7052 réponses à ce sujet

[RocShemp]

I hope the EC doesn't simply flesh out the conversation with the Star Child. People focus on the Star Child but the fact is that everything you do is technically irrelevant. You bust your hump on Citadel defense but see no reward for that. Would it have killed EA/Bioware to include a sequence wherein we witness the reapers taking control of the Citadel? If you didn't do enough Citadel defense sidequests you see Bailey, C-Sec, and the civilians slaughtered as they attempt to evacuate the Citadel. Alternately, if you do did enough Citadel defense sidequests you see Bailey and C-Sec successfully evacuate the civilians from the Citadel when the Reapers take it over.

If you did any or all of Aria's merc sidequests, you should see different cinematics that show the mercs you recruited helping in the war effort (with varying amounts of success depending on how many you recruited).

Little things like that would have gone a long way towards giving you a sense of accomplishment.

Heck, except for one (admittedly excellent space battle) we don't really see much of the main battle at all. Where are the Krogan shocktroops, Asari commandos, Geth colossi, etc. that you may or may not have recruited throughout your playthrough?

The game is fun to play but (even discounting the ending, and taking into account the combat improvements) it's definitely the weakest in the series. It feels far too linear and as if the game where dragging me along the whole way through.

Bioware's extended cut needs to do more than simply expand upon the disappointing ending. It needs to really show consequence/reward during the final push against the Reapers. And the London mission needs to be fleshed out more in terms of gameplay. It's really miniscule and rather anticlimactic as is.

[StarcloudSWG]

One very basic theme that underlies all of the Mass Effect series is that of self-determination. Another theme is "uplifting races that aren't ready to be uplifted leads to disaster."

Both of these are directly betrayed by Synthesis.

[C04L]

i totally agree with this guys opinion.

I would like the ending scrapped and re written. with the syncronicity of the rest of ME3.

I would like the ending to have closure to all of the chars in my squad, i'd like the option to have shepherd live in the end.. (and not have to grind shed loads to have it - why would grinding more rep/warmachine spur bw on more to rewrite?) if at all, it should be an equal choice to anything else.
afterall, i did keep shepherd loyal to ashley all through me2 and 3, shep missed out on so many opportunities to spread his seed!

that is mostly what i would idealy like to see as above. (linked youtube, engaging and thoughtful ending.. and finally a chance at happiness after this great war. otherwise what the hell are they fighting for?

I loved 99% of Mass Effect 3. it was awsome. I hope the next project/francise you work on will be as engaging as the ME series has been for me.
My favourite part of ME3...hmm tough one. there were some good laughs in there, namely Garrus and tali'zorah attempting to unattach themselves from eachother, or mordins modern major general rip offs. gosh darn it, so many of sheps buddies bought it.. im glad there was a memorial board - on board. ohhh, the satisfaction of avenging thane. and on Earth, the heartfelts to the crew and especially the teary scene with Ashley.

Do your best to please us BW, i know you will i have faith

keelah se'lai !

Modifié par C04L, 27 avril 2012 - 08:54 .

[your-friendly-noggin]

Agreed C04L, I would also much rather they scrapped the star child bit completely, indoctrination is not the way to go. It seems like they struggled with a way to finish the series but this is not the answer. My fav send off was anderson dying as they sat in silence, it was so nice and respectful, if anything it made the endings even more confusing and weak in comparison, i couldn't believe it was the same writers as 5 minutes before.

My point is that bioware knows how write touching and poignant scenes, if getting them to apply that to a proper ending means scrapping everything after anderson then thats more than fine by me, i'd even replay priority earth if that's what it takes.

[C04L]

yea, something is definately 'amiss'. the more i think about it the more i get confused.. this has to be intentional. and they couldn't have sacked all the writing crew for the ending and brought in some kids just out of school to finish it off. indoctrination has some merits as does the argument against it.

After watching a few youtubes from both sides of the fence i have decided to hold off on my judgement about the ending of ME3.  I am very confused about this. seems we will be getting DLC for ME3 besides MP. So, I hold onto hope as many say that the Dev's Code Fast so we get the final story.....

keelah se'lai !






further watching makes me hold off on judgement.

((ME3 Indoctrination Theory & DLC "Ending" Proof ))

Modifié par C04L, 27 avril 2012 - 11:34 .

[Col. Orange]

I'd been half convinced that those who disliked the end of ME3 were a small but vocal minority. Thanks all for setting my mind at ease - the reserved, well thought out comments here reassure me that the views I share with many of you aren't unreasonable or childish. Nicely done.

[Bonesaw45]

I just finished the game the other day and man was I disappointed. Frankly the only thing that fit the theme of the game was the awkward way in which it ended. Thematically if Shepherd had just looked at the child AI and said "I should go" and he walked away from the three choices offered that may even be the most thematically acceptable ending of the 3 available. That said I'm about to throw out a couple ideas to flesh out the universe of the game and make a fix for the ending.

1) The Child AI: I think the premise of adding a new character in the last few minutes of the game is one fraught with difficulty. Honestly it screamed Deus Ex Machina the second I saw his translucent glowy body. I think showing the origin of this character and the initial organic vs synthetic war would be the best route to tackle this, if that's how you really wanted to handle it. Hell if you had Shepherd or EDI or even Legion experience a Reapers memory of the original organic vs synthetic war and play it out like the Prothean v Reaper scenes from the first game to give some weight to the Reapers origin it would make more sense. The biggest shortfall of the story you provided in ME3 was not addressing the Reapers origin until the final moments with ****** poor execution, had you adrdessed it throughout the game you may not be getting the push back you see today. People would be upset at the lack of choice but at least the ending would be cohesive. Maybe some prequel DLC or even a prequel game would be of consideration here, but really the big goal should be to convince us to buy into your product again.

2) Explain, Explain, Explain: Now explaining the reapers would be a difficult challenge in free DLC and would probably not do the topic justice. However as many have voiced before I'm sure (this is a really long thread) you basically doom the Quarian and Turians to starvation and doom the Krogan to an all you can eat buffet, no to mention I never saw any of the Rachni i saved at the final battle. The peace that was brought to the universe by our actions would instantly be undone once all of these races were trapped in the Local cluster (provided the relay explosion didn't barbecue them). That creates a great sense of "why did I waste my time". People have provided many other points of what needs to be explained, the AIs intentions, why Shepherd can't make choices at the end, what the hell Joker and the crew are doing riding the Green/Blue/Red wave to Hedonism: Outer Space. All of this felt rushed!

That said I don't want to see an absurd explaination ala Lost where they give me a 10 min directors cut with Hurley and Ben running around doing island things; I don't need to see Joker living on the island with EDI babies (which I'm assuming would be toasters, microwaves and blenders with really brittle construction). What we want is the why, why was Joker running, where (in general) are they how did the injured get from earth side to space side....the whole ending would have been more palatable if it was just Joker and the NPC crew or Joker, EDI and the NPC crew provided she wasn't in your final party. The problem is not that the current ending is not a happy one its just that it makes not a lick of sense to the plot it would be like if George RR Martin had The Wall come alive in the final book of the Song of Ice and Fire and applaud the seven kingdoms for giving him a good show of human emotion and malice and then the book ended.

*NPC: Non Party Crew

3) Choices: What really needs to be done is a whole retooling of the ending to make choices that matter with different cutscenes different fates for each character and different destinations for each character. My best bet is that in the quest to find finality to the story you found too much finality that came off as abrupt, some endings don't need finality. It would be nice if some people continued the resistance if you don't destroy the reapers, if your Normandy team chases the reapers that you as shepherd now control into dark space. Instead the destruction of the relays creates soooo much finality that you put yourselves are writers in a very difficult corner to talk your way out of. Many epic stories like this need an ending but they also endear themselves in our hearts so much that we like to know that a little bit still goes on in that world which we loved even the end of the LoTR trilogy provided some semblance of ending with great old powers leaving middle earth but with new powers rising and new adventures to consider in the land that was just saved. The only adventure I can imagine in the ending you provide is that of savage fighting for new space colonies in an already tapped out star cluster.

4) More Cutscenes: this I think is what people really want, different payoffs for different play throughs out the game depending on the permutation of decisions. The end of each game provided us with different major choices leaving the fate of the races out of it. You needed to understand that once you allow saved file to be transferred forward you lose the ability to treat an ending as though it happened in a vacuum and different decisions HAD to be accounted for. A lot of this is addressed elsewhere and better than I can but really you can be quoted many times on how the endings will be different and you just flatly didn't come through I'm not really sure what else you expected from the fans but anger at not delivering on a promise.

5) Regaining Our Support: I was a Knight of the Old Republic Fan, and then I was officially a BioWare fan with ME1 and ME2. What is clear though is the progression of the game development begs the question of just how involved in game production EA is. I thought ME1 was perfect even on XBox when I had to access the powerwheel frequently, the play style just felt appropriate for the game that I bought and I then bought into the story. I never really liked the cover system in ME2 and ME3 it felt like I was being forced to play Gears of War I finished the game to appreciate the story. Then add in the Multiplayer in the most recent game (I know all games have multiplayer now but it dosen't mean they SHOULD we can blame Halo for this) and the fact that the game that gains multiplayer support also has the most lackluster ending...well the writing is on the wall. It calls to question whether or not you had the resources and time to complete the project with everything that you wanted to put in to it. Companies like Blizzard (despite being involved with Activision) showed that they call the shots, the product ships when Blizzard is ready for it and you better be dammed certain that the first time its not ready people will say "Activision is too involved". Well thats where you stand now you need to prove to us that EA dosen't have too much sway over your management of release and addition of things like multiplayer.

Really looking back you could have saved yourself all of this (in my mind at least) by giving the Reapers a backstory that explains the AI/reapers origins instead of my chasing him in my dreams, by not destroying the Mass Relays at the end of the battle and by explaining what the hell Joker was doing. Even with the lack of choice at the end the story would have at least been more cohesive.

And I apologize for the wall of text and spelling/grammar errors this kinda got away from me

Modifié par Bonesaw45, 27 avril 2012 - 06:11 .

[Grand Champion]

I have a suggested change for the Tali romance. When she turns around on Rannoch, you get to make her face like you can make Shepard's. And there of course can be some default faces from fanart. So you're basicly making the Quarian people. This way everybody can be happy, so those people who want 'ugly Tali' can make her ugly as hell if they want to. People who want 'alien Tali' can do that too. Etc. c:

[Mooseboy0188]

Wertom Three wrote...

I have a suggested change for the Tali romance. When she turns around on Rannoch, you get to make her face like you can make Shepard's. And there of course can be some default faces from fanart. So you're basicly making the Quarian people. This way everybody can be happy, so those people who want 'ugly Tali' can make her ugly as hell if they want to. People who want 'alien Tali' can do that too. Etc. c:

That's actually a pretty cool idea.  I think that'd be a much more fun and creativy way of introducing Tali's face.  I doubt they'd ever do that though, and if we brought it to their attention they'd say something about artistic intregity and claim they had no idea that fans wanted Tali's face reveal to be special.

[Subguy614]

Crucible disables ALL kinetic barriers. Ours,the reapers, everyone's. Equal footing. That's all we organics ask for BioWare.

Now EMS matters.

[Honorable Ensign]

I finished Mass Effect 3 about a week ago, and like many, loved the game but have problems with the ending.  The promise of DLC has given me hope (don't tell me I don't need it!) but also forboding, since I fear the DLC won't fully fix my issues with the ending.  Given the trouble of editing and adding free DLC to a finished game, I imagine this'll be it.

With that in mind, I wanted to give my thoughts on the ending and how it might be improved.  I have no idea if it will be helpful, but I wanted to offer my opinions.  This was important enough to get me to post on these forums, which I don't normally do (though I do read them regularly.)

So, the ending!  Controlling/destroying is a fine choice, though destroying geth and EDI along with the Reapers seems an unnecessary punch.  If it were the only way for Shepherd or the relays to survive, it might be a more difficult decision and sacrifice (since why choose control otherwise?), but really after all the death and gloom in the game it seems unneeded in any case.

And the synthesis decision doesn't make any sense.  Given the difficulty in unlocking it, it seems to be the "best" choice, but why?  It's forcing an unchosen change upon the galaxy.  And it's unwarranted to boot:  a paragon Shepherd has plenty of reason to believe that synthetics/organics can get along just fine without forcing them to meld with some cosmic rays.

My main issue, however, is the destruction of the mass relays.  I can understand the desire for something big to end the series, something that changes the universe, but the problem with relay annihilation is that it annuls the achivements of all the previous games.  Shepherd has made their mark on the galaxy, but what does it matter if s/he plunges it into a dark age and none of those things matter any more?

The current ending implied (to me) that the Normandy crash lands on some planet and the (presumably inbred, since I don't think the ship carries enough people for a healthy population, never mind the soon-dead aliens) descendents hadn't gotten off it yet.  It implied starving colonies and dying aliens where they can't find food.  It was kind of a downer.

So, my suggestions to fix this?  Well, what I'd love if for, after the TIM discussionfight, when Hackett calls in and Shepherd asks what's wrong, for Hackett to say, "Nothing, Shepherd.  It's working."  Cut to Reaper destruction, without relay or other synthetic death.

If Shepherd dies (dependant on War Resources, I suppose) there's a funeral scene.  If not, reunion scene.  Then epilogues for everybody (just text over still screens is all that's needed.  I just want to see the results of Shepherd's actions on the galaxy.)  For the survival of various people on the Citadel, this again could be dependant on War Resources (even Citadel Defense specifically.)

That's what I'd love.  I understand if the Catalyst is kept in, however.  I'd be fine with that as long as the relays don't get destroyed or there is a very good explanation of how galactic civilization is not destroyed or is immediately pulling itself together.  ("It's okay, we've suddenly discovered wieorxy drive, which is even faster or something."  Or just not destroy the relays.)  Clarify whether Shepherd survives/lives, and again with the epilogue.  I could live with that.

[DaosX]

Let people change their character class when importing. Maybe restrict to those who has beaten the game already.

[SetStndbySmn]

Before I get into my opinions, I'll describe the perspective from which I'm writing this: I am not a long term Mass Effect fan who has thought about these stories and characters for years; over the last month I have played through the trilogy (completionist / insanity / infiltrator / paragon / war hero / Earth born / Tali romance) from start to finish, so it's one big story arc to me.  I will describe my issues with the ending in two categories- issues that drag down other parts of the story and thus would need to be changed for me to consider the ending coherent, and issues that don't affect much beyond themselves and thus could be fixed with simple explanations or small changes to the flow of the ending.  I'll also post some thoughts on other parts of the game, including parts I liked.  I'll only include comments on non-story gameplay if I feel it affects your investment in the story.

Problems that devalue the story as a whole (major):

-Morality for each choice is implied, so if you choose an ending designated as out of character for your Shepard, the conclusion can make the story as a whole look contradictory. I'll clarify with an example- Let's say you played as paragon, thus spending much of the game defending synthetics' right to live, but you chose to destroy synthetic life.  You didn't choose control because you don't think one person should have the amount of power controlling the reapers would give- you have been modest the whole story, believing yourself an ordinary man.  You didn't choose synthesis because it doesn't make any sense to you- and shouldn't make sense to your Shepard; you can't condemn the galaxy to a fate that you don't understand (don't know for sure what the implementation or results would be like, your character asks zero questions, and it would look stupid to have Shepard play 20 questions with the catalyst while he bleeds out).  So you choose destruction, what appears to be the best choice you can rationally make given the circumstances, but the end result makes large amounts of the overall story seem futile and pointless. 

The easiest way to remedy the problem is to make the control and destroy endings only affect the reapers, thus removing the ability to invalidate your previous choices and experiences. 

It would also be best for the story if, barring lots of changes to the situation Shepard finds himself in, synthesis was removed.  The fact of the matter is that none of us can know what exactly that entails without asking any questions.  Maybe it deconstructs all existing organic and synthetic life, killing all the people you care about, and then uses the material to lay the groundwork for new hybrid life.  Maybe it causes various organics and synthetics to combine, creating shared consciousnesses whether the recipients want it or not.  Maybe it's a process so subtle that nobody seems to notice it, and results in luminous green circuitry skin patterns and green eyes.  The point is that Shepard doesn't know, and CAN'T know without asking any questions. 

Even if the details of synthesis are explained to us in the future, it doesn't change the fact that Shepard doesn't know those details when he makes the choice to condemn the people he loves and all life everywhere to a fate that could be any number of things.  There isn't a version of Shepard you can play that would do something so airheaded- regardless of his morality, he's always a fairly smart and capable person.  Maybe if you played as Conrad you could make such a choice no questions asked, but not Shepard.  Players are able to make that choice as Shepard because they take a leap of faith that because it's a video game and a fictional story, such a nebulous choice will play out like Shepard thinks it should, which I think takes away from the atmosphere; you make assumptions that Shepard could never make if he were real and the galaxy was really at stake. 

At the heart of why the final events feel contrived, is the inclusion of a deus ex machina, a major faux pas of creative writing, which is a contrivence by definition.  This has become more common in modern sci-fi, but I think it resonates more poorly in mass effect than most other stories; the entire reason deus ex machina are frowned upon is the idea that the conclusion of a plot should come to fruition as a consequence of the plot itself, not a contrivence, and one of the main selling points of the francise is how the choices you make drive the plot in a chosen direction.  As Aristotle puts it, "There should be nothing improbable in the incidents; otherwise, it should be outside the tragedy."


Problems that don't mess with other parts of the story (minor):

-There needs to be a better reason for the reapers having a beam that leads up to the citadel, a short walk away from the control panel that kills all of them.  The reapers know what the allied forces want to do with the citadel/crucible- what if they just didn't have that beam on?  Everyone dies, cycle continues, the end?

-There are issues with the flow of events from when you beam up to the citadel, to when TIM arrives.  Anderson should be visible to you if he's far enough away from the control panel for it to be a vague recognition.  TIM literally comes out of nowhere- you can see far enough down the path you came from to know that he couldn't have made it to you in time with that approach, nowhere to hide in the area with the control panel- fix by showing the graphic of someone deactivating a cloaking device.

-Explanation needed for why Shepard suddenly stops dieing from blood loss to the point of being able to stand / converse.  Explanation needed for why the catalyst appears as the little boy.

-Make it so as you're enacting your choice you see the faces of Joker, Anderson, and your romance interest.  I think I've seen videos of endings where he thinks of Ashley as the third person, so I assume she's his romance in that case.  However, as someone who romanced Tali, Shepard instead thinks of Liara in his final moments instead of the woman he supposedly loves, which deflates the moment's power somewhat.  It would be a really small change that would make the ending much more personal.  Better yet have a really clear memory of seeing tali's face for the first time- now that would be a better reward to the player and bring more closure.  Another option would be showing whoever died on Virmire as the third person.

-Obviously, there needs to be an explanation for why the Normandy was where it was and how the people making the charge with you managed to get on it and into a mass relay jump.  Explanations needed for what happens to stranded parties. 

-If it's the final game, a vague teaser in the 'Shepard lives' ending is pretty unacceptable- be totally and perfectly clear on Shepard's fate if the story is over, or be up front with fans if the story will continue and Shepard's fate is to be explained when that happens.

Problems / suggestions that don't involve the ending:

-The tougher enemies on insanity difficulty are indeed harder to deal with, but not in a way that is particularly fun or rewarding.  The best example is the banshee- Even discounting the barrier, I feel ridiculous emptying half the ammo of my black widow into her skull while throwing balls of fire that supposedly do bonus damage to armor and shoving sticky grenades down her throat.  It's totally unbelievable that an Asari-reaper would be that much more durable than the other races even after her biotic barrier is negated- more durable than brutes and harvesters.  What I'm saying is that the durability of reaper infantry should make some sense for their respective races, rather than being totally random and off the wall.  Take husks- turns out humans make the absolute weakest form of reaper infantry, being both stupid and weak.  To clarify, I'm not saying that they are too hard to defeat- I just think they should be hard in a way that doesn't make the process of killing them lessen your immersion in the atmosphere.

-Include an option to hide helmets at all times, not just in conversations, applicable to all armor sets.

-A few dialogue blunders.  I can't remember all of them, but Anderson telling me he was born in London twice (with Shepard acting suprised the second time) comes to mind.

-Totally replace the tali-garrus flirting with tali-shepard flirting if a tali romance is active.  It's edited in a way that I can still tell it was originally meant to be a romance.

-Show tali's face in a tali romance.  Seriously.  Not just an edited picture of Miss England.  Including the picture to begin with definitively shows that you have a clear idea of how you want quarians to look without their masks, so just render her face- scenes will be a million times more powerful and sate some rabid fans.

-Find ways to have the character's love interest be more familiar with Shepard- first names in emails, addressing him by something other than his last name in dialogue.

-Some of the gun modifications such as the elongated barrel look stupid, and sometimes don't retract when holstered during dialogue.

-A spectre terminal somewhere on the ship would be appreciated.

-When completing delivery quests, include a one mission delay before being able to talk to them again.  Many mass effect quests are already pretty dull and impersonal, and a Salarian being able to clone extinct Kakliosaurs at the speed of thought just distances you from the atmosphere further.

-Remove any talk of "the good 'ol days", "old times", "old friends", or characters pretending they were considerably younger in previous games.  Maybe it makes sense to you guys who have played the games for a long time, but to someone viewing the story in rapid sequence it seems absurd- these characters have known each other for all of 3ish years, with prolonged periods of absences.

-Readiness isn't a very good idea.  The incentive to play multiplayer should be that it's enjoyable and worth the time, not a chore that affects your single player campaign.

-I don't like the fact that most events that are supposedly time based, are in fact based on clearing the area, particularly when a squadmate is repairing/hacking something.  I've had enemies get stuck in inaccessible areas, dropships stuck in the air, and turrets glitched to be unkillable.  The effect makes these scenarios feel contrived.

-I'd love to see more differences based on your class.  If you play as a biotic, it feels silly that Shepard becomes powerless in cutscenes and conversations, which is part of why I play as a non-biotic.  The player should be deterred from classes based on their gameplay preferences, not how believable the resulting story is.


Some things I liked:

-Combat continues to improve throughout the series and distracts less from the story.  Lack of gun stability was irritating in the first game.  The added movement options / improved sprinting in me3 were very welcome changes.  Healing made more sense, recovering health by taking cover was silly.  Good to have less gun restrictions.  Talents more fun.

-There were tons of very powerful moments in the story; the departure from Vancoover; Shepard coping with seeing the death of the child; Mordin's death; Shepard remembering what has been lost along the way, including Kaiden; Tali experiencing her homeland; Legion's final moments; Liara's time capsule and her farewell gift; Shepard's genuine pain in the aftermath of the loss of Thessia; Anderson and Shepard's last interaction with each other; Shepard recalling people he cared about in his final moments (with the exception of the problem I stated above).

-The music was really good.  I'm pretty sure you could play 'An End Once and For All' behind anything and have it seem nostalgically bittersweet and emotional.  I will say that 2 and 3 could have used a cooler credits song though- the credits song in the first game was awesome!

-The characters were all well written and very personable.  Shepard's emotions / interactions are much less mechanical and more life like.

-Fish feeding virtual intelligence.


In closing, I'd like to say that I enjoyed the series immensely as a whole- there were many many more good experiences than bad, but some of the above issues would need to be addressed for my experience to feel complete.

Modifié par SetStndbySmn, 04 mai 2012 - 02:22 .

[porky88]

I know the ending gets the majority of attention, but even the most trivial details matter. For example, Garrus asks Shep if you could shoot Ashley or Kaiden during their confrontation on the Citadel. I didn’t like the response Shep gave. My Shep romanced Ashley; so therefore, he/I wouldn’t shoot her. Duh! However, Shep doesn’t acknowledge the romance in this conversation.

Instead of referencing his feelings for Ash, Shep talks about friendships in general. I believe Shep says, “I don’t see how. We start killing our friends war turns into murder.”

That line works great if Shep and Ashley are just friends. However, I don’t think it works if your relationship is a romance. I think an acknowledgement to the romance, especially if it started in ME1 (and you were loyal in ME2) would have been a nice touch. The same obviously applies to any Fem Shep’s that romance Kaiden.

[StElmo]

Less effort into making the game pretty or scripted, and more effort into making each conversation full of choices and not linear.

[ItsNotMyProblem]

A lot of the suggestions I read seem pretty complicated. If implemented, they would be great, but I couldn't see it happening.

Here's one thing that ripped my heart out when playing that I think should definitely be changed...

TALI'S PHOTO

BioWare couldn't find some attractive woman, take an original photograph, and use that? You had to use some stock image easily found online? That was just HUGELY insulting for me. 

http://media.gameban...3/taligetty.jpg

Really? You just took something that must have taken so much work (the option to develop a relationship with Tali), and you scrubbed out the climax. Not only that, BioWare, but you made the whole Quarian mystery look like absolute crap. How does one have the audacity to try to play that off? Were you somehow running out of time? I'd love to meet the guy who made that call.

Modifié par ItsNotMyProblem, 28 avril 2012 - 03:30 .

[David7204]

I don't want the last words I ever see in Mass Effect to be an advertisment.

I don't want the last characters I ever see to be two clowns I couldn't care less about, who imply that everyone I DO care about is either long dead, or never existed in the first place.

[Kryptoniangamer]

I do not know why any one is even bothering to post in this forum. If you read what the developers have been posting, they are not going to do a damn thing about the games endings. The endings will be the same, with more cinematics and some dialogue I guess for those who they think are the "stupid fans" to get. To get closure. A here is how it is ending now get over it. . They seem to be putting their foot down on their claim of artistic vision. Just wait and see what they release. The firestorm has just BEGUN. Give us the damn game we were promised after years of investing into it, or lose your diehard fan base and their dollars.

[Deathcall]

I have several concerns with Mass Effect 3, not just the ending.

One of the first things that bothered me when I started playing was a simple fact... The galaxy is under attack by an unrelenting, near unstoppable force. Reapers, as we have come to know over the course of the franchise, are really tough to kill, hell, for all we see during the games, the only ones that have been able to kill a reaper and come out alive have been Shephard and his/her crew!

How come everyone is so... relaxed? Yes we get a bit of drama during the first sequences and then some comments that stuff is going awry but... it's not enough. It is simply not enough. Sure, there are some regufees in the Citadel, but not nearly enough to make it believable that several home planets have become under siege. There are not food shortages (or they are not mentioned), there are no worries about lack of ammunition... or fuel for the matter. Sure, we might get the entire might of every fleet in the galaxy but... how do you move a fleet through Reaper infested territory without fuel? There are simply not enough situations where you come to brace with the terrible fact that entire civilizations are being destroyed, along with their infraestructure.

The second thing that bothered me, and this is one is a biggy... Why don't the Reapers seize the Citadel immediately? Or at least at the first opportunity they have? The Citadel is the centre of the galaxy, it's the sit of galactic goverment, it pretty much seems to be the only safe place left. Sure, cerberus attacked (somehow... that's pretty shaky as well) but I seriously doubt they had the manpower to actually take the citadel. Sure they might have put Udina in charge... but who was gonna listen to him anyway? The only thing they could have accomplished was stopping the different races from cooperating against the reapers. If we think that that was cerberus' plan, they performed poorly. The whole thing should have been managed through subtetly rather than force in order to be effective. If the Illusive Man is really as crafty as he sounds... that particular operation doesn't show it. Saren proved much more formidable in this aspect.

The Reapers should have attacked the Citadel first, as per their original plan (mentioned in ME1 if I'm not mistaken). Why they forgot about it... I simply cannot explain. It would only be logical that they'd seize this invaluable strategic position as well as eliminating the only way organics have of destroying/controlling/whatever them. I take it for granted that the Reapers knew about the Crucible, all that people and resources gathering in a single place? It almost makes me say that it's also unbelievable that they couldn't dispatch a dreadnaught to destroy it.

The third thing that bothered me is the whole thing about gathering every fleet in the galaxy to take back Earth. Now... Think with me here... At the beggining of the game, and pretty much until the end of it... nobody is really sure what the Crucible does. Sure... they kinda figured it was a weapon that could destroy reapers... Mind the phrasing: "could destroy reapers" and not: "would destroy all reapers". So, granted the best possible outcome from operation Take back Earth... after all the losses sustained by the different fleets... how the hell are they gonna take back Palaven, Thessia, Tuchanka, etc? If you throw all your forces in a single battle, and sustain the kind of losses that we saw the Reapers (actually, a single reaper) can cause in Mass Effect 1 there's simply no way there would be enough ships left to take back the other planets. Now, we are never told how the Reaper forces are distributed along the galaxy. What percentage is attacking Earth? 10%? 20%? 50%? Would it be safe to assume that if the Crucible didn't work exactly as how the ending shows (something nobody was aware off), there simply wouldn't be enough ships to combat the rest of the reaper forces? Supposing that the Crucible, along with the Citadel, formed this awesome weapon capable of destroying reaper forces... how often can it be used, what's the range, can it be used on ground forces? How are they going to prevent the Reapers from simply destroying it with sheer numbers, sabotage, or whatever malevolent plan they can come up with (remember, they are pretty smart).

It is simply not believable that the bulk of every fleet available in the galaxy would be so easily convinced of helping Earth at the risk of losing the ability to protect themselves. Sure, you may have reconcicled the Geth and the Quarians... but will they put every ship in their fleet (even the liveships) at risk for such a venture? Some ships? Perhaps, with enough poking and having Tali pull some strings...

Regarding the ending... There's not much I can add to what has already been said. It would be redudant. I can't help but to think that Bioware chose this on purpose in order to produce the effect we have seen on the player base. Now, I do have hope that it will somehow be modified. In my opinion, the ending will not be changed, simply because, we don't have an ending. They will add material in order to give sense to current final sequences of the game, thus giving us a proper ending in which they live up to at least some of the expectations created during the course of the series.

There are some other minor issues. Technical mostly... Some animated sequences are brilliant, while others are... for lack of a better word... lazy. Facial expression are hit and miss (Liara being mostly hit, while Shephard, at least male Shephard, are mostly miss). For all the epic goodness of space combat we are treated to, and other action scenes, the video quality is kinda low.

Regarding characters, Vega is simply... unmemorable. Forget the fact that they should have casted an actual latin person to voice him (his accent is so bad it makes me cringe), he does nor says anything midly interesting or amusing. Interaction with your squadmates is also hit and miss. Ashley's character is so empty it made me scratch my head and ponder why they bothered to include her at all. Garrus, of course, is the high note, as he always been, kinda makes me wish he was Asari so we could keep enjoying him for another thousand years of ME history.

One thing that truly bothered me was that, given the relaxed mood everyone seems to be... there are no true "get together" moments. Sure, you sometimes see two character chatting , or sitting around... but why not, I dunno... having dinner? A last dinner with your friends and comrades. A toast? How about a game of cards? There is a table set for that inside the ship... and we know at least Vega plays when he's off-duty in the citadel. See? That could have been a way of making him at least likeable. How about having Vega and Shepard play, then have Ashley show up, perhaps Edi wants to try it too, but since she's an AI she can count cards and you have the renegade option to tell her you don't trust her, or the paragon option to tell her you do? I don't know, it could have been fun to see that... It'd truly be a touching moment to just see everyone having fun with cards, but at the same time, knowing that everyone is just trying to get away from the horror that is the Reaper Invasion and having most of their planets taken.

What about the inclusion of a stress meter for you and your squadmates? Something to do other than running away from Reapers while scouting planets for goodies. Similar to the relationship system in Dragon Age. Perhaps include gifts? Visiting the Citadel could help them relieve stress, or doing things together, like the previously mentioned card game, or just talking and trying to relieve them from their worries?

*sigh* Wishful thinking I'm afraid, most likely too late to change those things.

Just one more thing, regarding the ending, I don't know if someone has pointed it out already but... If you pick the destroy option. The god child says that it will destroy all syntethic life, incluiding the geth (note how he tries to make you avoid this choice, seeing that you helped the geth several times and seem particularly fond of them)... what prevents the organics from creating new syntethic life after that? How is it a solution if right after they employ it the organics can "mess it up" all over again? Also... wouldn't it make more sense if red option destroyed all Reaper Technology? I mean... it is believable that the Protheans and the races that came before them found a way to specifically target Reaper technology and use the Mass Relays to mount a galaxy-wide attack... it also would explain why both the Citadel and the Mass Relays are destroyed after deploying the weapon.

Well, that's it from me. Hope it was useful.

PD: Please, add new variants to the Multiplayer, horde mode is so boring. When are we gonna be able to fight a reaper destroyer like the one in the game? That would be more interesting than killing a million cerberus' phantoms.

[BalianOfIbelin]

Suggestion, new ending:

Preface:
As a preface, I adopt the indoctrination theory as a dream/vision in Shepard’s head, and this ending only works when you choose to destroy the Reapers. Under the other possibilities, Shepard would be indoctrinated by the Reapers or dead from the explosion of the Citadel. However, choosing to destroy the Reapers shows a battered Shepard in what looks like the ruins of London, and at the last on-screen moment he takes a breath. I worked under the assumption that the indoctrination dream/vision was occurring in Shepard’s mind as the battle on and above Earth between the allied forces of the galaxy and the Reapers continued.

Note:
This is a rough draft, revisions will be made. For now, I am just writing along the path of my paragon, male Shepard and providing a conclusion to that story. Future revisions will also branch out the decision tree, having paragon/renegade options and additional alternate endings.
 
Alternate Ending:
Shepard takes a breath, and then coughs out dust as he slowly begins to right himself. He hears the yells of squad-mates calling out to him.

Squad-mate 1 [Liara for this ending’s purposes]: “Shepard! Shepard! Down by the rubble.”

Squad-mate 2 [Garrus for this ending’s purposes]: “I have eyes on him Admiral Anderson, Shepard is alive. Repeat: Shepard is alive.”

Liara runs over to Shepard and helps him to his feet. Shepard groans as he rises.

Liara: “Shepard, thank the goddess. I thought you were dead.”

Garrus: “Over here, get behind cover.”

Liara helps Shepard walk over to Garrus, who is stationed behind a fallen pillar. Two husks begin running at Shepard and Liara, Shepard pulls out his sidearm and fires through the first husk’s skull. He fires again, missing the second husk which is now only feet away. The husk gets within an arm’s length of Shepard, who then fires a round through its head.

As the second husk falls from Shepard’s line of sight, he sees Harbinger next to the Conduit. Harbinger is no longer shooting at the allied ground forces, or at any of the fighter squadrons flying near the Conduit. Shepard continues looking at Harbinger confused: Harbinger is not moving, holding still. Then, a bolt of electricity flickers around Harbinger, then another, as though Harbinger is surrounded by a lightning storm. Shepard and Liara get to Garrus, and Shepard calls out:

Shepard: “Look! Harbinger, something is wrong with it. It looks like it is short-circuiting.”

Harbinger remains motionless, save the electric storm that appears to be enveloping it.

Liara: "Shepard, what happened? You were down a long time."

Shepard: "It was Harbinger. It gave me visions, tried to make me believe destroying the Reapers was a mistake. Harbinger directly intervened...to try and finish indoctrinating me. The Reapers must have been trying to indoctrinate me since I came in contact with Object Rho."

Liara: "Your dreams, now they make sense. The Reapers have been trying to break your will."

Shepard: "You knew?"

Liara: "Of course Shepard. When we meld our minds, I see your thoughts, I feel your experiences: we share everything."

Garrus: "Looks like Reapers are not too good at taking rejection. We’ve seen it before: Sovereign was the same way after we killed Saren on the Citadel...vulnerable."

Shepard (calling into his comm unit): “Anderson, order all units to fire on Harbinger. Ground, air, artillery, the fleets…everything now!”

Cut to Anderson: “All available units, fire on Harbinger.”

Ground tanks begin firing at Harbinger, followed by small fighters spiraling in from different angles. They do not cause any noticeable damage, but Harbinger appears to regain awareness. Harbinger fires on the fighter squadrons and on the tank divisions destroying some, but not as effectively as before. Next, heavy troops begin moving to surrounding fortified positions. Finally, the artillery start firing missiles at Harbinger and a line of frigates follow the Normandy on a bombing run.

Joker: “My turn. EDI, let’s show these Reapers what this little ship can do.”

EDI: “Missiles are armed and ready Jeff.”

The Normandy fires on Harbinger, followed by the other frigates. The explosions cause Harbinger to sway; damage to the exterior plating can be seen. The Normandy turns around and leads the frigate line on another bombing lane, and Harbinger again suffers direct hits. Its exterior armor is reduced; Harbinger teeters as though on the brink of collapse. Then an Elcor artillery division fires, concentrating on one of Harbinger's appendages. The barrage explodes, breaking the small part of the appendage off from the rest of Harbinger’s form. Harbinger falls over with a thunderous crash: the ground shakes likes an earthquake had occurred.

Garrus (shouting): “Yes! Commander it’s down!”

Shepard (into his comm): “Anderson, Harbinger is down. Moving in to confirm.”

Anderson (into his comm): “With the artillery, ETA sixty seconds.”

Shepard: “Let’s move.”

Shepard, Liara, and Garrus move from cover and advance toward Harbinger. There are some husks and marauders blocking their path to Harbinger. Shepard shoots the base of a stone pillar repeatedly, and it gives way falling onto the nearby enemies. Then, a harvester touches down directly in front of Harbinger’s “eye”. Shepard and his squad-mates fire at the harvester, but these are merely glancing blows. The harvester creeps closer and closer to Shepard’s position behind concrete columns. The harvester blasts the column and it gives way, Shepard is blown backwards from the explosion. Shepard looks up and the harvester is approaching, he scrambles to reach his rifle and fires. The harvester erupts in heavy arms and suppressing rifle fire as Elcor artilleries and Krogan shocktroopers pass by Shepard. The harvester lets out a shrill cry and backpedals. After a second volley, the harvester falls.

Wrex stands over Shepard and gives him a hand, advancing Shepard to his feet.

Wrex: “Dust yourself off there Shepard, this fight’s not over.”

Shepard: “Thanks Wrex. Grab Anderson and secure the Conduit, we are heading to Harbinger.”

Wrex walks off and calls out to Anderson over his comm link while Shepard walks up to Harbinger’s “eye”. Shepard approaches the eye, slowed, blinking, and dulling in Harbinger’s death throes.

Harbinger: “Shepard, you misunderstand us…we do not seek to destroy you.”

Shepard: “Earth, Palaven, Tuchanka, Thessia…they are all in ruins. Billions are dead, and you are not trying to destroy us?”

Harbinger: “We are merely changing your form: perfecting you. Many races have fought against this, but all have succumbed to the inevitable: We are the apex of progress. We are the last step in the evolution of all intelligent life.”

Shepard: “Every last one of us would rather die than be harvested. This cycle has proven more resistant than any other. We will defeat you, for all the cycles before us.”

Harbinger: “Your words are misguided Shepard. Each time you kill one of us, you destroy the only piece that remains of the cycles that came before you. We are the method of preservation for the races of all cycles. Within us, each cycle continues to exist.”

Shepard: “You are no longer those races, you are abominations. None of their qualities exist in you. Your only goal is self-preservation: by any means, and at any cost. Whatever those races were is gone, and left behind is abhorrence: an affront to their existences. But here you will rot. This spot will be your end Harbinger.”

Harbinger: “Shepard. This changes nothing, the cycle cannot be broken. We are your salvation –“

Shepard: “We are our own salvation.”

Shepard draws his sidearm and shoots Harbinger multiple times in the eye; it fades black. More of Hammer Group has rolled into position around the Conduit and surrounding Harbinger. The perimeter has been secured, and communications are ongoing with other detachments within London, as well as in other cities. Shepard begins to head for the Conduit, followed by his squad-mates. Javik approaches Harbinger and touches next to the eye.

Javik: “Commander Shepard, I must show you this.”

Shepard turns and approaches Javik, who outstretches his hand and places it on Shepard’s shoulder.

Visions run through Shepard’s mind: an ancient, insect-like spacefaring race harvested themselves and transferred their likenesses into massive dreadnaughts. The dreadnaughts each were equipped with liberated artificial intelligences. After harvesting themselves, the insect race and the dreadnaught AIs melded into one being: solitary in form and cognition. Harbinger was the first one created, the largest of them all.

Then the visions skip forward and show a star going supernova. The dreadnaughts move toward a primitive Mass Relay as the supernova approaches. Some are lost to the blast, and the remainder makes it through the Relay and into a new system. Scientists and explorers of this race had previously travelled to the nearest star system and began constructing the first Mass Relay in a last ditch effort to evade the supernova blast. The Mass Relay was paired with another Relay in their home system which would provide instantaneous travel between the star systems. The experimental technology saved the remainder of their race, but the experience changed them. The loss of life and their home planet made them value one thing and one thing only: self-preservation. It was their sole priority: never to be extinguished, to go on at any cost. Those events killed whatever was left of the alien race, and forged the Reapers.

The visions skip forward again…more Mass Relays have been constructed. There are glimpses of the greatest construction of all: the Citadel, which would be able to serve as a Mass Relay to dark space. The Reapers had evolved by this point to possess Mass Effect drive cores, and an unstoppable means of persuasion: indoctrination. First contact was made with another alien race that was in the preliminary stages of spaceflight. The Reapers showed themselves and tried to convince the populace that they were the pinnacle of evolution. The aliens did not accept these self-proclaimed gods, and set about to unleash their nuclear arsenal…a plan thwarted by Reaper indoctrinated servants, who acted as sleeper agents while diplomacy played out. The Reapers forcibly harvested the race and merged them with Reaper AI.

The visions then show the Keepers becoming indoctrinated servants, repurposed to maintain essential functions of the Citadel. The Reapers expend too much energy to keep a constant watch over the galaxy, and the undertaking proves impossible: the galaxy is too vast. So the Reapers decide to leave behind one of their own to lay dormant and keep track of key events while the majority hibernate in dark space.

Finally, the visions are of Harbinger entering Prothean space via the Citadel Mass Relay. What follows are visions of the Prothean genocide, and the indoctrination of some of their kind to create the Collector race. Seeing the extinction of his race again is too much for Javik, who releases his hand from Harbinger and stops the visions.

Shepard: “I’m sorry you had to see the destruction of your race again.”

Javik: “No. It is alright. Now we know what these Reapers are. They are not gods.”

Shepard: “They are a sad and desperate example of how survival can change a race…but we will not let that happen to us. We will break the cycle.”

Shepard places his hand on Javik's shoulder.

Shepard: “You will only witness one more race being destroyed…and it will be the Reapers. We will complete your mission Javik, and the mission of all those who came before us. The victory will be in this cycle, but it will be for all cycles: past, present, and future.”

Javik places his hand on Shepard’s shoulder.

Javik: “I would like that!”

Shepard walks away from Harbinger and reaches the Conduit. Hammer Group has set up a fortified position, and Anderson is waiting for him.

Anderson: “Hammer Group is dug in, they can make sure no Reaper forces follow us through the Conduit, but we can expect heavy resistance on the other side…wherever we end up.”

Shepard: “Let’s move. Order the allied fleets to break off their attack and wait by the Citadel until we can activate the Crucible. This is our chance!”

Shepard is rejoined by Liara and Garrus as Anderson calls out orders to disengage over his comm to Admiral Hackett. Some of Hammer Group enters the Conduit, comprised of Human, Krogan, Geth, and Turian forces. Shepard and his squad-mates follow the first wave of Hammer Group into the Conduit.

Meanwhile, Admiral Hackett orders a retreat of allied forces to the Citadel. Alliance third fleet stays behind to cover the rear. The Alliance dreadnaughts focus their fire on the approaching Reaper ships and score a few kills. However, as the mass of the Reaper fleet engages, third fleet is ruined…sacrificed to cover the rest of the fleets which are now waiting by the Citadel. Momentarily safe, Hackett awaits word from Shepard and Anderson on the activation of the Crucible.

The Conduit transports Shepard to the Presidium Commons, in the midst of a heavy firefight. The Presidium is barely recognizable: fires and rubble are everywhere. What was once the heart of the galaxy is little more than a burning ruin. Geth primes and Krogan shocktroopers have taken the high ground along the left stairs, but Human and Turian squads are pinned down on the right flank.

Shepard moves to support the right flank and clear more space for more of Hammer Group to ascend through the Conduit. He enters cover behind a shop counter. The Geth and Krogan continue pushing up the left stairs, but meet heavy resistance in the form of banshees and brutes. Shepard kills a few husks and marauders, and then orders the squads forward to the right stairs. Unfortunately, there is little cover at the bottom of the stairs, and a group of marauders inflict heavy casualties on the Human and Turian squads. Garrus tosses a grenade which injures and disorients the marauders, and Liara creates a singularity that renders them helpless. Shepard moves up the stairs shooting the marauders that are flung into the air by the singularity. More Human squads enter from the Conduit and follow Shepard up the stairs, securing the high ground.

Shepard orders all squads to concentrate fire on the banshees and brutes, which are in the middle of a deadly crossfire. Despite their tough barriers and armor, allied forces are able to kill the banshees and brutes with little casualties. There is a lull in the fighting.

Shepard (over his comm): “EDI, how do we gain access to the Crucible controls?”

EDI: “The controls are likely at a central command control console, although I cannot pinpoint its location. It is likely that the Illusive Man is there.”

Shepard (to EDI over the comm): “I know where it is.”

Shepard (to allied squads): “We need to get to the Citadel Tower and Council Chambers.”

Geth Prime: “Commander, there are units stationed at the elevator which will go first and secure a safe area on the Tower.”

Anderson runs up from behind as new gunfire erupts.

Anderson: “We have more squads coming through to cover the entrance from the Conduit. We'll handle what’s left here, get up to the Tower.”

Shepard nods, and then heads for the elevator with the allied squads following him. A small contingent enters the elevator with Shepard, and the rest wait on the Presidium for the elevator to come back down.

When they reach the tower, there is heavy Cerberus resistance. The Geth primes have forged ahead, enough to provide them clear entry to the Tower garden area. Shepard and his squad run up the stairs to provide support for the beleaguered Geth, which are contesting with a horde of Cerberus engineers, turrets, and Atlas mechs. One Atlas mech has already been downed, and a
Geth is attempting to remove the missile launcher from its “arm”. Out of cover and position, the prime is killed by the Cerberus turrets. Explosions fracture the fallen pillar, behind which the allied squad is taking cover and realizing their position is not safe, Shepard calls out.

Shepard: “Give me everything you have, suppressing fire on those turrets and the Atlas mechs…we need that missile launcher.”

The allied host gets out of cover and unleashes on the Cerberus troops. The turrets target them and take down a few. Shepard sprints towards the fallen Atlas mech and pulls at the missile launcher, attempting to detach it. He throws all of his body weight behind the pulls, and the missile launcher breaks off from the arm. Shepard falls backward as the missile launcher breaks off, then regains his footing, grabs the missile launcher, and runs behind a support beam for cover.

Allied forces fall behind cover again, and the Atlas mechs move forward to take their position. Shepard peeks out of cover and fires at one of the Atlas mechs. The missile explodes on the Atlas’ leg, and it crumbles to the ground, but can still fire.

Shepard: “Shoot the canopy, take out the pilot!”

The squad fires on the canopy, creating small fissures. Then Garrus peeks out of cover with his sniper rifle, and fires, breaching the canopy and killing the pilot.

Garrus (yelling over to Shepard): “I told you I was the best shot in the galaxy.”

Shepard then fires another missile at the next advancing Atlas, which explodes on the canopy and kills the pilot.

Shepard (yelling over to Garrus): “Don’t count me out yet!”

Next, the Geth primes hack the turrets along the left flank of the enemy. As the Cerberus troops turn to engage their own turrets, the squads open fire on their unprotected backsides, obliterating their fortified position. Shepard fires another missile, and takes down the last Atlas mech. Then, the Krogan shocktroopers that arrived from the elevator charge the remainder of the enemy, killing the last troopers and turrets in their path.

The allied squads move to the final staircase before the Council Chambers, but at the top are nemesis and phantom troops waiting. The nemesis troops snipe some of the approaching Human and Turian forces, and the phantoms run down the stairs to engage the raging Krogan and Geth.

Shepard fires his last missile and kills two nemesis troopers at the top of the stairs. As he takes out his rifle, a phantom de-cloaks next to Shepard. The phantom swings its sword at Shepard, who blocks it with his rifle. The rifle is mangled by the impact of the strike and rendered useless. Shepard kicks the phantom, and then uses his energy sword to decapitate him.

Glancing out of cover, Shepard pulls out his sidearm. He sees the Turians trading sniper shots with the enduring nemesis troopers while the Krogan rip apart the fragile phantoms with their bare hands. Shepard advances to the Krogan position and the Geth move up the stairs to directly engage the nemesis troopers. Garrus snipes the last phantom, and Shepard fires at the nemesis troopers above. He then advances to the Geth, with the Krogan right behind. The last two nemesis fall under heavy fire from the allied forces and the gunfire halts.

Standing at the edge of the Tower is the Illusive Man. Shepard approaches the Illusive Man and waves for the allied troops to position themselves.

Shepard: “Surround him and hold fire…he is no longer a threat.”

Illusive Man: “Shepard, to the contrary: I am about to become the most powerful being the galaxy has ever known. We finally meet in person, I am glad you are here to witness humanity take control of the galaxy!”

In person, the Illusive Man looks a shade of himself: scars defile his otherwise fine features. There is evidence of recent surgical marks on his body, which is tattered and worn. His appearance is disheveled, ragged, and tired.

Illusive Man: “Despite all your allies, you cannot defeat the Reapers. I am your only salvation!”

Shepard: “How can you save us? Can’t you see…you are indoctrinated!”

Illusive Man: “No! It is I who am in control. I was implanted with cloned Reaper technology on Sanctuary, it gives me clairvoyance: I understand the Reapers, I feel the Reapers, and I can control them. I controlled them at Sanctuary, and I controlled them on the Presidium…ordered them to attack you, to hold you at bay so I would have more time. Time to figure out how to control the Reapers themselves!”

Shepard: “You don’t control them. Look at yourself: implanted with Reaper technology! You can feel them because they are in your mind, in your body. Any control you may feel or have over Reaper forces is an illusion they create to make you believe you are still in control of yourself. You are not the protector of humanity; you are an agent of the Reapers…the enemy you swore to defend humanity against.”

Illusive Man: “It’s not true…I controlled Reaper forces before. Now, all I need to do is control them on a grander scale. With the Reaper code we used on Sanctuary, I can tap into the Reapers’ communication network and control them. Humanity will have the most powerful force ever seen…the Reapers will serve us Shepard, and we shall be the rulers of the galaxy!”

Shepard: “If you can control the Reapers then why haven’t you done so yet?”

Illusive Man: “It’s not that simple Shepard. I am still…I am still formulating the method of control. It’s…it’s not easy I admit. The Reapers are so advanced Shepard…”

Shepard: “You can’t control what is already in control of you. I know what it feels like: it starts with visions and dreams, then sounds and whispers, voiceless echoes and despair. They slowly break your will; break it down until there is nothing left. We have both seen how much control the Reapers can exert…even the toughest; the most authoritative cannot withstand the insidious onslaught of indoctrination.”

Illusive Man: “No Shepard, it can’t be true. I have always been in control…I make my own decisions. I controlled the Reapers…I controlled the Reapers at Sanctuary. They were mine at Sanctuary! It’s not true.”

The Illusive Man struggles to stand as he finishes speaking, and it appears that a battle is waging within him. He holds his hand to his forehead as though he were in punishing agony. The Illusive Man tries to take a step towards Shepard, but falls to one knee. Shepard takes a step forward and speaks calmly.

Shepard: “The Reapers have let you play your games until now, making you believe you were flirting with true power. But they will not share their power, nor allow themselves to be controlled. This whole war we have fought against each other: the Reapers have used you to distract the rest of the galaxy while they extinguish all intelligent life. You are not in control, the Reapers are in control. There is no way to control them. Our only hope, the only hope of the entire galaxy, is to destroy the Reapers.”

Illusive Man: “No, I can…I can…still control.”

The Illusive Man tries to regain his balance, but cannot regain his footing to stand. He stays on one knee, resting his arm and head over a railing.

Shepard: “You are not in control.”

Illusive Man: “I…I am…not in control. The Reapers are in control.”

Shepard: “You don’t have to let them control you. You can stop them.”

Illusive Man: “I was not myself, and may never be again. My intentions were untainted. I wanted to save humanity, to make us foremost in the galaxy; the cost was of no consequence.”

The Illusive Man slowly pulls out his pistol, and places it to his temple.

Illusive Man: “I’m sorry Shepard.”

As the Illusive Man speaks, Shepard runs towards him. As the Illusive Man goes to pull the trigger, Shepard knocks it out of his hands.

Shepard: “No! That’s the easy way out. You want to atone for all you have done, then help us…you can’t control the Reapers, but you can use their code to find them, track their signals.

Illusive Man: “Yes, I can find them, but that won’t solve anything.”

Shepard: “Each cycle added a component to the Crucible design, bringing it closer to completion as their cycle ended. The Protheans realized that the Crucible did not possess enough firepower to affect the Reapers, and figured out a way to interface the Crucible with the Citadel: this allows the Crucible to harness dark energy for firepower. With the Reaper code, we can focus the Crucible and target the Reapers…that is the contribution of our cycle to the Crucible!”

Illusive Man: “The…the final piece of the puzzle. Alright Shepard, the central controls are over there and the Reaper code has been uploaded. Use this decryption program for access.”

The Illusive Man waves his hand and his omni-tool flashes. Shepard opens his omni-tool and accepts the decryption program.

Shepard (over his comm): “EDI, I need you here to analyze the Reaper code and fire the Crucible.”

EDI interfaces with Shepard’s omni-tool, and Shepard heads toward the command console, the same one used by Saren when Sovereign attacked the Citadel. They reach the console, and EDI begins to compute.

EDI: “Analyzing. Shepard, even with the code the Illusive Man has provided, this may take a few moments.”

Hackett (over comm): “Shepard, the Reapers have turned and are heading towards the Citadel. Their numbers have grown; they must have brought in reinforcements from other systems. If our data is accurate, the Reaper fleet approaching represents eighty percent of their reported strength. They will be within firing range soon…we will be outnumbered and outgunned. What’s our status with the Crucible? When will it be operational?”

Shepard (over comm): “Tell the fleets to hold their positions Admiral.”

Hackett (over comm): “You are speaking to them all right now, all fleets are patched in.”

Shepard (over comm and to all): “We break the cycle here, now! The Crucible will be operational, and though we do not know what it is capable of, we know it is our key to defeating the Reapers. Their actions tell us this is true: they are coming to attack the Citadel because they dread the potential of the Crucible. The Reapers prize self-preservation above all and that causes them to fear what we are doing...what we have done. No other cycle has come this close. Today, we stand together and fight our enemy to the last. We fight for what the Reapers stole from us: Palaven, Tuchanka, Rannoch, Thessia, Sur’Kesh, Irune, Dekuuna, Khar’shan…Earth. Today, we take it all back, and it starts here, now!”

Cheers and hoorah’s can be heard over the comm.

Shepard: “EDI, is the Crucible ready?”

EDI: “Yes Commander. I have uploaded Vigil’s data file from Ilos to override primary functions of the Citadel…control is ours. Once the arms are down, the Crucible will be fully operational. However, the Reapers know we are here, and they know we have control.”

Shepard: “Good work EDI.”

Shepard hits a few buttons on the command console, and the arms of the Citadel begin to open. It is a booming sound as the arms release from their closed stature. Through the opening between two of the arms, the allied fleet can be seen. As the arms open further, the Reaper fleet can be seen approaching. Shepard looks to the left side of the console, where the display shows the Reapers and their internal network.

The arms of the Citadel are halfway open, when suddenly the Reaper fleet turns. From the command console, Shepard sees that the Reapers transmissions and trajectory indicate that their target is the Crucible.

Shepard (over comm): “Hackett, the Reapers are headed for the Crucible; we need to protect it until the arms of the Citadel are open and it can fire.”

Hackett: “All fleets move in and intercept the Reapers…protect the Crucible at all costs.”

The arms are almost open, and the allied fleet can be seen diverting course to impede the Reapers. With the Reaper fleet close to firing range of the Crucible, Hackett sends out the order.

Hackett: “Fire!”

Helmsmen: “Sir, no ships are in firing range.”

Hackett: “I don’t care, we need to distract the Reapers, buy Shepard some more time.”

A barrage of blasts and missiles are launched by the allied fleet. Most miss their targets, but some strike the Reapers, killing a few. The Reapers cannot ignore the mass of firepower possessed by the allied fleet approaching on their flank, and so break off a contingent of their forces to fight a delaying action while the rest continue after the Crucible. Shepard watches intently as the Reapers near the Crucible. The allied fleet and Reapers begin trading blasts, and a stalemate ensues.

Hackett (over comm): “Shepard, they have blocked our approach, we cannot break through the Reaper line.”

EDI: “The arms are open Shepard, the Crucible is ready.”

Shepard sees a green button that appears on the command console and immediately hits it. Slowly a spherical ball of light builds at the bottom of the Crucible, growing larger and larger. The ball of light flickers and flashes like an unstable singularity. The size becomes immense, making any ship look insignificant in comparison. Then the ball of light shrinks until it almost disappears, and finally explodes and releases the light in cascading waves that engulf the entire Sol system. A booming reverberation shakes the Citadel, causing Shepard to wobble and nearly lose his balance. The light permeates all; it can be seen from the Citadel to the Charon Relay. The sound of the blast shakes to the core: through the entire mass of a body, not just the surface of the object. There is a moment of pause.

Hackett (over comm): “Shepard, the Reapers are still out here? We are not seeing any effect.”

Shepard looks out the window at the Reaper fleets: the fleet approaching the Crucible has come to a halt, and the ships engaging the allied forces have become stagnant. There is a long and uneasy pause in the firefight: the allied fleet has backed away to regroup from the stalemate and the Reapers are stationary and firing erratically despite being out of range. Shepard focuses his vision on a single Reaper which seems to nonchalantly drift closer and closer to the allied fleet, but it is not firing or maneuvering. Shepard strains his vision to focus directly on the Reaper when suddenly…a single charged bolt flickers across the Reaper’s hull. Then another electric light flashes on the Reaper, and then another. Shepard looks at the command console and Reaper communication has ceased, kinetic barriers are down, and mass effect cores are offline.

Shepard: "They're inactive."

EDI: “Not quite Shepard. Judging from the rate of increase in the Reaper internal communications, their forces will have limited capabilities for only a few minutes. Also, the heat produced from firing the Crucible will not permit another usage for another hour without the potential of full meltdown.”

Shepard (over his comm): “Hackett, Reaper forces are disabled…the Crucible worked! They will have restricted capabilities for the next few minutes. Engage immediately! We cannot fire the Crucible again for an hour without destroying it. The battle is ours now; finish this.”

Hackett: "All fleets engage the Reapers; the Crucible has disrupted their primary functions."

The allied fleet re-enters firing range of the Reaper fleet, and the first volley is away. Everyone watches the volley approaches which, it seems, is taking an eternity. The Reapers remain motionless as the volley descends upon them, each still engulfed in a personal lightning storm. And then it happens...

Space lights up in a magnificent series of explosions. There are so many explosions and they are so vast that it can be seen distinctly by Hammer Group forces protecting the entrance to the Conduit back in London. The Reaper fleet erupts: a cataclysm of detonations. For each Reaper destroyed, their mass effect core explodes, releasing a forceful shockwave.

Hackett: "The Crucible worked! Keep firing, fire everything you got!"

The allied fleet continues bombarding the Reapers. The Reaper fleet that had broken off to delay them is now decimated, barely any have survived.

Hackett: "Move on and concentrate all fire at the Reaper fleet near the Crucible."

As the allied fleet moves onward, they suffer their first casualties. The remaining Reaper delaying force regains some maneuvering and weaponry functions, hitting the allied fleet. The allied fleet engages the remaining Reaper delaying forces, and continues on towards the bulk of the remaining Reaper fleet.

Shepard watches as the allied fleet gets within range of the Reapers by the Crucible. They release their salvo and the Reapers ignite again. The allied fleet does not abate, the onslaught continues. The Reaper fleet begins to retain some basic functionality, but it is too late: their numbers are already depleted and they are in the middle of a maelstrom. By the dozens, Reaper dreadnaughts shatter. The Reaper fleet has been annihilated.

The Battle for Earth has been won.

The allied fleet begins to break apart, each fleet wishes to return and liberate their own homeworld.

Shepard (over comm): "Admiral, order your ships to stop...the Reapers are still a dangerous enemy and we can't afford to lose ships needlessly. We don't know what's going on away from Earth yet."

Hackett: "All stop and regroup at the Citadel. Form a perimeter around the Crucible in case of a counterattack."

EDI: "Shepard, the Reapers forces around Earth represented the bulk of their fleet. Based on various scouting and reconnaissance reports, my estimates vary between seventy-five to eighty percent of their fleet having been destroyed here. Additionally, my readings during the battle indicated that Reaper functionality was diminished significantly for a period of minutes, but this effect only occurred in the Sol system. Reports from other systems indicate that the battle is still ongoing, and that Reaper forces outside of Sol never lost use of essential functions."

Shepard: "EDI, give a layout of where the majority of Reaper forces are stationed."

EDI brings up the galaxy map for Shepard to view, and transmits the image to the entire fleet.

EDI: "Ninety-five percent of remaining Reaper forces are located in the orbits of: Tuchanka, Palaven, Rannoch, and Thessia."

Shepard: "The Crucible will still require time to recharge, but we can prepare while we wait."

Anderson (approaching from the stairs to the Citadel Tower): "Reaper forces on the Citadel have been pushed back and cornered. Once the Conduit is shut off, the Citadel will be ready to move into other systems."

Shepard and Anderson meet at the edge of the platform in front of where the Council Chambers and shake hands.

Hackett (on holographic display): "Where is our next move Commander?"

Shepard: "Palaven. The Turians were the first to agree to form a unified galactic fleet...they were willing to risk their lives for the other races well before any others agreed to do so."

Hackett: "Primarch Victus, give us the situation at Palaven."

Skip ahead to the allied fleet leading the Citadel into Turian space. Once they enter the system, Shepard opens the arms of the Citadel and readies the Crucible to fire.

The arms open and the Crucible fires: the Reaper fleet is disabled, and the allied fleet engages. Dropships unload ground forces to deal with Reaper forces on Palaven. Frigates and fighters make bombing runs on Palaven's surface. The allied forces cause as much destruction in minutes as the Reaper had in months. They unleash everything: every missile is launched, every gun is fired. Though Palaven is still ablaze when the allied forces are through, it is free.

The allied fleet goes to Tuchanka next, then Rannoch, and finally Thessia. Each time they reach a new system, the Crucible fires and Reaper forces are eradicated. The allied fleet then liberates the homeworlds of other races. EDI estimates that less than one percent of Reaper forces still exist: they are scattered and have learned to fear the Crucible.



The Citadel is back in the Widow nebula, and the fleets of every race surround it. The Citadel is damaged from the heavy firefights it has endured: the wards are largely preserved, but the Presidium is scarred. Smoke still plumes from fires that have not ceased. Shepard stands in front of a large crowd of soldiers and citizens, and is flanked by the Council.

Shepard: “Today we have achieved a great victory. Through much hardship and sacrifice we have triumphed, but the war is not over. So long as there is one Reaper, one indoctrinated servant, we must remain vigilant. Though only a handful of Reaper forces remain, their power is dreadful. We shall rebuild the galaxy from the ashes left behind by the Reapers, and we shall hunt them until they are no more.”

Councilor Anderson: “We will build a new future, and we will build it together. The Council has reinstated the embassies of the Krogans, Quarians, and Batarians. In addition, we have added a new embassy for the Geth. As our cycle moves forward, it is imperative that we all stand side by side. We have seen dark days, and let us never forget what we can accomplish when we are a united galaxy!”

Cheers and applause permeate the Presidium and across the galaxy, the broadcast is the first since galactic-wide communications have been reestablished.



Shepard is back on the Normandy. He takes the elevator down from his cabin to the CIC. His squad-mates flank him on either side as he exits the elevator and salute or nod as he passes.

Specialist Traynor: “Commander, we have received reports of an unauthorized activation of the dormant Mass Relays in several nebulae, most notably the Valhallan Threshold.”

She hands him a datapad.

Specialist Traynor: “No one has investigated yet, and given the Normandy’s stealth capabilities we are best suited for the mission.”

As Traynor speaks, the camera pans out of the Normandy, which is docked at the Citadel. Massive overhaul and repair efforts are underway on the Citadel, and the fleets are still massed to protect the galaxy’s super-weapon, the Crucible.

As the screen fades to black, the Normandy detaches and heads to the Mass Relay making one final jump before the screen goes totally black.

THE END!




My intentions for this ending were to be definitive, but still permit future adventures. The Reapers have been destroyed, but there are still some hiding, waiting. It only took one Reaper to be the impetus for the greatest videogame franchise.

What lies ahead? Who knows, but the possibilities are immeasurable. Perhaps a Reaper will use an inactive Relay and find a new alien race to indoctrinate. Maybe there will be a mass of indoctrinated servants that hear whispers from Reaper corpses. Maybe a race will decide that harvesting themselves and merging with AI is the pinnacle of evolution, and will form a new Reaper race. Perhaps there was another indoctrinated race like the Collectors that the Reapers have yet to use. Forget the Reapers, are the Krogan going to expand again? Can the Geth and Quarian races truly coexist? Will the Batarians return to seclusion and terrorism? What roles will the formerly smaller races like Elcor, Hanar, Drell, Volus, etc. be like in a new galaxy?

My point is that the possibilities and storylines are infinite, which means that future games have the potential to be as full and rich as the former.

[oniahar]

Well thought out and thoroughly enjoyable!  I always felt like the crucible weakening the reapers to the point where we can destroy them (with a few fleeing for future game purposes) was the best route.  Indoctrination is the only way to explain the original ending.  Honestly if Bioware went with Indoctrination and an ending similar to what you have proposed Balian, they will have created the best rpg series of all time in my opinion.  I will replay it once a year and buy any and all Mass effect related games in the future.  As is I've scrapped all plans to replay any of the three games / or pay for any further ME related content

BalianOfIbelin wrote...
...

My intentions for this ending were to be definitive, but still permit future adventures. The Reapers have been destroyed, but there are still some hiding, waiting. It only took one Reaper to be the impetus for the greatest videogame franchise.

What lies ahead? Who knows, but the possibilities are immeasurable. Perhaps a Reaper will use an inactive Relay and find a new alien race to indoctrinate. Maybe there will be a mass of indoctrinated servants that hear whispers from Reaper corpses. Maybe a race will decide that harvesting themselves and merging with AI is the pinnacle of evolution, and will form a new Reaper race. Perhaps there was another indoctrinated race like the Collectors that the Reapers have yet to use. Forget the Reapers, are the Krogan going to expand again? Can the Geth and Quarian races truly coexist? Will the Batarians return to seclusion and terrorism? What roles will the formerly smaller races like Elcor, Hanar, Drell, Volus, etc. be like in a new galaxy?

My point is that the possibilities and storylines are infinite, which means that future games have the potential to be as full and rich as the former.

Modifié par oniahar, 29 avril 2012 - 03:00 .

[NetAndy]

BalianOfIbelin wrote...

Suggestion, new ending:

...

Note:
This is a rough draft, revisions will be made. For now, I am just writing along the path of my paragon, male Shepard and providing a conclusion to that story. Future revisions will also branch out the decision tree, having paragon/renegade options and additional alternate endings.
 
Alternate Ending:
Shepard takes a breath, and then coughs out dust as he slowly begins to right himself. He hears the yells of squad-mates calling out to him.

...

My point is that the possibilities and storylines are infinite, which means that future games have the potential to be as full and rich as the former.

Best alternate ending I have read so far. I would love ending like this in Extended Cut.

[Dawnhorn]

I honestly don't feel any of the endings should change. The game was absolutely amazing as it stood. I'd just want the opportunity to feel a little more attachment to the full force of what was discovered. Even flashes of scenes showing each character we cared about (down to Bailey, for instance)...at least the Love Interest...would be fantastic.  It just left with the same odd feeling as Xenogears/Xenosaga.  Amazing plotlines, but odd endings.

I think the direction the game went in the end was fantastic. The entire plot was well written and thought out. It just needed to be longer and give more insight into what happens after your fateful decision.

Modifié par Dawnhorn, 29 avril 2012 - 07:42 .

[Witchblade101]

I have played all 3 games on my PC and Felt that the RPG aspect of the game has been suffering, as in Customizable gear for your crew and story lines involving crew members I felt were lacking. That being said I also did not like the limited squad selection. I enjoyed the large pool to choose from in ME2 and expected it to be bigger in ME3. Lastly I would like to mention that the game felt too short, once again there was a severe lacking in side missions I beat the game very quickly, I paid for the Ashes DLC as well so considering all that I kind of felt ripped off. Thats just my 2 cents.

p.s. I do enjoy the Multiplater feature and wish they'd add to it also, but Never at the expense of the story and cut scenes. Thats why I played ME series...Its like a sci fi FPS Final fantasy or something and thats how I thought of it, now they are making just a sci fi FPS....