OBJECTION: In Defense of Knightfall

So, I wake up this morning, feeling utterly incapacitated by the ruthless hiking trip I went on in Yosemite, and I drag myself to my computer to find that some British dude had disagreed with my previous post! This is outrrrrrageous! I'm going to attempt to defend myself against this heathen, and I invite him to retort if he dares shows his face around this blog again. >=D

First of all, he had the nerve to say this:

"...this..."

To top things off, he went on to quote something I had said in my review of Fable II concerning my philosophy on the ending of a game. I read what he had to say on the subject AND HONESTLY...I can find myself agreeing with him. This is going to me a bad argumentative essay already, I can tell. Because I agree! I really do. But lemme draw the line between what I agree with and what I prefer.

Let me use KotOR as the prime example here, and allow me to begin with something Mister Buch said, and use a red font to make it look sinister:

"Rather than ending on a bang, the character ends with a whimper. He ends when you get bored of side-quests. I hate seeing the world AFTER the cataclysmic events of the ending... and seeing it's just the same."

I can understand this, actually. I'm winding down in terms of side-quests and things to do throughout Fable II. Dare I say, I'm starting to get tired of the game. And with the exception of a few achievements that I can only obtain by beating the game over again and getting a different ending, I've almost increased my gamerscore as much as I can in Albion. There will eventually come a day when I wander around my favorite area of the game, looking for that one last shred of awe left, save and quit, and likely never play the game again. That will be a sad day, and probably won't have the same feeling as a proper ending would have had.

Dragon Age: Origins for instance, had an amazing ending. It took that adventure that you just went on and not only closed it up nicely and intelligently, but it also left it open for further adventures with later games. I loved that. Even though it was all a bunch of text blocks, I loved it. Teary-eyed. And that was okay with me, because BioWare has been fulfilling their promises of late.

But let me point out the one rotten egg, and it pains me to even relate this game with that term: KotOR. It is my favorite game, for all the reasons that Mister Buch illustrated. It was the pinnacle of storytelling in video games at the time, allowed you to own the story that you created, and let you invest way more of yourself into it than any game before it. In contrast to other games, you don't take on the role of the hero (i.e. Zelda), the hero takes on the role of YOU. Additionally, it did what Mister Buch pointed out:

At the very end, when the classic John Williams theme music kicked in and the credits rolled over the story's climax (and a teasing hint at a sequel) I was so excited I pumped my fist into the air like a fool.

Not only did I react the same way, but I saw this little tease as well. But as I was doing this Manly Arm Pump so wildly, I realized something: KotOR II had been released only a short time ago. Not only that, but it was my birthday that month. I nearly shat myself thinking about it. I got the game as a gift not too long after, threw it into my Xbox, and began playing...and that's when things went wrong in my life.

See, when it comes to KotOR II, I think that me and Buch are in agreement that it was technically a good game. It had some amazing moments (the character of Atton Rand being the highlight) but it was overall not KotOR. It didn't provide that same feeeeeling that its predecessor had brought to the table. Most of all: IT DIDN'T CONTINUE REVAN'S STORY!!! I watched the ending of KotOR II in horror and confusion, not able to grasp anything that had just transpired before my eyes. I had to do a ton of research for Revan's Shadow, and I STILL didn't get it!

That's when I was like...okay. That was a silly game, and crushed my dreams like so many glass unicorns under its foot, but that's okay! KotOR and The Sith Lords both sold more than enough to warrant a sequel. For sure! All I have to do is wait...

That was five years ago, and I'm still fucking waiting.

BioWare's unwillingness to make a sequel, and their complete willingness to capitalize on everything that made that game great and whore it out to the masses still burns me, because I know that I will never see Revan and his companions' stories come to fruition. It's a feeling of dejection that I will likely feel until the day I die, and well into whatever afterlife awaits us. In a Riverworld scenario, I will probably be recounting my sorrows to Mark Twain. I know he would listen.

I never wanted to play a game where that feeling might return. Never ever. And, thankfully, I've not had to. Fallout 3 gave us the Broken Steel DLC, which allowed me to roam the Capital Wasteland for as long as I dared to, and let me do all the little quests that I had wanted to do with that character. I would have been in the same sort of mood with Dragon Age: Origins had BioWare not promised constantly that there would be a sequel (but there's still a chance if fucking Dragon Age - Awakening is any indication on how a sequel will turn out. Think happy thoughts). Fable II allowed you to keep playing, but unlike Mass Effect 2, there was still stuff to do, and people still reacted to how you went about your business; not only that, but the See The Future DLC pretty much said, "Be patient, Hero, for history to repeat itself," and went about teasing the story in Fable III.

See, allowing me to keep running around the world, despite the shortcomings in the programming (everyone in Mass Effect 2 says exactly one thing to you after you beat the game, then repeat the same lines over and over) is way more preferable. It keeps me in the illusion for as long as I'm not bored. I prefer playing the endlessly wandering hero; it makes it more romantic in my mind. And I know that nothing can mess that up.

Mass Effect 2 did some great things, allowing your character to continue on into a new story almost seamlessly (despite mine and, apparently, Buch's view on Shepard's character being independent of our own). I say almost seamlessly, because there are always bits of your story that are completely disregarded in the sequel. "Oh, you thought you had united humanity against the Reapers, did you? Sorry about that. Turns out, everyone thinks that's a load of bollocks and have continued about their lives. Also, Anderson has become a complete puss in years, despite his bravery fighting those Reap...I mean, geth. That load of geth." Also, the importation nightmare that was Dragon Age - Awakening where 90% of the endings from the original game were disregarded.

So, I suppose I agree and disagree with this set ending premise. I agree that it makes for a powerful story to have the lights go out on the highest possible point, but at the same time, I've been burned by KotOR, where the lights went out halfway through the story and never came back on. And I agree that having the game keep going after the ending diminishes the story, but so does replaying the story, which you're almost constantly encouraged to do. I would much rather keep going, living in the illusion and warm, fuzzy thoughts left over by the initial story than end on a high note than wonder what could have been.