The Games With No Ending

You know what really grinds my gears? When you’re playing an epic adventure game, to the tune of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time or Psychonauts, then after you put so much time and effort into completing and finally defeating the final boss you realize there is no further inclination that you did complete the game. It is the bane of the game with no ending, and it has been an unfortunate thorn in my side as an adventure gamer and aspiring game designer. Video games are, in their essence, lacking much of a physical reward for completing them. You don’t get a certificate or trophy once you emerge from the final dungeon and topple the final boss, only the surge of self-satisfaction that all the hours you have selflessly poured into this environment have come down to this final accomplishment. The game should at least give some kind of in game sign that you have finished all that could be, however in my experience some of the most rewarding games have ended in mild disappointment with their lack of this type of acknowledgement. WARNING: There may be some spoilers ahead, so proceed if you dare.

The first game I recognized this trend in was one of the first I ever played. Paper Mario always will have a special place in my heart for two reasons; it was an initial compliment to the surprise gift of a Nintendo 64 from my parents those many Christmases ago, and it was one of the many games I never completed the first time through, only to return to it years later and dispatch it with not much effort. I was held back for many years from the fulfillment of defeating 2D Bowser because of that blasted endless passage in his castle, but once I embarrassingly figured out the pattern I finally defeated the Koopa King with all that pent up rage from years of frustration. Alas, my accomplishment will never be realized by anyone other than myself, for once I returned to the title screen in order to check my status, there was no mark of my achievement anywhere to be found.

The game Psychonauts gave me the next and likely the most frustrating experience in this category. An adventure game at its core, this underrated gem from Double Fine also incorporated the collect-a-thon theme that I loved so much about gaming. I figured, once I did complete the game the fun wouldn’t end, for I would be able to return to the quirky environments afterwards and finish collecting all the extra things that needed collecting, like figments and scavenger hunt items and giant floating eyeballs. However it appears that it was not meant to be, as to my dismay when trying to return to the game after defeating the chilling final boss (or bosses, depending on how you look at it), I not only was placed back in the final area before the boss, I was given no route to return to all the past levels in order to finish collecting everything. And I was sad.

Recently I finally got around to playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, and even wrote a review on one of the most widely debated game levels of all time, and was horrified to find that a game that was so close to perfect in every other regard of its design included this never-ending game trend. Being in the depths of my college life, I returned to and reluctantly abandoned the game over a few years, but after my graduation I forced myself to finally finish and realize the full extent of this amazing game, and defeated Ganon. Yet there it was again, the exclusion of any display of my hard journey to this final accomplishment. I actually sat and stared at the final scene of the game (which, I might add, wasn’t too bad seeing, as it was profoundly moving) to no avail. With no end in sight, I jumped up in frustration and slammed the power button down on the N64, never to return to the game again. Well, unless I want to replay it at some point. Which I probably will. But still. NEVER AGAIN.

Last but not least of the games I can recall using this despicable design flaw, the yet again underrated Baten Kaitos had unique gameplay combining turn-based strategy gameplay with the utilization of customizable card decks. I’ll admit that of all the games on this list, the never ending aspect was not its most jarring weakness, but adding it on top of the others certainly didn’t make the game any better. It was a unique and risky attempt, which is commendable in a present day where many game companies lean towards the easy path towards development (*cough* Call of Duty *cough*), yet it still, like the other games in this article, left a bad taste in my mouth when the completion of the very difficult final boss battle will never be realized within the game in any way.

The most frustrating thing about these games with no ending is I just don’t understand why game developers decide to leave out such a seemingly easy aspect of the game. Why not in Psychonauts just retexture Raz’s clothing to look like the turtle neck and terrible hairdo he gains at the end of the game, and allow the player to travel through all the levels again to collect the rest of the items? Why not just show some sort of mark or seal in the game that clearly shows that the player has completed it, like Raz’s clothing change or just as simply as a star next to the save file? I’m not asking for a completely new section of the game, something the designers after years of development might not have the energy to add just to appease my ridiculous demands; I just want some small sign of closure in a medium that naturally doesn’t have one other than personal satisfaction.

Some games do it right, and prove even further that ending the game in the way I desire is probably one of the simplest parts of the design process. Banjo-Kazooie is one example, adding on to the endless list of reasons why it is and always shall be my favorite game. Initially, when starting the game from system shut down, no matter how far you have advanced Banjo always begins at the entrance to Grunty’s lair. This isn’t even too much of a hindrance, as her lair works as sort of a base area connecting all of the other levels, and has portals placed throughout it to transverse to the further regions of the environment. Once the player has defeated Grunty, the game goes through all of the ending procedures, returns the character to the title screen, and when beginning your game again, Banjo appears at the entrance of the lair. Now, there really isn’t a showing of the game’s completion, but the way the game is designed allows the player to explore previous parts of the game after completion, and isn’t confined to the final area with any flexibility like in Paper Mario and Baten Kaitos. Final Fantasy Tactics Advance is another game does apply the display I describe, in the way that I explained before with a star next to the save file, showing that the player has completed the game and allowing for further gameplay even after the final boss was slain.

In conclusion, many of the games that I have experienced this flaw in are games that I hold dear to my heart, and it’s more depressing than frustrating that such masterpieces end in such a way. Now most modern day games do not end in such a way, or their design doesn’t allow for any kind of ending in this manner, however I still see some crop up here and there and it puzzles me to no end. There must have been some reason for the designers to allow their games to end this way, if anything just pure laziness towards the end of development, but every time I come across it the value of both the overall game and the time I put into their creation is lessened, and I wonder why they do not want me to have some kind of compensation for all my effort. I just want some closure dammit.