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On the Mass Effect 3 endings. Yes, we are listening.


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#8501
TheBigLebowski

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It's not about people liking the ending. It's about the ending being so convoluted and full of plot holes that it doesn't answer key questions or TRULY end the story. These are not minor plot holes mind you. They are extremely apparent and undeniable. The ending also does not deliver on the promise that all your actions up to the final point have an effect on the ending. They do in only the most limited capacity.

Mass Effect 3 falls short on it's promises and as a customer I'm offended that they would release this title in it's current state. Some might find this to be rather extreme. I'll admit, it kinda is. But as a customer it's my right to say "Your product does not deliver on your promises and I will take my business elsewhere until your resolve these issues."

What sickens me even more is that if you actually look into the ending there is strong evidence that the actual ending will be released as a DLC. "The indoctrination theory" and "The Truth DLC" is something any Mass Effect player might want to look into. And in doing so you'll find that the story is not over. It's simply not the end. There's more, which further illustrates that the game is not a complete product.

It's the equivalent of removing the last scene from a movie or withholding the last chapter of a book. It's ethically wrong and insulting. That's why people are so upset about this, that's why the community is up and arms. We just want what was promised to us. Not a shrug and a "oh well... that's what you get".

And all you people that just want our complaints to go away. Your the problem. The video game industry has been slowly eroding away over the years. It's becoming more monopolized as companies buy one another up. We as customers are getting less and less for our money. It's getting to the point that games are being sold as "complete products" while content is being withheld with the purpose of selling it for additional revenue. We can either just shelf out or send these companies a message. Deliver on your claims or go bankrupt and we'll find someone that won't rip us off.

Modifié par TheBigLebowski, 21 mars 2012 - 02:51 .


#8502
die-yng

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EnergizerBunny211 wrote...

I know I'm gonna get some SERIOUS heat for this, and probably be mocked, and trolled for the next 5 years, but I am entitled to my opinion-- and that's all it is, so please I am asking before hand please be NICE.  Remember the rule in Bambi?  "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."  So please again, I ask IF you're going to respond to my post and you have an differing opinion or even want to show some objection to my own....please do so constructively without any rudeness of expletives.  Thank you kindly

That being said....For the past week I've been hearing all about "how bad the Ending is..." and I tried to ignore it (because I haven't finished the game myself) but yesterday I just couldn't help myself.  I youtubed the Endings to see what all the fuss was about.   And admittedly, while I don't really understand them in the context of the game (becaues as I said I am nowhere near the End myself), I come away with one thing.  What I saw and could make sense of....I was initially indifferent to.  Then I watched it all two times and I began to understand what was happening, and I have to admit-- It may not have been how I would choose to end the game/trilogy, but it is how Bioware decided to end it.  So I can either hate the entire Mass Effect Fanchise and turn my back on Bioware (like I've heard some people say they're doing. Don't worry I wont mention names-- because I don't know any.  I just merely remember them as "user comments').  OR I can accept the fact that I can not change anything about the game, but still play and enjoy it for everything it is.

Furthermore, numerous people from Bioware had said during its production that this is the end of a Trilogy, and one way or another that this will bring a conclusion to the story of Commander Sheperd.  Now, if they have changed their minds or renagged on that comment in some way, I do not know.  If they did, they did.  ButI think at it's heart Mass Effect remains a Trilogy.  And they are the Professionals, they are the Developers...not us.  They were the ones to create the story, the characters-- everything. 

I think to some degree that game developers are first gamers-at- heart themselves, and when they decide to make a game they first set out with ideas of making the kind of game that they would enjoy....and hopefully other people (we the consuming public) will enjoy it too.  And somewhere along the line....if you've been around as long as Bioware has, your consumers turn into devoted fans and loyal customers, and so you begin to align your tastes and desires as a Developer with those of your fanbase.  It can't, however, always work out to please everyone, simply because everyone is different.  What I may like about a game, or dislike, someone else will inevitably feel the opposite way.  And that's okay!

More over, since this is about Mass Effect 3 let me get back to my core idea.  I actually don't mind (leaning towards a mild like) the End(s) from what I have seen on youtube, because this is a trilogy after all-- not a quadrology (yet, that we know of their plans have not changed) or anything that is larger than three installments.  And this entire franchise was about a Galactic War and fight against anihilation.  It's a fact of life that war is brutal and scary and sad-- some really hard choices have to be made, and the most unfortunate thing is people die.   I think that is something that Bioware captured beautifully with the characters that we've all grown to love....it's hard to see them go, and we find outselves holding out hope "no ...not him, I liked him" OR "no....not her she was my favourite."   But again it's about war and people die in war.

This is also a Science Fiction story (one of the best in my honest and humble opinion, video game or not--- the universe is just that rich), and in Science Fiction especially, it's hard to have a "Happily Ever After" kind of Ending....after all it's not a fairytale.  Not to say that a "happy" ending in any sci-fi has never been done, I'm just saying that in my experience it's rare to see.  While the Ending may not have been how I personally (or anyone else) would have chosen to complete the game....given the nature of the game and the franchise, I do think that the ending is one that I could live with, and still go back to re-play the game over and over and over again without losing any enjoyment factor.  I like the games just that much.   I've played plenty of other games over the years that (personally I think) had a worse ending, a far less satisfactory ending and one that just made that game not even worth keeping, let alone playing again. 

Having said that, Bioware may be releasing some DLC that some how explains or changes the ending, or in some way continues the story to give the fans who are seeking it, more closure and a better explanation.   But if they don't....I am one gamer won't be disappointed.  If they do-- that's great, I'd love to see it, but if they don't.....I'm not gonna lose any sleep over it.  I will simply continue to play these games as long as I can and enjoy them for everything they are, as well as whatever they are not......And a note to Bioware in conclusion:  You guys are still the best Company in the business in my opinion.  I love your creativity, I love the games you put out--from Knights of the Old Republic i & II, to Dragon Age Origins and Dragon Age II, and of course, my favourite games of ALL TIME....the Mass Effect franchise.  


Bioware ROCKS!




I do respect your opinion, I understand everybody who likes or just accepts the ending as it is, but Idisagree with the position, that as a vg player I just have to take whatever ending the dev's give me.
You can't make a game all about the choices you make and how they affect the way the story unfolds and then take this very aspect away from the player in the last 15 minutes  and take it away so completely, that all the choices you've made in all three games seem totally pointless and unneccessary.
Sorry, but that's bad writing and poor style.

#8503
Ottemis

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Dr.Swat wrote...

+1

#8504
starjay001

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@die-yng: I have to disagree with you on 80% of your arguments. IF Bioware were pure gamers at heart then I can go with you on your argument about how they would make a game that's fun and lovable to all. SADLY, Bioware are anything BUT gamers at heart. They are shrewd corporates with monetary goals stacked up as tall as the Empire State building. The endings to ME 3 SUCK !! I don't have to appease all you 'ending lovers' anymore. Any person who has ZERO mental problems should HATE these endings that have only 1 difference among them - the RGB factor. People don't care about a happy ending BUT they do wish to see some kind of closure to a beloved trilogy. The current set of endings don't do justice to our commitment and engagement over the last 5 years in any way. Bioware can release a DLC for all I care BUT we fans need a meaningful end to Mass Effect 3... not space magic. Besides those science fiction movies you talk about have very little space magic.

#8505
Twinzam.V

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Ottemis wrote...

Dr.Swat wrote...

+1


He is right with that ME isnt a game that the hero has to die but you can have a choice in that matter.

Modifié par Twinzam.V, 21 mars 2012 - 03:02 .


#8506
DuncanId

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DocJill wrote...

Just wanted to add a vote of support to Bioware.  Stick to your guns!!! 

Yes I was heartsick with the ending at first.  I kind of had an inkling of what is now the "indoctrination theory," and with the help of the boards I now feel like I understand the ending.  With time I have realized that if bioware had extended the ending much past the "Shepard Lives!" moment it would explain too much and leave less open to interpretation. 

With time I think more people will come to understand and appreciate the ending.  The backlash is just indicative of how much we all love the series and heartbroken we are that it has to end. 


When they promised closure and all they did is create this kind of speculation, they failed. Ending a trilogy with a cliffhanger is always a bad idea. You can leave things oppened, of course. Not always is good to know everyting (most of the time is a mistake to explain the reason behind in zombie movies, for example), the reapers were more intimidating the least we knew about them, and now they are just a bit lame (not no mention the smiley face reaper). But one thing is keeping a few plot points opened and something completely diferent is keeping them all opened. We got the ending you expect to see in a tv series cancelled before the final episodes were finished.

#8507
7Jonnie7

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BioWare, please, listen to your most dedicated fans. We need a better ending. Those who claim the one we have is good enough are not your true fans. We have given you more money, and we are likely to give you even more in the future, so you should pay us back!

#8508
bloodstone2007

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Mass effect 3 has the tag line "take back earth". However the ending has nothing to do with taking back earth. I expected a couple of missions on earth taking back key points killing reapers and then bringing in the big gun, the crucible. I thought that the crucible was a code name,  a crucible is something that melts metal and has high tolerance for heat... Sounds like some kind of dark energy cannon to me.  I also didn't expect there to be an easy time of taking out the reapers. oh lets just turn this magic pulse on ... oh look no more reapers...NOT... there is still the issue of what happens after because the reapers are still around, maybe off, may not. Some aftermath scenarios would be the reapers regroup when the might of the galaxy goes through planet by planet eleminating reapers. This war would have gone on for a very long time. Even if the pulse secnario is the eding I will bet dollars to donuts that you still don't get all the reapers. Some may still be on the edge of the galaxy, indifferent to the situation, been there done that kind of attitude. Then there is cleanup to think about.. Drop them into a star. It seems to me that Bioware just wanted to end the franchise all together, and if thats the case, its a serious disservice to the fans. It been two weeks, and we are on the thirst as of this writing. It also appears that Bioware/EA are running a counter campain to defend the endings without coming out and saying that the ending were what they wanted and that they stand by them. As for future DLC if Bioware/EA decides to keep the existing endings, I just have to suggest don't bother, I will not buy them. MP is not something I am interested in, I have other games for that. I bought the ME3 to see a true epic ending and saddly we never got to retake earth.

Modifié par bloodstone2007, 21 mars 2012 - 03:26 .


#8509
Stigweird85

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It occurs to me, why are people expecting different endings for different sheps?

Did Mass Effect 1 offer this? Not really. Your choices decided the fate of the council and whether or not you faced Saren as a Turian and as a reaper but the endings were the same apart from these minor details regardless of paragon/renegade status.

Did Mass Effect 2, No? You had a choice to destroy or keep the collector base but it made no difference to how the game ended. Unless you had no loyal crew in which case your gamesave was void anyway as Shep died.

In Mass Effect 3, you are given 3 choices but they are just variations of the same ending as it has been with every other game in the series.

No other game in the series gave you multiple endings based on what you said and did during the game other than slight dialogue changes or in the case with Miranda an additional scene.

I get it if you are unhappy with the endings, but expecting to get a different ending for each and every playthrough is a little too much.

#8510
wsandista

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Fallout 3 changed the ending for the fans, if Bethesda did it, why can't Bioware?

#8511
Twinzam.V

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bigstig wrote...

It occurs to me, why are people expecting different endings for different sheps?

Did Mass Effect 1 offer this? Not really. Your choices decided the fate of the council and whether or not you faced Saren as a Turian and as a reaper but the endings were the same apart from these minor details regardless of paragon/renegade status.

Did Mass Effect 2, No? You had a choice to destroy or keep the collector base but it made no difference to how the game ended. Unless you had no loyal crew in which case your gamesave was void anyway as Shep died.

In Mass Effect 3, you are given 3 choices but they are just variations of the same ending as it has been with every other game in the series.

No other game in the series gave you multiple endings based on what you said and did during the game other than slight dialogue changes or in the case with Miranda an additional scene.

I get it if you are unhappy with the endings, but expecting to get a different ending for each and every playthrough is a little too much.


So what about the ME2 ending where everyone dies, doesnt that count?
What about the fact that if you save or let die the council or character that you encounter will afect your progress or in ME2?

Modifié par Twinzam.V, 21 mars 2012 - 03:09 .


#8512
Voltron_4500

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 Bioware, 

Why did we receive an ending where we had no closure? What was the point or message you wanted us to see? I thought our decisions throughout the three games was going to make a huge impact on the ending, however it does not. Gaining the geth and quarians alliance, achieving peace, etc, none of these things mattered in the end. Why did it matter? The endings don not respond to any of these choices. I don't want you to change the ending bioware, i just want an explanation. I'm confused and i really want to know what was the point of all of this uncertainty. 

Thank you for reading my comment, and I'm a big fan of the game. 

#8513
jeweledleah

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Ottemis wrote...

You know what makes me sad? While constructive debate is always good, this maliciousness in the fans might actually hurt a company, that makes the games I like most of all. If Bioware wouldn't have been here, I'd not have been so invested in RPG's and Hybrids. Heck knows I can't play a Bethesda game for longer that 3 hours before wanting to physically hurt myself.


what makes me sad though is having serious doubts that this company actualy still makes the games that I like.  no with the way I felt when finishing ME3.  I don't want to feel like that again, not after finishing a game.  are the still the same company that gave us first 2 mass effects, KOTOR, Baldur's gate, DAO?  I don't know anymore.  because they seem to be already creating their games for a different target audience.

I woudln't call fans telling their freinds their opinions malicious either. just honest.

#8514
wsandista

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bigstig wrote...

It occurs to me, why are people expecting different endings for different sheps?

Did Mass Effect 1 offer this? Not really. Your choices decided the fate of the council and whether or not you faced Saren as a Turian and as a reaper but the endings were the same apart from these minor details regardless of paragon/renegade status.

Did Mass Effect 2, No? You had a choice to destroy or keep the collector base but it made no difference to how the game ended. Unless you had no loyal crew in which case your gamesave was void anyway as Shep died.

In Mass Effect 3, you are given 3 choices but they are just variations of the same ending as it has been with every other game in the series.

No other game in the series gave you multiple endings based on what you said and did during the game other than slight dialogue changes or in the case with Miranda an additional scene.

I get it if you are unhappy with the endings, but expecting to get a different ending for each and every playthrough is a little too much.


Because they promised 16 different endings?

#8515
Vader6412

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You know. I am thinking more about the endings and what if through 3 games, Shepard's goal was to unite the races against one enemy. Throughout 3 games we've been establishing relationships with other species in the galaxy. We made allies and enemies. My Shepard ended conflicts between turians and krogan as well as geth and quarian. He united them together to fight the reapers. He also ended the salarians cause for the genophage and forced a cure for the krogans. He gained the loyalty of squad mates in mass effect 2. My Shepard even had the most ruthless mercenary groups fighting for him in the end. He even forced saren to not give in and gave him peace by having saren kill himself and end his suffering. He united Asari, turian, krogan, quarian, batarian, geth, salarian, etc to put their differences aside and fight for the galaxy. It almost seems like your decisions reflected on how the galaxy cooperated with you. I saved wrex in one and he fought to the end with me albeit not directly by my side. The reapers I'm sure feared a galactic alliance as that has never happened before according to javik. That's what they were trying to stop. One last thing Shepard had to do was prove to the reapers that the galactic races, organic and synthetic, are strong and that I matter how much they try to indoctrinate them, they will prevail and overcome it. Hence, the flipped endings of paragon and renegade choices. If you choose paragon or synthesis, then harbinger and the reapers won. If you choose destroy, then you prove to the reapers that the races are not weak and their indoctrination attempts don't work on the determined and strong willed. Shepard is the catalyst that the reapers feared. They feared a galactic revolt against them that could destroy them. Now whether the destroy ending continues with dlc or a fourth game is planned to pick up where that ending left off remains to be seen. We shall see though. This is just a thought by the way. Not saying I'm right or wrong.

#8516
kimuji

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I created a thread explaining my conclusions and expectations, I'll only post the link here and not copy/paste. I'm one of those who believe or (want to believe) that we still haven't seen the end and that is part of Bioware good intentions, that all the holes, contradictions and nonsenses are intentionnal for a reason. And they have one way to prove they were right and that we are right to think they planned all of this:

http://social.biowar...index/10381345 

Impress us, I know the studio who brought us Baldur's Gate, Kotor, Jade Empire, Dragon Age and  Mass Effect is good enough to have planned it all. 

#8517
jeweledleah

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bigstig wrote...

It occurs to me, why are people expecting different endings for different sheps?

Did Mass Effect 1 offer this? Not really. Your choices decided the fate of the council and whether or not you faced Saren as a Turian and as a reaper but the endings were the same apart from these minor details regardless of paragon/renegade status.

Did Mass Effect 2, No? You had a choice to destroy or keep the collector base but it made no difference to how the game ended. Unless you had no loyal crew in which case your gamesave was void anyway as Shep died.

In Mass Effect 3, you are given 3 choices but they are just variations of the same ending as it has been with every other game in the series.

No other game in the series gave you multiple endings based on what you said and did during the game other than slight dialogue changes or in the case with Miranda an additional scene.

I get it if you are unhappy with the endings, but expecting to get a different ending for each and every playthrough is a little too much.


becasue it was directly promised by bioware.  scroll back a few pages, every once in a while people post compilation of developer quotes. 

and yes, ME2 had pretty varied endings with all the similarities of the suicide mission.  different people died (or all of them lived)  you may or may not have had everyone's loyalty, and yes, you could even have "Shepard dies along with everyone else" ending.

#8518
kevlarcardhouse

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I really hope BioWare does not cave into these manchildren demanding they completely remake the ending just for them to come back and complain that it still wasn't good enough.

wsandista wrote...

Fallout 3 changed the ending for the fans, if Bethesda did it, why can't Bioware?

Fallout 3 did not change the ending for the fans.  They changed the ending so that they could sell you a DLC pack.

#8519
DuncanId

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And people please, keep in mind that, as stated by others before, this is not entirely bioware's fault. They've just been indoctrinated by the rEApers.

Seriously, how many excelent studios were harvested by EA just to dissapear? When it happend to BW I knew winter was coming...

EA is based on the "launch as much as you can as fast as you are able to" strategy. That's not very compatible with the old BW style.

Modifié par DuncanId, 21 mars 2012 - 03:15 .


#8520
Twinzam.V

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kevlarcardhouse wrote...

I really hope BioWare does not cave into these manchildren demanding they completely remake the ending just for them to come back and complain that it still wasn't good enough.

wsandista wrote...

Fallout 3 changed the ending for the fans, if Bethesda did it, why can't Bioware?

Fallout 3 did not change the ending for the fans.  They changed the ending so that they could sell you a DLC pack.


True, but also because many fans complained that they couldnt continue to play like other Bethesda games and the plot hole about a companion being a supermutant capable of resisting radiation.

Modifié par Twinzam.V, 21 mars 2012 - 03:15 .


#8521
rachellouise

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I don't get my ending. Obviously they're in the future, long after these events took place, but the stargazer and child act as if humans don't know if there are other lifeforms, or places exist , and it doesn't sound as if humanity has been able to leave their system since etc. , but I bought a lot of 'alien' races to help in the battle..wouldn't they have been trapped in this system? As the mass relay didn't work, they were trapped there too?

Or did they all try to leave the old fashioned way. Their ships didn't seem that much better from the human ships :/ So maybe they're just floating out there somewhere..or something

Modifié par rachellouise, 21 mars 2012 - 03:18 .


#8522
Twinzam.V

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DuncanId wrote...

And people please, keep in mind that, as stated by others before, this is not entirely bioware's fault. They've just been indoctrinated by the rEApers.

Seriously, how many excelent studios were harvested by EA just to dissapear? When it happend to BW I knew winter was coming...

EA is based on the "launch as much as you can as fast as you are able to" policy. That's not very compatible with the old BW style.


There wasnt that studio that made some cool strategy games, what was its name Wees... West....

Modifié par Twinzam.V, 21 mars 2012 - 03:17 .


#8523
Abreu Road

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Okay, if they don't have an official statement till the end of the week I'll believe that the ending was really bad writting and the Indoctrination theory is just a hell of a coincidence.

It's been two weeks since the launch date and the bad publicity grows day after day. No way they will let this happen if they really had the Ending DLC planned all along.

Modifié par Abreu Road, 21 mars 2012 - 03:15 .


#8524
Ottemis

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jeweledleah wrote...

Ottemis wrote...

You know what makes me sad? While constructive debate is always good, this maliciousness in the fans might actually hurt a company, that makes the games I like most of all. If Bioware wouldn't have been here, I'd not have been so invested in RPG's and Hybrids. Heck knows I can't play a Bethesda game for longer that 3 hours before wanting to physically hurt myself.


what makes me sad though is having serious doubts that this company actualy still makes the games that I like.  no with the way I felt when finishing ME3.  I don't want to feel like that again, not after finishing a game.  are the still the same company that gave us first 2 mass effects, KOTOR, Baldur's gate, DAO?  I don't know anymore.  because they seem to be already creating their games for a different target audience.

I woudln't call fans telling their freinds their opinions malicious either. just honest.

I'm not saying feedback is bad, they're not saying feedback is bad. They're encouraging constructive feedback for a reason. What I'm saying is all this maliciousness is bad. It's perfectly fine to be happy or unhappy with what we've gotten. And seeing they WANT our feedback it's good to think about what you're feeling, and put it into words so they can work with that. I don't believe they're asking us for feedback for nothing.

The game itself far far far exeeded my expectations, and as such I do believe they care to give us what we're asking for, because they've done so almost consistently. So give them that constructive feedback.
Telling your friends this game isn't worth their time.. ehh, look at what they did with everything up to the ending? Not to say giving an opinion about it to your friends is bad at all, But the remarks i keep seeing is 'i'm telling my friends not to bother with ME' <- as a whole. Isn't that just a crying shame?

This is not directed at everyone, I'm directing this at the unproductive allout hatefull remarks that effectively don't properly voice what those people want aside from them being angry.

Modifié par Ottemis, 21 mars 2012 - 03:20 .


#8525
Delivery

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Vurculac wrote...

Redraven19 wrote...

When I finished my first (and so far only) Play through of Mass Effect 3 I have to say I was truly and deeply disappointed. And I still am.

To go online and find out that I am part of the majority, well, that just makes me feel good.

I still don’t understand what the heck went on after Harbingers beam hits Shepard and now I’m going to explain why.

Things that don’t make sense:

1. Shepard surviving Harbingers beam.

Earlier in the game on Rannoch, Shepard fights a reaper on foot, and if he gets hit by the beam, he dies and you get the “Critical Mission Failure” Screen.  In london, a cutscene shows a mixed race squad get vaporized by a beam regardless of how close they were standing in relation to the laser. If instantaneous death is the case when you get hit by a reaper’s laser cannon, how in the heck is Shepard not dead at this point?


Why can’t he dodge like earlier? If the scene with Harbinger was interactive, You know, if we could bob and weave and get to the beam just barely missing getting blown away and it was much harder to do than when we fought the Reaper on Rannoch, Then I would understand.

2.After he gets hit by the laser and Wakes up.

Why does the pistol have unlimited ammo? Why can’t you see his feet?  The slow mo just makes me think about all the earlier dream sequences and makes me want to believe in the indoctrination theory that’s been floating around the Internet. Also, where is he hearing the Radio chatter from when half his armor is gone and the rest of it seems melted onto his body? Not to mention that the people on the radio say they are looking at the transporter and that nobody made it.

3. Illusive Man/ Anderson Scene
First off, Anderson already explained earlier that the only way up to the citadel was that transport beam. So how in the heck did Anderson get there before Shepard? And beamed to a different section no less.  I can understand the Illusive Man being there, seeing as how he probably hightailed it even before Shepard and company stormed his headquarters.  The whole Illusive Man being Saren 2.0 and convincing him to shoot himself was a nice nod to the first game, but explain why he’s able to utilize the Reapers Mind control methods on Shep?!

4. The Reaper VI/ Catalyst/ Child
Okay, so our hero passes out, gets brought up another level and  has the catalyst explain to him that the Reapers are the solution. To what?  The reply: “Oh I created the Synthetic Reapers to destroy organic civilizations and meld them into one synthetic being so that they can’t build Synthetic beings cause those synthetics will destroy them. They will never coexist.”

….

And I thought Ai’s were supposed to be smart.

Is not EDI living proof of Organics and Synthetics being able to Coexist?

And what about, Oh I don’t know, earlier in the game when you convince THE QUARIANS AND THE GETH TO WORK TOGETHER. And another thing! The Reaper VI claims that Synthetics will always rise to destroy organics, well, Newsflash: As revealed by Legions memories the Quarians are the ones who started the war by attempting genocide on the Geth. The Geth were peaceful up until that point.




5. The Ending(s)
So, after our hero blindly accepts what the Catalyst tells him without even trying to argue, he is given three choices.

Ending A: Control The Reapers
In this ending, Shepard Interfaces with the Crucible, turns into a husk and then disintegrates.

What The Catalyst Child Says Will Happen: Shepard is now the new AI behind the Reapers and makes them retreat to Dark space.

The Problem: Didn’t I just spend 2 games telling the illusive man that using Reaper Tech Bad, Blowing it up good? Even Renegade Shepard expresses Reservations before giving the Collector Base to the illusive man in ME2. Why is controlling the Reapers outlined as the blue Paragon Option? I just convinced him he was wrong to attempt to control them  because it destroyed him! So why would Shepard try to do that now?


Ending B: Synthesis
In this ending, Shepard Jumps into the Crucible, turns into a husk, and then disintegrates.

What The Catalyst Child Says Will Happen:
Using the Crucible in this way will genetically rewrite the DNA of everything in the Universe making everything Part Organic/Part Synthetic. Y’know, like the Reapers.
The Problem: Three games we fight against what the Reapers want to do to us and then Shepard does it for them? NO. Just.. NO. This goes against everything that shepard has accomplised in the first two games.


Ending C:Destroy The Reapers
This is the only ending that really falls in line with the first two games IMHO.
In this ending, Shepard blows up the crucible, ending the Reaper threat once and for all.

What The Catalyst Child Says will Happen:
The Reapers will be destroyed utterly, but so will every other synthetic being in the Universe including Shepard.

The Problem:
Why is this choice outlined in Renegade Red with Anderson as the Avatar for the choice?
Isn’t this what we have been playing for? And choosing this kills The Geth and EDI? The beings that just finished proving their worth and have been accepted as allies? None of the choices fit shepard. Whether you’ve been playing as a paragon or a renegade, Shepard never comprises His/Her beliefs; even the Illusive man complains about Shepard's Idealism.  So you shoot it, it blows up. Shepard blows up. Now onto the cutscene that is almost the same no matter what you do.

Final Cutscene:
The Reapers either fall down dead or fly away because: A: Shepard is controlling them, or B. Because: “Hurr Durr, nothing organic to harvest lets go home”. Joker flies off to the relay before it explodes, followed by every Relay in the universe exploding into red, green or blue. Then The Normandy crashes on an a garden world and the crew looks at the sky.  If you had a high enough amount of War Assets and picked Destroy The Reapers, then you see a 5 second clip of the hero breathing. Credits Roll. Enter old man talking with child. Followed by a “Don’t forget to buy DLC” Message!

The Problem:
1. How did Joker know when to fly away? In the ending of Mass Effect 2, Shepard TELLS him to fly away because the Base is going to explode. Also, Everyone in the crew knew the only reason for going to the Collector Base was to blow it up. In ME3, None of the characters knew what the Crucible was going to do except Shepard, and he/she only finds out a minute before using it.

2.Why did Joker fly away?  That’s not in character with all the heroic things Joker did in the first two games; Like leading the charge against Sovereign in ME1 or Unshackling EDI to purge the Ship.

3. It was established in Arrival that destroying a Mass Relay causes a catastrophic explosion capable of destroying whole Solar Systems. So If Shepard just blew up all the relays in the universe I guess that means everyone is as dead as those batarian colonists in Arrival.

4. If you want to argue that he didn’t blow up all the relays but instead rendered them useless or whatever, that still leaves the massive combined race military fleet that came to the Sol System to help you trapped with no way of getting home. So everyone is still screwed.

5. In two of the three endings, the people I watched exit the Normandy onto this Garden Planet were the two I had in my squad in London. They were with me When Shepard was hit by harbingers laser. So how in the heck did they get to the Normandy? In the Synthesis ending, you are shown Joker and Edi Hugging, and everything has a green tinted circuitry look to it. What were you trying to show here? Joker and EDI as a type of Adam and Eve in a brave new world where everything is Organic/Synthetic and everyone else in the universe is dead? That might be nice as a possible ending but that still doesn’t resolve any of the stuff that went down over the course of three games.

6. The additional five second scene makes no sense to me because Shepard is shown breathing after having blown up the Citadel. But wait:  The Citadel was in space. So you mean to tell me that after getting blown out of a space station orbiting earth and crash landing on the ground Shepard is still alive? I might be inclined to believe that if Shepard hadn’t been blown out of a spaceship and landed on a planet in the beginning of mass effect 2 as meat and tubes that took Cerberus 2 years to rebuild.

Other things that are Terrible:
-The complete Cop-out on showing us Tali’Zorah’s face.
- The Face importer Glitch[/b]

The Lack of a Proper Boss Battle:
There’s Saren’s Husk in ME1 and then The Human/Reaper Larva In ME2.

Where’s the Boss Fight in ME3?

The art booklet included with my Collectors Edition showed that originally the Illusive man was going to mutate into a giant husk thing that the player would have to fight. It also mentions that this was scrapped because the writers wanted to show that the Illusive mans greatest weapon was always his intellect.

I don’t mind that, but a fight with harbinger would be nice; especially after all the interaction we had with harbinger in ME2 and Arrival. It wouldn’t be a big stretch considering that Shepard took down the Human-Reaper in ME2 and the Reaper on Rannoch on foot.




What we were Promised:
We Gamers and Fans were told that the game would diverge into wildly different conclusions based upon our actions in the first three games.It does not.

The ending cutscenes only differ in color scheme and it is never revealed what our choices did.

Even Dragon Age: Origins had the pages of text that detailed what happened after the final fight. Speaking of which, I feel that DA:O different endings were better done.  If that game, Sacrificing the main character  to save the world was a choice, but NOT the only choice. There was also an ending where a squad-mate sacrificed themselves to save the world, and an ending where NO ONE DIED and the world was still saved. Those are endings that are clearly different.

And correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Bioware push the release date of Mass Effect 3 back from Holiday 2011 to March 2012 because they wanted more time to ensure the ending(s) exceed every-one's expectations?  So they had more time to work on it but, this is the best they could come up with?


What we expected:
Multiple endings that reflected the choices our Shepard made over the course of three games and six years. Seeing the future of our Squad, the universe we worked so hard to save, and Shepard him/herself.

What We Got:
A bull-crap  five minute Meta-philosophical cut-scene that leaves a trilogy with a very clear beginning and middle with no definitive end.  A cut-scene that resolves nothing and is the major reason such a majority of fans are upset.  With all the time and story-telling that went into making the choose your own adventure story of Mass Effect  a branching but linear experience, why does it end like LOST?


I honestly feel cheated, lied to, and alienated.

What We Want:
Multiple endings that reflected the choices our Shepard made over the course of three games and six years. Seeing the future of our Squad, the universe we worked so hard to save, and Shepard him/herself.

Endings that make sense and resolve the game.


Here’s another point I’d like to make. The deaths of Mordin, Thane and Legion were beautifully written endings to their characters. Mordin finds redemption in fixing the Genophage he created;
and the singing as he died... beautiful.  Thane spent his whole life assassinating people and his final act is to stop an assassination. Beautiful.  Legion sacrificing his consciousness in order to give his people true intelligence? BEAUTIFUL.  Those were all wonderfully written conclusions which only make me angrier that there was no such conclusion for the rest of your squad, the universe as a whole or Shepard him/herself.

I would be fine with endings where Shepard dies... as long as it is by choice and there are endings where Shepard can live.  Endings that reflect the choices that were made.

This whole “Oh Shepard is screwed no matter what he does” just doesn’t mesh well with the events of the previous two games.  In the ending of Mass Effect 2, it was very clear what choices  you made over the course of the game would lead to death and which would lead to life. And then there is the final decision via paragon choice or renegade choice.

What baffles me more than any of the above is the fact that Bioware had a great formula with the first two games and threw it out the window in ME3’s ending in favor of a M. Night Shyamalanesque twist that is neither deep nor meaningful, and has only succeeded in breaking the promises Bioware made, alienating a majority of their existing fanbase, and left a lot of gamers, myself included, wanting their time and money back.

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Very good post sir. Imma have to agree with this. Image IPB


Very good post!