Warning! This is reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeally long. And probably more than a little dry. Bear with me, please, it took some time to write all this down.
Here are some of my proposed changes, in a more understandable than usual (for me) format:
Destroy Option 1 (Regression) - Agree with the Catalyst's notion that advancement of technology necessarily leads to synthetic life surpassing organic life. In order to "save" the galaxy, sentient technology must be wiped out. By releasing the energy of the Catalyst and Crucible, advanced technology is completely wiped out. EDI, the Geth, Mass Effect tech, the Relays, everything remotely related to the Reapers.
It's extreme, more than slightly reprehensible from a moral standpoint, yet still justifiable. Because the Catalyst may have a point. There is no guarantee that the problem at hand is solved; in fact, it is likely just as prevalent after this, as synthetics can and will be rebuilt. Yet, you give the universe time, at least in some of the outcomes.
Permutations: Depending on War Asset counts, different outcomes are reached.
- Low (<3000) - Earth is consumed by the blast. The relays send out enormous pulses of energy, creating supernovas comparable in size and strength to the Alpha Relay blast. This is repeated in every system with a relay. Shepard dies, life is largely ended. Normandy is destroyed, your crew dies.
- Medium (3000 to 5000) - Earth is partially consumed by the Citadel's energy wave. The relays do not go supernova, but they do cause widespread damage from the pulses. The energy takes out a sizeable chunk of each system, but leaves a fair reserve of life behind to carry on. The Normandy manages to take shelter on the far side of Earth, so the crew survives. Shepard is killed on the Citadel by the blast.
- High (>5000) - Earth is fine. The relays disintegrate, but do not explode in any violent way. The pulse still wipes out all advanced technology, but leaves organic life behind. The galaxy is spared, and the Normandy survives with no trouble. Shepard is beamed back the Earth by some means or other, and survives.
The Reapers are destroyed, life is saved, but at great cost. Whether the ends justify the means is up to you. The Catalyst and the Reapers may not be correct in their means, but their purpose is certainly an interesting one. In the end, Shepard chooses to follow this purpose through to its conclusion. The ultimate goal of removing the Reapers is reached, though you acknowledge that they may have been correct. War Assets aren't really addressed properly here, but it is what it is.
Option 2 (Dissension) - Disagree with the Catalyst. Using EDI, the Geth, and the fatalism of his own argument against him, Shepard refuses to accept the Catalyst's destructive solution to ending the war. By dealing with the situation in a new way, this removes the need to sacrifice the Geth and EDI, as well as the relays. The problem of tech singularity is not solved any morseo than in the first scenario, but Shepard trusts organic life to adapt to the situation, and devise a new solution. He or she sees no benefit in killing sentient machine life.
The Catalyst, unwilling to be defied, calls Harbinger back from the main fleet to engage Shepard before he or she can succeed.
Again, war assets lead to different outcomes, after the main choice:
- Lowest (<2000) - Harbinger easily punches through the Sword battle, and begins to launch an incredibly powerful indoctrination attack on Shepard's mind. Shepard is unable to resist for long enough to achieve his or her goal, and is convinced by Harbinger to commit suicide. The game ends with a slowly dying Shepard watching, in horror, as everything they have fought for is extinguished. The Crucible is destroyed, the cycle is carried out, and all that you know and love is gone. The Catalyst is the last thing you ever see, smirking down at you with a look of sinister delight.
- Low (2000 to 4500) - Harbinger meets some resistance from Sword, and is delayed long enough for Shepard to get a hold of Admiral Hackett. There is not enough time for a proper solution, so Hackett devises a desperate plan. He will send the Crucible's core into critical overload, thus detonating the device and destroying the Citadel. Harbinger arrives at the scene just as the Crucible explodes, sending jolts of energy throughout the Citadel. Shepard dies, as does Hackett and everyone on board the Crucible, and the resulting battle claims even more lives as the combined fleet fights back the now weakened Reapers. In the end, losses are quite heavy, but victory is achieved. The Normandy sustains heavy damage from Harbinger's beams, and crash-lands on Earth.
- Medium (4500 to 6500) - Harbinger is blocked by fierce resistance from Sword, and cannot reach the Citadel in time. Shepard uses the extra time to argue with the Catalyst about his assertions. Unfortunately, it becomes clear that he has no intentions of listening to reason, so Shepard contacts Hackett to propose a new tactic. Since the fleet is too heavily engaged to allow for a direct assault against the station, and time is running out, the two decide to overload the Crucible, and order the device to be evacuated immediately. Calling in the Normandy, Shepard orders Joker to carry Hackett and the crew to safety. Hackett tries to argue with Shepard about sacrificing him/herself, and Shepard is given the choice of either carrying out the plan themself, or allowing Hackett to do so. The Normandy collects the survivors, and escapes the area, just as reports come in that Harbinger is rapidly approaching. Harbinger breaks free from Sword and rushes to stop the detonation, but cannot reach the device in time. The Citadel is destroyed, and the combined fleet mops up the remaining Reapers will far fewer losses than would have been possible otherwise. Shepard or Hackett die, but the Normandy and significant portions of the fleet survive.
- High (>6500) - Harbinger is blocked from attacking. Hackett reports that the fleet is holding its own against the Reaper armada, and actually gaining ground. Hackett and Shepard decide to divert a portion of the main offensive to physically destroy the Citadel's control area. The Destiny Ascension or some other large dreadnought leads a small strike force in to attack the Citadel. The Normandy swoops in, picks up Shepard and the rest, and returns to the scene of the battle. As they retreat, the dreadnought and its escort open fire on the control hub, causing the Citadel to fracture and the Catalyst to perish. The Normandy cuts into the fight and punches a Thanix round through Harbinger's shell, destroying it. The galactic fleet easily destroys the remaining Reapers, and the day is won.
This branch of solution really plays into the value of War Assets, and how they could affect the outcome of the final battle. Furthermore, this option could be made dependent upon Shepard's feelings toward synthetic life, as it would require him or her to be at least trusting enough of synthetics to allow them the chance to freely evolve alongside organics. Thus, making peace between the Geth and Quarians, and teaching EDI to view life in a new way would be necessary triggers. This is a good way to reward player choice. Since destruction is the ultimate end, this would suit a Shepard who agreed largely with the values of Anderson and Hackett.
ControlOption 1 (Continued Enslavement) - Again, the Catalyst's arguments hold enough weight to sway Shepard to choosing to utilize his presented choices. Though TIM was seen as a villain, and though Shepard feels that his methods were too extreme, the ultimate result of his conviction about controlling the Reapers makes sense. If a singularity event is going to come, the Reapers should remain, to allow the cycle to continue, if it must.
- Fail (<3000) - Shepard grabs the power conduit, and sacrifices his or herself to gain control of the Reapers. However, something does not properly fire inside the Crucible, and the energy released causes significant devastation to Earth and the combined fleet. The Reapers are preserved, but much life is lost in the process. The Crucible's beam causes an overload of the relays, sending dangerous energy waves across the galaxy, damaging countless systems. The Normandy is severely crippled, and some of the crew dies from the rough landing on Earth.
- Pass (>3000) - The Crucible fires properly, and the change in leadership happens without hindrance. The Reapers are placed firmly under Shepard's control, and are sent back to Dark Space, where they await the calling of their new master. Though Shepard has no desire to repeat the Catalyst's atrocities, he or she recongizes the value and necessity of the Reapers as a tool against synthetic annihilation.
Again, I'm not an enormous fan of this path. It's far too unclear as to how exactly Shepard would go about becoming the Catalyst, and it leaves too much room for corruption. However, it still provides a choice, for those who may agree with the necessity of the Reapers. Furthermore, it allows organic and synthetic life to exist in much the same way as the modified Destroy options, albeit with a greater sense of impending doom in light of failure. I do not feel that there should be more than one outcome for this choice, but that would remove any sense of having done something. The control energy wave really shouldn't cause any damage at all, but War Assets should count for at least a small something in every decision.
Option 2 (Sacrifice) - The Reapers are not a justifiable evil. In spite of their supposedly noble purpose, Shepard does not accept that the cycle must be perpetuated, even if this means allowing a singularity to occur. Rather than keep the Reapers in reserve, Shepard takes control for the sole purpose of ending the threat once and for all.
Because Shepard is choosing to defy the Catalyst's wishes, he uses mental combat to try and break Shepard's will. Asset values determine the outcome.
- Fail (<5000) - The Catalyst bombards Shepard with images of a burning fleet, decimated by the Reapers. With each ship that falls, Shepard loses a measure of resolve. The Catalyst relentlessly assails Shepard's psyche with a perpetual nightmare of failure, every planet engulfed by Reaper forces. Finally, the Catalyst taunts Shepard with a vision of the Normandy being vaporized, its entire crew being instantly erased from existence. Shepard's will is broken, and he or she cannot resist any further. The Catalyst beats Shepard into submission, and wrests control back from him or her. The Crucible is unable to release the energy that it builds up, and implodes. The cycle continues on, and the Catalyst prepares to crush all resistance.
- Pass (>5000) - Shepard successfully resists the Catalyst's attempts to retain dominance, forcing the other being into submission. After taking control of the Reapers, Shepard deactivates them completely, leaving them wide open to destruction from the fleet. In a final act of selflessness, Shepard release the Crucible's energy directly back into the Citadel, destroying it completely, wiping all trace of the Catalyst and the Reapers from the galaxy. The energy passes through the mass relays without harming them.
I felt that an option like this ought to have been possible. Not so much a peaceful solution, or an overly aggressive one, but a meaningful sacrifice. Instead of just flatly destroying the Reapers, and risking fighting a losing battle, Shepard resorts to giving his or her life in a selfless attempt to spare more lives. Ironically, this proves to be even more difficult, as the War Assets score must be markedly high to resist the Catalyst's indoctrination attempt. Still, Shepard's sacrifice would serve a noble purpose, in this case, and offers a more sympathetic view of a TIM-style ending. By succeeding, however, much of the galaxy is saved, while the Reapers are removed.
SynthesisThe current path leaves room for only a single focus - using the Crucible to obey the Catalyst's wishes. While combining DNA into a synthetic-organic hybrid may be one way to go about Synthesis, there should be another way to deal with the issue as well. War Asset scores, again, should play a part in how to achieve a specific ending.
Option 1 (Forced evolution) - After hearing the Catalyst's opinion, that Synthesis is the "pinnacle of evolution", Shepard is persuaded to agree. Though the end result sounds suspiciously like altering all life into Reaper form, the ability to combine the best parts of organic and synthetic life into a supposedly higher form is too tempting. Whatever may come from this drastic action, Shepard believes that lasting peace is far likelier if all life becomes uniform.
- Threshold (4500) - Shepard combines his or herself with the Crucible's beam, sacrificing his or her life to bring life to a higher plane of existence. As Shepard's essence is absorbed, a powerful pulse of energy erupts from the Citadel, covering Earth and the rest of the Sol system. The Reapers, covered in tendrils of the power, retreat from Earth. The beam that fires from the Citadel travels through the relays, saturating the galaxy with a soft green light. The Citadel begins to explode, breaking into pieces and falling away from the Crucible. The Reapers, driven by the final will of the Catalyst, retreat to Dark Space, never to be seen again. The Normandy leaves the allied fleet and returns to Earth, its crew paying silent respects to their beloved Captain.
The actual consequences of Synthesis are not entirely clear in this scenario, but that may be for the best. The question of whether forcing all life to evolve at once is right or not, is not simply answered. Instead, let the player reach their own conclusion about the results herein. Since the crew of the Normandy is safe, the relays are intact, and Earth is spared, there is a sufficient sense of having actually won. Nonetheless, the fallout of such a choice is potentially enormous.
Option 2 (Coexistence) - Of all the potential outcomes, this is perhaps my favorite idea. Since we are now presented with evidence that the Reapers have never actually partaken in the cycle of their own accord, as they have always been under the will of the Catalyst, freeing them is a logical choice. They may choose to perpetuate the destruction of organic life, but they may also choose not to. The beauty of this option is that it affords a measure of respect to the Reapers, on account of their being living beings trapped within an obedient shell. For organic life, freedom is paramount.
To achieve this path, Shepard must successfully convince the Catalyst of the ridiculousness of its "solution". To do so, certain choices must have been made, and Shepard must have expressed a willingness to allow synthetic life the chance to coexist with organic life. By using the Geth and EDI as examples of successfully charting the personal development of synthetic life, Shepard begins to shred the Catalyst's foundation. The cycle, Shepard posits, is illogical and contradictory. The Catalyst himself, by his own admission, is (at least mostly) synthetic, and is utilizing an army of synthetics to annihilate the very life he claims to defend. Not only are his means wrong, but his ultimate end is also wrong. Synthetic life is every bit as precious as organic life; with the right amount of patience and understanding, synthetic evolution can lead to incredibly positive results (The Geth helping the Quarians rebuild Rannoch).
By proving the Catalyst to be incorrect, Shepard is able to push him into a new solution. Release the Reapers and allow them to make their own way. If they attack, so be it, but they are also capable of choosing not to. The Catalyst, dumbfounded by the optimism of the idea, wearily agrees to acquiesce. Giving the commander time to radio the Normandy and secure his or her escape, the Catalyst causes the Citadel to self-destruct, simultaneously releasing his grip on the minds of the Reapers. What happens next is War Asset dependent.
- Low (<4500) - Harbinger, freed from the Catalyst's control, nevertheless refuses to allow peace to occur. Communing with his comrades, the Reaper general assures them that the resistance fleet is too weak to survive their onslaught. Some of the Reapers, those that do not wish to fight any longer for a cause they do not support, attempt to destroy their brethren. Unforunately, Harbinger's forces prove too powerful, and the fleet is crushed. The Normandy is destroyed by Harbinger's attacks, and the cycle continues on without the Catalyst. This time, however, there is nothing stopping the Reapers from utterly ending all life. Rather than leave primitive organic species to their own designs, Harbinger announces that he has no wish to allow any life, primitive or no, the opportunity to rebuild. Everything, he claims, must be purged.
- Medium (4500 to 6500) - Harbinger chooses to continue the mission of the Catalyst, and attempts to sway his forces to the same conclusion. Many of the remaining Reapers side with him, but a comparable amount choose instead to resist him. These Reapers, inspired by the show of incredible unity from the combined fleet, turn on their former allies en masse. The ensuing chaos is brutal and bloody. The fleet eventually wins, but the devastation is horrifying. The Reapers' civil war has torn apart the landscapes of many planets, and filled space with huge amounts of debris. Still, the galaxy is saved. The Normandy survives, as do the relays, and life is free of the Reapers.
- High (>6500) - Harbinger is given pause by the enormous force opposing him. The allied fleet contains representatives from every race across the galaxy, and remains more than large enough to cost the Reapers heavy losses. Conversing with his allies, Harbinger comes to the conclusion that organic life is worthy of continued existence. The proof lies in the indomitable will and steely determination of Sword and Hammer, as well as the reports of fierce resistance from other theatres. The Reapers break off the attack, and Harbinger communicates with the Normandy directly, leaving the choice of how to proceed up to Shepard. At this point, Shepard is left with three distinct options -
1. Renegade: Convince the Reapers to sacrifice themselves for the greater good of the galaxy. Rather than destroying them outright, Shepard tells Harbinger to let go of his twisted form of existence and find rest in the oblivion of death. The Reapers, led by Harbinger, willingly submit themselves to Shepard's directive. One by one, the massive machines detonate their cores, releasing their essence into the void of space. This end is violent and extreme, but safe. The Reapers can never again become a threat to galactic civilization.
2. Neutral: Tell Harbinger to return to Dark Space, leaving organic and synthetic life to their own devices. Agreeing, the Reapers slowly leave the galaxy, massing near the far reaches of space to begin the long journey back to their point of origin. As a final farewell, Harbinger pays his grudging respect to his adversary, warning Shepard that whatever peace may come from this, it is not a certainty. The dire events predicted by the Catalyst may yet come to pass, and the Reapers will no longer meddle in the affairs of organics even if they do. From this point on, life is to fend for itself. Shepard acknowledges the danger, but remains resolute.
3. Paragon: Shepard believes so strongly in the notion that all life has value, regardless of its appearance or history, that he or she proposes that Harbinger and the Reapers atone for the sins they committed beneath the Catalyst. They are to remain in the galaxy, and integrate themselves into organic society, with the goal of improving the life of both organics and synthetics. The vast amounts of knowledge possessed by each individual Reaper open up near unlimited possibilities for advancement of life, and the wisdom that has come with years of accumulated consciousness provides the means to judiciously make use of said knowledge. Intrigued by this proposal, Harbinger agrees to Shepard's request, for the time being. He and his ilk decide to spread themselves across the galaxy, attaching themselves to pockets of life everywhere, sharing their experiences and power with their living counterparts in an attempt to correct the looming threat of technological singularity. This avenue is far brighter, at face value, than convincing the Reapers to commit mass suicide. On the other hand, however, this also carries the capacity for the Reapers to become a threat once again. There is little guarantee that their cooperation will last, nor is there any evidence that their help will be of any use. Ultimately, though, Shepard strongly feels that this path is the most promising for a brighter future. The wounds of the Reaper War will persist for long after, but the progress that comes will help to assuage that to some extent.
RefusalMuch of Mass Effect 3 is devoted to the construction of the Crucible. Yet, this device should not have been the only means of victory. Though there is a pervading theme of the Reapers being "too powerful" to fight conventionally, their advantages are actually slimmer than is presented. At its core, the Reaper fleet is more deadly in an individual sense, but it is not invincible. For a Shepard who has no desire to deal with the Catalyst, and no wish to unleash the Crucible, winning the war through force of arms *must* be an option. This is the classic "massive space battle" wish, and it is a justifiable one. However, because the Reapers are incredibly powerful, this option should only be available at much higher levels of total asset value.
After the Catalyst is finished speaking to Shepard, he or she can walk back to where the elevator carried them up, and communicate with Hackett. At this point, he must be convinced of the viability of conventional warfare. If Shepard has collected enough assets, Hackett cautiously decides to trust the commander's judgement. This conversation could easily be a Paragon or Renegade check, and also based on Reputation score.
- High (5000 to 7000) - Shepard manages to talk a stubbornly unwilling Admiral Hackett into removing the Crucible from the Citadel, and instructing the combined fleet to hold their ground. The ensuing battle is nearly lost, as the Reapers seem incapable of being pushed back. With a sudden surge, however, allied forces gain momentum. Thousands upon thousands of ships and lives are lost to the ultimate victory, but the Reapers are beaten without the help of the Catalyst or the Crucible. Much of the galaxy suffers horrific amounts of damage, and many planets are scarred by the fighting. But the organics have won on their own terms. Part of living is being free to choose your own path, and Shepard has carried this proverb to fruition. History will not remember the outcome of the Reaper War as a "win"; the cost of both lives and livelihoods is too great to even consider such a pat statement. Yet, life goes on.
- Insane (>7000) - Admitting that the allied fleet is far more impressive than anyone could have dared to hope, Hackett is in careful agreement with Shepard's assessment of their chances. Removing the Crucible, he orders the galactic fleet to engage the Reapers in straight combat, as the cost of using the Crucible (and trusting the Catalyst) is simply too great to justify. Shepard has assembled such a robust fleet that the Reapers begin to wither under its combined assault. Motivated by the tremendous gain in headway, the fleet cuts a swathe through the Reapers, and surges into the remaining enemy ships. On the ground, row after row of disparate races come together to destroy the encroaching Reapers in a steady hail of gunfire, biotics, and artillery. Losses are heavy, but the Reapers are broken by the incredible show of strength from the galactic community. The Normandy flits in and out of combat, blasting chunks out of Reaper armor, steadily carving her way through the melee. When the last Reaper has been taken down, the Normandy docks with the Crucible, and collects Hackett. When the admiral and Shepard have exchanged congratulations, the Normady returns to Earth.
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Well, that's all of them. I put a lot of time into this, so I hope someone bothers to read it. This is how I imagined the game should have ended, with various choices to be made, each with positives and negatives. The outcomes, as they are, allow for a full spectrum between utter defeat and total victory. Some may find the "lack" of sacrifice insulting in some of the higher asset ends, but this should not be an issue. In order to collect so many assets, a player must have put a considerable amount of time and thought into playing the game. In that case, we'd like to feel like we actually won, not like we reacted to what the Catalyst told us to do. His options weren't necessarily bad, but they shouldn't have been the only choices. I feel that it is a betrayal of Shepard's character to expect him or her to simply lie down and accept what they are told. That is not how we have dealt with the Reapers in the first two games, and it seems just as wrong now. My options at least give Shepard (and the player) the feeling that, if they made enough effort to collect their strength, they can make a better tomorrow.
Speaking of which, the War Assets system needs an overhaul. Get rid of Galactic Readiness. It's a contrived system implemented purely with the goal of forcing people into playing multiplayer. This feels too much like a DLC pitch, and not like a fun diversion. Multiplayer is simply not the focus of Mass Effect, and that should be reflected in the singleplayer portion. By getting rid of Readiness, or even allowing us to raise it by completing multiplayer-style sessions in the singleplayer galaxy (maybe have N7 missions contribute to Readiness, instead?), players wouldn't feel so betrayed - after all, we were promised that multiplayer would not encroach on singleplayer.
In the end, though, I'm still more concerned about changing the endings. Look at my ideas, and maybe I can provide a helpful thought or two. I don't claim to be wise in the ways of writing, but the overall themes of each of my proposed endings mesh well with your artistic vision. These would not require as major an alteration as Indoctrination Theory or scrapping the entire Earth mission. If anything, you could just add on to your existing ideas.
Sorry for the poor formatting!
EDIT: My friend rightly pointed out the
huge leap of faith present in the Paragon version of the Coexistence ending. I had thought about this, but wasn't able to make any meaningful justification for why anyone would accept working with them. However, as I reminded him, the galaxy has taken Shepard on faith before. If the Rachni were released, the Council lets this potential atrocity go with little more than a slap on the wrist. In fact, there are many things that Shepard does which do not appear to be wise. Nonetheless, the galaxy trusts him or her.
So, it may not be totally necessary to make up a logical explanation for this. The Reapers need not be
allies, at least not all at once. People would certainly view them with repulsion and fear. This could be one of those speculatory moments, where the player's imagination is used to fill in the blanks. That's the beauty of leaving *some* room for interpretation in each ending, because it opens up a world of possibilities. The foundation of each choice is set (even total defeat retains the potential for life to survive in small pockets), but the future isn't written in stone.
Any further input would be greatly appreciated! Think of my post, and all the other posts here, as a massive pile of community feedback. With each new idea, we can refine and recreate what we feel would be satisfying. Not to say that any changes will necessarily be made, but I enjoy bandying thoughts around.
Modifié par MrAtomica, 24 mars 2012 - 01:50 .
I even had to laugh when I realised that Kelly had taken my fish "well no one else would look after them!" I was moved when Thane passed on which surprised me - it was a well done scene. Mordins too for that matter. So yeah It was a real roller coaster, but it was an excellent trip. Shame to let it trip up over a bum note.
Retour en haut
Appreciated if some of these could be cleared up.
Also, there would be foreshadowing in the previous games...
). our world is full of suffering so at least in a game special as Mass Effect i want a happy ending (at least in a choice)
)
