I had a thought earlier last night, which would allow them to keep most of what they've already got, but would make things immeasurably better.
1. Lose the hologram kid. Gone. Utterly. No dialogue.
Reason? The Reapers don't need to be explained. In fact, they make *better* antagonists if you *don't* understand them. They have a reason, Sovereign said as much in the first game. But they're just not going to share it with you.
Conceptually, most people figure what they're getting is resources. They build themselves back up by helping themselves to developed technology, then smash a bunch of organics for kicks, then go back to snoozing until the 50,000 alarm clock wakes them up again. It's like 2 km long arthropoidal rednecks on holiday...
Instead of the kid, Shepard takes the elevator to that massive room, and sees a huge, circular display panel. Above it is a giant hologram of the Citadel, but it's structured and colorized like it's a Reaper. The Crucible is attached in a different color, and seems to be somehow influencing the behavior of the Reaper. What Shepard uses is a standard computer, which pulls up display windows similar to the Shadow Broker DLC. All the information is textual, and seems to be initially about this Crucible device overwriting some of the Citadel-Reaper's programming to force a new solution. The CR isn't going to take this lying down, and has corrupted part of the choices it's come up with.
Each choice has some dialogue between characters like you had in the Collector base, where people argue the pros and cons of each decision, but the choice is ultimately up to the player.
1. Destroy the Reapers. This is the straightforward decision. Problem is, the CR has corrupted it so that the signal will essentially instruct all Reaper-based tech to self-destruct as well. This includes the Citadel, the Relays, and anyone with Reaper inmplants, like Husks and Shepard. If Shepard chooses this one, you get the default red-light choice from the game, with all the outcomes. Make sure the discussions with NPC's highlight the probable outcome of destroying the Relay network, so that the choice is appropriately weighty.
The endgame cutscene is a funeral for Shepard with the surviving members of his team, with the LI standing slightly to the side in black, on a badly damaged Earth while people are clearly trying to rebuild. Maybe show images of Relay tech in the background, showing that people are trying to reconstruct the basic technology before resources run out. That kind of thing.
2. Control the Reapers. This is the Illusive Man's decision. But again, it's been corrupted by CR. If you choose it, CR commits suicide, but the pulse that goes out instructs the Reapers to accept the controlling intelligence in the Citadel as the Master Controller for the Reapers. And the bonding process is one-way.
The scene shifts to the crew in a bar, the LI slamming back drinks while others look on and try to help them deal. The image pulls back... and back... then it becomes digital, and shifts to one of many displays in a huge room with a galactic display showing Relays, Citadel, Alliance and Terminus shipping... and Reapers. Most of which seem to be heading to Collector space.
Harbinger's massive hologram is on the far side of the display, whlie Shepard is shown having been merged with the Citadel's former CR housing. Harbinger confidently states that all Shepard has done is delay the inevitable. That eventually organics will be destroyed by synthetics, and now that he's connected to the Citadel, Shepard will live long enough to see it. Shepard's reply is a confidently challenging, "We'll see..." The scene closes out there, leaving the final outcome of that choice somewhat in doubt. Not necessarily *bad*, but no guarantee of lasting good, either.
3. Synthesis. The Reapers will receive a signal which will cause them all to head to the nearest Relay to their current location, and all gate back into Dark Space. This is a good time to show what the Citadel looks like as a Relay, as the ones around Earth use it to gate back to Dark Space as well, and specifically won't return until invited back. The CR wipes itself out of the Citadel as well (or leaves with the Reapers,) but the Relays aren't destroyed.
The corruption it puts in place is that the Relays will spin up and fire *data* to every relay, and in all directions before shutting down. They can be restarted, but by the time they are, the damage will have been done. This data packet will be everything there is to know about the Reapers. Technology, science, Indoctrination, Relay tech... everything. This knowledge will be sent not just to every government out there, but every colony, research station, and warlord with a working transceiver. The ability to make what Miranda called Organo-Synthetic fusion practical and viable will be released in all directions.
By doing this, the stage is set for the *possibility* that the Reapers will one day find a galaxy in perfect synthesis between organic and synthetic. But there's also the equally real possibility that warlords use it to destroy the galaxy, or that some kind of super-synthetic comes along that repeats the cycle, drawing the Reapers back to restart their Plan.
Image there is the "win" situation, where Shepard, company and LI are celebrating on the Normandy... but the screens show vast amounts of Reaper technical data being displayed. It's an epic victory... but it's now up to the races of the galaxy to *work* to prove it's a *real* victory. It's not without price tags, but they still have the chance to prove they did the right thing.
That, I'm fairly certain, would allow an ending sequence which actually keeps all three established endings, with only a slight change in interpretation, and a few bonus cutscenes to round out the epilogue.
Modifié par Kitsudragon, 30 mars 2012 - 08:09 .
Retour en haut
.............. or proceed to canada with pitchforks:mellow:
