Eh? WTF was that about! This is an internet friendly version on my reaction to the ending of some games. Some game endings do really make you go seriously I did all that for this! You spend hours levelling up/hacking/shooting/picking poor dialogue choices/copping off with masked aliens, only to find out you've saved the universe just by shooting some futuristic console because a kid in a hoodie gave you that option.
I've been one of the many who've complained that the Mass Effect 3 endings were a lot to be desired, not with those crazed masses who forced Bioware to change it, only complaining to myself, I don't have many friends who know what Mass Effect is, if I said the words Mass Effect to them they probably thought I was giving a euphemism for my tribulations on a toilet after a tough night out.
Mass Effect's ending(s) aren't the only ones that I've wept over, there have been plenty of other games where I have spent hours into the early morning to see what happens next but then coming to an ending that made me feel "I've just stayed up all night for that?". But then that brought me to a thinking, does is really matter that game endings can be a little bit pooh and not the giant robotic stegosaurus riding a rainbow of chicken wings you hoped it to be?
Mass Effect's ending(s) aren't the only ones that I've wept over, there have been plenty of other games where I have spent hours into the early morning to see what happens next but then coming to an ending that made me feel "I've just stayed up all night for that?". But then that brought me to a thinking, does is really matter that game endings can be a little bit pooh and not the giant robotic stegosaurus riding a rainbow of chicken wings you hoped it to be?
Nowadays games have come on not just graphically and in gameplay styles with the advance of technology in and some pretty creative minds, but games are becoming more story driven and often trying to equal the cinematic excitement of the next Hollywood box office smash. And some games really do pull that off, LA Noire was a gripping story, not so much of a cinema experience but more of a two season crime thriller you'd find on Sky Atlantic (or whatever American channel it was originally touted on). And the whole storyline to Star Wars Knight of the Old Republic is the kind of story we should of expected from George Lucas from the prequels. Some games got it right, some not so.
And games have become longer, it's not the same as spending an afternoon with mates blasting through Super Mario World in an afternoon, 'blasting' through a game now can be 40+ hours and with a storyline gripping you at every point there lies the problem, after investing all that time you're expectation of the how the game will end always falls short and you're left feeling a little bit cheated.
And games have become longer, it's not the same as spending an afternoon with mates blasting through Super Mario World in an afternoon, 'blasting' through a game now can be 40+ hours and with a storyline gripping you at every point there lies the problem, after investing all that time you're expectation of the how the game will end always falls short and you're left feeling a little bit cheated.
But hold on, you've spent 40+ hours on a game for a story? So just because the ending happened to be just a dream or the big reward at the end wasn't a reward just some interplanetary tentacled lady garden trying to kill you, you're going to get into a rage about the game? You've just played the game to 'play the game' not watch some story, that's what TV & film is for.
Games can have amazing storylines which can often be better than most of the crap we see on TV but let's not forget why we play games in the first place, for that playability factor, for getting the next level up, for finding a gun that shoots Boris Johnson quotes that eventually implode your enemies. The gaming part is the bit you should care about. Don't get upset that the game ended badly, if you enjoyed playing it, be upset that you've finished playing it.
But if you're still miffed with how a games ending, why not have a drink from my Top 3 'What the fuck was that about I need a drink' beers.
Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer - You have have just finished this game late at night after some serious game time and need to unwind and calm down before creeping up to bed and face the wrath of the partner who still remembers you saying 'I'll be up in a minute', 3 hours previously. This is like a traditional gentlemanly whiskey nightcap but in beer form. Aged in Oak barrels this 6.6% beer is not for the faint hearted but a sophisticated finish to any night.
Goose Island Honkers Ale - Just realised all your choices from previous game didn't mean much but where just sort of shoe horned into the final game to make you feel that maybe it did matter? Then this English ale inspired Chicago beer will definitely make you feel like that apart from the choices did matter and shoehorning the traditional English style into American brewing is a good choice!
Games can have amazing storylines which can often be better than most of the crap we see on TV but let's not forget why we play games in the first place, for that playability factor, for getting the next level up, for finding a gun that shoots Boris Johnson quotes that eventually implode your enemies. The gaming part is the bit you should care about. Don't get upset that the game ended badly, if you enjoyed playing it, be upset that you've finished playing it.
But if you're still miffed with how a games ending, why not have a drink from my Top 3 'What the fuck was that about I need a drink' beers.
Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer - You have have just finished this game late at night after some serious game time and need to unwind and calm down before creeping up to bed and face the wrath of the partner who still remembers you saying 'I'll be up in a minute', 3 hours previously. This is like a traditional gentlemanly whiskey nightcap but in beer form. Aged in Oak barrels this 6.6% beer is not for the faint hearted but a sophisticated finish to any night.
Goose Island Honkers Ale - Just realised all your choices from previous game didn't mean much but where just sort of shoe horned into the final game to make you feel that maybe it did matter? Then this English ale inspired Chicago beer will definitely make you feel like that apart from the choices did matter and shoehorning the traditional English style into American brewing is a good choice!
Brewdog 5AM Saint - If you've just completed a game at a ridiculous time (edit: I do not recommend or condone drinking at 5am but it's probably 5am somewhere so use that to crack it open) then this is the beer for you. A 5% amber ale using five malts it's definitely a good beer to drink and think I'm going to have another of those and play that game again with a different character.
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