There have been some incredible games throughout history and yet, the ones that are truly remembered for greatness are the ones that nail the landing.
10 Best New Weird Games
Games like Control and Pacific Drive exemplify the mysterious literary genre known as the New Weird.
You cannot tell great stories without a great ending and, unfortunately, many games have had amazing plots and disastrous endings, and here are ten that stand out more than others.
10Kingdom Come: Deliverance
That’s it?
Kingdom Come: Deliverance
Kingdom Come: Deliveranceis a one-of-a-kind RPG, mixing realism with some incredible graphics to deliver a game that many call historically accurate Skyrim.
The story it told was a phenomenal one, starring you as Henry, a lowly peasant who gets caught up in a war and finds himself taking part in battles to determine the fate of his people.
It’s got some excellent writing, fantastic voice acting, and a bunch of great characters that will stick with you long after the credits roll.
The issue is the ending. It doesn’t have an ending. It feels like a halfway point, with Henry and a comrade getting ready to go off on an important mission.
You’re all hyped up, ready for the big finale, and then nothing. No ending, just a vague promise for a future game.
That game got stuck in development hell, butit’s mercifully coming in 2025. Still, that doesn’t make up for the 8 year-long wait we’ve had to endure in the meantime.
9The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
The Real Battle We Never See
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
Witcher 3: Wild Huntis an iconic title and one of the must-play experiences for any RPG fan out there.
It’s known for incredible writing, amazing characters, and a living, breathing world ripe to be explored.
The main story itself is incredibly gripping, as you search for your long-lost ward, Ciri,as you attempt to rescue herfrom the mysterious and terrifying Wild Hunt.
Then the letdown hits. The Wild Hunt are revealed to be nothing more than Elves.
The White Frost that is coming to consume everything? The apocalyptic threat? Ciri punches it in the face, or something.
Nobody is really sure what she does to stop it, but we don’t see it. Which feels anti-climactic, to say the least. Plus, the final fight against Eredin is underwhelming, as is his death.
For such an epic game, it really doesn’t do a great job of wrapping itself up.
8Elden Ring
All That Strife, For Little Payoff
Elden Ring
Elden Ringis a groundbreaking title that turned the gaming world on its head in 2022 when it was released.
Unlike many FromSoftware games, this one had amassive focus on story telling, with George R.R. Martin being part of the creative process when it came to the main plot.
It was still plenty obscure, but there were so many interesting threads popping up throughout the story, from the Maidens, the Will of the Fingers, or the Frenzied Flame to the various different characters you could serve under to unlock the various endings.
The build towards the ending has you trying to become the next Elden Lord, and the final hours of the game are fantastic.
Crumbling Farum Azula is one of the most incredible levels in any game, and the boss fights get bigger and bigger, getting you ready for the final fight.
Elden Ring: Hardest Legacy Dungeons, Ranked
From a walk in the park to godforsaken ruins, Elden Ring’s main areas offer the biggest challenges of the game.
Then it happens. You fight the Elden Beast, which is a weird and underwhelming fight on its own, and then you get one of the various endings.
Each one is so underwhelming that it almost feels like a joke. You’re basically sitting on a throne with different world effects happening in the background, depending on the path you choose.
For a 100+ hour journey, these endings all felt so hollow. Even the secret ending of choosing the Frenzied Flame doesn’t feel all that unique.
It is strangely reminiscent of a title we’ll be discussing a little further down this list.
7Xenoblade Chronicles 3
So Many Great Ideas, So Little Resolution
Xenoblade Chronicles 3
Xenoblade Chronicles 3has one of the moreambitious stories in any JRPG.
It builds slowly, giving you threads to follow, such as the main characters being born adults, and then carefully pulls you down a very strange and winding road from there.
Revelations that connect the games to prior titles in the series emerge, twists happen, and we are driven toward a thrilling conclusion against villain Z.
Then comes the final fight, which is a visual display that I didn’t think the Switch was capable of getting everything up, and all the game has to do is slap a cherry atop the cake and walk away victorious.
But, while emotional, the ending just doesn’t hit right.
For example, Z himself is just a non-character, despite being a menacing presence throughout the game, his ultimate motivation is just “because he thought this would be fun to watch”.
In a way, it’s interesting that someone would orchestrate the events of the game just because he felt like it, but thinking about it for more than 10 seconds, and you’ll feel like there could’ve been a lot more here.
Ultimately, a lot of questions about the main game get answered in the brilliant Future Redeemed DLC, but that doesn’t redeem the weak ending of the main game.
6Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
So Much Potential
Deus Ex: Mankind Divided
In an ideal world,Deus Ex: Mankind Dividedwould have fully revived the series and inspired many great sequels shortly after.
But sadly, that dream never materialized, and that’s largely due to the lack of a true ending to this game.
The game itself is a brilliant, dark trip into the near future, where we work to uncover the origins of a terrorist attack that takes place at the beginning of the game.
The combat has never been better; the graphics are stunning to this day, and the story is full of intrigue and is well told.
That is until the ending. A lukewarm final boss and an ending that feels horribly rushed.
If anything, it feels like a midway point. Marchenko was not final boss material and the story itself was just not even close to finished.
It felt like a DLC would have to come to give us the ending we deserved, but that never happened.
Adam Jensen’s story is out there somewhere, waiting to be finished.
5Assassin’s Creed: Valhalla
Not My Valhalla
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla
Assassin’s Creed: Valhallais the ultimate would’ve, could’ve, and should’ve in the series, and that’s for many reasons, but most of all, the ending.
The game up until the end is a great time, which, as long as you don’t get lost in the bloat, isprobably the best Viking gaming experiencewe’ve ever had.
Your journey to England, the discovery of different lands, and ultimately, the rescue of your brother, Sigurd, is a gripping one, and it all culminates with what feels like several different endings.
The tough part is that every single ending is awful. First, we’ve got the reveal of Valhalla.
It’s an Isu device that is a computer simulation program because….of course it is.
This is interesting at first, but then, much like Eivor does, you realize there is no real depth to the idea, and both of you get yanked out of it.
Then, we get an epic battle that ends with our story, big bad, Aelfred, getting away.
This is necessary because of history, but it’s far from satisfying, although the secret ending you get from eliminating all of the order members does give a little bit of resolution here, at least. But we’re still not done.
Then, Laila, the present-day protagonist, seeks out the Valhalla machine and gets tricked into using it, where she effectively dies and joins Desmond in a digital world where they both discuss how bad their games' endings were, I can only assume.
So many ideas, so little resolution. Overly ambitious would be the best way to describe this ending.
4Fallout 3
Ignoring Logic, Embracing Stupidity
Fallout 3is agroundbreaking gameand one of the classic examples of Bethesda having little idea how to end their epic stories satisfyingly.
It’s been proven time and time again, and Fallout 3 may just be their golden goose when it comes to awful endings.
The build-up is great, and you even have a choice at the end of what you want to do when it comes to the final moments.
You are faced with deciding how to activate Project Purity and save the Wasteland.
Will you do it yourself? Or will you send in your companion, Sarah? Well, that’s a tough choice to make, but it’s also completely unnecessary.
See, whoever you send in will die from radiation. It’s a guarantee. However, do you have companions other than Sarah who are, in fact, immune to said radiation? You bet our ass you do.
Why don’t they go in, you ask? Your guess is as good as mine.
It’s so nonsensical that it takes the entire weight of the choice out of the situation and, instead, leaves you baffled at how the writing staff could fumble the ball so badly in the final stretch.
They even released DLC that lets you send in the appropriate party member, so it’s clear they realized their error, but by then, it was too late.
3Metal Gear Solid V
The Non-Ending
Metal Gear Solid 5: The Phantom Pain
Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Painmight have thebest stealth gameplay ever conceived.
To this day, it’s a tour de force in player creativity, gorgeous graphics, and amazing mission design. It also has some of the most tense fights in the series when it comes to fighting The Skulls.
Unfortunately, none of that can make up for the disaster that is the ending of this game.
That is, if you can even consider the ending an ending at all. It’s well known now that Konami and Hideo Kojima clashed on this title, leading to the unfinished game that we still mourn nearly 10 years later.
First, the main villain, Skullface, doesn’t even get a boss fight. Nope, he gets crushed under Metal Gear, and then you get to unceremoniously shoot him in the face.
That’s all well and good, but then comes the big reveal.
You were never a Big Boss; you were just a comrade brainwashed into thinking you were a Big Boss while the real one had survived elsewhere. In the grand scheme of things, this is a gargantuan reveal, and one that carries a lot of weight.
But this was a game that came out 7 years after the previous one. It has to stand alone as an impactful ending and, in that regard, it does absolutely nothing.
Then, we’ve got Eli (Liquid Snake) escaping with Metal Gear. Do we go after him?
Do we really just let a child fly away with a nuke firing war machine without pursuit? Why yes, yes, we do and then the credits roll.
It hurts this many years later and the worst part is it will never be fixed. The perfect game, with the worst ending imaginable.
2The Order: 1886
Such a Tease
The Order: 1886
The Order: 1886is a great game that got way too much hate upon launch and, these days, is praised for its tight action, brisk pace and incredible graphics.
It’s a smooth experience the whole way through and the biggest crime is that we didn’t get more of it. That is exemplified especially by its lackluster ending.
The story is fascinating, as a take on the Knights of the Round table has us playing as Galahad working as part of an order meant to rid the world of Lycans and other monstrosities.
We build to a huge climax here, with twists hitting left and right, the reveal of villains and the ultimate goal of The Order being finally established.
We have our boss fight with Lucan, who, as far we could tell is a right-hand man to Lord Hastings at best, and then it’s over.
Questions such as what happens to The Order, what the purpose of ridding the world of half-breed people is, and whether we are a vampire or not remain unresolved.
Are we the villain? Are we the hero? Is The Order Vampires? None of this was answered. It was great sequel bait, except the game didn’t do well, and a sequel never came, and this many years later, it’s doubtful it will.
1Mass Effect 3
Red, Green, or Blue
Mass Effect 3
Mass Effect 3is, for my money, the best game in the series. The feeling of dread that pervades throughout the story is something no other game has ever achieved on this scale.
The combat is top-notch, the acting incredible, and the story itself is a winding, weaving nightmare come to life that culminates in a simply epic battle for the galaxy that takes place on Earth.
Fighting tooth and nail alongside your comrades while the universe bleeds around you is a feeling I’ll never forget, and the speech Commander Shepard gave before it goes down in history as one of the all-time video game moments.
It’s all set up to be Bioware’s best game ever. And then Star Child happens.
As you mysteriously float up into the Citadel, you seem to be bleeding out, and you come face to face with a strange, ethereal child who offers you three choices to end The Reaper threat.
A different color represents each one. Blue has you taking over the intelligence of The Reapers, becoming one with them, and guiding them from that point forth.
Green has you choose to assimilate man and machine throughout the entire universe, and finally, red has you choose to destroy them.
Depending on what you choose, you get a different color ending with a little cutscene, and that’s it.
All of your choices made throughout the past three games are immediately made redundant. It all comes down to three random choices presented by the most obviousDeus Ex Machinain gaming history.
Bioware released DLC and an expansion on the ending to try and make up for the backlash, but it did little to rescue the game’s reputation.
While fan theories went a long way to making the ending feel more palatable, they still were not enough to save it.
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Black Ops 6, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Call of Duty: Warzone Mobile are leveling up on November 14 with the launch of Season One.
