a beach who may be a grown up Little Sister isn't much to go on, but it's just a thought.

GTA 4, the ending was quite a disappointment, despite the rest of the game being an incredible piece of work.

N-Sef:

harhol:
Digital Devil Saga
It practically ended mid-cutscene.

Play DDS2

I did! It rocked!

^_^

The ending to DDS1 was still annoying at the time, especially given the fact that I'd paid near full price for the game.

Fable 2 and Gears 2 (the last bosses)

Bioshock's ending(s) could have been great had they not taken the form of a rushed, 10 second FMV.

Oblivion's ending didn't bug me too much - but the fact that nobody tried to rebuild the imperial city after it got wrecked did (same with Kvatch - none of the mods I found really did it for me, unless Kvatch is supposed to be filled with big-breasted goth chicks?)

The ENDING of Dead Space wasn't a bad thing (in a game filled with formulaic scares, what more could I expect?) but the final boss Hivemind was far, FAR too easy. All it did was wriggle a bit and growl at you, I'm pretty sure I could have gone off, had dinner, taken a bath, gone to bed, got up, come down stairs and the thing would still be wiggling menacingly at me.

Ending of Fallout 3 was pretty pathetic.

Assassin's Creed. 'Nuff said.

Definatly Halo 2. For some reason, I got really involved in the storyline, and the way it just fizzled out was awful. It looked like just another standard cutscene to set up the next level. AND THEN THE NEXT LEVEL NEVER CAME :< :< :<

Also, at the end of the Wind Waker (these are both old games, so I'm assuming spoilers wont be neccessary) during the final fight with Ganon. The actual cutscene ending was sort of ok, but to finish the boss fight, all you had to do was a standard dodge --> counterattack (done by hold the left trigger and pressing A at the right time). I thought I was just going get a cheeky hit in, and the fight would continue. Instead I ended up doing an insane backflip and sticking a sword in his head. I was so not expecting that. It was kinda awesome, actually...I sense I have gone off the main point of the thread :<

Halo 3.
As if it wasnt built up to be the god of all games.
And the end sequence, where they could have put some epic battle, was a .. car ride.

one anticlimatic boss battle I will never forgive is from "Prince of Persia -The Sands of Time" for the Ps2 it was so easy compared to the other battles along the way.

It was basically a Jafar wannabe using magic to create one Jafar clone at a time for me to battle and it was in that "wait for the enemy to attack slowly, block and hit back" kind of fight that feels like poorly choreographed ballet

Syntax Error:
Do we have a clone in our midst? (referring to above poster)

Elurindel:
In response to the title of the thread: Yeah, that's what SHE said...

When I thought of the thread name, there were no "dirty" thoughts going through my head... Why did you have to bring it up?

I wish I could check out Fable 2 and see how unfulfilling the ending really is (can't cuz I don't have any of the current-gen consoles).

Yeah, sorry about that. Despite my usual wit and sophistication, that's one of the jokes which I can't pass up.

The end of the dead space demo. It's not really anticlimactic it's more like " What, That's not fair! That cant happen in games, let alone demos. I can't believe EA made that happen!".
For me, It's not the best or worst ending, but it's the most thought provoking. If you want to know what happens, just download the dead space dismemberment demo off Xbox live or PSN.

End. Of. Discussion.