Am I going to cry at the end of Mass Effect 3? No spoilers!

[CrystalViolet]

I'm the kind of girl who gets waaaay too into my fiction. When I really, really like a book, a movie, a game, etc I get excessively emotionally invested. This is why it was a very bad move for me to start playing the Mass Effect series during a transitioning time of my life (my bad!) However, I started this quest and I must persevere!

I may veer into spoiler territory here so best stop reading if you plan to play Mass Effect. So I finished the first two games and managed to survive the suicide mission without losing any members of my crew. This is fortunate because I'm totally enamoured with Tali (why? why can't a female Shepard lez out with Tali?!?!) If Tali, Garrus, Thane, Liara or any of the other characters I've grown fond of die in the third game I'll be emotionally distraught

So I don't want you to spoil anything, but should I prepare for the worst? Is possible to clear the game without suffering from gaming PTSD? Basically, am I going to be in floods of tears by the end of the game?

In before, "hur hur, the shit ending will make you cry". I'm not completed shielded from spoilers so I know that the ending got a lot of negative press, but I'm just asking specifically about potential character deaths. I don't want to know specifically who dies but it would be good to know whether I should emotionally prepare myself Gosh, if Tali dies I'm fucked

Sorry for my weird English. I'm a non native speaker and I'm kind of out of practice

Captcha: Dueling banjos. I don't know why I find that so funny.

 

[tippy2k2]

You will

As a man's man, I do not have the ability to cry.

However, certain....events in this game is about as close as I've ever gotten to crying at a video game. My allergies acted up during certain events but I personally did not have the water works activate.

Susan Arendt (former EiC here) had a story where she yelled at one of the bioware writers for making her cry (affectionately yelled of course ) so take that for what it is.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Without getting into spoilers, no... not all of our friends make it out of ME3 alive. Some deaths are scripted to happen and there's nothing the player can do about it, and some are based upon the player's choices throughout the game (at least one character's fate is actually determined partially by your choices prior to ME3).

That said, I wouldn't let it stop you from playing the game... and I say that even though one of my personal favorite characters from the universe didn't survive. Excluding the last fifteen minutes or so, I really loved that game quite a bit.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

There are definitely some melancholy beats throughout the third game. There is a bittersweet atmosphere that permeates everything, and Clint Mansell's heart-string pulling score doesn't do anything to help matters. If you're prone to crying during games or getting emotionally attached to the characters, you're likely to get a little somethin' in your eye from time to time while playing.

As to the actual ending ending, it's a bit too fucked up and weird to have much of an emotional impact. One of the major slams against it was that it was so divorced from player expectations, so alien to the series up to that point in time and so nonsensical in its entirety that it actually robbed people of the emotional catharsis the entire game had been building to. So you're prepared for an epic cry, and instead you're just confused and annoyed.

Imagine if...I don't know...imagine if at the end of Children of Men, instead of the birth and the walk through the city and the death of the protagonist, Clive Owen instead rode a magic disc up into the clouds where he talked to a crazy robot who belched out a bunch of completely confounding exposition before asking Owen to pull his choice of one of three colored levers.

 

[Auron225]

I too would quite like to know this, since I'm also in the middle (approaching the end?) of my first ME3 play-through.

A couple of things I can tell you now CrystalViolet... at least some characters will die in this game and there is very little you can do to stop them. Like the series has been to this point; your choices will affect it... although it may already be written in the stars depending on decisions you made in the first two games, ie no matter what you do in ME3; a character may be... knocking on heavens door just by you importing your saves.

Having said that, I can see from my own experience that the alternative scenario in which they live often makes for a lesser story. You might see what I mean when you finish Tuchanka. Two tips, given your concerns;

1) Save before you finish the Rannoch mission. Depending on how it goes, you may want to change your final decision.
2) You may want to mentally prepare yourself for the Priority:Citadel mission after Tuchanka.

 

[The Madman]

Probably. I definitely got close a few times, followed by a few moments of 'huh' and then ending in catastrophic confusion and disappointment.

Those moments when I was tearing up a little though, they were good.

 

[CrystalViolet]

I'm pretty sure I could get over the deaths of most characters... but Tali or Garrus? No, just no.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I'll tell you when I did tear up...

Spoiler: Spoilers for End of Game

Had tears streaming down my face through that entire sequence. Seemed like the natural culmination for the series, really. Almost all of the major themes were represented, at least for a Paragon/Paragade playthrough.

Then, you know. A bunch of other shit happened. =(

 

[Darks63]

Tears of frustration maybe as you see many of your choices/actions from ME1/2 retconned because they didn't fit the narrative the makers of ME3 had in mind.

 

[small]

My husband played the first two before we had met, and I got sucked into the third one after we had met and started dating. So I didn't even know all the characters or his Shepard. And yet... I cried like a baby. And I really get into my fiction as well. I'd suggest getting the DLC... um, I can't remember the name of it, but it included a party... anyway, it was really sweet and I really enjoyed it, and it was a lot of fun and it kind of takes a bit of the emotional sting out of the end of the game. At least it did for me.

the citadel DLC. i HIGHLY recommend it if you are even remotely attached to the characters

as for your question.. i dont normally cry with games but yeah there is one part before the ending where you share moments with people, and right at the end when you do as well. that had me bawling

 

[The_Blue_Rider]

You'll probably cry near the end. And then the ending sequence itself with a certain character will making you pause, say what the fuck, and then get annoyed at how it ends. The entire last sequence of the game though is very somber, it really feels like a farewell

 

[BloatedGuppy]

I'd suggest getting the DLC... um, I can't remember the name of it, but it included a party... anyway, it was really sweet and I really enjoyed it, and it was a lot of fun and it kind of takes a bit of the emotional sting out of the end of the game. At least it did for me.

That's The Citadel DLC. Pretty much required. There are a few people who don't like its corny, lightweight atmosphere, but those people are Terrible People and should be shunned.

 

[MysticSlayer]

I think in terms of tears shed, Mass Effect 3 easily takes first place for me, so it will probably get to you at least a little bit. This was really helped by the fantastic atmosphere that went throughout the game, and despite the ending having a few flaws that negatively affected its emotional impact (BloatedGuppy already explained this), it should be easy to find something within the last hour or so that will make you get at least a little teary-eyed, even more so if you have the Extended Cut.

 

[Stewie Plisken]

There are moments BEFORE the ending where you may cry. There are one or two points that are admittedly really well-done and are very gut-wrenching. The ending... it depends on how you view it. My personal experience was that I was watching one bad design decision after another and I was too busy being severely underwhelmed to care.

But your mileage may vary.

 

[MirenBainesUSMC]

Well Lady Gamer... I'd say depending what your choices were and how you play, there are def certain moments of the game where you'll sit back in your favorite victory chair and say --- " You son of a..."

Without spoiling, the best parts IMO of the game were:

Mordin and the Genophage with Wrex * Incidentally the entire action sequences and battle were bad ass of the bad*

Liara at Thessia

Your fight with the Space Ninja at the Citadel * Oh are you in for it...*

The entire back story and running plot with Javick

And finally *Drum roll*

The entire missions with the Migrant Fleet and Tali. Depending on how you play this, its probably the most deepest sub-plots of ME3 next to Mordin and the Genophage. This mission can go two ways.

Honorable mention goes to " The Blue Rose of Illium".

 

[MirenBainesUSMC]

As for a tear jerking ending? No.

Instead you'll have tear fits of utter rage if you are that connected to the plot --- don't throw your controller... it doesn't work.

 

[sonofliber]

Yes, tears upon tears of rage, uncheck hate driven tears of rage

 

[Erttheking]

You will. The question is will the tears be tears of sadness or tears of frustration. Because I cried at the ending, but not because the ending was sad. Because I saw everything that the series had stood for unraveled in mere minutes. I'm not joking, I was just emotionally distraught after that ending. (Yes I still think the ending sucks)

As for character deaths...that didn't make me cry. Though not for lack of trying. I came really damn close.

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

You will definitely cry. More than once. Even I did, and I am legendarily stoic. I also ended up very attached to several characters, and without a doubt the thing ME3, and indeed the whole series, does best is character stories. Everyone gets a moment in the spotlight, and some of those moments are just beautiful, heart-wrenching, or enthralling. And yes, people will die. And you will cry. And it will be worth it.

Make sure you have the Extended Cut downloaded: it's free and does a lot to alleviate the confusion at the end. I also recommend, if you have the inclination, the From Ashes and the Leviathan DLC. From Ashes especially adds a lot to the crew conversation. And you must get the DLC entitled Citadel, this is an absolute requirement. It is perfect, and you will adore it.