23455 réponses à ce sujet

[bleetman]

I'd say my favourite Shepard moment was the bit between the start of ME1 and the end of ME3. Hey, you never said there was a time limit on how long the moment could be, right? Right?

I suppose if I had to pick one specifically, uuuuuuuh. Hmm.

...

This might take a while.

[Rothgar49]

chosen_trekie wrote...

I would like to start off by thanking everyone at Bioware for thier hard work on what has been an incrediable series of games. 

I really enjoyed Mass Effect 3, there were some minor things that bugged me at first, like how I can't holster my weapons anymore, but they were easily overlooked.  I thought that the dialoge between the characters was amazing, probably some of the best in the series.

However, like many, I felt the endings were lacking.  Mass Effect has alwys been about Sheaperd's choices and how they effect the galaxy, but we don't get to see the final resoulution to most of our choices.  In the end it felt like we were being given a choice between door #1, door #2, or door #3, and all doors opened into the same room.  Please, don't let Mass Effect go out like that.

Once again I would like to thank everyone for thier time and hard work.

I'd like to echo the above. Great game, but not over yet

[Eumerin]

I enjoyed a lot of the small subtle touches that added little bits of character.  For instance, at one point on Mars, Liara asks Shepard what he's fighting for.  I don't remember Shepard's exact response, but it's something along the lines of fighting for what's important to him personally...  and then he pauses and looks meaningfully at Ash (my Shepard's LI, who is looking the other way at the moment and oblivious to the conversation).

Made the "completely out of left field, and what is the Normandy doing THERE!?" ending all the more incongruous.

[LTKerr]

hellfirexii wrote...

Give credit to the person who wrote this

But this is quite possibly the most beautiful way to end such an incredible series.

http://www.reddit.co...what_im_hoping/

PLEASE, I implore you to read this, it adds so much to the experience. I have loved the series. The writing is powerful and the character have their own personalities that we have come accustomed to. The way you ended the game does not follow the personas that have been created. The way they en now isn't necessarily bad, they are incomplete, they feel like that they lead into a bigger scene, but alas they don't. I can partially understand why this was done, but it doesn't fall under the reputation that you guys at BioWare have created for yourselves.

I love it! At least it feels more like a Mass Effect ending than that crap we already have.

[MzAdventure]

ld1449 wrote...

Are you really listening Bioware? Because as far as I can tell you have 32 pages here, and 1200 plus pages in another thread, rising every minute with hundreds, if not thousands of people saying the same thing. Your fanbase has achieved consensus.

Virtually everything before the ending was amazing and in a grand total of 5 to 10 minutes you effectively managed to destroy three games of beautiful sci-fi lore and beat the trust your fans had in you to death with a rock.

+1

[DextroDNA]

Edit: No swearing here. 

Modifié par Chris Priestly, 15 mars 2012 - 05:09 .

[Srefanius]

Chuloos wrote...

Chris Priestly wrote...

We appreciate everyone’s feedback about Mass Effect 3 and want you to know that we are listening. Active discussions about the ending are more than welcome here, and the team will be reviewing it for feedback and responding when we can. Please note, we want to give people time to experience the game so while we can’t get into specifics right now, we will be able to address some of your questions once more people have had time to complete the game. In the meantime, we’d like to ask that you keep the non-spoiler areas of our forums and our social media channels spoiler free.
 
We understand there is a lot of debate on the Mass Effect 3 ending and we will be more than happy to engage in healthy discussions once more people get to experience the game. We are listening to all of your feedback.

In the meantime, let's give appreciation to Commander Shepard. Whether you loved the ME3 ending or didn't or you just have a lot of questions, he/she has given many of us some of the best adventures we have had while playing games. What was your favorite moment?

Chris.

I'll put it here for all to see.  I am 57 years old - a Tolkein, Heinlein, Asimov, Eddings, Margaret Weiss and Tracy Hickman --- well.. you get the picture.. fan.  Legendary story tellers.. there is no doubt.  And with that said.. I found myself immersed in Mass Effect from the start.  A Legendary story in and of itself. 

But, it was more than just a story.  I not only could read and see the story, I was a part of it.  Building friendships and relationships (albeit fictional characters), yet.. still emotional investment all the same.

Each segment be it ME1 or ME2 had it's heart stopping or heart breaking moments.  But nothing in either of those prepared me for ME3. 

I didn't buy any guide for the game.  I just played.  On the first play through, I didn't save Kelly Chambers.  I didn't know you could.  I was hurt when I heard she was killed by Cerberus.  In the same playthrough, I didn't meet Miranda for the 3rd time, and she died at Santuary.  I shed a tear.

Thane went down fighting, Mordin got it right.  I stil felt man tears well up.  Yes Legion the answer to your questions is Yes.  I literally teared up.

How do you parse the 'favorite parts' of an epic?  The whole Rannock (Legion) segments were excellent.  The writers and devs did a Fantastic job.   I took the unite Geth/Quarian path.

You could feel the desperation building as Palavan was under attack.  You could actually feel the pain of so many throughout the game. 

When Thessia fell.. and Cerberus beat me out of the Prothean data.. I felt.. beaten.

My love interest was Ashley on the first run, and then back to my Liara on the second.  The Liara segments were beautiful and masterful. I totally teared up.  The time capsule, the romance, the final kiss in the stars.  Liara.. come find me again in the rubble.

The fleet battles were just magnificent.  I wish there was more of them.  Excellent, excellent visuals.

There were so many good things in ME3.  So many emotional hits (mostly sad) because you knew this was the end.  I teared up plenty.  Congratulations on an epic....

And.... then.. the endings.. I was completely crushed... devastated.  What happened?   Why?  All the magnificence, beauty, glory, hope, dreams, and even the sacrifices seem to be thrown out the door.  I did all three endings... and even with NG+ with 6800+ EMS, and nothing changed.. I am so dissappointed.

Thank you at least.. for 2 and 4/5s great games.

I only can quote this, very well written, I got so emotional invested in these games and ME3 did an awesome job with that, but then this ending. No closure and for me it just felt like a defeat and not like a victory. I am loving your characters and thats why I just want a better fate for them.

If you ask for a favorite moment chris, well, its impossible to decide. There were so many epic moments and so damn well written lines... Its the best written game ever if you ask me and thats why it deserves a much much better and satisfying ending.

Modifié par Srefanius, 15 mars 2012 - 05:09 .

[BTDUBS]

BiowarE, you have truly created something special, a universe that I hold near and dear. As a screenwriting student at a well respected film school, a couple of my professors and I cannot understand why the endings had to break the narrative themesp late in th story. I still trust you Bioware and do not fret as Dickens had to change Great Expectations as everyone found that too depressing. Fix this and all of my children will be named Commander Shepard.

[taelus.calimshan]

spacefiddle wrote...

taelus.calimshan wrote...

Captain Arty wrote...

Chris150150xx wrote...

Also, why do you have to wait for more people to play the game before you can answer? There's clearly an issue, with 10's of thousands of people lodging complaints about the ending. Do you think magically that's going to go away? Maybe after a unicorn will deliver your lunch.

You have a problem, you know what it is. Address it in a meaningful way.

Remember it was only released 11 days ago. The overwhelming reaction has clearly shown them there is a problem. I'm okay with giving them some time to think it over. And we don't want to spoil the ending (even if it's already rotten) for those still playing the game.

This.

They have good reason not to respond too openly about the endings at this point.  The game is still incredibly young and anything to actively discuss the endings stands the chance of harming the experience of gamers who couldn't devote 50+ hours within 2 weeks like the rest of us have.  They've said they're listening and give them credit, because that's a lot more than *many* developrs would do.

THIS IS THE SPOILERS FORUM!  I don't get your logic at all!  We've BEEN discussing the endings!  And the beginnings, and the middles, and... this argument does not.  Hold up.  At all.  And common sense + critical thinking tells me that .  

If they respond to the endings issue on the Spoilers forum, no way that stays here.  That'll be all over Kotaku and IGN and G4 in a heartbeat.  It'll hit very public media where it almost can't be avoided.  That's why they have to wait.  Amusingly, it's because of our strong response that they have to wait, so we can kind of blame ourselves for being so vocal...in a really weird way...

[MysticBinary82]

Visserian99 wrote...

What I liked, everything but the ending really. I loved the mission on Tuchanka where you cure the genophage. I loved the final mission on Rannoch, when you had to use the laser guidance gun on the Reaper. I loved Mordin's and Legion's sacrifice. I loved Garrus and Shep just having some awesome friend time shooting bottles on the Citadel. I loved Tali getting drunk. I loved the final farewells on the battlefield before the end, and the final kiss between my Shep and Kaidan. Hell the entire same sex relationship with Kaiden was touching, beautiful, honest, and didn't ignore their history. I absolutely loved the conversation with Anderson and Shep on the Citadel. God damn, I have to stop myself because I may just end up listing every scene in the game, it all was just that damn good except the ending.

My thoughts exactly.
I was happy to have my long wanted BroShep and Kaidan relationship. That was also the reason why I hate the ending. My Shep found love just too loose it so soon again. That is not fair!

[DyneEnigma]

I'm one of the ones against the ending, but I still loved the game until that point. I think one of the most epic moments was when Thane stepped in and fought Kai Leng. Even being terminally ill, he's still a badass.

[casedawgz]

Chris Priestly wrote...

We appreciate everyone’s feedback about Mass Effect 3 and want you to know that we are listening. Active discussions about the ending are more than welcome here, and the team will be reviewing it for feedback and responding when we can. Please note, we want to give people time to experience the game so while we can’t get into specifics right now, we will be able to address some of your questions once more people have had time to complete the game. In the meantime, we’d like to ask that you keep the non-spoiler areas of our forums and our social media channels spoiler free.
 
We understand there is a lot of debate on the Mass Effect 3 ending and we will be more than happy to engage in healthy discussions once more people get to experience the game. We are listening to all of your feedback.

In the meantime, let's give appreciation to Commander Shepard. Whether you loved the ME3 ending or didn't or you just have a lot of questions, he/she has given many of us some of the best adventures we have had while playing games. What was your favorite moment?

Thanks Chris, good to know. Despite whatever issues I may have with the ending, I absolutely loved the game. My favorite moment was definitely the last talk with Wrex on Tuchanka before going to lure the thresher maw. He called me his brother 

[KelaSaar]

There were so many parts of this game that I absolutely loved: the emergency induction port, Vega's flirting, ending the Quarian/Geth conflict by yelling, all things Eve, killing Kai Leng, the list goes on. Then the ending came and ruined all of it. Then I found the indoctrination theory and began to feel a lot better about the whole thing.

[Morph.hu]

i can't name a favourite moment. i dont like to over-glorify games, but ME3 was simply epic. i dont remember when i had such a single player experience. maybe with deus ex 1. though the two games are quite different, but still.
the best gaming experience i had in the last five years. so if i should name a favourite moment? from leaving earth with the piano solo in the background, till Hackett asks for Shep's help after Anderson's demise. a one, really long favourite moment.

and still, the last 10 minutes crushed my heart. how is the saying? you are only as good as your last note? i think.

this is why i'm happy that you guys are listening. hope you can and will fix the game, so I can have my 10+ playthroughs happily.

Modifié par Morph.hu, 15 mars 2012 - 05:10 .

[MzAdventure]

Eumerin wrote...

I enjoyed a lot of the small subtle touches that added little bits of character.  For instance, at one point on Mars, Liara asks Shepard what he's fighting for.  I don't remember Shepard's exact response, but it's something along the lines of fighting for what's important to him personally...  and then he pauses and looks meaningfully at Ash (my Shepard's LI, who is looking the other way at the moment and oblivious to the conversation).

Made the "completely out of left field, and what is the Normandy doing THERE!?" ending all the more incongruous.

FemShep/Kaidan romance played here, same moment, same chills...

gp

[BalooTheBear]

I'm pretty sure that everything I want to say has already been said here so I will keep it brief.

firstly thank you for getting back to us. Please keep us informed of any news/ updates. (Also if you could not take too long, thought would be great. the hope is killing me! )

I would also like to thank bioware for all the Mass effect games. Never have games made such an impact on me.

In this game I laughed so much, loved the squad interactions, and cried like a little girl. The goodbyes with you're squad before the final push were beautiful and the relationship with Garrus was too wonderful for words (gushy I know, but true).

But, I don't think, at least at the moment, I can play the Mass Effect games again because of the ending. Knowing that no matter what I do it will always end up like that it just too horrible, it cannot be cancelled out by the amazingness of the rest of the games.

The ending made no sense, had more plot holes than you can shake a stick at, had no closure and was completely out of character. What on Earth happened to choice? What happened to all the choices we made. What happens to our crew and the rest of the galaxy? What happens to Shepard.

How you can end it like this I just don't know. Why could we not choose our ending like we could in other games. Yes I want my happy ending, like others want a sacrifice ending but ME should give various people what they want. I appreciate you can't make everyone happy but at the moment so few people are happy.

And the point is a new ending with actual options and choice should be given where you're play throughs matter. And I can't see myself playing again until this happens (including buying new DLC's).

*And now for the less objective - Please please let my Shepard get her happy ending. I know it cannot be a truly happy ending, too many people have died. But her and Garrus together, and knowledge of what happens to others, and a proper explanation is what I really want.*

[Miraider]

At least they have plan. I hope that they gonna present it before everyone stops care.

[Kerrija]

The game was absolutely amazing.
It supplied me with proper, apocalyptic mood on Thessia that made me really want to kick the Reapers butts and the interaction with the squadmates was great. The friendship with Garrus, Tali's struggle over her homeworld, and even Vega was much much better than I imagined (or feared?).
Liara as the Love Interest in my first (and so far only) playthrough was excellently written in the same way as  in LotSB (which was great btw.), although a few bugs managed to find their way into her dialogue (or was it a design feature that my relationship choices in LotSB were being ignored?).
I enjoyed the game immensely right up to the last 10 to 15 minutes (I guess you are kind of used to hearing that by now). Everything that happened after being hit by Harbinger feels like a bad dream because it absolutely destroyed the whole trilogy for me and I simply can't believe you really put that plot-hole filled (wtf was Joker doing...and Liara and the rest of my mates:huh:), nonsensical lose-lose-lose-situation in the game to finish off such a grand series, which always was about achieving the impossible and (most importantly) about choice. I won't lie here and claim that I wouldn't want a happy ending with my LI but what I do wnat is the possibility of reaching such an end. Make me work for it, hell if I had to go back to change one decision in ME1 that kept me from reaching that I would do it.
Make a few endings that truly feel different, let the reapers win, let the losses be astronomic but try to send off this series in a way it will be remembered fondly, and not because it broke my heart and my will to ever touch anything Mass Effect again. I have quite a few Sheps that sit at the end of ME2 and will never set foot in ME3 because, what's the point of it all. And the same goes to any side-mission-DLC that has no impact upon this most bleak of endings.....

Tl;Dr: You made an amazing game that somehow fell flat on its nose in the final (most important) moments of its story. The journey was great but doesn't matter one bit if the destination is predetermined to be awful. Please Bioware, be the grandiose Storytellers that you lot were in times of BG, KotOR, JadeEmpire und Mass Effect again.

[OSUfan12121]

Probably near the end when you have your final talk with Garrus, that banter is probably the most emotional of the game for me.

[jeweledleah]

random but related. watching a news segment about newest commercial for huggies diapers. commercials take money to make and run, yes? there are a lot more fathers involved in child rearing then there are Mass Effect players. the ad showed fathers as incompetent and offended some of them. it took 1332 signatures before the company pulled the ad and apologized.

there are 10s of thousands of people who are dissatisfied with the endings to varying degree. so why is less then 2000 people good enough for company as big as Kimberly Clark (selling to a much larger market no less), but 40k + people is a " small minority" and should be ignored? this is not a question to bioware as they do seem to be listening as this thread and others show, its a question to people who claim that bioware shouldn't listen.

just random musings of the day.

/continues to do the best to stay patient untill official statement.

[cyrrant]

Mordin's sacrifice and just how angry I was at Cerberus after they beat me to the punch on Thessia. I was so mad I started muttering to myself.

The game is 99% exactly what I wanted. It's a pity that the last 1% departs so fully from the epic hero story that has been Mass Effect and then spins wildly out of control. The scene with Shep and Anderson on the Citadel was pitch-perfect...and then we went all 2001: A Space Odyssey. No ability to refute the Catalyst's claims, three choices that aren't actually choices, and an end scene that leaves more questions. Where was Joker going!?

[Dot.Shadow]

Drunk Tali. Nothing compares, best moment of the game no doubt. I can't even look at straws straight anymore without laughing.

The rage I felt after Thessia was also a major moment. Well done achieveing something like that.

Worst moment, emotionally wise was when Tali desperately wanted more time with Shepard. I almost want to cry just thinking about it.

Mordin going down like a baws was also quite epic.

Favourite section was all of the Rannoch mission. That was just perfection.

Modifié par Dot.Shadow, 15 mars 2012 - 05:13 .

[johhnytrash]

The game had a great weave of plot threads. Each Chapter ended with enough distilled awesome for an ending to an entire game. I'm really curious what happened to the ending we received. I don't even care if it gets changed or patched.

Seriously.

What happened?

[Flash Aron]

Schirach wrote...

 I'm also one of those "The game was amazing, until you get to the end." It was definitely an emotional rollercoaster. 

.......

Choosing between 3 primary colors to decide what color blast you want doesn't count as your choices mattering for the ending.

And we shouldn't have to discuss, debate and speculate about what the ending was.  
You made it memorable, but not in a positive way.   

The ending should have spoken for itself. 

Exactly that what @Schirach wrote

The ending should have reflected what I have done all that three games and not ... it doesn't matter if you are evil or good, if everone died or lived , if everone hates or loves you in that universe ...
the message from Bioware to me was "FU... you , we don't care what you have done in that 300+ hours in OUR universe , get lost !
That is how I am feeling now, I hope you enjoy it ! 

[Adain878]

 This is from a user on penny arcade

caveat: This is all based on experiences with the default Shepard. I played through with this version for two reasons: one, I played the first 2 games on PC and this one on PS3, so no old saves, and two, this is the game as written - it's the version that people new to the series are going to play. If I was reviewing the game, then I figured I should experience Mass Effect 3 the way the average person was going to play it. 

The default Shepard did not have a game that is even remotely similar to most of yours - you probably saved Wrex and have a canon 'saved everyone' playthrough. Not the case with default Shep, 'cuz she ****ed up in most situations. Hard to say why, though she's probably just human. 

If you didn't import a save, Shepard failed to save most squadmembers from 2 (i ran across mordin, garrus, jacob, miranda, and tali), kept the Collector base, killed the Rachni and Kaiden (in my case), Wrex, didn't save the councillors from the first game, never opened Grunt's capsule, sold Legion, and ignored the DLC. There are probably some other options, but even this much difference ensures that the default game is likely not typical, at least for you, the market that Bioware was going for: the players who have a canonshep playthrough from the first mass effect, with every important decision optimized for the story you wanted. 

I didn't find this much of a problem; for one thing, I remember killing Wrex in my original Mass Effect game, because he struck me as unreasonable at the time and I didn't figure it'd come back later. That was four computers and two consoles ago, but the spirit remains, as much as I like him: I think that default Shepard probably represents a genuine 'blind-first-time-through' playthrough pretty well. We tend to discount how much influence message boards and social media play on our decision-making. For instance: how about that ending, eh? 

The cognitive dissonance that came from reading everyone's posts about the game as a whole made me realize something about how people play Mass Effect, and what stories do in general. Normally I'm King **** of **** Mountain when it comes to Writing, but this particular insight came from filmcrithulk's monumental posts on storytelling and screenwriting, available here. 

Like a good teacher, it reminded me of something I already knew, but put in a new light. People generally want two things from characters: to relate to them, and to want to be them. The two together let the viewer/player identify with the character. When we talk about 'bad game writing', for the most part we're talking about flat characters - those who do cool things or invite our empathy, but don't go beyond that in any sense. See Army of Two or Heavy Rain. Movies can be left with 'empathy' as the necessary reaction to most film characters, but games have a larger problem - that of 'cool'. 

Since games are mostly built around wish fulfillment, players demand that the protagonists do something 'cool'. All 'cool' really means is 'i want to be like that person'. It can be their courage under fire, their graceful walk, their creativity, their bravery, their ease talking to/****ing women, their acrobatic skills, deadly aim, social prowess, etc, etc, etc... usually 'cool' characters are defined by their extraordinary abilities in one or many areas - areas in which the vast majority of us are sorely lacking. It's a simple concept, but just as hard to pin down as 'fun' - it's so individual you might as well not be saying anything at all. (Games don't have to be wish fulfillment, or at least not in the explicitly indulgent way, but that's a conversation for another day. This is a game with epic scope and god dammit we gonna **** some blue ladies.) 

For many games, that ability can just be 'amorality'. Shoot whoever you want and duck around a corner. Problem solved. Good job, space marine. 

For Mass Effect, that gets a little more complicated. 

(this is a simplified version of a much longer article) 

Most RPGs, ever since they were invented and called 'stories' and told communally, have to do with wish fulfillment. For many, many years, those wishes had to do with status, social mobility, and gettin' hella laid, which resulted in a genre of fiction called the 'romance'. This is where we get most of our ideas of what the Middle Ages were like from. Romances have a hero, usually a knight, who lives by a chivalrous code of honour and who is tempted on their journey to reclaim some artifact or personage. 

They encounter marvels previously thought impossible, (re)discover new countries, places, and peoples, and eventually reach their goal after proving their worth in a trial or series of trials. Then they bone a lady: the damsel in distress, also a princess, which makes them future king.

(Yes, this vaguely conforms to the Hero's Journey. No, Mass Effect is not the Hero's Journey. The Hero's Journey is an academic tool used to study myths for essentially anthropological reasons. using it as a blueprint is silly, like using any other formalist rubric as a blueprint.) 

Anyway, this pattern continues all the way up to the present day, with those satanist D&D players and GTA4. At this level of abstraction, almost every game is a role-playing game; however, Mass Effect differentiates itself as a franchise by consciously trying to be a palette for expression rather than a mold you have to fill a la Niko Bellic. You create your character, her backstory, looks, makeup, and then you guide her on her heroic journey, reacting to things appropriately. The Renegade/Paragon split has never been about breaking the rules, even at its most forceful: it's been about keeping to your code and deciding how much play you want to give yourself in interpreting that code. 

So yeah. Mass Effect is a romance. (Actually, planetary romance, but that's a separate article.) 

Let's switch settings for a moment. 

Mass Effect's literal deus ex machina (god from the machine) rubbed almost everyone the wrong way. Per my preface, what almost nobody gets is why. At first I thought it was the kid too. Truth is, it could have been anyone, even Mac Walters himself or the obelisk from 2001, and it'd have been just as clumsy. 

(this bit is going to be a simplified version of a much longer article too) 

I'm gonna do a fun teacher thing and talk about something else and then at the end you're going to realize I was talking about Mass Effect all along, okay? Kay. 
Check out the endings for the original Deus Ex: join the evil shadow government, transcend your meatsack body and unite with an omniscient AI, or send the Earth into a dark age. They give you pause while also being conceptually quite satisfying: why? 

From the beginning of the game, Deus Ex is doing its best to put you in JC Denton's shoes, to make you aware not only of his augmented nature but also his deeply personal ties to UNATCO and to the nanotech augmentation that makes him special. He's the younger brother who eventually overshadows his big bro, maybe even saves him, and then saves the world by being a slick robot dude - how cool and empathetic is that? At the same time, Warren Spector (who rules) gives you cultural conflicts that are directly relevant to modern society - the problems of information oversaturation, government control, ethical research, political mobility and protest, and class stratification. Each of these ideas are given (often multiple) anchors in characters whose actions directly affect JC and thus the player. It's what science fiction does best - cultural commentary. Each ending speaks not only to the themes of the game but to the empathetic nature of JC and thus the player. 

How do you fix the earth, flawed human? Surprise: there's no right answer, no happy ending. You have to do it anyway. Deal. 

Compare this with the reboot, which (third article) is a fun game but nowhere near as profound. You play as Jensen, a sounds-similar to Denton, who is a cop guy with robot arms and a dead girlfriend. You strive against.. things. Corporations? I think corporations. How does it end? You can expose mechanical augmentation for.. some reason, I forget, and stifle human progress, remove the limits on augmentation and expand progress, or kill everyone on the ship. There might be a fourth option that I can't remember, but who cares? It mistakes the forest for the trees: the specific anchors which are conduits to the real and visceral themes of the story are focused on in the ending, but don't deal with the themes themselves. Not only that, but where Deus Ex was specific where it counted, DX:HR rewards you with the vaguest, shallowest introspective mumble about how augmentation changed Jensen's life. 

Who gives a **** about Jensen? Not you! DX:HR confuses epic scope[/i] for meaning and affect[/i], which is maybe the most common mistake in games as they stand. Sure, this decision affects everyone in the fictional US or could erase Jensen and all the other figureheads - but so what? None of them actually matter! None of them have made you react in any meaningful way or made you feel for them! (see also: the upcoming article on syndicate) 

The original Deus Ex gave you endings that asked you where your priorities lay, with real and grounded stakes and consequences. The sequel gave you vague bull**** on every count. One ending feels sharp, meaningful, and memorable, and the other is none of those things. Each character is only ever an avatar for a mindset or worldview - the trick is in making you believe in them and how they clash with other ideologies, putting yourself in every set of shoes. It's why we can study literature and why the author matters not at all in criticism of the finished work - the events on the page don't really even matter, it's the interaction of competing ideas through their stand-in avatars that is what draws people in and gives art its power. 

(i dare you to ask me what good a humanities degree is now.) 

Let's get back to Mass Effect 3. 

Yeah, part of the problem with the ending is the fact that it's exposited by a kid who we don't know and don't care about. It also doesn't relate to most people in the story we care about except in the vaguest terms. It only relates to themes in the story in the basest terms, and repaints the story with the broadest brush possible. These are minor issues at best. 

The real crime, narratively speaking, is ****ing with Shepard for no reason. Not the in-game person of Shepard, but the dynamic which Shepard embodies. See, for the first time in the series, Shepard is vulnerable. Her moms is in danger. She ****s up, Kai Leng eats her cereal, and it actually shakes her. For two and a half games, Shepard has been the one with unflappable confidence. Determination may actually be her middle name. It's certainly her defining trait, even next to 'soldier' - she gets **** done, even if the cost is grievous, even when it threatens those she cares about most. 

And for the first time, it might not be enough. 

It's where she makes the jump from "player stand-in" to "actual character." If there's one thing we know about as humans, it's not knowing if things are going to work out. Hell, you say as much to EDI when encouraging her to jump Seth Green's fragile bones. You begin to realize exactly how much strain Shepard is under in that moment - not even the hamfisted dreams or occasional Tense Holoconversations manage that. She might not ****ing win and she is the Big Goddamn Hero. Makes the buildup to the ending mean that much more. When she settles down next to Anderson, it's two soldiers resting after a mission accomplished, comrades under fire patiently dying after a long, long career. She's headed to heaven to bro out with Garrus, who is laying thousands of miles below in a puddle of green blood. We're sad, but also we're satisfied. Big damn hero, big damn heroic death, martyred for the good of the galaxy. 

And then the phone rings. 

She staggers to her feet, bloody and scarred, half-robot, and mumbles "What do you need me to do next?" Hit number two, right to the gut. We echo her pathetic sentiment. What more can you ask from this woman? She waves at the console, nothing works, she collapses. Cue capcom: BAD END. 

And then the platform raises into the air. This is where things start to go off the rails, so to speak. Let's pause and examine what's happening here - in her extremity of need, her determination has failed her. She didn't quite make it. And that doesn't seem to matter. In the lingo of the romance, she failed her trial, but gets to reap the reward anyway. 

That's really where the ending falls down. Everything after seems hollow because it is - there's no reason why she deserves to save the galaxy when she beat the big bad and it didn't matter. The endings don't work because they don't address what people have been told to care about through the entire series - the themes that the writers have been reinforcing, mission after mission. They've been shaping Shepard into what they wanted to be most - a better person, a better lay, maybe only the person willing to be ruthless and stretch the rules where it counts - and it doesn't seem to matter at all. 

The violation isn't of the player's decisions. It's of Shepard's role as the player's ideal hero. It takes the interactivity of the game, perhaps its most unique and evocative feature, and utterly ignores the immense potential to take the romance genre to its most extreme catharsis. Every step to this point has been another drop in the Care Bucket, and it just got set gently to the floor instead of poured out in one big release. (yes this is all sexual) 

So, players take to the internet, tension unrelieved, and vent it against Bioware and Catalyst instead. I was expecting Shepard to end up being the Catalyst, because that would make sense in terms of the tautology of the game - Shepard is the person who is the most necessary to save the galaxy, because we spend the entire trilogy making her that way.[/i] It doesn't matter how that's expressed, only that it is. We didn't get that moment. Instead, we get an epilogue talking about 'the Shepard', an abstract concept that doesn't have a lot to do with the "reality" of the game we've played. 

She might as well be anyone. And that's the thing that nobody wanted said about their Shepard. 

Just to make sure everyone sees this, does a really good job of explaining why people feel the ending sucked but lack the means to describe it.

Modifié par Adain878, 15 mars 2012 - 05:11 .