It’s been three days since I finished the game. I can’t say beat the game, because apparently you can’t beat the game. And in two days, I still have not gotten over the shock and disappointment that is the end of Mass Effect 3.
In replays, between ME1, 2 & 3, I’ve logged close to 150 hours of my life with this franchise. I’ve always tried to make choices within the game with the express knowledge that the choices would affect my end game, and at the end of 1 & 2 I was rewarded for my choices with a satisfying ending. But ME3? Really Bioware? No hope at all for a happy ending? No chance Sheppard can survive? (Oh wait, he can, but I’ll get to that). If there is NO HOPE for a satisfying ending, then why the hell would I ever play again? And why would I EVER pay for ANY DLC to play through a game I know I have no chance of surviving.
Let’s look at some of this crap we get for an ending:
1) Shep can die and “join the dna of organics and synthetics throughout the galaxy to unite us all in one mold.” This is to stupid an idea to really even discuss and whomever thought of this really needs to stop creative writing of any type.
2) Shep can die but control the reapers by becoming part of their collective. And oh yeah, Cerberus, this evil organization we’ve been fighting for most of the series, yeah they were right and Shep and the rest of the Galaxy were wrong? We should have just cooperated with them from the beginning? Really? This is a joke beyond reason. Why did I log 150 hours of play then?
3) Shep can die but sacrificing himself will destroy the reapers. THIS is what we’ve been fighting for. THIS is what I logged all the time for. THIS is the only ending I can live with. But I still do have some issues with it which I will get to next.
Ok, so in all the scenarios, Shep dies. Or not. If your “War Readiness” is above 50% your military strength has a chance to be over 4000, in which case, you get a cheap ending where Shep takes a breath. BUT, the ony way to get above a 50% is to play online multi-player to build that up. What the %$#& is that?! I don’t like online multi. I NEVER play online multi in any game. I don’t have an XBOX gold account!! Why the hell should I be forced to play online!!! This is a beyond crappy move by Bioware. And the whole cheap ending where Shep takes a breath? Ummm, yeah he’s trapped in a space station with hundreds of thousands of DEAD BODIES and is pretty severely wounded. Guess what…that one breath wont be too many more. At least give Shep a chance to live (like in Dragon Age where even against the biggest baddest demon EVER you could still find a way to live). My complete Paragon path should at least allow me to know life after the war.
Also, in the process of choosing ANY of the endings, all the Mass Relays are destroyed?! So we united the Galaxy, got everyone to come to Earth to fight the reapers in one last galactic battle, and now they are stuck here? Wrex will never again see his son? Tali saw Rannoch for the first and only time? So in securing our allies and promising peace and prosperity after the Reapers are defeated, they ultimately all get screwed?! What a joke.
And finally the Normandy. What can I say here that no one else has said. They get stranded on some unknown planet? LOL! Why were they even near a relay? They were supposed to be in the fight above Earth. And oh yeah, Ashley was WITH ME when I tried to get to the beacon to get to the Citadel. So how the HELL was she suddenly on the Normandy?

At least in Dragon Age you got good endings. You could survive or die even against the worst odds. It was your choice. You alos, in DA1 & 2 got good epilogues. You know what happened to everyone. But not the ME trilogy. Nope all the crap you did really leaves you no good options. No chance of having that drink with Garrus in Rio on the beach. No chance of a life with Ash/Liara/Tali/etc. Just a senseless sacrifice to two bad endings and one that is still not really satisfying.
I am sure I could rant more, but you’ve likely had enough of me at this point. It’s sad that a grown man has been so affected by a damn video game. But I feel betrayed like many of us.
Peace all.