I find it telling, that the OPTION to add a HAPPY Ending to ANY game is met with such resistance.
What carefree lives must one live, what lack ot world events must one be privvy to, how nice it must be to not WANT a happy ending to a game and a Character one has INVESTED Years Playing.
JohnP's Alternate MEHEM is a better choice than the 'original' MEHEM. It does not remove the Catalyst, but it does cut down on the bull**** and minimize the illogic of the dialog. That alone is a great editing job.
It keeps the other two endings, and it cuts out the jarring, extended 'rescue' scene that the MEHEM people added in favor of a well done voiceover during the 'breath' scene.
The slideshow after the ending also includes a few pictures that were in the game files but apparently cut for no reason. And finally, the post-destroy nameplate scene has a few subtle improvements.
http://www.nexusmods...ffect3/mods/265
Because MEHEM is not a brand, it's an acronym.
Mass Effect Happy Ending Mod.
And even in Destroy, it's not all that happy. It's bittersweet, not bittersour. In my opinion.
Not everyone plays games to escape the same things you're trying to escape.
MEHEM took a bad ending, and made it worse IMO.
I'd rather have Strarbrat and a game that ends with galactic civilization collapsing, than be smothered in schmaltz.
Abso-freakin'-lutely.
It's hard to accept that the ending to ME 3 wasn't something that could be fixed, but that is the reality of it. There will never be a proper ending to ME 3.
There's nothing wrong with liking MEHEM. Heck , I consider Indoctrination Theory to be a far more interesting ending (fantasy as it is.) But there's no point in trying to resurrect the issue. ME 3 ended badly, and it's best to accept that and move on.
Why do people get so hung up on the ending of ME3? The whole single player game was terrible; from the get go it was clear that NONE of the choices made in the other games made any effect beyond what cameo appearances you got to see. Saved or destroyed the collector base in ME2? Well the start of ME3 will be almost exactly the same for you. Key NPCs killed off in previous games would just be replaced by generic stand-ins that fullfilled the same function. Overall I found the game boring and extremely linear, which wasn't helped by the asinine endings. IMO multiplayer was the only redeeming feature of the game and even that wasn't particularly great due to the ongoing dumbification of the series and lack of customization on offer.
Which is fine.
But something like it should have been an option.
Sure. I wouldn't complain if there was one. Its just how much happy would a player want. For me a simple slide showing Shepard and LI standing next to each other with their backs to the screen overlooking a field with the sun setting would be enough for me.
If you've got an escape hatch, then so do I. I don't want to always have one.And what does that have to do with the option?
Especially one the first two games set up as being quite possible?
Saving the Collector Base actually does have an effect. It's a subtle one, though; there are a few more Cerberus troops in missions. And you get the head of the proto-Reaper instead of the heart at the end. You know, where it doesn't matter anymore except for looks.
Saving the Collector Base actually does have an effect. It's a subtle one, though; there are a few more Cerberus troops in missions. And you get the head of the proto-Reaper instead of the heart at the end. You know, where it doesn't matter anymore except for looks.
You sure about the first part? I'll make sure to save it in my next playthrough then
I thought the fact that Shepard didn't make it through the ending was the absolute best part of the ending, to be honest.
Sure. I wouldn't complain if there was one. Its just how much happy would a player want. For me a simple slide showing Shepard and LI standing next to each other with their backs to the screen overlooking a field with the sun setting would be enough for me.
Which is the beauty of the final scene of MEHEM, having Shepard and the LI embrace before the memorial as the Normandy returns to Earth. Thematically pretty similar to what you described.
If you've got an escape hatch, then so do I. I don't want to always have one.
I've got some sympathy for the argument that ME was always about escaping consequences rather than dealing with them, but I'm not going to sign on with a perspective that elevates a problem with Bio's designs into a design principle. We've got the TES games for that.
If you don't want an escape hatch, don't take the escape hatch. DAO doesn't force you into using it, why not Mass Effect?
And you call it "escaping consequence" I call it "overcoming obstacles" Heck one of the catch-phrases to Mass Effect was "There's always another way"
I thought the fact that Shepard didn't make it through the ending was the absolute best part of the ending, to be honest.
Which is fine, if you want your Shepard to make an Ultimate Sacrifice, by all means, do so. Tell your story the way you want to.
But don't force everyone's to do so, no matter how they plaqyed the game and what kind of Assets they hace.
I would have been fine with the extended cut as long as it gave an option (in the destroy ending) for the beam to kill ONLY the reapers and nothing else (not the geth, EDI etc.) I wanted Shepard to survive to make his romance not pointless and I wanted the geth to survive to make getting the geth and quarians to declare peace not completely pointless. It's annoying that the EC gave us a '100% sad' ending but not a '100% happy' ending. I'm forced to choose basically with Shepard surviving or synthetics surviving. Why can't we choose both?
I'm all for the idea of a Happy Ending in Mass Effect 3 because it's a game about making choices at large, so it boggles my mind why they decided the end scenario had to be so railroaded (or not, because I understand the time-budget constraints they had and Casey's Ego) but with all this said, I think MEHEM is terrible. I think Mr. Fob is a great modder and I appreciate all his work, but MEHEM is still just a mod, and all the "Original content" it brings is not very well done at all. I wanted an official Happy Ending for the game, but I never wanted it to be as cheesy as it is in MEHEM.
I'm all for the idea of a Happy Ending in Mass Effect 3 because it's a game about making choices at large, so it boggles my mind why they decided the end scenario had to be so railroaded (or not, because I understand the time-budget constraints they had and Casey's Ego) but with all this said, I think MEHEM is terrible. I think Mr. Fob is a great modder and I appreciate all his work, but MEHEM is still just a mod, and all the "Original content" it brings is not very well done at all. I wanted an official Happy Ending for the game, but I never wanted it to be as cheesy as it is in MEHEM.
Obviously, It shouldn't have been THE ending to ME3, but a more polished version of the Alternate Happy Ending Mod should definitely have been one of the endings. Quite frankly, I've read about ten or so suggested 'alternate' endings for ME3 on the internet, ranging from 100% corny happy endings, and from immensely depressing 'bittersweet' endings with Shepard and his squad dying etc.
All of these suggested endings should have been an option in ME3, then every layer could just play towards/choose the ending that they consider appropriate for the trilogy. If there was a 100& happy 'destroy' ending with only the reapers being killed and all of Shepard's squad and Shepard himself surviving, I definitely would have chosen that, and I'm sure many other ME fans would have as well.
With the EC, I just choose the 'Control' ending, as that allows synthetics to survive, allows Shepard to *sort of* survive and sets up quite an ominous situation that ME4 could address. If I choose 'Destroy' I feel I'm sacrificing all synthetics just so Shepard might survive.
Obviously, It shouldn't have been THE ending to ME3, but a more polished version of the Alternate Happy Ending Mod should definitely have been one of the endings. Quite frankly, I've read about ten or so suggested 'alternate' endings for ME3 on the internet, ranging from 100% corny happy endings, and from immensely depressing 'bittersweet' endings with Shepard and his squad dying etc.
All of these suggested endings should have been an option in ME3, then every layer could just play towards/choose the ending that they consider appropriate for the trilogy. If there was a 100& happy 'destroy' ending with only the reapers being killed and all of Shepard's squad and Shepard himself surviving, I definitely would have chosen that, and I'm sure many other ME fans would have as well.
With the EC, I just choose the 'Control' ending, as that allows synthetics to survive, allows Shepard to *sort of* survive and sets up quite an ominous situation that ME4 could address. If I choose 'Destroy' I feel I'm sacrificing all synthetics just so Shepard might survive.
No.
Because you/your Shepard have/has to be a psychopath to pick a 'bad' ending when you have a super-happy-everybody-lives ending. Kinda like in ME2, where you pretty much have to be either retarded or purposely kill of squadmembers to achieve a less than perfect ending. Deaths on the SM should've been mandatory, just like sacrifice is mandatory in all ME3 endings.
And just like I've never seen any low EMS endings myself. To achieve that your Shepard either has to be a massive ahole, or be retarded. EMS values should've been hidden and some choices, albeit appearing to be the right one, should've resulted in catastrophic losses later in the game, resulting in a Shepard who, to himself, has done all the right things, but still ended up frying the galaxy.
some choices, albeit appearing to be the right one, should've resulted in catastrophic losses later in the game, resulting in a Shepard who, to himself, has done all the right things, but still ended up frying the galaxy.
I'm assuming you're being sarcastic. I'm pretty sure that would have made the ending even worse.
I'm assuming you're being sarcastic. I'm pretty sure that would have made the ending even worse.
I'm all for the idea of a Happy Ending in Mass Effect 3 because it's a game about making choices at large, so it boggles my mind why they decided the end scenario had to be so railroaded (or not, because I understand the time-budget constraints they had and Casey's Ego) but with all this said, I think MEHEM is terrible. I think Mr. Fob is a great modder and I appreciate all his work, but MEHEM is still just a mod, and all the "Original content" it brings is not very well done at all. I wanted an official Happy Ending for the game, but I never wanted it to be as cheesy as it is in MEHEM.
Are you familiar with JohnP's Alternate MEHEM? It keeps the Catalysts and the choices but alters 3100+Destroy so Shep, the geth, and EDI clearly live.
Personally, I never want to see the Catalyst again. But I think it's nice to have options for eveyrone.
Which is the beauty of the final scene of MEHEM, having Shepard and the LI embrace before the memorial as the Normandy returns to Earth. Thematically pretty similar to what you described.
If you don't want an escape hatch, don't take the escape hatch. DAO doesn't force you into using it, why not Mass Effect?
And you call it "escaping consequence" I call it "overcoming obstacles" Heck one of the catch-phrases to Mass Effect was "There's always another way"
Which is fine, if you want your Shepard to make an Ultimate Sacrifice, by all means, do so. Tell your story the way you want to.
But don't force everyone's to do so, no matter how they plaqyed the game and what kind of Assets they hace.
Er...I think we have a fundamental difference in opinion about how video game storytelling works. It wasn't my story, it was Bioware's story. We're given a lot of agency within the series to make the choices we would like our Shepard to make, but we don't control the narrative structure of the game or, really, anything other than our Shepard. Shepard was set up as the central figure, and thus a lot of things hinged on what choice Shepard made. But there are some things in the story that have to happen no matter what the main character does or says. Either Ashley or Kaidan WILL die, no matter what you do. You can save one of them, but no matter what you do you can't save both. Shepard's death is exactly like that. You can have the known universe be as prepared as possible, but Shepard DOES NOT survive the final encounter. Shepard wins the final encounter, but does not survive it. Which isn't to say all the preparing you do is meaningless, because the better prepared you are the less damage the Reapers do to the galaxy at large. And I don't consider Shepard's death to be at all the same as DAO's Ultimate Sacrifice, because the Warden goes into the final battle knowing, without a doubt, that s/he is going to die if they don't do the Dark Ritual. Shepard is given no such assurance, or way out. Because one does not exist for Shepard.
As a writer, I find the existence of a "Happy Ending" mod to be, frankly, offensive. Did I love the ending to the Mass Effect series? No, not really. I didn't hate it, but the fact that Shepard (and possibly others) dies has never been an issue with me. That was the ending to Shepard's story, just as it was always meant to be.
Except that you're wrong, RevilFox. Shepard *can* survive the ending of Mass Effect 3. The 'breath' scene is labeled "Shepard_Lives" in the game files. It's just ambiguous because Mac Walters and Casey Hudson wanted to Torch the Franchise and Run, but ultimately weren't allowed to.
Er...I think we have a fundamental difference in opinion about how video game storytelling works. It wasn't my story, it was Bioware's story. We're given a lot of agency within the series to make the choices we would like our Shepard to make, but we don't control the narrative structure of the game or, really, anything other than our Shepard. Shepard was set up as the central figure, and thus a lot of things hinged on what choice Shepard made. But there are some things in the story that have to happen no matter what the main character does or says. Either Ashley or Kaidan WILL die, no matter what you do. You can save one of them, but no matter what you do you can't save both. Shepard's death is exactly like that. You can have the known universe be as prepared as possible, but Shepard DOES NOT survive the final encounter. Shepard wins the final encounter, but does not survive it. Which isn't to say all the preparing you do is meaningless, because the better prepared you are the less damage the Reapers do to the galaxy at large. And I don't consider Shepard's death to be at all the same as DAO's Ultimate Sacrifice, because the Warden goes into the final battle knowing, without a doubt, that s/he is going to die if they don't do the Dark Ritual. Shepard is given no such assurance, or way out. Because one does not exist for Shepard.
Then we do have a difference in opinion. I do not consider the Mass Effect to be a novel, written by one person, but a game. Specifically, a role-playing game. Not as flexible as a tabletop setting, but still with a certain amount of freedom and agency for the player.
And saying the player's avatar does not, cannot, and should not survive is one of the worst sins you can commit in a role-playing game. Railroading of the worst kind.
As a writer, I find the existence of a "Happy Ending" mod to be, frankly, offensive. Did I love the ending to the Mass Effect series? No, not really. I didn't hate it, but the fact that Shepard (and possibly others) dies has never been an issue with me. That was the ending to Shepard's story, just as it was always meant to be.
That's your opinion, and that's fine, because I find the endings as written to be kinda offensive myself. Saying this is how Shepard's story "has" to end is the antithesis of role-playing. Saying my character has to die, and worse die doing something I find wholly repugnant, that it was "meant" to be is, to me, detestable. This was not supposed to be an on-rails shooter where the player just has to point the gun and enjoy the story being told them. It was supposed to be so much more.
What this mod does is provide an option. And fortunately options are...optional.
I have no problems with the existence of MEHEM. It's an option that provides options. If people like that mod, by all means, use it. It doesn't mean that this mod should be made canon or at least be referenced in new Mass Effect. People like Falskaar mod for Skyrim too, it doesn't mean that new TES game will reference events of Falskaar. Modding is just that, customizing the game to our liking. But modding is an overlay on the top of the core game that all the players experience. It doesn't make sense to reference content that is only available to the section of the fanbase.
Then we do have a difference in opinion. I do not consider the Mass Effect to be a novel, written by one person, but a game. Specifically, a role-playing game. Not as flexible as a tabletop setting, but still with a certain amount of freedom and agency for the player.
And saying the player's avatar does not, cannot, and should not survive is one of the worst sins you can commit in a role-playing game. Railroading of the worst kind.
That's your opinion, and that's fine, because I find the endings as written to be kinda offensive myself. Saying this is how Shepard's story "has" to end is the antithesis of role-playing. Saying my character has to die, and worse die doing something I find wholly repugnant, that it was "meant" to be is, to me, detestable. This was not supposed to be an on-rails shooter where the player just has to point the gun and enjoy the story being told them. It was supposed to be so much more.
What this mod does is provide an option. And fortunately options are...optional.
A table-top RPG is a collaborative story told by a combination of the GM and the players. The GM lays out the world, story, plays the NPCs, etc. and the players can do and react to things however they see fit. It's entirely possible, and likely probably, that they will do something that the GM never even thought of and end up with a wholly unexpected result.
A video game RPG is not the same thing. The framework of the game is set by the devs, and the player is given a character. They can make choices that will affect things, but if the story as written doesn't allow for them to do something, then they simply can't do it. There are no real unexpected results, and if there are then they are bugs that are normally squished. There may be 1000 options for you to chose from, but there are not 1001, for example. In a table top game there could be 10,000.
How is modding the ending of Mass Effect any different than writing your own pages for a choose your own adventure story and stapling them into the book? Or saying that you don't like the ending to a novel and just writing your own?
And, for the record, I'm not against the idea of mods for a game. I'm just against the idea of mods that change the story.
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