Personal context:
I've bought ME1 and ME2 around 2 years ago and since then they stood inside their original wrapping plastic up until last January and February, respectively. Why so long on the shelf? Well let's just say I just went on a game shopping spree back then and got more games than I could "chew" and considering I like to save the (at least perceived as) best for "last"... I've ranked the ME games as my "last" games. And so as it happened I was finally able to play ME1 on the last weeks of January and ME2 on the first weeks of February.
ME1: It is a good starting point to build upon a series, it forced me read most (all?) of the codex entries because I became enthralled with the overall setting. The characters were engaging and despite some over-built expectations I like it a lot. The bad were mostly some technical hijinks and some production value, every cave/mine and the same layout like every underground bunker/base. Realizing that I've recalled one of DA2 faults about the copy/paste dungeons (never played it, but I guess I've dodged a bullet). Still, there was still a lot of planet surface with varied terrain to explore, and although MAKO joyridding was somewhat clunky I quite liked it, but I guess it was only I that I was expecting to find stuff to blow with the mounted cannon, mineral probing...meh, salvaging...meh... it forced me to almost always take Tali with me, but it was ok. Inventory system? pfft thank you so much for making my OCD hostage...
Anyhow, I've played as a Vanguard and tried to play the most of it and make the perfect playthrough to be continued...
...ME1's ending, there's that cheese-full bit of "Oh my were is Shepard, is he dead?" While I thought, "No he'll show up amidst the rubble" and there it was, but it was all good, because I'd connected with characters.
ME2: ..and so I import my character, and I must say I did not like the starting premise very much, but I guess only by being brought up from the dead would my Shepard would be grateful enough to work with Cerberus. So, I went along, albeit suspicious of TIM and even thinking he might had something to do with me dying in the first place. Regardless, ME2 soon begun to unfold as my favourite playground, LOTS of engaging characters each with it's unique personality. And then there was the jokes, back-referencing ME1 issues (the elevators...), banter between squademates, it all increased and was greatly appreciated. And as I recruited my "suicide crew" I felt close to everyone of them (to the point that everyone had to live on my watch). Technically, I think most changes were improvements over ME1 and I've welcomed the more cinematic look of it (although it was always a shame I couldn't pause [for unique cut-scenes] or skip [for mass relay scenes; I guess those were disguised loading screens].
ME3: ..what do you mean my face went generic? Ok, after a bit of community fix-me-up, my Shepard ended up looking closely enough to my original Shepard, but it was a sort of a slap in the face, literally. However, since I fixed it easily I've put it aside. And then the game started, and I was engulfed by it, it became even more engaging and fun, to the point that I started mechanically going to speak with every member of my crew after almost every mission... everything was going along so good and at this time [before Rannoch Prioritary mission] I've already been warned by a friend that the endings sucked big time and I was actively dodging anymore spoilers, I already knew Shepard would die, but that came has no surprise or shock, it was already been hinted pretty hard during the marketing stage which btw, was overkill... So given the facts I was weary of the endings, but I though "Well the internet is full of touchy people, and even my friend can be very picky concerning games" so I continued playing as I always did, choosing what my mostly Paragon Shepard would do...
...and then Harby does a number on me leaving me like a rag... but it was fine by me, never expected to go one-on-one with Harby anyway. The slow motion hazed effect I think makes sense, and up the beam I go... ok lots of slaughter, expected. Being nowhere recognizable: expected. Anderson got there before me: no problem. TIM shows up: Some people complain because they feel they did not have a proper FINAL BOSS, I'm completely fine with that, and TIM being it (as some suggested) made no sense, as it is TIM was a man of words and words are the weapons that made sense to defeat him. Saren deja vu? Pretty much, but still I was fine with it. Oh look, I'm being transported on a raising plattform, okay let's see where it leads. Oh... an etheral manifestation of the boy that got blown up on Earth? Oh.. it's the Catalyst, doesn't live on the Citadel.. but the Citadel is part of him? So it's some sort of ..ahem Reaper Lord AI? True ascended being/collective? ok let's hear him/it..... what now?
Ok, I can conceive advanced race might have deemed it impossible for organics and true inteligent synthetics to co-exist, many people find that the "because synthetics will ultimately kill you I/we created a race of synthetics to kill you", still that didn't bother me that much... because I knew the Reapers where a synthetic+organic mixture...
...what left a bitter (and not so very much sweet) taste in my mouth was that no matter what option was chosen the Reapers/Reaper Lords seem to win, even if we choose to destroy them, we would have to destroy all synthetics alongside with them, nevermind the fact that my Paragon Shepard achieve the seemingly impossible of brokering a peace between quarians and geth. I can respect the want for a bitter-sweet ending, and perhaps a little close to the reality of a war of that scale would be, but if so the peace between Quarians and Geth should not have been possible to achieve at all. Sentiment-wise I think only a person who plays with a AI-phobe renegade Shepard can be pleased with the Destroy ending. Anyhow my first "chosen" end was the "green" one, mostly because after the Catalyst "explanation" I was so... "WHAT?" that I just went straight forward. That option which is presented as the best, would be the best if only we weren't giving in to the Reapers ideal of organic-machine hybrids. And then there's Control, the "Yes, we've failed at last... but let us live, and rest of the people... some of them will get to live too".
All of this could have not looked so BLEAK if at least there would have been a bit more of PRODUCTION VALUE put into the ENDING(s). After my initial shock of discovering what I've yearning to do (destroying the reapers) would come at the cost of destroying all other synthetics, my biggest disappointment was seeing that the unfurling end(s) was/were mostly the same for every option, nevermind all those blantant major plot holes reported all over the internet,.. but for instance on the Synthesis "green" option I have Joker + EDI (and Javik as the 3rd wheel) comming out of the marooned Normandy (nevermind now how it got there), but why don't have I that too in the Control ending too, I mean last time I spoke with both of them they still had the funky hots for each other, and at least in the Control ending, would the Reapers would leave, right? or did I miss anything... funny fact, when in the Control end the Reapers start to lift off on Earth the Soldiers start to cheer... how would they know the Reapers weren't just repositioning, conversely on the Destroy end... as the Reapers topple the Soldiers just stare at the show...
So re-focusing on the bigger complaints:
--- Shepard unfighting surrender to the "etheral catalyst":
- Shepard: "No thank we rather keep our own form"
- Catalyst: "Pick red, blue or now only available for a limited period, green"
- Shepard: "Kay, sure".
--- The Normandy marooning:
Although they wanted to leave a speculative ending, flauting apparent impossibilities is not the way to go, sure I can rationalize improvable yet somewhat possible ways that put the Normandy on that escape route, however as to why I see Garrus (which was on my Harby-blasted squad when we're running down the slope) coming out of the Normandy unscathed... I would expect at least another facial scar...
--- Mass relays going bang...
Not much of a surprise, and per se, it's actually good thing overall, if one can conceive that they exploded "soflty" then there's just the issue of "OOPS, the combined strengh (or what remains of it) of Universe's military is at Earth's doorstep." Besides that, it's a out with old, welcome the new...
--- Fix, for this?
Well even if the only issue was Shepard dying, many people would still whine about it, and in my opinion just let Shepard rest. However, beyond a "We-promise-this-DLC-will-fix-the-hurt-we-caused" DLCs killing of the main character is not a sound business-wise decision, because well... what will it matter to load back before the end save and do whatever, if it will end in the same unfulling end? I for once, don't feel inclined to do any replay. And even if they "fix" the ending, I'm quite wary of said "fix". As a rule, I believe a "piece of art" should not be mended to apease an audience, but then this is also a commercial product, and as the latest tendency seems to be to try and apease the masses, I'm afraid that in trying to apease the greater number of people, they will just make it worse.
IMHO, the sentimental harm is done in the sense of the aforementioned scale of the believable, while I can cure a genophage, unite geth and quarians, the only purpose it serves in the end is to increase my genocide stats.
Also, as I said before, even with the same given choices, clearly more distinct ending sequences with a better production value would go a long away. Even a few seconds, of rendering for each of the major players fates, if well done would be able to provided a bit more closure. A more discernible sequence of events that led to my crew escaping? Of course, that involves certainly a lot of money... yet what I can say is that the current HIGHLY templated endinds sure look CHEAP...
On the other hand, I must say that my healing started with many of the humurous parodies to ME3, either videos, macro images or satirical posts. Furthermore I say that the other day I felt a bit guilty while I killed Marauder Shields on a MP match
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