So finally finished the game after starting it later than most people probably. What are the opinions on the ending?

I thought it was pretty disappointing. The game started dragging storywise after you kill Ryan anyway, but the final battle was too easy, underwhelming and didn't feel as original as the Ryan encounter.

I assume there are multiple ending cutscenes, I got the one where it basically implies I took over Rapture and then stole a nuke from a submarine, it wasn't bad but way too short and not emphasized enough.

Anyway, I still think Bioshock is one of the best games of the last few years hands down, but the ending didn't impress me. 

Reminds me of Resident Evil 4 which I also think is one of the greatest games out there and also had a crappy ending (including boss fight).

The one thing in the ending that I did like a lot and I wish that they would have just skipped a boss fight and gone to a short encounter then that, was when all the little sisters came out and stabbed Fontaine to death. That part was absolutely awesome and really a suitable Bioshock ending.

Basically I don't think a game of this kind should have boss fights after playing the boss fight in this one.

*SPOILERS BELOW, DON'T LOOK IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ABOUT THE END AND 2ND HALF OF THE GAME*

Highlight the text to reveal, this contains major spoilers.

I saved all of the little sisters and the ending is basically that you refused the key to Rapture and you took all the girls topside so that they could have normal lives, and it shows that they grew up and got married, went to college, etc; in return you got a "family." I thought this was actually a cool ending to the game having had saved all the little sisters.

I agree that the final boss was extremely easy and the second time I beat the game he barely even hit me (except when he called out the bots and splicers) because it was so easy to dodge. I did think that the ways you kill Both Ryan and Fontaine were unique, rather than just shooting them till they  stopped moving. IMO the game didn't drag after you kill Ryan, it dragged a little bit leading up to Ryan but then it picked up again especially when you started to become a Big Daddy. If I had to use one word to desribe the final battle I would say it was tepid

*edited

The scene where you kill Ryan is timeless. One of the best encounters in any game ever. I am so glad they didn't make him into some boss like they did with Fontaine...

I'm not going to bother with spoiler text, the thread title already warns enough (especially since it's a discussion about the ending).

When I first finished the Ryan cut scene I was a little upset but after thinking about it I'm pretty glad about the way they did it too. He wasn't a fighter and being able to interact with him would have changed everything. It was a very memorable scene to me at least. The only thing I would have changed was the golf club model, I actually would have fired the person who made that piece of crap. I'm a shitty modeler and I can do better than that.

The events leading up to the final battle in Prometheus Point I hated. I've already mentioned many times how much I hate fetch quests and the fact you have to do one right at the end of game just made it worse. Fetch quests are perfectly acceptable in the early parts of MMO's (or maybe later if they have you going to harder areas like FFXI) but beyond that I hate them. They could have gotten much more create in ways to make me explore the city (which I did before receiving the fetch quests) and their true purpose was to just lengthen the game. That's shit and I hate it. To make that one worse you have the damn Big Daddy helmet on. The thought of becoming a Big Daddy was pretty cool but it was just so poorly implemented. The damn mask was just annoying and you really didn't do much once you become one that you couldn't do otherwise other than trick Little sisters (which I didn't know why you needed to do in the first place since even if you were going to get the harvester ending they still knew you).

The Little Sister escort part that came next could have also been cool but it was also pretty poorly implemented. I was having framerate troubles there (on the 360) so things were already pretty bad to begin with. The Little Sister was nice and easy to follow when she's walking, but she would suddenly just run off and I would fucking lose her every time. She was so small and blended in so well I could never keep track of her and the helmet didn't make it any easier. The other reason it was poorly implemented was that there was no penalty for the little sister dieing. If you're going to make me do a escort quest give me a reason to actually bother protecting my escort. The final thing that made it suck was that each little pause the little sister took was exactly the same. Splicers came from one, maybe two, directions and you just point and shoot. no real tactics. I suppose you could lay traps but why bother when they're so easy to kill and you already have 25% damage reduction?

As for the boss fight, I liked it. It would have been nice if it were harder but that's something that applies to the whole game. It was nice that they tried to make it different than just killing him until he dies by making you take away his adam but what I liked was that it was fast and there was a lot going on.

For the final cut scene, I got the evil one (which you get if you harvest at least one sister at any point in the game) which was a let down. I loved the part where the little sisters jumped out and tackled Fontaine. That part was perfectly executed in the timing and it was just genius. What I didn't like was the part after. I really didn't like how it just ended at the bomb and then returned you to the credits screen. That just really made it feel like half an ending and I actually thought my game fucked up again and I didn't get the whole ending. I watched the good ending on youtube later and it is definitely the better ending since it actually feels like it completed and doesn't make you think somethings wrong with your game.

I put the text block because there always is some person who whines about spoilers in the first few posts clearly marked threads (in other forums I go to a lot) and as stupid as people like that are it still sucks to have stuff ruined. By now its pretty obvioius that the thread is full of 'em though.

I didn't mind the big daddy fetch quest so much because I would have been looking around every nook and cranny anyway, but the little sister escort mission annoyed me. They should have given you the same moves that the other big daddies used throughout the game (like picking the little sister up and putting her behind you, or even on your back while you run around). THAT would have been cool, but the way it was impelmented it was just you with tunnel vision and damage reduction trying to keep splicers from attacking in all directions which is even harder with sluggish 360 controls. And even if you had the foresight to put traps the first time through, it would take too long before they started bum rushing you and you have to switch weapons or ammo type before you can stop them. The second time through I knew where the stopping points were so it was easy to set traps, but they didn't really work that well and usually the splicers avoided the tornado tosser plasmid trap anyway (forgot the name).

I really liked becoming a Big Daddy, walking sounding and acting as one while defending the little sister. Really gives you a sense of power and responsibility. I thought the boss fight was relatively easy as well, but the scenario itself was interesting (draining Adam) and appropriate to the game. The little sister mass-stabbing was maravilloso. The ending scene was short, but incredibly moving (the happy ending).

For some reason, many games I love otherwise had endings that felt like they could have been better. I imagine it must be hard to cap off such a rich experience and satisfy everyone. I'll give that it could have been better in places, but it certainly didn't ruin the game by any means and in several ways added to it.

Wow I just watched the "evil" ending on youtube...that was F'ing awful. So if you save all but one she tells you she has come to expect you to treat them with brutality? That doesn't make any sense.

Ugh...what were they thinking?

PS - I agree the Ryan encounter was fantastic, "A man chooses! A Slave Obeys!". Awesome awesome line.

The ryan encounter will stay with me forever, wow i was so shocked, one of the best moments in gaming ever

The good ending was very very moving, i liked it, sounds like the evil one is shit =/

Hey i must of missed something in the story, why did ryan have the main guy kill him? i know it had to do with fontaine taking over the city etc

O btw, though the gameplay got a little (not much) boring at the end, the story was just fantastic in this game truely a AAA title

Again the good ending was quite good if you ask me, short but sweet