The Mass Effect 3 "New" Ending Thread

[Florena]

The only choice I can think of that does 'nothing' is your choice to pick Anderson or Udina as councilor, since Anderson will just resign and both have the same role in 3 regardless. But I'm fine with this given the role Anderson gets on Earth.

By the way, anyone else a little disappointed they had Udina go traitor? I was finally starting to like the guy in 3, and then he throws his lot in with Cerberus, though I can understand his reasons, being desperate to save Earth.

[Grizzly Willy]

All the endings benefited from the changes but they also suffered due to the fact that they were obviously needed for the masses to understand them.

Ironically the same people that demanded the changes now state they arn't enough. Go figure.

It's understandable for people to be disappointed with it. The thing we have to worry about are those demanding their voices dictate Bioware's artistic endeavors. Like I've said before: if we want this medium to be considered as a form of art, we should start giving the developers the respect an artist deserves in relation to their endeavors. So sure, ask them for clarity. Just don't demand that they change it just because you don't like it.

The only choice I can think of that does 'nothing' is your choice to pick Anderson or Udina as councilor, since Anderson will just resign and both have the same role in 3 regardless. But I'm fine with this given the role Anderson gets on Earth.

By the way, anyone else a little disappointed they had Udina go traitor? I was finally starting to like the guy in 3, and then he throws his lot in with Cerberus, though I can understand his reasons, being desperate to save Earth.

I can agree with you there. Talking to him after the first time you meet with the Council after leaving Earth made him out to actually be a good guy.

[OrcsRLame]

All the endings benefited from the changes but they also suffered due to the fact that they were obviously needed for the masses to understand them.

Ironically the same people that demanded the changes now state they arn't enough. Go figure.

Sweeping generalizations are bad. Just sayin.

[Adam Jensen]

It's understandable for people to be disappointed with it. The thing we have to worry about are those demanding their voices dictate Bioware's artistic endeavors. Like I've said before: if we want this medium to be considered as a form of art, we should start giving the developers the respect an artist deserves in relation to their endeavors. So sure, ask them for clarity. Just don't demand that they change it just because you don't like it.




I can agree with you there. Talking to him after the first time you meet with the Council after leaving Earth made him out to actually be a good guy.

Disagree. I wanted to shoot that asshole since I first met him.

[Florena]

Disagree. I wanted to shoot that asshole since I first met him.

I agreed in ME 1 and 2. I was starting to like him in 3 though.

[Grizzly Willy]

Disagree. I wanted to shoot that asshole since I first met him.

Fair enough. I can't say I was upset when he turned. Was nice to see Ashley put him down.

[Drihan]

If you keep the collector base in two it becomes harder to get the synthesis ending, and it gives you the brain, worth 110 MS instead of the 100 ms the heart provides. Also, if you save the Rachni queen in ME1 she helps you after saving her in ME3, whereas saving the Reaper-made Rachni queen ends up betraying you and taking away from your EMS.

To say that the choices you made in the past games have no effect on you in ME3 is rather short sighted. Whether or not the effects where impactful enough, I'll accept that as a valid avenue of discussion. I'm personally fine with how my choices impacted the entirety of ME3, since I sort of see the entire game as the end of the story. I know not everybody agrees with that, so I'm not going to claim that the opinions of others are wrong.

So you believe +/-10 EMS and an extra 20 (or so) EMS is enough impact on such decisions? Then you failed to understand the purpose. When you kill the last rachni queen, you kill the last rachni queen. Having the reapers just go "Hm.. let's create a new one! Because that makes a lot of sense!" is like they didn't have anything else for us to spend our time on so they made up a silly excuse to extend gameplay. Destroying the Collector home base meant that you destroy their homebase, nothing survives. Why else would they bother with making the last 10 minutes of ME2 consist of you fighting against the Illusive man whether to destroy it or not and then see the short-term consequences. But no, no. The entire power core of the unfinished reaper survives. That is as idiotic as if the first Death Star in A New Hope didn't blow up, it was just damaged. We all know the explosion that encompassed the Death Star was impossible for anything survive, same with ME2, the collector base explosion was freaking huge, yet the power core, the *power core* of an unfinished reaper survives.

There are times like that where I believe that Casey's team either ran completely out of ideas and just threw a band aid over and hoped no one would notice, or that EA was pushing like a bitch to get the game out so they had to release it unfinished. Finished by editing standards, but not finished by the standards of a game. They didn't even bother to come up with a Mass Effect-worthy story so they just tossed in stuff from the previous games, put in some extra color and said "No worries, those people died, but the reapers made them feel better again!". Doesn't matter what you do, the reapers will just undo what you destroy and indoctrinate what you save.

BioWare made it very clear from the beginning, that these 3 Mass Effect games was all about Shepard's story, but that they were hoping they might be able to make more Mass Effect games in the future. With the way ME3 ended, there is not a hope in the darkness of Satan's asshole for there to be another ME game. Just imagining the rage from the fans about how the ending *they* chose wasn't the one that BioWare was going to use to expand the series is enough to make any game company go "Trololol fuck this". They made a HUGE fuck-up here, they didn't just end Shepard's story; they killed the entire future of the Mass Effect franchise's future in 5 minutes.

[The Madgod]

I guess I don't understand what people want from a "perfect" ending then. Kaiden or Ashley is dead, Mordin is dead, Thane is dead, Anderson is dead, a bunch of the crew of the original Normandy is dead, an unspecified number of people were killed in a Cerberus medical experiment camp, Thessia, Earth, and Palavan are all in ruins, and untold billions have been killed by the Reapers. What's the perfect scenario that isn't a complete tonal break?

A "perfect" ending would be, despite all of this, the organics of the galaxy triumph without having to sacrifice even more (the geth / EDI, Shepard, the relays, etc).

Really, the premise of any ending will for the most part be sound. It's the implementation of it that makes it feel good or bad. You can have that perfect ending, but if it was written to be sunshine and lollypops and excessive partying, well that wouldn't work. It wouldn't make you feel warm and fuzzy (well, it could, I'm just referring to it being a very cozy ending), it would make you feel like you've accomplished something. That's what people want from a perfect ending, that feeling of utter triumph.

Whether this perfect ending should be possible or not is for another discussion... but that's really what people wanted from one.

Where's the fun in black and white? Grey is where it gets interesting. It's where you're forced to think, to decide for yourself. Is this right or wrong? What am I supposed to do with this?

I think a lot of people share feelings with Garrus: "Grey? I don't know what to do with grey." And here we finally have a game that forces you to focus on that area. It's refreshing. Too many people are stuck in black and white.

Even a perfect ending doesn't have to be black or white. Again, the perfect ending would be being able to triumph against the Reapers without the need to sacrifice anything more than what already has. The ending of the game is relatively pretty bad... worlds destroyed, millions of people dead, including many characters you have some emotional stock in, but you were able to overcome the challenges that were set before you, seized victory, and now have to wonder where to get started rebuilding the galaxy.

[Beavis]

A "perfect" ending would be, despite all of this, the organics of the galaxy triumph without having to sacrifice even more (the geth / EDI, Shepard, the relays, etc).

Really, the premise of any ending will for the most part be sound. It's the implementation of it that makes it feel good or bad. You can have that perfect ending, but if it was written to be sunshine and lollypops and excessive partying, well that wouldn't work. It wouldn't make you feel warm and fuzzy (well, it could, I'm just referring to it being a very cozy ending), it would make you feel like you've accomplished something. That's what people want from a perfect ending, that feeling of utter triumph.

Whether this perfect ending should be possible or not is for another discussion... but that's really what people wanted from one.

I blame Mass Effect 2 for that desire. I really enjoyed that game, but there was a massive tonal shift between 1 and 2. In the first game, loss was forced on you. Kaiden or Ashley would die. There was no third option. You could rescue the Destiny Ascension and incur heavy Alliance losses or you could go right for Sovereign and trade the Council for thousands of human lives. I think that made the story stronger. War often seems to be about picking which bad choice you can live with.

In Mass Effect 2, on the other hand, Shepard is some kind of amalgam of Superman and a psychologist in power armor. You can fix everybody's personal problems with words or bullets. Then, at the end of the day, you save your crew, kill the bad guy, and ride off into the sunset. It's like a comic book.

Mass Effect 3 brought back the best bad choice, particularly at the end. All 3 endings are flawed in some major way, and you just need to pick the one that you can live with.

[Nerraw]

I blame Mass Effect 2 for that desire. I really enjoyed that game, but there was a massive tonal shift between 1 and 2. In the first game, loss was forced on you. Kaiden or Ashley would die. There was no third option. You could rescue the Destiny Ascension and incur heavy Alliance losses or you could go right for Sovereign and trade the Council for thousands of human lives. I think that made the story stronger. War often seems to be about picking which bad choice you can live with.

In Mass Effect 2, on the other hand, Shepard is some kind of amalgam of Superman and a psychologist in power armor. You can fix everybody's personal problems with words or bullets. Then, at the end of the day, you save your crew, kill the bad guy, and ride off into the sunset. It's like a comic book.

Mass Effect 3 brought back the best bad choice, particularly at the end. All 3 endings are flawed in some major way, and you just need to pick the one that you can live with.

Completely agreed. I loved the suicide mission in ME2, but it did set unfortunate expectations for ME3. The trilogy was never gonna end with a "perfect" ending.

[Deleted]

What I never understood was why they ran when they could of used the shuttles and done quick drops at the beam I mean come on its pretty damn obvious.

[namelessone]

Well, it seems to me that the new endings are definitely better executed, but most of my beef was with the PLOT, not the EXECUTION, so it didn't change much for me. But then I realize that asking them to change the plot is just silly.

[Teasy]

Wow, so many "I don't like this" people, I though there'll be more of "Yippie!".
I don't get that, especially because, well, what did you expect? A set of fireworks, making your decisions count to full extent, or a super-happy ending where Shep lives because he just eradicated Reapers from history using traditional firepower? I thought it was clear, when they stated that their game plot is an "artistic vision", that they're not going to do any of those things. We could count only on expansion of what we already have.
Yes, I do agree that refusal ending is like a gigantic middle finger to all fans that wanted an alternative. I agree also that these endings lack a lot, and are made pretty cheap. I agree on many other things that these endings don't currently have, and they never will.
But imo this is the best thing we could receive when we, at least try to, follow their logic.
There are things expanded, more options, more closure (at least for me). I expected a total disaster, a DLC that'll just ruin everything even more. But I received a semi-quality product that actually made me smile and tear up a few times. For me, that's the best thing they could do.
And you know what? It brought me peace. I can play ME again, without the fear of what's awaiting for me at the end.
And it's finally over, at least they've made it clear.

Now only hoping to get ME4 someday.

[namelessone]

Wow, so many "I don't like this" people, I though there'll be more of "Yippie!".

Why? A lot of people dislike the puzzling direction the story took and not the fact that there were not enough cutscenes in the end. I appreciate the extended ending, but I still think "robots destroying people to prevent robots from destroying people" plot is ridiculous.

[Florena]

Why? A lot of people dislike the puzzling direction the story took and not the fact that there were not enough cutscenes in the end. I appreciate the extended ending, but I still think "robots destroying people to prevent robots from destroying people" plot is ridiculous.

I coudl get behind the idea that the Reapers harvest civilizations for the 'greater good,' but I agree the specific reason, the fact that organics will 'inevitably' create synthetics and that synthetics will 'inevitably' turn on them was dumb. I like the idea that they 'harvest civilizations so that others can come and thrive' but they handled AI so well with the Geth and Edi in the series that it felt heavy handed at the end.


@Teasy, the problem myself and some others still have is that they still didn't give any closure on specific characters. What are Tali, Garrus, Jack, Grunt, etc doing now? A bit of text explaining the future of the races would be good. Take the Krogan for example. If you have wrex and eve dead, with the genophage cure sabotaged, compared to both of them alive with an intact cure, I'd like a bit of text describing the near future of their race based on that. They gave MORE closure than the original ending, but it still should have given more, like a DA: O style epilogue.

[Grizzly Willy]

So you believe +/-10 EMS and an extra 20 (or so) EMS is enough impact on such decisions? Then you failed to understand the purpose. When you kill the last rachni queen, you kill the last rachni queen. Having the reapers just go "Hm.. let's create a new one! Because that makes a lot of sense!" is like they didn't have anything else for us to spend our time on so they made up a silly excuse to extend gameplay. Destroying the Collector home base meant that you destroy their homebase, nothing survives. Why else would they bother with making the last 10 minutes of ME2 consist of you fighting against the Illusive man whether to destroy it or not and then see the short-term consequences. But no, no. The entire power core of the unfinished reaper survives. That is as idiotic as if the first Death Star in A New Hope didn't blow up, it was just damaged. We all know the explosion that encompassed the Death Star was impossible for anything survive, same with ME2, the collector base explosion was freaking huge, yet the power core, the *power core* of an unfinished reaper survives.

There's more impact to the outcome than the +/- 10 EMS that the Human-Reaper component gives. Having the brain, which while it gives you an extra ten EMS, requires you to get more EMS in order to save Earth. If your EMS isn't high enough with the Reaper brain, the wave of energy from the Catalyst/Crucible does more damage to Earth than it would otherwise.

---------- Post added 2012-07-03 at 10:49 AM ----------

Why? A lot of people dislike the puzzling direction the story took and not the fact that there were not enough cutscenes in the end. I appreciate the extended ending, but I still think "robots destroying people to prevent robots from destroying people" plot is ridiculous.

It's not that so much as it is "Organic robots harvesting and preserving people to prevent robots from dominating and eliminating any chance for organic life to exist."

I'll admit that it came out of left field a bit, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. That, however, is just my opinion, and I understand why someone might disagree.