Book Ends/Video Games: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

[[Book Ends|So you played the game from beginning to end...]]

 

''Note that some [[Book Ends]] can be spoilers, so beware.''

* In ''[[Portal 2]]'': {{spoiler|Beginning: "Catch me catch me catch me!" Climax: "GRAB ME GRAB ME GRAB ME!"}}

** Also, in one confrontation Harmon says {{spoiler|"Are you awake from your dream?" to which Kun Lan replies "The size of the world has changed" and in the other Harmon says "Are you awake from your nightmare?" to which Kun Lan replies "The world doesn't change, all it does is turn.", potentially implying that this is one of the few ways they pass the eternities. Switching sides so that they both get a chance to be "good" and "bad"}}

* ''[[Final Fantasy VII]]'' begins and ends with the same shot of Aeris looking into the lifestream, possibly implying that the whole game was a [[Flash Forward]], given her [[Psychic Powers]].

* ''[[Final Fantasy IX]]'' begins and ends with a traveling theater company putting on the same play in the same city, but as a front for a kidnapping the first time and sneaking someone in the second.

* ''[[Final Fantasy X]]-2'', Yuna frequently narrates the story in voiceover. One of the earliest cutscenes begins with her explaining, "It all began when I found this sphere of you." Both the Normal and Good endings end with the same line.

* ''[[Halo]] 3'' has an excellent example of a bookend in its ending. The Arbiter dismisses the apparent death of the Master Chief with "Were it so easy," mirroring the opening scene where the Chief holds a pistol to the Arbiter's head and all the Arbiter does is dismiss the possibility <s>he</s> either of them could be killed so easily.

** A second example, bookending the entire trilogy, is in the final video unlocked by [[The Stinger|sitting through the credits]]. The Master Chief climbs into a cryo tube to wait for rescue, after climbing out of a very similar cryo tube at the start of the first game (the Master Chief's introduction).

** At the end of Combat Evolved, we have this exchange:

John: No. [[Sequel Hook|I think we're just getting started.]] }}

** And then, at the end of Halo 3:

John: ... It's finished. }}

*** Bonus points for the using the same song (albeit updated) for both endings.

** Halo 1 is an example all on its own: you start on the Pillar of Autumn, making your way to an escape pod before it crashlands on Halo; you end the game on the Pillar of Autumn, making your way to an onboard fighter before the Autumn blows up and takes Halo with it. This can actually be extended to cover pretty much the entire game, since the last half of the game is practically the first half in reverse...escape the Pillar of Autumn which is being overrun by Covenant, board the Truth and Reconciliation to rescue Keyes from the Covenant, fight your way up to the Control Room, explore an ancient structure infested by Flood and release them, fight your way through an ancient structure infested by Flood to find a way to destroy them, fight your way down from the Control Room, board the Truth and Reconciliation to rescue Keyes from the Flood, go back to the Pillar of Autumn to escape Halo which is being overrun by Flood.

** ''[[Halo: Reach]]'', being a prequel to the main trilogy, {{spoiler|leads directly into Halo 1, with Master Chief, Cortana, and the Pillar of Autumn heading for the Halo ring.}} ''Halo'' likes these a lot, it seems. Also in-game, the story begins and ends with a [[Dead Hat Shot]] of Noble Six's helmet.

* ''[[Radiata Stories]]'' begins with Jack Russell leaving his home in Solieu Village in the early morning, shouldering a rucksack and his father's sword as a subdued song plays in the background. In one of the two endings {{spoiler|Jack Russell leaves his home in Radiata City in the early morning, shouldering a rucksack and his father's sword as a subdued song plays in the background.}}

** Not to mention that the first thing we see in the game, even before being introduced to Jack, is Cairn slaying a dragon. No matter which story path you pursue, at the end of the game, {{spoiler|Jack Russell, Cairn's son, slays a dragon.}}

** Even the original ''[[Super Mario Bros. (video game)|Super Mario Bros]]'' has some sort of Book Ends: The game's second world apparantly features an underwater level followed by a level taking place on top of a broken bridge, and the third world apparantly takes place at night. This is actually reversed for the game's sixth and seventh worlds. And while at the end of World 1-4, the fake Bowser is revealed to be a gray Goomba, at the beginning of World 8-4, a trio of gray Goombas can be seen in a hallway.

** The title screen of ''[[Super Mario Bros 3]]'' is shown on a stage, and so is the game's ending.

* ''[[Sonic Unleashed]]'' ends the same way it began, with Sonic crashing face-first into the ground from a great height, except {{spoiler|this time Sonic is cured of his werehog problem, and the unconscious Chip is just an illusion.}}

** The first thing you'll see in [[Sonic Colors]] is the title character running along side the Wisps. In the final battle, just before dealing the final blow, Sonic and the Wisps run side by side, ready to bring their powers together.

* [[Dragon Age 2]]'s [[Framing Device]] begins with Varric being dragged into the Hawke mansion for an interrogation, and ends with his interrogator leaving.

** There's even a sort of ''middle'' Book End. It is explained in other series media that the player lives on Earth. At the beginning of ''Myst'', you link to Myst from a book on Earth, which is where the fissure leads and where you're trying to get at the end of ''Riven''. But in between, you {{spoiler|rescue Atrus by taking his missing page to D'ni/K'veer, which is a cavern underneath the surface ... of Earth.}}

** Moreover, most of the games and Ages start off with an early glimpse of the place you'll need to get to at the end. In ''Riven'', for example, the site where {{spoiler|the starry fissure can be opened}} is directly in view from where you first link into that world.

* ''[[Shadow of the Colossus]]'' begins with a shot of a hawk, which flies into the scene from behind the camera, and it ends with a shot of a hawk, which leaves the scene as the camera overtakes it.

* ''[[Fallout]] 3'' begins and ends with "War never changes."

* The 2008 ''[[Prince of Persia]]'' begins and ends with the Prince walking through a sandstorm, with a voice-over narration asking "What is one grain of sand in the desert? What is one grain amongst the storm?" The [[Ironic Echo|difference]] is that the answer changes {{spoiler|from being "nothing" to "everything."}}

** The ''Sands of Time'' trilogy began and ended with the Prince narrating to {{spoiler|Farah}}:

* The original ''[[Half-Life]]'' begins and ends in a tram. The sequel begins and ends with Gordon in stasis. In addition, the G-Man puts Gordon on a train at the beginning of ''Half-Life 2'', and in the ending the G-Man says "this is where I get off" before stepping through a glowing doorway (much like the ones on the train).

** ''Half-Life 2'' begins with Gordon Freeman entering City 17 by train. ''Half-Life 2: Episode One'' ends with Gordon Freeman narrowly escaping an exploding City 17 by train, thus finally ending the City 17 story arc.

* In ''[[Planetarian]]'', the game begins and ends (not the very end, but this does qualify) with Yumemi/Reverie's pitch for the planetarium.

* In ''[[Ratchet and Clank]]'', the game opens with Clank learning of a plot, flying from his home planet to Ratchet's and crash landing. This is repeated with both characters late in the game (complete with crash landing after the final boss battle), and the tutorial level is the first part of the last level. The [[Big Bad]] points out it's poetic.

* The Good End of ''[[Silent Hill 1]]'' has Harry (and {{spoiler|Cybil, if you saved her}}) {{spoiler|find infant Cheryl in the cemetery}} just like in the opening cutscene. If you got the Good+ ending, the opening cutscene of a [[New Game+]] begins with {{spoiler|Cybil in the place of Harry's wife}}.

** ''[[Silent Hill Origins]]'' ends with Travis finally being able to access the truck he ditched when he saw the Gillespie house on fire.

*** {{spoiler|It is also the logo to the first game.}}

** One of the very first things that happen in the game is a panicked Thomas breaking the doorknob at Flint's house. {{spoiler|You finally retrieve it [[After the End]].}} However, this one may not qualify; if you know where to look, you can learn the whereabouts of the doorknob ''all throughout the game''.

* In ''[[Thief]]'', Garrett is discovered when he tries to pick a Keeper's pocket. In the end of ''Deadly Shadows'', he is almost pick pocketed.

** This is heavily enhanced when Garrett and the pickpocket exchange the same lines as Garrett and the Keeper in the first game:

"It's not an easy thing to... see a Keeper. ''(smiles)'' Especially one who does not wish to be seen..." }}

* A tradition in the ''[[Paper Mario (franchise)|Paper Mario]]'' series. The first game begins and ends with a party, ''[[Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door]]'' begins and ends with Peach obtaining a treasure map, and ''[[Super Paper Mario]]'' begins and ends with {{spoiler|a wedding.}}

* ''[[Grim Fandango]]'' opens up with a shot with a miniature mariachi band standing next to an ashtray. The ending has a real mariachi band standing in front of a circular fountain.

* The [[PS 1]] ''[[Syphon Filter]]'' trilogy. The first mission of part 1 and the last mission of part 3 is in the subways of Washingotn DC.

** ''[[Metal Gear Solid|Metal Gear Solid 4]]'' stretches it a bit, but it still fits; after an opening-titles sequence in the Middle East, the story flashes back several days to what kicked off the events, taking place with Snake in the cemetery Big Boss and the Boss are buried at. He salutes Big Boss' grave, and then Otacon arrives to start the plot, arriving by helicopter to give him the appearance of coming out of nowhere. The final scene takes place in this same cemetery, where {{spoiler|Big Boss, alive this whole time, appears out of nowhere and after some dialog, salutes the Boss' grave before he dies.}} ''Both'' of these scenes mirror the end of the previous game, where Big Boss stood in the same place and saluted the Boss' grave forty years previous. That scene itself could be considered the actual "opening" bookend depending on plot interpretation.

** Also, you revisit the ruins of Shadow Moses, the site of the first ''[[Metal Gear Solid]]''.

** Similarly, ''[[Tsukihime]]'' has Shiki Tohno meeting Aoko Aozaki in the prologue and epilogue.

* The finale of ''[[Deus Ex: Invisible War|Deus Ex Invisible War]]'' takes place on Liberty Island, where the first ''[[Deus Ex]]'' started.

** Also, the ending of the original where {{spoiler|you let the Illuminati rule the world as a shadow government has a conversation that mirrors the opening conversation.}}

* The true final stage of ''Raiden IV'' uses a remake of ''Raiden II'''s first stage music.

* In the ''Wrath of the Lich King'' expansion to ''[[World of Warcraft]]'', the opening cinematic features a voiceover of King Terenas Menethil telling a young Arthas of the duties of a king, using [[Dramatic Irony]] to contrast with the latter's current status as the titular [[Big Bad]]. The final cinematic, upon the defeat of the Lich King in Icecrown Citadel, shows the ghost of Terenas comforting his dying son that "no king rules forever".

* ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'' can end with [[Good Morning, Crono]]...except {{spoiler|everybody's a Reptite}}.

** In most of the other endings, it closes with the same Millennial Festival that Crono attends at the start of the game.

* ''[[Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World]]'': {{spoiler|the story begins and ends with Marta in Palmacosta near the same shop with Emil arriving soon afterwards fulfulling her wish.}}

* It's not the same locale, but in [[Kirby 64 The Crystal Shards]], Stage 1 of Pop Star is almost visually identical to Stage One of Ripple Star and shares the same stage music.

* The title screen of ''[[Limbo]]'' shows a treehouse with a broken ladder and flies hovering over two small corpses. The end shows {{spoiler|the protagonist reuniting with his sister near the ladder of a treehouse}}, then returns to the title screen for [[Nightmare Fuel|maximum impact]].

* The first game in the [[Game and Watch]] line was called 'Ball' and featured a juggler. The final game, released 11 years later was titled '[[Super Mario|Mario]] the Juggler', and featured the exact same gameplay.

* Done in ''[[Infinite Space]]'', although not in the beginning. During the first confrontation with [[The Empire|Lugovalos]] near the end of Act 1, {{spoiler|Bastian blasted the Vasta star using Krebs exalaser}} to take down the enemies and prevent their advance to LMC. Ten years later near the end of Act 2, during the final confrontation, {{spoiler|Bastian's brother, Dietrich}} performed a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] by doing the exact same thing to prevent the enemies from chasing Yuri.

* A more short-term one happens in Call Of Duty: Black Ops. In the beginning of the first Vietnam mission CCR's ''Fortunate Son'' plays on the radio. At the end of the mission it's playing again.

* In ''[[Beyond Good & Evil (video game)|Beyond Good and Evil]]'', the action begins with Jade opening her eyes during morning meditation and ends with her opening her eyes {{spoiler|unleashing her powers to revive everyone in the Great Crypt}}.

** {{spoiler|The Opening cinematic of the game shows Mickey going through his bedroom mirror into Yen Sid's study, the Ending cinematic shows Mickey returning through his mirror, into his bedroom.}}

* Persona 4 begins with the protagonist arriving in the town of Inaba on a train, and ends with him leaving the town of Inaba on a train.

* The first three games of the ''[[Dragon Quest]]'' series form the Loto trilogy. The trilogy begins and ends in much the same way. The last third or so of ''[[Dragon Quest III]]'' almost exactly mirrors the plot of the first game, taking place in the same world {{spoiler|in the past}} with essentially the same plot.

** The beginning of ''[[Dragon Quest VII]]'' is during the Amitt Harvest... and so is the end. Each time, you also are woken up by your mother to get out of bed and bring a fish sub to your father. That also happens at one other point in the game, but not during the festival.

* The first dungeon in ''[[Skies of Arcadia]]'' is Shrine Island, an ancient, ruined temple. You come back to it at the end of the game {{spoiler|to enter the final dungeon, Soltis, which Shrine Island was originally a part of.}}

* ''[VideoGame/BrokenSword: Broken Sword: The Shadow of the Templars]'' begins and ends with an explosion, even apparently reusing parts of the same animation. Averted in the Director's Cut, in which the game starts with Nicole (sidekick to the main hero) witnessing a politician being shot instead.

* ''[[Assassin's Creed]]'': Ezio's life as an Assassin really begins with {{spoiler|his family getting executed}}, and it ends in the same place {{spoiler|when he dies there.}}

* ''[[Entomorph Plague Of The Darkfall]]'': "How many more times must I encounter you?" - You begin the game and the final showdown with these words from the T'Urthrax Mata, after which she sends you back in time. But the second time you have a way to counteract that.

* ''[[Asura's Wrath]]'': The game starts with Vlitra's appearance, a Title-Screen like moment complete with press start, and Asura jumping off of Shinto. The last episode starts with Vlitra's reappearance, a Title-screen like moment complete with press start, and Asura jumping off of {{spoiler|The Karma Fortress}}.

* In ''[[Mass Effect]]'', the Citadel is your first stop after the tutorial zone and {{spoiler|the [[Very Definitely Final Dungeon|location of your showdown with Saren]] at the end of the first game}}, but it's ''[[Chekhov's Boomerang|also]]'' {{spoiler|the Catalyst and the site of the ending of the third game}}. There's a similar effect in ''Mass Effect2 '', where the Sahrabarik system is both where you begin after taking control of your ship and where the relay to reach the [[Very Definitely Final Dungeon]] is located.

 

{{reflist}}