It's important to get our terminology straight when discussing this matter: the endings of Mass Effect 3 are 'bad' not in the sense that they are unhappy, though they most certainly are, but because they are poorly done. It's not necessarily a bad story, it's bad
storytelling.Primarily, the game breaks one of my cardinal rules of good storytelling (as a writer, I will presume to offer as much, though this is admittedly egotistical): the extent to which I am willing to tolerate a bad ending is directly proportional to the inverse of the extent to which I needed to suspend my disbelief. In other words, the 'bad' ending to any story serves to make statements about the nature of life and, as is especially relevant in this instance, war. There is nothing wrong with this - indeed, it can be an extremely valuable form of storytelling, though I would perhaps question its applicability in a game marketed around the concept of choice and whose purpose, regardless of its status as art, is ultimately entertainment.
But to make these sorts of statements about the way things really work, you have to make the ending feel real, even if that is only in the context of the universe. The escape of your crew, their getting knocked out of an otherwise instantaneous trip through the relay and landing on a suspiciously well-placed tropical planet, does not make sense. It is at the very best unclear and confusing, and at worst extremely contrived and 'forced.'
Even if such an ending did make sense – even if the teleportation and untimely departure of crew members who were on earth (some of them perhaps killed, and the fact that this is also unclear is telling) were to be miraculously explained in a fashion which is acceptable, this would not lift the burden of providing closure for those characters and the storylines associated therewith. I am familiar with, and moderately sympathetic towards, arguments that no amount of additional explanation would ever be sufficient, but this does not justify completely forgoing that process and leaving the ending so vague that speculation regarding near-every aspect is rampant.
Indeed, this is the
exact opposite of 'closure', which is what I thought had been promised; I'd go so far as to posit that we received as little closure as could possibly be imagined, short of the game cutting to the credits immediately after you make your 'choice.' This is a fundamental failure of storytelling, and I'm honestly surprised that it was permitted.
There is also the sense, perhaps inaccurate, that the consequences of the endings were not fully imagined in the framework of the ME universe. As has been noted extensively, the endings appear to leave a galaxy almost entirely disconnected, stripped of its military (a sizable portion of whom are apparently likely to starve, and given the state of the earth, it seems equally probable that the other half will be undergoing near-equal famine,) with any world not entirely self-sufficient - every station which needed additional supplies, every colony which was dependent on agricultural worlds – doomed to the mass starvation of its people, and no expectation that these matters will be resolved in anything like a short-term timescale. It is possible this sort of devastation is, in fact, the expected outcome. That would be bold, but boldness is perhaps too rarely exhibited in writing nowadays, so it might also be admirable. This level of devastation does
not, however, permit of the sort of ending which leaves almost every conceivable question unanswered.
I'm not certain how this happened. It may be that, in the echo chamber of ME writers, they somehow convinced themselves that these endings were satisfactory. It may be that, as individuals creating this game for a living, they failed to connect with the characters and storylines to the extent needed to empathize with and predict the feelings of... betrayal might not be too strong a word, which so many players are grappling with. It may be that the game was rushed. It may even be that the individuals in question just aren't very good at crafting endings, as cruel as suggesting that may seem. Regardless of the reasons, it's unclear to me whether they honestly think they did a good job, but I would proffer that this ending is objectively poor. If it were the ending to a novel – a beloved trilogy - the editor would've sent it back splashed in red ink and question marks. As a consumer who loved this series, the characters, and the journey Bioware took me on, I feel inclined to do the same.
I wanted to adore Mass Effect 3 - to exalt it as the perfect end to the RPG series of the decade. I almost could've, but in the end all this game did was kick me in the stomach and leave me with a million questions. If nothing else, it serves as an interesting example of how completely an ending can make or break a piece of art; that I can see no other purpose for it honestly breaks my heart.
Modifié par Tartilus, 10 mars 2012 - 01:45 .
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