How do YOU think Mass Effect should have ended?

[Roroshi14]

The way my game ended was pretty epic. I destroyed the Reapers, died and saved the world with my sacrifice. I didn't do well enough on the playthru to get all those extra original endings my game ended with Joker running and being hit by the EMP. Which was very confusing, but overall epic.

 

[Blazing Steel]

At the moment I'm content with the ending. I mean it's not going to be making any 'best ever' list but it's decent enough. There are some changes however I would have liked to impliment.

Overall changes:
- Have the Normandy participate in the battle. Low score? Joker goes down in flames. Halfway? Engine room explodes and if you upgraded it Adams can keep it contained, if not then you loose everyone in the room including Tali if present.
- Clips of ground battle/space battle before you make your choice including Jack and her students, Jacob and Kassumi on the crusible etc.
- Clip of squadmates living on. Eg. Maelon helping Tuchunka in Mordin's honour etc.
- Assets count for something more than points. Eg. if you rescued the Eklore, have Garrus ride one into battle or something.

Spoiler

Destuction Ending:
- Low score? Explosion kills off the main Asari system or similar effects. Since a low score means you lose London I'd like to see it affect the Galaxy aswell.

Control Ending:
- Low score means some Reaper rebel and the fighting continues for several more years causing countless casualties.

Synthesis Ending:
- If low score have the Vorcha rebel or something.

Fuck You Ending:
- Say no then show Shepard the images of the fight:
-- Zaeed fighting some husk then (Low Score he is overwhelmed) (High scorce, the Blood Pack, Blue Suns and Eclipse save him.)
-- On the crucible Jacob and Kassumi are holding the reapers off, but before a Banshee can tear Jacob in half a rachni sacrafices it's self if previously saved.
-- Show the Quarian admiral's ship fighting 5 reapers facing imminent death; (lack of spare ships = destuction, decent ems leading to the salarin STG forces trying to help but ultimately failing, Made peace with the geth causes a geth dreadnaught named Legion to warp in raming 3 of the reapers and destroying another. 'This unit will provide assistance.'
- After several more clips featuring your squadmates in battle and your ems ships playing out, focus back on the starchild and have him ask in harbinger's voice: 'Is this what you want?' Here the player could pick one of the offered endings or say yes and give their one of three ending speeches. Eg. The good speech: I united everyone and we will win through awesomeness... or the evil one: We will bring down everyone one of you fuckers cause I'm comander fricking Shepard. Then feature everyone going down like the Titanic or putting up a valiant fight. Just so the ending feels like a decent one, not just something Bioware taged on because the fans made them.

 

[knight56]

Without a literal Deus Ex Machina.

 

[ralfy]

Refusal, then a major battle with EMS affecting resources available.

 

[Innegativeion]

A) Kick the starchild the fuck out of the script

B) Give the crucible a definite FUNCTION, not three separate arbitrary bullshit functions (control and synthesis? seriously wtf. And what distinguishes AI technology from regular technology?) Maybe, like, destroying large mass effect drives, therefor killing all reapers but also leaving the melancholy feeling Bioware wanted so desperately, without killing off the geth and EDI for a cheap tear, and still leaving the hope of rebuilding that the EC brought to the destroy ending

C) Big bad ass showdown between Shepard and Harbinger's core. The alliance will try desperately to hold off the reapers from stopping the crucible, but Harby breaks their defensive line, but his laser beam is damaged in the process. He tries to block the crucible with his body, crashing into the citadel control room (the council room from Mass Effect 1, NOT a new random room never seen before). You throw up your space helment, but get flung towards the window and end up vacuumed into Harby's face-cannon. You start blasting holes through his wiring as hackett starts panicking over your comm because the crucible can't get through and Harby's mass field is protecting him from being dislodged.

Boss fight (yes boss fight! A boss fight will NEVER be too video-gamey for a video game!) with Harbinger's core, a terrifying mutated bio-mechanical monster vaguely resembling the reapers' makers; horrifying and totally alien. Harbinger mocks humanity, saying how much better the reapers' makers were, and how he, as the AI built to mediate between organics and synthetics was able to reap them, he'll easily reap humanity etc. He mocks Shepard's short sightedness and makes other typical eldritch abomination boasts. Eventually you damage the core enough so the mass drive malfunctions, causing a huge implosion that knocks Harbinger off the crucible. Crucible fires etc.

Happiness of ending will vary directly with your EMS.

Full EMS=happily ever after, minimal casualties

In between= Varying levels of military casualties and people dying from mass drives blowing up in their face after the crucible is fired

Low= We win, but shepard dies and civilization is irreparably damaged

Really low= Crucible misfires, only a few reapers destroyed, cycle continues