Mass Effect 3 ending SPOILERS!

[Sp3ratus]

Insulting people for their opinions now? What a greay way to argue and get your point across. When did I ever state I was of superior intellect or say that I'm smarter than you or the other people who dislike the ending? Go ahead, find a quote where I say anything vaguely similar to that.

Okay, I do apologize for lumping you into that group of people. I have just seeing many of those who defends the ending, being incredibly smug about how they "get it" and how everyone complaining must be "self-entitled children."

However, we have SajuukKhar saying things like:

The only "mistake" was releasing a game with good endings to a bunch of over-entitled and whiny gamers who complain over anything that isn't some overly drawn out ending dialog about everything your companions did, including what lunch they ate, for the next 36 years.

Which comes across as being quite arrogant and condescending against those who asks for closure.

I defend the ending because I thought the ending was amazing and fit the game and overall series perfectly. Me, SajuukKhar and synobal are posting how we see the ending and what the ending is to us and that's somehow wrong? Why is your opinion any more valid than mine? Or why is my opinion and less valid than yours?

I know I can't change the fact that you like the ending, and as I said ealier: "Good for you." But why is that you people are against any changes to the endings at all?

Most people are merely asking for another option, which is why a fully optional DLC that changes the ending would be perfect for that task. If someone, like you, likes the in the ending in its present form, they don't have to buy and install it. Why would it in any way hurt you if such a solution where made available?

Apology accepted. I think SajuukKhar makes a lot of good points, but I don't agree with everything he posts(namely insulting users and the like).

If the DLC(which is unlikely to happen, from everything I've read) would contain something like an epilogue for what your crew, people you met and the different races, then I wouldn't be opposed to it. I am, however, oppesed to it adding an ending, where something like Shepard getting out alive or the Mass Relays not being destroyed along with the Reapers taken care of. To me, that would cheapen the experience and the story as a whole. Even without downloading it, it would still be a case of "Shepard made the ultimate sacrifice, so the galaxy could finally be rid of the Reapers" or "Shepard accomplished nothing(not having the Mass Relays destroyed)/lived to the end of days happily(walking away alive), not really having to sacrifice that much"). To me, the ultimate sacrifice should have the ultimate reward(as it does now) and resonates perfectly with the theme of self-sacrifice.

I realize as well, that I probably can't change your opinion regarding the ending either, I'm just trying to make my position clear. I do appreciate you taking the time to read through me, SajuukKhar and synobal's posts, even if you don't agree with them(as I've done, with almost all posts in this thread). This is a debate forum and open discussion about things is what it's all about, even if you don't agree with all the viewpoints.

 

[Cl0udz0r]

Hey Guys, just made an account to post here

I personally liked the Synthesis ending, and I think that's the "correct" one, if there's any.
The fusion between organic and synthetic life into a new hybrid form of life for everyone, is a thing that implies a lot of things, while also being "the final evolution of life" (as the Catalyst said).

This probably already answers questions like:

- "What did X and Y races eat while stuck on Earth?" - Why eat? Maybe they don't have that weakness anymore.
- "How will races get back to their homeworlds if the Mass Relays are destroyed?" - Since it's the final evolution of life, I think it's safe to assume that everyone's intelligence has greatly increased. Therefore, going back to other systems is just a matter of time - Mass Relays can be replaced with something else. The scientist will probably achieve this in 100 too 1000 years, who knows? In that time, there's plenty of ships or planets in the Sol System that can be colonized. And I really doubt the Mass Relays exploded like the Alpha Relay on "Arrival" (destroying a star system) - it was some other kind of explosion.

The galaxy entered a revolutionary era of peace, free from the Reaper/Rebel synthetics threats.
--

But there are things I DIDN'T like about the end, such as:

- Why was the Catalyst so vague in everything? Why didn't he explain? You know, like Vigil on Ilos? Those were some really awesome revelations. Shepard didn't even ask him anything. There were so many important questions that needed answers, yet they didn't have this dialogue. And they weren't running out of time or anything either. Shepard had to choose a path based on his judgement, barely knowing any info about... anything.
- Is he an AI? Yes, he must be. This implies other lots of things that you can't question him about.
- Why did he appear in that cheesy ghost child form (at least to Shepard)? Wouldn't it have been more awesome if there was something else, bigger, instead of him? Like a supercomputer or... maybe not an AI, how about a big creature or life form?
- Why was he so powerless to do anything else better than his solution? Because he didn't have the Crucible? Well then how did he create the Reapers and stuff without it? Jeez.
- Why wasn't anything explained after the ending and it was left to assumptions for everyone? Sounds philosophical ? It's not. It's stupid.


People are right to question so many things that were left to assumptions.
You weren't even told what happened to many things in the galaxy.
The endings are all incomplete, unsatisfactory and really vague.
About that Dragon Age type of ending: it sucks. Having simple text telling you what happened to x and y over a picture is pretty lazy; might work for a book, not for a video game. BUT it would still be better than what we have now (nothing).

And, the worst thing is that your actions throughout the series matter only pre-ending. The endings are the same no matter what your decisions were. Wow.........

As much as I liked the idea of synthesis, I'm with the majority here, we really need other endings in some DLC or whatever.

Thanks for reading

 

[Blachman201_v1legacy]

I can say that it wasn't Deus Ex Machina, the crucible wasn't something that just happened. It was something that you worked for the entire game to make happen. Everyone repeatedly said 'we don't know what it does' except that it is a weapon designed to stop the reapers. They even said they don't know what a catalyst is. Hell even at the end they don't know until shepherd shows up there to speak to it.

I know that the Crucible itself isn't a deus ex machina, but rather a MacGuffin. The Catalyst, however, pretty clearly was.

Organics VS Synthetics was an overarching theme for the entire game.

I agree a bit, but I don't feel that was quite as central a theme as self-determination, survival, and keeping your humanity in face of evil and overwhelming odds, and the importance of overcoming differences and work together to accomplish a goal.

The problem is that the ending kind of pushes those themes completely out of the window at the last minute, and suddenly puts the Organics vs. Synthetics theme in square center without doing much of the philosophical legwork to get there. The effect is quite jarring.

 

[synobal]

About that Dragon Age type of ending: it sucks. Having simple text telling you what happened to x and y over a picture is pretty lazy; might work for a book

No you cannot find a novel does this at least no modern novels. It may of once worked but readers have grown to recognize that for what it is. Lazy writing. These endings all work much better for a book, which may be part of the problem. Bioware tried to elevate the story telling of video games with their Mass Effect series, and thus the ending is much closer to something a novel would have than one of their traditional RPGs. Gamers as a whole I guess aren't ready for that or are just unfamiliar with that so this knee jerk reaction is happening. Given time Mass effect 3 will be seen as the best conclusion to a game series in gaming history I think.

 

[theonecookie]

About that Dragon Age type of ending: it sucks. Having simple text telling you what happened to x and y over a picture is pretty lazy; might work for a book

No you cannot find a novel does this at least no modern novels. It may of once worked but readers have grown to recognize that for what it is. Lazy writing. These endings all work much better for a book, which may be part of the problem. Bioware tried to elevate the story telling of video games with their Mass Effect series, and thus the ending is much closer to something a novel would have than one of their traditional RPGs. Gamers as a whole I guess aren't ready for that or are just unfamiliar with that so this knee jerk reaction is happening. Given time Mass effect 3 will be seen as the best conclusion to a game series in gaming history I think.

Its not that at all its not that people aren't ready for an ending like this It's that the ending and the rest of the game are disjointed. You said it your self this feels like the ending of a book which is true but it doesn't even feel like the ending to a mass effect book it feels like a different series completely

The main problem With this is that the ending focused on machines vs organics and mans relation to technology which mass effect isn't about sure it touches the subject a little bit but the main theme of the game is conflict caused by human emotion

You only need to look at the geth ,quarian subplot the whole conflict is about how the quarians feared the geth they wanted manual labor not something that could think for its self so they oppressed the geth

If we where to rewrite this to make it in line with the ending the quarians would have embraced the geth with the conflict being caused at a latter date by a break down in communication due to the differences between man and machine

And all that's before I go in to shoddily written and full of holes it is

 

[synobal]

About that Dragon Age type of ending: it sucks. Having simple text telling you what happened to x and y over a picture is pretty lazy; might work for a book

No you cannot find a novel does this at least no modern novels. It may of once worked but readers have grown to recognize that for what it is. Lazy writing. These endings all work much better for a book, which may be part of the problem. Bioware tried to elevate the story telling of video games with their Mass Effect series, and thus the ending is much closer to something a novel would have than one of their traditional RPGs. Gamers as a whole I guess aren't ready for that or are just unfamiliar with that so this knee jerk reaction is happening. Given time Mass effect 3 will be seen as the best conclusion to a game series in gaming history I think.

Its not that at all its not that people aren't ready for an ending like this It's that the ending and the rest of the game are disjointed. You said it your self this feels like the ending of a book which is true but it doesn't even feel like the ending to a mass effect book it feels like a different series completely

The main problem With this is that the ending focused on machines vs organics and mans relation to technology which mass effect isn't about sure it touches the subject a little bit but the main theme of the game is conflict caused by human emotion

You only need to look at the geth ,quarian subplot the whole conflict is about how the quarians feared the geth they wanted manual labor not something that could think for its self so they oppressed the geth

If we where to rewrite this to make it in line with the ending the quarians would have embraced the geth with the conflict being caused at a latter date by a break down in communication due to the differences between man and machine

And all that's before I go in to shoddily written and full of holes it is

I've got to disagree with you. It didn't feel like the ending to some other series it felt like the end of a mass effect game. Nor do I think the point of the games were conflict caused by human emotion. Mass Effect 1 dealt with humans finding their place in galactic society but the other two didn't really deal with this so much.

 

[theonecookie]

About that Dragon Age type of ending: it sucks. Having simple text telling you what happened to x and y over a picture is pretty lazy; might work for a book

No you cannot find a novel does this at least no modern novels. It may of once worked but readers have grown to recognize that for what it is. Lazy writing. These endings all work much better for a book, which may be part of the problem. Bioware tried to elevate the story telling of video games with their Mass Effect series, and thus the ending is much closer to something a novel would have than one of their traditional RPGs. Gamers as a whole I guess aren't ready for that or are just unfamiliar with that so this knee jerk reaction is happening. Given time Mass effect 3 will be seen as the best conclusion to a game series in gaming history I think.

Its not that at all its not that people aren't ready for an ending like this It's that the ending and the rest of the game are disjointed. You said it your self this feels like the ending of a book which is true but it doesn't even feel like the ending to a mass effect book it feels like a different series completely

The main problem With this is that the ending focused on machines vs organics and mans relation to technology which mass effect isn't about sure it touches the subject a little bit but the main theme of the game is conflict caused by human emotion

You only need to look at the geth ,quarian subplot the whole conflict is about how the quarians feared the geth they wanted manual labor not something that could think for its self so they oppressed the geth

If we where to rewrite this to make it in line with the ending the quarians would have embraced the geth with the conflict being caused at a latter date by a break down in communication due to the differences between man and machine

And all that's before I go in to shoddily written and full of holes it is

I've got to disagree with you. It didn't feel like the ending to some other series it felt like the end of a mass effect game. Nor do I think the point of the games were conflict caused by human emotion. Mass Effect 1 dealt with humans finding their place in galactic society but the other two didn't really deal with this so much.

What was the point of the games then because the relation ship between man and machine wasn't
it

Also when I say human emotion i don't specifically mean human only all the aliens showed emotion to

 

[Autumnflame]

I am seriously hoping that the ending was just a trial or something that bioware's writers tried out.
and if the approach was popular then it would stay and if it was not then dlc if you want a different ending.

the major fact there is no epilogue and no dlc that i can see will be played post game.
but for such an oversite is very foolish in my opinion.


i for one had no trouble with shepard dying to gain victory over the reapers. but the issue from the endings wasnt "what" they did. but "how" they did it.

For example. if instead of vent boy
You discussed the future with harbinger.

he then gave you the choices.

my idea being along the lines of.
Use a main command terminal to take control of the reapers. ( or merge with harbinger to take control)

set the reapers to auto destruct( or a virus corruption to kill them) with the side effect that their destruction would leak onto the geth and any other synthetics

and third using reaper tech you fuse machine and organic together. evolving off of shepards biosynthetics .

4th ending with reapers winning and killing everyone off.

my ideal ending would have been 70-90 percent of all races killed off but victory for the combined races. and then looking forwards to rebuild.

and on that note. with the mass relays destroyed and a significant potion of the population of the galaxy at earth and cut off. how in the world are they going to feed and support everyone with earth devastated.
and with the citadel destroyed ending things just get worse for all the people still on there.

the only humans to survive being ones on remote colonies not yet attacked by the reapers. and the normandy crew . but each is effectively cut off form the rest for many many generations.

I dont see why they didn't stick with the dark energy story line and did something along the lines of.

there will be a dark energy flare that will kill off any race that is using eezo based technology .

your options to survive are.
Willingly become a reaper to retreat to dark space safe from the dark energy flare.

die fighting the reapers on your own terms.

third say you'll try and find a way to survive and depending on combined actions of all 3 games whether or not this is successful is determined by your actions

which the best surviving scenario puts tech back thousands of years but we survive for another 50k but start researching a way to prevent the flare from occuring or a way to shield the races from its effects.
that will be adressed in mass effect 4 and onwards

 

[skywolfblue]

After finally finishing ME3, I think the ending was rather brilliant.

I guess I can recognize that people would want a happier ending.

...But ME3 was all about personal sacrifice and "the end of days". Shepard goes all that way to watch the fleet of the whole galaxy torn to shreds around him/her, all to defend the crucible which turned out to not work. All the hopes of the galaxy rested on that device working, and it failed utterly. It was an excellent tale of "sometimes even your best is not enough".

The "god child" made sense to me, the Reapers had always put great importance on the citadel. That it should be the home of their directing consciousness explains why the reapers are able to tell when civilizations have reached the right level of technology. They have a spy right there. I always felt that there was more to the citadel then simply being a Mass Relay for the Reapers.

The choice you make matters, the whole galaxy changes based on what you do. It's not like Deus Ex where it's just stating some opinions and nothing happens.

None of the choices are "easy", as it should be.


So I for one, loved the ending.

 

[Saviordd1]

The game was awesome, the ending was cocksmack.

I expected sad endings (And when Garrus and Liara died in the final charge I was fuckin depressed)

But the ending gave more questions than answer, and that pisses me off.
What happened to the fleet? To Earth?
Where the fuck did the normandy crash?
What happens to the galaxy without the mass relays?
etc etc.

 

[easternflame]

I'm still trying to wrap my head around the Reaper child at the end ... And WHY do you have to destroy the mass relays? If the Reaper child is controlling them, why can't you just reprogram them or something? And wouldn't destroying the mass relays destroy half the galaxy (Arrival)? If you choose the destroy all synthetics option, wouldn't that kill the volus and quarians since they can't live without their suits? WHY do synthetics always have to revolt? What about Joker and EDI or the Geth/Quarian piece? Why does the Normandy retreat my squadmates but not me? Why is Joker running away from the final battle? If the Mass Relays are destroyed, what happens to half the galactic army I brought with me? Are they stranded on Earth? How do organics react to their new synthetics DNA? How does this change them? How do quarians and turians survive? How are synthetics altered? WHAT HAPPENES TO MY TALI? AND GARRUS? What happens to the Krogan? Do they go with the whole "galactic war" thing the salarians were talking about? If I chose "Synthesis" doesn't this nullify my decision to cure the genophage? How does this synthesis thing even work? Who is the stargazer and his child? Did all of this happen or was it just a story? Am I thinking too hard on this????????

My thoughts exactly, child? Ok, let's asume, it changes to a form shepard can relate to, they could've fucking explained. I sacrificed the quarian in order to give the geth a chance and now I have to fucking kill them? There is no way, no fucking way, I want the other option it is fucking stupid! I don't want to control the reapers I want to fucking murder them! WHY!? If anderson survived the reaper's explosions, did garrus and liara? DID I FUCKING DIE OR NOT? I have no idea, I'm synthetic thanks to the ilusive man, but you didn't show a body or a grave, you showed me earth 200 or so years later WHAT THE CUNTING FUCK!?
Seriously, I'm done, I won't buy your piece of shit dlc! That was your final insult, "Expand the legend with DLC"? FUCK YOU!
Sorry for the language escapist, I'm so mad, they had already tied most loose ends, the kid says 10 lines of dialog and now we're all like what the fuck?

 

[easternflame]

After finally finishing ME3, I think the ending was rather brilliant.

I guess I can recognize that people would want a happier ending.

...But ME3 was all about personal sacrifice and "the end of days". Shepard goes all that way to watch the fleet of the whole galaxy torn to shreds around him/her, all to defend the crucible which turned out to not work. All the hopes of the galaxy rested on that device working, and it failed utterly. It was an excellent tale of "sometimes even your best is not enough".

The "god child" made sense to me, the Reapers had always put great importance on the citadel. That it should be the home of their directing consciousness explains why the reapers are able to tell when civilizations have reached the right level of technology. They have a spy right there. I always felt that there was more to the citadel then simply being a Mass Relay for the Reapers.

The choice you make matters, the whole galaxy changes based on what you do. It's not like Deus Ex where it's just stating some opinions and nothing happens.

None of the choices are "easy", as it should be.


So I for one, loved the ending.

Not about happy, about bullshit.
Look, if the mass relays were destroyed, the whole galaxy would be too (arrival). Also, why a kid? A representation of the god child, ok, but who is he!? what is he? the catalyst, yes, but What is he, he says, we found a solution, who's we? The reapers are the tools, so it can't be them, what about harbringer, he was pretty important, we didn't even get the chance to meet him. They tie up everything, and then the kid appears. Besides, no matter if you only got the minimum for thee fight the endings are the same except the fight on earth is harder and more die faster. So the whole galaxy doesn't change, not with this.

Don't get me wrong, the game is phenomenal, right to the last five minutes, where everything goes to hell. And by everything I mean mass effect 1 and 2.

 

[Blachman201_v1legacy]

The "god child" made sense to me, the Reapers had always put great importance on the citadel. That it should be the home of their directing consciousness explains why the reapers are able to tell when civilizations have reached the right level of technology. They have a spy right there. I always felt that there was more to the citadel then simply being a Mass Relay for the Reapers.

I like to point out that is really one of the most massive plot holes. If the AI that controls the Reapers lives in the Citadel, why was Sovereign needed to activate the process in the first place? Why couldn't the AI do it by itself?

EDIT: And why the hell does it take the form of that dumb kid? I really hated how he turned up everywhere, like they were trying to outright force us to feel sad about him. It feels so cheap.

It's not like Deus Ex where it's just stating some opinions and nothing happens.

Yes, it essentially is. It is basically "Here is a choice that will change the course of life as we know it forever. We can't conjecture or predict the consequences, so just use your imagination for the rest." All you get to see of your choice is a different colored light in the ending cinematic.

 

[VoidWanderer]

This post will piss people off, but I feel it needs to be made. Sorry guys, but...


Who else expected the game to end like this? Seriously, please tell me I wasn't the only one who was expecting it to end tragically.

I haven't finished the game, but I came across some minor events that screamed "THINGS WILL NOT END WELL!" Who else noticed that the new human characters had back-story resulting in pointless loss? Anyone else notice that people suffering some form of loss (or doubt) could be influenced? Can someone else notice that the fact that you are facing a force you are repeatedly told is so powerfully overwhelming they doubt you can win, even when you pull off the 'impossible'?

Unless they execute the end movie improperly, I applaud Bioware for making people realize THIS IS NOT A FAIRY TALE. If people you connect with make heroic sacrifices, and Shep did this in ME2 then you will NOT get the pretty rainbow rosy ending. You want a bittersweet ending to a game, play as a Dwarf Commoner character through Dragon Age Origins and don't use Morrigan's 'trick'. That's bittersweet.

Standing on the planet after you save the galaxy is just a boring version of Star Wars Prequel Episode (whatever one had the parade at the end).

I would 'engage flameshield', but I really don't care. If people couldn't see it coming, then you need to pay a bit more attention.

 

[synobal]

After finally finishing ME3, I think the ending was rather brilliant.

I guess I can recognize that people would want a happier ending.

...But ME3 was all about personal sacrifice and "the end of days". Shepard goes all that way to watch the fleet of the whole galaxy torn to shreds around him/her, all to defend the crucible which turned out to not work. All the hopes of the galaxy rested on that device working, and it failed utterly. It was an excellent tale of "sometimes even your best is not enough".

The "god child" made sense to me, the Reapers had always put great importance on the citadel. That it should be the home of their directing consciousness explains why the reapers are able to tell when civilizations have reached the right level of technology. They have a spy right there. I always felt that there was more to the citadel then simply being a Mass Relay for the Reapers.

The choice you make matters, the whole galaxy changes based on what you do. It's not like Deus Ex where it's just stating some opinions and nothing happens.

None of the choices are "easy", as it should be.


So I for one, loved the ending.

Always nice to see another who recognizes the endings were what the game needed.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I wasn't that upset over the ending.

What really annoyed me was that sentimental "kid dies, but remains in Shepard's dream" crap. What if my Shepard is a total asshole/***** who couldn't give a rat's ass about some random dumb kid?

Also, space ninjas, really?! I was immediately reminded of what Spoony said in his FF8 review; "It's the future, you're a soldier; GET A GUN!!!" This isn't Metal Gear Solid, I thought Mass Effect had a bit more hard-edge science fiction to it.

Whenever I was truly enjoying the game, my immersion would get rudely disrupted everytime the dumb kid or the space ninja entered the scene.

 

[Thatguyky]

I was in shock and denial when the end of the game came around as well. I mean, no matter WHAT choices you make in the entire ME series, everything basically gets screwed over. I'm okay with some endings being like that, but all of them? Really Bioware? For a series that has pretty much always reflected the choices you made, this is a really shitty way to wrap up the series. They force feed you three terribly written endings. Not cool.

On another note, I was checking out the Bioware forums, and the top poll is one arguing that ME3 should have a brighter possible ending, or one that provides a bit of closure. Check it out, it's up to 9k votes in a very short amount of time. Let them know you're pissed off!
http://social.bioware.com/633606/polls/28989/

 

[synobal]

I was in shock and denial when the end of the game came around as well. I mean, no matter WHAT choices you make in the entire ME series, everything basically gets screwed over. I'm okay with some endings being like that, but all of them? Really Bioware? For a series that has pretty much always reflected the choices you made, this is a really shitty way to wrap up the series. They force feed you three terribly written endings. Not cool.

On another note, I was checking out the Bioware forums, and the top poll is one arguing that ME3 should have a brighter possible ending, or one that provides a bit of closure. Check it out, it's up to 9k votes in a very short amount of time. Let them know you're pissed off!
http://social.bioware.com/633606/polls/28989/

Am I the only one who saw the endings as all pretty much happy except the destroy part where you destroy all synthetic life? Because the other two seemed really quite upbeat, and full of possibilities.

It's the future and its full of stars people.

 

[Cl0udz0r]

what about harbringer, he was pretty important, we didn't even get the chance to meet him.

Harbinger was the big reaper with 4 eyes and 4 lasers that was shooting at you while you were running to the citadel beam on Earth. But that's about it.

 

[Sunsetrod92]

Don't forget to support the facebook page, let Bioware know how pissed you are with these endings http://www.facebook.com/DemandABetterEndingToMassEffect3