Should Open Ending(s) be a thing?

[Guest]

So on the recent thread about Mystery by @PiggiesGoMoo they presented the question about If a VN of such genre should have an Open End? With that Idea in mind... should these type of outcomes be used in VNs? Or even in games?

Per example, I Think Saya no Uta utilized Open Endings pretty well, for a non-VN example, Silent Hill 2 have pretty Open Endings but they ALL felt right and there Was enough plot hints in the game to Create a theory.

 

[VirginSmasher]

To me, open endings are fine as long as I can find a point to them. There's no point in ending an actionge with some open ending because then it just reminds me of those read-the-manga endings in anime.

[1P1A]

As long as it's not something overly abstract and nonsensical. I hate when the author throws shit out like "it's open to interpretation," yeah go fuck yourself you snob.

[PiggiesGoMoo]

I think open endings are inherently hard to stomach for many people, so it really has to be executed well. There is an anime + light novel involving an immortality elixir, a train, and mafia groups (I don't want to spoil it by saying the name) that has a very open ending.  The narrators of the story even explicitly say why it has to end with an open ending, which is rather funny.

[littleshogun]

In regard of this I'll think ideally the ending of the VN should be have complete conclusion instead of open ending, and actually it should goes to all media. But if the author want to use open ending, then perhaps it could be used as long as the author managed to answer some of major plotlines, or in other word what plotline that the author want the audience/reader to focused on should be at least resolved.

Edited March 27, 2018 by littleshogun

[Ranzo]

Open endings are tricky I think they can work if they are used correctly but a lot of the time it might end up feeling cheap and pretentious. I mean look at how much people still hate the ending of the Sopranos. There is this book called 2666 by Roberto Bolano, which had a very open ending. It felt well earned because it was as if we were just seeing a snapshot of these characters lives. Conversely, I was not thrilled at all with the ending to Swan Song.

 

While we are talking about endings something I hardly ever get to see but would love to is a five year later epilogue. I want to see how these characters that I've come to care deeply about are living their lives.

[Dreamysyu]

I like VNs to have at least some sort of conclusion. It might be okay if the ending is relatively open, and if some plot points are left to interpretation. But if it's just a massive mindfuck without any indication of how you should even interpret what happened in the story, I'm probably going to hate it.

[Clephas]

90% of the time, open endings in VNs suck. 

[Yuuko]

Should the author be allowed to write what he wants?

[Soulless Watcher]

If it is a tight, finely crafted, short story with a deliberate message, fine. However, in any character driven traditional narrative, especially in a mystery, FUUUUUUUCK NOOOOOOOO. We need to be clear about something, there is a difference between making the reader work for the story..... and just not having a story. For example, the souls games each have a story, but very little is expressly told. It is up to the reader to find all the pieces and connect them, sure some of the nuance and details can be debated, but the overall structure is solid. You can't tell a completely different story from the pieces given, just slightly different variations. 

Having a story with an ending, that is intentionally vague or designed like Schrodinger's cat, is the same as having no ending and telling the reader to insert their preferred ending here. 

[tymmur]

4 hours ago, Kiriririri said:

Should the author be allowed to write what he wants?

Not if he wants it to be worth reading.

Quote

This is a story about a guy named Jack. One day he met a girl named Jill. It turned out she didn't know Jack. To fix this problem they agreed to spend some time together. They picked a nearby hill and went to the top where they learned about each other inside out. They became over eager and ended up rolling down the hillside.

The end

Now you all go ahead and rate this 10/10 if you believe the author can write whatever he wants and still call it a masterpiece.

[Yuuko]

3 hours ago, tymmur said:

Not if he wants it to be worth reading.

Now you all go ahead and rate this 10/10 if you believe the author can write whatever he wants and still call it a masterpiece.

I love it

[HMN]

29 minutes ago, Kiriririri said:

I love it

Same

[phantomJS]

If nothing else, I don't think open endings are good for VNs, or any other media financially as I'm pretty sure a lot of people (me included) doesn't like them.

Otherwise, why not? The writer can write whatever he/she wants if it's given the green light by the higher-ups