Did ME3 ruin Mass Effect for you?

[Zaik]

Yeah, but not only because of the ending.

All that build up that was supposed to provide a really different ending depending on your choices in the previous games was a total joke. I mean, I knew it couldn't possibly be half as good as they were saying when they were trying to hype up the release, but I was expecting more than a 3 pathway ending that totally ignored every single thing that had happened up to that point.

Anything you did in the previous two games amounted to a 10 second cameo and a few lines and some + or minus imaginary military points that barely affect anything. You can easily get above the low score on a game started new in 3, and you can't possibly get to the high score without playing the awful multiplayer.

I mean shit, this was done better on the SNES 15-20 years ago. Yeah, you didn't have to carry over data from two other games(only because you couldn't), but endings could still actually be altered significantly based on what you did, not some door a,b,or c nonsense.

*Sigh*

I feel it is entirely too petty for people who enjoyed the series overall to be all screwy about the fucking ending. Yes, it would appear that it was rushed and lacking in detail. The two things that bother me about people's reaction is that {A} ambiguous endings are both not uncommon and suppose to spark the imagination to wonder...so when people didn't, I could tell that the ME fans weren't up for that.

All of the ME story up until now, and really everything I can think of Bioware has ever done, has been pretty un-ambiguous. Anything not plainly spelled out through dialogue is generally explained in detail(sometimes too much detail) in codex entries.

Going from this all this established pattern to a sudden shift to the exact opposite makes absolutely zero sense. If mashed potatoes were suddenly purple tommorrow I think most people who were going to eat mashed potatoes would want to know why.

 

[FalloutJack]

*Sigh*

I feel it is entirely too petty for people who enjoyed the series overall to be all screwy about the fucking ending. Yes, it would appear that it was rushed and lacking in detail. The two things that bother me about people's reaction is that {A} ambiguous endings are both not uncommon and suppose to spark the imagination to wonder...so when people didn't, I could tell that the ME fans weren't up for that.

This leaves us with {B} that I was even more disappointed that anyone who had eaten up this series now claims that they're Big McLargeHuge sci-fi trilogy that they had played through to the very end was Ruined Forever because of a few minutes of ending. The whole thing's a washout because of THAT? Ugh... VERY petty, and short-sighted. The end sequence was AS SOON AS YOU MET THE CATALYST, meaning it was longer than your set of lights conundrum and interactive.

No, Mass Effect wasn't ruined for me. The equivalent of arguing with the author of a book about his ending and demanding he change it ruins my opinion of players, though. Okay, granted, this made Sir Arthur Conon Doyle keep writing about Sherlock Holmes, but he wasn't pleased about it.

 

[jamcknight]

Yes.

It's simply not acceptable to build up for that long with so little payoff. The payoff needs to be much more proportional to the time spent playing the games. There should have been truly different endings, with different cutscenes (if there were going to be cutscenes), for a start.

 

[Lovely Mixture]

*Sigh*
{A} ambiguous endings are both not uncommon and suppose to spark the imagination to wonder.

Not everyone hated the endings for the same reasons. There were a couple reasons:

1. It was badly written.
2. It lacked closure for the characters (this is the closest I've heard to your ambiguousness claim)
3. It lacked emphasis on the player's actions, something that was entire selling point of ME.

{B} that I was even more disappointed that anyone who had eaten up this series now claims that they're Big McLargeHuge sci-fi trilogy that they had played through to the very end was Ruined Forever because of a few minutes of ending.

We've been over this again and again. Not everyone holds the same values about stories. For some people, the story is broken or made complete by the ending.

Does that mean they can threaten people? No, that's wrong and inhumane.
Does that mean they can complain? Why not? Criticism is fine.
Does that mean they can demand changes? I honestly don't know these days.

The equivalent of arguing with the author of a book about his ending and demanding he change it ruins my opinion of players, though. Okay, granted, this made Sir Arthur Conon Doyle keep writing about Sherlock Holmes, but he wasn't pleased about it.

This equivalence doesn't hold though, even one of the writers (Patrick Weekes) stated dissatisfaction with the ending [http://www.gameranx.com/updates/id/5695/article/mass-effect-3-writer-allegedly-slams-controversial-ending/]. Of course his forum post (on Penny Arcade) was removed and his friends on the Bioware forums claim that he didn't write it [http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/355/index/10399933/7#10404248], but the man himself hasn't said anything himself. And this bit [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/116308-Mass-Effect-3s-Ending-Was-Intended-To-Polarize] doesn't indicate anything other than wanting the ending to be absurdly controversial.

 

[Griffolion]

The ending wasn't exactly good, but it didn't ruin it for me. ME will always be, for me, one of the best story lines for a video game I've ever played.

 

[CoL0sS]

Well I wouldn't say ruined but it sure as hell provided a definitive end to the story. I doubt I'll be interested in anything new ME related but we'll see

 

[MopBox]

I really enjoyed the first one and found the second to be lackluster. I gave the third a pass after finding out that you needed to play through all the DLC in order to fully access the plot.

 

[IllumInaTIma]

Totally loved ME3, gonna buy any new ME game, as long as it's made by Bioware.

 

[Soviet Steve]

Nope, though that's probably because Origin managed to do it before ME3 did.

 

[iastreb93]

No. Bioware, along with EA, have showed that they don't care about the customers. Maybe I'll pirate it, just to spite them.



Probably not.

 

[Blondi3]

It ruined Bioware for me. Prior to that unspeakable ending I was a true Bioware fanboi. Ever since Baldurs Gate. I bought every single game they released since then. Never going to buy another Bioware game ever again.

 

[Tono Makt]

Another way to look at this question is: Would you ever buy a Mass Effect product again even in best case scenario? (EA losing the IP being a start)

Or did the story ruin it for you?

I may buy more Mass Effect properties, but if I do I'm probably not going to buy them until they have been out for a good year or more. Partly because of the horrible ending to ME3 (including the extended cut), but partly because I bought into the hype and truly believed Bioware/EA when they hyped the ME series by saying that my choices matter to the story. In retrospect I should have known this could not be the case, but I honestly believed that it was going to happen.

Then came the Red, Blue or Green Lights, and upon much more reflection I've realized I had been suckered by technicalities. That each individual aspect of the story (example: Does Mordin live? Does he die? Did he save the Genophage information?) was what they were talking about when they said "story", but ultimately none of that mattered for the resolution of the overall story. I realized that I had made an assumption about what Bioware and EA were promising but I was wrong in that assumption.

By waiting at least a full year, I'll be able to accurately judge whether or not Bioware/EA have delivered on the promises I understand from their advertising and marketing. (I'll also be able to get it cheaply, potentially with Game of the Year editions that may include DLC. Maybe.) And if it does live up to my expectations, then I will be able to both support the game creators and hit EA in the gut by not adding to their "First Weekend" grosses, so to speak.

 

[carpathic]

Honestly, it was the "almost" required multip-player that nearly did it for me.

The story was fun, but the series changed so much from the gritty 80's feel of the first to the last, which was almost comic/cartoonish. I dunno - I am not sure if I'd buy another.

Unless Garrus is in it...then maybe...

 

[MopBox]

Honestly, it was the "almost" required multip-player that nearly did it for me.

The story was fun, but the series changed so much from the gritty 80's feel of the first to the last, which was almost comic/cartoonish. I dunno - I am not sure if I'd buy another.

Unless Garrus is in it...then maybe...

Agreed. Forced multiplayer, day one DLC, character DRM. ME3 just came with so much garbage.

 

[Leoofmoon]

.....*slow turn around*

 

[Verex]

Actually, Mass Effect 1 nearly ruined Mass Effect for me, so dull, so boring, so poor.

Really, the best things about Mass Effect are the characters and the little things in the background, the first game fell flat in the "little things" and the characters were boring (except for Wrex, he was the only fun character)

Same for me. Everything was so drawn out. You had to land and drive around in that death trap of a vehicle, the Mako.Elevator rides were longer than loading screens. Dialog was pretty choppy. It's awesome that they made ME2 so spectacular. Good comeback.

 

[MopBox]

Actually, Mass Effect 1 nearly ruined Mass Effect for me, so dull, so boring, so poor.

Really, the best things about Mass Effect are the characters and the little things in the background, the first game fell flat in the "little things" and the characters were boring (except for Wrex, he was the only fun character)

Same for me. Everything was so drawn out. You had to land and drive around in that death trap of a vehicle, the Mako.Elevator rides were longer than loading screens. Dialog was pretty choppy. It's awesome that they made ME2 so spectacular. Good comeback.

I couldn't disagree more! ME 1 for all it flaws(which were many) was an honest attempt to merge a role playing game with a third person shooter. It was a stand out title in a time when first person shooters were nearly the only game available for the Xbox 360, where as ME 2 capitulated to the standard actioneer genre with upgrade elements. They called it "Improved Combat" but in reality it was just compromising the rpg side of the game play and removed anything that made the core mechanic unique.

 

[Assassin Xaero]

I'd say probably Dragon Age: Origins ruined Mass Effect for me. It was so dull, bland, and boring that I had to force myself to finish it. None of the characters were at all interesting except Shale (think that was his name), then he turned on me.

After that, I tried Mass Effect, and after an hours it was looking like it was going down the same "boring" path, so I quit.