222 réponses à ce sujet

[Ceira]

 I know there's been a million threads on this game's ending, but I have to vent my own frustrations as a way of reaching some form of catharsis.

I'm in love with this series. The characters, the setting, the story at large. All of it is so well thought-out and perfect. There really has never been anything like this. I remember picking up a copy of the first Mass Effect at the suggestion of a friend while still in high school. I was skeptical at first, not being much of a scifi fan and also wary of RPGs in general. I'm more what you would call a 'casual gamer'. Nevertheless, after those first few hours I absolutely hooked. I could not break myself away, I just needed more and more. When the second Mass Effect game came out, I threw money on the counter with the fury of a thousand suns. I was more than eager to continue the adventures of Commander Shepard. That title did not disappoint, either.

Fast forward to today. I've recently graduated college. I have a good job, but I'm constantly working, constantly under tons of stress adjusting to everyday adult life. I knew Mass Effect 3 was just on the horizon however, and I could not wait to purchase it and give myself something to do. Have a little escapism, if you will. It took me about a week to beat it since I can only really play at night. The journey was interesting I guess. It was really short, but it had its fair share of highs and lows. It wasn't nearly as impressive as its predecessors, though that is a forgivable sin. But that ending... That... freaking ending... The ending was so jaw-droppingly horrible that I felt like someone had snatched the heart out of my chest and squeezed the blood from the tissue right in front of me. I don't mean to be graphic, but that's pretty much what it was like. I felt awful, about as badly as I did when my cat died last year. 

So I sat in my chair for about 30 minutes sipping from a cup of tea trying to rationalize all of what I had just seen. What did I just play? Did any of that make sense? What happened? Did I really spend $200 on this series just to see it go out like that? There were no answers to be had. No closure. No ending. The game just abruptly stopped.


I am a female gamer.

I know people's eyes gloss over when they see someone say that, and they probably think to themselves "Oh boy, here we go..." But I bring this up to make a point. Games in general do not typically have positive depictions of women. Heroines usually have really huge boobs, no personality, and spend the entire course of the game pining for men. That's great and all, but that's also why I am a casual gamer. I don't really want to spend my time and money on a video game only to have the worst aspects of my gender thrown back in my face. If I wanted that, I'd just watch Jersey Shore or the Kardashians. 

This is PRECISELY why I loved the Mass Effect series, however. Here you have a woman in her mid-30s. She's strong, sassy, intelligent and capable. Attractive, but not a super model. She obtained her position through dedication, hard work and loyalty, not T&A. She's everything a gamer like myself look to as an example of a proper female character, or even as a role model. Throughout my time playing the series, I kept thinking in my head "God, dude, I wish I could have that kind of confidence." When you have people in real life relating to fictional characters you have created out of thin air, that is ABSOLUTELY a mark of success as far as creativity goes.

So imagine my surprise and the hurt that I felt when all that tension and emotional investment I built up for the characters over the years, especially for Shepard, gets suddenly and unceremoniously tossed out the window in the matter of five minutes, full-stop. The game is just over. Thanks for the $60 bux. Buy our DLC. 

That is not how you close out an epic series. That is not how out reward dedicated fans who have spent their time and hard-earned cash supporting your company. It's a lazy slap in the face. The ending was something you would expect an intern to turn in to make a deadline rather than a seasoned professional with years of writing expertise. I haven't been this disappointed with a product in a long time. Now the series is over. It's done. Gone. I'll never get to see Shepard in action again, or Liara, or Garrus, or any of the others. The universe they exist in cannot be resurrected due to the decisions made by the writers. And that's what hurts the most.

It's not that the series is over that bothers me. All stories must inevitably come to an end. What bothers me is that it was ended in such a way that it is impossible to even begin to hope for another. All positive feelings and whispy dreams of life in such a future world have been mercilessly crushed. 

I'm coming away from this series heart-broken and depressed. I've tried doing a few multiplayer matches since finishing the main plot, but my taste for that has turned to bitter ash, as well. It's just... over. I'll probably uninstall it and go back to playing 'safe' things now, never again returning to RPGs. I don't want to run the risk of getting burned like this again.

[Legion64]

Agreed. They hurt the soul.

[Faunwea]

Agreed as both a fellow female gamer and as a gamer in general...

[Samuel L Shepard]

+1 It just isn't right is it?

[darkiddd]

I agree, I had never hated an ending so much. Its hurting me so much because I loved this series and I don't know if I can play these games again knowing that "ending". Its making me a cynic at age of 20. I'm still young man! I should hate the world when I'm an old bastard not now!

[Samuel L Shepard]

*double*

Modifié par Samuel L Shepard, 18 mars 2012 - 10:51 .

[mw2xboxplayer]

The invalidation of 3 games worth of choices, when promised that they would have meaningful influence on the ending of Shepard's story, is a direct insult to the Mass Effect community. Also, the lack of closure is simply disappointing, given that players have given 5 years of emotional investment into the characters.

[Yttrian]

They promised choices that reflected your character.
They promised consequence that reflected your choices.
They promised variety that reflected both.
They promised closure that reflected our relationships.
They promised answers to our questions.
They promised not to have a "A, B or C" ending.

They lied.

Modifié par Yttrian, 18 mars 2012 - 10:58 .

[Bobrzy]

Welcome to "Whose Line is it Anyway", the show where everything is made up and the points don't matter. That's right, the points are like Mass Effect decisions.

[frostajulie]

As a female gamer I also agree with everything you said OP. ANd you are right it really does hurt.

[coles4971]

Trust me OP, there are at least tens of thousands of people who dislike the ending as well, myself included.

[Drake-Shepard]

This hurts you

Harbinger wins

[Kanner]

Best female protagonist ever.

Worst ending ever.

I feel your extra-special pain at that, for sure.

[The Executioner]

It does ,and the ending doesn't makes sense. As far as i'm concerned this ending doesn't exist nor will it ever exist.

[slaymight]

[Kanner]

That comic is an amazing accomplishment.

[LordMarrick]

im glade someone has been able to voice what i felt at the ending i was so shocked that it could be so terrible, but after 2 days of doing nothing about it i decided to make a new ending in my head and play the game and when i got to end game just let it play to it self while i watch anime or a movie

[KleinerVance]

slaymight wrote...

Sigh. WE DONT WANT A SAPPY HAPPY ENDING. We want our choices to MEAN something and have some closure.

[The Executioner]

slaymight wrote...

 This ending is just as legit and well written the one that's in the game so well done.

[Wildhide]

The Executioner wrote...

slaymight wrote...

 This ending is just as legit and well written the one that's in the game so well done.

Agreed!  And honestly, my Shepard would probably like a cake. =(  I will never understand the hate for happy endings.  1.)  I like to walk away from my entertainment feeling good sometimes, or having the option to in a game about choice.  2.)  Dark, depressing endings are just as cliche.  Heck, how many books did you read in your english classes that had happy endings?  Not more than half for me.  And those are centuries old.

[string3r]

So, Bioware have officially ruined Dragon Age and Mass Effect.

I'm guessing KOTOR's next right? Oh wait....

[Spectre_Shepard]

felt like a kick in the nuts.

[Zalbik]

What is really sad is that as more people make it to the ending there will be more and more of these threads. The end really is THAT bad.

[Shinobu]

I am sorry, OP. I felt the same way. *hugs*

Grab a banner and join the fleet. We can make this right... somehow.

[Faust1979]

if you're this hurt over a games ending you seriously need a life to let something bother you this much

Modifié par Faust1979, 19 mars 2012 - 12:54 .