My brain instantly goes to Sonic Adventure 2. 8 year old me was not ready for such a fun ending. Live and Learn coming on during the Sonic movie unlocked something in me, so cool
I occasionally plug weird old freeware games I used to play in threads like this - Iji is a product of its era, but it also feels like it was ahead of its time the way the dev subverted the "alien invasion" trope. Ending theme is also a banger.
Also Cave Story is a classic.
Braid has one of the best ending levels ever.
OG Portal (it was good before it got memed into the Earth's core) for introducing me to Jonathan Coulton.
Undertale
More recently, I liked Nine Sols.
In Super Mario Bros 2 (US) you discover it was all a dream. This blew my mind and I've never seen this used before or since. Incredible writing.
Lots of great endings here, I wanna shout out the developers of the messenger, and sea of stars for some really good endings. The messenger fakes you out at least once.
Sea of stars has a decent normal ending but the 100% ending is really excellent.
Zeroranger, Off, Persona 3, Trails in the Sly the 3rd, FFXIV Shadowbringers
System Shock 2
"The cybernetic implants I gave you were merely toys. If I just desired, I could improve you, transform you into something more efficient. Join me human and we can rule together."
"Nah."
Gunfire
Prey (2017)
I worked this one out before it happened so it probably didn't hit me as hard as it would've if it had been a complete surprise but I do love how they interrogate you over the choices you made during the game.
Slave Knight Gael from DS3's DLC
This fight is such a beautiful, emotional climax to Dark Souls as a series, even bringing Dark Souls bosses back in Elden Ring: Nightreign can't spoil it.
Homeworld Cataclysm/Emergence
I know it's stock hero's journey stuff, but Kith Somtaw coming to the rescue and being hailed as "the beast killers" after the game starts with them not even being acknowledged when they help fight off some pirates.
BOI Repentance DLC
I actually burst into tears the first time I defeated The Beast and it sets up another bleak ending, only for Isaac's dad to interrupt it and help him change it.
"You're the one writing it, it doesn't have to end this way."
These ones'll probably be mentioned in other comments:
Disco Elysium
Ending E of Nier Automata
The showdown with Dagoth Ur at the end of Morrowind's main questline.
Bonus - game ending that's memorable but not necessarily good:
Silent Hill Homecoming - first time I played this game, I stumbled into the UFO ending (which is way easier to get than in other Silent Hills). The PC port was a janky mess and I almost didn't make it to the end due softlocks here and there lead me to losing a lot of progress only for the game to end with an out of nowhere UFO abduction completely destroyed all the pathos of the story.
Homeworld: Cataclysm mentioned.
Probably my favorite out of all the Homeworld games. Also the soundtrack is great
predictable mention but honestly no other game's climax has enraptured me and moved me like Disco Elysium. it's beautiful.
....still need to play this
Heard some shady shit went down at the studio. I'll have to look into whether I should pirate it or not
Pirate it is the usual recommendation. Iirc profits will go to a bad dude who stiffed the workers. Been a while since I read that info though, so might be worth to read further.
I like the People Make Games investigation, but understandably no one's got time for that shit. It's like 2 hours long.
TL;DW: It's complicated, but I don't think it's right to say the workers got stiffed. A lot of people worked on the game, not just the three who were forced out (though those three were considered the core design team). At this point, though, what's left of ZA/UM is probably an empty office and half a dozen scrapped projects on hard drives. There's nothing left to support even if you side with the company. I say pirate it.Edit: The good news is there are like 4 recently announced projects from multiple former Elysium devs that promise to carry on the spirit of the game.
Seeing the life force of the planet sprout out like grassroots to come together to heal the planet when the Holy band aid was making Metor worse. Seeing the hypercapitalism in ruins after being taken back by nature 500 years later as the planet healed.
I found a YouTube link in your comment. Here are links to the same video on alternative frontends that protect your privacy:
That pokemon game from 20 years ago where you beat all the gyms and go to the elite four and win the game and then its like PSYCHE theres an entire nother set of gym leaders and elite four get to it!
my tiny head exploded
That was Gen II, gold silver and crystal! I wish they did it in following games.
Better yet, once you finish going back through Kanto, you have to climb a mountain and fight your character from the previous game
...Time, Dr. Freeman?
Is it really that time again? It seems as if you only just arrived. You've done a great deal in a small time... span. You've done so well, in fact, that I've received some interesting offers for your services. Ordinarily, I wouldn't contemplate them... but these are extraordinary times. Rather than offer you the illusion of free choice, I will take the liberty of choosing for you... if and when your time comes round again. I do apologize for what must seem to you an arbitrary imposition, Dr. Freeman. I trust it will all make sense to you in the course of... well... I'm really not at liberty to say. In the meantime... this is where I get off.
Hmm Disco Elysium obv. Also FFX and OG FF7 are great. Suikoden 2 also has an amazing ending if you get the best route.
SOMA. The implications of the technology in that game are horrifying.
The game's basic conceit is you're a white dude from downtown Toronto who got a brain injury in a car accident, and you're going in for an experimental brain scan. Flash of light, and suddenly it's 100 years later and you're wandering around in a station with monsters in it.
spoiler
Your brain scan is the first ever successful one, and your scan has become part of the "dev kit" for anybody who wants to do brain scan science stuff. There have undoubtedly been thousands of copies of you spun up for people to experiment on, then just shut off. In this particular instance, the world has ended, humanity is extinct, and your mind has been transplanted into a diving suit with a dead woman in it. Have fun with the rest of the (even more fucked up) story!
No one said OneShot
Also enjoyed Hyper Light Drifter's ending, kind of bummed they're making a sequel.
Damn, just realizing I don't play enough games that actually end. Spend way more time on games with a game play loop. These were the only two I could think of.
I like Earthbound and how the ending is a culmination of all the people you've met and helped coming together to help you
