Mass Effect Thread

[der_ketzer]

Originally Posted by Shadowknight1

There was no way to please anybody with Mass Effect 3's ending. Plain and simple, it would have been impossible.

Right. But then going "fuck it let's make an ending that insults our players" was where they went wrong.

[GaryCXJk]

Originally Posted by Shadowknight1

And this quote here is exactly what's wrong with the entire situation. To expect any game company to be able to account for every choice is impossible. I've said it before, and it's just as true now as it was then, and since no one seemed to acknowledge the sentiment, I must assume that you're all blind. It wouldn't have mattered what Bioware did with the ending. There was no way to please anybody with Mass Effect 3's ending. Plain and simple, it would have been impossible.

Frankly, I'm alright with the ending. I've seen far worse endings in games, movies, and tv shows.

Even the turd Fallout game at least did some effort at adding multiple endings, or at least variation endings.

[Gman5852]

Originally Posted by GaryCXJk

Even the turd Fallout game at least did some effort at adding multiple endings, or at least variation endings.

Which one is the "turd" fallout?

[GaryCXJk]

It's a pun, and a joke, because there was a lot of outcry for Fallout 3 because it was nothing like the previous Fallout games (even though the game itself was fun).

[tobar]

Originally Posted by Shadowknight1

And this quote here is exactly what's wrong with the entire situation. To expect any game company to be able to account for every choice is impossible. I've said it before, and it's just as true now as it was then, and since no one seemed to acknowledge the sentiment, I must assume that you're all blind. It wouldn't have mattered what Bioware did with the ending. There was no way to please anybody with Mass Effect 3's ending. Plain and simple, it would have been impossible.

Frankly, I'm alright with the ending. I've seen far worse endings in games, movies, and tv shows.

Here are some more quotes for you:

“[The presence of the Rachni] has huge consequences in Mass Effect 3. Even just in the final battle with the Reapers.”

“There are many different endings. We wouldn’t do it any other way. How could you go through all three campaigns playing as your Shepard and then be forced into a bespoke ending that everyone gets? But I can’t say any more than that…”

Interviewer: [Regarding the numerous possible endings of Mass Effect 2] “Is that same type of complexity built into the ending of Mass Effect 3?” Hudson: “Yeah, and I’d say much more so, because we have the ability to build the endings out in a way that we don’t have to worry about eventually tying them back together somewhere. This story arc is coming to an end with this game. That means the endings can be a lot more different. At this point we’re taking into account so many decisions that you’ve made as a player and reflecting a lot of that stuff. It’s not even in any way like the traditional game endings, where you can say how many endings there are or whether you got ending A, B, or C.....The endings have a lot more sophistication and variety in them.”

None of which turned out to be true. Then there's the fact that the ending is filled with a bunch of ludicrous plot holes. Anderson wasn't in the final battle, how was he suddenly behind you and then ended up ahead of you? In ME lore it's been established that when a mass relay is destroyed it takes out the entire star system it was in and yet this doesn't happen when they're all destroyed. What was Joker doing suddenly running from the fight? How did the companions you had with you in London suddenly appear leaving the Normandy on that unidentified planet? It was a terrible ending period. Not to mention the fact we were promised endings.

[Gman5852]

Originally Posted by tobar

Not to mention the fact we were promised endings.

You got your multicolored explosions, unless you are colorblind, you can't complain

[Shadowknight1]

Originally Posted by Gman5852

You got your multicolored explosions, unless you are colorblind, you can't complain

Lol, AND various degrees of destruction. In fact the synthesis ending is apparently the only time that the Normandy's engines don't get ripped off the hull before she crashes.

[coolsome]

[RetroVortex]

They should have made the Illusive Man the final boss.

Think about it.

Sheperd could have rejected the Star Child's "solutions", then an enraged Star Child, (who couldn't possibly let Sheperd go), merges himself with the body of the Illusive Man, creating a mutated, reaper version of him.

That would be a sweet final battle you have to admit. A weakened, vulnerable Sheperd having to muster the last of his strength battling a shell of his greatest foe.
The winner, determining the fate of the galaxy.

(My version could also have had the Illusive man gaining control of the remaining forces, causing him to become the "core" of the fleet as it were. So you would have to fight a version of him intergrated into the base with your crew. Make it hard as nails. Would be just awesome! )

EDIT: Either way its a great throwback to the first game's ending where you fight Saren.
It ends as it began, as it were.

EDIT 2:

Illusive Man: "I shouldn't ever have let you out of my sight Shepard! I...we... are going to correct that mistake!"
Shepard: "... I'm not planning on leaving this time... This ends now!"

[Vainamoinen]

What if the Illusive Man had actually gained control over the Reapers, immediately concentrating their forces to kill off any species but humankind? What if Shepard, after begging other races for help for an entire game, would have to stand at her/his friends' side after the threat against the own race has ceased to exist? To find out that the fight was never "for humankind", but for the entire galaxy? To give humanity the chance to finally show its worth?

Every ending is better than the one delivered. Ponies and cheesecake would make a better ending than the moppet ex machina one(s).

[Shadowknight1]

Well Vaina, the entire idea of the Crucible was a gigantic deus ex machina.

[RetroVortex]

Originally Posted by Vainamoinen

What if the Illusive Man had actually gained control over the Reapers, immediately concentrating their forces to kill off any species but humankind? What if Shepard, after begging other races for help for an entire game, would have to stand at her/his friends' side after the threat against the own race has ceased to exist? To find out that the fight was never "for humankind", but for the entire galaxy? To give humanity the chance to finally show its worth?

Every ending is better than the one delivered. Ponies and cheesecake would make a better ending than the moppet ex machina one(s).

Pretty much yeah.
Bioware could have gone in any other direction and it would have not been this bad.

I like your version btw.
Bioware are missing an opportunity here.
They should release "What if?" DLC, where certain events in the campaign changed, and you have to deal with the aftermath.

But you know, "Artistic integrity" and all that... XD

[tobar]

Originally Posted by RetroVortex

They should have made the Illusive Man the final boss.

Think about it.

Sheperd could have rejected the Star Child's "solutions", then an enraged Star Child, (who couldn't possibly let Sheperd go), merges himself with the body of the Illusive Man, creating a mutated, reaper version of him.

Actually that's pretty much exactly what their original plan was. In the Final Hours of Mass Effect there's concept art for the Illusive Man boss.

Click here to check it out.

[RetroVortex]

Originally Posted by tobar

Actually that's pretty much exactly what their original plan was. In the Final Hours of Mass Effect there's concept art for the Illusive Man boss.

Click here to check it out.

"Eventually this plan was scrapped, since we wanted to give players the satisfaction of fighting a character they know rather than a random creature"

Huh. I wonder what happened to that plan... :/

EDIT: They really should have just gone for that. The design needs a lot of tweaks, but they could have eventually come up with something really epic.

[Vainamoinen]

Sorry, I could not resist.

[Darth Marsden]

Necromancy is awesome...but only when you have something useful to contribute!

Like an 80 minute video discussing the Indoctination theory. Not even kidding there. I'm surprised at how professional this thing is. It's actually a pretty good watch.

[Vainamoinen]

Yeah, I thought I killed this thread.

[Darth Marsden]

Well, I am a master of raising the dead. A lord, even.

It's actually amazing how many lines of enquiry this guy has about the Indoctination theory, and how even he is about them. While he does put a lot of them through as solid, he also puts a lot down as "maybe, but it's not exactly iron clad", which is something I've not seen many others do. He does end up building a very solid case.

[DAISHI]

It was all just a dream.

Problem solved.

[Shadowknight1]

Meh, I spent far too long trying to defend my viewpoints on the ending on YouTube. Personally, I think that if Shep was indoctrinated, then that negates everything you ever did in the entire trilogy.

I also realized that everyone that boo-hoos and says that the galaxy would be destroyed anyways because the Mass Relays exploded is forgetting something. The Citadel is, essentially, a Mass Relay...and its explosion just created a pretty colored shockwave that, unless you really, REALLY suck at keeping the galaxy together, doesn't harm the planet. And watching the beam hitting each Mass Relay...they give off the same kind of shockwave. Is it so hard to imagine that the Crucible's energy is propagated by absorbing the energy of a Mass Relay explosion?

Also, is it so hard to imagine that the Normandy came in to grab what survivors were there after Hammer's failed charge to the Conduit and only went to the Mass Relay because Harbinger was on Joker's tail?