23455 réponses à ce sujet

[NikolaiShade]

Great game!
For the endings: let's face the Truth (pun intended) they feel out of character and out of setting. For the argument about a happy ending, it should have been an option, not an easy one but still an option. Personally, I foresaw an outcome where Shepard died, but it's just me.

Indoctrination theory? Maybe. The strangest thing is this theory seems to be the only explanation for almost all the plotholes and strange hints.

On a side note, I don't think ME's writers sat down a day and just conceived theese endings. Come on, even a six year old kid could have been able to tell them they were going to face some problems with the fans.

Bioware told some of the greatest stories I ever saw in a videogame so hope remains this is just a mass attempt at indoctrination

[Zeju]

!!!

We don't want you to discuss it with us, we want you to discuss it with the dev team!!!

Giving appreaciation to Shepard. Yeah this will be hard.

Which bit is my favourite, the one where he kills 90% of the populas, destroys the relays, and blows up the Geth and EDI.

The one where he turns into a reaper.

Or the one where he turns everyone into biodrioids.

Where's Goku when you need him. Sheesh. He could die AND come back to life. He was badass.

[Setrah]

Ok, ME3 was great... right until the end, when I took an arrow in the knee and a Reaper to the face.
You see, despite everything, Mass Effect is a GAME. And in the game you are supposed to WIN. Whatever the ending was, I felt anything but it being a WIN. I expected a difficult and unusual final boss confrontation, something utterly new and awesome: think Deathwing in World of Warcraft. Instead I got Marauder Shields () and ten minutes of lumping around. Yes, TIM scene was fine, but it doesn't change the overall feel. You said it was "bittersweet", instead it was "WTF?" Suddenly all of my choices throughout the game did not matter anymore. What's the point of struggling if you end up with basically one option in three different colours? And you don't really even get to feel the difference between them.

The cover said "take Earth back". But it felt more like "destroy galactic civilization, taking away their main source of survival - mass relays". At least Reapers would have wiped them fast and easy; now they are left to starve in the ruins.

I still hope that it was not true, because it's an utter disappointment. I hope that there will be this rumored DLC which shows us that it all was a dream and my good old Garrus is slapping my face and helping me get back up after that blast I took, and we go and kick some Reaper ass. Because it was a Pyrrhic victory, if you can call that victory at all. Had I known it would end like this, I'd stay and defend that nuke on Virmire myself.

I know nobody will read this among hundreds of pages, and even if someone does, it won't go further than some lowest forum representative or something. I won't start screaming "u suck I won't buy a single bioware game again", because it's useless. But I'm disappointed. I really am. I was so excited about the game, and while the overall gameplay was great (apart from RPG part and cool dialogue options, but that's a different story), the ending was just so sad - not "in-universe sad", but just sad how such an awesome series ended up on such... I don't know... Now I just don't want to play ME3 campaign again. What's the point?

Please, Bioware, do what the community wants. We can wait months, we can wait a year, but give the series a proper ending. Even if you don't think that fans deserve it - the game itself deserves it.

I am Commander Shepard, and this is my longest post on the BSN. Please don't let it go in vain.

Modifié par Setrah, 18 mars 2012 - 01:58 .

[jeweledleah]

wintervale wrote...

www.gamefront.com/mass-effect-3-ending-hatred-5-reasons-the-fans-are-right/

Dammit all. I originally came out in support of the ending. I can't do it anymore.

I think I let my emotional attachment to the universe, to Kaidan, get in the way of common sense.

as a fellow Kaidan fan - i have to ask.  common sence as in - accepting the endings we're given?  or common sense as in - the endings we were given are not the endings we were promised?

(me, I'd like for my Shepard not be a liar, when she said she'd be waiting when it was all over)

[Chronor]

@Flyers215

Either you are a troll, an ignorant boshtet, or living in denial.

If you enjoyed and UNDERSTOOD the ending that's awesome. Great for you.

However, can you honestly say that this ending (note the singular) is worthy of the ME lore? Can you honestly say that any of your decisions (remember this is a BIG selling point of the ME games) from your previous games had any noticeable (not miniscule) effect on the ending (note, again, the singular)? If you can answer yes, then I salute you as one of those with a unique view. Respect.

For me and a lot of others, we expect, and to an extent have the right to expect, wider variance in the promised ending. 16 was a number touted by BW et al. We got ONE. Closure was expected. We got SOME... during the game leading up to the ending.

For the life of me, I do not know how this is the product as advertised.

[darkmatter1414]

just going to throw in my 2 cents since you guys want to know.  The ending was an extreme let down, it leaves so many questions unanswered and it sort of makes the epic journey we make to get to the end, pointless.  All the different decions you make in mass effect 1-3 don't do anything to change your ending.

I dont know if you guys just ran out of time and had to throw something in there or what the deal was, but I'm not going to be buying any dlc for this game unless theres a serious patch put out to give some Real endings to this epic franchise.

[taloris]

AeronGreed wrote...

The indoctrination theory really gives me hope, no lie loool I'll admit i wasn't a big fan of the ending, but it's still an awesome game regardless.

I think people have to understand how much hard work goes into a game, let alone Mass Effect, and having that whole leaked script fiasco really is a punch to the face of the people working sooo hard on this game.

Yes we were promised an epic conclusion to Shepard's story with multiple endings depending on our choices throughout the whole trilogy, and we didn't get it; but the way the ending was set up gives hope to a bigger picture, something bioware can build on.

And if you're concerned about paying for DLC, don't you think a game of this scale, a game this good, deserves it? Enough people have probably pirated this game already (smh), and the developers don't deserve that. And they definitely don't deserve the abuse from raging fans, without them there would be no Mass Effect!

Believe in Bioware

I would expect having paid $80 for a game to actually have the beginning, middle AND actual end... not something that would stop just shy of a 'real ending' so they could make a quick buck off the people who have staunchly supported the series. Think of DLC as a dessert, sure it's nice but it shouldn't be absolutely essential. If this does turn out to be the case, well, if they think people are upset now... it's going to pale in comparison. I would like to think Bioware, despite being part of EA now, would be better than that.

But at the same time I wouldn't be surprised. My inner cynic is keeping me grounded on this one I think.

I think a lot of people do actually understand the work that goes into something like this, and I'm not hearing that much complaints about the game as a whole, you can go through this thread and find so many people pointing out the things they loved about it. It's just how they handed the ending that's causing the uproar. I, for one, would have been happy to wait a while until they needed time to finish properly, not simply lump a 10 minute ending that contradicted everything they promised and didn't make even the tiniest shred of sense. 

[wsandista]

The ending was definitely not something i would expect from the ME writers, did they just take a day off a let M. Night Shyamalan write it. Whatever happened just give us the closure we paid $60 for.

[jeweledleah]

wsandista wrote...

The ending was definitely not something i would expect from the ME writers, did they just take a day off a let M. Night Shyamalan write it. Whatever happened just give us the closure we paid $60 for.

or $80 in case of those of us with collector's edition

[Danielsun2]

First off let me say i enjoyed mass effect 3 it was a real rollercoaster ride of a game, very exciting
however like most of you here i did not enjoy the ending one bit, nether did most of the people i know
but i have a question
hmm actually the more i think about it as i right this comment the more and more it makes less sense and gives rise to new questions, but anyway just with the one question

if the mass relays blow up, then how can there be any life left in the galaxy, given the fact that the mass relays explode with the force of a supernova (according to biowares very own downloadable content for me2) and that most star systems have a mass relay wouldnt the ending just leave joker and the crew, (not sure how they all got on board but there we go) 

doesnt even let you have everyone is stranded in the sol system, because the mass relay for the sol system would have destroyed everything

i apologise for any errors but its very early in the morning for me

[Rashala]

Again Has ANYONE offical weighted in here about all this?

[Mundas]

Everything upto and including Andersons death was a beautifully crafted narrative. The cameos, the friendships built, the sacrifices made, everything fit, it was to me perfect.

In 2007 you began something epic with ME1, i played a game that was more engaging, imaginative and emotive than any of the mundane, identikit movies i've watched in the last 10yrs. A game that was shaped by the choices i made, from start to finish i was in awe. (and yes i even loved bouncing around in that rhino of a vehicle). The ending blew me away, it was unbelievably satisfying yet left the door open for the next chapters in the story arc, truly masterful. It's no exaggeration to say that when the end credits rolled, i just sat there and applauded.

In 2010 with the release of ME2 i was again drawn back into the amazing Mass Effect universe, with another compelling narrative. A darker story, more choices to wrestle with, more raw emotion, Bioware again at its best.

Everything was set to get that same experience one last time with ME3. It had lived upto all expectations; a bigger story, more complex and provoking choices, emotions and tension were at breaking point. Characters were as incredably realised and believable as ever, introductions and deaths were handled superbly. The scenes of loss with ex-crew members were touching and beautiful (Mordin, Legion i salute you and Thane you kicked Kai Lengs ass!). It was all perfect, everything up until THAT ending.

To say i was disappointed would be an understatment, i was deflated, emotionless i felt robbed of any closure. To say it was a bad ending would be unfair, but it was an ending that did not fit the epic Mass Effect universe, it deserved much better. It had a bitter/sweet sacrifice sure, i could accept that as one of my playthrough endings, but a God child with "space magic" NO. As hard as i try i cannot fathom or come up with legitimate reason for the Joker and Normandy scenes. How is it that my LI and ground team end up back aboard, plot holes and a lack of context run rampent. I apologise if i am not intelligent enough to comprehend the profound message you might be trying to convey, but i just don't get it. Something along the lines of if there is still a small amount of hope left, then the sacrifice was worth it, i don't know?

It's a three game masterpiece reduced to mediocrity within the space of 5mins. To say there are 16/17 endings is cheap, they are slight variations of the same end with different colour palettes. It's a culmination of three amazing and huge journeys wrapped up in a few underwhelming minutes. Call me greedy but i would like a more substantial Swan Song. As for the "God VI" i agree it is bold idea to go with, but for me it is a step to far. It completely undoes the lore of the "alien and unknowable Reapers", who's motives we can't comprehend. By turning them into mere tools of something else. The VI's introduction comes far to late to serve any consequence other than overcomplicating and ruining the stories end.

For a trilogy that has been almost a decade in the making and so obviously a labor love, i find it hard to believe Bioware wanted it to go out with the whimper it has. If so what happened, did EA make it clear that it had to be out the door this financial quarter? Thus it was rushed out unfinished with this ending shoehorned in. I understand multiple proper endings reflecting player choices would have been a huge maybe impossible undertaking, however ME3 needed/deserved that treatment.

If the above is not true, i can respect your artistic direction, Mass Effect ended the way you wanted it to, for you. But for a game that has always been about player choices and their subsequent consequences, it did not end the way i wanted/should for me and my Sheperd. Multiple playthroughs, hundreds of hours of passionate gaming to get to this point. Then i am forced to choke down three indistinct choices and recieve the same ending as everyone else, EPIC fail.

I want the culmination of MY choices to mean something, to shape the galaxy i've been trying to save, to see and understand their impact on future generation. Not have it all count for nought and be thrown out the window because i'm forced to accept a flawed logic and make a choice i don't want to. Hell if i was able i would have taken that pistol i used to gun down Marauder Shields, (sorry about that buddy, i now realise you were only trying to spare me heartache) and blown my brains out. Like in the vein style of Saren and TIM rather than be dictated to by some random "Star Child". I brokered peace between the Quarians and Geth, i helped my ships AI form a meaningful relationship with one of its crew. MY Sheperd would have found another way.

I would like to be able to end the game on my terms as a result of the choices i made, not send the galactic community back to the stoneage no matter what i do. I want my Sheperd to be able to die a martyr in a blaze of glory, walk off into the sunset with his LI. Or even fail so miserably that the Reapers win and the cycle begins again. Sheperd's story deserves a proper ending. It's not just because it ends on a sour note or that it's soulless (ironic seeing how i felt it sucked mine from me) or devoid of any real meaning. It's because it negates players input and years of effort, at the very last hurdle control is ripped away from us. Nothing i did during my journey ultimately mattered when it came down to it. Which is sad because i now have no reason to play ME1, 2 or 3 ever again as nothing i do will ever make a difference.

So i beg you Bioware give me a reason (or a few preferably) to invest hundreds of hours into ME3, let us end the commanders journey in style, let me have my "little blue children"

Modifié par Mundas, 18 mars 2012 - 02:18 .

[PARAGON87]

wintervale wrote...

www.gamefront.com/mass-effect-3-ending-hatred-5-reasons-the-fans-are-right/

This is a great article.  BioWare should take note of it.

[Zopane]

This will probably have little relevance of the current discussion for the last few pages, but I figured I might as well add some personal input on the official forums instead of other social sites. Tons of repetitive points from others who probably can put it much better than myself.

Since completely the game last week, I've been in this countless cycle of emotions.

- Scraping the bottle of the barrel with the ending- with how empty I felt that my decisions, the allies I've allied with, the conversations I've had, the relationships I created, the missions I've completed, have no meaning.

- Anger and confusion that after all that we've done, we're presented with three options that reflect none of that, that if we had just gotten enough EMS rating, we'd have the same options as if we had played it for over 75+ hours and multiple playthroughs from game one to game three.

- Acceptance that this is just some massive dose of brilliance (Indoctrination theory, dream theory, hallucination theory, etc, all slices of the same pie), and that maybe after some time, once "more people have played the game", we'll get our answers. We'll get a big pat on the back for figuring it out, and we'll get the endings we were "promised" and "paid" for, and there will be a huge celebration.

Sometimes it's pretty hard to be patient and just to simply wait. Sometimes I feel like, why should we even be playing this waiting game? Just how much of this could have been avoided with, if there is a "true" set of endings, delievering the complete product? Questions of all sorts springing up and just start the cycle anew.

I'm not here to fight for a "happy" ending, but just simply something that makes sense, offers the closure people need to retire their Shepards and prepare for the new hero of the new story of the same universe. There are people saying that we are just better off writing our own endings, and when I sit down to think of those possibilities, I'm just at a lost of where to even begin with all the confusion I have. Many people before me have mentioned all of these points in brilliant prose, so I won't even bother touching it.

Some people have mentioned that people are just having a hard time letting their Shepards go, and that's why a great growing number of people are so enraged and want a better ending. Yet those who have played Dragon Age: Origins, a large group were willing to sacrifice their Wardens for the greater good, whether it be because they didn't want to do the Ritual or for the sake of a love interest or for whatever reason. By sacrificing their Wardens, at least they saw that their sacrifice wasn't in vain, and that it was reflected and honored, and there was no sudden "gasp" as they rose from the dead hinting at something more that we have to "figure otu". If it had to be done, I'd be willing to sacrifice one of my Shepards to save the galaxy, because sometimes the smallest sacrifice of life is done for the greater good.

Yet even so, if my Shepards have taught me anything, it's that the impossible is possible. To come back from the dead with the help of Cerberus. To go on a suicide mission and have everyone, not just your squad mates, but your entire crew, survive with enough preparation? To be able to unite forces that have been at each others' throats for hundreds of years by having a similar cause to work towards to, and to let ashes to ashes or else "real blood" will flow? To, humor me, be able to have ~relations~ with another species with just some friendly warnings from Mordin? So what's wrong with surviving and retiring to some distant place with your LI after saving the galaxy?

This is fiction. This is not the real world. We are given the chance to become a character in a game and have some meaning, so why must we have the harshness and coldness of reality, suddenly reappear? Isn't that why a lot of people play games, to escape a few hours a day/week? To believe that our actions as the big hero would be reflected as they have been before in these sort of games?

And not even just in the game, my Shepards have given me the strength to go from letting everyone walk over me to be willing to stand up for myself. That, no, I don't have to agree with you, and yes, I can be right too. That if I'm ever in a situation that I've been in before, I can use what experience I've gained, and do better this time around. That there are people who are also invested in this fictional world, and that I can make friends who have the same tastes. Maybe BioWare was going for the whole philosophical approach of "no matter what you do, this is all you're going to get", but that just brings the point from before. This is fiction, and Shepard has always been about defeating the impossible, and maybe that's why I'm so willing to add my voice to this.

I know that Retake Mass Effect has donated to a worthy cause in all of this, myself included, and maybe that's all the positivity we'll get in our movement because to many, if Bioware "buckles" and "gives" us our endings, games as we see it will be tarnished forever by "entitled" (does anyone else feel like that word has been used far too much) fans. I respect BioWare for the choices they have made or have yet to make. It doesn't mean that I'll agree with them, but I respect them because, as so many people have stated, they have every right to do what they have and will do.

It just feels like the endings were a stab in the heart, with the blade twisted all for the sake of "seeing our responses" and "coming up with our own theories" or whatever they're doing. Maybe we're all going to get our words handed back to us when all of this is over with possible endings or closure. Maybe many of us, the, as they put it, "pasionate fans", will never purchase anything from Bioware because we felt betrayed with no closure given. I'd be sure as sad to see this wonderful universe go if there never was any clarity, because I see that with the endings presented to us with nothing more, is a great loss to a series that could have lived on and forever as an epic and not as a meme to which other great games would be compared to. I know I would wince if I heard someone younger, compare a game by "Oh no, don't play that, they pulled a BIoware".

tl;dr

I love this universe. I love everything that has been poured into it- the writing, the music (I'm playing sheet music with my piano instructor), the game play, the technology, the characters and races, the lore, the comics, the books, the merchandise, the fan art and stories from the fans. I love the lessons that we've taken from the story. I love seeing how the voice actors talk about the game and their fellow voice cast. I love the passion that everyone has for this series who are so willing to speak up, but if we are to just have additional DLC that leads up to the endings and nothing about the endings we have now comes to light, I would feel like I would need to walk away.

----

And glancing through the new pages in all the time it took me to write this (that we should be discussing things that could be fixed), I just feel like we all deserved to have our choices in the last two games as well as the third one, reflect the endings in true Shepard style instead of picking a color.

Have Shepard sacrifice themselves/have the Shepard live, and show at what cost it came based on our EMS rating (I would have much more fun playing multiplayer knowing it would go for something good instead of a "gasp" ending) and the allies made. Show what happens to those Shepard was closest to, and not just our squad mates of three, but of two as well (even if they just survived or not. The fans have already created amazing stories of Jack's possible future kids and how incredibly Jack-like they'd be). We did, afterall, get to talk to all of them before we went into the final battle.

There's no need to do the "and this is what happened to Shepard after they saved us, here's forty minutes of blue babies". I believe that's what should be left up to the player. Heck, bring back the emotional greatness of "From the Wreckage" and "The End Run" where we walk by our crew and then reunited with our loved ones, or if we did sacrifice ourselves, a proper memorial for those who did survived based on our decisions and EMS. Give us the closure we all felt like we were going to get. Use the possiblities of our actions (curing the genophage, helping the geth, helping the quarians), be reflected in the future games.

I've rambled enough, and I apologize for anyone who braved to read through all of that text that went everywhere and anywhere.

EDIT:

I loved everything about the game up until the ending. As someone who was loyal to Liara, and now experiencing the Garrus romance in another play-through, they did so well with the character interactions. Loved the roll options, and I could literally prattle on and on about everything I did love. I just wish I could prattle without getting angry about how something that was so great ended so poorly.

Modifié par Zopane, 18 mars 2012 - 02:58 .

[PhazeDelta1]

Casey Hudson Finally Talks About Mass Effect 3 Ending.
http://www.gamefront...ng-and-its-bad/

[wsandista]

Firestorm1980 wrote...

Casey Hudson Finally Talks About Mass Effect 3 Ending.
http://www.gamefront...ng-and-its-bad/

Thats a little old

http://www.forbes.co...mander-shepard/

this one is a little more recent

[AlphaScrewySam]

Firestorm1980 wrote...

Casey Hudson Finally Talks About Mass Effect 3 Ending.
http://www.gamefront...ng-and-its-bad/

To think I used to like that ****. He's essentially saying 'yeah, fvck you, we know you hate it but we're not changing sh-t'.

[dahilla]

Firestorm1980 wrote...

Casey Hudson Finally Talks About Mass Effect 3 Ending.
http://www.gamefront...ng-and-its-bad/

Well, I don't know how you guys feel about this, but I'm perfectly satisfied, knowing that our feedback will be "listened to" for the purposes of a multiplayer dlc. Because, really, that was the point <_<

Nice find, though, thanks for sharing this.

peace

[TrueMadayar]

Okay, to go to finding a solution...I offer an idea. Just one of my ideas, but just...consider:

Shepard: Where am I?

You are in the heart of the citadel.

Shepard: Who are you?

I am the catalyst.

Shepard: I thought the Citadel was the catalyst.

I am also the citadel.

Shepard: Why do you look like that?

Because you have this image in your head. It's so you can relate to me.

Shepard: Where did you came from?

I was created.

Shepard: By the reapers?

No. I created the reapers.

Shepard: Why?

Because I was created. Long before your time, a million cycles ago, I was made to stop chaos. Ever since, I did.

Shepard: Who created you?

Their names will not mean anything to you. I built worker drones in their image to help me keep me safe. You know them as "keepers".

Shepard: What was the chaos you were built to end?

Synthetics and organics had developed into a full fledged war. The galaxy was on the brink of destroying all forms of intelligent life. I was created to end the chaos. I was made to ensure life continues.

Shepard: But you destroy life.

Only the higher developed organic life. The one that develops synthetic life.

Shepard: Why not destroy synthetic life instead?

Because organic life would rebuild it.

A Shepard: What about the geth? Will they be destroyed, too?

If I destroy synthetic life, I would destroy myself. I tried to take them over, so they become part of me. You prevented it. I will try again, once you're gone.

Shepard: So you're synthetic?

Correct.

Shepard: Are you an AI?

I know what you mean by that. I am more than any AI you imagine. But I started at something you might refer to as AI. I have evolved every cycle.

Shepard: What is the crucible?

An Upgrade.

Shepard: An upgrade of what?

Me.

Shepard: What does it do?

It gives me the possibility to interact with you. And the possibility to change the cycle.

Shepard: Into what?

That is my decision.

Shepard: I want this war to end.

In what way?

Shepard: <paragon, renegade, neutral options>

Processing.

Shepard: <looks out, seeing a ship explode> How long will this take? Can you hold the reapers for now? We lose men and women every second we talk out there!

They came to prevent me from completing the cycle.

Shepard: Because they want to live!

Synthetics and organics cannot co-exist.

Shepard: Not true. <geth coexist with quarians as an example> <we can learn> <we never got a chance to resolve the problem> <EDI and Joker>

Your arguments are compelling. But the programming of the crucible must be adapted to mine.

Shepard: Then...bond with me. I'm partly synthetic. I was part of the Geth consensus. We can talk faster then. You can see what I saw and re-evaluate.

Processing. Possible.

Shepard: Can you hold the Reapers in position? An armistice. Then we talk.

I believe this to be possible.

Shepard: Give me a channel to talk with the others.

Whom?

Shepard: <admiral>, <love interest>, <Normandy>

You can talk now.

Shepard: Can you hear me? This is Commander Shepard. Retreat! Find shelter, just defend your positions. Do not engage until you hear from me again. <that is an order> <trust me>

...something along the lines of that. Explanation. After so much work, why not. It keeps the psychedelic option open. The bonding between synthetics and organics. But it also keeps the option of delaying. Observing the Geth-Quarian and EDI-Joker comeouts and reevaluate. Bring the Citadel back. And give Shepard the choice - unite all Synthetics and Organics (and remeeting Legion in synthetic concensus heaven), maybe with his LI joining him, alternatively delaying the decision for another cycle, or make him backstab the Citadel by destroying the programming and fighting down the reapers in 1-on-1 destruction. When he survives, he can choose to making him Councellor of the Humans and head of the new Galactic council at the replaced Citadel, staying on earth, rebuilding the human alliance, or retreat to whatever retirement he can have with the LI of his choice.

Modifié par TrueMadayar, 18 mars 2012 - 02:40 .

[dahilla]

wsandista wrote...

Thats a little old

http://www.forbes.co...mander-shepard/

this one is a little more recent

Ah. Ok.  Thanks.

peace

[PhazeDelta1]

wsandista wrote...

Firestorm1980 wrote...

Casey Hudson Finally Talks About Mass Effect 3 Ending.
http://www.gamefront...ng-and-its-bad/

Thats a little old

http://www.forbes.co...mander-shepard/

this one is a little more recent

thanks.  i was looking for that one but came across the one i posted instead. 

[Jvolikas]

I want my Shepard to matter.

Let me start by saying that for 98% of the game, ME3 was as good if not better than the first two and kept my emotional investment.  From Earth to Tuchanka to Rannoch to the Normandy and everywhere else, I incredibly enjoyed it.  Hell, the fact that I own it now says something as I NEVER buy games at launch, yet I've had the CE preordered since last June.  I was so excited to go through and finally take the Reapers head on and finish this story.  And for 2.98 games, that's what we got.  I savored every minute of the final fight on Earth (I must have spent at least an hour walking everywhere talking to every single squadmate and ME2 character possible and readying for that last push.  I spent over 120 hours with my Paragon Shepard across the last 3 games to accomplish the impossible.
And then Harbinger shot at Shepard.  But he didn't shoot at Shepard.  He shot at every single decision fans have made in this game for the last 5 years.  From the instant Shepard "wakes up" Mass Effect doesn't exist.  That walk to the beam?  Straight from frikin MODERN WARFARE's ending with the limp and pistol shots.  Anderson and the Illusive Man?  Okay, he's indoctrinated, and him making you shoot Anderson is dramatic and I can live with that, but if you don't do an interrupt and kill him you die yourself?  That's not right.  Should have been a boss fight there I don't care how "video gamey" it is.  We already did that in ME2 (the Human Reaper Terminator look-a-like was a tacked on boss fight but it was still epic) so that should have happened here with TIM if you don't do the paragon interrupt to make him shoot himself like Saren in ME1.  But, I can live with what we saw transpire.

What I can't live with is the StarChild.   

His entire existence goes against the lore and the game we played.  He controls the Citadel?  Then why was the Prothean sabotage of the Keepers never noticed?  If he's worried about synthetics killing organics, then why the hell were synthetics created to KILL ORGANICS?  That Xzibit meme is too perfect for this.  That explanation simply DOESN'T MAKE SENSE.  And why can't Shepard, who witnessed the Geth/Quarian peace and EDI's entire development in ME3 NOT ARGUE it?  Instead Shepard just blindly accepts that and goes against everything we know.  I picked the destroy option because it was the only one that Shepard would remotely do.  Synthesis forces everyone to change which goes against Shepard's entire principles and Control isn't any better because we watched EVERY SINGLE person who tried to control the Reapers become indoctrinated.  Destroy is the only one of the three that makes even a slight bit of sense for a player to choose.

But its not really a choice.  All we choose is the color.  No matter what "color", the Mass relays are destroyed (which condems Earth because destroying a Mass Relay is bad for the system as Arrival tells us), Joker and 2 other squadmates turn up on some random planet, and the Reapers either get blown up or just stop shooting and fly away.  Then we get (if you have enough EMS) 2 faceless Humans raising their arms for a half-second, and some old guy telling his kid about "the Shepard" X amount of years from now.  

What about the fallout?  Where was Hackett?  Where were the Council?  Where were all those fleets we spent the whole damn story getting?  Where was anybody WE CARED ABOUT afterwards?  It didnt feel like Mass Effect had ended it felt like some B-rate movie that nobody cared about.  If you were lucky, you got a chest shot of Shepard taking a breath and that's it.  THAT'S how Bioware chose to end 5+ years of commitment from their fans and however many more from the production team.  That's worse than a slap in the face to us, it's a punch to the heart.

What do I want?  I want that entire 15 minutes wiped away.  I want everything after Harbinger shooting at Shepard to be some kind of unconscious dream he has.  The Normandy landing on another planet can be explained as him having his friends get to safety and the Stargazer bit can be visualizing that his sacrifice worked.  Yes, it's lame, but you know what?  It's BETTER than what we were given.

I want to go onto the Citadel (WITH MY SQUADMATES, or at least 1 and 1 can die from Harbingers attack) and have some encounter with TIM similar to what we saw.  Then?  I want to see Harbinger himself.  I want that final conversation with him.  I want him to explain the Reaper motives as the dark energy theory, some other plausible reason, or hell, just follow Sovereign and say that Reapers are the most advanced and don't want another race to eventually rise up against them.  

I want that to determine what happens next.  Maybe Harbinger tells Shepard that if he gives himself, Reapers will spare the rest of the galaxy.  That can be an option, there can be an option where Shepard takes whatever TIM came up with to control the Reapers and try it himself (risking that it wont work), there can be some way to destroy them.  I want Shepard to have options.  And I want those options to hings on the War Assets we spent THE WHOLE GAME getting.  I want evidence of that number making a difference.  I want the Krogan fleets in action, the Geth, the Quarians, I want that united galaxy (or if I didnt get certain fleets see the Reapers winning those fights instead).  I'm okay with Shepard dying to save the rest of the galaxy (that has been strongly hinted since ME1), but I want to see the effect of the galaxy he saved.  And if I dont have enough EMS (which should be because of not doing everything, not refusing to play MP) then I want to fail.  I want to watch the Reapers take the galaxy and see Earth burn.  I want that burden of failure if I screwed up.  And whatever happens, I want some kind of epilogue to see how it all plays out.


The worst thing about all this isnt the endings, its the fact that I have 3 more imports (1 Renegade maleShep and then Paragon and Renegade FemSheps) ready to go, but I have absolutely NO desire to bring them through this.  I have NO desire to go through the entire story all over again just to have the "choice" of picking 3 colors.  This was supposed to be my main game until summer, but now?  Back to Skyrim and other games that actually give me some choice because I just can't bring myself to do this game knowing that ending is looming.

I want to have that desire again.

[TrueMadayar]

PARAGON87 wrote...

wintervale wrote...

www.gamefront.com/mass-effect-3-ending-hatred-5-reasons-the-fans-are-right/

This is a great article.  BioWare should take note of it.

Fully supporting the article. My reason for considering helping any rewrite, if wanted. It doesn't make sense. And it's...a 5 minutes hammer to end an epic, that doesn't fit or resolve.

[xFyre1]

Sorry, double post.

Modifié par xFyre1, 18 mars 2012 - 11:50 .

[TheCinC]

Good to hear that you guys are listening to the response ME3 is getting. I will tell you my favourite moment, but first things first, since you state you guys are waiting to hear more from people who have finished the game and I just did.

I bought the Collector's Edition, even ordered it twice (one physical, one Digital Deluxe through Origin, which I cancelled once the physical one was delivered) just to be sure I had it. After playing through ME1 and ME2 several times and seeing all the great ingame footage, knowing several of my favourite characters would be making an appearance, I really thought this game would be awesome. As so many have said, it was, except for the last ten minutes or so. Even after seeing all the flak the ending was getting, I remained hopeful and until the very last moment, there seemed to be a reason for it. Everything leading up to the end was good, great or awesome, with only a few minor complaints. But the three choices you were given and everything that happens afterwards? What is up with that? Please, I know you guys can do better! I didn't even understand at first which way to go for which choice or that, either way, the relays would be destroyed. WTF? Following something that bad (and bland) with an exhortation to buy more DLC? Please, you've -got- to be kidding me. But more on that elsewhere.

As for my favourite moment, however brief: the moment when the Quarian Admiral was convinced -not- to continue the attack on the Geth and my Femshep smiled, ever so briefly, in a very beautiful way. A needless war was stopped and amidst all the chaos, death and destruction, she was happy, if just for a moment.