Current Events > Do bad endings ruin a whole story for you?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I just got done reading a really long game-related webcomic thing that was surprisingly well written until literally the very last like, two or three updates. And I'm finding that no matter how enjoyable everything before that point was it's completely soured me on the story as a whole

Are you able to separate the parts that work from the part that doesn't or do you think less of the product as a whole?

What's the webcomic?

Ehhh it depends on how much effort was put in the overall storytelling

Nah. I love reading Stephen King novels.

idk it's case by case

In a way, yes. It can make the whole experience feel pointless. If the story has high points that I'd like to experience again, it wouldn't deter me from reading/watching those parts again, but I probably would never completely redo something that ended badly.

coolguyjimmy posted...

What's the webcomic?

It was called Paper Trail, it was a deltarune webcomic. Like I said, pretty good until the very end and it just falls on its face at the finish line

I guess one example that hits me is the manga Prison School. It had an amazing 2 arcs, and then the last 2 arcs were shit, with the ending being a literal slap in the face to fans. The author got sick of writing for it and just nuked the manga lol

I still cherish that beginning but man that ending really sucked >_>

It did for Mass Effect

Crimsoness posted...

It did for Mass Effect

That also did it for me. I didn't love the franchise as much as some people do but geez that ending made me feel like it was a pointless use of my time and interest

Not usually.

But a couple I can think of where it did were The Stand and The Expanse.

The show

I would include The Dark Tower series, but the whole second half sucked, not just the ending.

Nosferatu_Zodd posted...

Not usually.

But a couple I can think of where it did were The Stand and The Expanse.

The Stand is up there as one of the crappiest endings ever, but it's still an amazing book and one of my all-time favourites.

People like to say it's not the ending it's the journey but if the ending is you falling off a cliff onto a bunch of spikes then the journey was dumb

I did find the final episode of Supernatural to be unnecessary and a bit disappointing, but it didn't impact my love of the show.

Nosferatu_Zodd posted...

I would include The Dark Tower series, but the whole second half sucked, not just the ending.

I liked it all the way through. I would say that Song of Susannah is the weakest of the main books but I still dont have a problem with it.

i think as soon as wolves of the calla hits each book is weaker than the one before it as far as dark tower goes

Depends on the ending and what a person considers bad. One could argue that the ending arc of Bleach was kinda bad, but I didnt think the last chapter was bad, and after recently reading again in 2022, I dont think it makes Bleach awful.

If an ending basically makes the rest of the story feel worthless, it can ruin the whole thing. Dont have super great examples off the top of my head.

Glob posted...

I liked it all the way through. I would say that Song of Susannah is the weakest of the main books but I still dont have a problem with it.

Same.

Although I do agree that the first half is better. The peak for me personally was The Waste Lands.

MarcyWarcy posted...

i think as soon as wolves of the calla hits each book is weaker than the one before it as far as dark tower goes

I know a lot of people agree with you, and a lot more mostly agree with you, so Im sure theres something there.

I just dont feel that way myself.

I said no but corpse factory has the dumbest endings though I didn't expect much cos the writing went to shit after 2 hours of the 9 hour story anyway

If the ending is bad enough, then yes.

Like, Netflix's 'How It Ends'. It had an interesting premise, but one of the worst endings I've seen in a long time. Easily ruined the entire thing.

Ozark and The Strain had finales that made me regret ever watching the shows, but I can find good in most things with bad endings. GoT had some incredible moments and HIMYM is still fun.

Yea, and its somewhat common to the point that sometimes I wonder if it's intentional. Just so people and media can bring up a buzz around the show and viewers will remember it long after.

That or they just give up at the finish line like mass effect. Where it seemed like they had a dozen ideas on how it could end. But couldn't or wouldn't commit to any of them.

PerseusRad posted...

Depends on the ending and what a person considers bad. One could argue that the ending arc of Bleach was kinda bad, but I didnt think the last chapter was bad, and after recently reading again in 2022, I dont think it makes Bleach awful.

Time skip endings in my opinion are generally pretty bad and the worst kinds in my opinion. Everyone ends up becoming, or coupled with who you expected.....or not which is rage inducing in and of itself.

But more often then not they just leave you with more questions then ansews.

if it makes sense, no
if it doesnt make any sense, good or bad ending, yes

Generally not. There's a film called The Platform which I'd still recommend even though the ending was very underwhelming.

I can handle any kind of real ending without much issue.

I hate non endings though. In college I was reading this murder mystery book for a class. It ended with the red herring suspect killing himself and everyone going "it probably wasn't him, but this will shut up the media" and they never went into if it was any of the other suspects. Was a piece of shit waste of time.

Attack on Titan went from a top 10 favorite to throw this shit in a burning garbage bin where it belongs because of this.

A story is usually only as good as its final chapter. If it ends poorly, it can retroactively ruin the entire thing. No two ways about it.

Yes.

If it's a cliffhanger before a new chapter or sequel, it's fine.
If it's just a one-off story that ends awkward or ridiculously, I might as well have not bothered with it at all.

Twist endings are not automatically bad endings.
Conclusions that came out of left field with no build up, however, are...it's lazy writing.

Nosferatu_Zodd posted...

I would include The Dark Tower series, but the whole second half sucked, not just the ending.

That's what happened with Naruto.

Mass Effect 3 was a big one too.

ClockworkHare posted...

Yes.

If it's a cliffhanger before a new chapter or sequel, it's fine.
If it's just a one-off story that ends awkward or ridiculously, I might as well have not bothered with it at all.

Twist endings are not automatically bad endings. Conclusions that came out of left field and make no fucking sense are...

A good twist is one that had just enough hints towards it to make you feel bad for not seeing it coming, without being obvious enough for you to see it coming. Its a very fine line to walk.

Also, no matter how well written it is, it will never have a 100% success rate.

I was never a fan of the sixth sense because I saw where it was going very quickly. I realise that if I hadnt it would have been a much better film.

A couple times yes. I was pretty pissed off at the ending of Fable 2, same with Final Fantasy 9. It's to the point where I ignore the last fight in FF9 just so I can leave the game in a good mood.

Lol what? FF9 is the only one without a shit ending

I can't do anything Game of Thrones after the entirety of Season 8.

It ruined that entire universe for me. I want nothing to do with anything related to it, the setting, the characters, it's history, nothing.

Glob posted...

I liked it all the way through. I would say that Song of Susannah is the weakest of the main books but I still dont have a problem with it.

I enjoyed it in general, until the last few pages. The whole "stuck in a time loop forever" came across as the edgy type of ending that I wrote in 5th or 6th grade.

Yes a shit ending can and usually does ruin what was once great. Sometimes you can ignore it and pretend the show ended at an earlier point but not always.

It is very noticeable when the creator is done with or no longer cares about his work.

loafy013 posted...

I enjoyed it in general, until the last few pages. The whole "stuck in a time loop forever" came across as the edgy type of ending that I wrote in 5th or 6th grade.

Well now I know to never finish that series.

Yes. The end is often where they put the big twist capable of doing the most damage.

Depends on how bad the ending is, but yes, it definitely can. In the same way, a great ending can redeem a series that lost its way a little bit.

loafy013 posted...

I enjoyed it in general, until the last few pages. The whole "stuck in a time loop forever" came across as the edgy type of ending that I wrote in 5th or 6th grade.

The part about the Crimson King being some old coot throwing Harry Potter bombs was pretty fucking ridiculous too.

Irony posted...

Lol what? FF9 is the only one without a shit ending

I'm not talking about the ending Cinematic. I'm talking about the Final Boss. You know, the habit Square has for inserting a boss after the final boss? They did it in 8, 9 and 10. As much as it annoyed me with 8 and 10, 9 was the worst. I was satisfied with killing Kuja. Then the ending cinematic rolls. At least that's how it should play out. Instead we get a "Final Boss" who is only mentioned very briefly during a side quest, and even that might be something my mind has tricked me into believing as I can't find any mention of it being mentioned on Google.

Not really. It sucks when it happens but sometimes real life plays out like that too

Revelation34 posted...

Well now I know to never finish that series.

To be fair, he is slightly oversimplifying.

I hated the ending of Mystic River

I'm more of a "It's the journey, not the destination" kinda guy.

Danganronpa V3's ending almost ruined the whole series for me.