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However, I just need to get some things off of my chest. This post is going to be incredibly long winded, so back out now if you don't want to read a wall of text.
To start, I completely hate the endings. That's obvious enough. But it's not just the endings themselves: it's the fact that these endings invalidated everything I've done since my first playthrough of Mass Effect 1 back in 2007.
Mass Effect has been my favorite series since only a few hours into the first game. The fact that a game was completely based on choice, and that your choices mattered...absolutely incredible. Many games claimed to have choices that mattered, but Mass Effect was the first game that accomplished this goal.
I played through the first Mass Effect many times. I must have seen every possible choice, and every possible consequence. I've played through multiple times on my Xbox 360, and when I decided I preferred playing on PC, I played through the game even more.
Same with Mass Effect 2. I was enthralled while playing through Mass Effect 2. Seeing the ramifications of my actions in ME1 was amazing...unlike anything I've experienced before. Once again, I played through TONS of times.
The best part about Mass Effect 2, was the ending. Yes, you might lose squadmates. Terrible things could happen...but if you put in the time, and you put in the effort, you could make everything turn out okay. Escaping the Collector base with my entire squad alive is still the most rewarding thing I've ever done in a video game.
Now, on to Mass Effect 3.
Mass Effect 3 has retroactively ruined over four years of gaming experiences for me.
I have only beaten the game with one character, and I don't plan on doing it again. I still have 7 more characters I could bring in from Mass Effect 2, all with completely different backstories, and choices. But what's the point? No matter WHAT I do in Mass Effect 3, it's all going to be the same. I'm forced into a situation that I don't want to be in, and I die. No matter what.
I completed every sidequest in ME3. I put in the extra hours, because I wanted the galaxy that I've loved for the past 4 years to survive. I wanted to solve all the problems that I've been hearing about since first stepping foot on the Citadel in 2007...and I succeeded! I created lasting peace between the Geth and the Quarians. I cured the Genophage. I ended a hatred between the Krogans, Turians, and Salarians that has existed for Centuries. I gave birth to an entire race, changing the Geth from AI into people. I watched characters evolve. I cried as I lost friends who I've known for years, but it was all worth it: because I knew that in the end I was going to be saving the galaxy that I've grown to love. I knew that I was making a difference.
Except that I wasn't.
As most of you know, the three possible endings for Mass Effect 3 were bleak. Every one of them killed Shepard, and every one of them basically ended the galaxy that we've grown to love. Everything you've done over the last three games is for nothing...because everything ends. Even in the (arguably) *happiest* ending, (melding organics and synthetics together, creating lasting peace), you destroy the Mass Relays. You destroy the infrastructure that makes Mass Effect possible. You've ended Galactic Civilization as we know it...you're hardly better than the Reapers.
Mass Effect 3 fell prey to the same endings as Deus Ex: Human Revolution did last year. No matter what you do, it all boils down to choosing between three options. Nothing you've done factors in at all: you just pick which ending you want...and they're all bad.
I'll also argue that letting the Reapers win would have been a better overall ending that any of the three possibilities. At least if the Reapers won, the Mass Effect universe would continue. Knowledge could be passed on, and new species would step up. Keep in mind, I'm not suggesting that this should have been the ending. I'm only saying that the ending would have been better, not good.
Lastly: Mass Effect's core theme is about fighting back against destiny. Your fate is inevitable. The Reapers will win. You fight back against the impossible. You refuse to accept this destiny. So, why is it that in the end, I can't fight back against the three choices I'm given? In the last minute of gameplay, Mass Effect 3 eradicated the core concept that has driven the series through three games. How is this acceptable? Why can't I destroy the Catalyst, and disable the Reapers? Why do I have to die? Why does society have to die? What did I spend four years fighting for?
And at the end of it all, what happens? I don't get an epilogue that tells me the results of my actions. I don't get a video showing me the Geth and Quarians rebuilding the homeworld, or the Krogans thriving, or my squad living out their days on a planet together. What do I get?
I get an advertisement. I get told that I can expand Shepard's Legacy with additional gameplay, and DLC. What a massive "**** You" to the Mass Effect fans. And then I'm back on the ship!
This was the point where I thought that maybe everything would be okay. I had an amazing idea. Maybe the DLC is going to be tall tales that have been passed down. Maybe I'll get to play through the Legend of the Shepard, instead of playing through his actual life. That might have been cool. But after some exploration, I realize I've been dumped back to an earlier point in the game, before the attack on the Cerberus base. No one has anything to say. Not only was the ending terrible, the ending was just erased. Mass Effect 2 let you play AFTER the story. Mass Effect 3 dumps back into a place you've already been. This is just sloppy.
Worst of all, I have no desire to EVER play another Mass Effect game. Sure, I'll play multiplayer, and I *might* play future ME3 DLC, but why would I ever bring another character through ME3, when there will be no difference in the galaxy? A game that is built around choice, and shaping the galaxy with your choices, has no diversity in its endings. I'll never be able to touch Mass Effect 1 or 2 again, because I know that in the end, nothing will be different.
The first thing we learn in Game Design classes is this: decide on your Game Pillars early, and stick to them. If it doesn't fit with the pillars, get rid of it.
Bioware did this so well for 2 games, and for most of the third. Then at the end, they destroyed what they had worked so hard to build. They ruined their franchise. This is WORSE than the Star Wars prequels. No matter how much you hate Episodes 1-3, you can always enjoy 4-6. Bioware ruined two great games, by invalidating them.
They invalidated 3 games in 1 minute. That has to be some kind of record.
And now I'm seeing a tweet from Michael Gamble saying that they are planning more for Mass Effect 3. I can only assume this is DLC. Are you telling me that I'm going to have to BUY an acceptable ending for a game that I already spent $80 on? Am I going to have to pay MORE for a complete experience?
In conclusion, I'm not asking for Bioware to change the endings...at least not just for us. If this is really how you have wanted Mass Effect to end from the very beginning, then stick to your guns. But Bioware, I don't think this is what you wanted. I think you got overwhelmed by the temple you have built, and got lazy in the end.
Mass Effect will forever be an example to future Game Designers. A beloved series that could do no wrong in the fans' eyes, which ruined its legacy in a couple of minutes.
Modifié par SLonergan, 09 mars 2012 - 05:43 .
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