Mass Effect 3 ending SPOILERS!
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Hhmm.XandNobody said:
Your reputation. Was it almost entirely paragon/renegade?
Perhaps the middle synthesis option is only available if you yourself take the middle path. I had one notch worth of renegade three/four paragon and the option was there for me.
It makes for a more upsetting game (as you lack sufficient points to make the speech checks), but perhaps that's made up for by the best ending.
Only those who didn't bother analyzing the ending and noticing all the logic flaws that plague it. Once they do that they'll either accept the fact that it sucks, or try to convince themselves that it's still good.Bigeyez said:
First off you are stating your opinion as FACT. (If I have to explain whats wrong with that then obviously you aren't worth the time or effort to have a conversation with) Secondly not everyone thinks like you do and thank God for that. People have differing opinions. Deal with it. You didn't like the ending? Go cry to Bioware about it. Don't demean people who did.Adam Jensen said:
Yeah, because I was comparing ME3 with 2001 in terms of player input and NOT because my point was that...Hammeroj said:
[HEADING=1]Endings that leave room for interpretation should not be considered cop-outs considering that a lot of great movies and books have had vague endings.[/HEADING]
Aight, lets move on.
So you were expecting THOUSANDS of different endings to the trilogy? You were expecting every single fucking important decision that you made to have its own unique (and direct) effect on the ending? Point me to the nearest universe where this is possible.
And did they promise you closure? Is that some universal law of video-game writing? Is every story supposed to fucking have a happy ending? No?
The writers of ANY fiction (whether it be video-games, movies or books) do not owe you closure. There is not some universal writing-clause that says that by purchasing this work, you are guaranteed a happy ending where all the plot-points are left resolved. Just because they didn't tell you how your romance went or what happened to the other characters doesn't mean that it is inherently bad nor that doing so is essential for a good story.
Considering how much has to go into these games, having just two different outcomes to every action alone doubles the amount work that needs to be done. Gamers need to accept the fact that their expectations for a lot of things are unrealistic 99% of the time and would require time and money that might not be there. That applies to the apparent expectation of 100 different endings that the ME fans built up.
Sure, you could pretend to know good writing and offer your subjective opinion on it, but that is besides the point.
I don't think the Geth peace with Quarians and EDI's case can be arguments that synthetics and organics can leave in peace. I mean, they were at peace for what, a few days? How about 100.000 years? Think the peace will last? For all we know the Geth or other AI races would probably find a reason to exterminate all organic life sooner or later. Catalyst might be right.
Although I do believe that player choices should have played more into the ending (and the lack of a final boss disappointed me) I overall agree with you.Hyper-space said:
The ending wasn't inherently bad. It just didn't have any real relation to the first two games (and most of the third, in fact, as they never even hinted to the Citadel being a sentient AI in and of itself). That is disappointing. But not bad.
The game ended on a sad, bittersweet note. That's honestly what I wanted. It isn't HOW I wanted it, but I keep going over it in my head, and honestly, I can't say that I didn't like the ending. Didn't love it, no, the finale for Mass Effect 2 blows it out of the water IMO. But I liked it.
And if anyone says I'm trying to rationalize things or that I'm in denial, or if anyone is thinking of saying "cognitive dissonance", kindly kiss my ass
Bioware...you guys dropped the ball...ever since you bent over backwards and became EA's whore...I could've dealt with ME3 being an entirely piece of shit game, so long as my choices had mattered and created a ending worthy of such a great series...but then Bioware had to go and f**kup something that simple...
Decoy is amazing on an Infiltrator.XandNobody said:
You get two off of each party member as you secure their loyalty, so it pays to play the game twice, once with each Virmire survivor as Kaiden unlocks Barrier and Reave, while Ashley gets Inferno Grenade and Marksman.
On the subject of the ending, most of it has already been said here and on the Bioware forums. There's things they could have definitely done better, but I'm not broken up over the choices or dying (though the whole Destroy all Synthetics thing is really stupid). I think it's the lack of an epilogue that really gets me. Seeing Earth getting rebuilt would have been a nice touch. The Normandy crashlanding on "Eden" is bull. If anything Earth is the "new" Eden, given how all those races are now trapped there and must come together to rebuild if they are to survive. Personally, I'd rather have seen that then have Shepard wink to the camera as they walk off into the star filled galaxy, setting off for their next adventure on a different plane of existence.
I absolutely loved this game... until the ending. I chose synthesis and my crew lived, but seriously, I would be fine with dying if there were a fucking EPILOGUE. I want to know that my decisions made a difference. Hell, I want to see the child I had with Ashley! Also, everyone's stuck on Earth?! Fuck you, Bioware!
Reapers survive->rebuild relays.northeast rower said:
Honestly having them all blow up doesnt mean the end of all travel evar.
Yes, but can you name a Critically Praised and Successful writer who wrote a series and offered no closure and just said, "every person and or species you cared and have come to empathize with over the past 2 books and majority of this book are now dead or stranded because of a last minute plot point that was not introduced, foreshadowed (properly), does not makes sense in context, and has an assertion that directly contradicts what the main character has proven showing up on the last page of the book? No, because they don't exist. There is grimdark, there is tragedy, but this is neither. This is just poor storytelling.Hyper-space said:
/topicLillowh said:
But honestly I'm not sure how Bioware was expecting us to react, especially with this kind of ending. Its plain and simple, they either lost funding, time, or staff to continue the work and copped out.
Just finished it this morning, and holy shit that was bad. I'd heard that it was bad going into it, but I thought to myself "I've played human revolution, it had a poor ending, no way will Bioware mess up that badly. I can trust them." But no. At least in Human revolution, the ending-tron machine came after just one game, which was reasonably linear (story-wise). ME3's ending-tron machine came after three games (or two if you happen to be a ps3 person), in which the choices the player makes are some of the key features of the games themselves. These choices have great effect all through ME3, and then... I dunno. Maybe it was happy hour at the pub down the road, and they reckoned this was good enough. I was planning to play through again immediately, but I can't bring myself to make all those choices for no reason.
To be honest, I would've preferred an ending that's just a simple "*gasp* shep's dead! OR IS HE!?" setup for a sequel so that EA can continue to milk the franchise. And I hate franchises that overstay their welcome.
I, like many others, would like a patch/DLC/something, to soften this up. I disagree with people who say "DELETE THE ENDING! MAKE IT ALL DIFFERENT!", because ultimately, it's biowares game, they shouldn't have to remove something that their people worked on. Remember the shitstorm with the lucas and the vader and the "NOOOOOO!"? I don't want that kind of crap surrounding a game that I otherwise love. My idea (which, of course bioware will never see, but sharing is caring) is to simply introduce a little new dialogue, and also a fourth option, that lets you kill all, or most of the reapers, and maybe destroy the citadel (but leave relays intact) so that it's not QUITE a perfect ending. Then you can pretty much just have the credits roll, then maybe some quick shots of shep getting medals/building a house on rannoch/rebuilding thessia, earth or palaven depending on your romantic interest or whoever you talked to the most. That would make me quite satisfied.
My overall point is that, while I am admittedly a sucker for a happy ending (I must've replayed the suicide mission 5-6 times to make sure I saved everyone), I know that some people aren't. These are the people who are perfectly happy with what they've been given, even though I'm pretty sure everybody would've preferred something a little more than just a choice of 1 from 3 cutscenes, in which the only real difference is the colour scheme. And you know what? I don't mind. If they want an ending like that, they should have that option. But likewise, they should be able to realize that the sappy, lovey-dovey, everything-is-peaceful-now players should have the option of an ending that caters to them, especially in a game like mass effect.
Also, when it comes to an ending-tron, I fail to see why the game couldn't look at your choices, and then choose the appropriate outcome. In this example, perhaps if you set up Joker and EDI, were best buds with legion in ME2, and saved the geth, at the end they'd simply give you the synthesis ending, and make it so that choices do impact events.
To be honest, I would've preferred an ending that's just a simple "*gasp* shep's dead! OR IS HE!?" setup for a sequel so that EA can continue to milk the franchise. And I hate franchises that overstay their welcome.
I, like many others, would like a patch/DLC/something, to soften this up. I disagree with people who say "DELETE THE ENDING! MAKE IT ALL DIFFERENT!", because ultimately, it's biowares game, they shouldn't have to remove something that their people worked on. Remember the shitstorm with the lucas and the vader and the "NOOOOOO!"? I don't want that kind of crap surrounding a game that I otherwise love. My idea (which, of course bioware will never see, but sharing is caring) is to simply introduce a little new dialogue, and also a fourth option, that lets you kill all, or most of the reapers, and maybe destroy the citadel (but leave relays intact) so that it's not QUITE a perfect ending. Then you can pretty much just have the credits roll, then maybe some quick shots of shep getting medals/building a house on rannoch/rebuilding thessia, earth or palaven depending on your romantic interest or whoever you talked to the most. That would make me quite satisfied.
My overall point is that, while I am admittedly a sucker for a happy ending (I must've replayed the suicide mission 5-6 times to make sure I saved everyone), I know that some people aren't. These are the people who are perfectly happy with what they've been given, even though I'm pretty sure everybody would've preferred something a little more than just a choice of 1 from 3 cutscenes, in which the only real difference is the colour scheme. And you know what? I don't mind. If they want an ending like that, they should have that option. But likewise, they should be able to realize that the sappy, lovey-dovey, everything-is-peaceful-now players should have the option of an ending that caters to them, especially in a game like mass effect.
Also, when it comes to an ending-tron, I fail to see why the game couldn't look at your choices, and then choose the appropriate outcome. In this example, perhaps if you set up Joker and EDI, were best buds with legion in ME2, and saved the geth, at the end they'd simply give you the synthesis ending, and make it so that choices do impact events.
That video is pretty spot on from my position. Except for the tali face bit. I really couldn't care less about that. I'm kinda of the verge of tali fanboyism, but realistically, so long as the picture wasn't so hideous that it made me think "Oh god was that under there all along? Let me run back to liara and her nice hair tentacle things" I was going to be fine. Although I think it failed to have a big enough impact. As far as I'm concerned, the mask is still her face.SteewpidZombie said:
Essentially, after the clusterfuck that is ME2, I don't give Bioware enough credit to think they wanted "Shepard gave the Reapers what they wanted, only 10 minutes of the trilogy mattered" to be a possible interpretation.
If they did want that option, then Mass Effect is a deconstruction of video games and space opera on the same level as Watchmen. Surpassing Watchmen even, because it kept its true purpose hidden until the very end.
If they did want that option, then Mass Effect is a deconstruction of video games and space opera on the same level as Watchmen. Surpassing Watchmen even, because it kept its true purpose hidden until the very end.
Or maybe it's a reminder of the fact that you are viewing your own story.Lillowh said:
Once you're dead, you've know way of viewing the results of those best-laid plans. You can't see Garrus alone in that bar with the second empty glass or Liara living out her next 900 years. You can't know if the Krogan rise up or the Quarian peace is maintained. You can only bear the possibilities in mind when you make your decisions in the present, and that's exactly what the game makes you do. If you knew what would happen, the decision would be easy. Because you don't know, the decision is hard. That's what life makes you do.
This way, the game leaves you wondering. I think that's a much better place to be.