Oh please! The AAA panel doesn't have any "let's get them to buy as many micro-transactions and lootboxes as possible" talk. As a result, the people in that panel CAN'T be AAA.
I take it that you haven't played FFXIII-2. 100% completion and 8 additional endings later, the true ending reveals that all possible futures are screwed.
Incidentally, of the 3 FFXIII games, this one is the only one I can actually recommend.
@Ellis Warner: Overlord had an harem ending, but I wouldn't call it triple A game... maybe just A? I'd agree that the two borderlands had both a decent ending and plot development, even if I think the first one is better than the second.
@Carolyn Pike Point is, that bleak end is NOT satisfying. But it is overused, because it's way easier to yank people's emotions and make something "memorable" with something negative than with something pleasant.
Like if you had some trio of main leads that *really* didn't like each other, but ended up working together due to necessity and ended up clicking into a stable triad at the end. No secret cheating, no resentment, just "Holy cow, you two are actually kinda cool and I've grown to love you guys."
I would actually be pretty surprised with a AAA game that had the balls to do an ACTUAL end with you marrying two girls and getting their two kingdoms. As long as they did it in a way with actual story impact and implications, not the "oh well you can seduce everyone but no one cares" kinda way.
@Riccardo Vela: Also, I'd say Borderlands 2 had a pretty decent plot; it was compelling enough that I finished the game despite hating the actual gameplay. Fallout New Vegas was quite good too (though both might be a bit old to fall in 'this generation'). Oh, and the Metro games, if a bit weird.
@Riccardo Vela: Honestly, I don't think the conqueror ending is bad per se, just that it's a little less immediately obvious to the casual observer when one is done poorly. A well written good ending should be every bit as satisfying and evocative as a well written bleak ending.
The conqueror ending is so trite and worthless I'd gladly embrace every title willing to show me a bleak tone. It has been a long, long time since I felt captivated by a triple A game... maybe only the X-COMs managed in this generation to give me a decent plot. And they're TBS.
@JD_Collie You're absolutely right, but I'd like to point out that in general a satisfying 'bleak' ending is a lot more difficult to write than a happy ending is. While a bleak or depressing ending absolutely can be done to amazing effect, not everyone has the writing chops to pull it off.
I like that indie games often have dark endings, it is just about the only medium that does at this point.
Books, movies, TV, larger budget games, comics rarely have anything other than sunshine and rainbows endings these days.
tbf, indie games tend to know when to call it quits with the storyline, rather than try to milk countless sequels well beyond their worth. Personally I'd rather have a satisfying bleak ending that makes sense and ties things up than a "sunshine and rainbows" ending that teases at a sequel
There's second type of indie games that I personally hate just as much. It does "let's not give the player any ending at all!" in which the whole plot of the game is incoherent, vague, and the ending doesn't explain A SINGLE THING. Let's the players do the hard work of creating the storyline!
