I pre-ordered the collector’s edition of Mass Effect 3 – the first time I’ve ever done that for a video game. I counted the hours down until it arrived. I’ve played almost non-stop since then. Ended yesterday’s session ready to head out to destroy Cerberus. At the time, I was excitedly telling my husband all about it… how great the game was, how I envisioned playing over and over again. I was even considering buying a copy for my PS3 in addition to the one I purchased for my Xbox as a show of support/appreciation for your handiwork.
Last night, I was truly entertained. Amazed, even, at the depth of play, the involvement I felt, the attachment. I’ve never had more fun playing a video game. I cried when Mordin died! A video game did that to me. Wow. I was ready to buy your entire catalog, repeatedly and forever. I was ready to start up ME 1&2 again and try some different choices (mind you, these are games I’ve already played seven ways to Sunday!!) I was already forming my apologies to husband and dogs for the many future hours they’d be deprived of my company whilst I immersed myself in your world yet again.
Cut to today – devastation. The endings were all terrible!!!! They rendered every choice I made, everything my character fought for, completely worthless. My first ending attempt (synthesis, Shepard dead, galaxy stranded as there were no relays, etc) left me utterly bereft. I tried the other choices – ack! Still bad, worse even and now I am becoming increasingly confused. Surely this wasn’t where you fine folks were going to leave me?
What had I done wrong?? Other than choosing NOT to do multi-player (I don’t do multi – if I wanted to interact with my fellow humans I’d sit down with my friend for poker), I completed every mission, gathered every resource… surely if life as Shepard and the gang knows it was changing forever, she’d at least get the chance to live it with them? What’s with this crazy end scene with Joker et. al climbing out of the Normandy, which was fleeing the fight before it crashed??? I don’t understand any of it.
So I fly to the internet… it will tell me, help me figure out how I screwed it up. After all, my first Shepard in ME2 got half her team killed before I got THAT game right. And find only other bewildered, formerly devoted followers of the ME story like myself. Having read about all the possible endings, I find myself with absolutely no desire to try them as they all lead to the same unsatisfying end result. Why would I bother to play the game anymore, or again? Spend time curing the genophage, for what? Quarians and geth… for what? I don’t know that I’ll ever play any of the games again now. I don’t want to purchase any more DLC etc. (you could easily have picked my pocket off the ME world for quite a bit more)
Worse still, I’m crushed. My heart is broken. I had expected to be sad when I finished – the bittersweet sadness of reaching the end of a great story. There is nothing quite like the feeling of finishing an amazing tale the first time, though there is comfort in knowing you can always pick the book up again. This time, I’m numb, I’m cheated, I’m angry.. but most importantly, I’m done. I don’t want to be part of this story again.
You earned my affection for ME – all of them. I’d even say I got my $80 of entertainment in the play I had between the game start up to the ending. But you tossed away the affection… I won’t buy from you again if endings like this are ok by you.
Fix it and I’ll be back. Otherwise, my thanks for 90% of a great ride and best wishes in your future endeavors.
Modifié par victoriakm, 10 mars 2012 - 11:50 .
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