Ce sujet est fermé
Its nice to see someone tackling this issue in a thoughtful and well put manner, rather than as just an emotional response to the game. Really helps explain my feelings about this ending. I only hope this post starts a trend.I'm no writer, my degree (which I am in the process of finishing) is in Ancient History and so I am familiar with the concept of the tragic hero and the classic tale of the struggle against fate which you mentioned. I think this post is correct in arguing that the Bioware team tried to insert this theme into the last few minutes of the game without really giving any thought to its actual narrative impact, the results of which can only be described as dissapointing.
More and more I have come to feel that there is nothing wrong with the endings per se, but rather their execution. The basic theme of destroying the reapers vs controlling them is prefigured throughout the entire game and so its really quite an achievement that the ending manages to make this choice seem out of place or unfulfilling in the finale. Your point about the ending containing no resultion is hugely apt as it brings out the core problem with mass effect 3's endings: by inserting the god child into the conclusion Mass Effect 3 confuses what is in effect a fairely simple decision. There are numerous themes which just should not have been in there. The reason for this is that they were not in the rest of the game. Had Mass Effect 3 been a treatise on resisting fate then the endings would have been fine, their inclusion in the end only however creates an unpleasant jarring effect, ruining what should have been a satisfying conclusion.
As for the endings offering more questions than answes, this again I believe is due to poor implementation. A big thing about the finale is how rushed it feels. As this post explains well, at the last minute the Reapers' motivation is revealed only to be explored in less than a minute. If more time had been given to the conversation with the god child at the end, hell if the ending of the game had been convincing the god child to take a certain action, then the ending would have been superior. By rushing past this however, Mass Effect 3 makes him seem like a deus ex machina, though you are correct to say that he isn't. Then last but not least there is the ending cutscene. Mass Effect 3's ending is remarkably similar in its format to Deus Ex Human Revolution, a game that literally ends with some button pressing (won't say what its about here) followed by ending cutscenes. This system however works for HR because its played out properly. Each ending features its own (distinct) cutscene detailing Adam Jensen's decision for making that particular choice and explaining what he hopes will come of this. There is none of this in Mass Effect 3, just a very simple and ambiguous cutscene that barely alters depending on ending choice. Its little wonder that the ending felt forced and when so little effort was put into showing the player the consequences of their actions, something the Mass Effect series has always been about.
As said earlier I think this is a great post.
You shouldn't apologise for making it so long (mine is probably longer). Sometimes things need to be said, and your post really helps put things in perspective. It really helped me to further my own understanding about how an ending that could have been so good ended on such a sour note.Thanks,
ECK
Retour en haut
