We failed at our goal, so what have all three games been training us to do? Try again. Taking all that into consideration, it should be immediately obvious why the end of Goodbye Deponia didn't work. His desire for this is our desire, his struggle is our struggle, and his perseverance is made our perseverance. The tension of Deponia then is in the things Rufus hopes for: getting to Elysium, staying with Goal, and being a hero. He is constantly blocked by his 'damned human kindness'. In spite of how haphazard he is, Rufus is a genuine hero who genuinely cares about the people around him, in spite of how much they all hate him.

He doesn't just need to get to Elysium or be with Goal, he needs to be the hero, and this is being shown as a good thing. Rufus not only wants the impossible, but he wants it on his terms. This message was made explicit in Goodbye Deponia, with 'hope' literally being the trait that makes him unique as a clone. Even though everyone constantly shouts at him that the things he does are impossible, Rufus does them anyways. You're supposed to be clicking on things at random to find something that works because that's what Rufus is actually doing. That's why it works so well as a point-and-click adventure. So what is the message of Deponia? I think the answer is obvious: Deponia is a story of hope, of persevering no matter how impossible the odds are stacked against you, desperately trying anything to make things work.

If you want to judge whether an ending is good or not then, you need to know what the message of the story itself was. Ghostbusters? They bust the ghosts, roll credits! There are tragic deaths along the way, but the goal is accomplished, all loose ends tied up. Lord of the Rings, a story of an adventure to destroy the Ring of Power, ends with them doing exactly that, destroying the One Ring. No one demands a sequel to Romeo and Juliet, or if they do it's only as a joke (Romeo and Juliet 2: Electric Boogaloo!). They were simply not meant to be, so they weren't. Romeo and Juliet, a story of a couple who's love was never meant to be? Their tragic death is perfect for it, in spite of how unhappy it was, because it gave closure. What makes a good ending then for each work depends on what kind of story you're writing. It is up for the writer or artist to declare when a work is finished, so technically they can stop at any point they feel like, but just because they can doesn't make it a good idea. Endings not only close a series, but bring closure to it as well. Doomsday is essentially a defense of the ending of Goodbye Deponia, so if we want to know why it's an 'insult', we need to first know why Goodbye Deponia was 'injury'.įirst, let's consider what makes an ending good.

Goodbye deponia ending explained