I would do away with the concept that Shepard can pick any of three choices and have each end "bittersweet." There are consequences. When you decide to overthrow the Sith Lord in KOTOR and become one yourself, there are consequences to that choice. Certain characters run into a conflict in that they will not follow you down that path, they have their own beliefs. Characters wouldn't just sit idly by as Shepard decides to control the Reapers, ESPECIALLY if he has shown that his morals are questionable.
Jade Empire also has three endings: heroic, villainous, apathetic. In one you overthrow the villain and usher in an era of peace; in another you overthrow the villain but take his place as tyrant; in the last you end up agreeing with the villain's solution and stand down.
I think that's how things should have been applied to ME3:
Destroy = heroic
Control = villainous
Synthesis = apathetic
Each (or at least the first two) would have variations though, so that it would be possible to achieve a bad destroy ending or a good control ending.
Alter the cut scene earlier in the game with Legion. Have the four options be:
-Side with Tali
-Side with Geth
-Allow Legion to upload code and convince Gerrel to stand down (Renegade, achieve Geth-Quarrian peace).
-And change the Paragon option so that you dissuade Legion from uploading the code but also convince Gerrel to stand down (Paragon, achieve Geth-Quarrian peace).
The outcome for this would be that Legion survives, but the Geth would still be crippled from the earlier Quarrian attack. The Geth fleet therefore will not be able to assist during the battle over Earth, however you will gain Legion as a war asset assisting on the Crucible.
So when you pick Destroy, whether or not the Geth are wiped out will depend on whether or not you let Legion upload the code. If you did, then they will be wiped out along with the Reapers. If you didn't, then the Geth will survive. Similarly, if you were nice to EDI and fostered her interest in human behavior and told her about what it means to be human, so that she re-writes some of her own code, then she will survive. If you dissuaded her from pursuing a relationship with Joker and treated her poorly, then she will die. This will involve clarification that the Crucible will target Reaper technology and by EDI re-writing some of her programs and by Legion not uploading Reaper code, they will survive.
For Control:
-Bad ending- Default: If you sacrificed the Council in ME1, failed to cure the Genophage, chose the Geth over the Quarians, and/or left the Collector Base intact for T.I.M, then the aliens of the galaxy will not trust you. They will see Shepard taking control of the Reapers as a further grab for human power and will continue to attack the Reapers. This will lead to Shepard being forced to retaliate and crippling the fleet. To re-establish order, the Reapers are used to suppress the uprisings against Shepard's decision. Humanity comes out as the clear hegemon of the Galaxy.
-Good ending- If you saved the Council in ME1 and took actions that earn you trust with the aliens of the Galaxy (cure genophage, destroy collector base, secure peace between quarians and geth), then the aliens will not regard Shepard's decision with as much suspicion. Instead Shepard will use the Reapers to serve a rebuilt galactic community that now includes an expanded council comprised of members of all the principle species that helped fight the Reapers. Technology will also recover more quickly as scientists are allowed to study the Reaper tech.
As for the third ending category....
Synthesis as is just does not make sense. It is "space magic." I can see two alternatives to this ending.
1. Instead of Synthesis, have the third ending be "Liberation." The Catalyst will explain that he is in Control of the Reapers, and consequently Shepard can break that control. In this ending the Reapers, including Harbinger, are liberated and immediately turn on the Catalyst (attack the Citadel). It is ambiguous as to whether or not Shepard survives, but in an epilogue he ends up returning to Earth with the help of the Reapers.
2. A different kind of Synthesis. Synthesis is pretty much Shepard acknowledging that there is in fact a Cycle and consenting to go with the Catalyst's solution. A solution would be to make this the equivalent of Jade Empire's "apathetic" ending. The Catalyst tells you that his solution is required to preserve organic life. Shepard acknowledges the solution and allows himself to "ascend" and become a reaper that will forever be a protector (in a warped sense) of organic life. I would have no expectation that this would be a popular ending, just as the third ending of Jade Empire wasn't, but it would be a form of "synthesis" and would also be just an alternative ending for subsequent play throughs. An ending cinematic might consist of Shepard agreeing to stand down and watching the fleet get decimated by the Reapers. Then fast forward 50,000 years and we see that Earth has completely recovered and we see a sprawling "alien" civilization. The camera pulls back from Earth, out of the solar system, and finally out of the galaxy where we see the Reapers approaching once more from Dark Space, including a human reaper.
Lastly, when it comes to the Catalyst, I would overhaul his dialogue and drop his motive to protect organics from synthetics. Sovereign talks about how the Reapers represent Order and the organics represent chaos. That is enough to go on IMO. The Catalyst shouldn't be telling Shepard how he can destroy them or control them. Instead he should be a being that simply desires control and maintaining predictability. He allows sentient life to advance so far and then harvests them because they create chaos, wage war, and because their future is uncertain, and that scares the hell out of the Catalyst that has built himself up to be a "God" by controlling which races are spared and which races are harvested (and when). He also maintains control over the technological evolution of species through the Citadel and Mass Relays. His obsession to maintain control could be motive enough. There need not be a benevolent motive. It was kind of anti-climactic IMO when we found out that the entity controlling the evil, monstrous reapers was an entity that seemed to have good intentions.
Also, Shepard should not die in every ending. Surely he would die in my proposal for a different Synthesis ending, and he could die when he assumes control of the Reapears but is turned on by the aliens in the fleet. And maybe he will die in the destroy ending along with the Geth and Edi, but there would also be a good version for both control and destroy in which he survives. And he would survive in my "liberate" ending.
Modifié par TaradosGon, 20 juin 2012 - 09:29 .
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