I want to first point out that I installed ME3 the day after the Extended Cut was released. Beenholding on the to my CE for a while as I wanted to start fresh form ME1 and I was playing chapters of SWTOR between games. I have, however, after beating the game went on Youtube and watched the original release endings just to see what all the fuss was about. What I witnessed was pretty messed up and downright nonsensical. The endings are still flawed, but before they were beyond excuses.
How exactly was Bioware not surprised by the backlash?
The mass relays exploded. The Arrival DLC tells us that mass relays blowing up destroys star systems. Ergo, every star system with a mass relay is gone. Earth is destroyed, Thessia is destroyed, Kur'kesh is destroyed, Palaven is destroyed, Tuchanka, Rannoch, Irune, Dekuuna, Kahje and many many other worlds and presumably many many other races (many we've never heard of), all destroyed. Only the destroy ending would show an existing area to refute this, but then ou've contradicted your own established lore.
Somehow the Normandy, whose thrusters clearly explode and break off in the middle of FTL travel, somehow survives... only to be marooned on a unknown world. Tali and Garrus presumably starve to death unless the planet is too their curality. In which case everyone else starves to death after some very violent diarhea. Since there are no mass relays they are stuck on that world, or at the least, that star cluster. The end.
So 5 years, 3 games, 100s of hours and Shepard kills 99.999% of unknown galaxy's denizens. And your crew gets to live a hard life of hunting and gathering until none are left but Liara. Should I speculate that she'll commit suicide at that point vs spending the next 700-800 years alone if no EDI? Assuming EDI's blue box doesn't break down due to lack of maintence materials. In the non-destroy endings I guess Liara would live along enough to be rescued in a hundred years or so. Horrible ending based on what I'd just seen to speculate on. And that would be the "good" ending? How is there even room for a bad one? What exactly did the fans not get? What else exactly were they supposed to take from the original? It boggles my mind that Bioware actually wrote that, everyone in the office agreed it was good and it made it pass testing or whatever.
Now, on to the EC endings. I have a few comments about those endings.
1. Harbinger ignores the Normandy. I've seen people bring this up. This IS odd, but understandable considering. I understand why that part is there and there really is no way to do it within the confines of that scenario. I romanced Tali and brought her to the last mission. I think someone must have been peeling onions cause my eyes got alittle watery. Nice addition.
2. The Catalyst.
Shepard never gets to debate him or question his assertions. He just mindlessly nodes and accepts whatever this thing says. Sure, you added some questions, but the answers are stupid and again shepard doesn't argue against the Catalyst's by bringing up EDI or the geth as flying in the face of his assertion that synthetics will kill organics "just because".
This is the thing that is responsible for perpetrating the carnage going on around him for the past 37+ million years. Why would Shepard risk believing the voice of the Reapers? Look at the new suggestions that the reapers give:
A. Grab hold of some live electrical cables (and die)
B. Jump into a laser beam (and die)
If shepard picks A or B and the Catalyst is lying Shepard dies and the cycle continues. Then the reapers laugh at him for being so stupid as to suicide himself on the word of the freaking reaper overlord. A and B make no since. A, especially as why is their even a means to achieve that result built into the Citadel in the first place? And why didn't the Catalyst just play space police like Space God Shepard does when he/she takes control? The pure space sorecery of synthesis (as wacky as it is) is what it is. It's pretty silly, but whatever. I could understand if Shepard lived in this ending, was synthesized himself and it was passed on like a virus to other organic. In this scenario the children of organics would become the hybrids from birth. Still a bit magical in terms of science, but not straight up Narnia magical.
If the head of the reapers is up in the citadel all along what was the point of ME1? Why was the Catalyst unable to start the super relay and bring the Reaper fleets in? You'd have thought Soveriegn would have just gave the Catalyst a call and said, "Yo, keepers be buggin. Can you fire up the Citadel, boss?". And if the Catalyst is not connected in that way (you'd think a 37+ million year old a super intelligent AI would have thought to get that upgrade by now. I know EDI would) how did the reapers even take the Citadel in the first place? If they could simply just up take it at any time why did Soveriegn need Saren to open the arms from the inside? So a reaper fleet rolls in and they council didn't just close the arms like they did with Soveriegn and the geth armada? Again, everything in ME1 makes no sense now.
For Destroy and Synthesis, how does that weapon know exactly who is synthetic and what is simply a machine? Wouldn't it have to take out or "oganicate" every piece of technology in the galaxy indescriminately? A geth, for instsance, is physically a piece of machinery just like the Normandy, a hover car, personal omnitool or a coffee maker. The body is just hardware, right? Don't the reapers have specific markers for a more precise "detonation"? Every ship in the Allied fleet would have to be disabled as well?
3. The mass relays damaged to the point of being non-functional. Why is this part necessary? I just don't get why you bothered to put this in anything save a low EMS fail ending.
OK, so let's say they fix the Sol relay. The Arcturus Relay is still broken so it would have nowhere to connect too. And wouldn't it take like... I don't know, a decade or two to get a repair team there to fix it? And that's just one mass relay connection restored. This is especially a problem with the Destroy ending as there are no reapers left to help in repairs (I asusme their FTL is much faster than ours). And considering none of the council races know how to make mass relays this endeavor would first envolve lengthy research. Considering Sol system has no infrastructure or lab facilities I don't see this occuring realistically. Or did I miss the part where they figured out mass relay tech via the conduit from ME1?
The way I see it everyone is still going to be cut off. How did Wrex and Grunt make it back to Tuchanka? Or Samara and Rila to Thessia? Pretty sure grunt would have fully developed plates by the time a route to Tuchanka was established. But I guess the devs just hand waved it. Or maybe it was a hundred years later? Whatever.
4. What is the point of the Normady crew landing on that jungle world? And why are they completely off the beaten path while the rest of the fleet was still together? I means there is only 1 mass relay out of Sol. If the Crucible blast is FTFTL how did they even reach the relay in time to get to another star system and how did they reach a garden world considering the Sol Relay only goes to Arcturus, a red giant system with one dead planet? It had one mercury type planet, right? To say they crashed is alittle erroneous in itself as there is no trail of downed trees behind the Normandy. Looks like it landed normally. I can ignore that. But... what is the point of that even occuring? The memorial board since could occur in Earth's orbit or on Earth. *shrug*
5. The breath scene for Destroy. OK, the Control and Synthesis have Shepard die. And the galaxy is at peace either enforced thru the galactic reaper patrol or thru utopia where everyone is super smart, immortal(?), reapers each at universities and pick flowers with children. With all the epilogue stuff the story is wrapped up rather you like the totality of the ending or not. Since Shepard is alive at the end you kind of left the Destroy ending up in the air. The thing about hope and imagination is that it's not concrete. I though it was the writters job to complete the story. Heck, how about the game just fade to black and roll credits after Anderson dies so we can imagine the rest ourselves? Shepard activates it and reapers die, right? Casey Hudson could say they eunited and then in 3 weeks say, "Nah, we changed our minds." They never meet up again because, well... the mass relays were, in fact, fubar."
As was mentioned before, the Normandy on that unknown world seems pointless. Not sure what you were going for there. If they were in orbit you could have the LI going to put the name plate up and then have Chakwas grab their arm to stop them. Then she says something (no audio necessary) before holding here omnitool up playing a holo message from Hackett. everyone gathers around and the LI (or best bud) smiles. Show the Normandy lifting up and taking off. Then the rubble scene appears and it gets to Shepard's chest, he does his breath and you have a voice saying, "We've found Commander Shepard.. Alive". Cut to credits. No need for a hug and kiss reunion scene with the crew, but at that point it's more than implied hope I'd think. People will have to use their imaginations as far as the house on Rannoch, blue babies, human babies, adopted turian war orphans, etc. but they will know shepard was found and a reunion did, in fact, occur. I think there was enough heartache and loss throughout the game to warranty an ending on a definitively good note.
It's been a good ride, alot of emotional investment for alot of fans thru great character writting and I just feel Shepard (now a gaming icon)deserved better treatment in the Destroy ending. I would suggest no jungle planet landing and/or no destroyed relays for high EMS Destroy ending. Because with relays intact it is irrelevant if they are in another system. All you'd really have to add is the Chakwas part at the memorial ceremony and the random search and rescue guy's voice saying Shepard was found alive. Not saying I would mind more pictures popping up while credits are rolling. You know, pictures of an akward biotic b**ch mother changing diapers, blues babies, a house being built on rannoch, spilling drinks at the Citadel, etc.
, but that isn't necessary. I fully understand that you wouldn't want to change the endings completely (although I have some ideas on that without cutting the Catalyst to make it more sensical I won't go into them as it would require rewriting/adding some dialog). But these suggestions simply require 3 things: 1.) a change to one quick relay cinematic, 2.) a short scene with ingame graphics and 3.) a small bit of voiced dialog that anyone in your staff could voice (no need to go hiring a voice actor). It could be optional addtion and it would probably make alot of fans happy. Just sayin.
Modifié par The Twilight God, 07 juillet 2012 - 04:04 .
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