This is a single forum post I wrote located in the Story and Campaign Discussion forum. I'll paste it here since I just saw ending discussion is trying to be consolidated. My post is titled "A Helpful Critique 'The End is Arbitrary' -please read-" It's long because I try to be helpful, concise, and clear...here it is:
First of all I wish to help improve the game. I am a huge Bioware fan. For me, my favorite game is a toss-up between KOTOR and DAO. With Mass Effect 3, I really enjoyed the whole game. While it was a let down to hear that this game was going to be "the best game bioware ever produced" (
http://pc.ign.com/ar.../1218765p1.html), and then to see there was hardly any dialogue options or real consequences compared to past titles (e.g. DAO), I will only focus on the ending because I hear there might be changes to it.
Specifically, I'll add my thoughts of why I think the current ending is arbitrary and doesn't portray the reapers or the "god-child/star-child" consistently. I'm not digging deep into the story to find problems, they are on the surface; a story can be good even though there are plot holes or inconsistencies, however, I think in this case the whole ending is based on something arbitrary and inconsistent. And again, before I start, let me state that Mass Effect 3 was an awesome game depsite the misleading information about the game before its release in the form of unmet promises. It was a great game and worth every penny of its purchasing price; I'm writing to, if possible, make this more so. Now, let's get to the matter at hand:
Why at the end, when Shepard meets the star-child, does the child determine that it's best to make a "new solution"?
This is the focal point that makes all details afterwards seem strange because its based off this arbitrary and inconsistent idea of the star-child. Let me explain by first setting up some of the facts given us. This star-child states he is in complete control of the reapers. He is in control of them for the sole purpose of bringing order to the chaotic galaxy. While unsure what this term "chaotic" is to the star-child, I take this to mean that these advanced races (since the advance ones were the targets) were always at war, fighting with eachother, and "rebelling against their creator", as the star-child said. The reapers are here to wipe out advanced civilizations. Therefore, in response to this chaos, the reapers throughout Mass Effect 3 have been trying to stop everyone at all costs from disrupting their plan to wipe the galaxy clean (e.g. moving the catalyst to earth, raiding the Cerberus research facility, stopping Hammer from reaching the beam, etc.). The reapers, since they were always controlled by this god-child for the purpose of wiping out chaos, were in line with the direct "will" of this creator-child. For thousands of cycles this purpose and plan has been in place and acted on.
Yet, this is where it gets strange. When Shepard, the first one to "come this far", reaches the child, suddenly this changes everything set in place for millions of years. So again, I'll ask: "Why does the star-child determine that it's best to make a "new solution"? The reapers directly outside the beam were trying to kill Shepard, reapers controlled by this child. Why would the desire to stop Shepard suddenly change if he progressed further in his desire to stop the creator's desires? Wouldn't the star-child, if acting consistently to his actions the whole game and even his actions 10 minutes ago (beaming Shepard to bits), determine even more so that it's best to kill Shepard on spot instead of effectively aiding him in stopping the cleansing? Stopping the resistance the races have had in the past thousands of cycles has been something the creator always did, yet he changes on the spot when the best resistance is shown.
One might try to give an answer, "Well, the reason why the creator-child helped Shepard in the end was because Shepard was the first one to reach him and therefore demonstrated his 'worthiness' of having a new solution put in place." While that might seem like a plausible answer to the question at hand, it's not. Shepard pursuing his desire to stop the reapers and go against the star-child's wish of a cycle-cleansing is, in fact, the very reason why the reapers are in place. The star-child explains that the reason he is doing all this is because the races, as they advance and grasp more synthetic control, become more chaotic and rebel against their creators thus, in the god-child's mind, necessitate a galaxy cleansing via reapers. Shepard, by reaching the star-child, is effectively displaying even MORE so that his race is chaotic and rebellious against the creator's will.
Therefore, Shepard reaching the star-child would give him more reason to kill Shepard on the spot, just like he tried 10 minutes ago outside the beam via a reaper. I use the word "arbitrary" because it means that something is "capricious", "unreasonable", or "unsupported". In this case, the actions and reasoning of the star-child are arbitrary because he effectively gives Shepard the control to rebel against him for no real reason. The god-child is inconsistent. The whole game he tries to eliminate the human race, and now, when Shepard displays further violence and rebellion against the creator, the creator helps Shepard. After thousands of cycles of chaos-nullifying, reaper-madness, the decision to stop this solution comes suddenly and for no consistent reason.
So to conclude, I suppose you can sum up the problem in this fashion. With the purposes of why the creator employed the reapers, namely to nullify chaotic, god-rebelling races, why would the creator aid Shepard by giving him "god-authority" in the three part solution in the last moment when he displays the characterstics of chaos and rebellion most? Some solutions, based on the star-child's predictions, aren't even solutions per se. He makes the claim to Shepard that chaos will still come back in certain options because of the nature of humans. If that's so, then how is it a solution to the problem of chaos? It's not. Even the middle option, I think, that merges synthetic life with organic life is claimed by him to be the final stage of evolution in a sense. If so, why not do this from the beginning if peace and advancement will reign? He didn't just think up these alternatives, he has known about them; which is evidenced by how quick spoke to them in detail to Shepard. What is the star-child's purpose for the universe? What's goal? The said goal of eliminating rebelling-chaos is very vague and general. The star-child is seemingly inconsistent in everything he says.
I'd like to think alongside of the "Docs" of Bioware that the Mass Effect chapter is concluded and all loose threads are tied (
http://pc.ign.com/ar.../1218765p1.html), but I'd have to agree with others that this seemingly random ending, that has no tie to my decisional gameplay in the past 3 titles, creates more questions than it answers. To my sad dismay, many questions are just bleeding holes with no answers to medicate the wounds.
The only way this ending would work is if this creator-child has a severe case of schizophrenia or he really was a child phantasm or the indoctrination theory...is correct.
As I've said before, I'm not "arbitrarily" picking apart the storyline. Unforunately, the process of "fixing" something only comes when a problem is seen; I'm trying to make the problem evident so it can be fixed. I desire the ending of this triology to be on par with the quality of the game as a whole. Bioware and I have a symbiotic relationship. When they succeed and make a masterpiece, like DAO, I benefit from it greatly (benefit as in, about 4-5 exciting playthroughs). Therefore, I want Bioware to do well in all they pursue. If I can see these significant storyline problems after one play through of M.E.3, surely the "Docs" of Bioware can. (How can one even miss the Tali suicide/endgame bed-room visit combo?!) Even if the story doesn't change, the game is worth the price and the high ratings, yet in comparison to Bioware's other games-it falls short.
Please excuse any grammatical or punctual errors; I spent enough time writing this! Thank you. Please feel free to add ideas you feel would aid Bioware in their efforts or clarify something I've said.
Ce sujet est fermé
Retour en haut
