View Poll Results: Which is more important to you?

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  • Strong Opening

    3 23.08%
  • Strong Ending

    8 61.54%
  • Where's my third choice Wolfy?

    1 7.69%
  • Reaganomics!

    1 7.69%
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Thread: Openings vs. Endings

  1. #1
    Memento Mori Site Contributor Wolf Kanno's Avatar
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    • Former Cid's Knight

    Default Openings vs. Endings

    When it comes to openings and endings, which is more important for you? A game with a strong bombastic opening but kind of ends weakly, or a game that starts off a bit weak but snowballs into something special by the end?

  2. #2

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    I can get over a game with a slow start, but I have to have a good and thorough ending. I don't like it when games leave too much up to your imagination at the end.

  3. #3
    Pinkasaurus Rex Pumpkin's Avatar
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    • Former Cid's Knight

    Default

    Strong opening. The game could have an amazing ending but I'll never get to it if it doesn't engage me at the start

  4. #4

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    I'm generally a "journey over destination" guy, so I can put up with a weak ending if the game opens well. It takes a really terrible conclusion to completely sour my opinion of the game overall.

    However, if the game's story revolves around the ending or events within it, like the answers to a mystery or a climactic showdown, it had better be a good one.

  5. #5
    Yes homo Mr. Carnelian's Avatar
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    Default

    A game has to have a good enough opening to keep me playing. If it manages that, it doesn't necessarily have to be a great opening. But a weak ending can feel like a real let-down, so I'm voting for "Strong ending".

  6. #6
    Memento Mori Site Contributor Wolf Kanno's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mr. Carnelian View Post
    A game has to have a good enough opening to keep me playing. If it manages that, it doesn't necessarily have to be a great opening. But a weak ending can feel like a real let-down, so I'm voting for "Strong ending".
    This is kind of my own thoughts. Since I tend to play RPGs with long playtimes, the great opening dozens of hours ago is usually a fleeting memory by the time I reach the end game, and it's usually the ending that leaves the final taste of the experience for me. I've noticed how a lot of games I particularly dislike tend to have poor endings because the front was loaded too much.

  7. #7

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    The ending is the most important part of a story. Make a great game with a crap ending and the sum of it is negative for me. An ending that I hate will have an meteor crush of a minus for my ratings.

    Endings that ruined movies for me that I liked until the ending started:

    Life
    Prestige
    Others that I do not remember now.

    Games with endings that would have ruined things for me if there was not more:

    Final Fantasy XIII-2
    Final Fantasy XV; the final, final scene saved it for me.

  8. #8
    'Just Friends' Formalhaut's Avatar
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by KleinerKiller View Post
    I'm generally a "journey over destination" guy, so I can put up with a weak ending if the game opens well. It takes a really terrible conclusion to completely sour my opinion of the game overall.

    However, if the game's story revolves around the ending or events within it, like the answers to a mystery or a climactic showdown, it had better be a good one.
    Yeah, this sums up my approach. I'm definitely more 'the journey' over 'the ending'. This probably explains why ME: 3's ending didn't bother me so much. The rest of the game was just so good.


  9. #9
    Witch of Theatergoing Karifean's Avatar
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    Default

    Ending and it's not even a competition. I decide whether or not I'll actually play a game before I even start it, and a weak opening is not gonna dissuade me. An ending is what can elevate a good game to something truly special.

  10. #10

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    I don't really have an opinion on the matter, but I will say I remember a lot more powerful openings than I do endings. Most of my favorite games had a decent bookend. And by that I mean I enjoyed both. But what sticks out for me is the opening to FF6, 7, Xenogeras. Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, Knights of the Old Republic 1 and 2, Saints Row 1 and 2, Dragon's Dogma, Bloodborne, The Last of Us

    All had really good beginnings and endings, and what sticks out for me more is the beginning. Probably more because I've started the games more than I've finished them. But even with a game/series like Mass Effect, the ending didn't ruin it for me. Skyrim and Oblivion had pretty blah endings that didn't ruin anything for me

    I think as a writer I subconsciously give a small pass for weak endings as long as they're not terrible, because i know a strong ending is way harder than a strong opening

    I have a huge list of games I've never finished that I absolutely loved the opening hours in: Xenoblade Chronicles, Fire Emblem Awakening, Fire Emblem Fates, Persona 4, Persona 5, Gravity Rush, Horizon: Zero Dawn. I can't imagine a bad ending could ruin any of these games once I finish them. Though I could see a bad beginning cause me to take breaks from them sooner, more frequently, and for longer periods, if not indefinitely

    So while I love a great and compelling ending, I can't deny the impact of a poignant beginning



  11. #11

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    Under the assumption that the game is good (a bad game will be bad regardless of its beginning or end) I feel a stronger ending is more important. A weak opening has the rest of the game to build. A weak ending is final.

  12. #12
    Trial by Wombat Bubba's Avatar
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    • Former Cid's Knight

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    Tough one. If I know a game is really good then I'll generally stick it out to the end. In that case, ending is more important.

    Saying that, I agree with Pumpkin that if a game doesn't start well then I'm likely to not continue playing.

    I DON'T KNOW, STOP ASKING HARD QUESTIONS.

  13. #13
    Untalented Game Designer FFNut's Avatar
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    The opening doesn't have to be great, just there enough to engage me. However at the end, I want a ending that sums everything up. A week ending can ruin the journey through the game. I vote strong ending.

  14. #14
    WarZidane's Avatar
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    Neither a weak start nor a weak end on their own is enough to ruin a game for me, but I'll take a strong ending over a strong start.

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