Endings that blew you away. [Spoilers a go go]

Yes, pardon the overused saying, but I felt this needed to be put up after I re-finished Zelda: Link's Awakening.

So, what endings took you by the face?

Mine is, as stated;

The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening:

Throughout the game, you are constantly droped hints about Koholent being a fake world of some sort, the bosses being "Nightmares", Marin looking like Zelda amoungst other things.
But nothing prepares you for the ending, I rember talking my friend through the final boss and he was totaly awestruck aswell, just as everything melted away.

Zelda, as an RPG, isn't too reliant on it's script but when ti does use it, it uses it with extreme force.

I can't write any spoilers (cause I don't know how to put that "show" button on but the very first time I played Metal Gear Solid, I was like WHOA.

Zelda OoT also remains one of the best endings I've played. Well, it wasn't outstanding in a sense that it was different, it was the emotion I felt when Navi declared "I don't care anymore... This time I'll fight alongside of you!!!" (Not that big a spoiler that... just dialogue). Good times.

<Spoiler> </spoiler> but with [] type brackets instead of <>

I would have to say Shadow Of Colossus

Spoiler:

I think the whole thing of the Colossus taking over his body to become the greater colossus was a pretty damn interesting ending...then being able to play as him so you get a nice view of how the colossus viewed you in the battles. The whole fact he did all that slaying, to basically end up dying for his love...pretty intense to me

Ikaruga.

Spoiler:

The storyline is not very deep by any means, however, not much storyline isneeded for a game like this. The actual story is located on page 6 in your instruction booklet.

Several years ago in an island nation known as Horai, a powerful man named Tenro Horai found buried the Power of the Gods known as Ubusunagami Okinokai.

From this, he recovered great powers and set off with his followers who called themselves the "Divine Ones" and began to conquer other nations. They told people they were "The Chosen People" and they carried out their duties in "the name of peace." After a while, a group known as Tenkaku developed to challenge the Horai.

They fought and fought but lost battle after battle and were almost entirely wiped out. Only one man survived, and his name was Shinra. He set off again but was shot down and landed in a village known as Ikaruga. The inhabitants were sent into exile because of Horai's conquests and were sympathetic to his cause.

They nursed him back to health and gave him a ship they developed known as the Ikaruga.

Kagari, Shinra's new partner, was once a Horai assassin sent to kill Shinra. He was shot down but Shinra rescued him and saved his life. From then on, Kagari has fought with Shinra flying the Ginkei, modified by the Ikaruga people to be like the Ikaruga fighting plane, to help him defeat Horai and save the world.

At this point, you will get 500,000 points for each of your remaining lives. After that, the robot voice will say "Release the restrain device. Using the released power may result the possibility of destruction of the ship. You did your best. Was I helpful to you? I am deeply grateful to you." What it comes down to is that Shinra in his ship, the Ikaruga, fires all of his remaining energy at the Ubusunagami Okinokai to destroy it, but destroys his ship in the process. It is quite a tragic ending of Shinra giving his life to save the
world.

How they managed to fit such a diverse storyline into an arcade shooting game is amazing.

KOTOR

Spoiler:

I wasn't expecting Bastila to be alive in the first place. Too caught up in being...ya know, the Dark Lord of Mordor--I mean, of the Sith. Since I was a chick, I never fell in love with her, so yeah. And apparently I could convert Bastila back to the light side. It really sucks that I TRIED everything good to say, but I still ended up killing her.

Azel Panzer Dragoon. I love games that attempt to brake the fourth wall with storyline. That and the story ended in a way that hints that the adventure may not be over (Azel taking on her journey). All topped by the credit roll with the awesome vocal track. It's really one of those moments when the song alone moves something in you, makes you think back on the game. Especially nice because the story didn't close down, did not form a whole complete arch.

Mega Man X8(Yeah yeah, X has a horrible story blah blah.).

Spoiler:

To see Sigma, as a solid being, destroyed once and for all was pretty shocking for me. I never expected Lumine to end up being evil, much less the final boss.

I grew attached to every character in the X universe over the last decade and to see one killed off in a state of loosing his mind(or was it already lost?) was pretty shocking(as hard as it may be to believe that).

Zero doesn't count, Sigma actually has a way of returing(The virus) where as Zero doesn't.

Anyone here who actually remembers me knows I'm going to say Vagrant Story:

Spoiler:

From the moment you go up to face Guildenstern and on, the entire ending sequence is cinematic. When Tia and Marco bid Ashley farewell, it pulls at the heartstrings. Seeing the Blood Sin on Ashley's back. Hardin's death. Sydney and his father's burden finally being relieved. And finally, the last shot of Ashley, the Vagrant, beginning a new story. Even the art that's shown during the staff roll, compounded with the music, is worth the play-through. What a rewarding experience it was to beat that game.

Rayforce

Spoiler:

After destroying Con-human, the center of the earth, it blows up, taking the rest of the world with it. You LITERALLY see the earth blow up. Cue end credits. Zoom in on your broken ship to see on the completely mashed opened cockpit, and on it, the words "mission complete" are seen, just before completely crashing.

Someone already mentioned Link's Awakening. I feel exactly the same way.
It is my favorite game and my favorite ending to this day.

Starcraft

Spoiler:

Protoss campaign ending where Tassadar sacrifices himself to destory the Overmind. With the music and all, that still remains my favorite video game cinematic ever.

I've always thought Zelda: A Link to the Past had a great ending. Seeing every location you've been and the people/monsters there and coupled with the music, it gave me the feeling I've really accomplished something.

MGS3's ending was also very, very good. The whole buildup and the interactive movies in that game made it very intense.

Definitely ICO for me.

Spoiler:

The entire ending sequence from the time ICO falls from the bridge, the spectacular cage jumps, the stormy cliffs, the battle with the shadows, and the Queen herself were just superb. When shadow Yorda saved ICO's life and the castle crumbled to 'You Were There' at the end, I was almost in tears.

Shadow of the Colossus also had a spectacular ending. I still can't listen to the epilogue music without bursting into tears when the chorus breaks through at the end.

Terranigma

Spoiler:

Leading up to the final battle, you visit your home village, Crysta, only to find that everyone starts going a bit demented. Eventually turning into spirits and attacking you. Babbling about how if you'd never bothered doing anything, life would have been okay. The Dark Gaia now wants to wipe Ark (you, Mr. Hero!) from existance, and tra la la, you go off to destroy him.

Now you're informed that everyone you've come to know in Crysta were just clones from 'the real world'. You get to spend one last day there, as it was, where nobody knows what's going on, what's happened. Plopping yourself into bed, Ark dreams of flying over the Earth as a flower thing in full Mode 7 glory. With perhaps the greatest ending music ever. It's still to this day, the only ending sequence which has made me cry.

Metal Gear Solid 1, 2, 3

Spoiler:

They all had a deeper plot towards the end and you just expected a sequel with an even batter plot and it turns out that ocelot is just about the mastermind of it all since he's working for the patriots

FFX

Spoiler:

This was a surprise, we all knew that Tidus was suppose to fade away as a dream but when the end finally came up I thought he would find a way to stay. This was a final fantasy that didn't have a real complete happy ending and I just loved it. I like to think FFX-2 never existed ~_~

Legend of dragoon
All I have to say about this is that the voices weren't great, but the cg more than makes up for it.

Oh hell, why not.

Lunar: Eternal Blue!

BE WARNED:

I'm a sucker for an epilogue quest, and Lunar:EB had one of the best. Going through and gathering up all of your party members to once again take up the fight, but not to save the planet. This time, it's all for the love of an alien.

That's right, Hiro gathers up the gang and they begin a new journey -- to fulfill their individual goals and then to help Hiro get back together with Lucia! Eventually, their quest leads them to fight the Star Dragon, guardian to the entrance of the Blue Star where Lucia sleeps inside her green crystal.

A glorious battle for love ensues, with Hiro being victorious! Afterwards, he and his comrades give him a tearful farewell and wish him the best of luck, and he journeys to the Blue Star. In true Hiro fashion, he climbs on Lucia's crystal and starts tapping on it, and she is startled to see him once again.

The story ends, the credits roll, and Lucia and Hiro stand together watching over the vastness of the Blue Star.

THE END.

I always liked the Tekken endings.

In Tekken 5, Bryan & Yoshimitsu have a nice pair of endings.