A happy end

shmoove · 2005-08-01T09:32:24

You save the world. You rescue the princess. You win the race. When you win a game you usually reach a happy end. I remember reading a couple of interviews with game designers that said you must have a happy end to reward the gamer for all the effort he put in. It makes a lot of sense. But do we really need the happy ending? I've enjoyed many a movie that didn't have a happy end. I didn't feel betrayed because things didn't go like the protagonists would have liked them too. Sometimes a bad ending just feel a lot more "right". What if, at the end of a shooter, right after you kill the big boss, you are caught by the police and thrown in jail (you did kill a lot of people to get there, didn't you?)? What if after rescuing the princess she tells you she had fallen in love with her captor and now she hates you for killing him? Or if even after all your work defeating an entire alien army single-handed you find out they managed to hit the self-destruct button and the planet asplodes? OK, so these examples might not be the best examples because I've used generic game plots that were written with a happy end in mind, but is the happy end really that necessary? Would you feel betrayed if all the effort you put into beating a game ends up being "for nothing" because things don't turn out right? Isn't seeing the plot to a conclusion reward enough? As an aside, if anyone can refer me to games that didn't have a happy end I'd be thankful. shmoove