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

[mavkiel]

Personally I thought Mass effect 3 in general was kind of bad. Sure there were one or two memorable missions. However, every side mission is pretty much you 'overhearing' a npc, then finding whatever junk they wanted, throwing it at them for zero impact in game.

To put it in perspective;
I easily played mass effect 1, 15+ times
mass effect 2 10+
mass effect 3 1 time, then I deleted it off my hard drive.

To be fair, some of the saves for ME 1 and 2 were to create the 'perfect' save game for the next game. However, I still enjoyed the experience. ME 3 though, I thought was more polished as a shooter, but lacking in every other department.

 

[Olrod]

You're more likely to cry with frustration rather than actual anguish. No matter what multitude of choices you've made over all three games, you still only get to choose from one of three different endings.

 

[mega lenin]

As an extra character ending, though, Citadel is freakin' amazing.

Oh dear god it is not. It was a cheap hackneyed deus ex machina to end the game because EA decided the dev time was up and Bioware needed it to end somehow.

Anyway, the ending isn't a tearjerker. It's lazily rushed garbage filled with a cacophony of half baked ideas. However, a lot of character moments leading up to the finale are pretty good. My particular favorites were Liara's and Garrus' send off. As said before, the third act of this game is a total mess. It's pretty obvious they had a whole bunch of things they didn't have time to implement in any significant manner for the story and so they shoehorned them in as background references with no payoffs, because well they promised that the previous games meant something. The finale on earth is particularly short and underwhelming and the revelations later on are more reminiscent of the incompetence of the Star Wars prequels than the solid competence of the original Star Wars trilogy.

The ending attempts to offer an array of no win choices to the player many of which are character decisions pretty antithetical to the themes of the previous games and make little logical sense for Shepherd to actually choose. In the original non EC edition these choices merely affect the color palette of the ending cinematic and the brief voiceover dialogue at the end that was as dumb as it was cryptic. The EC treats you to that same cinematic followed by a dull slideshow explaining more about the consequences of your decision which in my opinion only confirms how stupid some of the endings were. But ultimately the game ends with an EA message asking you to buy more DLC. It also offers a fourth ending which has something of it's own cinematic and in my opinion is the only one with any emotional bite to it at all.

So no I don't think the endings will make you cry. At least not so much as some of the character moments before the finale even begins.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

You'll probably cry during the various excellent segments of the game before the ending. As for crying at the end..... Well sure, but not for the reasons you would expect.

 

[MrDumpkins]

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.

Yep, the ending was shit, but at the end of the day it was really about the Journey and the characters, and they did a really well job on that end. Citadel was definitely Bioware realizing they could give us the goodbye we deserved.

 

[pearcinator]

MAJOR spoilers for the game. If you really need to know what the outcomes are of the characters you mentioned.

Spoiler

Thane dies no matter what. He goes out as a hero though and there are some memorable final moments you share with him. If you have t he Citadel DLC there is also a scene that mourns Thane (with his son present too if you saved him in ME2)

There are several outcomes relating to Tali, the best ending is to bring peace between the Quarians and the Geth and Legion must sacrifice himself. Legion will die and Tali will live. It's possible for both to die or just Tali but you obviously want Tali to live so yes, she will live.

Garrus will survive (ending calculations aside). If neither Tali or Garrus are romanced in ME2/ME3 then they end up being a couple (awww)

Liara will also survive.

Mordin will likely perish (it's possible for him to live but at a cost), either by his own hand or by yours. If you persuade Mordin to NOT cure the Genophage (and not end up shooting him if he refuses) then Wrex will find out later and you will have to kill him.

Towards the end of the game there is a mission involving Miranda and her father. You end up killing her father but Miranda may die if you're not prepared enough.

That's just some info on the main characters. I suggest just play the game and find out for yourself

 

[Auron225]

I'm still in the same boat as OP (playing it for the first time, but haven't finished - I'm at the point of no return, but I wanna do the Citadel DLC first). I have 2 questions though;

1) Should I download the extended cut ending before I actually finish it? Will it just replace whatever it originally was, or does it just add an extra scene or something?

2) I don't want it spoiled for me but I am trying to emotionally prepare myself for a shit ending. Now, given reactions to it... my prediction is that the Reapers just win and that's it. Don't tell me if I'm right or wrong, but is it as shit as that?

 

[CrystalViolet]

24 hours' gameplay in. Too many tears. Too many tears.

 

[mega lenin]

I'm still in the same boat as OP (playing it for the first time, but haven't finished - I'm at the point of no return, but I wanna do the Citadel DLC first). I have 2 questions though;

1) Should I download the extended cut ending before I actually finish it? Will it just replace whatever it originally was, or does it just add an extra scene or something?

2) I don't want it spoiled for me but I am trying to emotionally prepare myself for a shit ending. Now, given reactions to it... my prediction is that the Reapers just win and that's it. Don't tell me if I'm right or wrong, but is it as shit as that?

Nothing is really replaced. The final decision scene is patched with more dialogue. A fourth ending option is added and all the endings except the fourth ending have an additional aftermath slideshow that only serves to emphasize how ridiculous some of the endings were. The additional fourth has it's own cinematic and frankly the only one with any emotional bite. The game's third act was clearly unfinished and rushed. Can't solve all it's problem with a simple patch.

 

[votemarvel]

I would definitely get the Extended Cut DLC before finishing the game. Doesn't 'change' the endings as such but does make them far more distinct from each other, rather than just a colour palette swap.

Personally for me I found Mass Effect 3 to be the weakest of the trilogy and that's is removing the endings from the equation. The eaves-dropping side-quests. The comedy animations. The increase of passive conversations. The ruined journal.......I could go on for a while but I'll restrain myself.

Bioware seemed to have forgotten why people loved the series and pushed the story and characters aside to focus on all the awesome pew-pew action in ME3. This is why The Citadel DLC is so warmly received, despite the story being a little silly, it put the focus back on the characters that made the universe to rich to begin with.

 

[Auron225]

snip

If only it was just that shitty. The level of bad writing is OFF the charts.


This video encompasses everything that was wrong with the entire original ending. I won't explicitly state how, but this video is exactly like the ending to Mass Effect.

Or rather, all of Mass Effect 3.

You'll understand how its the same when it happens. Its not in the way that you think.

is that cryptic enough? Also, no one can actually spoil it for you since the is no ending set in stone.

You should download the extended cut, I cannot stress that enough.

Spoiler: here is the answer if you give up on guessing how. warning: partial spoilers on the ORIGINAL ending

Context and logic.

The context is all wrong. Its supposed to be serious yet the ending falls flat on that tone.

Logic was nonexistent. It explained nothing.

People weren't pissed about what happened, they were pissed at how it was presented and portrayed.

Ah, I see. It's harder for me to imagine now. I always pictured a terrible singular ending in which "Reapers win, everyone dies, the end" and everything you've done in the whole 3 games was completely meaningless. If it's not so much as it is how it's portrayed then I think I can live with that better... but I'll wait until I see it before I commit to that.

That video is cryptic for sure - maybe it'll make more sense when I see it.

 

[Auron225]

snip

Nothing is really replaced. The final decision scene is patched with more dialogue. A fourth ending option is added and all the endings except the fourth ending have an additional aftermath slideshow that only serves to emphasize how ridiculous some of the endings were. The additional fourth has it's own cinematic and frankly the only one with any emotional bite. The game's third act was clearly unfinished and rushed. Can't solve all it's problem with a simple patch.

Ah, I see. I'll be sure to download & install the extended cut before I finish. Will this fourth ending be an obvious choice?

I can kinda see why after so many decisions & consequences, people would be annoyed at so few endings. Or was it that no matter what you do, you can choose any ending anyway?

 

[mavkiel]

...
I can kinda see why after so many decisions & consequences, people would be annoyed at so few endings. Or was it that no matter what you do, you can choose any ending anyway?

Its not even really the amount of endings that bites. Its how much sense they make in context of everything that has happened in previous games. Hell, they could have funneled you down to one choice, and then just have cut scenes based off of previous choices. (Think fallout style ending)

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

snip

Nothing is really replaced. The final decision scene is patched with more dialogue. A fourth ending option is added and all the endings except the fourth ending have an additional aftermath slideshow that only serves to emphasize how ridiculous some of the endings were. The additional fourth has it's own cinematic and frankly the only one with any emotional bite. The game's third act was clearly unfinished and rushed. Can't solve all it's problem with a simple patch.

Ah, I see. I'll be sure to download & install the extended cut before I finish. Will this fourth ending be an obvious choice?

I can kinda see why after so many decisions & consequences, people would be annoyed at so few endings. Or was it that no matter what you do, you can choose any ending anyway?

People hate how much the endings seem to be the same. Whatever you choose, the consequences are so similar as to make the choice meaningless. At least, that's how it was before the extended cut, which did a lot to fix that issue, at least, as well as adding some explanations to the more nonsensical events.

 

[Auron225]

snip

snip

So I finished it today - spoilers on my own thoughts on it contained below;

Spoiler: So I'm the only one who misses our old Mass Effect 3 Ending Rant Threads? So disappointed.

I can see why people were outright offended by it. Personally, I'm content with the Destroy ending... just bummed that it means the deaths of EDI and all geth. Especially since in my playthough; I united the quarians and geth, and EDI & Joker got together. That whole "organics and synthetics will always be enemies" just seemed to be bullshit pulled out of the air, particularly given what I said just happened in my file!

I did have the Extended Cut too, so I'm sympathetic for those who only saw different coloured explosions. I can't imagine the logic behind choosing Control or Synthesis. They are both options that the Reapers want you to choose.

Control is especially stupid - it's been reiterated several times that the Reapers cannot be controlled and I imagine they're going to say whatever they damn well have to if it stops Shepard from nuking them all. Who's to say they can't or won't just "delete" Shepard entirely once he's decided not to kill them?

"No you don't understand - that kid told me that I would have control".
"Which kid?"
"That Reaper... kid... ... shit".

Synthesis I was tempted by initially, but then realised that (1) He could again be talking out of his arse in attempt to save his own skin. How do we know the Reapers were made to "preserve life", and not simply to just stop anything from ever catching up to them or posing a threat to them? They could just be killing off all their potential enemies before they become competent enough to fight back. Shepard only has their word for it that they have everyone's best interests in mind. (2) Even if it was true, it'd be forcing evolution on all life whether it's ready for it, wants it, or not. (3) It seemed like something the Reapers could take advantage of - all organic life is part synthetic now, does that mean Reapers have kill switches for all life? The next Harvest is gonna be pretty damn quick. (4) It kinda takes the broad message I got from the trilogy of "The races are all different, and will sometimes fight, but they can unite and work together while holding onto what makes them unique", and shoots it in the face. "Nope, no more fighting now cause we're all synthesised". Also seemed far too convenient.

(5) The kid likes the idea = I don't like the idea. Bottom line is; it's beyond me why anyone would consider advice offered by the mother of all Reapers.

The Extended Cut Refusal Ending was just plain stupid. "I shouldn't be able to make this choice, so I'll condemn all life to the Reapers Harvest" - is still a f*cking choice! Even the kid recognised that it wasn't a good solution - "we need a new solution". Although granted he didn't think Reaper extermination was a good idea either; I can't see how anyone (even the Reapers) win in this scenario.

Destroy just seemed by far the best, even if EDI and all geth die. Also, Shepard lives so that's a plus.

I get the feeling Bioware themselves didn't think through the weight of each of these decisions, and the players put a lot more thought into it.

 

[CrystalViolet]

I finished it. I had a good cry about... I don't know how to use a spoiler tag so see this line as a warning...

The crew members' response to Shepherd's death and her name going on the wall.

Other than that. I just feel... numb. I cleared with the the extended cut and it still feels like an anticlimax that didn't make any sense. I don't think I'm saying anything new here though.

All in all I think I cried well over a dozen times throughout the game. I probably would have had a more satisfying cry had the ending been better.

 

[TheVampwizimp_v1legacy]

snip

snip

So I finished it today - spoilers on my own thoughts on it contained below;

Spoiler: So I'm the only one who misses our old Mass Effect 3 Ending Rant Threads? So disappointed.

I can see why people were outright offended by it. Personally, I'm content with the Destroy ending... just bummed that it means the deaths of EDI and all geth. Especially since in my playthough; I united the quarians and geth, and EDI & Joker got together. That whole "organics and synthetics will always be enemies" just seemed to be bullshit pulled out of the air, particularly given what I said just happened in my file!

I did have the Extended Cut too, so I'm sympathetic for those who only saw different coloured explosions. I can't imagine the logic behind choosing Control or Synthesis. They are both options that the Reapers want you to choose.

Control is especially stupid - it's been reiterated several times that the Reapers cannot be controlled and I imagine they're going to say whatever they damn well have to if it stops Shepard from nuking them all. Who's to say they can't or won't just "delete" Shepard entirely once he's decided not to kill them?

"No you don't understand - that kid told me that I would have control".
"Which kid?"
"That Reaper... kid... ... shit".

Synthesis I was tempted by initially, but then realised that (1) He could again be talking out of his arse in attempt to save his own skin. How do we know the Reapers were made to "preserve life", and not simply to just stop anything from ever catching up to them or posing a threat to them? They could just be killing off all their potential enemies before they become competent enough to fight back. Shepard only has their word for it that they have everyone's best interests in mind. (2) Even if it was true, it'd be forcing evolution on all life whether it's ready for it, wants it, or not. (3) It seemed like something the Reapers could take advantage of - all organic life is part synthetic now, does that mean Reapers have kill switches for all life? The next Harvest is gonna be pretty damn quick. (4) It kinda takes the broad message I got from the trilogy of "The races are all different, and will sometimes fight, but they can unite and work together while holding onto what makes them unique", and shoots it in the face. "Nope, no more fighting now cause we're all synthesised". Also seemed far too convenient.

(5) The kid likes the idea = I don't like the idea. Bottom line is; it's beyond me why anyone would consider advice offered by the mother of all Reapers.

The Extended Cut Refusal Ending was just plain stupid. "I shouldn't be able to make this choice, so I'll condemn all life to the Reapers Harvest" - is still a f*cking choice! Even the kid recognised that it wasn't a good solution - "we need a new solution". Although granted he didn't think Reaper extermination was a good idea either; I can't see how anyone (even the Reapers) win in this scenario.

Destroy just seemed by far the best, even if EDI and all geth die. Also, Shepard lives so that's a plus.

I get the feeling Bioware themselves didn't think through the weight of each of these decisions, and the players put a lot more thought into it.

If you are interested in how the reapers really work and how they actually came to be, I suggest playing the Leviathan DLC. It answers several questions, and also add some new dialogue to the Catalyst encounter at the end, to better inform your final decision. Granted, all the new info in Leviathan is still given by someone you've never met and have little reason to trust, but it's the only info you get, take it or leave it.

Spoiler

I am mostly with you though. Sure, the Catalyst could be entirely truthful. Maybe it is just as disgusted by the harvest as you are, but just saw it as the lesser evil. But can you trust that? The only one you can be sure of, in Shepard's shoes that is, is to destroy every reaper and end it forever.

Control sounds good in principle, but what happens when the Shepard/reaper overmind finishes rebuilding the galaxy, and has nothing left to help with? Do the reapers go back into darkspace again? Do they fly into a sun to be destroyed forever? Or do they continue to police the galaxy, making sure that no AIs arise to threaten anyone? Does this mean they get to put down synthetic rebellions with military might? Do they execute people who may be trying to develop self-aware synthetics? How does all this work, and is it any better than what we have now?

And Synthesis (aside from being just bonkers in a technical sense; where in the lore of Mass Effect does it say that this green energy can create organic flesh from a synthetic body, or vice-versa, and how can it reach every planet in the galaxy, and why do the reapers need Shepard's body to do it---AHHH!! It makes no sense! It weirder than the ending to 2001: A Space Odyssey, and without the foreshadowing), Synthesis is horrible. It is almost as bad as galactic genocide, and is even more egomaniacal to attempt. How could you possibly decide the eternal fate of every living thing in the galaxy? Hundreds of billions of lives changed forever, with no warning or explanation, changed into something new and unknown. How could anyone know the consequences of this irreversable universe-alerting event?

So yeah, Destroy is clearly the "right" choice. "Right" being incredibly relative.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Other than that. I just feel... numb. I cleared with the the extended cut and it still feels like an anticlimax that didn't make any sense.

I'm sorry. I'm laughing because, well...what else were you going to end up feeling? That's ME3 for you. I'm glad you battled all the way through though.

Now go play the Citadel DLC and let the series go out with some semblance of style.

 

[GloatingSwine]

It'll make your eyes water from all the facepalm, if that counts.

 

[RagingTiger]

I cried at the end, I cried at how many hours I had invested in the series and how attached I got to the story only to get EA'd in the end. Every time I start up ME to make a new play through from 1 to 3, I get like 30 mins in before it dawns on me what waits at the end, then I stop playing again.