Late-game contents that feel satisfying

[nocturnal YL]

Inspired by the recent posts by Torchickens. We need more actual game discussions.

My criteria for picking games are rather simple. I emphasize a lot on music. I also like to see games give me a sense of accomplishment, whether by giving me a perfect save file at the end or by seeing the game's story getting resolved. Or have a satisfying feeling of "I came this far for this, and it's really worth it!"

(Oh wait, this doesn't explain why do I like puzzle games like Picross and Puzzle League…)

So, this post is about the various late-game encounters I've had that made me feel satisfying for various reasons. It could be a story segment, a fun level, or maybe just some really beautiful scene. Here, I define late-game as being roughly 2/3 into the main game, any post-game contents, or late unlocks in non-story games. For games with no story and nothing to unlock, well… I dunno.


Fantastic Parodius - Pursue the Glory of the Past — Disco

Start at 30:00 in this video for what it looks like. This is unusual in this list in that I didn't feel particularly emotional about it; I just think it's a good level that deserves to be the last regular level in the game.

Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones — Final Chapter: Sacred Stone

I have probably mentioned this before, but Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones is a landmark game that completely changed how I see games as a storytelling medium and marked my beginning as a Fire Emblem fan. It was emotionally evoking in a way I've never felt before. Seeing fighters from different backgrounds talk about how far they have come in the final chapter and the ending feels touching (even though this game is incredibly short), especially since this game has a more pure, emotionally-charged story than, say, Tellius's more complex people-and-gods theme. The music only helps.

Super Paper Mario — The ending

Super Paper Mario is a game with a surprisingly dark story even by Paper Mario standard. Even if you skip everything optional, you'll have to go through the tale of Count Bleck and Tippi, who are (spoiler) star-crossed lovers who eventually got reunited at the end. The buildup of that story is great, and, of course, my favourite part is that they do eventually get together. Also, the staff credits music is one of the best game tracks I know of.

Super Mario Galaxy 2 — Slimy Spring Galaxy

This level. It's my favourite in the entire game. It's easy, calming, and the beautiful scenery at the end is rewarding. The only complaint I have is that it has Captain Toad at the end, who at the time was known for being incompetent and needing to be saved all the time. I'd rather have the star just being there at the end.

Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem — Chapter 16x: Reunion

In this chapter, you recruit Katarina. The pattern is the same for my other favourite scenes: good story buildup leading to a good ending. I'm not completely happy with how it ends, though. I wish Kris would save the other major assassins (Clarisse and Legion) as well.

Rhythm Heaven Fever — Remix 10

In the first three Rhythm Heaven games, there's a remix stage that contains every regular game as an ultimate test of skill. And these really show how far you've come. Of the three, I like Wii's Remix 10 the most, but DS's Remix 10 and GBA's Remix 6 are also excellent examples.

Tokyo Mirage Sessions ♯FE — Sleepless in Shibuya

I have mentioned this before in this video: Tiki's final side story is my favourite game scene ever. That hasn't changed now. Really, I like all side stories in this game. Compared to the plot hole-filled main story, all charcters' side stories have a proper closure. Early in the game, Tiki is established as being unable to maintain a tangible form and interact with the world, but has a strong desire to do so. Her dream came true very late in the game. I was mostly motivated by a desire to make Tiki and Tiki=Waifu meet, and seeing this makes going through the whole game worth it.

Kirby Planet Robobot — Access Ark Stage 5

In Dangerous Dinner Stage 3 in Kirby's Return to Dream Land, you go through the first half of the stage, which isn't particularly fun, before you can use the Ultra Sword to exact revenge on the mid-bosses. But here, you get to ride the Robobot very early on, get Spark, and start roaming the level. The level is rather ordinary, but being in the Robobot Armour for the vast majority of the stage makes it more replayable. You want the robot suit, you come here.

Hatsune Miku: Project mirai 2 / DX — Watashi no Jikan

Watashi no Jikan (gameplay) is the final song unlocked (not counting the credits song) in the game. What's so significant about this is the lyrics and context: this is an early Hatsune Miku song with her wondering whether she will be accepted by the world (yes) and perhaps top charts (yes, with this very song), and she cherishes her time with her master (VOCALOID song producer). Listening to this after playing through 46 other pop songs feels like a trip back to the roots.

Super Mario Odyssey — The entire post-game

The game isn't even half-over when you've beaten it. I like how the development team actually integrated this in the story: during the main story, your goal is to save Peach and you can afford to omit Power Moons beyond what's required to proceed. Cappy actually said as much. After Peach is saved and Bowser defeated, Mario and Cappy can then actually start exploring the world without worries!

Kirby Star Allies — Extra Planet δ

Like Kirby's Return to Dream Land, the first half of the stage is painfully slow, this time made of multiplayer puzzles. It's not until you get the Friend Star that you get to detroy everything, but even so the Friend Star isn't particularly overpowered and mid-boss fights can be slow. But it doesn't matter, since it has an excellent Easter Egg that has taken a lot of players by surprise, myself included.


There are a few other examples that I can't quite describe, like Lorule Castle in A Link Between Worlds being generally a good dungeon with grand, finale-sounding music, but otherwise not particularly memorable. This list is already quite long, so I'll leave it at that.

[Nester the Lark]

I actually really liked those other topics Torchickens started, even tho I didn't really have much to contribute to them, so I wholeheartedly approve of more discussion like this.

I can think of three examples to begin with.

Mike Tyson's Punch-out!!

The interesting thing about this is that there was a password that lets you skip directly to the fight with Mike Tyson. However, if you do that without playing the rest of the game first, you're likely to get annihilated pretty fast, and Mike Tyson may seem impossible to beat. But if you play the game normally, there's a gradual difficulty curve from the first fight up to the later fights that slowly hone your skills and reflexes, so by the time you actually reach Tyson, he doesn't seem quite so impossible, and you really feel like you've become a much better player.

The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask

It's funny, but when I first played the game, I don't think I really thought much about what the final boss fight would be. But when it turned out to be a sentient Majora's Mask, I remember it just feeling really epic, like everything had led up to that moment.

Also, with the repeated three-day cycle, you're always seeing the same title cards that say "Dawn of the First Day," "Dawn of the Second Day," and "Dawn of the Final Day" over and over again. However, when you beat the game and finally break out of the cycle, you're shown a new title card that says "Dawn of a New Day." It's incredibly satisfying to see it, especially for a game that, by nature, makes it a little hard for you to feel like you're making much progress.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

This might be kind of a personal experience since you can pretty much go to the final boss fight at any time, but I enjoyed the anticipation and mysterious feeling of not knowing exactly what was waiting for me in the sanctum of Hyrule Castle. So, I resisted going there at all for quite a long time, and I just let my imagination run wild about what the fight with Calamity Ganon was going to be like. About 113(?) or so hours in, I finally felt like it was time to make my way up there and fight him. It was a very satisfying experience after such a long buildup to it, even if it was self-imposed.

[Bruzer]

Apr 6, 2018 21:36:10 GMT -5 Nester the Lark said:

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

This might be kind of a personal experience since you can pretty much go to the final boss fight at any time, but I enjoyed the anticipation and mysterious feeling of not knowing exactly what was waiting for me in the sanctum of Hyrule Castle. So, I resisted going there at all for quite a long time, and I just let my imagination run wild about what the fight with Calamity Ganon was going to be like. About 113(?) or so hours in, I finally felt like it was time to make my way up there and fight him. It was a very satisfying experience after such a long buildup to it, even if it was self-imposed.

That's part of what I think BotW gets right in a broader sense. The game doesn't really pressure or pester you to do anything in particular, allowing you to instead take everything at your own pace from the minute you start to the minute you end, which is an approach that some of the best open-world games have.

I'll come back with some of my own examples when I have more time!

[Evie ❤✿]

I'm glad you liked them!

I can only think of a couple right now, sorry but may edit this post to add more later.

Pokémon Black 2 and White 2:

I feel both the Black Tower and White Treehollow were nice areas to explore after completing the main game.

The challenge was a little like the Battle Pyramid from Pokémon Emerald, but I personally enjoyed it over most other facilities because there was no level cap or species ban (meaning it is not a bad idea to challenge it with the team you used to beat the story rather than EV trained/IV bred Pokémon), and you would get a free Shiny Gible (Black 2) or Shiny Dratini (White 2) eventually at the end of the challenge. The level of Trainer Pokémon would also go as high as Level 80 (or 85 in Challenge Mode), making it satisfying to clear it.

Legendary Starfy 1-4:

This also goes loosely in the 'games which appear to end soon' thread. The Game Boy Advance Starfy games and Densetsu no Stafy 4 have a great amount of post-game content after the main story with new stages (or paths in the case of Densetsu no Stafy 1/4).