[General Discussion] ...That was it?

Inspired by this thread, what was the most anti-climactic point for you in an RPG? The moments with so much build-up that you just couldn't believe how lame they were in the end.

The most obvious example of this for me was the final boss of FF X. For all its faults I was still having fun with the game up until that point, but Yu Yevon was a complete embarassment. The entire world has been terrorized for 1,000 years by a glorified wood tick? Oh no, he's given all of our Aeons Lyme Disease! Not only that, but Square didn't believe that we could handle a freakin' tick after defeating numerous difficult bosses, so they gave everyone auto-life. No explanation like "Everyone in the world is praying for our success!" no sudden change of heart from a villain like Seymour showing up to help, and none of your party members giving up their strength so that your final party can fight on. Just random, unexplained immortality.

Tales of Symphonia springs to mind as well, but not for plot-related reasons. After barely escaping from the Asgard Human Ranch before it self-destructs, it seems like there's going to be a massive explosion to level the whole building. Instead, it cuts to the world map and there's just a very small puff of fire and the building collapses. Not so much disappointing as it was hilarious.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

In ToS's defense all of the plot devices really maybe jump up and down and squeal excitedly in disbelief. Starting from when you find out:

Spoiler:

what the whole point of Chosen's mission really is, and then the rest of the betrayal points (eg. angels turn out to be evil) of the game.

I think Baten Kaitos comes to mind. Now I sold the game before I got to the most hyped plot twist at around the lava cave, but I still read and heard from a friend about what happened. Don't get me wrong

Spoiler:

Kalas, the main character, betraying the entire party the whole time was a shocking idea, but it would have retained its shock if he really was the bad guy and not just manipulated by someone else. The whole returning to your party eases the shock towards the end unfortunately.

Disgaea's endings were too minimal, and I heard the same goes for Disgaea 2.

Spoiler:

It had so much potential to be explained even further, but even in the best ending you really just have text about the Seraph testing you, midboss being implied as Laharl's father, and a vague implication of Laharl returning as a prinny.

They really should have added some actual sprite movement or at least pictures to accompany it!

There's nowhere I can't reach.

What about FFIX ? Necron, that pseudo I'M-GONNA-KILL-YOU-FOR-NO-REAL-REASON ... Kuja was already a joke, then that... thing...

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by cubed

What about FFIX ? Necron, that pseudo I'M-GONNA-KILL-YOU-FOR-NO-REAL-REASON ... Kuja was already a joke, then that... thing...

Agreed. That whole thing was a joke.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Not to mention the surprise cameo of Deathgaze before the Trance Kuja and Necron fights.

I was speaking idiomatically.

The only game that gave me that incredible heart breaking "WTF that's it?" feeling is Suikoden IV. I don't even remember the end boss to even care anymore. All I remember is that there was almost no development near the end of the game and I felt as if there could've been at least 20 more hours of gameplay. After I beat the last boss, there was a really long story telling sequence, which I thought would end and I would pick up moving the character again, but noooo, when it went on to the credits I finally realized that the game had nothing else more to offer.

Disgaea also gave me that feeling, except I didn't hold quite as much attachment to that series than Suikoden.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

The final boss of Suikoden IV was some kind of tree I think. You're right though, one of the many issues that I had with the game was that it was over so soon, whereas in other Suikoden games you can defeat an entire empire, in IV you only destroyed one lousy fortress, and that was it, you didn't even get to see the empire (laaaaame).

FELIPE NO

I have to go with Grandia II for this topic. All that work and the final boss ends up being a pretty pretty butterfly? Come on, that's just stupid.

The Grandia series in general was a letdown for me. There was so much hype when Grandia was only out on the Japanese Saturn; people went on and on about how great the music and gameplay was. When it finally came out on PS1, I thought the music was average at best, and the gameplay was ok, but not worth raving over.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Suikoden IV's ending in general was disappointing. I didn't expect the game to end the way it did, so my effort to recruit all 108 Stars seemed more interesting than finishing the game and watching the ending.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

At the risk of invoking the wrath of some forum members, I'd like to argue a case for that moment from Final Fantasy VII:

Spoiler:

Aerith's death.

Partly this was because they never really adequately explained how much of her killer was Sephiroth and how much was Jenova, so you were left with the feeling that she had died from slightly unexplained causes. But that wasn't the main problem I had with it. What really disturbs me about it is that afterwards she is relegated to a Tellah-style character, where subsequently no character actually mentions her beyond a few "oh yeah, so Aerith did contribute something to the plot" moments.

As a character death, it always sat as being slightly awkward (and if you've read about the development of the game, it only came in half way though making the game, and the exact point at which it happened was moved several times during development). Consequently, despite the obvious build up, it felt rather rushed when the exact moment came, and there were no real consequences to that character dying. It was just -zip-deathbossfightburialEndofDiskOne.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Enkidu

The final boss of Suikoden IV was some kind of tree I think. You're right though, one of the many issues that I had with the game was that it was over so soon, whereas in other Suikoden games you can defeat an entire empire, in IV you only destroyed one lousy fortress, and that was it, you didn't even get to see the empire (laaaaame).

It was a tree! You are right! But--it was a special tree. The leaves changed color so you would know which rune magic to use on it--if you could remember if Earth > Lighting...or was it Lightning > Earth? Oh, crap! What color was lighting again?!

In case you haven't guessed...this was my top pick.....

I'd rather have fought a crab again.....

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Off the top of my head... the whole build up of Rinoa and Squall's relationship in FF8. Squall goes through all this trouble to rescue Rinoa and catch her in space. Then when they are in the Ragnarok and able to spend some time with each other, he still acts like a distant brat. I felt like it was all for nothing and I really wanted to choke him. Also, the big plot twist in Star Ocean 3 was ridiculous.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Leknaat

It was a tree! You are right! But--it was a special tree. The leaves changed color so you would know which rune magic to use on it--if you could remember if Earth > Lighting...or was it Lightning > Earth? Oh, crap! What color was lighting again?!

In case you haven't guessed...this was my top pick.....

I'd rather have fought a crab again.....

Fire -> Wind -> Earth -> Lightning -> Water -> Fire

You were right the first time. The game really forced you to remember those weaknesses in those naval battles. =/

I was speaking idiomatically.

Why didn't anyone mention Star Ocean 3?

Spoiler:

Or was I the only one who got this overall "meh" feeling after that plot twist where it turned out you're just part of a Matrix-esque world?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I think most people were just like "LOL" or "What the fuck?" more so than "meh" at that point. At least I know I was, and the majority of people I knew as well. Way to make the previous two games seem insignificant, ya know?

How ya doing, buddy?

Doesn't that make it all the more anti-climactic, then?

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

How about the final boss to Final Fantasy Mystic Quest? You can kill him with a freaking revive.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

FF VIII Can't be anti-climactic becaause it was awful.

Spoiler:

Same orphanage. If you don't realise how horrible this is, you're an utter prat.

I side with FF IX as most anti-climactic. End boss with no connection to the game for no good reason. Bah.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I have to admit, Ninja Gaiden had to be the most disappointing in my opinon.

Spoiler:

Basically the bad guy is one of Ryu friends, its a good twist i certainly wasnt expecting him to be the boss, but he was redicously easy to beat, compared how he is when you fight him at the begining of the game. The game is meant to be one of the hardest games ever made, yet one of the easiest bosses.

Just remembered Shenmue 2 ending. ARGHHHH!!! I think when i played it through on the Dreamcast, I got to disc 3 and basically you did nothing but walk around the house and then it was all cutscenes, there was no actual gameplay, no fighting, no quicktime events, it started very realistic then all of a sudden somehow they turned it into a fantasy adventure .

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

The Bouncer was pretty short. I was surprised to beat it in an entire evening.

The game was quite fun, but replaying the same thing over and over to unlock the story seemed pretty lame. Really short game there.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Denicalis

I side with FF IX as most anti-climactic. End boss with no connection to the game for no good reason. Bah.

You mean Zeromus?

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Bukkake Bandit

Why didn't anyone mention Star Ocean 3?

Spoiler:

Or was I the only one who got this overall "meh" feeling after that plot twist where it turned out you're just part of a Matrix-esque world?

I was thinking more along the lines of the ST:TNG episode I had just seen myself.....

Additional Spam:

Originally Posted by Elixir

The Bouncer was pretty short. I was surprised to beat it in an entire evening.

The game was quite fun, but replaying the same thing over and over to unlock the story seemed pretty lame. Really short game there.

I didn't really even bother trying to get all the story on that one. It was just too "obvious" you know?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I agree with what Deni said. FFVIII was anticlimactic in the sense of an awful "plot twist" (I liked it when I played it, say, 6 years ago...not now); and FFIX in the sense of the final boss. I really disliked the entire ending to FFIX (basically from when you escape from Terra). It all felt a tad uninspired to me.

FFX is also of note due to the aforementioned final final boss. Makes me queasy just thinking about it. >=[

Heh, funny how the only games I mention here are games from the FF series. There are others...but I feel like mocking FF at the moment.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Muzza

I really disliked the entire ending to FFIX (basically from when you escape from Terra). It all felt a tad uninspired to me.

Don't you mean "contrived?" It would have been nice if things were left up in the air--you know? And if Necros never existed.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Bukkake Bandit

Why didn't anyone mention Star Ocean 3?

Spoiler:

Or was I the only one who got this overall "meh" feeling after that plot twist where it turned out you're just part of a Matrix-esque world?

I did. ¬.¬ Anyway, I think that pissed off a lot of people. The plot wasn't all that great to begin with, but that killed it completely. I played through the entire game anyway since it was so fun to play and Cliff kicks ass.

Originally Posted by Denicalis

FF VIII Can't be anti-climactic becaause it was awful.

Spoiler:

Same orphanage. If you don't realise how horrible this is, you're an utter prat.

I side with FF IX as most anti-climactic. End boss with no connection to the game for no good reason. Bah.

Ain't that the truth on both accounts. XD

Jam it back in, in the dark.