Excellent read and it accurately explains the main crux of the problem with the ending. Granted It took a literary scholar to explain the problem in an eloquent way, but anyone with a bit of common sense and two working eyes can see that the ending simply doesn't make sense and worst of all does not keep with the traditions established before it. Choice is suspended, the concept of good vs evil is negated and a narrative concept that up till that point was not a prior thought (or even hinted at as an idea) is thrust into our faces and turns everything we understand as Mass Effect on its head. Likewise Shepard, a character that throughout the series has questioned everything, stood in staunch opposition to the "evil" that has come and exuded a sense of resolve and strength that inspires all around him/her quietly melts without reason and simply accepts the "Star Child" at face value. Think about that. This being if it is to be believed is the creator of the Reapers and the meat factory the Citadel has become is its home. This thing is the anti-Christ for lack of a better term, pure evil and Shepards true enemy yet he/she simply accepts its flawed logic and does what it says like a obedient servant? As the writer pointed out a bad ending can ruin an overall experience no matter how good that experience leading up to it was. It makes things like retrospective and nostalgia moot points if the knowledge that in the final moments of a saga all your efforts are ultimately for naught. How can I look back at Mass Effect 1 and see it in the same light again, how can I justify the friendships I nurtured in Mass Effect 2 knowing what I know now? How can I see all the scenes of self sacrifice, valor, bravery, and despair depicted throughout the course of Mass Effect 3 as anything less than inconsequential diversions and in some cases blatant misdirection?
I understand that from a business perspective Mass Effect 3 had to be a game that long time fans and new fans alike could play and get a satisfactory conclusion, but let’s be honest most of the people who bought Mass Effect 3 bought it because they have been fans of the series for a long time. They have played the previous games multiple times to create many potential outcomes. They expected a payoff that rewarded their choices and play style, it simply doesn't happen. It doesn't even matter if the ending is happy or sad or something of a mystery. Heck some fans would be content with a still image of Shepard with a bunch of blue kids running around him, but the problem is far deeper then that. What Bioware did was essentially have the series commit suicide; they killed it without any good explanation. People just wanted the end to make sense, it doesn't and now we are left hanging with no universe or system in place to even get an answerer later. The ultimate kicker is Bioware then advertiser’s DLC afterward as if to say never mind that we unraveled the Mass Effect universe, never mind that we contradicted darn near everything, ignore the fact that it all comes to a unsatisfactory corn filled plop in the end, these new DLC packs will be ace! If reports are true then (as of now) all the DLC takes place pre-ending. Knowing what we know happens will such DLC even matter or bear any appreciable weight? As I said in another thread Shepard could do the most heroically awesome thing in the history of history in one these DLC packs but oh well, it doesn't matter in the end. Why would I pay for that? I personally have no desire to revisit the game for the very same reason I can't stomach looking at Mass Effect 1 and 2 again. I literally picked up the cases the other day, looked at them and shook my head. The artwork hanging on my walls that I bought of the Normandy, Tali, Legion, Miranda and Korlus remind me of what was instead of what is and that’s just a sad thing.
Modifié par DrDark101, 18 mars 2012 - 08:09 .
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