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I really hate it when games hide scenes after (or sometimes even in the middle) of their end credits. Oftentimes, this scene is crucial to what will happen next in the series and is cool to see. The problem is that the credits isn’t the right place for it. Why can’t these scenes just exist at the end of the game BEFORE the credits begin to roll? I don’t really see any reason for it, other than to annoy us.
Credit sequences today are ridiculously long. Try watching the credits for one of the Assassin’s Creed games and you will spend around fifteen to twenty minutes to do so. Because of the “one a year” policy and the way they outsource art assets, these credits scroll by inexorably. Many credits also include a bunch of studios for other regional versions of the game, something that seems unnecessary for each release.
Many people get up and leave the room or change the channel on their televisions when credits start to roll. Nowadays, this is a risky prospect. It can mean missing the scene if you don’t know it’s coming. Everyone else tends to hit buttons trying to skip them entirely. This also poses a threat, because I’ve seen games that skip not only the credits but the scene itself. Usually, there is no way to rewatch these scenes in-game, unless you’re willing to play the last level again. Or you can go and seek it out on Youtube, which works but isn’t optimal.
Assassin’s Creed III apparently (I haven’t seen it for myself, but heard reports online) has a scene both in the middle of the credits and after them. Is this really necessary? Very few people are going to want to sit through a twenty minute long credit roll just to see a pair of twenty to thirty second scenes that usually don’t mean that much in the long run. Why can’t they just work these into the last few moments of the game and then roll the credits? It feels much more unified that way.
Don’t get me wrong; I’m not saying credits shouldn’t exist. Developers deserve to get their dues, especially with the amount of money and time it takes to make a game nowadays. I’m even pro-unskippable credit sequences. The developers took the time to make the game, so I don’t mind if they want to force me to sit through them. I just don’t want story beats hidden around the end credits, punishing me for not watching them as closely as I can. It’s not fun.