Mass Effect 3 Ending Discussion

[Vampyr]

Originally Posted by BreakABone

I think it has possibilities, I recently played Alpha Protocol, and while the end suffers the same fate (multiple endings, but really only 3-4 with some variations)

I think the decisions in that game are handled a lot better in Mass Effect as you see the immediate and long-term effects, and the game tends to be nice enough to point it out to you..

Oh you helped so and so first, he'll be able to assist you on this mission if you choose.

Oh you spared what's his face, his allies will not be a threat to you on this mission and has left a secret cache of weapons for you.

That's not the point I was making at all, I'm talking about a game series being based on choices. As in having the sequel reflect choices made in the first, and then the third entry reflecting choices made in the first two.

At some point there are too many options for the developers to cover them all in a meaningful way, so the choices you make from game to game get generalized or made irrelevant.

[Typhoid]

Originally Posted by BreakABone

I think it has possibilities, I recently played Alpha Protocol, and while the end suffers the same fate (multiple endings, but really only 3-4 with some variations)

I think the decisions in that game are handled a lot better in Mass Effect as you see the immediate and long-term effects, and the game tends to be nice enough to point it out to you..

Oh you helped so and so first, he'll be able to assist you on this mission if you choose.

Oh you spared what's his face, his allies will not be a threat to you on this mission and has left a secret cache of weapons for you.

This needs more attention, even though this is a ME3 thread.
I was the only one jerking this game off over a year ago when I had it.
That is why I liked Alpha Protocol so much. Every single minor detail of what you did effected every other thing that happened. I wore body armour to go talk to a dude one time - I just happened to forget to get into casual clothes. He took it as a threat, and attacked me. The game itself was arcade-y, but the choices, oh Zeus the choices.


I also agree that you guys making a ME3: Ending thread would be a lot better than just talking about it in here. Plus more threads never hurt anyone.

[BreakABone]

This is a thread to discuss the end of Mass Effect. The story and whatever have you, without ruining it for others in the ME 3 thread

[Combine 017]

It sucked.

[BreakABone]

Originally Posted by Typhoid

This needs more attention, even though this is a ME3 thread.
I was the only one jerking this game off over a year ago when I had it.
That is why I liked Alpha Protocol so much. Every single minor detail of what you did effected every other thing that happened. I wore body armour to go talk to a dude one time - I just happened to forget to get into casual clothes. He took it as a threat, and attacked me. The game itself was arcade-y, but the choices, oh Zeus the choices.


I also agree that you guys making a ME3: Ending thread would be a lot better than just talking about it in here. Plus more threads never hurt anyone.

There were several other, minor things I wish Mass Effect/Bioware took away from Alpha Protocol.

Choices aren't Good/Evil, Paragon/Renegade.. even when dealing with different people being a too good, could make them hate you while being a jerk earns their respect or even having a 3rd option.

Second.. is timing... I get that you want to give the player a time to think about their response, but always find it odd when characters will just stand and stare at you until you make up your mind. Alpha Protocol.. gives you a tiny window.. you get to see what you want to say and pick it.. and it continues the conversation smoothly. I think you get more natural responses this way as well.

[Combine 017]

Im just going to re-post what I said before about the ending now that I dont have to hide it in spoiler thingers.

What a shitty ending to one of the greatest stories ive experienced. It leaves so much un-answered and just destroys a lot of the mood the other games built up. It doesnt explain what happens to anyone other than implying what happens to the crew of the Normandy(which I dont even know why they were in that situation in the first place. Seriously, wtf?). I spent all this time uniting a divided galaxy, bringing everyone together to face this threat as one force, but now the galaxy is more separated than ever before, not to mention that a majority of every alien races defence is left in the Sol system. Theres just no happy endings here, and thats really all I wanted to see, even if it was just a cliche ending like "you saved the galaxy, heres some medals and an award ceremony followed by kissing your lover, the end" It was just a really disappointing ending that they could have so very easily made better instead of retarded. Uhg.

There were several other, minor things I wish Mass Effect/Bioware took away from Alpha Protocol.

Choices aren't Good/Evil, Paragon/Renegade.. even when dealing with different people being a too good, could make them hate you while being a jerk earns their respect or even having a 3rd option.

Mass Effect does do that, maybe not as much, but you sure as hell couldnt be "nice" to Wrex in ME1. Same with Jack in ME2, being nice to her got you no where.

[Ginkasa]

I don't personally mind the lack of super happy endings. A horde of invincible apocalyptic Cthulhu robots invading from the dark space between galaxies is not going to end well no matter how Paragon your Shepard is. A bittersweet ending is okay. I also don't really see ME3's ending as "dark" as a lot of people are saying. The final image of Joker and EDI standing together to face the dawn of a new synthorganic future seemed pretty optimistic to me. Sure, the galaxy was not the same you one in ME1, but again, Cthulhu robots and all... Bound to happen.

If you can't tell, I also didn't really mind the details of the ending either. Blending organics and synthetics together (which is the ending I chose) seemed to make some sense on a thematic level and fit fairly well with the rest of the series. I don't know about anyone else, but my Shepard would totally choose that option (I saved the Geth and the Quarians and might have even chosen the Geth over the Quarians if forced... maybe). I didn't mind the choices or that they were there.

I don't even mind the lack of a "and here's a list of how your choices mattered in the years to come" epilogue like in DA:O. I felt my choices flavored the story at least (even if it may not have drastically changed it as some had hoped for) which is enough for me.

My issue is that the star child thing and choices itself came out of no where and felt really surreal. The series was based on a more or less realistic feeling universe. Everything in the series pointed to a more or less conventional "robots go boom" type ending. To have the origin of the Reapers suddenly thrust on us with barely any explanation and a lot of extrapolation and asking us to make some choice with forces that don't make much sense just really flies in the face of the rest of the series. The tone of it just doesn't fit with the tone of everything else. It borders on mystical which the rest of the series was not. If the game had ended with Anderson and Shepard talking (and probably dying) and the reapers blowing up with everything else mostly the same (Mass Relays 'splodin' and all) I'd have probably been more satisfied.

End coda, however, I'm not nearly as unhappy about the ending as a lot of people are. I was a little disappointed, but I'm actually already planning a full trilogy run through soon (with a FemShep!), so it clearly doesn't bother me that much.

[Combine 017]

Originally Posted by Ginkasa

I don't personally mind the lack of super happy endings. A horde of invincible apocalyptic Cthulhu robots invading from the dark space between galaxies is not going to end well no matter how Paragon your Shepard is. A bittersweet ending is okay.

I wouldnt have minded a bittersweet ending either, but there was no sweetness to it at all. It left so much unanswered.

I also don't really see ME3's ending as "dark" as a lot of people are saying. The final image of Joker and EDI standing together to face the dawn of a new synthorganic future seemed pretty optimistic to me. Sure, the galaxy was not the same you one in ME1, but again, Cthulhu robots and all... Bound to happen.

Ya I didnt find the ending dark, maybe those people got the ending where Earth is destroyed? But speaking of Joker and the Normandy, why was it in a Mass Relay jump in the first place? Wasnt it around Earth? And what about everyone else? What happened to Admiral Hackett, or all your other squad mates who should have been on Earth, or the Synth reapers, did they just chill around Earth now?

If you can't tell, I also didn't really mind the details of the ending either. Blending organics and synthetics together (which is the ending I chose) seemed to make some sense on a thematic level and fit fairly well with the rest of the series. I don't know about anyone else, but my Shepard would totally choose that option (I saved the Geth and the Quarians and might have even chosen the Geth over the Quarians if forced... maybe). I didn't mind the choices or that they were there.

Ya, I would have chosen the Geth over the Quarians, I was so sad when Legion sacrificed himself. I think the synthorganic option was the best one.

And one more thing about the crew of the Normandy on that uncharted planet. The human portion of the crew wasnt that big, not big enough to support a new colony of humans without inbreeding, so assuming Liara made it there, does that mean everyone on that planet would eventually be Asari?

[Ginkasa]

Originally Posted by Combine 017

I wouldnt have minded a bittersweet ending either, but there was no sweetness to it at all. It left so much unanswered.

Ya I didnt find the ending dark, maybe those people got the ending where Earth is destroyed? But speaking of Joker and the Normandy, why was it in a Mass Relay jump in the first place? Wasnt it around Earth? And what about everyone else? What happened to Admiral Hackett, or all your other squad mates who should have been on Earth, or the Synth reapers, did they just chill around Earth now?

Ya, I would have chosen the Geth over the Quarians, I was so sad when Legion sacrificed himself. I think the synthorganic option was the best one.

And one more thing about the crew of the Normandy on that uncharted planet. The human portion of the crew wasnt that big, not big enough to support a new colony of humans without inbreeding, so assuming Liara made it there, does that mean everyone on that planet would eventually be Asari?

Wizard did it.

[Combine 017]

Originally Posted by Ginkasa

Wizard did it.

Hahaha, alright, that explains everything.

Perhaps it was a space wizard, or some sort of magic fight wizard...

[Bond]

[Combine 017]

The final choice consists of 3 options that don't take into account your paragon/renegade score. Despite the choices, every ending consists of galaxy wide mass relay explosions and Joker is suddenly away from the battle and crash lands on some unknown planet. Also plot holes such as how was it possible that the squad mates you chose to go into the final mission ended up on the stranded Normandy in the end makes things confusing. Furthermore, the inevitable destruction of the Mass Relays renders all of the decisions that the player has made throughout the series, and has become invested in, inconsequential. i.e., whether the Quarians retake their homeworld or not, it doesn't matter, because no one will be able to travel out of Earth's solar system back to their homeworlds again without the use of the Mass Relays.

Looks like there are oodles of people mad about this as well. Im not alone!

[BreakABone]

Originally Posted by Combine 017

Looks like there are oodles of people mad about this as well. Im not alone!

Some may have gone a BIT overboard with their dislike of it though

http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/to...dex/10065503/1

[Bond]

Wow. That guy has way too much time on his hands.

I haven't seen the promotional material he is referring to, but it would most likely slide into the definition of "puffery" ... so that will go nowhere.

[DarkMaster]

Unsatisfying. The little scene after the credits was nice, dealing with the legend of Shepard. The normandy landing on some random planet was confusing and way too ideal/unrealistic. Also why did Liara get off the normandy when she was with me and Garrus down on earth fighting the reapers? And losing the relays makes everything moot.