Can We Talk About The Ending?

[Richael]

Don't get me wrong, I know you can only do so much with System Shock's ending. The original release didn't exactly have a climatic feel to it...but, I'm gonna be honest: *actually* fighting SHODAN's disembodied head was way more of a "finale" than what the remake went with here.

It reminded me a lot of the Japanese box art for the original, with the Hacker in a cyber-space stylized area with a digital form of Citadel Station (which is exactly what the final boss aimed to look like, I believe).

However the whole fight just feels uneventful. Dying means nothing, the cyber enemies do not react to any sort of damage, the gun you use is very underwhelming.

I guess the thing that makes it "better" than the original is the novelty of it. Plopping the Hacker is Cyberspace was a cool idea. I just wish it was executed better.

I think there just needs to be some sort of reaction to sending out the orb thingies. That, or have the final one cause any sort of reaction from SHODAN. You get yoinked outta Cyberspace (and, tbh, I thought my game crashed when it was loading the ending cutscene) and she just acts like nothing's wrong and has her Ethical Restraints turned on.

Yeah, it makes sense that we didn't destroy her since System Shock 2 (and 3, haha) exist. But man, that was so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ underwhelming, even compared to the original.

LOVED the game otherwise, 10/10.

[weirdee]

In general, Shodan should have had a lot more dialogue during that entire sequence. Her going radio silent for the whole thing made zero sense.

Originally posted by Richael:

Yeah, it makes sense that we didn't destroy her since System Shock 2 (and 3, haha) exist. But man, that was so ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ underwhelming, even compared to the original.

No, the one in System Shock 2 is a partition of her from System Shock 1's corrupted version, so destroying her wouldn't affect System Shock 2. The reason why the hacker didn't just blow up Shodan is that if he shut down the entire network, he'd be stranded on a hunk of scrap with no life support while waiting for somebody to get him.

[Richael]

admittedly, I haven't played SS2 yet (waiting for the Enhanced Edition)

[Sith_Creepio]

Seeing how faithful the game has been to the original during my playthrough, I was dreading the ending because I assumed it was going to be a cyberspace segment on difficulty 2, which I found challenging enough already in other segments.

Ending was the only level design that I didn't like, because I was confused about what to do, resulting in me stepping on every platform to see what would happen before I even fired a shot.

That being said, the choice of song for the ending was fantastic.

[Twice]

Eh, yeah it's bad. So was the originals, but it doesn't really matter much to me personally. I expected nothing and got .. well, nothing, but that's also faithful to the original, so .. eh?

[L'Oreal]

Originally posted by Richael:

Can We Talk About The Ending?

Wait. This Can't Be The End, Right?

By far the most disappointing part of the whole game. It kinda ruined the experience for me. I was so high on the game (an 11 out of 10 for me) throughout that I absolutely did not expect such a massive letdown.

Especially considering the remake was such a faithful adaptation (to a fault) of the OG!

I'd be willing to bet the "final fight" (if you can even call it that) was handed over to another dev team. It feels so rushed and unbaked it might as well be a "concept" demo that never got past alpha.

It doesn't live up the the production quality of the rest of the game, which is absolutely stellar.

LOVED the game otherwise, 10/10.

Same. Which is what makes it so sad...

[SwordLAAAA]

the remake final boss should have been preamble for the shodan fight, not the whole thing. also, id hate to run outta time on a 3333 run in this fight, i get you get 3 extra hours, but still

[Kain]

Although it doesn't ruin the experience, it is a weaker aspect.

[Benjafins]

It would have been fine to just get a close up of the protagonist breathing heavily after he slumps to the ground. And just have a slow fade out with the killer final track as chance to rest finally comes.

[Dokkova]

Great Remake, Terrible Ending topic in discussion here.

I got through System Shock Remake. I've been waiting seven years. In that time I passed the original 3 times, remembering and loving it as one of the coolest games of all time. And one of the highlights of the original was the ending. The text, which may not have been written for a long time, but what a text it is. Assertive, firm, harsh, even somewhat crude. Old and strong language. "Old habits die hard."

And yet it's clear. The hacker destroyed SHODAN, saved himself, sent Trioptimum to hell, went about his business.

And, of course, the music, which throws firewood into the viewer's brain, causing euphoria, wow-effect and the desire to smoke, as if after a good sex.

Fast, clear, cheerful, cool. The ending from the 1994 game, which is still looking.

The remake changed the style of the music, and the beginning and the end. The beginning was great in the remake. Except the ending didn't follow the same pattern. I had a man sitting with me who wasn't familiar with the original. And when he watched the ending of the remake, he asked me - is Hacker alive? What happened to him in the end?
It's a failure.

The ending here is quick, too, but it has no explanation. Why was added a scene with the flight of the shuttle to the remains of the bridge station (it is clear that they wanted to show that for Hacker flew and saved him, though it could be shown differently, so that the player does not have to guess) - I personally do not understand, it confuses the rhythm of the ending. No text, no monologue, nothing but a silent, narrative to moody, let's be honest, music. The ending had the WORST track possible. Plus then some cheesy half-pop rap or something("This is what you want - this is what you get" (WTF is this???)). This song is even blocked from streaming recordings on Twitch, indicating that the developers didn't bother to buy the rights for at least a year for public listening.

Well there are tracks with strings, heavy instruments, one of them comes after the track described above. At least put it - and it would look better.

Yes, i understand, the mood of the game has been changed to more horror, thriller, in connection with which was made and a new OST. And that went a long way in the game. Like SS2. But there WAS GOOD MUSIC that made you shake head in tempo. Just like the original one. Like the remake, it's there too! But only here, despite the fact that the music in the game is generally good (with reservations about sound design, but specifically its appearance and duration) you are not in the vigor, you sometimes yawn. That's neither bad nor good, just noting that the developers knew what they were doing.

I caught some of the design notes from DooM 3. Darker and sharper. But DooM 3 had a closing song (aka main menu music) that had a wow effect. Maybe they couldn't add the old soundtrack, at least to the ending, but wait - Nightdive Studios owns all the rights to SS1 and SS2, and they even released a vinyl of the original game soundtrack, where the A side is the modernized original soundtrack by composer Jonathan Peros (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ASTNxCRZ1us), and there is also a version by original composer Greg LoPiccolo. It's published in 2020. What could have prevented them from at least adding to the ending the track that we (who passed the original) all know and love? Questions, questions...

Honestly, for me the project is flushed down the toilet with this ending. You don't feel satisfied after it, only frustrated. Instead of a sense of victory after a good fight, some kind of neuropsychiatric fashion disorder in today's youth.

P.S. A personal opinion I wanted to express as a longtime fan of the series.

P.P.S. Maybe I am scolding the developers in vain, because the fact that the original soundtrack on vinyl, design and a lot of love for the original (remake, (as a reflection of the original) - I repeat - great) suggests that the developers wanted the best. Maybe the fact that they had a publisher influenced the final result. Sad result.

[Lucius Caesar]

Yeah that ending was very disappointing, honestly I wouldnt have minded if Shodan insulted me during the whole process, reacted to what I was doing, it just felt so calm and anticlimactic, and then it just... ends.

[BionicBadAss]

Yeah, the ending feels hella rushed. Dumped into cyberspace with a pea-shooter... I had no idea what was going on and then a cut-scene just happened. I liked the musical throwback to Hardware though... although I don't know why they wouldn't just use the excellent theme from the original again. After such an amazing game, the ropey ending left me feeling a bit discombobulated.

[Morgian]

@weirdee:
Shodan promised a while earlier, that this would be the last time we speak. An empty promise, but at least she kept her mouth shut in cyberspace :)

[Kain]

Shodan is like those salty people online who say it will be their last message, but cannot not have the last word.... I guess I can relate.

[MrBananaGrabber]

The ending is utter garbage, tedious, dull, totally unrewarding and feels like it was tacked on at the last minute.

Awful

[Kain]

Nah.