Support for the Endings
Mass Effect in my eyes has always had a strong theme of self-sacrifice and how far one must go to protect humanity, loved ones, friends, etc... We see this throughout the entire trilogy as evidenced by Saren sacrificing his free-will in Mass Effect 1, Vigil sacrificing the last of the Prothean race to warn the next cycle, crew-members potentially sacrificing their life in Mass Effect 2 to stop the Collectors, and so on. So it makes sense that Shepard makes the ultimate sacrifice to save all life in the galaxy by giving his life to the Catalyst so that life may live on in a very biblical sense as Shepard becomes a metaphorical Christ figure.
The entire mission on Earth was incredibly poignant, especially getting to talk to everyone in the squad one last time. Personally, one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever seen in a piece of art (video-game or otherwise) was the final romance scene with Liara as I truly felt that they loved each other and got the chance to express that one last time before the end.
Finally, the cinematic where the mass relays are destroyed and the Reapers leave/die fills me not with despair, but with hope. Mass Effect 1 made it abundantly clear that all organic life evolved on a predetermined path due to Mass Effect technology. We never got the chance to make our own future and instead were led down a fatalistic path that only we as Shepard could break. However, now that the galaxy is free to make our own decisions towards the future, there is hope for the first time in the galaxy. The cycle was broken. Life can begin again. However, having said all this....
Support Against the Endings
The biggest complaint I have with the ending is that of a lack of closure, and not in the way that most people are talking about. I want closure with the people who I cared about throughout the trilogy with my squad and crew. I know that the galaxy will be fine. The quarians and the geth are coexisting peacefully on Rannoch thanks to me, the Krogan have a future now, the Turians regained their homeworld, and the Asari will rebuild Thessia. Just because the Mass Relays were destroyed, doesn't mean that the technology and the capabilities were as well. Element Zero still exists, and there still is FTL travel. Hell Cerberus was capable of bringing Shepard back from the dead in just 2 years, so I think that the relays could easily be rebuilt.
However, that still doesn't explain the way out of left field ending that the squad and the crew of the Normandy got. Sure the planet they land on is essentially the space version of the garden of eden, but that is not a proper ending. They should have been on Earth and watched as the Citadel fired off its final shot into the Mass Relay. There should've been something extra showing the squad begin to rebuild on Earth. Or at least begin to join together to start planning for ways to rebuild. Instead, it was just a blank slate that completely wiped the board clean of everything that led up to the ending. I'm fine with people dying, just make it mean something.
Also there should've been an ending that allows for Shepard to live provided we made the right choices and got all the war assets we need. I want Shepard and Liara to have those little blue children...
But anyways that's just my two cents. Thanks for reading my venting.
TL;DR: Shepard is basically space Jesus by sacrificing himself for all life in the galaxy, but there should've been more closure regarding the characters and at least a glimpse towards the future.
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