boardnfool86 wrote...
I am going to bullet my reason why to make this easier to read...
1. Your Choices Matter - you affect the future of Earth, Krogans, Quarians, Rachni, and Geth DIRECTLY. You shouldn't need reassurance in the final cinematic to learn what you already know... their fates. In many case you have multiple opportunities to doom various species. Also, various crew and former crew's fates are in your hands. Your ability to unite them also plays a role in your final outcome (which I will get to).
2. The Illusive Man - Shepard's final speech check... can you get the most stubborn, often times vile being int he galaxy to see the error in his ways?
3. Admiral Anderson - Your father figure, and longtime backer, save his life (however briefly) and get a touching moment that had to have a profound impact on Shep and I found my heart aching as I watched (leaving the full dialog would prob help mroe people feel its gravity - but playing through the entire series recently made it a powerful moment for me)
4a. The Final Choice is Epic (Destroy) - Is your Shep so overcome with grief, and driven by a hatred for the Reapers that they wipe out all synthetic life including the Geth which Legion sacrificed himself for and whom EDI has recently discovered her humanity? Or maybe those are non factors cause you dont care for EDI and wiped out the Geth... maybe Legion was sold to Cerberus so you never even knew the other side to the Geth... all of that is based on your choice.
4b. The Final Choice is Epic (Control) - Do you finally see what the Illusive Man was after? Or maybe you can't let all synthetic life die so you can (maybe) live. Maybe you think you can do better... whatever the reason you take CONTROL of the Reapers and replace the Catalyst as the driving force behind the Reapers... then again maybe you offer organics (and synthetics alike) only a brief reprieve.
4c. The Final Choice is Epic (Synthesis) - Or maybe you just want peace, and have come to see the other side of the synthetic coin. Maybe you realize that EVERYONE has been wrong... or that the Reapers/Catalyst/Saren/IM had some valid points but were going about it the wrong way. You realize that organics want to live, but that synthetic is not the next step to evolution but a peripheral one. So you sacrifice yourself, your essence, maybe your soul? (not religious but I am not the God of this fiction) to bring peace and prosperity to the Galaxy.
5. Relays Had to Go - The Mass Relays are part of the architecture meant to wipe out advanced organic life, a framework set up by those you are out to supplant... and they are the delivery system of your retribution, YOUR solution.
6. Sacrifice - The end brings about the meaning of the word. Your hard work was not for naught, you can save Earth and preserve entire species, but in the end you have to give something up to set things right. You can try and spare your own life by wiping out all synthetics, or you can sacrifice yourself for (possibly) a better galatic outcome.
7. Criticism - I find most criticism to be nitpicking, who really cares that you don't have to reload the pistol in the final moments? The story has gotten so much bigger than that gameplay is taking a back seat to narrative now... but I digress. The one stirking criticism is the fate of the Normandy - it makes absolutely no sense, I can swallow my version to a small degree cause neither of my squadmates came out but somehow Ash and EDI got on the ship and they made a FTL jump? No. The logical way to do it was have it crash on Earth (so if you dont save Earth they're dead) and they can still achieve a similar ending without losing much of the very obvious allegory - but I can understand why they decided to create a plothole since the allegory is more obvious on a new uninhabited world than on a smoldering Earth (or maybe they crash in the Amazon where the Reapers haven't been) But again, digression. If you can't get past the Normandy's fate I don't blame you, I can, I appreciate why they went that direction, but I can appreciate why it bothers people. I hope they leave it as is and that brings me to my conclusion.
8. In Conclusion - Its BioWare's story to tell, we play but a role, a role that should not be diminished by the somber end of the series. Yes BioWare says its our tale, and it is, we play the largest role in it and our decisions decide the fate of a galaxy. Anyone who says our choices dont matter is speaking with incredible hyperbole or they've lost sight of what they've accomplished - which I don't blame them... afterall its tough saying goodbye to Shep & Co, especially on such a somber note. As I've stated above there are numerous changes to the galaxy at the end, so many that there is no way they create anything post Shepard without having to ret con things.
All in all I think the series is a landmark in gaming, and one of the most engaging experiences of any medium. I think was incredibly brave and also artistic to break with game expectations and end the experience in a somber manner - yet the higher your GR the more hope you see in the end (and if its low possibly wiping out Earth and giving you fewer final choices). And they also achieved their objective, the end is very memorable and has even sparked intriguing theories on whether or not Shep was indoctrinated and how honest the catalyst is about your final choices.
I am sure I have changed nobody's mind, but with all the negative attention the end got, I wanted to share my approval of the ending. It was powerful, it was emotional, it did this ground breaking series justice. So much that I wish they would leave the IP alone maybe bringing back the trilogy revamped on next generation systems as nothing could possibly take place in that universe of significance that would not diminish Shepard.
I so totally agree with you, it is powerfull and short and that was good. I also loved the way they handled the illusive man vs. anderson. It all came down to the final choice that conveyd the idea of the entire concept of mass effect. Those last 10 minutes aren't about all the other choices, those were made to get there. Those last ten minutes are about you and your experiences, how you played the game will psychologicaly effect which choice you will make in the end. And keeping the prologue theoretical was a stroke of genius. Most games would hand it to you on a silver platter, bioware made use of their greatest tool as storytellers, our own immagination.
Modifié par Ryokun1989, 17 mars 2012 - 04:14 .
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