1966 réponses à ce sujet

[Ron686]

Hello,

This is the first time I have ever been prompted to post in a forum. I do so just to get my feelings about the Mass effect 3 game out to someone who might understand what I am feeling. I am 48 years old and I am a casual gamer. I first encountered the Mass Effect games in Mass effect 2. After playing it through, I decided to buy the first Mass Effect game. I have played both games more than once, but Mass Effect 2 is by far my favorite in the series. I have played Mass Effect 2 more than 14 times. That being said, I have only played Mass Effect 3 once. After having seen the ending, I have no urge to play any of the series again. It has been more than a week, and I have no  desire to even try to load any of my other save games to Mass Effect 3. Don't think that I hate the game, on the contrary, I think 95% of mass Effect 3 is great, but the ending leaves me so numb, that I have no desire to even look at any of the games again. This might change down the road, but as in most games, the longer I am away from them, the less I think about them. I Must commend the makers of this series for making a series of games that have given me many hours of enjoyment, but as it stands now. I will remember the games 1&2 with fond memories, but will not play them anymore. What’s the point with the way things end?

[macrocarl]

Played my 1st play through and had my socks knocked off continuously. So I started playing bare foot so I could immerse myself more fully
Played a ME to ME3 Male Infiltrator Shep - romanced Liara the whole way through. Chose the 'green' ending.

I know you want constructive criticism but I got to say non-constructively: HOLY YEAH! WHAT? OH YEAHH! (to be read in a Kool Aide voice)

//////LOVED//////

The music was wonderful. Tons of Liara romance stuff...... Even back on Mars Liara and Shep were giving each other looks and all the little touches when you'd visit her were really appreciated. And the gift she gives you before you talk to Anderson was awesome. Laser snow make out in outer space? YES PLEASE. And you outdid Liara's romance scene from the 1st one! High 5 dudes and dudettes. Sorry I'm talking like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. I just finished this up and am still buzzing.

The VO was top notch. The sets were amazing. Having more control over building weapons and the power tree being more open was nice to see back and improved. All the armor choices and squaddy armor choices was awesome. Have squad mates be in different locals on the ship was real cool too.

Seeing pretty much everyone (see dislikes below for a couple of them) was great. Coming off playing all 3 when they were released was totally worth it. New hair and skin etc. looked great. Gesticulation-animation stuff was spot on. Hey, no more weird hands! Looked real good. Not that ME hands ever had the DAO-banana-finger-syndrome but, it was real noticeable and a great improvement. For the record DA2 fixed a lot of that and was much appreciated. Anyway.

I thought the 'green' ending fit my character. I am sad that Shep dispersed into the universe and didn't get to take a vacation with Liara and their lil' blue babies, but I think that might not have worked so well as an ending. At the very end when we're looking at leaves and then through the brush at the wrecked Normandy I thought maybe the leaves had a bit of Shep in them. But then when I saw EDI and Joker come out with glowy eyes and green laser parts on them I thought 'Oh no. That's Shep's influence. Nice.'

Never played MP until ME3. I was super hesitant. I really wanted the 'best' ending and since there's not enough resources in the game (that I could find anyway) I decided to give it a whack. Glad I did. It's super fun.

//////LUKE WARM ABOUT//////

Not seeing Tali's face. Maybe that happens if you romance her? I have a Shep who did so I'll go through again at some point and see. When she popped off her mask I got super stoked but then nothing. Although I understand why. Just a bit of a let down.

CE dog with a flash light for a face: Didn't do anything. Wasn't terrible of course but something mroe could've come out of that?

Renegade/ Paragon choices: I had the same problem in ME2 that I have with ME3, namely, you have to pull the trigger for them before any one finishes speaking. It cuts off dialog and sometimes you miss what they're saying and Shep responds as if they did. So if it's a one liner it gets lost. It feels clunky in those instances.

The reporter on the Normandy. Ol what'shername. Other than the interviews (which were cool) I really didn't understand why she was there at all.

While I loved all the VO there was quite a lot of auto dialog and I understand that there were a lot of complicated conversations to convey but, moving forward I at least want to 'feel' more in control. I felt like I sat back a lot.

//////DISLIKED//////

I loved meeting everyone and felt there were a ton of surprises on the Citadel but continuously going back there to milk as many war assets as humanly possible to only find out there's not enough readily available in the game was a drag. It felt like work a lot. I did like that it felt more alive and could over hear different stories unfold.

Quest log is super vague. The one in ME2 where you could see where you had to go more clearly worked way way better. I played this since the 1st day it came out and I can't remember everything everyone says on the Citadel and then remember where they are etc. Plus I always drink wine when I play so help me be more of an alcoholic next go around. j/k

//////BUGS//////

Sheps eyelids disappearing. This happened a couple times from the Cerberus facility you see Miranda at to about half way through Earth fighting. Weird. Also, during fights my Shep' helmet would turn translucent and I could see my Shep's head but without hair. Also weird.

All in all, even though the end was really actually sad and a big part of me wanted ol' Shep to live, I got to say it ended very very well. I enjoyed all the missions! Even planet scanning was wayyyy more doable (besides Reaper baby as last boss, planet scanning in ME2 was my least favorite thing). I loved this game and there were some emotional stuff along the way that made me get a lump in my throat. Since I'm pretty insensitive generally, I must have been totally immersed.

And for that BW, I feel super solid giving this game a 10/10.
People will discount me as being a BW fanboy, but if I thought any of my dislikes/ bugs totally broke the game I would say so. And it didn't. I am now psychically sending you beer.

[afarkas1]

My Review

What can I say that hasn't been said already? Nothing. But I am going to add my voice to the consensus (see what I did there? It's a reference to the game!).

I feel pretty bad about the way this turned out. My heart was pounding as I limped through the Citadel to the final encounter. Hours of gameplay and years of speculation and it all comes down to this! Never been this excited from experiencing a work of fiction before! And then I jumped into a green beam of space magic, and, well, I think we all know how that works out. No, wait, that can't be right. I'm going to reload my last save. Green was a stupid idea, let's try red (sorry EDI!)... and then the air really gets let out of the balloon.

A sensible, coherent, but sad ending would have been fine. Truth be told, I would have felt a little sad after a super-happy ending because it still would have meant the end of something wonderful. Instead, everything I poured into my story was invalidated because the person writing this had delusions of Isaac Asimov/Philip k. Dick grandeur. Oops.

The irony here, of course, is that the story of what happened to Mass Effect 3 turned out to be a better story than the one told by the game itself. It is a tale of tragedy, wasted potential, and failed ambition.

0/10, for being less than the sum of its considerable parts

And as bad as I feel about all of this, I feel worse for the members of the dev team who did their jobs so well only to see their work make a lot of people unhappy. You guys didn't deserve it.

[mds_mitri4]

I've recently finished my N7 Collector's Edition and I have something to add to the previous comment (which I totally agree with).
There are lots of great moments in the game, like those on Tuchanka or Rannoch but there're still some points confused me. I expected that Tali's face would be shown in more romantic style, not just some low-res photo. Then i don't get the idea why there's no propriate responce when Harbinger tried to convince Shep that there can be no piece between organics and synthetics (at least, the fact that i made peace between geth and creators should matter). Furthermore, all this "go fetch it" on the citadel remainds me of DA2 (which i consider a failure). In addition to this, I thought that in the end we could see the actual help of most war assets in cutscenes but there's nothing like this, they are all just some abstract numbers. I also expected that there will be more interactions with the dlc dog but it's just a useless NPC.
About the ending... Everything is said already. The main idea is not bad, the fight in Shep's mind against indoctrunation is facinating (IMHO) but still the story needs epilogue and i expected to see the result of all choices i've made.
Sorry that i wrote mostly critics, but i thought tha ME3 would be the best of ME series and all this issues disappointed me badly='(
PS I expected more dialogs with Zaeed and hoped to meet Shiala, but she was only represented with a message...

[NormanRawn]

The
ending in content itself was not bad. The theme is a strong one, that
has its roots of explanation deep in ancient philosophical ideas (the
idea of your own action moving you away from the good). The concept that
you can create something that will destroy you, and the idea of the
inevitability of it (that you will always destroy yourself). It wasn't
even delivered poorly. The dialogue was clear in its meaning and the
voice acting was great and the spectacle was amazing. Even the
consequences we are given make sense (I mean, c'mon, if all that
happened, I'd expect people to be talking about it as legend thousands
of years later).



But we simply were not given the consequences that we originally set out for.



I
mean this on the meta-level. We started this because we wanted
emotional resolution. This does not mean we wanted a 'happy' ending. But
we wanted to feel.



I
don't want to rag on Bioware, after all and as you can clearly see, I
have a level of respect for them that I have for few. But this was a
serious dropping of the ball. A happy ending would have been seeing us
triumph, a tragedy would have been us failing by our own hands. A bitter
sweet ending would have been triumph, but at the cost of all we cared
about. There are a thousand ways they could have taken this that would
have been emotionally fulfilling. A thousand ways to fulfill our meta
desire to experience emotions correctly.



But
instead we are given no consequence. We have motivations that cause us
to act, which is how we built up this emotional expectation. When our
actions fail to give us ANY consequences (good or bad), we have a term
for that, its called frustration. It is not an emotion, but a state of
being. In fact, it is the very opposite state of being that is being
human. Being frustrated is the antithesis of existing.



Let that sink in.



We
do not do acts and expect no consequences. Even when we do an act at
some goal, and fail, we still get a consequence. Frustration is the
absence of EVEN FAILURE. The sick feeling people got was utter
frustration at there not being more gameplay, more narrative, to either
explain what they just saw, or to fulfill those original motivations.
People are upset, not because there was no 'happy ending' as Bioware
seems to think, but because there was no ending for most of the story.
If we can enjoy sadness on a meta-level, this is because there is
something above emotions we feel as pleasure. In this same way, there is
something above emotions that we feel as pain. This is frustration.



Frustration
is actually worse then simply missing out on empathy. If a narrative
fails to build empathy, often time it can get by on simply being
enjoyable. An interesting book, or a funny movie, or an action packed
game. The story fails to build empathy, so it creates indifference (the
absence of empathy). But it is still enjoyable. With frustration, it is
the denial of your empathy. This is an important distinction to make.



You
didn't hate the ending because it made you feel sad, or angry, or
cheerful. You hate it because it frustrated you. It stopped you from
feeling as a human should feel. Made even worse, because it did such a
great job of making you feel as you should for the last hundred hours.
It brought you in and showed you true art. Then denied you the reason
you played at all.



There
really is not much more to say. I originally wanted to start out to
explain that it is not that the fans want a 'happy' ending, but that we
wanted an ending that was related to the story we have been
experiencing. I wanted people to know why they felt the way they did,
what they were being denied, and what they were expecting.

[gabriel hawke]

hey guys i give it 8.5 out of 10 i loved playing through this game, i really enjoyed the way the story made me feel that the whole galaxy is at war that if i didnt get all the races together that we were doomed to failer also the way that use brought all the characters from previous games back in one way or another (thane vs kia leng was awesome), i also think that you have done a great job of the combat mechanics it feels really good to play and the visuals were outstanding. however i have to say i was a little dissapointed with the ending i didnt mind that shepard died i just felt it was all over a little to quickly and i was left wondering were all my war assets ended up i kinda expected them to make an appearance in the final battle or somthing and this is the only reason i didnt rate it 10/10. but i gotta say i have loved mass effect from the very begining i think i have clocked up somewere in the region of 400 hours in playthroughs, so from me a HUGE thankyou for all the effort everybody in bioware have put into these games.

Modifié par gabriel hawke, 26 mars 2012 - 01:49 .

[xlava]

Eh I might as well state my two cents...

Overall, I have to give it a 7/10. It simply did not deliver, and thats the bottom line. We all played through three games to get to the ending that was supposed to be unlike any other. As stated multiple times by BW employees, the ending was supposed to be the first of its kind, in the sense that every one would be different. That's not what we got. Instead it was some disjointed philosophical crap that doesn't fit in with the themes of the series at all, and just doesn't make the gamer happy.

I would've given this game a 10/10 if not for the ending and a few other quirks (ie, dialog) but the sheer pain and unhappiness I felt at the end of the game just killed everything for me. I will not be replaying ME3 at the moment, I will not be replaying any other ME games. I will not buy another BW product. Not because this game was bad in any way, but because it was the biggest video game let down I've ever experienced.

TLDR, you can't build up so much hype, then just steal it away from your loyal fans in the 11th hour. Its immoral, and I don't care if EA was pressuring you, something has to give in the industry, someone has to stand up and realize that the end was crap, and that in a series like Mass Effect the end is the only thing that matters after all the dust settles.

[Velshanta]

Everything before the ending - 10/10
Everything after The elevator ride - 3/10

Excluding the ending for a minute, everything leading up to it was exactly what i was hoping for. The gameplay was outstanding, the dialogue once again was top notch. The story was gripping. The skill system, weapons, mods all turned out with just the right amount of polish to me. There were alot of moments that left my jaw hanging, my belly sore from laughing, and my butt sore from hanging off the edge of my seat.

This game had the potential to be hands down the best entertainment I've ever experienced.

Until...

You know, i might be in the minority here, but the way it ended has the potential to work. The problem i have with it is it's just so vague. After reading all the promises of closure, and answered questions, and all that, I was left with more questions than i started with. That's the part that is leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

After going through the rest of the game, which was so well done, to get that kind of incomplete ending is just unsatisfying. Every question was answered in the games other side stories i.e. The genophage, The geth/quarian war, Cerberus, etc. You saw it all develop and play out, you got closure, you got explanations, great dialogue, great combat, and you even had some aftermath scenes and dialogue that put the stories to rest.

Then you come to the very end. This is where Shepard's own story comes to a close. The pinnacle moment of the entire trilogy. All your hard work is about to pay off. The result of every hard decision you have made over your journey is about to come to it's dramatic conclusion.

Except it wasn't so dramatic. It was a few vague cutscenes with some very glaring plotholes, and a cut to black.

I can't even muster anything else to add to this review. The ending left me so disappointed, I don't even know I can bring myself to play it again.

I would be fine with the ending if it was fleshed out a bit more. As it is it feels like a very unfinished letdown.

Modifié par Velshanta, 25 mars 2012 - 11:48 .

[ThomanCoston]

 Played ME 1-3, I waited until I have played through ME3 twice before posting. The game is excellent, story is gripping. But I have to say the ending has plot holes and seemed to be rushed as if the game devs ran out of time. 10/10 without ending, 7.5/10 with ending, the ending alone took 2.5 points away.

In my first play through , I chose control, got the blue ending, then I saw normandy flying away from a mass relay explosion. That is strange, normandy was fighting around earth orbit, how come Joker was suddenly running?

Then normandy crash landed and joker plus garrus and liara stepped out. That was second major mistake, as I picked Garrus and Liara as my squad mate in that last mission, they were supposed to be with me on earth in london, charging at citadel beam. Now they magically walked out from Normandy? Weird.

Second play through, I chose destroy. I figured, that child AI is the master of reapers after all (could even be harbinger after it realized that some  humans made it into the citadel), why should I trust it? It could have lied about destroying the geth just to discourage me from destroying the reapers. All 3 choices could have been lies as last ditch attempts of the reapers to win the war, thus the child says if you destroy us, you also destroy geth and all synthetics..sounds like a threat to me. 

Shepard dying is ok, one life sacrificed to save billions or trillions is a noble sacrifice. But Normandy running, random squadmates magically teleported from earth to normandy, those are big story flaws, they don't make sense.
Also how come there are no closures about all the other characters and squad mates? What happened to them?
How come the only good closures are only given to those friends who died: Mordin, Thane, MIranda.

Massrelays' destruction is  not a big problem in my opinion, surely the scientists will be capable of rebuilding them within a few years. The protheans built one on ilos in ME1. Surely the scientists of this cycle are as capable and smart.,  if we can build the crucible while the protheans failed to finish it. Surely we can build mass relays....ha!

[Haergar]

ChaosAgentLoki wrote...

Wildhide wrote...

PS:  I would strongly urge your ME writing team to go play Dragon Age Origins.  This is an example of making choices matter, both in how the finale plays out (Including your support during the final battle), as well as altering both the in game ending (The coronation) and the epilogue text (though I always prefer more cinematic story telling in games.)

This I agree with. Even though I have yet to complete DA:O (or get all too far in it), it has already become one of my favorite games of all time. The decisions actually feel like they have weight, something I find missing in ME3 (at least in the first few hours I've played of that) .

Anyways, as I mentioned, I've only played a few hours of ME3 and so I won't assign a number to it yet. However, my first impression is that it is really well put together, yet not as memorable as 2 or 1 (at least so far). Both of those games surpassed my expectations and blew my mind out of the water. Aside from the changes to EDI and the addition of James(character wise) as well as the Mars and Academy missions are all that have truly stood out to me so far. The dialogue is really well written though not on the same level as 1 or 2, some of it felt really forced as I listened to it (all of Ashley's dialogue on Mars...ugh!). However, I do want to say that I am enjoying the game. I've heard about the depressing endings (something that doesn't really phase me all that much)  and am still excited to reach them, but these are just my initial impressions and I will update with a numbered (possibly) score after I have finished the game. Until then, I'm just going to have fun seeing this series I've followed since late 2006 early 2007 come to its conclusion.

Note: As far as trilogies go, the opening sequence is one of my favorites out there, but the meat of it is so far a let down compared to awesome trilogies like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars (classic) and Avatar: The Last Airbender. That does not make it bad though, just not at the same level. 

I am pretty sure they writing team did play Dragon Age Origins. I just noticed this myself, but isn't the plot to unite the galaxy and at each juncture picking between two sides before an epic battle with the bad invader essentially Dragon Age Origins? They ripped off the plot and then didn't even manage to do it quite as well.

DA:O gets an 8.5 in my book while ME3 gets a 7. The thing I am really looking forward to is the reinvented Baldur's Gate being developed. I still have All of BioWare's Infinity engine games on my desk, and I can't wait to see what an updated and reworked Baldur's Gate will look like.

Please BioWare, make us proud again. I don't want what happened to Westwood to happen to you.

P.S. Even Blizzard is struggling. They have lost developers and main game components are being delayed in order to get DIII out before the apocalypse. It seems to be a sad day for gaming right now.

[Banelash]

A short review by me!

Positives
+ tons of cameos, choices you made in ME2 and 1 played out during the course of recruitment.
+ Choices you made during ME3 mattered, increasing your assets.
+ engaging and emotional story.
+ smarter teammates and smarter enemies. You get to kill reapers!
+ better gameplay, customising of weapons and powers.

Cons
- the side missions. Eavesdropping then suddenly having a mission in a journal.
- The journal. Missions in journals are not actively tracked, and doesn't give a proper direction.
- Story. As it is a trilogy, mass effect 3 is suppose to tie up with ME1 & 2, but what we got is
plots being thrown out to cater to new comers.
- War assets being affected by multiplayer. Unlike what they claimed, I could never hit the 5k ems
without multiplayer.
- Final Mission. Can't even compare to ME2 final suicide mission. This is where it went downhill.
- Final Mission. No decisions making. Linear all the way
- Final Mission. No playout of all the choices you made. No Krogan, no rachni, no geth, no quarian
helping out on the ground or in space. At the most you can only see quarian reporting in.
- Ending. Story gets thrown out the window at this point. All previous established plot didn't matter
anymore or didn't tie up with the ending.
- Ending. I have played through again with the intention of getting low EMS. It stills played out
almost similarly, with a little bit of slight difference in animation, but still the same. Citadel fires
either RGB (or gray if you are colourblind) beam out, reaper either die or leave, all Mass relays
destroyed, joker crash lands, and appears with your LI and another person.
- Ending. plotholes everywhere.

ending score: 7/10
conclusion: Gameplay wise is amazing, but journal makes side missions a joke. Side missions didn't even get their own cinematic cutscene, nor any gameplay other than scanning of a planet.
For a series, that improved over the years, creating innovative technology whereby your choices were carried over and it mattered, it sure didn't matter at the end as no matter what you did, whether you had a low or high EMS, it was a disappointing conclusion.

[Saedius Asicus]

 Alright... late to the party, and I'm not sure anyone still cares, but...

Big items first:

1) For the first 99.5% of the game, great writing (I don't remember the last time my jaw dropped this much during a book, movie or game before).  I don't mean good, I mean GREAT.  The number of lose ends and threads that get brought in and how they impact what happens (e.g., Thane's impact on story outcome, the genophage options based on Mordin/Wrex interactions, the ability to reconcile the Geth and Quarians and how that was handled, Jack and how her character has changed).  The one thing that stood above all else though was how often Garrus had me laughing.  I really enjoyed this.  That being said...

2) pretty much everything after the Thannix missile launch feels disconnected.  I mean it becomes arbitrary with the outcome of your previous actions really not relfected in the dialog or the decissions (um... Geth and Quarian peace, but synthetics are doomed to wipe out creators, and who the hell is this kid and how do we make sure he dies - cause trust me we all, paragons included, want him dead after watching the ending, etc.)  And its been mentioned before but there are a number of holes in this sequence, first what is Joker doing with the Normandy.  If the ship needs to crash to satisfy the writters' vission, they were in orbit around a perfectly acceptable planet engaging in the war effort - Joker turn coward or what?  Why did they stop to pick up the people who were WITH me on the final assault?  So many nonsensical things most of which have been brought up, but man were they glaring.  You really have to work at having your choices effect the final disposition of the galaxy and go into the fight with practically no military strength.  Let me say this - I LOVE! the first 30 hours of this game  and the multiplayer (of which I was vocally skeptical).  I do NOT enjoy the final sequence and I really HATE the disposition of the Normandy and her crew (as it cannot, not does not, but cannot make sense). 

3) The gameplay - both in multiplayer and singleplayer were very good.  I started on insanity and it punished me severely for mistakes (soldier build).  Very few "cheap" deaths with the exception of the slow motion reaper attack on Rannoch where the slomo threw my ability to time the blast off.  The multiplayer is very additctive.  I liked the four stages of mission (Main, Secondary, N7 and "fetch").  It was a nice mix.  The overheard dialog on the citadel was also great.

4) A couple of GLARING lore errors.  Who the hell moved Intai'sei?  Check the map in ME1 vs. ME3.  I mean I always thought in ME1 it was weird that an inhabitable world was among the outermost planets but it's not IMPOSSIBLE, as opposed to a planet spontaneously moving inward four orbits.

[tschamp]

Here is one fan's review of the games and thoughts about the ending:

http://tschamp.podom...T20_48_17-07_00

[Esha13]

Firstly, I have to say, thank you for the Mass Effect series. Growing up as a sci-fi nerd, I quickly fell in love with these games after my husband introduced me 5 years ago. I have thoroughly enjoyed all the hours I have put into them.

After counting down for the past 6 months or so until the release of ME3, I was very excited to get my collectors edition for my birthday 2 weeks ago. It was great to see all the characters again, be on missions again, and to just be in the world of Mass Effect once more.

I have to say that overal, ME3 is a brilliant game. I loved how the squad mates moved about the ship and you could listen in on their conversations with each other. I had a great laugh over many of the scenes aboard the Normandy. I also loved the very epic battle scenes Shep was involved in throughout the game, and often found myself on the edge of my seat. I also really enjoyed the final scenes with each of the squad mates, particularly with my Shepherds LI, Garrus.

But, the reason I feel compelled to comment, is because of the last 10 minutes of the game. Perhaps if the game hadn't been so amazing it wouldn't have left quite the impact, but my expectations for it just built up as I put more hours into ME3 because of how epic it all was.

I was unsure of what was happening from the point where you go up the beam to the Citadel, but very eagerly watched as I anticipated that a great deal of things were going to unfold. I didn't even mind that there wasn't a final boss fight as such, though I wondered what had become of Harbinger. I was relieved to see TIM shoot himself, and welled up as I had my final conversation with Anderson. It wasn't until the conversation with the child AI began that I felt things were going horribly horribly wrong...

I was all for my FemShep arguing with the AI that the reapers needed to be stopped, that we were happy in our own form, and that we needed a future and a hope. I was getting excited for what possible paragon options I was going to get to say to this AI that thought it could stop the great commander Shepherd who had succeeded in uniting the galaxy, which no one else had done before her.

But then the AI stated that a new solution needed to be found because clearly organics had beaten the odds and made it to the crucible......and to my horror Shepherd agreed!?! Possibly that could have been a conversation had it been with someone else...but my Commander Shepherd certainly would not have given in to the AI. I hoped desperately that I would get the chance to tell the AI that it was wrong...that no solution needed to be found...that we should be left alone to see what happened in our cycle....that the lives of Legion and EDI were proof that our cycle was different and we were on track to something great and amazing...that we were no longer in need of a "solution". But to my horrid dismay...Shepherd gave in to the AI and accepted that all the work she had done to unite the galaxy, cure the genophage, and bring peace to thousand year old wars, was for nothing, and that everything she had been fighting for was no longer worth it. Before I had even begun to comprehend the final "decision" I was asked by the AI to make....I was left dumbfounded that Shepherd who had twice now witnessed enemies take their own lives because she had talked them down from working for the reapers and had lost countless friends along the way in the battle to save the galaxy from the harvesting of the Reapers, was happy to stop fighting for the cause and accept that it was all over.

Commander Shepherd spent the entire trilogy giving speeches to all different races, to the council, and over and over again to the reapers, that we had a choice, and that we would destroy the reapers or die trying. To what end did she unite the entire galaxy and gather them for a war to bring down those who threatened to end their cycle....only to give up everything she believed, and allow this AI to end their cycle?

After that it all barreled down hill out of control, and as the credits rolled I stared blankly as all the questions starting pouring out.

How did Anderson get on board the citadel? Where did TIM come from? Why, if the Reaper invasion was actually a harvesting of a species to a "higher plane of existence" was the process just so evil and painful? (surely there was a much more merciful solution if the process was in fact for the greater good of the galaxy??) Why did I have the illusion of 3 choices, that all resulted in the Mass Relays being destroyed, the Normandy crash landing on a planet, and Garrus walking out? What happened to all the species I had united who were now stranded on earth without supplies and no Mass Relay and were surely going to die? What happened to humanity? Why did the Mass Relays have to be destroyed? Why was Shepherd happy to accept the Mass Relays being destroyed when she had witnessed what destruction it had down in "the arrival"? Why was Joker fleeing from the fight? How did Garrus get on board when he had been on earth fighting, and would never have left a fight behind? What point was there in gathering the war assets, curing the genophage and ending wars, when it made no difference to their outcome, and those races were now stuck on earth and devoid of inter-space travel? To what end did it matter whether I was paragon, renegade or somewhere inbetween, if all the choices and decisions I had wrestled over through 3 games boiled down to pick A B or C, but they're all going to result in the same amount of unanswered questions, void of any sort of closure?

And why, why, why, did Shepherd give up fighting for what she had been fighting for up until that point, and simply agree with the AI? She certainly had a lot more to say on the subject when she spoke with the Prothean AI earlier in the game, and united the galaxy under her belief that everyone was worth saving, and that their cycle would not be ended. The whole trilogy was based around the fact that Shepherd had the strength to stop the ending of their cycle...that this galaxy, and humanity, were worth fighting for and saving. That this time around, things would be different. Where was those words and strength she had shown to everyone, even to the face of Harbinger time and time again, in her final conversation with the AI?

As I said at the start, ME3 IS a great game...but it's because it was just so amazing that the ending was so devastating to see. I know the difficulty in creating an ending that "pleases everyone" and that in all actuality, creating an ending that encompassed every decision that was made throughout the series would be quite the feat (despite the fact that promotions for ME3 for the past year have nearly entirely around the fact that the ending would be completely shaped by the individual decisions made by the player). HOWEVER, remembering the ending to ME2, with so many outcomes being possible based entirely on your relationships with your squad and the decisions you had made leading up to that final fight, led me to believe that the conclusion to ME3 and the trilogy, could only be that much greater.

I don't want to speculate what a "right" ending should look like (although being a girl I would have been satisfied with ending up on a beach making freaky alien babies with Garrus!) and I had prepared myself for a sad and difficult ending. But I did anticipate an ending that was the result of all the hard work I had put in, the decisions I had made, and reflected the character of my Commander Shepherd and stayed true to who she had been throughout the series. I had also anticipated a conclusion without so many plot holes and unanswered questions. (I refuse to speculate about the "indoctrination theory"....although it would bring me much peace to believe that the ending was all in Shepherds head, it only makes me more upset to think that it would then imply the fight is lost or simply not over as the Reapers are still at large!)

This may be "just" a video game (to some)...and you may be it's creators...but you can't give credit to the fans for their involvement and shaping of the series the whole way along and then stop hearing us now. As a fan, all I want is for my gut-wrenching disappointment in the conclusion of a series that I have come to passionately love, to be heard and taken seriously. I have not lost hope in Bioware just yet!

[rapscallioness]

I'm replaying the game again. This is my 2 and 1/2 playthru. The 2nd one Grissom timed out and...well, I started over. Lol.

I've talked alot about the endings, but God I love this game. I'm playing it now. I just had to log in to say that. BW games just grab me in a way other games don't.

This game is so friggin' cool....

[And A Crab]

I hope this letter will serve to illustrate the reasons for the nearly unanimous animosity towards the ending of Mass Effect 3. Let me start off by saying that I truly love the Mass Effect series. I loved the unique gameplay in which my decisions would affect the outcomes of the story. I feel the characters were incredibly genuine and their relationships believable. One of the defining reasons I loved this game was the incredible concentration on the tiniest of details, the wonderful complexity of the codex, even the overheard conversations and random dialog all created an immersive experience where the player could fully participate in the game. While playing through the series I would find myself consciously debating the morals of a fictional universe, knowing and attempting to foresee the repercussions of their outcomes. This was the first and only game I played where the sequel was not just another story with the same title; it was another chapter of an epic journey I was playing through… it was a dynamic story where my decisions would ultimately result in what I thought would be a multitude unique and appropriate endings.
Mass Effect 3 was probably the single greatest game I have played, that is, up until getting hit with Harbinger’s laser. The action was great, but what I really loved was the intense storyline. Of all the games, this had by far the best dialog, I felt the most emotion towards the characters, and I could feel the tension leading up to the final Battle of Earth. While watching the scene of Shepherd hanging out with Garrus on top of the presidium I found myself smiling in front of the TV like a child, this doesn’t even happen in when I watch movies. The fans of Mass Effect are emotionally invested very heavily into these games.

Now my problems with the ending (I am not using plural because they are all essentially the same ending, minus a few minute details and colors) is not that Shepherd dies, it would be appropriate in most cases, it’s not that the reapers are controlled by another synthetic, it’s not even that the citadel is destroyed… it’s about the immense change in the attitude of the game. I know that MY Shepherd would NEVER just accept the catalyst’s three options…. NEVER, he would find another way, or die trying.
It’s about the massive inconsistencies in the immediate aftermath. Why is the Normandy escaping? Joker would not have just dropped us off and then fly away… there’s all this talk of the battle ending the war, one way or another, but not only is he running away from the war he also managed to pick up the squadmates who I’m fairly sure were just vaporized by Harbinger, before he left.

That’s the thing, I wouldn’t have cared if one of the endings was everyone dies and the Reapers win (possibly with a scene of a future alien finding Liara’s time capsule), because that was a known possibility throughout the game, in fact, odds were greatly leaning in favor of that happening . And the ending results in the destruction of all of the Mass Relays? Well lets hypothetically ignore the fact that it was established earlier in the game that the Batarian homeworld was “turned to ash” when the Alliance Fleet destroyed a single mass relay, so what happens to the massive armada assembled around Earth? The game already established that Turians and Quarians can’t eat Human food, so I guess they starve to death. And what about the others? Are they just stranded there? But back to the whole “turned to ash” thing. Any ending would have basically resulted in the destruction of all civilization anyway, so what’s the point?

And now I come to the point of collecting war assets, which I have ruled to be completely futile. Why did I spend so much time recruiting all of the alien races of the galaxy to fight on earth if they were never there? Every cutscene shows Human vs Reapers… I wanted to see Elcor with railguns on their backs, Quarians and Geth fighting side by side, I saved the Rachni in Mass Effect 1… Why weren’t they helping me tear apart cannibals in London?

I for one feel lied to, and betrayed. We were prepared for drastically different endings… your own developers blatantly said this. Instead we get one ending and a cheesy cut forward to a child listening to the story of “The Shepherd” from his grandpa. The ending was cheap, sloppy and quite frankly, it’s as if the people who wrote and developed the last 15 minutes of the game weren’t even aware of the basis of the series. It goes against the very essence of the game… it literally incorporates NONE of the choices made throughout the series, especially so with those made in the preceding games.

The idea of a Galaxy-wide dark age doesn’t work, you could destroy their technology, but the knowledge is still there. Even after thinking about it, the ending could fit into what should have been a series of endings… but there’s no way it should have been the only course of action. If there was a renegade option of saying “Screw you we’ll kick their asses on our own” to the Catalyst, I would have chosen that, and watched the civilizations of the world fight to the last man. Why? Because it would have made sense. That being my whole point: The ending makes absolutely no sense. It doesn’t fit with the rest of the series. The ending did for me with the Mass Effect Series what the fourth Indiana Jones film did for those series. It polluted and ruined the game… You must bring order to the chaos (you see what I did there??? haha)

So in closing my very long rant I leave you with some suggestions. These are some of my ideas for how it could have/ should have possibly ended.

1- Reapers win, everyone dies. Due to insufficient war assets. I really like the idea of a future race finding Liara’s time capsule.

2- The original ending would work in one scenario, possibly if Shepherd doesn’t ignore or simply complies with the catalyst. (scrap the fairy tale kid in the park idea, and get rid of the Normandy running away) if it was up to me I would get rid of this ending completely or at least get rid of the catalyst AI

3- Give us a very difficult to achieve, happy ending, yeah its cliché, but dammit we deserve it. Make Shepherd King of the Galaxy for all I care

4- The idea of Shepherd dying in the end is a strong idea. Self sacrifice for the rest of civilization is one of his key principles and it is very true to the story.

5- I never liked the idea of controlling the reapers as a pet, but at least it’s plausible within the context of the story and for that, I feel it should have been included.

6- Throughout the battle of London there weren’t any tactics involved, nor was the entire squad present. Shepherd should have been able to make decisions affecting the outcome of the Battle along with the fate of his other squadmates.

7- All of these endings should have differing degrees of character deaths/successes in them, similar to suicide mission of Mass Effect 2.

8- I would have been happy with the ending just being Shepherd and Anderson dying side by side on the citadel, followed by a successful deployment of the crucible. (Shepherd and Garrus would have been better, especially considering the final conversations of them dying together in battle… Foreshadowing)

9- No matter what ending, the Normandy leaving the battle should not be included in any of the endings

10-All of the endings should show at least partially the different war assets you’ve acquired for the final battle.

I've given you guys eight endings which I'm sure would have received better feedback that what you currently have. And to be completely honest, I don’t care if adding a corrected ending would just be complacency towards negative feedback. It’s the right thing to do. These games are incredible and they don’t deserve to end with an anti-climactic dud.

[Cobretti ftw]

Well, yeah, i forgot to mention that "liara problem".

Liara is a great character, but in ME3 it was like bioware wass trying to force her participation down our throats. Im not complaining about liara having MANY dialogues in the game, im complaining about the other characters NOT having that many dialogues available. Too much liara, to few of the other squamembers. It would be nice to have MANy conversations with all of them.

[BhallSpawn1011]

Sheer brilliance until the dismal cliche ending, which actually has killed my desire to replay. I played ME1 + ME2 for a combined total of 315 hours. I have no desire to do a second playthrough of ME3 with the present ending or purchase more DLC. I had previously purchased every DLC that was released for ME2 (I consider myself a hard core fan of the series).

Without my choices having bearing on the outcome of the game, replaying just isn't fun. I went from being on the edge of my seat throughout the entire game to being completely uninterested, all thanks to the endings.

Still love ya to death Bioware. I think you're the most elite developers in the industry right now. Come out with some paid DLC endings that more suit the Mass Effect universe of surviving against all odds, and your choices affecting the outcome and me and all the other fans will open our wallets.

ME3 is very close to being a perfect game.

[earlmobile]

98/100

This is the first game that got me to actually post in a forum. Among all those complaints i feel like i should say that this is the best and most emotionally investing game i ever played. I almost cried several times through the story.

I had extremely high expectations of this game and was very afraid it wouldnt live up to them. As with Mass Effect 2, many of the things i thought would probably be not as good, turned out great. I feared there would be less choices with only two dialogue options available most of the time, i was afraid there would be an inflation of reaper-enemies that were easier to kill than in ME1 and 2, etc. And my fears were completly unfounded. Never have i played a game that felt so completly... worthy. Every character is well done. There were so many characters i was afraid would die in this game, some actually did, but they had such worthy deaths (or in case of grunt, near-death-experiences). And among all this i couldnt help but notice how much attention was paid to the wishes of the community. So far i found two garrus related jokes ingame that sounded like they were originally from the garrus-fan-thread. There were so many dialogues, choices, storylines, easter eggs and whatnot that felt like they were made for the fans... apart from the generally amazing story that i'm used to from bioware games.

As for the ending, the choices were mind-blowingly awesome. I think they'd be even better if there were some more details about what happens after (to the crew and the universe), so i'll take off 1 point the 100. If a DLC expands the game in this way, without changing what is already there, the game will be perfect. I'm a little afraid that you're going to change the ending (in my opinion the indoctrination theory would be the worst thing that could happen to the story). But as mentioned above i have been afraid before and bioware has never disappointed me.

I took a second point away because i couldnt import my shepard's face and because i dont see how you can get all endings without multiplayer. (import is going to get fixed and multiplayer is very fun, so no biggie)

As of now i must have spent some 400-500 hours in the Mass Effect Universe, and somehow i think that number's gonna get a lot higher. So...

Thank you bioware. Dont know about anyone else, but you made me very very happy.

[LadyJaneGrey]

I just finished the game late last night; enjoyed it for the most part, though some glitches and the ending were annoyances.

Positives:

• Loved the interactions with returning characters.  All felt meaningful and (mostly) satisfying.
• Great pacing - I never felt like I was doing busy-work.
• Shepard felt much more like a person than in ME2.
• Combat powers are a whole lot of fun.

Negatives:

• Disappearing characters.  Barla Von, Cortez, and some return-item-x-quest-givers disappeard.  It was jarring to hear Vega talking to thin air...and have it answering.
• Shepard kept getting stuck to the floor after conversing with EDI.
• First off: your game, Bioware writers.  Y'all do whatever you want with it.  That being said: The ending with star-god-whatever was a face-plant.  I wasn't expecting a happy ending (and am actually pleased my Shepard didn't seem to survive, assuming any of that was real towards the end).  I was, however, expecting one that made some kind of sense.  The kid pops up in the last few minutes, gives its spiel about what it is and the possible end options...okay, fine.  It's a "press one button for the ending you like"...but that's more about presentation than the net result (which I liked, by the way - the relays needed to go).  BUT HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO INTERACT WITH THIS IF I HAVE NO PROPER FORESHADOWING OR FRAME OF REFERENCE?  Why on earth would Shepard trust anything the kid says or expect his/her actions to matter?  Maybe the dream sequences were supposed to make Shepard trust that it's honest or real?  Well, if so, it didn't work.  I was left baffled - not angry, just baffled.  Was it a death hallucination?  Indoctrination?  Some form of reality?  If it had some basis in reality, was that kid telling the truth about everything or just some things?  Was it lying the whole time?  Basically, I don't know if Shepard defeated the Reapers or is still bleeding out somewhere or has been in a coma since touching that first beacon or was just a character in some in-universe guy's story.  And that's not satisfying.

[shodiswe]

Like I said in other threads, I found the end lacking, especialy the part after the illusive man.. Anderson was ok I guess, some people said he coudl be saved I've never seen that unless they are talking about the part where you get a last convo with him before he dies peacefully thinking he had won already.

The reaper/catalyst projection while acceptable even if it doesn't make sense is where the story gets lost, bad endings is one thing but Shepard seems to have given up, I guess its possible he can't decide or dictate the terms, but what hurts is the fact that he isn't even trying to talk down the catalyst.

1. I can see that he is tired of talking to emotionless reapers that keeps stonewalling every argument pretending they are so superior... But for someone that played a diplomat uniting all the races, krogan turian, asari, salarian, Geth and warmongering Quarians.... Seriously... I wanted to make some realy passionate speaches and then it would have been ok to get a "input does not compute" from the catalyst.

To be truly heroic and epic you need to hold on to your ideals to the end, and the end I get here sows a broken person thats pretty much given up.. I probably woudl have at that point aswell.. but Shepard is supposed to be far more epic than that, I woudl have expected Shepard to hold true to himself until his last breath, dying or not.

Otherwise I loved the game. It was very emotional, the dialogue options were good enough for me except for that last little bit with the reaper kid projection.

The end battle for earth could have had more variation depending on Military strength but most of all which of your companions are still alive. Maybe some more background chatter of them fighting and reporting events.

The fleet engagement needed more drama imo, it wasn't bad but it feelt a little unpersonal. Maybe more chatter of captains and admirals trying to direct the fleets and such. Maybe even more desperation in their attempts to focus on single enemies since you needed more than one ship to bring down just one reaper.
It needed a more personal touch.

Maybe a Volus bomberfrgate that gets shot down as you are trying to make way to that beam.. Assuming you recruited them. Some simple thigns to make thigns seem worth while. After all that what they were supposed to be specialists at. So I was expecting to see at least 1 of those volus frigates even if it dies horribly. There could have been more overhead air battles, perhaps a fighter that crashes on some reapercannibals after being shot down, like on that Turian moon.

Maybe some fleet updates while you are fighting on the ground, bonus if the fleet updates change depending on the military strength that you have ammassed. Very bad, horrible, catastrophy, end of days.
Im not that good at makign these thigns up but I know I wanted more for the epic finale where you have amassed the largest fleet and millitary force in the history of the galaxy.

I think one of the reasons people have an issue with the ending is that they expected something this big to be even more epic.but all they get is a few bombed out buildings and some techzombies.

I would give the game a 8.5-8.7 out of 10. But the ending wasn't epic enough. The endign wasn't horrible imo but it wasn't as good and enjoyable as I had expected, maybe my expectations were too high. However im sure all of you at Bioware are aware that people were expecting the end battle to be the most epic battle ever. Also the end battle is where the galaxy has finaly come together to fight the reapers, it's not just about shepard, people expect to see the fruits of their hard work in trying to convince the galaxy into beliving in the reapers and join the fight. This ending should be the ending where the whole galaxy tells the reapers they have had enough. and it should show even if it's tragic and 90% of them get killed.

All in all a great game but the ending needed more heart and stay in touch with the over all story that builds up highexpectations for the final battle.

[Mercannis]

First off i would like to say thank you....thank you for making Mass Effect 3 such a great game. After DA 2 i wasnt expecting much from ME 3, that is i had no expectations since i thought you were losing your touch.

Man..man i was wrong, this game grabbed me by the scruff of the neck and wouldnt let go, everything was top notch; dialogue, graphics, soundtrack, setting. There was a real feeling of being submerged in a galactic war, the reapers were once again menacing, there was a feeling of urgency.

Anyway things that made me happy;

1). The Garrus- Javik combo i discovered. These two were hilarious together.

2) The whole Tuchanka mission. It was great to see Wrex again and finally a female Krogan!

3). The little references to the previous games and the cameos!

4) My LI acting like an adult when i confessed about my slip in ME 2, i fully expected a tantrum of sorts.      Pleasantly  surprised.

5). The handling of Cortez. . Finally...i was able to turn the guy down without sounding like a jerk, infact any guy who has been hit on in a club has used that exact line ..again props.

6). Sticking to your guns and not giving a happy ever after ending. I thought you were going to cave but again you suprised me .


Stuff that i Didnt really like:

1) Multiplayer being tied to single player..also readiness depreciating if i dont play daily. Should be a choice not a must for fans who have no interest in MP.

2) Liara being forced ...seriously i had two LI in the series, Miranda and Ashley. YET STILL Liara was trying it on  sheesh.

3) Kai Leng, character felt forced and silly. He didnt fit the setting at all, however i did get some satisfaction in gutting him so hmm.

4) The ending. I had a mixed response to the conclusion. On the one hand i loved that it didnt end with the reapers being trivialised but ..BUT it was way too short. The consequences of my actions werent shown at all plus the variety of the endings was negligible.

Anyway great game and heres hoping for some DLC.

[Eegah manos]

The Whole Mass Effect series was a blast my favorite part of Mass Effect 3 was the battle at the end of the game starting in space right up until the end which is where the game just went off the cliff. Bioware has stated over and over again you help shape the story and your choices will affect the end, well that turn out not to happen. We got three choices that none of which was a clear good ending really and none of which seemed to take any choices into account.

Oh an what the hell was up with the Normandy Crash landing thing, it doesn’t seem to fit any of the endings at all. Why were they running, why did the ship crash when people standing in London and ship in orbit seemed fine, why did they seem to be making a relay jump when the last we saw the Normandy was fighting in the battle for Earth, how the hell did people on the ground fighting with Shepard get back on board.

Some are saying don’t mess with the artist vision well for $80 buck for the collector edition and $60 for standard your dang right we should mess with the artist vision. There should be a no cost DLC that has an ending that take games choice into account, makes more sense and answers question much like the ending of the old Baldur’s Gate games, Fallout etc. For those that want the old ending there should be an option to select the original endings or the new and that is not lame one. The star child thing doesn’t bother me but my choices not mattering after being told over and over again they would do, oh and I still can’t get by the whole Normandy crashing with people magical being back aboard thing!
My score Mass Effect 3 was a 10 out of 10 until the choices don’t matter endings which drop it to a 5 out of 10! I don’t expect or even want a total happy ending but dang one ending should have at least felt like you won and your choices had a real effect.

Oh and green, blue or red light way to change up that ending!

[ev76]

Well I have just finished my third playthrough. I give mass effect 3 an 8.9 out of 10. The game is amazing the story captivating. Now the reason for not Reaching or breaking the 9 mark is simply the development of the story seemed rushed toward the end of the game. Particularly after the horizon mission. The reason that it felt the ending was rushed was mostly because of the way the war assets where used in the end or lack of use. Clearly this mechanic has the potential
to be used in future game titles but it must be mire committed to the ending. Either creating more
choices in a way where you can pick and chose where those assets fight. Sort of similar style of
the way you used your squad in mass effect 2's suicide mission. Or using them to include more cutscenes where those cutscenes are employed in the final battle retaking earth with the assets in them.
My last gripe has to do with the Rachni. Others have touched upon this so I will spare you my rant. All in all a great game that felt rushed. I am hoping you can add to the story via dlc, particularly the Rachni, and helping Aria retake omega. If there is a dlc addressing the rushed ending I will be all for it.

[RavenNemain]

Here goes... 

10/10.

This is the best game I have ever played.  Period.  While there are some areas that I have concerns about, especially the ending, the overall experience was the most moving and meaningful gaming experience of my life, and the minor quibbles do not tarnish the wonder of the game as a whole.

Some background - I did not play Mass Effect until after Dragon Age came out, and I was looking for a follow-up.  When I played it, though, I played hard.  It consumed me like nothing else, and I completee 3 end-to-end playthroughs of 1 and 2 without pausing for breath.  I agonized over the choices, fell in love with the characters, and cherished every moment in that universe.  It is, withouth question, my favorite fictional universe - not even Middle Earth beats out the Mass Effect universe in my heart.  Mass Effect 3 had some huge expectations to meet, which by and large, it did, even exceeding them in many areas.

I'll list the concerns first, so I can end this on a positive note.

A minor annoyance was the Citadel Defence Force - you begin accruing war assets for it, but it does not appear in your war assets log until after the Cerberus attack.  This made it impossible to see the ramifications of the conversations, interventions, and choices you make in the first part of the game.  While minor, those of us trying for the "perfect playthrough" found it more difficult because of this.  Another small complaint was the lower number of planet-based side missions.  The N7 missions were good, but more of that sort would have been wonderful.  Evacuating a colony world, etc, would have been fun, but this really comes down to the fact that I wanted more game, and did not want it to end.  I understand, narratively, why there were fewer missions.

The big concern, of course, comes from the ending.  Let me state first, unequivocally, that I am not in the camp that claims the last 10 minutes ruin the entire game, or entire series.  They don't.  I do feel, however, that they do not do the series justice.  When finishing 1 and 2, I had a great feeling of accomplishment.  I had Achieved Something.  The Epic Victory.  Silly, perhaps, but a wonderful feeling.  The ending to 3 did not give me that sense.  It felt like nothing I had done, in any of the 3 games, mattered at the end.  I know, intellectually, this is not true, but that was the feeling of the end.  The ending, regardless of the choice made, felt completely separate from everything that had happened before.  Not only that, it felt like a betrayal of everything I had done.  In the end, a story about choice and free will and the right to self determination came to a conclusion where I had to take that away from everybody for what felt like an utterly arbitrary reason.  (Having the choice delivered by a sub-par voice actor did not help...)  There was no clear connection between any of my choices and accomplishments and what happened at the end.  The fact that the 3 choices had nearly identical results made it worse.

Some of us have been accused of being angry because it was not a happy ending - which is fair to a degree.  But I have spent so many hours identifying with Shepard that her choices and fate feel like my own.  Of course I want her to live hapily ever after with Garrus.  But I can accept it not happening so long as the ending is congruous with the rest of the series and makes sense.  It is not.  It did not.  There was no closure for most of the characters - what happened to everyone?  According to the rules of the universe, destruction of a relay wipes out the system - so did I just commit genocide on a scale the reapers could only dream of?  And if they somehow escaped, did I just trap every soldier in the galaxy in the Sol system, where they will starve to death?  What was the point of brokering peace, curing the genophage, any of it, if everyone dies?  And where was Joker going?  Why did he flee the fight, how did he find time to pick up one or two crew members but not the rest, and why them?  And if Shep is alive on the citadel, how is that a victory - she is basically doomed to starve and die like the Protheans before her.  These questions haunt me.    I would guess that the goodbyes said at the final camp before the push to the conduit were meant to be the closure with the companion characters, but it was grossly insufficient.  In the end, as the credits rolled, I sat there confused and deflated.  While I knew there would be sadness at seeing my journey come to an end, I had not expected this.

There is also a small feeling of betrayal over the Galaxy at War system - having pored over the guides, played out different angles, and done all the calculations, it is near impossible to have an EMS over 4000 with single-player alone.  For those of us who want to play this long after it is supported in multiplayer or ap form, our endings will be limited.  This is very unfortunate, as I believe this to be a game I will continue to play for as long as I have a system to support it.

On to the good - and there is much.  This game moved me like no other.  If games can only be art when they move you to tears, Mass Effect 3 succeeded in dramatic fashion.  I wept at the sacrifices of Legion and Mordin, those noble deaths resulting from my choices.  I wept as Thane spent his dying breath in a prayer for MY soul.  I fell apart saying my goodbyes to Garrus - that best of all friends and boyfriends, a character I love like no other i any fiction.  But the small moments were even more astounding.  I still choke up at Tali comforting the dying Quarian, calling him "Vas Rannoch."  Delivering the goodbye message to the "Blue Rose of Illium" broke my heart.  And one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do in a game was watch Vancouver, my hometown, destroyed as I fled.  The attention to small details throughout was astounding, beyond my wildest hope.

The game was not all sadness, and the humorous moments were very welcome.  I laughed out loud on numerous occasions, and not just on the first play, the sign of good comedy.  I shall now always and forevermore refer to straws as emergency induction ports. 

The characters were wonderful, too.  They felt like real people, with real lives and problems in a way they never have before.  The way they moved around the ship, walking in on conversations, these moments were wonderful.  I enjoyed touring the ship after every mission to catch up with them, and the dialogue was so much more detailed and natural that they came alive.  I fully expected to hate James before starting the game - the roided-out meathead, as I thought, would be the first sent on any suicide mission.  Instead, I adored him.  He won me over so quickly, so naturally, I still feel slightly guilty for my snap-judgement.  And of course, Garrus; every moment with him was a treasure, and it was wonderful to see him finally get the respect he deserves from the galaxy at large.  The writers who created and wrote him deserve a medal.

The gameplay was outstanding, too.  The combat was fast and fun, and I felt a thrill of victory after completing some particualrly difficult sections.  It actually changed the way I played the first two.  The environments were stunning, as well - being able to use my sniper rifle to zoom in on birds on the horizon, watching reapers rampage on the in the background, and carrying out missions while there were battles above made the game feel more real than any other I have ever played.

So where does that leave me?  Mass Effect 3 is a game I will love and cherish, and play again and again - until the final pep talk.  I don't know that I will finish the game again, at least until I know what Bioware's future plans are for it.  I don't want the letdown of the final moments to tarnish what is such a beautiful achievement.  Thank you to everyone at Bioware for creating this masterpiece.