The ending [SPOILERS].

[Ruebeus]

Sucked in my opinion (reasons below).

[Venomaxiv]

Such elaborate post thread.
Thanks for sharing your opinion.

IMHO it was great.


EDIT: MAJOR SPOILERS Ahead - Dont read if you didnt finish the game.

[Ruebeus]

Well, with [spoilers]:

The dialogue between Dust and Gauis was just bad.
"Cassius"
"Im not Cassius"
"You are."
"I'm not!!!"
"You...are not...Cassius."
"No...I am Cassius."
"Yes...you are. But youre not."

The writing was rushed. It was just not as crisp as the rest of the game.
And the dialogue during the fights was pointless. I understand wanting a transition from stage to stage, but it was practically the conversation we had JUST HEARD right before the final battle began.

[Shin Dan]

okay....

[Sahri]

Yeah that dialogue could have been so much better, but the ending was pretty cool. Pretty sad that Dust died at the end but I had a gut feeling it would happen.

[Ruebeus]

Originally posted by Sahri:

Yeah that dialogue could have been so much better, but the ending was pretty cool. Pretty sad that Dust died at the end but I had a gut feeling it would happen.

Except he didnt.
Afterwards, while Elder Grey Eyes (names could have been better for some characters, in my opinion) is talking, that was his entire speech -- that the Sen-Mitharian(sp) will be revived again.

And as he says it you see Arah come up out of the mountain with Dust's dusty soul following and they shoot off into the distance (the same thing that happened when he was first summoned, I'm sure).

[Sahri]

Originally posted by Ruebeus:

Originally posted by Sahri:

Yeah that dialogue could have been so much better, but the ending was pretty cool. Pretty sad that Dust died at the end but I had a gut feeling it would happen.

Except he didnt.
Afterwards, while Elder Grey Eyes (names could have been better for some characters, in my opinion) is talking, that was his entire speech -- that the Sen-Mitharian(sp) will be revived again.

And as he says it you see Arah come up out of the mountain with Dust's dusty soul following and they shoot off into the distance (the same thing that happened when he was first summoned, I'm sure).

Probably missed that due to the vid having the upper half cut off but I did see something climb out. But I suspect it wouldn't be the same Dust we got to know in the game. Maybe Gaius's soul joined him? o.o Talk about a multiple personality disorder XD

[Teneksi]

Originally posted by Ruebeus:

Probably missed that due to the vid having the upper half cut off

Uninstall Windows update KB2803821. Google for it for discussions about it. Causes that problem somehow.

I don't know, I liked the ending. Then again, I might have been too excitement-addled to be bothered by the writing. Looking back, maybe I agree, a little bit. It was still good overall.

All I want to know is whether the ending video was a hint toward a sequel, just something to let you know Dust isn't really gone, or a moral of the story that the twin soul and Ahrah aren't defeated (but are moving somewhere else) because it's such a good force, as old lizardface mentioned. I felt certain at the time that it meant Dust as a character would go on.

In short, the final movie could be an obvious sequel hint, or it could just be a nice ending to the story that just narrowly avoids the sadness of the Mithrarin's mortality. I'd like to find out which.

Also I half-expected Fidget to pull a Fawkes and carry him outta there.

Originally posted by Ruebeus:

Maybe Gaius's soul joined him? o.o Talk about a multiple personality disorder XD

So... What? Jin for innocence, Cassius for swordsmanship, and Gaius for... racism?

[Draco_2k]

The ending left a very sour taste in my mouth after the otherwise buttery-smooth experience.

As an amateur barely sort-of writer, I think I can pinpoint the main cause:

It didn't resolve anything.

The story ended without resolving a single established theme or conflict, of which there were very few to begin with. Confronting Gaius or victory of behalf or moonbloods may have some effect on the world, but not on the player, because they didn't get a chance to get attached to either one - the central themes of the ending were barely a glimpse in the game itself.

What really annoys me is that all the elements of the fictional world are there: things could be properly arranged to lead-up to a really great amount of immersion and pay-off. I'll bet any amount of money that The Great One has a much, much, much more dear and brighter picture of Elysium than the game ultimately presents.

But that's the writer's skill, isn't it? To make the reader care just as much as you do? To play the them like a finely-tuned instrument. Preferably with a mallet.

What annoys me to almost equal degree is that the two endings I was haphazardly guessing half-way through the game sound so much better to me.

1)Dust has died long before the game even started.

You're nothing more than a lost soul staying behind to complete one last bit of unfinished business. Or, you don't have a soul. You can barely pass as human - pardon the term - because you aren't one. You're just something left behind after the soul has departed.

2)The Mithrarhin is a creature divided against itself, cursed to exist in eternal anguish. The only reason Dust marches on is because both his souls want nothing more after death than to get back to the Gaius's army: one for a final stab at revenge, another for a chance to complete his genocide. Mithrarhin aren't created, they're born out of extraordinary circumstances, extraordinary actions, and extraordinary people.

During the final confrontation, Gaius reveals the reasons for extermination of Moobloods: he's one of the very few who knew what their fallen civilization was like. In fact, it was nothing short of evil and corrupt in every possible degree, and to that end it was directly responsible for fall of Elysian civilization itself, up to an including scores of people who died during your lifetime, or before your eyes in just as senseless campaign of violence. You've been helping the descendants of generals much more ruthless than Gaius himself all along.

Armed with his old memories for reasons of his campaign, and Jin stunned into silence, Cassius gains control of your body, forcing you to fight against the Moobloods and slaughter the people you helped.

Jin regains control with one final realization that the Moobloods who are alive now had nothing to do with the evils of their ancestors. Just like, say, you can't fault yourself for all the evil Cassius has done in the past. Ding. Theming!

With this one final realization, the two souls of mortal enemies trapped in a single body don't see any more reason to stick behind in such a wretched existence, and so they leave their mortal coil just as they should have from the very start.

Everybody dies. Probably.

Which still needs a lot more exposition and emotional hooks inserted into various points in the game to actually work, but, you know. You get attached to things more when you're the one thinking them up.

[Ruebeus]

@Draco_2k: Very good points. And I completely agree.

Another thing that I was disappointed with, once it is confirmed for Gauis that Dust is Cassius (before they meet) he keeps saying, "They have brainwashed him. Soon we will be together again and he will know the truth."

After he first said that I was thinking, "Oh. There is some depth here. There is a notable reason for this genocide. And when I confront Gauis he will remind me why and I will have to choose to support him again or the Moonbloods."

WHICH WOULD HAVE BEEN SO MUCH BETTER!

The game was nice. The characters were interesting and (usually) believable (despite Dust's only way of dealing with most situations being to yelling, "arrgggg IDONTKNOW!" and just move on...). I enjoyed the game very much, but the ending was just...not on par with the rest of the experience.

But, alas...

[Draco_2k]

Originally posted by Ruebeus:

"Oh. There is some depth here. There is a notable reason for this genocide.

Friggin' exactly.

It was a set-up for a twist ending that never came. A very specific and spelled-out set-up, even.

[LittelestCookiie]

IMO the ending was cut short. I didn't get the feeling "I want to the save the moonbloods". I understand that Jin had that emotional connection but the player don't hear about it until the very end, and I didn't feel obliged to help them. And the fact that Jins soul seems to OP Cassius's soul really bother me, especially as I did the 2nd play thru and opt for the more "Cassius" like options in the end-ish dialouge.

Even if the end is the same (death to protect the Moonbloods), I think it would have been better if we got to play the depth that is hinted.

[randomizer]

Originally posted by LittelestCookiie:

IMO the ending was cut short.

It was. In fact (at least) a whole chapter was cut due to time constraints.

[Herr Sten]

Originally posted by randomizer:

Originally posted by LittelestCookiie:

IMO the ending was cut short.

It was. In fact (at least) a whole chapter was cut due to time constraints.

This.