I think the biggest mistake of the ending is not that Shepard died or didn't have a "Hollywood ending". The mistake is that Bioware broke the whole universe in order to end Shepard's story. Let me illustrate a few examples of mistakes that would have been similar.
You know in Star Wars how Anakin Skywalker was supposed to bring balance to the force? Well say at the end of Return of the Jedi, just before Darth Vader died, a child showed up and said, "I'm the Force" and because Anakin will bring balance to the force with his death, force powers will never work again, and there will never be another jedi. Thanks bye. Death Star explodes with Luke on board; Roll credits.
Where is the promise of more adventure in the universe? Why would a fan ever want to return to the setting?
Another example: You know how in Dune, Paul Atreides was the Kwisatz Haderach? In order to bend the universe to his rule, he threatened to destroy all spice production permanently, thusly destroying galactic civilization permanently. He was just crazy enough to do it, which is why at the end of the book, he wins and didn't need to make good on this threat. What if at the end of the story, during Paul's knife fight with the last Harkonnen, a child showed up and said, "I'm the one who made the spice. All this galactic fighting will never end unless we stop it somehow, let's destroy all spice producion now so there will be peace. Foosh! All worms die; Roll credits.
The reader would be like HUH?? And there wouldn't have been 5 more books.
For a third example,
In Lord of the Rings, instead of showing that the world was at the end of an age, and the characters all get so see that life goes on and say goodbye to each other. What if on Mount Doom when Frodo was about to throw the Ring of Power into the fires that made it, a child appeared and said, "I gave magic to this realm. What to do about all this reckless hate? I know. I'm going blow up Mount Doom and instantly kill everything magical so the world will be a peaceful place for humans. Mount Doom explodes; Roll credits."
Fans would be like, F. U. Tolkien!
This is something Lucas used to understand, story tellers know, and humans have an instinct for. The end of a hero's cycle is rebirth. He will defeat the demons, defy the gods, break convention, risk his life and his people, and even die to complete his quest, but the end of the story shows a new beginning and the cycle of good vs. evil begins again. I see where they tried to do this with the jungle planet sequence and the exposition ghost child, and Buzz Aldren teling a story to a kid, but the story made you pay a pound to get an ounce. It was not executed well and that is why fans are outraged and feeling hanging. Bioware would have to change the whole ending sequence to fix it, and that is not possible. The game is 'in the can', the damage is done.
Mass Effect is a beautiful story to a point. I love the characters and the setting. Bioware made a mistake with the ending. I don't know if it can be fixed.
What if the Mass Effect ending was applied to other franchises?
Débuté par
johhnytrash
, mars 10 2012 07:10
Retour en haut
#2
Posté 10 mars 2012 - 08:55
johhnytrash
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Post got buried. Thought I'd give it another chance.
#3
Posté 10 mars 2012 - 08:58
Kitten Tactics
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The hard part is that they could have had this if they just cut to credits with Anderson and Shepard.
#4
Posté 10 mars 2012 - 08:59
John Locke N7
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well certainly in the can if it never gets patched. but its only been our a week do.....
we can still hope =0
we can still hope =0
#5
Posté 10 mars 2012 - 09:06
BrotherFluffy
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I understand what they're TRYING to say by destroying the Relays, but yeah, I'm not a fan of the whole "galaxy explode" thing. It needed to be clarified SO MUCH more for people to really understand. When I first saw an ending my immediate thought was, "Wait? Is that it? Are they serious??"
#6
Posté 10 mars 2012 - 09:24
GrumpyM00SE
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Kitten Tactics wrote...
The hard part is that they could have had this if they just cut to credits with Anderson and Shepard.
That would have been good. It could have ended just after Shepard was bleeding out and crawling to the console to activate the crucible. It could have destroyed only the Reapers as Shepard dies.
#7
Posté 10 mars 2012 - 09:25
3Minotaur3
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A bad ending is still a bad ending... But it's worse when it's also the ending of a trilogy...
#8
Posté 10 mars 2012 - 09:27
SandTrout
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So much this.Kitten Tactics wrote...
The hard part is that they could have had this if they just cut to credits with Anderson and Shepard.
#9
Posté 11 mars 2012 - 08:11
johhnytrash
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Ooh, I got another one! I got this off of a post on Reddit.
In order to defeat Voldemort, Harry Potter has to die, and not only that, he has a ghost child tell him that the only way to destroy Voldemort is to destroy all Magic everywhere. So he sets of the McGuffin of Doom and ZAP! All magic goes away, Harry and Voldemort explode to some piano music. Roll credits.
In order to defeat Voldemort, Harry Potter has to die, and not only that, he has a ghost child tell him that the only way to destroy Voldemort is to destroy all Magic everywhere. So he sets of the McGuffin of Doom and ZAP! All magic goes away, Harry and Voldemort explode to some piano music. Roll credits.
#10
Posté 11 mars 2012 - 08:14
HKR148
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It's understandable if there's some tangible plots leading up to the ending. ME3.... no the story suddenly abandoned its original direction and went something completely different at the 4/5 of the point then everything got shot to hell as soon as they simply ignored all the glaring plot holes and ending a series with that insulting stargazer scene.
#11
Posté 11 mars 2012 - 08:18
Epiph1
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Honestly, I don't know about others, but I have started to laugh pretty hard at the endings. It's just bizarrely insulting.
#12
Posté 11 mars 2012 - 08:28
LeonRoughan
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I was explaining the Mass Effect ending to a friend and likened it to the Lord Of The Rings pretty much just like the analogy you used in the first post, forgetting the catalyst bit it would still effectively be the same as if you cut to black when Frodo dropped the ring in Mount Doom. No closure, no variation and plot holes. It's uncanny that Bioware think they can get away with it, people would burn down the cinema if they'd invested that much time in a movie as we have these games.
#13
Posté 11 mars 2012 - 08:31
nhcre8tv1
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Someone from another post that replied to me said an amazing one ; "Imagine at the end of a Lost Crusade Indiana Jones doesn't find the Holy Grail and instead discover it doesn't exist so the bad guys come in and kill him." Pretty good comparison right there.
Modifié par nhcre8tv1, 11 mars 2012 - 08:31 .
#14
Posté 11 mars 2012 - 08:31
Taleroth
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Also, at the end of Lord of the Rings, Aragorn is running away when the explosion of Mount Doom blinds him and Sam permanently. Why is Sam with Aragorn? Who knows.
Modifié par Taleroth, 11 mars 2012 - 08:31 .
#15
Posté 11 mars 2012 - 08:33
aimlessgun
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Wow this really puts things into perspective. Good examples.
#16
Posté 11 mars 2012 - 08:35
I_Jedi
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Half Life 2
The Gman tells you to slow-walk on an area of the Citadel and then take you out..
The Gman tells you to slow-walk on an area of the Citadel and then take you out..
#17
Posté 11 mars 2012 - 08:38
Apocsapel91
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Kitten Tactics wrote...
The hard part is that they could have had this if they just cut to credits with Anderson and Shepard.
Pretty much this.
#18
Posté 11 mars 2012 - 08:43
Tony208
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Few would care or they'll shrug it off soon because ultimately it's the writer's story in those franchises. We "supposedly" shape Shepard's story and it's a huge diss to us that we in fact didn't.
#19
Posté 11 mars 2012 - 08:49
lucidfox
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Oh, how about another BioWare franchise?
Dragon Age: Origins:
As you ready to deliver the final blow to the archdemon, exchanging happy, if tired, glances with Alistair... you both collapse from exhaustion as the battle of the darkspawn horde rages around you.
SUDDENLY! The sky parts and the Maker appears in all his divine glory. He explains that he created the darkspawn as an eternal reminder of the hubris of mages, and as long as magic exists, so will the darkspawn always emerge in Blights to cull the decadent populations of the world.
He then gives you three choices:
1. Kill all the darkspawn around the world, but also destroy the Wardens and all magic, including the very Circle you saved, Wynne, Morrigan, and all Dalish keepers everywhere. If the Warden is a mage, they die too, unless you've grinded some meaningless stat on your journeys, in which case the Warden is merely stripped of magic (insert some nonsense about divine will and destiny). The world is awashed with a wave of red light.
2. Become the new archdemon and lead the darkspawn back into the Deep Roads. The world is awashed with a wave of blue light.
3. Afflict the entire world with little bits of darkspawn taint, basically turning all humans, elves, dwarves and Qunari everywhere into Wardens, with everything it entails. The world is awashed with a wave of green light.
In all cases, the world explodes into magically preserved islands. Oh, and if you haven't grinded enough of the generic stat, then Denerim is obliterated and its island becomes barren. Your companions are stranded on a different island with no hope of rescue.
The end.
Dragon Age: Origins:
As you ready to deliver the final blow to the archdemon, exchanging happy, if tired, glances with Alistair... you both collapse from exhaustion as the battle of the darkspawn horde rages around you.
SUDDENLY! The sky parts and the Maker appears in all his divine glory. He explains that he created the darkspawn as an eternal reminder of the hubris of mages, and as long as magic exists, so will the darkspawn always emerge in Blights to cull the decadent populations of the world.
He then gives you three choices:
1. Kill all the darkspawn around the world, but also destroy the Wardens and all magic, including the very Circle you saved, Wynne, Morrigan, and all Dalish keepers everywhere. If the Warden is a mage, they die too, unless you've grinded some meaningless stat on your journeys, in which case the Warden is merely stripped of magic (insert some nonsense about divine will and destiny). The world is awashed with a wave of red light.
2. Become the new archdemon and lead the darkspawn back into the Deep Roads. The world is awashed with a wave of blue light.
3. Afflict the entire world with little bits of darkspawn taint, basically turning all humans, elves, dwarves and Qunari everywhere into Wardens, with everything it entails. The world is awashed with a wave of green light.
In all cases, the world explodes into magically preserved islands. Oh, and if you haven't grinded enough of the generic stat, then Denerim is obliterated and its island becomes barren. Your companions are stranded on a different island with no hope of rescue.
The end.
Modifié par lucidfox, 11 mars 2012 - 09:03 .
#20
Posté 11 mars 2012 - 08:52
Gojeran
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lucidfox wrote...
Oh, how about another BioWare franchise?
Dragon Age: Origins:
As you ready to deliver the final blow to the archdemon, exchanging happy, if tired, glances with Alistair... you both collapse from exhaustion as the battle of the darkspawn horde rages around you.
SUDDENLY! The sky parts and the Maker appears in all his divine glory. He explains that he created the darkspawn as an eternal reminder of the hubris of mages, and as long as magic exists, so will the darkspawn always emerge in Blights to cull the decadent populations of the world.
He then gives you three choices:
1. Kill all the darkspawn around the world, but also destroy the Wardens and all magic, including the very Circle you saved, Wynne, Morrigan, and all Dalish keepers everywhere. If the Warden is a mage, they die too, unless you've grinded some meaningless stat on your journeys, in which case the Warden is merely stripped of magic (insert some nonsense about divine will and destiny). The world is awashed with a wave of red light.
2. Become the new archdemon and lead the darkspawn back into the Deep Roads. The world is awashed with a wave of blue light.
3. Afflict the entire world with little bits of darkspawn taint, basically turning all humans, elves, dwarves and Qunari everywhere into Wardens, with everything it entails.
In all cases, the world explodes into magically preserved islands. Oh, and if you haven't grinded enough of the generic stat, then Denerim is obliterated and its island becomes barren. Your companions are stranded on a different island with no hope of rescue.
The end.
This^^
