It is true that most gamers do not play with a game's ending in mind, but no one doubts that a good conclusion is the "icing on the cake" for an excellent production. After all, we spend hours playing, overcoming challenges, and facing bosses, and watching a bad ending after so many hours of dedication is frustrating, to say the least.
However, developers do not always pay attention to this point and, with that in mind, we at Epic Play decided to select the ten most frustrating endings in games that are otherwise very good.
10. Crash Bandicoot - Flying Away with the Bird
The first Crash Bandicoot is a PlayStation 1 classic and, without a doubt, one of the best 3D platform games of the 32/64-bit era, selling nearly seven million copies and leaving gamers longing for it until its return with the N. Sane Trilogy remake. However, both of this game's endings, the regular and the secret one, leave something to be desired.
9. Sonic Mania Plus - Watching the Explosion
Sonic Mania is another game that won over the public and came to solidify the hedgehog's fame, while also appealing to retro gamers and reaching the mainstream media, which gave the game nothing but very high scores.
However, all the possible endings are "far too simple," amounting to a little scene that lasts only a few seconds. Several Sonic games have epic endings, and the fact that this one does not inevitably creates a sense of frustration. It fell short.
8. Until Dawn - Everyone Saved
Until Dawn is undoubtedly a good game. Everything about it is well made, including the way player decisions directly affect gameplay, the story, music, graphics, voice acting, and its efficient and engaging gameplay.
For such a good production and a game considered so epic to have a simplistic ending where the characters are simply "saved" is quite frustrating.
7. Shadow Warrior 2 - An Ending That Explains Nothing
Well received around the world, Shadow Warrior 2 has one of the most disappointing endings on this list, amounting to a few brief lines of dialogue at the conclusion that explain absolutely nothing.
In an attempt to leave the ending "open," developer Flying Wild Hog ultimately failed to please players, since it resolves none of the game's questions. Was the protagonist evil? Was Wang swallowed by the demon dragon?
6. Tomb Raider III - Taking a Helicopter
Nowadays, the classic Tomb Raider series divides opinion: some say it is a timeless classic, while others say Lara Croft's adventure has "aged poorly."
Regardless of your opinion, one thing is certain: the ending of Tomb Raider III for the first PlayStation is very disappointing: you escape in a helicopter. That is all. "The End"
5. No Man´s Sky - Reaching the Center of the Universe
Having received mixed to positive reviews, perhaps No Man´s Sky did not deserve to be on this list because it was considered a disappointment by many people, while others took a less critical view.
However, one fact is universal: the game's conclusion is one of the dullest in the gaming universe, even for those who enjoyed the title. You reach the center of the universe and are then teleported to a new dimension. At least the music is worthwhile.
4. Far Cry 5 - Even the Good Ending Is Bad
Another game that is "good at everything"...or almost! Far Cry 5 has excellent graphics, outstanding gameplay, and an addictive multiplayer mode. The problem is the story progression and the three endings the game offers, which convey that feeling of "I went through so much in this game for this?!".
3. Borderlands - A Vault with a Boss Inside
Borderlands has a very unsatisfying ending because it does not conclude what the game sets out to do. From the beginning, the assigned mission is to find the "Vault," but in the end you discover a boss inside it that is sealed within after being defeated, and when you do that, the game tells you it will not open for another 200 years.
2. Ghosts´n Goblins - Just a Congratulations
Going back in time, Ghosts´n´Goblins became famous around the world for its high but fair level of difficulty, as well as its fluid gameplay, becoming one of Capcom's greatest successes.
When you reach the final boss, you discover that everything was merely an illusion and that you must play through the entire game again at an even higher difficulty level. When you reach him again and defeat him, you get the ending that congratulates you for saving the princess.
"Congratulations, this story had a happy ending. Thank you!"
1. Mass Effect 3 - Plot Holes
It is difficult to find a list of good games with disappointing endings that does not include Mass Effect 3. Arriving to conclude a trilogy that was very well received among gamers, the third title's conclusion creates the feeling of "I devoted so many hours across all three games for this?".
The games became famous for having a "cause and effect" style, but the third one's ending amounts to dialogue options that change practically nothing about what happens. It fell short
