A Way Out: Forced ending?
I recommend watching the endings before reading this for spoilers and context. Now then, I have to say, although I really like the way the game has no truly perfect ending which forces you to make a hard decision and truly choose a non-perfect ending, which few games do these days, I do feel the ending was a bit forced. Okay, maybe a lot.
I feel that it makes more sense with Vincent's personality to let Leo go instead of killing him, especially after he just helped him get revenge for his brother and find a way to get his wife back, did the police do that? Hell why does Vincent blame himself when it was really police incompetence that caused his brothers death? They should've arrested them as soon as the diamond was shown, and especially been closer and had more officers around. But maybe Vincent is just that loyal to the force. But wait, after everything, he even quits the fucking force are you kidding me right now? After he just killed the man who set his life straight for the force, he quits it??? Did he ever even really care about Leo? Did he just say he would reduce his sentence so he'd surrender? Was that all a ruse? That huge personality contradiction heavily takes away from Vincents ending, which is usually thought of as more impactful because he verbally brings news of Leos death to his family instead of just leaving a letter, but with this personality flaw it either makes Vincent a user or a... well, I don't know. Just a user, essentially making Leos ending where he doesn’t leave the force but dies the only one that either makes sense or ends with the right person alive. I honestly prefered Vincent for most of the story, but when his betrayal was revealed I was completely for Leo winning. This really gave me an emotional impact... until I saw Vincents ending. And then I got thinking about Vincents other actions. Was this ending truly against his personality? Maybe not. Leo is honestly the better person, Vincent basically relentlessly chased him and gave him an ultimatum, prison or kill Vincent. Which contradicts his personality. But what is Vincent truly like? Comparing Leo and Vincent, Leo is surprisingly better by a mile. He loves his family and is on good terms with them despite everything, only having a brief spat with his son but actually talking to his son and getting past it with him, while Vincent cannot reconcile with his wife. Another thing, if you take a good look at the story I actually realized how terrible Vincent was. He completely ruined his marriage with his obsession with revenge, but hey Leo betrayed his family by going for revenge too right? WRONG! Right before they go to Leos family, Leo actually did NOT want to go out for revenge. He had to be persuaded by Vincent to go out for revenge, Leo wanted to take his family and leave. Leo completely loves his family with everything and is completely honest throughout the story, while Vincent was lying the whole time and chose revenge over his pregnant wife. On top of that, is Leo really that bad of a criminal? From what we see personally, Leo does try using threats and his fists to get through situations but he never really kills anyone, does he? It is completely possible to beat the game without having Leo kill even one cop, and his only real chance is during the hospital confrontation which, guess what, was because of Vincent taking him there. On top of that, Leo also only knocks out the cops and guards he goes against, the exact same way Vincent does. You can complete the game with Leo killing only gangsters just like Vincent, sparing every cop he goes against, and lastly ony killing the person who betrayed him and gave him an ultimatum on prison or death. And in the final confrontation, Vincent actually seems more bloodthirsty than Leo. Leo may have taken Vince hostage, but this was only to avoid arrest. And then after that, he has multiple chances to kill Vincent since he has a gun to his head yet never pulls the trigger. Even when the car crashed, Vincent tried to get Leo while Leo tried to drive away in the boat, and then Vincent starts shooting at his boat instead of just leaving him alone. I will give credit he didn't kill Leo with his shots, but then what happens? Leo spares another cops by himself, this time the women that also lied to him and tried to capture him. And this isn't a choice, he completely does this by himself. She even refuses to leave at first but he still doesn't pull the trigger. Then they both start shooting at each other, then punching, and then one of them gets to the gun first. And both decide to shoot each other here, but at this point it is clear if they don't they are extremely likely to die. Leo isn't a paragon of virtue, he has a temper and likes to settle things with his fists, but he is honest, loves his family, and would've chosen his families safety over revenge if Vincent didn't coerce him. Another thing, Leo only seemed to agree to get revenge because Vincent claimed he would do it even if Leo said he wouldn’t help. This prove Leo really cared about Vincent, while Vincent doesn't seem to care about him. Vincent lied, chose revenge over his wife and child, and wouldn't let Leo go no matter what. The person I liked more during most of the game was really not who I thought he was. Given all this, Leo may he one of the most well thought-out characters in a long time. Seriously. And so, I have to say Leos ending is better. Not just because he deserves to win but with this ending we can at least say Vincent was just really loyal to the force since we don't see him leave it. This could've all been avoided with a let Leo live choice, but this also would've meant taking away the no perfect ending situation right? Well, what if they had the ending confrontation different. What if, instead, Leo wouldn't let Vince go instead of the other way around? This actually may make Leo seem a lot more evil but take a second look. Leo has a complete reason to hate Vincent and want him dead. And still, Leo overall is a person who loves his family and has lots of good traits, this would only mean he has a temper problem. This would mean, do you choose the betrayer or the one who won't forgive the betrayer? This would fix Vincents character and also make a harder ending choice. The only downside is Leo is a bit less of a good person but everyone has flaws. Plus, this would also make the characters a lot more similar as Leo wants to kill Vincent for revenge and Vincent wanted to kill the end game villain for revenge, making this basically Leo doing the same thing. That's all I have to say. So which ending do you like more? Do you agree with what I've said? And was that co-op the new standard or what?