So I've been thinking about it for a few days and I think I finally decided I really liked Fable II's ending. At first I was pretty dissapointed with it:
- Very anticlimactic
- The choices only seemed to matter if you're good
- it was just very different
- it didn't seem like a real ending
But now that I've had some time to think about it, I think Fable II's ending is probably one of the greatest game ending ever.
First, the events leading up to the ending...
You work your way through this world with long wave fight after long wave fight. You finish an especially annoying fight against a great shard and Theresa then tells you it's time to go to the spire and finish. From your previous encounter there you know it's a large and confusing place and you are definitely in for a long hard fight.
I decided I had enough potions and even though it was late, I was ready and prepared for the fight of the game. I get to the hero guild and then I enter one long scripted sequence.
Theresa oddly disapears
Buddies go away
Lucien talks
Lucien kills me and my dog.
I go to the Perfect World.
What I thought was going to be a five minute flashback turned out to be a very moving little sequence of spending a wonderful day and getting to know my sister again and even miss her. It was happy, sad, very moving, and totally not what I expected.
I finish that sequence and come back. OK. Now it's time to give it to Lucien.
I get to the tattered spire without my dog and I'm ready for a grind up to Lucien.
Wait...what? I'm there and he's just talking to me?
Now what? The game is giving me the option to just shoot him and probably kill him? No, I want to hear his monologue. It's the usual stuff but interesting so I keep listening.
BAM
Reaver suddenly kills Lucien and I'm just shocked. Out of nowhere the man I had spent the entire game waiting to kill is killed in an instant and falls away.
After that, some talking and then my wish. After my wish everyone goes their separate way and I'm placed back in my world. Alone (I picked the Sacrifice)...
But the Fable II ending was anticlimactic!
Yes, that is probably one of the most anticlimactic endings I've ever witnessed but it was incredibly moving because everything took you by surprise. Nothing was what you expected.
Most games end with a boss fight, then a cut scene, and then it ends. Fable II does things completely backwards.
You start with the fight against the great shard.
You get the cut scenes leading up to and after Lucien's death.
You are put back into the world to play.
This ending was just so different and so many moving and unexpected things that it really sticks with you. I've rarely every beat a game that I continue just to ponder over days after beating it.
The choices only seemed to matter if you're good
While I still think the game is only truly good if you play pure good I think the ending choice is still hard and meaningful (assuming you care about your choices).
If you're playing good it's obvious you have another very touch choice. You've already given up experience and your youth, but are you ready to give up your family and dog? I sat at the decision screen for several minutes just unable to decide. No game has ever moved me like that. I finally made myself choose the sacrifice because I was the good character and I felt the consequences of the good actions.
I wanted to be selfish and get my loved ones back but that character had to make the tough decision. I returned from the tattered spire and found my statue and the note and it was just so moving. The world felt so empty because I had no dog and my house was empty because there was no wife and child. At the same time it also felt a little wonderful because I knew I made such a difference. Really no game has moved me like that.
Now if you're playing evil you have another choice. It's obvious you're not likely to care about everyone that died at the spire but will you care about your loved ones? You're an evil bastard and the scourge of the world but what does it mean that you gave up what should mean most to you to get back your dog like you know you want to?
I obviously can't talk much about that decision since I haven't had to make it yet, but I think it will be a meaningful one when I get there and I would actually like to hear from people that have played the evil side and see what they though.
The ending was just so different
I know I touched on this above but it deserved to be said again-- this ending was different.
In a world where we have our GTA clones and Halo killers, Fable II did something different. They chose not to do the same old thing as everyone else but to give us something truly refreshing.
This is one of the most unique endings I've ever experienced and it's one I'll probably always remember because of that.
But what about the ending being bad because it wasn't a real ending?
I was upset with the ending at first because it wasn't a real ending but then again, Fable II is a living world and should it end after you save it?
Yes, it's obvious that they left it open for more but it also wouldn't be right that the game just ends. You saved the world and whether they love or hate you it keeps going. The fact that it's still there after you're done just makes it seem more real.
So yeah, there you have it. I was dissapointed with Fable II's ending at first but after thinking about it I really do think it's one of the greatest endings of all time. It did just so many unique and moving things that it's one of those things I'll always remember and move it up there with the other great game endings.
