7052 réponses à ce sujet

[ScytheX100]

SamFlagg wrote...

(Posted in this thread because I totally was taking to long and ended up after the lock in the other one)

Jessica,

First apologies for what I'm sure is the wall of text
flying back and forth which is contributing to the discussion being so
unhelpful right this second.  I would say people have to adjust to
actually having someone here.  Many of the articles laid out by some of
the posters do include the generalities of what we currently think was
wrong, but I can offer some concrete suggestions that reflect my
thoughts, and hopefully reflect the thoughts of others.

While the endings our our primary concern I'd like to address Earth and then a couple quality of life issues as well.

1.) War
assets - Many of us feel rightly or wrongly that we logically expected
war assets to appear either in game or in cutscenes during the take back
of Earth.  And the war assets I'm referring to aren't the space ships
above (Though those are awesome) they are the ones on the ground.  We
really really did want to see Elcor Living Tanks and bands of Krogans
charging reapers.  We wanted to see scenes of our ME2 squad mates
holding there own somewhere on the battlefield.  We expected the battle
on Earth itself to be so much grander

2.) I think a lot of us
expected Earth to be far more similar in tone to the ME2 suicide mission
where we could task crewmates and have their survival depend on our
choices previously in the game.  With the number of times Commander
Shepard is told that he was going to lose people, it was surprising that
no one on his current squad met that fate, and the ones who typically
would (Thane and Mordin) had already been heavily foreshadowed to
finding redeption through death (For the record, Thane Mordin and
Legions deaths were so pitch perfect that we find how perfect those were
out of balance with how much of a problem we had with the ending)

3.)
The section where you sprint towards the beam of light and harbinger
attacks all the way through having Anderson die next to you is
beautiful.  It's all emotional, and most of all it's personal.

4.)
Our main issues lie with the God-Child, we find his arguement
uncompelling because we don't see his logic, and we are angry most of
all because Shepard has been a character of definance against the odds
for 2.99 games.  And in the darkest hour, he does not have the option
really to simply reject the assertion that synthetics and organics will
always be at war (And the entire Geth Quarian plot line seems to make it
far more likely that Organics will try to wipe out synthetics than the
other way around.  We find fault with his reasoning and are for the
first time in the series unable to challenge it.)

5.) The ending
consequences for Shepard come down to three shades of death (discounting
the breathing), and the mass relays destroyed in all of them.  While
there may be an underlying philisophical discussion about destroying the
reapers controlling the reapers or merging all synthetic life, this is
far overshadowed by the very immediate practical problem of destroying
all relay travel and stranding fleets in the Sol system.

6.) I
believe this could have been handled better by having some options where
Shepard lives, but relays are destroyed, or shepard dies, but the
relays go on, or even Shepard picks the control option and the reapers
leave earth and the relays alone but go and reap the rest of the
galaxy.  The practical consequences of the three options are so similar
that their philisophical difference becomes irrelevant.  (To that end I
think many would've been happy for an option to be defiant, sacrifice
yourself, have the crucible simply bring down the reaper barriers and
make them easily destroyed by the assembled fleet, and hey if you have
enough EMS you can even save shepard.)

7.) Closure.  In this it
could've been done with a heroes funeral, or if he survived a simple pan
and scan of the area with his surviving squad mates and a "Let's go
home" moment.   We feel that many of the plotlines that were apparently
solved are undone because all the people necessary to good outcomes
(Like having Wrex on Tuchanka) are stranded in the sol system.  We're
not all asking for a Star Wars Medal Ceremony, we'd be perfectly fine if
it could be a bittersweet view of all we lost, but also at what we
still had.  (And if there are enough varient endings someone can get the
star wars medal ceremony, but that's the point we wanted the endings to
be divergent)

8.) The cut scenes were 80% the same.  There really isn't a way to not be unhappy about that.

The
other quality of life issues are: The Journal, The Face Import,
Multiplayer having too much of an impact on readyness, and the Shepard
Shame Talk  (when the models actively look away from each other while
talking)

Now I will point out that this depth of feeling is
because of a real sense of attachment to all of the characters in the
universe.  The deaths for the characters who had them were all pitch
perfect, which is why the lack of sacrifice in the last part of the game
of anyone on the most dangerous battlefield followed by destroying the
entire relay system is so jarring.

Only thing i think this is missing is a Dragon Age Origins esque years later epilogue.  Other than that i entirely agree

[EmGo]

Did anybody mentioned... endings?

[-Colt-]

 My two cents (I'm sure some or all of this has been said before, I
just want to make sure my hopes and wishes for ME3 are represented).



To start, ME3 is an excellent game. Truly a
thrilling experience with incredible emotional scenes featuring the characters
I've grown to like over the span of the trilogy. Mordin's sacrifice, Thane's
final breath, actually managing to bring peace to the Quarians and Geth. This
game is filled with highlights of my entire gaming experience.

The combat mechanics and overall gameplay has made
the battles fought feel thrilling and engaging. Mixed with the armor/weapon
customization for personal preferences, you can play the game just about any
way you want to.



My main concerns and criticisms lie completely
with the final part of the game. The ending and the epilogue (or lack there
off).



1. The lack of a perfect happy ending.

Call me old fashioned, but I like too see happy
endings. I can fully understand that not all paths should lead to this, but at
least one path, one ending should have been this. Before I set out to play ME3,
I replayed my last save from ME2 to reconfirm the choices and actions I had
taken during that and the previous game. I told myself I would achieve the
perfect ending, even if it meant I had to replay ME1 and ME2 with alternate
choices to make sure I can get the best possible ending.

I'd like to see at least the option for a happy
ending, where after the Reapers are destroyed Sheppard is alive (in reminiscent
of ME1's ending where Sheppard emerges triumphant from the rubble and ME2's
amazing conclusion to the perfect Suicide mission ending) and goes on to enjoy
the rest of his/her life with they're love intrest if they have one.



2. The lack of influence of choices made in
previous games/earlier on in the game


After experiencing the ME3 ending for the first
time (I choice to destroy the Reapers), I immediately reloaded my save and
tried the other options. Non off which gave a satisfying ending. After doing
some research online I was dumbfound that these we're the only endings. And I
couldn't get any better endings then the ones I had seen.

What surprised me the most was the lack of
influence previous choices made (in the entire trilogy) had on the ending. All
that mattered in the end was the final choice.

What about the hard choices I had to make earlier
in the game? Save the krogan's, stop the Quarian/Geth war. And what of the
choices in ME2? Does destroying the Collector Base matter? Does it matter that
all my squadmates survived the mission?

It is true that these choices did influence the
gathering of military strength. I would have liked to see my choices have more
significant impact on the overall storyline and ending. At least this was what
I was expecting when I heard that because ME3 was the final installation of
Sheppard's story; choices made in previous games would provide a unique
story/game.



3. The lack of epilogue

Mass Effect has always been a game filled with
content and details for the tiniest thing. You learn the life stories of
nameless people you meet, by overhearing they're conversations as you simply
pass by them on your way to the commons/embassy/docks/etc.. The codex is filled
with information on alien/human culture, history and technology. All this is
optional! You don't need to read the codex. You don't need to listen to the
conversations of the nameless npc's. Yet it is in the game.

This makes it very hard for me to simply accept
the ending(s). What happens next? why don't I get to know what has happened to
my crew, while I do get to learn about a nameless sallarian soldier's friend
selling her car to by him a heavy armor? Even the overall ending movie had me
confused as to what was happening. Gaint red blast kills Reapers, blows up
Relays, oh yeah Joker managed to somehow pick up my entire crew and use the
relay to jump somewhere only to crash on a unknown planet, which just happens
to support human(alien) life. And then top it of with a still image of a
grandfather and his grandson looking to the stars.

For a game that is to finish the series (or at
least Sheppard's story) the ending poses more questions then it answers.



What I wanted to see is basically an interactive
end-gameplay taking place a couple of months after finishing of the Reapers,
like what you could do after finishing ME2. Fly (either in the Normandy or
Sheppard's own spaceship if he for example choices to either retire or stick
with N7 and rid the galaxy of more evil) around the galaxy see what has become
of the people you've met. See Wrex his kids, See Tali's beach house inprogress,
see Jacob become a good father.

Heck this even has some potential for more DLC
content. Finishing of Cerberus (there are more off them out there and the
Illusive Man isn't the only puppetmaster). Retake the Omega.



And after all is said and done, Sheppard heads to
his/her home. Be it drinking a cool drink with Tali at her beach house, or
going to a bbq with Ashley on Earth.






Summarized:

Allow for a happy ending.

Let my choices over the entire trilogy matter.

Interactive/extensive epilogue to tell the stories of what happens after the reapers are defeated.



Oh, and more M920 Cain  (loved the one used
in ME3 as a 100% Reaper killing machine)
I just love me a "Nuclear Bomb"
launcher, goes great with my M76 Revenant.






Thank you for taking the time to read this and let
me say that I do still have faith in the developers at Bioware. Never have you
guys/girls made a game that has disappointed me outright and in my book you all
are one of the best, if not the best, game developer in existence.

[Godwhacker]

It was fabulous, right up until the ending. I know pretty much everyone in this thread is saying that, but that really is how I feel.

It just seemed abrupt and incoherent. The Reapers have a purpose? Why? Can't they just be Reapers? Having a magic child turn up out of the blue and hand out a baffling reason for murdering everyone, one that I could show to be false.just by pointing to the Geth and the Quarians, just felt terrible. Nothing really gets resolved, you're given a choice of genocide or ascension, and then- assuming you go for 'destroy'- Shepard is alive in some rubble.

And I thought: I've just paid £55 and taken two days off work, and that ending has made redundant all the time I've put into the game. It was heartbreaking, and not in a good way. It just made me feel like a fool for caring.

I'm sure you guys have a different perspective on it, but really: a bit of focus testing would have saved you a lot of hassle  

Oh, and I don't think it needs a massive epilogue. 

Other than doing something about the ending, it'd be nice if the war readiness didn't tick down so quickly. The question is: if I go to replay the games in a year or two, and there's not really on the multiplayer, will I be able to get the 'good' ending again?

There's some other small bugs. The mission with the Elcor Ambassador seemed to misfire, perhaps because I'd taken another mission to go to Dekunna already. Shepard occasionally spends conversations staring fully to the left or right instead of straight forward.

Anyway, thanks for listening. I hope all this helps.

Modifié par Godwhacker, 17 mars 2012 - 06:39 .

[Makrillo]

I cant demand any ending, but it would be nice if you made an ending that actually made sense in the universe and didnt blow everything and everyone you cared for since ME1. I had hoped for a Fallout-like ending where you get a rundown on what happened in the various areas you visited and some of the important individuals you influenced.

I am also firmly against endings where no matter what path you took for the entire game you come to a point where all paths converge and you get the option to pick whatever the hell you want in the "ending-room". Its cheap and unsatisfying, and unworthy a game like Mass Effect where playerchoice is supposedly a big deal.

I wrote an ending for my Shepard here http://social.biowar...1641/1#10081641
I would have wanted something along those lines, but I am not upset that I didnt get the ending I wanted or wished for.
Though I am upset I got the ending I got, mostly cause the game is a masterpiece up until then, I had a hard time putting the controller down and at the end I just wanted to throw it into my screen.

I personally didnt feel the need to know why the reapers did what they did, they were supposed to be incomprehensible and nothing is incomprehensible about what the Starchild tells you. It is incomprehensible that Shepard just accepts what he gets told though. "Ok, so to end this I just blow up every mass effect relay in the galaxy", I feel my Shepard would have questioned that logic and tried to convince the Starchild to just take the reapers and fly off without himself sacrificing himself or blowing everyone up. Though my primary preference would have been to leave the starchild out of the game completely. If it had just ended with Shep sitting down next to Anderson I would still have been disappointed but I wouldnt have been raging mad like now.

Modifié par Makrillo, 17 mars 2012 - 06:49 .

[evolsokar]

Don't blow the relays, and don't have the Normandy scene, if I ever met Joker/Normandy crew after a scene like that, I would have them shot for desertion!!!

[KillerJudgement]

This is a copy of a post I made in another thread, but I hope it suffices as what you're looking for. (Original here: http://social.biowar...349/70#10131857 )

Glad to see such an eloquent, realistic observation of the PR minds for EA/Bioware.

One thing I will say is simply that I personally don't care for being kept in the dark about a product that I am dissatisfied with, only to have an attempt to distract me with "jingling keys" marketing (planned or not).

Whether it's unintentional or not, I honestly feel robbed from Bioware. Not financially, but intellectually. The game up until the end is filled with gameplay that is worthy of the $60 I gave, but looking back it honestly has little to no intellectual worth, unlike the first 2 games.

In Mass Effect 1, your intellect was purposed towards the mechanics of the game (inventory, skills, etc.) but also the satisfying aspect of wrapping your head around the concept of millions of millennia old sentient synthetics threatening to wipe out all civilization. Until the Virmire mission, you were were led to believe Saren was the true threat and that he was swindling you, and even before Mass Effect 2 was released I remember being doubtful that the reapers actually did exist. A part of me half expected the whole thing to be a front, like the council suggested. It wasn't until the end of Mass Effect 2 that I 100% believed that an armada of Reapers was on the way.

In Mass Effect 2, your intellect was purposed towards the construction of your team, and little else, but enough to keep you satisfied. It all counted towards the suicide mission, which was the outcome was decided based on many factors, and death was an option. I was a lil' disappointed that ME2 was 100% focused on the collectors, but in hindsight I realize it was a necessity to set up for ME3.

In Mass Effect 3, I didn't really notice my intellect being purposed for anything other than raising the number of your forces, which is done easily by following the most linear story of the three games. To make it worse, that 1 task that you need to complete is reduced by hours of multiplayer, which is limited to players with reasonable internet speeds and in the case of Xbox players, in need of a paid online membership. To make it even worse, the one time that you want to ask questions, the last time that you would ever get your answers, it is all trivialized by the most out-of-left-field ending I couldn't even hope to come up with.

To someone picking up ME3 as their entry to the series, it WOULD be quite the thinker of an ending, but to someone who has spent the last 5 (going on 6) years investing their time and emotions into the biggest video game epic to date to find all the answers, only to have the staff say...

You don't need to know the answers to the mass effect universe. So we intentionally left those out

... is insulting.

Modifié par KillerJudgement, 17 mars 2012 - 06:41 .

[evolsokar]

Also if the Catalyst had control of all the relays/reapers, then WTF is the point of the 1st game when the child could have let the reapers in at any moment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Silveralen]

evolsokar wrote...

Also if the Catalyst had control of all the relays/reapers, then WTF is the point of the 1st game when the child could have let the reapers in at any moment!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you keep pointing out plotholes we will be here for forever.

[Darthur]

I would love a playable epilogue!
Where the Normandy does a victory tour throughout the galaxy and you visit everyone and everything you've seen throughout the 3 games. Illium and Horizon and Eden Prime, the Citadel, Palaven, Omega and you see absolutely everybody.
From major characters to minor characters.
Take Joker to see his family's graves, meet Garrus' family, rebuild Rannoch, Krogan babies!
I don't care how sappy it would be, I want this.
I want to see everyone and everything and see how my decisions changed the world, because that's what this is about, the ability to TRULY make a difference. That's the real fantasy here, more than anything.
To make a difference in the lives of people who are so well written and voiced that they seem real.
And I'd like to visit all the graves.
Do a rendition of Scientist Salarian for Mordin at his funeral, meet his nephew.
Actually stick it to the Turian Councilor ("Ah, yes, reapers.)
Oh and I'd like to re-visit Noveria and see that awesome undercover cop lady and even visit Kaidan's grave.
I would only want this, of course, after you give us a playable, suicide-mission style, war-asset sensitive end battle after the indoctrination theory proves to be real (because it works SO WELL that way.)
And that end battle better be huge, with specific cutscenes for EVERY war asset, even the Kakliosaur riders and the bunch of Krogan and Geth and Jack's team and damn well EVERYBODY finishing the fight.

[I can Hackett]

Oh and can we have the choice to CARRY heavy weapons like ME2 I cant tell you all the times I wished I had a grenade launcher

[PyroByte]

I'm just going to post some thoughts of mine concerning the end of Mass Effect 3 and outline the problems I have with the current endings and how I think they could be fixed.

A lot of plot holes and contradictions have already been pointed out by others so here are just my main problems with the end of Mass Effect 3:

- The  whole issue with squad mates being deployed on earth (they can be talked to in London) but then they suddenly end up on the Normandy just to be part of the crash. Although Anderson points out that air support is impossible and the shuttle (Cortez) crashed down

- Why does the Normandy flee from battle (go through the relay) and crash on a distant planet anyway? 

- A complete lack of any confrontation with Harbinger even though he was build up as a main antagonist in Mass Effect 2

- The whole synthesis ending contradicts everything players did in Mass Effect 1 and Mass Effect 2. In Mass Effect 1 we stopped Saren from doing exactly the same ("a unity of synthetic and organic with the strength of both and the weakness of neither") and the Collectors in Mass Effect 2 had a similar goal by transforming humans into a Reaper. So synthesis in Mass Effect 3 doesn't make much sense especially considering the fact that it destroys the free will of every being in the galaxy and trough the process of Mass Effect 2 and Mass Effect 3 individualism was always pointed out as something special (Mordin about diversity of humans, Legion's dialogue on the Heretic Station, Legion finally referring to itself as "I" and the whole point of EDI's alteration in behavior)

Some suggestions for fixing the endings:

- The idea of hallucination or fighting indoctrination is a good base line. None of the events after being hit by Harbinger should be real and more in a sense of a vision of things to come

- Regardless of the choice people made during the hallucination (the current ending) Shepard should wake up in the rubble on earth. A squad mate accompanied by Anderson could help Shepard rise up

- Players still need to go to the citadel to confront the Illusive man (maybe controlled by Harbinger) and fight Harbinger in some way

- The catalyst should be something different but still a way to destroy or control the reapers (maybe some kind of signal sent through the Mass Relays)

- The choices made during the hallucination should be some sort of modifier and determine how hard the final confrontation becomes (for example if destroy was picked and the EMS is high enough it is possible to convince the Illusive man into committing suicide like Saren) and it should determine if Shepard can survive the final decision

- Final decision should bring closure to Shepard and his/her LI (dramatic death or clinging to life depending on the choices made during the Game/Series)

- Maybe alter the Stargazer sequence for people who picked Liara as LI so that it shows an older Liara with a younger Asari or with two Quarians (Tali as LI). That means the scene can still be in a more distant future and leaves the universe open for interpretation of what comes next

edit: format

Modifié par PyroByte, 17 mars 2012 - 06:46 .

[The Real Bowser]

This is my detailed idea on a story to end this game right.

Use the indoctrination theory.  If you chose the red option and got the 'perfect ending' Shepard will wake up on his own, and help his squad up.  If you chose the green or blue ending, your squad will rescue you instead, with Shepard genuinely confused.  It will take time for you to snap out of it, but then you will continue forward.

Have them reach the beam and enter the Citadel to fight through reaper forces to open the arms.

Have it revealed at that point that the Illusive man planned this all along, and actually takes control of the reapers through use of the crucible.  Everything is going downhill at this point -- it's clear that the Illusive Man is doing this for personal power, not for humanity. 

Have a big fight between the power-hungry Illusive man's reaper forces.  When you finally reach him, give dialogue to stop him complete with paragon and/or renegade interrupts, and paragon/renegade persuasion.  Have the Illusive Man try to convince him that he's doing it for humanity, and that if he stops him, the Reapers will destroy earth and the galaxy.  How this dialogue proceeds is up to Bioware.

After the Illusive Man is stopped (killed, I would assume) the reapers regain control.  At this point, you have the option of using the crucible to take control of the reapers like the Illusive Man was trying to do by 'killing' their organic side and their will (Renegade option) or to send a pulse that will use the Reaper's signal to permenantly disable all of the reaper's technology, therefore killing them (Paragon option).

Unfortunately, the crucible will take time to fire again, and Harbinger is there to try and stop you.  The remaining Alliance engages the reapers to buy you time, but you must stop Harbinger yourself.  You board him and have the final fight of the game unfold.  How this plays out is up to Bioware, but it will end with Harbinger being destroyed. 

Before he dies, he gives you a cryptic message that you will not be safe without the reapers, that they were 'protecting your galaxy' from something far more fearsome, and that the entire galaxy will suffer with them gone..  If you chose renegade route, have him mention that they will only be a shadow of what they should have been.

If your galactic readiness is high enough, the Normandy arrives to save you, if your galactic readiness is too low, you are killed and the Normandy crashes on Earth.  Your squadmates will survive, however.

-ENDING-

If you choose the renegade route and had enough galactic readiness, humankind will control the reaper ships, but what Harbinger said held true -- the ships were not nearly as strong as they were.  Still, the human Alliance would now control the strongest fleet in the galaxy.

If you chose the paragon route, the reapers would be destroyed, but the armies of the galaxy will recover valuable technology that they believe can be used to reach a new age for their galaxy.

In both endings, the Citadel will remain near earth. If Shepard survives, the galaxy will wonder about Harbinger's warning, but most likely ultimately ignore it for now, focusing on rebuilding what they lost.

If Shepard survives, the ending will be significantly longer.  Depending on how you end the game, you will be given different options on how you want to end things.  If you have a love interest, they will try to convince you to join them to help rebuild their world.  You can choose to do this, choose to help rebuild the galaxy, choose to try and find more on the reapers and what Harbinger was referring to, or you can choose to keep fighting.

It does not actually show you going to said planets, but there is DA:O esque ending text explaining what Shepard decides to do, and goes on about his legacy.  It also explains what how the various races of the galaxy progressed from there, differing based on what you did. 

Such as, for example, if you cured the genophage for Wreav's krogan, they will begin expanding and threatening the galaxy, while if you have Wrex's genophage ended, they will keep their word and keep peace in the galaxy.  If Eve survives or not, this is mentioned appropriately, and if the genophage was not cured it will mention the after effects of that.

Krogan, Geth, Humans, Quarians, Turians, Asari, and Salarians are all mentioned, as well as a side note for the rest of the galaxy's minor races as simply rebuilding.  All of your main companions in ME1, 2, and 3, will specifically be mentioned as applicable with their races and separately if they survived.

Credits roll.

The game will end with the grandpa finishing telling the story to the boy if you chose the paragon option.  The boy is revealed to be the one shown in dreams throughout the game, and the game ends.  If want to make this more mysterious and include ghostchild or something, that's up to you.


-Also-

My personal suggestion in addition to this expanded ending is to include a brief mission on the funny planet Joker crashes on in the indoctrination section as having a deeper history of the reapers and how they began as DLC.  I leave this up to Bioware, but I recommend having it reveal a darker, purely synthetic enemy than the reapers, and using the citadel to stop them.  Have them created the reapers as a last resort of hope in the galaxy, with the reapers being in dark space to watch both the galaxy and beyond.

Have the first reapers as have been created by the races that created them, with the citadel existing to coordinate them and give them their purpose.  Every 50,000 years they would harvest the most advanced races to add to their forces to remain vigilant and prepared.

Modifié par The Real Bowser, 17 mars 2012 - 06:44 .

[Rebelofold]

So I absolutely loved, and I do mean LOVED the Quarian vs Geth story arch. I never really had a picture in my head of what I wanted the epilogue to be like, but Tali telling me that we were going to build a house together on Ranoch; that idea immediately stuck in my mind. And with that the ending I felt like I walked into another game entirely. The star child told me that all synthetic life was going to kill me, when I spent half the game becoming best friends with two very prominent synthetics. And worse of all, my Shepard never said a thing about this. I felt like my mind was already made up, and there was nothing I could do to change the final outcome. Despite the fact that the starchild was supposedly leaving the fate of the galaxy in my hands, The choice I wanted to make was to use my wonderful paragon speaking skills and explain to the child that I made another choice that absolutely should have been on the table, I wanted to tell the reapers to go away. The universe is fine without them, I wanted to explain how we already broke the cycle. I helped legion, and legion in turn sacrificed himself to insure peace between the Geth and organics. EDI was taking her first strides towards becoming more human. I felt like I should have been able to make an argument that everything was going to be okay. I also understand that the reapers would have a counter argument as well, they do not have any faith in us. They don't think that we have accomplished anything. Eventually if you have done the very best physically possible, and by that I mean; peace with the geth and the quarians, EMS to a really high number, Paragon or renagade points to the max, the turrians and krogans have made peace, etc. You show the star child that you are the best in the galaxy, that you have changed everything, that this is the thing last of all you will change. Then the very least you and the start child reach a compromise, They stay their hand of destruction for one more cycle or another thousand years or something. They will watch you, and if you fail they will come back and continue their dark harvest. Then the reapers fly back to dark space and you get to go to Rannoch and build your house (or other LI side story), spending the rest of your days advocating the development of AI technology.

Sorry if this next part takes it to another extreme but I would expect this to be the best ending you can get in the game. If you don't meet enough of the requirements then you get the original three endings, and if you get lower scores then you get the two endings, and if your score is abysmally low then you get a very dark ending.

All of this would be quite simple to implement. Keep the original EMS score system in place, and key assets would make for key scores. For example, if you should choose the geth over the quarians you would get an ems score of 200, and 200 if you choose the quarians over the geth. But if you are able to get them to cooperate you should get a score of 600. Not merely adding the two scores together, because they didn't fight each other and accrue any more casualties. Also they are now working together and improve upon each others strengths and fortifying their weaknesses. So anyway this system is probably already in the game, my proposed change would be to make the ultimate ending score only achievable if you have made peace in the galaxy. lets just say that you don't do everything peacefully, (I.e. you fake the genophage cure, you choose the geth OR the quarians, you kept the collector base, you killed the rachni queen etc) you would have the ultimate score of 5000 (assuming you did most side quests) Because assuming so, you were a renegade through and through. You would get the current selection of choices (though to be fair the renegade option should only destroy the sol relay so you can kill the reapers at the sacrifice of synthetic life or sacrificing others so you stay alive or something renegadish) And were you to do the cooperative things in the galaxy (you cure the genophage, get the geth and quarians to get along, you save the rachni, destroyed colector base ETC) you would get a final EMS score of 10,000 (also assuming you did most side quests). With this ending your forces would be able to decimate the reapers, only with the galaxy truly united you are able to pose a threat to them. And with the crucible attached to the citadel you prove to the star child that you have made it farther than any race has ever made it. You stand there with a gun to the reapers head, you get to demand the terms of peace. It felt like the army that I had built was more like a distraction team to get the crucible in place, rather than a fighting force to actually take earth back. I feel like that if I got a strong enough fighting force that I wouldn't even need the crucible, It would just be my backup plan. I felt like if I did my job right, I would be able to convince the star child that I was the new catalyst. That I would be the spark that would change the cycle forever.

So there it is! my two cents on the ending. here are some things I thought you did amazing!

1. I cried when memorable squad mates died. First time I EVER cried in a video game.
2. The chemistry (banter mostly) between shep and the LI was superb. It felt extremely natural / felt like the characters did have feelings for each other, and had a past together.
3. The music moved my soul more times than I could count.
4. Combat was rock solid. Weapon customization felt great.
5. The ending was a great sci fi ending. with some fantastic posthumanism themes. It just felt like it belonged to a different game.

In closing I will say that I will keep my copy in hopes that with future DLC will give me the closure I need with my characters. I hope that in the end it will feel that my the choices my character has made in 1, 2, and 3 were choices that lead me to an inevitable conclusion. If you guys made more heavy hints or themes leading up to an ultimate sacrifice from the first game this would have felt appropriate. The themes from 1 and 2 felt more like you were up against impossible odds but you found a way to make it through. The third felt like it was leading to the same conclusion, when that conclusion never came to be, it felt like the game was not done yet. And here is to hoping that you will take the time to read this and consider changing your game. If you do I will recommend this series to any and all people I know. I would hereby promise to purchase any and all DLC that you guys make for this game day 1. And I would look forward to any and all bioware related stories, and hope you guys tell another tale for me to get lost in.

[wombat_stalker]

I'm probably just very selfishly greedy for wanting to save the people on the Citadel. I get that killing them all was possibly supposed to make me sad, kind of a "Yeah, you worked so hard to make life better for them and spent so much time there, but we're gonna destroy it because you don't get to save everything and this is the tragic part of the bittersweet ending" sad. Didn't like that.

But the mission was to take Earth back. That's where I really want my pay-off, for all my negotiating, shooting, cajoling, shooting, rescuing, shooting, politicking, and shooting. Despite being the backdrop for the entire Citadel AI sequence, it got lost in the shuffle somehow. I want my "We did it!" credit. The "this was a victory" pat on the back. The strange thing is that we *remove* the Reaper threat, and at that point I'm supposed to think "yay, victory!" but it never materialises. I think that's the source of the empty feeling. (that, and the mourning for all the people on the Citadel; the end sequence starts off sad even before you get TO Earth, because no way the Reapers towed the whole thing all the way to Sol without killing everyone on board)

So what do I suggest changed? On purely selfish personal preference;
* Citadel population can survive. If possible, Citadel's survival depends on Citadel-based sidequests. High C-Sec War Assets: Citadel does fine. Or something along those lines. Make putting work in matter.
* New dawn on Earth: Life goes on. Show how well we did, what we came back to Earth to save. Provided the Crucible didn't backfire.... I'm fine with backfiring with low amount of War Assets.


....dammit, looking back at what I just wrote, it really does look like I'm unhappy with the ending because it's sad.

[Ashton Anchors]

There's a number of things that are great about the game.  The gameplay?  Tightened up and amazing.  The addition of more 'melee' capability is great.  There were a number of decent balance changes that kept things fresh while giving more options within abilities.  Weapons were made to be customizable again, and not just a few weapons with static damage upgrades.  You can add scopes, melee damage, ammo capacity, weight reduction.  It's worlds better than what it was.

The story was amazing.  Until..

The ending, of course.  There's a number of plot holes.  I'm going to be concise here, and just try to sum up the issues.

1.) The Catalyst-kid controlling the Reapers.  
This is in direct conflict with the rest of the series.  There is no hinting that the Reapers have someone ordering or controlling them; they just are.  Likewise, the explanation that "Synthetics inevitably kill organics, so we as synthetics kill organics every 50,000 years" is stupid.  It just makes no sense, and it is in direct conflict with one of the more poignant parts of the game (the situation involving the Quarians and Geth)--in which you directly show that their assumption is not true, and that peace can be achieved.  This directly contradicts the premise.  You can say "Well as a hyperintelligence, it knows it won't last"--you know what?  It may, it may not.  You don't even bother to show in an epilogue whether it does or not, and that story element is in direct conflict with another.  You're showing that it is possible, then saying that it isn't.  If it isn't possible, that outcome you just achieved is therefore proven worthless and doesn't matter.  So why include it?  Why allow someone to do something that ultimately is show down by this magic entity?

2.) Choices. 
The Endings should vary according to your EMS (relating to how well your forces fight against the reapers, obv) and according to your choices.  Did you kill or save the Rachni Queen?  Was the council made to be all human and was udina's promotion as a result of your actions?  Did you kill the heretic geth or save them?  Did you save or destroy the Collector ship?  Ultimately, I kind of admit that it's just "too late" to fix most of this.  This is a design issue--you needed to be keeping these choices in mind from the moment you made them until the very end to really have a proper place and a proper context which you can expose them and show how they'll matter.  But regardless of the overarching issues being pointless (War Assets guys, really?  That's all they amount to, a statistic which you can raise with or without them?), the choices your presented with in the third game should be as a result of your actions during the game.  Having a magic button to press is weak.  It's a cop-out.  "Thanks for playing the entire game this way.  Now, do you want to have the ending that is the exact opposite of how you've been playing?  Go for it!"

3.) The ending itself.  You are allowed to control the reapers, destroy them, or use Space Magic™ to turn everyone into a hybrid.  

Firstly, the synthesis option makes no sense and has no basis or precedent that such things are possible within the story, so the inclusion of it is a huge dues ex machina that is not in any way necessary.  It was not needed, it makes no sense, it's bad.  This should be removed.  Fusing the DNA of all synthetics, then fusing the DNA of all organics, then fusing them together with just a pulse of energy?  What the **** is that ****?  This is not Dungeons and Dragons.  Do not suddenly include machine magical energy pulses. 

Destroying the reapers:  Why must every synthetic in the galaxy be destroyed as a result?  This is another example of "**** making no sense" and "The ending being in direct conflict with the rest of the game."  Aside from the Geth being controlled by the Reapers, there's been no attachment from one to the other that would indicate that if you destroy the Reapers, you destroy the Geth.  And that is a fact that was not foreshadowed or alluded to at all. You don't pop up random side-effects on a major, trilogy-ending decision like that.  "By the way, destroying the reapers kills the Geth, too.  Oh, and EDI.  Oh, and YOU!"  What writer came up with that?  What is the point of that?  Moreover, how does "Destroying this Synthetic race" turn into "Destroying all Synthetic races"?  Especially when the point of saving the Geth is to free them from Reaper control, thus severing that connection?  It makes what you did there pointless.  It is unnecessary.  It is bad writing.

Controlling the Reapers:  This was the option that made sense, except for why you had to die to do it.  Because there's some energy that's flowing through the controls?  What the **** kind of person would create a control device like that?  Why is it necessary for shepard to die just to push some levers?  Why can't Shepard just shoot the levers to get them to go forward?  I fully expected this to be an option, but again, why it is necessary for him to die to do it?  The way it's set up in context just makes no sense, and it's just a cop out.  "Uhh.. why would Shepard die by controlling the reapers?"  It isn't "Because they're a hyperadvanced synthetic race which he's going to merge minds with in an attempt to control them", it's "Because there's ****ing electricity going through the control rods."  That architect should be fired.  His death should come as a result of trying to understand and communicate directly, with all reapers, all at once.  He should be capable of giving basic instructions (hey, look, another dialogue choice that could have been put in!) to them, and then dying from  the experience of trying to "assme direct control" of the reapers themselves.

This brings me to..

4.) The Destruction of The Mass Relays.
This is not necessary.  Was not necessary.  This is a random "Oh yeah, this happens in all three" addtion that's done just for the sake of.. what?  Trying to make the series darker and gloomy?  Trying to explain away the Catalyst Kid and his space magic?  Sorry, but no.  There is no reason for having the Mass Relays destroyed in the process, seeing as how they shoot things off into space at absurd speeds all the time.  A little space pulse being transmitted doesn't require destruction to do unless the writer says so, and the writer's say so is still an arbitrary inclusion that is unnecessarily dark.  You didn't foreshadow it; you can't avoid it in the narrative; you don't, as far as anyone is aware, ever rebuild the Relays. So everyone is just stranded in space, unable to travel like they once did. And, of course..

Most people are dead, if the writer follows his own logic set forth in Arrival.  The destruction of a Mass Relay is destructive, and that supernova blast tends to destroy everything around it.  In a large radius.  You probably just killed more people than the Reapers had done so far in this cycle, from that.  Why do that?  The effects of destroying a Mass Relay were known in Arrival, which was a DLC that set up the third game.  Don't then make the ending have a similar action without a similar effect--and if you do repeat the action like you did, you need to explain why it is different.  There is no explanation for why (or even IF) it doesn't go supernova like the Arrival Relay destruction did.  This leads to..

5.) The Normandy.
Why was it fleeing?  No one knows.  There was no order given to retreat.  Why would Joker flee with the Normandy without you, even when it went head-on to fight Sovereign without you?  Why would Joker abandon you after going into a supposed 'suicide' mission with you?  Why would Joker and the Normandy flee without confirming over comm channels whether you were dead or not, and why would they flee without even bothering to grab your body, which they know had been rebuilt by Cerberus technology once?  Pretty sure with that in mind, Joker (and your crew) would not leave you to die.  They would grab your body if you died, and see if they can repeat the process Cerberus performed.

There's other things, too:  Why and how did the two people you brought with you in the fight to Earth possibly leave the Normandy in the ending CG?  There's no way they would have been picked up and fled while leaving you there.  This is just another notch on the list of "things the Writers just ignored."

6.) Closure.
I can't stress this enough.  Let me try again:  Closure.  What happens to everyone with the Relays destroyed?  Don't know.  What happens to your Love Interest?  Don't know.   What happens to your crew?  What happens to the Krogans?  Don't know.  What happens to the Quarians and/or the Geth?  Don't know.  What happens to the Asari, the Turians, the Elcor, the Drell, the Hanar?  No. One. Knows.

This game was a game where characters were important.  You've potentially had Tali and Garrus with you as a party member for three games.  Had them as a possible love interest for two.  And yet the writers, who have written them for three games now with them alongside Shepard every step of the way (and dealing with their own issues, too) decided not to do anything with 'em?  Just, yeah, they left Shepard to die on Earth and fled for the mass relay with joker.  Going by just what is present in the game, they just pulled off the most hardcore Mutiny in the history of forever, leaving their CO and best friend/possible lover to die on Earth while they got the **** out of dodge.  That is insane, but that is what is presented.

There needs to be closure.  There needs to be more of an epilogue for Shepard, whether he lives or dies.  Show his funeral.  Show how he's honored and remembered by the choices you made in the game.  Show if his legacy lives on in a child, their love interest can give birth.  Show what all surviving crew members do.  Show Jacob starting a family.  Show every single squad member you've ever had across the three games, and show how they go on from there.  Show the rebuilding of Earth.  Show me what happens to my home planet, the planet and battleground of which the entire game is about, with you trying to save and retake it.  What happens to Earth?  Dunno.  All that time spent trying to save the people on it and retake the planet while stopping the reapers and, just.  Who the **** knows.

I can not stress this enough.  Closure how you show that it was worth it.  Closure is how you show what happens according to Shepard's decisions.  Closure is how you end plots and trilogies.  This game was finished without any closure. And it is infuriating.  It is mind boggling.  And it is absurd.

Thanks for listening.  It's still a great game, but the ending does so much wrong in a fraction of the time it takes to play through the rest of the game that it's just.. There are no words for how and why it was decided to do such things.  Please end the game.  Please show the ending to the series.  The trilogy is wonderful, but right now the very end is a very dark mark that is bleeding out to stain everything else.  

[Bob5312]

I guess a big suggestion would be to focus test your endings in future, the way the film industry does. The 'alternate endings' on DVDs are there because the original ending just didn't work and was changed, often with the input of test audiences. Well, you've got your test audience and it's tens of thousands strong. The film industry does this for a reason; because for whatever reason sometimes the ending the writer creates is "wrong".

[Kernwaffen]

Dear Bioware,

I want to start by thanking you for creating a series that has been engaging, entertaining, and easy to get lost in. The world and experience you have created is something that game companies the world over should seek to emulate, and brings production values and a commitment to compelling storytelling that I'm not convinced had been present in the gaming industry until Mass Effect. I feel like the signal to noise ratio in the outcry in the past few days has dropped significantly, and I think it's important not to lose sight of the fact that Mass Effect 3 is an impressive accomplishment.

That, I think, is why I and so many others are so disappointed in the ending. I think I understand what you were trying to do; ending a series like this in a way that pleases everyone is a nigh impossible task. Leaving things open ended feels like a not unreasonable way to see that everyone gets at least something that they're looking for. The possibilities run as far and wide as your imagination. Unfortunately, I feel like a lot of this was lost in the execution.

The problem, for me, begins with the conversation with the Catalyst. Brought into the crucible, this childlike hologram explains the facts of life to you and presents three choices for ending the Reaper threat, barely giving you the opportunity to respond. Personally, I have questions. I'm pretty sure Shepard has questions. For instance, what do you mean that synthetic life will eventually wipe out organic life? Didn't I just make peace between the Geth and the Quarians? Didn't Javik say that in his own cycle his people were winning their war against the synthetics? Perhaps these questions have valid answers, at least from the Catalyst's point of view, but Shepard, who in my case has spent plenty of time in tense situations asking the tough questions, doesn't so much as say "Umm, excuse me..." She simply says "Okay," and proceeds to choose the form of galactic destruction.

The choices were also problematic from my perspective. I played Shepard as almost exclusively paragon. In the course of the game, she's expounded on the importance of self-determination, decried the Illusive Man's attempts to control the Reapers as 'insane,' and saved a race of sentient machines (not to mention the guiding of EDI's personal growth). So the final choice comes down to which of my character's core principals should be violated. Choose control and take almost unlimited power? Choose synthesis and force the homogenization of the galaxy? Choose destroy and eradicate some of the very races Shepard worked so hard to understand and save? It feels hopeless, in a fairly profound way.

The choices also felt like they could have used some additional explanation. If Shepard controls the Reapers, she's told that she will lose everything that she is. That sounds awfully problematic in the long run. What keeps them from coming back after Shepard is 'lost?' Synthesis supposedly makes all life a combination of synthetic and organic, but doesn't that just mean that purely organic or purely synthetic life could be considered inferior, and thus subject to enslavement? What's to stop this new form of life from creating such 'slaves?' Are you saying that they could never overcome life that has 'achieved' synthesis?

In certain cases, the destruction of the mass relays feels excessive. For the destroy ending, for instance, it feels odd to me that the Catalyst, who insists that the created will always rebel againts the creator, never intalled a killswitch on the Reapers. It also strikes me as odd that controlling the Reapers requires anything more than coopting whatever signal the Catalyst uses to control them. Perhaps there are ways of explaining these issues, but I do feel like they deserve at least some exposition.

In the end, I understand the desire to make the ending bittersweet, though I feel like numerous deaths and sacrifices had already accomplished that long before the Crucible or the Catalyst was reached. I guess what I was hoping for was something more along the lines of the ending to Dragon Age: Origins. A sacrifice is required, but the choice of sacrifice is yours. In that game, you could kill off your own character, Loghain, or Alistair. You could also allow Morrigan to birth an Old God demon child in exchange for sacrificing nobody. I've done all of these on various playthroughs. That choice feels much more personal and linked to the story. The choice offered at the end of Mass Effect 3 feels abstract and new.

I want to finish by saying again how amazing this game was. I'm not one to cry at books or movies, but I shed a tear when Liara asked for Shepard's opinion about her own entry in her time capsule, and when Mordin hummed his last note before being engulfed in the destruction of the Shroud. That Thane's final prayer was for Shepard was incredibly moving, and I closed my eyes and crossed my fingers while trying to talk down the Quarian fleet as Legion uploaded the code to bring the Geth to full sentience. The experience was incredible; I had simply hoped for a more satisfying ending.

Thank you for listening.

Modifié par Kernwaffen, 17 mars 2012 - 06:47 .

[Doooooooo]

having owned nearly all bioware games, all of them gave me a great sense of closure at the end.

baldur's gate trilogy = all of the party members and how they ended up, like viconia's assassination, your brother's change in alignment, etc.
jade empire = great sense of accomplishment. chain the water dragon to your will, or free it.
dao = IN YO FACE DARKSPAWN DRAGON
da2 = I BEAT YOU DOWN QUNARI, LEAVE NOW
me1 = IN YO FACE STUPID REAPA
me2 = IN YO FACE HARBINGA
me3 = lolwut.it was too different from the rest of the game, and too different from the previous two games' ending. a mass effect universe without mass relays? the franchise title is no longer relevant for any possible future endeavors, unless you all wish to build on shepherd's legacy? wouldn't make sense otherwise. where is the sense of accomplishment, like i've done something big? rather than that, it's all this build up of possibilities from the game and previous titles where the only thing i'm actually concerned with now is doing the right decisions in ME2 so that i can achieve peace with the geth/quarian conflict, or keeping wrex alive. outside of that, the endings have completely negated any motivations to make any changes otherwise.

Modifié par Doooooooo, 17 mars 2012 - 06:49 .

[ket_shee]

I'll try to make this succinct.

The Good

-From Mass Effect 1 to Mass Effect 2 because the story diverged at so many forks and crossroads
-Mass Effect 3 (up until Starchild) because it still reflected decisions in 1 and 2 (although not to the same capacity as 2).
-The Characters, they were brilliantly written dialogue wise, drew me further into the story, were anchors for emotional investment.

The Bad

-Mass Effect 3  (up until Starchild) simply because things felt rushed and incomplete. although only minorly.
-The encounter with Starchild (aka the ending) simply because the rush-job became more immediately apparent. The logic was curt, the scenes looked copied and pasted, and the choices of Destroy, Synth, and Control seemed illusionary, if you wanted us to come to a singular ending, just cut the choices all together.
-Tali's face - not really an issue just evidence that the feeling of a rush-job is feasible. You published an artbook, have paid artists in the credits, but you used a stock photo to come up with Tali's face?

The Bottomline

For whatever reason, whether you are patching/DLCing the ending or for simple future reference - don't rush! Take your time, and I understand you have bosses breathing down your back but in turn they need to understand whats needed to do the job.

Otherwise, you guy's DID do a good job, and if you actually read this Thank You for at least considering my feedback.

[christrek1982]

removed

Modifié par christrek1982, 17 mars 2012 - 06:49 .

[SkitSkit]

 Suggested Changes Feedback Thread; What? is the current build of ME3 a beta!?!

The title of this thread suggests that indoctrination theroy mightn't be true, and that is devistating to me.

If its not true pretend like it is, then in a months time relase the new endings. If it is true don't toy with my heart like this you monsters. You know all this time and energy i'm spending ****ing and moaning about this is time and energy i could be spending on Kony 2012.

So I'm saying it, Bioware is indirectly supporting the child-kidnap-kill-parents-and-be-forced-to-fight agenda by being coy.

Jokes, i mean it is technicaly true, but jokes

The game is technicaly flawless (aside from shepards facial customrisation, i'm talking about both the port bug an that its always kinda been crap for femsheps)

The story is bloody epic, the character interation, plot development and the build up to the final fight is AMAZING

And then we get a ending full of BS and fairy farts. Now i don't mind the backwards logic of the reapers, that kind of works for me. what doesn't work is shepard not saying "**** that ****". I don't know about other people but to my Shepard, the right to choose your own path was core to her personality, and she was awed by the diverisity of the races in the galaxy; Green was more offensive than blue.

And just thinking on red, it would have been so much more impactful if we saw EDI die, and the geth die. I mean yeah, ding dong the reapers are dead, but what about the consequences?

I'm not even going to start about the normandy ending up in never land... well aside from:

"Why the normandy was running from the fight;

Joker broke the forth wall, had a look at the script and floored it to get away from the bad endings"

and one thing that i haven't seen alot of is a negative talk about the old man and his alterboy
The voice acting in that bit was terrible, and the script was worse. it was just creepy as all hell. "My sweet"? WTF!?!

And you know those are the issues with the ending if this was anyother game. But no, this is a Bioware game, and i know that reputation is a double edged sword but... come on, the endings are just so out of sync with the rest of an almost perfectly flawless game, that its unfathomable that you would rush the ending like this.

And thats why the ending has to be indoctrination, there is just no other logical conclusion. everything else is simply so well written... the only way it makes sense is if the writers all took a week off before the final decision was made, and a chimp (litteral or metaphorical) came up to the script and wiped its feaces all over it. some one who had such a disconnect with the universe of mass effect right down to the established tropes of the series

So a "Suggested Changes Feedback Thread" is offensive. and if you really are that thick that you thought the ABC... no the A.1, A.2 and A.3 endings was a good idea, then i would highly recomend for the sake of PR that you lie to me, cause i believed when you said there was no ABC ending, the endings would matter and be personal, so I'll buy that indoctrination was your plan all along.

[bryan12112]

I feel like the ending is mostly great as it is, but some things can definitely be improved. For one thing, some more closure is needed. While the ultimate goal has always been to eliminate the Reaper threat and save the universe, our emotional investments in the characters is equally important. I would like to see more of a payoff for the romance options, and more of a payoff for the friendships that you acquired and sustained through out. I don't need to know what happens to all of the characters, but a bit more closure with each players favored characters would not hurt. I know this is going to sound kind of pathetic, but not knowing if Liara is pregnant at the end was kind of a disappointment for me. The relationship I established between Shepard and Liara still has plenty of meaning, but a slightly more uplifting ending could be nice, you know? I've always liked the idea of Shepard's offspring growing up in the world after Shepard has passed away.

Also, I think giving the players a bit more freedom at the end could go a long way in helping. I know Shepard's fate is probably very important to you guys and is not something you would want to change too much, but maybe including an alternate, happier ending would not be a bad idea. Instead of just showing Shepard alive in the best ending, have him/her walking out of the Normandy with the surviving crew members. I don't really think this is necessary at all, but it would probably go a long way in pleasing a lot of people. Oh yeah, and please fill in the gaps to explain how the characters went from being on Earth to being on the Normandy at the end. I realize you still have some things in store for us in terms of DLC, though, so maybe your plan is to fill us in with that. If so, that's cool too.

I just want to say that I think the team at BioWare did a fantastic job with this series, including the ending. Mass Effect will probably go down as my favorite series of all time. I've never been so attached to any work of fiction quite like this. Not with novels, TV shows, films, or anything. Thanks.

Modifié par bryan12112, 17 mars 2012 - 06:54 .

[WakingWolf]

Mordin's ending both paragon and renegade is amazing. Thane and Miranda both exit the stage memorably. The end to the Geth and Quarian conflict is great. Obviously the folks at Bioware know how to write a satisfying conclusion, which is why the last 5 or 10 minutes of the game s so baffling. I don't mind if the ending is sad or bittersweet- my hero of Ferelden sacrificed his life to stop the blight. I loved Mordin's last scene and it certainly wasn't what I'd call happy. I just want an ending that's good. Don't let a literal deus ex machina walk on stage in the final minutes to send Shepard meekly into a long goodnight. Anyways, only change i really care about, rest of the game was pretty great.

[christrek1982]

madzilla84 wrote...

This thread is massively long already, but I thought I would add my voice anyway.

Like so many have said, I loved 99% of the game. Up until the very end, it was superb. There are a lot of things I loved about it; probably too many to list in fact. A few favourites:

- I know it wasn't popular here, but I for one was pleased by the inclusion of Narrative Mode. It had no effect on the other modes and served to be more inclusive to a wider range of gamers. So thanks for that.
- The romance I did in my playthrough - FemShep and Kaidan - was absolutely perfect. (There was kind of a gap in the middle with not much going on in that department, but everything else in the romance was so good that I can forgive that.) Well worth the wait from ME1.
- The interactions with my non-romanced squaddies was fantastic, too! The new squad banters, squad members moving around the Normandy/coming with you to the Citadel. Being able to go on the 'dates' as friends, too, therefore not locking out wonderful scenes just because you weren't romancing the character. Gave so much more depth to all Shep's friendships. Brilliant!
- I understood the main plots being a series of wrap-ups of stuff from the previous games, and thinked they worked brilliantly. I'm not totally averse to characters dying, in case it sounds like I am later on. Mordin's death made me sob, because it was so beautifully done. When Grunt came out of that hole covered in blood but alive, I cheered, and I didn't even think I was that attached to Grunt. The decision about the Geth and Quarians ate at me.
- Armour and weapon customisation was a lot of fun, and I loved that there was an 'online shopping' sort of terminal on the Normandy.
- The combat was very enjoyable once I'd gotten used to the tweaks. I loved the extra jumps, ladders etc; they made spaces more dynamic. And I loved the Spectre gun testing range.

I could go on - there were so many great things - but this thread is more for ending feedback, so I'll move on to that. I'm also working on the assumption that what we got on the disc isn't going to be retconned/rewritten, so any future content would have to pick up where that left off/explain it somehow.

Now I've had a few days to think about it - I don't totally hate the 3 choices we got. I don't think they need to even be changed completely. What I was more annoyed about was that I absolutely busted my ass doing every single side quest in the entire game - I even used a long checklist to make sure of it - and got good outcomes in the main quests (I got both the Turians and Krogan, both the Geth and Quarians, etc). And I *still* couldn't save my Shepard, because I don't play multiplayer.

Anyway, since I know most people play MP, that's not really the main issue; and I have since been grinding away on Datapad, so I know I *can* save her (even though I'm railroaded into choosing Destroy in order to do so). But I'm wondering what the point of saving her is?

What I wanted for my Shepard was a happy (or happy-ish, considering the state of the galaxy) ending with her LI. Some peace and happiness after all the hell they've gone through. This should have been an option (or, if content is to be developed, this should be an option). As should the option for Shepard to go out in a blaze of glory saving the galaxy, if he/she wishes, as we got. Both would suit different Sheps, but both should be available.

The other huge problem, of course, which so many people have already mentioned, is the fate of the Normandy. That was just bizarre. Where were they going in the first place? Why was my ground team magically back on the ship? Why was Kaidan, who a) was in my squad when the laser hit and had visibly held back tears as he said "I can't lose you again", smiling as he stepped off the Normandy without Shepard?

And what was the point of the little Shepard Lives easter egg in the Destroy ending? Is there going to be more to that? Or was it just a little moment of hope, and we're supposed to fill in the blanks ourselves?

As I said, I don't hate the endings themselves entirely; I actually think they provide a very interesting setup for events after the war. I don't think it necessarily has to be total doom and death for everyone, either, in any of the endings (except my poor Shepard and Kaidan, it seems). But if everyone has to make up headcanons and theories and do mental gymnastics just to make the ending make any sense, then the ending has failed.

I was so hoping for a happy - or even hopeful - ending with my LI, if I - and therefore Shepard - worked hard enough for it. And that's something that we can still have, even if the endings as they are don't change. I really, really hope you decide to give that option to Shepard, and to us.

this 100% the fact that the choice and chance for a happy ending like this is not even available regardless of what you do is just shocking you do not have to kill shepherd just to end his/her story.

Modifié par christrek1982, 17 mars 2012 - 06:55 .