Disappointing ending?

[[RUS] Election Hacker]

*obviously spoilers*

I just finished the game, and what the frick? You just jump off and die?! I mean, I get the idea that the developers wanted to show that Rufus has changed and that he isn't selfish anymore, but what a f*cking trash ending! After 30 hours and 3 games, all you end up doing is jumping down from space and dying? And we don't even know what happens to Elysium and Deponia... Cletus is still alive (and maybe Argus as well) and it appears that Elysium still has to either destroy Deponia or land back down. What the hell?

In addition, how did Cletus end up back on the ship after he already jumped off? To me, it just seems like a deus ex machina, except one that brings you to a bad ending. Not to mention it doesn't even follow its own logic. They said that if one guy leaves the rotor then the other two will die... but when Rufus jumps down somehow Cletus is still saved, and we don't know what happened to Argus.

It's almost like the writer of the game went full emo for the final part of the trilogy. First, we meet this guy and convince him to kill himself (multiple times), then we get a pedophile and have to touch his genitals and make a print of it, then we have to separate a couple and sell a black woman into slavery (the said woman is then called a monkey), then we have to get hung on a skyscraper, and then we have to feed children to a monster... and then after we do all that in the very end we jump from a spaceship and commit suicide. What complete BS.

Another thing is that you'd expect to be able to go to Elysium for at least part of the final game, or maybe even go to Utopia, because these two places play an important part in the game. Yet, after the entire series, we keep getting told about Elysium blah blah blah and Utopia blah blah blah... yet we never even get to go there, even for the final bits of the game.

It makes me almost want to take back my positive review of the game.

What do you think about the ending?

[Kayeka]

I actually kind of liked it. It's not the kind of ending I would have written, but it kept me busy thinking about it days later. There are not many games that I think a lot about after finishing it.

[Damon89]

I had your same reaction at first (though maybe a bit less forceful XD); I wanted more from the ending. But after thinking about it for a few minutes I realised that I actually liked it very much. It's "different", no doubt, and definitely defies expectations, and it may also be a bit underwhelming; but those are not necessarily bad things, at all. And, like Kayeka said, it keeps you thinking about it, which is a good thing.
Also, I'm not sure that finally landing Rufus on Elysium would have actually worked... whatever he might say to the contrary, Rufus definitely belongs on Deponia, and I can't imagine him living in Elysium with his personality. In short, having a classical happy ending might have been a worse choice (and Daedalic isn't famous for doing happy endings either).
The unresolved issues were left there on purpose for the player to imagine; or, at least, I read somewhere that Poki said that, but I didn't bother to research and check. I don't mind so much... leaving things unresolved is still better than giving them an unsatisfying resolution after all, and possibly leaves the gates open for another sequel.

Regarding all the other things you mentioned: there are definitely several plot holes in the story. The most blatant one is, like you mentioned, the stuck rotor thing. The instant Rufus jumped, the rotor should have started spinning again, killing the other two. Instead, that doesn't happen... which is silly, because it's the whole basis of "you need to choose just one of us".
How Cletus got back on the ship is another unexplained thing, but it's not so far-fetched... he might have just grabbed onto something which Argus didn't see. By the way, Argus does the very same thing just a few minutes earlier, when you have him fall down the elevator shaft only for him to come back unscathed. As a matter of fact, Rufus also falls several times from extremely high places without hurting himself (e.g. from the Lower Ascension Station into a stack of needles in the last part of the first game).
Another major plot hole is Donna's hair colour. The basic premise is fairly simple: Hermes couldn't get hair colours to stick through puberty - for example Rufus originally had red hair, Argus blue and Cletus green (I might have inverted the last two, but you get the point). According to what I read online, a lot of people didn't get this, and considered Goaly growing up to be Donna a plot hole, which it isn't. The real plot hole is Donna's corpse (which Hermes got the cartridge from, in the cloning lab) having orange hair. They went as far as to constantly cover her face with her hair, so you couldn't see she's not Goal... but there's no reason for an already adult Donna to suddenly have orange hair. Unless they dyed it before throwing her overboard, but that makes even less sense than no explanation at all. In a developer's commentary, Poki is asked this very same question, and answers it just by jokingly saying you shouldn't ask this kind of questions... which I found rather fun (as Poki tends to be, though admittedly much more in the original German than in the English rendering, even though he voiced it himself), but it still doesn't justify the fact that the plot hole is there.

There are probably other things which I can't remember right now; in any case, the game presents several important plot holes. That does bother me quite a bit (especially because some of these plot holes seem the result of laziness), but I choose to take it in stride. If we ignore them and pretend they make sense (which is not even a problem until the very ending of the third game, luckily), the game's story is extremely enjoyable. It has this peculiar mix of funny and tragic that makes it quite a strange experience. I'd still recommend it to anyone; it's definitely not perfect, and it's also buggy as hell (the Complete Journey edition somehow introduced many new bugs, while admittedly fixing several from the original games), but it's still a great adventure game in my opinion. Especially since we don't get many of those these days, dying genre and all that.

As for the cruel and weird things you get to do during the third part (monkey June, etc.)... that's been somewhat a thorn in my side for the entire trilogy. I don't like Rufus very much, the fact that he does stupid things just because, and the fact that 90% of the obstacles we face in the game are the result of his own stupid actions. Just to mention one, the whole second game wouldn't have happened if Rufus had just bought the good cartridges instead of being fooled by the free lollipop. It makes things feel a bit contrived. And I see how the amped-up shenanigans of the third game could be judged to be in bad taste.
But we should keep in mind that this is mainly a comical game. Things are not to be taken that seriously, in my opinion. I didn't find June's puzzle particularly funny, but I wasn't bothered too much by it because I knew it was just meant as a gag; it shouldn't be taken as offensive, it's not meant to be so. The paedophile and slime monster, on the other hand, got some solid laughs out of me; especially the monster and how his expression changes to desperation the more yummy stuff you put in his mouth.

So... sorry for being so long-winded, terseness is not something I'm good at. To sum up, the game can be criticised for a lot of things, most of them completely justified. Still, I think it's a good game, capable of making you both laugh and cry (sometimes at the same time) if you immerse yourself fully in the story, and I'd recommend it to anyone who loves adventure games. =)

[TheDeadSkin]

Frustration from the ending will go away in a week or two as soon as you stop it from clouding everything else from the game.

I felt in absolutely the same way after I finished the game, it just didn't seem fair to me, three games of Rufus' efforts in reaching destination and he gives up by making a choice no one would ever do, almost ruined the impression from series for me.

But though the game was incredibly good - everything comes to an end, so you understand that "the hardest part is letting go" was there for a reason, no matter how hard it may be - you just have to let go.

[☣ Leech ☢]

I loved this game, but the end is simply a bad one.
I wish there would be a happy end!
No, i dont like happy ends, but Rufus deserves one!

[EmmaKat]

I interpreted the ending so that Rufus did some how survive the fall and is stuck back on Deponia.
As Cletus is pretending to be Rufus and giving his plans on how to move Elysium, his voice changes to Rufus' actual voice as the scene changes to showing Goal looking off the balcony at Deponia. So as they were talking, Rufus was back down on deponia coming up with plans on how to get back up to Goal.

[Yendor]

To repeat something I posted a few months ago to "Goodbye Deponia" :

At the end of Deponia (the original one), Rufus has the option of going with Goal to Elysium, and getting everything he wanted, with the only cost being the destruction of Deponia. He chose to reveal the truth, knowing Goal would reject him, to save the Deponias [who he had even less connection to than in this game]. And slightly later, he lets Goal and Cletus go to Elysium without him -- he didn't have much choice, but he clearly accepts the situation.

The ending of Deponia 3 is entirely consistent with Rufus's character, but it does not reflect any additional character growth since the end of Deponia 1. If anything, Goal is the one with the character growth.

[zhunGamerTTV (人^▽')～]

Oh boy. I don't need another Mass Effect 3 in my game library (jokes on me, that's on Origin).
Thanks for this post.

[SmashBaal]

I have read your messages , and i totally agree with you.
But visit my discussion about the ending and you will see that Daedelic is making fun of us , keep some secrets ^^

[SmashBaal]

An Open-ending ? Deponia the sequel ?
I must admit i have been disapointed by the end . not disapointed in fact , but shocked. i have a bad taste in the mouth , because i had loved the trilogy all allong the story and then... ALL THAT FOR THAT?
I find the ending beautiful, epic, i even cried. But after having analyzed the ending , the conclusion is so opened that it makes me wonder several points:

WARNING SPOILERS!

-when Rufus falls to his fate , we see at the end that he has Argus' laugh. Since it is barely possible to see differences between the free brothers , excepted for Cletus who has the beard and the voice , it is possible that the Rufus we have seen falling may not be the good one.

-Moreover, if it's really Rufus who is falling , we have seen that He won't die so easily of a fall. And since we have other options in the final dialogue where Rufus tries to convince Goal that he is the real Rufus, I don't think he has abandoned yet (His final laugh is because of Barry , which could mean "Me, changing ? AH AH AH ! What a joke ! i won't give up so easily !"

-Okay , one Rufus falls , the other is rescued. But what about the third one ? It isn't mentioned what happened to him. We don't see him killed or falling. Hm... And if the Rufus falling seems to have Argus' laugh , what could that mean ? ^^

-Problems on Elysium seem unresolved : Overpopulated , Lack of supplies , just about to run out gas...And according to Cletus' propositions , they won't resolve it one day ^^. A crash or a landing on Deponia one day ? (either way , Rufus' solutions have the tendancy to create more problems. And if Cletus tries to behave like him, in a less inpired way ...

-It is obvious that Goal is aware that Cletus is the one rescued. And she knows that Rufus can't so easily die (C'mon, just see the entire series) Maybe a sequel with Goal ?

-i've read Poki's interview saying this the end of the Deponia's trilogy , so no Deponia 4 . But this doesnt mean that the universe is definitly closed , it could just mean that the future episodes won't be called "Deponia" . Maybe a "Welcome to Elysium ?"

Please give your opinion about the ending , Deponia is such a good point and click and i totally know that few people have appreciated the ending. Just have hope

[T-side on principle]

Well, it's a total downer ending, like we've had it in the Edna&Harvey series, and honestly, I really started to hate Rufus anyway. He doesn't deserve a happy ending in any way.

But I, the player deserve one.

Especially after grinding my teeth several times while being forced to make stupid decisions that 'solve' problems in ways, that could have been solved better. And taking actions that are nothing more than just plain evil.
(by the way - everything would have been solved, would Rufus have lied about him being Cletus, until arrival in Elysium, and really - someone who cares that little about everybody should not care about a bit of lying to save everyone.)

Anyway - there still is a not-unlocked video in the 'Extras' section of my 'complete journey', so maybe i have missed something.
Then again, it's more likely that they are just trolling me with that one.

[VolOpt]

Have to say that while the final sacrifice for the sake of Goal was definitely some positive cahracter progression because while sometimes funny I found Rufus to be generally unlikable. The ending itself was indeed disappointing since you are left with pretty much no resolution.

Rufus has failed to get to Elysium (I'm assuming he isn't dead) worse still is that Goal is stranded on Elysium with a fraud and from the way she longingly gazed down at Deponia she knows it even if she isn't admitting it to herself. :/

[SmashBaal]

Goal completly knows that it's Cletus and not Rufus.

[SmashBaal]

My , my ... This game is very unique... i think it is the best adventure game i have ever played.
The first episode was an awesome prologue , the second one was a perfect point and click and the third one is a climax full of drama and humour. It is also the only game i've ever played where the ending completly brokes the good time you have passed with the universe.

[SmashBaal]

Lot's of people discuss this ending , and i understand them :
The ending is not ... bad . On the contrary , i find good the idea that the hero sacrifize himself in order to prove once for all that he is not complete dushbag. But the ending is so opened that a sequel must follow , at least because the problems seem unresolved (which could mean that Rufus did all that for nothing )

[SmashBaal]

If daedelic doesn't want to produce a sequel (they can have understandable reasons )
There is in a near future a solution : Kickstarter
It worked for Wasteland 2 , so why not (the money is less important that the fact that it shows that a community is all behind one of the best adventure game of all times.