Like many others, I was upset by the ending of the game. Actually, I was more than that, I was physically distressed. I didn't sleep much the first night, and kept perseverating on it the next day. That is very unusual for me. I tend not to get upset by much at all, and video games are primarily a recreation for me. That the ending to this series troubled me so much that I felt physical nausea, that I was tachycardic, well, it was sad, but it was also interesting to me. I've been chewing on it for a few days trying to figure out WHY the ending was so upsetting to me. After all, the ending in some respects IS an apt conclusion to the game's plotline. The reaper cycle is ended, the galaxy is preserved and freed (at varying but always great costs), Shepard "saves" the day.
There seems to be a malunion between opinions on the forum. Some praise the ending for being bold and not predictable. Many lament the lack of closure. Some describe distress at a perceived the lack of hope. Some say "what do you expect? it's dark sci-fi, a dark ending was inevitable." Others say "it wasn't supposed to go down like that, my Shepard always overcame the inevitable."
I think a lot of it comes down to... what does the overarching narrative of the game wish to be? Is it a film noir dark fiction story about mankind's futility against chaos and fate, of organics to create and to suffer by their creations (a theme seen with both the quarians/geth and the salarians/krogan)? Or is it a classic sci-fi tale of discovery, love & romance, and self-determinism?
I think it can be either, and that dichotomy is largely introduced by the Paragon/Renegade system and ME's beautiful freedom to allow players to craft their own narrative. Various subplots of the game can either affirm a dark narrative or debunk it, depending on the outcome (for example: do you see the Geth as synthetic creation that has become too powerful, caused insurmountable death and suffering, and must be destroyed, or did you barter a truce and affirm the Geth as individuals allowed to choose their own fate and were rewarded with a race that chose co-operation). A renegade playthrough of the trilogy can craft a very convincing narrative that the goal is victory in the preservation of the universe requiring sacrifice of personal relationships and even entire races. A renegade Shepard presents a flawed but tenacious protagonist which who is ruthless but resolute facing a bleak outcome. A paragon playthrough can also craft a very convincing narrative that focusing on self-determinism and freedom off all individuals allows the collective whole to overcome insurmountable odds. A paragon Shepard presents a very classic hero-protagonist who overcomes adversity through power of virtue.
How do you navigate a cohesive ending with such disparate narratives? I think this largely stems from what BioWare sees as the overarching canonical narrative of the story. I suspect BioWare sees the canonical narrative as a much darker one than the typical player. I think BioWare saw Shepard as a mix of both a paragon character, and a renegade one. He/She is virtuous, but flawed. He/She is ultimately focused on saving the galaxy, because the protagonist grew up and lived there and is personally invested in it. The challenges are not easily overcome. There are victories, but often victory as great personal cost to the protagonist and collective cost to the galaxy. You see this theme several times in the third game. From that viewpoint, the endings work quite well. Shepard "saves" the day, but the cost is great irregardless of the choice.
The issue is - most people did not play their Shepard as a mix of paragon and renegade. Often, people tended to play absolutely as one or the other (or both, on different playthroughs). And if you played all three games as a fully paragon character, you are delivered a very classic hero narrative. Shepard overcomes all adversity through virtue. People gravitate to the protagonist and reaffirm him/her as an inspiration. These themes are mentioned many times during a paragon narrative. People with that narrative are want to expect a hero's ending. Likewise, a renegade narrative demonstrates that tenacity can stem the tide of fate. That sacrifice is acceptable, because it achieves results. This protagonist would not be content to have a faceless foe tell them their choices. This also introduces issues with interpretation of various conflicts of the plot. Depending on the viewpoint you have created for yourself for your own personal protagonist, the conflicts can be interpreted as dire circumstances, or fitting challenges for a hero's just reward.
There is the other issue of one of resolution of the narrative. Many are familiar with Freytag's five stages of narrative: exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. The endings of ME offer a resolution per se in that they allow the protagonist (Shepard) to finally overcome the antagonist (the Reapers). But the explanation of why, what it means, and what the consequences are is given no service. But that is a separate matter.
Irregardless, I felt that the endings were a good ending for some of the Shepard narratives. I suspect that is why there are some who are happy with the endings, as they likely fit their Shepard and the narrative they personally had crafted for themselves. The crux of the issue is that there are others out there where the endings did not fit their narrative. Many, reading the comments, played through as paragon, and as such had played a hero's narrative. As such, they wanted a hero's ending (I saw many references to the ending of Star Wars, and I think the analogy is apt). Others felt their Shepard would not have accepted being force-fed 3 choices by some faceless AI. Others felt that Shepard fought, in large part, for his/her crewmates, and to ignore them or harm them in the end by stranding them was to ignore Shepard's sacrifice. These feelings are all being driven by the fact that the endings did not match their expectations of the end of their narrative, and is driving the feelings of sadness, betrayal, or hopelessness that many have been articulating on here. This is not gamers feeling "entitled," this is a consequence of the mechanism of storytelling within the 3 games.
Ultimately, I do not envy BioWare because they had a difficult job. Ultimately, they chose the narrow the story and focus on three endings. And I suspect no matter how many endings they put in, there would still be upset gamers. Do I think that it could have been largely remedied with two additional choices for ultimate-Paragon and ultimate-Renegade players allowing them to reject the AI's hypothesis and have-their-cake-and-eat-it-too? Yes. But its very easy to play armchair quarterback. It's much harder to quarterback on Sundays. Do I find it unfortunate? Very much so, because I feel the endings did not match my own personal Shepard's narrative, and I no longer feel like spending any more time with the series when the endings hang over the story forevermore. But I think I'm at peace understanding why that is.
Modifié par PsychoticPenguin, 10 mars 2012 - 05:04 .
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