Some thoughts about multiple endings... - by Liliel
Liliel on 29/11/2003 at 11:52
Hmm... noticed that the reviewer at Gamespy said that he finished the game in 15 hours, and then spent about 45 minutes more to get three additional endings... so it seems the multiple endings in DXIW is like the original Deus Ex, the "ending choices" is again at the very last level with some obvious "choices" to choose the endings? To be honest I'm not really fond of this kind of "multiple ending selection at the last minute of the game" thing. For example, in the Jedi Knight games, you choose your path of Light or Dark through the actions of the whole game, not just in the last level. Your play style and different ethical choices at various points of the game decides which ending you get.
But in Deus Ex (and now seems DXIW), you can just beat to the last level, save, and then see all the endings by picking some obvious choices there. This feels kinda defeated the whole purpose of "multiple endings" to me. The multiple endings should reflect the different ways of people playing through the game with different styles and ethical values in mind, not just some added ending cutscenes at the last minute which you select with some apparent MCQs in the last level, as more of a gimmick rather than rewarding your different ways of playing through the game.
Anyone has similar thoughts?
Retischal on 29/11/2003 at 12:02
Quote:
Originally posted by Liliel This feels kinda defeated the whole purpose of "multiple endings" to me. The multiple endings should reflect the different ways of people playing through the game with different styles and ethical values in mind, not just some added ending cutscenes at the last minute which you select with some apparent MCQs in the last level, as more of a gimmick rather than rewarding your different ways of playing through the game.
Anyone has similar thoughts?
I think it is possible, but unlikely? that there were more endings depending on how you played in the middle of the game. We'll have to wait to find out.
I agree with you that to have multiple endings based on just the last level of the game does miss the point, for to do multiple endings well surely there need to be multiple "middles". Otherwise, there is no real point to them. In a game like Deus Ex, where it prides itself on giving you a few ethical choices, the endings should reflect your overall choices and actions in the game.
Like in Fallout 1/2, where the things that you did / people you met are picked up on in the ending, and it tells you how things evolve. Depending on what you did, events unfold differently.
It was a hollow experience (and an anti-climax) to just reload the last level three times and play through it in Dx1.
Thiefs_Pawn on 29/11/2003 at 19:48
What the review actually said was:
Quote:
(and tack on 45 minutes or so for each of three additional endings)
I don't know about you but I take that to mean that each ending takes 45 minutes. If it really does take that long then the last level is either huge or you make _the_ choice with a fair way left to go.
Gingerbread Man on 29/11/2003 at 21:48
Random thought about Multiple Paths / Endings:
It's a bit of a trap to assume that player-directed story arcs make a game replayable.
Wasn't such a problem in Deus Ex, because starting from the beginning again meant refining your approach, finding new ways (for me, usually more efficient ways) to take the Statue, clear out the 'Ton, deal with Area 51, etc. Also, sucess or failure in some of the missions (Gas Station Rescue, Under Hell's Kitchen, etc) didn't have an impact on the progression of things... You just had to swallow it and do things the harder way: no map, more expensive prices, no freebies etc, depending on the situation.
Morrowind, on the other hand, offers a vast, free-ranging world with many factions (some competing, some not so competing) to join, virtually total player freedom to explore and do things in the order they want, la la la la. Sounds a bit like what DX:IW and Thief 3 are striving for... I've always assumed Thief 3 in particular will be aiming for a Morrowind Meets Vice City approach to the world (if that makes sense).
But in Morrowind, much as you CAN play through it as a Mages' Guild retainer and member of House Redoran one time and then as a Thieves' Guild / Fighters' Guild retainer and member of House Hlaalu (fill in as many combinations of three houses and five or six -- maybe more, I forget -- guilds) the fact of the matter is that replaying Morrowind is utterly ghey due to pitiful skill levels and really repetitive situations, most of which involves running around fetching things.
What I'm trying to say is that prior knowledge of the world screws replay to a tree in Morrowind. Didn't in Deus Ex, largely due to the fact that individual levels were small, tight, and (for all their multiple-approach / multiple-solutions) extremely linear. Which was great.
So.
Um.
What I guess I'm hoping for in DX:IW is not a repeat of the DX multiple endings paradigm: OLOL HERE IS THE END QUICK CHOOSE BETWEEN THREE OPTOINS
I hope that a sort of cumulative record of the sorts of decisions and actions you've made throughout the game (including general violence level, willingness to give or accept bribes, unscrupulous vs scrupulous conduct -- though I figure that's probably getting a bit too finely chopped) act to funnel you down a "fateline" throughout the game.
Again, that's a concept I have trouble articulating.
Simplified, it sounds like this:
Action 1
Choices: A B C D E F G
Note: Choosing A D or E will not allow you to choose H or K in Action 2, but will allow you to choose M P or Q in Action 7. M and Q are not available in Action 7 if you choose G, but O N and P are. Choosing E will force you to choose Y in Action 9.
Etc etc etc
(And I didn't articulate it well again)
GayleSaver on 29/11/2003 at 22:41
Quote:
Originally posted by Gingerbread Man You just had to swallow it and do things the harder way: no map, more expensive prices, no freebies etc, depending on the situation.
It was never easy to live with Paul's death. It was even harder when I found out what the trigger was.
Liliel on 21/12/2003 at 10:10
well, it's now safe to say it took 45 minutes to get all three other endings, than 45 minutes for each ending... I got all 5 endings within an hour...:p
The Huntsman on 21/12/2003 at 12:13
It is almost exactly like the original Deus Ex -- [VAGUE SPOILERS HERE] there's a decision point that happens 5 minutes before the end of the game where you decide which faction you want to support. Literally, that's it. Up until that point, it really doesn't matter what you've done, you can wipe out all your prior decisions by changing your mind on the very last level.
So in fact, it is "OLOL HERE IS THE END QUICK CHOOSE BETWEEN *FOUR* OPTOINS".
