Summary
Open-world games have long been among some of the most immersive and well-loved in all of gaming,delivering unforgettable experiencesacross lush landscapes that really bridge the gap between fiction and reality. With any good game comes a good narrative, and there are plenty of titles that create a perfectly crafted story that ends in a satisfying way.
However, there are also plenty of examples where the ambition of the story was too high, or the ending missed the mark in multiple ways, leading to a mixed and at times negative reception of the conclusion. It’s never easy to close off a long, sprawling narrative in a way that the fans want, but sometimes, the ending simply doesn’t land for much of the player base.
Spoiler Warning: Due to the nature of exploring controvertial endings, story spoilers are included below for each video game mentioned on this list.
TheInFamousseries is one of the very few games where a karma systemactually impacts the gameplayin a meaningful way, to the point where the endings themselves depend on whether the player has been good or bad throughout. Gliding across the open world and shooting elemental attacks at a variety of enemies culminates in one final decision that changes the outcome of Cole’s story drastically.
The biggest issue with the setup ofInFamous 2is that with two endings with completely different outcomes, the canonicity of the good and bad endings are at odds with one another, the first killing Cole and stating it as the true ending, and the latter allowing players to fulfill their evil destiny, but effectively being told that their choices were less meaningful. Also, the good ending includes a subtle hint that Cole is still alive, but this never goes anywhere, leaving it as a strange Easter egg with little to no meaning.
Fallout 3delivered a post-apocalyptic adventure filled withamazing exploration and plenty of moral choices, but its original ending became one of the most debated in RPG history. After guiding the Lone Wanderer through a vast open world and deciding the fate of the Capital Wasteland, players are faced with a final decision to either sacrifice themselves to activate Project Purity or choose not to. The biggest issue is that the game ends immediately afterward, cutting off further exploration or consequences for decisions.
What truly made the ending controversial was the lack of flexibility. Even if players had radiation-immune companions like Fawkes available, they couldn’t perform the final task, even if players wanted them to. The dissatisfaction was so widespread that Bethesda later released theBroken SteelDLC to extend the campaign and offer alternative outcomes. This effectively made an ending choice locked behind a paywall, bringing with it plenty of criticism and all but ruining what was, up until that point, a pretty amazing story.
Starfieldaimed to be another hit in Bethesda’s catalog of successes and looked to be their most ambitious game yet. However, despite some great moments and some entertaining exploration mechanics, the ending left a pretty sour taste in many players' mouths, opting for a philosophical approach that leaned into the idea of a constant loop and repeating cycle.
The biggest problem with the ending was the lack of creativity. This same style of conclusion had already been seen elsewhere, notably inNo Man’s Sky,which shared a lot of parallels withStarfield.The ending just lacks any emotional weight and feels more like a rushed cop out than the big hypothetical question that it dared to ask. A bold attempt that fell short for many, in a game that had so much promise and ambition.
Cyberpunk 2077is a game that came with a lot of growing pains but has since become a pretty exceptional open-world title with a lot to offer. Many choices begin right at the start,and the game features an expansive mapthat can take up many hours of time with all the content and missions within it. But, the climax suffered from too many choices that all end in a rather abrupt manner, and the game struggles to give satisfying closure to an otherwise epic story.
After a long journey and build-up involving countless character arcs and gameplay developments, the final choices presented to the player seem to care little for the actual decisions made throughout the game, and certain aspects like relationships were pretty much ignored in the conclusion. Too much bleakness in a game where choices are supposed to matter, and an ending that lacked the finality that fans truly wanted.
For a game as expansive and freeing asNo Man’s Sky,for it to end the way it does, feels like a real slap in the face. After a lifetime worth of exploration and planetary discovery, players finally work their way toward the center of the galaxy in search of answers.
In the end, the revelation that the game is purely a simulation, and the actual original ending turned out to be just a reset loop, felt pretty lackluster and didn’t give much more than confusion. The lack of a concrete ending and instead the presentation of a more philosophical ending was underwhelming for many players, and even insulting for some.
Far Cry 5has one of the wildest endings in all gaming — and also one of the dumbest. The narrative is built around a dangerous cult, with players working to dismantle it piece by piece, but the story is swiftly cut short when the leader turns out to have been right all along, and a nuclear apocalypse ensues, rendering every success and every victory meaningless and resulting in an ending that is beyond unexpected.
The issue comes from the lack of control afforded to the player. The game just ends with the nuke, and there is nothing players can do to stop it, aside from choosing the other ending. There is also a third secret ending, which is just as silly as the nuclear disaster, where players can actually end the game in around 10 minutes by choosing to leave the gathering right at the start and allowing the credits to roll. Both are bold moves, but, for many players, neither brings any level of closure or satisfaction, instead serving as cheap tricks rather than well-crafted finishes.
The story of the originalRed Dead Redemptionis widely revered as one of thebest in all of gaming, but the ending has had its fair share of criticism. After a long and hard journey of trying to leave the violence in the past, John is gunned down by the government, with no way of avoiding it or meeting a different fate despite meeting every demand they make.
The player’s perspective then shifts to his son, Jack, with the game fastforwarding to years later, as Jack hunts down Ross for one final shootout. Then, the game just ends with an action movie-style frame pause that looks a bit silly, going for a badass approach in an act that is supposed to be the final revenge of the game. Some say the tragedy was necessary to end the cycle, while others say that the violence never stops, even with Jack, and that killing John with no way out feels like a cheap way of ending the game. It is still a deeply emotional climax and an incredibly memorable one, if also incredibly divisive.
