With slight hesitation, although I do not agree with the endings, they are not my biggest problem with the game. With growing confidence, the biggest problem in my opinion is the fact that faces don't import from ME2. Underlining saddness, this makes me out of touch with my Shepard and not really care about them as they don feel like the same person to me.
ME3 Suggested Changes Feedback Thread - Spoilers Allowed
Débuté par
RaenImrahl
, mars 17 2012 03:00
Retour en haut
#5552
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 02:00
Mr.Majestic
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- Members
- 6 messages
A friend of mine gave me this. Bear with it, a worthy concept.
[Translator's note: This concept was created before the author found the ORIGINAL abandoned plot, involving instability of dark energy on an Universe-wide scale.]
[Translator's note: This approach abandons the Starchild altogether,
but it can possibly be adapted... as something else, preferably, not in
its current 'canonical' form.]
What or who are the Reapers?
I think that the resolution and explanation in ME3 is totally unconvincing. It is poor, superficial, weak, inconsequent and written in the 11th hour. Hence I've came up with my own theory based on what has been said about the Reapers so far (throughout ME1 and ME2).
As any other machine, the Reapers have to have an origin. Let's assume that once upon a time, many, many, many cycles ago, an extremely advanced species existed. They were the first to build the Mass Relays. The Citadel is also their legacy. Let's assume further that these finished constructs resulted in unforeseeable reactions of the cosmos. Their nature is irrelevant, yet the species believed that the phenomena were temporary [Tn: It may well be linked to the ORIGINAL abandoned plot of ME3, involving instability of dark energy - remember Haestrom in ME2?]. The fact whether they actually resulted from commissioning the Mass Relays or not is also irrelevant. What is relevant is that the assumed species faced extinction at that time.
Their way of survival was to build huge Arkships (as we would construe them). In order to suit their intended use, the Arkships required extremely advanced guidance and control systems; hence each received a fully-functional SI (the design and operation of which is beyond human comprehension; remember, the hypothetical species built the Relays). The purpose of the Arkships was simple - to protect their inhabitants from the threat, and once the threat is gone, to return to original locations (that's why the Arkships were linked to the Citadel and programmed to use the Relay network).
At one point of rescuing the civilisation, the Arkship SIs recognised that the best method of protecting their organic makers is to assimilate them by unification - by recognising that the threat was not temporary at all.
A horrible and devastating war ensued.
As their last-ditch effort, the species developed a device to stop the machines they had created [Tn: possibly with the use of dark energy]. The device was intended to use the Mass Relay network to shut down, destroy or rein in the SIs. The exact effect is not important now, the general idea was to have the machine stop the rouge Arkships.
The device was not finished, and the war completely decimated the original species. What was left was the Arkships, the Citadel, the Mass Relays... and the galaxy in ruin.
The Arkship SIs decided to step into the shadows. They were aware of their limitations and required "spare parts" [Tn: also to evolve, and possibly mitigate the recurrence of the threat, possibly from the dark energy fluctuations]. The Arkships chose to hibernate in the dark space outside of the Galaxy.
After a cycle of 50,000 years, the Arkships returned [Tn: this can be assumed as their "maintenance interval"] to find that some previously-primitive species have developed. The new species also found the Mass Relays and the Citatel; the technology behind these constructs defined their technological progress; this progress matched the directives of the Arkship SIs. The SIs tried to effect their prime directive, which is "protection", at first. The new hosts of the Citadel declined by not believing in any premise for "protection". The Arkship SIs resolved that protection is a priority, even if effected by force.
Hence the first true harvest began, called the First War.
The outcome was the same as after the First War - scorched ruins, the Mass Relays and the Citadel only remained. The SIs, having gotten what they wanted, retreated to the dark space and left one of them "just in case, for monitoring purposes".
This is how the cycles started.
The Arkships are the Reapers, naturally. This would explain "Each and every nation", as Sovereign stated, it also explains the harvests. What's more, this clarifies why the Reapers accomodate decks and why their internals resemble occupiable, manned ships, machines. Machines are built for efficiency - if no inhabitants are considered in the design, there is no need for platfoms, corridors, etc. Harbinger says "We are you salvation trough your destruction", since the SIs, apart from harvesting technology, "save" biological life forms in the best way they imagine: by assimilation, or synthesis.
As for the device of the original species - it's the Crucible. Its blueprints have been "passed" down to successive civilisations, so the Protheans had them previously, etc.
END NOTES:
1. The form and design of the Reapers result from their evolution and adjustment to each "rescue" cycle.
2. Indoctrination was developed by the Reaper SIs to "peacefully" convince organics that the "rescue" is right.
3. The Human Reaper lacks the interior of previous Reapers, since it was not meant to be an Arkship.
4. The instability of dark energy could have been triggered by the Mass Relays which operate on its principle.
5. The Reapers could have noticed the fluctuations of dark energy and tried to counteract, hence their evolution (this needs to be clarified further).
6. As inferred from BW's (supposedly) original concept, the Human Reaper was to stabilise dark energy; otherwise, the Reapers don't know how to achieve this, so they harvest in order to survive, but the harvests are not required to stabilise dark energy per se. It would be possible to restore balance of dark energy by destroying the Mass Relays, but this is not an option for the Reapers, who wish them to remain intact as a part of their basic directives from the original Arkship SIs.
[Translator's note: This concept was created before the author found the ORIGINAL abandoned plot, involving instability of dark energy on an Universe-wide scale.]
[Translator's note: This approach abandons the Starchild altogether,
but it can possibly be adapted... as something else, preferably, not in
its current 'canonical' form.]
What or who are the Reapers?
I think that the resolution and explanation in ME3 is totally unconvincing. It is poor, superficial, weak, inconsequent and written in the 11th hour. Hence I've came up with my own theory based on what has been said about the Reapers so far (throughout ME1 and ME2).
As any other machine, the Reapers have to have an origin. Let's assume that once upon a time, many, many, many cycles ago, an extremely advanced species existed. They were the first to build the Mass Relays. The Citadel is also their legacy. Let's assume further that these finished constructs resulted in unforeseeable reactions of the cosmos. Their nature is irrelevant, yet the species believed that the phenomena were temporary [Tn: It may well be linked to the ORIGINAL abandoned plot of ME3, involving instability of dark energy - remember Haestrom in ME2?]. The fact whether they actually resulted from commissioning the Mass Relays or not is also irrelevant. What is relevant is that the assumed species faced extinction at that time.
Their way of survival was to build huge Arkships (as we would construe them). In order to suit their intended use, the Arkships required extremely advanced guidance and control systems; hence each received a fully-functional SI (the design and operation of which is beyond human comprehension; remember, the hypothetical species built the Relays). The purpose of the Arkships was simple - to protect their inhabitants from the threat, and once the threat is gone, to return to original locations (that's why the Arkships were linked to the Citadel and programmed to use the Relay network).
At one point of rescuing the civilisation, the Arkship SIs recognised that the best method of protecting their organic makers is to assimilate them by unification - by recognising that the threat was not temporary at all.
A horrible and devastating war ensued.
As their last-ditch effort, the species developed a device to stop the machines they had created [Tn: possibly with the use of dark energy]. The device was intended to use the Mass Relay network to shut down, destroy or rein in the SIs. The exact effect is not important now, the general idea was to have the machine stop the rouge Arkships.
The device was not finished, and the war completely decimated the original species. What was left was the Arkships, the Citadel, the Mass Relays... and the galaxy in ruin.
The Arkship SIs decided to step into the shadows. They were aware of their limitations and required "spare parts" [Tn: also to evolve, and possibly mitigate the recurrence of the threat, possibly from the dark energy fluctuations]. The Arkships chose to hibernate in the dark space outside of the Galaxy.
After a cycle of 50,000 years, the Arkships returned [Tn: this can be assumed as their "maintenance interval"] to find that some previously-primitive species have developed. The new species also found the Mass Relays and the Citatel; the technology behind these constructs defined their technological progress; this progress matched the directives of the Arkship SIs. The SIs tried to effect their prime directive, which is "protection", at first. The new hosts of the Citadel declined by not believing in any premise for "protection". The Arkship SIs resolved that protection is a priority, even if effected by force.
Hence the first true harvest began, called the First War.
The outcome was the same as after the First War - scorched ruins, the Mass Relays and the Citadel only remained. The SIs, having gotten what they wanted, retreated to the dark space and left one of them "just in case, for monitoring purposes".
This is how the cycles started.
The Arkships are the Reapers, naturally. This would explain "Each and every nation", as Sovereign stated, it also explains the harvests. What's more, this clarifies why the Reapers accomodate decks and why their internals resemble occupiable, manned ships, machines. Machines are built for efficiency - if no inhabitants are considered in the design, there is no need for platfoms, corridors, etc. Harbinger says "We are you salvation trough your destruction", since the SIs, apart from harvesting technology, "save" biological life forms in the best way they imagine: by assimilation, or synthesis.
As for the device of the original species - it's the Crucible. Its blueprints have been "passed" down to successive civilisations, so the Protheans had them previously, etc.
END NOTES:
1. The form and design of the Reapers result from their evolution and adjustment to each "rescue" cycle.
2. Indoctrination was developed by the Reaper SIs to "peacefully" convince organics that the "rescue" is right.
3. The Human Reaper lacks the interior of previous Reapers, since it was not meant to be an Arkship.
4. The instability of dark energy could have been triggered by the Mass Relays which operate on its principle.
5. The Reapers could have noticed the fluctuations of dark energy and tried to counteract, hence their evolution (this needs to be clarified further).
6. As inferred from BW's (supposedly) original concept, the Human Reaper was to stabilise dark energy; otherwise, the Reapers don't know how to achieve this, so they harvest in order to survive, but the harvests are not required to stabilise dark energy per se. It would be possible to restore balance of dark energy by destroying the Mass Relays, but this is not an option for the Reapers, who wish them to remain intact as a part of their basic directives from the original Arkship SIs.
Modifié par Mr.Majestic, 29 mars 2012 - 02:01 .
#5553
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 02:09
Reeeen0690
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- Members
- 40 messages
I advise reading what this guy has written. Its great
http://arkis.deviant...ILERS-289902125
To sum it up, you still have the same 3 choices but it also offers a 4th choice allowing you to argue with the Catalyst's conclusions. Accounts for your war assets level, doesnt change what some people already like, and can eventualy reveal the starchild to be Harbinger attempting to trick you.
It also means you can lose and the cycle contiues.
http://arkis.deviant...ILERS-289902125
To sum it up, you still have the same 3 choices but it also offers a 4th choice allowing you to argue with the Catalyst's conclusions. Accounts for your war assets level, doesnt change what some people already like, and can eventualy reveal the starchild to be Harbinger attempting to trick you.
It also means you can lose and the cycle contiues.
#5554
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 02:10
wicnwitch
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- Members
- 16 messages
SInce I completed ME3 a week or so ago I have had to time to read other posts and digest what i experienced. I e-mailed Bioware via a regular e-mail, but with all the nsaty going around, I fear that they may have tossed it afraid that it was another hate e-mail. In fact it was the opposite. Although i have to agree with the general populace about being unhappy with with the ending, which I will go into a little in just a bit, I tried to send my positive appreciation to them. I have loved Bioware since Baldur's Gate. I still have the game I bought all those years ago and it still works. I love Neverwinter Nights, great ending and made me get so entrenched into the Forgotten Realms. Adore Dragon Age. Dragon Age 2 was ok, not as good as the 1st, but still enjoyable and to find out that there was DLC i did not know about makes me want to get back into it.
The fact that the founders want to give a gamer the best experience they can is a huge draw for me. I have been a girl gamer for more then 20 years. This includes tabletop. I even DM, for those that know what that is, and I am currently running Pathfinder. So having the choise of playing a guy or girl was always a huge bonus and something that i absolute toot the horn about. Anywho, that's not the main point. I played the Mass Effect series for the simple pure fact that i love the ability for having choices. That this is a company that works on setting new standards that other games are now trying to achieve. I have grown so in love with the Mass Effect characters. I literally cried during the games, which I have never done before and don't do in the books i read. I am more of a fantasy girl. I'm not much of a pew pew space thing girl. This game changed all that for me. I saw my husband playing it, he encouraged me to try it for the fact of the RPG, which he knows is so important to me. I stole it from him and then pre-ordered 2 & 3 because of the depth and beauty of the game.
I really, really hope that the ending was not because Bioware decided to go the mainstream and focus on the multiplayer. I like this multiplayer way better then Halo and Resident Evil, but i dont want it to overshadow the main game, overtake it it completly push Mass Effect off the map. I was so dissappointed in both of those sandboxes. I wanted players to work together for a common goal, which is what Mss Effect 3 MP achieved. But if it was at the sacrifice of an incredible ending, then that's really sad of Bioware.
I realize that Mass Effect has been about sacrifice, but it has also been about overcoming those impossible odds. My choice allowed for my femShep to live. I wasn't happy about the sacrifice of EDI or the Geth, especially since i chose to make it work between the Geth and the Quarians. The old man with the child was confusing because it made it seem as if all tech was uterlly destroyed. If that's the case, then my femShep's crewmembers were sentenced to death. My femShep's LI who said he would fight like hell to hold her again, never had a chance. This is very sad and upsetting. I was a little selfish in that i wanted my femShep and Kaidan to get back together. I'm not much of the romantic thing. Yes I did the romance thingy in the Dragon Age games, but I did not have the emotional attachment that I did to Kaidan in Mass Effect. I know this a game/story, but still to engage in that kind of story line and have that for the time that you are playing is so unique. Having been in the military, as a medic in the Air Force, i know that even though it's a game, if your crew was that loyal they would not have ever abandoned Shep. That move of being in the Mass relay was considered AWOL. Huge bad. If your LI loved you as much as they told you on more then 1 occassion, would they have been on that ship? I would think if there is a friendship, relationship, a tie between Shep and the crew and LI, would they not have been digging like hell, searching like hell for thier beloved commander? The savior of the ship and crew, she who died in ME 2 removing the crew to safety? I don't understand why the crew/Normandy was in the Mss Relay. The crew was supposed to be with different units fighting different fronts against the Reapers. How the in the world did they get on the ship? And why was the best damn human pilot not battling the Reapers above earth? Why was he flying through the Relay?
If the destruction of the Relays is the signal of the absolute destruction ot the Reapers, fine, that sucks that now the Krogans are seperated, not good for my Wrex. And other races that chose to come help Earth based on my choices, but they are a little easier to accept then my femShep's best damn force off in a Relay. I kind of want the romantic silly ending. One fo the very, very rare times i will say/write this. That's how attached I am to these characters. I worked like hell to make sure my crew survived in ME2. And there was nothing more satisfying, then walking around the Normandy as it's being patched up, seeing everyone, the entire crew working to put that ship back together and stop to smile at my femShep. I was kind of hoping to have something similar in the end of ME3. Or even having something scrawling across like in Dragon Age. Yes i lost Thane, Mordin, Anderson(another somewaht confusing issue), and Legion. Thats' a lot of death. I know in real life things would be worse, but it is a game, why can't it have a little bit of a happy ending? Please, if anyone from Bioware does read this post, I know you have heard/seen hundreds, thousands of times, make it a little happier. I persoanlly don't mind paying a little more if it means getting something i understand, something that makes sense, and something happier and more satisfying. I kept waiting after the old man and child and when the message appeared saying to play some more i looked at my husband really, really confussed. And now cause he sat and watched he is going to wait and see what new will be put out.
I am still a faithful supporter and fan. Love you guys and the incredible hard work you do for the love of the game. Love Star Wars The Old Republic. Love my Smuggler in that. But I can't wait to play some more Mass Effect and have things fixed.
Thanks
Heather *femShep Kendra* Leaor
The fact that the founders want to give a gamer the best experience they can is a huge draw for me. I have been a girl gamer for more then 20 years. This includes tabletop. I even DM, for those that know what that is, and I am currently running Pathfinder. So having the choise of playing a guy or girl was always a huge bonus and something that i absolute toot the horn about. Anywho, that's not the main point. I played the Mass Effect series for the simple pure fact that i love the ability for having choices. That this is a company that works on setting new standards that other games are now trying to achieve. I have grown so in love with the Mass Effect characters. I literally cried during the games, which I have never done before and don't do in the books i read. I am more of a fantasy girl. I'm not much of a pew pew space thing girl. This game changed all that for me. I saw my husband playing it, he encouraged me to try it for the fact of the RPG, which he knows is so important to me. I stole it from him and then pre-ordered 2 & 3 because of the depth and beauty of the game.
I really, really hope that the ending was not because Bioware decided to go the mainstream and focus on the multiplayer. I like this multiplayer way better then Halo and Resident Evil, but i dont want it to overshadow the main game, overtake it it completly push Mass Effect off the map. I was so dissappointed in both of those sandboxes. I wanted players to work together for a common goal, which is what Mss Effect 3 MP achieved. But if it was at the sacrifice of an incredible ending, then that's really sad of Bioware.
I realize that Mass Effect has been about sacrifice, but it has also been about overcoming those impossible odds. My choice allowed for my femShep to live. I wasn't happy about the sacrifice of EDI or the Geth, especially since i chose to make it work between the Geth and the Quarians. The old man with the child was confusing because it made it seem as if all tech was uterlly destroyed. If that's the case, then my femShep's crewmembers were sentenced to death. My femShep's LI who said he would fight like hell to hold her again, never had a chance. This is very sad and upsetting. I was a little selfish in that i wanted my femShep and Kaidan to get back together. I'm not much of the romantic thing. Yes I did the romance thingy in the Dragon Age games, but I did not have the emotional attachment that I did to Kaidan in Mass Effect. I know this a game/story, but still to engage in that kind of story line and have that for the time that you are playing is so unique. Having been in the military, as a medic in the Air Force, i know that even though it's a game, if your crew was that loyal they would not have ever abandoned Shep. That move of being in the Mass relay was considered AWOL. Huge bad. If your LI loved you as much as they told you on more then 1 occassion, would they have been on that ship? I would think if there is a friendship, relationship, a tie between Shep and the crew and LI, would they not have been digging like hell, searching like hell for thier beloved commander? The savior of the ship and crew, she who died in ME 2 removing the crew to safety? I don't understand why the crew/Normandy was in the Mss Relay. The crew was supposed to be with different units fighting different fronts against the Reapers. How the in the world did they get on the ship? And why was the best damn human pilot not battling the Reapers above earth? Why was he flying through the Relay?
If the destruction of the Relays is the signal of the absolute destruction ot the Reapers, fine, that sucks that now the Krogans are seperated, not good for my Wrex. And other races that chose to come help Earth based on my choices, but they are a little easier to accept then my femShep's best damn force off in a Relay. I kind of want the romantic silly ending. One fo the very, very rare times i will say/write this. That's how attached I am to these characters. I worked like hell to make sure my crew survived in ME2. And there was nothing more satisfying, then walking around the Normandy as it's being patched up, seeing everyone, the entire crew working to put that ship back together and stop to smile at my femShep. I was kind of hoping to have something similar in the end of ME3. Or even having something scrawling across like in Dragon Age. Yes i lost Thane, Mordin, Anderson(another somewaht confusing issue), and Legion. Thats' a lot of death. I know in real life things would be worse, but it is a game, why can't it have a little bit of a happy ending? Please, if anyone from Bioware does read this post, I know you have heard/seen hundreds, thousands of times, make it a little happier. I persoanlly don't mind paying a little more if it means getting something i understand, something that makes sense, and something happier and more satisfying. I kept waiting after the old man and child and when the message appeared saying to play some more i looked at my husband really, really confussed. And now cause he sat and watched he is going to wait and see what new will be put out.
I am still a faithful supporter and fan. Love you guys and the incredible hard work you do for the love of the game. Love Star Wars The Old Republic. Love my Smuggler in that. But I can't wait to play some more Mass Effect and have things fixed.
Thanks
Heather *femShep Kendra* Leaor
#5555
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 02:20
Mr.Majestic
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- Members
- 6 messages
Reeeen0690 wrote...
I advise reading what this guy has written. Its great
http://arkis.deviant...ILERS-289902125
To sum it up, you still have the same 3 choices but it also offers a 4th choice allowing you to argue with the Catalyst's conclusions. Accounts for your war assets level, doesnt change what some people already like, and can eventualy reveal the starchild to be Harbinger attempting to trick you.
It also means you can lose and the cycle contiues.
This is great!
#5556
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 02:24
Funkatronic
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- Members
- 3 messages
You know what? I actually don't mind that Shepard died. I wish that there was a way that he lived but if he died at the end and yet still saved the galaxy from the Reapers, I'd be happy. A nice "If Shepard died" ending would be an epilogue about the galaxy rebuilding. All the main stakeholders of the galactic community helping each other, putting back the pieces that were broken by the Reapers and showing off the unity that Shepard put so much trust in. I'd like to see a new statue of Shepard on the Citidel, probably with any of Shepard's squad and friends who did survive the past 3 games giving their respects. Maybe even showing them in a bar swapping stories and reminiscing about that one time Shepard took down a Reaper with a thesher maw. Yeah, they'd be all misty eyed but theyt'd remember Shepard for who he was; a badass who saved sentient life from inihalation.
And thats how I would end ME3
And thats how I would end ME3
Modifié par Funkatronic, 29 mars 2012 - 02:26 .
#5557
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 02:34
Fenrir449
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- Members
- 5 messages
Edit: Sorry about the spacing. Copying from Word failed,
I beat the game last weekend and I wasn't very satisfied with the ending so, I wrote my own. Sorry about the wall of text, but I think a lot of these ideas could contribute to the continued ending.
Note that "Positive" indicates that the condition is true, not that the outcome is necessarily preferable. All conditional outcomes would, of course, be played out in mind-bogglingly awesome cinematics.
First, throughout the entire game, rather than building a giant Prothean superweapon that is dumb and you don't even know what it does. The Alliance is finalizing the development of a Reaper-killer bomb that delivers an EM Pulse to wipe out synthetics. The catch is that the bomb must be delivered inside a Reaper in order to affect it.
Now, Shepard has to deal with Cerberus so, he attacks the Illusive Man's base and beats his assassin, Kai Leng. There he has a final confrontation with theIllusive Man who believes he has developed a means of controlling the Reapers, but when he tries to use it (Shepard is seconds too late in reaching him) Harbinger is able to assume control of the Illusive Man and attacks Shepard. Shepard wins and the Illusive Man comes back for a moment to thank Shepard for stopping him and tells Shepard to save Earth before the Illusive Man dies. EDI will analyze the Illusive Man's weapon and determine that it failed because Harbinger's exterior defenses are too strong. She theorizes that if it were used inside Harbinger it would succeed.
So, when the time for the final attack comes and Shepard has all the back-up he can find, then the combined fleets jump to Earth and assault the Reapers. Shepard gets deployed to the surface where he must fight his way to the transport Conduit that is linked to Harbinger, the head Reaper. The plan is for Shepard to fight to Harbinger's core and set off the device. This will wipe out Harbinger, and because it is the head Reaper, it will also disrupt the other Reapers giving the allied fleets a temporary advantage and opportunity to hit the Reapers with everything they’ve got. There will also be smaller strike forces waiting around the galaxy ready to hit other Reapers when their defenses go down. The main fleet has to go to Earth in order to break through the Reapers and deploy ground troops to attack the Conduit.
Condition 1: Shepard convinced the Geth and the Quarians to cooperate and do not kill each other.
Positive Outcome: Both races send the full force of their surviving fleets to assist the assault on Earth and because of this the Council races' fleets have adequate support on their flanks. Deployment of the ground troops goes better than could be hoped and the Reapers are distracted, but the Quarian Liveships, which have been the home of their people for centuries are destroyed as easy targetsby the Reapers. This means that the Quarians will be hard pressed to re-adapt to their recently reclaimed home world quickly.
Negative Outcome: Either the Geth, or the Quarians are the lone survivors of their war and the surviving force is severely depleted. There is inadequate support for the Council fleets during the attack on Earth and the Reapers manage to surround and destroy the flagship, the Destiny Ascension. This leaves the surviving allied fleet hard pressed to hold off the Reapers from the ground troops.
Condition 2: Joker and EDI fall in love in ME3 and EDI has her revelation about "self-preservation parameters" (i.e.realizes and becomes fully alive, more human, whatever).
Positive Outcome: Harbinger chases down the Normandy despite Joker's best attempts to evade it but, EDI trusts Joker enough to allow to fly and the Normandy survives the encounter with Harbinger despite taking damage. (Joker broke my ship. AGAIN!)
Negative Outcome: EDI doesn't rewrite the "self-preservation parameters" of her code and takes control of the ship away from Joker in order to prevent its and the crew's destruction by Harbinger, but she doesn't have Joker's feel for the ship and Harbinger doubles back and destroys the Normandy.
Condition 3: Shepard freed the Rachni Queen from Noveria and didn't kill her with Grunt.
Positive Outcome: The allied fleets are being pressed back and the Reapers almost break through their lines to the ground troops. Admiral Hackett makes a brave last stand along with the Human dreadnought SSV Kilimanjaro, coincidentally the ship commanded by Shepard's mother. Just before the Reapers converge on Hackett's final position, the Rachni arrive as reinforcements saving Hackett and the Kilimanjaro from certain destruction and buying additional time for the ground troops.
Negative Outcome: The Rachni Queen is dead; her surviving offspring are no better than animals without her leadership and totally incapable of using technology. No reinforcements arrive and Admiral Hackett gives his life attempting to stop the Reapers from breaking through the line. The SSV Kilimanjaro is also destroyed. The Reapers get reinforcements to the ground.
Anyway, Shepard will fight through to the Conduit and boards Harbinger. Admiral Anderson, Shepard's mentor, long-time friend, and commander of the resistance on Earth while Shepard was gallivanting around the galaxy, manages to make it aboard as well with a second EMP device behind Shepard. Shepard fights his way to the core where he faces the final boss.
Option 1: Smaller human Reaper, a mimicry of Shepard, class and all created by Harbinger to destroy Shepard specifically.
Option 2: Possessed Admiral Anderson captured as he snuck through the ship and imbued with all the powers of the Reaper's minions, a la Saren from ME1, but still conscious enough to talk to Shepard after he is defeated.
Option 3: Ultra huskified amalgamation of all the species and their unique advantages.
Option 4: Yahg husk.
Condition 4: Urdnot Wrex is still alive for the assault on Earth and leads the Krogan troops.
Positive Outcome: Inspired and well led Krogan troops significantly bolster the ground troops’ effectiveness. The center of the attack holds against wave after of Reaper attack.
Negative Outcome: Ground troops are hard pressed on all sides. Shepard's final love interest (Ashley, Kaiden, Garrus, Tali, Jacob, or Miranda) is killed holding the line. If Shepard romanced another character (i.e. one who is already dead or a minor character) then either Ashley or Kaiden, whoever is alive from ME1 dies holding the line.
Condition 5: Shepard destroyed the Collector Base at the end of ME2.
Positive Outcome 1: (Negative Condition 4) Human troops on the surface have difficulty communicating through Reaper jamming. The Reapers use this to their advantage to isolate and destroy units on the ground. James Vega and Samara, if she is still alive, are KIA covering the retreat.
Positive Outcome 2: (Positive Condition 4) Human troops still have difficulty communicating, but Grunt, or another Krogan if Grunt is dead,manages to save Vega. Although Vega is still grievously injured (his legs have been shattered by a Brute) Grunt comes to the rescue just in time and pulls Vegato safety. Samara is still killed.
Negative Outcome: Commander Shepard recovers an updated communications algorithm from the Illusive Man's base that allows the Allied forces to not only communicate, but prevents the Reapers from picking up on allied communications. This greatly enhances the all forces' effectiveness. Enabling them to hold against even increased Reaper forces from the negative outcome ofcondition 2.
Condition 6: Shepard did not let theRachni Queen live (Negative 3), but did destroy the Collector Base (Positive 5).
Outcome: There is a total rout of the ground troops when Reaper reinforcements break through Hackett's line. Jack and her biotic student desperately attempt to rally allied troops, but lose their lives in the process. (If the studentsbecame biotic artillery as a result of Shepard's recommendation earlier in ME3,a few of them manage to escape the Reaper onslaught).
The last three conditions' results would trigger after Shepard boarded Harbinger to deliver the payload. Shepard's squad would not follow him aboard Harbinger.They would stay behind to hold off Reaper forces from the Conduit entrance back on Earth.
After final battle, Shepard has a dramatic talk with a dying Admiral Anderson. (If Anderson’s not the boss, then the boss shot him before Shepard arrived.) Then Shepard proceeds to Harbinger's core, Harbinger speaks to Shepard to try and convince him not to destroy it by explaining the Reaper efforts to destroy organic life. Basically, Harbinger says that chaos is always increasing and that organic civilizations in their interstellar phase greatly accelerate the increase of chaos. The Reaper's function is to prevent this acceleration while also seeking a solution to the increasing chaos. They do this by assimilating organic races, essentially collecting data in the hope of reaching a solution.
Shepard then has choices: allow the Reapers to destroy the fleet and continue their mission (Chaotic, non-aligned, or indoctrinated option), use the Illusive Man's device to assume control of the Reaper fleets (Regular Renegade Option), or destroy the Reapers as planned with the EMP bomb (Paragon Option). If Shepard refuses to allow the Reapers to continue their mission Harbinger will ask him to use the Illusive Man's device, promising power, but also saying Shepard will come to understand the Reapers and will eventually come to the same conclusion as them, that organic life must be assimilated for the sake of the universe. In an attempt to sway Shepard, Harbinger also explains that if Shepard destroys it, the indoctrinated servants of the Reapers will continue to attack and try to carry out the Reapers' plans and Harbinger points out that when it dies it will crash to Earth and Shepard will surely die. Shepard's argument against Harbinger if he decides to activate the EMP device is that by not allowing life to thrive naturally the Reapers are working against their own goals as they cannot truly ever understand organic life no matter how much data they collect. It is very philosophical and cool.
Then, in his most badass and selfless of moments Shepard activates the EMP device. Harbinger desperately tries to stop Shepard by sending the last of his minions to attack him, but it is too late. Harbinger is destroyed and its Eezo containment fields fail as Harbinger falls from the sky with a brilliant, massive explosion. Shepard is dead but he saved Earth with his final actions.
The survivors build monuments to Shepard and we have flashes of the galaxy rebuilding. All in all, super awesome. Thematically this is important because now everything Shepard has done will still have an impact after the game, and the means of destroying the Reapers was not based on their technology, like all other technology in the galaxy, so, the innovative nature of the combined races, particularly humans with their aptitude for thinking outside the box, develops the solution to the Reaper problem, but the sacrifices of the soldiers are still important because they still have to fight a dirty, real war, rather than rely on some "Prothean Super Weapon" that ultimately turns out to be another weapon designed by the race that built the Reapers and that is dumb. It also leaves more potential for further games because it would not be unreasonable that a Reaper or two would survive somewhere and attempt to continue their plans. It’s also easy to see how there are hundreds more options for conditions, but these reflect the major decisions. My goal was also to make itso that even a Paragon has to deal with the reality of losing people, not just the Renegade who doesn’t care (i.e. there is sometimes a sacrifice that must be paid for taking the high road).
If you’re interested in understanding the Reapers’ logic a littlebetter than my brief explanation can do here, then I recommend Googling “TheLast Question” by Isaac Asimov from which I derived the idea. It’s a cool little short story with a great ending and you can probably knock it out in less than 10 minutes. Personally, I never play Renegade so I don’t have as good a feel for how that character’s story should end.
I beat the game last weekend and I wasn't very satisfied with the ending so, I wrote my own. Sorry about the wall of text, but I think a lot of these ideas could contribute to the continued ending.
Note that "Positive" indicates that the condition is true, not that the outcome is necessarily preferable. All conditional outcomes would, of course, be played out in mind-bogglingly awesome cinematics.
First, throughout the entire game, rather than building a giant Prothean superweapon that is dumb and you don't even know what it does. The Alliance is finalizing the development of a Reaper-killer bomb that delivers an EM Pulse to wipe out synthetics. The catch is that the bomb must be delivered inside a Reaper in order to affect it.
Now, Shepard has to deal with Cerberus so, he attacks the Illusive Man's base and beats his assassin, Kai Leng. There he has a final confrontation with theIllusive Man who believes he has developed a means of controlling the Reapers, but when he tries to use it (Shepard is seconds too late in reaching him) Harbinger is able to assume control of the Illusive Man and attacks Shepard. Shepard wins and the Illusive Man comes back for a moment to thank Shepard for stopping him and tells Shepard to save Earth before the Illusive Man dies. EDI will analyze the Illusive Man's weapon and determine that it failed because Harbinger's exterior defenses are too strong. She theorizes that if it were used inside Harbinger it would succeed.
So, when the time for the final attack comes and Shepard has all the back-up he can find, then the combined fleets jump to Earth and assault the Reapers. Shepard gets deployed to the surface where he must fight his way to the transport Conduit that is linked to Harbinger, the head Reaper. The plan is for Shepard to fight to Harbinger's core and set off the device. This will wipe out Harbinger, and because it is the head Reaper, it will also disrupt the other Reapers giving the allied fleets a temporary advantage and opportunity to hit the Reapers with everything they’ve got. There will also be smaller strike forces waiting around the galaxy ready to hit other Reapers when their defenses go down. The main fleet has to go to Earth in order to break through the Reapers and deploy ground troops to attack the Conduit.
Condition 1: Shepard convinced the Geth and the Quarians to cooperate and do not kill each other.
Positive Outcome: Both races send the full force of their surviving fleets to assist the assault on Earth and because of this the Council races' fleets have adequate support on their flanks. Deployment of the ground troops goes better than could be hoped and the Reapers are distracted, but the Quarian Liveships, which have been the home of their people for centuries are destroyed as easy targetsby the Reapers. This means that the Quarians will be hard pressed to re-adapt to their recently reclaimed home world quickly.
Negative Outcome: Either the Geth, or the Quarians are the lone survivors of their war and the surviving force is severely depleted. There is inadequate support for the Council fleets during the attack on Earth and the Reapers manage to surround and destroy the flagship, the Destiny Ascension. This leaves the surviving allied fleet hard pressed to hold off the Reapers from the ground troops.
Condition 2: Joker and EDI fall in love in ME3 and EDI has her revelation about "self-preservation parameters" (i.e.realizes and becomes fully alive, more human, whatever).
Positive Outcome: Harbinger chases down the Normandy despite Joker's best attempts to evade it but, EDI trusts Joker enough to allow to fly and the Normandy survives the encounter with Harbinger despite taking damage. (Joker broke my ship. AGAIN!)
Negative Outcome: EDI doesn't rewrite the "self-preservation parameters" of her code and takes control of the ship away from Joker in order to prevent its and the crew's destruction by Harbinger, but she doesn't have Joker's feel for the ship and Harbinger doubles back and destroys the Normandy.
Condition 3: Shepard freed the Rachni Queen from Noveria and didn't kill her with Grunt.
Positive Outcome: The allied fleets are being pressed back and the Reapers almost break through their lines to the ground troops. Admiral Hackett makes a brave last stand along with the Human dreadnought SSV Kilimanjaro, coincidentally the ship commanded by Shepard's mother. Just before the Reapers converge on Hackett's final position, the Rachni arrive as reinforcements saving Hackett and the Kilimanjaro from certain destruction and buying additional time for the ground troops.
Negative Outcome: The Rachni Queen is dead; her surviving offspring are no better than animals without her leadership and totally incapable of using technology. No reinforcements arrive and Admiral Hackett gives his life attempting to stop the Reapers from breaking through the line. The SSV Kilimanjaro is also destroyed. The Reapers get reinforcements to the ground.
Anyway, Shepard will fight through to the Conduit and boards Harbinger. Admiral Anderson, Shepard's mentor, long-time friend, and commander of the resistance on Earth while Shepard was gallivanting around the galaxy, manages to make it aboard as well with a second EMP device behind Shepard. Shepard fights his way to the core where he faces the final boss.
Option 1: Smaller human Reaper, a mimicry of Shepard, class and all created by Harbinger to destroy Shepard specifically.
Option 2: Possessed Admiral Anderson captured as he snuck through the ship and imbued with all the powers of the Reaper's minions, a la Saren from ME1, but still conscious enough to talk to Shepard after he is defeated.
Option 3: Ultra huskified amalgamation of all the species and their unique advantages.
Option 4: Yahg husk.
Condition 4: Urdnot Wrex is still alive for the assault on Earth and leads the Krogan troops.
Positive Outcome: Inspired and well led Krogan troops significantly bolster the ground troops’ effectiveness. The center of the attack holds against wave after of Reaper attack.
Negative Outcome: Ground troops are hard pressed on all sides. Shepard's final love interest (Ashley, Kaiden, Garrus, Tali, Jacob, or Miranda) is killed holding the line. If Shepard romanced another character (i.e. one who is already dead or a minor character) then either Ashley or Kaiden, whoever is alive from ME1 dies holding the line.
Condition 5: Shepard destroyed the Collector Base at the end of ME2.
Positive Outcome 1: (Negative Condition 4) Human troops on the surface have difficulty communicating through Reaper jamming. The Reapers use this to their advantage to isolate and destroy units on the ground. James Vega and Samara, if she is still alive, are KIA covering the retreat.
Positive Outcome 2: (Positive Condition 4) Human troops still have difficulty communicating, but Grunt, or another Krogan if Grunt is dead,manages to save Vega. Although Vega is still grievously injured (his legs have been shattered by a Brute) Grunt comes to the rescue just in time and pulls Vegato safety. Samara is still killed.
Negative Outcome: Commander Shepard recovers an updated communications algorithm from the Illusive Man's base that allows the Allied forces to not only communicate, but prevents the Reapers from picking up on allied communications. This greatly enhances the all forces' effectiveness. Enabling them to hold against even increased Reaper forces from the negative outcome ofcondition 2.
Condition 6: Shepard did not let theRachni Queen live (Negative 3), but did destroy the Collector Base (Positive 5).
Outcome: There is a total rout of the ground troops when Reaper reinforcements break through Hackett's line. Jack and her biotic student desperately attempt to rally allied troops, but lose their lives in the process. (If the studentsbecame biotic artillery as a result of Shepard's recommendation earlier in ME3,a few of them manage to escape the Reaper onslaught).
The last three conditions' results would trigger after Shepard boarded Harbinger to deliver the payload. Shepard's squad would not follow him aboard Harbinger.They would stay behind to hold off Reaper forces from the Conduit entrance back on Earth.
After final battle, Shepard has a dramatic talk with a dying Admiral Anderson. (If Anderson’s not the boss, then the boss shot him before Shepard arrived.) Then Shepard proceeds to Harbinger's core, Harbinger speaks to Shepard to try and convince him not to destroy it by explaining the Reaper efforts to destroy organic life. Basically, Harbinger says that chaos is always increasing and that organic civilizations in their interstellar phase greatly accelerate the increase of chaos. The Reaper's function is to prevent this acceleration while also seeking a solution to the increasing chaos. They do this by assimilating organic races, essentially collecting data in the hope of reaching a solution.
Shepard then has choices: allow the Reapers to destroy the fleet and continue their mission (Chaotic, non-aligned, or indoctrinated option), use the Illusive Man's device to assume control of the Reaper fleets (Regular Renegade Option), or destroy the Reapers as planned with the EMP bomb (Paragon Option). If Shepard refuses to allow the Reapers to continue their mission Harbinger will ask him to use the Illusive Man's device, promising power, but also saying Shepard will come to understand the Reapers and will eventually come to the same conclusion as them, that organic life must be assimilated for the sake of the universe. In an attempt to sway Shepard, Harbinger also explains that if Shepard destroys it, the indoctrinated servants of the Reapers will continue to attack and try to carry out the Reapers' plans and Harbinger points out that when it dies it will crash to Earth and Shepard will surely die. Shepard's argument against Harbinger if he decides to activate the EMP device is that by not allowing life to thrive naturally the Reapers are working against their own goals as they cannot truly ever understand organic life no matter how much data they collect. It is very philosophical and cool.
Then, in his most badass and selfless of moments Shepard activates the EMP device. Harbinger desperately tries to stop Shepard by sending the last of his minions to attack him, but it is too late. Harbinger is destroyed and its Eezo containment fields fail as Harbinger falls from the sky with a brilliant, massive explosion. Shepard is dead but he saved Earth with his final actions.
The survivors build monuments to Shepard and we have flashes of the galaxy rebuilding. All in all, super awesome. Thematically this is important because now everything Shepard has done will still have an impact after the game, and the means of destroying the Reapers was not based on their technology, like all other technology in the galaxy, so, the innovative nature of the combined races, particularly humans with their aptitude for thinking outside the box, develops the solution to the Reaper problem, but the sacrifices of the soldiers are still important because they still have to fight a dirty, real war, rather than rely on some "Prothean Super Weapon" that ultimately turns out to be another weapon designed by the race that built the Reapers and that is dumb. It also leaves more potential for further games because it would not be unreasonable that a Reaper or two would survive somewhere and attempt to continue their plans. It’s also easy to see how there are hundreds more options for conditions, but these reflect the major decisions. My goal was also to make itso that even a Paragon has to deal with the reality of losing people, not just the Renegade who doesn’t care (i.e. there is sometimes a sacrifice that must be paid for taking the high road).
If you’re interested in understanding the Reapers’ logic a littlebetter than my brief explanation can do here, then I recommend Googling “TheLast Question” by Isaac Asimov from which I derived the idea. It’s a cool little short story with a great ending and you can probably knock it out in less than 10 minutes. Personally, I never play Renegade so I don’t have as good a feel for how that character’s story should end.
Modifié par Fenrir449, 29 mars 2012 - 07:38 .
#5558
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 02:35
Reeeen0690
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- Members
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Mr.Majestic wrote...
Reeeen0690 wrote...
I advise reading what this guy has written. Its great
http://arkis.deviant...ILERS-289902125
To sum it up, you still have the same 3 choices but it also offers a 4th choice allowing you to argue with the Catalyst's conclusions. Accounts for your war assets level, doesnt change what some people already like, and can eventualy reveal the starchild to be Harbinger attempting to trick you.
It also means you can lose and the cycle contiues.
This is great!
It also means Bioware dont have to change anything, they can just add to it.
#5559
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 02:38
jwfoo555
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What I had hoped to see in Mass Effect 3:
-A cutscene showing the resolution of all the races and crewmates (e.g.-A few more colours for armour customisation, and actual control over the look of your guns when you modify them.
-More cabin tracks and more appropriate songs (e.g. some soothing tracks)
-An assassination attempt on Shephard, right in his/her own quarters, especially after seeing the N7 collectors edition art booklet, I was really looking forward to that. I thought there might be something which involved the two female alliance guards at the scanner or something like that)
-The Rachni to show up in a massive organic fleet
-Elcor warriors
-The Destiny Ascension in battle (like, actually shooting)
-The Omega mercenaries in battle
-A final, personal showdown with Harbinger
-More crewmates (whether former or new, but preferably former)
-An extended cutscene from the "From Ashes" DLC showing the final moments of the Prothean empire, (e.g. telling us visually more about who the Protheans really were and what they were like)
-A more sophisticated ending sequence, like ME2's ending, (starting from the final showdown of fleets till the end) which was affected by many variables, some from ME1 and 2, but mainly from what you did over the course of ME3
-The strange Prothean spheres to be explained and the one that Shephard recovers in ME2 to possibly do something
What I disliked:
-Over-recycling of previous game tracks (However, Clint Mansell did a very good job of the music playing in the more sombre scenes, and also the music playing in Shephards dreams, and also for Purgatory - music worthy of succeeding ME2 club music)
-The name "Purgatory" has already been used for that prison ship...just my OCD kicking in
-Shepherd's running is like a cross between his/her classic dance and the Hunchback of Notre-Dame run from ME2. Did Bioware do this on purpose? Also, at the beginning, Andersons running was hilarious, especially cos he was running on precarious beams and stuff.
-Too much crap in the new Normandy + as if make everyone have to stand up in the War Room, my crew deserve at least a little comfort
-I only saw the Normandy fire a short burst of maybe the Thanix cannon in the space battle cutscene...I understand that it needed to be low profile in order to slip through all those Reapers, but apart from that the only other cutscene which shows the Normandy's guns is the bombing at Rannoch.
-Bringing the Crucible to the Citadel seemed way to easy...a Reaper could simply ram into it. Some kind of explanation needs to be made for why the Crucible was untouched.
-Admiral Hackett's supposed rousing speech before the space battle was not so inspiring, the music and words seemed generic and I would have liked the 'camera' to cut to the CIC of a Turian dreadnought with the crew listening, then to an asari...etc
-The tech guy in London who can connect you to people was rather unconvincing. I think Shephard would know better than to indulge himself when the fate of the universe is at stake. I would have preferred a more natural way of farewelling his friends.-Some of the conversations in the game were just a series of one-liners which were a combination of awkward, VERY cliche and lacking true emotion. Especially at the end with Anderson's death.
Extra thoughts:
-I really like the idea of someone, or something possibly controlling, or being beyond the Reapers, however, the introduction of that boy-thing right at the end of the game, with close to no explanation at all was very confusing and made no sense to me. I think that if there is to be a new ending, it will definitley need to be much longer, or have a long post-battle sequence to bring closure to everything (including things from ME1 and 2)
-Would have preferred to fight alongside more people in the final push to the beam, still felt like an infiltration, rather than a glorious charge alongside fellow comrades, regardless of rank. Would have also liked to see the forces of other races on the way.
-I personally thought that having Kai Leng seem to know Shephard so well, and engaging with him/her personally by killing Thane, etc was a realy good idea. But then Kai Leng spent more time being an arrogant **** rather than the crazy super lethal assassin that he was, and it was just obvious that he was going to die. His badassness rubbed off. Would have liked to encounter him a few more times.
-A cutscene showing the resolution of all the races and crewmates (e.g.-A few more colours for armour customisation, and actual control over the look of your guns when you modify them.
-More cabin tracks and more appropriate songs (e.g. some soothing tracks)
-An assassination attempt on Shephard, right in his/her own quarters, especially after seeing the N7 collectors edition art booklet, I was really looking forward to that. I thought there might be something which involved the two female alliance guards at the scanner or something like that)
-The Rachni to show up in a massive organic fleet
-Elcor warriors
-The Destiny Ascension in battle (like, actually shooting)
-The Omega mercenaries in battle
-A final, personal showdown with Harbinger
-More crewmates (whether former or new, but preferably former)
-An extended cutscene from the "From Ashes" DLC showing the final moments of the Prothean empire, (e.g. telling us visually more about who the Protheans really were and what they were like)
-A more sophisticated ending sequence, like ME2's ending, (starting from the final showdown of fleets till the end) which was affected by many variables, some from ME1 and 2, but mainly from what you did over the course of ME3
-The strange Prothean spheres to be explained and the one that Shephard recovers in ME2 to possibly do something
What I disliked:
-Over-recycling of previous game tracks (However, Clint Mansell did a very good job of the music playing in the more sombre scenes, and also the music playing in Shephards dreams, and also for Purgatory - music worthy of succeeding ME2 club music)
-The name "Purgatory" has already been used for that prison ship...just my OCD kicking in
-Shepherd's running is like a cross between his/her classic dance and the Hunchback of Notre-Dame run from ME2. Did Bioware do this on purpose? Also, at the beginning, Andersons running was hilarious, especially cos he was running on precarious beams and stuff.
-Too much crap in the new Normandy + as if make everyone have to stand up in the War Room, my crew deserve at least a little comfort
-I only saw the Normandy fire a short burst of maybe the Thanix cannon in the space battle cutscene...I understand that it needed to be low profile in order to slip through all those Reapers, but apart from that the only other cutscene which shows the Normandy's guns is the bombing at Rannoch.
-Bringing the Crucible to the Citadel seemed way to easy...a Reaper could simply ram into it. Some kind of explanation needs to be made for why the Crucible was untouched.
-Admiral Hackett's supposed rousing speech before the space battle was not so inspiring, the music and words seemed generic and I would have liked the 'camera' to cut to the CIC of a Turian dreadnought with the crew listening, then to an asari...etc
-The tech guy in London who can connect you to people was rather unconvincing. I think Shephard would know better than to indulge himself when the fate of the universe is at stake. I would have preferred a more natural way of farewelling his friends.-Some of the conversations in the game were just a series of one-liners which were a combination of awkward, VERY cliche and lacking true emotion. Especially at the end with Anderson's death.
Extra thoughts:
-I really like the idea of someone, or something possibly controlling, or being beyond the Reapers, however, the introduction of that boy-thing right at the end of the game, with close to no explanation at all was very confusing and made no sense to me. I think that if there is to be a new ending, it will definitley need to be much longer, or have a long post-battle sequence to bring closure to everything (including things from ME1 and 2)
-Would have preferred to fight alongside more people in the final push to the beam, still felt like an infiltration, rather than a glorious charge alongside fellow comrades, regardless of rank. Would have also liked to see the forces of other races on the way.
-I personally thought that having Kai Leng seem to know Shephard so well, and engaging with him/her personally by killing Thane, etc was a realy good idea. But then Kai Leng spent more time being an arrogant **** rather than the crazy super lethal assassin that he was, and it was just obvious that he was going to die. His badassness rubbed off. Would have liked to encounter him a few more times.
Modifié par jwfoo555, 29 mars 2012 - 02:40 .
#5560
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 02:42
The Cult Of Shepard
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This is my personal feedback on the endings to ME3.
Even though the entire game is good, I just feel disappointed by how endings turned out. Here are my reasons why: -
[CONTROL]: Too risky for me to take, since it leaves up to the possibility of the Reapers returning 50,000 years later to harvest nearly all organic life again.
[DESTROY]: A tempting decision, but I don't think I can bear the thought of sacrificing the Citadel, Mass Relays, the Geth and EDI as a result. (Plus, I've encouraged the relationship between Joker & EDI to develop and managed to broker peace between the Quarians and the Geth. Also, I feel it's very mean-spirited to cut off non-humans from their respective homeworlds forever because... well no more relays.)
[SYNTHESIS]: I have to admit, I personally find this ending to be better than the other two choices. I've read that this choice is considered to be the Perfect Ending. I can see why. (I chose this ending on my first ME3 run) The only problem I have with this one is that it's rather bittersweet, if your Shepard was in a romance with somebody (And because of the fact that Shepard had to give up his/her life in order to merge organics and synthetics). Then again, one of ME3's themes was "Victory at a cost", so I guess it does soften the blow a bit. Even though I've read an article that did an in-depth analysis of the endings, that stated that merging organics & synthetics seem to hint that it may have negative repercussions to those with dextro-DNA (e.g. - Garrus never coming out of Normandy in Synthesis regardless of how you play ME3).
Another thing I didn't like about the endings is the fact that there is a lack of closure on what happened next in the Epilogue. Sure we know what happened to the Normandy, but what about the other characters? (such as Miranda, Jack, Samara, Jacob, Kasumi, Zaeed, Grunt, etc.) We don't get any explanation on what did they do next after the Reapers defeat. Personally I suggest you need to go into a bit more detail of what happened to them after the Reaper are defeated. (Such as a screenshot of a character, accompanied with a few paragraphs of text explaining what happened next for said character. That sort of thing)
I've got a suggestion on how you could fix this. Mind you that it is only a suggestion and if you can't fulfil it, that's fine. I won't hold it against you.
Here is my suggestion: -
Since I don't really hate the current endings, you can leave them as it is. However, if Shepard managed to broker peace between the Quarians and the Geth, there should be an option for him/her to point this out to the Catalyst in order to prove it's "synthetics will always wage war against organics" theory wrong.
This will cause the Catalyst to bring up a new solution that's completely different from the solution that lead to the "Control", "Destroy" or "Synthesis" choice. This new solution will give Shepard the choice to either "Repurpose" the Reapers or "Fry" the minds of all Reapers. However there's a catch, in order to do either of those things, Shepard must use the synthetics in his/her body to, ironically, "assume direct control" of the mind of the oldest and leader of all Reapers, Harbinger. (The Catalyst will also reveal that the Reapers operate together in a hive mind (like how the Geth communicate with each other) and that whatever Shepard chooses to do with Harbinger, will happen to all Reapers everywhere)
The process of this will cause Shepard to experience the worst pain ever imagined (think of how Shepard activated the Eden Prime beacon in ME1, only the pain experienced is much, much worse & minus the visions). Shepard's survival of the Fry/Repurpose choice will depend on the status of the Effected Military Strength meter. If the Effected Military Strength meter is high, Shepard will survive. If the Effected Military Strength meter is low, Shepard will die. (Earth will be saved in the Fry/Repurpose ending, no matter which choice you’ve made. Plus the Normandy doesn’t jump to light speed and crash lands onto a remote tropical planet on this ending path either)
[FRY]: (Paragon Choice) Shepard accesses Harbinger's mind and fries the minds of all Reapers, causing their shields to shut-down, making them easy pickings for Shepard's allies (think of how Sovereign got defeated in ME1) The epilogue will state that Shepard will be remembered as a hero who united every race to save the Galaxy by annihilating the Reaper threat.
[REPURPOSE]: (Renegade Choice) Shepard accesses Harbinger’s mind and repurposes them to obtain human dominance in the Galaxy. (I’ve noticed that some Renegade choices had a “humans-first” worldview, so figured this result might make sense) The epilogue will state that even though Shepard had saved the galaxy, most non-human races will revile Shepard for being a xenophobic tyrant who had caused all non-human races to treated like second-class citizens after the Reaper War. (If Shepard has romanced a non-human and you made this choice, the non-human Love Interest will break up with Shepard in disgust)
Anyways I hope you get to read this message. And remember that the suggestions I’ve made are only just suggestions. If, for whatever reason, you can’t act on them then that’s fine. No hard feelings.
Regardless of how I feel ME3 has ended, I still find it to be a great game and I’ll keep playing it.
UPDATE:
I also have another suggestion in mind. After when the ending cutscene begins playing after either the Repurpose/Fry choice or the Control/Synthesis/Destroy choice, you should play a big epilogue cutscene shows an individual screenshot of a character with a few paragraphs of text explaining what they did next after the defeat of the Reapers. (Just like the epilogues in Fallout: New Vegas) (You can them spoken allowed by Shepard if you wish)
Here's the characters I'm recommending for this epilogue cutscene: -
- Commander Shepard (both male & female)
- Ashley Williams/Kaidan Alenko. (romance & non-romance versions)
- Garrus Vakarian. (Shepard-romance & Tali-romance versions)
- Liara T'Soni. (romance & non-romance versions)
- Urdnot Wrex.
- Tali'Zorah. (Shepard-romance & Garrus-romance versions)
- Miranda Lawson. (romance & non-romance versions)
- Jacob Taylor.
- Urdnot Grunt.
- Jack. (romance & non-romance versions)
- Samara.
- Zaeed Massani.
- Kasumi Goto.
- James Vega.
- EDI. (Joker-romance & non-Joker-romance versions)
- Javik.
- Dr. Karin Chakwas.
- Engineer Greg Adams.
- Engineer Ken Donnelly.
- Engineer Gabriella Daniels.
- Councilor Tevos.
- Councilor Valern.
- Councilor Sparatus.
- Kelly Chambers. (romance & non-romance versions)
- Steven Cortez. (romance & non-romance versions)
- Samantha Traynor. (romance & non-romance versions)
- Jeff "Joker" Moreau. (EDI-romance & non-EDI-romance versions)
- Conrad Verner.
- Shiala.
- Shi'ira ("The Consort").
- Hannah Shepard. (if the Spacer background was chosen on Shepard's customization menu.)
- Steven Hackett.
- Balak.
- Dr. Chloe Michel.
- Aria T'Loak.
- Matriarch Aethyta.
- Kolyat Krios.
- Commander Armando-Owen Bailey.
- Kahlee Sanders.
- Padon Wiks.
- Eve.
- Falare.
Even though the entire game is good, I just feel disappointed by how endings turned out. Here are my reasons why: -
[CONTROL]: Too risky for me to take, since it leaves up to the possibility of the Reapers returning 50,000 years later to harvest nearly all organic life again.
[DESTROY]: A tempting decision, but I don't think I can bear the thought of sacrificing the Citadel, Mass Relays, the Geth and EDI as a result. (Plus, I've encouraged the relationship between Joker & EDI to develop and managed to broker peace between the Quarians and the Geth. Also, I feel it's very mean-spirited to cut off non-humans from their respective homeworlds forever because... well no more relays.)
[SYNTHESIS]: I have to admit, I personally find this ending to be better than the other two choices. I've read that this choice is considered to be the Perfect Ending. I can see why. (I chose this ending on my first ME3 run) The only problem I have with this one is that it's rather bittersweet, if your Shepard was in a romance with somebody (And because of the fact that Shepard had to give up his/her life in order to merge organics and synthetics). Then again, one of ME3's themes was "Victory at a cost", so I guess it does soften the blow a bit. Even though I've read an article that did an in-depth analysis of the endings, that stated that merging organics & synthetics seem to hint that it may have negative repercussions to those with dextro-DNA (e.g. - Garrus never coming out of Normandy in Synthesis regardless of how you play ME3).
Another thing I didn't like about the endings is the fact that there is a lack of closure on what happened next in the Epilogue. Sure we know what happened to the Normandy, but what about the other characters? (such as Miranda, Jack, Samara, Jacob, Kasumi, Zaeed, Grunt, etc.) We don't get any explanation on what did they do next after the Reapers defeat. Personally I suggest you need to go into a bit more detail of what happened to them after the Reaper are defeated. (Such as a screenshot of a character, accompanied with a few paragraphs of text explaining what happened next for said character. That sort of thing)
I've got a suggestion on how you could fix this. Mind you that it is only a suggestion and if you can't fulfil it, that's fine. I won't hold it against you.
Here is my suggestion: -
Since I don't really hate the current endings, you can leave them as it is. However, if Shepard managed to broker peace between the Quarians and the Geth, there should be an option for him/her to point this out to the Catalyst in order to prove it's "synthetics will always wage war against organics" theory wrong.
This will cause the Catalyst to bring up a new solution that's completely different from the solution that lead to the "Control", "Destroy" or "Synthesis" choice. This new solution will give Shepard the choice to either "Repurpose" the Reapers or "Fry" the minds of all Reapers. However there's a catch, in order to do either of those things, Shepard must use the synthetics in his/her body to, ironically, "assume direct control" of the mind of the oldest and leader of all Reapers, Harbinger. (The Catalyst will also reveal that the Reapers operate together in a hive mind (like how the Geth communicate with each other) and that whatever Shepard chooses to do with Harbinger, will happen to all Reapers everywhere)
The process of this will cause Shepard to experience the worst pain ever imagined (think of how Shepard activated the Eden Prime beacon in ME1, only the pain experienced is much, much worse & minus the visions). Shepard's survival of the Fry/Repurpose choice will depend on the status of the Effected Military Strength meter. If the Effected Military Strength meter is high, Shepard will survive. If the Effected Military Strength meter is low, Shepard will die. (Earth will be saved in the Fry/Repurpose ending, no matter which choice you’ve made. Plus the Normandy doesn’t jump to light speed and crash lands onto a remote tropical planet on this ending path either)
[FRY]: (Paragon Choice) Shepard accesses Harbinger's mind and fries the minds of all Reapers, causing their shields to shut-down, making them easy pickings for Shepard's allies (think of how Sovereign got defeated in ME1) The epilogue will state that Shepard will be remembered as a hero who united every race to save the Galaxy by annihilating the Reaper threat.
[REPURPOSE]: (Renegade Choice) Shepard accesses Harbinger’s mind and repurposes them to obtain human dominance in the Galaxy. (I’ve noticed that some Renegade choices had a “humans-first” worldview, so figured this result might make sense) The epilogue will state that even though Shepard had saved the galaxy, most non-human races will revile Shepard for being a xenophobic tyrant who had caused all non-human races to treated like second-class citizens after the Reaper War. (If Shepard has romanced a non-human and you made this choice, the non-human Love Interest will break up with Shepard in disgust)
Anyways I hope you get to read this message. And remember that the suggestions I’ve made are only just suggestions. If, for whatever reason, you can’t act on them then that’s fine. No hard feelings.
Regardless of how I feel ME3 has ended, I still find it to be a great game and I’ll keep playing it.
UPDATE:
I also have another suggestion in mind. After when the ending cutscene begins playing after either the Repurpose/Fry choice or the Control/Synthesis/Destroy choice, you should play a big epilogue cutscene shows an individual screenshot of a character with a few paragraphs of text explaining what they did next after the defeat of the Reapers. (Just like the epilogues in Fallout: New Vegas) (You can them spoken allowed by Shepard if you wish)
Here's the characters I'm recommending for this epilogue cutscene: -
- Commander Shepard (both male & female)
- Ashley Williams/Kaidan Alenko. (romance & non-romance versions)
- Garrus Vakarian. (Shepard-romance & Tali-romance versions)
- Liara T'Soni. (romance & non-romance versions)
- Urdnot Wrex.
- Tali'Zorah. (Shepard-romance & Garrus-romance versions)
- Miranda Lawson. (romance & non-romance versions)
- Jacob Taylor.
- Urdnot Grunt.
- Jack. (romance & non-romance versions)
- Samara.
- Zaeed Massani.
- Kasumi Goto.
- James Vega.
- EDI. (Joker-romance & non-Joker-romance versions)
- Javik.
- Dr. Karin Chakwas.
- Engineer Greg Adams.
- Engineer Ken Donnelly.
- Engineer Gabriella Daniels.
- Councilor Tevos.
- Councilor Valern.
- Councilor Sparatus.
- Kelly Chambers. (romance & non-romance versions)
- Steven Cortez. (romance & non-romance versions)
- Samantha Traynor. (romance & non-romance versions)
- Jeff "Joker" Moreau. (EDI-romance & non-EDI-romance versions)
- Conrad Verner.
- Shiala.
- Shi'ira ("The Consort").
- Hannah Shepard. (if the Spacer background was chosen on Shepard's customization menu.)
- Steven Hackett.
- Balak.
- Dr. Chloe Michel.
- Aria T'Loak.
- Matriarch Aethyta.
- Kolyat Krios.
- Commander Armando-Owen Bailey.
- Kahlee Sanders.
- Padon Wiks.
- Eve.
- Falare.
Modifié par The Cult Of Shepard, 29 mars 2012 - 04:06 .
#5561
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 03:21
Mr.Majestic
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- Members
- 6 messages
Reeeen0690 wrote...
It also means Bioware dont have to change anything, they can just add to it.
No, they do have to amend the loopholes and inconsistencies. The whole ending needs to be reviewed and revised as appropriate, from the very strike at the Cerberus station. This does not necessarily means thorough changes, but still some are due.
#5562
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 03:29
9Enrico0
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- Members
- 91 messages
Reeeen0690 wrote...
I advise reading what this guy has written. Its great
http://arkis.deviant...ILERS-289902125
is a good final... with more action.. i like it..
I hope shepard and his girlfriend stay alive
#5563
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 03:40
Mordimor
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- Members
- 41 messages
Reeeen0690 wrote...
I advise reading what this guy has written. Its great
http://arkis.deviant...ILERS-289902125
To sum it up, you still have the same 3 choices but it also offers a 4th choice allowing you to argue with the Catalyst's conclusions. Accounts for your war assets level, doesnt change what some people already like, and can eventualy reveal the starchild to be Harbinger attempting to trick you.
It also means you can lose and the cycle contiues.
Ummm. . . this is pretty much perfect. Exactly what I had in mind, actually.
They could even make the Catalyst some kind of final boss!
#5564
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 03:50
EmperorKaveje
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- Members
- 161 messages
Endings EVERYONE will like:
Good Ending:
1st-Shepard kill ONLY the reapers and do NOT destroy the relays
2nd- the wedding with your love interest (ALL Aliens attend) Give player control over to kiss or not to kiss
3rd-finished off with a toast
THE END.
Evil Ending:
1st-Shepard CONTROL the reapers and do NOT destroy the relays
2nd-Shepard sits on throne as Emperor of the Galaxy with his love interest on his right
and his Prothean Viceroy(see:star trek nemesis) on his left
3nd-shepard orders reapers to attack another Galaxy
THE END
Neutral Ending:
1st-Shepard blends all organic and synthetic life
2nd-Reapers become galactic space ships of all species(legs fall off much smoother body texture)
3rd-show reapers and ALL species repairing damage done by war.
THE END.
Good Ending:
1st-Shepard kill ONLY the reapers and do NOT destroy the relays
2nd- the wedding with your love interest (ALL Aliens attend) Give player control over to kiss or not to kiss
3rd-finished off with a toast
THE END.
Evil Ending:
1st-Shepard CONTROL the reapers and do NOT destroy the relays
2nd-Shepard sits on throne as Emperor of the Galaxy with his love interest on his right
and his Prothean Viceroy(see:star trek nemesis) on his left
3nd-shepard orders reapers to attack another Galaxy
THE END
Neutral Ending:
1st-Shepard blends all organic and synthetic life
2nd-Reapers become galactic space ships of all species(legs fall off much smoother body texture)
3rd-show reapers and ALL species repairing damage done by war.
THE END.
#5565
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 04:03
Axel Slice
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- Members
- 14 messages
I've been struggling to articulate exactly what is was
about the ending to Mass Effect 3 that i was disappointed in but I think I’ve
cracked it, and it would be remiss of me not to post my feelings here, even
though they may well just get lost amidst the mass of other feedback. Ah well.
Now, lots of people have posted lots of good breakdowns
here and elsewhere of what was technically wrong with the ending, the plot
holes, the lack of closure, the sudden tonal shift, the apparent disregard for
the overriding themes of the series so far, etc. and it would not be valuable
for me to repeat all of them again at length. They are all valid points, and
all contribute to main problem, but to be honest when I first played through
those last ten/fifteen minutes none of those things occurred to me. No, my
reaction was "I thought I was playing Mass Effect, not Deus Ex: Human
revolution. Why is there high-concept morality in my deeply personal emotional
story?"
Now, this reaction comes down to two things. Firstly, the
ending is really similar to the ending to Human Revolution (spoilers for that
game incoming). This is not an inherently bad thing; I liked Human Revolution,
a lot. But the whole game was spent exploring issues of morality and self in a
slightly more 'high-concept' above the emotional manner. That game asked me to
make my final decision on an intellectual level because it had been approaching
those issues from an intellectual level for the whole game. I was primed for
that. Mass Effect has always been about tackling issues on an emotive and personal
level, so I was in no way prepared to suddenly have the game remove all that
and have me make a decision that was presented in a purely intellectual level. There
was no emotive connection. even when presented with the fact that destroying
the reapers means destroying all synthetics, the catalyst presents the consequences
of this in terms of the Geth -a whole race- as opposed to, say, EDI, a
character who you have had two games to grow emotionally attached to. The
problem is presented on the intellectual level and not the personal one. This
is jarring, and makes the ending feel completely out of place.
The other thing that Human Revolution did is provide me a
fourth option. At the end of that game I can choose to take one of three
choices that will resolve the central conflict of the game based on the
positions of the various characters I have been presented with. however, if I
decide that all of their premises are flawed, and that I cannot in good conscience
align myself with any of them I have the choice to simply blow up the building
we are all in and kill everyone involved, thwarting all three plans and saying
'none of us have the right to make this decision'. Mass Effect 3 provides no
such fourth choice. If we feel that all three of the catalysts presented
options are flawed (as many do) we can't refuse the presented choices. We can't
say “you’re wrong, and there is a better way. Even if we die, the next cycle
will fight you, and the next, and the next, until someone finds a way” or some equally
defiant point of view that rejects the presented choice. When a choice is
presented to a player on such an intellectual level, it is imperative that they
have the option to choose not to choose, regardless of the consequences or the
choice seems false.
The second -and frankly more important- thing that immediately
bothered me about the ending is something that I touched briefly on already;
the lack of emotional content. Now, for me, the Mass Effect series has been one
of -if not the- most emotionally involved and powerful stories I have ever
experienced, Mass Effect three in particular. I cheered aloud when Grunt came
running out of the Racnhii cave. I was harrowed when Mordin sacrificed himself.
I openly wept when Thane died, and when I hit that final Renegade interrupt
after the fight against Kai Leng the line "That was for Thane you son of a
*****!" was, absolutely, the most satisfying experience I have ever had
playing a video game. It probably beats any moment from any film or book or
play I have ever watched/read. It was sublime. So, with that in mind, going in
to the final hour or so of Mass Effect 3 the one thing I was expecting more
than anything was catharsis. I was expecting that kind of emotional release
that so much art has always striven for and I was expecting it because the
entire rest of the series up until that point had been a deeply, deeply emotionally
driven experience. How then, could the ending just discard that? Even the final
conversation with Anderson was far too short a goodbye for that character to
carry the emotional weight it needed. With Anderson, more than any other
important character, we needed more time to say farewell. I was hoping for
Catharsis, but instead I got a kind of empty, washed out feeling, like a balloon
that's had all the air let out of it. All of the powerful emotional build up
was wasted because the climax of the story was (emotionally speaking) an hour
or so before the end of the game when Admiral Hacket came aboard the Normandy
to give that final inspiring (and fantastically written) speech. Then the last
hour or two of gameplay continued to build the tension even though it was
building up to, well, nothing. It was an ending with no emotional weight behind
it. It was horrible; it left the story feeling un-concluded and ephemeral, like
waking from a dream before it's over. This is not how you end an emotional
story. The story needs a cathartic ending, and I, personally, am desperate for
some sense of catharsis to put the final note on what was such an emotionally
involving story. Without that, I can't move on and I can't go back and re-play
because I feel taped in this emotive purgatory. It's hideous.
Anyway, I’m sure I’ve repeated myself a bunch there but
that's my take. Hopefully it gets seen amidst the two hundred or so pages of
comments here.
Short version: The ending feels like it belongs to a
different game with a different kind of story and it desperately, desperately[/i] needs catharsis.
about the ending to Mass Effect 3 that i was disappointed in but I think I’ve
cracked it, and it would be remiss of me not to post my feelings here, even
though they may well just get lost amidst the mass of other feedback. Ah well.
Now, lots of people have posted lots of good breakdowns
here and elsewhere of what was technically wrong with the ending, the plot
holes, the lack of closure, the sudden tonal shift, the apparent disregard for
the overriding themes of the series so far, etc. and it would not be valuable
for me to repeat all of them again at length. They are all valid points, and
all contribute to main problem, but to be honest when I first played through
those last ten/fifteen minutes none of those things occurred to me. No, my
reaction was "I thought I was playing Mass Effect, not Deus Ex: Human
revolution. Why is there high-concept morality in my deeply personal emotional
story?"
Now, this reaction comes down to two things. Firstly, the
ending is really similar to the ending to Human Revolution (spoilers for that
game incoming). This is not an inherently bad thing; I liked Human Revolution,
a lot. But the whole game was spent exploring issues of morality and self in a
slightly more 'high-concept' above the emotional manner. That game asked me to
make my final decision on an intellectual level because it had been approaching
those issues from an intellectual level for the whole game. I was primed for
that. Mass Effect has always been about tackling issues on an emotive and personal
level, so I was in no way prepared to suddenly have the game remove all that
and have me make a decision that was presented in a purely intellectual level. There
was no emotive connection. even when presented with the fact that destroying
the reapers means destroying all synthetics, the catalyst presents the consequences
of this in terms of the Geth -a whole race- as opposed to, say, EDI, a
character who you have had two games to grow emotionally attached to. The
problem is presented on the intellectual level and not the personal one. This
is jarring, and makes the ending feel completely out of place.
The other thing that Human Revolution did is provide me a
fourth option. At the end of that game I can choose to take one of three
choices that will resolve the central conflict of the game based on the
positions of the various characters I have been presented with. however, if I
decide that all of their premises are flawed, and that I cannot in good conscience
align myself with any of them I have the choice to simply blow up the building
we are all in and kill everyone involved, thwarting all three plans and saying
'none of us have the right to make this decision'. Mass Effect 3 provides no
such fourth choice. If we feel that all three of the catalysts presented
options are flawed (as many do) we can't refuse the presented choices. We can't
say “you’re wrong, and there is a better way. Even if we die, the next cycle
will fight you, and the next, and the next, until someone finds a way” or some equally
defiant point of view that rejects the presented choice. When a choice is
presented to a player on such an intellectual level, it is imperative that they
have the option to choose not to choose, regardless of the consequences or the
choice seems false.
The second -and frankly more important- thing that immediately
bothered me about the ending is something that I touched briefly on already;
the lack of emotional content. Now, for me, the Mass Effect series has been one
of -if not the- most emotionally involved and powerful stories I have ever
experienced, Mass Effect three in particular. I cheered aloud when Grunt came
running out of the Racnhii cave. I was harrowed when Mordin sacrificed himself.
I openly wept when Thane died, and when I hit that final Renegade interrupt
after the fight against Kai Leng the line "That was for Thane you son of a
*****!" was, absolutely, the most satisfying experience I have ever had
playing a video game. It probably beats any moment from any film or book or
play I have ever watched/read. It was sublime. So, with that in mind, going in
to the final hour or so of Mass Effect 3 the one thing I was expecting more
than anything was catharsis. I was expecting that kind of emotional release
that so much art has always striven for and I was expecting it because the
entire rest of the series up until that point had been a deeply, deeply emotionally
driven experience. How then, could the ending just discard that? Even the final
conversation with Anderson was far too short a goodbye for that character to
carry the emotional weight it needed. With Anderson, more than any other
important character, we needed more time to say farewell. I was hoping for
Catharsis, but instead I got a kind of empty, washed out feeling, like a balloon
that's had all the air let out of it. All of the powerful emotional build up
was wasted because the climax of the story was (emotionally speaking) an hour
or so before the end of the game when Admiral Hacket came aboard the Normandy
to give that final inspiring (and fantastically written) speech. Then the last
hour or two of gameplay continued to build the tension even though it was
building up to, well, nothing. It was an ending with no emotional weight behind
it. It was horrible; it left the story feeling un-concluded and ephemeral, like
waking from a dream before it's over. This is not how you end an emotional
story. The story needs a cathartic ending, and I, personally, am desperate for
some sense of catharsis to put the final note on what was such an emotionally
involving story. Without that, I can't move on and I can't go back and re-play
because I feel taped in this emotive purgatory. It's hideous.
Anyway, I’m sure I’ve repeated myself a bunch there but
that's my take. Hopefully it gets seen amidst the two hundred or so pages of
comments here.
Short version: The ending feels like it belongs to a
different game with a different kind of story and it desperately, desperately[/i] needs catharsis.
#5566
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 04:04
Versidious
-
- Members
- 583 messages
Reeeen0690 wrote...
I advise reading what this guy has written. Its great
http://arkis.deviant...ILERS-289902125
To sum it up, you still have the same 3 choices but it also offers a 4th choice allowing you to argue with the Catalyst's conclusions. Accounts for your war assets level, doesnt change what some people already like, and can eventualy reveal the starchild to be Harbinger attempting to trick you.
It also means you can lose and the cycle contiues.
The first thing I've seen that beats the IdT. It fits perfectly with the whole series, and doesn't even require much reworking on Bioware's part! Though I'd still like to see some epilogues, I don't see why the old man can't tell the child what happened to Shepard and his crew instead!
#5567
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 04:26
Yermogi
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- Members
- 988 messages
Something that I noticed that I don't think has been mentioned here yet: There were articles with quotes from BioWare stating that a previously romanced ME1 LI and a ME2 LI would duke it out over Shepard. I was really looking forward to seeing Garrus and Thane chew out Kaiden, and Ashley vs. Jack? I don't think I need to say anything to get the images across of what THAT would look like.
Fix the ME2 LI's (ESPECIALLY Thane and Jacob), give them all more time, have them fight with ME1 LI's.
Fix the ME2 LI's (ESPECIALLY Thane and Jacob), give them all more time, have them fight with ME1 LI's.
#5568
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 04:27
KleinerVance
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- Members
- 113 messages
Ill keep it brief.
1. Add an ending where the mass relays don't blow up.
2. Remove the god-child, or at the very least allow us to reject his logic
3 provide some damn closure.
1. Add an ending where the mass relays don't blow up.
2. Remove the god-child, or at the very least allow us to reject his logic
3 provide some damn closure.
#5569
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 04:38
indiantent
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- Members
- 1 messages
Did anyone else feel sorry for the Geth? ME1 standard robot bad guys lets kill them all!! no worries. ME2 realise that they think differently and not all are bad as such. In fact, they feel guilty and been fixing tali's home all this time despite its not theirs and they both caused damage. You befriend one of them who seems to idolise you. You help the Geth from ME1 realise what they did wrong and Legion helps you save humanity. ME3 you find out the Geth never even started the war the Quarians did. They are being annihilated by those who used to persecute them. Forced to ally themselves with the Reapers to avoid extermination they gain individualism and independence. You broker peace between them and the Quarians and they help them resettle their home world demanding no compensation for the damage they caused them. Ok nice wrap up walk away, oh no, to stick the knife in, they are made to be why the Reapers exist at all, despite if anything they are victims, and you commit genocide on the belief that a race of machine you may create in the future might threaten the universe. So the Geth would just let that happen then, despite their previous good character? I say stop the genocide of this peaceful race and let legion’s sacrifice not be in vain. Yes in the future a change of heart by the Geth possibly take over the universe, but so might any organic race (Krogan!). The current ending is very unfair on them., Shepard or at least mine would know this!
#5570
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 04:48
Yermogi
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- Members
- 988 messages
Hence why my Shepard chose Synthasis ending. Legion DIED so the Geth could be free. Easiest way to please everyone.indiantent wrote...
Did anyone else feel sorry for the Geth? ME1 standard robot bad guys lets kill them all!! no worries. ME2 realise that they think differently and not all are bad as such. In fact, they feel guilty and been fixing tali's home all this time despite its not theirs and they both caused damage. You befriend one of them who seems to idolise you. You help the Geth from ME1 realise what they did wrong and Legion helps you save humanity. ME3 you find out the Geth never even started the war the Quarians did. They are being annihilated by those who used to persecute them. Forced to ally themselves with the Reapers to avoid extermination they gain individualism and independence. You broker peace between them and the Quarians and they help them resettle their home world demanding no compensation for the damage they caused them. Ok nice wrap up walk away, oh no, to stick the knife in, they are made to be why the Reapers exist at all, despite if anything they are victims, and you commit genocide on the belief that a race of machine you may create in the future might threaten the universe. So the Geth would just let that happen then, despite their previous good character? I say stop the genocide of this peaceful race and let legion’s sacrifice not be in vain. Yes in the future a change of heart by the Geth possibly take over the universe, but so might any organic race (Krogan!). The current ending is very unfair on them., Shepard or at least mine would know this!
#5571
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 04:58
Nerevatar
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- Members
- 3 messages
So, I just discovered Bioware is looking for feedback for the Mass Effect 3 ending, and as a huge fan of the ME series, I decided to help any way I can, so here goes. (heavy spoilers ahead)
First a little background. I played ME1 and ME2 6 times each(including all DLCs), mostly on insane, even though I normally suck at (FP) shooter games. I have played a lot of RPG games, ranging from Morrowind, NWN2, BG2 to new games like DA and Witcher series. I'm 22 years old and live with my girlfriend, while studying software engineering at master level.
Now onto the feedback regarding ME3.
The game itself was epic beyond anything I ever played. Period. Never have I been so emotional invested and captivated by a game. When I took down a reaper on foot I was literally cheering in my chair. When seeing Mordin singing in the burning tower, Legion shutting down, a great civilization being utterly destroyed by unstoppable forces, Liara taking you on a tour into Eternity, or some of the other tense, dramatic, and emotional moments in ME3, I was so touched that I had to blink several times not get a tear in my eye. And likewise the humor in the game was some, if not the best, I have ever tried in a game. The jokes was not out of place, they were actually aimed at Shepard himself and not me as a player, and that made them believable and extremely funny. In short, ME3 was an emotional roller coaster unlike anything I have ever experienced, from sadness to fun, to epic drama, to aw-inspiring heroism. Thank you. BUT this made it all the more weirder when I finally, after 42 hours of (almost) non-stop play, completed the game. Up until the end, I felt that ALL my decision had made an impact somehow. I was so satisfied by the way it was handled, and how everything made a difference, even if it was just "a number" on my Effective Military Strength, because I could read about how and why It was there.
But the end changed all that. When I completed the game I was left with a weird feeling. Part of me was happy that the story was ended in a way that prevented a "Oh hey Shepard, guess you survived anyway!" situation, and that it wasn't too cliché. And in a way it made sense to me that a force like the reapers could not be defeated like any other enemy, and that maybe we had to make extreme sacrifices (like the entire galactic community with the destroyed relays and Shepard himself), but still some part of me was unsettled. I can't really describe the feeling I had after completing the game, but after a few days I decided to see what other people on the internet thought (my friends had not completed it yet so I couldn't discuss it with them). After reading though tons of pages of people being for and against the ending (mostly against), I started to realized what unsettled me about the ending.
-I had no idea what happened to everyone and everything. The game ended without any closure, except for Joker, plus a few teammates. And being stranded on some random planet is even real closure, but it was the closet thing.
-None of my decisions seemed to matter, in the very end. Now when you had EMS, why wasn't it used to decide which kind of endings you could get, like if EMS > 3500 AND insert some other choice, then, insert cool outcome relating to that choice? And no, the secret ending with Shepard surviving isn't enough, and it sucks that you have to play multiplayer to ever obtain it. I don't mind playing multiplayer makes it easier to obtain "the best ending", but it annoys me a lot that it is a requirement to get the full out of the single player ending.
-I had fought for the galaxy, doing my very best, and still all was lost. And yes all was lost, the entire galactic community was destroyed because space travel became impossible and we were confined to our own planet. And while this seemed all right to me in the start, I came to realize that all that I had done (curing the genophage, making peace between Quarian and Geth, saving the council again, etc) meant nothing, and that feeling was cruel. I felt "punished".
-After all the time and effort I have put into the Mass Effect series over the years, I was left with the same ending as everyone else. I could have sacrificed the council, screwed over the Krogran, losing my entire team on the suicide mission, and I would still have gotten the same ending. Yes there was a significant choice, but the result of that choice was more or less the same. I needed an epilogue, something to tell me how all my choices affected the galaxy after my death. How Tali build a home on the Rannoch, living peacefully with the Geth, or how the Geth ended up rebelling and wiping out the Quarians. I didn't have to be all rose-y. I just wanted to know that I mattered.
An example of a epilogue that gave closure was the ending of Neverwinter Nights 2, and it's expansion Mask of the Betrayer. It showed me how my choices affected the world, and how I changed the world and left my mark in history.
Such an epilogue would not matter with the current ending though, as the mass relays got destroyed, and galactic civilization ended. But if the galactic civilization survived, all my choices would suddenly matter, and you could deliver an awesome ending, to one of the best games in gaming history. Shepard could still die, but it should be a choice. Have a choice be like: Shepard lives, but the chance of synthetic revolt persists versus Shepard dies but ensures peace between synthetics. That could be an ending with the synthesis. But again, in an epic game like ME3 I would not necessarily expect Shepard to survive, so it is not him dying being the problem in the ending. You could still loose Shepard and have a cool ending (try search youtube for 'mass effect 3 alternate fan ending', there is a hell of a good one, where Shepard dies, even though a true epilogue is still missing from that one).
Regarding the whole boy/catalyst plot, It was a bit confusing but while I played, and especially when I had completed it, I suspected that Shepard was actually being, maybe not directly indoctrinated, but at least influenced. It was unexplained but I don't mind a bit of mystery. I wonder if the boy was some kind of AI left by the first galactic race (the Keepers maybe?) when they realized that they had to make the reapers? Was the boy on Earth a figment of his imagination (notice how no one helps the boy when he tries to get on the shuttle)? Does the catalyst just take the shape of the boy to be recognizable to Shepard?
I sincerely hope that you will reconsider the ending, and maybe changing it, or offering a change through a DLC. As a diehard fanboy I would of course pay for it without a second thought, but I think you, Bioware, owes your fans to keep it free, or at least keep the cost to a minimum, without compromising the quality. A great game (series) as mass effect deserves a grand ending, where you can see you and your choices mattered. Take the times it takes to get it done right. I just wish for the perfect ending to a (near) perfect game.
As a final remark I would like to say that to be fair the ending wasn't all bad by any means. It was very emotional, and had some deep meanings which has spawned the now-famous "indoctrination theory". The Mass Effect series should just end with something like an epilogue to offer closure and the consequences of all of your hundreds of choices throughout the 3 games.
I hope this wasn't too long and that someone will actually read it :-)
Best Regards
Commander Shepard, hero and savior of the Citadel
First a little background. I played ME1 and ME2 6 times each(including all DLCs), mostly on insane, even though I normally suck at (FP) shooter games. I have played a lot of RPG games, ranging from Morrowind, NWN2, BG2 to new games like DA and Witcher series. I'm 22 years old and live with my girlfriend, while studying software engineering at master level.
Now onto the feedback regarding ME3.
The game itself was epic beyond anything I ever played. Period. Never have I been so emotional invested and captivated by a game. When I took down a reaper on foot I was literally cheering in my chair. When seeing Mordin singing in the burning tower, Legion shutting down, a great civilization being utterly destroyed by unstoppable forces, Liara taking you on a tour into Eternity, or some of the other tense, dramatic, and emotional moments in ME3, I was so touched that I had to blink several times not get a tear in my eye. And likewise the humor in the game was some, if not the best, I have ever tried in a game. The jokes was not out of place, they were actually aimed at Shepard himself and not me as a player, and that made them believable and extremely funny. In short, ME3 was an emotional roller coaster unlike anything I have ever experienced, from sadness to fun, to epic drama, to aw-inspiring heroism. Thank you. BUT this made it all the more weirder when I finally, after 42 hours of (almost) non-stop play, completed the game. Up until the end, I felt that ALL my decision had made an impact somehow. I was so satisfied by the way it was handled, and how everything made a difference, even if it was just "a number" on my Effective Military Strength, because I could read about how and why It was there.
But the end changed all that. When I completed the game I was left with a weird feeling. Part of me was happy that the story was ended in a way that prevented a "Oh hey Shepard, guess you survived anyway!" situation, and that it wasn't too cliché. And in a way it made sense to me that a force like the reapers could not be defeated like any other enemy, and that maybe we had to make extreme sacrifices (like the entire galactic community with the destroyed relays and Shepard himself), but still some part of me was unsettled. I can't really describe the feeling I had after completing the game, but after a few days I decided to see what other people on the internet thought (my friends had not completed it yet so I couldn't discuss it with them). After reading though tons of pages of people being for and against the ending (mostly against), I started to realized what unsettled me about the ending.
-I had no idea what happened to everyone and everything. The game ended without any closure, except for Joker, plus a few teammates. And being stranded on some random planet is even real closure, but it was the closet thing.
-None of my decisions seemed to matter, in the very end. Now when you had EMS, why wasn't it used to decide which kind of endings you could get, like if EMS > 3500 AND insert some other choice, then, insert cool outcome relating to that choice? And no, the secret ending with Shepard surviving isn't enough, and it sucks that you have to play multiplayer to ever obtain it. I don't mind playing multiplayer makes it easier to obtain "the best ending", but it annoys me a lot that it is a requirement to get the full out of the single player ending.
-I had fought for the galaxy, doing my very best, and still all was lost. And yes all was lost, the entire galactic community was destroyed because space travel became impossible and we were confined to our own planet. And while this seemed all right to me in the start, I came to realize that all that I had done (curing the genophage, making peace between Quarian and Geth, saving the council again, etc) meant nothing, and that feeling was cruel. I felt "punished".
-After all the time and effort I have put into the Mass Effect series over the years, I was left with the same ending as everyone else. I could have sacrificed the council, screwed over the Krogran, losing my entire team on the suicide mission, and I would still have gotten the same ending. Yes there was a significant choice, but the result of that choice was more or less the same. I needed an epilogue, something to tell me how all my choices affected the galaxy after my death. How Tali build a home on the Rannoch, living peacefully with the Geth, or how the Geth ended up rebelling and wiping out the Quarians. I didn't have to be all rose-y. I just wanted to know that I mattered.
An example of a epilogue that gave closure was the ending of Neverwinter Nights 2, and it's expansion Mask of the Betrayer. It showed me how my choices affected the world, and how I changed the world and left my mark in history.
Such an epilogue would not matter with the current ending though, as the mass relays got destroyed, and galactic civilization ended. But if the galactic civilization survived, all my choices would suddenly matter, and you could deliver an awesome ending, to one of the best games in gaming history. Shepard could still die, but it should be a choice. Have a choice be like: Shepard lives, but the chance of synthetic revolt persists versus Shepard dies but ensures peace between synthetics. That could be an ending with the synthesis. But again, in an epic game like ME3 I would not necessarily expect Shepard to survive, so it is not him dying being the problem in the ending. You could still loose Shepard and have a cool ending (try search youtube for 'mass effect 3 alternate fan ending', there is a hell of a good one, where Shepard dies, even though a true epilogue is still missing from that one).
Regarding the whole boy/catalyst plot, It was a bit confusing but while I played, and especially when I had completed it, I suspected that Shepard was actually being, maybe not directly indoctrinated, but at least influenced. It was unexplained but I don't mind a bit of mystery. I wonder if the boy was some kind of AI left by the first galactic race (the Keepers maybe?) when they realized that they had to make the reapers? Was the boy on Earth a figment of his imagination (notice how no one helps the boy when he tries to get on the shuttle)? Does the catalyst just take the shape of the boy to be recognizable to Shepard?
I sincerely hope that you will reconsider the ending, and maybe changing it, or offering a change through a DLC. As a diehard fanboy I would of course pay for it without a second thought, but I think you, Bioware, owes your fans to keep it free, or at least keep the cost to a minimum, without compromising the quality. A great game (series) as mass effect deserves a grand ending, where you can see you and your choices mattered. Take the times it takes to get it done right. I just wish for the perfect ending to a (near) perfect game.
As a final remark I would like to say that to be fair the ending wasn't all bad by any means. It was very emotional, and had some deep meanings which has spawned the now-famous "indoctrination theory". The Mass Effect series should just end with something like an epilogue to offer closure and the consequences of all of your hundreds of choices throughout the 3 games.
I hope this wasn't too long and that someone will actually read it :-)
Best Regards
Commander Shepard, hero and savior of the Citadel
Modifié par Nerevatar, 29 mars 2012 - 04:59 .
#5572
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 05:01
This is Dismarum
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This is the first time I've ever bothered posting on BSN, but I do lurk here a lot. I realize that my voice is one of the many, but it's my hope that maybe someone might see this if devs really are asking for suggestions and feedback.
My main issue with Mass Effect 3 is that my previous 100+ hours of gameplay put into Mass Effect 1 & 2 and major decisions are entirely inconsequential at the end. The end was amazingly (and horribly, IMO) linear. My war assets didn't matter. My paragon/renegade status didn't matter. My level didn't matter. My squadmates didn't matter. My amount of side quests and previous galatic-saving exploits didn't matter, and maybe most egregiously, my handling of the Collector base in ME2 TOTALLY did not matter one speck.
I'm not discounting that the entire Mass Effect franchise hasn't done a great job at giving you an immediate sense of consequence or in-depth gameplay in regards to these decisions. The ability to make Shepard's story your own with the amount of in-depth decision making across the trilogy has become the standard for me (and many others) in RPGs.
The fact that Bioware, at the very literal end of the game, decided to take away this hallmark standard is what I think has many fans, including myself, left feeling bewildered and heavly shunted into some preconcieved A, B, C ending that we did not work for. I feel no closure or sense of fullfilment at the end, because the end was not of Shepard's making, when the entire series was solely leading up to it being the end of his/her story and how Shepard's actions influenced the galaxy. In the end, it was not. It was completely irrelevant who Shepard was, what he or she did previously, or the strain of what he/she did to gain assets to win the war.
I know, I know. Some people are calling this "art" and that the ME trilogy can describe the human condition; we're born, we live, and we ultimately experience an ending not of our own making.
I call that crap. While that might fly for a movie or a book, video games are an interactive medium, and in order to resonate well with your fanbase, it's my opinion that an ending has to have a sense of closure for those who put in the legwork to get to the end. ME did not have a sense of closure. The ending did not do the rest of the series justice. If it was meant to display the intentional futility of life, then it failed miserably as an artistic medium.
Anyway. Combine all of the above with the fact that the ending just did not make any sense at all and you have people needing more explanation. The entire "we created synthetics to destroy you so you won't be destroyed by synthetics" actually made me facepalm. As I'm sure other people mentioned, what the heck happened to my squad and LI? Why is Joker in the middle of a Mass Relay jump? Moreover, why are my squad members that took a laser beam to the face with me with him?! What is going to happen to the fleets and species that are now stranded in the Sol system without the Mass Relays?
If these questions were answered, I would feel that at least the ending would be somewhat satisfactory. If my Shepard's decisions actually mattered in shaping the ending that I recieved, that would be an excellent ending. Note: "excellent" doesn't mean "happy." It just means that my previous 100+ hours of gameplay actually meant a damn at the end.
It's my wish and hope that Bioware strives for excellent with any future ME content or DLC.
My main issue with Mass Effect 3 is that my previous 100+ hours of gameplay put into Mass Effect 1 & 2 and major decisions are entirely inconsequential at the end. The end was amazingly (and horribly, IMO) linear. My war assets didn't matter. My paragon/renegade status didn't matter. My level didn't matter. My squadmates didn't matter. My amount of side quests and previous galatic-saving exploits didn't matter, and maybe most egregiously, my handling of the Collector base in ME2 TOTALLY did not matter one speck.
I'm not discounting that the entire Mass Effect franchise hasn't done a great job at giving you an immediate sense of consequence or in-depth gameplay in regards to these decisions. The ability to make Shepard's story your own with the amount of in-depth decision making across the trilogy has become the standard for me (and many others) in RPGs.
The fact that Bioware, at the very literal end of the game, decided to take away this hallmark standard is what I think has many fans, including myself, left feeling bewildered and heavly shunted into some preconcieved A, B, C ending that we did not work for. I feel no closure or sense of fullfilment at the end, because the end was not of Shepard's making, when the entire series was solely leading up to it being the end of his/her story and how Shepard's actions influenced the galaxy. In the end, it was not. It was completely irrelevant who Shepard was, what he or she did previously, or the strain of what he/she did to gain assets to win the war.
I know, I know. Some people are calling this "art" and that the ME trilogy can describe the human condition; we're born, we live, and we ultimately experience an ending not of our own making.
I call that crap. While that might fly for a movie or a book, video games are an interactive medium, and in order to resonate well with your fanbase, it's my opinion that an ending has to have a sense of closure for those who put in the legwork to get to the end. ME did not have a sense of closure. The ending did not do the rest of the series justice. If it was meant to display the intentional futility of life, then it failed miserably as an artistic medium.
Anyway. Combine all of the above with the fact that the ending just did not make any sense at all and you have people needing more explanation. The entire "we created synthetics to destroy you so you won't be destroyed by synthetics" actually made me facepalm. As I'm sure other people mentioned, what the heck happened to my squad and LI? Why is Joker in the middle of a Mass Relay jump? Moreover, why are my squad members that took a laser beam to the face with me with him?! What is going to happen to the fleets and species that are now stranded in the Sol system without the Mass Relays?
If these questions were answered, I would feel that at least the ending would be somewhat satisfactory. If my Shepard's decisions actually mattered in shaping the ending that I recieved, that would be an excellent ending. Note: "excellent" doesn't mean "happy." It just means that my previous 100+ hours of gameplay actually meant a damn at the end.
It's my wish and hope that Bioware strives for excellent with any future ME content or DLC.
#5573
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 05:02
Bored at 3AM
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First off, congrats to Casey Hudson, Mac Walters and everyone at Bioware for delivering the goods and completing the trilogy. It will, without a doubt, be remembered as one of the crowning achievements of this generation of video games. You should all be very proud of what you accomplished. Thank you for the many hours of enjoyment these three games (and the 3 good books) have given me.
With that out of the way, I'll try to give you some feedback that might be helpful to you moving forward...
THE ENDINGS
THE PROS: I thought the endings were good and packed a good emotional wallop and I thought Sheppard's sacrifice made perfect sense and was clearly foreshadowed throughout the entire series. I also applaud your courage to completely screw with your established universe by taking the Mass Relays off the table. I can't wait to see what the next full game takes advantage of this interesting new status quo. All those alien ships stuck in our solar system without a way home is such a great premise for the next trilogy.
THE CONS: They're too visually indistinct from each other. The Star-child device doesn't really work effectively because too much information is dumped on you too fast without any opportunity to investigate further or question what's being told to you. You don't have enough time to process it all. The bit with the Normandy doesn't really work either because it comes out of nowhere. Now, if there was always a plan to do Joker DLC showing his side of the final battle, that's cool. I'll certainly buy that. I really enjoyed the taxi sequence in Lair of the Shadow Broker. I'd love to be able to fly the Normandy during the big fleet battle and swoop in to rescue Sheppard's squadmates.
GAMEPLAY
THE PROS: The scale of everything is so much greater. The speed is relentless. The powers are so much fun. The badguys have a lot of variety and can be truly scary. Playing as Vangard and charging around messing dudes up with Nova and Heavy Melee is just about the closest thing to bliss I've ever had playing a shooter. Man, that's fun. And the weapons were AWESOME. I adore that rapidfire Turian assault rifle. Bad ass!
THE CONS: Taking cover, rolling and picking stuff up is a giant pain in the ass sometimes. I'd rather die because I screwed up, not because I kept rolling over and over in front of a wall instead of taking cover behind it. And while I like what you did with the scanning, the fetch quests are a bit repetitive because you had to do it too much. I think the two hacking mini-games should have been included to break up the monotony for some of those fetch quests. Instead of scanning every single time, I would have gladly hacked a terminal or whatever. Just a little more variety.
TECHNICAL
THE PROS: Dear lord, the scope of some of the stuff you accomplished in some of the set pieces is staggering. You really did get across just how vast and epic this galactic war was. Really impressive. And I enjoyed your clever ways of masking the load times with security scans and the like. It added to the immersion instead of reminding me I was playing a video game on a console at the end of its lifespan.
THE CONS: I've played Mass Effect 3 twice now. Once on my Xbox with my Male Paragon Shep I've played since ME1 and again on my PS3 with my Female Renegade Shep. The differences between them in terms of framerate, textures, load times and glitches are huge. You've either got to fix the PS3 version soon or offer up some free goodies as an olive branch. You cannot charge the same price when the quality is so clearly different.
Oh, and fix the Journal. It was fine in ME2. Just go back to that.
Thanks for reading. I wish you luck in all your future projects.
With that out of the way, I'll try to give you some feedback that might be helpful to you moving forward...
THE ENDINGS
THE PROS: I thought the endings were good and packed a good emotional wallop and I thought Sheppard's sacrifice made perfect sense and was clearly foreshadowed throughout the entire series. I also applaud your courage to completely screw with your established universe by taking the Mass Relays off the table. I can't wait to see what the next full game takes advantage of this interesting new status quo. All those alien ships stuck in our solar system without a way home is such a great premise for the next trilogy.
THE CONS: They're too visually indistinct from each other. The Star-child device doesn't really work effectively because too much information is dumped on you too fast without any opportunity to investigate further or question what's being told to you. You don't have enough time to process it all. The bit with the Normandy doesn't really work either because it comes out of nowhere. Now, if there was always a plan to do Joker DLC showing his side of the final battle, that's cool. I'll certainly buy that. I really enjoyed the taxi sequence in Lair of the Shadow Broker. I'd love to be able to fly the Normandy during the big fleet battle and swoop in to rescue Sheppard's squadmates.
GAMEPLAY
THE PROS: The scale of everything is so much greater. The speed is relentless. The powers are so much fun. The badguys have a lot of variety and can be truly scary. Playing as Vangard and charging around messing dudes up with Nova and Heavy Melee is just about the closest thing to bliss I've ever had playing a shooter. Man, that's fun. And the weapons were AWESOME. I adore that rapidfire Turian assault rifle. Bad ass!
THE CONS: Taking cover, rolling and picking stuff up is a giant pain in the ass sometimes. I'd rather die because I screwed up, not because I kept rolling over and over in front of a wall instead of taking cover behind it. And while I like what you did with the scanning, the fetch quests are a bit repetitive because you had to do it too much. I think the two hacking mini-games should have been included to break up the monotony for some of those fetch quests. Instead of scanning every single time, I would have gladly hacked a terminal or whatever. Just a little more variety.
TECHNICAL
THE PROS: Dear lord, the scope of some of the stuff you accomplished in some of the set pieces is staggering. You really did get across just how vast and epic this galactic war was. Really impressive. And I enjoyed your clever ways of masking the load times with security scans and the like. It added to the immersion instead of reminding me I was playing a video game on a console at the end of its lifespan.
THE CONS: I've played Mass Effect 3 twice now. Once on my Xbox with my Male Paragon Shep I've played since ME1 and again on my PS3 with my Female Renegade Shep. The differences between them in terms of framerate, textures, load times and glitches are huge. You've either got to fix the PS3 version soon or offer up some free goodies as an olive branch. You cannot charge the same price when the quality is so clearly different.
Oh, and fix the Journal. It was fine in ME2. Just go back to that.
Thanks for reading. I wish you luck in all your future projects.
#5574
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 05:07
Motherlander
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I posted this on another thread, but I thought I would also put it here.
Here is a minimalist solution to providing a happy ending for Shepard. It involves no extra dialogue, but does require a couple more animated cut-scenes, modification of current ones and omission of others.
I realise Bioware will not do this. But, it does demonstrate that the ending could be adjusted with little changes and solve some (but not all of the) issues,
Also, I am in no way saying this is an ideal ending, because peronally I would prefer to lose God child completely and have a completely re-worked ending. This is just a minimalist quick-fix for demonstration purposes.
Also, it does not even require removing the current endings.
I also have to admit that i am not knowledgable of the video game industry so I cannot confirm if the changes are easy or not. But i believe they would be relatively easy as it only involves three new animations and altering one animation.
SCENARIO - SHEPARD LIVES AND THE RELAYS STAY INTACT
1) For the synthesis and Control ending we may need an amendment to the scene where he activates the crucible so he/she is not atomised.
2)The relays do not explode - We see exactly the same cut-scenes of the energy transferring from relay to relay, but in this case we see the relays remain intact.
3) The Normandy does not creash - Remove completely the scenes where we see the Normandy crash and crew exit the Normany on another planet. With these scenes removed, we can assume that the Normandy did not leave Earth.
4) We see a scene of "Hammer" soldiers finding Shepard in the rubble.
5) If Shepard has an LI, We see a touching renuinion between the injured Shepard and the LI.
6) If Shepard has no LI, We see Joker or another squad mater helping Shepard
SCENARIO - SHEPARD DIES HEROICALLY - RELAYS STAY INTACT
Points 1) through 3) are the same.
4) If Shepard has an LI, we see him/her mourning over a memorial of some kind, tears in his/her eyes.
5) if Shepard has no LI, we see Joker or another squad mate lay a symbolis item like a wreath or Sheaprd's N7 helmet beside the memorial.
The vstar gazing scene can stay as it is. In fact, it changes the scene quite dramatically, because we see that the star gazers are on a different world. So people, not on Earth also remember Shepard way in the future.
Here is a minimalist solution to providing a happy ending for Shepard. It involves no extra dialogue, but does require a couple more animated cut-scenes, modification of current ones and omission of others.
I realise Bioware will not do this. But, it does demonstrate that the ending could be adjusted with little changes and solve some (but not all of the) issues,
Also, I am in no way saying this is an ideal ending, because peronally I would prefer to lose God child completely and have a completely re-worked ending. This is just a minimalist quick-fix for demonstration purposes.
Also, it does not even require removing the current endings.
I also have to admit that i am not knowledgable of the video game industry so I cannot confirm if the changes are easy or not. But i believe they would be relatively easy as it only involves three new animations and altering one animation.
SCENARIO - SHEPARD LIVES AND THE RELAYS STAY INTACT
1) For the synthesis and Control ending we may need an amendment to the scene where he activates the crucible so he/she is not atomised.
2)The relays do not explode - We see exactly the same cut-scenes of the energy transferring from relay to relay, but in this case we see the relays remain intact.
3) The Normandy does not creash - Remove completely the scenes where we see the Normandy crash and crew exit the Normany on another planet. With these scenes removed, we can assume that the Normandy did not leave Earth.
4) We see a scene of "Hammer" soldiers finding Shepard in the rubble.
5) If Shepard has an LI, We see a touching renuinion between the injured Shepard and the LI.
6) If Shepard has no LI, We see Joker or another squad mater helping Shepard
SCENARIO - SHEPARD DIES HEROICALLY - RELAYS STAY INTACT
Points 1) through 3) are the same.
4) If Shepard has an LI, we see him/her mourning over a memorial of some kind, tears in his/her eyes.
5) if Shepard has no LI, we see Joker or another squad mate lay a symbolis item like a wreath or Sheaprd's N7 helmet beside the memorial.
The vstar gazing scene can stay as it is. In fact, it changes the scene quite dramatically, because we see that the star gazers are on a different world. So people, not on Earth also remember Shepard way in the future.
Modifié par Motherlander, 29 mars 2012 - 05:20 .
#5575
Posté 29 mars 2012 - 05:13
The Cult Of Shepard
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That's a good suggestion Funkatronic. I pretty much picture one of my ideal versions of the ME3 ending playing out that way.Funkatronic wrote...
You know what? I actually don't mind that Shepard died. I wish that there was a way that he lived but if he died at the end and yet still saved the galaxy from the Reapers, I'd be happy. A nice "If Shepard died" ending would be an epilogue about the galaxy rebuilding. All the main stakeholders of the galactic community helping each other, putting back the pieces that were broken by the Reapers and showing off the unity that Shepard put so much trust in. I'd like to see a new statue of Shepard on the Citidel, probably with any of Shepard's squad and friends who did survive the past 3 games giving their respects. Maybe even showing them in a bar swapping stories and reminiscing about that one time Shepard took down a Reaper with a thesher maw. Yeah, they'd be all misty eyed but theyt'd remember Shepard for who he was; a badass who saved sentient life from inihalation.
And thats how I would end ME3
EDIT: I also like Motherlander's version as well.
Modifié par The Cult Of Shepard, 29 mars 2012 - 05:16 .
